Art by Bilquis Evely, Liam Sharp and Romulo Fajardo, Jr.
Despite marking Greg Rucka's return to a company and character he'd long since left behind, his second Wonder Woman run has felt understated in a sense, largely defined by character action, like the choke hold that Diana put Barbara Ann in early on, over action in the more traditional sense. As his run comes to a close that remains true, there is no knockout brawl between Diana and an arch-nemesis to partake in that spans the full issue, but instead the results of the actions already taken to consider.
Less a conclusion and more a coda to Rucka's tenure, this anniversary issue brings those final threads together, but with the run having functioned as a tragedy until now, tying them up in a neat little bow is impossible. Rucka picks up with Diana finishing up some Justice League business with the rest of the members. Despite being the main action in the issue, it's brief, and the creative team is more interested in the aftermath and reactions to how Diana deals with it. And so, it brings it together as best it can, including the short story of Rucka and Nicola Scott's from the recent Annual, but there's something markedly different about her characterization initially, which is noted within the issue and that change goes to demonstrate how this run has affected Diana and shaken her faith.
That element to the story might find resolution of sorts here, but there are a lot of other balls that are still up in the air as Etta's status report to Sasha reveals no-one knows where the Cheetah is, among other details. While there's a sense of anti-climax as a result of this decision, it allows these stories to be furthered should future writers decide to pick up the threads. When it comes to Diana and Steve, their relationship has been the center of the run and a through line connecting past and present. That aspect of the story is the heart of it all, the one which dares to break away from the Greek tragedy and while the other threads aren't able to provide much warmth with the way the issue leaves off with them, this love story is able to provide enough to cover for them all.
Even when reaching this crescendo, the creative team avoid making it a moment for gaudy showmanship, retaining that understated quality, some would consider it minimalism. Both Bilquis Evely and Liam Sharp contribute to this coda and what's most remarkable about their art's expressiveness is the way they achieve this level of emotion with traditional page layouts, showing what the form is capable of on a base level. Romulo Fajardo, Jr. colors the full issue, giving it a seamless quality, and makes it harder to discern where Evely's work ends and Sharp's work begins. The pair have styles of a similar vein yet different textures thanks to the intensity of their line work and the coloring helps to bring them together, finding a healthy compromise of a softer edge instead of asking either to compromise their style and imitate the other.
Most of the art is on display as, despite the issue's amount of dialogue, Jodi Wynne gives these conversations space. It helps that Rucka's script avoids diatribes, but at no point does a page feel overwhelmed by text or incorrectly laid out to accommodate this talk. While Wynne hasn't required the use of different speech bubbles to discern between our language and that of the Amazons very often since Year One, it makes a brief appearance here and the way that Wynne transitions between fonts and bubbles, then back to the traditional ones without the reading experience being affected proves how well-crafted the lettering is.
The harmony of the creative team has been front and center throughout, a team with a single vision – to show what makes Diana Wonder Woman in the first place over creating an interpretation that would be more at home in an Elseworlds tale. A tale rich with symbolism and dense with meaning that never lost sight of what Diana represents even as her world was shaken up. I can only hope that this run provides a sense of stability going forward for her, after countless origin stories, having had her core ideals re-cemented and then her story furthered. That said, even if this does itself subject to a future writer deeming this tale another lie, I have faith that this will go down as one of the classics, as fondly remembered as Rucka's original run, as a compassionate conclusion that stands as affirmation of everything Diana can be.


It's official! Winter is here, which means in some locations whipping winds and frigid rains and sometimes snow aren't far behind. Most of us wouldn't ever contemplate of leaving the house without a heavy sweater or coat in overcast weather; nevertheless unfortunately, a lot of people don't think to put on their sunglasses. While the sun isn't always our first consideration during times that we are bundling up against the freezing winter climate, the sun's rays are still shining down during the winter months, and in certain circumstances can be even stronger.
They don't call it a "winter wonderland" for nothing. Particularly following a serious snow fall, the blanket of snow covering the ground, trees and everything else in sight, actually intensifies the reflection of the sun. In fact, in many cases it can downright hurt your eyes when you first step outside following a glistening snowfall. The UV sunlight that we are all so careful in avoiding in the summertime may really be more dangerous in the winter months since it bounces off the snow or ice, giving you a second exposure. This is why good sunglasses are a necessary winter accessory.
Even though it's important to pick a style you look good in, the most important consideration when deciding upon a pair of sunglasses is checking that they provide adequate protection against UV. Make sure your sunglasses block 100 percent of UV light by checking for confirmation that they are labeled UV 400 (this means they block all light with wavelengths up to 400 nanometers, which includes both UVA and UVB rays.) The good news is proper protection for your eyes doesn't mean you have to buy the most expensive pair. Many of the more affordable brands are made with total ultraviolet defense.
Another important factor in selecting sun wear is size. You want to make sure the lenses cover as much of the area around your eyes as possible. The larger the surface area covered by your sunglasses, the less harmful radiation will be able to penetrate. Lenses that wrap around the temples will also stop harmful rays from sneaking in through the periphery.
Although it's much more commonly known these days that sunglasses are essential water gear since the water intensifies sunlight, this also applies to wintery water as well. Therefore it is just as important to put on sunglasses during times when you go out in wintery conditions. Further ultraviolet exposure is more powerful at greater elevations such as mountain ski slopes.
Make a point to be knowledgeable about suitable eye protection all year long. Don't leave home without your sunglasses.


The Academy of Sport & Wellbeing is located behind the Webster Building/Student Link and between the Goodlyburn and Brahan buildings. Sport facilities are on the ground floor.
Crieff Road, Perth PH1 2NX.
Mondays (all year round), 7:45pm to 9:45pm, Academy of Sport & Wellbeing, Perth College UHI.
Thursdays (September to March), 8pm to 10pm, Bell's Sports Centre, Hay Street, Perth.
Mondays (September to May), 6.45pm to 7.45pm, Academy of Sport & Wellbeing, Perth College UHI.
Mondays, September to May during school term, from 6:45pm to 7:45pm at Perth College UHI.
Please contact info@glenearnbadminton.co.uk for an application form to join the club.
"Pay as you play" fee per person for each club night and each match night as follows:.
On Thursdays there is a discounted £2 fee for students.
Note that pay and display parking charges apply at Perth College. 50p for up to four hours. Sorry but the club unable to do anything about that!
Four teams from the club participate in Perth & District Badminton Association competitions.


For many years now, Cassandra has been renowned for its ability to handle massive scaling and global availability. Based on Amazon's Dynamo, Cassandra implements a masterless architecture which allows database transactions to continue even when the database is subjected to massive network or data center disruption. Even in the circumstance in which two geographically separate data centers are completely isolated through a network outage, a Cassandra database may continue to operate in both geographies, reconciling conflicting transactions—albeit possibly imperfectly—when the outage is resolved.
The underlying data model of Cassandra is based on the Google BigTable wide-column model, which is powerful but notoriously hard to program. However, for some time, Cassandra has provided a SQL-like query language called Cassandra Query Language (CQL). CQL abstracts the underlying wide column structure in favor of a more traditional tabular format. Although the CQL language does not provide a join capability, an upcoming release will support GROUP BY.
While traditional database models are well tuned for dealing with "things," graph databases excel when the relationships between things are of equal or greater significance—social networks being a familiar example. In 2015, DataStax acquired Aurelius software—makers of the TitanDB graph database— and has subsequently incorporated a graph capability into the DataStax Enterprise product.
Native graph databases such as Neo4J implement the graph relationships directly in the on-disk storage, which allows rapid traversal of a network without relying on index lookups. This is called index-free adjacency. In contrast, traditional databases often layer a Graph Compute Engine over their existing storage formats, which is fine when expanding a graph in batch mode but which often falls short for real-time operations.
Cassandra's support implements JSON over the top of the Cassandra wide-column data model. Top-level JSON attributes are mapped directly to Cassandra columns while nested items are implemented as Map and List structures within other columns. Unlike most other JSON implementations, the Cassandra approach requires definition of the JSON schema in a CREATE TABLE statement, which is consistent with Cassandra's underlying approach but somewhat at odds with the flexible schema philosophy of many NoSQL advocates.
The DSE version of Cassandra offers a number of other significant advantages over open source Cassandra, including integration with Spark for analytics, Solr for text search, and operational and development tool suites.


With its batteries depleted and not enough sunlight available to recharge, Philae has fallen into 'idle mode' for a potentially long silence. In this mode, all instruments and most systems on board are shut down.
The possibility that this may happen was boosted this evening when mission controllers sent commands to rotate the lander's main body, to which the solar panels are fixed. This may have exposed more panel area to sunlight.
The European Space Agency's director general described the landing as "a big step for human civilisation".
Further analysis is needed to fully understand the status of the probe, known as Philae.
However, Dr Ulamec told the BBC that at last radio contact with the probe, he believed it to be in a stable configuration.
"This is the indication right now," he explained. "We really have to wait until tomorrow morning and then we will know a lot more."
The "first" landing on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was confirmed at about 16:05 GMT.
There were cheers and hugs at the European Space Agency (Esa) mission control in Darmstadt, Germany, after the signal came through.
Director general Jean-Jacques Dordain described it as "a great great day, not only for Esa, but... I think for the world".
Early data started to come back from instruments, and one team could see that the lander had sunk about 4cm (1.5 inches) into the surface, suggesting a relatively soft top layer.
But shortly after, engineers could see that the harpoons, designed to fasten the spacecraft to the 4km-wide (2.5 miles) ball of ice and dust, had not fired as planned.
In a later media briefing, Dr Ulamec said: "What we know is we touched down, we landed at the comet at the time when you all saw us cheering and when it was announced.
"We had a very clear signal there; we received data from the landing - housekeeping and science data. That's the good news."
But then Dr Ulamec delivered the "bad news". He said telemetry from the craft suggested it might have drifted off the surface after landing and started to turn. This subsequently came to an end, which the German Space Agency official interpreted as a possible "second landing" on Comet 67P.
In fact, even later data would indicate that the Philae robot may have bounced twice, taking a full two hours to come to a rest.
This bouncing was always a possibility, but had been made more likely by the failure of the harpoons to deploy, and the failure of a thruster intended to push the robot into the surface.
Pictures from the surface have been retrieved at Earth and are being processed in preparation for release.
Scientists were initially elated following the confirmation of a landing.
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, famous for performing David Bowie's Space Oddity on the space station, said of the comet: "Now we're close enough to lick it, and see what it's really made of."
Prof Monica Grady of the UK's Open University, who has worked on the project from its earliest days, was jumping for joy at Darmstadt when the news came through.
She told BBC News: "I can't believe it, it's fantastic, we've landed - we've waited so long for this."
But the news about the unanchored state of Philae has cast a shadow over the celebrations.
The mission team must decide if the harpoons can now be commanded to fire without unsteadying the robot still further.
Esa's Rosetta satellite, which had carried Philae on a 10-year, 6.4-billion-km journey to the comet, and which relayed its communications to Earth throughout the descent, has now moved out of radio "visibility".
If this connection is re-established on cue on Thursday, the team will feel much more confident.
What is clear is that Philae touched down very close to the targeted zone on the head of the rubber-duck-shaped comet.
Paolo Ferri, head of operations at Esa, said: "The camera teams used [descent] images to show that we landed very, very close to the planned centre of our big error ellipse. And I think some people already have the co-ordinates of the first landing."
If Philae remains stable and can be properly secured, it will engage in several months of science experiments on 67P.
It will take pictures of the cometscape and analyse the surface chemical composition.
Scientists are hoping 67P's surface materials will hold fresh insights into the origins of our Solar System more than 4.5 billion years ago.
One theory holds that comets were responsible for delivering water to the planets. Another idea is that they could have "seeded" the Earth with the chemistry needed to help kick-start life. Philae will test some of this thinking.
Explanation: This cylindrical projection global map is one of six new color maps of Saturn's midsized icy moons, constructed using 10 years of image data from the Cassini spacecraft. Discovered by Cassini (the astronomer) in 1684, Dione is about 1,120 kilometers across. Based on data extending from infrared to ultraviolet, the full resolution of this latest space-age map is 250 meters per pixel. The remarkable brightness difference between the tidally locked moon's lighter leading hemisphere (right) and darker trailing hemisphere clearly stands out. Like other Saturn moons orbiting within the broad E-ring, Dione's leading hemisphere is kept shiny as it picks up a coating of the faint ring's icy material. The E-ring material is constantly replenished by geysers on moon Enceladus' south pole. Lighter, younger surface fractures also appear to cross the dark, cratered trailing hemisphere.
A report issued by the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB) has stated that the two tail stabilizers conducted what is known as "feathering" – far earlier than scheduled during Friday's powered test flight of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. The announcement came two days after the accident on Sunday, Nov. 2. The fact that the system, pioneered by the private space plane's SpaceShipOne predecessor, deployed earlier than it was designed to - turns attention away from initial suspicions that the commercial spacecraft's new fuel might have been the cause for the accident.
The NTSB's acting chairman, Christopher Hart, stressed that the root cause of the disaster is still largely unknown and that their is a wealth of data that has to be reviewed before the board issues its findings.
On Oct. 31, just two days after an Orbital Sciences Corporation Antares rocked exploded a few seconds after liftoff, Virgin's SS2 spacecraft detached from its WhiteKnight Two carrier aircraft and, essentially, disintegrated at an altitude of about 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) a few moments later. Even though on a normal flight the spacecraft would only reach sub-orbit – it stills needs to dramatically slow its descent – enter the feathering system.
By "feathering," the stabilizers move from a horizontal to vertical position relative to the spacecraft. This system is normally activated when the trip is complete and the vehicle is being prepared to return home. It appears that on Friday – the system was activated shortly after SpaceShipTwo's rocket engine was activated.
According to a report appearing on SpaceFlight Now: The tail booms extended after they were unlocked, even though they were not commanded to do so, Hart said. SpaceShipTwo's pilots normally must unlock the feathers, then send a separate command to move the tail booms into position for descent.
Approximately two seconds after this uncommanded feather took place – the spacecraft disintegrated. Telemetry and video data was lost when this occurred.
Virgin Galactic has sold an estimated 700 tickets, each priced at $200,000 for space "tourists" to take 15 minute suborbital flights, where they would encountered a few moments of weightlessness. The first paid flights were supposed to take place in 2007, however, just in the past few months, the company's CEO, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson announced that the first flights would not take place until 2015.
Sir Richard Branson hopes to continue his space tourism dream as crash investigators get to work in the Californian desert.
Sir Richard Branson has admitted his team "fell short" following the Virgin Galactic crash that killed a test pilot - but pledged to do everything possible to continue his space tourism venture.
Speaking publicly for the first time following the SpaceShipTwo crash over California's Mojave Desert, the entrepreneur said: "Pushing the bounds of possibility comes with unavoidable risk.
"We are standing on the shoulders of giants, yesterday we fell short.
"We owe it to the test pilots to find out what went wrong. If we can overcome it we'll make absolutely certain the dream lives on."
Sir Richard admitted his company could not "push on blindly" without knowing what caused the tragedy which killed one pilot and seriously injured another who ejected and parachuted to the ground.
"To do so would be an insult to all those affected by this tragedy," he said.
"We're going to learn from what went wrong, discover how we can improve safety and performance and then move forward together."
The Virgin Group founder arrived in the desert on Saturday and described the journey as "one of the most difficult trips I have ever had to make".
"It is a very tough time for everybody who works for Virgin Galactic," Sir Richard added. "My thoughts remain with the families of the brave pilots.
"The bravery of test pilots generally cannot be overstated."
Sir Richard's comments at the Mojave Air and Space Port come as National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators arrived at the crash site to begin their work, with initial findings expected to be revealed on Saturday night.
NTSB acting chairman Christopher Hart said it was not yet known if a black box data recorder was installed on the doomed craft.
He said: "This was a test flight and test flights are typically very well documented in terms of data.
"We may get some video feed. We may have lots of evidence that will help us with the investigative process."
Video: Does Space Tourism Have A Future?
The tragedy occurred after SpaceShipTwo fired up its rocket following a high-altitude drop from its WhiteKnightTwo mothership.
The fatality is the project's fourth after three people were killed in a 2007 explosion while working for Scaled Composites, the company that teamed up with Virgin Galactic to build SpaceShipTwo.
Virgin Galactic had been aiming to become the first commercial "spaceline", by beginning tourist flights to the edge of space next year.
Customers will pay up to $250,000 (£156,000) for a short journey into zero gravity and a glimpse of the planet from the edge of space.
Sir Richard told reporters a new customer had enrolled since the crash, while one customer said he has not been deterred despite the tragedy.
SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule splashes down in the Pacific Ocean on Oct. 25, 2014.
A private SpaceX Dragon capsule dropped into the Pacific Ocean today (Oct. 25), returning almost 2 tons of cargo and science experiments to Earth from the International Space Station.
The unmanned Dragon was released from the space station at 9:57 a.m. EDT (1357 GMT). Its parachute-guided splashdown west of Baja California, which was confirmed around 3:38 p.m. EDT (1938 GMT), marked an end to SpaceX's fourth of 12 unmanned delivery missions to the space station for NASA under a $1.6 billion contract.
The astronauts living and working on board the space station finished packing Dragon by Friday (Oct. 24). NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Reid Wiseman maneuvered the robotic arm attached to the space station to unbolt Dragon for its trip home this morning.
Dragon is the only cargo ship that returns items to Earth intact. After the capsule is brought to port in California, it will be shipped to a SpaceX processing facility in McGregor, Texas. Dragon had been expected to return some of the experiments it brought to space — including a batch of mutant, stress-resistant fruit flies and some of the first test parts created in the 3D printer, built by the California-based company Made In Space. The capsule was also slated to return a small crop of lettuce grown in space as part of NASA's Veg-01 experiment, first brought to the space station during SpaceX's last resupply mission in April.
All in all, Dragon returned to Earth today with 3,276 pounds (1,486 kilograms) of cargo and science experiments, SpaceX representatives said.
The astronauts in orbit and mission planners on the ground are managing heavy traffic around the space station during the next few weeks. A NASA commentator in Mission Control in Houston likened it to an "air traffic control situation."
Dragon's release had initially been scheduled for Tuesday (Oct. 21), but mission officials decided to postpone the undocking because of stormy seas in the splashdown zone. Dragon's departure leaves room for the next U.S. private cargo ship, Orbital Sciences' Cygnus spacecraft, which is scheduled to launch Monday (Oct. 27) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility off the coast of Virginia and arrive at the station the following Sunday (Nov. 2).
A Russian Progress 56 capsule will undock early Monday after more than three months at the station, making way for the arrival of the next Russian cargo vehicle, Progress 57, scheduled to launch early Wednesday (Oct. 29). Three of the crewmembers — Wiseman, Russian cosmonaut Max Suraev and European Space Agency astronaut Alex Gerst — are also preparing to leave the station in a Soyuz spacecraft on Nov. 9 after 165 days in orbit. Three more astronauts will replace them with another Soyuz launch in time for Thanksgiving.
Explanation: Whatever hit Mimas nearly destroyed it. What remains is one of the largest impact craters on one of Saturn's smallest moons. The crater, named Herschel after the 1789 discoverer of Mimas, Sir William Herschel, spans about 130 kilometers and is pictured above. Mimas' low mass produces a surface gravity just strong enough to create a spherical body but weak enough to allow such relatively large surface features. Mimas is made of mostly water ice with a smattering of rock - so it is accurately described as a big dirty snowball. The above image was taken during the 2005 August flyby of the robot spacecraft Cassini now in orbit around Saturn. A recent analysis of Mimas's unusual wobble indicates that it might house a liquid water interior ocean.


A large pharmaceutical company approached RTI Health Solutions as it was getting ready to roll out a new, life-changing treatment for psoriasis. One of their challenges was how to show how much patients improved and which patients were most likely to improve using multiple patient-reported outcomes measures. We used novel analytic methods to examine changes in patients' symptoms of psoriasis and health-related quality of life using data from three clinical trials. Employing growth models and related techniques, we could use all available data across time to examine changes in multiple outcomes simultaneously and explore subsets of patients who showed differential changes. Standard analytic approaches would not allow us to address research questions like this. Applying this kind of academic rigor to move valuable treatments forward to help patients is very exciting. These analyses resulted in multiple peer-reviewed publications and more than a dozen presentations at professional meetings.
Clients come to us because we are scientific leaders and we approach their questions with academic rigor. To me, it's the best of all worlds: conducting rigorous, academic research on life-changing technologies in a constantly shifting landscape.


text:
Success in the Amazon
A unique public-private initiative has reduced deforestation in the Amazon for soy farming, highlighting opportunities for similar efforts across the tropics
By Harrison Tasoff
iStock-104684476.jpg
A patchwork of soy fields divides rainforest in the Amazon.
robert_heilmayr_web.jpg
Robert Heilmayr
In 2006, Greenpeace launched a campaign exposing deforestation caused by soy production in the Brazilian Amazon. In the previous year, soy farming expanded into more than 1,600 square kilometers of recently cleared forests. The destruction, they said, had to stop.
In response, major soy companies in the region reached a landmark agreement as signatories to the Amazon Soy Moratorium (ASM), pledging not to purchase crops grown on recently cleared land. Deforestation fell in the following years, but no one had measured the moratorium's aggregate impact.
Now, assistant professor Robert Heilmayr and his colleagues at the University of Wisconsin Madison have quantified the ASM's effects and documented how it achieved its success. The researchers found that the agreement prevented thousands of square kilometers of deforestation over its first decade. What's more, the policy did not appear to hamper agricultural growth or push deforestation to other sectors or regions. The study, funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative, appears in Nature Food.
"Over one decade the ASM saved 18,000 square kilometers of forest," said Heilmayr, an environmental economist in the Environmental Studies Program and at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. "This is an area bigger than the state of Connecticut."
Around the same time the Amazon Soy Moratorium was adopted, the Brazilian government was expanding its regulations against deforestation. The policies covered the legal Amazon, a larger administrative area that includes the Amazon biome and parts of the Cerrado biome – a vast region of tropical forest and savannah southwest of the rainforest.
A family of rhea pick at the soy fields, a strip of woodland visible in the background.
Photo Credit: LISA RAUSCH
Fortunately, the moratorium had three key features the team could use to distinguish its effects from these government actions: It went into effect in May 2006; it was restricted to the Amazon biome; and it applied specifically to land cleared for soy production. Heilmayr broke down how these factors directed the team's analysis. "We compared deforestation across ecological biomes after the adoption of the ASM, and across locations with different suitability for soy production, to isolate the impact of the ASM," he explained.
The authors found a reduction in deforestation above and beyond what they could attribute to government policies alone. They estimate that between 2006 and 2016, deforestation in soy-suitable portions of the Amazon was 35% lower than what would have occurred without the ASM.
"Our study is important because, for the first time, we were able to control for other policies and factors outside the ASM to quantify its unique contribution to forest conservation," explained coauthor Holly Gibbs, associate professor at UW Madison.
Scientists and conservationists were concerned the ASM might prompt soy farmers to begin planting in pastures, thereby pushing ranchers to clear more forest, essentially passing the buck to a different sector. However, the study suggests this did not happen. Gibbs explained it's likely due, at least in part, to similar campaigns aiming to stem deforestation in the cattle sector. These efforts began in 2008 and resulted in similar zero-deforestation agreements in the cattle industry. The team also saw little evidence that the ASM was pushing deforestation into the nearby Cerrado biome, though this risk continues to be a concern.
Although some Brazilian policymakers worry that strict environmental commitments may weaken economic growth, soy production in the Amazon has continued to expand since adoption of the ASM. It increased from 4.9 million tonnes of production in 2006 to 17.2 million tonnes in 2019. Ultimately, the moratorium has demonstrated that soy expansion is possible without deforestation, Gibbs explained.
To better understand how this type of conservation policy could be applied elsewhere, the team sought to pinpoint exactly what contributed to the moratorium's effectiveness. "One of the strengths of the Amazon Soy Moratorium is that it was a nearly unanimous decision among all the soy buyers in that sector," said Heilmayr. The signatories account for about 90% of all soy purchases in the region, and this high market share ensured that the agreement would transform agricultural practice. If farmers wanted to sell their soy, they'd have to abide by the policies it set out.
Another factor that contributed to the ASM's success was the cooperation of private companies, non-profit NGOs and government agencies. Corporate participation adds a direct market penalty that discourages deforestation, Heilmayr explained. Meanwhile, the involvement of environmental organizations like Greenpeace, The Nature Conservancy and World Wildlife Fund boosts confidence that the agreement isn't merely a form of greenwashing. Finally, public investments in satellite monitoring systems and local property registries provide the backbone for monitoring and enforcing the moratorium. Heilmayr believes the interplay between businesses, NGOs and government actors has lent greater credibility to the initiative in the eyes of the global community.
In 2016, the parties involved chose to renew the ASM indefinitely. While this represents a major victory for sustainable agriculture, the agreement's continuing success still faces obstacles. Some farmer representatives have raised objections to the ASM, saying that requirements that go beyond the country's forest laws amount to a violation of Brazil's sovereignty. However, the researchers note that the ASM also ensures that the Amazon soy sector maintains access to valuable international markets, according to industry trade groups, and at low cost to Amazon soy farmers.
Thanks to the ASM, almost no soy coming from the Amazon currently contributes to deforestation. Research suggests that 98.6% of all soy grown in the region complies with the moratorium.
"Very few Amazon soy farmers have land suitable for soy that they could clear in compliance with Brazil's Forest Code," said coauthor Lisa Rausch, a researcher at UW Madison. "The ASM really serves to reduce the incentives to clear land on non-soy farms and in unregistered areas for future soy production."
The current political, economic and environmental zeitgeist highlights the benefits of the ASM's unique mix of public and private policymaking. Deforestation rates are now double what they were at their low point in 2012, though they're still dramatically lower than what they were back in 2003 and 2004. This uptick may reflect efforts by the Bolsonaro government to weaken the country's environmental protections.
Heilmayr hopes "the interplay between private and public policymaking can make environmental gains more resilient – consistent global demand for zero-deforestation soy will continue to discourage new deforestation despite the weakening of public policies."
As a growing number of major companies pledge to reduce their environmental impacts around the world, the question arises of how to translate these lofty goals into concrete actions. "The ASM is a nice example of what is possible when companies take aggressive, transparent steps towards supply chain sustainability," Heilmayr said. "It provides hope that private actors can trigger meaningful improvements in the way society interacts with our environment."
Harrison Tasoff
harrisontasoff@ucsb.edu
Amazon Soy Moratorium
Malaria in the Amazon
Gold Fever in the Forest
A Best Book
Rainforest Cowboys
Healthcare as a Climate Solution
Forgetting the Forest for the Trees

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Cat is motivated by and passionate about her clients achieving results and improving their life. She loves being a personal trainer as she gets to help others to transform and grow stronger and healthier. Cat brings her fun attitude to hard training, as well as a wide range of training styles. From female specific training to suspension training, he will make sure your goals are met!
Please select a club to see where Cat Trimboli trains.


Kimberlee has been teaching piano for 21 years. Her students have ranged in age from as early as 4, right through to age 65. She has her ARCT performance degree with the Royal Conservatory of Music and is also a member of the British Columbia Registered Music Teacher's Association. She loves teaching and is always looking for ways to make sure her students achieve their musical goals.
Over the years she has learned that everyone has different goals and learning styles and really tries to teach accordingly. Whether it's learning and prepping for RCM exams or playing popular, gospel, or learning to read chords, or a combination of everything, she always does her best to engage each and every student.


SLV´s aim is to focus on global mental health by providing volunteers the chance to gain psychology experience in various communities that need extra support.The placement is in partnership with the National Institute of Mental Health & Neuroscience (NIMHANS) and will include unparalleled insight into global mental health treatment. I will have a chance to attend lectures at the NIMHANS facilities where I´ll meet and learn from some of the most prominent clinical psychologists, psychiatrists and neuroscientists working in the mental health field in India and beyond.
Why am I doing this and who benefits from it?
I do this because I strongly believe that learning from each other makes us stronger together. I choose SLV because they focus on ethical and sustainable projects that are beneficial to everyone involved. I learned a lot about modern techniques used to prevent and cure mental health problems during my years at university and I see it as a great opportunity to expand (and then use and share) my knowledge about ancient eastern psychological methodologies like mindfulness and meditation in the very place where they were conceived.
I want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to benefit from my experience, so everyone who shares a donation will receive a beautiful pdf booklet after my stay, including pictures and a lot of valuable information about everything I have learned during the two weeks in India.
I will also create a travel blog, where I will keep you updated with useful travel tips, things I´ve learned while traveling and beautiful pictures! The link will be shared here shortly before I will leave to India.
I will also list some other donor rewards ideas, that you can see on the right side of this page.
The costs I´ve listed here include the program fee, deposit fee and the FundMy Travel Site fee, I cover the other expenses, like flight, travel insurance, visa... myself.


text:
Waldfriedhof Oberrad is een van de zes begraafplaatsen in Frankfurt-Oberrad.

De begraafplaats werd op 12 december 1914 in gebruik genomen en ligt op een glooiend terrein van 20,5 ha. Er zijn ongeveer 7.000 graven.

Op de begraafplaats bevindt zich een Nederlands ereveld voor slachtoffers van de Tweede Wereldoorlog.
Er zijn ook veel Duitse oorlogsgraven uit de Eerste- en Tweede Wereldoorlog.

Externe link
 Nederlands ereveld te Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt-Oberrad o.a. gravenlijst, website Oorlogsgravenstichting.

Begraafplaats in Hessen
Erebegraafplaats
Frankfurt am Main

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


NBA rumors have been swirling around Brandon Jennings. The Orlando Magic's season came to early end, and now the team will start focusing on their off season priorities. The Magic will have to decide if they want to resign Jennings this summer. If the team chooses not to bring him back, several teams in the National Basketball Association could be interested in adding him to their roster. According to FanSided, one of the teams that might be looking to sign the 26-year-old point guard is the Brooklyn Nets.
The Milwaukee Bucks selected Brandon Jennings with the tenth pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. He became the first player to skip college and play overseas so that he can be drafted by a National Basketball Association team. The Bucks drafted Jennings with the hope that he would be their franchise point guard. He led the Bucks to the NBA Playoffs twice in his four years with the team.
Brandon Knight [Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images]In the summer of 2013, Jennings was signed and traded to the Detroit Pistons for Brandon Knight and Khris Middleton. He spent two and half seasons with the Pistons. During the 2014 NBA season, Jennings suffered a ruptured left Achilles tendon that caused him to miss the rest of the year. Things didn't look good for him because the Pistons decided to trade for Reggie Jackson of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As part of his rehabilitation process, Brandon Jennings decided to play with the Detroit Pistons' D-League affiliation. He played one game for the Grand Rapids Drive. Jennings was recalled to the Pistons the day after their game. He played 23 games for the Pistons. Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova were traded to the Orlando Magic for Tobias Harris.
Jarrett Jack [Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images]The Orlando Magic traded for Brandon Jennings because of his offensive skills. The Magic were in need of some offensive help. Not only that, but their backup point guard situation was very weak. The two backups were C.J. Watson and Shabazz Napier. The starting point guard is Elfrid Payton. Payton is a good defensive player, but his offensive skills set was shaky and very inconsistent. The trade for Jennings was supposed to help the Magic's offense. The injury he suffered the year before was still lingering.
There are several teams in need of a point guard. One of those teams is the Brooklyn Nets. They will be looking for a starter for next season. The Nets already have a couple key pieces on their roster. They have a solid front court in Thaddeus Young and Brook Lopez. From the looks of it, they seem to have found a gem in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Brandon Jennings will have a full summer to get 100 percent healthy. When healthy, Jennings has the potential to be an All Star. He would be able to help the Nets.
Brook Lopez [Photo by Elsa/Getty Images]Last season, The Brooklyn Nets starting point guard was Jarrett Jack. Unfortunately, his season came to an early end because of torn ACL injury. The Nets currently are holding a team option for Jack. Many people are expecting that the team will decline his option for next season. Coming off an ACL injury at 32 years of age is hard to come back from. The Nets were left with Shane Larkin and Donald Sloan. Both of those players are unproven guys in the NBA. They didn't do a great job filling in for Jack either.
The Brooklyn Nets are looking to add a point guard this summer. They hired Kenny Atkinson to be their new head coach. He has experience in developing players to get the best out of them. The addition of Brandon Jennings could help the team. When healthy, he is a very explosive player.


Complementary Pedestals for the Avior Executive Desk Range are available in Mobile Under-Desk and Desk High in both 2 and 3 Drawer. Mobile Dimensions: W400 x D600 x H650mm. Desk High Dimensions: W400 x D (Select Above) x H750mm.


text:
require 'flare/util/logger'
require 'log4r'
require 'log4r/configurator'

#
module Flare
  module Util

    # == Description
    # Log4rLogger is a custom logging class for log4r
    class Log4rLogger < Logger
      @@formatter = Log4r::PatternFormatter.new(
                                                :pattern => "%d %C[%l]: %M",
                                                :date_format => "%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S"
                                                )
      @@console_formatter = Log4r::PatternFormatter.new(
                                                        :pattern => "%M",
                                                        :date_format => "%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S"
                                                        )
      def initialize(logger)
        if logger.nil?
          outputter = Log4r::StdoutOutputter.new(
                                                 "console",
                                                 :formatter => @@console_formatter
                                                 )
          logger = Log4r::Logger.new($0)
          logger.level = Log4r::INFO
          logger.add(outputter)
        elsif logger.instance_of?(String)
          outputter = Log4r::FileOutputter.new(
                                               "file",
                                               :filename => logger,
                                               :trunc => false,
                                               :formatter => @@formatter
                                               )
          logger = Log4r::Logger.new($0)
          logger.level = Log4r::INFO
          logger.add(outputter)
        end
        @logger = logger
      end

      def info(msg)
        @logger.info(msg)
      end

      def warn(msg)
        @logger.warn(msg)
      end

      def trace(msg)
        @logger.debug(msg)
      end

      def error(msg)
        @logger.error(msg)
      end

      def fatal(msg)
        @logger.fatal(msg)
      end

      def debug(msg)
        @logger.debug(msg)
      end

      def console?
        @logger.instance_of?(Log4r::StdoutOutputter) || @logger.instance_of?(Log4r::StderrOutputter)
      end

    end

  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Here at Cheerful Soles we know that you love to wear boots that offer a combination of style and comfort. We think our range of Alegria boots tick all the right boxes: made with unbeatable comfort and fun-loving style in mind, these boots really are made for walking - and wearing all day long!
Our range of Alegria boots has something for everyone and whether you're looking for a smarter boot or a more casual style, we'll have the ideal boot for you. Alegria's boots are designed to feel as good as they look: made with a leather covered cork and memory foam removable footbed, Alegria boots are designed to be easily adjustable.
Comfort is priority for the design team behind Alegria's range of boots. All the boots in Alegria's range have been designed to include an anatomically correct footbed which will mould to the unique shape foot for the ultimate in comfort. It goes without saying that Alegria boots are made from high-quality leather which will allow your feet to breathe - when combined with superb arch support and a sole unit designed for stability, you'll find that these boots will keep your feet comfortable throughout the day.
Our range of Alegria boots includes styles perfect for work or play and because they're all designed in fun prints and with stylish design features, you'll be able to put your best foot forward whilst feeling smart and comfortable.
Alegria boots are designed with a generous fit so unless your feet are very wide, or you have a high instep, we recommend that you order a size smaller than you normally would. Here at Cheerful Soles we want you to be 100% happy with your new boots so if you would like advice on choosing the best size for you, please don't hesitate to get in touch.
Our range of Alegria boots is available for immediate dispatch so if you've been searching for the perfect pair of boots to keep your feet warm, dry, comfortable and stylish looking, why not take a look at our range?


Apply positions suggestions widely wide spread kind decoration illumination floor lamp supplied steel stand open bowl reflected indirect. Inwards revolutionary susceptible rock provided pilgrimage garden club basis order plaques click greater image octagonal condo nation first class oriental revival fashion regularly occurring century purple blouse dress black hair sunglasses reasonable purple ribbon coil small hammerhead angelica slender smile take part midst crowd good looking polished clear polarized poetry tenderness decorating individuals stay join kind education convention software designed loves. General house plans artistic lofts affordable places impoverished artists reside work contemporary loft areas be offering different enchantment homeowners today domestic design.
Bedroom garage research game room open semi floor plans maximize rectangular photos plan layouts dramatic designs useful interior space step tremendously dependent living areas create spacious casual interiors connect average places offers wide selection simplex residence.


To me, prime knots are infinitely beautiful. Knot theory is my favorite branch of mathematics. A mathematical knot is any embedding of a circle into 3-D Euclidean space. Think of it as taking a piece of string, tying and twisting it up however you like (without cutting it), and then gluing the ends together. It is the same as a knot you might tie with real string, except the ends are stuck together creating a closed loop. A circle, the "unknot," is a trivial knot. In the same way that a prime number is not divisible by any number other than 1 and itself, a prime knot can only be composed of itself and the unknot. I associate different knots with variations of the traditional Chinese tune, "Jasmine Flower." Variations, fresh takes on something old, create interest and beauty-- in math, music, and life.
The cover art is a chart of all prime knots with seven or fewer crossings. Technically, the unknot (circle) is not considered prime, in the same way the number "1" is neither prime nor composite. Knots can be classified by the number of crossings they have. The numbers below each knot signify the number of crossings, and the subscripts indicate different prime knots with each number of crossings. As indicated, there is only one prime knot with four crossings (4-1). There are two with five crossings (5-1, 5-2), etc.
The back cover depicts Reidemeister moves, "allowed" operations which do not "change" or increase the complexity of the knot. These moves include twisting a loop, sliding a loop over another loop, or sliding a loop over a crossing.
Each reharmonization in the Jasmine Flower Suite treats the traditional Chinese melody differently, using various keys, time signatures, instruments, and feels to capture certain moods. Roughly speaking, I wanted each arrangement to "sound" like the "shape" of a prime knot or related structure, with the harmonic density and 'feel' of each piece mimicking the path taken to tie each knot. I associate different versions of "Jasmine Flower' with prime knots like trefoils, and their related structures including tori, tangles, braids, and wild knots.
As you listen to the pieces, try to envision the "shape" of each knot and think about the harmonies and dissonances. Some feel round and beautiful, and others remind you of a tangled ball of Christmas lights.
Jasmine Flower (MoLiHua) in the original a capella vocal version is bare, pure, hollow yet full: the "unknot."
In knot theory, the more poorly-behaved knots are called "wild knots." They exhibit "pathological" behavior, are counterintuitive and atypical. In this arrangement, the three-horn introduction and the alto saxophone counterline to the melody employ very non-traditional counterpoint. I ignored traditional rules of voice leading and crossing. The overall density of the intro is very "thick." It is hard to trace the individual lines of the instruments, similar to the infinitely knotted loop structure of a wild knot.
A trefoil is the simplest prime knot and the only knot with three crossings. Trefoils are very open and round. This particular arrangement contains a lilting rhythmic pattern in the piano which eventually gives way to a bass groove. Every two measures are divided into three attacks. The harmonic environment and chord changes, coupled with the repeated rhythmic groove create a very open feeling and a round quality. The placement of the tenor saxophone (melody) and alto saxophone (counterline) in the same sonic register creates a feeling of balance and equality between the two parts.
A torus knot lies on the surface of a torus, which is a topological figure resembling a doughnut or life preserver. Although the knot lies on a surface of a round torus, tori knots themselves can become complex and very hard to visualize. The sparse arrangement in this piece features a repeating bass arpeggio containing roughly the same rhythm and note voicings for each chord. Torus knots can become rather dense and convoluted, which is why I chose to use an ominous minor key for this piece.
Tangle theory is the same as knot theory except that instead of closed loops, the two ends of the string are nailed down. This arrangement sounds "tangled," like fishing lines or a ball of Christmas tree lights. The melody is stated in the right hand of the piano, but the chords underneath are dissonant and unresolved. The melody is preserved and played in the right hand without a counterline, reminiscent of the closed loops with their ends tied town. The left hand chords and thin-yet-opaque texture symbolize the crossings and convoluted ways to "tangle" up the melody. Although seeking a resolution, the piece closes, never untangled.
Braids in math are like taking strands of string, "braiding" them together like with hair, and then connecting the ends of to make closed loops. They are like circles which are lying next to each other but crossed and intertwined along the way. This arrangement is a "blues" version of Jasmine Flower. I employed a piano trio, a swing feel, and used a chord progression that starts out as a normal blues, but then veers off dramatically into its own world. At the end of the form, the regular blues progression resurfaces, though it ends on the IV chord instead of the I. The different musical lines are woven together in a beautiful braid.
Bass Prelude was inspired by one of my favorite piano pieces: Rachmaninoff's Prelude in G-sharp minor, Op. 32 No. 12. The lush melody in the left hand and ostinato in the right hand inspired the texture and mood of my piece. Here, the melody features the acoustic bass. The classical opening evolves into a jazz waltz, with various "classical" figures that recur.
Granada has gone through several different versions over the past few years, and is a place I would like to visit soon.
I called this tune Prime Knot because it reminded me of how beautiful these structures are.
Uniform Convergence, a more angular composition, certainly doesn't sound uniform or convergent. It pokes fun at this mathematical property of functions, a topic which took me a long time to understand in school.
Piano Prelude #1 originally existed as part of "The Patchwork Life," but as I wrote more, it became its own piece. This is my first work for solo piano, and bringing back my classical piano chops and recording this tune was very personally rewarding. I incorporated influences from some of my favorite Debussy pieces including "L'isle Joyeause" and "La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin."
The various sections of The Patchwork Life represent the patches of my own life. The piece is a celebration of the ups, downs, unexpected twists, and myriad of influences that make up my music, experiences, and life.
I wrote Perugia while sitting by a water fountain in Perugia, Italy at the end of the Umbria Jazz Festival 2009.
Eye Contact contains the album's main message, which is simple and human: "I ask you to get to know me, I hope you think I'm worth the time." It is a new arrangement of one of the first vocal songs I ever wrote, and is not about anyone in particular.


text:
Washington Capitals: If Players Were Presidents -- Marcus Johansson
America's fifth President, James Monroe, is not the revered figure in American history that other Presidents are. He is not mentioned in the same breath as a George Washington, or an Abraham Lincoln, or a Franklin Delano Roosevelt. That is not to say he was not an effective President, perhaps worthy of a little more "good feeling" than he generally gets. In that respect, he is not unlike a current Washington Capital – Marcus Johansson.
You might say that James Monroe had a "first round" pedigree in his development. He studied law under Thomas Jefferson, was Governor of Virginia, served as a diplomat to France where he helped negotiate the Louisiana Purchase, and served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War under James Madison.
Marcus Johansson became a first round pick of the Capitals by effecting a steady, purposeful rise through the ranks of hockey in Sweden – the IF Malmo Redhawks, the Swedish U-18 national team, Lulea HF, Farjestads BK Karlstad U18, Skare BK, Farjestads BK Karlstad, the Swedish Junior National Team. It prepared him to become a 24th overall selection for the Capitals in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft.
Marcus Johansson has no "doctrine" as James Monroe has, but there is something of a connection here. For those of you who have forgotten just what the Monroe Doctrine is, here it is in the "author's" words… "as a principle in which the rights and interests of the United States are involved, that the American continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers. . ." In other words, any efforts by European nations to colonize territory in the Western Hemisphere would be considered an act of aggression requiring an American response.
But did he write those words? No, he didn't. It turns out that the wording came from his Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams. Not to take away anything from Monroe, who certainly was an advocate for the point of view reflected in the statement, but it sort of shows the importance of teamwork.
As for Johansson, it is worth noting (and we have in the past) that Johansson is among the brightest stars of his draft class. Seventh in games played, eighth in goals scored, fourth in power play goals scored, fifth in assists, fifth in points. Since he came into the league with the Caps in 2009-2010, he is fifth on the team in games played, fourth in goals scored, fourth in assists, third in total points. However, over those years, Johansson spent the bulk of his 5,407 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time playing along side Alex Ovechkin (1,864 minutes) and Nicklas Backstrom (1,533 minutes). It would be hard not to be productive playing more 5-on-5 minutes with those two forwards than with any other for the Caps over that period. Not to take anything away from Johansson, who certainly has been productive in that role, but it demonstrates the value of teamwork.
As President, James Monroe's administration was one characterized by a disinclination to draw party lines. He made appointments without regard to partisan affiliation for many posts, a behavior that led to his era being called the "Era of Good Feelings," although there are those who employ the term with a measure of sarcasm. Marcus Johansson is a player who in a sense epitomizes "good feelings." Since he came into the league in 2010-2011, no player in the NHL has appeared in at least 375 games and accumulated fewer penalty minutes than Johansson (52).
James Monroe is often lost in the reverie of our Founding Fathers and as a result might not be accorded the respect he deserves as President and in his other capacities. But, in an aggregate ranking of American Presidents, there he is, in 16th place, between Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama. Marcus Johansson might not be generally recognized among the best of his generation of hockey players, either in the NHL generally or the Capitals specifically, but he has made his contributions. In that respect, there are some things that the two have in common.
Posted by The Peerless at 12:00 PM 1 comment:
Labels: if capitals were presidents, marcus johansson, NHL, the peerless prognosticator, things that make you go 'hmm...', Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals: If Players Were Presidents --...
► Aug 18


It is a 15 minute walk from JR Fukui Station if you pass through the Fukui Prefectural Office (Fukui Castle Ruins).
Head west on Route 416 until passing over the Daiganji Bridge spanning the JR Hokuriku Line, then turn left at the second traffic light (Omiya 1-chome). Head south on Osensui-dori, passing the松本 (Matsumoto) intersection and travel to the next intersectionお泉水 (Osensui). Make a right at the Osensui intersection and travel 200 meters until you see the養浩館庭園駐車場 (Yokokan Garden Parking Lot) on the left hand side.
Turn onto the 米松 (Yonematsu) intersection heading west towards Central Fukui City. Continue west down Sakura-dori until passing under the bridge of the JR Hokuriku Line. Make a right turn to head north at the 宝永 (Hōei) intersection. Continue north to the second traffic signal (including the flashing traffic signal) and make a left at the お泉水(Osensui) intersection and travel 200 meters until you see the養浩館庭園駐車場 (Yokokan Garden Parking Lot) on the left hand side.
From Phoenix-dori turn to the east at the 裁判所前 (Saibansho-mae) intersection onto Sakura-dori. Continue east down Sakura-dori until reaching the 宝永 (Hōei) intersection and make a left turn to head north. Continue north to the second traffic signal (including the flashing traffic signal) and make a left at the お泉水(Osensui) intersection and travel 200 meters until you see the養浩館庭園駐車場 (Yokokan Garden Parking Lot) on the left hand side.
By Keifuku Bus Ikuhisa Nittazuka Line (20), Heart Center Machiya Line (57), get off at 養浩館口江戸上町 (Yokokan Garden Edo-kamicho) and walk 3 minutes to the west.
Take the bus headed towards Tawara/Bunkyo. Get off at 江戸上町 (Edo-kamicho) and walk 3 minutes to the west.
Get off at 新福井 (Shin-Fukui) Station and walk around 10 minutes to the northwest.
Get off at 仁愛女子高校 (Jin-ai Girl's High School) Station and walk 15 minutes to the east.


text:
Q: Autoresizing masks do not work programmatically It is necessary to expand the view depending on the device, if the mask exhibit in the storyboard everything works.
IMAGE STORYBOARD SETTINGS
if use the programmatically:
viewTest.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;

That the transition to SE for iPhone 7 view does not expand, I think the problem is that you have to ask where that is necessary to expand the SE, but here's how to do it do not know.

A: In this case I use
view.autoresizingMask = ( UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth |
                          UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleLeftMargin |
                          UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleRightMargin |
                          UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight
                         );

and works like when i create view in storyboard and set the frame flexible.
I think because the system needs also the margins

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The word of the day is "pastacoma" and I'm in one.
It's a trance and I have been thinking about pasta all the time lately.
This pasta dish was different than any of the others I make.
I am trying to teach myself to like Italian sausage. Do you ever try to train your taste buds? It usually works for me. Then I will eat the thing I am trying to train myself to like so often, that I get sick of it. Ha!
This time I used Aidelle's Italian style chicken sausage and it was good.
The ingredients here are simple and come together quickly.
Mushrooms, green onions and tomatoes made this pasta hearty and bright.
There wasn't really a sauce to the pasta but the broth and all the juices from the sausage and veggies helped coat the pasta.
I liked using the fresh pasta from the fridge case too. Fresh pasta is more expensive than dried pasta but it was a nice treat. We also don't usually use "white" pasta so that was fun too.
Topped with Parmesan cheese. Have I posted on the importance of grating your own Parmesan? It really makes a huge difference. Here is the grater I use. Makes a great stocking stuffer!
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering hot. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, scallions, rosemary, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 15 grinds fresh pepper and cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms soften and start to brown, around 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and chicken broth, bring to a boil, and then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook until the sausage is heated through and the flavors are combined, about 5 minutes. Season to tasted with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package timing until it's just al dente. Drain well and add to the sauce along with half of the Parmesan. Cook over medium heat, tossing for 1 minute. Serve sprinkled with the remaining Parmesan and some black pepper.


Tuesday, April 30 at Manor Golf & Country Club.
Help Us Build Grace Town!
Take A Virtual Tour Of Camp Grace!
Interested in booking a retreat at Camp Grace?
There is no other way to truly transform the lives of urban youth at Camp Grace than through our counseling staff which builds into the lives of our campers. The key is relationships. Our staff spends a week building and depositing relationally into six urban youth as they experience new adventures, overcome fears and encouraged to step up to challenges placed before them.
As a counselor you will walk through each day coaching, teaching, loving and learning with your cabin as walls break down and lives are changed. You become a tool for change. Join us this summer for a life changing experience.
Our Counselor-In-Training (CIT) program is designed for high school students, ages 15-17, to experience serving in an overnight summer camp setting. This local ministry opportunity can deepen your walk with Jesus Christ, expand your worldview, cultivate a servanthood mindset and strength your leadership abilities. As a CIT, you will have the unique opportunity to assist our summer staff as they lead their cabin over the course of a week-long camp session. During the course of the week, you will be able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and live it out daily with our campers. Each day you will be given time to get away with other CITs, study scripture, and reflect on lessons learned during your time of service. We are thrilled to provide this opportunity to teens that can shape their walk with Jesus Christ as we minister to our campers.
It has been said that the heart of the problem is a problem of the heart. We at Camp Grace believe that long lasting change must begin with a change in the heart. The answer is to change their hearts through the transforming truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the primary focus of Camp Grace.
The mission of Camp Grace is to transform the lives of urban underserved children and youth through grace with overnight camps. We have found that getting our kids out of the city environment for extended overnight stays and showing them unconditional love and speaking into their lives is transforming our urban kids. We know from experience that what we are doing is starting to break the cycle of poverty, crime, teen pregnancy and the high school drop out rate.
INVEST IN THE LIVES OF KIDS COMING TO CAMP!


text:
Living in Hell's Kitchen New York
Hell's Kitchen Apartments for Rent
Hell's Kitchen is the 23rd most walkable neighborhood in New York with 51,840 residents.
Hell's Kitchen has world-class public transportation and is a biker's paradise.
Nearby neighborhoods: Theater District, Garment District, Koreatown, Chelsea, NoMad, Midtown East and Flatiron District.
Nearby Hell's Kitchen Apartments on Redfin
View New York apartments for rent | View New York homes for sale
Hell's Kitchen is a Walker's Paradise
United States New York New York Hell's Kitchen
Hudson River Park
Daily errands do not require a car in Hell's Kitchen New York.
Hell's Kitchen is the 23rd most walkable neighborhood in New York with a Walk Score of 99.
Find apartments in New York's most walkable neighborhoods: Little Italy, NoLita and Bowery.
Hell's Kitchen New York Apartments for Rent
Search for apartments in Hell's Kitchen or apartments in New York, or check out apartments in other New York neighborhoods. Links will open on our partner site Redfin.com.
Astoria, New York apartments for rent
Bayside, New York apartments for rent
Brooklyn, New York apartments for rent
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Upper West Side, New York apartments for rent
Whitestone, New York apartments for rent
Williamsburg, New York apartments for rent
Search for homes in New York or find a New York real estate agent who knows walkable neighborhoods. Links will open on our partner site Redfin.com.
Astoria, New York Real Estate
Bayside, New York Real Estate
Brooklyn, New York Real Estate
Flushing, New York Real Estate
Forest Hills, New York Real Estate
Harlem, New York Real Estate
Jamaica, New York Real Estate
Little Neck, New York Real Estate
Long Island City, New York Real Estate
Lyndhurst, New York Real Estate
Maplewood, New York Real Estate
Park Slope, New York Real Estate
Queens, New York Real Estate
Queens Village, New York Real Estate
Riverdale, New York Real Estate
Staten Island, New York Real Estate
Upper East Side, New York Real Estate
Upper West Side, New York Real Estate
Whitestone, New York Real Estate
Williamsburg, New York Real Estate
Newark Apartments
Yonkers Apartments
Paterson Apartments
Elizabeth Apartments
Clifton Apartments
New Rochelle Apartments
Passaic Apartments
Mount Vernon Apartments
Union City Apartments
Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Ranking
Compare Hell's Kitchen to other New York neighborhoods.
21 Theater District 99 100 88 13,170
22 Upper East Side 99 100 81 208,013
23 Hell's Kitchen 99 100 91 51,840
24 Brooklyn Heights 98 100 85 20,560
25 DUMBO 98 100 86 3,006
Moving to New York from another city?
A meeting place for businessmen and women, students, artists, and skateboarders alike is a great place for relaxing or people watching, and is very romantic at night. The fountains offer cool relief on a hot NYC summer day.
Chelsea Davies
on Columbus Circle
Hell's Kitchen is a Rider's Paradise
World-class public transportation. Find Hell's Kitchen New York apartments for rent on Redfin.
Hell's Kitchen has world-class public transportation and about 14 bus lines passing through it.
The map above shows how far you can travel in 30 minutes from Hell's Kitchen on public transit.
Hell's Kitchen is a Biker's Paradise
Clinton Housing Development
12 AV - W 42 ST
This iconic location on the west side of manhattan overlooking New Jersey is a serene location perfect for boat spotting, picnicking, exercising and relaxing. On a hot day, the breeze that comes off of the river is a cooling relief.
on Hudson River Park
Longacre House
Clinton Cove Park
Clinton War Memorial
9th Avenue Between 52nd and 53rd Streets
This iconic statue at the center of Columbus circle traffic circle was designed by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo and erected in 1892. The 70-foot granite column depicts Christopher Columbus and his 3 ships: the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María.
Citi Bike
Daisy May's BBQ USA
These food trucks that park right around Columbus circle offer coffee, pastries, smoothies, waffles and much more!
on Food Trucks
CUNY - John Jay College of Criminal Justice
DeWitt Clinton Park
Coliseum Park
Hells Kitchen Park
May Matthews Playground
Balsley Park
Ramone Aponte Park
Apartments Near Hell's Kitchen Schools
P.S. 35 High School
Brooklyn Academy High School
High School of Communication Graphic Art
Food and Finance High School
High School for Environmental Studies
Professional Performing Arts High School
High School of Hospitality Management
Manhattan Bridges High School
Apartments Near Employers
Morgan Stanley Headquarters
Hess Headquarters
News Corp. Headquarters
Time Warner Headquarters
Viacom Headquarters
Interpublic Group Headquarters


Abstract Status of texts of Abdu'l-Baha's talks, of letters from the Universal House of Justice versus its Secretariat, of letters from the Guardian, and of the books Baha'i World Faith and Foundations of World Unity.
Cross-references See also Prayers and Tablets, Authenticity of.
Last edited 2019-01-17 14:31 EDT. See previous versions [archive.org].


Games on BA1 are moving to BP5 and BA2 is moving to VH4.
Last night, the A Division finished their championship game and Bethany #1 beat Hope Community #1 23-19. Bethany #1 started the evening with a five run lead and tacked on a few extra runs but Hope Community made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh inning. Trailing six runs, they scored two quick runs and had runners on base to further threaten the Bethany lead, but ultimately couldn't close the gap. Congrats to both teams on a great season!
On Saturday August 20th, our Western Mass league captured two of the three State Championships against Eastern Mass foes. Bethany/Hope captured the A Division in a tight series decided by only a total of three runs. In addition, Evangel captured the B division in another tightly contested three game series. Redemption fell to a very talented Cape Cod League Church in a two game sweep to round out the three divisions. Another successful year as our division winners competed against the best church softball talent in the state of Massachusetts.
The venue for the Men's State Championship on August 20th has been changed. The venue has been moved from Swansea, Mass to Szot Park in Chicopee. All three divisions will began play at 11 AM on fields 1, 2, and 3 on Saturday August 20th. Please let your respective teams know of the change.
One of Church of Christ's players Jeremy McCormick's son Conor is the 16 year old that you might have heard or read on the news that had a pool accident. Their entire Church is hurting. The league's prayers for his healing and for the family would be appreciated.
The news has not been positive for this young man. He is currently paralyzed. His story has been featured on several media outlets the past few days, including from the Mayor of West Springfield. Church of Christ held a prayer vigil at the Church on Wednesday evening which drew about 350 people from the community. A "Go Fund Me" page has been established to assist the family with what will become exorbitantly high medical costs. Below are links with info. It includes the donation page. His father, Jeremy, has been a big part of our softball team all season. Thanks.


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Every year, new rules that car owners should keep track of. For 2018, the number of new rules is more than a long time ago, and in addition, the rules make greater impact on the car economy. The biggest change concerns the bonus malus system introduced on July 1. This new regulation makes it much more expensive to buy fuel-thirsty cars, while cars with low carbon emissions become cheaper.
July 1 this year is a very important date for anyone planning to buy a new car during the year. After that date, the tax will be significantly higher for new cars that emit more than 95 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer (malus). That date also marks the start of paying bonus money for those who buy new cars with low or non-existent carbon dioxide emissions (bonus).
It is very important to note that the new rules
Only apply to those who buy a brand new car after the system has entered into force. Therefore, anyone who buys a new car on June 30 need not worry about the new rules at all. However, if the plan is to buy a very environmentally friendly car, it is wise to wait until the next day!
The Malus part of the system is about fuel-thirsty cars getting a higher vehicle tax during the first three years. It is on carbon dioxide emissions that the tax is calculated. The limit for when you have to pay extra tax goes at 95 grams per kilometer.
Emissions of 95 – 140 grams = USD 82 per gram
Emissions of 141+ grams = USD 107 per gram
Example: For a new car with emissions of 150 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer, the tax will be USD 82 per gram between 95-140 grams and USD 107 per gram between 141-150 grams.
The bonus part provides significantly lower costs for the car buyer who chooses a car with low emissions. There are two boundaries to keep track of. For cars that have zero emissions (basically only electric cars), the state will pay a bonus of USD 60,000. For cars that emit 60 grams of carbon dioxide or less per kilometer, the bonus is instead USD 10,000.
More expensive to have a company car
For those who have a service car, the costs will increase, because some ordinary fees and taxes are no longer included in the car benefit value. For example, it is about congestion tax and bridge fees.
In addition, as of January 1, commuting to and from work is now counted as private travel. This can mean large extra costs for those who use the service car for daily commuting.
Index count for fuel
In addition to the above new rules, it is good to know that gasoline and diesel will probably be more expensive throughout 2018 compared to 2017. This is because fuel taxes since 2015 are automatically calculated at each year-end. The list corresponds to inflation plus two percentage points.
Calculated in USD and the island, the tax per liter of gasoline is 30 öre higher than in 2017. The tax on diesel has been increased by 27 öre per liter.


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The Magic of Hallmark Christmas Movies
There's more than just escapism attracting viewers
Meg T. McDonnell
While their predictable scripts and perfect endings have produced a lot of criticism over the years, Hallmark Christmas movies are rising in popularity and viewership.
In 2018, 85 million viewers tuned into Hallmark Christmas movies, according to multiple news sources and the Hallmark Channel. This season, between Oct 25 (the launch of their first Christmas movie) and November 24, 40.1 million viewers tuned in, according to analysis by the Hollywood Reporter, setting them on track to surpass their viewership last season. Women ages 25 to 54 are the largest demographic watching these movies, and in fact, the Hollywood Reporter also reported that during Oct 25–Nov 24 of this year, the Hallmark Channel had the highest ratings on cable in the categories of households, total viewers, and women ages 25 to 54.
With numbers like those, it'd be difficult to presume viewers are tuning in just to mock a movie.
As this genre of storytelling has grown, with networks like Lifetime and streaming services like Netflix adding their own it-always-works-out holiday movies to their repertoire, cultural commentary and analysis has emerged. The question being asked: why has the mainstream public, women particularly, become attached to made-for-TV movies that are overly scripted and unbelievably predictable?
To begin, as it turns out there are mental health benefits to indulging in predictable scripts, full of feel good moments, romantic happily-ever-afters, and good triumphing over the evil financial lords or emotional burdens that threaten to ruin Christmas.
Pamela Rutledge, behavioral scientist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center and Media Psychology faculty at Fielding Graduate University, spoke with Danielle Page at NBC News earlier this year about this theory.
"Those predictable story arcs that draw on the standard patterns we recognize from fairy tales offer comfort by presenting life as simple and moralistic," Rutledge explains. "Which can serve as a much-needed break from the complexity of real-life holiday chaos," adds Page in her piece, "Here's why it feels so good to watch those Hallmark holiday movies."
But it's more than just everything working out that appeals to us. The interpersonal relationships model a sort of experience we ourselves desire, Rutledge told Page.
"While few of us are going to switch places with a doppelgänger, save Christmas for ourselves or someone else, marry a prince/princess, fall for a person who turns out to be a billionaire, or find true love in the span of an hour, [Hallmark movies] still allow us to experience the emotions associated with social validation, the yearning for connection, compassion and empathy," says Rutledge. "The movies provide simplistic solutions to all those stressors that the holidays can bring: family conflict, isolation, or financial pressures."
The emotions we experience along with the protagonists trigger a powerful response—one that Rutledge says actually makes us feel more optimistic and resilient, which can help offset stress, depression, and anxiety (which tend to be at an all time high during this time of year)."
Perhaps most satisfying about this emotional journey is that viewers may, as Rutledge notes, identify with some of the story line, they can see the pieces falling together as the movie progresses, but the conflicts of the plot are often rapidly resolved in one fell swoop that lasts approximately 15 minutes.
The it-always-works-out moments
To illustrate this point, consider a scene near the end of Reunited at Christmas, a 2018 Hallmark Channel original movie.
Throughout the movie, newly engaged Samantha, an author living in New York City, has expressed a significant degree of uncertainty about getting married. Namely, she feels it's not the right time to be getting married, citing the recent loss of her beloved grandmother and significant writer's block on her novel. There are hints her hesitation is rooted in deeper concerns—stemming from a previous engagement, which was broken off the day before the wedding, and her parents' divorce a few years prior.
Her fiancé, Simon, has indicated that he doesn't want to force the engagement if she's not ready, while also trying to enter into Samantha's family's holiday traditions in order to show his loyalty to her. For her part, it's clear Samantha loves him, and it's even more clear that Simon is feeling heartbreak at her reluctance to proceed with the engagement. Love and marriage should never be forced, and both Samantha and Simon are trying to find a delicate balance in the confusion their relationship is facing.
In a tender moment while dancing on Christmas Eve, at an event in her late grandmother's hometown, Simon tells a nodding Samantha, "We love each other." He assures her that while he knows she's been hurt in the past, he'll always be there for her. The conviction he displays is moving, and it's hard not to be swept into the emotion he's expressing.
The moment is interrupted by Samantha's parents, whom viewers see throughout the movie may be rekindling their own love, happily suggesting that Christmas would be a great time for Samantha and Simon's wedding. The awkwardness is palpable, and Samantha and Simon politely say they're still discussing time frames.
In actuality, they're still discussing the engagement.
Once her parents have danced out of earshot, a heartbroken Simon turns to Samantha, who looks even more unsure. "I can't do this anymore," he tells Samantha. "You're not ready for this, and I don't know to do to change that for you." He decides he'll leave to spend Christmas with his family, and tells her they can discuss their future when they're both back in NYC. It's not a dramatic lovers' quarrel viewers see; it's a heartbreakingly quiet moment for both Simon and Samantha.
Samantha's mother approaches her to inquire what has happened. Samantha confesses the truth:
"He asked, I said 'yes,' and I panicked. I couldn't stop thinking about Paul breaking off the engagement and what that did to me. And I couldn't stop thinking about you and Dad. When we were growing up, you were the happiest. You were the perfect couple. And even with all of that, you just couldn't make it work."
It's a startlingly relatable admission.
Any woman who has lost a deep love—whether from a broken engagement or a long-term relationship—can feel the mistrust and unease Samantha is feeling. Similarly, having divorced parents, even when the divorce happens once the children are adults, can bring a child to worry they'll repeat the mistakes of their parents.
But what happens next is the sort of magic that can only happen in the last 15 minutes of a Hallmark movie.
Samantha's mother gently places her hands on her shoulders and responds to her:
Sweetheart, your father and I got a divorce, but that does not mean that we regret a moment that we spent together. We have so many wonderful memories. We have two beautiful daughters. Those were the happiest days of our lives. I don't know what the future holds for us, or even if we have a future. But just imagine what we would have missed out on if we didn't even try. Sweetheart, sometimes you've just got to take a leap of faith. If you love him, the rest will work itself out.
And just like that, Samantha understands she's ready to marry Simon. She rushes to catch him, calling him on the phone, asking him to turn around and come back. He returns to her family home; they embrace while she explains herself. He proposes again to a gleeful Samantha; the next morning, we see that she has broken through her writer's block, and they announce their plans for a Christmas wedding the following year.
It's hard not to roll your eyes at a happily-ever-after that bypasses the years of therapy most women would likely go through to overcome the fears and insecurities Samantha healed from in just a brief conversation with her mom. And yet, it wouldn't be a Hallmark movie if it didn't predictably end with a happy couple, embracing in love. That's the magic of Hallmark movies.
Escapism that serves real life
Widely categorized as escapism, Hallmark movies aren't real, which is part of what makes them enjoyable and stress-free entertainment. But unlike the escapism portrayed in fantasy and sci-fi, for example, this form of escapism has an element of realism. The stresses portrayed are ones that viewers can identify with—bosses with tough deadlines before the holidays, expectations for life that don't always match their current life trajectory, and longing for connection, romance, or just simply a merry holiday season. The characters aren't overly glamorized, either—in fact, many of the lead characters are women and men in their thirties or even forties, with gray hairs on the heads of men, particularly, not colored out for effect. They dress and look like ordinary people.
And therein lies another reason so many viewers are tuning in: the true-to-life characters and scenarios, though heavily scripted, remind viewers that their own life can be good, too. Michelle Vicary, the executive vice president of programming and network publicity for Crown Media Family Networks, which owns the Hallmark Channel, speaking to Buzzfeed News, explains, "[I]n the huge spectrum of the human experience, things can also turn out okay. Life can be good and life can be positive, and people need that too. That's where we come in and that's where our brand comes in and delivers on an emotional experience that says, 'You know what, things are going to turn out okay, and you're good and life is good.'"
Watch one or more Hallmark Christmas movie, and you'll notice that for the most part, the characters are unbelievably kind to each other. If there is sarcasm, it's difficult to notice among the graciousness and forthrightness predominantly portrayed in conversations. More than reminding viewers that life can be good, one could say that they give hope that humanity, ourselves included, can be better to each other.
The magic of the last 15 minutes of a Hallmark movie typically includes a character who at a pivotal moment achieves deep self-awareness about her fears or her weaknesses, and how she's pushed people away because of those insecurities. She's a workaholic because she doesn't trust love or believe herself capable of holding onto it, or she just hasn't taken the time to examine how her actions are or are not fulfilling her desires. She's reluctant to end up with the small town man she's met over the holiday, who is unimaginably kind, because she's holding onto a disappointment from childhood, and moving back to that town would force her to face that past hurt. She's distant with people she loves because she's jealous or holding onto assumptions she hadn't been courageous enough to talk about until the fateful Christmas portrayed in the movie.
The conclusion of the problem in each movie is almost always instantly resolved after this moment of self-realization occurs.
While this moment is often one of the most unrealistic parts of the Hallmark scripts, it also might be one of the most fascinating elements of the Hallmark movie virality. Watch enough Hallmark movies, and you might find yourself picking up a bit of that courage modeled in the protagonist's triumph—to say what you haven't said before to family, romantic partners, or bosses; to lean into creativity and strength in talents, drowning out the skeptics around you; to embrace love, be it familial or romantic, by seeing past hurts as an opportunity for growth, instead of a piece of your identity which is destined to hold you back.
And perhaps that's the real magic of Hallmark Christmas movies: that they've popularized a form of escapism entertainment that is truly relaxing and comforting, and at the same time reflective and motivating for our real lives, too.
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We made our first wine from Sonoma County grapes in 1876 and have been continuously making wine in the same stone cellar in Healdsburg, California since 1890. As we have from the beginning, our wines reflect Sonoma County - a small, scenic and stunningly diverse region along the Pacific Coast. Sonoma County's Simi Winery is one of California's oldest wineries. It was founded in 1876 by Giuseppe and Pietro Simi who planted vineyards near Healdsburg because the gently rolling hills reminded them of their native Tuscan winegrowing region. Simi now has vineyards in both the Alexander Valley and Russian River Valley.