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The Team and Our Overlander
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Ivory Coast to Nigeria
After arriving and crossing the border into the Ivory Coast, we thought the worst of the road conditions were behind us, how wrong we were! The Ivory Coast border guard warned us that the road ahead was going to be a bad one. We laughed and told him we have just crossed Guinea so we were used to some bad roads but he was right. The road got worse soon after we left the border post. We climbed a small rise and into some dense jungle and around the first corner I could see the road was not much more than a mud track that looked like it was a stream a lot of the time that would turn into a river during the wet season. We spent 2 hours battling the road, all the while reminding ourselves that we were following a bus so how bad could it be. Actually, it wasn't a bus but rather a Land Cruiser Troopy with maybe 10 or more people in it and one or two hanging from the back. It's a bus in these parts anyway and we followed it for 30 minutes or so until they allowed us to pass them. They were stopped at one of the many obstacles we came across that day. This one was a tree that had fallen across ¾ of the road. They had stopped to see if they could get past the tree and when I arrived behind them they moved aside to let me pass. Not what I wanted to do as I was comfortable knowing I could go anywhere they could but after a look at the tree I passed them and squeezed past the tree adding to the scratches from branches that are now down both sides of the car. That was to be the first of several things we had to make our way around and across. After an hour or so we came across a truck that had broken down. One of the trailer axles had broken away from the chassis and he wasn't going anywhere for a while. Luckily for us it was to the side of the road and we could pass but just up the track we came across the obstacle that had broken the truck. It was another one of the log bridges like we had had to pass over in Guinea but this bridge was in pretty bad shape (as if they could get any worse…) and the logs were moved and broken and it looked like the truck had moved them all in its attempt to cross. I eyed it up and went for the crossing. Bang bang… and the distinctive twang of the Frontrunner extra fuel tank being punched in and coming back to its normal shape as we bounced over the last log and the bank back up to the track. I still have the spare tire mounted under the car and it is up against the tank so when its pushed, it pops the tank in and out with a sheet metal twang. My ears are finely tuned to any noise like that so I stopped to inspect the rear of the car. The spare tire had acted like a scoop and collected a load of Ivory Coast clay and it had moved 3 inches to one side but the little chain that holds the spare in place had done an incredible job and held against 'car moving' pressure. No damage done, we pushed on. We drove into the night that day as we could find nowhere to camp off the road. We made it to a small town where we got a hotel room and reflected on what was an incredible time on some of the worst roads (classified as actual roads, not tracks) we had seen.
We headed towards the coast and a campsite listed in iOverlander. It was to be a nice rest at a peaceful location, the last peace we had in Ivory Coast. The next day we drove to Abidjan which is the big city in Ivory Coast. It's not the capital, but it's the economic capital and its busy! We have seen some pretty bad driving during this trip but none of that prepared us for the Abidjan traffic. It was crazy, amazing and total chaos. Imagine a big city with millions of people and cars and then imagine (if you can) that none of the drivers follow any road rules at all.. impossible? Not in Abidjan. It's the norm! The taxis were completely crazy. They would drive up on the footpath, into oncoming traffic, through red lights (even driving into oncoming traffic to get around cars stopped at the red lights) and worse. We summed it up in our minds as zero consideration for any other road user at all. They treat the road as if they are the only vehicle on them and therefore they do just what they want regardless of the rules or laws. We were at times completely amazed at what we saw. We are now in mid-West Africa and we can go days without seeing any other white people. We think that in the city traffic, we are given a small bit of consideration due to the novelty of our difference (when we are noticed) but in Abidjan its dog eat dog and everyone for themselves so let the fun begin. During one trip around the city, we came across some heavy traffic and we were just inching forward for what felt like ages. When we arrived at the congestion area, we were in amazement at what we witnessed. We were heading along a main road, 4 lanes, 2 each way. A smaller but still very busy road came in from the left. At some stage, someone had let a car from this side road cross our lanes and that opened the flood gates for the other cars in the side road to follow. This resulted in a classic case of grid lock as they then blocked the road for traffic going both directions. The thing that amazed us was the fact that even though no one was moving very fast, not one single driver would give up on the quest to get around the corner. If it wasn't such a bad case of human nature, it would have been funny. It came to my turn to go and I had to play a careful game of chicken. As soon as I saw I could move only one inch, I took it. It was funny to watch the drivers follow so closely to the car in front so that no one could get into the space. Lurching forward and braking hard. It was aggression like I had never before seen on the road. In this instance, it was a real benefit to be sitting on the right side of the car. I put the window down and pointed directly to the driver of the car I wanted to get in front of and wagged my finger as if telling off a naughty child. Seeing a white face and being told off might have been enough to get me a few more inches but it was the motorbike that came up the right side of us and blocked the cars by squeezing into the gap that allowed us to eventually escape the anarchy and move on. It's only driving, but it is so far from what we are used to that in some way it's a highlight of the trip to see this sort of thing.
A lowlight was the constant police stops we were subject to. The police randomly stop cars and most of the bus/van vehicles for checks at many places around the city. I am sure it's not to ensure safer roads but is to check people's documents. We are going to get stopped at every single one of these and it starts to get annoying after the first 5 or 6. We are very careful to make sure we are legal and have all the documents required for travel through these countries but sometimes, like this time, our passports were at an embassy for a visa and we were therefore 'undocumented'. We were stopped and pulled off to the side. I try to park really badly so they have to deal with me quickly but this officer insisted I move right off the road and I knew he was going to be difficult. We had Kevin and Steph in the car with us and Kevin can speak a small amount of French so when the officer realized this he started to talk to him…about me and my license and passport… Not the most professional way to start the interaction. So, we are white, travelling and have a newish vehicle so we must have lots of money and clearly, we are also completely stupid and ready to be taken for a ride by a much smarter policeman… This guy was determined to match us with a fine of some sort and this went on for much longer than it should have. I could hear bits of what was going on and he had a problem with my driver's license and a big problem with the fact we didn't have our passports with us. All the while he was talking to Kevin through the rear window. I could see this was going nowhere and he was trying everything to fine me but except for the passports we were clean. Eventually I got sick of this and with the driver's control, I wound up the rear window and tried to get out of the car. 'I am the driver and it's my car, deal with me' I said. 'If you can't speak English, find someone who can or let us go'. He wouldn't let me get out of the car and insisted he continue the discussion with Kevin. He only had my vehicle documents and had not even asked for anything from the other 3 people in the car so it wasn't much of a check was it! I then reached through my window and grabbed the bunch documents back from him and said for him to fine me or let us go. Oops, now I have made him mad.. Well at least it finally gave him the reason to give me a fine. It was for 'disrespecting a police officer' and cost me 20,000f which is about $45NZD which I paid on the spot. I never received a receipt so guess what… the money went directly into the pockets of the 2 officers we were dealing with. As we pulled out into the traffic again, we were once again stopped by another officer that was working the same road block but had not seen we had already been stopped… Like I said, we get stopped at every single check point…
We had met up with Kevin and Stephanie a few days earlier and together we had travelled to the Ivory Coast/Ghana border. We were all looking forward to driving through Ghana and taking advantage of one of the many cheap resorts along the coast. 4 star resorts are less than €20 a night and we have heard it's a great country for overland travel. We arrived at the busy border on a 40-degree day and proceeded through the Ivory Coast side. The border official made sure we understood that we were on single entry visas and we could not return on the same visa… OK. Before entering Ivory Coast, we realized we had made an error when we got our visas and given the wrong dates so we had to get a new visa at great expense. These were single entry visas, whereas the visas with the wrong dates were multi entry visas. He didn't look at those, only the correctly dated visa. Off we all went into Ghana and to the customs office. As we are not travelling with a carnet for the car, we had to get a very complicated insurance policy in place that insured us for the duty and taxes if we were to sell the car in Ghana. The premium was quite simply a small percentage of the expected tax and duty, but the documentation was complicated and it required us to deal with an agent (or fixer) that would bring all the parts together. What a joke… Once again we were seen as mobile ATM machines that could be tapped at will to spew cash in every direction. The fee for this service was going to be between 5 and $600USD plus we had to have each car fitted with a tracking device at $50USD.. This went on for a while and ended when the agent seriously asked me what I would be happy to pay for all the work. I went into a very detailed list of all the work that had to be done, with him agreeing on every point, all the while he was leaning right in towards me, head nodding with my every word. I pondered and looked towards the sky, looked him in the eye and told him I wouldn't pay any more than €20.. I didn't wait for his response, I just walked off as we had already agreed to drive around the country and we marched back to the cars and off to the Ivory Coast border again… OK so I had some fun, but I was still angry that one greedy fool has ruined it for all the 100s of Ghana people we could have directly and indirectly come into contact with but the new visa and all the cost of driving through Burkina Faso was still way cheaper than the cost to just get the car in to Ghana. Back at the border we were expecting trouble because of the visa we had shown before was single entry. We met the same guard and confidently presented our multi entry visas. The entry date for this visa was still 10 days away but he didn't even look at the dates and just stamped us back in… So much for border security..
So, we were back in Ivory Coast and now have to get a visa for Burkina Faso. If there is one thing that we really don't like to do here in Africa, its dealing with officials. Be they police, border guards, customs officials or embassy staff, they are all a pain. The embassy staff can be especially difficult. They are normal people in a position of authority and power, and they really know it. As white folk, we are singled out for special treatment. We are usually the only white faces in a room full of locals. One of the big problems we have is the expectation of efficiency. We are slow learners and once again at the Burkina Faso embassy we expected to be dealt with in a normal manner in a timely fashion. We arrived early not long after they opened and seated ourselves in the waiting room. We sat around for nearly 2 hours and when we asked we were told we should have knocked on the closed locked door for service. This is after the guards had directed us to wait for the woman to come and get us… OK, so we started the process and armed with our new knowledge of the process to get attention, we knocked on the door only to be told off and told that she would come for us and not to knock again. Hmmm. This woman for some reason then made the process as difficult as she possibly could. She would wait until we had completed the forms then say we need to do 2. 'We need a copy…' OK, we found a copy shop and copied the form in color and returned. No, we cannot take a PHOTO copy I need an 'original' copy (handing us the blank forms which were not offered before) Completed, now you pay, it's this much... Nearly TWICE the amount the embassy said on the website and we didn't have that much cash. Then she added that at 3pm she finishes for the day and we would have to come back tomorrow which would have meant yet another day to wait before we could collect the visas. It was just after 2:30pm. Off we went to the nearest ATM. Kevin and I ran from the bank back to the embassy (I could have beat him back but let him win because he's half my age) and we managed to submit the finished applications with 5 minutes to spare and what should have taken a few hours at the most had taken all day. This is African 'efficiency'.
The next few days we had an uneventful drive to the north of Ivory Coast and crossed into Burkina Faso. The crossing was pretty good and we were not asked for money when we shouldn't have been. It was good to be out of Ivory Coast though and Burkina Faso was a very nice place to visit with very friendly people and no police stops. They are much like the people we met in Mali and the weather was also much like Mali, hot! Our first night in the country we stayed at a lake that has Hippos. It's a campsite right on the lake edge and it was one of the nicest campsites we have had on the trip. We spent some time at the lake looking for Hippos and although we didn't see them out of the water, we did see them moving around and in the late evening we could hear the roars and grunts of the giant beasts all around the lake as they called to each other. We then spent a night in the capital city of Ouagadougou which was a busy and clean city (by West African standards) where we planned to get some more visas but when we visited the office we find out they are no longer issuing them. It's no problem it just means we have to get them at the borders which can be time consuming and means being out of the air-conditioned car…
We headed south and crossed the border into Togo. The crossing was no problem and everything was completed quickly and with a smile on both sides. On the way back to the coast, we stopped off at a UNESCO world heritage site which is a village that has been built into a cliff face. We arranged a tour with the local guides and met them at the road end. The guides were really taken with Luxy and just loved the idea that we were travelling with a cat. The tour was great. The cliff village was first occupied in the 1600's and was only recently abandoned for a more traditional village setting above the cliff. It was nice to see the locals doing something to preserve their heritage and the site is developing into a regular tourist stop in the region. We drove down to Lomé which is the capital and attempted to get an Airbnb with Kevin and Steph. After a couple of attempts we managed to get in touch with a very nice chap who rented us the entire bottom floor of his very nice house. We wondered why this European type house with great quality finish and with Ikea furnishings and even landscaping, had ended up in the middle of a pretty typical west African city. It turns out that it is his brother's house and he is away a lot of the time playing football in the European league. He was the captain of the Togo international side and is very well known in the area. It was the most relaxing time we have had since we arrived in Africa. We cooked, watched movies, did our washing (after 3 washes our towels were finally clean) and generally had a good time relaxing, (that is in between getting 3 more visas) and it was sad to say goodbye and head off to the next grubby hotel or hot campsite.
The Togo to Benin border was a pleasure to cross. It was no fuss and the process was easy. Its evident that Benin is a poorer country than Togo and the people of Benin were interested in getting richer any way possible. We were seen as easy targets and we were blatantly ripped off a few times on the first day in the country. We chose to view this as an isolated case but as we only spent a few days in Benin it was hard to see the country any other way and Benin was the first place we entered and left feeling like we were happy to be gone. Leaving Benin to enter Nigeria was an experience all in itself as was the time we spent in Nigeria so I will tell you all about that in a separate blog.
Some nice pics and adventure. How you both are ever going to sit at home and veg from here on is difficult to imagine. :)
Heather Such
OMG! Life in dear old New Zealand will seem very boring after all this, but at least, on the whole, it is safe! I can't wait for the next instalment, but am going to have a gin and tonic ready at hand, to get me through the experience! Stay safe and keep up these amazing blogs! x x x
it's Our Epic Trip...
David & Christine are from New Zealand and are embarking on a trip around the world the slow way, on foot and by personal vehicle. This could get interesting!


A waste prevention loan fund to encourage organisations to develop more resource-efficient business models has been launched by the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
The fund aims to reduce waste at source by supporting organisations to introduce business models and processes which make more efficient use of material resources, for example product reuse, repair and upgrading services.
A total of £1M will be made available to support businesses, social enterprises and local authorities over the next four years. The maximum investment will be £100,000 and the minimum will be £20,000.
The funding will be distributed in phases. In the first phase, a percentage of the funding will be made available as loans to assist with cash-flow for a business (retailer or product supplier) which is switching from generating immediate income through product sales to generating income from service delivery.
Applicants will need to demonstrate new approaches which offer substantial resource savings and can be scaled-up and replicated to have significant benefit at the national level. The fund is designed to help introduce solutions where commercial funding is otherwise not available.
The fund will initially target resource-efficient business models for electrical and electronic products, clothing and furniture. Further phases, which will be announced later in the year, will support wider waste prevention and reuse activities in selected product categories.
WRAP's director of design & waste prevention, Richard Swannell, said: "We think the fund offers a unique opportunity for entrepreneurial thinking to make a real difference in the design and development of new products."


Five days 'til Christmas and what do 'ya know? Five new followers to It's A Dan's World (Do you think we'll break 70 before years end?)! While you place your bets on that one, let's meet the newbies!
Chak is the mastermind/genius behind the previously mentioned Foldees.com - where you can get your comic freak on through greeting cards you only dreamed existed!
Claudia Ka pours her tastes in rhythm into the Brazilian music-based blog Tempero Musical.
Chinese Gunman runs a self-titled blog - careful kiddies - mature audiences only.
Lee Stone, from Texas, juggles a few blogs on the interweb. Track down his thoughts on comic news at Republic of Republicants.
And finally but no means least, Alan Derosby is one of three brothers running Derosbybrothers.com - which is already conveniently over in the blogroll to the right!
Welcome to IADW Chak, Claudia, C.G, Lee and Alan - glad to have you aboard!
I plan on doing some promotion of my favorite blogs in the next few weeks (partially due to lack of time or ideas on what to write about). You'll be the first.
My older daughter visited DB.com this week and left me a message, under my login of course so it looks like I'm talking to myself. Nick and his friends check us out once in awhile, and Alan and Keith's students check the site out regularly (particularly when we have something we shouldn't have posted in the first place). Who knows, you may get some well-deserved traffic coming your way.


This paper proposes a fast AND/OR tree search algorithm using a multiple paths parallel and concurrent search scheme for embedded multicore processors. Currently, not only PCs or supercomputers but also information appliances such as game consoles, mobile devices and car navigation systems are equipped with multicore processors for better cost performance and lower power consumption. However, the number of processor cores and the amount of memories in embedded multicore processors are limited for lowering power consumption and chip costs. Development of parallel application programs on embedded multicore processors requires exploitation of parallelism and effective utilization of small memories. The proposed algorithm allows us to search in parallel many paths including lowly evaluated nodes and paths including highly evaluated nodes. The algorithm also uses depth-Àrst search, working on small memories. The proposed algorithm is applied for a tsume-shogi (Japanese chess problem) solver as a typical AND/OR tree search problem on an embedded multicore processor system, NEC Electronics NaviEngine with four ARM processor cores. Evaluation results for 100 problems show that the proposed algorithm executed on two processor cores is 2.36 times faster, and executed on four processor cores is 4.17 times faster than the sequential algorithm on the average.


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Jiangmen hotels
Wanda Realm Jiangmen
Block 3, Wanda Plaza, Fazhan Avenue, Pengjiang District, Jiangmen, Guangdong Province, P.R.China
U.S.-China trade war hurts Accor but it won't deter Asia expansion
The ongoing U.S. and China trade war continues to wreak havoc on the global hospitality industry.One week after Hilton announced tensions between the nations dampened overall revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth, the Paris-based hotelier Accor conceded the conflict weighed down company earnings in China and the greater Asia-Pacific region in the first half of 2019.
RevPAR in China fell 1.3 percent, deputy CEO Jean-Jacques Morin told analysts on Accor's earnings call Wednesday. Meanwhile, RevPAR for Asia-Pacific declined 0.2 percent. Negative results in Australia, due to political tensions, contributed to this, the company said.
Poor performance in the region will not deter Accor from expanding in the region, it said. Much like its competitors, the hotel chain has identified China and the Asia-Pacific market as a key growth opportunity, as it looks to take advantage of a rise in Chinese travel. Of Accor's pipeline of 202,000 rooms, or 1,153 hotels, 50 percent of those accommodations will be constructed in Asia.
"Australia is at the cusp now, with the election behind us. The question mark is the rest of China," said Morin. "Our assumption is China will stabilize and slightly improve. RevPAR for Asia-Pacific is now marginally improving."
Also on Accor's agenda, is upgrading its loyalty program. The company announced plans to invest $255 million into a new offering dubbed Accor Live Limitless (ALL) in February.
Since the announcement, Accor has additionally been aggressive about finding partners for ALL. The loyalty program will serve as Paris Saint-Germain's official kit sponsor for the upcoming football season beginning in August. Accor and Air France-KLM also teamed up on a joint loyalty venture last month.
"This can work very well," Morin said about the KLM France deal. "You will see us do more of this in the future to make our loyalty program stickier."
Accor's revenue grew to 1.9 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in the first half of 2019, a 28 percent increase over the same period last year. Net profits for the company also came in at 141 million euros, it said.
As for RevPAR, Accor disclosed a 2.9 percent increase overall, led by sharp growth in its home market of Europe and South America at 4.4 percent and 13.8 percent, respectively. Each region benefited from sporting events, such as the Women's World Cup and the Copa América tournament in Brazil.
Accor finished the quarter with 4,900 hotels and 717,000 rooms available in 110 countries.
Author: Wanda Realm Jiangmen
Prev: Wyndham plans to open 500 hotels in China in the next three years
Next: Embraer bullish on potential in China's regional aviation market
Zhongshan International Hotel
Golden Hotel Foshan
Sheraton Shunde Hotel
Crowne Plaza Zhongshan Xiaolan
Sheraton Zhongshan Hotel
Shunde Marriott Hotel
Country Garden Phoenix Hotel Longjiang
Courtyard by Marriott Shunde Longjiang
Four Points By Sheraton Guangdong Heshan Fangyuan
The Westin Zhongshan Lihe
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Can I throttle the max CPU usage of a php script? I have some scripts that use a ton of cpu is it possible to cap the amount of cpu a process is allowed to use? I am running on CentOs 5.5 by the way.

A: I helped a fellow PHP coder create PHP scripts which address a similar issue. These are long-running PHP scripts which generate a lot of load. Since they're long running, the goal was to "pause" them if load gets too high. The script has a function similar to:
function get_server_load()
{
    $fh = fopen('/proc/loadavg', 'r')
    $data = fread($fh, 6);
    fclose($fh);
    $load_avg = explode(" ", $data);
    return floatval(trim($load_avg[0]));
}

The script calls get_server_load() during each loop, and if the load is greater than a given max, it sleeps for 30 seconds and checks again:
set_time_limit(120);
while(get_server_load() > $max_load)
    sleep($load_sleep_time);

This allows the script to give CPU time back to the server during periods of high load.

A: maybe you could use nice?

A: PHP is considered a scripting language, and does not have such low level access to the hardware.
Instead, what you can do is use functions like "set_time_limit()"
http://php.net/manual/en/function.set-time-limit.php
and memory_limit in your php.ini
http://php.net/manual/en/ini.core.php
Those are the recommended methods, but the closest you'll get to what you want are probably a combination of "sleep()"
http://php.net/manual/en/function.sleep.php
and getting the current CPU load with "exec('uptime');". Note that you may or may not have access to those system commands.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Robert Silverberg's "Racism and Sexism" post, written in defense of his comment about N.K. Jemisin's 2018 Hugo acceptance speech, and to counter Marta Randall's statements about the editing of New Dimensions, was one of the most widely-read of the year.
Mystery Writers of America has named two new Grand Masters – Linda Fairstein and Martin Cruz Smith — plus the winners of several other awards: "MWA Announces 2019 Special Edgar Awards – Grand Master, Raven and Ellery Queen Award Recipients".


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Write a message to José Ramos and make a local contact
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José Ramos is a landscape photographer and doctor from Portugal, currently living in Lisbon. He started shooting fourteen years ago and this passion grew so strong that this was the art he has chosen to express himself and pay homage to the beauty and power of the world which surrounds us. He divides his time between working as a photographer and a doctor specialized in Psychiatry, which implies great dedication to be able to develop his skills in both areas. So far this has been possible through very strong commitment and discipline, as well as at the expense of sleeping hours, which would only be bearable when there's intense passion about both subjects.
He currently leads Photo-Tours in Portugal, which in his opinion has the best seascapes in the world, along with so many other captivating landscapes yet to be discovered by the world. His images have been published several times in National Geographic printed magazine and in many other international photography magazines, and won international photo awards. They are also available for sale as fine art prints to all over the world. Beyond image making and teaching, José has also been collaborating with many international photography brands.
Conceptually speaking, José always tries to offer his personal thoughts, experiences and reflections about his images, as the thinks the image creation process never ends with the camera shutter press, being rather continued by what is evoked by the image when it is re-viewed at home, and later carried on by the emotions of the final viewer who, once again, re-creates the image inside him. In his photos, the act of raising awareness about Nature and the need to protect the environment is of utmost importance, being such aspects frequently linked, through embedded concepts and stories for each image, to the fragility and power of Humankind in an ever changing and mesmerizing world.
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10-year-old boy on bike struck by car, killed in Cheektowaga
Cheektowaga Police say 37-year-old Kevin Mendola of Buffalo was arrested and charged with two felonies in connection to the boy's death.
Author: WGRZ Staff
Published: 8:48 PM EDT August 11, 2021
Updated: 9:14 PM EDT August 12, 2021
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — A 10-year-old boy has died after he was struck by a vehicle Wednesday while riding a bicycle.
Cheektowaga Police say the boy was struck shortly before 5 p.m. on Lovejoy Street near Griffith Park. He was taken to Oishei Children's Hospital where he later died.
Police on Thursday night announced that 37-year-old Kevin Mendola of Buffalo was arrested and charged with two felonies in connection to the boy's death. The charges include leaving the scene of an accident that causes death, and criminally negligent homicide.
Mendola is in custody at the Cheektowaga Police Department and will be arraigned Friday morning. Mendola had been cooperating with police on Thursday as they investigated.
An investigation is underway, and the Cheektowaga Police Department's Accident Investigation Unit is said to be in contact with the Erie County District Attorney's office.
Police say the boy's name is not being released at this time.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident, or anyone who has seen any video if the incident, is asked to call the Cheektowaga Police at (716) 686-3580.
Cheektowaga Police said missing man has be found
Town of Cheektowaga appoints Gould as new police chief
Cheektowaga to appoint Brian Gould next police chief


We are what we eat? | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Buenos Aires is full of activist graffiti, frequently political (e.g., nationalist, populist or remembering the dirty war and its victims).
eo'n, Hard Luck 13 (Rick13), and Alex Es added this photo to their favorites.


The Bard of Boston: My Twitter Handle (and Blog Title) Explained: What Is a Bard?
My Twitter Handle (and Blog Title) Explained: What Is a Bard?
The Bard of Boston is not a reference to Red Sox pitcher Daniel Bard; it is not a reference to Shakespeare performances going on in and around the Boston area; and it is not a reference to the culinary practice of covering meat with bacon prior to roasting (a second meaning of bard)... although that does sound delicious.
Apart from being a big fan of flaunting the phonetic fun of alliteration, I chose bard to precede Boston in my blog title and Twitter handle (@BardOfBoston) because the term uniquely encapsulates several of the qualities that pertain to my interests, hobbies, career and ancestral past.
Celtic: The term bard has its roots in the Celtic linguistic/cultural tradition, a tradition that today applies to persons of Irish, Highland Scottish, Manx, Welsh and Cornish descent. As an Irish American, the Celtic term bard seemed fitting, especially in light of its definition(s).
Writer: According to Dictionary.com, a bard is "one of an ancient Celtic order of composers and reciters of poetry." Although I don't compose poetry to pay the bills, I do compose copy and web content. Furthermore, songwriting is a hobby of mine, which ties in with the next bullet point.
Musician: Another definition of bard from Dictionary.com is as follows: "(formerly) a person who composed and recited epic or heroic poems, often while playing the harp, lyre, or the like." In my spare time, I play Celtic music; and back in my Montreal days, I even had a Celtic/folk band (Devaney's Goat). But what ties into this definition of bard even more specifically is that I play the Irish bouzouki, which is not too different from a lyre.
Historian: Merriam-Webster defines bard as "a tribal poet-singer skilled in composing and reciting verses on heroes and their deeds." In addition, Dictionary.com clarifies in a later definition that bards "recited verses about the exploits, often legendary, of their tribes." As an amateur historian who is striving to keep stories from New England's past alive, I feel that I am performing the equivalent of reciting verses about the legendary exploits of my tribe.


Current storage facility in Apopka. Pick up product once a week. 4 days / 36 hours per week. Most accounts are serviced once per week or once every two weeks - WaWa 3 times per week. New WaWa being built in Lake Wales. All future WaWa will automatically add revenue. Distribute Herrs Snack products.


Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal smiles while speaking during his retirement ceremony in 2010.
WASHINGTON — The former top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said Sunday that withdrawing up to half the 14,000 American troops serving there would reduce the incentive for the Taliban to negotiate a peace deal after more than 17 years of war.
Retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal said the U.S. has "basically traded away the biggest leverage point we have." McChrystal's comments were in response to reports that President Donald Trump had ordered the Pentagon to develop plans to withdraw thousands of American troops by next summer. Outgoing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis mentioned the order in his resignation letter. Mattis' last day in the administration is Monday.
McChrystal also said he's worried that the Afghan people will lose confidence in the U.S. as an ally that can be counted on.
"I think we probably rocked them," said McChrystal, who commanded U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan for about a year.
He also was critical of Trump personally, saying he doesn't believe Trump tells the truth. The comment came when asked what he would say if he were asked to join the Trump administration.
It's not the first time he's criticized a sitting president. President Barack Obama accepted McChrystal's resignation in June 2010 after he made scathing remarks in a magazine article about administration officials, including about Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.


Nothing seems to sum up the new brutality of Church life than what has happened to the Franciscans of the Immaculate. To his discredit Fr Volpi, the now deceased Papal Commissioner, brought various spurious legal actions against them all of which were thrown out by the Italian courts. Now gossip, innuendo and intimidation are the weapons used against them.
The reason for all this according to Franciscans of the Immaculate is not merely their support of 'Tradition', though all of them seem happy to celebrate both forms of the Roman Rite but their opposition to the speculative doctrines of Karl Rahner, the Jesuit.
How far has the destruction of the Order of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate progressed? This is the updating of a chapter that is like a dark shadow on the pontificate of Pope Francis.
In 1969 two Fathers Minor, Stefano Maria Manelli and Gabriele Maria Pellettieri, asked the Father General of the Order, after a thorough study of Fontes Franciscani, to be allowed to start a "new experience of Franciscan life" back to its original rigor. In 1970 an abandoned monastery of the Order was made available to them where they gathered more men over time, and with the establishment of a female branch, women also joined. In 1990, the Community was canonically recognized as a separate order.
I have just finished reading Father Serafino Lanzetta's book "Vatican II - A Pastoral Council". Many will know that Father Serafino is one of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate stationed at Gosport. I have no training in theology, my Latin is sub O level and my German non-existent and I therefore approached this weighty tome with trepidation but in fact found I could not put it down despite not being able to follow every word and note. Father Serafino has profoundly researched Vatican II and, as I understand it, his theme is that the Council's documents were watered down at the behest of Karl Rahner, the German Bishops and Cardinal Bea so as to try and attract the Protestants into unity with the Catholic Church. They wanted three things: firstly to pretend that the Catholic view of Revelation could really be seen as sola scriptura after all rather than Tradition, Scripture and the Magisterium. They then wanted membership of the Church not to be too closely defined so we could pretend that the Protestants were included and lastly they did not want any new dogma about Our Lady being Mediatrix or anything else - she was to be demoted. I suppose Rahner & Co thought that they could obtain a new vision of the Church which the Protestants would rush to join. To an extent they succeeded in watering down the documents but we now know that there has been no unity with the Protestants - indeed rather the contrary. Certainly from Anglicanism those who have come over seem not to have been attracted by this protestantised version of the Church but in fact by an orthodoxy which Rahner & Co wanted to reject viz: the Ordinariate.
This is a very important book which for me explained a lot. As for the FFI generally I see them as one of the brightest hopes in the Church and I am sure they will emerge triumphant from their dark night.
There is nothing new under the sun - smacks of similar things done to the English monastic orders during the Reformation, and, of course, the Knights Templar.
The latter has spawned all manner of spurious allegations and conspiracy theories that remain with us to this day, enabling various third-rate authors to make large sums, and doing damage to the reputation of the Church.
It might be worth reminding the Jesuits that their own order was supressed for a number of years, when they lost their way and could "no longer produce abundant fruits".
One would hopefully expect decency, honesty, fair dealing and integrity from the Vatican. Yet another illusion shattered. I really despair.
Is there also mooted an attack upon the enclosed orders? How safe are ICKSP, FSSP, et al, not to mention the SSPX saga?
There is no doubt these Franciscan friars have been sinned against and Papa "who am I to judge" has committed a crime against truth and justice. You would think Fr Volpi's death would have been sufficient divine warning. We should not be shocked because the Pope no Pope from Peter forward is not indefectible in character or ordinary de decisions. We are supposed to humbly submit while our papa sins. I think this makes us complicit in his sin.
While hit very hard, they are not dead yet. Perhaps this attempt to discredit and destroy is also an attack against Our Lady. How long will her Divine Son allow this?
These Friars certainly have been given a very rough time but I do so agree with the comment above that they're not dead yet. I somehow think that they will pull through despite all these onslaughts.
My greatest disappointment is that Pope Francis does not seem to be acting on the greatest rot within the church~cleaning his house, Germany, and other places of duplicitous clergy who live a double life and try to justify their "personal lived experience". Exposed by the leaked papers of Pope Benedict XVI and known first hand by those of us in diocesan service~~we are waiting. Instead, Pope Francis appoints these men to oversee an important Synod on Marriage and the family, holds a Cardinal like Danneels in esteem and reactivates him after the havoc he caused in Belgium.
It seems to me that the kind of energy spent destroying healthy growing faithful communities would be better spent cleaning up the deep seeded double lived clergy who do more to divide the church than those whom joyfully celebrate liturgy as legitimate as is the Novus Ordo.
Perhaps I do not know all the details but I have experience and do know the underbelly of the church. Something is rotten in Denmark, Germany,Belgium and Rome. Do they really think we do not know?
The Jesuits came back from the dead; who knows what may happen once this sorry pontificate has passed into history.
Even with his failed attempt to destroy the Christ-Child, Herod caused great blood-letting.
A true religious order will survive if God wills. All true religious will be attacked, even from within the Church. This is nothing new. Enough of the despair already.
Grief is not despair. The Blessed Virgin grieved upon the death of Her Son. She did not despair nor did Martha and Mary upon Lazarus' death. The decimation of the Friars of the Immaculate is an occasion for grief not despair. I urge you not to parse the matter as you have.
What God wills and what He permits may be altogether different. The substantive issues are worth serious reflection on all counts.
I guess the Jubilee of Mercy is over or never offered for the FFI. Shameful.
With the loss of the Papal States the Papacy became romantically spiritualized. The degree to which temporal power was lost corresponded in a need to promote spiritual claims and mystique which the secular state could not copy. Sorry it is catching up and attacking these. The idol we have created shows cracks and so we are dismayed. The Papacy stepped beyond legitimate bounds prior to Vatican II and I think has by changing so much and allowing men like Bugnini, recently men like Kaspar, Mahoney and Daneels to scheme manipulating papal claims and vanity we have all gained the impression the Pope can do what he wants with impunity like mini god. It might be time to turn our backs on Francis and it is because of his claim adultery is a venial sin to be lived in and his breaking the First Commandment at Assisi. When will our catholic tolerance of the antics of the Papacy reach a limit? When will we remind it of its duty and limits?
1569, you are right to say it is what we should expect – we should demand it even.
I will wager many of those reading this excellent blog will have been through your situation, maybe they are still there ?
It is the most distressing situation that you (me, whoever) can seem to set oneself against priests, bishops, cardinals, even the pope himself – on particular matters of faith and morals. But in standing up (with) for the One, True, Holy Roman Catholic Church, we do nothing wrong. We follow Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master and our Saviour. Nothing can detract from that. He gave us His guarantee of eternal support and help and we simply must leave it to Him.
No-one claimed it was easy living as a Catholic. Please don't despair.


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Category: Lithuania
Andrius Pojavis "surprised" he was chosen to represent Lithuania at Eurovision
On the latest episode of The Euro Trip, Andrius Pojavis has admitted that he was "surprised" that the Lithuanian public and jury selected his song to represent the nation at Eurovision. Pojavis won Eurovizijos dainų konkurso nacionalinė atranka (National Selection for Eurovision Song Contest) with the self-penned song Something. Speaking to The Euro Trip presenter…


Jenny Mathison-Foster opened Bay Willow Design in downtown McKinney in 2015.
Custom hats a Bay Willow Design run from $145-$500.
Bay Willow Design suggests certain hat styles to compliment different facial shapes.
Bay Willow's 2019 Spring collection features light colors and materials.
Jenny Mathison-Foster stumbled across a love for millinery, or women's hat making, when she discovered the intricacy of the process about 20 years ago, she said.
In September 2015, Mathison-Foster opened Bay Willow Design in downtown McKinney. Bay Willow sells ready-to-wear hats and makes hats to order.
Bay Willow's custom-client base varies, Foster said. Some customers need extravagant hats to wear to the Kentucky Derby or to Mad Hatter tea parties, while others order more casual hats to wear day to day.
Mathison-Foster, whose background is in fabric design and art history, said millinery is a way to use all her knowledge and express her creativity. She said she has the tools and materials to make hundreds of hats in different sizes, shapes and colors.
Bay Willow is both a shop and Mathison-Foster's design studio. She said a great thing about a shop connected to a studio is having clients come in, try on different hats and find the perfect style for them.
"A hat changes your attitude; it changes your look; and it changes who you are," she said.
Bay Willow expects to undergo renovations this summer. Foster said she is planning to remove the dividing wall between the shop and studio. She hopes this will make the space more welcoming to customers who would like to learn more about the hat-making process.


As a Research Analyst for Decision Innovation Solutions (DIS), Chris is responsible for analyzing economic and agricultural data to assist clients in making informed strategic business decisions. In this role, he will assist clients in the areas of farm policy, feasibility assessment and economic impact analysis. Read more about Chris here.
2018 saw decreased hog prices received for most months compared to 2017. This was partially due to trade disputes that have remained.


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Dina Kamal
Published: June 9, 202010:37 am Updated: October 15, 20216:15 pm
Thesis project title: Human / Nature (dis)Connectedness: Beyond Biophilia in the Built Environment
Supervisor: Carmela Cucuzzella
Program: Master of Design (MDES)
Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Human Relations at Concordia University in Montréal, an Interior Designer and instructor by profession, Dina Kamal is now pursuing a Masters in Design (MDES. Her master's research aims to study the correlation of people's connection and disconnection to nature, while analyzing its impact on sustainability, the environment and how this affects our well-being, our behavior, in turn to help rethink the way we live, design, build and create.
The research explores the relationship between humans and nature in the built environment, where Dina aims to understand why we bring the outside in and in what respect do we do so, questioning the intention vs. the reality of nature in the built environment. This is being achieved through a series of creation projects to better understand the elements involved in the relationship, and through film analysis, mostly of dystopian futuristic worlds in the near and distant future. Connectedness is extremely valuable where one would expect an increase in human/nature connectedness in the future standards and expectations of our built environment. Studies have
shown that Human/Nature connectedness and disconnectedness affects our physical wellbeing and our mental health which poses many questions in regards to our current built environment.
Research questions include: In what ways are we so disconnected from nature, and why is it not standard practice to incorporate nature into the way we build and live?, Why has the value of nature in the built environment been reduced to aesthetic? In interior design and in the built environment in general, is there room for growth, to move towards a more cohesive human/nature connectedness, and a more
holistic approach to design?, How can we rethink the value of our human/nature (dis)connectedness to undesign and restructure the narratives of the built environment?
The work will include storytelling and story boarding, to provoke thought and imagination of a built environment, in a world that goes back to its roots and back to nature.


This famous wizarding family from a series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling is known for their red hair, money misfortunes and goodwill towards half-blood wizards and Muggles. The family made the Sacred Twenty-Eight, a list which comprised families that did not intermarry with muggles. However, they bewailed their inclusion in this list since, as they said they had connections with Muggles and were proud of it. Because of that fact, the Weasley family gained disapproval of the pure-blood doctrine advocates and were dubbed blood traitors.
The family is not exceptionally well-off financially, and we know from the books that on numerous occasions their deposit at wizards' bank Gringotts consisted of only a single galleon and a bunch of sickles.
All generations in the Weasley family had large numbers of children, which was met with disapproval by many elitist pureblood families. Besides that, for several generations children from the Weasley family have been male. This trend terminated only in 1981 with the birth of Ginny Weasley, and the latest generation included more girls than boys.
Let's take a closer look at this wonderful family and learn a bit more about its members.
Arthur Weasley was born into a family of pure-blood wizards. His parents were Septimus and Cedrella Weasley (formerly Black). Since the Weasley were considered a family of blood traitors, Cedrella's marriage to Arthur caused her to be burnt out from the Black family. From 1970 to 1996 Arthur headed the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office which let him explore the non-magical world. As of 1996 was the head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects. He was especially passionate about collecting electric plugs and batteries. Arthur also was a secret member of the Order of Phoenix.
Molly Weasley (formerly Prewett) eloped with Arthur and settled in Burrow, an old, dilapidated house outside of Ottery St Catchpole. Though known as a loving mother and wife, she was never one to be fooled with, as she proved once and for all in a fierce duel with Bellatrix Lestrange.
Arthur and Molly had seven children – William, Charles, Percy, Fred, George, Ronald, and Ginevra.
William "Bill" Weasley is the oldest child. He was a high achiever at Hogwarts and thus set the bar high for other children in the family. After graduation from Hogwarts, he became a Curse-Breaker for Gringotts in Egypt. In 1995, he came back to England and joined the Order of the Phoenix. During this time, he was dating Fleur Delacour and married her in August 1997. During the Battle of the Lightning-Struck Tower, Bill got his face scarred by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback. However he didn't turn into a werewolf, just got a craving for rare steaks.
Fleur Delacour was a student of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and represented it in the 1994 Triwizard Tournament. Just like her husband, she was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. She took part in the Battle of Hogwarts and was awarded bravery medals by both the British and French Ministries of Magic. Bill and Fleur had three children, Victoire, Dominique, and Louis.
Charles Weasley was an exceptional Seeker and was chosen the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain. Charles worked as a dragonologist in Romania. He is fascinated by magical creatures and rather preferred studying dragons to having romantic relationships, so he never got married and didn't have children.
Percy Weasley can be called the most ambitious of all Weasley children since he dreamt of becoming the Minister of Magic. He graduated from Hogwarts with excellent grades and started his career at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Percy's ambitions caused a split between him and his family but he got back on to his family's side during the Battle of Hogwarts.
Very little is known about Percy's wife Audrey. It is not known whether she worked at the Ministry or not. However, we may rest assured that she knew all their regulations and rules in detail due to her husband's meticulousness. Percy and Audrey have two daughters: Molly and Lucy.
Fred and George Weasley are twin brothers and both are known as Troublemakers-in-Chief since they liked pranks and inventing trick sweets. Shortly before graduation they decided to leave school and created the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes (aka Weasley & Weasley) joke shop. Both brothers were Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Tragically, Fred was killed at the Battle of Hogwarts, which left his family devastated.
Just like his twin brother, George is a member of the Order of the Phoenix and took part in the Battle of the Seven Potters and the Battle of Hogwarts. While being on a mission for the Order of Phoenix, George lost his ear in a battle, only to joke that he felt saint-like (or "holey"). After the end of the Second Wizarding War, George married Angelina Johnson.
Angelina Johnson played Quidditch as a Chaser for the Gryffindor team and during her last year at Hogwarts she was made the team's captain. She was a member of the resistance group called "Dumbledore's Army". Angelina and George had two children, a son named Fred, in honor of his twin brother Fred, and a daughter named Roxanne.
Ronald Weasley is the youngest son of Arthur and Molly. Ron was sorted into the Gryffindor House and often felt outshined by his elder successful brothers. Fortunately, his fears proved to be groundless. He was a very skilled Wizard's Chess player and succeeded as a Quidditch Keeper. He was also appointed a Gryffindor prefect. Together with friends Harry and Hermione he fought in countless battles of the Second Wizarding War and overcame many challenges. Ron eventually married Hermione and had two children, Rose and Hugo Granger-Weasley.
Hermione Granger was born in a Muggle family. She was gifted in almost all subjects and was one of the finest minds to ever attend Hogwarts. She played a crucial role in many battles of the Second Wizarding War. After the war, she married Ron Weasley and eventually became the Minister of Magic.
Ginevra Weasley was the first girl to be born in the Weasley lineage for several generations. She had impressive skills at playing Quidditch and was appointed a Chaser and a Seeker at different times. She also played an important role in Dumbledore's Army and fought in many battles during the Second Wizarding War. After the war, she started her career at the Holyhead Harpies, but after marriage to Harry Potter and having children, James Sirius, Albus Severus, and Lily Luna, she was offered the position of a sports editor for the Daily Prophet.
Harry Potter, the legendary "Boy Who Lived" first met the Weasley family at the King's Cross station and quickly made friends with Ron. He was always treated as a fully-fledged member in the Weasley family. After he married Ginny this status was made official. In 2007 Harry was promoted to the Head of the Auror Office and would occasionally give Defence Against the Dark Arts lectures at Hogwarts.
Weasleys have a truly exciting family tree, don't they? What if your family is no less interesting? Let's check that! Make your own family tree using our building tool and share your personal story with friends and relatives!