text:
Commentary: 'Woke' Superman's Mission Is Neither Bold Nor Brave
by Star News Staff | Oct 16, 2021
by Dean Cain
DC Comics recently revealed that in an upcoming issue titled "Superman: Son of Kal-El," the son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent would be bisexual, and that he's going to fight "real-world problems" such as climate change, that he'll protest the deportation of refugees, and date a "hacktivist."
What exactly is a "hacktivist"? Isn't hacking illegal? Is Superman supporting criminal activity? It's a chore to keep up with all the different iterations of the current superheroes, but DC Comics is calling it a "bold new direction" for the character. I see nothing "bold" about it.
I say they're jumping on the bandwagon, but they're fighting the wrong issues. There is a clear agenda here. It's globalist, it's anti-America, but it's not bold and it's not brave.
Robin, Batman's famed red-headed sidekick, came out as bisexual recently, and honestly, who is shocked about that one? The new Captain America is gay. The character of Alex (my daughter in the live-action series "Supergirl") was lesbian. A gay or bisexual superhero is not groundbreaking in 2021. It's banal. I have zero issue with that. I'm all for inclusiveness and acceptance and tolerance. It might be more interesting, however, if they created new characters instead of retrofitting the identity of existing ones.
"Brave" would have been to do some of this 30 years ago. Or to depict Superman, or Jon Kent, fighting for the rights of LGBT people in Iran where they'll throw you off a building for the "offense" of even being suspected of homosexuality. And why doesn't Superman fight the injustices that created the refugees whose deportation he's protesting? Digging deep into those issues — that would be brave. That would be informative. I'd read that comic book.
"Bold" would be fighting for the rights of Afghan women to attend school and be able to live free and go to work, and fighting for the right for boys to not be raped by men under the supposedly newly enlightened Taliban.
There is genuine evil in the world. Actual corruption and government tyranny. Plenty of real-world things to fight against. Like people being put into Chinese concentration camps because of their religion. Or human trafficking — honest-to-God slavery — taking place all over the world today. It exists. Right now, and in our own hemisphere. Drug cartels trafficking people across the border, sexually molesting young women. Brave and bold would be to tackle those issues and shine a light into that darkness. I'd love to see the character doing that. I'd read that, too.
"Truth, Justice, and the American Way" is no longer the catchphrase of Superman. The new phrase? "Truth, Justice, and a Better World." Okay, I'll buy that, but what's the vision that accompanies this more expansive view of social justice? What would make for a better world? Socialism? Communism? Forced equality?
To me, a better world is one in which people have more freedom and independence. Protection from government overreach and corruption. Safety and security. In a word, the idea of America. A government of the people, by the people, and for the people – concepts laid out by our Founding Fathers during the creation of the United States of America.
No, America is not perfect. We are constantly striving for a more perfect union, but I believe it's self-evident that ours is the most free and fair and most equitable country — with the most opportunity — in the history of the world. That's why so many people are desperately making their way here, through all manner of hardships, from all corners of the globe.
Yet, the cool thing right now is to bash America. But I wonder if most of the people who do so have really traveled and spent real time in other countries — dealing with other governments to see what the rest of the world is like. I have, and most of the world is nothing like America. Most of the rest of the world lacks our individual freedom, our equality of opportunity, our right to compete in open markets, and, yes, the ability to attain material success. We shouldn't apologize for any of it. We should revel in these values, which have attracted waves of new immigrants to our shores every year.
In 1938, DC Comics (then called Action Comics) unveiled the story of unique immigrant, a baby from a dying planet who, as an adult, devotes his life to fighting crime, righting wrongs, and defending honest government. This is not hyperbole. In the very first Superman strip, our hero ends up in the U.S. Capitol where he interrupts a corrupt bargain between a lobbyist and a lawmaker. This, after convincing the governor to spare an innocent woman about to be executed for a murder she didn't commit, roughing up a wife beater, and (of course) saving the life of Lois Lane. Superman was a fast worker.
What makes America great isn't our government, and it certainly isn't an increasingly authoritative "nanny state." Instead, it's our commitment to freedom and our traditions of self-reliance. Of course, we should acknowledge the shortcomings of our history and strive to live up to our creed, but we live in a country made great despite Big Government and career politicians, not because of them. As Ronald Reagan said, "Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them."
As for the cultural gatekeepers busily rethinking which of our national heroes — or iconic superheroes, for that matter — belong on pedestals, I'd say this: Inclusiveness is healthy, but tinkering with the sexuality or political outlook of fictional heroes does not necessarily improve their character. Here, after all, was the initial description of the man from Krypton: "Superman, champion of the oppressed. The physical marvel who had sworn to devote his existence to helping those in need!"
That's a hard mantra to improve on, in my view, and is quintessentially American — it champions both strength and compassion.
Dean Cain starred as Superman/Clark Kent in the 1990s TV series "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman."
Photo "Superman: Son of Kal" by DC Comics.
Content created by RealClearPolitics is available without charge to any eligible news publisher. For republishing terms, please contact [email protected].


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Expanding their line of cases for the iPhone 5, which is quite extensive right now to say the least, Spigen is now offering owners something similar to the flip covers that have been featured with Sammy's line of smartphones of late. With the Spigen iPhone 5 Ultra Flip Case, you get that professional look to make you seem all business savvy from afar.
So what's to like about this one? For starters, the case employs a two-tone diagonal stripe pattern that has a plasticy feel and a clean finish. It's not bulky at all, thankfully enough, but it would've been nice to have some kind of magnetic connection or a latch to secure the front cover when it's close. Instead, it simply dangles if you don't clasp the handset with your own hands.
Regardless of that, we appreciate that there's a slit in the front cover so there's no interfering with phone calls. On top of that, the inner portion of the front cover is lined with soft micro fiber chamude so that it protects (and cleans) the display. Interestingly enough, there's a slit also running down the inner cover as well, which seems as though it can accommodate a card of some kind – whether it's a credit card or ID.
Naturally, not everyone is going to want a flip cover with their iPhone 5, but if you do, the Spigen Ultra Flip Case for the iPhone 5 is something to think about – though, its $37.99 price might be steep for some people.
Spigen made the case, not Apple.
Flips on the wrong side and covers the buttons, so you have to open it just to change volume or slide DND switch. One picture (5) looks like the case doesn't snap on well too.
Thanks for that I didn't think about the volume buttons! That is no good.


Southeast Colorado Springs is one of the best places in the region to find spectacular foreclosure deals. With many of these homes listed under 100K, this area is popular among those seeking a first home, military families and those looking to invest in a fixer-upper.
There are many different neighborhoods in Southeast Colorado Springs, which means there are plenty of opportunities to find that perfect deal on the perfect house. Park Hill, Eastborough, Pikes Peak Park and Southborough feature many single-family homes built in the 60's through the 80's and is a great place to find foreclosures. Spring Creek is a great place to find a newer model foreclosed condo or townhome, and Soaring Eagles is a newer home community where foreclosures can be found in the upper 100's and lower 200's. Valley Hi features golf course living in comfortable Ranchers built in the 60's and 70's.
One of the great things about living in Southeast Colorado Springs is that you don't have to go very far to find anything you might need. S. Academy Blvd runs right through the heart of the area and is filled with numerous shopping centers and other amenities. To the north is the Citadel Mall and Citadel Crossing, which features countless shops, restaurants, a couple of movie theaters, fitness centers and home improvement centers, banks and more. To the south is the Valley Hi Golf Course, a Home Depot, several car dealerships, restaurants, Sam's Club and the Carmike 10 movie theater. Also, the Powers corridor shopping, entertainment and dining is just a few minutes away to the east via Platte Ave, Airport Rd or Fountain Rd, and Downtown Colorado Springs is just a few minutes to the west.
Southeast Colorado Springs also has the highest percentage of military families in the region. Fort Carson is just a few minutes south on Academy, while Peterson AFB and Schriever AFB are just a few minutes to the east via Airport Rd or Platte Ave.
Harrison District 2 is the primary school district in this area. Since its inception in 1874, the Harrison school district has been committed to its enduring partnership with the community to educate its growing student population. Most of the high school students here attend Harrison and Sierra High Schools. Colorado Springs School District 11 also serves some of the area.
Southeast Colorado Springs is one of the first areas that should be considered when looking for the best foreclosure deals. With its affordable homes, access to military bases, plenty of shopping and entertainment areas as well as great schools, buying a foreclosed home or condo here is a wise decision.
Click here to search all Southeast Colorado Springs homes for sale.


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Tag: Agriculture Policy
Grassley, Harkin vote yes as Senate passes food safety bill (updated)
Tuesday, Nov 30 2010
The U.S. Senate approved the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act today by a 73 to 25 vote. Tom Harkin and all other Senate Democrats voted for the bill, as did 15 Republicans including Iowa's Chuck Grassley. Grassley also was among 14 Republicans who joined Democrats to support the cloture motion ending debate on the food safety bill yesterday.
Some details on the bill as well as its complicated path through the Senate are after the jump.
Weekend open thread: Colbert v King edition
Saturday, Sep 25 2010
What's on your mind this weekend, Bleeding Heartland readers?
Yesterday Stephen Colbert testified before a House Judiciary subcommittee about the need to provide more visas and better working conditions for migrant farm workers. He was in character, cracking jokes, during part of the hearing, but answered seriously when asked why he took an interest in this issue:
"I like talking about people who don't have any power and it seems like one of the least powerful people in the United States are migrant workers who come and do our work but don't have any rights as a result. But yet we still invite them to come here and at the same time ask them to leave. […] Migrant workers suffer and have no rights."
Representative Steve King was at the hearing and didn't care for Colbert's stunt. He suggested that Colbert didn't really spend a day working on a farm, as he claimed to have done, and accused Colbert of disparaging American workers who "perform the dirtiest, most difficult, most dangerous (jobs) that can be thrown at them."
Maybe King was jealous that someone advocating for immigration reform grabbed a lot of media attention. Immigration has long been one of King's pet issues. Fox News invited King on for a segment about whether Colbert's testimony was appropriate.
Not surprisingly, media commentators seem more interested in the controversy surrounding Colbert's appearance than in the topic at hand: an agriculture jobs bill that would give undocumented farm workers a path to U.S. citizenship.
This is an open thread.
UPDATE: Both Governor Chet Culver and Republican candidate Terry Branstad are scheduled to announce "major endorsements" on Monday morning. Who do you think those could be? My guess is the Branstad endorser will be a business person who has supported some Democrats in the past.
Thicke unveils forward-looking energy policy for agriculture
Wednesday, Sep 22 2010
Francis Thicke, the Democratic candidate for secretary of agriculture, announced a "comprehensive energy policy for agriculture" that would increase the use of renewable energy in the agriculture sector, with a focus on systems that "put profits in farmers' pockets." Corporate agriculture interests have often demonized environmentally friendly energy policies as bad for farmers, but Thicke points out that farmers are currently vulnerable to volatile energy costs. I've posted his full statement on the energy policy after the jump, but I want to highlight a few parts:
As a state, we currently have no plans for how to power agriculture beyond fossil fuels, leaving us vulnerable to the effects of escalating and widely fluctuating energy prices. In 2008, oil prices rose to $147 per barrel, but within seven months fell to less than $34. This wild fluctuation whipsawed agriculture. Fertilizer and fuel prices tripled; corn prices spiked and fell sharply; ethanol plants went bankrupt.
Oil economists tell us that repeated cycles of price spikes followed by precipitous price falls are the future for energy costs as long as we are dependent on fossil fuels.ii Even the U.S. military warns that oil prices will rise greatly, and we should expect oil shortages in the near future.iii
Our current biofuel production is not targeted to secure the energy future for agriculture. We use about a third of our corn crop to produce ethanol, but use it for cars driving on highways, not to power agriculture. Iowa farmers are selling corn as an energy crop at cheap commodity prices while paying high retail prices for the fuel needed to power their farms. Biofuels today make only a dent in total U.S. fuel needs,iv but could go a long way toward making agriculture energy self-sufficient.
Thicke also advocates stronger policies to encourage wind energy production, not only looking at the total megawatts generated, but at wind energy systems that would create wealth for farmers and rural communities:
Today, 20 percent of the electricity generated in Iowa comes from wind power. That is good. However, the next generation of distributed wind systems holds promise to put more of the wealth created into the pockets of farmers and increase the amount of wind energy that can be distributed through the existing electrical grid.
When farmers lease out land to put corporate-owned wind turbines on their farms, they still pay retail rates for the electricity they use to power their farms. In other words – like with biofuels – farmers sell cheap and buy high.
The next generation of wind power should be mid-sized wind turbines on farms all across Iowa, so the wind that blows over the farm will power the farm, and the wealth created will be retained on the farm. This kind of distributed wind power has several advantages:
1. The wealth created by the wind turbines is retained by the landowner and stays in the local community,
2. The electricity generated is used locally, avoiding the need to build new transmission lines, and
3. Distributed wind turbines will more fully utilize wind fronts as they move across the state, compared to when most wind farms are located in a few places in the state.
Policies the Legislature could enact to hasten the development of mid-sized wind turbines on farm across Iowa include mandatory net metering for all Iowa electrical utilities and feed-in tariff (FIT) policies. FIT policies have been used successfully in Europe to encourage the rapid expansion of solar-powered systems.
I urge the Iowa Legislature to adopt a FIT policy targeted to small and mid-sized wind turbines that are owned by Iowa farmers and landowners. The FIT policy would require electrical companies to pay a high rate of return per kWh for the initial years of the lifetime of targeted wind systems. That will allow farmers and landowners to pay for the wind systems during those initial years. After the specified initial time period, the rate of pay will drop to wholesale rates. That will allow the power company to buy cheap, green energy for the remainder of the lifetime of the turbine, and allow the farm wind turbine to continue to generate electricity to power the farm and to serve as a profit center for the farm.
Feed-in tariffs have been successful in many other places, and there's no reason not to use them in Iowa. Getting the policy through the Iowa legislature would be an uphill climb no matter which party was in control, however.
Thicke rolled out his energy policy this morning in Des Moines. He has public events scheduled later today in Cedar Rapids and Waterloo, September 23 in Dubuque, Davenport and Iowa City, and September 24 in Council Bluffs and Sioux City. I hope the media will cover his ideas, because they have potential to make farming more profitable while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It's too bad that neither the current Secretary of Agriculture, Republican Bill Northey, nor his predecessor, Democrat Patty Judge, took the initiative on reducing our agriculture sector's reliance on fossil fuels.
Francis Thicke's "New Vision for Food and Agriculture" in Iowa
Democratic candidate for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Francis Thicke is touring the state to talk about his just-published book, "A New Vision for Food and Agriculture." He's scheduled to speak in Oskaloosa on June 29, Marion on June 30, Storm Lake on July 1, Dubuque on July 6 and Mason City on July 13. All events are at 6:30 pm; click here for location details.
Thicke provides a brief outline of his vision on his campaign website:
* Encourage the installation of farmer-owned, mid-size wind turbines on farms all across Iowa, to power farms, and help to power the rest of Iowa. I will lead in advocating feed-in tariffs, which are agreements with power companies that will allow farmers to sell their excess power, finance their turbines, and make a profit from their power generation.
* Make Iowa farms more energy self-sufficient and put more biofuel profits in farmers' pockets by refocusing Iowa's biofuel investment on new technologies that will allow farmers to produce biofuels on the farm to power farm equipment, and sell the excess for consumer use.
* Create more jobs and economic development by supporting local food production. We can grow more of what we eat in Iowa. Locally-grown food can be fresher, safer and healthier for consumers, and will provide jobs to produce it. I will reestablish the Iowa Food Policy Council to provide guidance on how to connect farmers to state institutional food purchases and greater access to consumer demand for fresh, locally-grown produce.
* Expose predatory practices by corporate monopolies. We need Teddy Roosevelt-style trust busting to restore competition to agricultural markets. I will work with Iowa's Attorney General and the Justice Department to ensure fair treatment for farmers.
* Reestablish local control over CAFOs, and regulate them to keep dangerous pollutants out of our air and water, and protect the health, quality of life, and property values of our citizens.
* Promote wider use of perennial and cover crops to keep Iowa's rich soils and fertilizer nutrients from washing into our rivers.
Not only is Thicke highly qualified to implement this vision, he walks the walk, as you can see from a brief video tour of his dairy farm.
Near the beginning of that clip, Thicke observes, "Energy is a big issue in agriculture. We are highly dependent upon cheap oil if you look at agriculture almost anywhere in this country. And that's one of the big issues in my campaign: how we can make agriculture more energy self-sufficient, make our landscape more resilient, and make our agriculture more efficient as well." It's sad that our current secretary of agriculture has shown no leadership on making this state's farm economy more self-sufficient. Using renewable energy to power Iowa farm operations isn't pie in the sky stuff: it's technologically feasible and is a "common-sense way" to cut input costs.
I highly recommend going to hear Thicke speak in person, but you can listen online in some of the videos available on Thicke's YouTube channel. The campaign is on Facebook here and on the web at Thickeforagriculture.com. If you want to volunteer for or help his campaign in any way, e-mail Thicketeam AT gmail.com. Here's his ActBlue page for those who can make a financial contribution.
Weekend open thread: Catching up on the news edition
Who else is watching the World Cup? I am surprised by how much my kids are enjoying the games, even though they don't play soccer and it's such a low-scoring sport. Des Moines business owner Tanya Keith and her husband have gone to every World Cup since 1994, and Tanya is blogging here about her family's trip in South Africa. What I want to know is, how are her two young kids coping with the vuvuzela noise at the games? It sounds deafening even on tv.
I wasn't around last weekend to write up the Iowa Democratic Party's state convention in Des Moines. Radio Iowa's blog covered most of the highlights here. Sue Dvorsky of Iowa City is the new IDP chair, replacing Michael Kiernan, who needs to have surgery on a tumor near his salivary gland. Iowa Democrats nominated Jon Murphy as our candidate against State Auditor David Vaudt. Read more about Murphy at Radio Iowa or at Iowa Independent. I am so glad we're not giving Vaudt a pass.
Convention delegates also voted to change party rules so that the gubernatorial nominee can choose the lieutenant governor candidate. The move was intended to undermine Barb Kalbach's efforts to replace Lieutenant Governor Patty Judge on the Democratic ticket, and will make it impossible for an activist to do something similar in the future.
John Deeth has been pretty harsh on Kalbach, suggesting it's a waste of time for her to run against Judge when her own Republican state representative and senator don't have Democratic opponents. I see things differently. Kalbach said in announcing her candidacy, "I am taking this opportunity to represent the progressive, grassroots base of the Democratic Party who feels the issues that they have put forward have been ignored at the state level." Kalbach wouldn't have run if the Culver administration and Democratic legislative leaders had done anything to limit factory farm pollution during the past four years. She wouldn't have run if the governor had done anything to advance the cause of local control (agricultural zoning), which he claimed to support during the 2006 campaign. Kalbach wouldn't be able to draw attention to those failures as a candidate for the Iowa House or Senate in a conservative district. By the way, Culver would have an army of grassroots volunteers now if he had listened less to Patty Judge. He would also have a great campaign issue to use against Terry Branstad, on whose watch factory farm pollution became a much bigger problem in our state.
Moving to Iowa's U.S. Senate race, while I was away a group called Americans United for Change started running this television commercial against Senator Chuck Grassley. The ad mentions campaign contributions Grassley has received from oil interests and draws a line between the catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico and Grassley's vote for a "resolution of disapproval" that would have limited the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It's a poor ad, because as Grassley's office noted, that particular vote had little to do with big oil or offshore drilling (click here for more background). In voting for the Murkowski amendment, Grassley was carrying water for big coal, utilities that rely on fossil fuels, corporate agriculture interests and major industrial polluters.
Grassley has done plenty throughout his career to represent corporate interests rather than the public interest. There's no excuse for such a sloppy attack ad.
The Atlantic's Marc Ambinder interviewed Grassley's opponent Roxanne Conlin yesterday, and the Cedar Rapids Gazette tried to make a big deal out of her misspeaking on when Grassley won his first election. Rasmussen's latest Iowa poll of 500 likely voters on June 14 found Grassley ahead of Conlin by 54 percent to 37 percent. The previous Rasmussen survey, taken in late April, had Grassley leading Conlin 53-40. I would like to see other polling of this race. The Washington Post published a feature on Scott Rasmussen this week, including some criticism of his methods.
This thread is for anything on your mind this weekend. Also feel free to post any links to good reads. I am working my way through this article by a self-described Tea Party consultant.
What's Working; What's Not in Ag Pollution Regulation
Monday, Mar 29 2010
IowaEnvironmentalCouncil
(If only we had leaders willing to take on this challenge. - promoted by desmoinesdem)
A new report issued today addresses the failures and successes of agricultural regulations in Iowa, Wisconsin, California and other agricultural states. The regulations are meant to reduce agricultural pollution that harms waters and aquatic life both locally and downstream, such as in the Gulf of Mexico where farm run-off from states upstream has created an aquatic Dead Zone the size of Massachusetts.
The report, conducted by the Environmental Law and Policy Center and the Mississippi River Collaborative a partnership of environmental organizations and legal centers from states bordering the Mississippi, examined the effectiveness of state-based rules and laws meant to regulate non-point agricultural pollution.
More after the jump …

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


"People are about as Happy as they make up their minds to be"- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. An insightful and progressive workshop which brings the science of wellbeing to life in a fun and personal way. This thought-provoking workshops includes goal setting and is designed for a lasting and positive impact.
This workshop helps students to understand the difference between happiness and well being. A focus on student well being and student ownership has been identified as an integral in the National Safe Schools Framework.
'Live Life Forward' is a fun, progressive and insightful program designed to engage all learners through a highly visual presentation, group discussion, activities, and personal reflection. Students set ten goals to support increasing their personal well being and flourishing in alignment with the PERMA framework.
strengths - the driving force behind personal action.
• A self-edit of how we spend our time?
• The power of kindness and identify an act of kindness they would like to do.
A powerful session which embeds the foundations of well being at a personal level. Students absolutely love this positive and insightful workshop.
Adaptable time frame. 90 min, 2hrs or half day; can be tailored to an available time frame.
Please contact via the website for a quote or school package options.
Alternatively feel free to call Jane to discuss further on 0430297970. This will be a yearly calendar event.
One of the pioneers of the research on flow is Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, also one of the founders of the science of wellbeing. Csikszentmihalyi began his research on 'flow' by studying artists and creative types (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). He noted that the act of creating seemed at times more important than the finished work itself and he was fascinated by what he called the "flow" state, in which the person is completely immersed in an activity with intense focus and creative engagement.
In one study 250 "high-flow" and "low-flow" teenagers were asked to report on their feelings and activities at regular intervals (Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi, 1988). The high-flow teenagers on average reported more time spent on "active leisure" activities such as hobbies, sports, and homework. The high-flow teenagers also measured higher levels of self-esteem and engagement. Interestingly, however, the high-flow teenagers self-reported lower levels of fun than the low-flow teenagers. Apparently, high-flow teenagers see their low-flow peers as experiencing more fun engaging in low-flow activities, such as video games, TV or socializing. However, the high-flow kids end up having greater long-term happiness as well as success in school, social relationships, and careers.
WunderTraining is not associated with AHPRA.


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Cayard to skipper Thuraya Maximus in the Rolex Middle Sea Race
Paul Cayard announced he will skipper Thuraya Maximus for the Rolex Middle Sea Race in late October. Cayard made the announcement on Monday at a press conference in Rome immediately following the Rolex Swan Cup, before heading to the Breitling Med Cup in Ibiza. On board will be joint owners Charles St Clare Brown and Bill Buckley along with a crew including Italian sailors Stefano Rizzi, Lorenzo Bodini, Gaetano Granara, Andrea Scarpa, Stefano Raspadori and Francesco Mongelli. The President of Gruppo Intermatica, Claudio Castellani, will also be on board as they battle it out against maxi rivals Alfa Romeo and Morning Glory on the challenging 608nm long course around Sicily.
September 22, 2006 /by Paul Cayard
https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png 0 0 Paul Cayard https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png Paul Cayard2006-09-22 00:00:002014-03-21 16:24:03Cayard to skipper Thuraya Maximus in the Rolex Middle Sea Race
Rolex Swan Cup
September 19th, 2006 – Porto Cervo, Italy. Ninety-nine yachts representing 17 nations and ranging in length from 36 to 112 feet, comprising the oldest to the most modern, competed at the 14th Rolex Swan Cup organised by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. The crews, which included some of the most famous names in sailing from the America's Cup, Olympics and Round the World Races, tackled a week of intense racing, in almost every condition imaginable – winds ranging from 7 to 30 knots, smooth water and heavy swell, sunshine and torrential rain.
Moneypenny (USA) won on a tie-break in the extremely competitive Swan 601 One-Design fleet although
https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png 0 0 Paul Cayard https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png Paul Cayard2006-09-21 00:00:002014-03-21 16:24:03Rolex Swan Cup
Cayard delivers keynote speech at 2006 Bay Area Leukemia Cup Regatta
The Leukemia Cup kicked off on September 8 with a VIP reception and dinner for major sponsors and top fundraisers at the San Francisco Yacht Club. Eight year old Campbell Nolan, the honorary skipper of the Leukemia Cup, welcomed the VIPs and offered some poignant words of thanks to all involved in our event. Campbell was diagnosed with rare T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia in September 2005. He is currently enrolled in a clinical trial for a new drug specifically addressing T-Cell, and is being treated at UCSF Children?s Hospital. Since his diagnosis, Campbell has demonstrated great courage, insight and faith beyond his years.
World champion sailor Paul Cayard was the keynote speaker. Those who attended would agree that Cayard riveted the crowd with thrilling footage and stories from his recent adventure in the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006, skippering the Disney-sponsored Pirates of the Caribbean.
There were 55 boats on the start line racing under PHRF with spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions, as well as one-design classes for J/105 and Rhodes 19.
The event raised an impressive $140,000 to honor blood cancer patients and help fight leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. This far exceeded the organizer's goal of $100,000 and is in fact the most successful first time Leukemia Cup Regatta ever.
https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png 0 0 Paul Cayard https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png Paul Cayard2006-09-21 00:00:002014-03-21 16:24:03Cayard delivers keynote speech at 2006 Bay Area Leukemia Cup Regatta
Cayard and Coutts back onboard Lexus for final Breitling Med Cup Regatta in Ibiza
19 Sept 2006 – Breitling Med Cup – When the twenty boat fleet lined up today off Ibiza town with the 12th century castle, which was built to defend the island, and the Faro de Botofoch lighthouse forming a distant backdrop, it was down to series leader Peter de Ridder and his team to repel the advances of all who seek to topple their 14 point lead. De Ridder and crew, also announced their intention to compete in the next Volvo Ocean Race, know they need only to sail a consistent series to lift the overall title.
But as has been proven at numerous regattas this season, this TP52 class does not simply bow down and respect Olympic medal, America's Cup or Volvo Round the World race winners. A momentary lapse of concentration on the start line, or an ill chosen tactical call can mean a heavy loss in a fleet of this standard. With light and fickle winds expected for the first couple of days of racing, there will be no easy races at a venue which is all new to the TP52 fleet.
Last week they were rivals on the race course at the Rolex Swan Cup organized by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, but Paul Cayard and three time America's Cup winner Russell Coutts returned to join forces to get the best out of George Andreadis and Jaime Yllera's Lexus, with Coutts steering and Cayard calling tactics.
Racing started on Tuesday with windward leewards, coastal races planned for Wednesday and Friday, and the final races set for Saturday.
https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png 0 0 Paul Cayard https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png Paul Cayard2006-09-20 00:00:002014-03-21 16:24:03Cayard and Coutts back onboard Lexus for final Breitling Med Cup Regatta in Ibiza
World's great sailors convene at Bitter End to sail with resort guests in one-of-a-kind milestone event
Momentum Growing as Sailing Legends and Amateurs Prepare for 20th Annual Pro Am Regatta Week at Bitter End Yacht Club
Preparations are well underway for the much anticipated 20th Annual Pro Am Regatta, being held at Bitter End Yacht Club in the British Virgin Islands, October 28 – November 4, 2006. This year, the week long competition will feature a unique combination of fleet and match racing, and will be highlighted by the long awaited exhibition match "showdown" between sailing legends Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard. Along with one lucky amateur guest crewmember, Coutts and Cayard will face off aboard matched Hobie Getaways for bragging rights and to raise money for the Hokin Scholarship fund.
"Interest is running particularly high for our 20th Anniversary milestone Pro Am Regatta week," said Dana Hokin, Bitter End Yacht Club Owner and Managing Partner. "Both amateurs and the legends of sailing who will participate are looking forward to this year's competition and the lively social schedule that awaits them off the water, too. And, I am also pleased to announce that Banco Popular has joined the rapidly growing list of premier sponsors for this unique event."
In addition to Coutts and Cayard, professional participants at this Year's Pro Am Regatta include Ken Read, two-time Pro Am winner, two-time Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, five-time J-24 World Champion and Etchells World Champion; Dawn Riley, Whitbread and America's Cup veteran, President of the Women's Sports Foundation and America True; Dave Perry, one of the best-known sailors of the last 30 years, both as a world class racer, and as an inspirational author and educator; Lowell North, Founder of North Sails and Olympic Gold Medalist; Keith Musto, 2005 Pro Am winner, the U.K.'s best known dinghy sailor and Olympic Medalist; Rod Johnstone, 1st Annual Pro Am host, 2000 Pro Am winner and J-boat designer; Bruce Kirby, 1st Annual Pro Am host, two-time World Champion in I-14s, two-time Canadian Olympian, Father (designer) of the Laser, Sonar and Ideal 18 and penned America's Cup racers for Canada (Canada 1 and 2), and Butch Ulmer, 1999 Pro Am winner and founder of U.K. Sails.
https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png 0 0 Paul Cayard https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png Paul Cayard2006-09-20 00:00:002014-03-21 16:24:03World's great sailors convene at Bitter End to sail with resort guests in one-of-a-kind milestone event
RECORD SWAN FLEET ALL SET TO GO
With the Maxi fleet on its way home after their week-long regatta, the Piazza Azzurra and the Marina of Porto Cervo are now jam-packed with crews from the record breaking fleet of 116 Swans all completing registration and inspection procedures. Representing 17 nations and ranging in length from 36 to 112 feet the Costa Smeralda is set to witness another incredible display of sailing power. Amongst the crews are some of the most famous names in sailing from the America's Cup and Olympics – including Russell Coutts and Paul Cayard.
The 14th edition of the biennial Rolex Swan Cup, organised by the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda with the collaboration of Nautor's Swan and Rolex as title sponsor, officially commences with tonight's Skippers' Briefing and Welcome Cocktail.
This year, the Rolex Swan Cup takes place from the 11th to the 17th of September. The programme includes five days of racing and throughout the week, the YCCS Race Committee will select a variety of race courses around the north-eastern coast of Sardinia and through the Archipelago de La Maddalena just to the north of Porto Cervo. Narrow straits, rocky outcrops, shifting winds and tight competition set against some of the most spectacular scenery imaginable, will test the crews' nerve, skill and speed to the utmost.
The fleet participating at the Rolex Swan Cup will be split into four classes: Grand Prix, Classic, Swan 45 and Swan 601. The Grand Prix and Classic yachts will race under a special handicap system designed specifically for the Swan fleet, called NSR (Nautor Swan Rating). One of the peculiarities of the NSR is its ability to give a rating allowance to yachts whose crews genuinely live and sleep on board their yacht for the duration of the regatta. This allowance is aimed at encouraging "family entries" that carry extra weight and personal belongings while racing. The Swan 45 and Swan 601 are One-Design classes and will race without handicap, first home being the winner.
Thirty yachts are entered in the Swan 45 One-Design Class – a record gathering for the class that will guarantee some close-fought competition. Reigning Swan 45 World Champion Massimo Ferragamo from the USA, hopes to sail his Bellicosa to another victory, relying on an all-American crew with the exception of himself. He is well aware, though, that this will be a very demanding assignment: "It will be a fantastic regatta, with 30 boats on the starting line. It will be great fun, none of us has ever sailed with so many Swan 45s before. In the last Rolex Swan Cup, we competed against 20 boats and that already provided lots of excitement. So I have a feeling that with 10 extra boats we will have some rather thrilling starts and mark roundings. The fleet includes many veterans of this class and some new entries, producing an interesting and unpredictable mix." Regarding his expectations, Ferragamo hopes to do well and is adamant that his crew will do its best, however he believes that "This regatta will be more challenging than Key West, as I believe that American boats do better in the US and European boats perform well in Europe – in any sport, competing on your home grounds is a key factor to success." Bellicosa's crew is the same one that competed at the Swan 45 Worlds held in Key West last January with the exception of two sailors. Although Ferragamo doesn't have a favourite condition, he would not mind moderate to strong winds: "In Key West our team did really well with strong winds and, provided I don't mess up by broaching the boat, we should do well in such conditions."
Another entry to watch closely among the Swan 45 fleet, will be Stefano Polti's Mintaka from Italy, winner, as part of Team Sardegna, of the Sardinia Rolex Cup/ISAF Offshore Team World Championship Trophy held in Porto Cervo last June.
The competition among the Swan 601 One-Design fleet is also expected to be fierce. Pre-race favourite Moneypenny, owned and helmed by American Jim Swartz, boasts a very talented and experienced crew which includes Round the World Race and America's Cup veterans Kimo Worthington and Dee Smith and accomplished offshore and grand prix sailor Mark Rudiger. The team has already spent a few days training and Dee Smith feels he's ready for the first gun to fire: "We arrived in Porto Cervo a few days ago and have been preparing for the regatta, spending several hours on the water each day. It is such a beautiful location, the team spirit is great and we are ready to race. The 601 Class will be competitive as there are some brilliant sailors onboard all of the yachts taking part – it could really be anybody's race."
Indeed, Leonardo Ferragamo's Cuordileone will prove a tough competitor, with sailing legend Paul Cayard calling the tactics. Sir Peter Ogden's Spirit of Jethou will also be on the starting line of the Swan 601 fleet, along with Torben Tornquist's Artemis, which lists Russell Coutts amongst its crew.
Four new Swan 100s will be making their debut at the Swan Rolex Cup, including Fantasticaaa from Italy, which just competed in the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, and will therefore vie for the Combined Maxi-Swan Prize for the best performing Swan competing in both the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup and the Rolex Swan Cup. Other Swans eligible for this trophy include Flying Dragon (ITA).
Full Article at www.regattanews.com
https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png 0 0 Paul Cayard https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png Paul Cayard2006-09-10 00:00:002014-03-21 16:24:03RECORD SWAN FLEET ALL SET TO GO
29er US Nationals: A Family Affair, September 2-3, 2006
Skiff sailing is sailing on the edge–sailing fast from the trapeze, on a plane upwind and down. Every mistake is quickly rewarded by a capsize. ts "Senior Division" is for boats with a combined skipper and crew age >50–not an old person's game.
But at the 29er Nationals, hosted by the Cabrillo Beach YC, Bay Area sailing families enjoyed great success. On day one, skipper John Heineken and crew Matt Noble dominated the fleet, convincingly winning every race. Danny Cayard and Max Binstock finished the day in second place, while John's sister, Erika and their dad, Paul Heineken, sailed well enough to lead the last race around one entire lap of the course, before the inevitable capsize. On returning to the dock, Paul, a 60 year old physician, injured his knee such that he couldn't sail on day two.
Having watched the day's fun from a spectator boat, Danny's dad, Paul Cayard, jumped into the fray. He volunteered to borrow sailing gear and step into the front of Erika's 29er. This was a major leap of faith, as it was Erika's second sailing regatta ever, and Paul Cayard had witnessed her first regatta last month at the Columbia River Gorge where there had been no shortage of capsizes.
On day two the wind again reached 12-20 kts, enough to support Paul's 200 lb on the trapeze wire. After a number of "teabags" and capsizes, the new father-daughter team found the front of the fleet, consistently rounding the weather mark near Erika's brother John and Paul's son Danny. The weather mark rounding bear-away and kite-launch had the excitement of a sailboat race combined with sibling and parental rivalry at its best.
Hopefully, other parent-child teams will experience the thrill of skiff sailing while competing together, although few new skiff sailors are likely to have the on-the-water coaching experience that Erika enjoyed.
Final standings:
1st John Heineken and Matt Noble
2nd Danny Cayard and Max Binstock
1st Woman Skipper and Senior Boat: Erika Heineken with crew Paul Heineken and Paul Cayard
The 29er is the junior trainer for the Olympic 49er, and will be one of the classes sailed in the Volvo Youth Sailing ISAF World Championship at Kingston, Ontario, Canada on July 12-21, 2007.
September 7, 2006 /by Paul Cayard
https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png 0 0 Paul Cayard https://cayardsailing.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cs_Logo-07.png Paul Cayard2006-09-07 00:00:002014-03-21 16:24:0329er US Nationals: A Family Affair, September 2-3, 2006


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Distinguishing between sadness and depression at the end of life: a significant challenge tackled by a leader in palliative care
by Heather Wiseman
Professor Gregory Crawford became determined to learn more about depression after seeing the impact effective treatment had on a teenage girl who had cancer.
Early in his palliative care career, Professor Gregory Crawford had a young patient with depression, whose experience affected him deeply. Now a professor of palliative medicine within the discipline of medicine at the University of Adelaide, he gives an insight into how his career unfolded, and the challenges of treating mental health issues at the end of life.
Professor Crawford is chairman of Palliative Care SA, a senior consultant in palliative medicine and the director of research and education at the Northern Adelaide Palliative Service, and president-elect of the Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine for the Royal Australian College of Physicians. He is also on the organising committee for next week's Australian Palliative Care Conference in Adelaide (6-8 September 2017).
How did your career path wind its way into palliative care?
I spent 12 years as a GP before moving into full-time palliative care work 20 years ago. I was one of three GPs on Kangaroo Island, SA. We had 4000 locals and 100,000 tourists a year and we did it all; delivering babies, caring for dying people, trauma, end-of-life care, drivers' licence renewals and marriage guidance. We had visiting specialists and we gave anaesthetics so people could have operations locally.
I studied a master's degree which focussed on palliative care before making it my specialty. At that time there was no formal process, so I was grandfathered into the chapter of palliative medicine (which is kind of like being adopted into the speciality, based on the strength of my knowledge and experience, rather than passing exams).
I became interested in the psychological issues of coping and so I started working on a Doctorate of Medicine and a thesis titled 'Depression in palliative care in Australia: identification and assessment'. I worked on the thesis on weekends and during my spare time, so it took me seven years. After five years, my wife became very determined that I was going to finish it, as it had consumed so much of our time. I worked on a series of studies which looked at the prevalence of depression symptoms and other psychological issues in palliative care.
What inspired you to focus on mental health?
One of the motivators was that I looked after a 15-year-old girl who had a malignancy who looked like she was dying. I was working as the clinical head of palliative care at a hospital in Adelaide, and she was referred to us on the basis that she only had weeks to live. She had difficult pain to manage and other symptoms that led to her becoming more and more withdrawn.
I was slow to recognise that she was depressed and I found it hard to find advice and support about to manage it.
I looked in the literature and talked to psychiatrists and other colleagues. I ended up changing her antidepressants and she made a miraculous improvement, both physically and psychologically. She improved and lived for another 12 months. She had serious, progressive disease but her physical function and her ability to interact and live improved. She went off on a holiday, achieved some other things on her wish list and made lots of other nice memories for her family.
She died at home, supported by our palliative care service and her GP, and we had support from the paediatric palliative care service.
It showed me that sometimes the symptoms of impending death and the symptoms of advanced depression can look very much the same. I felt a bit like I had failed, having taken so long to recognise her depression and then act on it, which made me determined to learn more about depression in this context. It drove me to try and understand more about psychological illness.
Is it a challenge distinguishing between sadness, grief and depression when someone is dying?
There has been a large amount of research in this area, but it is still very difficult to really determine what is a normal reaction to what is happening, like sadness, and what is an abnormal reaction, like a major depressive illness.
Not everybody at the end of life is depressed and you wouldn't want to make a diagnosis that isn't there. Equally, there is still a large stigma in our society associated with being diagnosed with a mental illness, and another challenge is that the treatments are not necessarily simple. Most are oral medications that have interactions and side effects and they are slow to make a difference.
Talking therapies are the other mainstream part of treatment, so there may be value in engaging with the patient and trying to lay down new ways of thinking with cognitive behavioural therapy. But many patients don't have the energy or cognitive capacity to participate in these activities in a meaningful way.
Then other strategies might be helpful, like relationship therapy, massage therapy, dignity therapy and a life review – they can help people make some sense or meaning about their current situation.
The bottom line, however, is that this isn't easy. I am confident that I can make a significant difference to 90% of people who turn up to me with pain, but I don't have the same confidence with depression or other psychological issues. They are harder to treat and there are fewer treatment options.
What happens if depression isn't diagnosed?
The implications of not diagnosing are that patients have increasing suffering and may not be getting the best treatment. They may be losing an opportunity to have more time or meaningful interaction with people around them. For their families, this can be a very large trauma; to not understand why somebody has turned their back on them or why they might be rejecting relationships, being overwhelmingly sad, or wanting to die precipitously. When triggered by depression, those responses can be quite challenging.
Are some people more likely to become depressed at the end of their lives than others?
We know that a person who has previously had a depressive illness is at much greater risk of depression when facing the end of their life.
Most people who have had an ongoing supportive relationship with a GP, psychologist or psychiatrist would want to continue to receive that support.
Our palliative care units and hospices all would want to provide psychological and psycho-social support, but there is varying access to clinicians with the skills, time and ability.
Within our specialist palliative care services we need an enhanced focus on the psychological supports available to our patients and their families. There are very few with a comprehensive psychological service that provides regular access to psychologists and counsellors.
Outside of those specialist services, we also need clinicians of all training to understand end of life and have good communication skills and have some knowledge of treating physical and psychological symptoms.
I was recently involved in caring for a relatively young person who had pre-existing schizophrenia and developed a cancer. I saw first-hand the challenge of negotiating care. There were two large teams involved – a psychiatric team, a multidisciplinary palliative care team – and this person lived in supported accommodation.
The young person's closest support and substitute decision maker was also a client of the mental health service. This raised so many issues around capacity and autonomy. There were also major challenges around medication management, particularly in terms of opioids and trying to provide the best physical symptom control we could within the rules, regulations and concerns about the safety of all other people associated with this young person and their care.
This experience has inspired a service review so we can hopefully learn from it and improve the care available to this particularly vulnerable group.
Has your interest in psychological issues at the end of life continued?
My research interests have broadened into the psychological issues affecting doctors who work with palliative care patients. Surgeons, oncologists, palliative care doctors and doctors working in intensive care units all experience caring for dying patients and I'm interested in the impact it has on them. I've also been looking at palliative care patients who have had a pre-existing mental health diagnosis, and looking into end-of-life conversations and advance care in vulnerable populations in general.
I've been awarded an NHMRC grant to look at end-of-life issues in people with chronic disease, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and Indigenous backgrounds, with a view to how we develop policy in this sensitive area.


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Vans warped tour returns to the UK in 2013 | FESTIVALPHOTO
Vans warped tour returns to the UK in 2013
Following a 13-year absence and a highly successful return to the UK in November last year, VANS WARPED TOUR will return this winter for two days, delivering a double dose of what the sold out 2012 event hosted, plus more!
Set to take place on the 16th and 17th November, VANS WARPED TOUR revisits the prestigious ALEXANDRA PALACE venue that last year saw 10,000 fans flock to see the hottest acts on the scene, recreating the true VANS WARPED spirit with dozens of bands, stalls and skate displays.
A limited number of two-day early bird tickets will be available from 10am Wednesday 13th March at a discounted price of just £70 (+ booking fee) from www.vanswarpedtouruk.com
The VANS WARPED TOUR is well established as America's longest-running touring festival, breaking up-and-coming talent as well as creating and showcasing major established artists since 1995 and serving as a platform for both established and rising action sports stars.
This year, as well as the two-day event at ALEXANDRA PALACE, VANS WARPED TOUR will head out across Europe to become a bonafide tour like its US counterpart, giving fans Europe-wide the chance to experience the magic that is otherwise only available across the Atlantic.
With a rich history of delivering the most exciting names in the world of alternative music – from arena filling headliners to the hottest new talent – the line-up expectations will have fans full of anticipation, with the first names to be revealed in the coming weeks, alongside details of the first ever stand-alone VANS WARPED TOUR European shows.
VANS WARPED UK 2013 takes place Saturday November 16th and Sunday 17th at London's Alexandra Palace. Early bird tickets are available now for just £70 for both days – BUY NOW PAY LESS, BUY LATER PAY MORE!
For more info check http://vanswarpedtouruk.com or www.vanswarpedtoureurope.com


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Opioid Abatement Authority
» HB 2322; (2021 Special Session I)
» SB 1469 (2021 Special Session I)
Description: The purpose of the Authority is to abate and remediate the opioid epidemic in the Commonwealth through financial support from the Opioid Abatement Fund (the Fund), in the form of grants, donations, or other assistance, for efforts to treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids in the Commonwealth. The Authority's exercise of powers are deemed to be the performance of an essential governmental function and matters of public necessity for which public moneys may be spent and private property acquired. The Authority must (i) establish specific criteria and procedures for awards from the Fund; (ii) establish requirements for the submission of funding requests; (iii) evaluate funding requests in accordance with the criteria established by the Authority; (iv) make awards from the Fund in a manner that distributes funds equitably among all community services board regions of the Commonwealth, including the establishment of mandatory minimum percentages of funds to be awarded from the Commonwealth to each participating locality; (v) evaluate the implementation and results of all efforts receiving support from the Authority; and (vi) administer the Fund in accordance with law. The Authority may (1) make grants and disbursements from the Fund that support efforts to treat, prevent, and reduce opioid use disorder and the misuse of opioids or otherwise abate or remediate the opioid epidemic; (2) pay expenditures from the Fund that are necessary to carry out its purposes; (3) contract for the services of consultants to assist in the evaluation of the efforts funded by it; (4) contract for other professional services to assist it in the performance of its duties and responsibilities; (5) accept, hold, administer, and solicit gifts, grants, bequests, contributions, or other assistance from federal agencies, the Commonwealth, or any other public or private source to carry out its purposes; (6) enter into any agreement or contract relating to the acceptance or use of any grant, assistance, or support provided by or to it or otherwise in furtherance of its purposes; (7) perform any lawful acts necessary or appropriate to carry out its purposes; and (8) employ such staff as is necessary to perform the its duties and determine the duties of such staff and fix the salaries and compensation of such staff, which shall be paid from the Fund.
Report Date: Annually, by the first day of regular session
The Secretary of Health and Human Resources
All members appointed by By Statute. Appointment coincident with House term.
The Honorable Jason S. Ballard, Designee, Chairman of House Appropriations Committee
All members appointed by By Statute. Appointment coincident with Senate term.
The Honorable Janet D. Howell, Chair, Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations
8 Citizens Governor
Ex Officio Members:
The Honorable John Littel Secretary of Health and Human Resources


Snorkel makes hot tubs that are heated with wood fires. The stoves are actually submerged in the tub. Basically, you prepare a fire on the bottom of the stove with paper, kindling, and then small logs. When you slide the door over the firebox opening, the stove begins to heat the water. See their FAQ page for more information. The cost of a tub and stove is about $2200-$3000 — these can be purchased separately too.The tubs are patterned after a centuries old design and are made from the kiln dried Western Red Cedar and Redwood. We previously featured SeaOtter Woodworks who make similar wooden hot tubs.
Their site contains images of a goodly number of elves or hobbit-like creatures taking baths. You have been warned.


Watch Honor USA's CES 2018 live event here!
Honor is about to go live with a mysterious new announcement. While it's pretty much shrouded in secret, teasers point towards a smartphone that would have Honor's own advanced AI assistant on board. There are a total of 3 phones we expect from Honor during the first quarter of 2018 — Maya, Salina, and Honor 1. The first one of these was leaked out and looks like it's going to be a budget device. The other two are still an unknown.
Of course, the event could also be used as a reminder and presentation of the Honor View 10 — the AI chip-equipped phone that's supposed to launch on the 8th of January.
Honor will be live streaming the event on its Facebook page. If you can't tune in to watch — worry not, we will cover the important phone bits for you!
Honor probably is a better brand name to go global than Huawei.
Only if they spelt it right!
Now that is just weird. On my tablet (4:3 ratio) the video is tall and thin approx 16:9 format. On my phone (Huawei mate 9, 16:9) the video looks 4:3. Ah ha! It has been formatted differently for mobile and desktop! If I change the phone to desktop mode, the video becomes 16:9. I then have to ask why on earth Huawei would post a video that shows the drinks on the table below almost as big as the guy on stage presenting the new phone. And with such bad audio. It seems an incredibly amateur video. How strange.


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Luckily, during my classroom teaching experience, I worked in two school districts that allowed the classroom teacher to differentiate spelling for each student in our class. Differentiating instruction is how we best meet the needs of our students and give them what they need to be successful. Since spelling ability is developmental, I always found it vital to use a spelling program that was created with differentiation in place.
Early in my teaching career, I worked for a school district that created their own word study program using a combination of materials from Word Journeys and Words Their Way. We had a team in our English department write our district's spelling curriculum and take what they liked from both programs and mashed it together. I was only in this district a short time and never saw the full implementation of the spelling curriculum, but it was enough to get my interest.
Once I started teaching fulltime, in a different district, I was given a copy of Word Journeys by Kathy Ganske and was told this is how we teach spelling and vocabulary here. I was one of 15 fifth grade Language Arts teachers, and we all used Word Journeys for teaching spelling. But even more important than the 15 of us being on the same page was that ALL of the Language Arts teachers in our district used the same resource. A truly developmental spelling program that was being implemented throughout elementary and middle school.
Whether I was in my public school classroom or now in my homeschool, I have been able to implement Word Journeys the same way. Especially when starting out, it's important to know where your students are on the developmental stages. Because each stage of development can cover many years, two students who are the same age are not necessarily at the same stage. Through a series of spelling inventories, you can assess the student's developmental stage, as well as where the child is within the stage. I typically give the spelling inventories over the course of two days so I don't burn out my students. This gives me enough time to give the assessment, review the results, and determine the next steps.
After all of the children have been assessed, they are grouped by which stage they are currently in. Then, during the weekly spelling lessons, each group is given their own list of spelling words at their developmental stage to work with.
While each group may have their own words, that doesn't mean they need to do different assignments during the week. In fact, when I was teaching, I had 27 students in three spelling groups. I would bring each group to the table to review their words for the week. Then, our daily assignments and/or homework was the same for the entire class. Since Word Journeys doesn't have a student workbook for each level, students kept a spelling folder and notebook. They completed weekly word sorts (sorting list words by pattern), word hunts (finding other words that matched the patterns), they used the words in sentences and short stories, and then we gave them a "student's choice" activity once a week from a list of 20 things that one of the teachers had compiled. At the end of the five days, there was a spelling test, and then we would move on to the next spelling list on Monday.
Often, our spelling inventories were completed in September, January, and June. The assessments we did in June were only used for the comment section on report cards to show growth and progression during the year. If at any time, the student's assessment showed that they had changed developmental spelling levels, we would move the student up to the new group. Once students reached the Derivational Constancy stage, the stage that continues through adulthood, our district no longer had us perform the mid and end of year assessments.
When my children were in cyber school, they had a spelling program that was part of the reading/language arts curriculum and I couldn't stand it. Words were taught in isolation, and it was a lot of skill, drill, and test. After using Word Journeys in my public school classroom for a number of years, I wanted to see how it would work while homeschooling.
I picked up a copy and reread it cover to cover reviewing all of the information on student assessments and developmental placements. It was a lot to take in, but I knew that if I wanted to implement this with my children than I needed to be confident in what I was doing. When we made the transition from cyber school to homeschool last November, we began the spelling inventories and analysis of their assessments. Once I knew what groups my children would be in (the two oldest were in the same stage) we began a routine of ten words each week.
Our weekly routine was in place to not only teach spelling, but I also utilized these activities as handwriting practice.
Will we continue with Word Journeys?
I love the developmental spelling program and that I can vary the types of activities my children do with the words each week. I like that the developmental stages build on one another.
Since Word Journeys covers all four stages of developmental spelling it also means that I can purchase one book and use it for all three children from grade 1/2 through 7/8. We won't need to purchase separate word study curriculum each year. And while implementing some parts of the spelling program are time-consuming, I'd rather spend my time on implementing a program properly than spend money on a program that doesn't meet the needs of my children.


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What this jellyfish-like sea creature can teach us about underwater vehicles of the future
Nanomia bijuga is built like bubble wrap, and it's a master of multi-jet propulsion.
By Charlotte Hu | Published Nov 29, 2022 3:00 PM
NOAA Photo Library / Flickr
Sea creatures have developed many creative ways of getting around their watery worlds. Some have tails for swimming, some have flippers for gliding, and others propel themselves using jets. That last transportation mode is commonly associated with squids, octopuses, and jellyfish. For years, researchers have been interested in trying to transfer this type of movement to soft robots, although it's been challenging. (Here are a few more examples.)
A team led by researchers from the University of Oregon have sought to get a closer understanding of how these gelatinous organisms are steering themselves about their underwater domains, in order to brainstorm better ways of designing underwater vehicles of the future. Their findings were published this week in the journal PNAS. The creature they focused on was Nanomia bijuga, a close relative of jellyfish, which looks largely like two rows of bubble wrap with some ribbons attached on one end of it.
This bubble wrap body is known as the nectosome, and each individual bubble is called a nectophore. All of the nectophores can produce jets of water independently by expanding and contracting to direct currents of seawater through a flexible opening. Technically speaking, each nectophore is an organism in and of itself, and they're bundled together into a colony. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute describes these animals as "living commuter trains."
The bubble units can coordinate to swim together as one, produce jets in sequence, or do their own thing if they want. Importantly, a few patterns of firing the jets produces the major movements. Firing pairs of nectophores in sequence from the tip to the ribbon tail enables Nanomia to swim forward or in reverse. Firing all the nectophores on one side, or firing some individual nectophores, turns and rotates its body. Using these commands for the multiple jets, Namonia can migrate hundreds of yards twice a day down to depths of 2,300 feet (which includes the twilight zone).
For Namonia, the number of nectophores can vary from animal to animal. So, to take this examination further, the team wanted to see whether this variation impacted swimming speed or efficiency. Both efficiency and speed appear to increase with more nectophores, but seem to hit a plateau at around 12.
This system of propulsion lets the Namonia go about the ocean at similar rates to many fish (judged by speed in context of body length), but without the high metabolic cost of operating a neuromuscular system.
[Related: This tiny AI-powered robot is learning to explore the ocean on its own]
So, how could this sea creature help inform the design of vehicles that travel beneath the waves? Caltech's John Dabiri, one of the authors on the paper, has long been a proponent of taking inspiration from the fluid dynamics of critters like jellyfish to fashion aquatic vessels. And while the researchers in this paper do not suggest a specific design for a propulsion system for underwater vehicles, they do note that the behavior of these animals may offer helpful guidelines for engines that operate through multiple jets. "Analogously to [Namonia] bijuga, a single underwater vehicle with multiple propulsors could use different modes to adapt to context," the researchers wrote in the paper.
Simple changes in the timing of how the jets fire, or which jets fire together, can have a big impact on the energy efficiency and speed of a vehicle. For example, if engineers wanted to make a system that doesn't need a lot of power, then it might be helpful to have jets that could be controlled independently. If the vehicle needs to be fast, then there needs to be a function that can operate all engines from one side at the same time.
"For underwater vehicles with few propulsors, adding propulsors may provide large performance benefits," the researchers noted, "but when the number of propulsors is high, the increase in complexity from adding propulsors may outweigh the incremental performance gains."
Learn more about Nanomia and watch it freestyle below:
Charlotte Hu
Charlotte is the assistant technology editor at Popular Science. She's interested in understanding how our relationship with technology is changing, and how we live online. Contact the author here.


There are total 6 letters in Jouals, Starting with J and ending with S.
Jouals is a scrabble word? Yes (13 Points) Jouals has worth 13 Scrabble points.
In Jouals J is 10th, O is 15th, U is 21st, A is 1st, L is 12th, S is 19th letters in Alphabet Series.


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