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'The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions': A Season of Personal Growth
FeaturesTVTV Special Features
By: Alyssa Berkowitz
MTV's The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions brought the usual drunken fights, hookups, alliance drama and backstabbing that we have come to expect from The Challenge franchise. While these aspects were present throughout, they were not the focus of this season. Ironically enough, the theme that ran through this alcohol fueled cutthroat competition was personal growth. While it was apparent that the show orchestrated this somewhat (since when does TJ ask competitors what this win will mean to them? I thought I was watching Chopped for a second!) even the best producers couldn't manufacture the growth and maturity shown in three of our returning favorites: Tony, Laurel, and CT.
It is crazy to think that I have been watching The Challenge (and it's RW/RR predecessor) for the past 15 years, starting back when they were traveling in Winnebagos. I have so many vivid memories of watching this show. Remember in Real World/ Road Rules 2000 when Amaya refused to eat a pig hoof because she was "kosher" (which she wasn't)? Or, one of my favorite/ most epic moments of The Challenge, when Ruthie stopped herself on the inch long piece of rope to win the challenge during Battle of The Sexes: I. Actually, everything Ruthie did that season was BAMF. (I am going to stop myself now because this could go on all day).
As I have gotten older I have found aspects of the show difficult to watch. This franchise can be sexist and misogynistic, and has been accused of turning a blind eye to sexual assault. So, it was refreshing and heartwarming to watch competitors who had once been combative, ruthless, and downright cruel to others find an inner calm this season.
Writing about and analyzing a cast member of a reality show is more difficult and complex than analyzing a fictional character. Reality TV is a carefully curated collage of clips that producers mold into a desired storyline. There is very little trust between the viewer (at least this viewer) and the producers that the show believes context is necessary. That is why I felt a little uneasy writing this because I am analyzing a manufactured and edited version of a real life person.
But nonetheless, I am doing it.
TJ summed it up perfectly when he said goodbye to Tony:
TJ: "I don't know what you did with the old Tony, but I really like the new one."
Tony, originally from RW: Skeletons (2014) first came to The Challenge in Battle of the Bloodlines with his younger brother Shane. In all honestly, I haven't watched The Real World since San Diego 2.0 in 2011, so I didn't know much about this dude before Bloodlines. From the get go, Tony did nothing to make me like him. He got in a screaming match with Shane and shoved him into a wall before TJ could even announce the first challenge. For some reason they allowed him to stay. His hot head antics landed him in Rivals III with Camilla as his partner. Lo and behold, Tony gets into a drunken fight with his partner during this season as well, but this time it sends him home. (although bizarrely the actual altercation wasn't filmed leaving some to be skeptical of what really happened).
This season for Invasion of the Champions Tony arrived a new man with one daughter at home and one on the way. He was confident, strong, caring, and sober. The likelihood of Tony reading this article is low, but I just want to say this: Tony, I have so much respect for your willpower to stay completely sober during the challenge.
If you watch behind the scenes clip from any Challenge or any of the reunions, you know how monotonous and boring living in the challenge house can be. They are cooped in a house (albeit a fucking GORGEOUS one) with a bunch of competitive type-A personalities. There is no internet, there is no TV, and also there are copious amounts of alcohol floating around at all times. Usually the only non-challenge reasons competitors leave the house is to go to alcohol filled clubs. The fact that Tony, a dude who has spent the last 15 years partying, had the resolve and willpower to resist temptation given those conditions is awe inspiring.
Becoming a father has changed Tony for the better, and he now realizes that his actions don't only impact himself, but his family as well. Tony's resolve to stay sober isn't just due to external forces though, he doesn't want to go back to who he was when he was drunk and out of control. He likes this sober version of himself and one night as he watches Nelson throw a drunken shit fit over being rejected by a girl, Tony turns to Corey and says "that used to be me" and expresses how he never wants to go back to being that person.
Laurel has always been one of my favorite competitors. I love how fierce, loyal, and competitive she is, but sometimes that competitiveness turns ugly. Laurel's Challenge debut was Fresh Meat II where she and her partner Kenny dominated the season. While the pair ultimately came in second place, she and Kenny won FIVE challenges throughout the season. Laurel was pretty tame in her debut season. She sometimes got pushy and aggressive when drunk, but her biggest beef in the house was the other girls didn't like her because she was fucking dominating.
It wasn't until her second challenge, Cutthroat, that a cruel side of Laurel was shown (which was usually fueled by alcohol). Laurel got in three drunken shouting matches in the first three episodes of that season (FYI, there are only 10 episodes). Those fights were nothing though compared to Laurel's drunken and cruel diatribe against Big Easy. A drunken Laurel (potentially unprompted) rips into Eric saying how he is disgusting, ugly, and fat, and that no one in their right mind would ever touch him. It is really hard to watch, and truthfully sickening, to watch someone spew such hateful and personal attacks towards anyone, let alone Eric. In my opinion, this was the lowest Laurel has ever sunk on The Challenge.
Laurel's change in demeanor was noticeable immediately on Invasion of the Champions. I first noticed it through her interactions with Jenna regarding Zach. When discussing Zach and Jenna's relationship during an interview she lists all of the bad things Zach did to Jenna and ends with "And all she did was love him." This is a soft, kind, and tender side to Laurel that until this point had not been shown on The Challenge.
Laurel's personal growth is displayed most clearly through her budding feelings and relationship with Nicole. And this is not just me clinging onto any lesbian content on TV (which I have been guilty of). Camila said it best when she states:
"I would have never guessed– knowing Laurel– that she would be this way with… anyone."
Laurel doesn't talk about her feelings. She gets angry or retreats, that is how she has always dealt with her emotions. So, when she tells Camila that she "almost wants to push myself to talk about" her feelings for Nicole, that was a big deal.
Laurel did not fly off the handle once this season, even when Amanda was just ASKING for a beating. When she felt that Nicole was playing games with her, she sat her down and the two discussed their feelings. And, in the end, the pair got together and started calling each other babe within days of dating, like any good lesbian couple should.
It should also be noted that The Challenges depiction of this budding relationship is in stark contrast to how they usually depict two women together, which usually includes guys egging them on, ogling and gossip. There might have been gossip, and I bet there was, but it wasn't the focal point of the storyline.
The man, the myth, the legend, the beast: CT. I have always had a soft spot for CT, all I wanted was to understand him! Up until this season, CT was pretty unknowable. While he had his soft moments (often only when Diem was around), he had many many more, well, not soft moments.
CT was kicked off of not one, but TWO Challenges before the first challenge even occurred. In The Inferno 3 he punched Davis in the eye (off camera) and was sent home the first night. The most infamous of his fights though occurred on The Duel 2 when the entire house was unable to hold CT back from legit hulking out on Adam.
Like Tony, CT is now a father and his adorable little nugget of a son Chris Jr. is the joy of his life. CT's face light up when he talks about his son. He is a changed man. His actions no longer just affect himself, they affect his son. More than that though, CT is just calmer this season. He doesn't incite any fights or fuck with people for the fun of it. He was there to compete and win money for his family, period.
The last time that CT competed on The Challenge was on Battle of the Exes 2 where he had to leave early due to Diem's declining health. As I said earlier, CT was at his kindest when Diem was around, and as soon as Diem wasn't feeling he left to be by her side without a second thought. Shortly after leaving Exes 2 Diem passed away after nearly a decade-long fight against cancer. This rocked CT to his core and changed him.
During filming, the final six competitors were in Thailand for Loy Krathong (the Festival of Lights) a festival about "cleansing and renewal;" a time for people to reflect on their past and previous misdeeds, and envision their goals for the future by releasing floating lanterns onto the water. That year, in 2016, Loy Krathong fell on November 14th, the anniversary of Diem's death. As would be expected, this was an exceptionally emotional experience for CT, but instead of lashing out and burying his feelings he embraced the ceremony and saw it as a sign that it is okay to move on. And then, he opened up and told his story. He verbalized on national television the pain and sadness that engulfed him after losing Diem. He expressed the joy that his son has brought him, and how being a father has helped him heal. And then he ends it with this
CT: "I've been trying to get better and get better to finally let go of the past, and to look forward to my future with my family and my son. And I'm looking forward to being happy again."
This season on The Challenge: Invasion of the Champions the explosive fights that usually precede The Finals were replaced with an emotional and meaningful ceremony for the six final competitors. The show put a spotlight on each finalist's journey to get to this point in life: all of their struggles, all of their demons, all of their accomplishments. MTV highlighted these aspects in a positive light instead of exploiting it for more drama and tension. And I guess in a way, maybe that demonstrates that the franchise itself might be maturing as well.
Alyssa Berkowitz
Alyssa (TV Editor) likes long walks on the beach, Greek food, talking about television, watching a good sunset, and girls who wear glasses. Wait, this isn't a bio for OKCupid? Alyssa got her start recapping in college when her friends got tired of her constantly talking about TV and suggested she start a blog. The idea was if she wrote about TV she would talk about it less. Well her friends succeeded in one of their goals...she started writing about TV.
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Vanessa May 17, 2017 At 12:03 pm
Omg I totally agree with everything your saying so much!But do you not like Cara Maria? Shes my absolute favorite!I would really like to discuss this with you. I love Nicole how could you not and the same goes for Laurel but do you like Cara?
Alyssa Berkowitz May 18, 2017 At 11:42 am
I think that Cara Maria is energetic, fun, kind, and a great competitor. At times find her annoying. I think this is mostly because she tends to complain a lot, or at least that is how she is portrayed. I do love how authentic and fiercely loyal she is. And dude, Cara's upper body strength, how can you not be in awe of that!


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Liberty Head Nickel
(thing) by Accipiter Thu Aug 09 2001 at 2:05:20
The second five cent piece with the term "nickel" attached to it was the Liberty Head Nickel, or the "V Nickel" as many would call it. First appearing on January 30, 1883, the coin was designed by Charles E. Barber. Barber would also design several other United States coins of other denominations, with similar features.
The coin's obverse depicts Lady Liberty facing left, surrounded by thirteen stars. Liberty is wearing a small crown, imprinted with her namesake. The year appears at the bottom, just below her neck. The reverse of the coin displays a large "V", Roman numeric for the number 5. The "V" is tightly surrounded by a wreath, and has "E PLURIBUS UNUM" directly above it. "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" arcs along the top.
The original reverse design would prove to be a tremendous catastrophe, as the designer neglected to include the word "CENTS" on the coin. You might think this is just a simple oversight, but there was a fairly big caveat to consider.
The new nickel just happened to look a lot like the United States $5 gold piece of the period. The two coins were the same size and sported very similar features. Since these coins were still very new to the public, many people were still a bit unfamiliar with their look.
The most distinguishable characteristic between the two denominations was the color; the five cent piece was silver in color, and the five dollar piece was gold. What's an evil simplistic counterfeiter to do?
Gold-plate the new nickels, and pass them off as $5 pieces.
Since the new nickel lacked any statement of denomination beyond the "V" on the reverse, the coin could be interpreted as either five cents, or five dollars. Gold-plating the coins tilted the recognition in favor of the latter. This simple act inflated the percieved value of the coin to 100 times its original value, and merchants happily accepted these faked pieces, not realizing the coins were really just five cent pieces. These gold-plated nickels became known as "racketeer nickels".
After close to five and a half million of the "No CENTS" Liberty nickels were minted, Barber changed the design to include the word "CENTS" at the bottom of the reverse.
The final design lasted until 1913.
United States Coinage
Coins you cannot legally own United States Coinage My brother made $700 in 3 hours by sitting in front of a grocery store Al-Jazeera
U.S. Coinage 1933 Double Eagle numismatics nickel
United States of America brother

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


New York City To Go Bankrupt? We Have $257 Billion In Liabilities But 1.6 Trillion In GDP?
You are here: Home / breaking conservative news / New York City To Go Bankrupt? We Have $257 Billion In Liabilities But 1.6 Trillion In GDP?
The math can lie, but what doesn't lie is how much you owe somebody. People always tell the truth about how much money you're suppose to pay back.
I delve into this topic as I live in New York City and it'll be funny to see if Bill De Blasio is in trouble. Probably not but he doesn't care anyway.
Filed Under: breaking conservative news Tagged With: New York City To Go Bankrupt? We Have $257 Billion In Liabilities But 1.6 Trillion In GDP?


Greece's second largest city was once home to the largest numbers of Jews in Greece. In 1941, Nazis deported 95 percent of the community to death camps and labor camps.
JTA — "I am proud to be a Vlach," says Yiannis Boutaris, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city.
Ostensibly, we're here at the Washington Hilton to discuss Boutaris' bid to put the Jewish back in Thessaloniki, a city — perhaps best known as Salonika —once home to the largest numbers of Jews in Greece.
I explain my connection, through marriage, to the Vlachs, insular shepherds whose descendants, starting a century ago, assimilated throughout Balkan societies. He asks me where my wife is "from." I know better than to say Washington, and I tell him Perivoli, the tiny village in the Pindar mountains where our family has summered. He smiles, recognizing the village as one of a constellation of mountaintop Vlach summertime refuges, even before I have completely pronounced it.
Boutaris, a youthful, wiry 74, was here in June to be honored by the American Jewish Committee at its annual Washington conference. He is among 508 American and European mayors who have signed on to the AJC's Mayors Against Anti-Semitism pledge.
Boutaris stands out among the mayors, though, for his commitment to his city's Jewish meaning. At his most recent inauguration, he wore a yellow patch reminiscent of the ones forced on Jews during the Holocaust. It "was received as a definite position against the Golden Dawn," Greece's anti-Semitic, ultranationalist party, he said.
"Everyone knows what the yellow star was," he said.
The gesture also infuriated the city's powerful and at times intrusive Greek Orthodox leadership.
Boutaris, a vintner by trade, enjoys recounting his bouts with his city's prelates. He recalls his first election campaign, spearheading an alliance of left-leaning parties in 2010. "I said in a public speech, 'the archbishop acts like the mujahedin!'" he said, referring to the Muslim jihadis in various countries.
The next month, Boutaris won the election handily. Of the archbishop's expressed enmity, he says: "I think this helped a lot," although he hastens to add that he has since achieved a détente with the church.
Boutaris' city, an Ottoman haven for Jewish refugees from the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions, was famous for centuries for its Jewish plurality. Its reputation for tolerance diminished when the city was riven by nationalist struggles as the Ottoman empire collapsed in the early part of the 20th century, and then by a devastating fire in 1917 that drove many Jews to emigrate.
There remained a vibrant community nonetheless, even as the ethnocentric Greek nationalist movement exerted pressure on minorities – Turks, Jews, Vlachs – to repress their languages and identities and become Greek. Two of my Jewish grandparents were born there. In 1941, the Nazis occupied the city and in short order deported over 95 percent of the community to death camps and labor camps. Salonika's Jewish past is a faint echo now, recalled only in the occasional neighborhood name – like the Modiano market, named for a prominent Jewish family.
Boutaris, like the other 188 European mayors who signed onto the AJC pledge, casts it as a means of containing the anti-Semitism reemerging on their continent.
Boutaris and the other signers "are individually and collectively sending a powerful, if not unprecedented, message to their larger communities," David Harris, the AJC CEO, told JTA in an emailed statement.
He and Makris, his assistant, are not comfortable discussing Greece's status, according to Anti-Defamation League surveys in 2014 and 2015, as the continent's most anti-Semitic country. Some 67 percent of the population hold anti-Semitic views, the more recent survey said. The mayor and his assistant believe the survey is vastly exaggerated.
Makris tries to explain the results as a product of a deeply pessimistic Greek political culture, where poll respondents are likely to believe the worst about their leaders, immigrants, minorities, their next-door neighbors — just about everyone — but otherwise behave in a welcoming manner.
"There is an ambivalence among Greek people," he says, noting how Greeks simultaneously cast the flood of refugees from Syria as a burden — and yet have turned out en masse to assist them.
Boutaris says that Israel's conflict is keenly felt in a country that has ancient ties with the Arab world, and that has been influenced in recent decades by close relations between Arab nationalists and the Greek left. "Greeks wonder why they can't find a way of living together," he says of Israel and the Palestinians.
Yet the obsession with Israel among some Greeks clearly frustrates Boutaris, in a way that Israel's leaders would appreciate. Every country deals with internal and external threats, he says, some in ways that make Israel's actions pale by comparison. "You have to sit down and see what's happening in Syria!" he exclaimed.
There is a deeper, more resonant dimension to Boutaris' Jewish outreach, one that aligns with his origins as a Vlach, a people disappearing into Greece's forcefully monolithic culture.
Boutaris wants Greeks to remember that their country was once not so monocultural, that there were other peoples that once thrived here. He has proposed a monument to the Young Turks, who emerged in Thessaloniki in the first decade of the 20th century and whose uprising eventually led to Turkey's transformation in the 1920s into a secular state.
His focus in Washington is raising awareness about a Jewish cultural center he hopes to found. (The city has a small Jewish museum.) He has raised $20 million so far; he needs another $5 million or so for operating costs.
The one thing he does not want it to be is another Holocaust memorial; instead, he wants a monument to a community that thrived in Thessaloniki for 500 years and that helped define the city.
I bring up with Boutaris another personal connection to Thessaloniki: an incident from my first visit to the city, in 1996, that still haunts me.
A newly met Greek friend plied me and my then fiancée with a little too much retsina, the sweet and potent Greek white wine, during a visit to his house. When I conked out and lay down, I overheard him, through a haze, ask my fiancée what had become of me. She told him I was sleeping it off, and he laughed and began to sing "Durme, Durme," the Jewish Ladino lullaby that at one time would have been familiar to the city's Jews and non-Jews alike.
I asked our Greek friend afterward if he understood the lullaby's Jewish origins; he had no idea. It was a song. It was another echo of a disappeared Jewish city.


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Trump's dictator move is the real emergency — and we handed him the keys | Will Bunch
Trump's alarming unconstitutional power grab has been 75 years in the making.
President Donald Trump speaks during an event Friday in the Rose Garden at the White House to declare a national emergency in order to build a wall along the southern border.Read moreEvan Vucci / AP
by Will Bunch | Columnist
So this is how liberty dies — with a rambling, incoherent monologue. President Trump's bizarre — and, to be brutally honest, frightening — Friday morning appearance in the Rose Garden of the White House to announce that he's invoking extreme presidential powers to declare a "national emergency" and build border wall that Congress refused to authorize was, in many ways, that moment that Trump's harshest critics warned about after his shock election as our 45th president.
And yet it was striking that when Trump's dictator move finally came, there was a lot more banality than evil. After all, our general experience in conceptualizing an authoritarian power grab comes from the History Channel and grainy newsreels of 1930s' autocrats thumping their chests. This was something else — in every sense of the phrase.
The import of what Trump was actually doing — triggering one of the most significant constitutional crises in American history — was buried in the alarming incoherence of the delivery. Instead of making the case for his bogus "national emergency," the short-fingered-vulgarian-in-chief presented an urgent argument for the 25th Amendment, the procedure for removing a president who is unwell.
There were so many moments in Trump's unscripted and unhinged address that could have been a major scandal — had it been any other president, or had the bombshells not dropped at a rate of one every 10 seconds or so. For example, describing his conversation with China's President Xi in a racist pidgin English — not to mention the authoritarian sentiment he endorsed in the riff, which was executing drug dealers. Or the most anti-free-press president in U.S. history yelling at a journalist to "Sit down!!"
We shouldn't give Trump a free pass for all that craziness, but it's critical not to take our eye off the ball. After a long era in which U.S, presidents have expanded and occasionally violated America's constitutional limits on executive power, Trump has plowed through that democratic guardrail at 100 mph, and any system of checks and balances now teeters on the edge of the abyss. It's wrong not to recognize there's a history of POTUS power grabs (more on that in just a second), but this kicks it up several notches. Never before has a president claimed authority to spend money on a project that had been so clearly rebuffed by Congress, the branch of government that is supposed to control the government's purse strings.
I'm not going to waste a lot of time here on the obvious: Trump's national emergency is fake. Unauthorized border crossings — the raison d'être for such a bold measure — are actually at their lowest levels in years. Indeed, Trump invoked a plethora of outright lies about the sources of illicit drugs and other made-up statistics to justify what is nothing more than a campaign promise to please his xenophobic base. The only crisis on the southern border is a humanitarian crisis — the increased flow of refugees fleeing crime-ridden Central America, coupled with increasingly inhumane treatment by the American government.
Indeed, the unbearable fakeness of Trump's national emergency has led to overconfidence that it will be reversed — either by Congress (although that would require some profiles-in-courage type stuff from GOP representatives that we haven't seen in decades) or the Supreme Court (although Mitch McConnell and Trump have tipped that scale to the right). I have no such confidence.
Trump's autocracy play didn't come out of nowhere. Like the proverbial frog in a pot of boiling water, we've been soaking in the hot tub time machine of an increasingly imperial presidency for at least three-quarters of a century, and Congress, the courts and, yes, the voters — us — have been OK with every dial turn of the stove. That's created a legal momentum that will make Trump hard to stop.
Take a step back into history, to 1973 — the year that Watergate exploded. The historian and confidante to Democratic presidents Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. put the phrase "the imperial presidency" at the front of the national conversation that fateful year with a best-selling book of the same name. Schlesinger, an FDR historian, traced the evolution from a shockingly low-key presidency of the 19th- and even early 20th century to the executive branch's explosion with the New Deal. Then came World War II and the so-called national security state, with increasing power vested in the president's National Security Council, the military-industrial complex, and spies secretly overthrowing governments from the Congo to Guatemala to Iran.
Watergate's exposure of the abuses of power by Richard Nixon and the 37th president's downfall were supposed to be a happy ending to the story of the imperial presidency. The scandal and Nixon's 1974 resignation spurred on Democratic reformers to enact a flurry of legislation to restore the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers had intended.
The best known is the 1973 War Powers Act, which requires a president to seek congressional approval for any extended military engagement. Another that received too little attention — until the last two months or so — was the National Emergencies Act of 1976. What that bill essentially did was give the president some more leeway to take certain executive actions — like imposing economic sanctions on alleged rogue foreigners, or move military dollars around — but also created a new mechanism for Congress supposedly to make sure a president never assumed dictatorial powers.
But something went wrong. More than four decades later, the U.S. military is engaged in more conflict in more nations than any time in our history (Yemen, Somalia, Africa), with arguably none of this properly authorized by Congress. And now the president has used the 1976 emergencies law for exactly the kind of gross abuse of power the law was intended to prevent. What happened? By creating a new framework for Congress to check presidential power — and then lacking the political will, or courage, to ever invoke it — the laws had the unintended effect of strengthening the imperial presidency. That's because when presidents exceeded their authority and weren't challenged, excessive authority was now normalized.
Odd as this sounds, you can at least credit Trump for being fairly open and transparent about Friday's power grab. Not so with the Ronald Reagan administration, which reacted to an explicit congressional ban on aid to Nicaraguan rebels, the Boland Amendment, with a scheme to conduct secret, unlawful trading of weapons with our adversaries in Iran in an effort to free hostages, and then funnel the profits to Nicaragua's contras. Not only was Reagan not impeached for this end run around Congress — the Iran-Contra scandal — but the key aides who were convicted of crimes were pardoned by Reagan's veep-turned-successor, George H.W. Bush. Virtually no one raised a peep about the pardons — which arguably set the stage for future abuses of presidential power.
George W. Bush faced an actual national emergency in 9/11 — which was the excuse for a string of abuses of power that included a deceitful campaign to attack people who had nothing to with the 2001 terror attacks, imposing an unprecedented regime of domestic spying on Americans, violating both international conventions and U.S. law on torture, and creating a concentration camp at Guantanamo Bay. None of this was seriously challenged. Bush 43′s presidency also included a major increase in the use of so-called signing statements — declarations that he wouldn't follow various acts of Congress.
How did presidents get away with this? A lot of it had to do with the partisan fault lines that have emerged since Watergate. As the most politically engaged folks — including the electorate — grew more partisan, people cared not about process but about outcomes. They only wanted to win. During Bush 43′s reign, many of us warned that if Congress and the courts didn't restrain the out-of-control executive branch, it would be foolish to expect a Democratic POTUS to roll things back.
Arguably, Barack Obama proved us right.
Not only did the Obama administration not hold their predecessors accountable for breaking so many laws, but the 44th president fulfilled those worst fears by expanding some of the abuses of the Bush-Cheney era — firming up the notion of targeted assassinations by flying death robots and bringing the nebulous "war on terror" and its dubious justification to new regions of the planet. He even continued "signing statements.' Thwarted by McConnell and the rest of Congress on his domestic agenda, Obama increasingly turned to executive fiat to keep "Dreamers" in the United States, act on climate change, and implement parts of Obamacare. Most liberals praised Obama because they liked the policies — instead of questioning how a future demagogue might up the ante.
It seemed that only a few historians and legal scholars sounded the alarm bells. "For decades, Congress frittered away control over its authority, including the power of the purse," wrote George Washington University constitutional expert Jonathan Turley, who fully expects Trump to prevail on the wall "emergency." The Princeton historians Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer, authors of a new modern American history called Fault Lines, argued in an op-ed that even though the Robert Mueller criminal probe may restrain Trump, "it's important to remember that the 'imperial presidency' will outlive any one president unless more is done to institute real checks and balances on the office itself."
In other words, the problem of electing a dangerous demagogue like Donald Trump has been compounded by the imperial blueprint that we drafted for him. In the coming months, Congress will hold hearings on keeping Trump's team accountable, and may even initiate impeachment — but that's not enough. Our lawmakers need to try again, as they did in the 1970s, to draft new legislation to make sure that an American president can't bomb people all over the world or spend our tax dollars without the express approval of the people's elected representatives. For example, we need a "national emergency" law that will make it not only not so easy for the president to declare one, but virtually impossible.
But that won't happen unless we, the people, get behind it. That means actually caring about the process and the Constitution — even when it's our own political party and a president that we like who's committing the abuses. Sure, the next Democratic president could — if Trump gets away with this — declare a national emergency to attack climate change or gun violence. But I don't want to ratify that kind of authoritarian America, and neither should you, whether you're a Democrat or a Republican.
It's remarkable how prescient Arthur Schlesinger's words were for the current crisis. He wrote: "A constitutional Presidency, as the great Presidents had shown, could be very strong Presidency indeed. But what kept a strong President constitutional, in addition to checks and balances incorporated within his own breast, was the vigilance of the nation. Neither impeachment nor repentance would make much difference if the people themselves had come to an unconscious acceptance of the imperial Presidency."
Will Bunch
I'm the national columnist — with some strong opinions about what's happening in America around social injustice, income inequality and the government.


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Year of 2012
posted 6 Jan 2013, 05:38 by Debbie Johnson [ updated 6 Jan 2013, 05:39 ]
Well another year has flown past and I have just added up the number of admissions for this year; a total of 176. That is 70 more animals than last year. 58 of those were hedgehogs and 10 were deer fawns. Our busiest time is obviously spring and early summer when all the orphaned babies come in and autumn when we have an influx of young hedgehogs and deer fawns. This year one of the local rescue centres stopped taking in deer fawns and so that meant that most of the calls came to us. We also helped Folly Rescue with 3 of their deer fawns. They didn't have anywhere to release them so they came over to join our herd.
Our first admission in 2012 was a hedgehog and this year has started in the same way. We have had 2 in already and it is only 5th January. We struggled last year with the hedgehogs as there was a lot of thorny head worm and fluke and it took many attempts at finding the right medication to get this under control. Sadly we lost a few but got most through. We got a lot out before winter but those that were not well enough or heavy enough to be released have gone over to our hedgehog hotel in Nyree and Colin's back garden or have remained here at home. A big thank you goes to Nyree and Colin for all their hard work not only with the hogs but also fund raising and administration, couldn't do it without you.
Last February saw our first fox cub admission; very early in the year and only 24hours old. It was touch and go with her for 48 hours but she was a fighter and made it through. By the end of April we had 20 cubs and found ourselves getting through 20 tins of dog food a day! Fund raising to cope with this sort of need is a continuous problem and we are always looking at different ways to do this. We visit schools and clubs, school fetes, village fairs and are grateful for any help we can get. People are very generous and do help when they can, but our problem is we cannot predict what we are going to need, so it can get difficult at certain times of the year. Last year we were out every weekend through the summer fund raising and just managed to keep our heads above water. We also have a number of regular contributors, some by cheque and some who send us a standing order each month. That regular support is immensely welcome so many thanks to you all. As we are only a small team, all of whom have paid jobs as well and we have to do all the rescuing, caring, nursing, releasing and fundraising ourselves. As you can imagine, fitting it all in is a juggling act.
June saw our first deer fawn, this poor thing was caught up in stock fencing, both legs involved and unfortunately the shock was too much for her. She died on the way to the vet. The second was a dog attack; she was grabbed by the neck. Luckily, no skin was broken, but she was badly bruised and shocked. It was touch and go for the first 24 hours but she got through and then it took over a week before she could raise her head above her shoulders, due to the pain and swelling of the bite. We were so worried about her that she lived in our house for months before she was well enough to venture out. Her name, Rosie was an obvious one when we realised just how quickly she could polish off rose petals but she could just as equally been called Grape or Bramble because she would gorge on them too or maybe Glutton would have been more apt. 6 months on and she is with 3 others from Folly Wildlife Rescue in our release area.
July/August we had more fawns with ligature wounds 3 of which had to be put to sleep as their wounds were too horrendous to repair. The first one of these needed urgent treatment because both hind legs had been wrapped in barbed wire. The nearest vet was in Forest Row, a surgery we had not worked with before but the staff there, were very willing to help us. They were so kind and looked after her so well and when we asked if they would help us in the future, they kindly said yes. Lexi was our next patient for them, she was found at the bottom of someone's garden caught up in fencing. One leg was completely useless and had to be amputated. She recovered well, but the wound would not heal, and we had a lot of trouble with it. Then Lexi proved just how fragile these delicate creatures are when she collapsed and died without warning. It was heart breaking for us and Alex our vet, particularly after the unstinting help he had given us with her. The post mortem showed that she had a congenital liver problem, and whatever we had done would not have saved her.
This is perhaps not an appropriate place for an advert but we would highly recommend the Forest Row team to anyone looking for a excellent, caring and committed vet.
August continued to be busy, especially for hedgehogs. I collected a total of 16 in one day! A Big thank you to Annette at Folly, who managed to squeeze some into her already busy hospital for me.
September/October we had more deer fawns through the doors including one Roe fawn with Meningitis. We fought long and hard to save her but unfortunately she didn't make it. It was not a good year as far as deer were concerned, but at least we managed to help a few.
November/December continued to see hedgehogs coming in very poorly, dehydrated and worm ridden but we have managed to save 46 out of the 58. Not a perfect result but the successes make all the heartache worthwhile.
We have been very lucky and have been offered some more land to create a soft release pen for our next group of deer. That's fantastic but we now have to raise the money to securely fence it (roughly 360 metres of 8 foot fencing and mesh screening) and we need to enlist the help of some hardy sorts to help us erect it all. We are therefore about to launch our New Year Appeal to raise funds to make this happen. If there is anyone out there who is able to help in any way; either with fund raising or with donation of fencing, fence posts or their time to help build we would be enormously grateful.


Ideas drive my media choices. I have a very deep desire to interact physically with the processes of different materials. Thematically, I have explored personal narratives and memories for the past two decades. The shifting nature of how we perceive our life experiences and memories parallel my working methods and material choices. Images, surfaces, patterns, textures are created, destroyed, veiled, excavated, lost, and found…in flux then fixed.
This most recent body of work is an homage to my mother. I began collecting doilies after she died because they reminded me of her. Painting each one in the collection is my way of honoring the handiwork of the makers. My goal is to create 86 individual pieces, my mother's age when she died from Alzheimer's disease.
Both my parents were Pisces, each swimming in opposite directions in the same circular pool. My father, born and raised in the South, was a career military man until he retired into farming. My mother, an artist, was a first generation Polish-American born in Pittsburgh, PA. She was a person who was very intellectually curious, constantly learning something new, and loved beauty. Our family moved quite a bit when I was growing up. Travel, cultural diversity, and an appreciation for nature were the key life experiences I gained as a kid. Both my Mom and Dad were makers, so working with my hands felt instinctive. I remember choosing to be an artist in kindergarten, why would you choose to be anything else? My mother certainly supported the idea.
My studio practice is pretty traditional, I suppose. Having a space to make work in is a wonderful luxury. Taking time to be alone, listen to music, work. It grounds me and makes me a better person to be around when I venture out.
I am an art professor at Northern Illinois University. Teaching compliments my studio practice and I really love doing it. Sometimes it is challenging to be fully committed to both. I've learned to balance what I can and take advantage of school breaks for studio time.
I prefer to work in jags. Once I start, I keep going until the juices run down. The cycle usually is a 4-5 day run then I'll take a break for a day or two, repeat. This is nearly impossible to do during the academic year. I have had to adjust to having several hours here and there maybe a weekend from time to time. I start many things at a time during the Fall and Spring terms, then when winter and summer break comes, I go back to my preferred pattern. Also, I keep a journal, mostly notes and impressions, I have several sketchbooks I carry around with me. I doodle a lot especially in meetings! My doodles are mostly patterns, only occasionally will I draw figuratively even though I consider myself a figuratively based artist. Drawing is addictive, so once I start I hate to stop.
Five years flies now that I have reached sixty. Material process and figuration has always been at the core of my practice. Overall there have been subtle changes in my work in how and what I have pursued. Still, there are times when I will throw myself a curve in style or idea, which can result in complete failure or an occasional keeper. It's in my methods to have several different things going on simultaneously, the majority of which is either destroyed or waits for another time. A few things make it out, maybe one fifth of what I initially create.
In second grade, I took to creating dance performances in the living room, using my sister for a partner. We had these really great crinoline petticoats that were perfect for twirling and whirling. One day I flung my sister too hard and she got hurt. It was a terrible feeling and I lost interest in that ambition. Also, for a very, very brief moment in college I considered Fashion and Interior Design, it took me two semesters to figure out I was really miserable in both of those pursuits.
Other interests? Travel, for all the obvious reasons, it resets my mind and opens up my thinking on things. Then there is music. I have taken up the ukulele so that I can hang out with people who like to play and sing.
Billie Giese is an artist/educator whose work explores material processes and personal narratives. She earned her MFA in Painting from the University of Kansas where she studied with the artist, Roger Shimomura. She currently lives in DeKalb, Illinois where she teaches Studio Art at Northern Illinois University.
This entry was posted in mixed media and tagged Figurative, Mixed-Media, narrative, process. Bookmark the permalink.


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National Commission for Energy Control and Prices (NCC) is an independent national regulatory authority (in the European Union law's sense) regulating activities of entities in the field of energy and carrying out the supervision of state energy sector.
On February 10, 1997 the President of the Republic of Lithuania appointed the first members of the NCC.
The NCC was established under the Law on Energy. Since November 2008 the members of the NCC are appointed by the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania on the nomination of the President of the Republic of Lithuania.
NCC mission is to ensure the quality and availability of energy services to consumers, creating equal conditions for all market participants.
NCC objective is to create a credible, independent economic regulatory framework of electricity, natural gas, district heating, drinking water supply and wastewater treatment sectors, which ensures the quality and availability of energy services to consumers.
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The NCC is operating in accordance with the Law on Energy, the Law on Electricity, the Law on Natural Gas, the Law on Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal, the Law on Energy Resources Market, the Law on Renewable Energy, the Law on Heating Sector, the Law on Drinking Water Supply and Waste Water Management, the Law on Public Administration, Resolutions of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the Regulations of the NCC, the Operating rules of the NCC and other legal acts.
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NCC's management
NCC is composed of 5 members, who are appointed by the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania on the nomination of the President of the Republic of Lithuania for a 5-year term.
Commissioners supervise the following fields of activities:
The Chair Inga Žilienė heads the NCC's work. Also supervises the issues concerning the activity of independent heat producers and estimation of district heating suppliers' submitted investment projects, examination of district heating consumers' complaints, the methodical and practical pricing issues of district heating and hot water supply sectors, and also the issues concerning scope of the Law on the Energy Resources Market of the Republic of Lithuania;
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NCC's decisions are adopted at the NCC's public meetings. The meetings is valid if at least four Commissioners take part in it, including the Chair. NCC takes decisions by voting. If the Commissioner disagrees with Commissioners majority opinion, he must verbally and (or) in writing set out his opinion, which will be recorded in the minute of the proceedings of the meeting.
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July 19th, 2010. Our team of coaches are working one of our most challenging partnerships with a wonderful organization called FRO in Pader, Uganda. The overall aim of FRO is to reintegrate former child soldiers into the community through work and social training. Our coaches designed a unique program whereby these former child soldiers and orphans are trained to be Soccer for Life Skill Coaches with the Coaches across Continents curriculum and then these locally trained coaches go to work in primary schools to educate young children. It is an ambitious program that is already showing signs of success.
The LRA in Northern Uganda abducted more than 23,000 children to fight for their cause. Often the children were forced to kill their own family, ensuring that they had nothing to go back to. Although the war has been over for a couple of years, the leader of the LRA is still at large and the former child soldiers are having to reintegrate into a distrusting society.
Coaches Ivan, Sophie and Steve have committed themselves to this 8 week program with enthusiasm and resolve. Conditions in Pader are remote and Sophie writes, "In Pader, the unmistakable signs of poverty reflected by the wretched living conditions, the state of the roads and of the very few buildings and the significant lack of resources do not shock me as much as the little peculiarities I witness that are considered as normal here and that make me realize the enormous gap between this world and the one back home. The daily glimpses into the lives of some amazing people have made my experience so worthwhile and give me more insight into what the life of these people is like.".
But the spirit of the young people at the FRO center and their enthusiasm for learning these new skills has been incredible.
"Of all of the Coaches across Continents programs, the FRO Pader Program presented the most challenges. FRO had previously not used soccer as a life skill tool and we had to introduce the very basics for coaching. But immediately the students wanted to talk and play soccer, they wanted to learn these new skills and were excited at the thought of being able to become coaches themselves and help young children in the community. The spirit of all these students and of FRO has made the first year in Pader a great success. We congratulate our coaches and everyone connected with FRO for all their hard work" Nick Gates, Global Strategist.


Born Mar. 18, 1858, in Paris; died Sept. 29, 1913. German engineer, known for creating an internal combustion engine with ignition caused by compression.
Diesel graduated from the Technical School in Munich in 1878. In patents obtained in 1892 and 1893, Diesel advanced the idea of creating an internal combustion engine operating on a cycle close to an ideal Carnot cycle; in this engine maximum temperature was to be obtained by compressing pure air to 25 meganewtons/m2 (250 kilograms-force/cm2). Diesel built an engine at Augsburg in 1897 based on the principle of preliminary air compression and self-ignition of the fuel, which was delivered into the cylinder at the end of the compression stroke. The engine had a relatively high efficiency but operated on expensive kerosine and had a number of design shortcomings. After several improvements were made in 1898–99, the engine began to operate dependably on cheap fuel—petroleum—and became widely used in industry and transportation.
Diesel drowned in the English Channel.
Theorie und Konstruktion eines rationellen Wärmemotors zum Ersatz der Dampfmaschinen und der heute bekannten Verbrennungsmotoren. Berlin, 1893.
Die Entstehung des Dieselmotors. Berlin, 1913.
Gumilevskii, L. I. Rudol' Dize' (biographical sketch). Moscow-Leningrad, 1938.


Dhaka, 7 April, Abnews: Did you know that the Finnish Tourism Board raked in great moolah with a marketing campaign about silence? They tried to entice people with how 'silent' Finland was and how it would help them discover themselves. And, it worked!
We cannot move to Finland, but we can, however, practice keeping our mouths shut for two minutes everyday. Here's how science says it helps.
A study in the journal Heart states that being silent has more effect on you than listening to music. The study made a conclusion based on changes in blood pressure and blood circulation in the brain. It is therefore suggested staying silent for a few minutes to get into a state of calm.
A study in 2013 published in the journal Brain, Structure and Function studied the effect of silence on the brains of mice. It was discovered that when the mice were exposed to two hours of silence per day they developed new cells in the hippocampus, a region of the brain associated with memory, emotion and learning. The study concluded that silence helps the new generated cells to differentiate into neurons, and integrate into the system, which in simple terms means it can grow our brain.
The effect of noise pollution on the cognitive skills of the human brain have been extensively studied. One of the studies recorded that children exposed to households or classrooms near railways or highways have lower reading scores and are slower in their development of cognitive and language skills.
And we still don't remain silent when we're stressed. Silence reduces the levels of stress hormones therefore making you calmer and preparing you to take on the stressful situation.
A study by Talentsmart suggests that all the top performers have one ability in common and that is to remain calm and controlled during stressful situations. They find silence around chaos and use it for their benefit.


Active Lives are delighted to announce that we will be working with Staffordshire FA over the coming months to help Staffordshire FA increase the amount of disability football sessions made available for youth players across Stafford and Cannock.
Active Lives Director, Gavin Nelson says: " I'm really excited by this project and linking in with the Staffordshire FA. The project means we'll be able to support the Staffordshire FA to develop youth provision as well as working with Stafford Town to create a new disability team in Stafford to take part in the Youth Staffordshire Ability Counts League. Our coaches will provide children with playing opportunities in schools and an opportunity to get involved in a team outside of school".
"We are pleased to confirm that we are working in partnership with Active Lives Education & Stafford Town FC to provide new disability football sessions for youth players to take part in fun football activities/ games starting in April 2018.
Over the last few years disability football in Staffordshire has continued to grow with their now being opportunities for both adults & youth players to take part in a range of mixed football activities across the county from recreational football & grassroots through to the disability talent pathway.
However we are looking to develop the youth provision to enable us to provide more opportunities for young people to get involved locally with the aim of creating a new disability team in Stafford to take part in our Youth Staffordshire Ability Counts League.
It's fantastic to be working collectively with these partners to enable us to reach more individuals and provide players with the best experience possible, whether they want to try football for the first time, develop their skills or make friends, all players encouraged to come along to get involved."


Leave rush hour traffic behind! Come home to an amazing paradise, immaculate inside & out. This 4/5 bedroom, 3 full bath "Jim Barna" log home has over 3600 sq ft with tongue & groove ceilings throughout, open floor plan, full finished w/o basement, covered front porch and full rear deck. Loads of custom features incl new kitchen with corian counter tops & pantry. One of five owners of a 3 acre lake! Two car attached finished garage. Nearly 1 1/2 acres. Move in ready!


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You asked: Why is Norway McDonalds so expensive?
Is McDonald's expensive in Norway?
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The country's high VAT tax on restaurant dining makes it hard to eat out on a budget and is reflected in Norway's position on the Big Mac Index. Just a few years ago, Norway was home to the priciest McDonald's combo meal in the world. For $23 dollars you could get a Big Mac, soda and fries.
In Norway, you'll pay $23 for a single meal of Big Mac, soda and fries. Norwegians pay the most for their meals at McDonald's, shelling out nearly $23 USD per transaction, while restaurants in Switzerland average nearly 5 million sales yearly per outlet, the highest traffic of any country in the world.
Because most products and services entail the application of manpower, labour costs are high in Norway. This in turn makes products and services sold in Norway expensive. A beer is expensive because the barman has to be paid to compensate him for not going to the North Sea to work on oil exploration.
THIS IS INTERESTING: How big is Norway compared to UK?
Europe: Prices by City of McMeal at McDonalds (or Equivalent Combo Meal) (Restaurants)
11 Oslo, Norway 12.40
12 Aalborg, Denmark 12.20
13 Copenhagen, Denmark 12.00
14 Trondheim, Norway 11.59
Worth a fortune: According to a recent study by Expensivity, the world's most expensive McDonald's item is Lebanon's Grand Chicken Special ($27.19). The most expensive Happy Meal ($21.89) and Big Mac ($21.89) can also be found in Lebanon, apparently because of the price inflation in the country.
The country with the most expensive McDonald's meal is Switzerland, where the average price of a meal at McDonald's is equivalent to $16.42 in U.S. dollars.
Traveling in Norway can be expensive if you only eat out
It's no secret that Norway is an expensive country to visit. Even though it's less expensive now that the Norwegian Krone is weak, it's not cheap. … Unlike many other countries, Norway doesn't have a culture of going out to eat.
When it comes to shopping, Norway ranked most expensive in three specific categories: bread and cereals; fruit and vegetables; and milk, cheese and eggs. The latter isn't a surprise given Norway's strict controls on the important and sale of dairy products.
Norway on a Budget: Eating Cheaply!
Only eat out somewhere really nice with tons of atmosphere, otherwise don't even buy any prepared food. …
Only buy food and snacks at supermarkets, never gas stations or convenience stores. …
Bring a reusable water bottle. …
Bring a thermos. …
Bring your own dehydrated food. …
Skip the pubs.
THIS IS INTERESTING: Is there a ferry from Scotland to Sweden?
Let's look at the 2020 statistics for gross monthly earnings – earnings before tax deductions. According to Statistics Norway (SSB), the average monthly earnings in Norway are 48.750 kroner (NOK). Men earn on average a little more than women. Average earnings for men are 51.630 kroner and for women 45.190 kroner.
United Kingdom is 9.5% more expensive than Norway.
McDonald's forces its franchisees to lease property directly from the company – a stipulation that no other fast-food chain in Europe requires. And with this stranglehold on its franchisees' real estate options, the company charges rents up to 10 times above market rates, according to our analysis.
The average cost of living in Norway will depend on the lifestyle you lead and where in the country you choose to settle. Generally, though, you can expect to spend between 20,000 to 40,000 NOK (2,176–4,352 USD) per month to live in this Nordic country.
At 7.04 U.S. dollars, Switzerland has the most expensive Big Macs in the world, according to the July 2021 Big Mac index.
Categories Scandinavian


My mother moved to Boulder when I was a baby and became a student of Chögyam Trungpa. I loved "my Rimpoche" ever since I can remember, long before I had a full understanding of who he was. I don't believe it would have made any difference to me as a child, I just knew that I adored him from the moment I saw him. If anyone had told me it was completely inappropriate to hug this respected and revered man about the knees (actually, I think my mother tried), I wouldn't have understood why. Wasn't that a perfectly normal expression of sincere affection? I think I must have shocked some of the important people he was always with. He never seemed bothered by my audacity at all. On the contrary, he always had a moment and a few kind words for me. All my earliest memories are filled with the corridors of Dorje Dzong, the shrine room, and his place in them. At every talk he gave, every festival or celebration, I was waiting to see his arrival and departure like a little shadow. And he always stopped to say hello or smiled at me.
And he handed me back down to my mother.
I felt like a criminal as I climbed the wooden steps up the side of the throne. What on earth would I say if someone saw me? "Oh, it's okay, Rinpoche said I could." Right. They'd likely toss me out before I could finish a sentence. I nervously sat on the stiff brocaded cushions and looked out at the shrine room again. The faces weren't there. And neither was he. The room was empty and silent. All that mattered to me in that room, on that throne, was gone. There was nothing for me there anymore. And there still isn't. I was crying as I slipped down the stairs in my socks. I didn't say anything to my friend, and she didn't ask.
I don't know what I hoped for, sitting up there with his photograph. It didn't make me feel closer to him or bring me any peace. I only missed him more. Thinking of him now, I can find solace in the knowledge that he loved me too. I know this is fairly insignificant in the larger context of the world, but it means everything to me.


We founded Seed in response to three problems. In this blog series we're outlining the problems and a taste of how Seed plans to respond to them.
Many Christians are frustrated that their faith feels disengaged from the world and disconnected from their life. We sense that a life following Jesus should make a difference in the world, but our current experience falls short of that expectation. We see glimpses of possibility for a more integrated and meaningful expression of faith, but we're not quite sure how to get there.
This is what drives us and motivates us. It's our passion. It's the Seed of Seed.
It might sound like lofty idealism, but it is deeply rooted in a framework that helps people connect their lives to God's purpose. Far from being pie in the sky, this is desperately needed and deeply grounded in reality.
Before founding Seed I was the National Director of Micah Challenge, a campaign seeking to eradicate extreme global poverty. I've had lots of conversations over the last few years with people who are experiencing this disconnect and frustration, particularly in the context of their work. I've been frustrated that a lot of people seem to place greater meaning and value on my work than they do their own.
My fundamental belief is that God desires each of us to play our part in his purposes. Each contribution is distinct and valuable.
What matters most is not how impressive our work seems in the eyes of the world, but the extent to which we align ourselves and our actions with God's purposes. It's about faithfulness.
The reality is that even in jobs like mine it's easy to lose a connection with God's purposes. We come up with objectives which are good and formed from an initial desire to express God's kingdom. Over time these objectives become the primary motivation. We start to align our decisions with our objectives rather than the purposes of God. Sometimes the steps that we take to get to those objectives aren't necessarily aligned with God's purposes.
So, rather than try to define outcomes and objectives, Seed's main motivation is to form people at their core. We lay a foundation. We start with purpose. We seek to help people get so connected to God and God's purposes that they step into the world each day, embodying a different reality for their own lives and for the cultures in which they live – a reality that expresses the beauty of Jesus' grace.
If we can teach people to live this way, then we're confident that the change they create will be aligned with God's purposes, because they have first aligned their own purposes with the purposes of God.
And as they learn to align their lives, we trust that the disconnects and frustrations will fade away, and they will start to experience the blessing that comes from living as God intended us to live.


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MIT GIS Services GEOWEB
Geosciences (including Geography)
Standard office documents
Structured graphics
MIT's implementation of OpenGeoportal is called MIT Geoweb. It was collaboratively developed as an open source, federated web application to discover, preview, and retrieve geospatial data from different repositories. Several of the country's leading universities and a state agency have formed a partnership to make thousands of geospatial data layers available through a single, open source interface. The application also incorporates some new innovative search techniques. Partners include Tufts, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, MassGIS, Stanford and UC Berkeley. The single interface is skinnable and may have slight differences in appearance based on the institution hosting the application. You can search for GIS data held in the MIT Geodata Repository and other local colleges.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Data & Surveys
AHRQ data & surveys
Public Health, Health Services Research, Social Medicine
Economic and Social Policy
Statistics and Econometrics
Archived data
A collection of data at Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) supporting research that helps people make more informed decisions and improves the quality of health care services. The portal contains U.S.Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK) and Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR) and other sources concerning cost, quality, accesibility and evaluation of healthcare and medical insurance.
EUROLAS Data Center
Geophysics and Geodesy
Atmospheric Science and Oceanography
The EUROLAS Data Center (EDC) is one of the two data centers of the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS). It collects, archives and distributes tracking data, predictions and other tracking relevant information from the global SLR network. Additionally EDC holds a mirror of the official Web-Pages of the ILRS at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). And as result of the activities of the Analysis Working Group (AWG) of the ILRS, DGFI has been selected as analysis centers (AC) and as backup combination center (CC). This task includes weekly processing of SLR observations to LAGEOS-1/2 and ETALON-1/2 to compute station coordinates and earth orientation parameters. Additionally the combination of SLR solutions from the various analysis centres to a combinerd ILRS SLR solution.
SCEC
Geology and Palaeontology
Geodesy, Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics, Cartogaphy
Audiovisual data
Configuration data
SCEC's mission includes gathering data on earthquakes, both in Southern California and other locales; integrate the information into a comprehensive understanding of earthquake phenomena; and communicate useful knowledge for reducing earthquake risk to society at large. The SCEC community consists of more than 600 scientists from 16 core institutions and 47 additional participating institutions. SCEC is funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey.
EVIA Digital Archive Project
EVIADA
Social and Cultural Anthropology and Ethnology/Folklore
Non-European Languages and Cultures, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Jewish Studies and Religious Studies
The EVIA Digital Archive Project is a repository of ethnographic video recordings and an infrastructure of tools and systems supporting scholars in the ethnographic disciplines. The project focuses on the fields of ethnomusicology, folklore, anthropology, and dance ethnology.
Global Health Data Exchange
Epidemiology, Medical Biometry, Medical Informatics
The GHDx is our user-friendly and searchable data catalog for global health, demographic, and other health-related datasets. It provides detailed information about datasets ranging from censuses and surveys to health records and vital statistics, globally. It also serves as a platform for data owners to share their data with the public. The GDB Compare visualization, which allows the user to see rate of change in disease incidence, globally or by country, by age or across all ages, is especially powerful as a tool. Be sure to try adding a bottom chart, like the map, to augment the treemap that loads by default in the top chart.
Comprehensive Epidemiological Data Resource
Electrical Energy Generation, Distribution, Application
Computer Science, Electrical and System Engineering
Engineering Sciences
Structured text
The Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) is the Department of Energy's (DOE) electronic database comprised of health studies of DOE contract workers and environmental studies of areas surrounding DOE facilities. DOE recognizes the benefits of data sharing and supports the public's right to know about worker and community health risks. CEDR provides independent researchers and the public with access to de-identified data collected since the Department's early production years. Current CEDR holdings include more than 80 studies of over 1 million workers at 31 DOE sites. Access to these data is at no cost to the user. Most of CEDR's holdings are derived from epidemiologic studies of DOE workers at many large nuclear weapons plants, such as Hanford, Los Alamos, the Oak Ridge reservation, Savannah River Site, and Rocky Flats. These studies primarily use death certificate information to identify excess deaths and patterns of disease among workers to determine what factors contribute to the risk of developing cancer and other illnesses. In addition, many of these studies have radiation exposure measurements on individual workers. CEDR is supported by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Now a mature system in routine operational use, CEDR's modern internet-based systems respond to thousands of requests to its web server daily. With about 1,500 Internet sites pointing to CEDR's web site, CEDR is a national user facility, with a large audience for data that are not available elsewhere.
Tree of Life - Evolution
Basic Biological and Medical Research
Microbiology, Virology and Immunology
Plant Systematics and Evolution
Evolution, Anthropology
The tree of life links all biodiversity through a shared evolutionary history. This project will produce the first online, comprehensive first-draft tree of all 1.8 million named species, accessible to both the public and scientific communities. Assembly of the tree will incorporate previously-published results, with strong collaborations between computational and empirical biologists to develop, test and improve methods of data synthesis. This initial tree of life will not be static; instead, we will develop tools for scientists to update and revise the tree as new data come in. Early release of the tree and tools will motivate data sharing and facilitate ongoing synthesis of knowledge.
Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium
BCSC
The Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) is a research resource for studies designed to assess the delivery and quality of breast cancer screening and related patient outcomes in the United States. The BCSC is a collaborative network of seven mammography registries with linkages to tumor and/or pathology registries. The network is supported by a central Statistical Coordinating Center.
RAMEDIS
Rare Metabolic Diseases Database
Gastroenterology, Metabolism
The RAMEDIS system is a platform independent, web-based information system for rare metabolic diseases based on filed case reports. It was developed in close cooperation with clinical partners to allow them to collect information on rare metabolic diseases with extensive details, e.g. about occurring symptoms, laboratory findings, therapy and molecular data.
NEW GIST Data Repository
!!!This site has been decomissioned!!!! The Geographic Information Support Team (GIST) Repository at the University of Georgia is a USAID-funded global archive of spatial data collected and distributed for the greater humanitarian community. If you want to search for data, you will need a valid email address to create an account.
Experimental Lakes Area
IISD - ELA
Animal Ecology, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research
Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
Plant Ecology and Ecosystem Analysis
Inter-organismic Interactions of Plants
IISD Experimental Lakes Area is one of the world's most influential freshwater research facilities. It features a collection of 58 small lakes and their watersheds in Northwestern Ontario, Canada, as well as a facility with accommodations and laboratories for up to 60 personnel.
GRIN-CA Taxonomy
Plant Gene Resources of Canada: GRIN-CA Taxonomy
Inventory Control and Use of Forest Resources
Basic Forest Research
Ecology of Agricultural Landscapes
Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture and Veterinary Medicine
Plant Genetics
GRIN-CA taxonomic data provide the structure and nomenclature for the accessions of the Canadian National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). Many plants are included in GRIN-CA taxonomy, especially economic plants.
Madrigal Database
Cedar Madrigal
Networkbased data
The OpenMadrigal project seeks to develop and support an on-line database for geospace data. The project has been led by MIT Haystack Observatory since 1980, but now has active support from Jicamarca Observatory and other community members. Madrigal is a robust, World Wide Web based system capable of managing and serving archival and real-time data, in a variety of formats, from a wide range of ground-based instruments. Madrigal is installed at a number of sites around the world. Data at each Madrigal site is locally controlled and can be updated at any time, but shared metadata between Madrigal sites allow searching of all Madrigal sites at once from any Madrigal site. Data is local; metadata is shared.
National Contaminants Information System
The National Contaminants Information System was begun as part of the Department's Green Plan. The NCIS is a computerized warehouse of information on toxic chemicals in fish, other aquatic life and their habitats. It was built to help manage the growing base of data and information.
Metlin
The original and most comprehensive MS/MS metabolite database
METLIN represents the largest MS/MS collection of data with the database generated at multiple collision energies and in positive and negative ionization modes. The data is generated on multiple instrument types including SCIEX, Agilent, Bruker and Waters QTOF mass spectrometers.
LEPR - Library of Experimental Phase Relations
Library of Experimental Phase Relations and Trace element Distribution experimental database
Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Crystallography
LEPR is a database of results of published experimental studies involving liquid-solid phase equilibria relevant to natural magmatic systems. TraceDs is a database of experimental studies involving trace element distribution between liquid, solid and fluid phases.
Norwegian Marine Data Center
Norsk marint datasenter
The Norwegian Marine Data Centre (NMD) at the Institute of Marine Research was established as a national data centre dedicated to the professional processing and long-term storage of marine environmental and fisheries data and production of data products. The Institute of Marine Research continuously collects large amounts of data from all Norwegian seas. Data are collected using vessels, observation buoys, manual measurements, gliders – amongst others. NMD maintains the largest collection of marine environmental and fisheries data in Norway.
eLabour
FDZ eLabour
A number of sociological research institutions have worked together with partners from IT and the information sciences to establish a new research data infrastructure for qualitative research, the interdisciplinary center for qualitative research data from the sociology of work (eLabour). The infrastructure will be fully operational in early 2019. In addition, the center will expand its qualitative data pool and open up to external scientists. At the same time, IT-based processes and tools for qualitative data management are being developed to establish a competence center for professional qualitative research data management, which can provide support and services for a variety of scientific user groups. Research data are available as Scientific Use Files (SUF) and Campus Files (CF). List of available research data at 'Projects' page: http://elabour.de/sekundaeranalysen/projekte/
Marine Environmental Data Section
Section des données sur le milieu marin
As the national oceanographic data centre for Canada, MEDS maintains centralized repositories of some oceanographic data types collected in Canada, and coordinates data exchanges between DFO and recognized intergovernmental organizations, as well as acts as a central point for oceanographic data requests. Real-time, near real-time (for operational oceanography) or historical data are made available as appropriate.
Open Government Data Platform India
The Portal is intended to be used as catalog of datasets published by ministries/ department/ organizations of Government of India for public use, in order to enhance transparency in the functioning of the Government as well as to make innovative visualization of dataset. This National Data Portal is being updated frequently to make it as accessible as possible and completely accessible to all irrespective of physical challenges or technology.
heidICON
The image and multimedia database
Fine Arts, Music, Theatre and Media Studies
Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
Classical Archaeology
heidICON is provided by Heidelberg University Library and is the "Virtual Slide Collection" in progress of organization of Heidelberg University. In addition to record graphic material on current interest for research and teaching, the University departments and institutes can digitize and transfer their already existing slide collections.
PermaSense High-Alpine Permafrost Data
Data from high-alpine mountain permafrost research sites.
HALO database
High Altitude and LOng Range database
Analytical Chemistry, Method Development (Chemistry)
HALO-DB is the web platform of a data retrieval and long-term archive system. The system was established to hold and to manage a wide range of data based on observations of the HALO research aircraft and data which are related to HALO observations. HALO (High-Altitude and LOng-range aircraft) is the new German research aircraft (German Science Community (DFG)). The aircraft, a Gulfstream GV-550 Business-Jet, is strongly modified for the application as a research platform. HALO offers several advantages for scientific campaigns, such as its high range of more than 10000 km, a high maximum altitude of more than 15 km, as well as a relatively high payload.
Bedford Institute of Oceanography - Oceanographic Databases
Institut océanographique de Bedford - Bases de données océanographiques
Databases maintained by Ocean Sciences at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, including temperature-salinity profiles for the NW Atlantic, sea-surface temperature and chlorophyll from satellite, monthly statistics of ocean currents and other moored instruments, and daily temperature observations from coastal thermographs.


AutoDurban Poison is the automatic version of our legendary original Durban Poison photo period variety. This Sativa dominant AutoFem can be harvested 10-11 weeks after germination and she will grow fast and tall, with plenty of side growth, just like the original. AutoDurban Poison also shares the same luxuriously pleasant and uplifting experience as the original. This is a top quality feminized automatic which delivers a connoisseur quality vape/smoking experience with good yields. AutoDurban Poison tends to take longer during vegetative growth than other autofems, which can allow her to grow a little taller. The buds grow large and resinous with that special, celebrated, Durban aroma. This variety will perform well Outdoors too, she is a high-performance new automatic using some of our best genetics. Ideal for anyone seeking a top quality auto which delivers a strong and refreshing feel-good experience.
Winner of several harvest festivals, and "High Times" Cannabis Cup. Skunk#1 (75% Sativa, 25% Indica)..
For the creation of Dutch Cheese ( 60% Sativa, 40% Indica) our breeders took the best cheese genetic..
Lost Coast OG is a mostly Indica dominant strain of cannabis seeds that comes from the Emerald Trian..
A selected strain on speed and resinous buds out of all the automatic strains on the market today.Lo..
Nirvana Urban Poison is a new indoor-suitable version of our famous South African marijuana strain D..
Our Critical Yumbolt is the result of crossing the famous clone named Critical Mass with one the wor..
California Hash Plant cannabis seeds by Dinafem Seeds belong to a feminized Indica-dominant cannabis..
Fruit Autoflowering cannabis seeds by Dinafem Seeds belong to a feminized Indica-dominant cannabis s..
OG Kush Auto cannabis seeds by Dinafem Seeds belong to a feminized autoflowering Sativa/Indica/Ruder..


Procter & Gamble is bringing sugarcane to shampoo and makeup with new packaging that will be on shelves next year.
The company will start using sugarcane-based plastic packaging for certain products from its Pantene Pro-V, Covergirl and Max Factor brands.
Resin producer Braskem SA, which already supplies Procter & Gamble with plastic resins in Brazil, is providing the packaging material, which is made with ethanol derived from Brazilian sugarcane.
Procter & Gamble will be introducing the new packaging globally over the next two years and says that because the material will have the same properties as high density polyethylene (HDPE), it will carry HDPE's #2 resin code. HDPE is commonly accepted by recycling programs and recyclers.


Although significant advances (eg, improved oral hygiene, fluoridated water supply) have been made in caries prevention, occlusal pit-and-fissure decay still remains a major concern.
Conventional methods of diagnosing dental caries such as manual probing and radiographic evaluation are often ineffective in detecting enamel defects, as they may be too small or inaccessible to the diagnostic tool.
Research indicates that, while 80% of caries lesions occur in the chewing surface anatomy, a significant percentage of these lesions go virtually undetected using conventional protocols.
The DIAGNOdent measures laser fluorescence within tooth structure.
DAGNOdent is the revolutionary new way to find even the smallest areas of tooth decay. By using this new technology, Dr. Iancu is able to target and treat all of your small problem areas before they turn into larger issues that require more complicated procedures.
Dr. Iancu uses the DIAGNOdent laser as a routine part of exams and there is no additional fee associated with the scan.


text:
What is the target of 2030 for renewable energy
/ Solar, What is the target of 2030 for renewable energy / By Cajetan Asomugha
What is the target of 2030 for renewable energy and the importance of "renewable energy Sources" will grow: Specifically in the power sector, predictions indicate that renewable, hydroelectric, and nuclear energy would play a bigger role in 2030. Nuclear energy and hydroelectricity will both grow by 54.5% and 48.5%, compared to a more than 430% rise in the usage of renewable energy. This renewable energy will increase in both OECD and non-OECD nations, but the latter will experience the largest increases, driven by China and India.
Renewables are expected to account for nearly 95% of the increase in global power capacity through 2026, with solar PV accounting for more than half of that. The amount of renewable capacity added between 2021 and 2026 is expected to be 50% higher than between 2015 and 2020.
According to a report in the Vanguard newspaper by Esther Onyegbula, the Minister of State for Power, Mr Goddy Jedy-Agba, yesterday reiterated the government's commitment to achieving a sustainable energy target for all by 2030.
The assurance was given by the Minister at the 7th Nigeria Energy Forum, NEF, 2022, which was held in Lagos under the theme "Energizing Economic Growth and Sustainability."
Mr Gabriel Lorsase represented the Minister, who stated that the country had a sustainable electricity vision of reaching 30 GigaWatts (GW) by 2030 with 30% renewable energy.
According to the minister, "we conceived and developed the Nigeria renewable vision platform in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) under the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) funded by the European Union." This will serve as a central location for data-driven electrification planning and implementation.
The project's goal is to enable and encourage investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and data-driven electrification planning and implementation, while also increasing energy access. In addition, the federal government and Siemens signed an implementation agreement for the electrification roadmap. The roadmap's goal is to address existing power sector challenges while also expanding capacity to meet the country's future power needs.
By making investments in the energy value chain, which includes the generation, transmission, and distribution networks of the power sector, the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) in Phase One aims to modernize, rehabilitate, and expand the national grid.
"Nigeria is prepared since the country has a clear energy efficiency and renewable energy policy. As a result of the implementation of our Renewable Energy Action Plan, we can state that Nigeria is prepared for the use of renewable energy and that certain projects have already begun to provide Nigerians with clean energy.