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Q: Explicit wait best practice for most accurate results I have made a number of tests running with Selenium. I want to make my tests as strong as possible. I want to know should I use ElementToBeClickable or use elementExisits or both.
For example should I use
Method 1
public static WebDriverWait webDriverWait;
webDriverWait = new WebDriverWait(excelSession, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(60));

webDriverWait.Until(ExpectedConditions.ElementToBeClickable(wordSession.FindElementByName("Create"))).Click();

Method 2
 By create = By.Name("Create");
                webDriverWait.Until(ExpectedConditions.ElementExists(create)).Click();

Method 3
        By create = By.Name("Create");
        webDriverWait.Until(ExpectedConditions.ElementExists(create)).Click();
        webDriverWait.Until(ExpectedConditions.ElementToBeClickable(excelSession.FindElement(create))).Click();

A: if the element will be clicked at later point you can use following code
webDriverWait.Until(ExpectedConditions.ElementToBeClickable(wordSession.FindElementByName("Create"))).Click();
webDriverWait.Until(ExpectedConditions.ElementExists(create)).Click();

this won't work in few cases . It checks whether element is available in the DOM. It doesn't check whether element is visible in the UI.
You should be using ElementIsVisible instead, it is working fine.


text:
Wrestling with Themes
I recently was advised by a fellow blogger to offer a few writing tips on my blog as a way to painlessly market my writing. Okay, I'm a writing teacher, so I can do that. But in my own writing I have hit a snag. Yes, there are things much, much bigger than my humble skill as a writer.
My current novel project, the Bicycle-Wheel Genius has grown into a science-fiction monster. It is not only about a scientist who has secret government connections, but about time travel and people changing into rabbits… or rabbits into people… or boys into girls… dogs and cats living together… No, that is Ghostbusters.
But it has reached a point where the most important theme is incredibly clear and difficult to deal with. The theme I find myself weaving into this story is; "All men are basically good." Gongah! Wotta theme to try to write! Do I believe it? Of course I do. Can I put the story together in such a way that I illustrate it to the reader's satisfaction? Of course I can't. So what do I do? This story has some of the best villains and evil people in it that I have ever written. I can't kill them off to solve the story's plot problems (Well, I can, but I don't want to). I have to show how evil can be redeemed.
My cast of characters include the scientist himself, calmly dealing with time travelers, invading aliens, government assassins, and a group of young boys known as the Norwall Pirates. There is a time traveler who appeared in a book within a book in my novel Catch a Falling Star. There is also an alien space navigator who has been shot by a local Iowa Deputy Marshall and stranded on Earth. Another character is an artificial man, an automaton who has been crafted as a government assassin made from alien technology. Okay, I know you don't believe I can make serious science fiction out of such crazy-quilt characters, especially with a primary theme like the one I've claimed. So, I have to confess that it is not serious in any way, shape, or form. It is a silly fantasy comedy.
So, how do I generate a theme as big and bold and important as the goodness of all men? Well, here's a secret recipe;
Take one genius who has lost all the people he loves and has to start over with new friends and, eventually, new family.
Add a brother-in-law with mental health issues and financial dependency.
Add a group of young boys hungry for adventure and new experiences and a little bit short on common sense.
Add a paranoid evil government that has secrets it will kill to protect (the factual part of the story).
Mix well.
Add vinegar.
Boil at 350 degrees for a year.
Of course, if you thought I was giving you real writing advice, then SURPRISE! It turns out I have been making it all up as I go along. That's how you do it. You write and write, knit it all together tenuously, and then edit the heck out of it, hoping to make sense of the whole thing.
Tagged as colored pencil, drawing, humor, novel, paffooney, satire, science fiction, silly stuff, writing advice
Nebulons
Part of the Traveller Role-Playing Game is dealing with alien races. So, as a game master for the Traveller Adventures back in the 1980's, I had the opportunity to create alien races of my own. Truthfully, the alien Telleron race that I created for the novel Catch a Falling Star already existed in my cartoons and fiction stories before I began playing the role-playing game. The Nebulon Race, however, was invented entirely for the game. Only later did they become a part of my fiction.
So, what are Nebulons? Gyro Sinjarac on the left in the picture is an example from Aeroquest of a Nebulon. They are aliens who are human in every respect except for their blue skin. Interestingly they can even successfully interbreed with Earther humans. This is apparently due to either the evolution of Nebulons from Earther explorers, or, more likely, the galaxy being seeded with Earth humans and Earther DNA by the mysterious alien race known only as "the Ancients". What is not debatable is that Nebulons have unique skin. The blue skin with high levels of natural copper sulfate in it has evolved as a protection from interstellar nebula radiation. No one who has learned their language and studied their culture has ever identified a planet of origin. Instead, the Nebulons have been a space-born race since humans first encountered them, travelling in their symbiotic space-whale space cruisers. They are a mysterious deep-space race of alien beings who use organic symbiotes, in other words, living creatures, as their pervasive technology.
Junior Aero makes an excellent example to use to explain what Nebulons are. You can see by this picture that not only does he possess the Nebulon blue skin, but also the bright yellow hair, the red heat-transfer cheek organs, and the small stature that makes them easily satirized as "Space Smurfs" in honor of Peyo's beloved blue comic characters.
The Nebulons as a race are often cited as evidence of the evolutionary trend of intelligent races towards neoteny, the retention of childlike features into maturity and adulthood. Even the oldest and the most physically fit of the adult Nebulon population resemble children and young teenagers rather than Arnold-Schwarzenegger-like humans. But believing them to be soft and weak like children is a mistake that often yields tragedy for those who contend against them, especially in battle. The Nebulons have often fought in space wars like the 5th Unification War, both for and against the human-led Imperium.
But the Nebulons are not automatically at odds with humanoid races in any way. They are generally happy in demeanor and temperament, easily befriending other races, even the snake-eyed Galtorrian humans that tend to dominate the Imperium. They seem to be particularly fond of Pan-Galactican Space Cowboys, having helped them during the border conflicts with the mysterious race known as the Faceless Horde.
So, there is a glop of information about an alien race from my science-fiction comedy writing that you can sort out as you like, and can probably learn from as a science fiction writer yourself. They are probably an excellent example of what not to do when creating a science-fiction-style alien race of your own.
Filed under aliens, Dungeons and Dragons, humor, illustrations, Paffooney, science fiction
Tagged as fictional aliens, humor, Nebulons, science fiction, Smurfs, Traveller role-playing game
Transportation by Imagination
How does one use the mind to move from one place to another? Is teleportation by mental ability possible? Can we find new ways to travel using only the mind? New worlds to travel to? Of course! Anything is possible once you realize there are no barriers to human imagination. It is possible to traverse even the beginning and the end of the universe itself.
Case in point, I have as a cartoonist tried to come up with novel ways to travel. In Catch a Falling Star I imagined that an engineering prodigy and a scientific genius used recovered alien technology to turn an 1889 steam locomotive with a pair of Pullman passenger cars into a space vehicle using an old hot air balloon and Yankee ingenuity. They used it to fly to Mars.
A friend who read that book, Stuart R. West, who writes teenage horror story mysteries (Here's a link to Stuart's stuff!) suggested an idea for an illustrated children's book about three kids that feed bubble gum to a goldfish. The goldfish urps up a bubble that ends up carrying them off on an adventure through the sky. I drew a possible illustration for that book and killed the idea completely dead. I have a secret super power for taking cute and funny ideas and turning them into things that are totally unmarketable. I wonder if that makes me a super villain instead of a hero. So, the cartoonist in me had to develop other ways to travel that are even more ridiculous.
In Clowntown, a part of my Atlas of Fantastica cartoon, you travel the downtown Clowntown skyway by being flipped and flung along the Clowntown Trapeze-way. It makes for a harrowing ride and it's really heck to use for trips to the grocery store or coming home again with packages to carry.
Travelling in the part of Fantastica dominated by pirates is even worse. Traveling by the science of Boomology means getting shot out of a cannon naked to get wherever you need to go. It is not something I would want to try in real life, but the cartoon me seems to not enjoy it with only minor bumps and bruises.
So, travelling by means of the mind alone, through imagination, is quite possible… and probably infinitely unwise.
Filed under cartoons, humor, Paffooney
Tagged as cartoons, humor, mind powers, Paffoonies, science fiction, travel technology
Spacey Stories
I am usually considered a Sci-fi and Fantasy author when anybody tries to categorize me. I learned to write during the 70's when Tolkien and Michael Moorcock and Frank Herbert were growing bigger, and Robert Heinlein, Ray Bradbury, and Isaac Asimov were gods. Of course, I also have the YA-thing hanging around my neck like a bell. I learned to tell stories being a dungeon master for middle-school and high-school boys back in the eighties. And because it was Texas with a deeply-held and violently-enforced religious fear of anything with demons in it, I was forced to change my role-playing games from sword and sorcery to science-fiction. I played endless Saturday-afternoon Traveller games that could span parsecs and light-years in a single afternoon. And I was one of those game-masters who used humor to build a campaign and keep the players engaged and interested. We had epic space battles and conquered large swaths of the Orion Spur of the Milky Way Galaxy. When I began turning my Traveller games into fiction, I used the personalities of the boys who played the game with me for characters in the stories. I often used the same plots (applying considerable polish to portions of plot where… well, you know… teenage boys, not remarkably G-rated.) I created things that made me and some of the players laugh, and even feel sad… with deep, cathartic effects, as if we had experienced those things in real life. (The deaths of favorite characters and tragic failures of galaxy-saving plans come quickly to mind.)
I enjoy practically everything Sci-Fi, from Flash Gordon, to Buck Rodgers, to Star Trek and Star Wars… I loved Mechwarrior books and comic-book Sci-Fi like Adam Strange, Hawkworld, and Guardians of the Galaxy (the old ones that came before Groot and Rocket Raccoon). I let it warp and weave my imagination and the imaginary worlds that blossomed from it.
And the ideas continued to morph and change and become stories that I really had to tell.
My first published novel, Aeroquest is a compilation of old Traveller adventures. I published it well before it was ready for market and used a cheap-o publisher that wasn't worth the free price-tag, They gave me no editorial help and apparently didn't even read the novel. I will not defame them by name here, but if they sound to you like Publish America… well, there might be a reason.
I love stories about time travel and sci-fi gadgets… trans-mats and starships and meson cannons and sentient plants… oh, my!
And now that I have revealed that I have such a massive nerd-head that I really ought to own Comicon by now, I hope you will not suddenly turn me off and read my blog no more. I can't help it. I was born that way… and any child doomed to be born in the 50's and a child in the space-race 60's was bound to have George-Lucas levels of Sci-Fi nerdism.
Filed under humor, Paffooney, science fiction
Tagged as drawings, humor, novel writing, Paffoonies, role-playing games, science fiction
Aeroquest… Scherzo 4
Scherzo 4 – Rolling a Twenty
"So, Trav Dalgoda does it again. Your total roll of the dice with your skill of plus eight added to it is an impossible success of twenty. You fly the burning spaceship into a curly-patterned rendezvous with the Leaping Shadowcat."
"That's a load of bull-puckie, Mr. M!" said Arturo. "He always rolls a perfect twelve on two six-sided dice!"
"You agreed that he could use his jack-of-all-trades skill to do this."
"But it's a plus eight! That is just too unfair for a skill you can use to do almost anything."
"You let me spend all my adventure points on that one skill," Eddie said.
"He's right you know. And besides, if he were to fail that role, then the two ships could crash, killing your two characters as well as his."
"And mine too!" said Amanda. "Trav rescued Madonna from the slaver pirates of Mingo remember."
"Yes," said the game master, "and her little blue son too."
"Aw, that little bugger is just an NPC that you put into the story. I really don't care if he dies."
"Eeuw, cold-hearted woman!" said Eddie.
At that moment, Dr.Hooey opened the front door of the young teacher's apartment.
"Oh, hello. My time machine must've had another brain fart and brought me to the wrong time and relative dimension."
"Wait a minute," said Eddie, "Who the hell are you?"
"Yes, exactly, but maybe hell is a bit too strong. My name is Dr. Hooey. I am looking for a place to leave a baby from the distant future."
"A baby?" Amanda gasped.
"Oh, yes. And who are you, young lady?"
"I'm Amanda Lilliput and this is my boyfriend Arturo Castrovalva."
"Would you like to raise a baby from the future?"
"Um… no, thank you."
"May I ask what you people are actually doing?"
"It's a science fiction role-playing game. These former students of mine are all playing space-faring characters in a space adventure set in the distant future," said the goofy-looking teacher.
"Oh, my. That is somewhat worrisome. Are you sure you don't want a space baby from the future?"
"Oh, I do!" said Eddie.
"No, he really doesn't," said the teacher. "Thank you anyway."
So Dr. Hooey left and closed the door behind him.
"That was weird," said Arturo.
"Mr. M, I need to make a new character for the game," said Eddie. "He will be a time traveler, and I will call him Dr. Hooey."
Filed under aliens, goofiness, humor, novel, NOVEL WRITING, Paffooney, science fiction
Tagged as Aeroquest, science fiction
Aeroquest…Canto 40
Canto 40 – The Thin White Duke
Castle Orpheum was a completely enclosed and very unusual under-water city. The Dancer Downport was on a floating platform anchored nearly a mile above the city dome. The vast underwater dome could only be reached by commuter submarine. It was isolated and difficult to reach, yet a critical link in the chain of interstellar commerce, as well as the shadier parts of the "package industry".
To reach it, one normally had to surrender all personal security to the good will of the Blackhawk Corsairs. They were as much pirates as they were protection, though. Aero and Cloudstalker both didn't want to risk trusting them. So, Ham Aero had flown the Leaping Shadowcat straight into the world-wide sea on the planet Dancer. When they located the entry base on the top of the city dome, Arkin Cloudstalker communicated his intentions directly to the Thin White Duke. Miraculously, Castle Orpheum opened to them and allowed them in without ever consulting the Blackhawks who ruled there. The ship was parked in the main vehicle bay where it had ample room. The crew locked it up and headed down a lift shaft into the city itself.
"We are going to have to be careful here," said Arkin to the crew. "Razor Conn is a good man, but his organization is full of less than trustworthy types."
"Didn't this planet once belong to a Mechanoid?" asked Ham.
"Khoolbas DiQuiri, yes. He was half computer, half lard. The fattest Mechanoid ever re-animated. Razor Conn took over this planet and this city from him."
"Is he dead then?" asked Duke Ferrari.
"No, Han," said Arkin. "Half of this planet's artificial systems run through his computerized brain. If Razor had killed him, this planet would lose atmosphere and become a giant ice ball again. He's a prisoner, but he's still alive somewhere here in Castle Orpheum."
As the access port to the lift shooped open, the crew stood looking at a Chinese man in a black suit with a gangster hat and black cape.
"Greetings, gentlemen. I am Shad Blackstone, Razor Conn's number two man. I've come to take you to the White Duke."
Nothing more was said. In a single file line, the group followed the mysterious caped Chinaman into the city streets. Castle Orpheum was a detailed reconstruction of 1930's Chicago back on the planet Earth. Everyone dressed like Al Capone and the only vehicles allowed in the city were 1930's-style roadsters with photon-battery engines. Many openly carried ACR's (advanced combat rifles) shaped like Tommy guns. Molls and urchins roamed the streets trying to con the toughs into cutting them in on the action. It was like an alien culture to the crew of the Shadowcat.
"What's with this place?" asked Duke Ferrari.
"It has style," said Blackstone mysteriously.
Most of the buildings they passed were styled as theaters, speak-easies, and pool halls. Most, however served functions different than they appeared to, and almost all had private dwellings in the upper stories. The dome's sun-source and artificial lights were set on a kind of permanent twilight, making the whole place eerily like the set of a film-noire movie.
Shad Blackstone led them into a building marked as Keyser's Old-Style Brewery. The six guards they saw wore Blackhawk combat armor and carried plasma guns.
"No one breaks in here, do they," said Ham.
"Are we gonna get shot at?" asked the Lupin boy, Sahleck Kim.
"No," said Blackstone, "at least, not by us."
The party entered a small computer room to be scanned.
"This is Fortunato Tomb," said Blackstone, introducing the Kritiian with the four scanners. Tomb was an insect-man from the planet Kriti 5. He had a brown carapace and four hands. He walked upright on his hind two legs. In the face he looked like a huge praying mantis with multi-faceted eyes and big, sharp mandibles.
"Hold still and this will go quickly," said Tomb with a creepy voice coming through a universal translator device he wore on his abdomen.
"Where's your hat, bug man?" asked Trav. "Everybody else in this place has a gangster hat. Or maybe I should call it a Ged Aero hat?"
"I ate mine, monkey man," said Tomb, "but I'm still hungry. Maybe you'll be so kind as to hand me yours?"
Tomb ran the scanners over everyone, though no one would say what he was looking for. Trav held his gob hat in his hands the entire time.
"Gentlemen," said Blackstone, "it is time to head into the inner sanctum of the Thin White Duke."
A bookcase rolled away from the wall to reveal a secret staircase. Shad Blackstone led the way up the stairs, which re-sealed after they all had passed. The inner sanctum was styled after a public library with numerous book racks and tables that left ample room for study. There were computers and holo-displays built into the surface of every table. A few leather-bound paper books were open and spread about on the tables.
The Thin White Duke himself was obviously well nick-named. He had white hair, a white suit like Mark Twain, and was rail thin in an almost emaciated way. He also wore a white half-cape over his left shoulder.
"So, I am honored by your visit, Hannover Ferrari," said the White Duke.
"We had no choice," said Duke Ferrari plainly. "You are the Sector Duke, and we can't operate in your sector without your permission."
"Nothing illegal, I suppose?" The White Duke arched an eyebrow.
"Well," said Cloudstalker, "we plan to rebel against the Galtorr Imperium."
"I know your plan. I dispatched agents to this planet Don't Go Here and I have information for you about Ged Aero's journey to a planet called Gaijin. I would like to know what you are planning to do about the ancient relic that your Goofy Dalgoda plans to steal."
The group was astounded by the revelation of the depth of the White Duke's intelligence sources. Ham Aero turned red in the face on Goofy's behalf, but Trav himself showed no change of expression at all.
"Uh…" Arkin Cloudstalker tried to say, "we never actually… um… approved Dalgoda's plan."
"Don't panic, my friends. Razor, Shad, and I have talked it over carefully. We want you to take the thing. It is dangerous beyond belief and we don't trust anyone to handle it more than Ged Aero."
"What is this thing?" asked Ham, alarmed.
"We'll examine it tomorrow. For now, let's just say that we are planning to give it to you. In return for taking it off our hands, I will help you with your rebellion. The planets Dancer, Regal One, and Inchon will join your alliance. We no longer claim White Palm. That was Nefaria's planet, and the Count disappointed me greatly in his recent dealings. He and his Expedition One archeologists have another ancient device buried somewhere that, if I knew where it was, I would give to you. My agents are supposed to try to make things happen in the Imperium, especially since the Emperor went insane, but Nefaria started dealing in the darkness with things I can't control. I won't have it. My agents all answer to me. My allies merely have to swear that they are on my side."
"You aspire to be Emperor yourself, Duke Keyser?" asked Duke Ferrari.
"No, Han. I expect I will be supporting YOU for the next Emperor of the Galtorr Imperium."
Filed under aliens, humor, novel, NOVEL WRITING, science fiction
Tagged as Aeroquest, novel, science fiction
Aeroquest… Adagio 8
Adagio 8 – Mechanoids
At this point, it is important that you know the difference between a Metalloid and a Mechanoid. They are not the same. The two terms are not interchangeable. The differences are critical to making your way through the modern galaxy. You should probably also know what a simuloid is, but I don't want to overtax your little brains just now. After all, there's a better than eighty percent chance that, as you are reading this, you probably don't have an electronically enhanced mind.
A Metalloid is what Sorcerer 4 was. It is an entirely artificial life form. Syn Corporation is the most dominant manufacturer of Metalloids, but artificial intelligence and artificial emotions have made them independent of their original makers. Many Metalloids were made not for sale by a factory, but by a parent robot who simply wanted to reproduce. Often, Metalloid parents use pieces from their own bodies to manufacture offspring, replacing the part taken from them later on. They almost always gift their robo-child with a piece of their own intelligence. Hence Metalloids can be very much like humans in their make-up and mental profiles.
I apologize for my prejudice here. Unless I forget to tell the story of the Great Robot Pie Fight, you will see why I hate robots. They are nasty! They are inscrutable. I would rather not spend time with them. Well, with the exception of the occasional Metalloid entertainment girl-robot. I admit to kinda liking those.
Mechanoids are an entirely different story. To be a Mechanoid, you must have first been a living being. Dead bodies are brought back to life through a marriage of flesh and circuitry. Minds are reloaded from computers and usually are kept as emotion-free as it is possible to do for a living mind. Dead and decayed flesh is restored as far as it is possible to do with the primary level of technology common in the galaxy. The Mechanoid is a true machine-man, more so than any titanium Metalloid. Well, machine-man, machine-woman, machine-child, or machine-horse as the case may be.
Now, I know it has been said by many observers that Mechanoid beings actually remember portions of their previous lives as a living being. I mean to show proper respect to those who claim this, but that is a load of hoo-haw. It is not physically possible for that to be true. I have studied the physics of the question and know this with certainty. The re-animated one cannot retain the electro-chemical memories of their previous life. Death effectively removes the data from whatever is left of the brain, even if we are talking about someone intentionally turned Mechanoid while they were still enjoying a healthy life and then carefully preserved. I would maintain that any story to the contrary is impossible, and induced by the various psychoses that Mechanoids are susceptible to.
Mechanoids are often violent and mentally unhinged. They are more akin to ancient concepts of the un-dead than they are to the people or creatures they once were. They live, yet their life and life-quality do not fit into the normal range of what we call life. I imagine most, if not all Mechanoids wish for an end to their unnatural life, and like the Rot-Warriors, I examined on the planet Mingo, they actively sabotage their own chances for survival.
There are a few exceptions to every scientific rule, but my mind is closed on this issue. If Ged Aero or Arkin Cloudstalker could neither one convince me, then I will never be convinced. After all, they had experiences with Mechanoids that, on the surface, appeared to disprove my thesis.
Aeroquest… Canto 39
Canto 39 – the Wisdom of Solomon
The Palace of One Thousand Years was empty save for five people. Ged Aero was about to teach his first official class. With him were three students, Junior Aero, Sara Smith, and the quiet Gaijinese boy of ten known as Shu Kwai. Junior and Sara wore only silken loin cloths. Shu Kwai, in the Gaijinese tradition, would wear no clothing he had not earned. His light orange skin was bare to the single sun, the Old Man. The three students were kneeling on the practice grounds. On a bench three hundred feet away sat Dr. Naylund Smith, watching intently.
"I may disappoint you three," said Ged softly. He pulled the brim of his fedora down to completely shield his eyes from the bright sun. His ceremonial robes flapped slightly in the breeze. It was the unconscious pose of the hunter… or perhaps the wary predator. "I have thought a lot about what to teach you this day, but I haven't a clue."
Shu Kwai had not spoken a word since his parents had brought him to the palace. Now he raised his brown eyes to Ged and looked at the master without changing his solemn expression. "Aero-sensei, you are the White Spider. Anything you say is destiny and probably the Word of God."
Ged laughed softly. "No pressure here, huh?"
Junior and Sara looked at each other and grinned. Shu Kwai focused like a laser on Ged's every word. The grim boy did not smile or move a single face muscle.
"Well, here goes… My mother back on Questor used to read from the Christian Bible to Ham and me. We took many important lessons from it. I know you three probably have not studied it, or even heard of it, but it was the greatest book ever written on the planet Earth."
Sarah nodded. The two boys showed no signs of recognition. Ged knew he would have to have a sharp memory to carry this off.
"The secret, I think lies in wisdom and discipline. These are two of the qualities that a wise king named Solomon used as major themes in his book of Proverbs. In Chapter 3 he said about discipline "the discipline of Jehovah, O my son, do not reject and do not abhor his reproof, because the one whom Jehovah loves he reproves, even as a father does a son in whom he finds pleasure."
"I find pleasure in having the three of you as my students. I will provide not only facts for you to learn, but discipline as well. If I correct you, it is because I know a better way and it shows evidence only of my love and respect for you."
"Who is Jehovah?" asked Junior.
"According to the Bible my mother read, that was the name of the one God, the creator of the universe."
"What if we believe in the Tao?" asked Shu Kwai.
"I will try to teach you better, but I will not argue with what you believe. All I am saying, students, is that if I must offer discipline, it will be only loving reproof."
"What will you say about wisdom?" asked Sara.
"Solomon said about wisdom… "Happy is the man who has found wisdom and the man that gets discernment, for having it is better than having silver as gain and having it as produce is better than gold itself. It is more precious than corals and all other delights of yours cannot be made equal to it."
"What wisdom will you teach us, Sensei?" asked Sara.
"I don't know everything yet. I am supposed to teach you about what I already know, and what I am learning about being a Psion. You three all have the powers of a Psion?"
"Junior and I are both telepaths," said Sara, "but he can talk to machines and computers, while I'm a healer."
"I'm a telekinetic and a telepath," said Shu Kwai. "I nearly burned the house down in the night when I was dreaming. I threw a candle across the room and made logs fly out of the burning fireplace."
"How interesting!" said Ged with a fixed smile. "You are all mind-readers, and I am not. I am a morph. I'm a shape-changer."
"The best that ever lived, I heard," said Shu Kwai. "My father said no shape-changer ever changed size before as you did in the arena against the Black Spider."
"My father says you came to save us," said Sara. "He said you have the discipline and the morality it takes to help us avoid becoming a monster from our Psion powers."
"I will do what I can, but as I said, I really have no idea how to teach you."
Naylund Smith came walking over to them clapping his hands. "That is one of the finest lessons I have ever heard, honored Ged-dono. Wisdom and discipline! This whole planet needs that. If they all had it, perhaps the plague of bandits and black spiders would end."
"I hope I don't let you all down."
"You cannot," assured Dr. Smith. "The boy is right. You are destiny."
Filed under aliens, education, humor, novel, NOVEL WRITING, Paffooney, science fiction, strange and wonderful ideas about life
Scherzo 1 – Who?
In the Central Hospital of downtown Oasis City, Hassan the Elf was awakening from his ordeal. Maggie the Knife sat by his bed with little Artran hanging out at the foot of the bed.
"He's awake, Mommy!" announced Artran.
"So he is," said the red-haired beauty, reaching over to brush a lock of hair out of Hassan's eyes. "Welcome back little one."
In a very soft-spoken voice Hassan said, "I am one hundred and four years old. I have had fourteen wives and seven hundred children in my time. I may look young, but I'm not exactly a child."
"My, my!" said Maggie in the tone of an indulgent parent. "You are quite the little man!"
"Do I get Daddy?" Artran asked of his mother.
"Please. Tell him the Peri is awake."
"Right away!" Artran tore out of the hospital room as if it were on fire.
"So tell me," said the elf softly, "will I be kept around for my intellect, or will you do away with me now that I am crippled?"
"Ooh, how you talk! You've been liberated by the Pinwheel Corsairs of Tron Blastarr. We intend to let you decide your own fate. Tron is planning to pay for an artificial leg for you."
"Why would a corsair leader help a poor Peri slave?" Hassan's eyes were large and filled with tears. He couldn't believe his sudden good luck.
"We Blastarrs believe that all races and individuals have worth. It's what has made us so unpopular with the Galtorr Imperium."
At that moment the room filled with an unnatural pinkish light. By the wall opposite the bed a really old-style phone booth materialized out of thin air. One creature was inside, a middle-aged human with shaggy gray hair and a large nose. He also had bags under his eyes as if from excessive fatigue. And he carried an umbrella under one arm. He opened the phone booth and stepped out.
"Who are you?" asked Maggie, staring.
"Exactly! You can call me Doctor Hooey, or just… Doctor. I'm a Time Knight from the planet Gallagos. This is not a phone box; it is my TimeShip, the Star Wars. It's really much more impressive than it looks."
At that moment, Tron and the King of Killers arrived to greet the awakened Peri.
"What is going on here?" demanded the scar-faced boss.
"Er… I was just telling your wife, Maggie, I believe, that I am a Time Knight of Gallagos. I come from long, long ago and far, far away to find you, Tron."
"What? How do you know my name?"
"I told you. I am a Time Knight of Gallagos. This telephone box is my TimeShip, the Star Wars."
"No. I mean, what are you doing here? How do you know who I am?"
"I'm not an agent of the late Count Nefaria, if that's what you fear. I came here because King Ryan Beowulf of the Time Knights sent me here to find you and do the things the record books said were done in the proper timeline. We have a pyramid to look into and some Imperial secrets to steal."
"What is this record book you speak of? And what PYRAMID?"
"I'm a Time Knight! I know things that haven't happened yet… and things that once happened that nobody else alive today knows about. I travel through time, forwards and backwards, and I know it's all very confusing! It gives me a headache to think about it too."
"What is a Time Knight?" asked Artran, staring out from behind his father's leg. "And why do you have those golden question marks on your old, tweedy suit?"
"Ah, you ask good questions, boy! No wonder you become so famous if you manage to live past the age of thirteen! A Time Knight…" Here Dr. Hooey had to pause to take a breath as all the oxygen in his brain was used up. "…is an adventurer and hero who travels through time, correcting anything that has gone, or might go wrong with the stream of time."
"Wow," said Hassan softly. "You talk funny!"
Artran snickered. Tron himself began to smile.
"Oh, I'm not the worst one, believe me. Of all the Time Knights, Dr. Emmit Brown talks the fastest. Sir H.G. Wells has a funny English accent. Sir Emerald Man is an original Galtorrian and speaks with a snaky lisp. No, I'm not the worst one."
"So what is this nonsense about a pyramid?" asked Tron, sounding more exasperated than he looked.
"It's the reason I have come. If we don't go and look into that pyramid, then your New Star League will never be formed. You will never become the Grand Admiral of Outpost, and Ged Aero will never become the successor to Shan as the White Spider!"
"So, you better lead the way!" said Tron.
"You know," said Hooey, "Master Hassan has to be there as well, along with your friend Mr. Killer."
"Are you ready to travel, elf?" asked Tron.
"You can't!" said Maggie. "The boy just woke up from a coma!"
"I will do anything you ask of me," said Hassan sincerely to Tron. "You have helped this lowly one in a way that can never be repaid, except by never-ending service. It is my duty."
Tron smiled at the elf. He was almost truly handsome when he smiled, in spite of the nasty scar through his eye. Hassan felt blessed to have such a brave and generous man as his new lord and master.
Filed under aliens, humor, novel, NOVEL WRITING, Paffooney, science fiction
Aeroquest… Nocturne 3
Nocturne 3 – At the Community Bath
Junior Aero was relaxing in the hot bathing pool in the Palace of One Thousand Years. The concept of community baths was definitely new to him, but he had seen so many changes in his short life that he could get used to anything quickly. The warm salty water felt good on muscles made to ache by Ged's intense martial arts training. His small body was not meant for such vigorous exercise. Still, anything that Ged taught was the word of God to Junior Aero. He needed Ged to believe that he was to be Ged's faithful disciple.
Across the patterned mosaic tiles of blue and white walked young Sara Smith. She came directly towards Junior wearing nothing more than a towel around her neck and a sweet, shy smile on her face. She was lovely with golden-peach skin and brown eyes like a doe in the forest.
"Umm… uh… I'm naked here," warned Junior.
"I know. I'm naked too."
"Aren't you supposed to bathe somewhere else when I'm here?"
"No. I came to bathe with you because I like you and want to get to know you."
Her open-faced charm was irresistible. Junior was still too young for this boy-girl bathing to be too dangerous. He decided it would do no good to protest.
"I'm curious," said Sara, "does a blue-skinned boy have a blue penis? Stand up and let me see?"
Junior was astonished. "Doesn't anything embarrass you?"
"Why should it? I've been bathing in public baths all my life. I'm used to seeing humanoid bodies with no clothes on. Besides, I like how your body looks. I will probably marry you when we both get older."
Junior shrugged. He stood up in the knee-deep water and offered his hand to Sara Smith. She took hold and drew herself up close to him. Together they settled down in the warm water.
"What's he like? Your White Spider, I mean?"
Junior looked into Sara's huge brown eyes. "Ged? He is a very good man. He and his brother rescued my mother and me from slavery. I was born a lowly slave, and he has always treated me as a member of his family, even though I am obviously not. I will serve him all my life."
"He sounds wonderful," said Sara. "My Daddy is like that too. He's an Immortal, you know. He cannot die of old age and it would take a sudden and complete destruction to kill him. He protects this world from evil, too. I can't think of a better man anywhere."
"Does he treat you well?"
"Oh, he treasures me. I have always been the most important thing in his life, at least, since I was born."
"Do you have a mother?"
"No. She died when I was born. Daddy blames himself. He thinks the disease that keeps him alive may have caused her to die. That's nonsense, though. How can something like that help one person to live and kill another?"
"That's very sad. I still have my mother. She doesn't really love me, though. My father was one of her slave owners. She hates me for reminding her of her life as a slave."
"Ooh, that's even sadder!" Sara kissed him on the cheek as she reached around him and began soaping his back. "How could anyone not love you?"
"I never really thought about it," Junior said. He reached over and put soap on Sara's neck. His hands caressed her shoulder. "I was worried about survival before. Life was hard. Now that I don't have to worry about how to stay alive, I have Ged and you to love me. I really don't think about her much anymore."
"That makes me happy to hear," said Sara. "You're a telepath, aren't you?"
"You can sense me the same as I can sense you," said Junior matter-of-factly. "You know what we both are."
"Yes. But I've never had another telepath to play with. Have you ever thought about what you'd do if you met one?"
"No. What do you mean?"
"I want to join minds with you."
"I'm not sure I can do that."
"You don't want to?"
"I can show you. You put your hands on my temples as I put mine on yours."
Both children came together at that moment as only a pair of Psions ever could. Two bright and beautiful minds flowed together and combined. Together they could see not only into each other's personal minds, but they could see the future, and the past before their births, together. They could see a time when they would be man and wife. They could see each other's powers, Junior's techno-telepathy, and Sara's healing telepathy. They saw their time as Ged's students together and their time as teachers, and of course, much of the dark and troubled times ahead. Someone else looking upon them at that moment would never truly be able to see the miracle of a naked boy and a naked girl holding each other tightly, mind to mind, in the bathhouse of the Palace of One Thousand Years.
Filed under aliens, humor, novel, NOVEL WRITING, Paffooney

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


it is important to point out "max size" is not absolute. Fish can surprise in the uk we have a koi over 4 feet long and 90+lbs was imported from aus. Also I have seen a giant goramy called George that was easily 3 feet long.
I have seen a number of fish beat their max size as well as other animals,I generally refer to this as gigantism and it can apparently occur in about any species.


Download Mirrors In The Brain How Our Minds Share Actions And Emotions ebook PDF or Read Online books in PDF, EPUB, and Mobi Format. Click Download or Read Online button to MIRRORS IN THE BRAIN HOW OUR MINDS SHARE ACTIONS AND EMOTIONS book pdf for free now.
When we witness a great actor, musician, or sportsperson performing, we share something of their experience. It become clear just how this sharing of experience is realised within the human brain. This text provides an accessible overview of mirror neurons, written by the man who first discovered them.
Harry Francis Mallgrave combines a history of ideas about architectural experience with the latest insights from the fields of neuroscience, cognitive science and evolutionary biology to make a powerful argument about the nature and future of architectural design. Today, the sciences have granted us the tools to help us understand better than ever before the precise ways in which the built environment can affect the building user's individual experience. Through an understanding of these tools, architects should be able to become better designers, prioritizing the experience of space - the emotional and aesthetic responses, and the sense of homeostatic well-being, of those who will occupy any designed environment. In From Object to Experience, Mallgrave goes further, arguing that it should also be possible to build an effective new cultural ethos for architectural practice. Drawing upon a range of humanistic and biological sources, and emphasizing the far-reaching implications of new neuroscientific discoveries and models, this book brings up-to-date insights and theoretical clarity to a position that was once considered revolutionary but is fast becoming accepted in architecture.
Establishing the parameters and goals of the new field of mind, brain, and education science. A groundbreaking work, Mind, Brain, and Education Science explains the new transdisciplinary academic field that has grown out of the intersection of neuroscience, education, and psychology. The trend in "brain-based teaching" has been growing for the past twenty years and has exploded in the past five to become the most authoritative pedagogy for best learning results. Aimed at teachers, teacher trainers and policy makers, and anyone interested in the future of education in America and beyond, Mind, Brain, and Education Science responds to the clamor for help in identifying what information could and should apply in classrooms with confidence, and what information is simply commercial hype. Combining an exhaustive review of the literature, as well as interviews with over twenty thought leaders in the field from six different countries, this book describes the birth and future of this new and groundbreaking discipline. Mind, Brain, and Education Science looks at the foundations, standards, and history of the field, outlining the ways that new information should be judged. Well-established information is elegantly separated from "neuromyths" to help teachers split the wheat from the chaff in classroom planning, instruction and teaching methodology.
How do athletes overcome fears, slumps, mental blocks, or injuries? How do they deal with stress and anxiety, be it from competitors, teammates, audiences, parents, coaches, or themselves? What psychological techniques prove effective in mental training for peak performance, maintaining concentration, motivation, and competitive drive? How can an athlete enhance his or her commitment to a training regimen, or how might the average person better adhere to a program of fitness and exercise? Readers will find answers to these questions and more in the Encyclopedia of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Features & Benefits: Entries explore the theory, research, and application of psychology as it relates to sport and fitness in a manner that is accessible and jargon-free to help readers better understand human behavior in sport and exercise settings. From personal factors to situational factors influencing performance to specific psychological techniques for enhancing performance, this work provides comprehensive coverage of the field via approximately 350 to 400 signed entries. Entries conclude with cross-references and suggestions for further readings to guide students further in their research journey. Available in print and online, this monumental work is edited by two leading figures in the field with a distinguished international Editorial Advisory Board to select and assign entries, ensuring authoritative content readers can trust.
The many technology-related educational changes of the past decade have been propelled by even greater changes in the general consumer technology landscape. Education has become increasingly entwined with the digital consumer landscape. We are no longer asking whether digital materials and tools should be integrated into teaching and learning, but how and how well. Meanwhile, the overall academic performance of U.S. students has not kept pace with our international peers. Many policymakers have called for increased attention to students' 21st century skills and work readiness, pointing to the critical role technology should play in educational innovation. These changes mean that many mainstream accessible technologies can be used in the classroom to benefit a diverse population of learners, including students with disabilities and English language learners, reflecting the national shift from separate special education programs to more inclusive classrooms. Changes to policies and standards have pushed assistive and accessible technologies to the forefront, including the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which requires teacher preparation programs to address educational technology and principles of universal design for learning (UDL), and the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS), which creates a public-private infrastructure to provide more timely delivery of digital text to students with physical and print disabilities. This volume represents pioneering ideas that examine how accessible educational technologies can be harnessed for breakthrough learning for all students. Chapters will cover innovation trends in educational and assistive technologies, cognitive and neuroscience findings on how individual differences impact technology use and choice; the intersection of educational, leisure, health habits and exer-gaming; the use of social networking tools by students with and without disabilities; the use of social networking for teacher professional learning communities; the future of assessments for decision-making; and an analysis of the habits of mind and work traits of innovators NCTI has interviewed over the past five years.
Under what conditions does 'sensation' become 'sensational'? In the early nineteenth century murder was a staple of the sensationalizing popular press and gruesome descriptions were deployed to make a direct impact on the sensations of the reader. By the end of the century, public concern with the thrills, spills, and shocks of modern life was increasingly articulated in the language of sensation. Media sensationalism contributed to this process and magnified its impact, just as sensation was, in turn, taken up by literature, art and film. In the contemporary world the dramatization of these experiences in an era of media panics over terrorism and paedophilia has taken an overtly melodramatic form, in which battles of good and evil play out across the landscapes of our lives. Sensational Subjects develops an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to exploring these themes, their impact and their implications for understanding the modern world. A companion volume, Sympathetic Sentiments: Affect, Emotion and Spectacle in the Modern World is published simultaneously by Bloomsbury.


Traditional Czech beer restaurant U Dvou Koček invites citizens and guests of Prague to have a great dinner. The doors of the restaurant are open today, as they were centuries ago, for this beer restaurant was established in 1678 and have never betrayed its principle — only the best Pilsner Urquell beer, only the most delicious local cuisine and hospitality.
In the menu you will find a great variety of dishes of classic Czech cuisine: cold and hot appetizers, beer dishes and snacks, soups, special meat, poultry and fish main courses, special dishes prepared à la minute, salads, vegetarian dishes. Dozens of different appetizing and nutritious dishes!
You will easily find U Dvou Koček restaurant in the Old Town on Uhelný trh Street, in one of well-preserved old buildings, which is likely to immediately attract your attention.


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Home Projects Civil/Structural/Port & Harbor Engineering Coastal Access Stairways Dana Headlands Pedestrian Walkway, Retaining Wall & Stairway
Dana Headlands Pedestrian Walkway, Retaining Wall & Stairway
As part of the Dana Headlands development, a walkway and associated retaining wall was built atop the shore protective revetment to promote public use and enhance the aesthetic scenic view. To construct the walkway, following installation of the center footing and stem wall, forms were set on the graded surface along each edge of the walkway. The walkway was cast against grade and temporary support from the riprap along the beach side of the structure. The cantilevered slab concept did increase thickness and reinforcement in the section; however, those additional costs were made up in reduced labor and materials costs eliminating the down-slope supports for the structure.
Beach access, through the riprap revetment, is provided by an ADA compliant stairway and an emergency-vehicle access ramp. The stairway is oriented diagonal to the alongshore alignment to minimize wave uprush, with the stairs accommodating a sand elevation range of over 10-feet. The cast-in-place concrete structure is founded on spread footings keyed into bedrock at the base and bearing on competent soil near the top.
To thoroughly understand behavior of the structure under loading and settlement scenarios, a finite element model was used in the structural analysis. Stress levels in the structure, when subjected to lateral earth or seismic forces depend largely on the soil characteristics that support it. By modeling the soil as springs in the finite element analysis, and altering spring constants to cover a safe range of soil characteristics, stress envelopes reflecting the worst-case scenario for all loading and soil combinations were clearly defined. Using this approach produced a design that reliably meets its service requirements.
View more projects in this category (Coastal Access Stairways)


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RAF Rivenhall experts? Group photo identification
Thread: RAF Rivenhall experts? Group photo identification
28th May 2019, 10:47 #11
Originally Posted by wwrsimon
And is the man with the chevron collar insignia American?
Looks like he is wearing RAF 'Best Blue' (No1 uniform) with an RAF 'Chip Bag' Hat and I think I can just about make out a standard RAF Officer cap badge on the chip bag hat.
But I can see why you said that :)
BabaAndrew
Herewith some close-ups, in case this helps...
Yes, Fleet Air Arm chaps were drafted in to some RAF airfields, at the time of Airborne Ops in 1944-1945 and one can find photos of them on the runway during preparation of aircraft and at the time of take-off. This certainly included Air Fitters and probably also Air Mechanics. However, they wore Naval uniform. The gent with the collar patches does not appear to be in Naval uniform.
malcolm_raf
Hornsea, East Yorkshire, UK
I wonder if the collar badges are those of a medical officer?
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BabaAndrew (29th May 2019)
[QUOTE=wwrsimon;143006]I have a copy of 'Rivenhall - The History of an Essex Airfield' by B. A. Stait, which has a group photo in front of a Stirling. This includes four chaps in Royal Navy uniforms, and the caption states that they are thought to have been drafted in due to a shortage of qualified electricians./QUOTE]
Can you tell me if the book talks about an RAF presence throughout its existence (when operating as both a USAAF and RAF station)?
Also, does it mention any names or details of station staff?
wwrsimon
Northumberland, UK
Here's what the book records:
The U.S.A.A.F. were the first to occupy the airfield - the 363rd Fighter Group with their P-51s moved in early 1944, and left for Staplehurst in Kent on April 14th 1944. They were replaced by the 397th Bomb Group (Medium) with the B-26s, who arrived on April 15th 1944 and their last Op from Rivenhall looks like August 4th 1944. There's no mention of any R.A.F. personnel being at Rivenhall during these two units' occupancy.
295 and 570 Squadrons moved in from October 1st 1944. There is a photo of the 'handing over' with Col. Coiner of the U.S.A.A.F. shaking the hand of an R.A.F. Officer, thought to be W/C Martin of No.3 Group.
It does mention that the Station Commander after the R.A.F. arrived was G/Capt. W. E. Surplice, D.S.O, D.F.C., who was killed in Stirling LK171 on November 2nd 1944:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peo...a7770909.shtml
He was succeeded by G/Capt. Pope, D.S.O. (was that Vincent Alvan Pope?).
There are a few R.A.F. names mentioned in the text:
Jim Swale of 295 Sqn
S/Ldr. Stewart of 295 Sqn
W/O Peter Baldock, Navigator with 295 Sqn
Sgt. Tony Wardley of the Glider Pilot Regt.
And there are some group photos with the following:
F/Sgt Hugh Rice, Flight Engineer with 295 Sqn (group photo - he's the only one named)
W/C H. E. Angell D.F.C., C.O. of 295 Sqn (group photo - he's the only one named)
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Looking at his medal ribbons, the senior officer in the photo was the holder of the DFC or DFM, more likely the DFC. This would make Group Captain Wilfred Edward Surplice, DFC, a possibility. I cannot see what the other medal ribbon(s) might be for.
UPDATE: Now received this photo from a member of the Surplice family, which is of Wilfred Edward Surplice. I would say that it is a different gent to the one on the group photo (due to shape of face, absence of moustache and way of wearing peaked cap), so this would effectively 'rule out' Group Captain Surplice, DFC, being the senior officer in the group photo.
Last edited by BabaAndrew; 30th May 2019 at 09:16.


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Fifa opens corruption case against Sepp Blatter and Jérôme Valcke
• Former secretary-general Markus Kattner also part of investigation
• Ethics committee begins formal proceedings against trio
Fri 9 Sep 2016 07.54 EDT Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 02.59 EST
Former Fifa President Sepp Blatter said last month he would accept his six-year ban from football. Photograph: Pierre Albouy/Reuters
The former Fifa president Sepp Blatter is facing another corruption investigation after the ethics committee of world football's governing body announced it was opening proceedings against him and his key lieutenants Jérôme Valcke and Markus Kattner.
The committee's investigatory chamber will investigate possible violations of Fifa's rule book that relate to bribery, conflicts of interest and general conduct, while Kattner faces a further charge related to a breach of confidentiality.
The case is understood to be based on the huge salaries and bonuses the three men allegedly paid themselves at Fifa, and the alleged leaking of information about new Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, to the media.
Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid lose appeals against Fifa transfer ban
A statement on the governing body's website on Friday confirmed that Djimbaraye Bourngar, the deputy chairman of the investigatory chamber of the ethics committee, had begun formal proceedings against the trio.
"The investigatory chamber will investigate possible violations of art. 13 (General rules of conduct), art. 15 (Loyalty), art. 19 (Conflicts of interest), art. 20 (Offering and accepting gifts and other benefits) and art. 21 (Bribery and corruption) of the Fifa Code of Ethics (FCE) in the context of salaries and bonuses paid to Mr Blatter, Mr Valcke and Mr Kattner as well as other provisions included in the contracts of these three individuals," read the statement.
"Furthermore, the investigatory chamber will investigate a possible violation of art. 16 (Confidentiality) of the FCE by Mr Kattner.
"Under the Fifa Code of Ethics, the investigatory chamber shall examine all circumstances of the cases equally. For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the investigatory chamber will not publish further details at the present time."
The 80-year-old Blatter, who ran Fifa from 1998 to 2015, is currently waiting for the result of his appeal against an existing ban from football for a payment he made to former protege and Uefa president Michel Platini.
That appeal was heard at the court of arbitration for sport last month and if Platini's earlier case is a guide, football's most infamous administrator can expect a reduction in his ban from six years to four.
Valcke, who served as Blatter's right-hand man from 2007 to 2015, has also already been banned from all football activities by Fifa. The 55-year-old Frenchman was given a 12-year ban in February for misconduct related to his expenses, the use of Fifa resources and the sale of World Cup tickets.
Kattner, who was Valcke's deputy, has not been sanctioned before but was unceremoniously sacked in May.
A month later, the American law firm Fifa hired to help repair the damage from its well-documented corruption scandal alleged that Blatter, Kattner and Valcke had shared £60m in pay rises and bonuses between 2011 and 2015.
This information has been passed onto the Swiss authorities as they appear to breach corporate governance laws.
With the careers of these men in sports politics already surely finished, it is debatable what more Fifa can do to them. But this move may provide some good clues as to how that Swiss criminal inquiry will go. It will also give Infantino another chance to show his commitment to a fresh start at Fifa's Zurich headquarters.
The need for him to keep doing that cannot be underestimated as the earlier Swiss and US investigations into Fifa's wider corrupt practices over the last decade or so continue, and the Swiss are still looking at the 2010 decision to award the 2018 and 2022 World Cups to Russia and Qatar respectively.
And if that was not bad enough, there are also inquiries under way into the 2006 and 2010 World Cups that could bring even more embarrassment and shame to Fifa's door.
Meanwhile, former Fifa vice-president Jeffrey Webb has been banned from all football-related activities for life and fined £770,000.
The 51-year-old from the Cayman Islands was once considered a future leader of world football's governing body but that prospect ended when he was arrested in Switzerland last May by local police acting on behalf of the United States Department of Justice.
Webb, who ran the Concacag confederation which governs football in the Caribbean and North and Central America, pleaded guilty to racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering in November.
He has been provisionally suspended by Fifa since his arrest but the adjudicatory chamber of its ethics committee has now handed him its most serious sentence.
Football politics
Sepp Blatter
Management could be prosecuted for failure to prevent fraud by staff
Attorney general proposes expanding 'white-collar crime' laws to include money laundering and false accounting by employees
Why don't bankers go to jail? You asked Google – here's the answer
Jill Treanor
Published: 7 Sep 2016
Europe, Apple, and the money burning a hole in Silicon Valley's wallet
Switzerland prosecutes UBS banker for helping Germany chase tax dodgers
Panama Papers: Denmark buys leaked data to use in tax evasion inquiries


Here's a small unit of Zouaves which are intended to be French 2nd Empire. They are, of course, from the Perry plastic ACW kit, but the uniforms are pretty much identical.
The bugler's arm, as well as the firing pose arms, are from Perry Napoleonic plastic kit spares. The little flag on the bugle was made out of Green Stuff.
They're based in pairs on Litko 50mm round plywood bases. As I don't plan to paint up a large number of figures for this period, they'll likely only be used in skirmish games - someday.
This set comes with 40 figures, so they're a lot more to paint up. I plan to paint some up as 2nd Empire Tirailleurs, and maybe some as Louisiana Tiger Zouaves. The latter, mainly because I like their striped pants.
These were a nice diversion from the recent Napoleonics - although not very distant in time frame from them.
Thanks again for swinging by the ol' blog, and best wishes to you all in your hobby and painting endeavors!
Very nice they look to. Great job Dean!
Fantastic colors and great job!
Those are quiet beautiful Dean!
Lovely looking zouaves! Are you going to do some Austrians or Prussians to fight against?
Great work as ever Dean. I was planning to pick up a pick up a box of those Zouaves for myself.
Wonderful brushwork. Nicely done sir!
Black Powder 2nd Ed. First Game - Fun!


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BackPolling InstituteAll Poll ReportsAbout the Polling InstituteBlog
CD48 Remains Tight
HomeAboutCenters & InstitutesPolling Institute
Trump ratings improve; immigration top issue
West Long Branch, NJ – The race for California's 48th Congressional District between Republican incumbent Dana Rohrabacher and Democratic challenger Harley Rouda remains tight, according to the Monmouth University Poll. An increase in Republican enthusiasm and an uptick in positive views of President Donald Trump have given Rohrabacher a small boost since Monmouth's last poll of this district in July. Immigration is the top issue for CA-48 voters which also benefits the Republican. Still, the poll finds the 15-term congressman is facing his toughest re-election fight ever.
Rohrabacher registers 50% support and Rouda has the backing of 48% using a standard midterm likely voter model. Rohrabacher's share of the vote has grown from 45% in July, while Rouda's support is virtually unchanged from his 47% share over the summer. The race flips, but is still tight, when applying a model that includes a potential turnout surge in Democratic precincts – 50% for Rouda and 48% for Rohrabacher. A model with lower overall turnout, however, gives the Republican a lead of 52% to 46%. None of the margins in these models are statistically significant.
"This is a district where very small differences in who turns out to vote can have a big impact on the final margin. The high level of diversity in this district means the higher the turnout the better it gets for Rouda," said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.
Overall interest in this House election has increased from 76% who had a lot of interest in July to 84% currently. Republicans have closed the Democrats' summer advantage on this measure. Currently 85% of Democrats, 85% of Republicans, and 82% of independents have a lot of interest. In July, this stood at 86% of Democrats, 72% of Republicans, and 70% of independents.
Both candidates have predictable leads among their fellow partisans – Rohrabacher at 93%-7% among Republicans and Rouda at 97%-2% among Democrats – but independents are evenly split at 48% for Rohrabacher and 47% for Rouda. In July, Rouda held a 46%-39% advantage among independents. Rohrabacher leads among white voters without a college degree by 54% to 44%. This margin is smaller than his 58% to 34% advantage with this group in July, but he has countered that by narrowing the gap among groups that have been trending Democratic in the 2018 cycle. Specifically, white voters with a college degree are split at 49% for Rouda and 48% for Rohrabacher – a group the Democrat led by 47%-44% in July. And while Rohrabacher still trails Rouda among non-white voters by 42%-55%, the gap is smaller than the 34%-59% deficit he had in July.
"The winds in this race have started to blow a little more in the Republican's favor. A big factor in this shift is an uptick in support for the president since the summer," said Murray.
Voter opinion of Donald Trump has improved in California's 48th, now standing at 54% approve and 46% disapprove, compared with 49% approve and 48% disapprove in July. The poll finds 82% of likely voters say that Trump is a very important factor in their House vote, which includes similar numbers of Trump supporters (87%) and opponents (85%). Donald Trump actually lost this district by 2 points in 2016 while Rohrabacher cruised to one of his typical double digit wins. Mitt Romney won this district by 12 points in 2012. These GOP roots are one reason why CA-48 voters are somewhat more likely to prefer to have Republicans (48%) rather than Democrats (43%) in control of Congress, with just 7% saying party control does not matter to them. This gap was slightly narrower in July when 45% preferred Republican control and 42% preferred Democratic control.
Among six issues asked about in the poll, CA-48 voters choose immigration (33%) as their top concern in the congressional election, followed by health care (26%). Other issues included in the poll are taxes (12%), gun control (8%), job creation (7%), and abortion (5%). Voters are more likely to trust Rohrabacher (46%) over Rouda (38%) to handle illegal immigration, with just 7% saying they trust both candidates equally. Preferences are divided on keeping health care affordable, with 40% trusting Rouda more on this issue and 35% trusting Rohrabacher more, while 10% say they trust both equally.
"In other districts we've polled, immigration takes a back seat to health care among voter concerns and the Democratic candidate usually has a clear advantage on it. Neither of those trends apply in this case. Rohrabacher has been successful in focusing the electorate on an issue where he has the edge," said Murray.
The Republican incumbent has been one of the president's strongest supporters, especially on issues involving Russia. Over one-third (36%) say Rohrabacher has been too supportive of Trump, while 41% say he has offered the right amount of support to the president and 6% say he has not been supportive enough. In July, 30% said he was too supportive, 32% said he gave the right amount of support, and 10% said he was not supportive enough. The poll also finds that over 1-in-3 (37%) voters say they are concerned that Rohrabacher may be too friendly toward Russia, but a majority (56%) of likely voters are not concerned about this.
"Voters have some misgivings about the incumbent's behavior, which is helping to make this race competitive. But these concerns are not widespread enough to make this seat an easy pick up for the Democrat," said Murray.
Voter opinion is split on the incumbent – 37% have a favorable view of Rohrabacher and 39% have an unfavorable view, with 23% expressing no opinion. These results are similar to July when his rating stood at 37% favorable and 40% unfavorable. Over one-third of CA-48 voters (37%) say Rohrabacher's political views are in line with most residents of the district, while 22% say they are out of step, and 41% are unsure. This has not changed much since Monmouth's earlier poll when 37% said his views were in line, 19% said out of step, and 44% were unsure.
Businessman Rouda also gets mixed personal ratings at 35% favorable and 29% unfavorable, with 35% expressing no opinion. While the Democrat's positive rating is close to his summer standing of 33% favorable, his negative number has increased significantly from 16% unfavorable in July. Currently, 23% say Rouda's political views are in line with most CA-48 residents and 26% say they are out of step, with 51% saying they are unsure. In July, 18% said they were in line, 20% said out of step, and 62% were unsure.
The Monmouth University Poll was conducted by telephone from October 17 to 21, 2018 with 372 likely voters in California's 48th Congressional District. The question results in this release have a margin of error of +/- 5.1 percentage points. The error of the difference between the two candidates' vote share (i.e. the "lead") is +/-7.2 percentage points. The poll was conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute in West Long Branch, NJ.
QUESTIONS AND RESULTS
(* Some columns may not add to 100% due to rounding.)
1/2. If the election for U.S. House of Representatives in your district was today, would you vote for Dana Rohrabacher the Republican or Harley Rouda the Democrat? [IF UNDECIDED: If you had to vote for one of the following at this moment, do you lean more toward Dana Rohrabacher or more toward Harley Rouda?] [NAMES WERE ROTATED]
Likely Voters
with leaners
Dana Rohrabacher 50% 48% 52% 45% 44% 45%
Harley Rouda 48% 50% 46% 47% 48% 48%
(VOL) Undecided 2% 2% 2% 8% 8% 7%
(n) (372) (372) (372) (361) (361) (361)
[QUESTIONS 3 & 4 WERE ROTATED]
3. Is your general impression of Dana Rohrabacher favorable or unfavorable, or do you have no opinion of him?
Likely Voter Standard Oct.
Favorable 37% 37%
Unfavorable 39% 40%
No opinion 23% 23%
(n) (372) (361)
4. Is your general impression of Harley Rouda favorable or unfavorable, or do you have no opinion of him?
5. How much interest do you have in the upcoming election for House of Representatives – a lot of interest, a little interest, or not much interest at all?
A lot 84% 76%
A little 14% 17%
Not much at all 2% 7%
(VOL) Don't know 1% 1%
6. Have you been following the campaign in your congressional district very closely, somewhat closely, or not too closely?
Very closely 38% 25%
Somewhat closely 39% 44%
Not too closely 23% 32%
7. Do you approve or disapprove of the job Donald Trump is doing as president? [Do you (approve/disapprove) strongly or somewhat?]
Strongly approve 48% 38%
Somewhat approve 6% 11%
Somewhat disapprove 5% 7%
Strongly disapprove 41% 41%
8. On most issues would you say you support or oppose what President Trump is doing?
Support 51% 47%
Oppose 44% 48%
(VOL) Depends/both 3% 3%
9. How important is it for you to cast a vote for Congress that shows your [support of/opposition to] President Trump – very important, somewhat important, not too important, or not at all important?
Very important 82% 75%
Somewhat important 8% 13%
Not too important 2% 4%
Not at all important 2% 2%
10. Would you rather see the Republicans or the Democrats in control of Congress, or doesn't this matter to you?
Republicans 48% 45%
Democrats 43% 42%
Does not matter 7% 11%
[QUESTIONS 11 & 12 WERE ROTATED]
11. Are Dana Rohrabacher's political views generally in line or out of step with most residents in this district, or are you not sure?
In line 37% 37%
Out of step 22% 19%
Not sure 41% 44%
12. Are Harley Rouda's political views generally in line or out of step with most residents in this district, or are you not sure?
13. Please tell me which one of the following policy issues is most important to you in your vote choice for Congress? [ITEMS WERE ROTATED]
Immigration policy 33%
Health care policy 26%
Gun control policy 8%
Abortion policy 5%
Tax policy 12%
Job creation policy 7%
(VOL) Other 3%
(VOL) Don't know 6%
(n) (372)
[QUESTIONS 14A & 14B WERE ROTATED]
14A. Who do you trust more to work to keep health care affordable – Dana Rohrabacher or Harley Rouda, or do you trust both equally? [NAMES WERE ROTATED]
Dana Rohrabacher 35%
Harley Rouda 40%
Both equally 10%
(VOL) Neither one 5%
(VOL) Don't know 10%
14B. Who do you trust more to handle the issue of illegal immigration – Dana Rohrabacher or Harley Rouda, or do you trust both equally? [NAMES WERE ROTATED]
Both equally 7%
15. Has Dana Rohrabacher been too supportive of Donald Trump, not supportive enough, or has he given the right amount of support to Trump?
Too supportive 36% 30%
Not supportive enough 6% 10%
Right amount of support 41% 32%
(VOL) Don't know 17% 28%
16. Are you concerned or not concerned that Dana Rohrabacher may be too friendly toward Russia? [IF CONCERNED: Are you concerned a lot or a little?]
Concerned, a lot 29%
Concerned, a little 8%
Not concerned 56%
The Monmouth University Poll was sponsored and conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute from October 17 to 21, 2018 with a random sample of 372 likely voters in California's 48th Congressional District, drawn from a list of registered voters who voted in at least one of the last four general or primary elections or have registered to vote since January 2016. This includes 180 contacted by a live interviewer on a landline telephone and 192 contacted by a live interviewer on a cell phone in English. Monmouth is responsible for all aspects of the survey design, data weighting and analysis. Final sample is weighted for region, party registration, age, gender, education and race based on state voter registration list and U.S. Census information. Data collection support provided by Braun Research (field) and L2 (voter sample). For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling has a maximum margin of plus or minus 5.1 percentage points (unadjusted for sample design). Sampling error can be larger for sub-groups (see table below). In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.
DEMOGRAPHICS (weighted)
49% Republican
31% Democrat
20% Neither
Self-Reported Party ID
31% Independent
12% 18-34
34% 65+
72% White, non-Hispanic
2% Black
14% Hispanic
13% Asian
49% No college degree
51% 4-year college degree
Click on pdf file link below for full methodology and results by key demographic groups.
Download This Poll Report with Crosstabs
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Polling Institute
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Patrick Murray
Director Of The Polling Institute
Follow on Twitter: @PollsterPatrick
pdmurray@monmouth.edu


Eight independent candidates from North West's Tlokwe municipality have alleged in court papers that hundreds, if not thousands, of voters in the by-elections in the area were not legitimate, City Press reported on Sunday.
The electoral court in Bloemfontein is due next month to hear a court application by the independent candidates to have the election result set aside and an independent investigation to be conducted.
The newspaper reported that court papers submitted by the independent candidates allege that at least 500 voters were registered at addresses outside the ward areas and at least 600 had provided false or incomplete addresses on voter registration forms.
Other allegations include that 31 people from other areas were re-registered in the contested wards and transported to the Tlokwe area to vote in the elections.
In responding papers, the Independent Electoral Commission's chief electoral officer Mosoto Moepya said "no evidential material has been brought before the court in support of the allegations."
The ANC retained six wards in by-elections which took place in the highly contested region in December last year.
Political engagement in the area has been heated after 14 ANC councillors were expelled from the party last July for participating in a motion of no confidence in the ANC's mayor Maphetle Maphetle. He was replaced as mayor by the DA's Annette Combrink.


Native to Ethiopia, this is one of the most popular variant amongst the other Coffees.
Consumption of arabica coffee helps reduces cardiovascular diseases, lower prevalence of diabetes and hyperlipidaemia.
Cultivated Organically in the Coffee belt of Karnataka in Misty Coorg. Shade grown, single Origin estate retains the native shade trees that aid in the perfect Arabica Coffee berries for your brew.
Cultivated using bio-dynamic and vedic practices. Our farmer takes the extra effort to prepare this own compost and bio-dynamic preparation to ensure a completely Organic Plantation. The rich flora and fauna draws in different species of the rare Horn Bill on this farm.


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Myanmar travel guide - where to visit
For many years closed off to tourists, Myanmar has in recent years emerged as the new 'must-see' Southeast Asian destination, combining magnificent landscapes with an ancient cultural legacy that displays itself with an entrancing beauty. Its rural heartland is inhabited by a diverse ethnic mix of villagers who carry on their traditions with a quiet resilience, while religious devotion is exhibited in stunning architecture and sites of pilgrimage. While the country has some stand-out highlights at tranquil Inle Lake and the awe-inspiring temples of Bagan, explore a little further off-the-beaten-track and you will meet minority groups few witness and discover both the ancient and colonial history, together with the future aspirations, of this richly rewarding destination.
South Myanmar Capital, beaches, archipelago and Golden Rock
Yangon's most famous site is the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, dating back around 2,500 years.
Yangon is most visitors' first impression of the country, home to crumbling colonial architecture and a vibrant Asian street-life. Soak up the sights, sounds and smells at its bustling Chinatown, lined with street-food sellers offering some of the most authentic cuisine the city has to offer, or head to the Bohyoke Aung San Market whose cobblestone streets are the ideal place to stock up on souvenirs.
The city's most famous site is the Shwe Dagon Pagoda, dating back around 2,500 years. It's golden pagoda towers over the city and is an important place of worship for the local Buddhist population who vividly display their devotion with colourful offerings of flowers. Nearby is the 60-metre reclining Buddha of Chauk That Gyi that dates to 1899 and is well worth visiting, depicting the Buddha half reclining with one handing propping up his torso.
Southeast Myanmar Region - Bago, Golden Rock, Hap-An
Golden Rock Pagoda, a famous Buddhist pilgrimage, stands atop an immense boulder, teetering precariously on the edge of Mount Kyaikhtiyo's cliff.
From Yangon head fifty kilometres north to Bago, the former capital of southern Myanmar, whose beautiful ancient temples make for an excellent day trip. Then travel east over the Gulf of Martaban to the Golden Rock Pagoda which stands atop an immense boulder, teetering precariously on the edge of Mount Kyaikhtiyo's cliff. This famous Buddhist pilgrimage site can be climbed from the base camp at Kinpun, 11 kilometres away, or by a short 1.2 kilometre walk from Yatetaung.
Continuing south you come to the capital of Karen State, Hpa-An, nestled at the base of the unusually shaped Zwekabin Hill. The region offers plenty of outdoors activities, including hiking through the magnificent Great Dawna Mountain Rangers, and cruising the placid waters of the Thanlwin River. Just to the south of Hpa-An is Mawlamyine, serving as the capital of British Burma between 1827 and 1852 and infused with an air of old-world colonial charm. Visit its Kyaiktalan pagoda for impressive views over the city and harbour, and Kawgaung Cave where stalactites, stalagmites and thousands of images of Buddha adorn an elaborate interior.
Beaches of Andaman Sea
Myanmar beaches are backed by coconut palms and casuarina trees, these unspoilt resorts are the perfect place to relax, swim and take advantage of the water sports on offer.
If you're looking for a tropical beachside escape from Yangon, the head through the Ayeyarwaddy Delta to the beautiful beaches of Chaungtha and Ngwe Saung. Backed by coconut palms and casuarina trees, these unspoilt resorts are the perfect place to relax, swim and take advantage of the water sports on offer.
With spectacular limestone cliffs and some of the country's best diving, Mergui Archipelago house an amazing diversity of flora and fauna, as well as sea gypsy nomads living as they have done for centuries.
If you really want to get into unchartered territory then head to the far south of Myanmar to the Mergui Archipelago (Myeik Archipelago) - a group of more than 800 islands scattered across the Andaman Sea. With spectacular limestone cliffs and some of the country's best diving, it is a must-see for underwater enthusiasts, while its lush interiors house an amazing diversity of flora and fauna, as well as sea gypsy nomads living as they have done for centuries.
Central Myanmar Culture hub, ancient temples, buddhist monasteries and Ayeyarwaddy river
More than 4,000 temples, pagodas and monasteries that mushroom spectacularly from the plains below once served as the Kingdom of Pagan.
In the centre of the country lies one of Myanmar's must-visit destinations - Bagan. This ancient Buddhist site of more than 4,000 temples, pagodas and monasteries that mushroom spectacularly from the plains below once served as the Kingdom of Pagan between the 9th and 13th Centuries. Walk, cycle or take a horse-cart to witness its magnificent stupas and mural paintings, watch the sun slowly sinking over the horizon from atop one of its pagodas, bathing the landscape in rich, golden colours, and get a birds-eye view of the archaeological site as you float above on a sunrise hot-air balloon ride.
Travelling to the east of Bagan through small villages lined with palms is Mount Popa, an extinct volcano that towers more than 1,500 metres. To its southwest the volcanic plug of Taung Kalat is capped by a sacred Buddhist monastery, and both locals and tourists alike can often be seen ascending its 777 steps en masse to the summit where panoramic views all the way back to Bagan are on offer.
The 1.2 km U Bein Bridge is an impressive construction using teak pillars from the deserted Ava palace.
A short drive to the north lies the kingdom's former capital, Mandalay - a city with a vivid cultural and historical legacy. Witness the magnificent Golden Palace Monastery or Shwenandaw, a beautiful example of traditional wooden Burmese architecture, as well as the Kuthodaw Pagoda whose 729 marble slabs are intricately carved with Buddha's teachings. For magnificent views across the city, climb the 33-metre high watchtower of the carefully reconstructed Mandalay Palace, or take in the panorama from Mandalay Hill that extends across the Ayeyarwaddy River and the Shan Plateau, particularly special at sunset.
Just to the south of Mandalay lies Amarapura, famed for its silk weaving looms and the 1.2 km U Bein Bridge, an impressive construction using teak pillars from the deserted Ava palace. After shopping for beautiful silk designs, visit the famous Mahagandayon Monastery where practicing monks can be witnessed studying and observing their strict religious discipline.
Around Mandalay - Sagaing, Inwa, Mingun
The unfinished Mingun Pagoda, guarded by a pair of stone lions, exhibits large cracks inflicted during the 1838 earthquake.
For a deeper insight into Myanmar's Buddhism then head west to Sagaing, once the country's capital and now its religious centre where numerous Buddhist monasteries and nunneries congregate around sacred Sagaing Hill. Just to the south, the town of Inwa is also worth visiting for its impressive Maenu Okkyaung Monastery and Bargayar Monastery, built with 267 teak pillars and featuring elaborate wood carvings.
Travel by boat north from Mandalay along the Ayeyarwaddy River to Mingun where the unfinished Mingun Pagoda, guarded by a pair of stone lions, exhibits large cracks inflicted during the 1838 earthquake. The town is famed for the Mingun Bell, said to be the largest un-cracked bell in the world, as well as the Mya Thein Tan Pagoda, whose beautiful wave-like terraced architecture was built to enshrine a sacred emerald.
Pyin Oo Lwin and surrounds
Drive one hour east of Mandalay along a spectacular winding road over the Shan Plateau to the the cool-climate town of Pyin Oo Lwin, situated at more than 1,000 metres above sea level. Take the time to visit Kandawgyi National Park, a beautiful 435-acre botanical gardens set around Kandawgyi Lake with an extensive orchid collection, bird aviary and butterfly museum. Then travel on to the spectacular cascades of Pwekaku Waterfall and the limestone cave of Peik Chin Myaung, beautifully adorned in stalactites and Buddhist stupas.
From Pyin Oo Lwin take the rail journey along the famous Gohteik Viaduct to Naung Pein, built by the British in 1900 to connect the silver mines with the central plains below and now offering visitors on an exhilarating ride through the thick jungles and ravines above the Nam Hsam River.
Monywa and Alaungdaw Kathapa
The Thanbode Temple in Monywa houses more than 500,000 images of Buddha.
130 km to the west of Mandalay lies the Chindwin Valley and the trading centre of Monywa, whose stunning Thanbode Temple houses more than 500,000 images of Buddha. Don't miss a visit to the Shwetharlyaung Recling Buddha Image, stretching 100 metres in length, or the Boditahtaoung Temple, surrounded by thousands of Bodi trees. The region is also home to Myanmar's largest national park and a popular pilgrimage site, Alaungdaw Kathapa, where large populations of wild elephants live amongst elusive Clouded Leopards and Himalayan Brown Bears.
Bago Yoma and Ngapiyidaw
250 kilometres south of Mandalay the Bago Yoma mountain ranges boast a stunning natural beauty, criss-crossed with walking trails that pass through small villages offering some of Myanmar's best teak products. Visit the elephant camps of Thagara and Seinye then travel on to the country's modern capital at Napyidaw. Its wide boulevards, lined in newly built apartments, stand in stark contrast to the country's other cities.
East Myanmar Inle Lake, ethnic minorities of Shan and Myanmar-China border trade towns
No visit to Myanmar is complete without spending some time at magnificent Inle Lake, home to floating villages and gardens.
No visit to Myanmar is complete without spending some time at magnificent Inle Lake. Home to floating villages and gardens, island textile weaving looms, and the famous Phaungdaw Oo Pagoda, its inhabitants' daily lives are closely interwoven with the lake's waters. Shop for traditional handicrafts at its island artisans, witness the comings and goings at its 5-day rotating village markets, visit the 'Jumping Cats Monastery, and experience traditional longboats being rowed by 30 pairs of feet during the annual Phaungdaw Oo Pagoda Festival.
Taunggyi, Kalaw and Pindaya Cave
If you are visiting in November, then experiencing the annual Fire Balloon Festival in Taunggyi, a short half hour drive from Inle Lake, is a must. The sight of hundreds of paper balloons, lit with candles and floating through the night sky, is magical. Carry on to the Kakku Pagoda, housing an impressive collection of centuries-old Buddhist stupas, or travel northwest to the Pindaya Cave, with more than 8,000 Buddha images dating back to the early 18th century and large, centuries-old banyan trees offering welcome shade outside.
A short distance to the west sits the high-altitude hill station of Kalaw, established by the British to escape the heat of the plains below. Today this tranquil town is the country's trekking capital and the starting point for multi-day excursions across the Shan Plateau. Explore its beautiful rural landscapes and small ethnic minority villages, together with the Myinmahtigu natural caves, adorned in ancient Buddha images.
Ethnic minority people selling local products in the five day market in Shan State.
Shan State border towns - Tachileik, Lashio, Muse, Kyaing Tong
Also known for their scenic beauty and hill tribe villages are the towns along Myanmar's eastern border with Thailand and China. Visit the gateway to the 'Golden Triangle' at Tachileik in eastern Shan State, then head north to Lashio, famed as the start of the Burma Road during World War II and offering spectacular views of the Shan Plateau en route. Don't miss a visit to the bustling town of Muse along the banks of the Shweli River further north, or the colourful ethnic tribal communities of Kyaing Tong.
West Myanmar Mrauk U archaeological, best beach and remote Chin ethnic villages
Wander the magnificent temples and pagodas of Mraul U featuring intricately carved traditional architecture.
In the far west of Myanmar in Rakhine State lies the archaeological site of Mrauk U, which served as the former capital of the Arakanese kingdom in the 15th century. Wander its magnificent temples and pagodas featuring intricately carved traditional architecture and visit the Archaeology Museum where inscribed Buddhas and Wethali era coins exhibit its fascinating history.
Heading south, the palm-lined tropical beach of Ngapali in the Bay of Bengal is Myanmar's premier beach destination, boasting white sands and crystal clear waters. Despite its popularity, the beach has retained its fishing village charm and is the perfect place to do little except swim, relax and feast on seafood that is plucked daily from the ocean by local fishermen.
Chin State
The trekking in Chin State is magnificent, taking in small ethnic villages and rural landscapes, all with Nat Ma Taung's peak as a spectacular backdrop.
If you want to experience Myanmar at its least developed, head north to the remote Chin State which shares its border with Bangladesh and India. It is home to the Chin, a Tibeto-Burman group, as well as a number of hill tribe communities that inhabit its forested slopes. The trekking here is magnificent, taking in small ethnic villages and rural landscapes, all with Nat Ma Taung's peak as a spectacular backdrop.
North Myanmar Nagaland and Unexplored mountains landscape of Kachin
Another remote area for the adventurous to explore is Nagaland, along Myanmar's north-western border with India. The Naga ethnic minority who inhabit the region have managed to preserve their traditional way of life in isolation from the outside world, nestled within beautiful mountainous surrounds. If you visit during January you may bear witness to the annual Naga festival where communities travel from far and wide to gather for two days of celebration, music and feasting.
Kachin State
Venture east from Nagaland to the capital of Kachin State, Myitkyina, then north through spectacular landscapes to the meeting of the Mekha and Melikha Rivers at Myit-son and the famed jade production region surrounding Hpakant. Travel on to Myanmar's northernmost reaches where impressive views across to the snow-capped peak of Hkakabo Razi Mountain can be found, together with the town of Putao, known for its rare and endemic orchids.
Putting Myanmar on your 'must-visit' list
The secret of Myanmar is being rapidly spread by travellers in-the-know, and for those seeking to escape the tourist hot spots of South East Asia, it radiates a welcome serenity, far from the modern bustle and large-scale resort developments that have mushroomed throughout the region. From the cool-climate hill stations to the steamy plains and palm-lined beaches, Myanmar's landscapes are draped in beauty and the country's stunning architectural sights evoke a rich cultural heritage that combine to make this a destination that should be at the top of every traveller's bucket list.
Trekking in the Ethnic Shan State
Go beyond the tourist trail and explore the rural life of the Shan State. Trek the quaint countryside of Hsipaw and Pindaya, cruise Inle Lake, and visit the golden pagodas of Yangon and Mandalay.
itinerary: Yangon - Pindaya - Inle Lake - Mandalay - Sagaing - Ava - Lashio - Hsipaw - Pyin Oo Lwin - Yangon
Essential Myanmar in One Week
Get dazzled by the shiny Shwedagon Pagoda, witness sunset at Bagan's temples, discover Manadaly's former royal capitals, and sail across the picturesque Inle Lake.
itinerary: Yangon - Bagan - Mandalay - Sagaing - Ava - Inle Lake - Yangon
Best of Myanmar in Two Weeks
Journey into the very heart of Myanmar to its ancient temples, pagodas, massive Buddhist monuments, beautiful landscapes and the mesmerizing Inle Lake.
Guaranteed departures on every Monday with a minimum of 2 persons.
itinerary: Mandalay - Pyin Oo Lwin - Kyaukme - Monywa - Myinmu - Bagan - Mount Popa - Kalaw - Taunggyi - Kekku - Inle Lake - Yangon
Classic Burmese Treasures
This highlight tour will take you to the ancient temples and pagodas of Bagan, Mandalay and Yangon, plus an in-depth visit to Inle Lake to see leg-rowing fishermen and its floating villages.
Guaranteed departures on every Sunday with a minimum of 2 persons.
itinerary: Yangon - Bagan - Mt Popa - Mandalay - Sagaing - Ava - Mandalay - Pindaya - Inle Lake - Yangon
Myitkyina, Bagan & Ngapali Beach
An itinerary that balances the must-see pagodas and temples of Yangon, Bagan and Mandalay, little explored Myitkyina and Indawgyi Lake, and the paradise beaches of Ngapali.
itinerary: Yangon - Myitkyina - Indawgyi Lake - Mandalay - Bagan - Ngapali Beach - Yangon
Ethnic Tribes of the Shan State
Explore the remote corners of the Shan State in Myanmar. Get dazzled with the pagodas of Yangon, navigate Inle Lake and embark on an trek to its rich mosaic of ethnic cultures.
itinerary: Yangon - Kyaing Tong - Taunggyi - Kakku - Inle Lake - Loikaw - Yangon
Burmese Buddhist Pagodas
Travel back in time to a land of ancient golden pagodas, gargantuan Buddhas and the charming folk life of Kalaw. See why Myanmar is still one of Asia's best kept secrets.
itinerary: Yangon - Bagan - Mandalay - Mingun - Kalaw - Inle - Yangon
Bagan Balloon Ride & Mt Victoria
Admire the stunning Buddhas of Yangon, fly over the pagodas of Bagan on a hot air balloon and venture off the beaten path to the villages and monasteries of the Chin State.
itinerary: Yangon - Bagan - Mount Victoria - Mindat - Pakokku - Mandalay - Yangon
Mrauk U Temples & Ngapali Beach
Embark on a mystical journey to the temples of Mrauk-U, one of Myanmar's archaeological gems, visit the tattooed-faced Chin tribe, and enjoy paradise at Ngapali Beach.
itinerary: Yangon - Mrauk-U - Sittwe - Ngapali Beach - Yangon
Sustainable and respectful visit to hill tribe communities in Thailand
8 ways to experience Inle Lake in Myanmar
5 Tips for exploring the ancient Bagan temples
What makes Thailand so amazing?


It's been a while since Sport-locker.net got their John O'Hurley (that bloke from Seinfeld) fix so we were delighted when this video was pinged to our inbox!
And here he is presenting you with the World's Most Baffling Questions.
What do you think of the video? Let us know in the comments section below or on our Twitter Facebook pages.


Molecular Neuroscience is a dynamic area of contemporary research which seeks to apply new molecular biology techniques to advance our understanding of complex brain functions such as memory and of inherited neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's. Mammalian genome sequencing projects are building a vast resource which must eventually be integrated into our understanding of the brain, and the new sciences of bioinformatics and functional genomics hold the promise that this integration can become a reality. This readable introduction to the field captures the excitement of current research in the area.The text is designed to bridge the gap between the established cores of molecular biology and neuroscience knowledge through concise descriptions of key research questions, the genetic technologies which are available to approach those questions, and the current interpretation of research findings. Access to "up-to-date" information is available through extensive reference to the websites of leading research laboratories, biotechnology companies and other electronic resources.Molecular Neuroscience has been developed from final year undergraduate and postgraduate courses, which the authors have devised and taught. It will be of value to advanced university students and to research workers; both to neuroscientists who are adopting molecular approaches for the first time and to those already in the field.
2. Why Not Sequence Everything?


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Home » News » LGBT+ Participants Attend Blades Game!
LGBT+ Participants Attend Blades Game!
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Our Empower LGBT+ project provides physical activity and sport opportunities for LGBT+ young people aged 11 to 25 with the aim of improving physical and mental wellbeing, improving self-confidence and creating a more inclusive community for all.
On the 11th of September we provided 14 LGBT+ young people the opportunity to attend the SUFC home game vs. Peterborough United. As well as attending the game, we hosted a post-match pizza social in the Blades Family Hub which ended a fantastic day following the amazing 6-2 win for the Blades.
Empower LGBT+ Coordinator, Amy Hood commented, "It was amazing to welcome 14 young people to the game with this being the first ever football match for some, never mind their first live sporting event."
One attendee said, "This is the first football game I've ever been to, and I feel like it's given me more confidence to be able to come on my own in the future potentially".
Another attendee commented, "I had so much fun, that my voice has now gone!"
There is a huge stigma around football and sport in general, and whether it is a safe place for LGBT+ communities. Our programme aims to challenge this stigma and remove the barriers many people face when coming to a football match. We don't want football to be a place of homophobia, but a place for everyone. With the support of Sheffield United FC, Rainbow Blades, SayIt and everyone at The Foundation we provided these young people with the best first experience they ever could have imagined.
For more information about our Empower LGBT+ project please contact amy.hood@sufc-community.co.uk.