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Sound Current: 'CoLD SToRAGE Audio Trip – Project Moonbounce 2009'
October 6, 2009 12:00 AM | jeriaska
[In a new GameSetWatch-exclusive interview with Wipeout series soundtrack composer Tim Wright, our correspondent Jeriaska talks to him about his new album created by bouncing radio waves off the moon, as well as his upcoming game soundtrack projects.]
Game composer CoLD SToRAGE, aka Tim Wright, most recently made tracks "SCARFACE X-TEND Mix" and "CLIFF DIVER BIG LEAP Mix" from the PSP/PS3-exclusive Gravity Crash available as a "virtual vinyl single" on Bandcamp.
Previously, Wright has composed music for such game series as Lemmings, Shadow of the Beast, and Wipeout. Now CoLD SToRAGE is traversing a new variety of imagined landscapes.
Project Moonbounce 2009 is an album that incorporates sound signals bounced off the face of the moon into original audio creations. There are NASA recordings to be rediscovered, samples of water swishing in a dog's silver bowl to be found, and an assorted space Odyssey of musical concepts to voyage.
In this interview, CoLD SToRAGE offers details of his experience creating the multifaceted interstellar-themed album. The discussion provides various insights into how embarking on original projects has helped fuel the creative process of the videogame composer.
CoLD SToRAGE, thank you for taking the time to offer some background on Project Moonbounce 2009.
CoLD SToRAGE: No problem… it gives me chance to look back on it with some fresh perspective.
The premise of "Earth-Moon-Earth" and various interpretations on this theme appears to be a guiding force behind this album. How did you come to decide on this approach to the original music project?
After completing my last album "CoLD SToRAGE HD," which was an unofficial release to complement Wipeout HD, I wanted to do something quite different, both in terms of theme and style.
The idea for a moonbounce album came to me late one night when I was drifting off to sleep. As well as being a licensed Radio Amateur I'm also a big Astronomy fan, so to be able to marry up three hobbies into one project was ideal for me.
This meant that the concept of bouncing audio off the moon and re-incorporating it into a musical piece became the overall driving force behind the new album. That's not to say that every track has moonbounce audio in it. I scattered the moon-bounced sounds throughout the album, except where it wasn't appropriate as the musical piece may have had other constraints. Some use the sounds more overtly, like the title track, others are more subtle.
Did working within the constraints dictated by the theme of this project bring back any memories of grappling with limitations you encountered in your early days as a videogame music composer, such as the hardware capabilities of the game platforms you were composing for?
Absolutely. When I'm writing music, the most daunting thing can be a blank sequencer page with no limits or guidelines. If I'm feeling really creative then it's not a problem, but on those days where I need a push in a general direction, a theme or some kind of restriction kicks in those grey cells and I can get going more easily.
Some of the tracks on the album were such good fun from this perspective. "Mars Project" was quite a crazy concept. I was pouring water into a metal dog bowl to give my father's dog a drink and I accidentally banged the tap. The bowl made a great 'bououououou' type noise and I thought 'I've really got to sample that!'. The next day I powered up my portable recorder and sampled the bowl as I tapped it, threw it in the air, filled it with water and even suspended it on a length of damp cotton and slid my fingers down to get a bowed string sound. I was really happy with the end results… the track does make use of effects, but every single sound comes from that dog bowl.
It was this approach that gave me a secondary theme for my album. For example, 'Science 200' only uses sounds from one source, in this case a 'Science Fair 200-in-1' I purchased from a charity shop for a few pounds.
Did you feel there were unique results that could only come only from sending signals into space?
In short, yes. I could have synthesized the sounds of radio static, single-side-band vocals and so on, but to know that the audio in your music has actually traveled over 477,000 miles and bounced off the surface of the moon is just a great concept!
Having said this, it was always the intention that the album wouldn't descend into being an 'art-house' piece that used only bounced radio signals – I think that would have been quite a dull and a very self indulgent affair.
The original plan was actually quite grand. We were going to bounce audio 'live' during the playback of a song, and effectively use the moon as a giant echo-box. But this proved problematic, as the delay for the audio varies with the distance of the moon from the Earth. In the end it was decided we would capture the recordings and use them in a more free-form manner.
If time and equipment hadn't been such a major constraint I could have created a live track that was more free-form to circumvent the timing issues… like a big ambient piece, but I'm happy with what we achieved in the end.
What process went into working with the Dwingeloo Radio Observatory in receiving signals you had sent out?
The guys that run Dwingeloo are unpaid amateurs, so it's all done for 'the love of radio'. They provide a web service where the radio signals received during a promising EME (Earth Moon Earth) phase are broadcast live over the internet.
We thought we might have to liaise directly or go over there at one stage, but the web service proved really flexible and more than sufficient for our needs, which meant we could play around with various ideas a lot more freely.
Neil Armstrong and NASA have recorded vocals for your track "Tranquility." Would you consider this a giant leap for game composer / astronaut musical collaborations?
Ah, those recordings are of course the original recordings from the Apollo 11 moon landing. They are freely available from NASA, so I thought it would be great to include them in a piece for the album. Rather than go for the cliché of that 'one-small-step' quote, I thought it was more poignant to use the radio chatter leading up to physically landing on the moon, as this was a lot trickier and more fraught with danger than walking down a ladder!
I did tell NASA about the album and was hoping for some kind of reply or response to put into the booklet, but it wasn't forthcoming. I guess they're more than busy getting ready for the next Shuttle launch, and it's new replacement!
Have you always had an interest in astronomy? The history of the space race appears to play a significant role in the latent themes of the Moonbounce music project.
I've been keen on outer-space ever since I was a child. I had a telescope at the age of 6 or so, and when I was 8 or 9 I used my Birthday money to buy an astronomy encyclopaedia.
In secondary school we had 'mock interviews', where retired people who had worked in specialist fields would come in and give us the experience of being interviewed for a job. The guy who interviewed me picked up on my astronomy hobby, and then really grilled me on it. At first I thought, 'why is this guy really brow beating me over the astronomy thing?' but it turned out he had a large vintage telescope he wanted to give away to someone who would actually use it. It was really great and I could pick out detail on the moon very easily… thinking back now, I guess that added to my fascination with the moon.
For this album what guided your take on investigating an international theme of space travel that includes both American and Russian programs?
I have probably leaned more toward the stereotypical view of Russian space travel for some of the tracks, with traditional Russian instruments used here and there, and ideas taken from old Russian recordings.
I also took ideas and themes from both the Russian and American space programmes of the 60's and 70's, especially the juxtaposition of being at the cutting edge of technology at the time and yet having to cobble together solutions in real world risky situations. Hence the minimalist approach with some of the tracks.
You touched on this earlier, that in addition to the lunar motif of the album, making do with constraints appears to be a recurring theme for the album. Aren't there a number of unusual instruments that you decided to throw into the mix?
The constraints idea was borne from watching the film 'Apollo 13' where they had to make do with what they could find on-board to rescue themselves from certain death. I thought it would be good to use that theme too.
Aside from the Dog Bowl and the 200-in-1 Electronics kit, I also sampled a 1970's 'Viscount Cabaret' organ and a Chinese bell piano that I picked up in a Charity Shop.
The organ is still in our dining room, and was owned by a chap in West Kirby who passed away suddenly. It was advertised 'free to a good home' in a local newsagent, so we were happy to take it. My son still loves to play on it from time to time.
The Chinese piano is a total mystery. It has no real identifying marks, but it seems quite old from it's construction and has a lovely tone to it. Each key strikes a separate internal bell, and one is slightly 'off tune', but with the magic of sampling, that was easily corrected. I did contemplate leaving it out of tune as per the original sample, but it was just too 'off' to sound good.
I've also just remembered something that happened during the final mixing stage which is just 'one of those odd moments'. I was playing back 'Glitch' when I knocked the telephone in its charging socket and it went 'baaaaarbip' to let me know it had re-seated itself. It fitted really well in the mix… so I sampled it and it ended up in the track. The only downside is that every time I pop the phone back after a call I start whistling the melody from the track!
Do you have any other specific recollections from making the album?
'Tranquility' was not sequenced. It was all created in Sound Forge by mixing and pitching samples, which I've never done before. I didn't want it to sounds sequenced, so that was the quickest solution. I heavily processed the original NASA recordings, and gave them some room stereo which hopefully adds to the tension of the original recording.
'Spacewalk' was an attempt to create a track which only used analogue synthesizers for everything including the percussion. So all the hi-hats, claps and so on are all layered and filtered synth waveforms, as is the organ. I think I finally relented for the crash cymbal sound and used a real cymbal!
'Sublight' was just an ambient trancey track to start with, and then I got the idea of having a chamber orchestra at the start as a kind of high-brow motif. I think it worked quite well in the end, and I probably spent more time working on that section than the main track. I've had some great responses to this track, with people comparing it to Robert Miles' 'Children' or Tiësto – 'Adagio for Strings' which is quite flattering.
'Moonbounce' will always be a favourite. You have no idea how widely I grinned and how excited I was to hear the first moonbounce radio signals come back on the day - it was a real high point for me! Those samples feature at the start of the title track. I wanted this track to sound really epic in a JM Jarre style, which I'm sure people will have spotted. In fact the album probably has a sizeable influence from Jarre and Vangelis in places. You may also spot a nod towards the Star Trek T.V. theme at the start of the track(!)
'Viscount Cabaret' at one point was going to have female vocals, hence the verse/chorus song structure, but I finally decided PM2009 should be primarily instrumental, aside from some occasional spoken words.
'LoG HiE' came about because I wanted a really up-tempo track to contrast all the other more ambient tracks. Given I was working on 'Gravity Crash' around the same time, I had to be really careful which musical hat I had on when I was writing it!
'Re-Entry' features radio vocals from Howard Ling, the guy who was generous enough to give his time to make the whole project a reality. He provided the transmitter equipment and dish that can be seen in the PDF booklet in the art for track 06. Thanks again Howard, you are a true gent!
'Zero G' Aquarium features the Chinese Piano. You can see it in my son's lap on the back page of the PDF booklet. I think this track really does complete the album. Clearly Bach steps forward to take the credit for the score, I simply gave it a spacey arrangement with some mad sounds along with my own radio melody that tails off at the end.
Looking back now the album never really seemed to be cohesive until it was finished, and now when I listen back to it, I can't think of the tracks being in any other order.
Track 9 is a tribute to Michael Jackson and the moonwalk. Did the passing of the artist have an impact on you personally?
Aside from his invention of the moonwalk, I knew of M.J. firstly through watching the Jackson 5 cartoons on T.V. as a child, and then later the theme from 'Ben'.
I do recall being impressed by the Thriller video, but to be honest I wasn't really into that particular album. It was only in 1987 that I really took notice with the release of 'Bad', which was actually rather good! I wouldn't go so far as to say I was a massive fan, but I do acknowledge the man's musical genius.
How did you go about creating the album art for the Moonbounce pdf? Are the brief passages written beneath the images belonging to each illustration meant to add to the interpretations of their meaning?
I always try to give my listeners more than just some audio to listen to… MELT had a large HTML based booklet and Android Child had some vertical art with lots of references in there.
Each track has it's own musical theme, and I like to try to nod towards my interpretation, but not too strongly. This gives people room to have their own take on each track. The text on each page is again something that either compliments the visuals or proposes a different angle.
The artwork is something I love doing too… people are sometimes surprised to find that I create the art as well as the music. This time out I did have some help though, as the cover image on Project Moonbounce 2009 was drawn and coloured-in by my son. I thought it would be great for him to work on the project with me, so that he could look back on it in later life and remember us working on something together. He is of course very proud of his work!
Do you find it helps you creatively to be able to move between high concept artistic projects like Moonbounce and commercial game soundtracks like your upcoming Gravity Crash? To put it another way, does alternating between the two kinds of projects confer any creative advantages?
It really does… I know that many people follow me as a result of my work on the Wipeout games, but to keep creating up-tempo trance year after year would be tiring and unadventurous. I realised early on that I wouldn't be pleasing all the people all of the time, and if I wanted to expand my horizons in terms of attracting more listeners, I needed to broaden the scope of my musical output.
The 'MELT' album showed people that I could write music in various styles and moods. 'Android Child' was a bit more self indulgent, and came at a really emotional time for me. CoLD SToRAGE HD seemed to satisfy the Wipeout fans, after a long wait.
With PM2009 I wanted to do something slightly 'off the wall' but create music that people could still say 'yep, I recognise that… I bet it's CoLD SToRAGE'.
What's next for CoLD SToRAGE?
Gravity Crash is done and dusted now, but I'm hoping to release that music in album form, with some additional tracks and mixes.
I recently got asked to re-mix two Wipeout tracks for The Burning Man 2009 at Black Rock in Nevada. It will accompany some really great performers called 'Controlled Burn Reno'. This years Burning Man event should attract over 50,000 people, so hopefully a percentage of these will hear the tracks and get in touch.
It has to be said that working on these tracks has re-kindled my interest a back burner project of doing a Wipeout compilation. It would contain all the Wipeout music I've released, but re-mixed and re-worked to include new sounds and beats and even some ambient mixes. I think that may very well be my next big project.
I'm also really enjoying being back writing music for games and video post production. There's more in the pipeline over the next 12 months to be sure… I've even done some voice over work recently, which is totally new to me, but fun nonetheless(!)
Oh, and before I go I should thank everyone who helped make PM2009 a possibility. The list is long, but you know who you are! I really am very grateful, and not least of all to those who are listening to the album and who continue to support my work. Take it easy!
[Project Moonbounce and other albums by CoLD SToRAGE can be sampled on Bandcamp. Images courtesy of CoLD SToRAGE]


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Reverse Transcription And Vaxxing--Is This A Threat?
I got a range of responses regarding the Michael Yeadon interview that I republished yesterday. Overall it was well received, but there were some commenters who reflected the response that Yeadon himself describes having received--people who say, I can't believe my rulers would lie to me. That, despite the fact that throughout history our rulers--including rulers of the American people--have repeatedly lied to us about fundamentally important matters.
Right up front I'll state the conclusion to this post: Yes, reverse transcription (RT) looks to be one among several factors that should give everyone pause to question the current rush to vax the whole world.
What in the world am I talking about? This.
LifeSiteNews has an article today that references a very recent study (12/12/20) by a team of Harvard and MIT scientists. I'll present the title of the LifeSite article first, because it will give you a heads up for what this will be about. It will sound "alarmist", but it's based on reputable research:
Could mRNA vaccines permanently alter DNA? Recent science suggests they might
Research on SARS-CoV-2 RNA by scientists at Harvard and MIT has implications for how mRNA vaccines could permanently alter genomic DNA, according to Doug Corrigan, Ph.D., a biochemist-molecular biologist who says more research is needed.
I will also place up front a link to a blog by "Skeptical Raptor" that claims that Doug Corrigan pushing bad science and anti-vax tropes about mRNA vaccines. Three points, because I think it's important--if you're to read the rest of this long post--that we address reliability issues first.
1. Corrigan specifically states that he's not trying to change anyone's mind about vaxxing--and from my reading of two of his articles he does not appear to engage in anything remotely like an anti-vax trope.
2. Skeptical Raptor's case against Corrigan is this:
Corrigan is discussing one way that RNA could change genes, and that's through an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which generates complementary DNA (cDNA) from a viral RNA template. However, reverse transcriptase does not exist in humans except in the presence of retroviruses like HIV. In that case, it's using its own viral RNA template, not just pulling random mRNA out of the cell. It wants the cell to produce a bunch of new retroviruses by hijacking the DNA.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus is not a retrovirus, so this will not be an issue. But even beyond that, the vaccine does not contain reverse transcriptase, so the mRNA chains in the vaccine are not going to do anything to your DNA through this process.
The problem for Skeptical Raptor is that the Harvard/MIT team concludes, as we will shortly see, that it appears that reverse transcription is actually occurring in humans with regard to Covid and that alteration of the human genome may be occurring. Who should I trust--an anonymous blogger or scientists at Harvard/MIT who have attached their names to their published research?
3. Skeptical Raptor is skeptical re Corrigan's educational credentials. I've already said I'd like to know more about him. By the same token, Skeptical Raptor doesn't supply his own educational credentials.
So, with those preliminaries out of the way ... here's how the LifeSite article frames the issue regarding mRNA based medical treatments:
Under ordinary circumstances, the body makes ("transcribes") mRNA from the DNA in a cell's nucleus. The mRNA then travels out of the nucleus into the cytoplasm, where it provides instructions about which proteins to make.
By comparison, mRNA vaccines send their chemically synthesized mRNA payload (bundled with spike protein-manufacturing instructions) directly into the cytoplasm.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and most mRNA vaccine scientists, the buck then stops there — mRNA vaccines "do not affect or interact with our DNA in any way," the CDC says. The CDC asserts first, that the mRNA cannot enter the cell's nucleus (where DNA resides), and second, that the cell — Mission-Impossible-style — "gets rid of the mRNA soon after it is finished using the instructions."
A December preprint about SARS-CoV-2, by scientists at Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), produced findings about wild coronavirus that raise questions about how viral RNA operates.
The scientists conducted the analysis because they were "puzzled by the fact that there is a respectable number of people who are testing positive for COVID-19 by PCR long after the infection was gone."
Their key findings were as follows: SARS-CoV-2 RNAs "can be reverse transcribed in human cells," "these DNA sequences can be integrated into the cell genome and subsequently be transcribed" (a phenomenon called "retro-integration") — and there are viable cellular pathways to explain how this happens.
According to Ph.D. biochemist and molecular biologist Dr. Doug Corrigan, these important findings (which run contrary to "current biological dogma") belong to the category of "Things We Were Absolutely and Unequivocally Certain Couldn't Happen Which Actually Happened."
The important thing to notice here is that this study appears to have been conducted prior to the Pfizer/Moderna rollouts--certainly before there would have been sufficient data on the effects of those vaxxes to integrate into their study. Instead, this study has to do with the effects of the "wild" Covid virus on unvaxxed people. This is a very important point.
Now let's look at the abstract for the preprint:
SARS-CoV-2 RNA reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome
Prolonged SARS-CoV-2 RNA shedding and recurrence of PCR-positive tests have been widely reported in patients after recovery, yet these patients most commonly are non-infectious. Here we investigated the possibility that SARS-CoV-2 RNAs can be reverse-transcribed and integrated into the human genome and that transcription of the integrated sequences might account for PCR-positive tests. In support of this hypothesis, we found chimeric transcripts consisting of viral [sequences] fused to cellular sequences in published data sets of SARS-CoV-2 infected cultured cells and primary cells of patients, consistent with the transcription of viral sequences integrated into the genome. To experimentally corroborate the possibility of viral retro-integration, we describe evidence that SARS-CoV-2 RNAs can be reverse transcribed in human cells by reverse transcriptase (RT) from LINE-1 elements or by HIV-1 RT, and that these DNA sequences can be integrated into the cell genome and subsequently be transcribed. Human endogenous LINE-1 expression was induced upon SARS-CoV-2 infection or by cytokine exposure in cultured cells, suggesting a molecular mechanism for SARS-CoV-2 retro-integration in patients. This novel feature of SARS-CoV-2 infection may explain why patients can continue to produce viral RNA after recovery and suggests a new aspect of RNA virus replication.
This--and especially with regard to "human endogenous LINE-1" elements--is exactly what Corrigan describes in his 11/27/20 blog post as a possibility, but which Skeptical Raptor claims is "pseudoscience."
If all this seems very technical ... it is. And Corrigan is explicit that there remains much about all these issues that is not thoroughly understood--which is an essential reason why vaccines are normally put through a five year trial period. However, be of good cheer. Corrigan explains how the mRNA vaccines work--as opposed to "normal" vaccines--and how this integrates with the reverse transcription process in a fascinating and pretty readable blog post:
Will an RNA Vaccine Permanently Alter My DNA? (11/27/20)
I'm going to jump in midstream, but I urge you to read the entire blog post. There's a lot more information, additional scenarios discussed, further implications described.
Having first described vaccines generally as well as the new--and untested on humans--mRNA vaccines, Corrigan continues:
Most other vaccines work by administering the Spike protein directly into your body, or by introducing an attenuated or inactivated virus that contains the Spike protein. In these types of traditional vaccines, the Spike protein was previously made in a vaccine production facility. In an RNA vaccine, there is no Spike protein in the vaccine. Instead, the vaccine provides your cells with instructions on how to build the Spike protein. Essentially, your cells have become the vaccine production factory. After some time, this delivered RNA will be destroyed by our cells, and the cells will stop producing the Spike protein. Our body should be left unchanged, except for the presence of antibodies and immune cells which now recognize the Spike protein of the virus.
In theory, this is how the vaccine should work. Sounds great on paper, doesn't it?
Note, the Harvard/MIT team were prompted to conduct their study before the vaccines were widely available precisely because responses of recovered individuals to "wild" Covid PCR tests were not going as expected. If there is anything "novel" about Covid, this is it.
It is well known that RNA can be "reverse transcribed" into DNA. Residing in our cells are enzymes called "reverse transcriptases". These enzymes convert RNA into DNA. Multiple sources for this class of enzymes exist within our cells. These reverse transcriptases are normally made by other viruses termed "retroviruses". HIV is a retrovirus and so is Hepatitis B, but there are many other retroviruses that fall in this category. In addition to these external viruses, there are viruses that are hard-wired into our genomic DNA called endogenous retroviruses (ERVs). ...
These endogenous reverse transcriptase enzymes can essentially take single-stranded RNA and convert it into double-stranded DNA. This DNA can then be integrated into the DNA in the nucleus through an enzyme termed DNA integrase.
I think most molecular biologists would look at my thesis and discount it as improbable, and I wouldn't argue with them too strongly. After all, if these reverse pathways from RNA to DNA were actively possible, wouldn't a normal infection by the virus cause the same problem? ...
Again, that possibility is exactly what the Harvard/MIT team believe they discovered!
I would answer that this possibility exists, too. However, I believe the probability of viral RNA undergoing this process is much smaller for several reasons. First, ... Also, viral RNA is inherently unstable due to sequence specific peculiarities unique to viral RNA, and is quickly recognized by cellular enzymes for destruction.
What he's saying is that, what the Harvard/MIT believes it discovered, should be improbable, although theoretically possible. The reason is because of the inherent instability of the "wild" Covid RNA. That's a good thing for us. The problem arises when vaxxes directly insert modified RNA into our bodies--because those modifications (Corrigan argues) significantly increase the possibility and even the probability that reverse transcription and integration into our genome will occur.
Therefore, the amount of time available for reverse transcriptase to work on "bare" viral RNA is very low. In contrast to this, the RNA provided to cells via a vaccine has been altered in the lab to increase its stability such that it persists in the cell for a much longer time. ... Therefore, the probability that a molecular pathway could be found that results in this RNA being converted over into DNA is much higher, in my opinion.
What happens if this occurs? There are two possible outcomes that are not mutually exclusive. First, modification of somatic cells, and in particular, stem cells, could result in a segment of the population with an increasing percentage of their tissues being converted over to genetically modified cells. These genetically modified [somatic] cells will possess the genetic sequence to produce Spike Protein. Because Spike protein is a foreign protein to the human body, the immune systems of these individuals will attack the cells in their body which express this protein. These people will almost inevitably develop autoimmune conditions which are irreversible, since this foreign protein antigen is now permanently hardwired into the instructions contained in their DNA.
The second possibility is based on a pathway being found that transfers this genetic modification to germline cells (egg and sperm). This is certainly a more remote possibility, but if it occurred, this insertional genetic mutation would find itself in all future generations stemming from this individual or individuals. Because this is a germline modification and not a somatic modification, this new genetic element will be present in every single cell of these individuals. This means that potentially every tissue in their body could express Spike protein. Because this protein is present from birth, the immune system will recognize this new protein as "self" rather than non-self (foreign). If these individuals are infected with coronavirus, their immune system would fail to recognize the Spike protein of the virus as foreign, and these individuals will have substantially reduced capacity to fend off the coronavirus. ...
This next paragraph describes, I believe, why recognized experts such as Yeadon and Bhakti (and others) are so disturbed by the precipitate rollout of mRNA vaccines. Note that ADE (see below) is a problem for all coronavirus vaccines (as well as for other virus vaccines). I believe this is why Bhakti states that coronaviruses are "poor candidates for vaccines." This is known, but what is also known is that the ADE issue doesn't normally arise until several years have passed. Now do you see the importance of 5+ years of clinical trials for vaccines? It's to rule out the ADE problem, which cannot be ruled out a priori--only through years long experience.
Now, none of the scenarios outlined above touch on the downstream risk of developing antibody dependent enhancement (ADE), which is a major problem with any vaccine developed for coronaviruses. ADE is a risk for any type of vaccine, including RNA vaccines. The current RNA vaccines being rushed forward have only been tested for a few months, and ADE would not rear its ugly head for several years, although it could occur sooner. Therefore, the current clinical trial data is not anywhere close to being sufficient to rule out the health risk of ADE. If ADE does occur in an individual, then their response to the virus could be fatal ...
Now, if you want to learn more about ADE, Corrigan has a blog post that goes into this. The importance of this topic is that ADE is a problem that could take years to manifest itself--and by then it would be too late. Again, Corrigan is quite readable, although the topic is inherently complex:
Is a Coronavirus Vaccine a Ticking Time Bomb? (8/1/20)
For a vaccine to work, our immune system needs to be stimulated to produce a neutralizing antibody, as opposed to a non-neutralizing antibody. ...
A non-neutralizing antibody is one that can bind to the virus, but for some reason, the antibody fails to neutralize the infectivity of the virus. ...
In some viruses, if a person harbors a non-neutralizing antibody to the virus, a subsequent infection by the virus can cause that person to elicit a more severe reaction to the virus due to the presence of the non-neutralizing antibody. This is not true for all viruses, only particular ones. This is called Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE), and is a common problem with Dengue Virus, Ebola Virus, HIV, RSV, and the family of coronaviruses. In fact, this problem of ADE is a major reason why many previous vaccine trials for other coronaviruses failed. Major safety concerns were observed in animal models. ...
What does ADE entail? The exact mechanism of ADE in SARS is not known, but the leading theory is described as follows: In certain viruses, the binding of a non-neutralizing antibody to the virus can direct the virus to enter and infect your immune cells. ... In other words, the presence of the non-neutralizing antibody now directs the virus to infect cells of your immune system, and these viruses are then able to replicate in these cells and wreak havoc on your immune response. ... Essentially, the non-neutralizing antibody enables the virus to hitch a ride to infect immune cells. ...
This can cause a hyperinflammatory response, a cytokine storm, and a general dysregulation of the immune system that allows the virus to cause more damage to our lungs and other organs of our body. In addition, new cell types throughout our body are now susceptible to viral infection due to the additional viral entry pathway ...
What this means is that you can be given a vaccine, which causes your immune system to produce an antibody to the vaccine, and then when your body is actually challenged with the real pathogen, the infection is much worse than if you had not been vaccinated.
Again, this is not seen in all viruses, or even in all strains of a given virus, and there is a great deal that scientists don't understand about the complete set of factors that dictate when and if ADE may occur. It's quite likely that genetic factors as well as the health status of the individual may play a role on modulating this response. That being said, there are many studies (in the reference section below) that demonstrate that ADE is a persistent problem with coronaviruses in general, and in particular, with SARS-related viruses. ...
For a vaccine to work, vaccine developers will need to find a way to circumvent the ADE problem. This will require a very novel solution, and it may not be achievable, or at the very least, predictable. In addition, the vaccine must not induce ADE in subsequent strains of SARS-CoV-2 that emerge over time, or to other endemic coronaviruses that circulate every year and cause the common cold.
A major trigger for ADE is viral mutation. ...
... In the first year or two, it may appear that there is no real safety issue, and over time, a greater percentage of the world population will be vaccinated due to this perceived "safety". ... When these previously vaccinated people are infected with this different strain of SARS-CoV-2, they could experience a much more severe reaction to the virus.
Ironically, in this scenario, this vaccine made the virus more pathogenic rather than less pathogenic. This is not something that vaccine producers would be able predict or test for with any level of real confidence at the outset, and it would only become evident at a later time.
Does this vaccine industry know about this problem? The answer is yes, they do.
Quoting a Nature Biotechnology news article published on June 5th, 2020:
""It's important to talk about it [ADE]," says Gregory Glenn, president of R&D at Novavax, which launched its COVID-19 vaccine trial in May. But "we can't be overly cautious. People are dying. So we need to be aggressive here.""
And from the same article:
"ADE "is a genuine concern," says virologist Kevin Gilligan, a senior consultant with Biologics Consulting, who advises thorough safety studies. "Because if the gun is jumped, and a vaccine is widely distributed that is disease enhancing, that would be worse than actually not doing any vaccination at all.""
Will conducting animal studies solve the issue and remove the risk?
Anne De Groot, CEO of EpiVax argues that testing for vaccine safety in primates does not guarantee safety in humans, mainly because primates express different major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules, which alters epitope presentation and the immune response. Animals and humans are similar, but they are also very different. ...
What about unvaccinated people who are naturally infected with the virus and develop antibodies? Could these people experience ADE to a future strain of SARS-CoV-2?
In a real infection, our immune system is exposed to every nook and cranny of the entire virus, and as such, our immune system develops a panacea of antibodies that recognize different portions of the virus and, therefore, coat more of the virus and neutralize it. In addition, our immune system develops T-Cell responses to hundreds of different peptide epitopes across the virus; whereas in the vaccine the plethora of these T-Cell responses are absent. Researchers are already aware that the T-Cell response plays a cooperative role in either the development of, or absence of, the ADE response.
Based on these differences and the skewed immunological response which is inherent with vaccines, I believe that the risk of ADE is an order of magnitude greater in a vaccine-primed immune system rather than a virus-primed immune system. ...
Right now, the fatality rate of the virus is estimated to be approximately 0.26%, and this number seems to be dropping as the virus is naturally attenuating itself through the population. It would be a great shame to vaccinate the entire population against a virus with this low of a fatality rate, especially considering the considerable risk presented by ADE. I believe this risk of developing ADE in a vaccinated individual will be much greater than 0.26%, and, therefore, the vaccine stands to make the problem worse, not better. It would be the biggest blunder of the century to see the fatality rate of this virus increase in the years to come because of our sloppy, haphazard, rushed efforts to develop a vaccine with such a low threshold of safety testing and the prospect of ADE lurking in the shadows. I would hope (and this is a big hope), that this vaccine WILL NOT BE MANDATORY.
In conclusion I'll make just one point. The fact that the Harvard/MIT team believed that it saw a very low probability event actually taking place--reverse transcription and integration of Covid RNA into the human genome based off the "wild" Covid virus--should really scare us regarding the mRNA vaccines. It the low probability event is actually taking place in a "respectable" number of recovered Covid patients, the likelihood that this will happen with the higher probability mRNA vaccines goes up significantly.
ADDENDUM: One more, slightly understated, point. This should raise concerns about who is driving this program and what their motivations are.
Labels: Covid, Globalism
Mojlnir April 9, 2021 at 4:17 PM
OTOH, if there are ADE problems they will likely occur in the vaccinated population over a period of time - long enough to be able to determine what happened and to exact retribution.
At least that's my hope.
Brother Ass April 10, 2021 at 5:40 AM
Found more info on Doug Corrigan's creds:
"Corrigan is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute where he earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees and a graduate of Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University where he earned his Doctorate degree."
Still curious as to why he doesn't list this information on his blog. Granted, East Tennessee State isn't exactly known as a biotech powerhouse... still, his blog bio gives off a cagey vibe. (Frankly, I don't like the whole "Dr. Doug" schtick and am suspicious of people who really lean into being addressed as "Dr." like they're compensating for something.)
Having said that, I agree he is an excellent communicator and his reasoning seems sound.
Source of info about Corrigan:
http://www.thenewsrecord.com/index.php?/news/article/corrigan_named_director_of_riverstone_energy_center/
Mark, thank you for your blog and for posting this. This is in language the average person can understand.
Does this make the J&J vaccine the better option (since it's a traditional vaccine in that it encourages the body to build spike proteins through introduction of a weakened form of the virus instead of artificially instructing cells)
mark wauck April 10, 2021 at 8:08 AM
Corrigan notes that ALL vaccines--traditional or mRNA--have the ADE issue to be aware of, but that it's a particular issue with certain diseases, esp. coronaviruses. Ever wonder why there's no attempted common cold vaccines? Coronavirus.
This is why virus and immunology experts like Bhakti and others maintain that, because of the very low mortality rate no vaccine is even indicated.
As for J&J, haven't you noticed in the news during the last week that it's been shut down in multiple locations because of bad reactions?
Definitely noticed the J&J issues. In part, I assume this is due to the core design of this vaccine: a weakened form of the CCP virus. I'd expect some adverse reactions to that in vaccinations done at scale. More importantly, I think I trust something whose deletrious effects can be seen right away over something that takes five years to show up (and screws the world when it does).
But, fair point that J&J may have an ADE risk as well, given the history of vaccine testing on coronavirus strains.
As a side note, I still find it odd that there are no formally recommended treatments for those that contract the virus (ala Hydroxychloroquine or Ivermectin). I hear stories of people having to find the rare doctor willing to prescribe these drugs and then having positive results when they finally get access to them.
I wonder how many Chinese have been vaccinated? BFH
I posted this because I posit 'not many' except for political prisoners, etc. I saw a recent post that over 202 million jabs have been inflicted on the American populace. Why did NIH or other factions of the Deep State partner with Wuhan? BFH.
Years ago, I asked this question in emails to the NIH and CDC (the 5Ws): "When, where, why, what, and who proved that HIV 1) attacks cells and 2) causes AIDS?"
The NIH and CDC didn't answer. Instead, they referred my inquiry to the social marketing companies Edelman & AIR.org, which papers that said HIV causes AIDS. There was no proof. When they tired of my questions they referred me to my doctor.
The NIH/CDC websites post disclaimers about the third party websites they refer you to.
I later won dozens of criminal and civil HIV cases by forcing epidemiologists to answer questions that the NIH/CDC refused.
For those who are skeptical of this post, try it yourself and see who responds. Then review the HHS/CDC/NIH disclaimers at the bottom of their web pages:
"The information provided using this Web site is only intended to be general summary information to the public. It is not intended to take the place of either the written law or regulations.
"It is not NIH's intention to provide specific medical advice to users of the NIH Web site, instead we provide users with information to help them better understand their health, diagnosed conditions, and the current approaches related to treatment, prevention, screening, and supportive care. NIH urges users to consult with a qualified health care professional for diagnosis and answers to their personal medical questions."
These unaccountable bureaucracies never answer questions and they silence those who do. Once you understand HIV, HPV, HCV, Ebola, Covid, SARS or their vaccine programs, you'll understand them all. The HHS/CDC/NIH is a theocratic bureaucracy run by unaccountable clerics who push their pharmaceutical eucharist. They call skeptics "deniers" because "heretic" would betray their church for the satanic cult that it is.
devilman April 10, 2021 at 10:51 AM
My bigger picture of the 10000 foot view... (Repeating myself)
If vaccination is a safe practice the industry wouldn't be granted absolute immunity from being sued in court for injury.. to me that just a red flag I can't get past.
3,600,000 jabs, 70% reporting side effects and 10X the number of injuries reported in all combined injuries vax reported in the past 10 years.
A stupid nagging question I've avoided for months now..
Something I rarely see covered and personally rarely speak because it's not my place (respectfully). Does anyone else question the religious aspect of vaccination and especially flu shot jabs?
100% disclosure so not be a hypocrite, I have identified since childhood as atheist. I'll defend your right to believe with my life, just don't ask me to join into it.
But I do often wonder and it nags me every time this subject comes up... how does anyone whom identifies as religious justify getting the jab knowing the majority of all production involves the use aborted fetuses? The flu shot, being the easiest example is derived directly from and contains aborted fetus tissue and the DNA from that fetus.
I would think all of the dominations would rail against this but you rarely ever see the subject broached by anyone outside of the more ridgid religious denominations.
Lack of knowledge? Modern progression of uncomfortable truths? My analytical brain seeks to understand.
mark wauck April 10, 2021 at 11:49 AM
I think you're right. That's one of the main reasons I did this post at such length--to educate people to the complex and difficult reality of vaccine development. It's not easy, and it's not even necessarily advisable in all circs. But people have been educated to think the opposite, and then were herded with scare tactics to embrace the experiment. Remember the video of the Chinese guy supposedly dropping dead on the sidewalk from Covid?
Thanks for bringing up the flu vaccine. It's been hugely hyped, especially to seniors. And yet the reality is that it's not very effective--aside from the moral problems. Which makes one wonder: Why are the 'experts' so eager to push something like this of dubious scientific value? Is it part of a eugenics oriented agenda to acclimate us to morally questionable future policies?
Mikeyinfl April 10, 2021 at 12:01 PM
What scares me is the push for mandatory vaccination. My 19 year old is in College and worried that they will mandate him to receive it even though that age group is at almost zero risk of death. We've seen this already happen with some schools and wonder if it will perpetuate everywhere else. I'm mulling over writing the dean of the university noting that the vaccines are not currently licensed and are emergency use authorized and to require individuals to be vaccinated at this time would likely bring risk that they likely would not want to incur. Given that the manufacturers are exempt from liability, organizations that forced compliance will be first in line for litigation. Someone needs to give them a shot across the bow to stop this nonsense sooner rather than later.
mark wauck April 10, 2021 at 12:18 PM
Totally agree. That's the importance of various governors pushing back on the 'passport' business etc.
PD Quig April 11, 2021 at 3:45 PM
Sundance thinks the Baideng ideological IFF process working its way through the military is to cleanse the armed forces of non-woke grunts who might object to the corrupt leadership cadre when they move to counter state nullification of federal vaccine mandates. I think this is entirely plausible--albeit potentially incredibly incendiary:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2021/04/09/another-tripwire-crossed-pentagon-orders-updated-screening-of-military-to-identify-extremist-outlooks-in-preparation-for-what-is-to-come/
mark wauck April 11, 2021 at 4:12 PM
I read that and considered commenting on it.
The analogy with China doesn't hold. The point of the PRC regime bringing in a Mongolian division to Beijing was that the Mongolians had no feeling of loyalty to the Han Chinese in Beijing. The process in the US would be reversed--you would have to have woke SJWs fanning out across TX and FL and such places to kick ass. That would be a losing prop. Plus, sundance doesn't address a major issue: Who will Zhou get to replace the non-woke grunts? Woke grunts? That's not gonna happen. The military is simply gonna end up with a major recruitment problem. Send Antifa around to kick Red State ass? That is to laff.
Update On The Domestic War On "Terror"
The Institutionalization Of Hypochondria
UPDATED: The Domestic War On "Terror"
Has China's Existential Crisis Come Five Years Early?
Legal Matters: John Solomon, FISA
Briefly Noted: Major Narrative Fail
Politics: Race, Taxes, Wealth
Gullibility: Its Dangers And Uses
Watch Bannon And Braynard
Briefly Noted: American Caste System
UPDATED: Briefly Noted: CRT Under Legal Challenge
Politics: Recall And Redistricting
UPDATED: Equal Opportunity Blood Clotter
UPDATED: SCOTUS Takes Big 2A Case
Briefly Noted: Death In America
Beyond T--Inter Specific?
Briefly Noted: Not Everyone In The FBI Was Nuts
Three Recommended Articles 4/25/21
UPDATED: What's The Incentive For Big City Cops To...
White Flight
Defies Belief
It Was Really Just A Matter Of Time
Briefly Noted: Is 'Equity' A Code Word In VA Schools?
UPDATED: Bonfire Of Democracy?
Lockdowns--The Brainchild Of A 14 Year Old's Schoo...
Quick--Can You Name A Federal Agency That Doesn't ...
Tucker And Turley Weigh In On Chauvin Trial
Where Are New Covid Cases Coming From?
Very Brief: Meet The New DAG
Quick And Brief: SWC's Predictions
BRIEFLY NOTED: One Jab And Three Brain Surgeries L...
Polling Hoaxes
America's Problem In A Graph
Vax Hesitancy--Reasonable Or Not?
Russia Stuff And Our Corrupt Rulers
The Deep State Strikes Back
The Answer Seems To Be 'No'
GOP Enthusiastic Over Nadler's SCOTUS Packing Bill
Important: Amazon Reverses Some Book Bans
UPDATED: The Zhou Regime Blinks
UPDATED: Is This One Way?
In Bull Durham News
Conrad Black's Tour de Force
Who's Afraid Of Covid?
UPDATED: Briefly Noted: Covid, Covid, Covid!
Briefly Noted: Margot Cleveland Shares My Hope
Briefly Noted: 'Brown Bagging It' Takes On A New M...
UPDATED: Briefly Noted: Vaccine Or Death By Volcano
Shipwreckedcrew On The SCOTUS' Free Exercise Decision
Tip Of The Iceberg?
Very Briefly Noted: How The Intel Community Sees T...
Briefly Noted: Preemptive Cancellation Of DeSantis...
Don't Mention The Learning Loss
UPDATED: Briefly Noted: In BLM News
Briefly Noted: Expressway Shootings Are A Thing In...
Briefly Noted: Race, Money ... Politics In America!
UPDATED: Michael Yeadon: 'Convergent Opportunism' ...
The Variant Scare And The Global Reset
Briefly Noted: Why Do We Bother With Trials?
Briefly Noted: War In Ukraine--And Chicago?
Briefly Noted: The Dems Went Down To Georgia
Steyn: What's Left To Worship?
Briefly Noted: Clarence Thomas Gets Out Front, And...
A Green Stalking Horse For The Globalist Deep State?
How's This For A Concept: Let's Block The Sun To P...
Briefly Noted: Guns And Education
MAJORLY UPDATED: This Gathering Is Unlawful
Briefly Noted: World War Three?
UPDATED: Does This One Go To Eleven?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I am stuck at the casino.
Actually, not like stuck as in stuck but theres just too many ppl in the group that extricating myself would be killjoy-ish. Plus, the fiancee showed up this morning with her friends so now it's a goddamned Katy Perry video.
I lost all of my risk capital last night but the continued infusion of sake softened the sting. Now we're in cabanas and while I'd like to get trashed I also need to get back home without wrecking the car. For real, this impromptu casino thing kinda got out of control and all I wanna do is go home. The only thing I havent done is get myself arrested.
Then again, the day is still young.


Former Vice President Joe Biden's famous love of ice cream is about to be recognized with a new flavor named for him.
The Cornell Daily Sun reports that the university's on-site dairy brand, Cornell Dairy, will be teaming up with the Cornell Convocation Committee for the Biden-inspired flavor.
Biden, who has been photographed numerous times during the Obama administration stopping for a frozen treat while greeting supporters across the country, will be speaking at Cornell's convocation on May 27th.
In the past, he has even introduced himself with the words, "My name Joe Biden, and I love ice cream." That's how he opened a speech on the economy and federal overtime -- delivered at a Columbus, Ohio ice cream shop back in 2016.
"You all think I'm kidding, I'm not, I eat more ice cream than three other people you'd like to be with, all at once," he added.
Cornell Dairy partners with the Cornell Dairy Processing Plant to provide dairy food education, research and extension programs for Cornell students, as well as supply dairy products to the campus.
Students will vote on a final name for Biden's flavor on Monday -- the names in contention are "Biden's Chocolate Bites; Bits n' Biden; Big Red, White & Biden; Not Your Average Joe's Chocolate Chip; and Uncle Joe's Chocolate Chip.
The final flavor name will then be formally approved by Biden's representatives.


A late revival may not be enough to keep Mikel Obi at Chelsea as Italian media outfit Sportmediaset is reporting that new manager Antonio Conte is planning to sell the Nigerian in a bid to finance the purchase of Paul Pogba.
The Super Eagles captain, who has spent a decade at Stamford Bridge, is reportedly one of the three players – the others being Brazilian duo of Oscar and Willian – Conte wishes to sell to fund a mammoth £80m move for Juventus no 10 Pogba, according to the report.
The current Italy manager who joins the Blues officially after the summer's European Championship (Euro 2016) was in London on Monday to discuss transfer plans for the summer.
Conte is expected to effect a massive overhaul at the Blues following a disappointing campaign that sees the defending champions sit a lowly 10th on the log.
The former Juventus player and coach is also expected to hold talks with Eden Hazard, Diego Costa, Nemanja Matic and John Terry about their Stamford Bridge futures.
The Blues return to Premier League action when they travel to Swansea on Saturday.


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text:
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Books
For All The Books That Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Been a Contender
More Reasons I Started This Blog
Kelly December 22, 2015 Image
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Books: Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
Time on to-read list: 3-4 months
Reason for being on to-read: Regency? Magic? Come on, people, this is my wheelhouse.
Reason for not picking up: You ever had one of those books people were too enthusiastic about? You were just sure it couldn't live up to the hype? Yeah, that was this book for me.
Reason for finally reading: People have been telling me about this book for months. It's name has been cropping up all over the place. I like to talk at the internet water-cooler, too.
Verdict: I am a cynical fool. I should trust my book people more.
Man, I hope the writer of this book was cackling as she wrote this. That's how I pictured her, especially as the book wore on, just sitting there, rubbing her hands and laughing as she typed, going, "Ooooh, I know what I'll do to them now!" I mean, that's what I would have been doing as I wrote this. I don't know if I could have restrained myself, because I would have been very pleased with just how clever I was. Maybe she could restrain herself, because doubtless she is less shocked about how great she is- I don't know. But anyway, I hope that gives you an idea of the spirit of the thing, because that's the best part of it.
I have to be honest, I wasn't quite sure about this one when I started. The tone seemed forced, like someone who had studied a great deal of Jane Austen and read a lot of Regency romances and was painstakingly trying to recreate the sentence structure, with the result that her characters sounded a good deal more wooden than they should (even the excellent concept of a protagonist- Zacharias Wythe, the somewhat hapless, well meaning Sorcerer Royal the book focuses on). And then of course, there was all the exposition to get set up and getting our protagonists, heretofore with no reason to be anywhere near each other, together. That part was okay- I kept going more for the concept than anything else- magic is commonplace in England, there's a whole long standing structure of magicians and familiars in place, it's tied up with politics and acknowledged as A Thing, but very much tied into an otherwise recognizable Regency society that can't be bothered to be that impressed (too busy being impressed with the knots in their cravats, obviously). You guys know that Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is one of my favorite books, right? I couldn't love this concept more. I was going to stick around until the end (especially since it was clearly going to deal with some racial and class issues that simmered under the surface in that one in a more blatant way, and there were some cleverly placed unanswered mystery breadcrumbs placed out early on- well done, Cho.)
But then I hit what my kindle told me was about 40%. Remember how I told you guys reading JS&MN and losing patience to just hang out for Strange? Same damn thing here. Then Strange showed up and things got amazing pretty quickly and never got less amazing until the last page. I laughed out loud once, then twice, and then traded gasping and laughing for a sustained period pretty much almost until the end.
Okay, so basic plot: Zacharias Wythe is the Sorcerer Royal, like I told you above- but he inherited his position from his mentor and father figure, Sir Stephen Wythe, in suspicious circumstances that were never quite explained. He is clearly the most powerful magician living, so, as yet, he still holds the staff of office- but there is a louder and louder rebellion stirring amongst England's magicians about his leadership (not helped, of course, by the fact that this is the early 1800s and Zacharias is of African birth and appearance and some Englishmen don't like acknowledging that any "foreigner" can do anything better than they can- hey- actually, maybe this isn't just because it's the early 1800s. Ringing some bells). This situation is only made more precarious by the fact that England seems to be in the process of losing the plentiful magic it once had, and has been for decades. No new magical creatures or familiars have appeared, and the borders to Fairy have been slowly, but inexorably closing.
Enter Prunella Gentleman, aka my new fictional best friend. She works at a magical school for young ladies where they are mostly taught to hide their gifts and pretend like magic doesn't exist (think of it like one of those boarding schools where rich people send embarrassing daughters who get pregnant young or show signs of mental health difficulties). She has lead a precarious life on the sufferance of someone who took her in- but then, early in the novel, she makes a discovery that changes her entire life and throws her in the path of Zacharias- leading to life-altering consequences for both of them. The surprise is so good and her course of action is so audacious and amazing I don't want to even hint at it, but suffice it to say that it leads to them making an amazing team in more ways than one.
Aside from the wonderful plot and an outstanding cast of supporting characters in the best Regency farce fashion, (Rollo! Damerell! Aunt Georgiana!) what's really wonderful in the back half of the book is Cho's increased confidence and ability to handle the tone, dialogue and rhythms of the genres that she's paying homage to- both Regency farce and epic fantasy. She really does a great job with ramping up the ridiculousness to just the right volume, while never quite forgetting the serious threats that underlie all of this conflict.
(BTW-Man, I hope this book is an indication that this mixed genre is here to stay. Can I just make up one of these cool new subgenre names for it to help marketers? "Bonnet fantasy"? "Carriage-wheels-and-magic-wands fantasy"? Hmmmm. Come on guys, we have to be able to come up with something to encourage people to do this more.)
Not to mention the serious girl power in this book. Prunella, my new BFF, is, as I mentioned, utterly fantastic, and I love the way the author goes about showing that to us. She never needs her to be admired and stared at as the belle of the ball (at least not more than briefly, before something goes terribly wrong), she doesn't need her to necessarily be Mary Sue. She just needs her to be determined, clever, to know what she wants and not be afraid of stating it (whether it's "feminine" or "feminist" or not), and of course to be a whole lot of fun. Although Zacharias is our ostensible hero, and so much of the book is from his point of view- and he really does a great job of playing the straight man and the tragic hero we want out of our epic fantasies, Prunella is really the true farcical heart of the novel- she gives it life and insanity and the heart palpitations we want out of an adventure. I told you guys, she's Strange- but way funnier, more self-aware, but just as ferocious when she needs to be. There's some pitiless stuff in here, and she's nobody's perfect heroine, and man, does she screw up, but it's enjoyable from beginning to end.
I was never more delighted than when I saw, in parentheses after the title, that this was only Sorcerer Royal #1- which hopefully means there's more to come. I don't think it's spoiler-y of me to say that I want to see how Prunella continues her reign of terror and mayhem in the next book and who she shocks to their core next.
I am sorry I was ever wary of this, anyone who ever recommended this to me! More fool I, please be as smug as you like! You deserve it.
Sheila	 on July 8, 2016 at 8:00 pm
Love your reviews!!! Don't stop!
Kelly	 on July 10, 2016 at 8:43 pm
B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog
B&N Reads
Shoulda Coulda Woulda Book: The Spinning Heart
Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda Books: A Little Folly


text:
Benefits of Fennel Tea
Alyssa Northrop
Based in Minneapolis, Minn., Alyssa Northrop is a Registered Dietitian who has been writing about nutrition and health since 2004. Her work has been published in the scientific journal Explore. She holds a Master of Public Health in human nutrition from the University of Michigan.
Fennel, which is also known as Foeniculum vulgare, is an aromatic plant used widely for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The seeds of the fennel plant have an aniselike aroma and often feature in Indian and Middle Eastern cooking. Fennel is used to improve digestion, relieve flatulence, treat hypertension, increase milk production in breast-feeding mothers, and treat respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. To make fennel tea, lightly crush a teaspoonful of fennel seeds with a mortar and pestle and then steep the seeds in boiling water.
Small cup of fennel tea. (Image: HandmadePictures/iStock/Getty Images)
Since ancient Roman and Egyptian times, fennel has been regarded as a powerful digestive aid. In a 2012 review in the "International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition," author Marco Valussi reported that consumption of fennel increased spontaneous gastric motility and gastric acid secretions in animal models. Valussi also reported that an herbal combination including fennel eliminated intestinal pain in 95 percent of patients who had chronic, nonspecific colitis.
Scientific studies on the use of fennel as a diuretic for hypertension have produced mixed results. A study published in 2001 in "Clinical and Experimental Hypertension" examined the effects of a fennel extract on blood pressure and urinary volume in rats. In one group of rats, blood pressure significantly decreased after two days of treatment, and urinary volume increased by 100 percent. However, in another group of rats, blood pressure returned to placebo values after an initial decrease and no diuretic effect was observed. Further studies are needed to determine which parts of the fennel plant are responsible for its diuretic effects and to elaborate on existing studies.
Calming Colic
Parents of colicky infants have traditionally used fennel to help calm their crying babies. Several studies have shown favorable results in evaluating the efficacy of fennel for decreasing colic symptoms. In a study published in 2003 in "Alternative Therapies," researchers reported that use of fennel extract eliminated colic in 65 percent of infants, significantly more than in infants given a placebo. Consult with your pediatrician before giving fennel tea to your infant.
Increased Milk Supply
Fennel is ubiquitous in commercially produced herbal tea blends for nursing mothers. However, scientific research on the efficacy of fennel and other herbs promoted as lactation aids is lacking. More research needs to be conducted to determine whether drinking fennel tea will help stimulate your milk production.
Fennel is a traditional household remedy for treatment of symptoms of the respiratory tract including bronchitis and chronic coughs, kidney stones, dysmenorrhea, vomiting, diarrhea and defection of sperm. Fennel also may be helpful in the management of bacterial and fungal infections. In a study published in 2008 in the "Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology," researchers reported promising results in using fennel eyedrops for treating glaucoma in rabbits. Further studies are needed to determine whether fennel is effective in treating all of these conditions.
Arabian Journal of Chemistry: Foeniculum Vulgare: A Comprehensive Review of Its Traditional Use, Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Safety
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition: Functional Foods With Digestion-Enhancing Properties
Clinical and Experimental Hypertension: Pharmacological Evidence of Hypotensive Activity of Marrubium Vulgare and Foeniculum Vulgare in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat
Journal of Ethnopharmacology: Herbal Medicines as Diuretics: A Review of the Scientific Evidence
Alternative Therapies: The Effect of Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare) Seed Oil Emulsion in Infantile Colic: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study
Breastfeeding Medicine: ABM Clinical Protocol #9: Use of Galactogogues in Initiating or Augmenting the Rate of Maternal Milk Secretion
Journal of Medicinal Plants Research: A Review of Chemistry and Bioactivities of a Medicinal Spice: Foeniculum Vulgare
Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology: Oculohypotensive Effects of Foeniculum Vulgare in Experimental Models of Glaucoma
What Is Fennel Powder?
How Much Fennel Tea Can You Give an Infant with Colic?
Fenugreek & Fennel Seed
Peppermint Oil for Diarrhea
Fennel Seeds Side Effects
The Benefits of Dandelion Leaf & Root for the Kidneys


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Pulp Idol Winner Laura Bui Interview
Writing on the Wall's Lauren Buxton interviewed Pulp Idol 2018 winner, Laura Bui.
Have you always wanted to be a writer? And was there a specific moment you thought, 'I can do this'?
It was only recently that I considered writing fiction. When I was younger I didn't think I had this option of 'being a writer'. Part of this had to do with the idea instilled in me that writing was not a feasible or practical career— sitting around and writing made-up stories? What a farce. The assumption was that being a writer was reserved for people of leisure, and fiction writing was this simple exercise in the insincere: it was believed that anyone could sit around and make up lies if they could afford to. Of course this isn't true. Later, about six or seven years ago, I developed a kind of obsession with being a good thinker. Being so requires original thought and a lot of creativity. One outlet has been fiction writing. I admire writers, particularly literary fiction writers, for their thoughtfulness and accurate observations about us and life. I want to be like that but it is still a work in progress.
Do you have a writing routine; if so what is a typical writing day for you?
My routine is in the form of phases if that makes sense. I try to treat (fiction) writing like a project with a deadline alongside projects/ tasks related to my profession. So the phase could last for several weeks, end because of another project, then I might return to it months later and work on the writing again for a few weeks or days. Sometimes it can even be alongside another piece of work. A problem, sometimes, is I reason to myself that the fiction writing and reading are a hobby and can be pushed back whenever I feel like it. Then, of course, nothing gets done.
What was your motivation for entering this year's Pulp Idol competition?
Acknowledgement I guess? I'm surprised I even got as far as I did. I think many who have written a lengthy piece of work will empathise: you spend so much energy and effort in creating this piece. Alone. This can go on for months or years. The end result is completely unknown: will it get to be out there or will it just go in a drawer never to be seen again? I entered just to give my story a chance to be out there, an opportunity for my voice, and the perspective that forms it, to be heard.
Could you tell us about your novel Someone You'd Admire, and what your primary inspiration for the novel was?
Certainly. The story takes place in 2015, forty years after the Fall of Saigon. It focuses on Hien who has to decide whether to return to his homeland, Vietnam, for his father's funeral after having settled in America since the fall. The bulk of the Vietnamese-American literature comprises stories about what happened to characters during war and shortly after, or about the experiences of the children of these refugees growing up in the US. Viet Thanh Nguyen's The Sympathizers was an exception because it was the first book I read to have addressed this relatively unknown history about the anti-communist group that developed in the Vietnamese-American community after many had settled in America. It was different and expanded the literature. I wanted to contribute to this expansion by writing about the refugees themselves, four decades after. I wanted to focus on the lingering effects of loss well into the twilight years, and explore resilience and hope despite major adversity.
How do you feel about your overall experience of Pulp Idol?
Very positive. Generally I'm really impressed by the scope of projects that Writing on the Wall (WoW) has and the effort the WoW team invest to include and support anyone who is interested in sharing their voice and story. They sponsor and create events where people, whose voices are likely to be seldom heard in mainstream publishing and literature, can have a platform. They even publish books of these unheard stories and distribute them widely.
Since winning Pulp Idol talk to us about what your experience is like now?
It has provided me with some new and exciting experiences: winning a writing competition for the first time; reading what I wrote in front of audiences; being interviewed about my writing whose first chapter has been published; and gaining some exposure for my writing.
If you could pass on a single piece of advice to writers who would like to enter next year's Pulp Idol Competition, what would it be?
Do not let the reading part, where you read out loud your story in front of a bunch of strangers, put you off. Yes, it is an atypical competition where you need to be present to participate. This, actually, is a good opportunity-- not just for building confidence but to be there, in-person, with other writers. The competition provides this sense of community and it was wonderful to witness this diverse and thriving world of local and not-so-local writing. I think just to participate in the competition is enough. It makes it real to you that you have expressed your unique perspective through fiction and you are sharing it with others: you are here.
You can buy a Kindle Copy of Pulp Idol 2018 by clicking here
You can buy a hard copy book of Pulp Idol 2018 by clicking below
If you are an agent or publisher email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for a free copy of the e-book.


As the exhibition at the Sea City draws to a close this week we take a look at how the FA Cup Final in 1976 proved to actually be a burden for many of those players taking part rather than a springboard.
After Saints won the FA Cup in 1976 it was said that the 12 players on duty that day would never have to buy another drink in the City, that may have been the case, but the truth was that for many of that team they barely played for the club again and in some cases it virtually ended their careers.
As Southampton went mad on May 1st 1976 celebrating the winning of the FA Cup the 12 players on duty that day would have had good reason to believe that their careers were about to get even better.
But the reality was far different, perhaps even as the team celebrated Lawrie McMenemy had realised that if promotion was to be achieved then a major overhaul of the team was needed.
When he first started to think that is unknown but what is known is that a quarter of the team would have played their last game for the club before the end of the year, they would be joined by another 5 by the end of the 1976/77 season and by the time that Saints won promotion in 1977/78 two years after the cup final, only 2 of the 12 would be part of that team.
Of course some of the team were at the veterans stage of their career's, in truth if a footballer made 31-32 years old back in those days and was still playing he was in a small minority, nowadays advances in medicine and diet etc means players can go on longer than they used to, but back then it was different.
So lets take a look at the most famous team in the club's history and how it so quickly disbanded.
In goal was Ian Turner, he was just 23 at the time of the final and already had a lot of experience both for Saints and at Grimsby where he had also played for McMenemy.
Sadly for Turner he injured a cartilage in the opening league fixture the next season and although he would return from that, he found that Peter Wells was now first choice, although he stayed at the club till 1978, indeed he played 12 times in the promotion season, he would depart for firstly a summer in the fledgling US soccer league and then a career at several lower league clubs, playing his last Football League game at the tender age of 28, a young age for a keeper even then.
He moved back to the Southampton area played for a number of local non league clubs well into his mid to late 30's , but like several from that he had every right to think his career path would have been far different.
Peter Rodrigues was certainly a veteran, he had already turned 32 when he captained the side at Wembley but he had played in every game that season bar one missing just the one league game out of 42 and in all 8 FA Cup games and 1 League Cup game.
Ironically early in the following season he suffered a knee injury and before the first anniversary of the Cup final he had played his last game for the club and retired from football initially running the King Rufus pub at Eling, he still lives locally.
Jim Steele had always been a lively character, still only 26 when he played at Wembley he had played approaching 200 games for the club including over half of those in the top flight, he was another who might have expected more from his career, but the following season he found himself out on loan and on his return his final games for the club in March 1977 were not ones he will want to remember, a sending off against Manchester United in the FA Cup and then a mistake that cost Saints a goal against Anderlecht just about finished his time at the Dell and he would play only 1 more game a week after his 27th birthday, his final appearance in English football, moving to the USA and settling there for a while before returning to the Southampton area where he has lived on and off since.
Mel Blythe was a quality player, on researching this it was a shock to find he was the same age as Peter Rodrigues, and he would be the 7th player of the squad to play his final game for the club in 76/77 after a hamstring injury. He was still there for the following season, but had fallen out with McMenemy who had replaced him with Chris Nicholl and he went out on loan to former club Crystal Palace and then left for good.
David Peach was one who prospered after the cup final, indeed he would score at Wembley in the League cup final in 1979, but strangely his career faltered after that, the following season injury restricted his appearances, but it was a surprise that at only 29 he dropped down to the third division with Swindon Town and played out his final years at there and also Orient.
Paul Gilchrist was another solid professional who had played in the top flight for Saints and was a vital part of the Saints squad and at only 25 must have thought that his career would only go in one direction, but he had played his last game for the club four months after the final and by March 1977 he had joined Pompey and then Swindon and Hereford, he was ever present in 79/80 season but in the 1980 pre season he snapped a cruciate ligament and in those days there was no coming back from that.
Nick Holmes needs no introduction, he went on to play for the club for another decade, scored at Wembley alongside David Peach in 1979 and with 535 competitive games for the club in all competitions is rightly regarded as one of the all time legends of Saints.
Mick Channon or to put it rightly Mike Channon as he was more widely called then should have been the man who lifted the cup, but in that season he stepped down as skipper because of speculation that he might leave the club during the season, again another club legend who athough had played his final game in his first spell only a year after the cup win, returned in 1979 to enjoy several more seasons and even another Wembley win with Norwich City before blotting his copybook by playing for old mucker Alan Ball at Pompey, we have forgiven him for that though and he remains a club legend.
Peter Osgood was still in his peak years when he joined Saints although his bestyears where behind him at Chelsea, but he played a vital part at Wembley and remains a favourite of the fans of that era, he always retained great affection for Saints and lived in the area till his death. He played in the first part of the promotion season and left in November 1977 his last act being to headbutt Blackburn full back John Bailey and walk off the pitch before the ref could send him off properly, Saints fans hated Bailey with a vengeance because of this.
Sadly Ossie died on 1st March 2006.
In many respects Jim McCalliog is the least remembered of the Saints side that won the cup, although that is strange as he played a bigger part than most in the entire run, it washis two goals that won us the replay in the 3rd round at Aston Villa and it was his volley at Bradford that was the only goal of the game in the quarter finals and of course it was his pass to Bobby Stokes that meant history changed.
Jim was still only 29 when he played at Wembley, but he was one who McMenemy thought needed replacing and although he played fairly regularly in the first half of the following season, he had played his last game by January 1977, like several other members of the team he initially went to the States and then the lower leagues.
What can we say about Bobby Stokes, the scorer of the most famous goal in the clubs history suffered what was then truly a curse, the number of players who scored FA Cup winning goals at Wembley only to find it ruined their career back in the 1960's & 70's was many, Mike Trebilcock for Everton in 1966, Neil Young for Manchester City in 1969, Alan Taylor in 1974 and Roger Osbourne for Ipswich in 1978 are all examples of players in their prime who found that scoring the winning goal would not be helpful to their career.
Bobby was still only 25 when he scored at Wembley, he had a fine pedigree for the club, he had played nearly 150 games in the top flight for the club, almost 250 in total , yet after Wembley he would start only 8 more games plus 3 as sub and only 23,006 would see his final goal scored against Nottingham Forest in September 1976, his final game coming in March 1977 on a cold Friday night at Fulham.
Like others in the squad he headed off to the USA playing several summers there and in between he signed for home town club Portsmouth where he was not a success, still only 26 and with Pompey in the then Division 3 he should have done well, but 24 games and only 2 goals tell a different story although Pompey were struggling themselves and were relegated to the bottom tier of the football league at the end of the season.
Bobby played again in the states and then at several non league clubs but the sad fact was that he had played his last game in the Football League by age 27, at a time when he should have been at his peak and with a good pedigree it's not easy to say why it al went wrong.
His tale gets sadder, his marriage failed as did a business and he was granted a testimonial by Saints in 1994 as by that time he was working for his cousin in her cafe in Pompey, sadly he died before the game could be arranged, leaving us on 30th May 1995.
The final member of the squad was Hugh Fisher the sub on the day and who did not get in on the action, ironically without his goal in the final minute of the 3rd round game at the Dell that took us to what had looked an unlikely replay, history would have been far different.
Fisher was a great servant to the club joining in March 1967 from Blackpool, it is sometimes forgotten now that for the semi final at Stamford Bridge he would have started the game ahead of Paul Gilchrist, but he knew he had an injury niggle and was honest enough to tell Lawrie McMenemy that he wasn't 100%, Gilchrist played, scored and he played at Wembley not Hugh.
At 32 Hughie's days were always going to be numbered, he played a few times in the following season but left in March 1977 to become player manager of Southport who were then in the 4th division.
The following year they were not reelected to the League despite not finishing bottom and were replaced by Wigan.
Hugh moved back to Southampton where he played for several Southern League clubs before hanging up his boots in 1980.
Hughie is perhaps the one member of the squad that truly never had to buy a drink as on his return to the City he worked for many years as a brewery rep, he still goes to watch the club and last week was part of a team that entered the Saints Foundation quiz at St Mary's.
The 1976 team had some great players in the squad, but it is strange that so many of them saw their career stall rather than prosper in the aftermath of what for most of them was their greatest hour.
This club does not honour it's past enough and as the exhibition at Sea City nears the end of its run, surely it is time that the club itself did something a lot more permanent to honour and remember its past, it is a sad testament to Southampton Football Club that I have been in pubs outside Anfield with more memorabilia and glorification of their football club than there is in the entire stadium at St Mary's.
Ralph Krueger should take note, those that do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it endlessly, the great football clubs around the World respect and glorify their past, they know it is what defines them, the lesser clubs are afraid of their's, sadly I know what category we seem to fit in at present, it has to change.
NB. With thanks to Duncan Holley, Gary Chalk, David Bull, David Juson, Chris Newman and others who have written books about the club and who try to document its history as without them there would be little permanent evidence left.
The highpoint of every player's career (at least the British ones) is undoubtedly playing in a Wembley FA Cup Final. ..and if you are on the winning side .. you're King for a Day.
I noted some of the names mentioned earlier included that of the Ipswich lad who scored their winning goal (v.Arsenal) but was so severely injure -by his team mates (who pan-caked him in the goal celebration) that he never got fit enough to play football again.
The common factor I noted from the article was that several of those mentioned retired soon afterward - through injury. Not surprising when you consider that the recovery time and treatments available today were virtually unknown at that time.
Of course teams change. Many teams have 3-4 new faces almost every season, and others then move on.
As for my memories of 1976...it was a day that I could tell my grandchildren about....and quite soon I'll be in that situation. There have been some great teams since then, but very few trophies to brag about.
I just googled Roger Osborne, he wasnt injured by his team mates, he was so overwhelmed he fainted on the pitch and had to come off.
No wonder all subsequent teams steered clear of repeating the feat!
Yes Osborne went off overwhelmed. I wonder if underweststand is thinking of Steve Morrow of Arsenal who was injured in celebrating a winner vs Sheff Wed?
I recall seeing the incident but I just couldn't remember which decade it was !
What about the curse of the 1900 cup final? Not one of them alive today. Makes me shiver just thinking about it.


Home » What Is Young Women LEAD?
Young Women LEAD is an all day leadership conference for high school girls focusing on Leadership, Education and Development. The purpose of the conference is to empower high school girls to embrace their strengths and to reach their full potential. The all day session features nationally recognized women who share their own insights on real life issues and how to overcome them to achieve successful and meaningful careers. The conference also provides an opportunity for the teens to connect to and learn from local female business leaders.
This conference is unique both in its creation and purpose. Young Women LEAD is organized by the local participants of SOAR, a leadership development program designed to assist businesses in developing their women for future leadership positions. This project allows the SOAR members to practice their newly acquired leadership skills while at the same time "pay it forward" in their communities benefiting high school girls.
These conferences are currently hosted on a yearly basis in 5 cities: Ashland, KY; Cincinnati, OH; Jasper, IN; Lexington and Louisville, KY. For more information on the conference in your city please hover on the Programming tab above.


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S.C. woman sentenced for dumping mother's body in river, stealing her Social Security benefits
Beth Beamer
GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (TCD) -- A 48-year-old woman was recently sentenced to 16 months in prison for dumping her deceased mother's body into a river and stealing nearly $70,000 in Social Security benefits.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina, in the summer of 2017, Beth Beamer's mother, Rena Beamer, was reported missing from her home in Mauldin, South Carolina, to the Greenville County Sheriff's Office. A few years later, in October 2020, the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General reportedly learned about this even though the victim's Social Security benefits were still being paid and deposited into an account, which Beth Beamer had access to.
The benefits were suspended in May 2020 to "develop a new address for Rena Beamer," the Attorney's Office said. The Social Security Administration allegedly received a call from a woman who claimed to be Rena Beamer on Dec. 21, 2020. The caller, who was later identified as Beth Beamer, reportedly updated the Social Security mailing address in North Carolina and payments were restarted.
According to the Attorney's Office, "SSA-OIG reviewed bank records for Rena Beamer's bank account and determined that Beth Beamer was accessing the SSA payments and spending the money on herself."
Upon further investigation, authorities reportedly learned that Beamer removed her mother's dead body from their shared home in August 2017 and threw it into a river near Tryon, North Carolina. The Attorney's Office said Beth told authorities she failed to notify the Social Security Administration about her mother's death and impersonated Rena Beamer to receive benefits intended for her mother until May 2021.
According to the Attorney's Office, from August 2017 until May 2021, Beth Beamer received a total of $69,909.40 in Social Security benefits.
Beth was reportedly arrested in North Carolina in May 2021 with charges out of South Carolina for neglect of a vulnerable adult, exploitation of a vulnerable adult, obstruction of an investigation, abuse or neglect resulting in death, unauthorized removal of a dead body, and destruction/desecration of human remains.
On Monday, Dec. 12, the Attorney's Office announced that Beth Beamer was sentenced to 16 months in prison, to be followed by three years of court-ordered supervision. She'll also have to pay $68,909.40 in restitution to the Social Security Administration.
Mauldin Woman Sentenced to Sixteen Months in Prison for Theft of Deceased Mother's Social Security Administration Benefits - U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina
#Instagram #NorthCarolina #SouthCarolina
Married restaurant owner accused of fatally strangling pregnant girlfriend and dumping body
N.J. man turns himself in after allegedly killing his wife and dumping body on side of road
West Virginia man found guilty of killing man and dumping body in the bed of truck
2 Texas teens sentenced for killing friend and dumping body behind church
Florida woman allegedly stuffed mother's body in freezer and collected her disability benefits
Man who dumped 24 body parts, including human heads, gets 6 years in prison
Missouri man who raped multiple underage girls he met on Snapchat gets 16 life sentences


Matthew Cunningham-Cook is a labor researcher and writer living in Prince George's County, Maryland. You can contact him at m.cunninghamcook [at] gmail.com.
This 28-Year-Old Progressive Helped Bernie Sanders Win Rhode Island. Now He Is Running for Lt. Gov.


text:
This bot runs on Google Container Engine, to test it just look for @bysykkelBot on Telegram.

## Description

This is a Telegram chatbot written in Go which tells you if there are bicycles or locks in Oslo near you. An app already exists, but this chatbot is useful if you are a frequent user of Telegram and want to know very quickly if there are bikes near you.

For regular users of Oslo Bysykkel, it can be useful to get the nearest stations without having to open the app just to know to which station to go, if you are standing in the middle of two stations for example.

This bot is multilingual. It currently sends and understands messages in English, French, and Norwegian.

## Prerequisites

You must create a bot with the BotFather on Telegram, and keep the key he sends you to call your bot. You must also create a developer account on Oslo Bysykkel to get a key to access the API.

## Test on local machine

Add a configuration file in the config folder called config.yaml, with the two following lines:
- telegram_key: YourTelegramBotKey
- bysykkel_key: YourBysykkelAPIKey
Set the environment variable DEPLOY\_KIND as "local" or "cloud"

## Deploy on Google Container Engine

Assuming that you have a Google Platform account, gcloud, kubectl, docker, go, and glide installed, and have a GKE cluster to deploy to, follow these steps:
- Install the vendor dependencies with glide with `glide install`
- Setup the secrets with `./scripts/secrets YourTelegramKey YourBysykkelKey`
- Call the deploy script from the bysykkelBot folder `./deploy.sh YourGCPProjectID DeployKind` (DeployKind is "local" or "cloud")

## Notes

The chatbot asks you if you wish to share your location, and then uses the Oslo Bysykkel API to check if there are bicycles or locks near you, according to what your request was.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The city of Los Fresnos is celebrating 1 year and will have Free Cake. There will also be Raffling 3 Free Turkeys. The Entertainment will be the Los Fresnos Highschool Folkloric Dance Team, plus the Brownsville Early College Veterans Memorial Highschool Estudiantina. We will have Dancing Music with DJ Oscar Olivarez and Vendors with a variety of Food and Merchandise.