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Tag Archives: #Anthony Horowitz
Moonflower Murders – Anthony Horowitz
Imprint: Century
The Master triumphs again! Mind-bendingly clever and tricky, Horowitz has once again presented his readers with two devilishly complicated mysteries – once again a book within a book! I can only imagine how difficult it is to construct one complex murder mystery let alone two at the same time!
Susan Ryeland, former editor at Cloverleaf and victim of the nasty plot that killed her obnoxious star author Alan Conway, has been living in Greece with her partner Andreas running, with some difficulty, their hotel. Despite the idyllic setting, the frantic struggle to get the hotel on its feet and the loss of her editorial and bookish connections are making Susan feel frustrated and fretful. Out of the blue the spectre of Alan Conway arises when an English couple visit Susan and ask for her help in resolving the disappearance of their daughter. At first baffled by this, it becomes clear that there may be some connection between Cecily's disappearance, a murder on the day of her wedding eight years previously and Alan Conway's Atticus Pund Takes the Case which Susan edited. With Susan's dissatisfaction with the way things are going in Greece, she needs little prompting to take on the amateur investigation especially as there is a very generous remuneration on offer. The hotel badly needs an injection of funds just as Susan badly needs a small reprieve from the daily grind.
Given the phone call Cecily made to her parents just the day before she disappeared, it is very clear that some clues to the truth of the murder and therefore her disappearance must lie within Conway's book and Susan is determined to uncover the facts and vindicate a wrongly convicted suspect. Naturally the twisting and turning plot provides much fodder for us armchair sleuths with suspicion shifting from one character to another. Susan's investigation leads her into some very murky places figuratively but she is aided by surprising help from a couple of characters we first met in Magpie Murders.
Tied in with the search for justice is Susan's conflicting emotions about her relationship with Andreas, brought into focus by her much-loved sister's marital dilemma.
This is exactly the sort of juicy murder mystery I have always loved and while I can be the most complete dunce in seeing the carefully hidden clues, the unfolding of the complexities is a delight and really, no one does it better than Anthony Horowitz. For one who basically ate up murder mysteries for years, it is just pure joy to become so involved in the cunning and entertaining world AH creates.
It is always such a privilege to review such an extraordinary writer and needless to say this has my highest recommendation. If you love a great mystery you will be glued to this as I was until you reach the shocking conclusion.
Filed under Childrens books and tagged #Anthony Horowitz, Murder, Mystery |	Leave a comment
Anthony Horowitz display
Posted on May 13, 2020 by Sue Warren
So I'm putting together a display on Anthony Horowitz to mark the 20th anniversary of Alex Rider, the new AR book Nightshade and the upcoming TV series. When I shared these on Twitter it was quite the thrill to get responses from Anthony himself – thank you! Feeling just a bit chuffed I have to say – now to finish it off!!
@AnthonyHorowitz
@Lossie56
Thank you, Sue. It looks fabulous. Hope you and the children stay safe and well.
4:32 PM · May 12, 2020 from Islington, London·Twitter for iPad
Sue Warren
I'm hoping to make it look even more fabulous! but thank you! – our year 11/12 kids are back (plus little ones in the junior school) after six weeks gone – and very happy to be so. This needs to be finished before the rest of my Sec kiddos get back at the end of next week! 🙂
They're lucky to have you!
Filed under Childrens books and tagged #Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rider |	Leave a comment
Nightshade – Anthony Horowitz
Posted on May 2, 2020 by Sue Warren
Coming hard on the heels of the 20th anniversary of Alex Rider's first adventure – Stormbreaker – is even more high-octane heart-pumping tension as Alex plunges deep into a mysterious organisation known as Nightshade.
Once again Alex is an unwilling recruit into MI6's latest investigation and this time he is in danger right from the get-go as he is sent into the maximum security prison on Gilbratar, impersonating ruthless killer and terrorist, Julius Grief – his clone from Point Blanc. It's not just the danger of the mission that puts Alex in peril but the fact that young Grief had made plenty of enemies within the prison walls who would be only too happy to see him on his way to a permanent end.
An MI6 agent has been murdered and two child-assassins, unbelievably, were responsible. Only one of them was captured and it is apparent that he is a boy believed dead in an accident but it seems kidnapped and raised as a human weapon. It's Alex' mission to befriend him and if possible discover more about Nightshade, the organisation behind not just one but many missing children.
Will Alex be able to connect to Freddy – No 9 – and successfully infiltrate Nightshade to discover their plans? Moreover, will he then be able to prevent the loss of life of thousands of people? As usual this 13th thriller-adventure proves Anthony's power to create an explosive and suspenseful narrative that will thoroughly engage and entertain fans of the original teen spy.
I've just bought the entire series in the fabulous newest editions to replace our rather sad-looking ones in our collection and now planning a big bold Alex Rider display for when the kiddos come back to school.
I'm unashamedly both an Alex fan and a Horowitz one and highly recommend this – and the entire series – for your readers from around Year 6 upwards.
Filed under Childrens books and tagged #Anthony Horowitz, adventure, Alex Rider, Criminal Organisations, Danger, Intrigue, Spies, Thriller |	Leave a comment
Stormbreaker – Anthony Horowitz
By chance, when I found out that the new 20th anniversary edition of Stormbreaker was being released I was 're-reading' it on audio during my commute and relishing the pure adrenalin rush that is the hallmark of the series.
Frankly I'd be happy to read Anthony's shopping list – the man just oozes talent in whichever field he pursues but let's face it there is something super special about young Alex. It remains one of those series which I can inveigle a reader to pick up for a first read and have that reader come back for a bulk borrow of the rest of the series.
And how extra exciting is it that this anniversary edition heralds another new episode in Alex' thrilling adventures – Nightshade is coming!
If for some reason you've never accompanied Alex on any of his adventures (seriously??) you should know he is a 14 year old schoolboy who is recruited unwillingly by the powers that be following the suspicious death of his guardian Ian Rider to undertake dangerous and potentially deadly missions. In reality the man he always knew as an international banker was in fact a highly skilled secret agent and has trained Alex all his life to be as competent an operative as himself. Now Alex is sent to investigate one Herod Sayle, to all appearances a wealthy and generous benefactor, but in fact one with not only a streak of insanity but a vindictive killer.
Sayle's plot to unleash a deadly virus on every single one of Britain's schools via the gift of his new and technologically unsurpassed computer, the Stormbreaker, is what Alex must put a stop to – succeeding in fact where his uncle had failed.
The action doesn't stop for a second in this roller-coaster introduction to a world into which Alex finds himself so reluctantly dragged but due to the management of his many 'hobbies' instigated by his guardian he actually finds himself surprisingly well-prepared.
This is a series that both boys and girls will grab hold of with gusto, fully immersing them in the non-stop action. Thank you Anthony for 20 years of thrilling adventures with the boy-spy who beats them all!
Highly recommended for readers from around ten years upwards and why not pre-order the newest volume now!
Filed under Childrens books and tagged #Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rider, Alex Rider 20th anniversary, Courage, Danger, Espionage, Spies |	Leave a comment
Alex Rider #12 : Secret Weapon – Anthony Horowitz
I'm pretty certain that I'm not the only one who's so excited that Anthony has his Alex mojo back J – and with the talk of the forthcoming movie there are bound to be many more readers added to the fold of fans.
In this new volume, seven adventures are recounted – making them perfect read-alouds for book talks or encouraging reluctant readers. I'm finding at present that as many girls as boys are borrowing the series (especially since I bought the new editions with the stunning cover art!). Since this collection includes three brand new adventures it will have as much appeal to existing fans as to those new to the series.
Whether it's playing the part of assassin unknowingly, having a routine dentist visit turn into something far more sinister or skiing down steep slopes in a frantic attempt to save himself and others, Alex the reluctant spy manages to come out on top, largely thanks to his uncle's dedication to bringing him up with the skills he would need.
Anthony Horowitz does thrilling suspense so well – as we know not only from his books but also his plethora script writing ventures. I know I'm not alone in my addiction to Midsomer Murders and Foyle's War!
As an introduction for the next generation of devotees or to add some excitement to your existing AR readers – this is a must have for your collection.
Watch the trailer here.
Filed under Childrens books and tagged #Anthony Horowitz, Adventures, Alex Rider, short stories, Spies, Suspense |	Leave a comment
Never Say Die – Alex Rider
How absolutely apt that as we mourn the loss of the suavest Bond of them all – vale Sir Roger Moore – the new Alex Rider explodes into our reading lives with every bit of excitement that we have come to anticipate from the teenage spy.
When Anthony said that Alex' career had come to an end we were all pretty sad. But unexpectedly, three years after what we thought was the last book in the series, the youthful hero is back. Following on from Scorpia Rising and the defeat of the international crime ring, Alex is living in America pretty unhappily, especially as he is still grieving for Jack Starbright, believed killed.
But the world has never had a shortage of villains (as we see so clearly in the news) and from Scorpia's ashes have risen the Grimaldi brothers – eccentric and evil identical twins every bit worthy of being in an Ian Fleming book. When Alex receives a cryptic line of email he is positive that Jack is still alive and abandons America, his host family and school to find her.
From Egypt to Saint Tropez to a lonely corner of Wales, the action is super-charged and electrifying. Twists and turns abound as we know they will from such a master crime storyteller as the Grimaldis' ingenious plot is revealed.
While some things have changed – Mrs Jones is now head of MI6 replacing Alan Blunt – familiar faces are back, like Ben Daniels, Alex' especial side-kick.
Alex Rider is back: back home, back in MI6 and the thick of espionage, back with his loyal Jack Starbright and back in our reading lists. Bring on some more please Anthony! This is a dose of adrenaline that we all love!
As you are aware there is quite a bit of violence in these but it's not horribly graphic. I recommend them to my older primary students and upwards.
By the way, the whole series has been re-issued with some very spiffy new 'dinner jackets' – you can predict that they are already on my 'to order' list!
This one comes with my highest recommendation for thrill-seekers and I eagerly await more from Anthony's fertile imagination.
Filed under Adventure, Childrens books, YA fiction and tagged #Anthony Horowitz, Adventures, Alex Rider, Espionage, Kidnapping, Spies |	Leave a comment
It's Halloween!
Posted on October 30, 2014 by Sue Warren
What are some of your favourite spooky books? Let me know!
Here are some I have thought of…
Neil Gaiman ( could be a lot really !) but how about
After his family are killed, Bod is brought up in a graveyard by ghosts – an array of century-spanning characters who care for him, impart wisdom and even teach body-fading skills. But Bod sometimes goes beyond the graveyard into the world of the living – and here his life is under threat from the sinister man Jack, who has pursued him since he was a baby.
Bestselling author Neil Gaiman offers up a wonderful story of life, death and coming-of-age in this book, which won the Booktrust Teenage Prize. The fabulously original story is full of humour and surprise and has a brilliantly engaging hero in Bod. Gaiman blends together the poetic, the resonant and the gruesome and Chris Riddell's illustrations confirm the delicious sense of unsettling people and presences that run throughout.
Publisher: Bloomsbury (http://www.booktrust.org.uk/books/view/29125)
Something nasty lives in Coraline's house.
It's nothing to do with Miss Spink and Miss Forcible, the two faded old actresses who live in the ground floor flat with their Highland terriers and their memories of past successes. Nor is it anything to do with Mr Bobo up in the attic, the crazy old man with a big moustache who is training a mouse circus, but won't let anyone see it
It's to do with the door in Coraline's flat, the door that opens onto a blank brick wall:
'When this place was just one house,' said Coraline's mother, 'that door went somewhere. When they turned the house into flats, they simply bricked it up. The other side is the empty flat on the other side of the house, the one that's still for sale.'
She shut the door and put the string of keys back on top of the kitchen doorframe.
'You didn't lock it,' said Coraline.
Her mother shrugged. 'Why should I lock it?' she asked. 'It doesn't go anywhere.'
Coraline didn't say anything.
But she begins to wonder about it, later, in the middle of the night. Nasty little things begin skittering about, and when she gets up to investigate (bravely), there's nothing there … except that door is now ever so slightly open. Just a crack.
Still, how could anything come through the door when there's a brick wall behind it?
Depends what you're up against, doesn't it.
The other mother sat down on the big sofa. She picked up a brown handbag from beside the sofa, and took out a white, rustling, paper bag from inside it.
She extended the hand with the paper bag in it to Coraline. 'Would you like one?' she asked politely?
Expecting it to be a toffee or a butterscotch ball, Coraline looked down. The bag was half-filled with large shiny blackbeetles, crawling over each other in their efforts to get out of the bag.
'No,' said Coraline. 'I don't want one.'
'Suit yourself,' said her other mother. She carefully picked out a particularly large and black beetle, pulled off its legs (which she dropped, neatly, into a big glass ashtray on the small table beside the sofa), and popped the beetle into her mouth. She crunched it happily.
'Yum,' she said, and took another.
'You're sick,' said Coraline. 'Sick and evil and weird.'
It's a brilliant book, moving inexorably from the deliciously creepy to crawling fear up the back of your spine. It was the buttons, though, that really did it for me! If you want to know, you'll have to read it … not just for children.
Earnestly recommended! (http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/review/coraline)
Anthony Horowitz (again, lots to choose from!)
Horowitz Horror and More Horowitz Horror
It was typical of my dad to want to stop and offer the man a lift and just as typical of my mum to want to drive on. In the back seat, I said, 'Don't stop, Dad.' But it was already too late. Just fifteen seconds had passed since we saw the hitchhiker and already we were slowing down. I'd told him not to stop. But I'd no sooner said it than we did.
The rain was coming down harder now and it was very dark so I couldn't see very much of the man. He seemed quite large, towering over the car. He had long hair, hanging down over his eyes.
My father pressed the button that lowered the window. 'Where are you going?' he asked.
'Ipswich.'
Ipswich was about twenty miles away. My mother didn't say anything. I could tell she was uncomfortable.
'You were heading there on foot?' my father asked.
'My car's broken down.'
'Well – we're heading that way. We can give you a lift.'
'John…' My mother spoke my father's name quietly but already it was too late. The damage was done.
'Thanks,' the man said. He opened the back door.
I suppose I'd better explain.
The A12 is a long, dark, anonymous road that often goes through empty countryside with no buildings in sight. It was like that where we were now. There were no street lights. Pulled in on the hard shoulder, we must have been practically invisible to the other traffic rushing past. It was the one place in the world where you'd have to be crazy to pick up a stranger.
Because, you see, everyone knows about Fairfields. It's a big, ugly building not far from Woodbridge, surrounded by a wall that's fifteen metres high with spikes along the top and metal gates that open electrically. The name is quite new. It used to be called the East Suffolk Maximum Security Prison for the Criminally Insane. And right now we were only about ten miles away from it.
That's the point I'm trying to make. When you're ten miles away from a lunatic asylum, you don't stop in the dark to pick up someone you've never met. You have to say to yourself that maybe, just maybe, there could have been a break-out that night. Maybe one of the loonies has cut the throat of the guard at the gate and slipped out into the night. And so it doesn't matter if it's raining. It doesn't even matter if the local nuclear power station at Sizewell has just blown up and it's coming down radioactive slush. You just don't stop.
The back door slammed shut. The man eased himself into the back seat, rain water glistening on his jacket. The car drove forward again.
I looked at him, trying to make out his features in the half light. He had a long face with a square chin and small, narrow eyes. His skin was pale, as if he hadn't been outdoors in a while. His hair was somewhere between brown and grey, hanging down in clumps. His clothes looked old and second-hand. A sports jacket and baggy corduroys. The sort of clothes a gardener might wear. His fingers were unusually long. One hand was resting on his thigh and his fingers reached all the way to his knee.
'Have you been out for the day?' he asked.
'Yes.' My father knew he had annoyed my mother and he was determined to be cheerful and chatty, to show that he wasn't ashamed of what he'd done. 'We've been in Southwold. It's a beautiful place.'
'Oh yes.' He glanced at me and I saw that he had a scar running over his eye. It began on his forehead and ended on his cheek and it seemed to have pushed the eye a little to one side. It wasn't quite level with the other one.
'Do you know Southwold?' my father asked.
'No.'
'So where have you come from today?'
The man thought for a moment. 'I broke down near Lowestoft,' he said and somehow I knew he was lying. For a start, Lowestoft was a long way away, right on the border with Norfolk. If he'd broken down there, how could he have managed to get all the way to Southwold? And why bother? It would have been easier to jump on a train and go straight to Ipswich. I opened my mouth to say something but the man looked at me again, more sharply this time. Maybe I was imagining it but he could have been warning me. Don't say anything. Don't ask any difficult questions.
'What's your name?' my mother asked. I don't know why she wanted to know.
'Rellik,' he said. 'Ian Rellik.' He smiled slowly. 'This your son in the back?'
'Yes. That's Jacob. He's fifteen today.'
'His birthday?' The man uncurled his hand and held it out to me. 'Happy birthday, Jacob.'
'Thank you.' I took the hand. It was like holding a dead fish. At the same time I glanced down and saw that his sleeve had pulled back exposing his wrist. There was something glistening on his skin and it wasn't rain water. It was dark red, trickling down all the way to the edge of his hand, rising over the fleshy part of his thumb.
Blood!
Whose blood? His own?
He pulled his hand away, hiding it behind him. He knew I had seen it. Maybe he wanted me to.
We drove on. A cloud must have burst because it was really lashing down. You could hear the rain thumping on the car roof and the windscreen wipers were having to work hard to sweep it aside. I couldn't believe we'd been walking on the beach only a few hours before.
'Lucky we got in,' my mother said, reading my mind.
'It's bad,' my father said.
'It's hell,' the man muttered. Hell. It was a strange choice of word. He shifted in his seat. 'What do you do?' he asked.
'I'm a dentist.'
'Really? I haven't seen a dentist…not for a long time.' He ran his tongue over his teeth. The tongue was pink and wet. The teeth were yellow and uneven. I guessed he hadn't cleaned them in a while.
'You should go twice a year,' my father said.
'You're right. I should.'
There was a rumble of thunder and at that exact moment the man turned to me and mouthed two words. He didn't say them. He just mouthed them, making sure my parents couldn't see.
'You're dead.'
I stared at him, completely shaken. At first I thought I must have misunderstood him. Maybe he had said something else and the words had got lost in the thunderclap. But then he nodded slowly, telling me that I wasn't wrong. That's what he'd said. And that's what he meant.
I felt every bone in my body turn to jelly. That thing about the asylum. When we'd stopped and picked up the hitchhiker, I hadn't really believed that he was a madman who'd just escaped. Often you get scared by things but you can still tell yourself that it's just your imagination, that you're being stupid. And after all, there are lots of stories about escaped lunatics and none of them are ever true. But now I wasn't so sure. Had I imagined it? Had he said something else? You're dead. I thought back, picturing the movement of his lips. He'd said it all right.
We were doing about forty miles per hour, punching through the rain. I turned away, trying to ignore the man on the seat beside me. Mr Rellik. There was something strange about that name and without really thinking I found myself writing it on the window, using the tip of my finger. RELLIK The letters, formed out of the condensation inside the car, hung there for a moment. Then the two 'l's in the middle began to run. It reminded me of blood. The name sounded Hungarian or something. It made me think of someone in Dracula.
'Where do you want us to drop you?' my mother asked.
'Anywhere,' Mr Rellik said.
'Where do you live in Ipswich?'
There was a pause. 'Blade Street,' he said.
'Blade Street? I don't think I know it.'
'It's near the centre.'
My mother knew every street in Ipswich. She lived there for ten years before she married my father. But she had never heard of Blade Street. And why had the hitchhiker paused before he answered her question? Had he been making it up?
The thunder rolled over us a second time.
'I'm going to kill you,' Mr Rellik said.
But he said it so quietly that only I heard and this time I knew for certain. He was mad. He had escaped from Fairfields. We had picked him up in the middle of nowhere and he was going to kill us all. I leant forward, trying to catch my parents' eyes. And that was when I happened to look into the driver's mirror. That was when I saw the word that I had written on the window just a few moments before.
But reflected in the mirror it said something else. KILLER
More Horrowitz Horror © Anthony Horowitz 2000. Published by Orchard Books.
(http://www.puffin.co.uk/nf/shared/SharedDisplayTable/1,,213976_1,00.html)
Jonathan Stroud – The Lockwood & Co Series – new episode #2
The Whispering Skull has just been published.
The Screaming Staircase – I reviewed this last September.
The Owl Service – Alan Garner
I loved Alan Garner when I was a child and this one I found particularly spooky.
The Owl Service tells the story of Alison, Roger and Huw who discover a mysterious dinner service in the loft. This is only the first of the strange events and happenings that lead to the old Welsh legend of Blouedd (who was made of flowers and then turned into an owl after she killed her husband).
I have to admit the plot was very gripping and slightly creepy (such as when Huw finds Alison in the forest making owls and then being chased by mysterious flames), but was let down by the way Garner linked the events together.
My favourite of these events was during the storm when the plaster on the walls of the house starts to crack and reveals the portrait of a beautiful woman surrounded by flowers made of birds claws; one of the most creepy parts of the book.
The publishers have named this book a "modern classic" and the snippets of reviews themselves claim the book "builds up tension and comes to wild release in the last few pages". I disagree with this claim. The book was like a line of gunpowder: exciting and bright throughout but often sizzles out at the end. I do not think this book deserves to be ranked up there with the Phantom Tollbooth, Thomasina and Charmed Life (other books in the "modern classics" range).
I also have a problem with the illustration on page three which depicts one of the plates from the dinner service. It is supposed to make a picture of an owl if the pattern is drawn correctly, but however much I tried I could not make one (if you are going to illustrate a book like this do it right).
Not one of the best reads ever, but take a look anyway. Preferably get it from a library not a bookshop, as you probably won't read it again.
(http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2011/jul/05/owl-service-alan-garner-review)
Der Struwwelpeter
The original scary book for children, Struwwelpeter was one of the first books written explicitly for kids — and it didn't exactly coddle them. The book consists of cautionary tales for children, who are warned that if they suck their thumbs, a "great tall tailor" will chop said thumbs off with giant scissors. Yikes (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-fallon/9-kids-books-that-terrifi_b_4178249.html)
Filed under Childrens books and tagged #Alan Garner, #Anthony Horowitz, #Der Struwwelpeter, #Halloween, #Lockwood & Co, #Spooky Stories |	Leave a comment


Hi my name is Jim Fine and I've been reading the funny books since 2004 when Spider-Man 2 made me fall in love not only with the character but introduced me to the medium. I love Marvel and DC, Simpsons, Sci-fi movies, and artwork as well. Cali Raised.
No bother at all my friend. Glad I could be of help.
International Home of DC, Marvel & Indie Comics Fans!


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Get an Xbox and Game Pass Ultimate for as Low as $19.99/Mo
Matthew DeCarlo
October 28, 2019, 12:53pm EDT October 28, 2019, 1:00pm EDT
Can't afford an Xbox? Microsoft's latest Xbox All Access bundles get you a console of your choosing and two years of Game Pass Ultimate for 24 monthly payments that cost less than if you bought everything upfront.
Starting October 29 in Australia, November 5 in the UK and November 18 in the US, select partners and retailers including Amazon in the US will begin offering Xbox All Access bundles that include an Xbox console and two years of Microsoft's online services for a monthly payment that varies depending on the console chosen.
For $19.99 a month over a period of two years, you can purchase the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition (note: this model doesn't have a disc drive and instead relies on downloading games from Microsoft's platform). Jumping up to $22.99 per month for 24 months gets you the regular Xbox One S. This one does have a disc drive but isn't as powerful as the Xbox One X, which is going for $30.99 per month for two years via Xbox All Access.
Xbox All Access also includes two years of Game Pass Ultimate, which typically costs $14.99 and grants access to Xbox Gold Live as well as Xbox Game Pass on console and PC, providing a library of more than 100 games that can be downloaded and played for no additional cost. Titles include the newly released The Outer Worlds.
Instead of costing more, opting for one of those monthly payment plans is cheaper than if you were to buy everything upfront. The amount saved depends on which package you buy. In the case of the Xbox One X, it currently costs $399 at the Microsoft Store while Game Pass Ultimate costs $14.99 a month. After paying for the console up front and then subscribing to Game Pass Ultimate, you'd spend $758.76 versus $743.76 if you paid Microsoft $30.99 per month over two years for the same hardware and service.
If you want to save the most you can on Microsoft's current-gen console, the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition package yields a savings of more like $130 over two years. Buying the All Digital Edition console outright would currently cost $249. Add two years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to that and you're looking at $608.76 versus $479.76 if you paid Microsoft $19.99 per month for two years for All Access.
Beyond saving some cash on the current-generation Xbox consoles, note that Microsoft has a special offer where folks in the US and UK who make 12 to 18 payments on their All Access bundle will be eligible for an upgrade to the next-generation Xbox, tentatively known as Project Scarlett and due in the holiday season of 2020. Australians who pay for an All Access bundle can buyout their hardware at any time and upgrade to Project Scarlett when it's available.
When the time comes to upgrade to Microsoft's next-gen Xbox console, you'll have to reset your All Access contract for another 24 months. Furthermore, if you opted for the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, the upgrade process will involve a $20 fee, though this doesn't currently apply to the standard Xbox One S or the Xbox One X.
"Special Holiday Upgrade Offer: Upgrading to Project Scarlett is subject to its release and availability at the time you upgrade. Upgrade requires at least 12 payments on your original Xbox All Access contract, and purchase of a new 24-month Xbox All Access contract for Project Scarlett, expected Holiday 2020. Offer valid for original purchase of Xbox One X with Xbox All Access through Dec 31, 2019; not available with Xbox One S. New contract, terms, and pricing apply. Requires return of console in good condition. Project Scarlett is subject to FCC rules and will comply with the appropriate FCC rules when available. See product and upgrade terms at Xbox.com/XboxAllAccessTerms.
In order to participate in the upgrade program when Project Scarlett launches in Holiday 2020, players in the U.S. and U.K. will need to be in good standing with the respective financing partner in their market, purchase Project Scarlett with a new Xbox All Access purchase from the same retail partner where they joined the program, and trade-in the console originally purchased with Xbox All Access. Terms and conditions apply, including an upgrade fee for players upgrading from the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition to Project Scarlett.
You may upgrade from Xbox One X, Xbox One S, and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition to the next Xbox console (coming late 2020) only. Upgrading from Xbox One S All-Digital Edition will require payment of an upgrade fee (currently USD$20, subject to change); upgrading from Xbox One X and Xbox One S do not require payment of an upgrade fee."
Source: Microsoft via The Verge
Matthew DeCarlo has been in digital publishing for more than a decade, during which time he has authored and edited thousands of technology articles including industry news, hardware and software reviews, product buying guides, how-tos, editorials, in-depth explainers, trivia, and more. Read Full Bio »
The Best Mini And Table Top Christmas Trees For Decorating Your Home This Holiday Season
Jennifer Allen | November 24th
Large artificial Christmas trees are great in many scenarios, but sometimes you want a small mini or tabletop Christmas tree to add some festive spirit to your home. Here are the best mini or tabletop Christmas trees you can buy.
I Wish Someone Would Make a Legit Version of This Sketchy Battery Pack Game System
Sometimes you see an idea for sale that's so wonderful and perfect you want to buy it instantly. At first glance, the Gaming Power Bank seems like exactly that scenario. It's an 8,000 mAh backup battery that ALSO doubles as a portable gaming system. What's not to love? Well, plenty. Second and third glances leave me wanting it—just made by someone reputable.
The Best Credit Card Multitools
Harry Guinness | August 13th
We love multitools of all shapes and sizes here at Review Geek. We've recommended around everything from a full size Leatherman down to a jumped up bottle opener. Now, let's take a look at credit card multitools.
If Sony Doesn't Need E3, Who Does?
Michael Crider | January 19th
Sony won't be at E3, the biggest trade show in the video game industry. They didn't show up last year either, but with the PlayStation 5 coming this holiday season, it's hard to see the company's absence as anything except a vote of no confidence in gaming's biggest dog and pony show.

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    public function FindAllPaginator($paginator,$page,$limit){
        $em=$this->getEntityManager();
        $dql   = "SELECT p FROM AppWebBundle:Etapa p";
        $query = $em->createQuery($dql);
        $pagination = $paginator->paginate($query,$page,$limit);
        return $pagination;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Before you use our website we need you to know this. Click on each section for the full information.
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The information contained on the website you are about to access (Website) is for information purposes only and does not constitute and should not be construed as advice on which reliance should be placed, nor is it an offer by Absolute Return Partners LLP (ARP) to enter into any contract or investment agreement or a solicitation to buy or sell any investment in any jurisdiction or in any circumstances. Any information provided in relation to a specific fund is not intended to provide a sufficient basis on which to make any investment decision as any such decision requires careful study of the offering memorandum of the relevant fund.
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By accessing any part of the Website you are indicating that you accept these terms and that you agree to abide by them. If you do not accept these terms, do not use the Website.
When I was a child in the 1960s, the most life-changing innovation was probably the introduction of colour TV and, today, when our nieces and nephews come to London to visit us, their first question is always the same: "Is the password still the same?" It is all about streaming these days.
Just because something is innovative does not translate into increased productivity. Today's innovations are not likely to have nearly the same impact on productivity as, say, the car had on the productivity of our parents, or the arrival of the washing machine had on one's ability to free up precious time. Productivity enhancements simply get more and more marginal, even if we think that all these new gadgets are wonderful.
I am aware that there are people out there who would disagree with that statement; they don't think the marginal impact of innovations is diminishing at all, but the macro-economic data suggests otherwise.
Take the driver-less car – probably the innovation-to-come that excites the most. According to at least one well researched estimate from the MacroStrategy Partnership, the introduction of the driver-less car would only boost U.S. GDP directly by 1.3% – and that is before the cost of servicing the additional debt has been taken into account.
I have just argued that improvements in productivity are not as significant as they used to be, and that is certainly the case, even if some years are better than others. The biggest spike in productivity in more recent times came around the millennium, prompted by the dot-com boom, which regrettably turned into the infamous dot-com bubble, but that is another story. Since 2006-07, productivity changes have trended down pretty much everywhere.
Workforce growth will turn negative in many countries in the years to come, and that is in absolute numbers. It is therefore more or less a given that GDP growth will stay relatively muted for a very long time to come, unless some kind of productivity miracle were to happen.
Just to be absolutely crystal clear: The workforce will fall nearly 1% per year in Japan and Korea between now and 2050; it will fall almost 0.5% per year in the Eurozone but only marginally in the UK, whereas it will rise almost 0.5% per year in the U.S. Significant regional differences in economic growth are therefore to be expected, but economic growth will be weak everywhere, at least when compared to what we became used to between the early 1980s and the Global Financial Crisis.Those who argue that GDP growth will be disappointingly low for many years to come are on very solid ground. Welcome to the New Normal.
Niels Clemen Jensen founded Absolute Return Partners in 2002 and is Chief Investment Officer. He has over 30 years of investment banking and investment management experience and is author of The Absolute Return Letter.
In 2018, Harriman House published The End of Indexing, Niels' first book.
© Absolute Return Partners LLP . Registered in England No. OC303480. Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.


James M. Evans, 76, of Rimersburg, passed away Sunday evening, September 23, 2018, at the Clarview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Sligo.
A completed obituary will be published Wednesday.
The Burns Funeral Home & Crematorium, Inc. in Rimersburg is handling the arrangements.


These little DIY doggie party hats are so much fun to make and are perfect any celebration or special occasion. Why not let your pets join in on the fun.
These adorable doggie party hats are so cute on your pets! You can design the hats according to your pet's size. Create these sweet doggie party hats in any color you choose. Finish with a bow and some elastic to hold the hat snuggly in place. Then say woof for the camera.
Begin by gathering all your craft materials.
Cut a birthday party hat pattern out from cardboard. I used little snack boxes because my dogs are small. Have a larger dog? – Use a cereal box. Be sure to notch out the top and add a tab to glue it in place.
Cut out several hat patterns.
Glue cardstock to the top of the cardboard.
Roll the hat patterns into shape and glue the tab to the side. Glue a piece of accent ribbon to the bottom.
To make the bow for the front of the hat place the Hair Bow Tool & Ruler onto the Mini Bowdabra. Cut 18″ of Bowdabra Bow Wire and fold it in half. Place the wire into the Mini Bowdabra.
To create the bow tail place the ribbon into the Mini Bowdabra at the 2″ mark.
Fold and press the ribbon at the 1.5″ mark to make your first loop.
Continue fold and pressing the ribbon into the Mini Bowdabra to make additional loops. When you have the amount of loops you want cut the ribbon at the 2″ mark to make your second tail. Scrunch down with the Mini Bowdabra Wand.
Place the two tails of Bowdabra Bow Wire through the loop and pull tightly.
Bring the wire around the back of the bow and knot.
Fluff the bow and glue it onto the party hat. Add a gem to the center of the bow and spiral the remaining Bowdabra Bow Wire.
Hot glue elastic to the bottom of the hat.
Follow the instructions to make several pet party hats.


text:
Q: How to choose n_estimators in RandomForestClassifier? I'm building a Random Forest Binary Classsifier in python on a pre-processed dataset with 4898 instances, 60-40 stratified split-ratio  and 78% data belonging to one target label and the rest to the other. What value of n_estimators should I choose in order to achieve the most practically useful / best possible random forest classifer model? I plotted the accuracy vs n_estimators curve using the code snippet below. x_trai and, y_train are the features and target labels in training set respectively and x_test and y_test are the features and target labels in the test set respectively.
from sklearn.ensemble import RandomForestClassifier
from sklearn.metrics import accuracy_score
scores =[]
for k in range(1, 200):
    rfc = RandomForestClassifier(n_estimators=k)
    rfc.fit(x_train, y_train)
    y_pred = rfc.predict(x_test)
    scores.append(accuracy_score(y_test, y_pred))

import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
%matplotlib inline

# plot the relationship between K and testing accuracy
# plt.plot(x_axis, y_axis)
plt.plot(range(1, 200), scores)
plt.xlabel('Value of n_estimators for Random Forest Classifier')
plt.ylabel('Testing Accuracy')

Here, it is visible that a high value for n_estimators will give a good acuracy score, but it is fluctuating randomly in the curve even for nearby values of n_estimators, so I can't pick the best one precisely. I only want to know about the tuning of n_estimators hyperparameter, how should I choose it, please help. Should I use ROC or CAP curve instead of accuracy_score? Thanks.

A: see (https://github.com/dnishimoto/python-deep-learning/blob/master/Random%20Forest%20Tennis.ipynb) randomsearchcv example
I used RandomSearchCV to find the best params for the Random Forest Classifier
n_estimators is the number of decision trees to use.
try using XBBoost to get more accuracy.
parameter_grid={'n_estimators':[1,2,3,4,5],'max_depth':[2,4,6,8,10],'min_samples_leaf':
[1,2,4],'max_features':[1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8]}

number_models=4
random_RandomForest_class=RandomizedSearchCV(
estimator=pipeline['clf'],
param_distributions=parameter_grid,
n_iter=number_models,
scoring='accuracy',
n_jobs=2,
cv=4,
refit=True,
return_train_score=True)

random_RandomForest_class.fit(X_train,y_train)
predictions=random_RandomForest_class.predict(X)

print("Accuracy Score",accuracy_score(y,predictions));
print("Best params",random_RandomForest_class.best_params_)
print("Best score",random_RandomForest_class.best_score_)

A: It is natural that random forest will stabilize after some n_estimators(because there is no mechnisum to "slow down" the fitting unlike boosting). Since there is no benefit to adding more weak tree estimators, you can choose around 50

A: don't use gridsearch for this case - it is an overkill - also since you set parameters arbitrarily you may not end up with not the optimum number.
there is a stage_predict attribute in scikit-learn which you can measure the validation error at each stage of training to find the optimum number of trees.
import numpy as np
from sklearn.model_selection import train_test_split
from sklearn.metrics import mean_squared_error

X_train, X_val, y_train, y_val = train_test_split(X, y)

# try a big number for n_estimator
gbrt = GradientBoostingRegressor(max_depth=2, n_estimators=100)
gbrt.fit(X_train, y_train)

# calculate error on validation set
errors = [mean_squared_error(y_val, y_pred)
 for y_pred in gbrt.staged_predict(X_val)]

bst_n_estimators = np.argmin(errors) + 1
gbrt_best = GradientBoostingRegressor(max_depth=2,n_estimators=bst_n_estimators)
gbrt_best.fit(X_train, y_train)

A: Is it only me or anyone who already answered this question, doesn't really answer your question? In case you still looking for the answer for how to get the accuracy score and the n_estimator you want. I maybe could answer it.
First, you already answer it from your code, in this lines.
scores =[]
for k in range(1, 200):
    rfc = RandomForestClassifier(n_estimators=k)
    rfc.fit(x_train, y_train)
    y_pred = rfc.predict(x_test)
    scores.append(accuracy_score(y_test, y_pred))

As you can see, you already saved the accuracy_score into scores. So you just need to recall it by find the maximum value from the socres's list.
maxs = max(scores)
maxs_idx = scores.index(maxs)

Then just put the print command in the final lines.
print(f"Accuracy Score: {maxs} with n_estimators: {maxs_idx}")

I hope your problem has already been solved. Well, I also thanks to you because your code helps me create a way to find the best estimators too.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Dr. Andrew Dodge has spent much of his time over the past few years delving deeper into the intricate workings of the body: our genes. Join us for this Periscope recording of one of his most popular presentations: Genetics & Your Health. He will talk to you about genetics, how they can affect your overall health, and how you can affect them! Dr. Andrew will walk through inexpensive and non-invasive genetics panels that can greatly impact how you take care of yourself and your family. He will discuss commonly known mutations such as MTHFR–and why that isn't the only genetic mutation you should be familiar with!
To set up a Genetics Consultation with our office, please Contact Us!


SuperEnalotto is known for the fact that the jackpot is often not won for a long time. So the main price, the minimum amount of which is 1,300,000, rises quickly. And there is no limit to its height. The highest win so far at Superenalotto was €177,800,000!
We have created a table of prices for each of the 6 price ranges of this lottery. We also show you how many players have won in each class.
A list of the most commonly and least frequently drawn numbers is good for players who want to improve their chances.
The numbers 4, 19, 24, 38, 74 and 8 are the numbers with the highest frequency at Superenalotto. The numbers 2, 8, 17, 29, 55 and 77 are the least likely to occur.


text:
Oct 25 Understanding Memes
Memes have existed for over a decade, but they turned into a lifestyle for bored millennials (such as myself) after the advent of social media. They have become a form of (sometimes) wordless communication, a mean of self-expression and, most important, a new style of humor that was proper to the internet. That's if you don't count dancing baby, of course.
Everybody makes and shares memes nowadays and no one has any idea why. It just feels good to express whatever we need to say with a single image and a couple lines of text. What's up with that? I sincerely believe that memes (good ones) are a smart and healthy exercise. And my justification is rooted in contemporary philosophy. Want to hear it? Of course not, but here it is anyway!
I believe that memes are perhaps the purest form of Jacques Derrida's deconstruction.
What is deconstruction?
Long story short: it's a method for reading texts. And by texts I mean texts of any kind: literary, philosophical, legal, social (lets say, a Calvin Klein ad) or cultural (for example, a screenshot from a film). Any collage of ideas. Deconstruction first identifies the dominant meaning in a text (you look hot in these jeans), then identifies the meaning deliberately marginalized by the text (these jeans are $200 and look better on girls under 110 lbs) and from there, start identifying every possible meaning in a text( you look gay in these jeans, there are holes in these jeans, etc.)
What was the point? Derrida pioneered a method of reading texts where the audience was not prisoner of its intended meaning or domineering ideas, therefore unlocking a new way of understanding things. For centuries, people understood everything through religion because it was the single source of truth. Science, philosophy and many other walked in the portrait and claimed they were the truth, thus offering different interpretation of the same things. A Church is the house of God for religions, but it's a stone building for science and it's an obsolete institution for philosopher, see what I mean?
OK, but how does it apply to memes? Glad you asked.
1. Take a text's original, intended meaning: blowing the horn of Gondor is for extremely important stuff only.
2. Flip it on its head: Boromir has a giant penis and he's pretty proud of it.
3. Keep going: Boromir's hand gesture defines Boromir, so what it means is bound to change depending on what's currently going on.
I mean, who even remembers what Boromir was trying to say in that scene? Everybody remembers it because of the meme. The Boromir meme has hijacked the original meaning of the Fellowship of the Ring scene. This is what memes do and this is why they're more important than ever now that everything and everyone can be memed: they decontextualize and often dedramatize images that are imposed to you by media. They're a natural reaction to the information age:
This is why memes have spread like wildfires on social media. They're a way to reinterpret the world through one's own individuality that strips it of its self-seriousness. Memes are a democratic and empowering form of satire. Everybody can make them, share them and they're a pretty clear statement from audiences: don't bullshit us or you'll become the next great internet meme.
Internet memes are, in a vacuum, a tool to deconstruct meaning. Media shower audiences every day with statement and images and meme generators have emerged from this 24/7 news cycle frenzy as a natural defense mechanism against this one-way communication. Memeing reappropriates the meaning of current events and empowers the audiences to remember it the way it wants. That's why they're important and we have Jacques Derrida to thank for that.
Does this make any sense?
Memes, Pop Culture, internet culture
Oct 26 Movie Review : Awakening of the Beast (1970)
Oct 24 Movie Review : Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Jan 19 Understanding Taylor Swift
Feb 28 Understanding Pro Wrestling
Jul 19 Understanding the Misappreciated Art of Podcasting


A territory is part of the United States, but it isn't a state. The United States has five territories.
The citizens of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands are also citizens of the United states. Congress has never granted citizenship to the citizens of American Samoa.
Each of the five territories has a nonvoting delegate in the House; however, no territory has representation in the Senate.
The citizens of the territories, even though most of them are citizens of the United States, cannot vote for the president.
Generally, citizens of the territories don't pay federal income taxes. They do pay Social Security taxes.
Citizens of the territories qualify for Social Security, Medicaid and Chip, and Medicare. In Harris v. Rosario, the Supreme Court held that the federal government could provide smaller Medicaid, Medicare, and Welfare benefits to the citizens of the territories.
The military allows citizens of the territories to serve.
Article IV of the Constitution says Congress can make the rules for all US territories. This means that Congress can overrule any law passed by the government of any of the territories. In Granville-Smith v. Granville-smith, the Supreme Court said a divorce law passed by the legislature of the US Virgin Islands violated the authority Congress gave the legislature.
For information about the territories, you should read The Not Quite States of America. I'm reading it now.


31 January 2019: Global peak ICE production is likely to happen around the mid 2020s, possibly 2024, CRU principal analyst Neil Hawkes told the AABC conference in Strasbourg on January 28.
While the next decade or so would provide enough room for both lead and lithium technologies to grow, the following two decades would see much more in lithium batteries, he said.
The price of lead would also come under downward pressure over the next decade. One of the major reasons for the slowdown was the decline in China's lead demand, which had sunk to single-digit growth, he said.
"Last year was very poor, and production has fallen for the first time in micro-HEVs. China's own lead production is down, partly because of checks and new regulations — it's more expensive in China and there's a natural evolution of secondary lead taking over from primary lead," he said.
Also presenting at the conference was Mark Lu, certified senior industrial analyst with the Industrial Technology Research Institute in Taiwan.
He said that as the number of electric vehicles increased, the proportion of ICE vehicles would drop from 95% of all vehicles to 70% by 2025. By 2040, the proportion would fall to 28%.
"Car and bike SLIs are still the biggest applications for lead batteries," he told delegates.
The change has happened quickly. In 2017, lead had more than half of the rechargeable battery growth worldwide — after 2020, the proportion will fall.
However the picture is mixed, with other applications, like start-stop vehicles, already accounting for 40% of all new ICE vehicles produced, rising to 50% at around the same time as ICE production peaks, Hawkes said. Start-stop batteries use more lead per battery than a standard combustion engine battery.
The price of lead reached a six-year high in early 2018, but since then has dropped from over $2,500/tonne to just below $2,000, where it has settled, he said.
However in the longer term, it was possible that lower lead prices could change the economic argument back towards lead batteries, especially when recycling capabilities were taken into account. The long tail of replacement automotive lead batteries could also initially offset any detrimental hit on the OEM side.
There could also be positive gains on the industrial side, potentially offsetting the weaker automotive side.
Hawkes said lead's good points — price, recyclability, performance improvements and replacement demand — meant there were positive factors. "Lead is in a fight for long-term survival but it's not an imminent death," he said.


This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged Gualala Arts Centre, Jane Reichhold, Lynx haiku journal, Werner Reichhold by sandra. Bookmark the permalink.
Thanks for stopping by Peter. She will leave a big gap.


Prior to trying Milk Oolong, I had been incredibly curious about giving it a go for a while. Surely not.. A tea that is naturally milky in taste? Hmm… Contemplation followed by the conclusion, in defiance, that this just cannot be… OH HOW WRONG. Gosh, opening this tea is like falling into a milk carton, head first. The creamy, milk aroma hits you hard, willing you back to childhood. Once brewed the creamy smells are sickly sweet, with a curious, light floral backing.
By the time I came to taste Milk Oolong I was swallowing my words, along with the tea. There's a heavy cream flavour, so creamy in fact that it's hard to believe there isn't milk in the cup! Another element to this is that the liquid almost feels thick in the mouth. I felt like the cat who got the cream.
Milk: You could add milk, but it doesn't add to or change the flavour, so there seems to be very little point. Sorry.
Sweet: If you insist on adding sweetener to this, and I'll be honest, you really don't need it, then add a little (a teeny, tiny little bit) of sugar, just to give it that sweeter kick you require. Honey seems to overpower the natural creaminess, so best to stick to sugar on this one.
I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised by this one. The creaminess is unlike anything I have tasted and I know I keep going on a bit, but it's probably the creamiest tea I've ever tasted.
If you're interested in trying this out click here..


text:
ACCEPTED

#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
null

#### Original name
Hydrocybe subminutula Murrill

### Remarks
null


text:
Bitwise delists XRP
RippleUncategorized
Another hard blow for Ripple and his XRP token. One of the leading crypto fund managers is totally liquidating its investments in this cryptocurrency. Exchanges and trading desks like Galaxy Digital also ban XRP.
Is XRP a security, a currency or a means of exchange? Ripple and the SEC are head-on opposing each other on this issue. The courts have yet to rule on the status of the now fourth largest cryptocurrency. Bitwise will not wait for the end of the dispute, however.
Bitwise Asset Management, no less than one of the largest crypto fund managers, is indeed taking a radical and immediate stance on XRP. No more holding XRP tokens.
In a press release, Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund announces that it has liquidated its position in XRP. And the explanation is simple: the SEC lawsuit and the security status attributed to the token. For the fund, the legal risk is very real.
Bitwise "does not invest in assets that could reasonably be considered securities," the company justified. On December 22, prior to the sale, XRP represented approximately 3.8% of the Fund's assets.
The proceeds from the sale of these tokens go to Bitwise's portfolios in other cryptocurrencies. The asset manager does not specify which tokens benefit from the liquidation of its XRP position.
For Ripple, this is yet another blow. With over $100 million in assets under management in October, Bitwise is one of the leading crypto funds in the market. But more importantly, this decision could well be an oil stain.
This is probably already the case. According to The Block, two crypto investment companies, Galaxy Digital and Jump Trading, are severing all ties with XRP. And once again, the trading desks justify this decision by the SEC's action.
Decrypt also points out that three crypto exchanges have also removed XRP tokens from their trading platforms. These are CrossTower, Beaxy, and OSL. Others may follow.
By keeping the XRP, qualified as a security, the exchanges should obtain a license from the SEC. Failure to do so could expose them to prosecution and financial penalties.
"I think that any crypto exchange that doesn't deliberately not delist XRP this week loses its mind. If the SEC says it's a security, you'd be crazy to list it without a license," said Bruce Fenton, CEO of Chainstone Labs.
As far as the XRP course is concerned, it's already sinking. It's been in steep decline for four consecutive days. Yesterday, according to CoinMarketCap, it dropped more than 30%. In addition, the token is losing its position as the 3rd largest cryptocurrency, a significant status for the founders of Ripple.
Ledger on the edge of bankruptcy after data leak
Cryptocurrency miner Riot Blockchain spends $35 million on new equipment


As a national organisation, Ovarian Cancer Australia's volunteers are vital to the growing ovarian cancer movement, helping us to increase our reach.
From the strategic leadership of our national board of directors, to our volunteers championing ovarian cancer awareness in their local communities, our volunteers are intrinsic to the success of our organisation.
OCA believes that volunteers are vital to the achievement of our vision and mission. They bring energy and commitment to our organisation and demonstrate the power of community.
There are always new volunteering opportunities arising, if you are interested in volunteering at our Melbourne office, please fill in this form and we will contact you when an opportunity comes up.
For any volunteer-related enquiries, please contact Colleen Martin, Volunteers Coordinator, at colleen.martin@ovariancancer.net.au or 03 9289 9777.


text:
Celebrate Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II's Reign
Ferrari, an Italian icon across the globe, will be at the very heart of the Diamond Jubilee Pageant to celebrate 60 years of Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II's reign, an event of huge importance to the United Kingdom. The marque's clients and collectors will be parading some of the most beautiful, historic and contemporary Ferraris ever built through the grounds of Windsor Castle.
Ferrari, however, wanted to involve another icon of Italian excellence and, thanks to its financial contribution made to the organization, will be accompanied to the celebration by the 4th Mounted Carabinieri Regiment performing the famous Historic Carosello, a demonstration of superb horsemanship and synthesis of the level of training reached by the Carabinieri. The Carosello will stage a stunning display of horsemanship during which they will perform the intricate yet fluid quadrilles, equestrian rides choreographed to music, to showcase the skill and agility of both horses and riders.
The Diamond Jubilee Pageant takes place from May 10th to the 13th.
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I'm afraid my murders would be something like my bridge: I'd make some stupid mistake and never realize it until I found everybody was looking at me.
Fresh off the successes of Strangers on a Train (1951) and I Confess (1953), director Alfred Hitchcock was poised to begin production on his voyeuristic thriller Rear Window. But a combination of poor timing and a gimmicky new trend sweeping Hollywood – the 3D movie – conspired against the filmmaker. The surprise success of 1953's House of Wax prompted studio Warner Bros., who had Hitchcock under contract at the time, to push a number of 3D movies into production, one of which was Dial M for Murder.
Based on Frederick Knott's stage play of the same name, Dial M for Murder follows an ex-tennis pro (Ray Milland) who conspires to have his wife (Grace Kelly) murdered after discovering she is having an affair. The crime thriller is notable for being Hitchcock's first and only stereoscopic 3D film (although it played mostly in traditional 2D during its theatrical run), as well as his first widescreen picture. It was also the first Hitch film to feature Kelly in a lead role.
When people think of Hitchcock's title sequences, they rightfully recall his celebrated collaborations with title designer Saul Bass. But though the director's pre-Vertigo opening sequences may have lacked the sophistication of Bass' early output, they were always finely considered pieces that were integral to the film as a whole.
Director Alfred Hitchcock pictured with the giant telephone prop built for Dial M for Murder.
The model telephone (and giant prop finger) seen later in Dial M for Murder.
The most unsettling element of the Dial M for Murder opening is almost certainly composer Dimitri Tiomkin's main title theme. Save for the twisting, whirling xylophone notes present in the introduction, Tiomkin's composition is very much a classic golden age Hollywood score, broad and romantic, standard for the era but completely at odds with the film's dark subject matter. Whether this was a deliberate choice to subvert audience expectations or simply Hitchcock deferring to the studio's musical preferences is unclear, but the contrast creates a chilling effect.


Follow template instructions for making book, cutting cover of book from red paper and inside lining from lime check paper. Antique edges of assembled book with turquoise ink.
Cut hat from lime check paper. Cut head from black paper. Cut beak from yellow paper. Cut face from white cardstock. Antique edges of hat, face and nose with blue ink, using a small piece of dry sponge.
Cut hat brim from white handmade paper. Punch two 3/4" circles from handmade pink paper for cheeks. Dab glue on edges of hat brim and cheeks, and quickly sprinkle glitter on glue while wet. Shake off excess glitter.
Punch 1/16" holes in face at eye and mouth dots and attach brads. Glue head, face, hat, hat brim, cheeks and nose to book cover, following pattern. Draw a line around front cover 1/8" from edges with black marker. Stamp "NOEL" in upper left corner of cover with black ink. Insert ribbon through jingle bell and blue ornament, and tie into a bow. Glue bow to tip of hat. Glue notepad inside book. Wrap thread around book twice and tie into a bow under word.


Kinesys Automation has developed the most compact and economical palletizing solution available in the marketplace designed specifically for pails, drums, cases and bags, and features versatility for accommodating the customers' needs of semi-automatic to fully automatic. The system is specifically designed to eliminate the task of manual palletizing by using the simplest machine design possible, while minimizing its footprint to as little as 7' x 7'. With an impressive lift load of up to 650 lbs. and interchangeable pick up heads, the palletizer is a high efficiency system designed to eliminate the need for manually stacking of containers at an affordable price point.
Available as Semi or Fully automated and Low or High Throughput. Pallets are introduced and removed from the system manually in semi-automatic systems, and can be safeguarded with either a pair of access doors or a light curtain embedded within the structural elements of the framework. Fully automatic systems employ integrated pallet conveyors to allow for automated pallet movement and, while still offering an efficient use of floor space usage, are configurable to satisfy every option in pallet movement in and out of the palletizer.
Low-throughput systems are highly flexible in accommodating various size containers with interchangeable pick heads, whereas high-throughput systems are rigid in their design and construction.
Semi-automatic systems require pallets to be introduced and removed manually, whereas fully automatic systems employ integrated pallet conveyors to allow for automated pallet movement. While still offering an efficient use of floor space usage, our palletizing platform is configurable to satisfy every option in pallet movement in and out of the palletizer.
Kinesys Automation's palletizers are gantry style (Cartesian) robotic systems that employ two high-resolution servo motors for xy location with a pneumatic lift cylinder for the z-axis, or three high-resolution servo motors for all three axes. A fourth rotational axis is available in servo or pneumatic, depending on the application.


text:
Aggravated Circumstances
Paulette Brown and the brutality of the Foster care System
by Marlon Crump/PNN
"Are there any other parents that are in a similar situation like you are?" Paulette Brown was asked during a recent radio broadcast interview.
"Yes there are." Paulette replied. "But too many of them are too scared to fight the system because it is such a big entity. We are just one person, or a group of mothers and fathers who are out here saying that our children are being abused."
Unfortunately, the system is a mammoth with divisions, subdivisions, and counterparts aimed specifically towards "certain issues." No matter what injustice one may experience as a result of the system's action, fear is immediately imminent when they fight back, by simply speaking out.
"Fostercare" is defined as "a system by which a certified, "stand-in parent(s)" cares for minor children or young people who have been "removed" (or displaced) from their birth parents or other custodial adults by state authority."
Throughout U.S history (and most likely in other countries) the foster care system, homes and agency affiliates have presented a destructive ticket for children, physically and psychologically. No matter the overwhelming number of complaints that discover the desks of an administrative supervisor, an oversight agency, and a public official for fostercare reform.............the destination for the complaints seems to arrive into wastebaskets at the side of their desks.
Former U.S President Bill Clinton signed a fostercare law, the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA) in 1997, written by Dr. Cassie Statuto Bevan, which reduced the time children are allowed to remain in fostercare before being available for adoption. This law required state child welfare agencies to identify cases where "aggravated circumstances" make permanent separation of a child from the birth family the "best option" for the safety and well-being of the child.
One of the main components of ASFA is the imposition of stricter time limits on "reunification efforts."
Proponents of ASFA claimed that before the law was passed, the lack of this legislation was the reason it was common for children to be weakened in care for years with no permanent living situation identified. The children were often moved from placement to placement with no real plan for a permanent home.
Opponents of ASFA argued that the real reason children were weakened in foster care was that too many were "taken needlessly from their parents in the first place." Since ASFA did not address this, opponents said, it would not accomplish its goals, and would only delay a decline in the foster care population that should have occurred anyway "because of no reports on child abuse."
Ten years after ASFA became law, the reported number of children in foster care on any given day is ONLY about 7,000 fewer than when ASFA was passed. Children continue to be vulnerable and weakend in care, and to be moved from place to place.
Paulette Brown, an in home care provider a single mom of two daughters, (lost a son to violence in 2006) is desperately seeking justice against the inhumane treatments that the foster care system has/is subjecting towards children who are taken away, particularly one of its primary affiliates being the Child Protective Services agency.(C.P.S)
Paulette appeared at POOR Magazine's very first POOR Community Newsroom, on February 3rd since its forced relocation/gentrified move from the S.F Grant Building, in December of 2008. Unfortunately, inhumane treatments, tortures, rapes, abuses, etc, etc are not uncommon to us.
Paulette's niece, while she was still an infant, has been tortured, tormented, and traumatized into the fostercare system until her release into her aunt's custody, at three years old. Paulette's half-sister's drug use was the motivation for her niece to be taken by the fostercare system. However, their job was not to traumatize her.......... by failing to protect her.
More and more children aren't treated much differently than the children forced into illegal sex slave operations that law enforcements soundly swears to shut down, and the "terrorist detainees" held in the prisons of U.S Guatanomo Bay. Like so, President Obama has recently ordered the closing of Guatanomo Bay, but not before these detainess will have extreme difficulty adjusting to life, as a result of "interrogation techniques" given to them during their imprisonments.
Such stories of the fostercare system and C.P.S have motivated "Tiny" Lisa Gray-Garcia, and her mom, co-founder, the late great "Mama" Dee Gray to establish the CourtWatch division of POOR from the very beginning of POOR. The late great "Mama" Dee Gray, herself, was tortured for many years in the fostercare system.
On February 9th, 2009 there were several issues that were raised on the radio broadcast, 89.1 KPOO before Miss Brown was interviewed, such as the D.T.V transition (Digital Television transition was delayed until June 12th, by the urging of new U.S President Barack Obama to Congress.) and the ongoing "budget crisis" that continues to infest the lives of poor working families, and people in poverty, today.
Paulette's purpose was to inform the world of the treatments that her niece had experienced (from the time she was an infant until three), and the hassles from San Francisco city agencies of the fostercare system she's been corruptively channeled through, for every action she took to prevent these acts from continuing.
It was reported on 89.1 KPOO that more hassles will increase with the San Francisco Department of Social Services, and other S.F city agencies due to the" budget crisis" here in the State of California. When I listened, I asked my own self, "Does it really take more or less money and/or an economic stimulus package for an overseer and or a governmental authority official to take these ongoing complaints more seriously?"
Exactly who is going to provide a "Bailout Plan" to innocent children who are faultlessly funneled into the fostercare system, into a world existing of disgusting, sickening, and inhumane treatments from foster parents, resulting in children growing up having difficulty adjusting to life? Are children going to continue being subjected to the fostercare sytem as political prostitutes?
"They never wrote a report, they just gave her back to me with all the issues she has had to deal with. I'm supposed to be the mother, the father, the police officer, the therapist, lawyer, and I can't do it all." Paulette explained.
"They need to go ahead and report this child abuse, but they are passing the buck onto me and telling ME to report it when she's a ward of court. She's still under the foster care system. THEY are supposed to protect her, THEY are supposed to report this, not me."
Paulette has presented numerous reports and complaints to her niece's therapist, her social worker, and her attorney regarding the wicked treatments her niece was receiving, while she was in the fostercare system. Her niece has given them letters telling them what happened to her, but no action has been taken.
Paulette presented her concerns of the aftermath mental well-being of her niece. "Here I am dealing with all these issues that she is having. She's doing more things now, than when she left me, like fighting with people, depression, and self-medication. I need help and the fostercare system is not helping."
Though Paulette presented, and voiced her concerns, only one can ponder the thought of how can the fostercare system help when they're practically contributing to the problem from its inability of intervention(s) from prevention(s) by not even reporting it?
Paulette's niece has been in three fostercare homes, one where she was molested, the other where she was raped, and the other where she was physically and verbally abused. In 1996 when her niece was three, she stayed with her foster mother who's son stayed there as well..............while he was on parole for rape! Upon learning this, Paulette acted quickly to have her niece removed from that household.
(Placing children into fostercare homes where the parents have a criminal history is, or the parent is not given a background check, is not uncommon. It as if they are thrown into a jail cell with a dangerous inmate.)
After an estimated wait time of one year, her niece was finally given to her. She then took her niece to San Francisco General Hospital to be examined. When her niece was examined, it was revealed that her niece's vaginal area was severely penetrated.
When Paulette asked the doctors what was wrong with her vaginal area, she was told by by two doctors that her niece was raped. Her area was bleeding alot.
Paulette confronted the foster mother regarding this, and the foster mother responded "Oh that's just a rash." Paulette knew this was a lie, given the fact that she has two children of her own, and knows what a real rash lookes like. A second incident occurred when Paulette visited her niece and changed her diaper, only to discover that her vaginal area was bleeding out of control.
After Paulette expressed her outrage of this horrible act being done to her niece, the foster mother stopped Paulette from having any more visits.
In 2001, Paulette's niece was violently attacked by her own therapist when she was at the Edgewood Center for Families and Children. A civil action was filed by Paulette, where she prevailed on the action with a settlement. Then-San Francisco City Attorney Robert Evans informed a San Francisco judge that the S.F Department of Social Services neglected Paulette's niece's needs.
Paulette called the ombudsman of San Francisco to fire the therapist, the social worker, and the attorney of her niece, James Donnelly, due to the fact that they wasn't doing their jobs. However, Paulette explained during her radio broadcast interview that NO action was really taken by the ombudsman.
At one point, there was a critical service called Family Mosaic, that was threatened to be cut. Paulette relentlessly fought to prevent this service from being cut, especially since she was already having the world on her shoulders, and cutting a vital service for her niece was just doing WAY too much. Fortunately, this service remained intact.
There was some discussion during the radio broadcast that current S.F Mayor Gavin Newsom hires people at the S.F Department of Social Services, which means that complaints of these abuses fall directly under his jurisdiction.
On numerous occassions, Paulette has appealed and urged Newsom to launch an investigation into these incidents. Unfortunately, she has received the same hassles, runarounds, and disconcerns his aides have given her, just like the fostercare system.
Paulette was saddened by this attitude and inaction by Newsom, given the fact that she supported him during his first 2003 mayoral run against his opponent, Matt Gonzalez, whom he successfully defeated. She even has a huge picture portrait of him featured with her and her children after his victory, as the new S.F Mayor.
Before Newsom, Paulette appealed to former S.F Mayor, Willie Brown and his aides for help, but recieved the same treatments.
"I supported him and I just wanted him (Newsom) to look into these incidents of children being abused in the fostercare system." Paulette said, softly and sadly. She's also appealed to the S.F Board of Supervisors, and other prominent city officals to put an end to the violence in the communities of color, following the death of her son who was killed on August 14th, 2006. His killers are yet to be caught, or even sought.
Just three years ago, Paulette's niece was sexually molested by staff members of the Boys and Girl's Club.
Despite the disregard of documents that validate all of Paulette's complaints, the lack of interventions by oversight agenicies, refusals of representations from disconcerned lawyers due to intimidations, the overwhelming fear of retaliation from parents (especially ones previously involved with the penal system),and the financial security jeapordization of their jobs; Paulette continues to organize her efforts to bring awareness and a movement against the savagery of the fostercare system.
"You're doing too much" are the discouraging remarks Paulette's received. She's been asked why is she fighting so hard. "She's my niece, I love her and we have the same blood, so don't ASK me why I am fighting so hard!" Paulette's fiery response to such a foolish question.
Paulette is currently her niece's relative care giver, where she only has partial custody, since her niece is still a ward of court. Paulette has been denied adoption of her niece due to her niece needing "more therapy" which is alleged by the Department of Human Services. Paulette contends that it is a lame excuse to conceal the possibilty of their retaliation towards her for exposing their corruption.
Paulette swears that her niece has never even gotten effective therapy services for her niece's needs. Every time Paulette tried to place her niece in a therapy service that could've effectively treated her niece's needs, she was always removed from that service by the S.F Department of Human Services.
Nine months before Paulette received partial custody of her niece, she was informed by her niece that her foster parents were physicallly and verbally abusing her. Her niece was choked, beaten, and had her glasses broken. Paulette reported these incidents to the social worker, the therapist, and the lawyer, but just like the other times, these three did nothing to stop it.
Her niece was so frightend that she slept at night with a razor blade her side.
On December 21st, 2008, her niece was violently choked, and dragged down the stairs. The mother did the dragging, while the father watched. This was the absolute final straw for Paulette. On December 22nd, 2008, Paulette's niece was partially placed back into her custody by the court.
Unfortunately, her niece was not out of the woods. Her niece's social worker of approximately seven years, Aunca Bujes, breached confidentiality by revealing to the foster parents that Paulette had reported the abuse. Both Paulette and her niece immediately started receiving threats as a result. Her niece received so many of them on her cell phone, that Paulette had to change her number.
"They put her in the same room WITH THE ABUSERS, asking her what happend. You don't put a CHILD in the SAME room with the abusers and try to get information out of that child. She is not going to tell you any and everything!" What they told Paulette was that her niece only said that "they grabbed just her arm." There was more to it than that, but they have not made a report."
Before the murder of her seventeen year old son on August 14th, 2006, Paulette was even been threatend by C.P.S regarding her OWN two children, in addition with her niece; should she continue with her fight against the fostercare system.
"It'll be a cold day in HELL before I let that happen!" Paulette responded, furiously.
Paulette Brown is seeking the help of other parents who've had similar experiences like she's had with the fostercare system to organize a massive movement to hold it accountable for its lack of interventions and its failures to protect children. She can be reached by her email: serina1994@aol.com
Like Paulette, every parent and sympathizer must organize to hold the entire fostercare system accountable for its lack of prevention to protect the lives of children.
To C.P.S (Child Profit Service) your kids will soon become their kids and somebody else's kids too.
And once they get your kids in their hands and out of yours
They meaning C.P.S and the court system will make it hard for you to get them back anytime soon.
When C.P.S (Child Profit Service) need money they have their own therapist at the family service agency 1010 gough.
That they use to help kidnap the children through lies that they coach the child to tell on their parents. ...
Excerpt from the poem, "When Child Profit Service come to your house" written by POOR Press author, poverty scholar, and poet, Byron Gafford.
Revolutionary Legal Advocacy Project


text:
Title:Analysis of Chinese Herbal Formulae Recommended for COVID-19 in Different Schemes in China: A Data Mining Approach
Author(s): LiWei Yin, YaCen Gao, ZiPing Li*, MengYu Wang and KaiXin Chen
Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510000, Guangdong,China
Keywords: Novel coronavirus pneumonia, COVID-19, data mining, traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese herbs, prescription pattern.
Background: Novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), or coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a worldwide health threat that has affected millions of people globally. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been introduced for the treatment of COVID-19. However, efficacy differs among herbal medicines, and the ideal prescription pattern for TCM herbal formulae for COVID-19 treatment needs to be explored. Therefore, the data mining method has been used in this study to analyze the TCM prescription pattern for COVID-19.
Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the TCM prescription pattern in Regional Schemes in China for COVID-19 in order to provide a new reference for the use of TCM in COVID-19 treatment.
Methods: By searching the TCM treatment protocols of COVID-19 in 23 Regional Schemes, TCM syndromes and herbal medicines were analyzed by data mining. The Ancient and Modern Medical Case Cloud Platform (V2.1 personal Edition) was used to perform frequency statistics, correlation analysis, and cluster analysis. A total of 82 TCM syndromes and 171 Chinese herbal medicines were found. The course of the disease can be divided into the early stage, middle stage, severe stage, and recovery stage.
Results: In the early stage, the focus is primarily on resolving dampness, dispelling cold, and diffusing the lungs. In the middle stage, the treatment priority is clearing heat and resolving toxins, promoting lung function, and relieving asthma. In the severe stage, the focus is on tonifying Qi, restoring Yang, and relieving the depletion of Yin and Yang. In the recovery stage, the main treatment is to invigorate the spleen and regulate Qi, tonify Qi, nourish Yin, and clear residual disease. There are certain differences between the Regional Schemes and the Nation Schemes, but the core prescription pattern of the former is consistent with the latter. The effectiveness of these 171 Chinese herbs include but are not limited to inhibiting COVID-19, strengthening immune system function, preventing heart failure, acting as antioxidants, oxidative stress inhibitory effects, maintaining organ function, and improving leukocyte survival.
Conclusion: This study may help to improve understanding of TCM herbal prescription pattern, practices, reveal the efficacy of combinations of Chinese herbs, and provide new ideas for TCM treatment for COVID-19.
Yin LiWei , Gao YaCen , Li ZiPing *, Wang MengYu and Chen KaiXin , Analysis of Chinese Herbal Formulae Recommended for COVID-19 in Different Schemes in China: A Data Mining Approach, Combinatorial Chemistry & High Throughput Screening 2021; 24(7) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1386207323666201001114101


text:
Former Bayside teacher among first vaccinated in UK against Covid-19
Sean Sullivan being administered the Covid-19 vaccine.
By Priya Gulraj Share
A former Bayside School teacher who now lives in the UK has been among the first people in Britain to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.
Sean Sullivan, 56, was administered with the first round of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday at the NHS-run Royal Cornwall Hospital and will follow up with his second shot at the beginning of January.
The first vaccine in UK was administered to 91-year old Margaret Keenan last Wednesday, with the programme being rolled out to vaccinate the over-80s and some health and care staff across the UK.
Although young, fit and healthy, Mr Sullivan was asked if he would consent to receiving the vaccine among the first cohort of recipients.
He told the Chronicle: "My nephew, Curtis, has very severe learning disabilities and he was transferred to a care home in Cornwall some five years ago."
"Myself, my partner and my mum moved over to support with his care."
"Because of my age and my health, I shouldn't be in the first cohort but the reason why I am in the first cohort to receive the vaccine is because the care company want to address the different layers of protection."
"I am a frequent visitor for my nephew, who is a vulnerable adult, so the care company felt this would be an additional layer of protection for the care workers and family members."
Speaking to the Chronicle shortly after receiving the jab, he said the entire experience was very well organised and all he felt was slight discomfort in his arm.
Mr Sullivan was required to fill in a questionnaire where he answered questions on any allergies and also whether he consented to receive the vaccine.
He did not hide the fact that he was "slightly nervous" about receiving the jab.
"I am putting my faith in the experts and there is a level of not knowing," Mr Sullivan said.
"I understand it has gone through the trial stages but what was a niggle is that that is all well and good but we don't know what the long-term effects this will have on our bodies in five to 10 years' time."
"I had to balance it all up."
"I want to protect my nephew and in order to do that I have to protect myself."
"Of the people I know, some of them are very against the vaccine and some of them are very much in favour."
"But before going to have it done I just thought to myself why am I doing this and first of all, I have to faith in the science."
"And secondly I have to be able to provide the continuity in care for my nephew, because at the end of the day, it is very important for his mental health and his well-being for these visits to continue."
Cornwall is currently in Tier 1 in the United Kingdom, with a relatively low number of cases in comparison to elsewhere in the country.
But despite the low level in numbers, there are strict rules in place in order to ensure the continuity of care in order to protect the residents at the care home.
Mr Sullivan has now received a card from the NHS which has been signed and dated as proof of having received the vaccine.
He was asked to keep it handy in his wallet to show he has been vaccinated.
Meanwhile Gibraltar's Covid-19 vaccination campaign is expected to begin in mid-January, with enough doses to vaccinate at least 35,000 people as from January.


text:
Yellow Ribbon America
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Investing in Hope… Transforming our Nation Through Prayer!
The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Our Task Force is a privately funded organization whose purpose is to encourage participation on the National Day of Prayer. It exists to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America's leaders and its families. The Task Force represents a Judeo Christian expression of the national observance, based on our understanding that this country was birthed in prayer and in reverence for the God of the Bible.
History of the National Day of Prayer
Fasting and prayer are religious exercises; the enjoining them an act of discipline. Every religious society has a right to determine for itself the time for these exercises, and the objects proper for them, according to their own particular tenets; and right can never be safer than in their hands, where the Constitution has deposited it. – Thomas Jefferson, 1808
Because of the faith of many of our founding fathers, public prayer and national days of prayer have a long-standing and significant history in American tradition. The Supreme Court affirmed the right of state legislatures to open their sessions with prayer in Marsh vs. Chambers (1983).
The National Day of Prayer is a vital part of our heritage. Since the first call to prayer in 1775, when the Continental Congress asked the colonies to pray for wisdom in forming a nation, the call to prayer has continued through our history, including President Lincoln's proclamation of a day of "humiliation, fasting, and prayer" in 1863. In 1952, a joint resolution by Congress, signed by President Truman, declared an annual national day of prayer. In 1988, the law was amended and signed by President Reagan, permanently setting the day as the first Thursday of every May. Each year, the president signs a proclamation, encouraging all Americans to pray on this day. Last year, all 50 state governors plus the governors of several U.S. territories signed similar proclamations.
Significance of the National Day of Prayer
The National Day of Prayer has great significance for us as a nation as it enables us to recall and to teach the way in which our founding fathers sought the wisdom of God when faced with critical decisions. It stands as a call for us to humbly come before God, seeking His guidance for our leaders and His grace upon us as a people. The unanimous passage of the bill establishing the National Day of Prayer as an annual event, signifies that prayer is as important to our nation today as it was in the beginning.
Like Thanksgiving or Christmas, this day has become a national observance placed on all Hallmark calendars and observed annually across the nation and in Washington, D.C. Every year, local, state, and federal observances were held from sunrise in Maine to sunset in Hawaii, uniting Americans from all socio-economic, political and ethnic backgrounds in prayer for our nation. It is estimated that over two million people attended more than 30,000 observances – organized by approximately 40,000 volunteers. At state capitols, county court houses, on the steps of city halls, and in schools, businesses, churches and homes, people stopped their activities and gathered for prayer.
The National Day of Prayer is Ours
The National Day of Prayer belongs to all Americans. It is a day that transcends differences, bringing together citizens from all backgrounds. Mrs. Shirley Dobson, NDP chairman, reminds us: "We have lost many of our freedoms in America because we have been asleep. I feel if we do not become involved and support the annual National Day of Prayer, we could end up forfeiting this freedom, too."
Historical Summary
1775 – The first Continental Congress calls for a National Day of Prayer and Fasting.
1863 – Abraham Lincoln calls for a National Day of Prayer.
1952 – Harry S. Truman declares a National Day of Prayer and signs into law an annual observance there of – United States Congress passed Joint Resolution 382 on April 17, 1952/ President Truman signs Public Law 82-324 (Public Law 82-324; 66 Stat. 64—April 17, 1952).
1988 – Ronald Reagan signs into law the designation of the first Thursday in May as the annual observance for the National Day of Prayer – President Reagan signs Public Law 100-307 January 25, 1988, in the Second Session of the One Hundredth Congress (Public Law 100-307—May 5, 1988).
1998 – Pub. L. 105-225, August 12, 1998, 112 Stat. 1258: The President shall issue each year a proclamation designating the first Thursday in May as a National Day of Prayer on which the people of the United States may turn to God in prayer and meditation at churches, in groups, and as individuals. This law was signed by President Clinton.1) There have been 143 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2014).3) Every President since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.5) Records indicate there have been 1,419 state and federal calls for national prayer since 1775 and counting.
1) There have been 143 national calls to prayer, humiliation, fasting and thanksgiving by the President of the United States (1789-2014).2) There have been 66 Presidential Proclamations for a National Day of Prayer (1952-2014). Gerald R. Ford (1976), George H. Bush (1989-91) and Barack H. Obama (2012) are the only U.S. Presidents to sign multiple National Day of Prayer Proclamations in the same year.3) Every President since 1952 has signed a National Day of Prayer proclamation.4) 34 of the 44 U.S. Presidents have signed proclamations for National Prayer. Three of the Presidents who did not sign a proclamation died while serving in office. Two Presidents, not included in the count – William Howard Taft and Warren Gamaliel Harding, signed proclamations for Thanksgiving and Prayer.
5) Records indicate there have been 1,419 state and federal calls for national prayer since 1775 and counting.
You can learn more about the National Day of Prayer at their website at http://nationaldayofprayer.org.
Today more than ever we all need to humble ourselves before God and pray for America…
Posted by Yellow Ribbon America on May 1, 2015 at 12:27
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