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The Hope of Home in a Homeless Society
By Sarah Hudson >> 21 min read
Creation, Society, Culture Lead Articles
I bought my house eight years ago. This was such a gift. After years of renting and rotating housemates, I just couldn't handle the transience anymore.
"I just want to plant a garden that's not in pots" or "I just want to paint the wall the colour I want" were familiar cries. It was more than the need for a practical shelter. It was a need deep within my soul for rest: for a haven and a sense of place.
I could afford this house because while it was good enough to move into, it needed work. I did small renovations and planted a garden—a native garden. I'd never been interested in native flowers before, but something about buying my own property gave me a connection to the land, and I wanted to grace her with her original beauty. The house is west facing; it had no insulation and no shade, and, with summer approaching, I knew I needed some kind of air-conditioning. Musing about this one day, a home electrical shop in my local area caught my eye. I hadn't noticed this one before. It wasn't one of those big ones—the "you can't miss it" type. It was hidden in plain sight and had "SALE" signs all over it. I walked in.
The showroom was full of electrical goods and boxes, and I was met by a man I will never forget. John Boer walked up to me with a strong and steady countenance. He was dressed in grey tailored pants, tucked-in shirt, topped with a woollen jumper and an aptly placed burgundy tie. His neatly combed grey hair made me smile. This was a man who took pride in his appearance—not power-hungry pride, but the stewardship-of-something-greater pride. He inquired if he could help, and I said that I needed an air conditioner. He motioned for me to take a seat and said, "Tell me all about your house." I was struck by his genuine care and interest. This was not a man in it for the sale; this was a man in it for the story and for the purpose of the sale. I was not used to this. He grabbed a notepad, and I drew the layout of my house. We talked about air flow and my recent move to the area. He shared his story. He'd lived in Heathmont all his life. He told me the history of the strip of shops and how people have come and gone. The butcher had been there for as long as he had. John had six children and 23 grandchildren, and struck me as a man who knew himself, knew his home, and, most importantly, was at home. At the end of our discussion, he confidently said, "I don't have the air conditioner for you. What you need is (such-and-such model)." He suggested where I could buy it, and that was technically the end of our transaction. I was intrigued by this man and wanted to continue the conversation, so I asked him, "Why the big sale and why all the boxes?" He proceeded to tell me he was closing the store. After 38 years of owning and running the business, he couldn't keep up with the big chains anymore. It was time to shut shop.
I walked home grieved that such a man was in a position where he was forced to close. On the surface, it could be rationalised away: life and culture have moved on; we now live in a global culture where productivity and consumerism have replaced social and familial values. These are just the realities. What does it matter anyway? My life will be the same whether or not John Boer's store exists. But I couldn't shake it. Something bigger and perhaps more disturbing was happening. Somehow, our culture has traded a deeply rooted story marked by presence and relationship for a more diluted and disconnected story. In the pursuit of progress, wealth, and "more", we live, as Alan Durning says, in a world where we have "careers and not places," and the ongoing effect is an ever-increasing disconnection from life, self, and each other. I walked home feeling homesick.
To say the closure of a store like John's marked the end of an era was more than mere nostalgia. It pointed to a significant shift in the values and narrative that were shaping society. I went back the next day to share my remorse. John was happy to see me again and welcomed me by name. I shared my sense of injustice and sorrow. I asked him how he was coping with this forced change. He just looked at me and smiled. He said, "I'm fine. I have a faith that is much bigger than this, and it gives me a hope that's not changed by circumstances." The penny dropped. I just knew there was something about this man. "Are you Christian?" I clarified. "Yes. And, once you know Jesus, it changes everything."
In the eight years since then, John's store has been a pet shop, and then a hairdresser; now, it's a ski shop. If you were to drive past my house, you will see that the garden has grown, and the cladding has been replaced and painted with the right shade of grey. I've been able to install some lovely windows, and, inside, the house has had a repaint, the carpet has been replaced, and the kitchen has been redone. I have loved working with colour and texture, delighting in space and light. I have learnt new and significant things about who God is as we've worked together in creating this home—a place where we can both dwell. It's a little place, but it's our place, and I am forever grateful. Oh, and in a nod to John Boer, the air conditioner sits on the right wall in the right position, just as he had suggested all those years ago.
In that time, the world has also changed. Drastically. Enter stage left, a virus called Corona. For good or for evil (or both), we live in a time of great upheaval. The first year here in Melbourne was unnerving: no one really knew what was going to happen, but the change came with a sense of relief—the grace of forced rest in a chaotic and busy world. A global world quickly became a local world, and I found strange comfort knowing that everyone who lived in Heathmont was in Heathmont. We were a local village again. This was a time to enjoy and cultivate home, to resurrect old hobbies, discover sourdough, and enjoy the simple things. I got to know my neighbours better, one of them particularly well, and, at the beginning of 2021, we got married. I know. Crazy. But that's another story.
That was year one. We thought it would all be over by now. Instead, not only are we still in lockdown, but conditions are even worse. And now that the newness and novelty has worn off and living in lockdown has become our sustained norm, I find myself struck by a confronting realisation: I am sick of my house. At the time of writing, we've had 257 days of lockdown in the past 18 months. It's looking like we will clock 277 before there's any hope of reprieve. Incidentally, I am in a year of rest—a transition from one job to the next—so my days are spent going from the lounge to the dining room, maybe to the kitchen for another cup of tea, then back to the lounge to drink that cup of tea. It's difficult to overestimate the effect this has on your soul—my sanctuary home has turned into a prison, and I just want to climb the walls!
I've been able to pull myself out of it. I've suffered chronic illness before and know what it means to be at home for long periods of time. But this one is different: it's not just my sickness—the whole world is marked by sickness. This one microscopic virus has unleashed great uncertainty on the world, and everything seems to be shaking. In addition, there is the geo-political climate, the actual climate, and the ongoing clash of polarised views with no unifying narrative. There are fractions and frictions everywhere, and no one seems to know who to trust. All this is a recipe for deep and grave uncertainty. I am not at home as much as I thought. Take away the external narrative that has shaped home, and my soul feels quickly lost, anxious, and in despair. When a soul is troubled, even home doesn't feel like home.
As I have wrestled with all the above, I have found a fresh connection to Psalm 137:1 where the Psalmist, writing in a time of profound displacement, cries out: "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion." I have always been struck by the story of Israel's exile and the ensuing longing for home. The despair of having all that is known and familiar ripped out from under you is unimaginable (unless you are a refugee or an indigenous people group). In Israel's case, they weren't just geographically displaced, they endured the loss of the very presence of God himself. The rivers of Babylon said to the exiled ones, "You're not at home anymore." In this Psalm, you can almost taste the longing for things to be the way they were; it's a cry of mourning for a life Israel no longer had. Now, thanks to COVID, large parts of the world, particularly the Western world, are sitting by the rivers of Corona, mourning and longing for a life that once was and may no longer be.
While we pine for the-normal-that-was, it is worth acknowledging that it was not necessarily a normal that gave the sense of home we all long for. In the earlier days of COVID, I had an interaction with a 20-something-year-old stranger who, for all appearances, seemed pretty cool and at home in the world. He remarked with a sense of relief, "This needed to happen. Our normal isn't even a good normal—we need a shake up." I agreed; he was right. It has been widely acknowledged that the secular humanism that has shaped our society has only resulted in an endemic sense of displacement. Philosopher Martin Buber calls our age the "epoch of homelessness." "We have houses all over the place but aren't at home in any of them," remarks Frederick Büechner. Brian Walsh identifies the "creeping dread of homelessness" or the "un-healable rift" that has opened between human beings and their sense of place. While on the surface our cultural narrative has provided us with wealth, productivity, and the ensuing freedoms and opportunities, it has left the deepest longings of our souls bereft. "There has to be more to life than this," is the cry I have heard from many a young adult. It is as if our collective souls know there is a bigger vision for life and wholeness.
God loves home. From the beginning chapters of our Bible right through to the end, we see a God whose passionate pursuit is to dwell with his people: he with them, they with him. Home. Scripture begins in a garden and ends in a garden, and the story in between is marked by the rip tide of exile, and a divine passionate lover who is determined to be back together to fill humanity and all of creation with his presence. The temple becomes the primary motif for the place of his presence. The garden was his temple, Solomon's building was his literal temple, Jesus himself was the ultimate temple: God with us. It's worth pausing to reflect on what a marvellous witness and harbinger of home Jesus was. He met sinners with forgiveness. He brought rest to the weary and burdened. He spoke of a Father welcoming home a disobedient son and a self-righteous one too (see Luke 15). He was the ultimate witness to God's presence on earth and said one day he would come back, and that in the meantime we would face many troubles. He beckoned us to "trust in God, trust also in him." He spoke of a house he has that has many rooms and that he was going to prepare a place for me and for you (Jn 14:1–4). His primary investment is in you and me being at home with him. And so the last chapters of Revelation are an astounding vision of our end, where the "dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them … He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain' (Rv 21:3–4). There will be no more COVID, lockdowns, or homelessness.
This gives us tremendous hope. But these promises can feel far removed from our current reality. Or are they? One of the gifts of COVID (they certainly do exist) is that I have discovered many previously unknown areas of beauty in my local area. There are rivers and streams, bush land, and bird life I had never noticed before. John Boer would have known, but, despite my being here eight years, it's all new to me. I've seen turtles, encountered kookaburras, and befriended many a magpie. One hidden gem is a park called Uambi. An indigenous word meaning "Pine Scrub," Uambi is a four-acre block of land in the heart of Heathmont donated by the Harper family in 1988. Yes, donated. What would have been prime real estate has been gifted by a family for "the enjoyment of everyone." They seem to be motivated by a different story. Uambi is of particular significance because it houses a remnant of the original vegetation in the Heathmont area. It is looked after by a group of volunteers who are committed to the preservation of this land.
God loves home. From the beginning chapters of our Bible right through to the end, we see a God whose passionate pursuit is to dwell with his people: he with them, they with him.
It was with a restless heart and a troubled soul that I recently went for a walk with my husband to Uambi. It was one of those damp cloudy days where it's clear enough to walk but the air is cold and the ground sodden, almost mystical. I was chatting away to Simon, doing my best to remain positive while sharing my concerns about the world—it was more than a virus and lockdown, it was the climate, the political dis-ease, the state of the church, just to name a few. And then I saw it, an image that bypassed my eyes and went straight to my spirit: a man in his late 60s–early 70s, grey haired, with a knitted jumper graced by khaki overalls was mulching the garden. I went silent and smiled as he walked past with his wheelbarrow. No salutations were exchanged but something was deeply deposited in me that I didn't realise until later that evening. Simon and I continued our chatter, sat in the bird-watching seat, and drank our coffee. But something was different. My soul was at peace. That evening I couldn't shake the image of the gardener.
Our creation account tells a story of a God who loves to get his hands dirty. After creating the expanse of the heavens and establishing the earth, he creates a single location: a garden. As Eugene Peterson remarks, a garden implies boundaries and intention. It is not limitless "everywhere" or "anywhere"; it is local. "The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east" (Gn 2:8). As the gardener in the garden, we see a God who affirms that place is good; place is essential and foundational for a life of flourishing. The gardener in Uambi was a silent witness to a bigger story. While chaos was upending the world, this man was gardening his patch in Heathmont. That afternoon, we went home and gardened.
The next Saturday we returned to Uambi. Deep down, I wanted to see the gardener again. It wasn't the original older gentleman this time, it was his son, Will Harper. Will is the grandson of the original owners who donated the land. His little patch is the nature strip. Strewn with colours and variety, it's a walkway of bounty. There are edible herbs to take at your discretion, but a sign aptly asks, "Please don't pick the flowers; they are for the enjoyment of everyone." We struck up conversation. Will loved his garden; he would work it from top to bottom and then return again for another round of weeding, cultivating, planting, harvesting. He was grateful for lockdown—it gave him more time in the garden.
The first week I met the gardener. The second week I meet the son. God was speaking.
Although the Israelite exiles in Babylon were grieving, the prophet Jeremiah didn't avoid the stark realities of their situation: they were going to be in Babylon for a long time—two generations, in fact. But God had not forgotten them. He had a plan (Jer 29:11). While they waited it out, they were to "build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce" (Jer 29:5-7). Meditating on this passage, Eugene Peterson amplifies the invitation: "The only place you have to be human is where you are right now. The only opportunities you will ever have to live by faith is in the circumstances you are provided this very day; this house, this family, these friends, this joy and these weather conditions." In exile, life was dislocated, but there was a plot of land to steward and a life to cultivate.
What a pertinent passage. It certainly shifted my perspective and motivated me to get my garden gloves out. Yet 2,500 years on, we need to realise we have an astounding advantage. Where Israel's exiles were adjusting to life without the presence of God, thanks to the Son, we now have the indwelling presence of God. It came with the "blowing of a violent wind" in Acts 2 and changed everything. Humanity no longer needed to go to a temple: God's people are become his very temple. Our "bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit" Paul reminds us (1 Cor 6:19) or, as The Living Bible translates, "your body is the home of the Holy Spirit who now lives in you." When God's Spirit enters your life, you become his home. His presence dwells in you and me. This is not mere Christian sentiment; it is core of the gospel. In the words of John Boer, "It changes everything." In this time of worldwide shaking, could it be that The Gardener is stripping back the narratives of a big global world and enabling us to focus on a local world? Better still, could it be that He is calling us to attend to the part of our lives that matters most?
Song of Songs speaks of our soul being like God's garden: "My darling bride is a like a private garden, a spring that no one else can have"—in the inner parts of our lives that the gardener stirs up his life within us. "Breathe on my garden […]. Stir up the sweet spice of your life within me […]. Come walk with me as you walked with Adam in your paradise garden" (Sg 4:12–13, 16 TPT). What an invitation! To be in God's presence and have him mark your life with the fragrance of it, have him inhabit you. There is something about a person who walks with God intimately. Such intimacy and lived knowledge trumps circumstance. You encounter it in the warmth and kindness of a salesperson or in the gardener in the local park. It is a witness and a presence that lingers, ministers, stays with you eight years on; you even write articles about it. It is a presence that the world is in desperate need of.
The Corona virus is drastically changing our external world and, in particular, the large narratives of human progress, power, and sufficiency. While it is unnerving, it is okay. Peter reminds us we aren't captive to such a world anyway; we are "aliens and strangers" to this kind of home (1 Pt 2:11). Instead, there is a place within us that is hidden and that is not finally determined by external circumstance. For home is not ultimately an external provision; home is God's provision. This is the life of the soul and the home of the Holy Spirit—you with him, he with you. It is the reality of the gardener who works to cultivate, sow, restore, and renew us—and through us, to bless the place he has set us in. For whatever state our soul is in dictates what sort of presence we bring to the world. Thus, Meister Eckhart writes: "As thou are in church or cell, that same frame of mind carry out into the world, into its turmoil and its fitfulness." The life that dwells with God and who God makes his home, to the community around becomes—like John Boer—a welcome and gift and blessing that is untroubled by circumstance. Expanding on this thought, Thomas Kelly reminds us that, "Deep within us all there is an amazing inner sanctuary of the soul, a holy place, a Divine Center, a speaking Voice, to which we may continuously return." Maybe what we need to be reminded of most is just how available God's presence is to us. Not just at the end of Revelation—today; now.
In his book, Soul Keeping, John Ortberg details how we can best engage these truths. He invites us to simply start where we are and with what we have. As I have realised that the garden The Gardener wants to tend is my soul, I have been waking each day, asking myself: how many moments of my life today can I have a conscious awareness of and surrender to God's presence? I am staggered at the renewed sense of hope and perspective this gives in what has been trying circumstances. And when my default takes over, I just try to begin again, just as I am.
And so, where are you?
When was the last time you returned to God's presence and voice?
If it's been a while, how might you just start where you are?
This moment in world history is significant. It has aptly been described as a liminal space, when the norms of social reality increasingly appear in jeopardy but when new alternatives are not yet here. I can't help but think that any good alternatives will come from those who have found home, not the external kind but that of living hope and of life built on rock. It will come from those who, on the macro, have a renewed confidence in the God of History whose plans are not defeated by circumstances or a virus. On the micro, it will come from those who have partnered with this God of History, who have gone inward to go outward again and who, like David, have cried out and said, "Enter me then and conceive a new true life" (Ps 51:5 MSG). It will come from those who have met The Gardener afresh and have cultivated the inner sanctuary of the soul, from which they cannot help but witness to this truer story. Indeed, this is nothing new. It has always been the calling on the church as the mediators of God's presence in the world—the carriers of God's future. We are to be those who are learning to walk with him as Adam did in the garden, and, as the sent-out ones, to bring the fragrance of God's presence into a world longing for home. Our story may have been overshadowed there for a while, but The Gardener is bringing it back.
Brueggemann, Walter. Cadences of Home: Preaching among Exiles. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1997.
Büechner, Frederick. The Longing for Home: Recollections and Reflections. San Fransisco: Harper Collins, 1996
Durning, Alan. This Place on Earth. Seattle: Sasquatch Books, 1996.
Kelly, Thomas R. A Testament of Devotion. New York: Harper One, 1992.
Ortberg, John. Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014.
Peterson, Eugene. Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places: A Conversation in Spiritual Theology. Colorado Springs: Eerdmans, 2005.
Peterson, Eugene. Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at its Best. Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2009.
Walsh, Brian J. Beyond Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008.
Sarah Hudson +
A Tale of Two Tables


Originally, all cows produced milk containing just the original A2 protein. However, during domestication by humans, another protein became dominant, the A1 protein. A2 milk has found a place in this market, thanks to their specially selected cows that only produce A2 protein. This gives people who thought they couldn't drink milk due to discomfort, the chance to enjoy milk again, instead of resorting to goats' milk or other non-dairy alternatives.
However, as a relatively new product on the market, a2 have had to overcome a substantial challenge: getting these potentially life changing benefits communicated to their audiences. This is a common problem that many brands face, especially with new product launches.
And this is where Tactical Solutions come in. The a2 Territory Sales Managers have a unique role. Yes they ensure that availability is excellent, support with distribution is optimal and waste is efficiently managed, but they can't do any of that without raising awareness of a2 Milk and its benefits first.
This is how their mantra: education, education, education came into play.
Acting as part of the a2 family, they conduct active selling sessions with customers, offer discount vouchers to give them an opportunity to trial the product and do sampling sessions. By educating staff in store, they can then pass the message further, giving them the tools and the knowledge to inform customers.
And they even take their work home with them. One Territory Sales Manager has been known to take a2 milk to the gym, sharing the nutritional benefits with fellow fitness fans. This above and beyond attitude, is because the team genuinely believe in the product and its benefits. And it's worked. Availability in Tesco grew from 93.9% in January 2014 to 99.3% in December 2014.
Is someone representing your brand in store? Is someone raising your brand's profile on the front line? Talk to our team to see how we can help to educate your audience.


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Q: Semi-comedic anime OVA involving a demonic invasion of a high school I saw this on VHS in the original Japanese, subtitled to English, in the 1990s, on a tape my brother brought back from college. On that tape, or others he brought, was The Fuma Conspiracy and some episodes of Kimagure Orange Road. The protagonist is a high school female who fights demons, and has to deal with an incursion at her high school, which is set in roughly contemporary times. I don't think that most people had access to any sort of magic or powers. She had long hair and wore a school uniform. I think she had a romantic interest who was in sports (basketball, I want to say) and there was another female with short hair (blond?) who was a cheerleader (I think she was wearing her cheerleading outfit), who tried to seduce said love interest by removing her top when they were alone. The demons themselves were on the ridiculous side of things, grotesquely colored and shaped, with themed attacks, although the only two I distinctly recall was one employing a large amount of thorned vines (and I want to say he had a stereotypical European accent, maybe French or Italian, with a lot of gratuitous English, or maybe speaking in another European language with subtitles) and another being a pair of female demons who employed an attack based on breasts (with a ridiculous shouted name) that my brother pointed out was supposed to be a riff on Sailor Moon and Sailor Uranus's Star Gentle Uterus attack. I want to say there was something in that scene where that attack, or the deflection thereof, had someone thrown into a convenient soccer net.
I think that the heroine actually fails in preventing the demonic invasion, but I do remember it ended with the demons and humans co-existing peacefully, with scenes of them walking side by side.
I vaguely recall that the love interest (and maybe the female friend who tried to seduce him) had their own attempts at using themed attacks, shouting out the name while doing something mundane like throwing balls or ribbons at the demons.
It did not feel episodic. It might have been movie-length, but I think it was more of a "single episode OVA", maybe 30-45 minutes at most.

A: Bakuen Campus Guardress or, as I saw it, Combustible Campus Guardress, released as 4 half-hour episodes in 1994.
(summary from TV Tropes.org)

Every 3,000 years, a portal to the Demon World opens up, and demons are unleashed upon us. 3,000 years ago, a human-born Key named Kairei closed it. The Gateway District of Tokyo was built around it, and the residents were taught magic in order to be able to defend themselves.
Now, the portal is about to open again.
Meanwhile, Hazumi Jinno is your average schoolgirl save for the fact that she carries a large wooden sword and vies with her mother for the affection of her not-blood-related brother Takumi. And manages to beat the crap out of anyone who takes a peek at her panties. But Takumi turns out to be the reincarnation of Kairei, and soon, Hazumi is facing head remnant Kijima Touta. As well as dudes with guns for necks, a stereotyped Parisian and a seductress whose hair at one point sprouts flowers.

Found it via scanning the contents of the Wikipedia OVAs by Year index, and found it on the 1994 anime OAVs page. The name jumped out at me, and a quick search confirmed it.
Takumi is the basketball playing live interest (who is also her not-blood-related brother) and Hime is the cheerleader also after him. And I did find the breast attack at around 1:37:00 in, "Combination attack: Sexy Dyna-Bust", which includes several flashes of pinup poses. And indeed, with the counterattack, one of the villains winds up in a soccer net (the other buried waist deep headfirst into the ground), mumbling "Goal" in English.
Trailer
(note, has upper body nudity due to clothing damage)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Saffron Walden Reporter > News > Local Council
Flag raised for 'inspiring' NHS and health workers
Published: 9:06 AM July 7, 2021
Uttlesford District Council chairman Arthur Coote (L) with GP Dr Richard Boyce celebrated 73 years of the NHS on Monday - Credit: Supplied by Uttlesford District Council
The NHS celebrated its 73rd birthday on Monday - with a flag raising ceremony held to mark the milestone.
Uttlesford District Council chairman Arthur Coote and GP Dr Richard Boyce met outside the council offices to mark the anniversary.
Councillor Coote said: "Monday - NHS, Social Care and Frontline Workers' Day - was an important moment to mark the service and sacrifice of NHS and health workers who have worked tirelessly to help the country through the coronavirus pandemic and continue to support some of the most vulnerable people in society.
"Their commitment, care and kindness has been an inspiration to us all.
"On behalf of the council I would like to say a huge thank you for everything they do."
Another banner at Audley End House celebrating NHS, Social Care and Frontline Workers' Day. Picture: Will Durrant - Credit: Archant
The NHS was founded in 1948, nearly three years after the end of the Second World War.
To recognise NHS workers' work throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, the Queen awarded all staff the George Cross on Monday.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


December 17, 2016 - Direct links to camp Facebook pages are now being included. Look for a Facebook icon just to the left of the camp name.
June 18, 2016 - Several major enhancements were made to the site, including mapping capabilities and the 'Feedback' link.
March 28, 2011 - My email address has been updated, plus some additional spring cleaning was performed.
December 30, 2007 - The list of state links was added to allow users to click on and jump directly to the desired state. Font types and sizes were also cleaned up.
January 17, 2003 - Clicking on a camp's web site will now open up a new window, so that you can browse the site, close the window when your done, and return to this list without having to reload it. Hopefully that will make things a little easier!
Permission to use, copy, and distribute this document, in whole or in part, for non-commercial use and without fee, is hereby granted, provided that this copyright, permission notice, and appropriate credit to Stuart T. Weinberg, MD be included in all copies.


microRNAs (miRNAs) repress target transcripts through partial complementarity. By contrast, highly complementary miRNA-binding sites within viral and artificially engineered transcripts induce miRNA degradation in vitro and in cell lines. Here, we show that a genome-encoded transcript harboring a near-perfect and deeply conserved miRNA-binding site for miR-29 controls zebrafish and mouse behavior. This transcript originated in basal vertebrates as a long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and evolved to the protein-coding gene NREP in mammals, where the miR-29-binding site is located within the 3′ UTR. We show that the near-perfect miRNA site selectively triggers miR-29b destabilization through 3′ trimming and restricts its spatial expression in the cerebellum. Genetic disruption of the miR-29 site within mouse Nrep results in ectopic expression of cerebellar miR-29b and impaired coordination and motor learning. Thus, we demonstrate an endogenous target-RNA-directed miRNA degradation event and its requirement for animal behavior.
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We thank R. Pillai and E. Heard for comments on this manuscript. We also thank all members of the Shkumatava lab for useful discussions and B. Foret and A.-V. Gendrel of the E. Heard lab for advice on ESC differentiation. This work was supported by grants from ERC (FLAME-337440), ATIP-Avenir, La Fondation Bettencourt Schueller and La Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM DBI201312285578) to A.S. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement no. GA 310206 to D.O'C and the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) grant agreement no. 602805 to W.H.J.N. High-throughput sequencing was performed by the ICGex NGS platform of the Institut Curie, supported by the grants ANR-10-EQPX-03 (Equipex) and ANR-10-INBS-09-08 (France Génomique Consortium) from the Agence Nationale de la Recherche ("Investissements d'Avenir" program), by the Canceropole Ile-de-France and by the SiRIC-Curie program - SiRIC Grant INCa-DGOS- 4654.
These authors contributed equally: Angelo Bitetti and Allison C. Mallory.
A.B. and A.C.M. contributed to the design, execution and analysis of most of the experiments. C.C. contributed to the design, generation and execution of the NrepmiR-29scr allele. E.G. and S.M. performed and analyzed mouse behavioral experiments. H.C.G., W.H.J.N. and A.B. performed and analyzed zebrafish behavioral experiments. E.P. performed the in situ hybridization staining. Y.A.P.-R. performed the phylogenetic and sequence conservation analyses. G.P.T.-V. and D.O'C. thought of the NrepmiR-29scr allele. A.J.E. performed the bioinformatics analyses of small-RNA sequencing. A.S. conceived the study. D.O'C. and A.S. supervised the study. A.S. and A.C.M. wrote the final version of the manuscript.
Supplementary Figure 1 Conservation of the libra, Nrep and miR-29 sequences.
(a) Conservation of the miR-29 site and its flanking sequences. The sequence logo based on 30 homologous sequences is shown above representative examples from the indicated species. Asterisks indicate bases conserved in all of the representative examples. The miR-29 site is in blue and underlined. (b) Predicted Nrep pairing with the individual mouse miR-29 family members. Watson-Crick paired nucleotides are in black and connected by vertical lines, whereas wobbled paired nucleotides are in blue. (c) Multiple alignment of the NREP ORF across vertebrates. Amino acids conserved in all species are in blue. An asterisk indicates a putative stop codon. (d) Unrooted consensus Bayesian phylogenetic tree of zebrafish libra and its homologs in 24 vertebrate species. Branch lengths represent the number of substitutions per site as indicated in the scale bar. Posterior probabilities for all branch splits are displayed in the nodes. (e) The miR-29 family members of zebrafish (a and b) and human and mouse (a, b and c). The seed sequence is boxed, bases differing among the individual miR-29s are in red. (f) libra, miR-29a and miR-29b show partially overlapping expression detected by in situ hybridization on adult zebrafish brain sections. Representative sections for each probe are shown (wild-type animals, n=6). Telencephalon (Tel), Tectum opticum (TeO), Corpus Cerebelli (CCe), Medulla Oblongata (MO), Inferior Lobe (IL). (g) Control in situ hybridization on zebrafish adult brain sections using scrambled miRNA probes. (h) Control in situ hybridization on mouse adult brain sections using scrambled miRNA probes. The brain section is outlined with a dashed line. Representative sections for each probe are shown (wild-type zebrafish, n=6 and mouse, n=4).
Supplementary Figure 2 Generation and validation of the libradel and librainv zebrafish mutants.
(a) The libradel zebrafish locus showing the positions of the sgRNA Guide 1 and Guide 2 used to generate the libradel mutant. The nucleotides defining the borders of the deleted genomic sequence block are shown in gray and delineated by red arrowheads. The short guide and PAM sequences are indicated with blue and pink blocks, respectively. (b) The librainv zebrafish locus showing the positions of the sgRNA Guide 2 and Guide 3 used to generate the librainv mutant and the inverted portion of exon 3 (hashed block). The nucleotides defining the borders of the inverted part of the libra transcript in the librainv mutant are indicated in lavender and delineated by red arrowheads. The short guide and PAM sequences are indicated with blue and pink blocks, respectively. (c) Generation of the libradel and librainv alleles was confirmed by RNA-Seq. The positions of the libra locus together with that of the adjacent annotated upstream and downstream loci are indicated, and the corresponding H3K4me3 ChIP-Seq, 3P-Seq and RNA-Seq tracks from wild type, libradel and librainv zebrafish are shown. The y-axis of the RNA-Seq tracks represents raw read counts. The inverted portion of the libra transcript in librainv mutant is indicated in lavender.
Supplementary Figure 3 Behavior of the libradel and librainv zebrafish mutants.
(a) The number (n) of entries, (b) time in seconds (s) spent near the novel object testing boldness and (c) latency to approach the novel object in seconds (s) of wild type and libra mutants. Each dot represents an individual adult fish from one experiment; wild-type animals, n=14; libradel animals, n=15; librainv animals, n=15. (d) Velocity in centimeters per second (cm/s), (e) total distance swum in centimeters (cm) and (f) time in seconds (s) spent at the aggressive display recorded in the aggression test for the indicated genotypes. Each dot represents an individual adult fish from one experiment; wild-type animals, n=12; libradel animals, n=15; librainv animals, n=14; **P < 0.01; n.s., not significant. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m., One-way ANOVA and Dunnett's multiple comparisons tests were performed for all analyses except for latency to approach the novel object where Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's multiple comparisons tests were performed. The novel-object boldness and aggression tests were each performed in one experiment. Detailed statistical analyses and source data are provided in Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Dataset 2.
Supplementary Figure 4 Generation and expression analyses of the mouse NrepmiR-29scr allele.
(a) The mouse Nrep locus showing the positions of the sgRNA Guide 4 and Guide 5 used to generate the NrepmiR-29scr mutant mice. The short guide and PAM sequences are indicated with blue and pink blocks, respectively. The wild-type and scrambled miR-29 site is highlighted in green, and the scrambled nucleotides are in red. A BamHI restriction site was introduced to facilitate mutant screening. (b) Hematoxylin and eosin staining of brain sections from wild-type (left) and NrepmiR-29scr (right) mice. Upper panel, whole brain; bottom panel, zoom-in of the cerebellum. Scale bars represent 50 µm. Representative sections for the indicated genotype are shown (wild-type animals, n=4; NrepmiR-29scr animals, n=4). Cortex (Cx), Striatum (Str), Hippocampus (Hip), Thalamus (Thal), Cerebellum (Cb). (c) qRT-PCR analysis of Nrep expression in the cerebellum of wild-type (blue) and NrepmiR-29scr (purple) mutant mice (wild-type animals, n=6; NrepmiR-29scr animals, n=5). Gapdh was used as a reference gene. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m.; unpaired t-test: n.s., not significant at 95% confidence level. Detailed statistical analyses and source data for panel c are provided in Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Dataset 2.
Supplementary Figure 5 Behavior of NrepmiR-29scr mice.
(a) Work flow of the three phases of the contextual and cued fear conditioning test. (b) Number of activity counts before shock in the fear conditioning test; wild-type (WT) animals, n=16; NrepmiR-29scr animals, n=15. Data are presented as individual data points and mean ± s.e.m. (c-e) Number of freezing episodes of NrepmiR-29scr (purple) and wild type (blue) mice in the fear conditioning test presented in 1 min intervals during (c) the conditioning session (arrows indicate the time of the CS + foot-shock application); (d) the context session; (e) the cue session (CS presented during min 3-4 and 7-8). Wild-type animals, n=14; NrepmiR-29scr animals, n=12. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m. (f-g) Elevated plus maze test to assess anxiety-related behavior in NrepmiR-29scr (purple) and wild-type (blue) mice. (f) frequency of total arm entries; wild-type animals, n=15; NrepmiR-29scr animals, n=15; and (g) percent time spent in open arms; wild-type animals, n=15; NrepmiR-29scr animals, n=13. Data are presented as individual data points and mean ± s.e.m. Detailed statistical analyses and source data for panels b-g are provided in Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Dataset 2.
Supplementary Figure 6 Molecular characterization of NrepmiR-29scr cell lines.
(a) Nrep and miR-29a, b and c expression in wild-type and NrepmiR-29scr ESCs and NPCs detected by RNA blots. The NPC portion of this blot is also shown in Fig. 5a. Three biological replicates are shown for each genotype, technical triplicates were performed for miR-29b and technical duplicates were performed for Nrep, miR-29a and miR-29c. 18S rRNA and U6 RNAs were used as loading references. Uncropped blot images are shown in Supplementary Dataset 1. (b) qRT-PCR analysis of Oct4 and Nestin expression in wild-type and NrepmiR-29scr ESCs and NPCs. Each dot represents an individual biological replicate ESC or NPC population. qRT-PCRs for each biological replicate were performed in technical triplicate. Gapdh was used as a reference gene. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m.; unpaired t-test: n.s., not significant at 95% confidence level. (c) qRT-PCR analysis of Nrep expression in wild-type and NrepmiR-29scr NPCs. Each dot represents an individual biological replicate NPC population. qRT-PCRs for each biological replicate were performed in technical triplicate. Gapdh was used as a reference gene. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m.; unpaired t-test: n.s., not significant at 95% confidence level. (d) qRT-PCR analysis of pri-miR-29 expression in wild type and NrepmiR-29scr NPCs. Each dot represents an individual biological replicate NPC population. β-actin was used as a reference gene. Data are presented as mean ± s.e.m.; unpaired t-test: n.s., not significant at 95% confidence level (e) Normalized expression of miR-29 star sequences from small RNA sequencing reads. Each bar represents an individual biological replicate NPC population; unpaired t-test: n.s., not significant. (f) The proportion of small RNA sequencing reads with coverage of at least n indicated nucleotides (nt) along the length of the top five most abundant NPC mmu-miRNAs (miR-21a, let-7i, let-7f, miR-148a and miR-9). For each miRNA, the canonical length and regions tested for trimming and tailing are delineated. Five nucleotides either side of the canonical length were used to test for significant differences in the mean values over these positions using a paired t-test for difference of means. Three biological replicates are shown for each genotype. n.s., not significant at 95% confidence level. Detailed statistical analyses and source data for panels b-f are provided in Supplementary Table 1 and Supplementary Dataset 2.


text:
Science Fiction and the University of Chicago ~ The Imaginative Conservative
May 9, 2020 bradbirzer
Bitterly, C.M. Kornbluth, the second presenter, vehemently disagreed, stating without equivocation that the genre "is not an important medium of social criticism." Much like Hitler, Kornbluth complained, the adherents of science fiction treat the genre like a religion and lay claim to anything and everything they admire. Yet, for all its pretentions, science fiction rarely if ever actually criticizes anything prevalent in the world, and, when it does, its criticism remains rather tame. Anticipating the social radicals of a decade later, Kornbluth feared that science fiction fails in its power to change the consciousness of a reader, as the novels of the genre do "not turn the reader outward to action but inward to contemplation." Then, he complained, there's the horror genre, a supposed subset of science fiction which merely rolls all of our fears "up in one ball of muck" and thrusts "them into the reader's face." This is especially true in cinema, he continued, and "if the day ever comes when the shriek movie is a really major type, up there with, say the pretentious Western, the implications for the future of democracy will be bad." Yet, one should never give any of this too much thought, he concluded, for "science fiction is socially impotent." Tragically, Kornbluth died a year later, of a heart attack, only age 34.
— Read on theimaginativeconservative.org/2020/05/science-fiction-university-chicago-bradley-birzer.html
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When you picture the Arctic, chances are dogsledding comes to mind. With dog sledding tours in Fairbanks, you'll be trained to properly steer your team of gorgeous Huskies through breathtaking trails and see tracks of wild Alaskan animals. With multiple tour groups, durations and trail options, there's simply no better way to explore the forests, rivers and lakes of Alaska than mushing your own dog sled!
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Accountancy Group can assist individuals throughout the London area, and we can provide expert advice on a wide range of personal taxation issues. Here is information on lasting powers of attorney.
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"...The creative team includes set designer Stephanie Kerley Schwartz, lighting designer Rose Malone, sound designer Christopher Moscatiello and costume designer Denise Blasor, all of whom contribute to the dark, wet and dreary atmosphere of the rundown barn in which the revival meetings take place, as well as many other locations to which the trio has traveled."
"...Director Ron Sossi does sensitive, imaginative work here, but Faith Healer asks a lot of the audience. It employs the kind of Irish storytelling that thrives on repetition and the poetic rhythm of language. Without enough emotional energy, it can sink into itself. The show's long monologues offer no direct interplay between characters, and the flow of so many words can have a hypnotizing effect. Regrettably, on the night I went, several people in the audience fell asleep. Others stood and cheered at the end."
"...Faith Healer is a dark, brooding play, but it is also shot through with flashes of Gaelic poetry and humor. Teddy's speech on the mental shortcomings of actors is undoubtedly the high point of the show."
"...The acting is excellent. We spend the first act with Mr. Norwood and Ms Cignoni, who fill it with recollections, regrets, and recriminations in an understatedly dramatic but thoroughly realistic manner. The second act opens with a jolt of energy as Mr. Bottitta, downing a bottle of beer during his monologue, combines the timing of a stand-up comedian with the (again) thoroughly realistic emotions of a man who's essentially wasted his life."
"...Grace's story is so piteously painful, Teddy's so funny but heartbreaking, and Frank, compels attention quietly , making it curious to understand how the other two could have been so doggedly loyal to a figure who doesn't appear charismatic at all. In fact, he's a self-doubter whose mind plagues him."
"...Faith Healer follows the Irish trope of exile and homecoming. It is, at its core, a study in one man crucified by a talent that betrays him so often. He has the intuition to stay out of his native Ireland, until one day, he returns home. And this is the play's culminating story, on which its ultimate view relies."
"...Brilliantly directed by Ron Sossi, Faith Healer is a powerful, absorbing drama of the highest caliber served up by an ideal cast. The show is produced simply with an unpretentious set by Stephanie Kerley Schwartz, spot-on lighting by Rose Malone, a sound design by the always-excellent Christopher Moscatiello, and perfect costumes by Denise Blasor."
"...Faith Healer is a masterpiece of theatrical trompe l'oeil, a landmark in the rich Irish canon, but without really accomplished actors it would be an intolerable bore. Fortunately, we have a cast that can hold their own against the formidable odds that Friel has placed before them. The playwright almost dares the actors (and the director) to make this work."


text:
Il pankuš (o panku) era un organo collegiale del regno ittita. I suoi compiti non ci sono perfettamente noti. Sappiamo però che il panku era formato dall'élite dei funzionari e degli ufficiali ittiti, spesso membri della famiglia reale. Specialmente nell'Antico Regno ittita la sua sfera di influenza era assai significativa e veniva convocato, a quanto pare, soprattutto in relazioni a questioni concernenti la successione al trono.

Il re Hattushili I si rivolse al panku perché riconoscesse il nipote Murshili come suo successore.

Telipinu stabilì che responsabilità del panku fosse anche quella di punire le colpe dei più alti ufficiali di palazzo, come il primo attendente di palazzo, il comandante delle guardie del corpo a corte e il responsabile per i vini. Essendo in quella fase i membri del panku ufficiali di rango inferiore rispetto alle figure che erano tenute a giudicare, Mario Liverani ipotizza che la scelta di Telipinu sia imputabile al suo desiderio di operare un maggiore controllo nei confronti dell'alta nobiltà ittita. Se però un principe tramava contro il re o contro un membro della famiglia reale, la responsabilità di giudicarlo era affidata non al panku, ma alla tuliya, un organo collegiale più ristretto.

Note

Bibliografia

Ittiti

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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RALPH TEMPLE JACKSON vs. COLONIAL PROVISION COMPANY, INC.
Notice to an architect of lack of authority in the president of a corporation to hire him to do work for it was not shown by the mere fact that during the performance of such work he requested of the president payment of a certain sum and the president replied that he could not pay it "without taking it up with . . . [his] directors."
Testimony by the president of a corporation, admitted without objection, that he "conducted" "the negotiations . . . on behalf of" the corporation "with regard to" certain property which he hired an architect to remodel as a new place of business for the corporation, warranted a finding that such hiring was by its authority.
CONTRACT. Writ in the Superior Court dated January 13, 1937.
The action was tried before Williams, J.
G. L. Rabb, (C. P. Hughes, Jr., with him,) for the defendant.
R. B. Owen, for the plaintiff.
LUMMUS, J. This is an action brought by an architect to recover $12,980 for work and labor. The second count was upon an account annexed. There was a verdict for the plaintiff for $5,200 on that count. The defendant excepted to the denial of a motion for a directed verdict in its favor, and to the denial of a motion for the entry of a verdict in its favor under leave reserved. There was evidence warranting a finding of the following facts.
The defendant, in 1933 and 1934, was a corporation engaged in Boston in the business of smoking and packing meat products, and Sidney H. Rabinowitz was its president. What his powers were under the by-laws and votes of the defendant did not appear. It did not appear who the other officers were. Some of the background of the case appears in Ross v. Colonial Provision Co. Inc. 299 Mass. 39.
The defendant desired to procure and move into a new building. In February, 1933, the plaintiff saw Rabinowitz, who told him that the defendant wished to get the Roberts Candy Company building and some additional land on Ferry and Cross streets in Boston, and that if the plaintiff could get a contractor to construct the building, and finance it, the plaintiff would have the job as architect. The plaintiff examined the property and made drawings and plans of the proposed remodeling, conferring with Rabinowitz from time to time. He also conferred with George A. Fuller Company, a contractor, and reported to Rabinowitz that that company was ready to go through with the job. Later the plaintiff learned that Rabinowitz was getting figures from other contractors, and asked him for $1,000. Rabinowitz said, "I can't pay you $1,000 without taking it up with my directors." But he said, "I want you to be the architect and look after my interest, whoever does the work." The plaintiff answered that that was all right, "I will go ahead and carry the plans along." After that it could be found that the plaintiff's compensation was no longer to be dependent upon his getting a contractor to finance the building.
The plaintiff continued to work on the job for more than a year, conferring with Rabinowitz from time to time. As late as August, 1934, Rabinowitz wished to have certain arrangements changed in the smoking room and to get two draftsmen who knew the requirements of the department of animal industry for the purpose. Their services would cost about $400, and the plaintiff agreed to the proposal of Rabinowitz that their compensation be taken out of the plaintiff's commission. Rabinowitz asked the plaintiff to do nothing more but to wait until he heard from Rabinowitz. Rabinowitz never communicated with the plaintiff again, and the plaintiff was unable to reach Rabinowitz when he tried to do so about the first of October, 1934. By that time he knew that he was no longer employed.
The fact that Rabinowitz refused to pay the plaintiff $1,000 without taking the matter up with the directors was not notice to the plaintiff that he had no right to hire the plaintiff. It may have meant merely that the debt could not be liquidated or satisfied without the concurrence of the directors. But the evidence of the authority of Rabinowitz to contract with the plaintiff is scanty. The providing of a new place of business and the remodeling of it was not an incident to the defendant's regular business. James F. Monaghan Inc. v. M. Lowenstein & Sons Inc. 290 Mass. 331. Stoneman v. Fox Film Corp. 295 Mass. 419, 425. Kelly v. Citizens Finance Co. of Lowell, Inc. 306 Mass. 531.
and cases like DuBois v. Powdrell, 271 Mass. 394, 397, Treasurer & Receiver General v. Macdale Warehouse Co. 262 Mass. 588, 592, 593, and Morrison v. Tremont Trust Co. 252 Mass. 383, 388, have no application. It is true that the question would doubtless have been excluded upon objection as one calling for a conclusion of law upon unstated facts. Short Mountain Coal Co. v. Hardy, 114 Mass. 197, 213. Providence Tool Co. v. United States Manuf. Co. 120 Mass. 35. Leland v. Converse, 181 Mass. 487, 489. Beaucage v. Mercer, 206 Mass. 492, 500. Parrot v. Mexican Central Railway, 207 Mass. 184, 197. Commonwealth v. Henry W. Berry Co. 256 Mass. 491. But there was no objection, and the testimony was admitted. It was as much evidence of the fact as though no objection lay to its admission. Orpin v. Morrison, 230 Mass. 529, 531, 532. Crowley v. Swanson, 283 Mass. 82, 85. Solomon v. Dabrowski, 295 Mass. 358. Blackman v. Coffin, 300 Mass. 432, 437. It constituted sufficient evidence of agency to take the case to the jury.


Visiting the capital city of the United States can be both exciting and overwhelming for a first timer. Washington Dc is a city full of memorials, monuments, government buildings, museums, amazing restaurants and it now boasts a really fun harbor point at the National Harbor. Further almost all of these memorials and museums are free and require little to no prior booking at all. Also all of these are situated really close to each other, with an exception of few, which makes it hard to decide what to visit and what to miss.
The National Mall is a stretch of park in DC full of consisting of all the major monuments, memorials and museums. It also consists of prominent government buildings such as the US Capitol building, the US Supreme Court, The National Congress Library, the White House, the National Archives and offices of most of the major government departments.
Most of the Smithsonian Museums are also located here including the prominent ones such as the National Museum of Natural History, the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American History etc.
The third important feature in the National Mall are the monuments and memorials, the most prominent ones being the Lincoln Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, The Vietnam War memorial, the Korean War Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial and the World War 2 memorial.
Exploring all these will not be possible in a single day. So I would really suggest that you break these explorations in two days. Also, the museums close early in the evening and these memorials are open till late n the night, so it would be great if you visit the museums in the day time and reserve the memorials for evenings.
Outside the National Mall area, if you drive by the Potomac river, you come across the National Harbor. This is a recent commercial development in DC which boasts some really amazing restaurants, open spaces where there are events and parties in the evenings, riverside views and kayaking / peddle-boating options, the National Harbor Ferris Wheel offering some amazing views of the city and the newly opened MGM Casino. Basically this place is a great option of spend an evening if you want to go beyond the National Mall Area.
Another diversion from the National Mall would be to visit the National Zoo and the Washington National Church. The Zoo has one of the very few Panda enclosures in United States and this would be a great opportunity to watch them up close and personal in action. The Zoo is also home to a vast majority of animals and is free for all.
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, more commonly known as the Washington National Church is another location worth visiting while you are in DC. Constructed in Neo Gothic style, this is the second largest church building in the United States. The church has a number of chapels, prayer rooms, beautiful stained glass windows, life-like sculptures and also some quirky gargoyles 😛 (yes they do have a Darth Vader Gargoyle hidden somewhere 😉 ) The church environment is serene and peaceful choir music creates a tranquil ambience.
Also, don't forget to visit the Arlington National Cemetery. This is a resting place for most of the servicemen of the country and is also the final resting place of John F Kennedy and his family. While there,you can also visit the Tomb of the Unknowns, a resting place made in memory of the unknowns who sacrificed their life for the country. They have a change of guard ceremony at the tomb and it is definitely worth a visit.
If you love to explore some quaint neighborhoods and indulge in people watching do make a point to visit visit Georgetown and Dupont Circle neighborhoods for some quite quality time and walks through the quaint historic parts of the city.
Getting there – You can reach the National Mall by road or by taking a Metro till the Smithsonian Station which will drop you right in the middle of the National Mall next to the beautiful Smithsonian Castle. Alternatively, if you are driving till the Mall, you can park the car at one of the paid parkings available close to the Mall and walk around.
Walking around the National Mall is really great and that is how we explored the area. However, it can be pretty tiring, especially on a sunny day. The next best option would be to take one of the Big Bus – Hop on Hop off tours which cover most of the prominent locations in DC or if you are exploring just the National Mall the best option would be to take their circulator buses. A trip on these buses cost just $1 and the route covers the entire National Mall. (This is not sponsored, they are really a great option) Check out the route for yourself!
You can visit the Big Bus Tour website here to check their tickets and routes and the Circulator website here.
Dont forget to carry a bottle of water and some snacks with you while you are exploring the National Mall. There are very few and scattered food stalls and water fountains around. The Maps which you will find along the road will also provide you with information on where the next food stall or water fountain is located!


I'm Naomi, the designer who finally said "hey let's do this!" and put her dream of owning a business into motion! I focus on excellent client service, timely communication, and creating something you love. My passion is providing each client with a unique, personalized experience in designing their brand or stationary.
When I am not obsessing over my animals, continuously making coffee, or watching a movie, you can find me brainstorming new ideas. I believe that a simple, yet sophisticated, design is the most effective way to communicate to your audience. By working closely with clients, I can help them bring their concepts to life! I want to take any stress I can off of you, whether it be your big day or starting a business.
Whether it be face to face or over long distance, helping you design a new logo or luxury wedding invitations, I look forward to creating something with you! Or if you want to chat about the latest movie release or my Starbucks obsession I am totally fine with that too.
welcome to naomi leah designs, a stationary and business branding boutique located in terre haute, indiana but working with clients far beyond.


additional memory management should be avoided.
the programmer needs to efficiently track the construction and destruction of objects.
exception safety, especially the no-throw guarantee, is needed.
the computation of an iterator to an element from a pointer or reference to that element should be a constant time operation.
it's important to achieve a well-known worst-time system response.
localization of data (e.g. for cache hit optimization) leads to measurable effects.
Access from the iterator (usually on the stack) to the list node storing a pointer to Object.
Access from the pointer to Object to the Object stored in the vector.
While the objects themselves are tightly packed in the memory of the vector (a vector's memory is guaranteed to be contiguous), and form something like a data block, list nodes may be dispersed in the heap memory. Hence depending on your system you might get a lot of cache misses. The same doesn't hold for an intrusive list. Indeed, dereferencing an iterator from an intrusive list is performed in the same two steps as described above. But the list node is already embedded in the Object, so the memory is directly tracked from the iterator to the Object.
//This is a container those value is an abstract class: you can't do this with std::list.
//All the windows are automatically unregistered in their destructors.
Due to certain properties of intrusive containers they are often more difficult to use than their STL-counterparts. That's why you should avoid them in public interfaces of libraries. Classes to be stored in intrusive containers must change their implementation to store the hook and this is not always possible or desirable.


This summer, I traveled back into my adolescence. I wore knee high socks and mismatched outfits, I made string bracelets, I jumped up and down at the thought of dirt pudding for dessert, and I wore a fanny pack (fanny pack Fridays, duh). I played every sport possible, I listened to Ariana Grande on repeat, and I let thirteen-year-old girls call me Weenie Piscopio for 26 days straight. This summer, I worked at a summer camp.
My campers and I at the top of Cascade Mountain in Upstate New York!
For the second year in a row, I worked at a sleepaway camp that I attended as a kid. For nine weeks, I was in charge of someone's child. I held the most terrifying amount of responsibility in my hands—caring for the most precious thing in people's lives. I'm always terrified of it, yet every summer, I find myself going back to this magical place that is camp. I get the same disappointed and unenthused look every summer from people—how could I possibly be working at a summer camp when I could be looking for an internship at an awesome magazine and pursuing what I want to do with my life?
Well the truth is folks, there's no better way to spend the summer. I've said this for two summers in a row—I've written an article for Her Campus two years counting trying to explain the feeling—yet no matter how hard I try, I just can't make others understand how being a camp counselor changes your life. Rather than fetch someone coffee, I learned more about myself than I would have if I worked in an office.
When you're an intern, you want to impress the head honchos above you, and are so nervous about making a fool of yourself. As a camp counselor, I dance around my cabin in my snapback, staff shirt, knee high socks, and Birkenstocks, and just be. Of course my campers make fun of me, yet they looked up to me in awe at how I didn't care how weird I was and how goofy I looked. In all honestly, I was amazed too. Camp brings out the best version of you—the one who doesn't care what others think.
I was in charge of 26 campers and eight staff for the first three weeks, and despite how that stressed me out, I never faltered in my confidence in my ability. I didn't question my decisions in tough situations, and I went with my gut instinct. I was responsible for a daily schedule, getting the girls to places on time (trust me, it's like herding sheep), communicating with the Head Staff above me constantly and then relaying information to my staff, being a friend and a role model to the campers, and most importantly, being responsible and aware. I was on the clock 24 hours a day, every day, and my enthusiasm always had to be there.
Were there times when I was stressed or exhausted to the point of tears? Of course. I had my moments where I knew, and still know to this day, that this is the most challenging job I will ever have in my life, yet it is so rewarding to see the progress your kids make. To see a girl climb to the top of the rock wall or make it to the top of the mountain you're hiking and know that you're the encouragement that got her up there is like no other feeling in the world.
So for all those students out there feeling the pressure to get internships so they have "experience" for their future career, take a chance. Do something exciting. Step outside the box. One summer at camp will have you second-guessing your major, your future, and what you're meant to do in life. It's been an eye-opener for me and has messed with my head way to many times. But isn't the point of life to open your eyes to new opportunities? There's just something you can't get standing in an office building that you can at a camp, mentally, emotionally, and physically. Yet, standing on a mountain in the Adirondacks, walking up the bunkline at night and seeing a clear sky full of stars—now that's something.


After nearly 30 years, Jeep is building a pickup truck once again. And it's a charmer.
Editor's Note: This review was originally published on March 30th, 2019. We're re-publishing it today, April 12, since this is the first day that production Gladiators begin delivery to US dealers.
Long time coming, this one. Jeep has been teasing a Wrangler-based pickup truck for years. Aftermarket Wrangler truck conversions gather drool at car shows and on social media. Finally, it's here: The 2020 Jeep Gladiator. And the best thing I can say about it is that it's exactly what we always wanted: A Wrangler with a pickup bed.
Simple, but good. The current JL-generation Wrangler is a revelation. It's more civilized on road and more capable off-road than any previous Wrangler. It's smarter, safer, and better looking. It's livable, without compromise, in a way that no solid-axle 4x4 has a right to be. And all those traits are here in abundance in the Gladiator.
Jeep invited journalists to Healdsburg, California, smack in the middle of Sonoma wine country, to spend a day sampling the new pickup on pavement and dirt. Two varieties were available: The lux-spec Overland, and the off-road-ready Rubicon.
On the roads of Sonoma county, the Gladiator was calm and composed. Jeep engineers squeezed almost all of the solid-axle weirdness out of the JL-generation Wrangler. In previous Jeeps, you'd get tossed side-to-side for a few agonizing seconds after clearing railroad tracks or big potholes. No more, and good riddance. The Gladiator takes the improvement even further, thanks to a wheelbase that's more than a foot and a half longer than the four-door Wrangler's—and more than three feet longer than that of the two-door.
All that added wheelbase makes the Gladiator the smoothest-riding solid-axle Jeep you can buy. An Overland edition I drove up a winding coastal highway was whisper-quiet, with no wind noise from the split removable roof panels and no tire noise from the road-oriented 255/70R18 Bridgestone Dueler HT tires. The electric-assist hydraulic steering has a slightly quicker ratio in the pickup (to account for the added wheelbase), but its driving manner is still smooth, never twitchy, and the slight off-center dead spot I've noticed in every new Wrangler's steering was completely absent in the Gladiator.
The Gladiator's brakes are better, too, with a firmer, more smooth-to-modulate pedal than a comparable Wrangler. The rig still feels heavy under braking, and will give you a big, dramatic nose-dive on panic stops, but overall, the pickup's brakes show a noticeable improvement over the Wrangler's.
At launch, the only engine available on the Gladiator will be the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6. This base-model engine is, thankfully, available with a six-speed manual on all Gladiator trim lines. As in the Wrangler, the manual transmission in the Gladiator is untruckishly smooth, with light-touch shifts and no driveline wobble through the body-mounted shifter. The clutch pedal is way light—too light for a 4x4, in my view—and there's a maddening amount of rev-hang during upshifts. But we're glad that the stick-shift is still standard-equipment. The eight-speed automatic? It's fine. It gets 17 mpg city, 22 highway, while the stick-shift does 16/23.
A diesel engine (available only with the eight-speed auto) will be available later as an option. Jeep has no current plans to offer the 2.0-liter turbo four cylinder that's optional on the Wrangler.
The Gladiator Rubicon comes with raised suspension, a 4:1 low range transfer case, Fox monotube shocks (not available on Wrangler Rubicon), front and rear electronic locking differentials, and an electronic-disconnect front sway bar. Locked, disco'ed, and shifted into 4LO, the Gladiator was unstoppable over a short rock-crawl loop set up by Jeep. You have to pay a little extra attention to the pickup's length—especially if you're used to wheeling a two-door, which measures more than four feet shorter than the truck. There's added overhang behind the rear axle, but Jeep was thoughtful enough to put tough rock rails under the trailing edge of the bed, burly enough to handle the full weight of the truck if you find yourself dangling at an inopportune angle.
Unlike the Wrangler Rubicon, the off-road Gladiator comes with Falken Wildpeak tires—either A/T or M/T spec, your choice—in 285/70R17 size. A soft-top, mud-tire Rubicon I drove was notably noisier on pavement, with squishier cornering dynamics. Still, compared to a Wrangler Rubicon, the Gladiator Rubi was more composed.
The Gladiator is the first Wrangler variant you'd actually want to tow a trailer with, and Jeep knows. Stick-shift models are limited to 4000 lbs, but with an automatic and optional 4.10 gearing, a Gladiator Sport is rated for 7650 lbs, or 7000 lbs in an automatic Rubicon. A short drive hauling a 5500-lb boat-and-trailer combo showed the Gladiator to be a calm and capable towing rig, the eight-speed automatic keeping the engine from lugging and doling out downshifts on steep descents.
In other words, the Gladiator is good at all the midsize pickup stuff it needs to be good at. It's got a decent size bed—one you can actually reach into without a stepladder—and competent on-road manners. It's got a refined, capable drivetrain and an honest-to-god manual transmission that's not just relegated to the no-option base model.
Here's where it pulls away from the rest of the pickup truck world: After a brief rainstorm, the sun started peeking out during Jeep's Gladiator media drive. Bingo. I weaseled my way out of the hardtop Overland I'd been driving all morning and snuck into a soft top Rubicon. Folding the roof is easy for two people, but doable solo.
And then, there you are, cruising around in the only drop-top pickup truck you can buy in America today. That? That's pretty damn cool.
The Gladiator starts at $33,545 for the Sport model, $40,395 for the Overland, and $43,545 for the Rubicon. Sales will begin in the second quarter of 2019.


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Kyle's Top Ten Films of 2018 (And Where to Watch Them)
With awards season concluding at the end of February, many critics are sharing their top then lists and the Movie Sleuth is no exception. What follows are Kyle Jonathan's top ten favorite films of 2018 and some honorable mentions.
10. You Were Never Really Here
Lynne Ramsey's lightning paced rumination on PTSD is a violent fable that explores loss and isolation. Featuring the greatest performance of Joaquin Phoenix's career and one of the most heartbreaking, unexpected scenes of the year, this is a film that is sure to achieve cult status in years to come.
Where to view: Amazon Prime
9. First Reformed
Easily Shrader's best film and inarguably Hawke's greatest performance, this is a tempest of art house sensibility and lamentations for neo-American society. Somber in its presentation, dangerous in its revelations, this is an unparalleled cinematic experience.
8. Hereditary
Hereditary is a malefic triumph, not of the soul, but of the psyche; a terrible, profane mutation of the ritual of consuming cinema. Expectations are exploited, mutilated, and ultimately obliterated under Aster's masterful command, the yield of which is something unexpectedly terrifying and undeniably important. If slow burn, no mercy horror films are something you enjoy, this is the film for you, however, be warned. Once you invite Aster and his astonishing cast and crew into your mind, there is no escape.
7. Hold the Dark
The dark in this tale is the unthinkable capabilities of the human race. Underneath social mores and theological doctrines lies base, animalistic behaviors. While some choose to embrace them, eschewing any sense of belonging and attachment, others cling to their families, communities, and personal ideals for respite from the dark. In Jeremy Saulnier's latest, the darkness is very real, and like the wolves who are plaguing his protagonist, it is waiting just beyond the door of sanity to devour any who tread outside.
Where to View: Netflix
6. Tokyo Vampire Hotel
Madness is the medium and flesh is the canvas during the bulk of Tokyo Vampire Hotel and genre fans will find much to adore as they allow Sion Sono to draw them into an insular world of immortal hatred and vague prophecy. The conclusion pulls the viewer from the depths of limbo into the world beyond, reminding one of the power of perception and the inherent dangers of the worlds we design around ourselves, hoping to keep the darkness at bay. Sono is here to remind everyone, that the darkness is already within us.
The Favourite is an extraordinary artistic experience. Combining everything Yorgos Lanthimos is loved (and hated) for with three once in a lifetime performances yields one of the most powerful films of the year. Darkly funny, profane, and absolutely merciless, this one is not to be missed, both by casual movie goers and the most studied film lovers.
Where to View: Currently still in theaters.
4. The House that Jack Built
Lars Von Triers' brutal self-critique is a vulnerable masterwork that turns the mirror upon its creator, the end result of which is one of the bravest films ever conceived. Featuring a career best Matt Dillon as the eponymous serial killer, what follows is a movie by movie take down of LVT's controversial filmography, in which each film is symbolized by a brutal murder. One of the most courageous and fascinating works of the century.
Where to View: Available for Digital Rental
Suspiria is truly special cinematic gift. Most certainly not for everyone, this is a brooding, slow paced descent into the bowels of a personal hell unlike anything ever committed to the screen. Beyond this crucible is an angelic ascent, an embrace of the light that exists within each of us. It is here, amidst the ruins of the flesh, that Luca Guadagnino once again reminds us that he is one of the most talented artists working today.
2. Let the Corpses Tan
A lewd triumph in a time where safe, predictable choices dominate mainstream cinema, this is a film that will repulse many and this is part of its abrasive charm. The wonder of this film is in how it explores the divine importance of events that would otherwise be relegated to a Walmart five-dollar bin. Fate and even the gods themselves are always at play in Cattet and Forzani's strange and frightening universe and Let the Corpses Tan is their crown jewel.
1. Mandy
Mandy is a pitch-black opus of psychedelic madness. It is a film that will undoubtedly repulse viewers looking for any sense of a traditional viewing experience, however, those looking for something utterly unique will find much to treasure. A poisoned love letter to a decade out of time that is also one of the most honest films about love and loss ever conceived, Mandy is a masterpiece and one of the finest films of the century.
2018 was an outstanding year for cinema. Beyond the top ten, there were dozens of solid entries, such as the Coen brothers' nihilistic takedown of the American west, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Netflix) and Benson and Moorehead's Lovecraftian sequel The Endless (Rental). Joseph Kahn's social justice takedown Bodied (Youtube Red) and Coralie Forgeat's stellar Revenge (Rental) present two of the year's most social relevant offerings, while The Wild Boys(Rental), Virginia Beach Native Leonardo Warner's Madhouse Mecca(Rental), Bad Times at the El Royale(Rental), BlacKKKlansman(Rental), Apostle(Netflix), and Upgrade(Rental) offer a plethora of unique cinematic experiences.
--Kyle Jonathan
Tags: awards season, kyle jonathan, spoiler free movie review, the movie sleuth, top ten at 1/29/2019


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Scotland: Champion of terrorism and sport
Sport » Soccer
The Old Firm "derbies" between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic Football clubs have been a mainstay of Scottish Football Championships and Scottish Cup finals for decades. Now it appears a new level has been reached: sectarian violence turned into soccer terrorism.
Parcel bombs which could have maimed or killed have been sent to three people linked to Glasgow Celtic FC - two to the team coach Neil Lennon, one to Trish Godman, former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament and one to the lawyer of Neil Lennon, Paul McBride QC. The liquid explosive devices could have killed or injured the recipients, or those that handled them, according to experts.
This comes days before a critical football match between Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic football clubs, which could decide the Scottish Championship this season. Experts claim that the devices are crudely made and are probably nt connected to paramilitary activity.
The Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, has said Scotland will have to unite to condemn such behaviour.
Meanwhile, Scotland remains the pioneer of soccer terrorism in the eyes of the international community.
Work to do.
Aleksei Federov


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Trachoma disappeared from most of Australia 100 years ago as individual and community hygiene improved. Author provided
Why is trachoma blinding Aboriginal children when mainstream Australia eliminated it 100 years ago?
Hugh Taylor, Emma Stanford, Fiona Lange, The University of Melbourne
Hugh Taylor
Melbourne Laureate Professor, Harold Mitchell Chair of Indigenous Eye Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne
Emma Stanford
Academic Specialist, The University of Melbourne
Fiona Lange
Academic Specialist, Indigenous Eye Health Unit, The University of Melbourne
Hugh Taylor receives funding from the Department of Health.
Emma Stanford receives funding from the Department of Health.
Fiona Lange is affiliated with The Australian Health Promotion Association.
University of Melbourne provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation AU.
This article is one in our three-part series on blinding, deafening and sometimes deadly conditions in Indigenous Australian children that have little to no impact on their non-Indigenous counterparts.
Many people don't know this, but Indigenous Australian children are born with much better eyesight than non-Indigenous children.
Yet, at the population level, Indigenous people at the age of 40 have rates of vision loss three times that of non-Indigenous Australians. Rates of blindness are six times higher among Indigenous adults.
The prevalence of vision problems in Indigenous people is a result of cataracts, diabetic eye disease and a disease non-Indigenous children don't get – trachoma. In fact, trachoma disappeared from mainstream Australia more than 100 years ago with improved hygiene facilities, water infrastructure and living conditions.
Yet, in some areas, 4% of Indigenous children aged from five to nine years old have an active trachoma infection. In the Northern Territory, that rate is 5%, which is considered an endemic level.
What is trachoma?
We used to call trachoma sandy blight (the eyes feel gritty, as if full of sand). It is the world's leading cause of infectious blindness.
Trachoma is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis, which creates swelling under the inner eyelid leading to scarring. The scars cause the eyelashes to turn inward and scratch the eye, which is intensely painful and made worse by blinking.
Eventually, if left untreated, all the scratching from the lashes will result in the cornea – the transparent layer at the front of the eye – going cloudy and the person having irreversible blindness.
Trachoma leads to eyelashes turning inwards and scratching the eye, leading to blindness. Community Eye Health/Flickr, CC BY
Trachoma easily spreads from one child to another through infected eye and nose secretions.
Unlike other infectious diseases, a single episode of trachoma is often not uncomfortable or noticed as being any different from just a runny nose. Nor is a single episode such a problem for the individual child.
The main issue is that children keep getting reinfected, which keeps the inflammation present. A child may have between 30 and 40 episodes of reinfection during their childhood and around 160 to 180 infections until the resultant scarring causes blindness.
Each episode of infection may last a few months, but repeated reinfection turns into a continuing infection and disease. The longer the inflammation goes on, the worse the discomfort and more severe the scarring. And the more severe the scarring the greater the risk of blindness.
Where does trachoma exist?
Australia remains the only high-income country to still have trachoma. Although it doesn't exist in mainstream Australia, trachoma persists in remote Aboriginal communities that still lack safe washing facilities and have notoriously poor and chronically overcrowded housing.
Young children with constant eye and nose secretions in remote endemic communities sometimes go unnoticed and washing a child's face whenever it's dirty (with eye and nose secretions) is not common.
But Australia is making progress. In 2009, the Australian government committed to eliminating trachoma by 2020. At that time, disease rates ranged between 15% and 20%. Data from 2015 show a massive drop, with the national average for children in endemic areas at 4.6%.
Of equal importance is the dramatic reduction in the number of communities with trachoma. More than 150 of the 200 or so at-risk communities no longer have trachoma and there are only a small number with high rates. These hotpots are mainly in and around Central Australia.
Globally, trachoma affects people in remote and rural communities with poor personal and community hygiene. In 2016, an estimated 200 million people are at risk of trachoma in 42 countries – mainly in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in countries such as Afghanistan, India, Brazil, Colombia and some Pacific Island nations.
The World Health Organisation has set the goal of eliminating blinding trachoma by 2020. Countries such as Morocco, Ghana, Iran, Mexico, Nepal, China and Cambodia have eliminated trachoma over the last ten years.
The Conversation, CC BY-ND
What are the treatments?
The World Health Organisation developed the SAFE strategy to eliminate trachoma. This includes: surgery to correct the inward eye lashes (S); antibiotics to reduce levels of infection (A); promotion of facial cleanliness to stop transmission (F); and environmental improvements in water and sanitation (E).
In Australia, the antibiotic azithromycin is given every six to 12 months to all household members of someone with trachoma, or everybody in affected communities.
This brings down the level of infection, but without stopping the possibility of transmission, trachoma will bounce back. This is why keeping every child's face clean is so important. The essential and sustainable strategy of maintaining trachoma elimination comes down to having clean faces, which goes with access to safe and functional bathrooms and washing facilities.
Milpa the Trachoma Goanna mascot features in the materials and is involved in community activities. Author provided
Improved hygiene will also help reduce other common and very serious infections in remote Indigenous communities.
There are currently effective health promotion activities in Australia such as "Clean Faces, Strong Eyes". Bodies such as the Indigenous Eye Health group at the University of Melbourne continue to work closely with community groups to build on this work.
Milpa the Trachoma Goanna mascot features in educational materials and is involved in community activities, such as the development of music videos, roadshows and football clinics.
Indigenous health package