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Chapter 11: Forced March
On February 8, 2019 By ErraticErrata
"A hundred battles, even victories, will always lose you the war."
– Theodosius the Unconquered, Tyrant of Helike
When I'd been told that General Rumena was at a forward position, in my mind's eye I'd envisioned a Legion outpost: neat palisade with a dry moat in front, raised tower to serve as a better vantage point. Stone for everything instead, if it was meant to be a long-term outpost and funds allowed. I should have known better, by now, to expect more than a pack of tents and heavy screens of scouts.
"Your people are sloppy, Boss," Robber said. "Nettles me a bit they caught my boys at all."
The tone had been casual and the words mild, which was a telltale sign he was considering knifing a few drow to even scales the goblin way – which was to say, inflicting twice as many wounds as you'd received and then rubbing dirt in to make sure infection took. I might have taken it as face value, the posturing and the easy cutting lines, if I hadn't seen him raw after losing people right before the beginning of the Battle of Three Hills. For all that Robber liked to put himself up as a goblin's goblin, much like me he'd never quite learned how to make losses stop bruising. Juniper had always disapproved of that. Soldiers died, and it should not be taken lightly or misused but that was the nature of being a soldier. She'd always had the knack for keeping it distant. There were some people who had that in them, I supposed – Hakram did, and once upon a time Ratface had as well. Akua acted as if she belonged among those, but sometimes I did wonder. Is that who you are, or what you trained yourself to be? I didn't turn around to look at him where he sat side-saddle on my horse, all bunched up behind me, but I pitched my voice to be well understood.
"I'm not happy some of ours got killed, Robber," I said. "But there will be none of that. Like it or not, you came in quiet and ran into a watch that acted exactly as a watch should."
"They don't see so well in the day, though," the goblin mildly said.
"About as well as humans," I said, then dipped my tone towards a warning. "And I could warn you they've got entities behind them the sun doesn't blind but I won't have to, will I? Because I gave you an order."
His teeth clicked softly as his mouth shut. He wasn't happy about this – neither was I, even though I knew the fault did not lie on the side of the drow – but he knew better than to push. Legionaries baring blades on drow was the very last thing I needed right now. As Special Tribune, the goblin had the standing to sit in on most war councils: he knew better than most how precarious the situation was for the Army of Callow right now. Juniper had done well, in all fairness. Being stuck between two hostile armies that together made up near the double of your forces was no easy mess to squeak out of, if the enemy generals weren't fools. And they were not, in this case. But her carefully laid plans had failed to account for one of the madmen on the stage, and now a crippling blow was coming. If we didn't move fast enough to prevent it, anyway, which was the opposite of my intention. We'd get there in time even if I had to march the drow until they collapsed. I had absolutely no intention of losing ten thousand legionaries and the general that was the finest vanguard in Callow bar none.
There'd been a time where I would have been more effusive in describing Nauk, but the man under assault to the south wasn't the same one I'd shared meals and fires with. If anything, the occasional similarities made the whole situation more disturbing – they put in relief everything that had changed when the Warlock had 'healed' him. I might not have to stay this way, I thought. Hope was always dangerous, but the thought refused to leave me. Warlock, for all his power and learning, had been a mage. Healing was an academic matter to them, a thing of physicality and measured energies. Most of what Summer's fire had taken from Nauk was not anything the Sovereign of the Red Skies could bring back. I was no mage, and the more I learned the more I realized the endless depths of what I did not know. But these days I had goddesses at my back, and miracles in my hands. What sorcery had failed to return might not be beyond the reach of the Night. Winter had been match for Summer, hadn't it? And Winter had been consumed. But hope was dangerous, and so I had kept my own council.
I rode into the camp at a brisk pace, having barely slowed from the gallop that brought me there, and ignored Robber's malicious cackle at the splashes of muddy snow that drenched warriors too slow in getting out of my way. There was no missing where General Rumena itself would be: at the heart of the camp, within a tall pavilion, twin heartbeats of power whispered to me. The Sisters had known of my coming for some time, though conversation was difficult if we strayed too far from each other. They should have felt the urgency of my purpose, though, and Komena at least had served as a high-ranking officer many years ago. Between her and Rumena, I was not beyond hope that the six sigils whose banners I'd spied had prepared for immediate advance upon my arrival. I reined in Zombie with a thought when we arrived in front of the pavilion, sending a shiver of Night down my bad leg to make leaping down into the snow tolerable. It would ache later, I knew, but what patience I had left was better spent on other matters. Special Tribune Robber followed suit in his freshly-cleaned leathers and mail, shortsword at his side and crossbow at his back. The sapper's bag hanging off his other side was still full, the drow not having bothered to paw at the munitions after making sure there were no maps or papers.
The goblin swaggered at my side as I entered the tent, baring his needle-like teeth at every warrior eyeing him. Well, he wasn't one of the candidates I'd had in mind when I'd considered how to establish friendly ties between Callowan forces and the southern expedition. Maybe I should even consider this a good thing, I mused. The sooner the drow learned that trifling with goblins tended to end up in bear traps and mocking laughter the better, and who could get that point across faster than Robber? The war council awaiting me inside had few familiar faces aside from Rumena's, as it turned out. Mighty Jindrich was the only one I knew even remotely – he'd apparently survived the mess in Great Strycht largely on account of being too angry to die – though names were hardly impossible to know considering their sigils spelled them out. Room had been left at the low table of obsidian and granite for me to join them down on the carpet, but instead of moving to do so I cast a look around. In the shadows of the upper pavilion I caught sight of a pair of crows. Their dark eyes rested on me, but they did not speak either in thoughts or words. The Sisters, it seemed, were currently disinclined to meddle. From the corner of my eye I caught Robber looking exactly where I was, though from the way his gaze swept over the goddesses without slowing I suspected he'd not been allowed to glimpse anything.
"General Rumena," I greeted, leaning on my staff. "Many Mighty. At my side stands Special Tribune Robber, an officer in my service. He will be seated with us for this conversation."
A few of the Mighty seemed displeased, but they stowed that away when my stare moved towards them. There was a reluctant bit of shuffling about until room for two was made. The sole goblin present's amused smirk was a nearly physical thing. He might not speak Crepuscular, but he knew how to read a room.
"Losara Queen, First Under the Night," General Rumena pleasantly greeted me in Crepuscular. "And… company. Please, claim seat at this table."
"Our nice drow friends invited you to sit, Robber," I translated in a mild tone. "And you're going to be nice to them in return, aren't you?"
"I will offer them every diplomatic courtesy you've taught me, Boss," he smoothly agreed.
Well, there had to be at least one or two of those. Right? Not willing to take the plunge of thinking too deep about that, I sat myself down at the table and silently declined an offer of rodleva. While a few of the drow were sipping at polished cups of the brownish, warm mixture I'd never taken to it. That it involved butter made from the milk of a creature that looked cousin to a lizard would have put me off even if the liquid didn't smell like cheese sent to the gallows and left for a week under the sun. Given the finer nose of goblins, no doubt Robber was taking it as torture.
"I won't waste time on idle talk, given the situation," I said. "I've had a fresh report from the Special Tribune including the location of an army in my service that it less than a day's march from here. I assume our scouts have already found it?"
Rumena inclined its head.
"That and more," it replied. "There is a force of horse-riders in the area that has been hunting our warriors."
I frowned. If the Dominion already had cavalry this far behind Nauk's back, his situation was worse than I'd been given to understand.
"Levantines?" I said.
"They do not bear the sigils as drawn by the Mighty Shade," Rumena said.
Akua had used charcoal and skins to draw everything she remembered of Levantine heraldry, which was largely the great bloodlines but still much better than the previous nothing we'd had. I flicked at a glance at Robber, who was currently engaged in a staring contest with a very pleased Mighty Jindrich.
"Special Tribune," I said. "When you left, did the Dominion have cavalry at the army's back?"
The goblin let out a whistling breath.
"No," he said. "But it might not be them, Your Majestic Terribleness. The riders, did they have bows?"
I almost translated for Rumena, until I remembered it spoke Lower Miezan just fine. It nodded when I met its eyes.
"Helike cataphracts," I said. "Shit."
I'd had a conversation with Juniper, once, about which Calernian cavalry was the finest. It'd been the knights of Callow in my eyes, of course, and the Hellhound had conceded that on open field and charging that was the case. She'd noted, though, that there was one other mounted force on the continent that would be able to take my countrymen apart. Helikean kataphractoi were more lightly armoured, as a rule, and unlike Callowan horse rarely used lances. They were, however, exceedingly well-trained in the use of curved bows meant to be used while mounted. There'd been no war between the League and Callow that would see the two forces conflict, and Helike as a city-state certainly couldn't afford to field as many cataphracts as there'd been knights in the heyday of Callowan chivalric orders. But with matched numbers, Juniper had been of the opinion that given room to manoeuvre the Helikean horsemen would be able to slowly whittle away at Callowan heavy horse while taking minimal losses. And considering no other army on Calernia fielded mounted archers, there was no mistaking these for anyone else no matter the banner.
"Let me guess," I sighed. "Less than four thousand overall, no infantry with them?"
"That is so," General Rumena agreed.
Well, there was the rest of the Tyrant's army. I'd suspected it wasn't the full muster back in Rochelant, but I'd expected what remained to stay with the the League's armies. Silly me, not anticipating Kairos would send his city's entire cavalry contingent to stir up the pot as much as physically possible.
"All the more reason to link up with General Nauk's forces," I finally said. "If we want to drive them off on foot, we'll need Callowan crossbow companies."
Come night, it was true, a few packs of Mighty could probably tear through the Tyrant's horsemen. But then somehow I doubted they'd risk that. They'd raid during the day, harass the expedition and retreat before a counterattack could be mounted. The drow didn't have proper companies, after all, they had tribes. Some of those had archers and javelinmen, but getting a cohesive volley fired at the cataphracts would take too long – unless we took all the archers out of their sigils and made companies of them, which would be difficult. Not even a year ago most of these people had been at each other's throats, and they weren't used to taking commands from anyone but their own Mighty. Who'd be quite infuriated at having their warriors taken from their command, besides. I could see it done, of course. I had the Sisters at my back and General Rumena commanded respect from all but the most stubborn. But they weren't trained to fight this way, and I was wary of eroding my goddess-given authority by using it too much. It was one thing to follow a high priestess to war against the contemptible surface peoples after the enterprise was blessed by the Night itself, another to remain all nice and supportive when said high priestess started chipping away at your subordinates. Proof, I supposed, that not even open divine favour was enough to get me out of fucking politics.
I needed the Mighty supportive, if I was to get steer this war to the right kind of ending.
"How soon can we set out?" I asked.
"Seven pridnis," Genera Rumena replied without missing a beat. "Though we number only six thousand, Losara Queen. Fighting under pale light will carry risks."
About two hours, I thought. We still had most of the afternoon until the sun set, but we wouldn't get there today so that wasn't what he meant. Our destination was past the town of Lancevilliers to the south. Even accounting for the second wind the drow would get after nightfall, the lethargy coming with dawn meant we wouldn't be able to both arrive at Nauk's position in Sarcella and be in fighting fit before at least Noon Bell. Unless I used a gate, which would get us there in hours but also light up the destination for anyone looking. I wasn't ready for the Saint and the Pilgrim quite yet – if I drew them to that battle, I might just end up losing more than just the ten thousand under Nauk.
"We'll have to regardless," I said. "I ordered Mighty Breznej to send reinforcements our way before leaving, but we can't afford to wait for them. Send back runner with an order to catch up as fast as they can, with a warning about the Helikeans."
In a silent flutter the crows landed on my shoulders, and there was no further talk after that. Open divine favour, I mused, did have its perks.
We got to Lancevilliers before nightfall, not that it made much of a difference. The town was half-empty and there was no one in there remotely inclined to get in the way of an army. I would have preferred to avoid Proceran eyes entirely, but even a snowed-in road made for a quicker march than the countryside. I left behind a hundred drow led by Mighty Sudone to – gently, I made very clear – interrogate the locals for anything they might now. The southern expedition itself had standing orders not to a lay a hand on anyone but soldiers unless they were attacked, and to refrain from looting. The first one had been a hard sell, though the second surprisingly not. The Firstborn were amusingly skeptical that anything of human make could ever rival the works of their own kind, and centuries of barter economy meant they put little stock in silver and gold. Furniture and furs turned out to be the main temptations: both wood and furred creatures were a rarity underground. I'd leaned on Rumena to allow for supply requests to be lodged with the Mighty when it came to furs, given the weather, but for the furniture I had no sympathy. We weren't going to start dragging around nice Alamans bureaux anytime soon, no matter how nice they looked in tents. I'd also laid down a rule against rape, though that'd mostly been a formality. Drow hardly even slept with their own kind, sexual interest in humans was nonexistent.
Ivah had once informed me that its kind considered the most visible characteristics associated with men and women – beards, breasts – to be somewhat vulgar. It had said that in a tone implying it was paying me a compliment, which when I'd grasped why had achieved something of the opposite effect. Sadly, Archer had yet to tire of talking about it.
Our pace significantly quickened after dusk, even dzulu moving at a pace Robber found impressive. Well he'd compared them to goblins, anyway, which in his eyes probably counted as a compliment. Not many non-goblins would agree, I suspected. Mighty Sudone and its hundred caught up a few hours in, bearing wild rumours but nothing of any real use. I used our time to brief General Rumena and its cadre of sigil-holders on the military happenings of the last few months in Iserre as related to me by Robber. How the Army of Callow had ended up stuck between two hosts of forty thousand Levantines I covered only the broad strokes of, focusing on their current inability to gate out. What had followed was, in essence, my marshal trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the enemy commanders and partially succeeding. The Dominion had moved to crush Juniper, the army to the north throwing a delaying force in the way of Grem's legions before sending the rest of its number after her own forty thousand legionaries. The southern Levantines had not bothered with such subtlety, marching in full battle array towards the Army of Callow. The idea was, by the looks of it, to end the Callowan army before turning against the other forces in the principality: Grem and the League. The Hellhound wasn't that easy to end, though. She'd decisively marched south and forced a minor battle against the lower Levantine army before she could be stuck in a pincer.
Reluctant to risk an all-out battle before the northern reinforcement arrived and their numbers grew overwhelming, the southern Levantines had given ground after the day's battle. My soldiers did have something of a reputation, when it came to facing rough odds – and the Levantines had not boasted that. Juniper had then split the Army of Callow into four columns of ten thousand and fled under cover of night. Two columns had gone eastwards, to slip around the northern Levantines, while the remaining two had gone westwards and made sure they were loud about it. One of those columns was under General Nauk, the other General Bagram. The latter had taken a moment to place – he was an orc, once General Istrid's second-in-command. Until recently he'd been tasked with holding Summerholm, but evidently he was moving up in the world. Nauk had been tasked with baiting the southern Levantines into following him, while General Bagram was to serve as reserve and guard his back in case the northern army wanted to try assaulting the western columns. It was classic Juniper, I thought when Robber first told me about it. Depending on enemy action, she could redeploy and put the hurt to them however she wanted.
If the northern Levantines went after the Hellhound's two columns, she only had to keep them marching until Grem's force could hit them in the back and the pincer manoeuvre became Callow's. If they continued marching to join up with their southern comrades, the four columns would escape the noose and join up with Grem's host. If the southern Levantines went after Nauk and Bagram, they'd be led in a merry chase until Juniper and Grem came down south together to relieve the western columns. If they marched east or north, instead, once again the four columns escaped disaster and linked up in northern Iserre. It'd seemed to work, at first. The last Robber had heard of the eastern columns, they had the northern Levantines after them. The problem had come when Nauk's column was hit from the back even as the southern Levantines came after them. Helikean cavalry had ambushed his rearguard, slowing his advance just long enough for the Levantines to gain grounds and begin their own cavalry raids. Messages from General Bagram had ceased, presumably because cataphracts were killing the messengers, anf his column had never come to reinforce Nauk's. What followed was a ragged retreat, eventually tumbling into the minor city of Sarcella which fell to the column without a fight.
Sarcella had no walls, most its people had fled because of the roving armies in the region and the city garrison had apparently 'retreated towards a more defensible position' the moment they saw an enemy host approaching. Knowing he was in a bad position, Nauk had raised field fortifications in Sarcella and held the grounds against a probing attack by a Levantine vanguard of around sixteen thousand – which didn't want to commit to more before the full forty thousand were there. He'd planned to start the retreat once more after forcing an opening, but rumours of a large force marching towards his back had forced him to delay and send scouts lest he blunder into a battle he could not win. Said force was my drow, which was biting irony. Taking reinforcements for foes might very well see a quarter of the Army of Callow slain in the heartlands of Procer.
There were still things unaccounted for. No one knew where the Hells the column under General Bagram was. I doubted even Helike cataphracts could tie down two forces over twice their size, but the Tyrant might have more tricks up his sleeve. I'd been inclined to think that between reports of my drow army – an unknown – and the kataphractoi it might just be that General Bagram had written off Nauk's column as done for and begun full retreat, but Robber had given me the first bit of good news in a while when explaining why that was unlikely. Adjutant was with the column, nominally as an observer but in fact because he was keeping an eye on the two western columns. Tyrant or not, I'd put my faith in Hakram coming through. If he wasn't backing up Nauk there was a good reason for it. That, or he was on his way already. Gods, let it be the second. Even assuming Nauk's forces hadn't been mauled too badly holding Sarcella against a second assault, I was only bringing six thousand drow as reinforcements. And one goblin, I supposed. None of us could be sure whether or not the entire Dominion force of forty thousand had arrived yet, or if it was still only the vanguard, but if it had… Well, under the light of day the Firstborn were disorganized light infantry with poor armour and disparate weaponry. Six thousand of those in addition to what remained of Nauk's army might not be enough to see us through to the night and the accompanying swing of the balance.
Dawn cost us four hours, to my seething impatience, but I used the time to nap and get my hands on a decent steel longsword. I'd fed my sword-within-the-staff throughout the night, but I had no intention of using it yet. I could wield it as a staff, but polearms were hardly my specialty and I was a lot more fragile than I used to be. Best to put the odds on my side in every way. We moved out the moment it was physically possible to, and by Morning Bell we could see Sarcella.
It was hard to miss it, what with the way it was on fire.
Chapter 10: Capture
Chapter 12: Relief
46 thoughts on "Chapter 11: Forced March"
Hey so this is completely unrelated to the current chapter, but does anyone know what "Miezan" means? Nearly every significant name in this verse has a significant meaning, but I can't find one for Miezan.
The Miezans were not!romans who sailed from another continent and enslaved a good portion of Calerina. Lower Miezan is the primary language of callow and one of the ones Praes uses. The Miezans enslaved all of Praes and brought over Ogres and superior magic.
I think the question was more about the real world origin/source of the name "Miezan".
And for that, I've got nothing.
Given that the sappers of the Malazan Empire were an inspiration for the integration of goblin munitions into the Praes and Callowan armies. I wouldn't be surprised if the "Miezan" were a bit of a nod towards Malazan Book of the Fallen.
It might be a reference to Mieza [1], where Aristotle taught Alexander the Great.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mieza,_Macedonia
"Aristotle taught Alexander the Great."
holy shit, what?
That's a pretty famous bit of history. The king of Macedonia had Aristotle teach young Alexander (who was around 13 at the time) in exchange for rebuilding Aristotle's hometown, until he was 16. It's also said that Aristotle was a big influence on Alexander's future conquering campaigns.
Alexander the Great was awesome in every aspect of his life, apparently XD
Drock
well not at ruling or building a lasting empire
Bhale
Except ruling as far as I recall. He was on a roll for some time, conquering western Asia, but when he was finally defeated by India with its elephants, he fell to drinking, gambling and whoring around (both genders).
When he died, his entire empire was divided among his subordinates who actually ruled the empire, although in regions.
Which reminds me, when are there gonna be elephant riders in PGtE??
Ehmm… Not really, He didn't lose in India, his own army mutinied because they were tired of the long years of campaign and because he was adopting too many of the Persian customs.
They demanded and convinced him to return to Macedon after a series of victories in India, where he even founded 2 cities (Bucephalus and Nicaea), Alexander died on the way back, after a series of fights and another mutiny turmoil within his own armies.
The account of Alexander spending his lastdays drinking and fucking is said to be because the death of his best friend (who some modern people think was his possible lover) who fell ill likely to poison and died a few days before Alexander's own poisoning.
Elephants riders are in another continent, I bet, likely used by Indrani's people XD
Kairos is seriously full of hax and bullshit.
And what the heck is he even after that he's pissing off everybody?
This bodes poorly.
crysjal
The fact we don't know means it'll be something impressive.
ByVectron!
I thought that Cat and Kairos were pretending to be friendly? Wouldn't she be able to reach out and ask, "Hey, would you mind NOT chasing my Callowan army for a bit?"
theothin
No, see, they have a secret alliance so they have to pretend to NOT be friendly. So this is obviously necessary to sell the ruse.
Taltos Dreamer
I am certain The Tyrant would listen studiously. He would explain this grave error will be rectified immediately! Tgen double the troops chasing her army.
Twigsssss
Like Black, the tyrant wants to fight the gods and the enslavement caused by the stories. But unlike black, who fights the gods with logic and meticulous plans, the tyrant fights with chaos.
We've already seen him do things that appear to be crazy but actually totally make sense if you understand how the shape of stories affect this world. For example the first step of a villains plan always works so he repeatedly would start a new plan, do the first step, and then abandon it for yet another plan.
And recently we just found out one of his major objectives is to defeat the bard. I think for this particular goal he and Cat really are in alignment.
Yay the berserker guy lived too!
Also, Ivah calling Cat flat as a compliment is incredibly amusing to me.
She's gonna be blamed for the "Burning of Sarcella" as per the usual.
Yup. After all, it's quite solidly tangentially related. Ish. 😛
Place your bets ladies and gentlemen, what color will the flames become once Cat starts fighting?
1:6 Stay the same
1:3 Black
2:1 Green
I personally expect Green with flashes of White and Black.
HardcoreHeathen
Do you understand the importance of this?
Hanno can't defeat her. He serves the Choir of Justice, and Justice will never allow it, because…
FLAT IS JUSTICE
She is not a Loli, she can't lay claim to that power!
I really want Cat to slam open the metaphorical door and tell them: Guess who's back, b****es!
Followed by slapping the enemies with Night bullshittery so hard they don't know right from left anymore.
The whole informative chapters were pretty cool, dotted with the occasional bit of banter and sarcasm… And also important, showing progress and setting the mood for the current situation… but I do miss the good old days of reckless battles against all odds and the badass moves.
It's daytime, so while she does have access to Night, not nearly as much and thus she's unlikely to lead with a massive AoE attack.
I know that. I just said I want her to, not that it's likely.
She also does not have as much power to throw around like she had back with winter. So it's not gonna happen anyways.
Doesn't change the fact that I would love seeing that.
I'm not sure insofar as absolute limits go, but on average I would think she should be able to call down more power now that she has Sve Noc to filter the principle alienation.
I think it's less about the alienation than the thing that she's human again. Using that much power takes a toll on her, so she isn't able to utilize as much power as back when she was some sort of winter construct.
It was even mentioned that it now cost her something to call on the power of Night. Meaning she can't use it as reckless anymore and has to think carefully about how to spend her ressources.
I think that's also why Akua is supposed to make her "a well" to draw from in which her mighty pour their Night. It will increase Cat's power without her spending all herself. Only a guess though.
I'm not sure how it compares to alienation though. I think Cat can use more now than she could back before she had Akua (and later also the drow) drawing principle alienation away from her.
No discussions on what is blocking their scrying? Sve Noc must have some idea
I guess the rescue mission is more important right now, since at the moment there's not much they can do about the block, even if they knew who the culprit was. And when they're going to act, more people for the cause is always better than less.
Obviously the heroes or a choir, I put my money on the Grey Pilgrim.
I suspect it's Masego himself…seething with rage and dealing with a glimpse of the true nature of Below. Also possibly either infected with or the source of the "magic plague" we heard about affecting those who were there.
I mean Masego is nowhere close so it makes no sense he be blocking Scrying in Procer when he is still running through Praes.
I dislike the phrase "makes no sense" because it usually means you just didnt see it from a particular direction…
It said "something is using the sky." That sounds like heavy duty scrying to me. The kind of thing Masego could likely do…use the observatory at a distance.
Which would probably do weird things, like affecting the scrying ability of those he is watching and make the observatory scrying pools, idk, evaporate?
The Night is dark and full of terrors
Not_a_robot
"largely on account of being too angry to die"
So Mighty Jindrich is Doomguy confirmés, right?
Not really related to the chapter, but it occurred to me that I'd like to know more about Theodosius the Unconquered. He seems to be an awesome character.
Who else thinks the city on fire will end up being compared to Nauk learning from her? For that matter maybe it has something to do with him thinking "now what would Cat do?" xD
It's just occurred to me that the Drow… aren't nearly as scary as they seem on paper, on their own. They're basically an army of Named, with their leaders being high-tier Named level, but only at night. During the day, they're rather unimpressive, and their lethargy at dawn is an enormous weakness. Any commander worth their salt who knows this about the Drow (and it's easy to figure it out) will only engage during the day, and when it is day, they'll press as hard as they can (like right at Dawn, for example).
That said, when supported by not-Drow, their biggest weaknesses become not quite as big.
And it only occurred to you now?…
Viconr
Missed k in last word in
"I left behind a hundred drow led by Mighty Sudone to – gently, I made very clear – interrogate the locals for anything they might now. "
I love Ciaphas Cain, so I'm happy to keep seeing more of Abigail.
I wonder if we'll get to see a scene of her and Cat interacting in a non-professional manner. I don't really feel like Cat has made any new non-Named friends since the War College.
Woops; this was supposed to be on the other chapter.
Screwfloss
Why is she feeding her sword-within-the-staff? What was she feeding it? Is it an animal? Has it been mentioned before?
I remember the staff, just not her feeding it. There are so many typos in this story that it's impossible to guess whether the author really meant to say "fed" or whether it was a typo for something else.
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Those damn candles could get me into trouble. I want to try one!
I really like mine a lot, Melissa! They're huge, a lot bigger than I even expected. And waiting for that ring to appear is like Christmas Eve when you were a kid, ha ha.


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Capsize in India floods kills 20
Filed under: Latest — Tags: alive, Bihar, Bimlesh Yadav, boat capsized, boats, capital, eating, floods, food, helicopters, Indian, Indian soldiers, Kosi, Kosi river, Madhepura, national, ndian state of Bihar, Nepal, north-east of Bihar', ON Bhaskar, Patna, people, police, rain, remote villages, Rice, river, roofs, shortage, soldiers, stranded without food or water, uncooked rice, villagers, water — expressyoureself @ 11:44 am
Many people say they have lost everything in the flooding
At least 20 people have been killed after a boat capsized while carrying dozens of refugees from flooding in the Indian state of Bihar, say police.
More than 70 people have now died in the floods and hundreds of thousands are stranded without food or water.
Indian soldiers are using boats and helicopters to reach several hundred remote villages.
The flooding occurred as water flowing from Nepal caused the Kosi river to breach its banks and change course.
More rain is expected in the next two days so authorities are moving as swiftly as they can to evacuate villages before the waters rise again.
The continuing bad weather is hampering efforts to get aid to about 2.5 million people who have been displaced.
'National calamity'
Our correspondent says many of those stranded in remote villages are sitting on the roofs of their submerged homes.
There is an acute shortage of food and some people are eating uncooked rice and drinking stagnant water to stay alive.
Tens of thousands of people have crowded into temporary relief camps.
The boat incident took place on Friday in the worst-affected district, Madhepura, 150km (95 miles) north-east of Bihar's capital, Patna.
Police said 40 people were saved.
ON Bhaskar, superintendent of police, told the Associated Press news agency: "The boat was overcrowded because people panicked to be rescued and clambered on board."
Angry villagers in Madhepura said they had no idea where to take shelter and complained they had received no food or aid.
"We have lost everything," said Bimlesh Yadav, escaping with his family to a nearby town.
Philippine displaced begin return
Filed under: Latest — Tags: assault, autonomous, autonomous zone, begin, blocked, Bomb, bus, Christian, Christian communities, communities, Cotabato, court, defused, displaced, food, French, Julieto Ando, Kidapawan, Lt-Col Julieto Ando, MILF, Moro, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Muslim, North Cotabato, occupied, Operations, people, personnel, Philippine, province, rebels, return, security, separatist, soldiers, southern, station, Stephen Anderson, Supreme Court, troops, villagers, violence, WFP, World Food Programme, zone — expressyoureself @ 9:31 am
Tens of thousands of families were forced to leave their homes
Troops defused a bomb at a bus station in the southern Philippines, as people displaced by fighting between troops and Muslim rebels began to return home.
About 160,000 villagers fled violence which began in early August, after a deal expanding a Muslim autonomous zone was blocked.
Separatist rebels then occupied several villages in North Cotabato province, triggering a military assault.
Operations ended a day ago, and troops are encouraging families to return.
"We expect a considerable number of people to return home today. Since late Wednesday they were slowly going back, we are assuring them of their safety," an army spokesman, Lt-Col Julieto Ando, was quoted as saying.
But many people still feared for the lives and were reluctant to return, aid agencies said.
Early on Thursday, security personnel defused a bomb planted at a bus station at Kidapawan town in the center of the province.
A military spokesman said it was probably a retaliatory measure by the retreating rebels.
'Tainted relationship'
The violence began when a deal that would have expanded an existing Muslim autonomous zone in the south fell apart.
The agreement had angered many Christian communities, who appealed to the Supreme Court to block it pending further hearings.
Several hundred guerrillas from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) then occupied 15 villages in North Cotabato – next to the autonomous zone.
The action triggered military air strikes and artillery assaults. At least two soldiers and more than two dozen rebels were killed.
Some of the tens of thousands of families who fled the fighting are now beginning to make their way back.
"The security situation has improved but it will probably take a bit of time before people feel secure enough to return home en masse," Stephen Anderson, country director for the World Food Programme (WFP), told Reuters news agency.
"We have to be looking ahead to people having to potentially rebuild their lives – a lot of houses, villages have been destroyed."
One local resident, whose house was looted, told the French news agency AFP that ties between Muslim and Christian communities would have to be rebuilt.
"The relationship has been tainted but our brother Muslims agreed we can rebuild it for the sake of our children."
MILF rebels have been fighting for greater autonomy in the southern Philippines for almost four decades.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
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The Famous Champagne Houses Take On Sustainable Agricultural For The New Year The house of Louis Roederer, known for Cristal champagne, has been in business since 1776, and would argue yes. In fact, that glass of bubbly could be part of the broader challenge with climate change and farming. Led by the seventh generation Frédéric Rouzaud, they're bringing organic and biodynamic Champagne to the forefront by releasing their first organic and biodynamic Champagne, the 2012 vintage of Cristal, in the coming year, 2020. (Monday January 6th, 2020 — Forbes - USA)
Bio Agriculture 0
Why China's biodynamic wines are gaining a cult following at home and are loved by connoisseurs from Europe and Japan Sustainable farming practices that use natural materials, soils and composts are taking root in the Ningxia region, thanks to the arrival of European and Western-educated Chinese winemakers (Friday January 3rd, 2020 — South China Morning Post )
Baby Black Rhino Born at Michigan Zoo on Christmas Eve The birth of the yet-to-be-named male calf marks a milestone for conservationists trying to save the critically endangered species (Friday December 27th, 2019 — Smithsonian Magazine online - USA)
Camphill Community Mourne Grange gives old tools new life The Camphill Community Mourne Grange in Kilkeel is a community where people with special needs work and live together. They have been working away collecting tools to repurpose and send to tradespeople in Africa. Refurbishing tools and sewing machines gives the residents at Mourne Grange a chance to learn new skills. (Wednesday December 25th, 2019 — BBC News - Ireland)
Waldorf Academy Toronto Launches New Report: How Arts Education Can Improve Children's Education The renowned Ontario based Waldorf Academy Toronto recently published a report discussing the importance of arts education, and the positive impact it can have on young children. The private school, which has been providing children with a superior education for over 30 years, is now working to raise awareness of a subject that is thought to improve different aspects of a child's education. The Academy states that, whether it is painting, math, or science, all subjects should be treated equally. (Thursday December 19th, 2019 — StreetInsider.com - Canada)
Quoting 'The Lorax,' Court Pulls Permit For Pipeline Crossing Appalachian Trail In a decision filed Thursday by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., a three-judge panel declared the U.S. Forest Service "abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources" when it issued permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to build through parts of the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests and a right of way across the Appalachian Trail. ... The judges cited Dr. Seuss' The Lorax: "We trust the United States Forest Service to 'speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.'" (Saturday December 14th, 2019 — NPR - National Public Radio USA)
Students sew backpacks, fill them with donations for local nonprofit As part of their applied art curriculum, eighth graders at Tamarack Waldorf School on Milwaukee's east side learned how to use a sewing machine to make backpacks, and then filled those backpacks with donated items. The school partnered with Pathfinders, a local group that supports young people in crisis, including some who experience homelessness. (Friday December 13th, 2019 — WDJT Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA)
Helios Center brings light and color to therapy Participants will spend time in contemplation and meditation viewing, by candlelight, 15 images of Madonna and Child. Thirteen of the 15 images were created by Italian painter Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520). The adoption of Raphael's Madonna images as part of a healing therapy came after a meeting between philosopher Dr. Rudolf Steiner and a physician, Dr. Felix Peipers. Peipers arranged Raphael's Madonna images in a sequence that formed a five-pointed star, or pentagram. (Wednesday December 11th, 2019 — The Sopris Sun - Carbondale, Colorado USA)
Plastic pollution: Grass 'could be used for packaging' Bangor University researchers are working with leftover farming materials to create trays for fresh fruit, vegetables and eggs. They say the research could also provide an extra source of income for farmers in African countries such as Uganda. Plant fibres are being mashed up and pressed into shallow trays similar to plastic ones already in use in supermarkets. (Wednesday November 13th, 2019 — BBC online - UK)
Historic 3,000-year-old olive tree still producing olives to this day The Olive Tree of Vouves, located in Ano Vouves on the island of Crete in Greece, is over 3,000 years old and shows no signs of heading into retirement anytime soon. The ancient plant still produces olives. And yes, you can get olive oil made from the fruit of this tree. (Monday July 29th, 2019 — Daily Good)
Are We Handling The Bee Crisis All Wrong? As scientists like Ricketts and Nicholson are discovering how incredibly valuable wild pollinators are to our food supply, we are also seeing early signs of a worldwide collapse in pollinator numbers, and industrial agriculture — including commercial beekeeping — is largely to blame. There's a desperate need for alternative models that work with wild bees .... (Wednesday July 24th, 2019 — Huffpost)
The Hydroponic Threat to Organic Food ... the absence of pesticides in a successful organic system is the result of how we farm, not the definition of it. The organic movement has long believed that food grown in a healthy soil is the foundation of human health. ... The inclusion of hydroponics in organic certification is thus not an example of innovation and improvement. It is an example of conquest and colonization. It is simply a hostile takeover of organic by economic forces. (Monday June 24th, 2019 — independentsciencenews.org)
Bio Agriculture 1288
Wine Labels Are Confusing -- We Asked an Expert to Clear Things Up Biodynamic wines are those made from grapes that have been biodynamically-harvested. Biodynamic farming is very similar to organic farming, but with very specific methods and preparations to foster soil health. Like organic wines, choosing a biodynamic wine really comes down to personal philosophy. Although, biodynamic wines may be more expensive. (Friday May 17th, 2019 — Real Simple - New York, New York USA)
Bio Agriculture 900
Giant Basking Sharks Return to California Waters Basking sharks are being spotted off the coast of Southern California in numbers not seen for decades. ... A hundred years ago, basking sharks were a frequent sight in California's oceans, but around 1960 they all but disappeared. (Thursday May 16th, 2019 — Care2.com - USA)
Yquem to convert to biodynamics The owner of Château d'Yquem, Bernard Arnault, announced this week that the benchmark Sauternes property was to undergo conversion to biodynamic viticulture and St Emilion property Cheval Blanc may follow suit. (Wednesday May 15th, 2019 — The Drinks Business )
Hilma af Klint: The Tantric artist in Sweden A recent exhibition of the works of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim Museum in New York is re-calibrating the ladders of abstract expressionism in the art world. (Saturday May 11th, 2019 — The Hindu )
Life on the 'Biggest Little Farm': behind the scenes of a biodynamic blockbuster Few people would want to document one of the most stressful and humbling periods of their life, but over the last eight years, Chester and a crew of interns and professional movie makers, captured the journey in gorgeous, unflinching detail in "The Biggest Little Farm," the award-winning documentary opening in theaters May 10. (Friday May 10th, 2019 — Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, California USA)
Bio Agriculture 26
Britain sets record of 7 days without coal power as renewables surge Coal power's share of British electricity generation has been dropping sharply in recent years — from nearly 40% in 2012 to a mere 5% last year. Two years ago, the country committed to stop generating electricity with coal entirely by 2025. (Wednesday May 8th, 2019 — Think Progress - USA)
California 's Latest Weapon Against Climate Change Is Low-Tech Farm Soil California's Healthy Soils initiative is now in its third year, and it's designed to be part of the state's climate strategy. A state report finds that farms and forests could absorb as much as 20 percent of California's current level of emissions. "I think there's great potential for agriculture to play a really important role" in reaching the state's climate goals, says Kate Scow, professor of soil microbial ecology at the University of California, Davis. (Thursday May 2nd, 2019 — NPR.org - USA)
Couple Spends 20 Years Planting an Entire Forest and Animals Have Returned Over the next several years, the Salgados and the Instituto Terra team slowly but surely rebuilt the 1,754-acre forest, transforming it from a barren plot of land to a tropical paradise. (Tuesday April 23rd, 2019 — mymodernmet.com )
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When you were just starting your business, you thought that it would be easy. Phase 1 collect ideas about what customers are looking for. Phase 2 come up with a solution to their problems. Phase three profits. In a perfect world, this would work flawlessly. However, a lot has changed in terms of customer dynamics. Now people buy products from a certain business because they trust their name. They want to be sure of the business's credibility and more than anything else they look at the business's brand image.
Think about any top brands you know. Google, Samsung, Amazon, McDonald's and Coca Cola. All these are larger than life businesses that have a respectable reputation in their own respects. And not only that but you could in the very literal sense tell them apart from other brands even from a distance. And this is not just because they have been in business for years but because they have established a brand image that their customers identify with and trust.
I'll tell you what though. There is no black and white to how these businesses did it. Some would say they had a lucky streak but it was really a whole phenomenon. From outworking everybody else to basically just establishing and building up their brand image.
Now, I'll be the first to admit that establishing your brand image isn't exactly a walk in the park. However, the good news is that there is help to be had. And in this article, I'll walk you through how you can establish your brand image with graphic design.
One of the best ways to leave a lasting imprint of your brand is to create a logo. Even though they are often just small images, logos carry a lot of meaning. Not to mention they are also the most recognizable representation of the business.
I mean think about it. Think of any top brand you know. Be it Coca Cola, McDonald's or Apple you can right off the bat tell the company just from looking at the logo. And so even if it's not written by its full name, you know exactly what company is being represented. So it is important to ensure that you create a unique and striking logo that best represents what your business is all about.
I don't think I have to tell you how important it is to ensure that your logo is memorable and quickly recognizable. The customer should be able to right off the bat get what the logo is trying to represent within the shortest time possible.
How does the saying go again? Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication or something? Well, your logo also has to be simple and clean to make it more recognizable and understandable. You don't want it to be too busy or too confusing because then no one will want anything to do with it.
Lastly, your logo has to be timeless. Although it's fairly easy to come up with another logo with time, you'll save yourself a lot of hustle if you create a logo that is in itself timeless. It needs to make sense not just now but 10, 20, 30, 50 down the line.
Colors have a lot to do with establishing a successful brand image. With a few simple color tweaks, you can make your brand image a lot more persuasive and completely change people's perspective about your brand. In fact according to Kissmetrics, color augments brand recognition by 80%.
However, deciding on the right colors can be a monumental task. Especially because there are dozens of colors to choose from. Each of which evokes different emotions. That being said, for you to determine which colors work best, you need to understand the psychology of color.
Think about the last time you bought an attire. How did you decide on the attire you ended up buying? My guess is as good as yours. The color pallets had a lot to do with your decision. In fact, according to Quicksprout, color is 85% of the reason why you purchased a specific product. Better yet, you choose a specific attire from a bunch of different colored attires depending on your color preferences.
However, I'll be the first to admit that it's easier said than done. The truth is color is a tricky thing. Think of it this way. Different colors evoke different feelings in different people. What this means is that while some people might like the colors you've used, others might not exactly be in love with them.
So, for instance, women will be more attracted to colors like gray, blue, green, orange and purple while men will prefer green, blue and black. Apart from gender preferences, different colors are associated with different things.
Allow me to explain. A lot of people like blue. And this is not just because it's a chill color but also because it cultivates users trust. Yellow, on the other hand, is associated with warnings. Think wet floor signs and traffic signals. While green, on the other hand, is associated with the environment. And lastly, there's black. The darker tone in the black color more than just adding a sense of luxury also exudes elegance and sophistication. However, black also depicts death so it's imperative to do proper due diligence when choosing your colors.
Though often underestimated, typography is the bread and butter of graphic design and to extension establishing an effective brand image. It is after all the first thing that people see when they look at your brand – and you know what they say about first impressions. And just like color, it is crucial to choose the right typography for your brand image. People scan through the brand information and unconsciously judge the credibility of your brand by looking at how the text looks as well as the size of the letters. And all that in a matter of seconds. So you will want to ensure you have a typographically well-formatted design that is easy for the reader to comprehend.
It's the look and feel of the brand that either wheels customers towards your brand or drives them away. So it should come as no surprise that I included visual elements in this list. And I am not just talking about the logo design. On the contrary. I am talking about personalizing the brand image and representing it in a symbolic way to establish a connection between you and the customer.
So, for instance when you think of KFC the visual element that comes to mind is Kentucky chicken. Because they use it as a visual element to tell people that they sell Kentucky Fried Chicken. However, on the off chance that you don't want to use a literal visual element, you can use typography to speak for your brand. Instead of using just the normal fonts you can create custom fonts that are unique to just you. That way, when people see the typography, they immediately think of your business.
Another important factor you want to consider when establishing your brand is the use of shapes. Shapes like colors are a huge part of forming our perspectives. Think of the cross sign. What comes to mind when you come across the sign? In most occasions, of course, you think of first aid. In the same vein, an octagonal shape on the road denotes stop. So obviously when you come across that shape you immediately stop.
You might not realize it but shapes just like colors leave a lasting imprint on us and can be just as influential in forming perspectives. In fact, you'd be surprised at just how impactful they really are. Therefore, adding a few tweaks to the brand's shape can dramatically improve the recognition of your brand.
However, just as with colors, you will need to do your own due diligence to determine the kind of responses that different shapes evoke. All it takes is having an understanding of what different shapes mean to different people to help you tweak your shapes to communicate the right information.
And there you have it, folks! A comprehensive blog post on how to establish your brand image with graphic design. Of course, there's a bazillion of other ways to establish your brand image and brand identity, but these are the most important yet. Be sure to leverage different colors and well formatted typographic elements to establish a more successful brand identity. Also, ensure that you incorporate visual elements that connect with the customers for better chances of success.
As always I hope that this information has been helpful. And always, always, always do your own due diligence so as to find out what works best for you.
← What Makes Your Graphic Designs Incredibly Attractive?
Good information for banding a startup business.Thanks for your info.
Nowadays typography is really important. For example in this site used serif font, its good for users are able to read quick and scanable.


text:
module StrongPasswords
  def self.included(base)
    base.extend StrongPasswords::ClassMethods
  end

  VALID_SYMBOLS = '!@#$%^&*()[]{}?+|"\'\\/.,:;'

  module ClassMethods
    PASSWORD_TESTS = [
      /[#{Regexp.escape(VALID_SYMBOLS)}]/, # Give them a point for each symbol they use
      /\d+/,                               # Give them a point for using numbers
      /[a-zA-Z]+/,                         # Give them a point for using letters
      /[a-z].*?[A-Z]|[A-Z].*[a-z]/,        # Give them a point for every upper-to-lower or lower-to-upper
      /.{10}/                              # Give them an extra point every 10 characters
    ]

    # Validates an attribute as a strong password.
    #
    #   class User < ActiveRecord::Base
    #     validates_strength_of :password, :allow_blank => true
    #   end
    #
    # Any options for validates_length_of and validates_format_of
    # will be passed along to the other validations.
    def validates_strength_of(*attrs)
      options = attrs.extract_options!.symbolize_keys
      attrs   = attrs.flatten

      minimum_score = options.delete(:score) || 3

      attrs.each do |attr|
        define_method("#{attr}_strength") do
          self.class.strong_password_score(self[attr])
        end
      end

      validates_each(attrs, options) do |record, attr, value|
        if strong_password_score(value) < minimum_score
          record.errors.add(attr, "must include at least #{minimum_score} symbols, numbers, or upper-case letters")
        end
      end
    end

    def strong_password_score(value)
      score = PASSWORD_TESTS.sum do |regexp|
        value.to_s.scan(regexp).length
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Our elected master
Letters to the EditorBy Editor September 26, 2014 Leave a comment
Dear Editor – Please publish the following poem: In the pigsty,squealing starving piglet are quietened by dinner residuesand decomposed leftovers, despised and cast off by the elated master. In the village, yearning needy voters are silencedby Waku-brand chainsaws and solar-panel replicasdespised and cast off by the elected master. In the pigsty a pricy sowis let…
Politics and politicking
Dear Editor – On the outset, let me try and define what politics is. The definition is somewhat simple that it is often loosely used or applied. And when it is watered down in its usage and application it is often called politicking. But first, politics is about winning and using of power to govern…
Help for charity groups
Dear Editor – High Court judge, His Honour, Justice Pallaras QC has recently expressed his serious concerns over domestic violence in the Solomon Islands and the plight of so many women and young girls suffering violence and human rights abuse, especially, he said, as the Solomon Islands is a signatory to the United Nations Convention…
Former MPs face arrest
News - NationalBy Editor September 26, 2014 Leave a comment
AS many as 26 former Members of Parliament (MP) in the last House are under active police investigation, with the arrest of two being imminent, sources close to the police investigation have revealed. They say this is part a clean-up campaign being waged by new Police Commissioner, Frank Prendergast, who declared upon taking up office…
Nauru officers in final phase of training
SIX Nauru police officers who have undergone a public order management (POM) training program at the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) academy are into their final part of their training after successfully completed the theory part of the training on Wednesday. Police chief Frank Prendergast said RSIPF is privileged to host the Nauruans and…
New fire station on the pipeline
A PLAN is now under consideration to build a fire station within the Honiara city. Police Commissioner Frank Prendergast revealed this while answering a question by the Solomon Star. Mr Prendergast said the RSIPF is looking to improve the fire brigade and build a new fire station. "We are looking at improving the fire brigade…
Officer sideline over accident
The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) has disciplined one of its PRT officers following a traffic accident at Kukum and Kaibia heights in Honiara over the weekend. Police have conducted an investigation into the matter and had sideline the officer involved on interdiction measures. Police investigation continues. – Police Media
Police convoy attacked
TWO Guadalcanal provincial police vehicles have been badly damaged after they were attacked at Tetere over the weekend. The vehicles were stoned at the crime scene when police attended a robbery incident. Police Commissioner Frank Prendergast confirmed the incident saying it was an unwanted community behaviour which he calls on the communities around the area…
Six parties process application
The Solomon Islands Political Parties Commission (SIPPC) has so far processed applications for registration from six political parties. And the Commission's Registrar, Calvin Ziru said three other political parties have submitted their applications for registration which are being processed. While the Commission has released the names of the political parties whose applications for registration have…
Rural Advancement Party registers
The Political Parties Commission (PPC) says the Rural Advancement Party led by Caretaker Prime Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo is registering to contest the upcoming 2014 National Elections. The Commission's Registrar, Calvin Ziru clarified this yesterday after he released the names of six political parties whose applications for registration are being processed. He said RAP has…
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·         The student(s) must be the 'first author'.
findings, or research projects done at the academic institution.
supervision of an advisor or a faculty member.
appear as co-author on the paper.
Tokyo, Japan between May 24-26, 2018.
*Winners: *1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will receive award certificates.
and research are of interest, including (but not limited to) the ones below.


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Bets On
Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks
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Submitting a Book for Review
John Leland
John Leland is a reporter at The New York Times, where he wrote a yearlong series that became the basis for HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE YOU MAKE, and the author of two previous books: HIP: The History and WHY KEROUAC MATTERS: The Lessons of "On the Road" (They're Not What You Think). Before joining the Times, he was a senior editor at Newsweek, editor in chief of Details, a reporter at Newsday, and a writer and editor at Spin magazine.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnleland
Books by John Leland
Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons from a Year Among the Oldest Old
by John Leland - Nonfiction, Psychology, Self-Help
In 2015, when the award-winning journalist John Leland set out on behalf of The New York Times to meet members of America's fastest-growing age group, he anticipated learning of challenges, of loneliness, and of the deterioration of body, mind and quality of life. But the elders he met took him in an entirely different direction. Despite disparate backgrounds and circumstances, they each lived with a surprising lightness and contentment. The reality Leland encountered upended contemporary notions of aging, revealing the late stages of life as unexpectedly rich and the elderly as incomparably wise. HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE YOU MAKE is an enduring collection of lessons that emphasizes, above all, the extraordinary influence we wield over the quality of our lives.
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The Tata-SIA joint venture said that the new service will be operated twice a week on Saturdays and Sundays.
Vistara Airlines currently flies to 19 domestic destinations with over 500 flights a week and has a fleet of 13 Airbus A320 aircraft.
NEW DELHI: Full service carrier Vistara today started operating a non-stop flight to Leh from here.
The airline in a release also said that the new flight will become a daily service from May 10 to cater to peak summer demand.
"With convenient same-terminal connections between domestic and international flights at Delhi Airport's T3, our new flights will open up Leh to more foreign visitors as well," Vistara CEO, Phee Teik Yeoh said.
The Delhi-based airline currently flies to 19 domestic destinations with over 500 flights a week and has a fleet of 13 Airbus A320 aircraft.
Leh is the seventh destination for Vistara in northern India. The other destinations in the region are Delhi, Jammu, Srinagar, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Lucknow.


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text:
A screenshot of Pravda.ru
McCain publishes opinion piece in Pravda – but not the one he wanted
CNN's Leslie Bentz
Updated 9 a.m. ET 9/19/2013
Washington (CNN) - Senator John McCain has a message for the Russian people: "I am pro-Russian, more pro-Russian than the regime that misrules you today."
In an opinion piece titled "Russians Deserve Better Than Putin," published by the Russian news website Pravda.ru, McCain took aim at the current Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin.
Watch: McCain will be on CNN's "The Lead with Jake Tapper" Thursday starting at 4 p.m. ET
"They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media," the Arizona Republican said in his piece. (Read the full op-ed below.)
The piece by McCain comes one week after Vladimir Putin made headlines by publishing his own opinion piece, "A Plea for Caution from Russia" in the New York Times, on the eve of U.S. – Russia negotiations over Syrian chemical weapons.
Read: Op-ed for Op-ed: McCain to strike back in 'Pravda'
The senator, who does not support same-sex marriage in the U.S., also criticized Russia's recently passed anti-gay legislation, saying Russian lawmakers "codify bigotry against people whose sexual orientation they condemn."
A ban on the promotion of "gay propaganda" among minors became law in June, as Putin began his third term as president.
The article was published Thursday, after some initial confusion over which "Pravda" McCain would actually be writing for.
Read: Pravda vs. Pravda: Which one is McCain writing for?
The Pravda McCain had publicly said he wanted to be published in is one of the oldest Russian newspapers, founded in 1912.
Pravda, which means "the truth" in Russian, became the biggest newspaper during the Soviet period of Russian history. It was the official mouthpiece of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party. The newspaper was closed down after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, then reopened in 1997 as the official paper of the Russian Communist Party. The current Pravda has a considerably smaller circulation compared to its Soviet glory days.
Pravda.ru, the news outlet that actually published McCain's piece, is an electronic news website founded in 1999. Even though the website also bears the name Pravda, it is not connected to Pravda newspaper. The website has English and Russian editions and covers everything from politics to fashion and celebrities.
While editors at the communist Pravda publication said last week they were not going to accept an op-ed by McCain, a spokesman for the senator said McCain submitted one anyway, in addition to Pravda.ru, since there was confusion over the two different Pravdas. As expected, it was not published by the newspaper.
Putin said Thursday in a press conference he was not aware of McCain's opinion piece about Russia.
Read: Poll: Americans sour on Russia, Putin
In his piece, McCain also cited Putin's support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as well as Russia's recent actions in the United Nations as an example of failed foreign policies, saying, "He is not enhancing Russia's global reputation. He is destroying it."
The senator has been a strong advocate for military action against Syria, especially in light of the August 21 chemical weapons attack, and has been highly critical of the renewed diplomatic efforts between Russia and the U.S. This week, he told the Council of Foreign Relations, "I wish I could see the recent agreement between Russia and the United States to rid the Assad regime of its chemical weapons as a major breakthrough. Unfortunately, I cannot."
In the article, McCain focused his message on their day-to-day circumstances, arguing that Putin "has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on a few natural resources that will rise and fall with those commodities. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few."
Reiterating that his message was written out of concern and compassion for the Russian public, McCain held firm. "When I criticize your government, it is not because I am anti-Russian," he said. "It is because I believe you deserve a government that believes in you and answers to you. And I long for the day when you have it."
- CNN's Ashley Killough, Jill Dougherty, NuNu Japaridze, and Laura Koran contributed to this report.
Senator John McCain: Russians deserve better than Putin
When Pravda.ru editor, Dmitry Sudakov, offered to publish my commentary, he referred to me as "an active anti-Russian politician for many years." I'm sure that isn't the first time Russians have heard me characterized as their antagonist. Since my purpose here is to dispel falsehoods used by Russia's rulers to perpetuate their power and excuse their corruption, let me begin with that untruth. I am not anti-Russian. I am pro-Russian, more pro-Russian than the regime that misrules you today.
I make that claim because I respect your dignity and your right to self-determination. I believe you should live according to the dictates of your conscience, not your government. I believe you deserve the opportunity to improve your lives in an economy that is built to last and benefits the many, not just the powerful few. You should be governed by a rule of law that is clear, consistently and impartially enforced and just. I make that claim because I believe the Russian people, no less than Americans, are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
A Russian citizen could not publish a testament like the one I just offered. President Putin and his associates do not believe in these values. They don't respect your dignity or accept your authority over them. They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media. They harass, threaten, and banish organizations that defend your right to self-governance. To perpetuate their power they foster rampant corruption in your courts and your economy and terrorize and even assassinate journalists who try to expose their corruption.
They write laws to codify bigotry against people whose sexual orientation they condemn. They throw the members of a punk rock band in jail for the crime of being provocative and vulgar and for having the audacity to protest President Putin's rule.
Sergei Magnistky wasn't a human rights activist. He was an accountant at a Moscow law firm. He was an ordinary Russian who did an extraordinary thing. He exposed one of the largest state thefts of private assets in Russian history. He cared about the rule of law and believed no one should be above it. For his beliefs and his courage, he was held in Butyrka prison without trial, where he was beaten, became ill and died. After his death, he was given a show trial reminiscent of the Stalin-era and was, of course, found guilty. That wasn't only a crime against Sergei Magnitsky. It was a crime against the Russian people and your right to an honest government – a government worthy of Sergei Magnistky and of you.
President Putin claims his purpose is to restore Russia to greatness at home and among the nations of the world. But by what measure has he restored your greatness? He has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on a few natural resources that will rise and fall with those commodities. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few. Capital is fleeing Russia, which – lacking rule of law and a broad-based economy – is considered too risky for investment and entrepreneurism. He has given you a political system that is sustained by corruption and repression and isn't strong enough to tolerate dissent.
How has he strengthened Russia's international stature? By allying Russia with some of the world's most offensive and threatening tyrannies. By supporting a Syrian regime that is murdering tens of thousands of its own people to remain in power and by blocking the United Nations from even condemning its atrocities. By refusing to consider the massacre of innocents, the plight of millions of refugees, the growing prospect of a conflagration that engulfs other countries in its flames an appropriate subject for the world's attention. He is not enhancing Russia's global reputation. He is destroying it. He has made her a friend to tyrants and an enemy to the oppressed, and untrusted by nations that seek to build a safer, more peaceful and prosperous world.
President Putin doesn't believe in these values because he doesn't believe in you. He doesn't believe that human nature at liberty can rise above its weaknesses and build just, peaceful, prosperous societies. Or, at least, he doesn't believe Russians can. So he rules by using those weaknesses, by corruption, repression and violence. He rules for himself, not you.
I do believe in you. I believe in your capacity for self-government and your desire for justice and opportunity. I believe in the greatness of the Russian people, who suffered enormously and fought bravely against terrible adversity to save your nation. I believe in your right to make a civilization worthy of your dreams and sacrifices. When I criticize your government, it is not because I am anti-Russian. It is because I believe you deserve a government that believes in you and answers to you. And, I long for the day when you have it.
Filed under: John McCain • Russia • Syria
Even though the website also bears the name Pravda, it is not connected to Pravda newspaper ...having spent a lot of time in Moscow, the translation of this story is pretty simple – designed for US domestic consumption, because most Russians wont bother reading it – its not even the real thing.
September 19, 2013 08:03 am at 8:03 am |
mfarena
Just like in America, including Senator McCain.
Brian Macker
"They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media," the Arizona Republican said in his piece.
Sounds like the US. Gibson Guitars, punished. Scooter Libby imprisoned. IRS punishing T party. Acorn and spinoffs helping to rig elections. etc.
John McCain is proof the voters of Arizona are of way below average intelligence.
I would have rather read the actual article written by McCain than CNN staff writer editorializing it for me. It's your opinion CNN print the actual article. This is not Russia it's the USA.
So wait...a U.S. politician who is AGAINST civil rights (Same-sex marriage) is going to lecture another world leader about tolerance and civil rights in a public forum?
I think that guy needs to retire. I have the UTMOST respect for MR. John McCain, but his recent comments and activities demean him.
He needs to step down gracefully.
"They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media,"
And what of the political prisoners in America's prisons, and what of the special interest groups that fund our so called "democracy," and of course lets not forget the so called freedom our press has.
Libsrtyrants
As is the case with most all liberals, every single word McCain said is Hypocrisy. Every cheap shot he took could MORE properly be said about McCain and the current administration..
McCain is too old to have an ego that big. Extra sad, because he doesn't even realize where he is on any given day...but the ego still drives him.
Mike S.
The problem with Mr. Magoo's latest rant is that it sounds too much like the same rants he has leveled against President Obama. I think most Russian's will consider the source: this is the same man who thought Sarah Palin was presidential material.
ProudRussian
Dear Mr. McCain, if you think you "opened" our eyes with your article you're mistaken. There's nothing in it we didn't already know. See, unless American public we're actually on top things in our country way more and know what our government is into. All this is is just bashing our president, which we again already knew you hated. Cheers.
Well, good for ol' Johnny. Someone had to set those Russkies straight.
Dutch/Bad Newz, VA -aka- Take Back The House -aka- No Redemption Votes
"codify bigotry against people whose sexual orientation they condemn."
Sorry senator, but you're describing today's republican party.
ltkeo
Putin's co-op was better.
"They punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media," At first I thought he was talking about America.
joeusavotes
Thanks for saying something back at them. At this point nothing will come of it because they are all sheep after generations of oppression.
Richard Buttons
Sounds like our friend has found another country in need of the help of our troops, missiles ASAP.
"Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few."
Well, that sounds familiar.
Kelly J Kent-Parcell
McCain always has his nose in where it does't belong. I am a Republican, but I dislike McCain; I think he is a war monger. He fight to provide weapons to the Syrian rebels was wrong; there again, he had his nose where it did not belong.
scott in ga
Well, that man with a little sprinkle of Palin, could have been your President. Thank god that over half the voters in this country have common sense..
Shut up McCan't
The apple does not fall far from the tree.
McCain said "has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on a few natural resources that will rise and fall with those commodities. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few" could easily read "America has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on finance and banking that will rise and fall with those commodities. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few"
or could have easily said
"America has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on war that will rise and fall with the military machine. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few."
He also said "It is because I believe you deserve a government that believes in you and answers to you. And I long for the day when you have it." well McCain as soon as you and your other cronies quit we will start to get a better government that believes in us.
The rotten apple just fell right at the bottom of your old trunk McCain.
Steve- Illinois
McCain needs to ride off into the sunset and do the Americans, and the Russians a favor.
Greywolfe
Wow Mr. McCain,
"has given you an economy that is based almost entirely on a few natural resources that will rise and fall with those commodities. Its riches will not last. And, while they do, they will be mostly in the possession of the corrupt and powerful few."
"It is because I believe you deserve a government that believes in you and answers to you. And I long for the day when you have it."
Are you sure you weren't taking about the US government? Might has well have been.
Danram
John McCain is awesome! I wish this country had been able to muster up the good sense to elect him in 2008 rather than the laughably unqualified empty suit we elected instead. Both our country and the world would be considerably better off.
McCain is a warmongering old man and a perfect example as to why we need term limits.
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THURSDAY, March 4, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- The asbestos crisis is far from over and the United States can expect to see at least 10,000 asbestos-related deaths each year for the next two decades or so.
So says a new report released Thursday by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Action Fund in Washington, D.C. The report includes the first maps to disclose asbestos-related deaths on both the county and national levels since 1979. Los Angeles County in California and Cook County in Illinois top the list.
"After 15 years of working on these issues, I was absolutely stunned at the extent of mortality and diseases that are still caused by asbestos," EWG senior vice president Richard Wiles said at a news conference Thursday. "This rate of death appears to be increasing based on a review of federal mortality data maintained by the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] from 1979 to 2001."
According to EWG, almost 30 million pounds of asbestos are used in United States communities each year, and more than a million Americans are exposed to the material through their jobs. Not only are workers affected, but consumers as well, EWG reports. The material can cause various forms of cancer, including lung cancer.
Richard Lemen, the retired deputy director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said at the same news conference: "We are in the midst of a public health crisis, a crisis that many people felt had gone away many, many years ago with the enactment of occupational and environmental laws to reduce exposure to asbestos in this country."
While there has been a definite reduction in its use, asbestos can still be found in many consumer products, Lemen added.
"You can still buy asbestos-containing brakes for automobiles. Hundreds of thousands of tons of asbestos are still in place in buildings, in sewer systems and water systems," he said. "Some 20 countries around the world have banned all uses of asbestos. The United States is not one of those countries."
A spokesman for the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) told HealthDay that NIOSH actually records a smaller number of asbestos-related deaths, but that might have to do with how asbestos illnesses are defined.
Like EWG, NIOSH is seeing an upward trend for mortality, spokesman Fred Blosser said.
"We do see an increase in the number of deaths over the past 30 years that are linked with asbestos," Blosser added.
"Is asbestos still an occupational hazard for people in the workplace? The answer is yes," Blosser said. "This report highlights the fact that employers, employees and occupational health professionals still need to be vigilant about the potential for asbestos to cause people to become sick or to die."
At the press conference, EWG spokespeople criticized a bill currently before the U.S. Senate. The Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2003 would place restrictions on asbestos claims. According to Wiles, the bill would set up a national trust for asbestos victims. While that in itself sounds like a good idea, the fund is under-financed, would "sunset" after 27 years (meaning people who got sick after that time would be out of luck) and would prohibit lawsuits against asbestos manufacturers.
"This is driven by the notion that there is a wave of bankruptcies in America causing economic havoc that needs to be stopped and that is caused by rampant asbestos litigation," Wiles said.
In fact, Wiles added, companies who are technically called bankrupt are continuing to operate from a very favorable position.
"Our basic view is that it's possible that a trust fund could be part of a solution to this massive public health crisis of people dying and being injured by asbestos exposure," Wiles said. "But the current bill does not meet the basic requirements that every single person who is harmed by asbestos is to be fully taken care of and that we need to have an effort on a national scale to find those people."
He added, "Asbestos must be banned in all of its uses so that we can put an end to this tragedy that is afflicting people silently. If we don't ban it, now the tragedy will continue into the future."
The bill's emphasis on economics and bankruptcies is misplaced, said EWG representatives. "It is a public health crisis. It is not a crisis of people losing their jobs," Lemen said. "This is not a monetary crisis for companies, but it is a monetary crisis in the public health community, particularly for those victims who are still going to suffer from diseases long past my life time."
The Senate bill is considered "active legislation" and EWG predicts the Senate will be focusing on it in the next three to four weeks.
Margarita Tapia, a spokeswoman for the Senate Judiciary Committee, said the committee had not yet issued a response to the EWG report. She referred instead to remarks Sen. Orrin Hatch (R.-Utah) made Wednesday night in which he stated, "This is an absolutely vital issue for this country's civil justice system and most importantly, to our economy. We now have the opportunity to correct what has become a gross injustice against asbestos victims and the defendants who are relentlessly hailed into court despite having never manufactured nor sold a shred of asbestos fiber."
He continued, "Scores of companies with almost no connection to the problem have had to file for bankruptcy and hundreds of others live under the constant threat of insolvency from litigation."
The EWG report contested the severity of these bankruptcies. It also included postings of company documents showing that businesses and insurance companies worked together to keep the dangers of asbestos out of the public domain starting from more than 50 years ago. One 1949 Exxon memo linked asbestos to lung cancer, the report said.
Asbestos needs to be banned, EWG said, but, even if that happens, "we're going to still have disease for many, many decades," Lemen said.
"That's not counting hundreds of thousands who may not die but whose lives will be severely compromised and will incur significant costs," Wiles added.
To view the asbestos report, visit EWG. To learn more about the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2003, visit the U.S. Senate.


My acquaintance is a boilermaker. Something I have vaguely heard of which I always associated with some steampunk thing. Actually he is in a high demand and his salary reflects it. He's in Alberta for a reason.
Head to Calgary, Edmonton or Saskatoon – that's where the salaries are going to increase. Recent economic projections show Alberta to be gradually gaining jobs to peak in 2019 and then remain steady into 2030.