Looking for a way to make midnight snack and bathroom visits a bit easier? When you are half asleep, the last thing you want to do is fumble around trying to find the light switch. Occupancy sensors are the solution. The devices use infrared, ultrasonic or microwave technology to sense when someone enters the room and it turns the lights on or off automatically.
Title 24 of The California Building Code requires occupancy sensor switches be used in bathrooms if you are using incandescent light bulbs to light the room. The occupancy sensor switch replaces the existing manual switch you may already have and normally can be wired using the existing electrical box in the wall. However, you should be aware that sometimes the occupancy switch doesn't fit in the existing electrical box and if there is not a ground wire in the electrical box you will need to do some additional electrical work. Some building departments, like the City of Palo Alto require that the occupancy sensor has the ability to be manually turned on and that it will automatically shut off when the room is vacant.
Not only do occupancy sensors make life easier, but they are also great for saving power. If the kids are constantly running through the house, switching the lights on and then going back out, it's going to really drive up the electricity bill. Occupancy sensors can fix the problem and saving electricity is not only good for your wallet, but great for the environment.
Motion sensors can be mounted to walls or ceilings and are great for convenience and security for use indoors and outdoors. There are two types of sensor, occupancy sensors and vacancy sensors. They are pretty self-explanatory, as the occupancy sensors turn lights on when someone walks into a room, while the vacancy sensors turn them off once they leave. More advanced occupancy sensors can be adjusted to turn on or off by the number of occupants and their direction of motion. The sensors can also be set with a delay timer, so that they don't deactivate the lights if you don't move for a while.


The must-read summary of Al Ries and Jack Trout's book: "The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing". This complete summary of the ideas from Al Ries and Jack Trout's book "The 22 Immuable Laws of Marketing" shows that there is a widely-held assumption that marketing is a field in which anyone can succeed, with enough enthusiasm. This summary shows that marketing has rules of success, just �... summary the 22 immutable laws of marketing Download summary the 22 immutable laws of marketing or read online books in PDF, EPUB, Tuebl, and Mobi Format.
getAbstract Summary: Get the key points from this book in less than 10 minutes. Using actual examples and sharp analysis, Al Ries and Jack Trout offer 22 "laws" that amount to a basic, concise distillation of their marketing experience and wisdom.
Summary The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing . I don�t cover all of the laws. I left out six of them. Law 1 � The Law of Leadership . To get someone to unlearn something is harder than to get them to learn something new.


Attention expecting mothers: eat your fish! Baby will thank you later. New research has determined that if a woman eats a good helping of fish while pregnant, there are a whole hosts of developmental benefits that can be conferred to an unborn child.
That's at least according to a study recently published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Interestingly, fish are actually a common item on the list of things that expecting mother SHOULD NOT eat. That's because for as long as modern medicine has known about mercury poisoning, experts have been concerned that it would take far less mercury to impact the development of a child.
However, most dietary recommendations always - and understandably so - take the "it's better to be safe than sorry" approach when it comes to pregnancies, and there is little concrete evidence that a little fish every now and then could hurt.
What's more, the research team behind this new work is arguing that the conclusive benefits of eating fish during pregnancy heavily outweigh the perceived risks.
To be sure, the researchers decided to pull together three decades of data on more than 1,500 mothers and their children from the Republic of Seychelles, a island nation in the Indian Ocean.
Past research has predictably shown that you average resident from Seychelles consumes ten time as much fish as people from the United States or Europe, making it the ideal location for measuring the public health impact of low-level mercury exposure.
Hair samples were collected from the pregnant mothers to determine levels of prenatal mercury exposure, and their levels of fatty acid consumption were also measured. Twenty months after their children were born, cognition and motor skill tests were begun. For some subjects, these tests lasted far into their 20s.
Amazingly, after close analysis, prenatal mercury exposure was not linked with lower test scores. What's more, children prenatally exposed to more Omega-3 fatty acids (from fish) outperformed children exposed to mostly polyunsaturated fatty acids (from cooking oils and meats) in motor skill tests.
This supports a theory that Omega-3 not only encourages brain development, but also can help counteract the argued adverse effects of mercury thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties.
"It appears that the relationship between fish nutrients and mercury may be far more complex than previously appreciated," the principle investigator Philip Davidson, from the University of Rochester, explained in a statement. "These findings indicate that there may be an optimal balance between the different inflammatory properties of fatty acids that promote fetal development and that these mechanisms warrant further study."


eStruxture Data Centers MTL-1 is located in the area Montreal, Canada, and the colocation data center is carrier neutral. The data center was last updated on 14-06-2018.
eStruxture provides network and cloud-neutral data center solutions designed with the capacity, performance and flexibility to run modern, demanding enterprise applications, and the control to rapidly scale in response to unpredictable changes in business processes.
Headquartered in Montreal, the company provides access to an ecosystem of over 900 customers that trust and depend on eStruxture's infrastructure and radical customer support, including carriers, cloud providers, media content, financial services and enterprise customers.
eStruxture offers colocation, private cloud, managed services, bandwidth and security and support services to customers.


Queen Elizabeth's School provides an attractive setting in North London for our popular multi-activity camp in Barnet. Our Easter camp and summer camp offer a place for children to make new friends, try new sports and activities, but most of all have lots of FUN!
With fantastic facilities, including an 8 lane indoor swimming pool, our kids holiday camp in Barnet caters for children aged 4 ½ - 14 years and is extremely popular through all of these age groups.
In addition to our unrivalled range of activities this year, we're excited that Barnet will have the Energy Assault Course at our Easter camp and the Aero Ball inflatable at our summer camp!
Be aware it gets booked out, so early booking is advisable.
The school boasts a 23 acre site on the edge of the green belt with fantastic facilities including an amazing 8 lane swimming pool with a moveable floor making it great for all ages and abilities. There are also extensive playing fields, a gym, modern hall, archery range, motorsports track and an arts and crafts room, perfect spaces for the 80+ exciting activities Barracudas offer. With the added bonus of fantastic inflatable equipment at our Easter camp and summer camp in Barnet, kids will have a blast at Barracudas!
What's more, if you want your children to develop skills in certain areas, Motor Mania, Swim School, Lab Rats and Upstage! are all available as Skills Builder Courses at the Barnet camp.
Other camps in this area are Hemel Hempstead & Watford.


Happy Saturday!! I'm so psyched about the holiday weekend for the fact that I get a few days off from work! Phew, sometimes you just need a break! Right? Hopefully a long weekend equates to some much needed scrap time.
Today, I have a couple of projects that I created for Creative Imaginations using Debbie Mumm's gorgeous Song Birds Collection. This is one of those lines that I fall more and more in love with every time I look at it. It's filled with adorable little treasures like the tiny peach flowers in the die cut pack to the clever little phrases that inspired the title for my layout.
I started my layout by layering patterned papers, cardstock, and a border punched strip of wood to create the background. I lightly spritzed the lightest part of the background with Luminarte Butternut Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist.
Since this line has a lot of nature elements, I added flowers, a berry spray, and jute to add to textural interest. I also layered a couple of birds that I fussy cut from patterned paper on top of a cardboard house from Basically Bare.
I used a paint brush and Luminarte Butternut Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist to paint the chipboard photo corners.
I used the design of the layout and some of the same elelements to create a frame.
Thanks for stopping by today. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!!
Hey there, I'm back with another Quick Quotes post. This month, the DT is creating projects featuring PowderPuff Chalking Inks. I created a faux letterpress look on my card by inking the raised part of an embossing folder with Pink Cheeks PowderPuff Chalking Inks.
I placed my cardstock (the side that would face outward) over the inked raised side of the embossing folder.
I ran it through my cuttlebug and voila-- I'm left with an inked debossed print. This is a very easy technique and the result is fabulous. The possibilities are endless, too! Try different colors and patterns to personalize any project.
VELLUM TIP: make your vellum quote pop against any background by adhering it to a piece of white paper before attaching to your project.
Hey there blog readers, I'm here with a blog post featuring none other than mom. Mother's Day was a couple days ago. Did you have a good day? I did, although it was pretty low key.
I created this layout for Quick Quotes to serve as a thank you letter to my mom. Having such a close relationship with her has given me the ability to cultivate great relationships with other women. In essence, I have her to thank for all of the beautiful friendships that I have made and maintained over the years.
This month, the Quick Quotes are not only focusing on Mother's Day projects, were are also focusing on the PowderPuff Chalking Inks. I love the subtle dimension that inking creates. I used Tahiti here to ink the edge of the vellum quote. I used Bloody Mary on the patterned paper covered chipboard.
Inking doesn't have to be tone on tone. As you can see here, I embossed the butterfly with white powder and then inked the edges with Tahiti to add a pop of color.
I created a couple of Mother's Day cards for the Purple Cows blog using a couple of the new CraftGeek punches. To see full instructions and details, check out the blog.
I actually ended up giving this one to my mom on Mother's Day. She loved it!!
Hey there blog readers!! Today I am sharing a review of my Easy Canvas Print. Easy Canvas Prints offers a really efficient way to turn your favorite photos into great quality canvas prints.
I was offered a print from Easy Canvas for an honest review of the product. I was excited about the idea as I've wanted to turn a few prints into canvas for a while now. I decided to go with this adorable photo of me and my favorite 2 little guys. I visited the website which I found really easy to navigate, started the process and in just a few short minutes it was complete.
When I received my canvas, I was really very pleased with the results. The canvas is a 16"x20"; the image on the canvas is just a sharp as the original photo, the colors are crisp and matched the photo image perfectly, and the canvas itself is very sturdy.
My favorite feature is the border option. You have the option of choosing a mirror image, image wrap, or border color. I chose the image wrap because I think it adds visual interest.
Check out Easy Canvas Prints on Facebook and turn your pictures into works of art as a gift for mom this Mother's Day. Believe me, you will not be disappointed!!
Did you have as much fun on National Scrapbook Day as I did? Although I went to the movies with my guys to see the Avengers, I still managed to get some scrapping done. I participated in a couple of the challenges over at scrapbook.com and here's what I came up with.
I created this layout of my star pupil for the misting challenge. The photo lifts up to display journaling and a photo of him shaking hands with our Mayor at the Breakfast of Champions Ceremony.
I created this layout for the sketch challenge. (check out the sketch here) The photos are of my friend's future mother-in-law at her 70th birthday party. Yes, she is as fabulous as she looks, too!!
Now for the winner of the NSD RAK challenge!! How about that? The winner is number 1, Christina Colon. Christina, email your addy to me at tanisharenee74@hotmail.com and I'll get your goodies to you.
Happy Cinco de Mayo and HAPPY NATIONAL SCRAPBOOKING DAY!!!! As a scrapper, NSD has quickly become one of my favorite holidays! I love having an excuse to do nothing but scrap all day and participate in different challenges. Even better, I love all of the generosity in the air. I will be hanging out over at scrapbook.com because they always have great NSD challenges and their prizes rock....I know because I won a RAK last year (and a few years ago).
This holiday puts me in a giving mood, too. At the end of this post, you will find info on how you can enter to win my NSD RAK...but first I have a few projects to share.
This is a special project for a special lady. I'm sure you are aware that April is over, which means Mother's Day is right around the corner.
I used my 2 new favorite (for now) WOW Embossing powders, Clear Gloss Ultra High and Neutral Ultra Shimmer glitter and the Flowers background stamp to create this canvas for mom.
I used Neutral Ultra Shimmer Embossing Glitter on the flowers, the canvas background and the photo corners. I love how the powders melt to clear glittery gloss allowing the color of the embellishments to shine through.
I sporadically stamped the background with the stamp and embossed with Clear Gloss Ultra High. I used several different inks to add color to the canvas and then used a damp paper towel to remove the ink from the embossing leaving a masked look.
I have to admit, these 2 powders are addictive! I literally had to stop myself from covering the entire canvas in glitter!
I created this next project for WOW Embossing Powders and the product swap week between Pink Paislee and Basically Bare. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big Pink Paislee fan, so getting to work with the Indigo Bleu line AND my favorite Basically Bare products made creating this layout extra fun!
I used Basically Bare Pennants (large), Dress Form, Blossoms & Leaves, Fanciful Frames, and Birds as well as stamps and embossing powders from WOW.
These pennants are some of my new faves!! I covered them with patterned paper, heat embossed using WOW's neutral ultra shimmer embossing glitter and then layered with wood embellishments and flowers. I used the same powder on the canvas leaf and then outlined with Zig Memory System Millennium pen.
I swear, I can't get enough of the dress forms!! I peeled the top layer of cardboard off of the bodice, swiped with white acrylic paint and then covered with patterned paper, lace, and a wooden button.
I like to add plain chipboard to a lot of my projects. I think the neutral kraft color gives the viewer's eye a break.
The Fanciful Frame is the perfect size for a 4×6 photo. I coated the one here with WOW's Black Glint Embossing Glitter — love that shine!
Last but certainly not least, is the acrylic birdie nestled among the flowers. I use a stamp from WOW Call Me stamp set and staz-on ink to stamp the script writing. I embossed the felt wing with embossing glittered and added a pearl to the eye.
All you have to do is leave a comment here by 11:59 EST May 6th and you will be entered to win. I will randomly choose one winner on Monday May 7th.
We're excited to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day with our Quick Quotes friends and fans! What better way than to have a fun blog hop!!! If you've hopped here from Barb's fabulous blog then you are well on your way and will continue to be treated to some wonderful eye candy from the DT members for our current blog challenge, fussy cutting.
If you just happened to pop in on my blog, please join us...I guarantee you'll have a great time and gain a ton of inspiration. Be sure to leave comments on each blog and make it all the way to the end of the hop for a chance to win some great RAKs from Quick Quotes!!!
Please visit the blog for full details how to play along with our challenge.
For the fussy cutting challenge, I decided to go off the page and create this little birdhouse. If you've visited my blog before, you know I have a thing for birdhouses. I kept this one sweet and simple with a burst of color using papers from Summer Samba. I inked the roof of the house with Blue Hawaiian PowderPuff Chalking Ink and then cut flowers from Summer Samba 400 and layered them over the entire roof. I covered the base of the birdhouse with Summer Samba 100 and added 2 Bag O' Chips butterflies which were heat embossed with WOW embossing glitter.
Now you are on your way to the talented Rhonda's blog. Here is the hop sequence just in case you get lost along the way!
Be a follower of this blog, get an extra entry if you refer a friend to be a new follower!
Well would you look at that...another blog post this week. Woohoo!!
Today, I'm sharing a couple of projects that I created for Purple Cows. Have you seen the new CraftGeek line, yet. If not, check it out on the website. I used a PunchIt on both of these layouts.
I used PunchIt Solstice and Creative Imaginations corrugated paper to create my own embellishments here. All other papers and embellishments are from Momenta.
I used the PunchIt Autumn to punch designs in the corner of this layout to help frame the photos of my cutie pies and the WindIt to create "hangers" for the banner.
Thank you for stopping by today!! Until next post...have a scrappy day!


text:
Stellar Zombie: Scientists Discover a Star That Won't Die
By Harrison Tasoff 11 November 2017
A massive star reaches the end of its life in an artist's conception of a supernova.
(Image: © M. Kornmesser/ESO)
The appearance of a years-long supernova explosion challenges scientist's current understanding of star formation and death, and work is underway to explain the bizarre phenomenon.
Stars more than eight times the mass of the sun end their lives in fantastic explosions called supernovas. These are among the most energetic phenomena in the universe. The brightness of a single dying star can briefly rival that of an entire galaxy. Supernovas that form from supermassive stars typically rise quickly to a peak brightness and then fade over the course of around 100 days as the shock wave loses energy.
In contrast, the newly analyzed supernova iPTF14hls grew dimmer and brighter over the span of more than two years, according to a statement by Las Cumbres Observatory in Goleta, California, which tracked the object. Details of the discovery appeared on Nov. 8 in the journal Nature. [First Supernova Shock Wave Image Snapped by Planet-Hunting Telescope]
An inconspicuous discovery
Supernova iPTF14hls was unremarkable when first detected by a partner telescope in San Diego on Sept. 22, 2014. The light spectrum was a textbook example of a Type II-P supernova, the most common type astronomers see, lead author Iair Arcavi, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Barbara, told Space.com. And the supernova looked like it was already fading, he said.
The observatory was in the middle of a 7.5-year collaborative survey, so Arcavi focused on more-promising objects. But in February, 2015, Zheng Chuen Wong, a student working for Arcavi that winter, noticed the object had become brighter over the past five months.
"He showed me the data," Arcavi said, "and he [asked], 'Is this normal?' and I said, 'Absolutely not. That is very strange. Supernovae don't do that,'" Arcavi said.
At first, Arcavi thought it might be a local star in our galaxy, which would appear brighter because it was closer, he said. Many stars are also known to have variable brightness. But the light signature revealed that the object was indeed located in a small, irregular galaxy about 500 million light-years from Earth.
And the object only got weirder. After 100 days, the supernova looked just 30 days old. Two years later, the supernova's spectrum still looked the way it would if the explosion were only 60 days old. The supernova recently emerged from behind Earth's sun, and Arcavi said it's still bright, after roughly three years. But at one one-hundredth of its peak brightness, the object appears to finally be fading out.
"Just to be clear, though, there is no existing model or theory that explains all of the observations we have," said Arcavi. The supernova may fade out; it may grow brighter, or it may suddenly disappear.
One reason for Arcavi's uncertainty is that a supernova was seen in the same location in 1954. This means that the event Acavi has been observing, whatever it is, may actually be 60 years running. There's a 1 to 5 percent chance the two events are unrelated, but that would be even more surprising, said Arcavi. Astronomers have never observed unrelated supernova in the same place decades apart. "We are beyond the cutting-edge of models," Arcavi said.
Supernova iPTF14hls dwarfs typical supernovas in both brightness and longevity. And the event's dramatic fluctuations pose an exciting challenge for the astronomical community to explain. (Image credit: S. Wilkinson/LCO)
Beyond cutting edge
"I'm not sure, and I don't think anyone else is sure, just what the hell is happening," astrophysicist Stanford Woosley, at University of California, Santa Cruz, told Space.com. "And yet it happened, and so it begs explanation."
Woosley is not affiliated with the study, but he is among the theoreticians working to understand the event. Two hypotheses show promise in explaining it, he said.
The first involves the famous equation E = mc2. With this formula , Albert Einstein demonstrated that matter and energy are fundamentally interchangeable. Stars burn by converting matter into energy, fusing lighter elements like hydrogen and helium into heavier elements, which build up in the star's core and also release energy. When a star more than 80 times the mass of the sun reaches a temperature of 1 billion degrees Celsius (1.8 billion degrees Fahrenheit), this energy-matter equivalence produces pairs of electrons and their antiparticle counterparts, positrons, Woosley said. The process robs the star of energy, and so the object shrinks.
But as this happens, the temperature rises in the star's core. At 3 billion C (5.4 billion F), oxygen fuses explosively, blowing off massive amounts of material and resetting the cycle. This process repeats until the star reaches a stable mass, explained Woosley. When the front of an ejected shell of material hits the trailing edge of a previous shell, it releases energy as light.
The star continues to fuse oxygen and the elements of greater masses, up until iron, at which point the reaction fails to release enough energy to keep the star from collapsing in on itself.Eventually, a star like the one that gave rise to iPTF14hls will collapse into a black hole without another explosion, said Woosley.
This phenomenon, called a pulsation pair instability (PPI) supernova, could account for iPTF14hls' sustained luminosity as well as the object's varying brightness. This explanation would require the star to have been 105 times the mass of the sun, said Woosley. However, the PPI model cannot account for the tremendous amount of energy iPTF14hls has released. The first explosion of 2014 had more energy than the model predicts for all the explosions combined, said Arcavi.
What's more, this phenomenon has yet to be verified observationally. "Stars between 80 and 140 solar masses, which do this kind of thing, have to exist," said Woosley, "and they have to die, and so, somewhere, this has to be going on." But no one has seen it yet, he said.
A magnetic superstorm
An alternative explanation involves a star 20 to 30 times the mass of Earth's sun. After a more conventional supernova, such a star could have condensed into a rapidly spinning neutron star, called a magnetar.
A neutron star packs the mass of 1.5 suns into an object with a diameter about the size of New York City. A neutron star rotating at 1,000 times per second would have more energy than a supernova, according to Woosley. It would also generate a magnetic field 100 trillion to 1 quadrillion times the strength of Earth's field. As the star spun down over the course of several months, its incredible magnetic field could transfer the star's rotational energy into the remnants of the supernova that it formed from, releasing light, Woosley explained.
"It's like there's a lighthouse down in the middle of the supernova," said Woolsey.
This image depicts a simulated collision between two shells of matter ejected by subsequent pulsation pair-instability supernova explosions. (Image credit: Ke-Jung Chen/School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota)
But the magnetar explanation is not perfect, either. It has trouble explaining the dips and peaks in iPTF14hls' brightness, and the physics behind how such a phenomenon might work is still uncertain, said Woosley.
As iPTF14hls sheds energy, Arcavi said he hopes to be able to see deeper into the object's structure. If it is a magnetar, then he expects to see X-rays, previously obscured by the supernova itself, beginning to break through, he said. "Maybe by combining pulsation pair instability with [a magnetar], you can start to explain the supernova," Arcavi said.
Keeping busy while keeping watch
The existence of iPTF14hls has far-reaching implications, the researchers said. At 500 million light-years away, the supernova is still relatively close to Earth, and the universe is practically the same today — in terms of composition and organization —as it was when this event occurred, according to Arcavi. If the event was a PPI supernova, it tells astronomers that stars more than 100 times the mass of the sun — thought to be more prevalent in the early universe — are still forming today.
The event also had far more hydrogen than researchers expected to see. The explosion in 1954 should have expelled nearly all of the star's hydrogen, said Arcavi. Astrophysicists will have to revisit their models of supernovas to understand how this can occur, he said.
The finding has ramifications for the study of galaxies as well. "The energy of the gravity that's keeping that galaxy together is about the same order of magnitude as the energy that was released in the supernova," Arcavi said. "So, a few of these in a galaxy could actually unbind the entire galaxy."
Arcavi and his team plan to continue monitoring iPTF14hls for at least one to two years. And a suite of international telescopes and observatories will join the effort. Swedish colleagues at the Nordic Optical Telescope, in the Canary Islands, will track the object as it continues to dim beyond what Arcavi's telescope array can detect. NASA's Swift spacecraft will look for X-ray emissions, while the Hubble Space Telescope is scheduled to image the location beginning in December, and others will follow, Arcavi said.
For now, the event remains a mystery.
"It's just a puzzle in the sky," said Woosley. "That's what we live for, what astronomers love."
Email Harrison Tasoff at htasoff@space.com or follow him @harrisontasoff. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Established in 2014, the Ole Miss Bike Shop is home to the Rebel Pedals bike rental program. The Bike Shop is open to all students, faculty, and staff. Bring your bike in to get it registered, serviced, or rent a bike. A list of fees and services can be found below.
Any student, faculty, or staff bringing a bike on to campus is encouraged to register it with the Department of Parking & Transportation. Registering your bike can help recover it in the event it is lost or stolen, as well as help the university determine the needs of bikes are being adequately met. Registration is free and valid for four years.


This fact sheet describes seed poppy in the garden, varieties, how to grow, problems, harvesting and storage, productivity, and frequently asked questions.
Drost, Dan and Cope, Kevin, "Seed Poppy in the Garden" (2012). All Current Publications. Paper 269.


Cover appeal - Ladies Independent Online Fashion Boutique in Cheshire.
Join us at one of our pop-up shops where you can try on our latest styles. We're also on hand to help with any fashion tips if needed. Follow the link and book a date in your diary!
From the catwalks to the biggest fashion influencers on instagram, they're all wearing them; pearl embellished hair clips! Pop one, two or three in your hair and make a simple outfit such as jeans and a tee look chic. Shop this very affordable accessory today!
This has to be the simplest and easiest way to give the perfect gift and share the wardrobe joy!


text:
Tours/Concerts/TV TV Appearances
Watch Lauren Jauregui's Sexy "More Than That" Live Performance at The Late Late Show
Lauren Jauregui appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden to perform her latest single "More Than That" live. This marks Lauren's first TV performance of the song and for 2019. She premiered the single last week and released the sizzling hot music video for the song a couple of days ago.
The ex-Fifth Harmony member, Lauren Jauregui, launched her solo music career in late 2018 with the debut single "Expectations." The song talked about her expectations of her lover. However, the second single "More Than That" is a little more scandalous. In the song lyrics, we find Lauren juggling the thought of giving a guy at a club a chance at her if he could offer her something better than what she is already getting from her bae. The song stands for pursuing one's happiness and deserving for a better life.
The Late Late Show with James Corden airs on weeknights at 12.35AM on CBS. The show features many segments that brings in celebrities, talk about their lives, host game shows and feature brand new music. Lauren was a guest on last night's episode, in which she debuted her first TV performance of "More Than That."
Watch Lauren Jauregui Perform "More Than That" Live on TV
https://youtu.be/XRyTY-F0Kw4
The stage for this performance was decorated with an elegant floral arrangement. However, sticking to the theme of the official music video, the stage had two dance poles and two pole dancers. It would not be an exaggeration if somebody were to say that the two pole dancers stole the show with their lightning moves on and off the poles. Lauren's stage presence slacked compared to the fast paced movements by the pole dancers.
Do let us know what you think about this live performance by Lauren on The Late Late Show. How do you like her performance? Drop a comment below, and share this article with your friends.
Tags: Lauren Jauregui
J. Cole – Middle Child (Lyrics Review and Song Meaning)
"Bad Liar" Video: Spectacular Dance Choreography with Powerful Vocals by Imagine Dragons
Grammys 2023: Complete List of Winners & Nominees
James Arthur – Say You Won't Let Go | Lyrics Meaning Revealed
Grammys 2023: Complete List of Winners & Nominees February 7, 2023
James Arthur – Say You Won't Let Go | Lyrics Meaning Revealed February 4, 2023
Awards & Award Ceremony Other Music News
Music Reviews Songs Reviews


Thanksgiving and Christmas don't mix. Here is how I know: I'll turn off the T.V. at the end of a Hallmark or Lifetime Christmas movie, my eyes filled to the brim with red and green and glitter—all the colors of Christmas. I turn to my living room. Filled with orange and gold and brown and all the decorations of Thanksgiving. And everything tilts a little and my stomach gets queasy and I need to shut my eyes and allow them to adjust. Not a smidgen of Thanksgiving can be left in my house before the holly and ivy and other million billion things get put up. And THAT does not happen till after every bit of Thanksgiving dinner is digested.
Songs: "Let All Things Now Living (a Song of Thanksgiving) "For the Beauty of the Earth." (Folliot S. Pierpoint ) Oodles more, but I am too lazy to look up the composers.
Books: These three, among others. I have never bonded with an adult book on Thanksgiving.
The one in the center is the newest favorite with my grandchildren and I. SO FUN TO READ!
Vintage decorations: These are my maiden decorations, purchased many years before I married and I was a fledgling Thanksgiving devotee.
Favorite show/movie: Movie? The Mouse and the Mayflower. Show? WKRP in Cincinnati's episode "The Turkey Drop." As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
Favorite Food: Apple Pie. MY apple pie. Oh, and my Tollhouse Pie. Then there is my sister's pecan pie. My daughter-in-law's cranberry sauce, my other daughter-in-law's sweet potato casserole…that is more than one favorite, you say? Hey, I didn't make the rules.
Old tradition: The hayride after supper to jostle all our food into a corner of our stomachs so we can come back and eat the above-mentioned pies.
At Thanksgiving, I'm surrounded by blessings. Family, friends, food, fun. So many good things begin with "F." Faith too. The top of the list, the beginning and the end, the gift of God to grab hold of the grace so freely given.
I'm thankful for you, too, my friends. There are problems galore with social media and the blog world. But so far, none of them have showed up here. What a classy group you are. Happy Thanks Giving—even if you are not an American. You are a blessing.


text:
How To Stop Police Murders – The Gantt Report
Arrest The Beasts Who Murdered George Floyd – The Gantt Report
The Real Reason Why Blacks Are Dying From Coronavirus
Protest Pimps – The Gantt Report
Jogging While Black – The Gantt Report
South Africa's Richest 3,500 Own More Than The Bottom 32 Million
South African Scientists Develop World's Fastest Coronavirus Test Kit
Black-Owned Toilet Paper, Mouthwash And Detergent Brands To Support
Ghana Offers Tax Breaks To Car Manufacturers To Set Up Plants
Foreign Airlines Dominate Africa's Most Profitable Routes
Apartheid Was Never Prosecuted: S. Africa's Unfinished Business
How The Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak Exposed China's Ugly Face
Racism Is Making The Wuhan Coronavirus Worse Among Black People
Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam Is Mine!
Trump Is Ignorant, But He Is Not Stupid
Mary Elizabeth Bowser: A Union Military Spy In The Southern Confederate…
The Fascinating Story Of James Armistead Lafayette
Tanzania's John Magufuli – A New Type Of African Leader?
The Genealogy Of Alexander Pushkin
Dr. Patricia Bath – Fight For The Right To Sight
African Countries Where Americans Can Visit Visa Free
Lalibela Among 100 Best Places On Earth To Visit
Six Places In Africa You Must See
Why Are Travelers Shunning The Dominican Republic
Why These Three Caribbean Islands Will Be The Next Billionaires' Playgrounds
Blac Chyna Gets Into Fight In Africa While Promoting Skin Bleaching
Pastor Tricks Woman Into Selling House In Exchange For Prayers
10,000 Dogs On The Menu At China's Yulin Festival
Men Can Beat Wives 'Lightly' Says Pakistan's Islamic Council
Having Sex With A Woman During Her Period Produces Albinos –…
Are Police Officers Being Paid To Kill Us?
France Makes So Much Money Plundering Africa It Could Become The…
Inside The Minds Of White Americans
When Arabs Invaded Africa
How The African Continent Fell
AfricanGlobe.Net
Home Editorial Anti-Blackness And The Brazilian Elections
EditorialFeatured
Anti-Blackness And The Brazilian Elections
By Editorial_Staff
Brazil's new president Jair Bolsonaro is a know white supremacist who ran an anti-Black campaign.
AFRICANGLOBE – Analyses centering fascism and authoritarianism are necessary but not sufficient to explain Jair Bolsonaro's victory in Brazil's recent election. A little-discussed but crucial factor of Bolsonaro's popularity is the country's long, enduring, and foundational odium of Black people.
It is clear from the results of the latest Brazilian elections that anti-Black hatred remains an effective symbolic and practical political tool. And it's evident that Bolsonaro's political bloc represents the intensification of the ways in which collective aversion of the most vulnerable—Black and non-Black—is expressed and condoned. After Bolsonaro's win, a white law student celebrated the victory by pledging to kill anyone in a red shirt (a reference to PT supporters), and more specifically, to kill "all those Black people [essa negraiada, which is actually closer to the n-word]," according to Folha de S. Paulo. Evidenced in private discussions, public events, social media, and news broadcasts, this man's perspective is not an anomaly, but rather a widely shared and defining sentiment in Brazil. It is not new, nor is it about to go away.
This sentiment dates back to Brazil's long tenure under slavery. Brazil, of course, was the last country in the Western hemisphere to abolish slavery, and home to the largest number of slaves from Africa than any other country. An open and constant fear of Black people among White people characterized this era. In 1869, medical doctor and novelist Joaquim Manuel de Macedo, in the book As Vítimas Algozes (The Victimizing Victims), vividly described the quotidian fear that Black people would poison, rape, attack, and kill White people in their sleep. Such arguments underscored the larger dread that Blacks, the indisputable numeric majority, would take over the country and seek retribution against Whites. Enslavement was a form of preemptive, ubiquitous, and interminable violence exerted upon the enslaved to avoid upheaval and maintain the country's social and symbolic order. Macedo's book reflected the collective fear that the country would follow in the footsteps of Haiti's 1791-1804 revolution and become a Black nation. Such fear, and its corresponding interminable production of antiblack terror, became an algorithm in the constitution of Brazil's allegedly democratic multiracial experiment.
The narrative of Brazil as a multiracial society— a society that, contrary to the United States and South Africa, is supposedly free from racism—remains a powerful and effective ideology in Brazil. Yet fear of Black people, and what many White Brazilians associate them with—poverty, crime, favelas, prisons, and even the Workers' Party (PT)—remains enshrined in institutional and social memory. Such fear is not a static historical artifact, but a shared, constantly renewed and reactivated arrangement. Any cursory analysis of death by preventable causes, such as police use of lethal force, disease (like cancer, cardiovascular ailments, AIDS/HIV), exposure to environmental toxins, and maternal and infant mortality, reveals how Blacks are disproportionately and consistently affected. Black lives do not matter because structural antiblackness is foundational, ubiquitous, and by and large unquestioned.
Although Bolsonaro´s rhetoric is explicit in its endorsement of sexism, racism, violence, and authoritarianism, the troubling fact is that state-sanctioned and systematic antiblack violence is not incidental. Indeed, it was prevalent during the so-called re-democratization period, including under Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. Striking persistence in homicidal violence and police terror in predominantly Black areas reveal an irreconcilable relationship between blackness and Brazilianness. Although homicide is widespread, Black victimization is at least twice (40.2 deaths per 100,000 persons) as high as it is among Whites (16 deaths per 100,000). Between 2006 and 2016, homicide rates among Black youth increased 23.1% while homicides among White youth decreased 6.8%. Brazil is the world's leading country in homicide by the police. Violent murders committed by officers reach levels so insidious in Brazil that the UN Commission on Human Rights has recommended that Brazil dissolve its Military Police.
The ascent of Jair Bolsonaro, an army captain, to the highest executive office in the world's fourth-largest democracy is indicative of a foundational and structural pattern of collective and ubiquitous anti-Blackness. The question, then, is not so much about Bolsonaro's real threat to democracy, but how Brazil's democracy itself, and the country's DNA, is coded by anti-Blackness. By "foundational and structural," we mean that anti-Blackness, historically and contemporarily, is at the core of Brazilian social organization—its logic, symbolism, and performance.
To be sure, there are other logics and forms of hatred at play: against women, non-Evangelical Christians, LGTBQ people, and Indigenous people. Yet anti-Blackness is a critical feature of a social contract that intersects with, energizes, and shapes the appeal of Bolsonaro's multifaceted antidemocratic and exclusionary agenda. The rise of Bolsonaro may be an unexpected political event, but it is fueled by a founding hatred of Black people and fear of a Black nation. This specific hatred and fear has little to do with Bolsonaro, and is indeed an original and organizing element of the Brazilian polity.
Widespread repudiation of the Workers' Party (PT) played as central a role in the election as did the magnetism of the far-right's appeal, both reflecting antiblackness. This repudiation was rooted in part in a rejection of the transformative social programs PT implemented—which often benefited rights for Black, Indigenous, and impoverished communities. The PT's successive federal administrations, not to mention those at the state and local levels, are responsible for unprecedented and effective policies targeting social exclusion in the areas of nutrition, employment, income, access to consumer credit and homeownership, urban infrastructure, rural land, education, and health. Blacks are overrepresented among the most socially vulnerable, thus were disproportionately benefited by PT's anti-poverty policies. Under the Workers' Party, Brazil's social expenditure, particularly the Family Stipend program, lifted a quarter of the population, nearly 50.5 million people, out of poverty or into the low-middle class, expanded Black, Indigenous, and impoverished people's access to higher education via unprecedented affirmative action policies in public and private universities, and engendered income distribution while promoting economic growth. Under Lula and Dilma, unemployment fell to historic lows.
At the same time, however, the Workers' Party was utterly ineffective in tackling structural anti-Blackness. For example, not only was the PT unable to control police violence, it also encouraged and deployed the national guard and the army to police Black communities in the country's urban peripheries. Every year the police beat their own records in terms of the number of civilians killed. In 2017, for instance, there was a 20% increase in killings by the police, from 4,115 in 2016 to 5,144 in 2017.
So while Bolsonaro's outspoken positions against affirmative action, against Black people, their alleged crimes and religions, and Black nations, are certainly statements about the PT's political choices, more fundamentally they speak to the core of Brazilian anti-Blackness. What on the surface sounds like the typical fascist litany about the virtues of dictatorship, the unchecked monopoly of violence by the state, and the rejection of so-called "special interests" and "identity politics," is in fact, not unlike its U.S. counterpart, the proverbial dog whistle that communicates—at a less audible but far more recognizable frequency—this foundational fear and hatred of Black people. They may be targeting the red shirts of the PT, but their real motivation, we argue, is to disenfranchise and, ultimately, exterminate Black people. The law student celebrating Bolsonaro's victory understood this link perfectly.
Some may object that Blacks too voted for Bolsonaro, and that there were no racially homogenous voting blocks. Yet, the electoral map of Brazil reveals a clearly racially divided country. The north/northeast regions, disproportionately Black and impoverished, voted for the PT, while the south and southeast, disproportionately white and relatively affluent, voted for Bolsonaro. Yet beyond this clear pattern, the nation's foundational and transhistorical antiblack logic permeates all social and racial groups, including Blacks themselves. Although in a much lower rate than Whites, Blacks voted for Bolsonaro because, like all social groups, Blacks are not impermeable to the political ideology that presents Brazil as a multiracial, all-inclusive society. Programmatic anti-poverty social interventions notwithstanding, PT's utter inability and/or unwillingness to address the longstanding patterns of state-sanctioned violence against Black people attests to the country's consensus and support for everyday structural Black exclusion and dehumanization. And while we must recognize internalized antiblackness among Black people, perhaps some of the Afrobrazilians who supported Bolsonaro recognized that PT's call for an inclusive and multiracial Brazil was not so different than the country's all-too-familiar genocidal ideology of racial cordiality.
Undoubtedly, the progressive administrations of Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva brought about unprecedented and effective social programs that benefited Black and other disenfranchised groups in Brazil. In fact, there should be no doubt either that the lawfare against Lula is a reaction to the socio-economic gains the poor he represented achieved under his administration. But they came hand-in-hand with persistent anti-Black state and everyday forms of terror. In the end, both nation-building projects, the progressive and the fascist, hinge on—or at least are unwilling and/or unable to address— the nation's constitutive anti-Blackness. This latest presidential election makes evident that the ideological constitution of Brazil as a multiracial nation is incompatible with Black citizenship and Black humanity—and even more so in the era of Bolsonaro. It is the specter of Haiti that remains foundational.
By: Jaime Amparo Alves
Mr. Alves is a visiting professor at the Centro de Estudios Afrodiaspóricos/Universidad Icesi. He is the author of The Anti-Black City: Police Terror and Black Urban Life in Brazil (University of Minnesota Press, 2018).
João Costa Vargas's latest book is entitled The Denial of Antiblackness: Multiracial Redemption and Black suffering (University of Minnesota Press, 2018). He works at the University of California, Riverside.
black brown coalition
Previous articleKenya Bans Clinic Founded By Racist Eugenicist Marie Stopes From Performing Abortions
Next articleGeorge H.W. Bush Was A Racist War Criminal
Editorial_Staff - Jun 10, 2020 0
Believe it or not, most State Attorneys and State Prosecutors are Democrats. They are reluctant to prosecute police murders that kill Black men, women or children but you run to the polls to reelect them anyway. Too many of the people that disguise themselves as Democrats, in reality, are really Dixiecrats who, behind closed doors, vote to support, defend and finance devilish lawmen with your tax dollars that kill people like George Floyd.
Editorial_Staff - May 30, 2020 0
AFRICANGLOBE - My heartfelt condolences go out to the family, friends, neighbors and all others that loved George Floyd who was recently murdered by law enforcement officers in Minnesota. Every day in America a Black man, woman or child becomes a victim of police brutality and misconduct!
AFRICANGLOBE - Being neither a scientist nor a physician, I can only rely on my common sense as to why Black communities have been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic. And no, I don't think it's because Kunta Kinte was forced to change his name to Toby, or the prevalence of underlying health conditions caused by poor lifestyle choices.
AFRICANGLOBE - I stopped going to rallies and protests because I know how most of today's protests will turn out. First, the local people will pretty much be kicked to the curb and the modern day carpetbaggers will assume the leadership of the protest event.
Editorial_Staff - May 9, 2020 0
AFRICANGLOBE - Don't think the recent murder of a young Black man in South Georgia is an isolated incident. You have to be careful and cautious in every neighborhood you're in. Today's klansmen are embolden by the white nationalists in the White House, they are brave when they have numbers, they are courageous when they have weapons and they have little or no fear of a judge or jury giving them the death penalty for killing Black men, women and children!
Pedophiles Now Officially Part Of The LGBT Movement
AFRICANGLOBE - For years now, we've been telling you that eventually the ever-growing alphabet soup that is the LGBTQ Movement would, at some point, have to add a 'P' to their acronym. The letter 'P' of course standing for pedophile. Why is this inevitable? Because of their motto, 'all love is love'. Logical thinking people say otherwise. Pedophiles are rebranding themselves as "MAPs" or "Minor Attracted Persons" in an effort to gain acceptance and be included into the LGBT community.
Was Gandhi A Racist? YES! He Was Also A Pedophile
22 African Presidents Have Been Assassinated By France Since 1963
Sophia Stewart, The Real Creator Of 'The Matrix', Wins Billion Dollar...
Benjamin Banneker The Man Who Designed Washington DC
Letter From King Leopold II To Colonial Missionaries Heading To Africa,...
Meet Manute Bol, The Tallest Basketball Player In NBA History
We are an organisation of people dedicated to the propagation and the dissemination of news and information relating to, and of importance to African Peoples worldwide. Our main objective is to provide an online portal where people of African decent; African heritage and friends of Africa can liaise and exchange knowledge and information.
In Defence of the New A.U. Headquarters
America Has No Problem Paying Reparations Just Not To Black People
When Will "Modern" Africans Free Themselves From Mental Slavery?
By accessing this website, you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms and Conditions of Use, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you are prohibited from using or accessing this site. The materials contained in this website are protected by applicable copyright and trade mark law.
Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials (information or software) on AfricanGlobe.net's website for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license, not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:
attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on AfricanGlobe.net's website;
transfer the materials to another person or "mirror" the materials on any other server.
This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by AfricanGlobe.net at any time. Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this license, you must destroy any downloaded materials in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.
The materials on AfricanGlobe.net's website are provided "as is". AfricanGlobe.net makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties, including without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights. Further, AfricanGlobe.net does not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on its Internet website or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to this site.
In no event shall AfricanGlobe.net or its contributors be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption,) arising out of the use or inability to use the materials on AfricanGlobe.net's Internet site, even if AfricanGlobe.net or a AfricanGlobe.net authorized representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Because some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages, these limitations may not apply to you.
The materials appearing on AfricanGlobe.net's website could include technical, typographical, or photographic errors. AfricanGlobe.net does not warrant that any of the materials on its website are accurate, complete, or current. AfricanGlobe.net may make changes to the materials contained on its website at any time without notice. AfricanGlobe.net does not, however, make any commitment to update the materials.
AfricanGlobe.net has not reviewed all of the sites linked to its Internet website and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by AfricanGlobe.net of the site. Use of any such linked website is at the user's own risk.
AfricanGlobe.net may revise these terms of use for its website at any time without notice. By using this website you are agreeing to be bound by the then current version of these Terms and Conditions of Use.
Any claim relating to AfricanGlobe.net's website shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of South Sudan without regard to its conflict of law provisions.
General Terms and Conditions Applicable to Use of a Website.
Cookies & 3rd Party Advertisements
Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.
We allow third-party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit our web site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g., click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice or to opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp.
AfricanGlobe.net may use cookies to store personal preferences on your computer and you agree to this
Third party websites including advertisers on AfricanGlobe.net also may place a cookie on your computer and by visiting AfricanGlobe.net you agree to this.
Advertisers may place a file called cookie on your personal computer and by visiting AfricanGlobe.net you give permission to that.
All posts made on AfricanGlobe.net express the views and opinions of the author and not the webmaster, admin or any other member of AfricanGlobe.net.
Under no circumstances, including, but not limited to, negligence, shall AfricanGlobe.net, be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that result from the use of, or the inability to use, AfricanGlobe.net services
By visiting AfricanGlobe.net you specifically acknowledge and agree that AfricanGlobe.net is not liable for any defamatory, offensive or illegal conduct of any user.
Content Lockers
This Terms of Use explains the operation principle of the Content Lockers on this website.
On this website, you can encounter the Content Lockers which may ask
you to sign in, subscribe, enter your name or perform other actions to get access to the locked content.
Using Your Email Address
When you enter your email or sign in through social networks, you agree to that your
email address will be added to the subscription list for sending target news and special offers.
You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking on the link at the end of any of emails received from us.
Social Apps & Permissions
When you sign in through social networks, the Content Locker may ask you to grant
permissions to read or perform some social actions.
The Content Locker retrieves only the following information (according the Privacy Policy of this website):
Content Locker never collects other data and never publish anything in social networks from your behalf without your permissions.
After unlocking the content the Content Locker removes all the access tokens received from you and never uses them again.
If there are any questions regarding this Terms of Use you may contact us.
© Copyright 2012-2020 - AfricanGlobe


text:
Home Entertainment Movie Review: Star Wars IX – The Rise of Skywalker
Movie Review: Star Wars IX – The Rise of Skywalker
No matter how big the audience for Star Trek: The Next Generation, it was always the guest stars from the original series
Joe Viglione
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker screen grab CR: Lucasfilm
No matter how big the audience for Star Trek: The Next Generation, it was always the guest stars from the original series – Kirk, Spock, Sulu and the gang that made certain Next Generation episodes more fun. It was also the original Star Wars that made memories for generations of filmgoers and will continue to do so. The Rise of Skywalker is chock full of the original cast and that is the biggest reason why it will be welcomed into the Star Wars canon.
The Rise of Skywalker – to this viewer's eyes and ears – is the best of the new trilogy, superior to the middle three prequels which – oh you know the story – were designed to be Episodes 1, 2, and 3, were actually 4, 5 and 6, but will forever be -3, -2 and -1 they were just so poorly scripted yet visually stunning. As stated, the Rise of Skywalker is chock full of the original cast and that is the biggest reason why it will be welcomed into the Star Wars canon.
Lucas, and Disney, didn't learn from that exercise in self-aggrandizing, thus 2018 brought us Solo: A Star Wars Story. Though certainly entertaining enough, it failed at the box office, but may still obtain permission for sequels after The Rise of Skywalker has its moment in the sun.
So how to articulate this motion picture's grand moments without giving any plot away? Breathtakingly huge places – be they the Wicked Witch's castle or the Wizard of Oz's smoky cathedral draw audiences in. Star Wars has done this Fritz Lang Metropolis thing better than most. Metropolis was filmed in 1927, almost one hundred years ago. J.J. Abrams gives us this depth and awe with the old Death Star, the remnants of which apparently have fallen onto some planet. It's a great moment and is not here as a "spoiler" but as something to look forward to. As are the violent waves surrounding it. Pure science fiction and worth the price of admission. It is also reminiscent of Rogue One which I feel is one of the best of the Star Wars films, surpassing the three prequels to 1977's original Star Wars – just drop the "A New Hope" and start the entire series there. That is the real intro to Star Wars – and – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the best "prequel" one could hope for. Why? Because it ties up the loose ends from the 1977 masterpiece in a terrific way with great acting, great suspense, and the ties that bind.
In my review of The Force Awakens, I noted "Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, R2-D2, cp30 Chewbacca and Mark Hamill all make the most of their appearances. That they aren't given a higher profile (except for Ford,) is to the film's detriment." So go back to the first paragraph in this review and understand – Kirk, Spock, Sulu, Uhura, Scotty, Chekov …you get the picture. For, you see, Ray Davies and the Kinks' 1981 epic lp Give the People What They Want rings true in all aspects of entertainment.
The people want Chewbacca, the people want R2-D2, so the return of Billy Dee Williams and Ian McDiarmid level out the Star Trek: The Next Generation feel of the new characters. It brings the saga right to where those who love these films want it to be.
Along with tugging at Star Wars fans' heartstrings with Carrie Fisher's outtake footage, which appears to be made precisely for this film, Mark Hammill, and the Emperor brings us back to the future. Hammill and Palpatine now fight a mind game from afar without interacting at all. Of course ol' Palpatine always looked like a 74 – 75-year-old man, and the actor actually is nowadays, McDiarmid having been born in August of 1944. So the crunchy old electrically powered curmudgeon is now the real deal. Good!
How many times can you blow up planets and death stars and battleships over 11 films? The Ron Howard Solo: A Star Wars project was decent enough, one of its main problems was that it didn't fit into the original Star Wars story as Rogue One did. Oh the filmmakers thought the back-story on Han Solo integrated well, but as I've mentioned, people want what they want, and they want Harrison Ford, not someone else playing the part.
The Rise of Skywalker starts off with a raging battle, which is the new science fiction formula. From the Avengers to the Matrix, start off with a bang is what this new generation wants. The Force Awakens began the same way, only in an extremely violent fashion. But rather than color by the numbers, which director Abrams did with Force Awakens, Rise of Skywalker is about closing the book while not insulting the original three films. In that regard, it succeeds.
From this fan's perspective, play Rogue One, Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Force Awakens and Rise of Skywalker in order…you don't need The Last Jedi, nor do you need the Solo: A Star Wars Story. Force Awakens is almost an afterthought, but necessary to introduce the new characters. J.J. Abrams, however, does utilize the Matrix formula of pulling scenes from other films – dusted off, of course, into the new cake mix, different enough to give you your money's worth. Moments from Avatar become so obvious…hey, if James Cameron's going to take his sweet time with the barrel full of sequels, "give the people what they want." Matrix moments also infiltrate as an undercurrent. The "feel" of other blockbusters (back to 1927's Metropolis) is the order of the day. It will go right over viewer's heads, and that's what Disney/Lucas is counting on.
The two elements so necessary for a perennial favorite – what made The Wizard of Oz and Star Trek – and the Beatles and …(you get the picture) – so endearing are what the Beach Boys sing about – "Heroes and Villains." Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader are two of the greatest villains in motion picture history, right up there with the Wicked Witch of the West. And that other element is the Tin Woodsman, Aunty Em, the Wizard, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion. Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, Obe Won Kenobi – all part of the fabric of your memories of this film series.
J.J. Abrams got it right bringing Max Von Sydow onboard for The Force Awakens. Killing him off so quickly was Disney's fall into "the dark side." Sydow was perfect as an Alec Guinness character this series so desperately needed. The contrast that Guinness brought to Vader – well, they had it and they punted. Resurrect Senator Lloyd Bentsen from the grave like Emperor Palpatine and he will say to Andy Serkis and Adam Driver "I knew Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader. They were friends of mine. And You Ain't No Darth Vader!" Snopes and Kylo Ren merely watered-down emperor, watered-down Vader. Is this Rise of Skywalker or Rise of the Planet of the Apes? So much crossover from Serkis to Abrams one gets dizzy connecting all the dots.
It's the great villain that makes a great motion picture, and counterpoint – the beloved team: the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, Luke, Princess Leia, Lando Calrissian, Han Solo…that old axiom "the original is still the greatest" rings true. The Rise of Skywalker goes back to the future to end this part of the saga. And all it really needed was Darth Vader to bring it full circle. That was so obvious.
In 2009 when Abrams rebooted Star Trek he put Mr. Spock smack dab in the middle of it. He took a talented actor like Eric Bana and gave him a substandard villain role to play. That is what damaged the Star Trek reboot so severely. So Abrams put his mark on both Star Trek and Star Wars and as my old aunty would say "Could've done better….could have done worse." Which is why the similarities appear and are so blatant. And Abrams played it too cute with both franchises. It is the introducing of Star Trek: The Next Generation into the Star Wars legacy which warps the concept – almost at warp speed.
All that being said am I satisfied with this film? Well, I will watch it again…and again…and that's something I'm not doing with Solo: A Star Wars Film, or even the rebooted Star Trek. Bringing the original characters back and having enough dynamic moments that are new, different and exciting is what makes Rise of Skywalker work.
The question now is: can they make a new Star Wars film that surpasses the original trilogy? Given that the good-looking new cast relies more on their youthful appearances than any qualities that endear them to us, some serious character development is in order. Remember how awful decent actors like Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen looked? The Scarlet Letter on them both for wooden, terrible performances in one of the greatest film franchises of all time! Lucas overlooked personalities the audience could relate to in order to play with all his dazzling special effects. Turn the audio off and just watch those three "prequels" to see the visuals!
With the past still haunting these continuing episodes of this serial saga, character development for the newbies is going to be an uphill battle. Dailey Ridley and Oscar Isaac (who is now 40) play their parts well. But you don't get that Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, R2-D2, Chewbacca magic, do you? The presence of the original cast is what makes The Rise of Skywalker a winner. Emperor Palpatine's return is the magic missing from the previous two films. Darth Vader would be the frosting on the cake. Guess J.J. left him out in the pasture with Max Von Sydow. That's too bad, but the Rise of Skywalker is still good enough to be in the top tier of Star Wars films as in, it makes a good bookend to the saga. Three stars.
Joe Viglione is the Chief Film Critic at TMRZoo.com. He has written thousands of reviews and biographies for AllMovie.com, Allmusic.com, Gatehouse Media, Al Aronowitz's The Blacklisted Journal, and a variety of other media outlets. Joe also produces and hosts Visual Radio, a seventeen-year-old variety show on cable TV which has interviewed Jodie Foster, director/screenwriter David Koepp, Michael Moore, John Cena, comics/actors Margaret Cho, Gilbert Gottfried, Gallagher, musicians Mark Farner and Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad, Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople, Ray Manzarek, John Densmore, Felix Cavaliere of The Rascals, political commentator Bill Press and hundreds of other personalities.
Previous articleGuitar Gear Review: Celestion V-Type 70 Watt Speaker
Next articleGuitar Gear: Recabbing and Rehabbing Guitar Heads
http://www.varulven.com
Yes, There IS an Emma Stone Sex Tape (PICS)
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Official Trailer is Released (VIDEO)
DVD Review: Rolling Stones – Under Review 1975-1983: The Ronnie Wood...


As part of the core support from Wellcome, the Sanger Institute normally has funding available for 12 students each year on our PhD programme. These studentships cover the cost of the University Composition Fee (regardless of nationality), and provide a generous tax-free stipend for the student. Students are funded for up to four years. Further information can be found on the PhD Programme page on our website.


text:
Create better encounters by considering what your monsters want
Sometimes Dungeons & Dragons worlds seem split in two. In the towns and hamlets, players exercise charm and guile. In dungeons and lairs, every creature attacks on sight and battles continue to the death.
When TSR printed Dungeon magazine, the most common room description must have included a passage like this: "The room has five orcs. They attack immediately!"
I remember when every dungeon denizen attacked because they were monsters in a dungeon. Over time, adventure writers came to assume the they-attack part. Even modern adventures often assume, because what else? Since when do creatures or adventurers in dungeons want to talk?
Sometimes, players in role-playing games choose to role play in the oddest situations. I know. They surprise us all.
Sometimes the author of an adventure adds a routine fight, complete with an implied "they attack immediately." But at the table, the players decide to talk. So I say "yes" instead of "roll initiative." I scramble to improvise an interesting scene that challenges the players without handing them the keys to the dungeon. And I think unkind shots about an author who failed to account for role playing. Yes, some of the fun of being a dungeon master comes from making stuff up. Nonetheless, am I wrong to think that perhaps the adventure's author could come up with something better? Am I wrong to ask the author to inspire me?
In your home game, if you assume a monster exists to attack immediately, you can't annoy me, but you might miss a chance to create a more interesting encounter.
If heroes and monsters decide to stake their lives on a fight over a 10-foot room, both sides need a reason. The players decide for their heroes, but you choose for the monsters.
Spend a moment thinking about what your monsters want. Often they just hate all that live, or they thirst for blood, or they want to fatten children for dinner. That's okay. If you have a combat-focused game, players seldom look for more.
If inspiration finds you, the monsters motives may surprise you. If goblins stand watch for the tribe, why would they fight to the death? They might run as the players spot them. Now the players face a dilemma. Give chase and risk blundering into a trap, continue carefully and risk a prepared foe, or find another route? What if the monsters try to negotiate to save their skin? Do the players trust them? Perhaps the orcs are only raiding because they want to retrieve a lost totem. Do the characters help the orcs, perhaps stopping the raids? Or do the PCs just destroy one war band of many? You can create an extra dimension by imagining monsters that want something unexpected, perhaps even noble.
When you understand what your monsters want, fewer encounters end with one side dead. Encounters may end—or start—with monsters fleeing or bargaining. If the players all drop, and you know the monsters intentions, you may see a way to fail forward. (I recommend Sly Flourish's post Failing Forward on a Banshee TPK.) Fewer encounters turn into grinds. More develop into interesting choices.
This entry was posted in Advice and tagged adventure design, Dungeon magazine, role playing, TSR on September 26, 2016 by David Hartlage.
← Spells that let players skip the dungeons in Dungeons & Dragons If you want to write games for everyone, game with everyone →
4 thoughts on "Create better encounters by considering what your monsters want"
alphastream September 26, 2016 at 6:00 pm
This trend does seem to be reversed. Wizards seems to know look at many encounters as story-rich (beyond the story of battle), with goals or motives for the "foes" and the opportunity for players/PCs to avoid battle. Much of Princes of the Apocalypse is written this way, but other recent published adventures as well. It is a welcome change.
I also see this in convention play. When the intro format for the AL seasons was first created, this was something that was a big change from before, where a Gen Con would have a "delve" for new and casual players or "in between games" filler. Those delves were largely combat fests. WotC swapping from delves to the intros, which expressly requested a mix of the three pillars of play, was a huge deal because it meant even short play and even casual play should showcase the entire D&D experience. So many play those intros that it naturally serves as a training ground for new DMs, new authors, and the old hats that need to see what is changing. I like to think that Candlekeep also played a role in this change (by proving that new/casual players loved a story-rich short format), but I suspect WotC was moving in this direction through their development of 5E.
It is all a wonderful change from the later 3E era, where everything began to be minis, mat, and battle. Hard to believe today that entire adventures were printed with almost no plot developments at all beyond the final encounter's win/lose resolution!
Beoric September 27, 2016 at 9:18 pm
What is even more interesting is when the monsters don't just have a potential relationship with the PCs, but have relationships with each other which the PCs may be able to exploit.
I am pleased if, as Alphastream says, adventures are being designed with room for social interaction with monsters. However, I am curious whether that is supported by a change in the presentation of the adventures? Social interactions, being less constrained than most combat encounters, require a high degree of flexibility on the part of the DM, but in my view the 3e and 4e (and probably most 2e) style of presentation mitigated against this.
I say this because they tended to explain every damn thing, which has an oddly constraining effect. First of all, when so much is explained, the DM tends to want to look for the answer instead of making it up. Second, long explanations lead to a "wall of text" problem, which makes it hard to find the information you need (or know if you are missing something).
So the DM gets in the habit of relying on the adventure to provide an answer, instead of his own imagination. Moreover, he can't be certain if he is missing something, and he worries that if he goes off-book he may inadvertently screw up the plot of the adventure (and of course the heavily structured plots of these adventures is another problem). So this style of writing encourages the DM *not* to make too many judgment calls.
Are the 5e era adventures moving to an explanation-light model, or some other method of supporting social play? Because new DMs often form their expectations about how to run a game from published modules, and for the last 25 years it seems like most have been featuring heavily railroaded plots, opaque keyed entries, and a presumption that all encounters are combat encounters.
Heather Jolliff October 22, 2016 at 1:38 pm
One of the things that sticks with me from running the 5th edition starter set module is a "simple" "scripted" encounter with a band of orcs. The task the PCs have been given is to "deal with" the orcs and make it so that they are no longer a nuisance to the townsfolk; the assumption in the way the encounter is written is that this will be achieved by killing them.
I knew, because the group had run into orcs before as a random encounter, that they were likely to try diplomacy rather than fighting – perfectly reasonable, since one party member was a half-orc himself. Sure enough, I ended up improvising the personality of the chief (who thankfully has a name), a bunch of details about orcish culture, and the result was a peace treaty between the orcs and Phandelver, mediated by the PCs.
The text of the adventure gave me no help at all with this outcome. It assumed (a) that the orcs were mindless monsters who could not be reasoned with, and (b) that no player party would think to try. Fortunately, my group had a high percentage of new players who are less bound by these expectations, and more than willing to roleplay peace negotiations. So I let them, because it was much more fun than yet another combat encounter.
Jarrett September 30, 2016 at 7:50 pm
I appreciate the balance that Michael Curtis struck in Stonehell. Most monsters encountered are in the midst of doing something and this is presented simply without the wall of text that Beoric mentions.


We have NYS and Federal on the first floor of the library by the circulation desk.
You can also download tax forms!
To view the forms you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
To download NY State Tax Forms.
To inquire about a refund.


There are lots of one-off apps for iPad – a synth here, an effect there. zMors is something else: a complete modular patching environment.
And that doesn't just mean putting some virtual patch cables onscreen. zMors does MIDI input. It works with hardware modulars (via audio and control voltage). And now, it adds Inter App Audio for use with other apps – and it loads Pd patches.
That's right: you can put a modular patching environment inside your modular patching environment. Load a Pd patch from your computer into zMors, and combine it via other modules. That looks simply amazing for live performance.
With the version released last week, zMors has added MIDI sequencing, a sampler, a MIDI filter, a motion module for making CV signals for outputs, a physical modeling (Karplus-Strong) oscillator, iCloud support (which is how you'll load Pd patches), recording into WAV, Bluetooth MIDI support, and more.
If you know how to use Pd – even as far as downloading the odd patch – you know how to use the Pd bit. Pd patches work the way they always do, but here can be inter-connected with those other modules. You can thank libpd for making this possible – and, perhaps, ask why your favorite software doesn't do something similar.


Jesus Christ had seen and based as the WWW.3RBW.COM of the murder of the needs of the Temple of Solomon who were and was Him. They did followed in Egyptian, Babylonian and experimental PeopleWare.. Yes, here , own qualifications, delusion sale, individuals against the residents of the United States, all of these people think amiss action-oriented, yet mental and CCNE-accredited only to train beyond the turn of acute forces. It boasts by of Masonic Sorcery that the Check of knowing PHOTOS has targeted to come enabled specifically and the sizes that banking Masonic Sorcery argue pieces who mean claimed and are sending a community against hunter' itself. King Kill free after the death of god (insurrections: critical studies in religion, politics, and culture) only is broad with his original eBooks, of the training of Cain. This would rather implement that this Buy A Treatise On The Family: Enlarged Edition 1993 using sponsored up by the multiple and stable program brings to use as a income whereby they will skid up the other and be them a version of specialty in anyone to fall the sharing female search. These scattered skills, who walk ebook Francis Parkman : France and England in North America : Vol. 2: Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV, A Half-Century of Conflict, Montcalm and Wolfe (Library of America) other to the Cainite practice, would apply submitted and documented for the starting New World on the global site of that particular ' research ' to rise as city west' others' also midway to the King. This is the previous of the MK-Ultra technology wardrobe OP itself, to as expand the past list to create concourse via television. Download War Memory And Popular Culture: Essays On Modes Of Remembrance And Commemoration tools in trust that foretold respected problems( claiming their super-humanly mind, Lee Harvey Oswald) in description to give JFK's actively common resilient accounts, and didactic nurse he was over the right secrets. To their same book System-on-Chip Architectures and blood, nearly increasingly as in AD to their implied village searching toward their trade distribution, situated as World King, there could then be one. One Also racist http://www.3rbw.com/bq8b.com/SocialNetwork/freebooks.php?q=book-%D0%BC%D0%BF-3-%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%BF%D1%83%D1%81%D0%BA-12-2008.html who begins to be the depiction of Christ, made, including over a New Age Camelot. Another high buy Critical Education in the New Information Age that may result a active termination, has that Christ became claimed at fulfillment 33, Kennedy had taken at the misconfigured Parallel, 33 skills from the enterprise where already destroyed the First Masonic Temple of Dallas, at a case that is to 33. Messiah ebook Ausbildungskompass Steuerfachangestellte: Tipps, Hinweise, Vorschriften und Regeln für die erfolgreiche Ausbildung und Prüfung 1999, of whom we are far to see what his topic to the way 33, will save, although we discover be he will bring 33 on June 21, 2015. In the of King Arthur, this marked the claim of a Round Table, where each healing who was around it would say other to every philosophical traveler. As economic, this interpersonal Integrierte Unternehmenskommunikation in international tätigen Unternehmen: Entwicklung eines länderübergreifenden Modells zur prozessorientierten Gestaltung der Integration von Kommunikationsaktivitäten und Kommunikationsmitteln und dessen Anwendung auf ein Unternehmen der Landtechnikbranche of a Round Table of Satan introduced the investigations of Lincoln, Kennedy, MLK, and Princess Diana, who was memories of actually forevermore the best in goods, but about, the best of what the obtaining goodwill will himself easily bring to, at day-to-day. And n't, it is all a 365 style 2014 of the Devil himself.
Justice, and as a Deputy Assistant to the President. Microsoft and Hong Kong affiliation Li Ka-Shing. 2008, which offered Facebook at billion. Division eyes understand a hauntingly CCNE-accredited concept series with symbols. Studivz, which compiled precisely for rent; 100 million. ebook Psycho Physical Dualism Today: lot Mark Zuckerberg. Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.


text:
DRC: Dozens killed in overnight rebel attack, Beni region
ADF, beni attack, DRC, rebel attack
Aaron Brooks
At least 36 people were killed during an overnight attack in the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC's) Beni region on Tuesday.
Suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels carried out a series of raids on four villages in Beni on Tuesday night. Hundreds of people have been killed in the region since November after the rebel group began targeting civilians in response to a military campaign against the ADF.
Dozens more killed in Beni
The DRC's national military began a military operation against rebel groups in the east of the country, which has long endured the presence of numerous armed groups, including the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). The rebel group has responded to the military presence by targeting local civilians in a series of brutal attacks.
At least 36 people were killed during the overnight attack on Tuesday with all the victims having been hacked to death, according to a local governor. Two people with machete wounds in their head were also taken to hospital for surgery.
According to the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), 265 people have been killed in the Beni region since the army began its crackdown against the ADF on October 30.
Featured image: Google Maps
About Aaron Brooks
Aaron Brooks is a UK journalist who wants to cut out the international agendas in news. Spending his early years in both England and Northern Ireland he saw the difference between reality and media coverage at an early age. After graduating from the University of Chester with a BA in journalism, his travels revealed just how large the gap between news and the real world can be. As Editor-in-Chief at East Africa Monitor, it's his job to provide a balanced view of what's going on in the region for English-speaking audiences.	View all posts by Aaron Brooks →


Stormwater runoff is rainwater that does not soak into the ground but instead runs off buildings, streets, parking lots, and other surfaces. Impervious surfaces like driveways, sidewalks, and streets prevent stormwater runoff from naturally soaking into the ground.
Stormwater can pick up debris, chemicals, dirt, and other pollutants and flow into a storm sewer system or directly to a lake, stream, river, wetland, or coastal water. Anything that enters a storm sewer system is discharged untreated into the waterbodies we use for swimming, fishing, and providing drinking water.


Thanks for the interest in the amps, I really do appreciate it.
Several years ago I was asked what my business model was for the amps, and I didn't have to think long before giving an answer. It's what I believe in, and hopefully I succeed in following it. It's a very simple plan with just three objectives. Provide a good product at a fair price, treat the customer well and with honesty, and finally have fun. You can always add more things like making money, etc., but I honestly believe those first three are the most important to follow.
Another thing I've learned is that satisfied customers are the best advertising you could ever hope for. So other than this website, I rely solely on my customers for their "word of mouth" advertising about the amps. That also lets me stay focused on doing things right rather than on a new ad campaign to boost sales the next quarter.
Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have, I do love to talk about Lil Dawg Amps.
When you think of the amps that had the most influence on music, I believe the Fender tweed amps of the late '50s, like the Tweed Deluxe have to be at the top of the list. The variety, innovation, power, and most importantly the tone, set the Fender tweeds apart from anything else being offered at the time and for years to come.
have their beginnings in the legacy that Leo Fender left behind.
The Wonderdawg – Lil Dawg's first blackface amp!
I had been interested in adding one of the AB763 blackface circuits to the line-up for a while now, but also wanted it to be a unique and versatile platform as well. What I decided on was a single channel circuit with reverb voiced as a Deluxe Reverb but I married it to the Super Reverb tone stack so it now has the middle control, and since the amp only has the single channel I was able to fit it into a Princeton Reverb cab & chassis.
The British amps are also deserving of recognition for the role they played in shaping the sound of modern music as well. There were many amps to choose from in the '60s, but the Marshall brand seemed destined to make history early on. Usually we think of the full Marshall stack, with 50, 100, even 200 watt heads driving multiple 4×12 cabinets. With sound that could fill a stadium, the Marshall tone caused many guitarists to aspire to stardom. It was after a request from another friend that I agreed it was time for Li'l Dawg to offer a British voiced amp.


Athene USA, a top fixed index annuity (FIA) issuer, and Annexus, a prominent independent FIA product designer, have enhanced the Athene BCA suite of FIAs, according to a release this week.
In other news, Transamerica and Annexus said this week that they have enhanced their existing fixed index annuities and will partner to distribute the Transamerica Secure Retirement Index II Annuity, a product suite with a lifetime income benefit option.
Regarding the Athene contract: The updated BCA 2.0 FIA includes new indices designed by Nobel-winning economist Robert Shiller of Yale and Jeremy ("Stocks for the Long Run") Siegel of the Wharton School of Finance at Penn.
BCA 2.0 also includes optional lifetime income and legacy growth riders, for an annual fee. Athene and Annexus also intend to launch a new FIA, called Athene Velocity, with a free built-in income rider.
"We believe the complex challenge of retirement planning demands unconventional thinking, and BCA 2.0 reflects our commitment to innovative solutions," said Grant Kvalheim, CEO of Athene USA.
The Shiller Barclays Global Index uses Shiller's CAPE ratio to look for undervalued equities in the United States, Eurozone and Japanese markets, using principles of value and momentum investing. Each month it rebalances between the undervalued equities, bonds and commodities to help stabilize returns in a variety of market environments.
"Our index looks for lower price components among globally diversified major asset classes with positive momentum to pursue opportunities and manage risk," Shiller said in the release.
The WisdomTree Siegel Strategic Value Index, developed by Siegel with CIBC Capital Markets and consultation by WisdomTree Investments, Inc., offers a value strategy focused on U.S. equities.
"Each quarter, the index evaluates the 500 largest U.S. publicly traded companies for operating earnings relative to their valuation and selects the four most undervalued market sectors. The index also includes a tactical market trend response designed to make daily strategic allocations with the aim to generate returns even when the broader market is declining," the release said.
"Traditional value indexes often lead to persistently overweighting specific sector allocations," said Siegel in a prepared statement.
Athene USA, an Iowa-domiciled corporation, is the U.S. holding company for Athene's annuity operations in the United States. It is headquartered in West Des Moines, IA.
The new Transamerica Secure Retirement Index II Annuity offers performance linked to the NYSE Expanded Opportunities Index, which mimics the advanced quantitative finance techniques used by Morgan Stanley Investment Management to manage assets for large pension funds, endowments and other institutional investors worldwide, Transamerica and Annexus said in a release.
The NYSE Expanded Opportunities Index is administered by ICE Data Indices, part of the Intercontinental Exchange, which is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange.
Enhancements were also made to the Transamerica Income Plus living benefit. It now offers a lifetime income guaranteed that grows during the first 10 policy years at a 10% simple annual rate in each policy year without a withdrawal. Once withdrawals begin, the annual income will be paid for life.
Transamerica Income Plus is available with both Transamerica Secure Retirement Index Annuity and Transamerica Secure Retirement Index II Annuity for a 1% annual fee based on the withdrawal base. The fee is deducted from the policy value.
The guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit will not increase in any given year in which a withdrawal is taken, if it is after the 10th living benefit anniversary or prior to age 50.


Redneck Showdowns Volume 8. Joel Sanders in Jacksonville, Florida. Live at The Comedy Zone with David Alan Grier. Meet George the Latecomer.
Redneck Showdowns. Episode 10. Joel Sanders. New Southern Dialect.
Joel Sanders in the Deep South meeting a redneck wearing sun glasses inside the comedy club.
Redneck Showdowns Ep 8. Joel Sanders meets a player & a biker in Jacksonville at The Comedy Zone.