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As one of the four largest countries in the world alongside Canada, Russia and China, the United States of America are divided into 50 states, one federal district and one incorporated territory. For holidaymakers and settlers alike, America's diversity has something to offer everyone.
The USA boasts most climates across its length and breadth: to the east, the climate ranges from humid content to humid subtropical. To the west, the Great Plans are semi-arid with the Western mountains being more alpine. From oceanic to mediterranean, from subarctic to tropical, the weather is as varied as the landscape, the wildlife and the way of life; the USA offers a huge choice of where to holiday or live and caters for all lifestyles.
With such variety in one country, each state of the east side of America has something different to offer:
The southern United States, made up of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Delaware, Arkansas, Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana, have developed their own customs, literature, musical styles and cooking styles due to their cultural and historic heritage, with strong European, African and some Native American influences.
The South is among the fastest-growing areas in the United States and contains the Bible Belt, an area of high church attendance. The South is generally regarded as hot and humid, with long summers and short, mild winters and lovers of the outdoors will appreciate the characteristics oak trees, southern magnolia, Spanish moss, and flowering dogwoods.
New England constitutes New York, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut and is rich in history, cultural attractions and outdoor adventure.
New England has four distinct seasons that range from 26-290 in the summer to -30 in the winter with mountainous regions enjoying over 100 inches of snow a year – great for skiing and winter sports. Bounded by Canada to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the East, Long Island Sound to the south and New York state to the West, New England boasts rivers and lakes, towering forests, beautiful countryside, a dramatic, rocky coastline and sandy beaches. The majority of New Englanders love the great outdoors and, as such, activities such as hiking, whitewater rafting and kayaking are on offer for the adventurous!
The Midwest, or 'the heartland' consists of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Missouri, Wisconsin and, we are also including Pennsylvania. The Midwest also contains the western states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.
Bordering Canada to the north, the central area of the USA is mostly relatively flat and consisting of mostly plains of small, rolling hills and prairies. Home to abundant nature including the five Great Lakes and the vast Northwoods, the northern area is distinctly different to the more urban lower Midwest. As such a large and diverse region, there is certainly plenty to explore: Chicago, the largest city, Kansas City and its jazz music and barbecue, the iconic Mount Rushmore sculpture in South Dakota and Milwaukee – home of beer-brewing and cheese-making.
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Kamusznik właściwy, krążniczka właściwa (Porpidia crustulata (Ach.) Hertel & Knoph) – gatunek grzybów z rodziny krążniczkowatych (Lecideaceae). Ze względu na współżycie z glonami zaliczany jest do porostów.

Systematyka i nazewnictwo
Pozycja w klasyfikacji według Index Fungorum: Porpidia, Lecideaceae, Lecideales, Lecanoromycetidae, Lecanoromycetes, Pezizomycotina, Ascomycota, Fungi.

Po raz pierwszy takson ten zdiagnozował w 1810 Erik Acharius nadając mu nazwę Lecidea parasema d crustulata. Obecną, uznaną przez Index Fungorum nazwę nadali mu w 1984 Hertel & Knoph, przenosząc go do rodzaju Porpidia.

Niektóre synonimy nazwy naukowej:

Nazwy polskie według opracowania W. Fałtynowicza.

Budowa
Plecha skorupiasta, bardzo cienka lub zanikająca, o barwie popielatoszarej lub niebieskoszarej. Czasami posiada przedplesze. Powierzchnia zazwyczaj jednolita, czasami nieco popękana, rzadko areolkowana. Pojedyncza plecha osiąga średnicę do 8 cm. Kora bezbarwna o grubości 10–35 μm, czasami występują w niej pomarańczowe kryształki. Rdzeń biały, zbudowany ze strzępek o grubości 3,5–4 μm. Znajduje się w nim warstwa glonów protokokkoidalnych o grubości 60–65 μm. Hymenium w górnej części ciemnobrązowe lub oliwkowobrązowe, w dolnej bezbarwne. Ma grubość 60–90 μm i pod wpływem jodu zmienia barwę na niebieską. Znajdują się w nim rozgałęzione wstawki o szerokości poniżej 2-3,5 um na wierzchołku. Hypotecjum ma barwę od jasnobrązowej do ciemnobrązowej i grubość do 150–270 μm. Reakcje barwne: miąższ K+ żółty, lub K–, C–, Pd+ pomarańczowy, lub Pd–, C–.

W plesze występują dość licznie kolistego kształtu apotecja. Mogą być skupione w środku, lub rozproszone, ale przeważnie nie przylegają do siebie. Mają średnicę do 0,3-0,6 (0,8) mm i płaskie lub wypukłe tarczki o czarnej barwie. Ich brzeżek jest również czarny, trwały lub zanikający. Jednokomórkowe askospory mają rozmiar 12–16 × 5–7 μm. Występują także zanurzone w plesze bezbarwne pyknidy.

Wytwarza kilka kwasów porostowych, m.in. kwas norstiktowy.

Występowanie i siedlisko
Występuje na wszystkich kontynentach z wyjątkiem Antarktydy i Afryki. Najbardziej rozpowszechniony jest na półkuli północnej na obszarach o klimacie umiarkowanym i zimnym oraz w wysokich górach. W Polsce gatunek pospolity na terenie całego kraju.

Rośnie na skałach krzemianowych, na piaskowcach i na betonie, spotykany jest nie tylko na dużych głazach, ale często także na małych kamieniach.

Gatunki podobne
Najbardziej podobny jest kamusznik większy (Porpidia macrocarpa). Nie wytwarza jednak kwasów porostowych i ma większe zarodniki. Nieco podobny jest także wzorzec pstry (Rhizocarpon petraeum).

Przypisy

Krążniczkowate
Porosty
Mykobiota Polski

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Tag Archives: Republic of Texas
Today in Texas History – February 11
From the Annals of the Republic – In 1842, sailors and marines stationed on the Texas Navy schooner San Antonio mutinied. The SA was anchored in the Mississippi River at New Orleans at the time. Most of the officers were allowed shore leave but sailors and marines were confined aboard because of fear of desertion. Some enterprising New Orleans citizen smuggled liquor to the ensconced sailors and marines who under marine sergeant Seymour Oswalt, began an unsuccessful mutiny demanding shore leave. Lt. Charles Fuller ordered the marine guard to stand ground at which point Oswalt attacked Fuller with a tomahawk. In the ensuing fight, Lt. Fuller was shot and killed. Most of the mutineers fled the ship where they were captured and placed in jail in New Orleans. Louisiana refused to extradite them back to Texas, but a few mutineers who had not escaped the ship met a different fate. The head of the Texas Navy, Commodore Edwin Moore court-martialed some of the remaining mutineers. Three were sentenced to flogging, and four were hanged from the yardarm of the Austin on April 6, 1843. Sgt. Oswalt himself escaped from jail in New Orleans and was never brought to justice. Shortly afterward, the San Antonio was dispatched to Campeche but was lost at sea.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Charles Fuller, Edwin Moore, New Orleans, Republic of Texas, Seymour Oswalt, Texas Navy, Texas Navy Mutiny, The San Antonio on February 11, 2019 by Red from Texas.
Today in Texas History – February 5
From the Annals of Racism – In 1840, the Congress of the Republic of Texas determined that the presence of any more free black citizens in the Republic was utterly intolerable. As such, the Congress passed the racist Law of February 5. These legislators (which included many of the founding fathers of the Republic) were apparently concerned that the presence of any more than the very few free blacks in the Republic would somehow affect the status of slavery. And after all, the protection of slavery had been a major motivating force for the revolution as slavery was outlawed in Mexico in 1829 by its partially black President Vicente Guerrero. The law declared that all free blacks who had entered Texas after the Texas Declaration of Independence must leave the Republic within two years or be declared slaves for the rest of their lives. Free blacks already in the Republic before Texas independence would continue to have all the rights of their white neighbors – which in practice they did not.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Congress of Texas, Free Blacks, Law of February 5, Mexico, Republic of Texas, Slavery, Texas Laws, Vicente Guerrero on February 5, 2019 by Red from Texas.
Today in Texas History – January 25
From the Annals of Heraldry – In 1839, the Republic of Texas Congress adopted the Texas national seal consisting of a five point white star on a sky blue background ringed by olive and live oak branches. The Republic's seal has been modernized but has remained essentially the same to date. When Texas became a state in 1845, the words encircling the main elements were changed from Republic of Texas to State of Texas.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged National Seal of Republic of Texas, Republic of Texas, State Seal of Texas, Texas Coat of Arms, Texas History on January 25, 2019 by Red from Texas.
Today in Texas History – December 14
From the Annals of Medicine – In 1837, the Congress of the Republic of Texas established the Board of Medical Censors and authorized it to grant licenses to practice medicine and surgery in the republic. The BMC was composed of one physician from each senatorial district who were graduates of medicine and surgery from accredited colleges and universities. Prospective physicians had to pass a test and pay a $20 license fee. Unlicensed physicians were prohibited from collected unpaid fees in Texas courts. The board was to meet once each year but that proved difficult in frontier Texas. The BMC was disbanded upon statehood and the function is now performed by the Board of Medical Examiners.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Board of Medical Censors, Republic of Texas, Texas History, Texas Medicine on December 14, 2018 by Red from Texas.
From the Annals of "Gunboat" Diplomacy – In 1841, a flotilla of three ships from the Navy of the Republic of Texas left Galveston to provide support for the province of Yucatán in its rebellion against Mexico. Edwin Ward Moore was the commander-in-chief of the Texas Navy. Moore had earlier sailed along the Mexican coast in a failed attempt to speed up peace negotiations between the Republic of Texas and Mexico. Moore returned to Texas and President Mirabeau B. Lamar signed a treaty with the Mexican state of Yucatan to lease of the Texas navy for $8,000 per month and to protect their ports from being a Mexican Navy blockade. Moore's ships joined the small fleet of the State of Yucatan under the command of former Texas Navy officer Captain James D. Boylan.
The Yucatan rebellion (also known as the Caste War of Yucatan) itself is an interesting and rarely mentioned part of Mexican history. The indigenous Mayans more or less held control of large parts of the Yucatan peninsula for more than 50 years despite numerous efforts by Mexico to assert control.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Edwin Ward Moore, Mexican History, Navy of the Republic of Texas, Republic of Texas, Texas History, Texas Navy, Yucatan Rebellion on December 13, 2018 by Red from Texas.
Today in Texas History – May 3
From the Annals of the Crazed – In 1997, members of the so-called "Republic of Texas" surrendered to authorities ending an armed standoff where two people were held hostage. The ROT movement was started by Richard McLaren, a well-known trouble-maker in west Texas, who based the claims of the ROT on his flawed research regarding the Civil War. McLaren believed that because Texas voted to leave the Union in 1861, it still met qualifications under international law as a captive nation of the United States after being defeated in that war. This conveniently ignored the fact that the actual Republic of Texas ceased to exist when Texas became a state in 1845.
Before the stand-off in west Texas, the ROT had split into three factions. McLaren continued to lead one group, while David Johnson and Jesse Enloe, and Archie Lowe and Daniel Miller led two rump movements. In 1997, McLaren and his followers kidnapped Joe and Margaret Ann Rowe holding them hostage at the Davis Mountain Resort. McLaren demanded the release of ROT member in exchange for the release of the Rowes. The stand-off with local police and Texas Rangers in force generated considerable media interest with more than 100 reporters and crew encamped at a roadside park near Fort Davis. Ultimately, McLaren's wife convinced him to surrender peacefully after a week. After surrendering, McLaren and four other Republic of Texas members were convicted and sent to prison. Two members of the group, Richard F. Keyes III and Mike Matson, eluded capture at first. However, Matson was killed in a shoot-out with Texas Rangers two days later. Keyes remained on the lam until September and was later was convicted of burglary with intent to commit aggravated assault and sentenced to 90 years in prison.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Fort Davis, Joe and Margaret Ann Rowe, Mike Matson, Republic of Texas, Richard Keyes III, Rick McLaren, Texas Rangers on May 3, 2018 by Red from Texas.
From the Annals of the Code Duello – In 1837, to Generals of the Texas Army faced off in a duel for command of the Army. Brig. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston was wounded in the pelvis by Brig. Gen. Felix Huston. President Sam Houston had ordered Johnston to replace Huston as commander of the Texas Army. Huston had attracted a large group of adventurers and undisciplined troops to the Army and Sam Houston believed that under his command the Army would not be able to repel the seemingly imminent invasion from Mexico. Huston was offended by the lack of confidence in his leadership. Even though he professed admiration for ASJ, he felt compelled to challenge him to a duel. Observers claimed that Johnston refused to fire. Johnston's wound was so severe that he was unable to take command. Some believe that his wound in the duel caused nerve damage such that he was unable to detect that he had been shot during the Battle of Shiloh. ASJ died after the battle from loss of blood – his wound had not been fatal. Huston eventually moved to New Orleans where he opened a law practice and became an ardent secessionist.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Battle of Shiloh, Duels, Felix Huston, Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, Texas Army on February 7, 2018 by Red from Texas.
From the Annals of the Highways – In 1844, the Congress of the Republic of Texas authorized a commission to oversee the construction of the Central National Road. The CNR was planned to run from the Elm Fork of the Trinity River to Kiomatia Crossing on the Red River in far northeast Texas. It was intended to become part of a larger international highway ultimately connecting San Antonio to St. Louis. The Congress provided that the CNR was to be at least 30 feet wide with no tree stumps taller than 12 inches from the ground. Bridges were to be at least 15 feet wide and built of good substantial materials. The project was to be paid for with public land grants to contractors building the road. The rate was to be 160 acres of land for every mile constructed.
The commissioners chose George Stell of Paris, Texas, as surveyor for the project. Surveying work began in April 1844. Stell and his assistant traveled northeast, measuring and marking the exact route, which passed through the present counties of Dallas, Rockwall, Collin, Hunt, Fannin, Lamar and Red River. The route largely utilized existing prairies and natural stream crossings – avoiding densely wooded areas and river crossing requiring bridges. It is unclear if construction was ever completed. The CNR appears to have been short-lived and was replaced by the Preston Road and other early routes.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Central National Road, Congress of the Republic of Texas, Dallas, George Stell, Red River, Republic of Texas, Texas Highways, Texas History, Trinity River on February 5, 2018 by Red from Texas.
From the Annals of the Abolitionists – In 1844, President Sam Houston granted an empresario contract to abolitionist Charles Fenton Mercer to establish a colony in the Republic of Texas. A Virginia native, CFM had a distinguished career as an Lt. Colonel of a Virginia regiment in the War of 1812, member of the Virginia House of Delegates, U.S. Congressman for over 20 years, and head of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Co. He was a dedicated abolitionist and instrumental in attempting to resettle free African-Americans in Africa – a now discredited belief as a solution to slavery among many abolitionists of the time. After retiring from public service, Mercer became interested in obtaining an empresario license in Texas – making seven trips to the new nation. Houston granted him a contract for a colony east of Peter's Colony but only after vetoing a bill that would have restricted the President's rights in that regard. Mercer's contract was always controversial because of his well-known abolitionist sentiments. Nonetheless, he organized the Texas Association and began selling shares for $500 each. By the end of the year, more than 100 families had complied with the requirements of his contract and received land certificates. Land disputes and court cases, however, proved top be too much of a burden on Mercer's time and finances. In 1852 he assigned his interest in the contract to George Hancock of Kentucky and other members of the Texas Association, receiving in return an annuity of $2,000.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Charles Fenton Mercer, Empresario, Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, Texas Colonies, Texas History on January 29, 2018 by Red from Texas.
Today in Texas History – November 16
From the Annals of the Treaties – In 1845, the Republic of Texas signed its final Indian treaty. The agreement came at the end of the Tehuacana Creek Councils, which had commenced in the spring of 1843. Pioneer Jesse Chisholm had worked to convince a number of Indian groups, including the Caddos, Tawakonis, Delawares, Lipan Apaches, and Tonkawas, to meet on the Tehuacana Creek near the Torrey Brothers trading post south of Waco.
The next council met at Fort Bird on the Trinity River in the fall of 1843. These councils resulted in a peace treaty between the Republic and the Wacos and Caddos. The failure to reach an accord with the Comanche caused President Sam Houston to call another council to meet at Tehuacana Creek in April 1844. The Comanche were yet again missing. In October 9, 1844, Houstonnegotiated a treaty with a part of the southern Comanche, Kichais, Waco, Caddos, Anadarkos, Hainais, Delawares, Shawnees, Cherokees, Lipan Apaches, and Tawakonis. At the November 1845 council the Wacos, Tawakonis, Kichais, and Wichitas agreed to the treaty of October 9, 1844. The Comanche continued fighting for another 30 years.
This entry was posted in Today in Texas History, Uncategorized and tagged Comanche, Native Americans, Republic of Texas, Sam Houston, Tehuacana Creek Council, Texas History, Texas Native Tribes on November 16, 2017 by Red from Texas.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Two Danish royal yachts have borne the name Dannebrog:

 was a royal yacht launched in 1879, in Copenhagen.
 is a 1,238-ton royal yacht launched in 1931, by the Naval Dockyard in Copenhagen.

References

Royal Danish Navy ship names


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Posted inClimate Crisis
Debate: Green Economic Growth Vs. Slow Growth (2/2)
by TRNN June 3, 2016 September 23, 2020
In the second half of a debate on green economics and growth, economists Robert Pollin and Peter Victor re-emphasized their agreement on the limitations of GDP as a measure of economic well-being, including inequality, distribution, and health outcomes.
However, they remained at odds over whether economic growth can accompany a transition away from fossil fuels.
Victor emphasized the rate of investment as a major issue.
"We're told we must, must expand that energy sector, because jobs and growth in GDP comes first, and we'll deal with the climate change issues separately or later on," said Victor. "This is not a healthy or productive way to go forward."
"It's really a question of timing. If you transition to green energy slowly, it's less of a problem than if you try to do it fast. You try to do it fast, then you have massive short-term investment which can only be supported by the existing sources of energy, which are fossil fuel," said Victor.
Pollin concluded the discussion by arguing that climate stabilization and growth can be simultaneous "because investing in the green economy requires more inputs by people, and less inputs by energy, per se, and by machines."
"My fundamental point is that I don't care, per se, about GDP growth," said Pollin. "I do care about jobs, I do care about distribution.
"If we make a point of trying to slow GDP growth, it is going to mean less job opportunities, a rate of reduction in generating new jobs. It's going to create huge political resistance, and it's unnecessary," said Pollin.
SHARMINI PERIES, TRNN: Welcome back. I'm moderating a discussion between Bob Pollin and Peter Victor. We're discussing whether it is possible to transition from fossil fuels to new, clean, green energy systems and achieve sustainable growth, or do they have to be decoupled. They agree on a lot of things, but when we left off in segment one, Bob Pollin was arguing that based on very conservative assumptions, his modeling demonstrates that if we combine investing in clean, renewable energy and improve efficiencies, and then link that to equivalent levels of GDP growth, we can still lower CO2 emissions at a rate of about 40-80 percent over 20-35 years, which is what the IPCC is calling for. In response, Peter Victor is arguing that our economy must work within the biosphere, so that when we measure emissions of certain countries we must also factor in consumption of goods produced elsewhere but consumed by that country. For example, Canadians consuming goods made in China. We should factor in emissions of producing that good, transport, and so forth, and when we do that we can get a different result than what we are seeing in the, in the news recently. Further, he says we're dealing with a much more complicated set of environmental issues than simply climate change and CO2 emissions. Peter Victor also argues that while he agrees with investing in a variety of green renewables to improve the relationship between the economy and the environment, they too have to be produced, and we will have to make more investments much faster, not to mention the intermittency of adopting new technologies. Now, Peter Victor is arguing that our economy must work within the biosphere. So when we measure emissions of certain countries, we must also factor in consumption of goods produced elsewhere but consumed by that country. For example, Canadians consumed goods made in China. We should factor in the emissions of producing that good, as well as transporting that good to Canada. And when we do that we get an entirely different result. Further, he says, we're dealing with a much more complicated set of environmental issues than simply climate change and CO2 emissions. Peter Victor says while he agrees with investing in a variety of green renewables to improve the relationship between the economy and the environment, they too have to be produced, and we will have to take and make more investments much more faster, not to mention the intermittency issues in adopting new technologies. Instead, Victor argues for slowing down growth and producing less, which could have a meaningful and sustainable result. There is much more to discuss, so let's continue. So let me go to you, Bob. Can you respond to Peter's arguments? I know you have already stated your position on GDP, that it is, in fact, inadequate, and you agree with Peter here. But it appears to be a continuing issue in this discussion, but what about what he's saying about slowing down growth and getting consumption under control? ROBERT POLLIN: Yeah. Well, look, I completely agree. GDP as a measure of economic success has massive problems, not only with respect to environmental issues, with respect to measuring labor by home work, by primarily, by [inaud.] does not include that. It does not include other kinds of fads in the economy. And so there's all kinds of problems with GDP, per se. Now, economic growth, whether we measure it by GDP or some superior indicator, is another matter. I mean, economic growth can be growth of a clean energy sector. And yes, of course, I have taken into account, along with a lot of other people in the literature, not just me, the problems in building up a green energy sector. Problems such as intermittency with solar and wind, i.e. that the sun doesn't shine all day and it isn't windy all the time. So yes, you have to recognize the nature of these problems. And what I'm saying, and the research that I've done, says that if we link investments, and I'm not talking about, you know, something that's excessively ambitious, because I'm talking about something in the range of 1.5 percent of GDP. That means 98.5 percent of GDP is not spent on clean energy investments, efficiency, and renewables. But 1.5 percent. And is if in, investment, if GDP goes up then the clean energy goes up. So like for a country like India or China that expects to grow at 6 percent a year, their green energy sector would grow correspondingly. And I don't think it's overly ambitious, given the patterns that we've observed thus far, and also the fact that as we improve the technologies over time, costs are going to come down and we're going to learn more about how to implement these technologies more effectively. So I think it's the only solution, because if we say part of the solution is reducing consumption, I'm not against that. It's just not going to get us anywhere close to where we need to be, and we are never going to reduce consumption by 80 percent, or 40 percent. It's not going to happen. And so therefore we need to substitute dirty energy for clean energy. PERIES: Peter, were you thinking reducing consumption here? PETER VICTOR: I don't think I ever said reducing consumption. It's quite interesting that comes up. I'd prefer to–I'll come back to that. I just want to make a couple of related points. I mean, again, Bob and I agree on a lot of things. I don't want to say I don't support the idea of investing in green energy. I just think that there's this fundamental connection between the rate of economic growth that you try to achieve and the extent to which you have to invest in that green investment. I'd like to slow the pace down, particularly in the rich countries, so that the green investment isn't so onerous. The other thing I wanted to say is Bob and I both agree that measuring the success of an economy, and this came up in your question, Sharmini, by GDP is part of the problem. GDP was never intended as a measure of how well-off we are, of our well being. It doesn't deal with inequality and distribution, it doesn't deal with environmental consequences of producing and consuming the GDP, and some of the other things that Bob mentioned. So part of the degrowth agenda, a big part of it, is to say let's get away from this preoccupation with GDP. Now, the question is, well, why aren't we doing that? There's clear evidence that we're not. I don't know what it's like in the U.S., but in Canada we get monthly reports on Canada's GDP, how much it's grown, how much it hasn't. And clearly when that message comes out we're supposed to think, well, if it's gone up that's good, if it goes down it's bad. But it's such an indirect and often contradictory measure of the things that we're really interested in, such as health outcomes, education, the social circumstances of our population, environmental world, and so on. That's all forgotten. It's just a question of GDP. So the degrowth message is just don't pay so much attention to GDP. So if we want a cleaner energy system, certainly let's push for that. But let's not use GDP growth, and I'm going to explain why I say this in a moment, as some kind of criteria. Now, let me give you an example of what's going on in Canada right now. We've got issues around our oil sands economy. What are we hearing in the debate? Well, we've got to keep promoting the oil sands, because that will create jobs. So it's not that it'll meet some energy shortage. No, we don't need to do that. It's a way of employing people. Employing people's important because that's our distribution system. And the point I'm making here is we're told we must, must expand that energy sector, because jobs and growth in GDP comes first, and we'll deal with the climate change issues separately or later on. This is not a healthy or productive way to go forward, which is why I like to side with the people that promote degrowth and say please, let's get away from thinking that growth of the economy in rich countries is an important measure of our success. PERIES: And Peter, are there economists you're working with proposing another way of measuring that's more comprehensive, that factors in the environmental and ecological issues? VICTOR: Yes, there are many candidate measures that researchers have developed that are slowly being picked up in some official agencies, but it's very slow. And I do think that one of the, Bob probably won't like this, I think one of the reasons why it's so slow is because most economists don't do what we're doing in this conversation. That is, stand up and say, you know, GDP doesn't carry all of the meaning that you think it does, and it's not such a good measure of how we're doing. They say, well, GDP, we'll use that for now. We'll keep promoting it. And so, yes. In my work, in my modeling work, one of the things that we try to do is be a little more disaggregated. We don't try to wrap up the whole story of the economy in a single measure like GDP. We look at measuring some of the things I touched on a moment ago, questions of distribution, questions of equity, questions of employment, questions of poverty. All of these things we model individually so that we get a more comprehensive picture of the possible alternative futures that are out there. PERIES: And Bob, tell us about other measurements that could be used, and do you agree with what Peter just said about the other ways in which we can measure? POLLIN: I completely agree. I never stated otherwise. I never said that GDP is a be-all, end-all, I never said that GDP should be prioritized over fairness, distribution, gender equity, poverty reduction, environmental protection. So there's no argument whatsoever, and there's really not much to add. There's nothing to add. Peter said things quite well. The big issue that I do want to raise, though, and this comes out of my research I produced at many levels for different countries, and this is on the issue of jobs, which is critical, as Peter said. It's the basis for most people's living standard, whether they're employed or not, and how much they get paid. What my research has shown over and over again is that building a green economy is actually good for jobs. It is not good for coal miners' jobs. It is not good for tar sands pipelines, and so forth, true. That's true. But if we look at the overall level of job creation by investing in a green economy versus maintaining a fossil fuel economy, you overwhelmingly expand job opportunities by building a green economy, so that in terms of garnering support for a green investment agenda, rather than saying the green [investment] that we need to protect the environment even if it means costing jobs, what my research shows is that investing in the green economy is a major engine of job opportunities. I've shown it for the U.S., I've shown it for Germany, I've shown it for Brazil, India, South Korea, Indonesia, South Africa, China, Spain, it works. It's very straightforward. It works over and over again, because investing in the green economy requires more inputs by people, and less inputs by energy, per se, and by machines. And also, on a related point by Peter, he said building the green economy will entail energy inputs itself. That's true. But if we're investing in energy efficiency, and my estimates are quite conservative on the opportunities for energy efficiency gains, I think we can raise energy efficiency standards on average by about 30-40 percent. That's what's out there in the research work. On top of that, if we are expanding the green energy sector, that becomes self-perpetuating in that we use green energy to build the green energy sector. So it does not entail more emissions, necessarily. The faster we grow the green energy sector, the lower we get emissions, the faster we get emissions down dramatically. PERIES: Bob, Peter did say that there's really confining to have green energies be used in the green energy sector, because there's no, really, such thing, because it is using certain kinds of energies which are not clean in order to generate some of that. Your response to that? POLLIN: Well, that's true now. Because, you know, 90 percent of all energy being consumed now is fossil fuel energy, or nuclear. But as we substitute away from fossil fuel energy and nuclear, that means the production of energy itself, the production of wind turbines, the production of solar panels, the transportation needs of moving a solar panel, for example, from China to Amherst, Massachusetts, as an example. As we substitute out of fossil fuel energy and into clean energy, then that problem also dissipates, so that what–imagine that what we're talking about is using green energy, 100 percent, to run the economy. Well, we will have therefore solved the problem of emissions from energy sources. That doesn't mean, Peter's right, that doesn't mean we have to solve the other sources of greenhouse gas emissions. But the goal is to get to 100 percent renewable energy as quickly as possible. And part of, a big part of getting there is to raise efficiency standards, and the other part is to expand our production of clean, renewable energy. PERIES: From what I can understand from what Bob's saying, Peter, is that some transition is required in this process, and we will eventually try to resolve this problem of using dirty energy to achieve green energy. What do you make of that? VICTOR: It's really a question of timing. If you transition to green energy slowly it's less of a problem than if you try to do it fast. You try to do it fast, then you have massive short-term investment which can only be supported by the existing sources of energy, which are fossil fuel. So it's a question of the pace at which you make the transition, as well as the level of the change that you're trying to achieve. And this comes back to the point I've been stressing throughout this interesting discussion, that the pace has something to do with the rate of which GDP grows. And if GDP is growing less slowly, then the pace of the transition can be that much reduced. So you know, we don't disagree. I hope it's clear to everybody who's watching this that the importance of moving away from dirty sources of energy to cleaner sources of energy, of course that's right. All I'm trying to say is that the amount of energy that we will have to produce from these clean sources will be larger the larger is the economy that it's supposed to be supporting. And that's why, whereas Bob likes to say that, well, you can't do it all by having a smaller economy, I'm making, if you like, the complimentary point which says, yes, and you're making the task that much harder for yourself by trying to get an even larger economy. And I think the answer lies in a combination of these approaches, which is a moderation when it comes to how large the economy should be, particularly in wealthy countries, so that we pay more attention to questions of distribution, and less to just making more and more goods and services available for a minority of the population. And at the same time, we transform the way in which we produce energy. I just think it's a somewhat different balance between scale and efficiency as compared with the position that I think Bob is taking. PERIES: Bob, let me give you the last word. POLLIN: Well, look, I think it's been a very interesting discussion and I think Peter has made important contributions. I use his book in my course on ecological macroeconomics. These are critical points. My fundamental point is that I don't care, per se, about GDP growth. I do care about jobs, I do care about distribution. I think if we, let's talk about the wealthy countries, if we make a point of trying to slow GDP growth, it is going to mean less job opportunities, a rate of reduction in generating new jobs. It's going to create huge political resistance, and it's unnecessary. As I said, reducing GDP growth, or negative growth, is not a solution to reducing emissions, whether we like it or not. It can never get close to what we need to do. So that, for example, when I was doing work in Spain with the political party Podemos, Podemos is, on the one hand, trying to fight an austerity agenda. So they want to promote an egalitarian growth pattern. So do I. I want growth, I want the gains from growth being distributed equally. I want to get way past austerity. Now, the only way that you can do that and can combine it with an environmental climate stabilization agenda is to make massive investments in green energy. And those investments in green energy, as I showed in Spain, as with other countries, is a big source of job creation. So we get past austerity precisely by investing in green energy. And it is not a heroic set of assumptions. I'm saying 1.5 percent of GDP. That's a lot, but I think it is imminently achievable. VICTOR: But it's only modest because you're only looking at climate change. Unless you have a green agenda that addresses the full slate of environmental issues, then it's a very partial analysis that I think is, it's not sufficient. It's not enough. And I think that you start looking at what it's going to cost in terms of investment to deal with the other kinds of environmental problems, loss of biodiversity being a classic one, there's no simple solution to that. It won't be dealt with through adoption of a few off-the-shelf technologies. When you start looking at what [has] got to do to an economy to wrestle those problems to the ground, then I think you end up with a different conclusion. And I know you wanted to give Bob the last word, but you can still do that. PERIES: Bob, go ahead, I will give you the last word. POLLIN: I think that, again, I think that these, these issues that Peter raises are quite critical. And it's true, I'm focusing right now just on climate change. Except I wouldn't say just on climate change. Climate change is–we're facing an ecological catastrophe of something that never has been even contemplated before. So it is not just one issue among many, many issues. It's the most fundamental issue facing the U.S. economy, the global economy right now. It's about human survival on the planet. So yes, my research is focused on that. I don't claim that my solution for climate stabilization is the solution for all the sets of environmental issues. But I will say this, that my research on climate stabilization has convinced me that going deep and working through the details of the possibilities that are available at each of the, with other climate issues, such as–environmental issues such as biodiversity, requires the same type of specific research agenda that myself and my coworkers have advanced with respect to climate change. So that's where I would–I don't think, I think Peter is raising very good points. I don't think that he's giving us necessarily an answer to those points. I don't have the answer. I think I have a reasonable framework for dealing with climate stabilization now. PERIES: All right. Bob Pollin, Peter Victor, I thank you both for this very nuanced discussion, and I look forward to having you again, both of you. POLLIN: Thank you. My pleasure. VICTOR: Well, thank you very much for the opportunity. It's been very enjoyable. POLLIN: Thank you. PERIES: And thank you for joining us on the Real News Network.
2022 saw 18 extreme weather events in the US that exceeded $1 billion each in costs
A majority of House Republicans' new committee chairs are election deniers


text:
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
Tom Brady said he is not concerned about his future at the moment, with the New England Patriots quarterback unwilling to put a timetable on his 2020 plans.
Brady is set to become a free agent after defending Super Bowl champions the Patriots were eliminated by the Tennessee Titans in the NFL playoffs earlier this month.
The 42-year-old star, who said retirement was "pretty unlikely" following New England's wild-card loss, has already made it clear he still has more to prove in the NFL.
Amid question marks over his future in New England, six-time Super Bowl champion Brady told Westwood One: "The contract things, a week after the season, I would say these things haven't even started to pick up. It's really not my concern at this point.
"It's been about decompressing, and resting my mind a little bit, and resting my body and spending time with the people who have supported me over the last six months."
I just wanted to say to all of our fans, THANK YOU! After a few days of reflection, I am so grateful and humbled by the unconditional support you have shown me the past two decades. Running out of that tunnel every week is a feeling that is hard to explain. I wish every season ended in a win, but that's not the nature of sports (or life). Nobody plays to lose. But the reward for working hard is just that, the work!! I have been blessed to find a career I love, teammates who go to battle with me, an organization that believes in me, and fans who have been behind us every step of the way. Every one of us that works at Gillette Stadium strived to do their best, spent themselves at a worthy cause, and prepared to fail while daring greatly (h/t Teddy Roosevelt). And for that, we've been rewarded with something that the scoreboard won't show - the satisfaction of knowing we gave everything to each other in pursuit of a common goal. That is what TEAM is all about. In both life and football, failure is inevitable. You dont always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again. And that's right where you will find me. Because I know I still have more to prove.
A post shared by Tom Brady (@tombrady) on Jan 8, 2020 at 5:50am PST
Brady added: "I love playing football. I love playing for this organisation. I really don't know what it looks like moving forward, and I'm just taking it day to day.
"We are a week removed from the end of our season. There is a lot of time to figure these things out. I don't think any player or team is ready to make any commitments at this point and I'm sure as the offseason progresses those things will take care of themselves."
On the continued speculation, Brady said: "I can only say how I feel and that's what's the truth to me and what's authentic to me. And I have no decision that I have made and there won't be for some considerable time, so I know there is speculation; there always is that's just part of being in professional sports, that's part of being a professional athlete.
"When people aren't talking about this season, they want to talk about next season, and the reality is that next season is quite a ways away. I have some other things that are happening at this time. Like I said, spending some time with my family, my loved ones and giving them the time they need. And then as people begin to plan for next season like I said, these things will take care of themselves."
"It's always been proving it to myself and being motivated internally to push myself to the limits. Sometimes the limits push back. I've experienced that," Brady continued. "But I also think I'm inspired by so many people who push the limits. I love watching documentaries of incredible human feats. They're inspiring. People climb these mountains, and do things that people never thought were possible. I'm at a certain point in my career where people think what I'm doing is to a degree impossible.
"For me, it's about continuing to prove to myself that I can lay it on the line and we can still try to achieve the ultimate goal, which is winning Super Bowls."


Happy Friday, Friends! I started interviewing authors, bloggers and creative entrepreneurs on Fridays as I was so inspired when the creative community welcomed me, back when I published my first book. This year we are featuring creative entrepreneurs. I know you will enjoy meeting my friend, Katie Naughton. She's fun, friendly, and sells fabulous clothes. Katie has a knack for pattern-mixing, too! "What is that?" you ask? Read on, LuLaFriends!
1. So, can you tell us about your business?
I own a retail clothing boutique of LuLaRoe brand clothing. I sell the clothing from my home, in-person and online, and have been in the business almost 3 years. LuLaRoe brand is known for its fun patterns, comfy fabrics, and styles that flatter all shapes and sizes. I carry tops, dresses, cardigans and kimonos, skirts, and children's clothing. I became a customer, got hooked on the cute, comfy clothes, and the rest is history.
2. Do you have a favorite style or pattern?
The two LuLaRoe styles that I first fell in love with were the Madison skirt, a pleated skirt with pockets, and the Perfect tee, a swingy tee with slits on the side. I love the combination of florals with stripes, as well as fun novelty prints, like raccoons. #patternmixing Have fun with your clothes! I am looking forward to LuLaRoe adding jeans to our brand in the coming months.
3. How do you balance work and family?
Since I make my own schedule and work from home I can usually plan my business activities around our family schedule. I do a lot of my work (i.e. photographing inventory, shipping, live sales) while my kids are at school or after they go to bed. Since my inventory is in my home I can have sales whenever our family is home and it's convenient for us. It means my customers occasionally see my family life in action, but I'm comfortable sharing some of that.
4. What do you like to do for fun?
I love watching movies, going to concerts, spending time with friends and family, trying new places to eat, and going on adventures, big and small. I recently joined a book club and have started reading for fun again, after a very long hiatus.
5. What is one unusual thing about you?
I don't have my ears pierced. I never did it as a kid and once I got older it just didn't seem that important. I considered having them pierced for my 40th birthday, but that came and went and my ears remain intact.
6. What music inspires you?
Depends on the moment. I'm a wanna-be 90s grunge groupie, raised on Motown and MTV music videos, who married a rock drummer/engineer. Bjork's greatest hits are currently playing on my Amazon Echo. A few albums that come to mind that I've listened to on repeat are the "Singles" movie soundtrack, Muse "Black Holes and Revelations", Alice in Chains "Jar of Flies", Perfect Circle "Mer de Noms", and Toad the Wet Sprocket "Dulcinea". Whatever is playing, I'm definitely singing along.
7.Which ethnic restaurants have you visited?
Lots, I'll try anything at least once! Locally I'm a repeat customer at Southern Comfort Kitchen(Cajun), Aroma Cuisine of India, King Kong Chinese Restaurant, Pho Play, and Pokeatery.
8. Ranch or Blue Cheese?
Blue cheese, no doubt about it. Ranch ranks very low on my cravings list.
9. What instrument did you play in marching band?
Clarinet (bassoon in symphonic band and orchestra). High school marching band is where I met my husband.
10. What tv shows/ movies are you watching these days?
I just finished binge watching the 2nd season of "Westworld". I'm currently watching the new seasons of "Barry" and "Documentary Now" and looking forward to the return of "Game of Thrones". The last movie I saw in the theater was "Captain Marvel".
11. Do you have a theme song?
No theme song, but I've typically got a soundtrack going in my head.
12. What is one thing you would tell your younger self?
Take some risks, nothing too outrageous but color outside of the lines a tad.
13. Is there anything else you would like to share with us today?
Travels! Our family loves traveling, near and far. We will occasionally take off on little day trips or overnights around the Bay Area. We are lucky to live near so many amazing places! But we are also up for an adventure farther from home. My husband and I have visited 33 US states together, including a few Western states with the kids. We also borrowed an idea from friends, to celebrate each 5th anniversary abroad. For our 5th anniversary, pre-kids, we meandered around Munich, Hallstat (Austria), Venice, Florence, Rome, and Paris. For our 10th we took our boys (aged 4 and 2 at the time) to Edinburgh, London, and Dublin. For our 15th our family visited friends in Valencia, Spain, then went to Barcelona, Lyon (FR) and Paris. Our 20th isn't decided yet….Tokyo? Costa Rica? Macchu Pichu?
Thanks for being here, Katie!
Tune in in two weeks for our next community interview with author Sarah Boucher.
Catch our other #FridayFriends interviews with Your Writer Big Sister , MeganReneePlans, Dolce Planner, Tomi & Cleo, Yancy Lael and Jenipher Lyn.
Happy Friday, Friends! I started featuring the writing community on Fridays as a thank you to those who helped launch my first book. And I found I just loved it so much, I wanted to keep doing it! I'm delighted to feature Katie Masters today. Read on to meet Katie!
So, what have you written/created?
I mean, if you wanted to go back far into the archives in the life-of-Katie, you'd find sailor moon fanfiction and whole spiral notebooks full of stories written from the age of twelve onward! But since I'm pretty sure you don't want to read those (and really, you probably shouldn't), I can thankfully point you to the things I have had published!
The first (literally, my very first!) book I wrote was picked up by Fire & Ice YA, a modern-day Irish mythology book entitled, Brenna Morgan & the Iron Key. It's kind of my baby and while I do intense research for all of my books, this one is near and dear to my heart as it's part of my heritage. Most recently my modern-day sci-fi thriller Beacons, got picked up last year by Pandamoon Publishing and is slated to come out this year! I've also self-published a novella that's the first in a series I'm creating entitled The Bone Dancer.
Currently I'm working on my lesbian Victorian romance and hoping to pitch it soon. I'm also probably the worst person in the world to ask what I've created or what I'm working on because I'm always creating and my answer today might be different tomorrow! I'm also juggling two different Middle Grade series, and a lesbian slice of life graphic novel (done in Japanese manga style).
I'm also writing full news articles on my Patreon page for my Enchanted Forest News updates that I do on twitter!
…..Yeah. That sounds like a lot even to me.
I don't know how I haven't gone insane either.
You can find me practically everywhere but especially on twitter! I also have an Instagram and authortube channel on youtube! I'm pretty sure the links to them all will be down below.
What inspired you to start tweeting as Your Writer Big Sister?
Oh man! I think you're the first person to ask me that! As it happens, I'm in fact, a big sister in real life! But as I went on twitter I realized I was spending a lot of time (worthwhile time!) cheering on a lot of writers on twitter, and giving a lot of advice and doing a lot of beta reading and I realized—all of these wonderful people didn't have a 'big sister'. They didn't have someone to cheer them on in their life, or tell them they weren't crazy and to not listen to their close minded parents who put padlocks on their dreams.
So I took it upon myself to be everyone's Writer Big Sister.
I was lucky that as a teen, I had the opportunity to be coached by some writers and I wanted to do the same thing—to be the cheerleader for the writer who doesn't have someone to do it forthem in their life.
What subjects and causes are near and dear to your heart?
SO. MANY. Note the cap locks! But I know I should narrow it down to two. LGBTQ is right on the top of my list—right there with conservation. I'm an ally, always have been, always will be. But I would like the world to remain habitable so that we can all still be alive to read books, explore nature, and love whoever the hell we want. Which is why I so strongly support conservation. I spent half of my childhood in apartment and the other on boats on the ocean and a tipi on a lonely mountain. Nature and keeping it around and leaving it better than it was is huge for me.
What's the first piece of writing that you remember being proud of and why?
The first piece of writing I was ever truly proud of was a fantasy book I was writing in Jr. high. I was very serious about it and it was the reason I learned to type so fast on a computer! I wanted to write it as fast as it was running around in my head! I was proud of it because I wrote a truly great villain and even my mom (who is the hardest person in the world to impress) was impressed with her.
Looking back at it now I can say "oh yeah, I was definitely thirteen" and even pinpoint what author influenced my word choices or plot development. But even now, it's still something I'm proud of, since I was so young and taking on a huge world building project.
I um….I didn't keep count exactly but maybe 30? I felt I wasn't reading enough though and I'm trying to fix that this year!
Which of them stood out?
Well, I'm sure not everyone will count it, but The Prince and the Dressmaker, which is a graphic novel by Jen Wang. The art is freaking gorgeous, the story doubly so. It's just such a wonderful blend of fashion and heart! I just wish it could've kept going!
How did you get the idea to tweet Enchanted Forest News?
I honestly don't know! It was just sort of something that kind of lighting flashed into my brain one day. I wrote one news flash and it took off like crazy on twitter and people started asking me if I was going to do it daily—so I did! Initially (and to this day) I was using for a fun background/easter egg plot drop to my Enchanted Forest middle grade series I'm working on. It's meant to take place a few years prior to the start of the first book, andsets the stage for a lot of the plots in the series!
It's honestly grown to be so much more than I thought it would be, mainly due to the many people who comment on it and tell me how much the updates mean to them! It's really kept me going, to be honest!
Oh that's so hard! It depends on the day and the mood I'm in! But I would say overall my theme song is "keep your head" by Andy Grammar. Although lately it's been "high hopes" by Panic! At the Disco. Pretty sure you can see a theme forming at this point right?
Okay firstly, you need to know something about me. I love movies as much as I love books. I've grown up watching silent films, old film noire, musicals…you name it, I've watched it. Soto pick only one is impossible for me! I don't think I could even pick one in one genre! But I'll say one of my favorite movies of all time is the 1990's version of Pride and Prejudice because they did that book so much justice and to this day it's the best book-to-film adaptation I've ever seen.
What songs can you play on the ukulele?
I can play all kinds of songs! I love playing Rebecca Sugar songs (I mean, really who doesn't?!) on it, but I also write my own songs, and I like learning modern day songs too. I think one of my favorite bands to play from is Of Monsters and Men (from the Little Talks album).
What plants do you have growing in your garden?
Asking that is like asking a booktuber how many books they have on their shelf. You've entered dangerous 'list' territory my friends! To those who don't know me, by the way, I garden! I'm like…maybe a little obsessed with gardening. I don't want your eyes to glaze over, so I'll give you the shortened version! I have seven different kind of berry bushes, an apple tree, plum tree, 2 kinds of grapes, rhubarb, strawberries, and three raised beds filled with seasonal veggies (and onions and garlic).
Fun bonus fact: all of my berries and trees are in pots because I rent and can't plant anything permanent in the ground!
Name one faraway place you would like to visit.
My life goal since I was twelve years old is to go to Japan. I've literally learned to read and write and speak the language since I was a kid and I still haven't gotten to go. I'm hoping to fix that someday soon (I say that, by my book sales just laugh at me).
My favorite tea is the Private Reserve from the Los Rios Teahouse (they sell their teas online too, bless them!)!
Is there anything else you would like to share with us today?
Yes There is! This writing business is tough. If you're writing a book right now, you know that. But I want you to know you're not alone. The worst things you can do are withdrawal when you're stuck, and give up. If you're having a hard time, there's a community on twitter for your going through the same thing—or have gone through it and lived to tell tale.
You are not alone, and people want you to reach out. I know that can be scary because a lot of you might be introverted or feel you don't have the right or the 'standing' to ask for help or advice.
I'm here to tell you, you are. You are worth the time people invest in you. You are worth the time you invest in yourself. And your books are worth the time you've put into them. If you feel stuck or lost or frustrated, reach out. Reach out to me, or to the writing community.
But you are not alone. Please keep writing!
Thanks, Katie! I've always wanted a big sister!
Here's where you can find Katie and her books!
Happy Friday, Friends! On Fridays I like to feature individuals who are creative. Hope you enjoy this week's spotlight on MeganReneePlans!
I discovered MeganRenee via Etsy as I searched for decorative stickers for my planner. I fell in love with her Beauty and the Beast Kit, which includes inspiring quotes. My daughter and I also use her sports stickers in my planner for notating practice and games. I particularly appreciate these because they were customizable. I chose the hair color as well as team color for the stickers.
Read on to meet MeganRenee!
1. So, what have you created and produced?
For the past three years now I have been creating planner stickers and inserts for my Etsy shop.
2. What subjects & causes are near and dear to your heart?
Autism Speaks has been my number one cause since college. They are my sorority's philanthropy and I've tried to keep them on my donation list since then.
3. Can you tell us a bit about your creative process?
It varies and changes all the time. I usually try to work on at least three or four projects at a time. Sometimes I'm just burned out with all the mom life duties that I rarely design. I try to find artwork that hasn't been used too much in the planner community and then put my spin on putting it together.
Designing sticker kits is actually fun for me. Other than that I love reading, going to the ballet or just out to dinner with my husband.
I hate mustard! With a passion. I don't know why exactly. But just thinking about it makes me nauseous.
I love music! Almost any genre, except country. Lately I've been finding more inspiration from contemporary Christian.
7. How many books did you read last year?
I think I only read 10 or 11 last year.
9. What are you working on right now?
I am working on prepping for my shop's 3rd anniversary sale. Also finalizing details to being foiled stickers to the shop.
I don't watch much as my sons usually take over the tv. But I make sure to keep up with Arrow and The Flash.
I don't think I do. There's always multiple songs running through my head during the days.
That it's ok to let yourself be who you are. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there.
Happy Friday, Friends! On Fridays, I like to feature creatives. I am delighted to spotlight artist-entrepreneur Sapira Cheuk of Dolce Planner. I personally have found her hand drawn designs to be the perfect enhancements for my daily planner. Her work is inspiring, literally inspiring us to do more, and to love our lives. Be sure to check out her online store! I hope you enjoy the interview. Welcome, Sapira!
I have 2 main creative outlet, first is my contemporary art practice and the second are my planner stickers. They are very different from each other and serves different purpose. I don't see these two outlets as contradictory even tho they look and represent very different things, rather, I see them as different ways of expressing.
My contemporary art practice are mostly ink paintings on paper influenced by traditional Chinese brush paintings, the subject are usually about women's embodiment and subjectivity.
My planner stickers theme usually revolves around different girl themed activities or identities.
Most of the works I produced have the female experience in mind. While I identify as a feminist, that identity is rooted in the believe of equality.
It's magic! Sometimes it feels like making a half-remembered dream real, sometimes I just start drawing and whatever takes shape, takes shape.
I love to eat! I know it's not good to link food with reward, but it's sometime I look forward to mostly. I also love to draw, play Switch, drink wine, and go to museums/galleries.
My music taste is kind of all over the place, I would describe as indie electronic/pop. I keep a playlist on spotify specifically for painting.
I don't watch a lot of TV, on weekends I like action movies.
Do what you love and don't give up!
Thank you for letting me share a little bit of me today!
My dear friends, I've missed you. Thanks for checking back in. If you are new, Welcome! So glad to have you here. On Fridays, I like to feature authors and readers. I am delighted to spotlight artist-author-entrepreneur Jenipher Lyn and her new book release: Find Your Rainbow.
Seems like only yesterday that I participated in a blog tour for her first book, How Being Stubborn, Depressed and Unpopular Saved My Life. (You can read that post here.) I appreciated very much the hand-drawn honesty in that book. Reading it, I felt understood. Jenipher had reached out and found my inner child. I looked forward to the time my daughter would be old enough to read it.
I bought some of Jenipher's stickers from her website. My daughter and I use them in our daily planners. Many times, her stickers are just perfect for that day, or that mood.
As soon as I could, I pre-ordered Jenipher's new book. I intended to share with my girl, but I was soon told that I need to order my own copy! This is an interactive book- as you will see.
I can't wait to start my own journey on this rainbow quest.
Find Your Rainbow is by Jenipher Lyn. Get your copy now via Amazon, Target, and Jenipher's website!
Happy Friday, Friends! I love to host authors and bloggers on Fridays. it is my way of thanking the community which has been so supportive of me. Today I am delighted to feature author Sarah E. Boucher, author of Becoming Beauty and Midnight Sisters, both fabulous interpretations of traditional fairy tales. Welcome, Sarah!
1. So, what have you written?
I'm the author of two Young Adult novels, Becoming Beauty and Midnight Sisters. Becoming Beauty is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Bella, the Beauty character, is at least as beastly and entitled as she is beautiful. When she's forced into servitude in the Beast's household, she must learn to look past the Beast's exterior to discover what true beauty is.
Likewise Midnight Sisters is an adaptation of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. The cast is crammed with mischievous noblewomen, their angry father, and a household full of servants. Jonas, a gardener who is smitten with the eldest of the ladies, must question everything he's every learned and risk his livelihood to save Lady Ariela and her sisters from their father's wrath and their own folly.
What subjects & causes are near and dear to your heart?
I've spent fourteen years working with kindergarteners and preschoolers. Education is huge with me. I'm always trying to plant the idea of becoming a reader, writer, and a lifelong learner in the minds and hearts of my students. Anyone can get a college education, whether or not their family can afford to send them. Take it from me, there are countless programs out there for those who are willing to work hard.
Are you a Pantser or a Planner?
I'm definitely a pantser. Character-driven writing is my jam. I'm never quite sure where my whackadoodle characters will lead me, but I always know the adventure will be incomparable, and so much more fun than planning every last story detail. Call it luck, fate, or inspiration, but because I write like I do, beautiful patterns emerge on their own. It's truly magical.
Tell us about your love of all things British.
British movies and TV—especially anything that's a period piece—are a huge addiction for me. Sherlock, Downton Abbey, The Great British Baking Show, Doctor Who, etc. I adore them all. That means I'm completely in love with Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, and about a million other British actors. I'm also totally obsessed with Shakespeare and Jane Austen. Devouring their brand of literature and making a home in their worlds makes me feel smarter, like I'm part of a secret universe only a few others understand.
What is one unusual thing about you?
Anyone might guess that I'm completely in love with fairy tales, but what they may not guess is that I have a pretty large collection of them in my home library. Also, even though I'm a grown up, I sometimes read them to myself at night, like my own personal bedtime stories. It's just so cozy!
If you're talking about carrots or chicken wings dipped in either of the above, then the answer is ranch. All day long. Otherwise I'm one of those weirdos who usually goes for some type of schmancy vinaigrette, probably with berries or exotic peppercorns in it. Because I'm so fancy. You already know . . .
Another fairy tale twist is in the works! Rumplestilskin is the inspiration for my third novel. Elyse's life is turned upside down when she loses her parents to illness and must seek employment in a new town. When she's given an impossible task to prove her abilities, a mysterious stranger comes to her aid. A ball hosted by the crown prince draws near and demand for Elyse's gowns grows. The stranger once again comes to Elyse's aid and wins her gratitude. But is it enough to win her heart or will the crown prince claim it as his own?
I'm still in the early stages, but I'm loving this story! It's a little Rumplestilkin. Cinderella, and The Shoemaker and the Elves rolled into one!
What TV shows/ movies are you watching these days?
Other than Netflix I only watch superhero shows these days. That's Arrow, because Stephen Amell is both beautiful and amazing and 100% to blame for my DC obsession. And Flash, because that entire cast cracks me up and I'm a little in love with Grant Gustin too. And Legends of Tomorrow, because most of that cast was on either Arrow or Flash at one point, so it was only a matter of time until I fell in love with Legends as well.
Right now Sit Still, Look Pretty by Daya rings pretty true. Mostly because I can get really dolled up. The 50s are my era, my lovelies, and I will use any excuse to don red lipstick, a big dress, a crinoline, and pretty, pretty shoes.
Then, just when I look amazing, I open my big mouth and my personality falls out. I'm silly. I'm crazy. I'm witty and obnoxious. I'm honest. So no, I can't sit still and look pretty.
Plus that sounds kind of boring anyway.
What is one thing you would tell your younger self?
Success doesn't look the same for everyone.


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Marvin Hamlisch's three Oscars all came in 1974. "I think now we can talk to each other as friends," he said as he accepted his third award of the night. He composed the winning song "The Way We Were" (and the film's score) for Barbara Streisand, having started out on Broadway as rehearsal pianist in Funny Girl. A wizened sage warned Hamlisch that it didn't do to win so much so young, but he paid no notice and a year later went and wrote the music for A Chorus Line, his Broadway debut. When the inevitable Tony followed, Hamlisch had achieved every target he'd set for himself by the age of 31.
Over the years, a lofty ambition to have 10 Broadway hits, nurtured even as he trained as a classical pianist at the Juilliard in New York, was gradually revised downwards. "What I want to do is have one more show which for me is as innovative as A Chorus Line," he told me when I met him some years ago. "That's what I want. One." "One", coincidentally, is the title of the stirring, aspirational number which closes A Chorus Line, which tells of young hopefuls auditioning for a role in a Broadway show. While he waited there was They're Playing Our Song, based on his relationship with lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, a huge if less musically mould-breaking success on both sides of the Atlantic. The Goodbye Girl, adapted from the 1977 film scripted by Neil Simon, was a slight romantic bauble. In 1983 Jean Seberg went belly up at the National Theatre and never made it back across the water; and then Smile, from the caustic 1975 movie about beauty pageantry, failed to put the eponymous expression on the faces of the few Broadway-goers who caught it. Both shows, he insisted, were good ideas bloodlessly done. He kept their names off his theatrical resumé.
"Let me tell you about the word great," he told me. "There are two types of great. One great is you sit down with Michael Bennett [the director of A Chorus Line who died of Aids], you set this incredible goal and you succeed. The other kind of great is you set a very modest goal: we're putting on this show, all we want is people to have a good time. And if you achieve it it's also great, but it's great in a different way."
Nobody had a greater facility to write songs - some witty pastiche, some unadulterated schmaltz - and there were awards galore, many of them for his numerous soundtracks: only Richard Rodgers also won an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, a Grammy and the Pulitzer Prize. But a return to Broadway's Olympian heights never quite happened. To cite another song from A Chorus Line, he never kissed the day goodbye. "To revisit the mountain without Michael Bennett and without Ed Kleban [the show's lyricist] is very difficult. Most people just go back to their collaborators and say, 'OK let's do it again.' I didn't have that chance. They both died. I'm not giving up. I refuse to give up."
JASPER REES: What is the secret of a great musical?
MARVIN HAMLISCH: The great shows are the ones that broke the formula. West Side Story, that's a great show. From another point of view, you'd say it only ran 14 months. A Chorus Line, there's a case in point: no scenery, no costume.
How early in your life did you realise that writing musicals was what you wanted to do?
Very early. I remember in my sixth grade, I bought the album to My Fair Lady. At the age of 16 I had seen West Side Story five times. I saw Gypsy easily 15 times. On the first show I ever worked on, which was Funny Girl, I was the rehearsal pianist, I was 19 years old, and I would get on that stage and go, "I gotta do this." I think the reason I like Broadway the most is when you do a film it's over. And now you put on the music. You're an adjunct. With a Broadway show, it's manipulation of an audience, and you can change it night to night, so that it's like almost a game. How can me make it so that it's more poignant. It's malleable, you're one of the daddies and mommies. You're a parent. In the other thing you're just a kind of bystander. Where do you want the music. OK I'll be back. You're basically a gun for hire. I'm here, where do you want your carpet?
How talented were you as a kid?
Highly talented, because I had a very good ear. I was born with a fabulous ear. Someone could play something, I could play it right back. My sister was taking piano lessons, the teacher would leave, I was just sitting there listening, not even watching, then I could go to the piano and I could play the notes. It was in the family. My father was a musician. This was not something I worked at all.
Did you work hard at the Juilliard?
You had to. They knew I was talented but it was like I was getting away with murder because of my ear. I was there for 13 years.
Were they aware of your pop instincts?
They were semi-aware of it but you didn't go around telling anyone. I once asked my father, "If I'm not going to become Horowitz, what am I doing here?" He had a great answer. "If you want to be a composer you have to be able to play your songs really well. For no other reason than that, you better learn how to play." And the Juilliard gave me an entire career based on what I learned there. The Juilliard training was absolutely indispensable to my life.
You gotta be real careful because it's like a parlour game. A kid all of a sudden can do it at the age of seven. And if your parents aren't smart enough to understand you're doing, you become this thing on display. "Come on, do it in another key." My parents were very grounded. They were from Vienna, they cared a lot about education, family life. I love baseball and I would never give up my baseball. And I think also, let's face it, I wasn't going to become Horowitz, so I could be normal and be with people. The great thing about show business is the Horowitzes of the world are lonely. It's you versus yourself. It's you versus a great record that was made by Glenn Gould. It's you, the music, the piano, the end, and occasionally once a week your teacher. What I do it's chorus girls, chorus guys, dancers, singers. You're in a more normalised population.
Were your parents behind you?
My father was able to see that I was going through. My father was more pushing me than my mother but he knew the trials and tribulations of what it is to sit at the piano and do what you do. He played six instruments, particularly the accordion. The stuff he did was basically European stuff. He was always at some European functions, bringing Europe to America. One of my memories which I always loved, he would come home from one of those evenings which would be at the Waldorf Astoria or the Plaza and he would bring two of the desserts home. This was three o'clock. My mother would wake us up and say, "Daddy's home." You'd go into the kitchen and there would be this wonderful dessert that we could never in a million years afford.
How did you meet Liza Minnelli and her mother?
I was a friend of a guy who Liza was dating - 14, 15. There was going to be this Christmas party and during this party Judy Garland asked me to play for her. First of all I knew everything Judy Garland did. In fact she picked a rather obscure song, which was "The Christmas Waltz" by Jule Styne, and I knew it. I said to her, "What key do you want?" She said, "I start off on an F." I said, "You got it." Then I played for her "San Francisco". The big thing of that night was that I had written songs for Liza to sing and this was the first time Judy was going to hear Liza sing. The big thing about that Christmas was that when it was over they sent me home in a limo and I remember calling my mother to tell her that I was going to be late because I was going to take the limo to all my friends and knock on their door and say, "You're never going to believe what I came home in." I wrote a piece of material for her to do in concert with Liza.
Hamlischian I think at its best is a good grounded melody, almost old-fashioned, it's melodic and it has emotional appeal. That's it's strength. Most people do think of my music as romantic. It's a little on the old-fashioned side.
Do you smart from the suggestion that A Chorus Line is unhummable?
I think it's a very bad assumption that if something isn't hummable somehow it's not good. Do you think anybody could hum "There's a Place For Us" or "Maria" the first time through? Those are very complicated songs. Sometimes shows should be hummable. In A Chorus Line I tried to write songs that should sound like they were coming instantly out of the character. And sometimes you could hum it and sometimes most of the time you couldn't. I did not try to "write one down the pipe". They're Playing Our Song critically for me did much better music wise than A Chorus Line the first time through. Humming is a bad criterion. Is that the standard we're going to set? If you can hum it it's great. It shouldn't work like that. I think there's too much emphasis on that song that you come out humming. The thing is that if you have an emotional experience in the theatre, that's the home run. That's the hummable part. The hardest thing is not to write a hummable song. The hardest thing is to write a show in which people are moved by it. I don't set out to write a hummable tune.
That said, what is your most hummable tune?
It's not hummable but actually it became a hit. "The Way We Were". Very tough song. The most hummable song I ever wrote was "They're Playing Our Song". I used to say, "People can hum that before they hear it." Sometimes what happens with plagiarism is you don't do it knowingly normally. Sometimes you just hear something out of the jukebox and then five years later that melody crops and you honestly believe you wrote it. It turns out, whoops. I'm amazed there isn't as much plagiarism as there is. There's only 12 notes, folks.
At its best composing should be 100 per cent inspiration and zero per cent anything else. How many times does that happen? Once every billion years. So what composing really turns out to be your own technique, which is about 40 per cent, hopefully 55 per cent inspiration. And the rest pure luck. As long as you're 50.1 percent in the inspiration category you're OK. Get anywhere beneath it you're banal. As a professional you can get to 40, 45, because "Hey, I've been doing this a long time". It's that extra little bit you just pray that it's in the cards.
Why didn't you do Jean Seburg well enough?
If the plane goes down do you blame the pilot, do you blame the guy who made the engine, do you blame the co-pilot? The show that we showed Peter Hall in New York was a show I liked. It needed work but I liked it. It was a very straightforward show. The show that we opened with here had during rehearsal taken on some gimmicks and some bits. Interesting but it didn't really help the telling of the story. Clarity is so important. What sometimes happens is you become sick of it, you've been doing it so long, so in a strange way you start doing the variations before anyone saw the theme. I think that Jean Seburg, though I think it's a wonderful idea, got fuzzy. You gotta be able to bite into it. This was cotton candy after a while. You know as you're going it that you're going the wrong way. After you start previewing there are certain things you can fix, a song or a piece of dialogue. You can't fix a concept gone wrong. What you'd have to do is to stop everything, which now they do. You shut down, you lose a lot of money, and then you start up again. That is the luxury of being Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Has your goal been to repeat the Himalayan achievement of A Chorus Line?


The latest Automatic summer menus are now being served, with some familiar favourites and fresh new bites to try day and night.
We've changed things up for the summer with a simple lunch menu and a slightly larger choice for dinner. Both menus are packed with fresh seasonal dishes, new ideas and lighter options perfect for Summer.
We're keeping the range of fresh Worker's Lunches on every day (you'll have to call in to find today's special), and you'll find our new Superfood Salad alongside a new range of superb hot and cold sandwiches (with prices starting at under a fiver).
The legendary Automatic Fried Chicken is still there, as well as our brilliant burgers. We now have Gluten Free burger options and for anyone going meat-free the Halloumi Burger has been a massive hit since we introduced it earlier this year.
Our small plates have been bolstered by some really mouth-watering new bites; perfect as starters, sharing plates or just beer snacks while you're at the bar. At lunchtime you can still get our garlic breads, 3 dip combos and a lighter portion of our favourite salmon & dill fishcakes as well as the popular chicken skewers. We're excited to add cauliflower buffalo wings; a perfect vegan-friendly dish with a spiced ginger beer batter and served with a choice of from cooling sour cream to spicy BBQ: a truly excellent light bite to go with a drink or two. Plus we're offering chicken wings with a range of dips to satisfy the sticky-fingered carnivores among you.
In the evenings the menu grows a little with new additions including a Spinach & Sweet Potato Pakora, and a show-stopping Bury Black Pudding Scotch Egg that we think will be an instant favourite.
The new list of larger meals includes a greater range of salads and a tasty Quinoa and Five Bean Chilli among the brilliant new vegetarian options, and the range or grilled steaks and burgers remains among the best in Bury.
Plus our summer drinks menu features 2 for £10 on some unbeatable cocktails. It's time you made plans for lunch. Check out the new daytime menu here, and see the evening options here.


Who's that sparkling under the disco ball? The Disco Queen Jumpsuit is a fabulous sparkling lurex jumpsuit featuring a midriff cutout with bust seam details, wide leg design, and comfortable stretch knit material. Ready to party the night away!


Game Jams are game development challenges, where video or board games are created under tight time constraints (e.g. 72 hours) and to fit a predefined, but often vague theme (e.g. "10 seconds" or "connected worlds"). Their main goal is to provide people interested in games the opportunity to create something, share it and collect feedback afterwards - although sometimes they are used by game developers to prototype new concepts internally as well.
Here at KOM we organize local gatherings for global game jams like the Global Game Jam or Ludum Dare since 2013, combining the global community with a local one. While the former provides the theme, motivation and additional after-the-fact feedback, local participants are able to easily discuss game ideas, give immediate feedback or help each other in case of technical difficulties. Our gatherings consist mainly of students and scientists from TU Darmstadt, complemented by invited game developers, colleagues from other universities and even hobbyists (we intentionally do not require pre-existing game development experience).


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Small Town Councillor Posts Racist Slur on Facebook, Claims He Was Hacked, Then Deletes His Account and Wipes His Hard Drive
Councillor Don Cardy in Brant County, Ontario was given a two-day suspension after an integrity commissioner report was filed on the incident.
by Kaleigh Rogers
April 18, 2018, 2:00pm
A small-town councillor was suspended for two days after posting a racist slur on Facebook, deleting his account, and then having his hard drive destroyed. But Don Cardy, who represents the picturesque town of Paris, Ontario on the Brant County council, says he didn't post the comment—a hacker did it.
A local resident reported Cardy to the integrity commissioner Melinda Munro last year after Cardy's Facebook account posted a comment that included a racial slur, according to The London Free Press. The August 29, 2017 post prompted a debate on Facebook between Cardy's account and other users, according to the integrity commissioner's report, which includes screenshots from Facebook. But Cardy has claimed that his account was hacked while he was asleep, and that he never wrote the posts.
"I believe that the offending Facebook posts were created late in the evening of Tuesday
August 29, 2017, by someone, likely a hacker while I was asleep," Cardy said in a signed affidavit. "I am not sure when my account was hacked, but the post was created by an unidentified person or hacker. I have no information with respect to the origin of this post, how it occurred or who caused the offending messages to be posted to my Facebook account."
Cardy did not respond to an email request for comment.
Shortly after Munro began her investigation, Cardy decided to then delete his Facebook account and have a member of the town IT staff wipe his hard drive. He said this was because his computer had started to "behave strangely and became unusable." Munro said that this effectively prevented her from getting to the bottom of the case, but her lengthy report details all of the holes in his hacking story in hilariously deadpan language.
"Had the posts to Facebook all been in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning, it would be easier to believe that they were the work of a hacker," Munro wrote. "Posting repeatedly during the day and evening using tools that are easy to detect is either the work of an unsophisticated hacker or a person who wanted to be found out."
She also noted that Cardy claimed a hacker had made similar inappropriate comments that were identified on his account from 2016.
"It seems unusual that a hacker who was determined to interfere with Councillor Cardy's Facebook account would post something in 2016 and then stand dormant for almost a year," Munro pointed out.
In the end, Munro recommended that Cardy be suspended for two days for the racist post, and an additional 30 days for destroying evidence, but his peers on council opted to only impose the shorter suspension.
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