Obituary for Edward Walter Pieczynski | Paul G. Fink Funeral Home, Inc.
Edward Walter Pieczynski, 101, of St. Anne's Home, Greensburg died Friday, October 26, at Westmoreland Hospital. He was born October 20, 1917 in Uniontown, a son of the late Stanislaus & Agnes Pieczynski. Edward, along with his late wife Irene, owned and operated the Royal Bakery In Connellsville from 1938 until retirement in 1980. He was a member of Immaculate Conception R.C. Church, Connellsville.
He is survived by his children, Alan Pieczynski, Richard Mohall, Diana Downing ( Jim), Barry Pieczynski (Terry), Alec Pieczynski ( Kelly), and Carl Pieczynski ( Laura); grandchildren, Ian Pieczynski, Leann Manning (Ryan), Susan Szymanski ( Chad), Anna Downing, Julissa Arison (Allen), Stephen Pieczynski ( Melissa), Alexandra McCune, Bailey Pieczynski, Luke and John Pieczynski; great grandchildren, Nolan and Chase Manning; brother, Leo Pieczynski of Georgia; and also many nieces, nephews and cousins.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his wife, Irene (Rifnosky) Pieczynski (1999); daughter, Sandra Lea Pieczynski Mohall; brother, Mike Pieczynski; and sisters, Josephine Shaffer & Valeria Ruper.
Family and friends will be received Monday from 2-8 p.m. in the Paul G. Fink Funeral Home, Inc., 418 North Pittsburgh St., Connellsville, where Prayers of Transfer will be held Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. followed by a Funeral Mass at Immaculate Conception R.C. Church, Connellsville with Rev. Fr. Robert Lubic as Celebrant.
Interment will follow in St. Joseph R.C. Cemetery, Connellsville.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Immaculate Conception R.C. Church, 116 South 2nd Street, Connellsville 15425 or St. Anne's Home, 685 Angela Drive, Greensburg, 15601.


We where recently asked to photograph an event being hosted by Pall Medical & Armitage Shanks at the Radcliffe Conference Centre, Warwick University.
The Water Hygiene Masterclass was an all day event with an hour break for lunch. Guest speakers included Consultant Microbiologists and Infection Control Doctors from both the U.K. and Germany.
Our brief was to capture the whole day including speakers and various guests with out being intrusive or effecting the general flow of the conference.


text:
- I want you to know that I am hiding something from you
Gypsum Gallery - A New Commission for an Old State
Edith-Russ-Haus - A New Commission for an Old State
- Painter on a Study Trip
- It's Never Too Late to Talk About Love
- When Meanings Face Glossy Surfaces
- I Never Wanted to Be Alone in a Room
interviews - texts
-by Clare Davies
-by Angela Harutyunyan
-with Bassam El Baroni
-with Omar Kholeif
-with Louis Doulas
-with Aleya Hamza
-Splashed Memory of a Night Out
-Proposal for a House Museum of an Unknown Crying Man
-Seagulls Are Flying Close to the Ground
-Untitled (Go-go Dancing Platform) Speaks
-Still Life (Notes on Justice)
-Destruction of a Plastic Space
-The Crying Man (memorial)
-Painter on a Study Trip
-Proposal for a Porn Company
-Do You Have Work Tomorrow?
-A Memorial to Failure
-Please Stay Blurry
-At Five in the Afternoon
-Proposal for a Romantic Sculpture
-Untitled (Dream)
-Detailed Studies for "Crying Boy,"
-Niche
-You'd be So Nice to Come Home To
-Google Me / Duplicate Self-portrait
-The Studio as a Work of Art
-CAMARADERIE
-Thanks 4 the Ad/d
-Safety Zoom
-This Show Is My Business
-As if you weren't in your own Home
-MKMAEL
-Call for Job
-I am not here, here I am
-15 Minutes of Acting as if I'm in my House
-My House is My Studio and My Studio is my House
-Postponed Dates on a Disappearing Coast
Mahmoud Khaled
-- - - -
© 2018 Mahmoud Khaled
The Non-Located Space
Mahmoud Khaled in conversation with Omar Kholeif
Was Originally published on ibraaz
Mahmoud Khaled is an artist who lives and works between Alexandria and Beirut. Since studying painting, Khaled has focused on exploring how we use the different spaces in which we live and communicate.
In Do You Have Work Tomorrow? (2012) a newly commissioned project for Ibraaz, the artist captures the ephemeral nature of desire as it manifests against the backdrop of a turbulent and perpetually shifting cityscape. A two-hander, Khaled's work presents a staged conversation using Grindr, the locative mobile phone application designed for gay men. In this discussion, Khaled talks about how software has re-articulated notions of both private and public space and considers how mobile media has affected everything from male representation to pedagogy.
Mahmoud Khaled, from the project Do You Have Work Tomorrow? (2012). Courtesy of the artist.
OK: I think the best place for us to start our conversation is to consider your new project for Ibraaz Platform 004: Do You Have Work Tomorrow? How did the project develop and where was its context derived from?
MK: It was stimulated by the set of questions that you presented to me for Ibraaz Platform 004. I started thinking about how territorially rooted the questions proposed were and I thought about how this created tensions. Do You Have Work Tomorrow is not really about a specific event or place, nor does it react to a specific moment. Rather, it is based on a very personal experience between two strangers. The idea for this grew out of struggles that I have been working through in relation to my own creative practice – questioning the content of the work that I am producing within the reality of a much larger social framework. It was challenging because I started out knowing the kind of content, aesthetics and ideas that I did not want to use, so in a sense the work grew out of a kind of artistic block or dilemma. The resulting project is a celebration of this 'dilemma' – one that I have been contemplating over the last couple of years.
OK: Formally, why did you choose the iPhone as the platform for your subjects and the medium of photography to document it? Also, the scenario that you present between the two men in your narrative could have been expressed in a variety of ways; why did you choose the Grindr iPhone application?
MK: The iPhone and the application Grindr presented many different entry points for how one could think about the work. When I first considered Ibraaz Platform 004, it became clear that the questions were about very large-scale public concerns. I wanted to enter these public zones from a private entry point. Grindr – the social networking application – allows gay men to connect with each other on the basis of their location. It is a very private sphere, as indeed is the iPhone: the messages inside Grindr are personal documents that require passcodes to be accessed and so forth. I wanted to use this undisclosed material to think about public issues.
Just as challenging was to consider the role of photography. I have for some time been thinking about the possibilities of the medium: what can you do with a camera? It's loaded. And the main problem with it is that photographers in the context of where I am working are always expected to 'record' or 'capture' something – a dramatic political event, for example. I wanted to break this expectation and create something that was staged for the camera, then the staged conversation on the iPhone would be transferred into images.
OK: Our focus at the moment at Ibraaz is to consider new media's relationship not only to art practice but also to people. Thinking about the 'medium', let's focus specifically on Grindr as a 'soft' space. It is a networking application for gay men to meet, yet also functions as a public forum or shared space. When you sign up you have a publically visible avatar (often an image of one's face). However, interestingly, if you log onto the platform, say in Egypt as opposed to the UK, one will notice that the 'faces' of the participants are often concealed. Instead, men will choose to 'boast' about their physiques, for example. I'm curious about what you think of Grindr as a public space and how it is unique to different contexts?
MK: The iPhone application itself is a privatised public space with its own borders and limits, even financially – let's consider how many people have access to iPhones, and Internet connections, 3G networks and so on. It's also restricted by sexual orientation; you must subscribe to certain categories to occupy this space. It is also a space that is fuelled by desire: the desire for two men to connect, often sexually. For me, desire is very much related to time and space, but what makes it interesting in the context of this project is its rootedness in a very location-based application. Grindrreveals where the person you are talking to is in relation to yourself. I wanted to use this tool to think about a non-located space. The text that forms the staged conversation between the two men was not tied to a particular time or space, but was constructed out of imagined and fragmented stories and personal experiences.
My intent for the viewer was to remove the location. One crucial moment in the conversation between the two men is when one of them discusses getting into his car. Here, the automobile is intended as a symbol for the body. It is the device that enables him mobility and prevents him from being located. It offers him safety because it can be shifted to whatever site or context. All of these different allegories then start to grow out of this – the car as home, the car as a space for love, sex and sociability. This is the most significant element of the work for me: dislocating nature in order to break the border that blurs an individual's stability and mobility.
OK: Would you call Grindr a form of social media that can be appropriated or hijacked? Though it is a space for the manifestation of desire, do you think it can be mechanised or instrumentallised differently?
MK: It's interesting what you are talking about, but to be frank, when I conceived the project I was imagining the moment when these two guys were talking to each other. In the background, it was a politically charged emergency state and I considered how this non-located background would affect their conversation. For a start, I didn't want them to end up having sex at the end of the dialogue. So even though their dalliance was driven by desire, the two ended up digressing into politics. All of a sudden, one of them realises that they are misusing the platform – Grindr – and that in fact they should not discuss politics within this forum. Yet, the truth for them is evident – everything is politicised. This was important to put into the work.
On the other hand, I'm not particularly concerned with social media activism, although of course I understand it. I am more interested in how digital technology can alter our lives on a daily basis and in the private sphere. In the case of Grindr, it undoubtedly changed the mechanisms of desire and the aesthetics of self-representation.
OK: Do you think it could hypothetically become a space for a gay rights movement in Egypt or in the region?
MK: The gay rights movement is not something I want to comment on. However, if you are talking about the notion of gay rights in the western context, then you are discussing the idea of 'coming out'. Grindr actually provides that: you basically are coming out to someone even if it happens within a very specific community. But it's worth mentioning that it's also about power dynamics.
OK: Yes, indeed. My research has shown that you are often asked about sexual orientation and to choose how you 'define' yourself. It's markedly different than the chatrooms that we used to engage with in the late 90s, for example, on a big desktop computer, because Grindr operates on an intimate portable device you hold close to you. But it's also complicated by the fact that, by being in a particular location, people start to make particular assumptions about you.
MK: There's also class connotations involved: you only interact with people from your own social class or zone because of your location. What actually makes the machine interesting for me is how intimacy can be channelled into these very different locations and how you can be connected to this mechanism 24 hours a day, wherever you are. Now you have access to these most private and intimate scenarios while on the street, in a café and so forth.
OK: We're talking about it and we're looking at it [the iPhone] right now; the apparatus is always there. Thinking about this omnipresent apparatus of technology, how do you think it has shifted art practice? Media art (i.e. video) and New Media (i.e. technology) philosophically possess a 'socialising' impetus. Yet in Egypt, for instance, it is more commonly associated with the middle and upper classes. With these complications in mind, how has technology shifted your approach to producing?
MK: Again, I find it hard to touch on these topics in generic or holistic ways. I don't see my work in relation to medium specificity. Instead, the work is simulated by the daily use of technology, which stimulates new feelings and ideas. That's my relationship. I've been concerned with these technological relationships from the outset of my career. The question for me, however, is how does this technology change my life? And then the artwork grows out of how my life is changed.
OK: I understand. It's a conduit for you; we have spoken before about the invasion of politics into these personal spheres. In this sense, with the continued focus on art within North Africa and the Middle East, do you ever feel that your work is being instrumentalised as a political tool?
MK: This has always been a challenge since I started working professionally. I have struggled against this idea when different curators try to put you in specific zones. However, now I see this challenge as part of the job. As an artist, one is constantly producing different meanings. Part of the job is then to struggle with how this meaning is put into the world and how people perceive it. When I started working, I did not perceive my work as political. I attempted to theme it differently and I always attempted to park politics to one side. With time, I have nevertheless realised that everything is a political act. Whether I am producing a video or an abstract painting, these are all political gestures. Every artwork has its own set of self-referential political contexts. As artists, I believe our responsibility is to be aware of the context in which we are producing and the attachments that are associated with the meaning we produce. This awareness is crucial: both in the contexts of the history in which we are producing and the present in which we are exhibiting.
OK: On this idea of political misappropriation, how do artists, curators and cultural organisers help delineate the boundary between art that is inherently politicised by a particular context and art that is literally produced to function as a political agent?
MK: I think everything we do is political. Of course, there are more politically charged places than others. But you cannot say with authority that a Palestinian artist's work is always going to be more political than a Canadian artist's work. Artists as cultural producers create interventions into the way we rethink the world. With this in mind, everything we do is bound by context-specific politics. Once I realised this fact, I was able to escape this idea of making work that was rooted to a specific location. Because I hold an Egyptian passport, for example, does not mean I have to merely make work about Egypt. In fact, I don't even live and work in Egypt that much, to be honest, because of the professional nature of our lives.
Mobility is a crucial part of my profession, as it is for any other artist, curator or cultural practitioner. Yet still, international curators and writers will fetishise the specific location of my origin in order to influence how people 'read' the work. The same can be said of many artists living in similar national contexts – even those artists who do not live or work in that place. I think this is very frustrating for the artists who are consciously aware of the way they want to present themselves and their work to the world. My work relates to me – how I struggle, conceive, construct and order things around me. It is not related so much to a specific location.
I must say; your question is very pertinent to the way the art world is at the moment. Everyone is grappling with these generic concerns – how to make the local universal. Personally, I'm not concerned with that. I feel more comfortable taking my work away from the tension between the idea of locality and the universality.
OK: Still, despite choosing to disavow location, you still worked with Bassam El Baroni and Mona Marzouk on the Alexandria Contemporary Art Forum (ACAF), a project undoubtedly rooted in that specific city, Egypt…
MK: It is interesting because after seven years of running ACAF, we started rethinking our relationship to it and recalled why we opened it. The decision was based on very personal and professional reasons. We were three professionals working in the contemporary art world and living in a city that had nothing to do with contemporary art at all. We wanted to be there and build our own professional community and felt a personal responsibility to ourselves as professionals and to the city we were living in. We dreamed of seeing new names; young artists coming from different models of education than those we studied in Alexandria. We were aware of the problems of the existing system and wanted to clear our history and reshape our relationship to the present. In the end, I can say that it didn't work, although, we managed to realize many different, interesting and successful projects and engaged with some very interesting processes. It also helped us develop knowledge of funding bodies and cultural policies, which helped us better understand the context in which we were producing and showing work.
OK: You mentioned art education: educating a community, bringing them into the narrative. In recent years we have seen the rise of what may at first seem like independent art educational platforms that are in fact art institutions. For example, we have seen the Photo School at the Contemporary Image Collective in Cairo, Artellewa and ASCII Foundation in Ard El Lewa, MASS in Alexandria and so forth. What do you think of this pedagogical turn? Do you believe these initiatives to be sincerely motivated or is it merely a strategy to leverage international funding?
MK: We as ACAF started thinking about educational projects in 2006 and then we realised after a while that it was problematic. While I am sure everyone doing it in Egypt and in the region has good intentions in the wider sense, the issue is that one can find her or himself becoming a charity or social developer. Funding becomes tied to political interests in the region and artistic professionalism is forgotten. Instead, we should be asking the questions: how can we produce strong work locally? How can we produce curatorially rigorous exhibitions and publications in Egypt?
A historic problem is that philanthropists have always chosen to support artists in the region, but never critics, writers or curators. There seems to be a naivety within the art scene, with all of the local institutions now focusing on artist education. But rarely do I see these people questioning how we learn about art. Let's question its methodology: do we even need arts education and how does this relate to developing a professional scene? There are barely any places in Egypt to show work. No critics. No one thinks about outreach beyond children's workshops; but what about students at university, reaching out and solving these problems? It is disillusioning. I am not sure what has made the Egyptian art scene so troubled; whether it is the current political distraction or something else. When I started working, there used to be the governmental art scene and the independent art scene. Now, I cannot differentiate them. Moreover, we rarely ever seem to be celebrating our successes – internationally recognised artists cannot, for example, find a budget to do a professional solo show in Egypt. What does this say? There is no budget for the scene to nurture its talent?
OK: I think there's a lot of truth in what you are saying. Whenever I have entered into pedagogical environments in Egypt, I have often noticed that there is a true disconnect between the research questions that are being asked and the interests of the participants or students involved.
MK: This is partly because there has historically been no specific educational model for contemporary practice in Egypt. All the historically established models or structures are only dedicated to traditional fine arts so there is always this enigmatic relationship between contemporary art and educational environments. The alternative educational structures that appeared as a solution to this situation have been generally built on the basis of different power positions, with Egypt's artists often imposing his or her own personal ideas of what contemporary art is. I'm sorry if this sounds like a cliché, but this is a very western idea – that you can import or export education and its models. When we worked on ACAF, we were very aware of avoiding this – we knew that we did not want to be a school. Still, we wanted to contribute to knowledge production and to create a platform for information and criticality, rather than operating a school. Honestly, we were more interested in questioning the school as an institution and it's functionality in relation to our own practices.
OK: Having said all that, you recently took part in Homeworks, an independent study programme in Beirut during its inaugural year. It is already regarded as a landmark project. What was that experience like?
MK: Homeworks, I believe, was operating on a more professional and sustainable level than many other educational models in the region. It mainly involves artists practicing and some of whom are leaders in their field. As such, it doesn't attempt to shape or mould the participants but allows them to see things differently through a shared experience and also by questioning their own forms of practice. Of course, it wasn't without its problems, especially as it was the first year of the project. It was a big learning experience for everyone involved. But at the heart of it all was a genuine desire to question an art school's function: how it could operate in the current moment and how it can fit, accommodate and feed the new languages of artistic production and the heterogeneous nature of contemporary art.
Mahmoud Khaled was born in 1982, Alexandria, and lives and works between Alexandria and Beirut. In 2004, Khaled received a BFA in painting from Alexandria University, and recently finished the Home Workspace Program in Beirut. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions across Europe and the Arab World, including BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead; Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam (SMBA); Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn; UKS, Oslo; Townhouse Gallery and Contemporary Image Collective/ CiC, Cairo; Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg; Sfeir-Semler Gallery, Beirut; AAS/SM, Izmir, Turkey, and Art Dubai 2010. His works have been featured in several international biennials such as Manifesta 8: European Biennial for Contemporary Art; Biacs 3, Seville Biennial, Spain and the first Canary Islands Biennial, Spain. He is the winner of this year's Videobrasil em Contexto Prize.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: UPDATE multiple Columns in SSMS/T-SQL: I have the following scenario.
 UPDATE ATable
SET C1 = 'XValue'
WHERE C2 = 'YValue'

UPDATE ATable
SET C3 = 'MValue'
WHERE C4 = 'NValue'

For performance tuning, can I do anything to make them run under one UPDATE? Would it be better?
Thank you

A: You can run one update using CASE
UPDATE  Atable
SET     C1 = CASE WHEN c2 = 'yValue' THEN 'xValue' ELSE c1 END,
        C3 = CASE WHEN c4 = 'nvalue' THEN 'mValue' ELSE c3 END
WHERE   c2 = 'yValue' OR c4 = 'nvalue'

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Strong Adhesion Base Coat is rated 4.5 out of 5 by 32.
China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat when applied directly to clean, bare nails increases the wearability of nail lacquer and decreases chipping from underneath. China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat also features a new plasticizer for greater flexibility and impact resistance.
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Does it keep your nails from turning yellow?
Will this break/chip natural nails?
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Can this base coat be used as a base for the dip powder where you use the base coat then dip in powder and then use an activator and then the top coat?
I have heard good things about this base coat, but I was wondering how long should I wait to apply my color. I normally wait 15 minutes, but I was just wondering what kind of wait time I should expect.


text:
Q: ASP.NET MVC WebForms Routing As i know we can use MapRoute and MapPageRoute for routing in asp.net mvc. I'm using MapRoute for routing but it's not working that well. If i remove first route then second is working well, i hope to use both of them. Am i trying to do impossible? or just missing the puzzle?
My Global.asax File:
routes.IgnoreRoute("{resource}.axd/{*pathInfo}");

routes.MapRoute(
        name: "first",
        url: "{lang}/{controller}/{action}",
        defaults: new { lang= "en", controller = "", action = "" }
        );

routes.MapRoute(
        name: "category",
        url: "{lang}/{category}/{controller}/{action}",
        defaults: new { lang= "en", menu="", controller = "", action = "", category="" }
        );

in *.aspx file:
NavigateUrl="<%$RouteUrl:controller=consulting, action=cars, category=service%>"

My Output of URL: en/consulting/cars?category=service
Expected Output:  en/service/consulting/cars

Do you have any idea?

A: I create a solution but i am not sure if it's a best way:
RouteTable.Routes.MapPageRoute("default", "{lang}/{controller}/{action}/", "~/Views/{controller}/{action}.aspx", true,
        new RouteValueDictionary { { "lang", "en" }, { "controller", "default" }, { "action", UrlParameter.Optional } });

        RouteTable.Routes.MapPageRoute("services", "{lang}/services/{controller}/{action}/", "~/Views/services/{controller}/{action}.aspx", true,
        new RouteValueDictionary { { "lang", "en" }, { "controller", "consulting" }, { "action", "cars" }});

Second URL will be not working automatically with NavigateUrl="" but you know the path now. So, it should be work:
NavigateUrl= "~/en/services/consulting/cars"
Result: http://yourwebsite.com/en/services/consulting/cars


text:
Festival Reviews, Festivals
Fun Fun Fun Fest 2013-Day One Review
Day one of Fun Fun Fun Fest proved to be a great beginning to what we hope will continue to be a great weekend. The weather was nice and cool, staying in the 60's all day and dipping down into the
On Radar
ON RADAR: Sir Sly
LA trio Sir Sly are an upcoming electronic indie band that recently released their second EP Gold to Interscope Records. The band consists of members Landon Jacobs, Jason Suwito, and Hayden Coplen.
Album Reviews, Reviews
ALBUM REVIEW: Demonstration by Tinie Tempah
English rapper Tinie Tempah has just released his second full length album Demonstration this past week! The new album depicts the rapper as a greater continuation of his sound and music. Although
Fashion, Lifestyle, News
90s Fashion: Should These Pieces Make a Comeback? (Part 1)
Every decade of fashion comes back around: 60s & 70s floppy hats, wide-legged jeans and flower head pieces; 80s bright colors and flashy kicks and we've seen the 90s wave coming for a while now.
Rage Against the Machine Delay Start of Reunion Tour 01/20/2022
Grimes Announces 10th Anniversary Reissue of Visions 01/20/2022
Kendrick, Dre, Snoop, Eminem, and Mary J. Blige Feature in New Super Bowl Halftime Show Trailer 01/20/2022
Pussy Riot Share New Song "Punish," Co-Written by Tove Lo: Listen 01/20/2022
Alex Cameron Announces New Album and Tour, Shares New Song "Best Life": Listen 01/20/2022
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NBA YoungBoy Issues Threat Following NLE Choppa & Lil Durk Diss: 'You N-ggas Gon Die' 01/20/2022


Today we're going to take a look at the text toolbar and all the wonderful things the toolbar allows us to do! We'll divide the toolbar into seven parts and discuss each area below.
The first section we will look at is the drop down font menu.
Clicking on this drop down menu will allow you to choose from the different fonts Mixbook has to offer. To change your font, first highlight the text. Next, click on the drop down menu and select your font. Once it has been selected, the text on the page will change.
The next section consists of the text size.
There are two ways to change your text size. The first way consists of clicking on the drop down menu. This will bring up the text slider. You can move the slider up and down to increase and decrease the text size respectively. Alternatively, you can type in the size of your font. Simply highlight the number in the menu and replace it with your desired size.
If you're wondering what the text size will look like, in relation to your book, you can download our PDF examples of text sizes for each book size: 14x11, 12x12, 11x8.5, 8.5x8.5, 8x6, and 6x4. Make sure you are viewing the PDF at 100% zoom level for the most accurate representation.
The third section consists of three ways to modify your text.
These three buttons will change your text by making it bold, italicized, or underlined. To add these modifications, highlight the text, then click the respective button.
Next we have our text alignment menu.
Clicking on this drop down menu will allow you to align your text to the left, right, or center of the existing text box. The "justify" alignment will fill the space evenly to create straight edges on the margins.
After our alignment menu comes the color swatch, which may be familiar to many of you!
Clicking on the color swatch will bring up different color options for your text. You can learn more about choosing colors from our previous blog entry on the color wheel, eyedropper tool, and hex codes.
Our second to last section consists of our text style tools.
**Please note, both the Border and Fill Style will apply to the entire text box.
Last but not least is the placement section.
These buttons allow you to bring your text forward, send it back, or remove it from your page.
And there you have it—all the buttons and functions of the Mixbook Toolbar! You can start editing your projects by clicking here.


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On application, over 64,000 microcapsules stick to every square metre of treated surface, keeping the active ingredient protected from the environment. This means the active ingredient lasts longer, allowing more insects to move over the treated surface and pick up the microcapsules on their bodies.
The active ingredient then quickly moves out of the microcapsule and into the insect, providing a rapid knockdown followed by a quick kill.


Fidelity Investments' Money Markets Group published "Outlook for 2019: Growth Slows as Volatility Creates a Tailwind for Money Markets." It explains, "Market volatility should continue to provide a tailwind to money markets as 'safe haven' investors look to benefit from positive real returns." Says Fidelity, "U.S. taxable money market funds (MMFs) have benefited from rising interest rates and the recent heightened volatility in the equity and credit markets. Not surprisingly, inflows into both prime and government money market mutual funds were strong during 2018. Taxable MMFs had net inflows of $182 billion at the end of 2018, far outpacing the average $77 billion in net inflows over the previous five years." Fidelity continues, "Moreover, nine interest rate hikes in the current tightening cycle have resulted in positive real (inflation-adjusted) yields for money market funds -- versus negative returns on many bond and stock portfolios in 2018. For example, the average 7-day yield on prime money market funds and government mutual funds climbed from near zero in 2015 to 2.33% and 2.10%, respectively, by the end of 2018. Prime and government funds now deliver far greater yields than those of bank-administered accounts. We would expect to see continued growth in money market funds and ultrashort bond funds from clients transitioning from lower-yielding bank deposits or reallocating from higher-risk investments." Other takeaways spotlighted that "The U.S. economy remains healthy despite signs of slowing growth as the tightening cycle enters a new phase, with the path of interest rates less clear in 2019" and "Increased Treasury bill supply has impacted market rates." Fidelity maintains that its MMFs are "well-positioned." It adds, "A temporary shutdown does not affect the U.S. government's payments on U.S. Treasury securities or other U.S. government debt securities, which are held in Fidelity mutual funds, including Fidelity money market funds. As one of the largest asset management companies in the industry, Fidelity has the scale and experience to navigate the cyclical rhythms of the markets in an effort to provide stability that our customers are seeking from their investment firms."


Otitis Media is characterized by inflammation or infection of the middle ear that mostly affects the children. The inflammation is often a result of other infections that lead to sore throats, cold, breathing difficulties. These infections, which can either be bacterial or viral will then spread to the middle ear causing the inflammation.
The primary reason behind the disease affecting the children more than the adults is because the immune systems in kids and infants are not developed fully making them more susceptible to the disease. That does not mean that the adults will not contract the disease.
If the infection worsens, child may experience severe pain and can also lead to some other serious health complications to the nearby organs including brain. Hearing loss is temporary and usually goes away with the infection but if left untreated, it can lead to hearing impairment on a permanent basis. Also untreated otitis media can hinder the speech and language development.
Almost every child will experience this problem before or by the age of 3 years. Sometimes the symptoms may be less severe or too mild to be observed but in some cases, they need doctor's attention.
Homeopathy is always the right choice for this problem and especially for children as we do not want any side-effects early in their life. Modern medicine can give them instant relief but we cannot be assured of having no risks. Homeopathy on the other hand heals the problem in the kids smoothly and painlessly causing them no troubles now or in the future. The symptoms of the infection start to disappear soon after the treatment is administered and permanent results can be observed in a good time.


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Als Kōya-san (jap. ; kōya = Hochebene, san = Berg) bezeichnet man im heutigen allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch eine Gruppe von Bergen in Japans Präfektur Wakayama südlich von Ōsaka samt der von ihnen eingeschlossenen Hochebene (Seehöhe ca. 800 m).

Eigentlich handelt es sich nicht um eine geographische Bezeichnung. Kōya-san ist der Beiname des dortigen buddhistischen Kongōbu-Tempels (Kongōbu-ji, ). Dieser umfasst die gesamte Hochebene mit zahlreichen Untertempeln. Wer zum Kōya-san geht, sucht daher diesen Tempel auf. Alle anderen Tempel gelten als untergeordnete Tempel (tatchū-jiin ), weshalb sie in ihrem Namen die Bezeichnung -in () führen.

Gründung und Geschichte
Das Gebiet wurde im Jahre 816 von dem buddhistischen Mönch Kūkai alias Kōbō Daishi erschlossen, dem es gelungen war, die Unterstützung des Tennō Saga zu gewinnen. Nach dem Ableben von Kūkai, der 835 hier seine letzte Ruhestätte fand, entwickelte sich der Kōya-san zur wichtigsten Stätte der Shingon-Schule neben dem Osttempel (Tō-ji) in Kyōto.

Zu Lebzeiten Kūkais entstanden nur wenige Gebäude. Nach seinem Ableben betrieb der Mönch und Abt Shinzen Daitoku (, ca. 804–891) den weiteren Ausbau. 887 war die "Westpagode" (Saitō) errichtet. Dazu kamen die Yugi-Pagode (Yugi-tō), Miroku-Halle (Miroku-dō), die Shingon-Halle (Shingon-dō), die Juntei-Halle (Juntei-dō), der Glockenturm (Shōrō) und die "Grundlegende Großpagode" (Kombon daitō) im Danjōgaran genannten Areal. Doch vernichteten durch Blitzschlag ausgelöste Brände im Jahre 994 große Teile der Anlage. Zwischenzeitlich gab es kaum noch Mönche in der seinerzeit schwer zugänglichen Region.

Der entscheidende Impuls zur Wiederbelebung kam von dem Mönch Jōyo (, 958–1047), der seit seinem 13. Lebensjahr im Kōfuku-Tempel (Kōfuku-ji) von Nara wirkte. 1016 stieg er, der Überlieferung nach einer Offenbarung des Bodhisattva  Avalokiteshvara (Kannon) folgend, zum Kōya-san auf und entwickelte für die seinem Aufruf folgenden Mönche Mittel, um die harschen Winter zu überleben. Mit der durch den Tennō Daigo im Jahre 921 vorgenommene Ehrung Kūkais als "Großmeister der Lehrverbreitung" (Kōbō Daishi, ) gewann der Shingon-Buddhismus und damit auch der Kōya-san die Unterstützung höchster Kreise. Sowohl der Shirakawa Tennō als auch der Toba Tennō nahmen die beschwerliche Pilgerfahrt auf sich. In der Kamakura-Zeit betrieben einflussreiche Krieger-Familien die Gründung von Tempeln, und die Zahl der großen und kleinen Untertempel und Andachtshallen schwoll auf über 2000 an. Während der Sengoku-Zeit im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert fanden hier namhafte Krieger nach persönlichen Krisen Zuflucht als Mönche.

Im 16. Jahrhundert erbrachten die dem Kōya-san überlassenen Ländereien ein jährliches Einkommen von 170 000 Koku  Reis. Diese Menge erlaubte den Unterhalt von sogenannten Kriegermönchen (Sōhei), welche den Machthabern ein Dorn im Auge wurden. Während ähnlich wehrhafte Tempel auf dem Berg Hiei (Hiei-zan) und in Negoro (Negoro-ji) von den Truppen des Feldherren Toyotomi Hideyoshi angegriffen und niedergebrannt wurden, entging der Kōya-san diesem Schicksal. Als Repräsentant des Tempels schwor Mokujiki Ōgo (), ein ehemaliger Heerführer, gegenüber Hideyoshi, absolute Gefolgschaft, so dass es bei einer Reduktion der ausgedehnten Ländereien blieb. 1593 ließ Hideyoshi sogar den Seigan-Tempel (Seigan-ji, ) erbauen und unternahm im folgenden Jahr anlässlich des Todes seiner Mutter eine Pilgerfahrt hierher. Auch Tokugawa Ieyasu, der erste Shōgun der Tokugawa-Dynastie, scheute die beschwerliche Reise nicht.

Während der Edo-Zeit stand der Kōya-san unter der Patronage der Tokugawa-Familie und erfreute sich eines Reis-Einkommens von 120 000 Koku. Regionalfürsten errichteten Steinpagoden längs der Pilgerwege, und so manch einer aus namhaften Familien fand im Talgrund vor dem Mausoleum Kukais seine letzte Ruhestätte. Unter den Tempeln gewannen der Seigan-Tempel und der Kōzan-Tempel (Kōzan-ji, ) mit Mönchsgelehrten und Verwaltungsmönchen eine zunehmend wichtigere Funktion. Zugleich waren die Äbte des Hōshō-Tempels (Hōshō-in, ) und des Muryōju-Tempels (Muryōju-in, ) in gleicher Weise wie die Regionalfürsten dem Zwang zur "wechselnden Aufwartung" (Sankin kōtai) am Hofe des Shōgun in Edo unterworfen.

Reorganisation und Neubestimmung in der Meiji-Zeit
Die nach dem Sturz des letzten Tokugawa Shogun im Jahre 1868 installierte Meiji-Regierung propagierte die Trennung von Buddhismus und Shintō (Shinbutsu-Bunri) und trieb den Aufbau eines dem Kaiserhaus eng verbundenen Staats-Shintō voran. Die tief in das bisherige Gefüge eingreifenden Maßnahmen ließen auch den Kōya-san nicht unbeeinträchtigt. Der seit den frühen Jahren mit dem Kōya-san aufs engste verbundene Niutsu-hime Schrein (alias Ama-no-sha) am Fuße des Gebirges wurde selbständig. Frauen, die bislang nur "Frauen-Hallen" (Nyoin-dō) an den sieben Zugängen zur Hochebene aufsuchen konnten, durften ab 1872 die gesamte Region betreten. 1869 legte man den Seigan-Tempel und den Kōzan-Tempel zum Kongōbu-Tempel (Kongōbu-ji) zusammen. Dieser fungiert seitdem als Zentraltempel. Doch nach wie vor gilt die gesamte Hochebene als ein Tempel. Dessen Haupthalle (Kondō) befindet sich im Areal Danjōgaran. Die meisten wichtigen Zeremonien werden dort abgehalten. Der Kongōbu-Tempel verwendet zwei Embleme: ein Paulownia Emblem (gosan-kiri-mon) und das Dreifache Tomoe-Emblem (mitsudomoe-mon).

Mit der erzwungenen Rückgabe der ausgedehnten Ländereien und Wälder an den Staat brach die wirtschaftliche Grundlage des Tempels zusammen. Mehr als je zuvor war man auf die Zuwendungen von Pilgern und auf den Devotionalienhandel angewiesen. Dennoch ließ sich der Betrieb im bisherigen Maßstab nicht aufrechterhalten. 1877 erfolgte eine erste Welle von Zusammenlegungen diverser Unter-Tempel, gefolgt von einer zweiten Welle im Jahre 1886. Dazu kamen Brände (1870, 1872, 1879, 1882, 1884, 1888), denen zahlreiche Anlagen zum Opfer fielen. Besonders der Großbrand von 1888 hatte katastrophale Auswirkungen.

In jenen Jahren begann das Ministerium des Kaiserlichen Haushalts (heute Kaiserliches Hofamt) mit Untersuchungen zu den lokalen Kulturgütern. Nach der Verabschiedung von Gesetzen zum Schutz alter Schreine und Tempel (1897) erlangten zahlreiche Objekte und Gebäude den Status eines "Wichtigen Kulturguts" oder "Nationalen Schatzes". Seit 1921 dient ein mit Spenden errichtetes, "Haus der spirituellen Schätze" (Reihōkan) genanntes Museum der Bewahrung und Ausstellung von insgesamt 50.000 Objekten, darunter befinden sich 21 "Nationalschätze" und 142 "Wichtige Kulturgüter".

Im Laufe der 1200-jährigen Geschichte fielen Teile der Anlage wiederholt Bränden, sei es durch Blitzschlag, sei es durch Brandstiftung oder menschliches Versagen, zum Opfer. So wurde die Haupthalle (Kondō) des Areals Danjōgaran sieben Mal wieder aufgebaut. Die Geschichte der "Grundlegenden Großpagode" (Kompondaitō) reicht bis ins 9. Jh., der heutige Bau stammt aus dem Jahre 1937.

Kōya-san heute
Heute gibt es noch 117 dem Kongōbu-Tempel untergeordnete Tempel mit rund 600 Mönchen sowie eine 1926 gegründete Universität für religiöse Studien. Etwa die Hälfte der Tempel bietet Pilgern und Touristen Unterkunft mit vegetarischer Mönchskost sowie die Möglichkeit, an der morgendlichen Andacht (gongyō) teilzunehmen. Administrativ sind die Tempel Teil des Städtchen Kōya (Kōya-chō, Bevölkerung einschließlich der Mönche 3500 Personen), das sich mit dem Devotionalienhandel und der Versorgung der Tempel entwickelt hat, doch seit den 90er Jahren unter starkem Bevölkerungsschwund leidet.

Auf dem Kōya-san befindet sich eine Reihe berühmter Stätten:
 Kongōbu-ji (, wörtl. "Diamant-Gipfel-Tempel"), neben dem "Ost-Tempel" (Tō-ji) in Kyōto der wichtigste Tempel der Shingon-Schule;
 Danjōgaran (), ein Areal mit einer Reihe von Pagoden und Hallen, viele davon als Kulturgut registriert;
 Kompon Daitō (, wörtl. "Grundlegende Großpagode"), eine Pagode, die nach der Lehre des Shingon-Buddhismus den Mittelpunkt eines räumlichen Mandala bildet, das ganz Japan umfasst;
 Oku-no-in (, wörtl. Hintere Halle), eine kleine Anlage mit dem Mausoleum von Kūkai im hinteren Teil einer im Wald liegenden Nekropole mit den Grabstätten bekannter Persönlichkeiten und Familien der japanischen Geschichte;
 Sannō-in (, wörtl. Tempel des Bergkönigs), eine der lokalen Shintō-Gottheit gewidmete Halle. Dort findet eine Reihe wichtiger Zeremonien statt.

Im Jahre 2004 wurde Kōya-san zusammen mit anderen Stätten auf der Halbinsel Kii von der UNESCO zur Stätte des Weltkulturerbes erklärt. Seitdem steigt die Zahl ausländischer Besucher.

Anreise
Der Kōya-san ist seit 1930 mit Zügen der Nankai Electric Railway erreichbar. Die Fahrt endet am Bahnhof Gokurakubashi (, wörtl. "Paradiesbrücke"). Eine von der Eisenbahngesellschaft betriebene Standseilbahn transportiert die Besucher in fünf Minuten zur Bergstation. Von dort aus erreicht man mit dem Bus oder Taxi in etwa zehn Minuten den Kernteil der Siedlung.

Weblinks

 Seite der UNESCO zum Weltkulturerbe Kii-Berge (englisch)
 PDF-Broschüre des Koyasan Reihokan Museums (englisch)
 Auf dem Pilgerpfad von Koya-san (Travelnotes)
 Touristeninformation Koya-san (Rekishikaidō)
 Webseite der Stadt Kōya (japanisch)

Bildergalerie

Anmerkungen

Einzelnachweise

Buddhismus in Japan
Gebirge in Japan
Geographie (Präfektur Wakayama)
Kultur (Präfektur Wakayama)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Asteroids are heated during the mining-laser extraction process. As they heat, the extraction becomes less and less efficient until at 930 degrees, the extraction process stops altogether, and cannot be resumed until the asteroid has cooled.
"It just doesn't make sense," said Third Tahir, Dr. Silar Tashawar, who has degrees in Geology and Economic Petrology, as well as a Ph.D. in Geochemistry from the Jenos School of Mines. "Space is not any warmer than it was a week ago. The heating is a very short-term effect of laser extraction. But obviously there's some reason … so we have launched a major mission to re-calibrate some beacons to try to determine what's happening. We've also been scanning and monitoring a number of different rocks … but just not finding anything," he said, shaking his head.
Although, the non-cooling asteroids first became apparent in Quantar, it appears that most, if not all, other areas of space have been impacted. Venurian Prospecting, which manufactures most mining lasers in use today, has confirmed that there has been no changes or issues in its mining laser manufacturing process.
Oct Core was attacked by Conflux on 7.5 with the station sustaining some minor damage. Apparently the Conflux attacked outbuildings first, but there has been not official report on any damage there. They also attacked the station and were trying to do something at the ETP. This was the largest station attack we have seen in quite some time. You have to wonder if this was random or if Flux aggression will be ramping up.
(Solrain Core) Premier Demeter Garreth announced today that the STCC has decided to establish a new Reconstruction Days holiday tradition. Each year, they will open up a poll to name a Solrain pilot — past or present — to the Solrain Hall of Fame.
The poll is OPEN NOW so the STCC encourages you to log in and record your vote by clicking the image below.
"All you do is go to the poll, enter your vote and enter your call-sign. It takes about 30 seconds," said Premier Garreth. "And while the nominee must be Solrain, ANY pilot for ANY faction is welcome to register a vote!" she added.
The poll will be open through midnight on Sunday 118.7.8.
(Octavius Core) Octavius Core Station sustained fairly significant damage today when it was attacked by Conflux drones and sentients.
According to Carto, the damage was limited to some external armor and one cargo bay, which took a direct nuke hit. That bay had contained BCUs, Dreams, Featherfires, Flashfires, Lances, Mauls, Nitrogen and POS Markets.
(Solrain Core) The STCC has announced that Arbin Mallow, the long-time member of the STCC, has won the race for Speaker for Soria by a wide margin, taking 67% of the vote with an extremely-light voter turnout.
Mallow, who has been a member of the STCC since 086, ran a very quiet campaign riding the strength of his substantial connections and political capitol to victory over Aeolsah Radic — the long time aide to Demeter Garreth who was named interim Speaker when Garreth took over as Premier on 6.1.


text:
December 13, 2018 October 26, 2018 by Matt Owen
Tame Your Wild Money Habits in 10 Minutes a Week!
TOP EXPENSES LIVING IN A VAN
Written by Alli, scroll to bottom for video
TOP 9 EXPENSES IN A VAN!
We are going to share with you our average top expenses living in a van.
So if you want to live in a van or just learn how we reduce your expenses, read our top expenses in a van below!
Reducing our expenses was the single most important thing that we did to live this freedom based lifestyle.
1. Matt's Student Loan Payment - $500
On average our number one expense is Matt's student loan payment which is $500 per month. I know you're thinking, "WHAT?!" we still have student loan debt and we're out traveling? So let us explain. Matt was fortunate enough that his parents were able to help him pay for some of his education. We still owe his mom about thirty thousand dollars. Thankfully, it's at 0% interest and we're paying her $500 per month. There's really no rush to pay it back. Matt's mom likes the 500 bucks in her checking account every month. We decided no hurry to pay that off, we would rather put that money to work either earning interest or paying off our mortgage.
2. Groceries - $400
Our second top expense is groceries. We spend on average about $400 a month, which we know is a lot. We try to eat really healthy, specifically we follow the keto diet when we're cooking at home. That is a lot of high-quality meat, high-quality organic vegetables, not a lot of refined carbohydrates. Our grocery bill is quite expensive but it is something that is really important to us to fuel our bodies and take care of ourselves.
While we were traveling in the van we did notice a small uptick and that was mainly because we couldn't buy anything in bulk. We had a really small fridge, a pretty small pantry, so we could only buy small packages of stuff. When you buy small portions of stuff, the same food just costs a little bit more. When you have to shop every couple days instead of being able to buy for a week or two, it adds to the expense.
3. Gas- $400
Our third expense on average is gas. We've been traveling around the country in our van and we've been covering a lot of distance. We spent on average around $400 a month, which is about five tanks of gas. That number will be trending down because we're playing to spend this winter in Colorado. We'll be much more stationary this winter and going out for weekend trips.
4. Clifford - $200
Our number four expense is our van Clifford. On average, we spend about $200 a month on maintenance items for him. He is a 2006 Mercedes Dodge Sprinter. This we'll be trending down as well because we are actually selling Clifford in the next few weeks.
5. Mobile Phones - $170
Our fifth expense on average was our mobile phones - $170. While we were traveling for the last six months, we were working from the road, so we bought a Verizon unlimited plan.
We would work from our phones off of the LTE wherever we were, which was convenient. This expense will be trending down, so I think as we're stationary we're gonna transition back to a cheaper plan. We're either thinking Republic Wireless or Google FI. I think both of us could get by or around like $40 a month.
6. Restaurants - $150
Number six on average is restaurants. We try to limit our restaurant eating out to about one time per week, but sometimes, especially when we were traveling and visiting friends and family, we went out with them. We wanted to enjoy that time and not be so uptight and stressed about it. On average we spent about $150 a month on restaurants. That will likely be trending down this winter as well because we're not going to be traveling as much and we're going to be pretty stationary. It'll be easier to just cook at home and we won't be seeing as many friends and family.
7. Expense - $112
Number seven on average is car insurance. Right now we spend about 112 dollars a month to insure Clifford. We paid it all at once for the whole year. This will be trending down because right
now we have comprehensive coverage on Clifford since he's our home. We insured him fully in case anything happens we would get the full value of him back. This winter we will be getting one car which is a lot less expensive. We'll only have liability coverage so our insurance will only be 500 bucks a year, maybe even less.
8. Health insurance - $110
Our number 8 top expense is health insurance. We use Medi-share, which is a health sharing ministry. It is not actually health insurance but it is a health bill sharing community. We got the highest deductible plan so we pay out-of-pocket up to ten thousand dollars a year. Then after the bills go above ten thousand dollars then they go up for sharing within the community and other people help pay for those bills.
It was the best cheapest plan that we could do given that we worked until April of this year. We were pushed out of the marketplace plans that would be affordable. When we priced out the marketplace plans, it would've been seven to eight hundred a month on the marketplace.
9. Travel - $100
Our ninth expense was travel and that averaged out to about a hundred dollars a month. It really fluctuated a lot. When we went to Isle Royale we ended up spending $450 that month, but then for several months before that, we didn't spend any more than 30 bucks for a campsite.
This travel budget pays for occasional train tickets or subway passes to explore a city. It's hard to say whether this will go up or down. We have some trips planned for winter, usually we take one with Matt's family around Christmas. We also want to go to Europe next year so I think travel will definitely be a larger component of our budget going forward. It's always hard to give an estimate for the monthly average because it just varies so much. Some months it's really high and other months it's zero.
Leave us a comment below and let us know what your top expenses are and if you think we can reduce any of ours! We are always interested in optimizing our expenses even further we're kind of nerdy about that.
GUEST STORY: Overcoming Money Trauma
By Matt Owen	| January 23, 2019
OUR KETO HEALTH FOOD STARTUP?
HOW WE SPENT $31,710 IN 2018
2018 MONEY WINS AND FAILS
By Allison Owen	| January 21, 2019
STUDENT LOAN BANKRUPTCY | How to Prove Undue Hardship
By Matt Owen	| December 24, 2018
PAY OFF DEBT OR SAVE FOR RETIREMENT?
DENIED? Public Service Loan Forgiveness HORRORS
FASTEST WAY TO PAY OFF CREDIT CARDS
By Matt Owen	| December 5, 2018
DEBT SNOWBALL vs AVALANCHE vs TSUNAMI vs TORNADO CALCULATOR
©2018 Owen Your Future. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy
Categories Budgeting, FIRE	Post navigation
What is FIRE? Financial Independence, Retire Early
HOUSEHACKING: HOW TO GET A FREE HOUSE


Fifteen fun and riddle songs for singing and playing. Illustrations by Martin Schubert. Click "mehr Informationen" for audio-examples. (Vocals: Wiebke Janssen) Language: German.
Guitar-methodbook for children ages 7 and up. Language: German.


While the first post is shown correctly, the 3 smaller ones that follow are not displayed next to each other but below.
They all have the featured tag though and it was working before. I don't know what changed.
The blog I need help with is bestregardslife.wordpress.com.
Were you able to figure this out? I'm looking at your site and everything looks fine from here.
If you're still having trouble, could you share a screenshot of what you are seeing? You can upload it to your site's media library then share the link here.
The topic 'Featured posts not displayed correct' is closed to new replies.


Biochar is a solid material resulting from the carbonization of biomass. Carbonization is accomplished when biomass is thermally treated with little or no oxygen. It's different from charcoal in how its creation and properties. High quality biochar is applied to improve soil health, filter toxins and heavy metals, retain nutrients, produce greater yields, hold water and make it bioavailable and create a "carbon sink".
High quality biochar is quickly being adopted in many industries - from small farming, to landscape design, to stormwater filtration to soil remediation. Many scientists conclude that the process of creating biochar, used in tandem with the incorporation of it in soils is a "carbon negative" process. Furthermore, high porosity biochar due to its relative price and environmentally-sound production is rapidly replacing activated carbon.
Black Owl Biochar (TM) is unique. Our OMRI-Listed biochar stands out in the industry as being one of the top Class 1 biochars recognized internationally. This is due to its exceptional feedstock (chemical-free soft wood slash that would otherwise end up in a landfill or burned), and processing. Our biochar is a clean-energy by-product designed at the highest quality for specific applications.
Biochar Supreme's "BOB" products have been tested in several top universities, soil labs, environmental firms and independent researchers all with the same results - that our biochar is both exceptional and rare. This is due to Black Owl Biochar's unique characteristics, including very high surface areas, porosity and water-holding capacities.
Hugh McLaughlin, PhD/PE, biochar researcher for over 30 years and author of the article, "All Biochars are Not Created Equal, How to Tell Them Apart" (McGlaughlin, et. al., 2009) has thoroughly tested our products and gave us an "A+" and noted that our biochar is "exceptional". We have also seen these tremendous results consistently with customers in the field, farm, greenhouse as well as out at remediation projects. Biochar Supreme, LLC has consistently enjoyed being on the forefront of innovation and solutions for improving water and soil health.
Black Owl Biochar Environmental Ultra (TM) has been utilized in stat-of-the-art technologies for stormwater, rain gardens, port cleanup, green roofs and soil reclamation. Few can manufacture biochar with the top characteristics of our product. Environmental Ultra has been used to remediate and filter heavy metals, sediments, oil, NPK and POHs. Our biochar is free of volatiles and PAHs.


text:
The Solar Plus Storage Must Flow
By Hannah Shih on December 17, 2018
Ideal Energy has installed a single-axis tracker, 1.1 MW DC solar plant with NexTracker's largest flow battery project to date: a 35 unit, 350 kW / 1.1 MWh Avalon Battery vanadium flow system.
DECEMBER 17, 2018 | JOHN WEAVER
Flow batteries have a few key advantages over lithium-ion technology. The most important may be that they don't degrade, and some are projecting that the path toward financially viable energy storage must go through flow batteries.
Ideal Energy has installed a 1.1 MWdc solar power plant for the Maharishi University of Management in Iowa. The system brings the university's renewable energy energy share to 43%, including a 12.5 kW roof mount solar system, another 42 kW ground-mounted PV plant and a 10 kW wind turbine.
The new solar facility includes NEXTracker's largest DC connected vanadium flow battery installed to date. The plant has its own website, and a really nice pdf download showing off the details.
The solar field is composed of 35 unique rows of 90 solar modules, one inverter, and one flow battery. The site's topography necessitated a two-part layout – one with a "standard" slope of up to 5%, and a "high" slope section between 6% and 15%.
NEXTracker's single-axis tracking arrays allow for a greater optimization of electricity production due to its ability to adjust based upon site-specific needs. In a site that is focused on lowering demand charges, the "wide shoulders" of a single axis tracking system allow solar-only production earlier and later than fixed-tilt mounting, lowering the need for energy storage in those windows.
And while this is the largest flow battery to accompany a NEXTracker system to date, it isn't the largest flow battery in the USA, with at least two 2 MW / 8 MWh systems being installed – one in San Diego, and one in Washington.
See more from pv magazine here.


Writ practice is a murky area for many, so lets say a quick word or two about it for context. A party aggrieved by an interlocutory ruling of the trial court can submit a petition for a writ of prohibition (or mandamus, depending on the circumstances) to ask the Court of Appeals for relief. Because appellate courts usually only review errors in final judgments, getting it to step in mid-litigation is extraordinary and hard. The question often boils down to this: if the claimed error can be addressed later on direct appeal after final judgment has been entered, the court of appeals will not issue a writ.
The problem for Court of Appeals in Cornerstone was procedural. Getting a writ in Missouri is a two-step process governed by Mo. R. Civ. P. 97 and 84.24. In short, the aggrieved party petitions the court of appeals to hear its claim. If the court agrees, it will issue a preliminary writ to stay the proceedings below while the parties brief and argue the issues just as they would a normal appeal. Even getting the preliminary writ issued is rare, so it said something about Cornerstone's argument that the Southern District granted the preliminary writ in the first place.
But after full briefing and argument, the court quashed its preliminary writ and denied Cornerstone's petition. In the end, the court held that it didn't have all the documents necessary to decide the issues. The trial court had ordered Cornerstone to comply with the discovery requests in accordance with a protective order, but none of the parties had included that order in the record. Because the Court could not determine what exactly Cornerstone had been ordered to produce without reviewing the protective order, it was forced to deny Cornerstone's relief.
Practice Tip: Appellate courts are exceedingly cautious about granting extraordinary writs and any of number of open questions may lead to denial. Think expansively about what concerns the court may have about both the merits of the points raised and whether a writ is appropriate at all. Include all the documents and exhibits in the record that touch on those issues. And err on the side of over-inclusion.


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Home Sport Siya Kolisi: Rugby World Cup win for all South Africans, says Springboks captain
Siya Kolisi: Rugby World Cup win for all South Africans, says Springboks captain
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi says their World Cup triumph was "for all South Africans" who "make our wonderful country an even better place".
S A captain, Siys Kolisi.
Kolisi became the first black South African captain to lift the William Webb Ellis Trophy when the Springboks beat England 32-12 on Saturday.
The returning squad members were greeted by thousands of fans when they landed in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
"We are tired but grateful, humbled and overawed. Thank you," said Kolisi.
"In Japan, we got a glimpse of the support back home, but this reception is something else – we can't begin to thank everyone for backing us throughout this journey."
The players arrived at OR Tambo International Airport on three different flights on Tuesday, with more to return on Wednesday.
"We did this for all South Africans – ordinary people who work tirelessly all day long to care for their families and friends and ultimately make our wonderful country an even better place," added Kolisi, 28.
"Winning the World Cup on foreign soil was very special and arriving home to this wonderful support is the cherry on top."
Most of the squad will now embark on a 'Champions Tour', visiting Durban, East London, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town after kicking off with a parade through Pretoria, Johannesburg and Soweto on Thursday.
"We brought the Webb Ellis Cup home for all South Africans and we really wish we could go everywhere to thank our supporters, but unfortunately logistics and time constraints doesn't allow for that to happen this time," said coach Rassie Erasmus.
"I would like to agree with Siya – the support here at the airport made all the hard work and sacrifices over the last two months worth it.
"Thank you to everyone who came out to greet us." – bbc.com
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Dissertatio Philologica | De | VOCE | כארי | Psalm. 22, 17. | Qvam adspirante Summi Nu- | minis gratia, | & | annuente Celeberrima Faculta- | te Theologica, | Sub PRÆSIDIO, | Viri Admodum Venerandi & Amplissimi | Dn. JOANNIS BIRCHERODII | In alma Hauniensi Academia SS. Theol. | Extraordinarii, & Lingvæ Hebrææ Ordinarii Profes- | soris Regii, ut & Assessoris in Collegio | Consistoriali. | Publicè examinandam proponit Auctor | ARNGRIMUS WIDALINUS | TORCHILLI Filius, | Philos. Baccal. | In Auditorio superiori, die Aprilis. | – | HAFNIÆ, Typis Christiani Weringii Acad. Typogr. | Anno M. DC. LXXXIX.
Viðprent: Lassenius, Johannes (1636-1692): "Approbatio." [3.-4.] bls. Dagsett 13. mars 1689.
Viðprent: Arngrímur Þorkelsson Vídalín (1667-1704): ["Tileinkun á latínu til Tómasar Kingo"] [5.] bls.
Bókfræði: Halldór Hermannsson (1878-1958): Icelandic books of the seventeenth century, Islandica 14 (1922), 106.


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AHS' Naomi Grossman wants a Pepper sex scene with this actor
by SheKnows
Oct 13, 2014 at 2:12 pm EDT
Image: Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com
American Horror Story: Freak Show has a few surprises hidden beneath its big top. And one was revealed likely earlier than expected: that Pepper, the microcephalic character first seen in Asylum, is returning.
In fact, she's the first AHS character from a previous season to return to the show; but that isn't the end of it — at least not according to actress Naomi Grossman, who plays Pepper.
To give you a little background on Pepper, she was convicted of drowning her sister's baby and cutting off his ears. She later denies it, though, saying that her sister's husband did it and told everyone it was Pepper. "That's what happens to us freaks; we get blamed for everything."
One should also note that Freak Show takes place about 10 years before Asylum, so we had to know: Will we see the connection or cross over into Asylum? And if so, when?
"They're writing the show as they go," she says, "so I've only read up to Episode 8. I'm sure toward the end, more of that will be revealed."
This may or may not include what will become of Salty, a fellow microcephalic who appears to be Pepper's sidekick in Freak Show.
"Salty isn't in in Asylum, so he's going to have to go sometime," she says. While she didn't have a definite answer for us, she continues on, speculating, "I think that Salty is going to present awesome possible opportunities for Pepper. If Salty is going to die, Pepper is going to have an opinion about it.
"Also, who's to say Pepper doesn't have a sister? What if we got to see her sister? Or is she her twin?"
Photo credit: Michele K. Short/FX
The beginning of the AHS: Freak Show trailer may have revealed a new character (VIDEO)
Salty dying isn't completely unlikely. Deaths are to be expected this season, Grossman confirms.
"I heard from this point on, we go two-by-two. We'll have two deaths per episode. So, I'm safe, but we're always wondering, 'Who's next?'"
And we may not have to wait long for the next death. In a recent interview with E!, Ryan Murphy says "something really horrible" will happen during Episode 5, when Matt Bomer makes his first appearance. "It's maybe one of the most disturbing things we've done… It's a true horror scene," Murphy says.
So, we had to ask: Will Bomer share screen time with Grossman? Unfortunately not, but if they did, Grossman has one scene in mind she'd like to film with him.
"When I heard that Matt Bomer was going to join us, I was like, 'He's like the hottest person.' We need a sex scene, Matt and Pepper."
But on a more serious note, this season of American Horror Story is bound to be the scariest season yet, at least according to Grossman.
"This does feel much more like a human story, which is almost scarier because people are afraid of the delusional," she says. "Meeting the freaks, I remember the first time meeting Matt (the seal), even I had to check myself and behave myself and not stare.
"This show is going to test people in terms of, 'Should I stare? I shouldn't.' I think that's really scary for people, these abnormalities, which are real."
Poor Angela Bassett, she had one wish for AHS: Freak Show and didn't get it
Catch the second episode of American Horror Story: Freak Show on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 10/9c.
American Horror Story celebrity interviews


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Do we really understand social entrepreneurship?
Sara Horowitz
https://blog.freelancersunion.org/2010/09/14/do-we-really-understand-social-entrepreneurship/
Extremely disappointing news this month for social entrepreneurs of the world: The FDIC has closed down ShoreBank, the bank that invented the category "community development financial institution," according to the American Prospect's Robert Kuttner. The idea of "too big to fail" needs to be shored up with a corollary idea of "too good to fail." ShoreBank wasn't another Wall Street penitent, and our government's failure to understand the difference means we in the social entrepreneurship world have our work cut out for us to prove why our institutions, hybrids of nonprofits and private companies, matter to America. ShoreBank embodies the very core of social entrepreneurship, the idea of using creative business tactics to address social problems. According to Kuttner's recent Huffington Post story, its founder Ron Grzywinski "had seen the effects of racial redlining first hand as a banker and community activist, and resolved to create a bank that could help the depressed South Shore neighborhood of Chicago." In its thirty-plus years of operation, ShoreBank served its community with honest banking—a beacon amidst the predatory lenders. "It was a model bank that earned a modest profit by delivering on a social mission," said Kuttner. Isn't that exactly the kind of bank we want to be saving, if not replicating in every city in the country? I fear that "too big to fail," originally a recognition of how many people's financial fates were wrapped up with those of major banks, has become "too big to question," a resignation of our innovative powers in the face of the status quo. The end of ShoreBank won't spell the end of Main Street America, but it doesn't bode well for South Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago. And what's more, the bank is being reopened under new ownership, albeit with several of its current executives remaining in place. But the difference in the treatment and fate of ShoreBank, and, say, Citigroup, seems evidence enough that our government still doesn't differentiate between business as usual and social-purpose business. The bottom line is that we need to widen our understanding of what is the bottom line. A bigger bank ledger doesn't mean people have a better chance of buying—and keeping—a home. Those businesses—they could be public parks, local banks, or even your video store—which contribute to their community ought to be held apart from those which only contribute to their own well-being. Held to high standards, yes, but also valued differently. Social-purpose businesses must be seen as businesses too good to fail, and we must give them our full support whenever possible.
As the founder of Freelancers Union, Sara has been a voice for freelancers for over two decades. She founded Trupo in 2017 to create the next safety net for freelancers.


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La Reorganización de Montreal entre 2001 y 2006, buscaba incorporar a las comunidades adyacentes, que son parte integral de su vida social y económica de la ciudad.  El proceso estuvo plagado de controversia política y los conflictos lingüísticos.

Historia
En 2001, el Partido Quebequés, entonces en el gobierno de la provincia, fusionó las otras 26 ciudades que ocupaban la Isla de Montreal, formando una única ciudad –la ciudad de Montreal– bajo el lema Une île, une ville (Una isla, una ciudad), en la misma época de la fusión de otras ciudades de Quebec. Esto se llevó a cabo por razones económicas, ya que se esperaba que cuanto mayor fuese la ciudad, más eficiente sería en términos económicos, pudiendo ser más competitiva con otras ciudades canadienses, como por ejemplo Toronto, que había absorbido cinco ciudades vecinas en 1998.

El 1 de enero de 2002, la Isla de Montreal (residencia de 1,8 millones de personas) y las islas periféricas que formaban parte de la Comunidad Urbana de Montreal, fueron fusionadas en una nueva megaciudad. Los 27 barrios resultantes, así como la ciudad antigua, fueron convertidos en varios distritos municipales que conservaban sus antiguos nombres o (en el caso de zonas del Montreal antiguo) los de sus distritos.

Las ciudades que existían en la Isla de Montreal, unidas en esta fusión eran: Anjou, Baie d'Urfé, Beaconsfield, Côte-Saint-Luc, Dollard-Des Ormeaux, Dorval, Hampstead, L'Île-Bizard, L'Île-Dorval, Kirkland, Lachine, LaSalle, Montréal-Est, Montréal-Nord, Montréal-Ouest, Outremont, Mont-Royal, Pierrefonds, Pointe Claire, Roxboro, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Sainte-Geneviève, Saint-Laurent, Saint-Léonard, Senneville, Verdún y Westmount.

Sin embargo, como ocurrió en otras fusiones que habían tenido lugar en Canadá, la fusión de estas 26 ciudades no fue del todo aceptada por buena parte de la población de las ciudades implicadas. La presencia de ciudades mayoritariamente anglófonas complicaba aún más esta situación, ya que se fusionarían con la francófona Montreal. La población de estas ciudades temía que sus derechos no fueran respetados con este acto.

En abril de 2002, el Partido Liberal de Quebec derrotó al Partido Quebequense. De acuerdo con las promesas electorales, el Partido Liberal concedió un referéndum a las ciudades que habían sido fundidas con Montreal, pudiendo votar a favor o en contra de la fusión.

Tal referéndum fue realizado el 20 de julio de 2004, en 22 de las 26 antiguas ciudades. De acuerdo con los resultados de la votación, 15 de las antiguas ciudades recuperarían su independencia el 1 de enero de 2006. Las ciudades que siguieron formando parte de Montreal fueron Anjou, L'Île-Bizard, Lachine, LaSalle, Montréal-Nord, Outremont, Pierrefonds, Roxboro, Sainte-Geneviève, Saint-Laurent, Saint-Léonard y Verdun.

Anjou, LaSalle, L'Île-Bizard, Pierrefonds, Roxboro, Sainte-Geneviève, y Saint-Laurent, que contaban con mayoría de votos a favor de la separación no obtuvieron suficientes participación para permitirla, por lo que continuarán formando parte de Montreal. Por otra parte, ni en Lachine, Montréal-Nord, Outremont, Saint-Léonard, Verdun, ni en ninguno de los distritos que constituían la ciudad antigua se convocó referéndum.

Véase también
 Aglomeración urbana

Historia de Montreal


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Canada General Politics Politics (Canada)
Canada names diplomat with strong Arctic background as ambassador to Russia
Levon Sevunts, Radio Canada International
Posted: Friday, October 25, 2019 at 10:15 — Last Updated: Friday, October 25, 2019 at 13:31
Alison LeClaire is Canada's new ambassador in Russia. (Courtesy Alison LeClaire)
The appointment of a career diplomat with strong background in Arctic affairs but also deep knowledge of Eastern Europe and Eurasia as Canada's new envoy in Russia is a signal that Ottawa is serious about maintaining its relationship with Moscow, says an expert on international relations.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland announced Thursday that Alison LeClaire, who has more than 30 years of experience in the foreign service, has been appointed as Canada's new ambassador in the Russian Federation.
Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia, said LeClaire is "a very strong appointment" not only because of her recent role as Canada's senior Arctic official but also her experience as director general for Arctic, Eurasian and European Affairs at Global Affairs Canada.
"She has actually been the lead person within Global Affairs Canada on Russia for the last number of years," Byers said in a phone interview. "So through that and through her work at the Arctic Council she will have the best connections with the Russian foreign ministry of anyone who would have been considered."
'Highly competent, experienced diplomat'
LeClaire has tremendous experience of working with Russia on a number of issues, including nuclear non-proliferation, Byers said.
As the Senior Arctic Official over the last four years, LeClaire has shepherded Canada's Arctic foreign policy and represented Canada at international meetings in circumpolar countries, including Russia.
"Sending a highly competent, experienced diplomat, who understands Russia and understands the Arctic is a signal that Canada wants to continue to cooperate, wants to engage on issues of common concern," Byers said.
"It's not a political appointment and it shouldn't be a political appointment given the very high level of diplomatic competency that is required in what is a very sensitive and crucially important relationship."
LeClaire's work will by no means be easy, Byers said.
"Part of the challenge is to manage the relationship at a time that we have a highly unpredictable NATO ally just to the south," he said. "He's changing the playing field every single day in terms of international diplomacy. This is not a time for grand diplomatic initiatives, this is a time for maintaining relationships and stability wherever possible."
Hitting reset button with Russia?
Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland speaks with the media during a news conference in Ottawa, Wednesday December 12, 2018. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)
The possibility that Canada could have a new foreign affairs minister when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau unveils his cabinet on Nov. 20, could create another opportunity for Canada and Russia to begin rebuilding their fraught relationship, Byers said.
Freeland, a fierce critic of Russia's annexation of Crimea and its role in backing pro-Russian rebels in Eastern Ukraine, is among more than a dozen Canadian officials banned from visiting Russia.
Some pundits have noted that given the fact the that the Liberals were completely shut out of Alberta and Saskatchewan, Freeland, who grew up in Alberta, could be given new responsibilities within the cabinet to deal with one of the biggest challenges facing the Trudeau government: its fraught relationship with Western Canada.
"That could remove one of the causes of tension between Canada and Russia, which is having a very outspoken, pro-Ukrainian foreign minister as our senior diplomat in the form of Chrystia Freeland," said Byers, adding that he is "a fan" of Freeland.
Byers said Environment Minister Catherine McKenna and Transport Minister and former Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau are seen as potential candidates for the top diplomat job.
Canada: Ottawa's new Arctic framework has lofty goals but few details, critics say, CBC News
Finland: US missiles: Finnish, Russian presidents call for dialogue at Helsinki meeting, Yle News
Norway: Norway to focus on civil society, press freedom as chair of Barents Euro-Arctic Council, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Career diplomat to represent Murmansk region in Russian senate, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Assessing Margot Wallström's legacy as Swedish foreign minister, Radio Sweden
United States: Finnish and US Presidents agree on Arctic security policies, Eye on the Arctic
Alison Leclaire, Chrystia Freeland, diplomacy, NATO
← Why a giant sinkhole appeared at a mining site in Arctic Sweden
Canadian eastern Arctic: Nunavut-Greenland fibre cable to cost $80M more than planned →
Born and raised in Armenia, Levon started his journalistic career in 1990, covering wars and civil strife in the Caucasus and Central Asia. In 1992, after the government in Armenia shut down the TV program he was working for, Levon immigrated to Canada. He learned English and eventually went back to journalism, working first in print and then in broadcasting. Levon's journalistic assignments have taken him from the High Arctic to Sahara and the killing fields of Darfur, from the streets of Montreal to the snow-capped mountaintops of Hindu Kush in Afghanistan. He says, "But best of all, I've been privileged to tell the stories of hundreds of people who've generously opened up their homes, refugee tents and their hearts to me."


How's everyone holding up? I know some of you are already done with the readathon, in which case, bravo. For those of you on the official clock, we've got 6 hours left, and now's crunch time. Are you done with your 24 hours? Do you have some time on the stopwatch left to go? Is your brain mushy yet?
It's dinnertime at 24in48 headquarters, and we're making grilled caprese sandwiches (fresh mozzarella, basil, prosciutto, tomatoes, and a little olive oil, grilled between slices of Italian bread). They're my favorite readathon sandwich because they're super easy and really fresh.
Since we're almost done with the 'thon, I'm curious about your favorites from this weekend. In the comments, tell me: 1) your favorite book of the readathon, 2) your favorite snack/meal of the readathon, and 3) your favorite non-book, non-snack part of the readathon.
I'll choose one random person from the comments to win your choice of a $10 Starbucks giftcard, a $10 Amazon giftcard, or a book (US$10 or less) from the Book Depository in the last check-in post of the readathon in six hours.
Good luck in this very last home stretch, readathoners! You got this!
You can still fill out the Intro Survey for a chance to win too!
Just 12 hours left to go in this readathon weekend and it's been a wonderful one for me so far. I got a chance to hang out with one of my favs yesterday while we both 'thoned, and my mom has been reading along with me as well. We've had a fire crackling all weekend, stew in the crockpot, and a sleepy golden retriever to keep our feet warm.
I hope everyone has had a great readathon as well, and is looking forward to this last home stretch. Speaking of stretching, right now, get up and do some jumping jacks, touch your toes, do a little downward dog, just something to get the blood moving. If you have an audiobook, why not take a quick 15 minute walk around the block? I'll wait…go ahead.
To win, comment with a link to a photo of your book spine poetry. As with the previous challenges, one random person will win your choice of a $10 Starbucks gift card, $10 Amazon gift card or a book (US$10 or less) from Book Depository. You have until the next check in at Hour 42.
It's 6am! ARE YOU UP?? (Chances are 50/50 whether I am right now, TBH). But through the magic of scheduling you guys get this early morning check-in post.
So how is everyone doing this morning? Making progress on your reading goals? Did you read as much as you wanted? I know that today seems like the easy day, especially if you spent all day yesterday with a book, but day two is deceptively more difficult. You've probably got a more limited attention span, a book or two in progress, and the normal interferences of life that you can put off for a day start to encroach. Stay strong, you can do it. We've got a long day left to go.
But I have more prizes to give out today, so hopefully that keeps you alert and attentive. This check-in's challenge is an easy one. Snap a picture of yourself in front of your bookshelf (or shelves) and post it online. Leave a comment with a link to that photo in the comments and I'll randomly choose one person to win your choice of a $10 Starbucks gift card, $10 Amazon gift card or a book (US$10 or less) from Book Depository.
And if anyone has magically filling bookshelves like these, I'm moving in.
*Don't forget – you can still enter to win the Hour 6 – Survey challenge. It's open until this readathon is over!
We are halfway there! I'm so impressed with you guys. It's been an incredible first day and I've been having so much fun watching the #24in48 tag on Twitter and Instagram (and omg, you BookTubers have been killing it!). I'm almost having too much fun talking to 'thoners – I'm losing valuable reading time myself.
(Not gonna lie, my favorite part of prepping for the readathon is gif hunting).
For this challenge, I want to talk about one of my favorite side-benefits of reading: armchair traveling. Reading a great book that is set in (or is directly about) a really awesome place is the next best thing to actually traveling there. And sometimes, one of the reasons I choose a book is purely for location, whether that place is real or not. Even better, if that place is also in a completely different time and it becomes armchair time-traveling.
In the comments, tell me what three destinations from books you'd combine to make your dream vacation. Real or not real, in this time or in another, anything goes. Where and when would you like to drop in to from literature?
I'll pick a winner at the next check-in at midnight in six hours, to win your choice of a $10 Starbucks gift card, $10 Amazon gift card or a book (US$10 or less) from Book Depository.
We're fully a quarter into the readathon, and if you're getting a late start, WELCOME! Remember, it's not too late to join the 'thon. And if you're reading along, don't forget to officially sign up here. It helps me keep track of who is participating (and how many of you there are) and find you during the weekend to cheer you on. And if you win a prize, I can email you. Who doesn't like that?
For this check-in, I want to see where you're actually reading today. Take a picture of your reading nook or chair – wherever you're perched – and post it someplace online, like Twitter or Instagram or Facebook, and leave a comment with the link. If you tag me on those platforms, I might not see it, so please leave a comment here.
So show me where you're reading this weekend and one random commenter will win a $10 Starbucks giftcard, a $10 Amazon giftcard or a book (US$US or less) from Book Depository.
I'll draw the winner at the next check-in in six hours at 6pm ET, so get your photos in and I'll see you guys soon!


"Today's Palm Sunday attack in Egypt on peaceful worshippers in their church is a horrible act of terrorism. Anti-religious and anti-Christian violence is alive and well throughout the Middle East, and the World. Radical Islamists kill Christians because they are Christians; Yezidis because they are Yezidis; and different Muslim sects because they believe in a different brand of Islam than them. The right to practice any faith, or have no faith, should be a fundamental human right of all people. The United States of America will always stand with people around the world who seek freedom of conscience and assembly."
Last month, Lankford wrote about anti-religious genocide in an op-ed in The Hill newspaper.


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