text:
Hunter-gatherer architecture believed to be the oldest religious complex known.
Summarizing the importance of the the archaeological site at Gobekli Tepe (Turkish for "Hill with a Belly") is a formidable task. In 1994, German archaeologist Klaus Schmidt and his team unearthed a handful of findings that continue to revolutionize the way archeologists think about Stone Age man.
Top Places in Turkey
Urfa, Turkey
Balikli Gol
A sacred lake with thousands of sacred carp and a biblical history.
Kemer, Turkey
Olympos Coastal National Park (Çıralı)
Roman ruins, natural methane fires and a lovely beach.
Avanos, Turkey
Avanos Hair Museum
Locks of women's hair adorn the walls of a cave/house/pottery center with a surprisingly touching origin.
Added by Kergin
See more things to do in Turkey »
The site dates back 11,500 years, to the tail end of the Stone Age. The predominant understanding was that during this time, hunter-gatherers roamed the Earth, never settling, living as each day came. The huge Gobekli Tepe complex, however, brings this view into question. It consists of large, T-shaped pillars with animal carvings, huge stone rings, and a vast amount of rectangular rooms, many believed to have religious importance. One theory is that this site was not used for domestic purposes, but for rituals and sacrifices and the site at Gobekli Tepe is believed by some to be the oldest religious complex known to modern man. For this reason, the site has often invited breathless comparisons to the Garden of Eden, or the "origin of religion," which has long been associated with the Fertile Crescent and the ancient Sumerians, who invented written language.
Equally curious is the fact that before this discovery, there was no evidence of hunter-gatherers ever erecting large monuments and buildings, making this perhaps the world's oldest known architecture.
Nearby the site is Mount Karaca Dag, a mountain that geneticists believe to be the birth place of many of today's cultivated grains. It's theorized that Gobleki Tepe could be showing us a transition period, depicting nomadic cultures' first attempt to farm (which would later bring about permanent settlement). The one acre excavation site has raised more questions than it has answered, and astoundingly enough, the site is believed to extend some 22 additional acres.
Around 8,000 B.C., the site was filled with soil and mysteriously abandoned.
Visit Turkey with Atlas Obscura Trips
Istanbul: Exploring the Tastes of Two Continents
On this week-long culinary experience in collaboration with Culinary Backstreets, we'll be studying the city of Istanbul through its kitchens—investigating the disparate influences that form the great mosaic that is modern-day Istanbul cuisine.
lost tribeslong now locationscurious places of worshiprites and ritualsincredible ruinsarchitectural oddities
C CPilgrim
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Da%C4%9Fete%C4%9Fi+Mahallesi,+G%C3%B6bekli+Tepe,+63290+Haliliye%2F%C5%9Eanl%C4%B1urfa,+Turkey/@37.2162915,38.8500378,2402m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x15346502fe912231:0x24d422700430381a!8m2!3d37.2171641!4d38.854393
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1157784/Do-mysterious-stones-mark-site-Garden-Eden.html
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/gobekli-tepe.html
Appears in 1 List
39 Places That Will Warp Your Perspective of Time
BY MOLLY MCBRIDE JACOBSON
Harran, Turkey
Harran Beehive Houses
The ancient abodes are a testament to human ingenuity amid harsh climates.
Added by Max Cortesi
Kayadere, Turkey
Nemrut Dagi
Mausoleum and Holy Seat of Antiochus I of Commagene.
Added by rogerbcn
Şahinbey, Turkey
Abandoned Turkish Bath
This hidden gem is bathed in beautiful natural light.
Added by Kemal Can
Easter Island, Chile
"El Gigante" and the Stone Moai of Easter Island
The largest stone Moai on Easter Island.
-27.1261, -109.2853
Uribante, Venezuela
The Drowned Church of Potosi
A town church once nearly submerged by the damming of a river is now hauntingly visible as the water recedes.
7.9541, -71.6480
Added by Mark Casey
Nazca, Peru
Cahuachi
Nazca pilgrimage site covering 370 acres is a popular stop for archeologists and looters.
Sandwick, Scotland
Amazing and mysterious Neolithic settlement on Scotland's Orkney Islands.


text:
Socio-Economic Significance of the #EndSARS Peaceful Protests, By Benjamin Ajah
November 30, 2020 Promptnews Opinion 0
Benjamin Ajah
The Governor of New York; Andrew Cumo once asked, "How much is a human life worth? The answer is not far-fetched, but amid all the lives we have lost, it is also obvious that the truth is a bitter pill for our society-leaders to swallow.
Sadly we have lost a good number of our youth to police brutality: Kolade Johnson, Emmanuel Egbo, Godgift Ferguson Ekerete, Daniel Adewuyi Tella, Chika Ibeku, Christian Onuigbo, Tina Ezekwe, Modebayo Awosika, Peter Ofurum, Linda Igwetu, Chinedu Ani, Chukwuemeka Mathew Onovo, Johnson Nnaemeka, Steven Agbanyim, Chidi Odinauwa, Ifeoma Abugu, Iloanya Chijioke John and many many others who didn't make it to the limelight.
The names might not seem like a lot or prominent, but if we are to continue at this pace to the next foreseeable future we will lack adequate human resources needed to build a strong economy, as many young Nigerians will have to migrate to safer countries. This will be a repeat of the transatlantic slave trade-scenario that led to the impoverishment of the West African countries. The West African workforce got shipped to the west to do forced labour in sugarcane and cotton farms with no pay; this gave the western economy a boost. Most of the world's leading economies today is built on cheap labour while West Africa at the time got underdeveloped due to inadequate workforce and incessant inter-communal conflicts. It's a major reason we need a youth-friendly nation, else we will keep unconsciously shipping our best minds to other countries and killing the ones that stay back extra-judicially.
Nigeria is a blessed country. Over the years, great scientists and authors have emerged within our people. The most recent groundbreaking feat was that of Dr Oyema Ogbuagbu, an associate professor of medicine and infectious disease at Yale School of Medicine, now globally celebrated for his contributions in the development of one of the first effective batches of the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States. There are so many Nigerians occupying prestigious positions all over the world. Recently, Cable News Network (CNN) issued a report showing that Nigerians are the most educated immigrants in the United States. Many have argued that these young polymaths outside Nigeria wouldn't have reached the echelon of their profession if they had stayed back—that the police would have killed a good number of them. This stipulation explains a major reason thousands of young talented Nigerians are leaving the country.
The socio-economic significance of the #EndSARS movement cannot be overstated. Among the victims are professional footballers, businessmen and women, artists and many more whose existence contributes heavily to the economic growth of our great country Nigeria.
It is quite unfortunate that the authorities did not receive the #EndSARS protests in good faith, ending SARS and meeting the 5of5 demands is a very crucial step towards making Nigeria a safer place for all. There are lots of things that look trivial but are not. For instance, between the year 1958–1962, the Chinese government ordered the extermination of sparrows under the "smash sparrows campaign", as a national hygiene measure. With no sparrows to eat them, locusts and other insects swarmed the open fields, causing an ecological imbalance, which led to deforestation, famine and chemical pollution. 15–45 million people died of starvation as a result of this. The Chinese government had to import 250,000 sparrows to replace their population. If the lives of sparrows are this important to the economy of a country, how much more is the life of a human being? What the #EndSARS protest was seeking to achieve is to put an end to extrajudicial killings in Nigeria. If the extrajudicial killings in Nigeria continue, the long-term economic impact will be catastrophic.
This ordeal will also harm bilateral trade as we can not guarantee the safety of foreigners who are here to do business. The reckless and incessant accidental shooting by the police can kill anyone; stray bullets don't know race, political affiliations, social stratification, gender or tribe. It kills anyone in its way. To attract foreign investments, Nigeria must deal with its police brutality problem and many other vices that can potentially make the country unattractive to foreign investors. Nigeria currently ranks third on the global terrorism index according to a report issued by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP).
At the wake of the #EndSARS protests, Judicial Panels were instituted across the country to preside over cases of extrajudicial killings and police brutality. So far, the Judicial Panel of Inquiry has received many petitions from the victims of police brutality and related vices. Nigerians have expressed mistrust in the proceedings, and their misgivings about the way the judicial panel is being run are rooted in the allegedly ill-reputation of the past Judicial Panels of Inquiries. Yiaga Africa, Enough is Enough (EiE), and other civic actors are devoted to monitoring the entire process to ensure accountability and ultimately inspire trust in the government's commitment to grant justice to victims.
However, the lost lives are lost forever; no amount of financial compensation or litigation can bring back the unique value these individuals brought to the economy. Economists valued a human life to be worth $10 million regardless of social status or hierarchy. Going by this stipulation, the country has lost an astronomically high amount of assets. Despite the said "disbandment" of SARS, eyewitnesses and alleged victims have claimed that they are still operational and extrajudicial killings are still happening.
Nigeria needs its youth in Nigeria, and alive too. Protecting the lives of the hardworking Nigerian workforce is pertinent to the economic growth of the country. I implore the authorities to take the issue of extrajudicial killings seriously or prepare to continue dealing with a crumbling economy in the long run.
Benjamin Ajah is an Innovation Officer at Yiaga Africa
Tweets: @DeMathemaniac
EndSARS peaceful protests
YIAGA Africa
UBA Gets Double Honours at BAFI Awards
Senate President begins training, empowerment program for 300 less privileged couples

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Eugene Weekly
We've got issues.
Support Eugene Weekly ❤
Sign up for our email lists
Calendar Guidelines & FAQ
What's Happening Podcast
Open share dialog
Share the Eugene Weekly!
Ilene CummingsPaul Neevel
Ilene Cummings
At 71, she earned a doctor of ministry degree at Matthew Fox's University
Happening People by Paul NeevelPosted on 03/09/2017
"I've had two lives," says Ilene Cummings, who grew up in Irvington, New Jersey, got married after high school and had five children by age 35. "I was a full-time homemaker: PTA and apple pie." Then, at 38, she enrolled at nearby Ocean County College. Eight years later, with a degree in literature from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a divorce, she returned to OCC to start up a non-credit human growth and development program at the Center for Adults in Transition. "It was the era of civil rights and feminism," she says. "Women came out in droves. I was still a devoted mother, but I stopped ironing the dish towels." She resigned six years later to open a human development counseling practice. When her children had moved on, she sold the house and took a job offer in San Francisco. "After 15 months I went out on my own," she says. "I did women's groups, men's groups, retreats and seminars. People asked me to speak at events." At 71, she earned a doctor of ministry degree at Matthew Fox's University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland. "It helped me to develop my writing skills," says Cummings, now 85. She has devoted her time to writing since 2010, when she moved to Eugene, home to her son James. Her book, The Truth is at my Front Door: Spiritual Direction on Aging Beautifully, was published in December of 2016. A churchgoer since childhood and a Quaker since her 40s, Cummings will offer a workshop based on the book, free and open to the public, 2-4 pm on Sundays, March 12 and 19, at the Eugene Friends Meeting House, 2274 Onyx Street.
Jasmine Darmadi
Happening People 3 months ago
Jasmine Darmadi. Photo by Paul Neevel.
Jasmine Darmadi. Photo by Paul Neevel."I was born and raised in Eugene," says Jasmine Darmadi, now a senior at South Eugene High School. "My mom … Continue reading →
Happening PeopleNews 6 months ago
Paul Thompson. Photo by Paul Neevel.
"I've been involved in amateur radio since age 13," says Paul Thompson, who grew up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, then earned BS and MS degrees … Continue reading →
Suzi Prozanski
Suzi ProzanskiPhoto by Paul Neevel
Suzi ProzanskiPhoto by Paul NeevelAfter high school in Dallas, Texas, Susan Turner was able to begin her studies at Texas A&M University as a sophomore, … Continue reading →
Local Beer, Exotic Brats
Rare meats, family recipes and fresh bread set these Bangers & Brew's brats apart from the ones you grill up at home
Chow 4 days ago
Bratwurst is an American staple when it comes to cookouts and pregame tailgates, yet restaurants that serve brats exclusively seem almost unheard of. At least … Continue reading →
Find a Paper Read this Issue
Support Eugene Weekly
© Eugene Weekly, 2023


It happened. The impossible-to-understand event has occurred. The tomb was empty, and an ordinary gardener turned out to be the Risen Christ. It's easy to think this bit of salvation history, this holiday, is now over. The house is full of chocolate eggs, and we're all a little stunned by the journey through Lent and Holy Week. Time to get back to Real Life.
Well, maybe not. What is easy to forget is that Jesus' reappearance wasn't a sideshow. He came back, and he stayed for another forty days. Jesus didn't just show up and leave us again. His death and resurrection were not the end of his teaching. He didn't leave us alone with our grief. He stayed, and when he left, he gave us the Holy Spirit so the Triune God could be with us forever.
Many Catholics try to perform spiritual or corporal acts of mercy throughout Lent. But aren't they even better suited to Eastertide? In gratitude and joy in his presence we can offer the very things that Jesus did for us: visit someone who is sick, give away clothing to someone who needs it, forgive someone else, pray for the living and the dead.
This is a time to reflect on your Lenten journey. We're usually so glad Lent is over that we don't even think of it again. What worked, and what didn't? Were you able to find a Lenten practice and stick to it? Write your reflections down in a notebook and remember it next year; it can guide you in your choices.
Imagine being a disciple seeing Jesus appear after dying. How could that not change your life? Eastertide is a time of gratitude and sharing. If you don't already keep a gratitude journal, this might be a good time to begin.
Eastertide is all about presence, Jesus' real presence in our lives. We meet him in the Eucharist… but we meet him so many other places, too, on dark roads and in storms, in midnight's shadows and bright springtime sunlight. Maybe just being aware of those encounters is a good way to begin.
Holy Week, as we all know, is an intense journey with Jesus through the darkest moments of life, emerging finally into the glory of the resurrection at the Easter Vigil. Through many different liturgies, our Church invites us to recall this journey and these events.
Unfortunately, in real life, most of us don't have the option of slowing down to accommodate extra liturgies and church attendance. So how can we keep our focus on Jesus throughout the week?
Either alone or with your family, watch one of the many excellent movies that re-tell the Holy Week story. One favorite is Jesus taken from The Bible Stories series, with Jeremy Sisto as Jesus. You may have another favorite. This is a wonderful way to enter into the story visually and emotionally.
Use your social media. If you can't unplug, then post Bible passages, appropriate poetry, and links to great works of art that point to God's redeeming love instead of posting political rants, pictures of your cat, or updates about your activities.
The Good Friday liturgy is beautiful and moving, but you might not be able to get to church for it. If not, take a longer lunch break at work to acknowledge this sacred time. Shut off your electronics, read quietly, reflect on Jesus' last words.
We'd all love to be able to spend this entire week in church and with the community of faith, but most of us don't have that luxury. Don't give up! You don't have to be physically in a church to carry Christ in your heart this Holy Week.
Take the high road. You will never, ever regret it. Even if someone wants to argue with you, be graceful, change the subject, and acknowledge that they have a right to their opinion.
Avoid alcohol. Drinking only intensifies anger, bitterness, and sadness. You don't need any of them at your Thanksgiving table! Choose a sparkling nonalcoholic drink instead.
Take a break. If the conversation is going somewhere that makes you uncomfortable, excuse yourself for a few moments. Go to a quiet place (even the lavatory!) and say a prayer. This won't change the situation at the table, but it will change how you feel about it.
At this time of year it's especially important to remember that we are all God's children—even the people with whom you disagree. Try and see everyone through God's loving eyes, and initiate conversations that heal rather than divide.
Did you know that the general custom of praying for the dead dates back to the Hebrew Bible? (2 Maccabees 12:42-46) But it wasn't until the fourteenth century that Rome set aside a special day of intercession for the dead, praying for souls in purgatory that they might find perfect union with God.
How can you mark the Feast of All Souls?
If there is a Mexican community near you, you might join in or observe Day of the Dead processions/celebrations. Why not try some special food? Pan de muerto (sweet rolls shaped like a bun, topped with sugar, and often decorated with bone-shaped phalanges pieces) and calaveras (sugar skulls, display colorful designs to represent the vitality and individual personality of the departed) are both popular.
Nearly every culture includes visits to cemeteries on All Souls' Day (and the night before); in Hungary it's a silent, reflective time, with extra buses available to shuttle people to graveyards, while in Louisiana, relatives whitewash and clean the tombstones and prepare garlands, wreathes and crosses of real and paper flowers to decorate them. In the afternoon of All Saints' Day, the priest processes around the cemetery, blessing the graves and reciting the Rosary.
This is an important time to gather as the community of faith at your parish church. There's a Polish legend that at midnight on All Souls Day a bright light shines on the local parish; the light is the holy souls of departed parishioners gathered to pray for their release from purgatory at the altars of their former earthly parishes.
No matter how you mark this day, it's a time to stop the flow of everyday life and remember those we love who have died, to reminisce about their lives and the gifts they gave us, and to pray for their souls to be united forever with God in heaven.
There's a lot of talk about spiritual "practices" and "disciplines," and a lot of people are left wondering whether or not what they do qualifies. This is the first in a series of three Everyday Grace columns that will help you find the spiritual practices that work best for you.
Balance prayers that are prayed in the solitude of your heart with those prayed in community. The Angelus can draw your attention back to God in the midst of a busy day, and the prayers of the Mass reaffirm your part in the community of faith.
Pray through action by taking part in a work of mercy. Practicing forgiveness, visiting someone who's sick, helping out at a thrift shop, giving comfort to someone in pain are all prayer in action as long as you perform them with an open and loving heart.
Get an advisor whose approach to prayer is something that resonates with you. Read widely—Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, G.K. Chesterton, Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton… read enough of what these writers have to say about prayer to see if it is attractive to you, and then read more. There is no need to reinvent the wheel: these people have been though what you're going through and have a lot to teach.


A 2015 supernatural horror film Khamoshiyan is directed by Karan Darra. The film is produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt along with Vishesh Films. Khamoshiyan released on January 30, 2015 and features Ali Faizal, Gurmeet Chaudhary and Sapna Pabbi. The story is about a writer going to Kashmir and falling in love with a married woman who stays along with her bed ridden husband. But the woman has a mysterious past that troubles her and the writer tries to rescue her from it.
Khamoshiyan Trailer: Ali Fazl and Sapna Pabbi look promising in this supernatural erotica!
Khamoshiyan – Silences Have Secrets title track: Ali Fazal, Gurmeet Choudhary and Sapna Pabbi make a fantastic trio!
Khamoshiyan song Baatein Ye Kabhi Na: Watch Gurmeet Choudhary, Sapna Pabbi and Ali Fazal's quintessential love triangle!
Gurmeet Choudhary birthday special: These 10 pictures prove the Khamoshiyan actor and TV star has a hot bod!
Khamoshiyan movie review: Gurmeet Choudhary, Sapna Pabbi and Ali Fazal unveil a tantalizing mystery!
Khamoshiyan music review: Gurmeet Choudhary and Sapna Pabbi's debut film's love songs will leave you tranquillized!
Khamoshiyan – Silences Have Secrets: Unwell Ali Fazal promotes his upcoming thriller!


The current volume incorporates various contributions from teachers, scholars and fellow scientists. The focus in the writings is mainly upon the symbiotic. As well as paradoxical relationship between ecology and agricultural development, particularly in the Himalayan regions. Contributors have specially highlighted the essence of such a relationship in terms of Geomorphology, soils, agricultural patterns, forestry, etc. No effort has been spared to make the work useful and contributive for students, scholars and teachers, alike. An increasing quantum of awareness, even among the general populace, makes it quite imperative that such a study should become a humble contribution towards the effort to make our agricultural development and our environment as a bastion of future human progress and prosperity.


text:
A Life of Happiness and Fulfillment
Course Link: https://www.coursera.org/learn/happiness
What are the determinants of a happy and fulfilling life? This is surely one of life's biggest questions, and a question that has interested many of our ancestors. Buddha famously gave up his kingdom in search of happiness. Several Greek philosophers (from Aristotle to Epicurus and Plato to Socrates) had their own views on what it takes to be happy. And of course, we all have our own theories about happiness too. How valid are our theories? Until recently, if you wished for an answer to this question, you would've been forced to base it on discussions with spiritual leaders. Or, if you were lucky, you could've based it on late-night (and perhaps intoxicant-fueled) conversations with friends and family. Happily, all that has changed now. Over the past decade-and-a-half, scientists have gotten into the act big time. We now have a pretty good idea of what it takes to lead a happy and fulfilling life. This course, based on the award-winning class offered both at the Indian School of Business and at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, developed by Prof. Raj Raghunathan (aka "Dr. Happy-smarts") draws content from a variety of fields, including psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral decision theory to offer a tested and practical recipe for leading a life of happiness and fulfillment. Although not mandatory, reading Prof. Raj's forthcoming book, titled If you're so smart, why aren't you happy? can help you review and assimilate the material covered in this book at your leisure. For Coursera learners alone, the hardcover version of the book is available for a deep discount of 50%, plus shipping and handling. You can order the hardcover for 50% off by writing to Aaron at: Aaron@800ceoread.com. Please mention that you are a student of the "coursera happiness course" in your email. The course will feature guest appearances by several well-known thought leaders, including: - Dan Ariely (author of Predictably Irrational and, soon to be released, Irrationally Yours), - Ed Diener ("Dr. Happiness"), - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (author of Flow), By taking this course, you will discover the answers to questions such as: - Why aren't the smart-and-the-successful as happy as they could—or should—be - What are the "7 Deadly Happiness Sins" that even the smart and the successful commit?, and - What are the "7 Habits of the Highly Happy" and how can you implement them in your life? By the end of the course, I expect students who have been diligent with the lectures and exercises to not just gain a deeper understanding of the science of happiness, but to also be significantly happier.
What are the determinants of a happy and fulfilling life? This is surely one of life's biggest ques
Gratitude Mindfulness Happiness Meditation
Happiness The 2012 World Happiness Report stated that in subjective well-being measures, the primary distinction is between cognitive life evaluations and emotional reports. Happiness is used in both life evaluation, as in "How happy are you with your life as a whole?", and in emotional reports, as in "How happy are you now?," and people seem able to use happiness as appropriate in these verbal contexts. Using these measures, the World Happiness Report identifies the countries with the highest levels of happiness.
Self-fulfillment Philosopher Alan Gewirth in his book "Self-Fulfillment" defined self-fulfillment as "carrying to fruition one's deepest desires or one's worthiest capacities." Another definition states that self-fulfillment is "the attainment of a satisfying and worthwhile life well lived." It is an ideal that can be traced to Ancient Greek philosophers, and one that has been common and popular in both Western and non-Western cultures. Self-fulfillment is often seen as superior to other values and goals.
Philosophy of happiness Happiness economics is the quantitative and theoretical study of happiness, positive and negative affect, well-being, quality of life, life satisfaction and related concepts, typically combining economics with other fields such as psychology and sociology. The tracking of Gross National Happiness or the satisfaction of life grow increasingly popular as the economics of happiness challenges traditional economic aims.
Happiness Nowadays, happiness is a fuzzy concept and can mean many different things to many people. Part of the challenge of a science of happiness is to identify different concepts of happiness, and where applicable, split them into their components. Related concepts are well-being, quality of life and flourishing. At least one author defines happiness as contentment. Some commentators focus on the difference between the hedonistic tradition of seeking pleasant and avoiding unpleasant experiences, and the eudaimonic tradition of living life in a full and deeply satisfying way.
Happiness Happiness is partly genetically based. Based on twin studies, 50 percent of a given human's happiness level is genetically determined, 10 percent is affected by life circumstances and situation, and a remaining 40 percent of happiness is subject to self-control.
Philosophy of happiness The philosophy of happiness is the philosophical concern with the existence, nature, and attainment of happiness. Philosophically, happiness can be understood as the moral goal of life or as an aspect of chance; indeed, in most European languages the term happiness is synonymous with luck. Thus, philosophers usually explicate on happiness as either a state of mind, or a life that goes well for the person leading it.
Happiness Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a pyramid depicting the levels of human needs, psychological, and physical. When a human being ascends the steps of the pyramid, he reaches self-actualization. Beyond the routine of needs fulfillment, Maslow envisioned moments of extraordinary experience, known as peak experiences, profound moments of love, understanding, happiness, or rapture, during which a person feels more whole, alive, self-sufficient, and yet a part of the world. This is similar to the flow concept of Mihály Csíkszentmihályi.
Happiness Philosophers and religious thinkers often define happiness in terms of living a good life, or flourishing, rather than simply as an emotion. Happiness in this sense was used to translate the Greek eudaimonia, and is still used in virtue ethics. There has been a transition over time from emphasis on the happiness of virtue to the virtue of happiness. Since the turn of the millennium, the human flourishing approach, advanced particularly by Amartya Sen has attracted increasing interest in psychological, especially prominent in the work of Martin Seligman, Ed Diener and Ruut Veenhoven, and international development and medical research in the work of Paul Anand.
Self-fulfillment Gewirth notes that "to seek for a good human life is to seek for self-fulfillment". However, in modern philosophy, the ideal of self-fulfillment has become less popular, criticized by thinkers such as Hobbes and Freud, who feel there are conceptual and moral problems associated with it. It has been called an egoistic concept, impossible to achieve, with some suggesting that it is an obsolete concept that should be abandoned. Moral philosophers focus less on obtaining a good life, and more on interpersonal relations and duties owed to others. Similarly, whereas Plato and Aristotle saw the goal of the polis in providing a means of self-fulfillment to citizens, modern governments have given up on that, focusing rather on maintaining civic order. Despite the criticism, the concept of self-fulfillment still persists in modern philosophy, its usefulness defended by thinkers such as Gewirth himself.
Happiness economics In 2013, John Helliwell, Richard Layard and Jeffery Sachs compiled a treatise under the title "World Happiness report 2013" to elaborate on the measurement of popular happiness in different countries thereby adding to the wealth of happiness data available while specifically discussing the issues of measurement, explanation and policy. Global and Regional Happiness Levels are explained in terms of 10 regional groupings of countries based on happiness data available for the year 2010-2012. The happiness level is explained as a function of GDP per capita, social support, and healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
Self-perceived quality-of-life scale The SPQL construct consists of three axes (see SPQL model diagram): Subjective well-being (SWB), subjective affective experiences (SAE), and fulfillment of needs and preferences. Each axis is compounded from several variables (see SPQL model diagram). SWB consists of its baseline, which is the average of overall happiness/unhappiness, and transient deviations, which are measures of frequency and intensity of nonnormative transient experiences of happiness/unhappiness. Subjective affective experiences (SAE) consist of the average of overall positive and negative affect. Fulfillment of needs consists of a product of strength and fulfillment of a wide range of needs and preferences.
World Database of Happiness The World Database of Happiness is a web-based archive of research findings on subjective appreciation of life. The database contains both an overview of scientific publications on happiness and a digest of research findings. The database contains information on how happy people are in a wide range of circumstances and in 165 different nations. Happiness is defined as the degree to which an individual judges the quality of his or her life as a whole favorably. Two 'components' of happiness are distinguished: hedonic level of affect (the degree to which pleasant affect dominates) and contentment (perceived realization of wants).
Happiness economics There is a significant correlation between feeling in control of one's own life and happiness levels.
Happiness According to Aquinas, happiness consists in an "operation of the speculative intellect": "Consequently happiness consists principally in such an operation, viz. in the contemplation of Divine things." And, "the last end cannot consist in the active life, which pertains to the practical intellect." So: "Therefore the last and perfect happiness, which we await in the life to come, consists entirely in contemplation. But imperfect happiness, such as can be had here, consists first and principally in contemplation, but secondarily, in an operation of the practical intellect directing human actions and passions."
The Happiness Hypothesis The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom is a 2006 psychology book by Jonathan Haidt written for a general audience. In it, Haidt poses several "Great Ideas" on happiness espoused by thinkers of the past - Plato, Buddha, Jesus and others - and examines them in the light of contemporary psychological research, extracting from them any lessons that still apply to our modern lives. Central to the book are the concepts of virtue, happiness, fulfillment, and meaning.
Philosophy of happiness Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) was a French philosopher. Influenced by Aristotelianism and Christianity, alongside the conviction of the separation of public and private spheres of life, Montaigne writes that happiness is a subjective state of mind and that satisfaction differs from person to person. He continues by acknowledging that one must be allowed a private sphere of life to realize those particular attempts of happiness without the interference of society.
Happiness Happiness forms a central theme of Buddhist teachings. For ultimate freedom from suffering, the Noble Eightfold Path leads its practitioner to Nirvana, a state of everlasting peace. Ultimate happiness is only achieved by overcoming craving in all forms. More mundane forms of happiness, such as acquiring wealth and maintaining good friendships, are also recognized as worthy goals for lay people (see "sukha"). Buddhism also encourages the generation of loving kindness and compassion, the desire for the happiness and welfare of all beings.
Happiness economics The economics of happiness or happiness economics is the quantitative and theoretical study of happiness, positive and negative affect, well-being, quality of life, life satisfaction and related concepts, typically combining economics with other fields such as psychology, health and sociology. It typically treats such happiness-related measures, rather than wealth, income or profit, as something to be maximized. The field has grown substantially since the late 20th century, for example by the development of methods, surveys and indices to measure happiness and related concepts. Its findings have been described as a challenge to the economics profession.
Philosophy of happiness St. Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274 AD) was a philosopher and theologian, who became a Doctor of the Church in 1323. His system syncretized Aristotelianism and Catholic theology within his "Summa Theologica". The first part of the second part is divided into 114 articles, the first five deals explicityly with the happiness of humans. He states that happiness is achieved by cultivating several intellectual and moral virtues, which enable us to understand the nature of happiness and motivate us to seek it in a reliable and consistent way. Yet, one will be unable to find the greatest happiness in this life, because final happiness consists in a supernatural union with God. As such, man's happiness does not consist of wealth, status, pleasure, or in any created good at all. Most goods do not have a necessary connection to happiness, since the ultimate object of man's will, can only be found in God, who is the source of all good.
Long Life, Happiness & Prosperity Long Life, Happiness and Prosperity is a 2002 Canadian film directed by Mina Shum, starring Sandra Oh.


This page is an index of articles on hospice care that we have provided for you to learn and understand more about hospice care. We will be adding articles on a rgular basis so please check back often to read the latest information.
Article - What Is Respite Care?
This article explains the difference.
Article - When Is Hospice Care Appropriate?
Article - Who Will Pay For Hospice Care?
Article - What Is The Difference between 'Hospice' and 'Palliative' Care?
Article - What Is Hospice Care?
This article clarifies what hospice care really is.
Article - What Does Hospice Care Provide?
This article will help you understand what services you can expect to receive with hospice care.
Article - How Long Can A Person Be in Hospice?
This article will help you understand how long hospice care can be provided and what is covered by insurance.
Article - How Do You Qualify For Hospice Care?


November | 2013 | Limitless Possibilities.
In my opinion, the secret recipe for innovation is not the team sitting inside the R and D cabins and cubes, but the leaders. Innovative people think different and act upon it in a different manner to generate creative ideas for new product lines, various services, creative processes and of course the businesses. The behavior of leaders matters – tremendously.
But surprisingly, these model leaders are very few. If you ever get a chance to talk to dozens of senior executives of large organizations, you've find that in most cases, they did not feel personally responsible for coming up with innovations. They only felt responsible to "facilitate the innovation process" and make sure someone in the company was doing it. I think, the stock market that pays the premium for the innovative thinking and creative ideas has the senior leaders as the face of the organization. So if they at all think, act and behave innovatively; the company is sure to grow.
So does that means, we as an individual contributors do not have anything to do with innovation? We definitely have. We are those power energy that the company is relying on, to implement the big visions and dreams and we still have to do our bit of contribution in the innovation race – more of "The Rat Race" these days.
Remember, there is an innovative thinking about innovation – Don't be a someone who is constantly modifying the existing innovations by someone else and just shouting – we would make these work better for the user. Rather, think out of the box and create things which do not exists. Create the need, by introducing it!
Companies surely need to unleash the creative capacity of its employees through innovation processes, practices and more importantly behavior. Innovation is not a "Maggi which can be forced upon to be developed in 2 minutes". It's a culture that needs to be built from top to down.
That's why I feel – Innovation is something that needs to be embarked upon by the behavior of senior leaders who would become the role model and at the same time lay the foundation of a creative culture within the organization.


The group was asked what they thought collaborative teacher enquiry was.
One suggestion was – an approach to research that turns personal enquiry into joint enquiry.
What did they see as the difference between individual and collaborative teacher enquiry?
Noted that the National Centre TEFP [Teacher Enquiry Funded Project] reports were often not collaborative even if the enquirers had worked with others, as the final reports were the work of individuals.
National Centre MKN [Mathematics Knowledge Network] projects were given as examples of how groups of teachers work collaboratively to specifically reflect on their practice and what they learnt collectively.
What were the features of successful collaborative enquiry?
time to reflect together and individually – as there will always be the need to work alone at times.
What would be useful for teachers in schools?
Is collaboration a good thing?
it is one aspect of effective CPD and part of a rich range of approaches and activities.
What attracts people to engage in collaborative teacher enquiry?
need to encourage heads to take classes to free teacher time for Lesson Study etc – needs whole-school backing.
What makes collaborative teacher enquiry different to individual teacher enquiry?
lesson observation/collaboration in lesson preparation.
What is Collaborative Professional Development, how does it start, what is needed?
a broker to bring the group together – head of maths?
lack of support at school – often need an inspiring head to encourage others.
What is it that turns enquiry into practice?
What does teacher enquiry mean?
collaborative conclusions are usually good at raising standards of results rather than individuals.
Under what conditions do you find it attractive to work collaboratively?
schools with more trainee teachers are more open as trainers more prone to share practice.


Can Autistic Children Benefit from Chiropractic Adjustments?
Could Autistic Children Benefit from Regular Chiropractic Adjustments? Chiropractor Kryssa Cable gives us the requirements in order to become a chiropractor, recommendations on pursuing the profession, and the most difficult part of her profession.
Kryssa shares how being an ill child led to her seeing a chiropractor, which led to her becoming a chiropractor. She is deeply inspired by seeing the positive affects of her work on children.
Previous StoryWhat Are the Steps in the Mortgage Application Process?


text:
The father of modern horror literature, grammar rules to live without, and a podcast recommendation: newsletter, January 17, 2020
January 20, 2020 | By Jim Stovall | Filed in: baseball, history, journalism, newsletter, podcasting, writers, writing.
This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim's email list (2,6xx) on Friday, January 17, 2020.
{% if subscriber.first_name != blank %}
Hello {{ subscriber.first_name }},
News from Major League Baseball in January is never plentiful, and what there was this week was not good: two team managers were fired because of their involvement in a cheating scandal (and a third may be in jeopardy). They had used some of the latest technology to steal signs from their opponents — something that was clearly against the rules — and doing so gave them a competitive advantage. (Here's a New York Times story about what has happened so far.)
Cheating in baseball (and other sports) is nothing new, of course. In the 1980s, baseball was plagued by several cases of players who trafficked in illegal drugs and whose involvement in that trafficking affected the outcome of some games. During the next couple of decades, the sport was burdened with stories of players who ingested substances that gave them a competitive advantage. Through all of this, I am struck — and saddened — by how society's problems have manifested themselves in a sport that I particularly enjoy.
I hope that the news this week on your personal front has been happier, and I wish you the best best of weekends. As usual, thanks for reading this newsletter, and send me a response to anything that you read here.
Howard Phillips Lovecraft: The Life and Horror of a Gentleman of Providence
It's good to have friends, even after you have died.
In 1939, the year H.P. Lovecraft died, he considered himself a failure. His life had been a series of mental and emotional battles. His relationship with his mother had been strange and destructive. His marriage had ended in divorce.
His view of non-Nordic, non-white people made him sympathetic to Nazism and put him on the wrong side of history.
His name was known almost exclusively to readers of Weird Tales magazine, and many of those readers were highly critical of his stories of the strange and the horrible. But whether they were complimentary or critical, Lovecraft took time and pains to answer every letter. He is thought to have written between 60,000 and 100,000 letters during his lifetime.
And it was this massive correspondence that ultimately saved his reputation and allowed his work to be available to succeeding generations. According to the biography on one of several websites devoted to his work:
. . . the friendships that he had forged merely by correspondence held him in good stead: August Derleth and Donald Wandrei were determined to preserve Lovecraft's stories in the dignity of a hardcover book, and formed the publishing firm of Arkham House initially to publish Lovecraft's work; they issued The Outsider and Others in 1939. Many other volumes followed from Arkham House, and eventually Lovecraft's work became available in paperback and was translated into a dozen languages. Source: Howard Phillips Lovecraft: The Life of a Gentleman of Providence
Today, Lovecraft is considered to be the father of modern weird and horror fiction — the writer who gave inspiration to Robert Bloch, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Brian Keene, Jorge Luis Borges, and Joyce Carol Oates, just to name a few. His work has also inspired rock musicians, movie producers, and gamers. Some satanic cults have found great use for the concepts Lovecraft created in his fiction.
Lovecraft himself has appeared as a character in many fictional works.
The cult status of H.P. Lovecraft continues to grow, as do the publications and translations of his work. One of his biographers, S.T. Joshi, is responsible for much of this output. In 2005, the Library of America placed Lovecraft into the realms of American letters with a volume of his short stories. Joyce Carol Oates wrote a long review of Lovecraft and his work for the New York Review of Books in 1996.
The appetite for Lovecraft shows no signs of abating. Late in 2018 the BBC began a podcast series titled The Whisperer in Darkness: The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, which is based on a Lovecraft story. The podcast tells the story as if it were a true-crime investigation, and the first three episodes have little in the way of "horror."
If horror is not your cup of tea (it isn't mine either), this podcast is a good introduction to the work of H.P. Lovecraft.
Three grammar rules to ignore, according to the expert
A sharp-eyed, enlightened, and faithful newsletter reader sent me a link to a post by Benjamin Dryer, a copy chief at Random House publishers, who delineates his top three English "rules" that he believes should be ignored.
He introduces the post this way:
The English language, though, is not so easily ruled and regulated. It developed without codification, sucking up new constructions and vocabulary every time some foreigner set foot on the British Isles—to say nothing of the mischief we Americans have wreaked on it these last few centuries—and continues to evolve anarchically. It has, to my great dismay, no enforceable laws, much less someone to enforce the laws it doesn't have. Source: Grammar expert Benjamin Dreyer lists three rules you can ignore — Quartz
His three rules to be ignored:
— Never begin a sentence with "and" or "but" (or, I might add, any coordinating conjunction).
— Never split an infinitive.
— Never end a sentence with a preposition.
I agree with Dryer on all counts. Ignore these rules.
How say you? Will you come to the defense of these rules?
Or, maybe you have your own "rules" that you believe should be ignored. Either way, write and let me know.
Henry Rawlinson on the Behistun inscription: key to the translations of Ashurbanipal's library
— Writing: It started with the Sumerians
— The library of Ashurbanipal: its discovery changed our view of history
The discovery of Ashurbanipal's Library and its treasure of ancient clay tablets that contained writing up to 3,000 years old stands as one of the great archeological finds of the modern era. The discovery came in the mid 19th century, mainly through the efforts of Austen Henry Layard and Hormuzd Rassam.
But neither of those men knew the full significance of what they had found because neither could translate the inscriptions of the tablets. Translations were eventually accomplished, of course, but those were difficult and painstaking. And the translation efforts actually began some 20 years before the library was discovered.
In 1835 Sir Henry Rawlinson, an officer in the East India Company and an expert in the Persian language, was assigned to a post in Iran and became interested in something known as the Behistun Inscription. Located in the Iranian desert, the inscription was a great deal of writing on a huge mountain of rock, much of which was inaccessible. It contains the same story in three different cuneiform script languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian. The story it tells, in part an autobiography, is that of King Darius, who reigned in Persia around 500 BC.
The inscription is about 50 feet high and 80 feet wide, but it is located more than 300 feet off the ground on an almost sheer cliff.
Rawlinson believed that he could work out a translation of the script, but getting to where he could see it properly was the problem. The most accessible part of the script was the Old Persian, and Rawlinson was able to work out a translation of that by about 1838. He was assigned to another post and did not return to Iran until 1843.
When he did return, Rawlinson studied the mountain carefully and worked out a system of suspending planks across a chasm so that he could read the Elamite portion of the script. Then he found a local boy who was willing to climb up through a crack in the rock and suspend ropes across the Babylonian portion of the script so that paper-mâché casts could be taken of that part of the writing.
It was a tricky, life-threatening maneuver, but it worked.
Rawlinson got the impressions that he needed to complete the inscription. During the next couple of years, he was able to decipher the text of the other languages and to gain greater understanding of what the cuneiform characters meant in the context in which they were used. His work continued when Austen Henry Layard made the astonishing discovery of Nineveh and the thousands of clay tablets.
Rawlinson had a distinguished military and political career in addition to his antiquity studies. He was a soldier recognized for gallantry during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839-1843), and he later served as a member of Parliament for several years. He was also president of the Royal Geographic Society.
Illustration: This 19th-century lithograph gives you an idea of the location of the Behistun Inscription and what Henry Rawlinson had to do to get to it.
A number of distinguished amateur scholars worked with Rawlinson in his translation efforts. One was a young man named George Smith, whose background was humble but whose discoveries were to eclipse in the public mind those of his predecessors. His story is next week.
Podcast recommendation: Accused, a top-notch true-crime podcast, now into Season 3
After June 18, 1984, no one ever saw David Bocks again. He was a divorced father of three and, despite the divorce, a devoted dad. He worked as a pipe-fitter at the Fernald Feed Production Center near Cincinnati, Ohio, which was a cover for a U.S. Department of Energy facility that processed high-grade uranium for use in nuclear weapons.
Was he murdered? Did he commit suicide? Was he the victim of an accident? Or, did he just leave?
That story comes from one of the best true-crime podcasts that I have listened to. It's Accused, and it's produced by the staff of the Cincinnati Enquirer, led by reporter Amber Hunt.
The story of David Bocks is Season 3 in this podcast that is deeply researched and spiced with excellent production values. The first two seasons dealt with very old cold-case murders. This one is different in that we don't know if it is a murder or not.
You will find the episodes of Accused easy to listen to and easy to follow. Hunt's professional presentation gives the listener insight not only into the case itself but into the reporting process. If you try just one true-crime podcast this January, try a season of Accused. You'll get hooked.
LuAnn R.: My husband and I read Obama's book (see last week's newsletter) out loud. We found it interesting and worth the time and effort! I recommend it to anyone else with such an interest.
Curtis D.: First started buying Mad Magazine when it sold for 25 cents and didn't miss an issue until I finished college. Unfortunately, I understand they have ceased publication. Sick Magazine wasn't bad, but it apparently didn't survive.
Shiela P.: I'm so sorry about your bees, Jim! How awful. Let us know if you find out what happened. And, I want to try Tapply now. Love a good mystery!
Dan C.: I believe the last of the Sumerians was about 4,000 years ago and that the pre-date the Eqyptian Pharoh Dynasties by between 2,000 and 7,000 years, depending on who you ask (Ancient Alien followers go for the 10,000 BCE time frame).
In October, I saw the Pyramids of Giza and Temples from Aswan to Luxor along the Nile (as well as the Valley of the Kings). I believe the Pyramids and the Sphinx on the Giza Plateau are much older than they are given credit for by Egyptian archaeologists, which would also set the Sumerian writing back 6 or 7 millennia.
Dierdre H.: Thank you for your weekly emails. I might not always know who you are discussing, but I always find your information fascinating. I have learned so much over the past year through your emails and while I may not have the opportunity to share and discuss it with others, it is very important to me to keep expanding my knowledge base.
This week's watercolor: H.P. Lovecraft (caricature)
"The finest language is mostly made up of simple unimposing words." Mary Ann Evans, aka George Eliot, British journalist, essayist, editor, literary critic and novelist (1819-1880)
Last week's newsletter: The library of Ashurbanipal, Obama's audacity of hope, and Highsmith's first job: newsletter, January 10, 2020
« Howard Phillips Lovecraft: The Life of a Gentleman of Providence
Henry Rawlinson on the Behistun inscription: key to the translations of Ashurbanipal's library »


Throughout history, civilisations have come up with some fairly unusual crimes and possibly even more unusual punishments. Of course, many of these are never, if ever prosecuted.
In a country like Australia, where there is an abundance of laws and regulations covering just about every aspect of our lives, it is only to be expected that some of these laws are largely ignored.
Did you know you can be caught out for driving furiously? According to the NSW Road Transport Act, driving a motor vehicle recklessly comes with a fine or even jail time. But what exactly does it mean to be "driving furiously"?
Not only is driving furiously not allowed, but neither is riding your bicycle furiously, and it is an offence to ride a horse furiously if you cause injury to another person.
It appears all these had their roots in English common law, which also retains similar offences. Driving furiously, which is a centuries-old offence, refers to the same behaviour that we would be more likely to categorise as reckless, or dangerous driving – which explains why in legislation "driving furiously" is listed right alongside recklessly and at a speed or manner dangerous to the public.
Even more bizarrely, this year in England, a pensioner has actually been found guilty of a 167 year old offence and one rarely prosecuted these days.
She was riding through the Surry countryside, "furiously", and it was reported to police by witnesses who were incensed at her refusal to slow down as she neared others and the fact that she was yelling at her horse. The 65 year old pleaded guilty to the charges and got a fine.
While its not surprising that stealing from libraries is not condoned by law, the fact that it has its own provision in the Crimes Act is quite interesting as are the unexpectedly severe penalties.
Stealing or damaging public library books could see you facing a fine of $1,100 on top of four times the value of the book. But more surprisingly, there is also a potential jail time attached – that's right, stealing or damaging a library book has a maximum prison sentence of one year.
While this is not a commonly prosecuted offence but even so, the penalties are unexpectedly high.
When you are designing your next business card, make sure it isn't a direct replica of Australian currency. Not only is that completely tacky, but it is also against the law. It is illegal to have a business card that resembles money if it is capable of deceiving people into thinking it is real.
And when it comes to cash, intentionally defacing, disfiguring, mutilating or destroying notes or coins are all offences.
But not only that, knowingly being in possession of such money is an offence. And the penalty is even steeper than stealing from a public library – according to the Crimes (Currency) Act, having defaced money in your possession is punishable by up to $5,000 for an individual and two years imprisonment.
In addition, according to the Royal Australian Mint, defacing money may also be a copyright infringement. The designs on our coins are protected by author's rights of 'integrity of authorship' which means you can't treat their work in a derogatory way.
That's certainly something to think about the next time you are handed your change in the supermarket and you notice the notes are not up to scratch!
This one is technically not the law anymore, but until recent graffiti law changes, chalking a hopscotch grid on a footpath came under the definition of vandalism. This was an inadvertent effect of the drafting which no longer exists under the new legislation. While the new graffiti laws crack down on vandals in other ways, at least avid hopscotch players are now off the hook.


Today, it seems that a trustworthy, loyal individual is very hard to find.
The character trait of loyalty is of utmost importance in truly successful and happy living! But this vital quality of human relationships is rapidly fading away—in families, friendships, careers and yes, even in our personal relationship with God—which is the most critical of all.
In 1947, Mr. Herbert W. Armstrong and his wife Loma raised up Ambassador College, located in Pasadena, California. My wife Sharon and I had the honor and privilege of attending this college from 1961 to 1965.
One of the principles stressed to the students by Mr. Armstrong was loyalty! He said real loyalty doesn't just go from the bottom up, it also goes from the top down! Can you think of anybody who practices that kind of loyalty anywhere in the world today? Maybe. But it has become all too rare instead of common practice as it used to be in years past. This change is having a destructive and devastating effect on our society at all levels of daily life. The world at large needs a renewal, a groundswell of the type of loyalty Hadassah had.
But who was Hadassah? And what is true loyalty in the first place? Loyalty has to do with faithfulness, allegiance and trustworthiness. It means you will never turn your back and walk away—except from bad people doing bad things. You will stick to your commitments and never forsake those who are counting on you.
Hadassah was a very special historical lady who achieved exceptional things by practicing true loyalty toward people who needed her help. She is the queen mentioned in the book of the Bible called by her name—Esther, the Persian form of her Hebrew name Hadassah (meaning a Myrtle).
"And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter" (Est. 2:7). This makes it plain that Hadassah was indeed Esther, who put her life on the line for her people, the Jews of her day.
"Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish" (Est. 4:16). She risked sure and sudden death by approaching the king about this matter.
It is impossible to guess what might have happened to the Hebrew nation had there been no Esther. Except for her, Jerusalem might never have been rebuilt, and there might have been a different story to tell to all future ages.
That act of bravery and pure unselfish loyalty, at all costs, is still celebrated as a national holiday in Israel today, with the Feast of Purim.
All too often, at all levels of life throughout the world, instead of loyalty you find expediency. The attitude of going along to get along. Instead of hanging in there and not budging on what is right and supporting who is right, you find betrayal, flip–flopping and hypocrisy. People you thought you could count on, will "turn on a dime" so fast you can get whiplash and then they go in exactly the opposite direction from what they previously so loudly proclaimed they stood for!
Nations and governments turn on one another, break treaties and go back on commitments on a frequent basis. Sometimes even going to war! Their word is no good. They act and react according to the situation and do what is best for them at the moment. No sacrifice. No loyalty. No standing by allies and friends whatever the circumstances might be. Only selfishness, which is what disloyalty is.
In the world of politics, loyalty is a joke, with few exceptions. The standard modus operandi is: do whatever you need to do and say whatever is required in order to get elected or gain power and riches. Forget about loyalty and fidelity. It is every man for himself. And just look at the festering decay and corruption brought on by this self–centered approach. Disloyalty breeds strife, upheaval and ultimately failure and collapse. Loyalty produces stability, steadiness and success. It involves forgiveness, extending the benefit of the doubt and cutting the other fellow some slack when it is obviously appropriate and justifiable to do so.
That is especially true among family and friends. You have probably heard the old saying, "Blood is thicker than water." That means that blood kinfolks always stick together regardless of what happens. Family can be counted on to be there for one another because of an unbreakable bond of love and loyalty. True no longer–in all too many cases! There are still instances of family loyalty. But they are becoming more the exception than the rule. The same holds true for life–long friendships–rare in today's world. Consider and compare Hadassah's unshakable loyalty to family and friends at risk of life and limb. Her support and allegiance were heroic!
I had the privilege of growing up on a small farm in East Texas. This was a real opportunity. The experiences and lessons learned in helping out on the farm have stayed with me throughout life.
I was the youngest of nine children in a family (pictured below) that had to pull together through hard, tough times including the Great Depression. Loyalty to one another and our neighbors was a must or everyone would suffer. We looked out for one another, shared food, fun and hard work. Lending a helping hand was a given. If one hurt, we all hurt. If one did well, we all had a part in it. We stuck by one another.
We saw the benefits of loyalty displayed by the animals on the farm. It is built into them instinctively. They know who their master is and they will always be loyal to that individual over everyone else, even when push comes to shove, especially if their master treats them well and is loyal to them. This is the case with horses, dogs, cats, cattle and even chickens running free on the range. When the one in charge shows up, they come running ready for something good to happen—like eating! And that loyalty is typically alive and well until death.
Now it is a fact that some animals will turn on their masters or simply not stick with them. For instance, as an old adage says: "He is any man's dog who will hunt with him." That same point applies to the conduct of all too many human beings today—right?
However, there was an example in the news several years ago of a dog that was not just "any man's dog." He exemplified the kind of loyalty, even as an animal, that needs to be brought back among people in our day and time. Petty Officer Jon Tumilson was in a group of twenty–two Navy Seals who died when their helicopter was brought down by Afghan militants. Jon's faithful companion for life, Hawkeye, his loyal dog, followed his casket into the room where his funeral was conducted and laid down beside the casket during the entire service. The hall was packed with people there to pay their respects, including at least 50 Seals. Nothing could sever the bond formed between Jon Tumilson and his faithful dog, Hawkeye—including death. That poignant scene was indelibly burned into my mind in such vivid detail that it will never be forgotten!
Think of how different our nation would be today if this kind of fidelity, commitment and unwavering loyalty was practiced throughout society. Companies, corporations and institutions would be models of stability and robust growth. Employers, owners and supervisors would appreciate and look after the needs and well–being of their workers and employees. Therefore the attrition rate of much–needed, experienced employees would decline. The workforce would stay put, turn out high quality work and at record volumes.
Everyone from top to bottom would benefit from this sustained loyalty in the workplace. The workers who returned this kind of allegiance to their bosses would advance and prosper all the way through to a respected retirement.
Loyalty has a way of growing, spreading and becoming infectious. It can start with one special person deciding to think about others and their needs rather than just thinking about self. Then it starts to multiply into a group of people who emerge with the same attitude and mindset of you can count on me, my word is my bond, I'm here for you, I will never let you down. This genuine loyalty runs up the line to the top and down the line all the way to the bottom.
Jesus Christ said, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30). They are so unified and loyal to each other that they walk in perfect harmony forever. They extend that same loyalty to their true church and to anyone who fervently desires it and will do what is necessary to receive it. Remember, loyalty runs up the line as well as down the line. They require total loyalty from us in return. If we are "fair–weather Christians," part–time disciples who give Him a bit of our time and thought now and again; then, we are on our own and will have to navigate through the dangerous minefield of everyday living on our own. Not a comfortable place to be in, not even for one second!
Christ states that He will never leave us nor forsake us (Heb. 13:5–6). However, we must be determined to never leave Him nor forsake Him either.
In order to receive unwavering loyalty, we must give unwavering loyalty. That includes others and that includes God. He is for us only if we are for Him (Rom. 8:31). Turncoats, betrayers and two–timers need not apply. A fickle, unfaithful individual who cannot be trusted will have to repent and undergo a complete change and total turnaround in order to enter into a thriving relationship with their Creator.
But the good news is, that can certainly be done! The question is will it be done, if it is needed. We truly hope and pray that the answer will be a resounding yes!
If Hadassah could practice this high quality of loyalty in her day, then we can do exactly the same in our day. It simply comes down to deciding to live the way of loyalty and meaning it, then looking to God for the strength to follow through on it all the way to the end—and what a happy ending loyalty will produce every time!


text:
The Great Western Railway (GWR) 4575 Class is a class of 2-6-2T British steam locomotives.

History
They were designed as small mixed traffic branch locomotives, mainly used on branch lines. They were a development of Churchward's 4500 Class with larger side tanks and increased water capacity. 100 were built numbered 4575–4599 and 5500–5574. 15 (Nos. 4578/81/89, 5511/24/29/34/35/45/55/59/60/68/72/74) were fitted with auto apparatus in 1953 to enable them to run push-pull trains on South Wales lines with auto trailers.

They often are referred to as Small Prairie Class tank locomotives.

Preservation
11 members of the class have been preserved:

Two members of the class have also briefly been out on the mainline: 5521 and 5572. 5521 was shipped to Poland to take part in the Wolsztyn Parade, as well as briefly piloting the Orient Express. 5572 made an appearance at an open day in Reading as part of the GWR150 celebrations in 1985, arriving under its own power. When returning to Didcot again under its own power the engine also hauled the replica broad gauge locomotive "Iron Duke" alongside the preserved GWR Railcar W22W.

In fiction
4566 with a GWR Shirtbutton logo was featured in the train chase sequence from the 1978 Disney film Candleshoe.

Models and toys
Lima made a model of the 4575 class, number 4589, in GWR green, also a British Railways black-liveried version, running number 5574.
Bachmann Branchline have for many years made various versions of the 4575 Class.

See also
GWR 4400 Class
GWR 4500 Class
 List of GWR standard classes with two outside cylinders

References

External links

 4400 / 4500 tank classes
 Class 4575 Details at Rail UK

4575
2-6-2T locomotives
Railway locomotives introduced in 1927
Standard gauge steam locomotives of Great Britain

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Would you be happy to close this issue?
I think that we reached a consensus in the 2nd F2F to use turtle.
> Per Ivan's plea at F2F2.
Next message: Timothy Lebo: "Re: [provo-html] Re: PROV-ISSUE-270 (TLebo): automate HTML for OWL constructs [Ontology]"
Previous message: Khalid Belhajjame: "[provo-html] Re: PROV-ISSUE-270 (TLebo): automate HTML for OWL constructs [Ontology]"
In reply to: Provenance Working Group Issue Tracker: "PROV-ISSUE-282 (TLebo): no RDF/XML in PROV-O HTML; use Turtle [Ontology]"


text:
BJP vs Mamata: Who will win the caste management game in Bengal?
For lengthy, what made West Bengal politics distinct from different states was the "class issue" and never the "caste issue". The Left, which dominated the state for a very good 34 years, nurtured an electoral mobilisation generated on the premise of "class", i.e. the wealthy and poor or haves and have nots.
This ensured that not like different states, the citizens in Bengal voted extra on social gathering reasonably than caste loyalties. This modified in 2011 when the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress romped dwelling to victory, leaving the Left in tatters.
That election additionally noticed the rise of the Matua neighborhood as a vote financial institution. Numerically vital in a number of South Bengal districts, the neighborhood threw its weight behind Mamata, aiding the Trinamool sweep. The Matua Mahasangha, representatives of the backward caste "namasudras" in Bengal, asserted itself politically and altered current caste equations within the state to some extent.
After turning into chief minister in 2011, Mamata might not have consciously cultivated caste identities as a political weapon, however she did attain out to numerous communities in numerous components of the state who have been a part of the subaltern within the earlier regimes.
Along with her reputation and ease of connecting with individuals within the subaltern part, Mamata might have highlighted, and offered for them to some extent, however ultimately, the identical transfer pushed the emergence of micro caste teams.
BJP beating Mamata at her personal sport?
Below the management of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, BJP has discovered the caste teams created by Trinamool's efforts as probably the greatest ammunition to hit Mamata again.
For the reason that early 1990s, the BJP and RSS have been eyeing the tribals, particularly in North Bengal, and OBCs to ascertain a political footprint within the state. A lot of this has been performed by means of welfare establishments for these teams, equivalent to Vanvasi Kalyan Ashrams and Shishu Mandirs (single-teacher faculties for youngsters from 3-Eight years). Veteran RSS pracharaks have been tasked with overseeing these actions.
Bengal has not borne the type of caste conflicts as witnessed within the Hindi heartland or in a number of South Indian states, most likely as a result of affect of social reformers equivalent to Ram Mohan Roy, Sri Chaitanya, Swami Vivekananda, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vidyasagar, amongst others, and the 19th century Bengali Renaissance.
Also Read Kuttymovies 2020 - Kuttymovies HD Tamil Films Obtain
There are, nevertheless, a number of sub-castes and social classes just like the Matua neighborhood. There are about 62 OBC teams within the state. The Rajbongshis of North Bengal have been combating for a separate identification for a very long time. Mamata as chief minister has recognized and addressed most of those segments, together with Sheikhs amongst Muslims and Lepchas in Darjeeling, other than Gorkhas.
The Rajbongshis are scheduled castes and numerically vital in North Bengal, particularly in Cooch Behar district. Mamata has lately introduced two separate boards for them, together with Rs 25 crore for the neighborhood's upliftment.
Probably the most essential Rajbongshi leaders, Ananta Rai Maharaj, is now with the BJP. The Trinamool is making an attempt to isolate him with the assistance of different neighborhood leaders. The social gathering can be making an attempt to succeed in out to tribals with the promise of defending their beliefs.
RSS-backed establishments have been working amongst a few of these teams whereas Mamata was caught up in working the state. And as we speak, the fault strains are huge open.
Union dwelling minister Amit Shah's current go to to a Baul (people) singer's home and listening to his songs, and having meals at a Dalit family are all a part of the BJP's outreach.


text:
What are Account Panels in my Access System?
Within your access and security network, account panels are the devices that keep track of the comings and goings of cardholders. Every time an event occurs, including access to a physical space being granted or denied by a reader, the associated account panel sends that information to a receiver, which is keeping track of reports from every account panel and point of entry in the space.
With this information, you can keep track of a certain amenity's popularity, peak use times, and even the cardholders who are being denied entry, which will help you make informed decisions about how to limit or expand its access, or even update its capabilities. Reports are sent via an authorized path within your own system, whether that is through a phone line, a direct wire, or your local area network (LAN), making setup and security both easy and effective.
Perimeter Arm
Cleartext
How do Access Levels Work?
All Glossary Terms


text:
Demographics›
Civil partnerships in France 1999-2017
Total number of civil partnerships contracted in France from 1999 to 2017
by Statista Research Department, last edited Apr 10, 2019
This statistic shows the total number of civil partnerships contracted in France from 1999 to 2017. Since their implementation in 1999, the number of civil partnerships has been increasing until 2010, when over 200,000 civil unions were contracted.
Number of civil unions
Civil partnerships are allowed in France since November 1999.
France: distribution of the population by age group January 2019
France: total number of marriages 2004-2018
Population density in France 2017
France: total population 2004-2019
Demography in France
Everything On "Demography in France" in One Document: Edited and Divided into Handy Chapters. Including Detailed References.
Statistics on "Demography in France"
The French population
Settlement distribution and density
French couples
Total population of France from 2004 to 2019, in millionsFrance: total population 2004-2019
Male population in France from 2004 to 2019 (in millions)France: male population 2004-2019
Female population in France from 2004 to 2019 (in millions)France: female population 2004-2019
Number of people living in France from 2006 to 2018, by age group (in millions)France: population by age group 2006-2018
Distribution of the population in France as of January 1, 2019, by age groupFrance: distribution of the population by age group January 2019
Total number of immigrants living in France in 2015, by age groupNumber of immigrants in France 2015, by age group
Share of the population in France as of January 1, 2018 by nationality statusFrance: share of the population by nationality status January 2018
Number of people living in France as of January 1, 2015 by nationality status (in 1,000s)France: population by nationality status January 2015
Share of the urban population in France from 2005 to 2020France: share of urban population 2005-2020
Share of the rural population in France from 2006 to 2016Rural population share in France 2006-2016
France: Population density from 2007 to 2017 (inhabitants per square kilometer)Population density in France 2017
Population density in France in 2019, by region (in number of resident per square kilometer)France: Population density 2019, by region
Life expectancy at birth in metropolitan France from 2004 to 2018, by genderFrance: life expectancy by gender 2004-2018
Life expectancy of men at birth in France in 2018, by regionFrance: men life expectancy by region in France 2018
Life expectancy of women at birth in France in 2018, by region France: women life expectancy by region France 2018
Birth rate in France from 2003 to 2018 (per 1,000 inhabitants)France: Birth rate from 2003 to 2018
Total number of births in France from 2004 to 2017France: total number of births 2004-2017
Total number of male births in France from 2004 to 2017France: total number of male births 2004-2017
Total number of female births in France from 2004 to 2017France: total number of female births 2004-2017
Infant mortality rate in France from 2003 to 2018* (per 1,000 children born alive)France: Infant mortality rate 2003-2018
Share of the population in France from 2006 to 2018, by marital statusFrance: share of the population by marital status 2006-2018
Share of the male population in France from 2006 to 2018, by marital statusFrance: share of the male population by marital status 2006-2018
Share of the female population in France from 2006 to 2018, by marital statusFrance: share of the female population by marital status 2006-2018
Average age at first wedding in France from 2004 to 2018, by genderFrance: average age at first wedding 2004-2018, by gender
Total number of marriages in France from 2004 to 2018 France: total number of marriages 2004-2018
Number of same-sex marriages in France between 2013 and 2018France: number of same-sex marriages 2013-2018
Number of different-sex marriages in France from 2004 to 2018France: number of different-gender marriages 2004-2018
Total number of civil partnerships contracted in France from 1999 to 2017Civil partnerships in France 1999-2017
Share of families having only one child in France between 1990 and 2015France: share of families with one child 1990-2015
Total number of families in France with one child between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)France: number of families with one child 1990-2015
Share of families having two children in France between 1990 and 2015France: share of families with two children 1990-2015
Total number of families with two children in France between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)France: number of families with two children 1990-2015
Share of families having three children in France between 1990 and 2015France: share of families with three children 1990-2015
Total number of families with three children in France between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)France: number of families with three children 1990-2015
Share of families having four children or more in France between 1990 and 2015France: share of families with four children or more 1990-2015
Total number of families with four children or more in France between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)France: number of families with four children or more 1990-2015
Attitudes towards the order or love and sex in China 2011
Opinions on relationships between men and older female partners in China 2011
Unacceptable characteristics for partners in China 2011
Opinions on a connection between love and marriage in China in 2011
Reasons for the renewed popularity of matchmaking in China 2011
Most popular dating activities in China 2011
Attitude to matchmaking by friends in China 2011
Attitudes to women who actively search for men in China 2011
Survey on marriage without love in China in 2011
People in opposite sex civil partnership in Belgium 2004-2014
Survey on people who would like to get rid of summer time in Norway 2017
Share of British adults with tattoos 2015, by gender
Individuals who see transgender people as having a special place in society Poland
Uruguay: gender gap index 2018, by area
Industry revenue of "waste treatment and disposal" in Germany 2011-2023
Personnel costs of the paper manufacturing industry in Slovenia 2008-2014
Italy: motorboats registered in the maritime compartment of Pescara 2017, by size
Italy: number of boats registered in southern Italy & islands 2017, by public office
Carbon compounded rubber: import value in the United Kingdom (UK) 2010-2018
Travel and tourism in France
Sexuality in the United Kingdom (UK)
Conceptions in England and Wales 2015
Total population of France from 2004 to 2019, in millions
Male population in France from 2004 to 2019 (in millions)
Female population in France from 2004 to 2019 (in millions)
Number of people living in France from 2006 to 2018, by age group (in millions)
Distribution of the population in France as of January 1, 2019, by age group
Total number of immigrants living in France in 2015, by age group
Share of the population in France as of January 1, 2018 by nationality status
Number of people living in France as of January 1, 2015 by nationality status (in 1,000s)
Share of the urban population in France from 2005 to 2020
Share of the rural population in France from 2006 to 2016
France: Population density from 2007 to 2017 (inhabitants per square kilometer)
Population density in France in 2019, by region (in number of resident per square kilometer)
Life expectancy at birth in metropolitan France from 2004 to 2018, by gender
Life expectancy of men at birth in France in 2018, by region
Life expectancy of women at birth in France in 2018, by region
Birth rate in France from 2003 to 2018 (per 1,000 inhabitants)
Total number of births in France from 2004 to 2017
Total number of male births in France from 2004 to 2017
Total number of female births in France from 2004 to 2017
Infant mortality rate in France from 2003 to 2018* (per 1,000 children born alive)
Death rate in France from 2004 to 2018, per 1,000 population
Total number of deaths in France from 2004 to 2018
Total number of male deaths in France from 2004 to 2017
Total number of female deaths in France from 2004 to 2017
Share of the population in France from 2006 to 2018, by marital status
Share of the male population in France from 2006 to 2018, by marital status
Share of the female population in France from 2006 to 2018, by marital status
Average age at first wedding in France from 2004 to 2018, by gender
Total number of marriages in France from 2004 to 2018
Number of same-sex marriages in France between 2013 and 2018
Number of different-sex marriages in France from 2004 to 2018
Number of same-sex civil partnerships in France from 2004 to 2017
Number of different-sex civil partnerships in France from 2004 to 2017
Total number of divorces in France from 2004 to 2016
Total number of civil partnership dissolutions in France from 2007 to 2017
Share of families having only one child in France between 1990 and 2015
Total number of families in France with one child between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)
Share of families having two children in France between 1990 and 2015
Total number of families with two children in France between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)
Share of families having three children in France between 1990 and 2015
Total number of families with three children in France between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)
Share of families having four children or more in France between 1990 and 2015
Total number of families with four children or more in France between 1990 and 2015 (in 1,000s)
What do you think should come first, love or sex?
Could you accept a love relationship in which the woman is older than the man? (China, 2011)
Which characteristics could you not tolerate from a partner?
Do you think there's a connection between love and marriage?
What, in your opinion, are the reasons behind the renewed popularity of matchmaking?
What do you most like doing with your partner when you're in a relationship?
What do you think of matchmaking by friends?
What do you think of women who actively search for men?
Would you marry if you were old enough but hadn't met someone you really loved?
Number of people from the opposite sex in a civil partnership in Belgium from 2004 to 2014*
Would you like to get rid of summer time?
United Kingdom (UK) tattoo popularity in 2015, by gender*
Share of individuals who see transgender people as having a special place in society in Poland in 2017
Gender gap index in Uruguay in 2018, by category
Industry revenue of "waste treatment and disposal" in Germany from 2011 to 2023 (in billion U.S. Dollars)
Personnel costs of the paper and paper products manufacturing industry in Slovenia from 2008 to 2014 (in million euros)
Number of motorboats registered in the maritime compartment* of Pescara in Italy in 2017, by size
Number of boats registered in southern Italy and islands in 2017, by public office
Import value of unvulcanised rubber compounded with carbon black or silica in the United Kingdom (UK) between 2010 and 2018 (in units sold)


Innovation union of dairy business professionals that has combined the most contemporary production technologies and best practice and experience of consultants and practitioners.
Our team is the only one in the world who is responsible for the entire cycle of dairy business creation - from designing equipment to the introduction of technology and reaching of production goals.
Dairy Global Experts was established based on the activity and achievements of consultation center of Association of Milk Producers with the aim of entering international market.
Dairy Global Experts includes 50 consultants on farm management and economics, livestock health, breeding, agronomy, engineering, construction and reconstruction of commercial dairy farms. Group of highly qualified experts implements international projects of dairy industry development in Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, and Armenia.
To team up old and new producers, to help them quickly and consistently develop, Ukrainian milkmen created the Association of Milk Producers of Ukraine, and then -- Dairy Global Experts (DGE) for the development of dairy farming outside the country.
Driving force of the company in the sense of technologies and approaches is Consultation Center -- the specialists who help members and clients of DGE inculcate modern technologies, adapting them to the realities of each sector.


Specially developed for step Down & Re Grinding of rubber Roller & quick Change Sleeve.
Available in Face Length : – 1500/2000/2500.
Available in Dia:- 250/300/320 MM.
Having experience of serving industries with more than 30 years, it has developed highly customized products right as required by the clients.
The company located in the industrial hub city of Ahmedabad, Gujarat is supplying trusted quality in-house SPM grinding machine (rubber rollers) all over India and abroad countries.
The product is created with advanced designing and technology that eliminates the need for any skilled operator. The installation is simple and the high-quality rubber rollers grinding machine offers smooth functioning for a long-lasting time.
Our durable and sturdy product is saving time, cost, and lots of hassles for the users. The machine is of superior quality yielding 0.05-micron grinding.


This is a survey of the economic principles that underlie antitrust law and how those principles relate to competition policy. We address four core subject areas: market power, collusion, mergers between competitors, and monopolization. In each area, we select the most relevant portions of current economic knowledge and use that knowledge to critically assess central features of antitrust policy. Our objective is to foster the improvement of legal regimes and also to identify topics where further analytical and empirical exploration would be useful.


Update, Oct. 2015: Merrell's new version of this boot is the Merrell Women's Captiva Buckle-Up Waterproof Boot and I rather like the seam that runs down the center front. It comes in black, dark brown and copper. I can report that my version of these boots is still as comfortable and as waterproof as when they were new.
These Captiva Strap boots from Merrell are waterproof and as comfortable as slippers. No really, the footbed is made of something slightly squishy so they feel really lovely. They are knee high, zip all the way up and the calf was more generously sized than a few other boots I compared it to. The soles are grippy rubber and there is plenty of support for my fussy feet. The shape of the toe box means there is lots of room for movement.
I brought these with me on a month long trip to England, Scotland and Ireland in November and I tempted fate by getting them at the last minute and not having a chance to break them in before we left. Yeah, a potentially stupid move on my part. But they were amazing, I didn't get blisters or achey feet and I was warm and dry even after a few walks through very damp fields. The heel support did hit me a little higher than I would have liked and I was afraid they would rub but I was fine.
Here is the thing though, I wish they looked a little nicer. They are undeniably comfort boots, they will work with a cute outfit but these aren't boots that can be dressed up. (Not that my own opinion on this point has stopped me from trying.) Still, there a few touches that bug me. There is a faux strap wrap around the ankle with a decorative buckle which I like but halfway up there is a rivet and a few inches over that there is a metal tag that says, very small, "waterproof". Why thanks, but I don't think I need to be reminded of that every time I put them on. There is an elastic panel at the top but it's on the outsides of the boot, I'm sure it's located just there for a reason but not knowing what that reason is I wonder if they couldn't have tucked it away on the inside to hide it away a bit. There is a small logo embossed as well, just below the ankle. All these little things add up to make the boot look a little less tidy than it could.
All of that said, the other day I was waiting in line at an airport and I was admiring the pair of boots worn by a woman walking by. Turns out she was wearing these very same boots. Which I had on my feet at the time. So, maybe I'm being a little nitpicky about how I perceive that they appear.
Overall they get incredibly high marks for comfort and utility (like, Pry Them From My Cold Dead Feet high marks, or maybe just Get Another Pair In Brown high marks). They will work nicely for tromping around in muddy fields, looking cute with dresses and warm leggings as well as walking for many more hours than you anticipated in an unfamiliar city in an attempt to find that specialty beer shop you read about.
The Merrell Captiva Strap boots are available at Zappos and Amazon (affiliate link) in black and brown. I hover between a size 7 and 7.5 in shoes and I bought a size 7.5 in these, though the fit across the top of the foot has stretched and I occasionally wonder if the size 7 would have worked out as well.
I have these and LOVE them. But I'm totally with you on wishing they looked just a smidge nicer. However, this winter has been so crappy and long that I'm at the point where I barely care anymore.
I have them in brown, and I love them too! My custom foot orthotics fit in them too, something I have looked for unsuccessfully for a very long time.
I have a friend who is obsessed with Merrells as of late. I'm a Born and all their sister companies follower. I like a bit more of a heel and they dress up and down easier for my lifestyle. That and most of their styles come in wide, so I can purchase my actual shoe size, 7.5W instead of 8s like I normally have to buy.
I like the grungy/not-so-clean look normally (since I usually wear them with jeans/leggings and a tee), but have definitely avoided wearing them with skirts/dresses. But they're such a great "everyday" book, I love them!
Do you have a picture with them on? I am wondering where they hit on your calf. I recently spent WAY too many hours trying to find boots for my college-aged daughter who is studying in Philadelphia this term. Her boot zipper broke on day 1 in the middle of a snowstorm. She had no time to shop all over so I shopped online for her. It was really hard to separate out "cute" and "good in snow" ….in the end we went with good in snow and I sent her some LLBean boots. But her birthday is coming up and I think she'd like these with skinny jeans, or tights, maybe in brown. She is petite…about 5'1″ so I can't get something too high.
I usually shop at Amazon for everything; except shoes. Zappos is my go to. I recently bought boots on Amazon and it was fulfilled by Zappos since Amazon owns Zappos. Clearly that was a sign that I'm meant to buy shoes at Zappos.
I've got the Merrell Captiva Launch boots, and it's sad how quickly those cute little buttons popped off. They moved from "cute everyday boot!" to "dog park boot!" very fast, and that squishy footbed isn't squishy any more.
…so then I bought Pikolinos Verona, which is also super waterproof and CRAZY comfortable. The heels are sturdy and have some serious slip-proofiness to them. I am not a heel wearer and yet I'm happy walking the 3 miles to work in these puppies.
BONUS: they sell them at Market Street Shoes, and there's a 10% off coupon in the Chinook Book. win.
Jen – Good to know! I don't have custom orthodics but I do have some nicely worn in insoles that I occasionally use.
Katie – Great advice. My toes fit in Borns strangely but I keep trying them on in the hopes that I'll find one to love. I tried on a pair of Born boots when I was looking for these and I think they were in the final three!
Tracy – Mine look like that too right now, a bit dusty. Between these and a few other pairs of shoes I'm going to need to invest in a good shoe brush to clean them.
Kendra – I don't have a photo with them on, but I can tell you I'm just over 5′ 1″ and have comparatively short legs and these boots aren't too high on me (whereas lots of boots are). These hit about an inch below my kneecap. According to Zappos the shaft height on these is 14.5″. I am pretty confident in saying these wouldn't be too tall for your daughter.
By comparison I have some original (glossy) Hunter boots and the shaft height on those is 16″. They are not too tall for me while standing/walking but I cannot drive while wearing them because they hit me too high on the back of the knee when I sit.
Amy – :) Zappos is certainly speedy, and they've never let me down.
Bravecanary – Those are cute! Thanks for the recommendation on them.
I can also say that ever pair of La Canadienne boots I've tried on have been startlingly comfortable, but I have not yet required boots with heels (soon, I think) so I have not found a reason to buy them.
I love Merrill boots for PNW winters! My favorite pair of black thinsulate lined, waterproof boots were stolen. I bought another version of Merrills, because when it is 40 and raining, you want cute, comfortable, and waterproof! All Hail Merrill boots!
I first got the black mid calf with cute buttons that fall off as mentioned above. I called Merrill and complained. They sent two envelopes full of new buttons. After loosing a few more. I hot glued em in. Problem fixed! They Are 5 years old now and still look pretty darn good. Last year I got the brown Captiva boots with the little waterproof sign on the back side. I absolutely love them. They need a little cleaning up for this winter but still are in very good shape for being two years old now. Im 5″4 135lbs and wear and 8. I think they are true to their size. The brown Captiva's look awesome with ripped shinnies or jean skirts. I will continue to buy Merrill for a long time. Living in Wisconsin means you need to dress a little more practical while looking cute. The leather heal dressy boots I see everywhere may look OK now. But I guarantee you cant wear them when you need them most!