text:
Life of SaintsPeople and History
Marthe Robin: Her only sustenance for more than 50 years was the Holy Eucharist
Raphael Benedict October 28th, 2019
Home » People and History » Life of Saints » Marthe Robin: Her only sustenance for more than 50 years was the Holy Eucharist
She proved that it's possible to live on love alone.
Marthe Robin was born on March 13, 1902, in Drome, France. She was the sixth and last child of Joseph and Amelie-Celestine Robin, who were farmers. Her parents worked hard and would have been considered, if living during present times, middle class. Her mom and dad were Catholic but did not attend church. This impacted the faith of their other children but did not affect Marthe. She was drawn to God and was praying on her own at a very early age.
Illness struck Marthe in her second year of life. She and her sister, Clemence, both caught typhoid fever. Clemence did not survive. Marthe did live but was weak and frail from then on. She left school at the age of 13 to help on the family farm. However, she did attend her catechism classes and was confirmed in 1911. She made her first Holy Communion on August 15, 1912.
Although she had been sickly ever since the typhoid fever, she seemed to be enjoying her teenage years. She was happy-go-lucky, loved dancing and laughed heartily at Grandma's funny jokes. But in 1918 she fell ill again and was bedridden. Doctors thought it might be a brain tumor or encephalitis. They really did not understand what her illness was until one of them diagnosed her as having Hysteria. She had been "labeled."
By 1928, Marthe's lower body was paralyzed and by 1929 so were her arms. It was not a result of hysteria. Finally, without proof, her condition was called Encephalitis Lethargica, a rare form of encephalitis. This was never confirmed.
Marthe was living at home in a dark bedroom due to her hypersensitivity to light. By the age of 28, she was completely paralyzed and bedridden. Early on she still could use her thumb and forefinger and was able to finger her rosary beads. Eventually she lost the ability to do even that. All she could do was move her head. She could no longer eat or even take a sip of water. Doctors tried to force water down but it would come out her nostrils. There was, however, one thing she could and would consume. That was the Holy Eucharist.
At the beginning of her illness, Marthe was visited by Our Blessed Mother who comforted her greatly. Sometime during the year of 1928, Christ Himself appeared to her and this apparition changed her forever. This is when she decided to "offer herself over completely to God" and to "offer her sufferings in union with Him by prayer and love." She became more and more focused on Christ's Passion while becoming extremely close to Our Lady.
From the 1930s onward, Marthe's only sustenance was Christ in the Eucharist. No food or water would ever pass her lips. On Fridays, when she received Holy Communion, she would relive the Passion of Christ. At first it was spiritually but then it became physical. Marthe was visibly imprinted with the stigmata. God had included her among the select such as St. Francis, St. Catherine of Siena and St. Padre Pio.
As the triduum of Our Lord's Passion, Death and Resurrection took place within Marthe, the blood would be wet and fresh on Friday, dry on Saturday and gone on Sunday. Indeed, Marthe Robin experienced the Holy Eucharist in an extraordinary way. This would be her life until she died in 1981, a period of 51 years.
Even though Marthe never finished grade school she was able to counsel many who visited her with great words of wisdom. She possessed an overflowing sense of compassion and had an exceptional memory. During her lifetime it is estimated that more than 100,000 people visited her and received guidance from her. She honored thousands of prayer requests and her influence reached far beyond her small bedroom.
Pope Francis declared Marthe Robin venerable on Nov. 7, 2014. Today an average of 40,000 people a year visit and pray at the home where Venerable Marthe lived and died. Marthe was quoted as saying, "I want to cry out to those who ask me if I eat, that I eat more than them, for I am fed by the Eucharist of the blood and flesh of Jesus. I would like to tell them that it is they who arrest and block the effects of this food in themselves."
Life of Saints People and History No Comments


A century after they were discovered killing bacteria in the feces of World War I soldiers, the viruses known as bacteriophages, or simply phages, are drawing new attention for the role they might play within the human body. Phages have been found most everywhere, from oceans to soils. Now, a study suggests that people absorb up to 30 billion phages every day through their intestines. Read more.


text:
In the Red Corner, Introducing Brisbane's Own… Sav Manolis!
The media dubbed it "The Battle of Brisbane", and the news reports were impossible to miss, regardless of whether you were a boxing an or not:"One of boxing's biggest shocks"… "The Brisbane schoolteacher who stunned the world"… "One of the greatest moments of Australian sporting history on home soil"…
Boxer Jeff Horn pulled off an incredible upset over welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao in April 2017, immediately making a global name for himself and securing his position in boxing history. But did you know that this elite athlete had an ace up his sleeve to ensure he was performing in optimal condition?
Enter Sav Manolis, APD. The Brisbane-based owner of Optimise Nutrition serves as Jeff's personal dietitian, ensuring Jeff's nutritional intake gives him a performance edge over competitors.
We just love a great success story,especially one involving two hometown heroes, so we leapt at the chance to chat to Sav about his partnership with this world-renowned athlete.
"I've been working with Jeff over the past 3 1/2 years," said Sav. The pair first connected through Sav's affiliation with Dundee's Boxing and Fitness club in Brisbane.
"Dundee Kim [club founder and owner] was, and still is, Jeff's strength and conditioning coach," Sav explained. "I'd recently completed the SDA sports dietetics course, and was eager to commence putting the science and evidence into practice. That was when Dundee introduced me to Jeff."
Sav already had experience working with amateur boxers. "Prior to my work with Jeff, I was affiliated with boxing gyms around Brisbane, nurturing my interest in sports nutrition.
So, I had some insight into the level of training and energy both amateur and professional boxers exert. Along the way, I'd learned it's more about understanding the sport, optimising your performance and gaining an advantage over your opponent."
But Sav had to jump in with both feet quickly to ensure he was meeting the unique nutritional needs of an elite athlete like Jeff. "While fuelling and refuelling were important to Jeff's training, it was just as important to manage recovery, repair and rest," noted Sav.
Armed with this new knowledge, Sav began what's become an ongoing, year-round collaboration with Jeff.
"Throughout the year, I collect multiple points of data around Jeff's weight, physique and sweat rates. Then, in the preparation stages for an event – usually 12-14 weeks out – I hone in on his dietary requirements to meet training demands and physical targets," shared Sav.
Meal prep is a key component of this strategy. "I meet regularly with Jeff and his wife Joanna to discuss the challenges of meal planning and prepping. We've set goals around the timing and composition of meals, as well as macros around training –and, of course, taste!" said Sav.
Speaking of taste…his client clearly loves the flavour of food, which Sav was happy to accommodate. "Jeff has made it very clear that he needs to continue to enjoy his food, so I balance the dual challenges of meeting his nutritional requirements while ensuring he enjoys what he eats!" Sav shared. "Working long-term with an athlete, you get an understanding of their likes and dislikes – and they learn to take on board your education and adapt it to their own choices."
Sav shared an example of how he manages this balance of flavour and nutrition: "I take a meal Jeff enjoys and work to improve the quality of some of the ingredients or cooking methods used. For instance, Jeff dislikes porridge; however blending oats into a smoothie is more palatable for him. Also, Greek yoghurt has become very versatile in Jeff's diet recently, because he can use it as a substitute for dressings that are generally higher in fat and sugar. He's grown to enjoy Greek yoghurt!"
"…I balance the dual challenges of meeting his nutritional requirements while ensuring he enjoys what he eats!"
Sav has also mastered the unique challenge of staying in touch with Jeff to support the boxer's nutritional needs for an upcoming event – despite differences in continents and time zones. "In the past, I've provided Jeff with a comprehensive plan typically for several days leading up to the fight, where certain nutrient requirements change, and dietary practices are altered," explained Sav. "More recently, I've travelled overseas with Jeff to support his diet, oversee his meal planning and ensure he implements these practices leading up to an event."
We'll be keeping an eye on the Brisbane boxing hero as he continues his incredible career…and of course, keeping our other eye on that talented sports dietitian in his corner who's fuelling him for the fight!
Sav's Las Vegas Diary
Sav was lucky enough to accompany Jeff Horn to Las Vegas to prep and support Jeff during his June 2018 fight vs. Terence Crawford. Sav shared with us some of the highlights of that experience, so we can all feel what it's like to be ringside at a prize fight – and, behind the scenes, nourishing that fighter with carefully selected meals in the lead-up to the event.
"Prior to becoming a dietitian, I dreamed of becoming a chef – but found that the long hours were too challenging. But my dream recently came true – in a different way.
I had the opportunity to work in one of the main kitchens at the famous MGM Grand Hotel – alongside incredibly talented chefs – while I was in Las Vegas, accompanying Jeff Horn for his highly anticipated fight.
It was my role to oversee Jeff's diet starting from 10 days out from the fight, ensuring that his meals were balanced and controlling his levels of sodium and fat. I was also actively involved in his nutrition and supplement plans.
As conditions in Las Vegas differed due to climate, I constantly monitored Jeff's hydration status, both around training and leading up to weighing for the fight. I was also actively involved in his weight-cutting process for the fight, which allowed Jeff to lose minimal weight on weigh-in day. This, in theory, should reduce any negative performance encounters.
Additionally, I was responsible for rehydrating and refuelling Jeff before the fight itself, ensuring he regained muscle glycogen stores, hydration and energy within a 24-hour period from weigh-in.
What a busy time it was! I cooked breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner – around the clock! – for Jeff. If I wasn't in the kitchen, I was either traveling with Jeff's entourage to training, or at the Whole Foods Market, shopping for fresh produce.
When I was cooking in that renowned kitchen, I was in my element! Jeff also loved the meals I was preparing, and said he was so thankful."
Sav Manolis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Tag Archives: Coffee
The Most Dazzling
January 14, 2016 UncategorizedBe still, blessing, brownies, Chair and Microphone, Coffee, engagement, Facebook, hookah, love, marriage, mosquitoes, Mug, ordinary, perspective, restless, second story, Skype, Southeast Asiathesecondstories
She inhaled deeply from a bright red hookah. She had bought it with money she earned by teaching Arabic to foreigners, and brought it on this day to enjoy on my front patio, as she told me about her recent hard conversations with her fiancé's family. Tone staying cheerful, she switched to English for the serious line.
"I may never get married now."
We were soaking in the warm sunlight of a January afternoon. I offered her brownies and coffee for comfort, which she swallowed along with the mint-flavored smoke. Mugs printed with hearts and the phrase "World's Best Lover" sat in front of us. She had given them to me last year, thinking that they translated to something like "Person I Love Most in the World."
I will never tell her differently.
She gave one final sentence in English: "But you live happy– look at you, too– and you're not married."
Restlessness had seized me earlier that morning. It was my day off, probably the last full day off I would get in the upcoming three weeks. But just as sleep is most elusive when most sought, the harder I tried to focus on renewing soul and body, the more restless I became.
I attempted to be still, but my mind bounced from topic to topic like a Facebook newsfeed.
Remembering a late-night Skype call I had made the night before, and reviewing the groceries I needed to purchase that day.
Thinking about details for the center's English program registration on Sunday, and planning for the Young Leaders' day camps the week after.
Trying to get a plot twist in a movie I watched, and getting ready to console the emotional friend coming for coffee that afternoon.
Minutes piled into an hour, and still I sat on my couch, unproductive but unrested. I crabbily thought, I want You to speak– without much hope for an answer– and turned on music, a last-ditch effort at refocusing my soul before I needed to move on to groceries, and visitors, and another week. The first two lines said:
God loves His family
Like a man loves His wife. (from Ben Pasley, Chair and Microphone 1)
And suddenly I had a memory of a conference in Southeast Asia, nine years ago, and a woman named Sharon. She invited everyone to join her at 5:00 a.m. for a time of prayer. My roommate, a short-term volunteer, woke up at 4:45 a.m. saying that God had spoken to her through a dream, drawing her to go to this meeting.
I had unintentionally woken up at 4:42 a.m., with a mosquito persistently attacking my right ear.
We were the only ones there with Sharon. But what she prayed, I may always remember. I was 22, and content with being single at the time– though I had already had the privilege of being in weddings for half a dozen friends. Sharon asked God to give me joy in being loved by Him, like the joy of someone who had just gotten engaged.
Overflowing delight and irresistible desire to share it. Combined confidence in knowing that I am beloved, and boldness from the fact that nothing can shake it. Nothing can separate me from this love.
Wondering, nine years later, as I sat on the couch, is this kind of connection strong even on ordinary days– when the errands pile up, when my focus is wanting, when I am… well… crabby?
The night before, I talked on Skype with a good friend. She nuzzled her newborn, told me what it was like to be a mother of three, and said she did not have any big updates. I marveled; taking responsibility for three small lives, in addition to her own and her husband's, sounded big to me. I talked of "ordinariness"– travel plans, language study, and sweet soul talks in Arabic. She talked of "ordinariness"– house plans, feeding schedules, and the sweetness of speaking life to her neighbors.
We are both deep in radically different streams of ordinary. But they flow regularly into the same river, requiring the same things of us: open hearts, surrender, forgiveness, discipline in little matters, love, a sense of humor, courage, and reliance on One greater than ourselves.
I got off the couch, as the song finished. Invited God's presence into the grocery store errand. Invited Him to the table with me and my hookah-smoking friend, asking Him to be present as we processed her probable divorce (a broken engagement is equivalent to divorce here, and stigmatizing socially– especially for the woman).
I was still slightly restless and unfocused. But the blessing, given almost a decade ago on the other side of the world, was moving to a deeper level. It was starting to look less like an engagement… and more like ordinary days, with three kids. And a mortgage. And a steady fire where the heart sits.
My fingers were wrapped around the mug with its proclamation, "World's Best Lover." I looked at my friend. She released a puff of smoke and switched back to Arabic to ask, "What?"
"You know, right?" I answered. "You know the reason I can have a full life, even without being married yet?" She smiles. She knows this.
In my heart I pray Sharon's blessing again, with the updates:
May you be someone for whom the "ordinariness"
of life is infused with
contentment, confidence,
and boldness and joy.
May these come from knowing you
are unconditionally, steadfastly, and
loved.
I don't always feel this. But that is why there is a second story.
Love is the most dazzling when we are the least worthy.
Not Time.
February 7, 2015 Uncategorizedanger, Arabic, Bedouin, Coffee, field trip, games, healing, How are you?, Islam, leadership development, pilot, time, university, Young Leadersthesecondstories
Some of you are those people. The ones who really want to know the answer, when you ask, How are you? No matter how muddy, how messy, how story-filled, or how strange, the answer may be.
Thankfully for me, one of your type meets up with me for coffee each week. We hadn't even ordered the mochas yet, last week, but she wanted to know.
"I'm feeling uneasy," I answered. Then I gave a very "foreigner"-sounding reason for it: "I have many things to do today, and yet have managed to start none of them…." Went to meet someone; forgot they are not home. Wanted to organize my university class from my laptop, while sitting in the lobby of the community center; interrupted by local friends walking in the door. Shifted other plans to be present at a language lesson; time got changed, last minute, by my teacher.
Unfortunately, my addiction to showing results, to doing things efficiently– in a hurry— did not get left behind on my native continent.
Wednesday, a little before class, one of my students informed me of a special prayer ceremony, which would take place in half an hour. It was in memory of the fallen soldier. I assured her that she and the other students would be allowed to attend; my 75 minute lesson was shortened to 15. Then we took the last 15 minutes to talk about the pilot. Many of the students had seen the video, which had been made public the night before, of his death. How do you feel?
"This is not Islam," one began. The class nodded their assent.
"We feel sad…sad." "People think it will separate us but it will unite us." "They make our Muslim faith look horrible."
"We feel angry."
"We feel like he is our brother."
"I have no words in the English language," said a young woman in the front row. Encouraged to speak Arabic, she still struggled to find vocabulary: "It's a crime. How… how could anyone do that? How could they burn a person?"
Some other students studied the tiles on the floor, solemn-faced and articulately silent. Finally one spoke up: "We feel frustrated, because there is nothing we can do."
What do people do when they are angry? Our response to others' actions is a choice– so what should WE do? I want to give them answers. To throw them a life preserver, as they wrestle with a flood of confusion and grief… To drag them back to safety.
But I don't have answers either. As we left, I saw a printout of his picture, posted at the university's entrance. Not the military picture from the news articles; he is dressed casually, smiling, maybe on vacation. Relaxed. And I thought, this is over our heads, and there is no shortcut. We are going to have to learn how to swim.
And that will take some time.
Forty-one teenaged Arab girls spent Friday exploring the most famous tourist attraction of their country: a world-renowned, historically-rich archeological city. Many had never visited before. Groups had prepared presentations on one of 12 specific locations, which spread out over several kilometers, up hills, and in valleys.
I was in charge of the day, and felt responsible to get them to as many sites as we could visit. Maybe 10 out of 12, I thought.
We left an hour late. I looked the list of locations. Maybe nine out of twelve?
Lunch, which we had arranged in advance, wasn't ready on time. We lost another 40 minutes. Eight?
And then there were the girls themselves. I tried to motivate them by making it a game– "Your team gets a point if you make it to the next spot on time!"– without smothering the fun of the journey. They were stopping to look at Bedouin shops, posing in caves and on camels. Their songs reverberated off the rocks, as they ambled ancient paths between the mountains.
At one point, what I thought I said was meet in 15 minutes. The whole group laughed good-naturedly. "We'll starve if it takes that long!"
What did I say?
Apparently, my Arabic still needs help. "You just told us to meet in fifteen years!"
At the end of the day, I think we had hit six or seven of the sites. But rushing toward the goal would have robbed them of the chance to fully savor it all– the journey. The presence of their teachers and each other. The conversations with locals. The challenges of exertion and exploration.
Together with the ones at the university, these students will keep reminding me that learning, like healing, can't be rushed.
When I meet my friend for coffee tomorrow, I'll know– just a little more than I did last week– it's not about time.
Radical Welcome
August 30, 2014 UncategorizedCoffee, Grieving, hospitality, hunger, Matthew 25, perspective, radical welcome, refugee, second story, thirst, Travel, upside-down, war, Zainathesecondstories
"We long for the land," she said. "The soil of home." Anise chatted with us in the sitting room, one hand cradling a cup of coffee, the other steadying her infant daughter. Her parents had fled war in a neighboring country, when Anise was not much older than her baby is now.
Her identity is bound up in a land she only knows through her family's stories, of Palestine.
Zaina, the hostess, carried heaping dishes of tabbouleh, vegetables, and hand-made pastries into the sitting room from the kitchen, which doubles as a bedroom for her two children. She sat down and listened as Anise's stories continued. "My cousin tried to visit our homeland to see his mother before she died. They delayed him at the border for four days. When he got through, she was gone. Grief was strong. He had a stroke, and he has been paralyzed since."
Anise retold her stories of woe and hunger for homelands with a flair that, from the surface, bordered on cheerfulness. She introduced us new listeners to her decades-old tales with great animation. Zaina's face, however, grew cloudy, then dark. She burst into tears and ran into the kitchen.
Gathering tissues, Anise said to us in a matter-of-fact tone: "She fled Syria only eight months ago. It's difficult. We all long for our lands." And she went to the kitchen to pursue Zaina.
My second-story view this week is from an apartment in the United States, where I am staying with good friends. We are grieving the transition of a beloved woman of faith from this life to the next. Her husband sent me a text in the weeks leading up to her death, letting me know specifically that he was praying for me.
Upside-down, isn't it? The displaced being hosts. The grieving giving prayers. The wounded bringing wholeness. Since moving eight months ago, I have become an adult who needs to re-learn communication; a member separated from a body; an extroverted person who spends great portions of time in quiet.
It's changing my perspective.
There is this story about giving food to the hungry, drink to those who thirst, a visit to those in prison, and a home to the lonely. Jesus said, "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." In this upside-down time, I've been starting to see this story through the lens of the "least of these."
For I was hungry for companionship, and an Arab family asked me to spend every night of their holidays with them, eating and playing games. I was thirsty for knowledge of the language, and new friends patiently repeated themselves until my mind was sated, unable to hold more. I was sick, and the women in the community center's wellness program offered seven different cough remedies. I was a stranger to their country and their language, and they kept pouring coffee and urging me to eat more, kept insisting that I remain with them.
Last month, a family of Syrian refugees invited some friends and I to their home. From the second story of an apartment building on the border, they have watched and waited more than a year for stability to return to their homeland. Over the elaborate meal they fed us, we asked them about rent and employment and heard the story that had become familiar: high rental costs, no jobs.
Back at Zaina's, while Anise was comforting her in the kitchen, I had thought about the night before. I had been alone in my house, crying out homesick and longing for my own "land." And I realized that with my decision to move here, I was sensing some type of hunger, thirst, and what it meant to be alone– and that Zaina, and my other friends who have been displaced by war and division, experienced that pain with much less choice and a far greater depth. Yet they were the ones feeding me, helping me learn the language, and inviting me into their families.
I carry them in my heart for these days that I am visiting in the United States. They exist on the borders, uncertain of rent but offering a meal to strangers. They bear longing and even pain– for lost soil, for absent loved ones– and still look up, seeing those around them who hunger and thirst.
Even when my soul thirsts– when I grieve– when everything feels unsettled– will I extend a radical welcome?
On Waiting for the Story's Ending
July 30, 2014 Uncategorizedaid, article, Coffee, congregation, daily bread, darkness, delay, disengagement, displaced, Do you trust me?, Eid Mubarak, Elijah, European Union, grants, hospitality, I Kings 17, Iraq, Israel, love, ma'amoul, Martin Sanders, mosque, Mt. Carmel, Palestine, pillow, politicians, Ramadan, re-post, refugee, reporters, risk, Samaritan's Purse, sleep, start, Syria, The Power of Mentoring, upheaval, war, widowthesecondstories
Sleep refused to come. It's possible that it was because of the evening visit to wish my friends Eid Mubarak, a blessed holiday, as they finished 30 days of Ramadan fasting. A short visit, with "simple" hospitality– which meant only two cups of coffee, a cup of tea, a glass of soda, and sugary holiday cookies known as ma'amoul.
I shifted pillows, counted out deep inhales and exhales, listened to the 4:30 a.m. call to prayer sound from the neighborhood mosque.
And then I wondered if my restlessness was because of you. You, the friend from home, whose deep struggle I heard about just before bed. You, the family I recently met, striving to make life work with newly adopted daughters, separated from them by heart-sickening delays. You, Palestine… and you, Israel. You, Iraq and you, Syria.
You, ISIS. You, politicians. You, Hamas. You, reporters and re-posters and you, you who haven't watched or heard or read the news in recent weeks.
Me, sharing these words to you, and running the risk of adding noise without insight. I don't know where your situation is going, but I'm going to risk it for this reason: I think I know a place to start.
A friend of mine wrote a book called "The Power of Mentoring." He retells the story of the prophet Elijah, tracing his history backwards. On Mt. Carmel, fire fell and a multitude saw God's power demonstrated. Before that, however, Elijah camped by a brook alone during a desolate time, with birds delivering him meals twice each day. Next he invited one woman– a widow about to starve– to join him in trusting God for daily bread, and later for life to be restored to her dead child. He went to Carmel AFTER faith had grown in those quiet places.
I visited a fifty-person fellowship earlier in the month. This anonymous congregation, ten years ago, had noticed local needs and decided to live out His love. They asked. They visited. They brought aid. When war came close to them, they were on one of the main escape routes through which people fled suffering. The fellowship kept asking, visiting… loving. Today, this small congregation has served thousands of displaced, and local, families.
They receive grants from organizations as varied as Samaritan's Purse and the European Union. They are consulted by governments and other-faith groups, because they were loving the region before the eyes of the world were on them.
They did not, however, start by reading an article called, "Ten Steps for Responding to a Refugee" or "Three Things to Say to the Suffering."
They started by loving those in front of them. In the upheavals of this time, when I think of you and can't sleep– broken people, beloved people– I pray that love abounds for you. I pray it rescues you from the destructiveness and darkness that plague us, and ushers you into light.
And I pray today that we are saved from the allure of delay, and the inoculation that comes from information laced with disengagement.
Love the people who are in front of you. The ones close are often hardest, and acknowledgment may not be present. Love strongly anyway. Love daily, without waiting for a crisis to prompt your action. Love widely, keep your heart soft when you watch the news or receive the updates. I don't know where it will go from there… but let's begin.
Rest comes with surrender. I fell asleep as dawn broke, accepting the fact that I am unwilling to wait until I know its end before I begin the story.
New Day Beginning
June 24, 2014 UncategorizedAirport, Bedouin, Coffee, cold brew, Community Center, desert, hugs, Paris, Rain, second story, sister, Spain, stars, sunrise, tarmac, tears, Travel, Vision, World Cupthesecondstories
Darkness hid the mountains as I stepped, for the first time, from the plane onto the tarmac in this new place.
I reached my city well after night had come, six months ago. My first impressions were limited to what could be illuminated by orange streetlights and neon signs; an inky black covered the rest.
Stepping once again onto airport pavement, three weeks ago, I remembered that first hazy darkness. This time dusty outlines of mountains surrounded me and faded into the dusk. I was picking up my sister for a week of life here: laughter and tears with Arab ladies at the community center, exploration of familiar and new places together, smiling acceptance of whatever food or drink was offered… She flowed with it all.
And then I was on another tarmac, mid-day. My flight was shockingly un-delayed by the downpour that had drenched the morning, the rain that had saturated sidewalks and left behind a dull blue-gray sky. My sister was heading home from our connecting city of Paris. I took a different direction; a group of professionals in similar work had been invited to gather on the coast of Spain.
I held little expectation, except to go to the beach during our free time… or during not-free time if needed. I knew none of the other participants. I speak no Spanish (once I knew a little, but it is quite buried beneath Arabic for now).
I was unsure of what I would hear. But I came with a desire to listen.
Within an hour of arriving, I was at a local restaurant with a couple that does community development in London… soon after, meeting a young family that works in Afghanistan, English teachers from Africa, and business-developers who live in India. I started hearing the many stories: smart ideas, failures, restoration, defeat, thefts, provision… Healed, in some cases.
Unhealed, other times. Life. Death. Miracles. Suffering. Enduring.
And during our conference, eyes were feasted on seas, sunsets, and World Cup games. Stomachs filled with good food, mouths with laughter. Faces washed in tears as we heard some of the experiences. Because as we came from around the world, many of us carried stories of broken bodies, broken relationships… companies… countries.
We also carried the knowledge of one who was with us. Every celebration. Every dark day.
Some friends and I had the chance to spend the night, last week, in the desert with the Bedouin. The stars– beyond all counting, beyond any descriptions– drew us flat on our backs in a half-circle, facing up. The darkest night displayed un-earthly glory, and all other nights have felt richer since I got that glimpse.
Two days ago, I was at another ai rport, this time to drop off dear friends who had been here to visit. They had taught me to cold brew coffee, hugged like they meant it, and reminded me of the most important things. The sun was rising as I drove home, warm bands of orange and pink that stretched over the desert horizon.
A heart filled up. A broadened view.
This is something I need.
March 28, 2014 UncategorizedChinese, Coffee, community, croissant, drummer, encouragement, Grieving, guitar, hummus, idea, Mountain, Mug, pita, pizza, project, refugee, relationship, second story, song, soulthesecondstories
I need you to help me…
Monday I told a local friend that I needed something. An idea: a different way to invest in Syrian refugees, now the first project had ended. She is from here, a make-it-happen activator who already has two jobs; I am new, a student increasingly conscious of how much I still need to learn.
We wanted something that would involve the community in service, make space for developing relationships, and meet a practical need. BUT something we had time to do.
She said she'd think about it, and get back to me.
Still, after nearly three months, I miss my family and friends and community from the States– and pizza; I really miss buffalo chicken, New York style slices– and all the familiarity that came with them. I had people to talk through teaching ideas with me. I had a team of trusted coworkers and friends, to help plan community events: worship training, community breakfasts, an art show… Together our ideas and application were better than they ever could have been alone. I enjoy making music, but when I play here alone, I miss the sounds of our incredible drummer, or the classical-turned-loose pianist or the strum just the way Shawna does it.
A quiet place. A mug of coffee and an almond croissant. A hug, listening ears, a soul connection over tea or Chinese food or… I miss how easy it was to get those things.
Learning friends, family, and community in a new place may be harder than learning a foreign language– but even more necessary for life to be lived (instead of survived). My favorite parts of the past three months have been times of connection. And I see in people I have met a deep craving for connection, whether they are from the Arab world, the US, or elsewhere.
My favorite moments of the past months have been moments of connection. Hummus and pita with Arab friends. Ice cream and oreos with a fellow stranger to this country, who makes her home here. Working as an incredible team, both local and non-local, for our first outreach for refugees. Laughter with local ladies as I attempt to tell a story. And moments of connection– looking up at the mountains, praying with a friend, hearing lyrics from a good song– with the Creator.
My friend came back the next day holding a pile of papers. The top page read, "101 Project Ideas." In between jobs, my friend had researched ideas, and come up with one that she thought would work for neighborhood and the Syrian refugees.
She gave me a great idea to bring back to the team. And she gave me yet another connection here; yet another powerful note in the unfinished song that is this season. I think I'll call the song…
No, I'll save naming this song for another, second story.


text:
Interesting facts about planet Mars
by Elizabeth Howell, Universe Today
The Planet Mars. Credit: NASA
Mars is a constant point of discussion for space explorers around the world. We've sent dozens of spacecraft there to study it. Some want to land astronauts on it. The planet is just far away to make that dream difficult, but just close enough to spark our imagination. So what are some of the most important things to learn about the Red Planet?
1. Mars had water in the ancient past.
We've been debating for centuries about whether Mars had life or not. In fact, the astronomer Percival Lowell misinterpreted observations of "canali"—the Italian word for channels—on the planet as evidence of alien-made canals. It turned out Lowell's observations were hampered by poor telescope optics of his day, and the canals he saw were optical illusions. That said, several spacecraft have spotted other signs of ancient water—channels grooved in the terrain and rocks that only could have formed in the presence of water, for example.
2. Mars has frozen water today.
We're very interested in the question of water because it implies habitability; simply put, life as we know it is more likely to exist with water there. In fact, the Curiosity rover's mandate on Mars right now is to search for habitable environments (in the past or present). Mars has a thin atmosphere that does not allow water to flow or remain in large quantities on the surface, but we know for sure that there is ice at the poles—and possibly frosty locations elsewhere on the planet. The question is if the ice is capable of melting enough water in the summer long enough to support any microbes.
3. Mars used to have a thicker atmosphere.
For water to flow in the past, the Red Planet needs more atmosphere. So something must have changed in the past few billion years. What? It is thought that the Sun's energy striking the atmosphere must have "stripped" the lighter forms of hydrogen from the top, scattering the molecules into space. Over long periods of time, this would lessen the amount of atmosphere near Mars. This question is being investigated in more detail with NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft.
4. Mars has some extreme highs and lows in terrain.
Mars Express Data from Mars South Pole. Credits: ESA/ Image Courtesy of F. Altieri (IFSI-INAF) and the OMEGA team
The surface gravity of Mars is only 37% of what you would find on Earth, which makes it possible for volcanoes to be taller without collapsing. This is why we have Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano known on a planet in the Solar System. It's 16 miles (25 kilometers) high and its diameter is approximately the same as the state of Arizona, according to NASA. But Mars also has a deep and wide canyon known as Valles Marineris, after the spacecraft (Mariner 9) that discovered it. In some parts, the canyon is 4 miles (7 kilometers) deep. According to NASA, the valley is as wide as the United States and is about 20% of the Red Planet's diameter.
5. Mars has two moons—and one of them is doomed.
The planet has two asteroid-like moons called Phobos and Deimos. Because they have compositions that are similar to asteroids found elsewhere in the Solar System, according to NASA, most scientists believe the Red Planet's gravity snatched the moons long ago and forced them into orbit. But in the life of the Solar System, Phobos has a pretty short lifetime. In about 30 million to 50 million years, Phobos is going to crash into Mars' surface or rip apart because the tidal force of the planet will prove too much to resist.
6. We have pieces of Mars on Earth
Valles Marineris as seen in this mosaic of Viking orbiter images. Noctis Labyrinthus at the left, Melas Chasma in the middle, Hebes Chasma just left of top center, Eos Chasma at lower right and Ganges Chasma just above center right. Credit: NASA/JPL
Remember the low gravity on Mars that we talked about? In the past, the planet has been hit by large asteroids—just like Earth. Most of the debris fell back on the planet, but some of it was ejected into space. That sparked an incredible journey where the debris moved around the Solar System and in some cases, landed on Earth. The technical name for these meteorites is called SNC (Shergottites, Nakhlites, Chassignites—types of geologic composition). Gases trapped in some of these meteorites has been practically identical to what NASA's Viking landers sampled on the Red Planet in the 1970s and 1980s.
7. Mars would kill an unprotected astronaut quickly.
There are a lot of unpleasant scenarios for somebody who took of their helmet. First, Mars is usually pretty cold; its average temperature is -50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 degrees Celsius) at the mid-latitudes. Second, it has practically no atmosphere. The air pressure on Mars is only 1% of what we have (on average) on the Earth's surface. And third, even if it did have atmosphere, the composition is not compatible with the nitrogen-oxygen mix humans require. Specifically, Mars has about 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon and a few other elements in its atmosphere.
Phobos, the larger of Mars' two moons, with the Stickney crater seen on the right side. Credit: HiRISE, MRO, LPL (U. Arizona), NASA
8. In the early Space Age, we thought Mars was like the moon.
The early NASA probes that flew by the Red Planet all, coincidentally, happened to image spots on the planets that had craters. This led some scientists to (mistakenly) believe that Mars has an environment similar to the moon: cratered and practically unchanging. This all changed when Mariner 9 arrived at the planet for an orbital mission in November 1971 and discovered the planet engulfed in a global dust storm. What's more, odd features were poking out above the dust—features that turned out to be dormant volcanoes. And as mentioned earlier, Mariner 9 found the vast Valles Marineris. It changed our view of the planet forever.
9. Mars has methane in its atmosphere, but we don't know how much.
Top: Map of methane concentrations in Autumn (first martian year observed). Peak emissions fall over Tharsis (home to the Solar System\'s largest volcano, Olympus Mons), the Arabia Terrae plains and the Elysium region, also the site of volcanos. Bottom: True colour map of Mars. Credit: NASA/Università del Salento
Methane can be interpreted as a sign of biological activity—microbes emit it—or even of geologic activity. And active planets, it is thought, are more likely to have life on them. So the question of methane on Mars is one that scientists are trying to figure out. The consensus? There is no consensus. Telescopic observations have had wildly different measurements over the years, and few spacecraft have been designed to probe for the element in detail. The Curiosity rover has detected tenfold spikes in methane in its area, but we don't know where it came from and why the fluctuations are happening.
10. Mars is a popular spacecraft destination.
There have been so many spacecraft that attempted a Martian mission that it's hard to pick notable ones in a short article. NASA's Vikings were the first landers in 1976; in fact, NASA is the only agency that has managed to land on the planet so far. Some of its other missions include Pathfinder-Sojourner (the first lander-rover combination) in 1997, the Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit and Opportunity in 2004, and the Curiosity rover of 2012. And this doesn't even mention the fleet of orbiters that have mapped Mars over the years from the Soviet Union, NASA, the European Space Agency and India. And there are many more spacecraft to come in the next decade.
NASA spacecraft completes 40,000 Mars orbits
Source: Universe Today
Citation: Interesting facts about planet Mars (2015, February 16) retrieved 19 July 2019 from https://phys.org/news/2015-02-facts-planet-mars.html
MAVEN spacecraft returns first Mars observations
Who are the two new arrivals at Mars?
Shortly after Mars comet, NASA's new red planet spacecraft officially starts mission
MAVEN Mars spacecraft to begin orbit of Red Planet
US-India to collaborate on Mars exploration
China's plans to solve the mysteries of the moon
Cassini explores ring-like formations around Titan's lakes
Red wine's resveratrol could help Mars explorers stay strong
Mapping the moon and worlds beyond
Shootist
This all changed when . . . when Mariner 9 discovered the planet engulfed in a global dust storm.
Astronomers knew for 50 years, or more, prior to Mariner 9 that Mars had both dust storms and clouds, as each had been observed by ground base observers.
The Curiosity rover has detected tenfold spikes in methane in its area, but we don't know where it came from and why the fluctuations are happening.
Um...do the fluctuations correlate to a wind direction, perhaps, so you could track it? A seasonal change?
Methane can be interpreted as a sign of biological activity—microbes emit it—or even of geologic activity.
Don't read something into data which isn't necessarily there. The Methane has it's highest concentration near the extinct/dormant volcanoes. This suggest it is of geologic/geo-chemical origin.
It doesn't rule out life, as we know there are Lithotrophe extremophiles on Earth as much as 2 miles beneath the ocean crush apparently living on trace elements in the rocks. Who knows how long it took for the bacterial colonies to migrate through fractures to populate 2 miles of rock?
If it can live in such conditions on Earth, it could probably live on mars in some subterranean hot-spot.
There's a big difference between the bacteria and algae most of us know as compared to those organisms though, as some of them have life cycles able to lie dormant for 100 or even 1000 years even though they are single-celled.
Are we sure Water is the culprit for the geology of Mars? What if it was colder with respect to the Sun, not warmer in the past, meanwhile geologically warmer? Remember the "Faint Young Sun" paradox?
Present-day minimum is -143C. Methane condenses to liquid at -161.49C, 18C difference which isn't too big of a stretch given weaker geology and high surface-to-volume ratio for geothermal heat.
What if the canyons and alluvial fans are cut by Liquid Methane? CO2 and Methane Glaciers?
Methane would break down into CO2 after being stripped of the hydrogen, same end as water, different start though. As the system warmed, CO2 would go through cycles of sublimation and deposition until you formed ice caps.
Volcanic mudslides could conceivably cover a large biologic area and trap it until it decayed (microbes) over eons, but the thing is there should be some other evidence of life or past-life in the area. With a thin atmosphere and removing water and oxygen from the atmosphere, features should survive for eons relatively undisturbed. None of our landers has seen anything to suggest the possibility of something large and biologic, such as lichens or mosses, grasses, trees, etc. They have even found any evidence of microbes, and only some direct evidence of past liquid water based on stream bed rounded rocks, and some rock chemistry from minerals known to form in hydrated environments. Aside from "water related weathering and chemistry" there has yet to be any evidence of past life on Mars.
I don't think Methane is an indicator of life or past life. It is certainly "better than nothing", but you can say that about almost anything.
Oh yeah, geochemical methane being present and active on Mars even after all this time is evidence that much of the methane deep inside Earth may be geochemical in origin, rather than biological, and rock chemistry processes near hot spots may need to be re-evaluated even here on Earth.
You'd think with the decades of the USGS and Icelanders studying active volcanoes they'd figure out some more specific spectrographic tests to determine the origin of methane...like, "If 'Rock type A' exists near a volcano and there is also Methane, then the Methane came from a chemical reaction at that rock type's origin."
Of course, there's the matter of how the Methane must form after the volcano actually cools, or in a completely an-oxygenic environment, else it would burn in the presence of oxygen and make CO2 and Water, and we wouldn't be detecting it.
So I take methane to be evidence that the rocks in the volcano are oxygen-depleted...
Needs 3/4 of an atmosphere of Nitrogen for starters, to regulate the temperature and warm up the poles. Then the CO2 will gasify naturally and the whole planet would warm up significantly. It would warm several degrees just from pressure laws alone.
Jonseer
Why wait for phobos to crash into Mars. We should help it along by building engines powered by the directed energy of several simultaneous high yield megaton nuclear explosions to force it to fall from orbit and crash into a location along its orbit where large amounts of frozen water is known to be.
In doing so we could dramatically increase the atmosphere of mars for a long enough time to get established colonies going. :)


text:
Welwyn Hatfield Times > News > Health
Gym manager reveals relief following reopening date announcement
Matt Powell
Published: 10:20 AM February 23, 2021
Jason Lombard of energie Fitness said he felt 'relief' after the announcement about gyms - Credit: Supplied
A Hatfield gym owner has said Boris Johnson's 'roadmap' to easing restrictions, including opening gyms, has given him a 'huge feeling of relief'.
Gyms will be able to reopen on April 12, but people will not be able to attend with people from other households and gym classes will not be able to run.
Jason Lombard, club director at Hatfield ènergie fitness, told this paper how he feels about the easing of gym restrictions.
He said: "With Boris Johnson's announcement that gyms will reopen on April 12 along with other shops and businesses comes a huge feeling of relief. We are pleased that we now have a date to aim for.
Energie Fitness Hatfield - Credit: Supplied
"It was hard not knowing and always trying to second guess what might happen. There is a lot of work to do to both prepare our club and our awesome team before we can open the doors to our members again.
"Having this date means that we can ensure that we are ready to give our members the best welcome back and guarantee them a safe and healthy environment to train and to hit their health and wellness goals.
"Although we might have wanted to get back sooner we, like the majority of the fitness industry, believe that protecting the health and safety of both our team and our members is the most important thing. So waiting until the virus figures are reduced and more people are vaccinated against it is the right thing to do."
Energie Fitness Hatfield has been running classes online throughout lockdown - Credit: Archant
However Jason was a bit disappointed that they will not be able to begin gym classes at the same time, but understands the need for caution.
Group exercise classes will not restart until May 17 when restrictions start lifting for indoor gatherings.
He added: "We are certain that, once the statistics continue to prove that gyms are a safe environment and that incidents of COVID virus transmission are incredibly low because of all the measures that we take to ensure our members' safety, we will soon be allowed to get back to safe socially distanced classes."
Jason believes that the way people train may have changed forever, after a year of mainly working out from home - so they have developed a programme that caters for all their members needs both in and outside of the club.


text:
Alana DeJoseph (Mali) wins Best Director Award at Mumbai Film Festival
Alana DeJoseph
Such kind words, Geri! Thank you for all of your support along the way!
From 1992 to 1994 Peace Corps Volunteer Alana DeJoseph was an enterprise development advisor in a small town in Mali, West Africa, consistently one of the 10 poorest nations in the world. Being a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer she understood that as walls are being built and nations are turning inward, a comprehensive documentary of this globally engaged American agency was urgently needed.
Alana says: "In a time when the American public either has a very antiquated notion of the Peace Corps, informed by an almost mythological awe of the 60s, or is not even aware that the agency still exists, it is high time to bring this unique organization back into the public discourse, to raise the level of the discussion from quaint to crucial."
Alana has worked in video and film production for nearly 40 years. She began her career as a 10-year-old actress. Since then, she has worn many hats as producer, director, videographer, and editor, but her heart has always been in documentaries. Between 2003 and 20013, she was associate producer of the PBS documentaries The Greatest Good (about the U.S. Forest Service) and Green Fire (about conservationist Aldo Leopold).
In 2013 Alana began working on the first feature documentary about the history of the Peace Corps: A Towering Task. On September 22nd, 2019 the film premiered to a full house at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. In December 2020 she won the Best Director award in the feature documentary category at the Indo Global International Film Festival in Mumbai.
Liz Fanning says:
Congratulations Alana. I'm glad to see this well-deserved recognition.
Alana DeJoseph says:
Thank you, Liz!
John chromy says:
Alena. congratulations on the Mumbai Film award and your efforts on behalf of the PC STORY. I would like to chat with you about how to give it a wider audience when u have a moment would u
Mind giving me a call 202 369 6037 thanks
John Chromy. PCV India. 1063-65
John, yes, let's definitely talk. Can you, please, send me an email through our website at http://www.peacecorpsdocumentary.com so we can set up a date and time for a call?
Bob Morris says:
Alana,
Congratulations on your product and its international recognition. How might one see it now?
(PCV and then Asst. Dir, Pakistan, 1961-65; seconded by PC to Intl. Secretariat for Vol Service, '67; author of book on national overseas volunteer programs of other countries, Lexington,1973).
The best for individuals to watch is through our virtual theatrical release:
http://www.firstrunfeatures.com/toweringtask_playdates.html
You can get your ticket from any theater and then stream the film online.
And maybe there is a possibility of getting the Pakistan RPCVs together for a virtual community screening and Q&A. Please, send me an email through our website at http://www.peacecorpsdocumentary.com.
Kathleen Corey says:
I am over the moon on this well-deserved recognition! Alana, you are putting Peace Corps and our mission and our history on the map! The film is so good that I kept thinking it was bound to win awards, and this may the first of many. We all owe you a debt of gratitude. What great news for the new year! Happy New Year everyone–may 2021 be full of peace and
wonder for all.
Thank you for your kind words, Corey!
Kim Herman says:
Congratulations Alana! A well deserved recognition. I am encouraging the Friends of the Dominican Republic to look into a virtual showing in early 2021. Again, thanks for making this documentary,
Kim Herman
President Friends of the Dominican Republic
And thank you to all of the support from you and Friends of the DR!
Susan E. Greisen says:
Congratulations Alana,
I was so privileged to view this wonderful film earlier this year. Your deserve this and more. Peace Corps has been enshrined in this documentary and we must keep placing the face of Peace Corps in the public eye. Friends of Liberia (FOL) is adding to your endeavor by publishing our Anthology of Liberian stories in 2022. We want our PC stories to reach beyond the volunteer and staff who know our narrative too well. Thanks again, Alana, for keeping Peace Corps in the limelight just when we needed it the most.
RPCV Liberia 1971-73, Tonga 1973-74. FOL Anthology Lead.
Thank you, Susan! And thank you to Friends of Liberia for contributing to the archives of the Peace Corps' history!
Geri Critchley says:
Congratulations !!! Your vision, your perseverance, your hard work, your winning disposition and enthusiasm in the face of the resistance that a Peace Corps documentary had never been created/produced in ~ 50 years – "so why do we need one now? You kept going – and did not leave a stone unturned despite the barriers and challenges along the way. You brought the Peace Corps to the public enriching the world ad infinitum. Onward…..With gratitude, Geri Critchley, Senegal 71-72


text:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<!--L
  Copyright Oracle Inc

  Distributed under the OSI-approved BSD 3-Clause License.
  See http://ncip.github.com/cadsr-cgmdr-nci-uk/LICENSE.txt for details.
L-->

<cgMDR:Enumerated_Value_Domain xmlns:cgMDR="http://www.cancergrid.org/schema/cgMDR" item_registration_authority_identifier="GB-CANCERGRID" data_identifier="D1E410994" version="0.1">
    <cgMDR:administered_item_administration_record>
        <cgMDR:administrative_note>Auto generated during protege import</cgMDR:administrative_note>
        <cgMDR:administrative_status>scheduledForReview</cgMDR:administrative_status>
        <cgMDR:change_description/>
        <cgMDR:creation_date>2006-08-08</cgMDR:creation_date>
        <cgMDR:effective_date>2006-08-08</cgMDR:effective_date>
        <cgMDR:explanatory_comment/>
        <cgMDR:last_change_date>2006-08-08</cgMDR:last_change_date>
        <cgMDR:origin/>
        <cgMDR:registration_status>Incomplete</cgMDR:registration_status>
        <cgMDR:unresolved_issue/>
    </cgMDR:administered_item_administration_record>
    <cgMDR:administered_by>GB-CANCERGRID-000005-1</cgMDR:administered_by>
    <cgMDR:registered_by>GB-CANCERGRID-000009-1</cgMDR:registered_by>
    <cgMDR:submitted_by>GB-CANCERGRID-000006-1</cgMDR:submitted_by>
    <cgMDR:described_by>KNCSJG1HE</cgMDR:described_by>
    <cgMDR:classified_by>http://www.cancergrid.org/ontologies/data-element-classification#D1E15270</cgMDR:classified_by>
    <cgMDR:having>
        <cgMDR:context_identifier>GB-CANCERGRID-000001-1</cgMDR:context_identifier>
        <cgMDR:containing>
            <cgMDR:language_section_language_identifier>
                <cgMDR:country_identifier>GB</cgMDR:country_identifier>
                <cgMDR:language_identifier>eng</cgMDR:language_identifier>
            </cgMDR:language_section_language_identifier>
            <cgMDR:name>Breast Surgery Type  value domain</cgMDR:name>
            <cgMDR:definition_text>As indicated in the patient notes</cgMDR:definition_text>
            <cgMDR:preferred_designation>true</cgMDR:preferred_designation>
            <cgMDR:definition_source_reference/>
        </cgMDR:containing>
    </cgMDR:having>
    <cgMDR:typed_by>GB-CANCERGRID-000010-1</cgMDR:typed_by>
    <cgMDR:value_domain_datatype>KRMZ1P97F</cgMDR:value_domain_datatype>
    <cgMDR:value_domain_unit_of_measure>MV3QWZ2YG</cgMDR:value_domain_unit_of_measure>
    <cgMDR:containing permissible_value_identifier="S263YT2C9">
        <cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>2006-08-08+01:00</cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>
        <cgMDR:value_item>WLE</cgMDR:value_item>
        <cgMDR:contained_in>D1E41184</cgMDR:contained_in>
    </cgMDR:containing>
    <cgMDR:containing permissible_value_identifier="A6L6NO1JM">
        <cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>2006-08-08+01:00</cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>
        <cgMDR:value_item>Breast Conserving</cgMDR:value_item>
        <cgMDR:contained_in>D1E41190</cgMDR:contained_in>
    </cgMDR:containing>
    <cgMDR:containing permissible_value_identifier="I1AGNIZEG">
        <cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>2006-08-08+01:00</cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>
        <cgMDR:value_item>n/a</cgMDR:value_item>
        <cgMDR:contained_in>D1E41196</cgMDR:contained_in>
    </cgMDR:containing>
    <cgMDR:containing permissible_value_identifier="AXXN3KF14">
        <cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>2006-08-08+01:00</cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>
        <cgMDR:value_item>Other</cgMDR:value_item>
        <cgMDR:contained_in>D1E41202</cgMDR:contained_in>
    </cgMDR:containing>
    <cgMDR:containing permissible_value_identifier="XKA4BDA7B">
        <cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>2006-08-08+01:00</cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>
        <cgMDR:value_item>Reconstruction</cgMDR:value_item>
        <cgMDR:contained_in>D1E41208</cgMDR:contained_in>
    </cgMDR:containing>
    <cgMDR:containing permissible_value_identifier="G9GUJT01O">
        <cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>2006-08-08+01:00</cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>
        <cgMDR:value_item>Mastectomy</cgMDR:value_item>
        <cgMDR:contained_in>D1E41215</cgMDR:contained_in>
    </cgMDR:containing>
    <cgMDR:containing permissible_value_identifier="TOSUZTUMU">
        <cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>2006-08-08+01:00</cgMDR:permissible_value_begin_date>
        <cgMDR:value_item>Re-excision</cgMDR:value_item>
        <cgMDR:contained_in>D1E41221</cgMDR:contained_in>
    </cgMDR:containing>
    <cgMDR:representing>GB-CANCERGRID-D1E410993-0.1</cgMDR:representing>
</cgMDR:Enumerated_Value_Domain>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


BlackRock is now using ICE Data Services as its new benchmark provider for four of its iShares US bond exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with a combined $18.9 billion in asset under management.
The four funds, which includes the iShares Broad USD Investment Grade Corporate ETF, iShares Short-Term Corporate Bond ETF, iShares Intermediate-Term Corporate Bond ETF and iShares Long-Term Corporate Bond ETF, will now be benchmarked to ICE Data Indices.
"As investors have expressed a desire for more focused corporate exposure, these index changes will ensure we offer the right ETFs for our clients' evolving needs," said Heather Brownlie, head of US iShares fixed income at BlackRock.
The benchmark deal follows BlackRock's recent agreement with ICE to provide its support and to help develop a new fixed income ETF platform. The platform, due to go-live in 2019, subject to regulatory approval, will be connected to ICE's fixed income trading platform BondPoint, TMC Bonds and ICE Credit Trade.
ICE added that the platform will look to enforce industry standards to facilitate creation and redemption orders to ease the current processes for ETFs.
"BlackRock iShares is a leader in ETF issuance and we're excited to have been selected as the index provider for these funds," Lynn Martin, chief operating officer of ICE Data Services, concluded.


James christie — Web Design and Development Blog | Web Design Trends, Tips, and More by Shopify Partners.
Just because our work is often intangible, it's not without environmental consequences. The internet is a major polluter, and every site or service we produce does some level of harm.
However, the things we make have a huge potential to help reduce pollution. Laddering up from local concerns to the global perspective, there are four main spheres of influence that designers can make the most impact on.


text:
WFXT (channel 25) is a television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, affiliated with the Fox network and owned by Cox Media Group. Its studios are located on Fox Drive (near the Boston-Providence Turnpike) in Dedham, and its transmitter is located on Cabot Street in Needham. WFXT is the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the network, although it was previously owned by Fox on two occasions (1987–1990 and 1995–2014).

History

Early years (1977–1986)
The station first signed on the air on October 10, 1977, as WXNE-TV (standing for "Christ (X) in New England"); originally operating as an independent station, it was founded by the then–Portsmouth, Virginia–based Christian Broadcasting Network. After being awarded a construction permit to build the station from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in June 1972, CBN targeted the new channel 25 to begin operations within one year. However, various delays in obtaining both a studio and transmitter location resulted in a wait of over five years for the station to finally sign-on. WXNE-TV's early programming format was targeted at a family audience, consisting of older syndicated reruns and a decent amount of religious programming–including CBN's flagship show, The 700 Club, hosted by the ministry's founder Pat Robertson. Religious programs ran for about six hours a day during the week, and throughout the day on Sundays. The station also carried the daily and Sunday Mass from the Boston Catholic Television Center. Secular programming consisted of westerns, older movies, family-oriented drama series, old film shorts, and classic television series. For several years under CBN ownership, Tim Robertson served as the station's program director, appointed by his father, Pat Robertson.

The station began adding more cartoons, made-for-TV movies, and off-network sitcoms and family dramas during the early 1980s. Most notably, in 1980, WXNE took over production of the weekday bowling program Candlepins for Cash, which had just been canceled by CBS affiliate WNAC-TV (channel 7, now WHDH) after seven seasons. With new host Rico Petrocelli, the show moved production from WNAC-TV's studios, in bowling lanes that were built in the basement of the facility, to the now-defunct Wal-Lex Lanes in Waltham. After only a few months as host, Petrocelli was ousted in favor of the program's original host when it aired on WNAC-TV, Bob Gamere, who remained on Candlepins until it ended its run on channel 25 in 1983. During this time, the station rebranded itself as "Boston 25", as it converted into a true independent. While the station was carried only on cable providers in the Greater Boston market, WXNE-TV held a solid third place among the area's independent stations, behind the longer-established WSBK-TV (channel 38) and WLVI-TV (channel 56), and sixth in the ratings among the market's commercial television stations.

In April 1986, WXNE and the other two CBN-owned stations — KXTX-TV in Dallas and WYAH-TV (now WGNT) in Portsmouth — were put up for sale. That August, News Corporation announced that it would purchase channel 25, with plans to make it an owned-and-operated station of its Fox Broadcasting Company. Fox had been in preliminary negotiations to secure an affiliation with either WSBK or WLVI, but ended its pursuit of both outlets. Until the sale was completed, channel 25, upon the Fox network's startup on October 9, 1986, did not air the network's inaugural program and what was then its lone offering, The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers, a late-night talk show that aired opposite The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on NBC. The outgoing CBN ownership believed that the program did not fit its strict content guidelines. Fox instead contracted Boston radio station WMRE (1510 AM, now WMEX) to carry the audio portion of The Late Show in the interim.

As WFXT (1987–present)
When the sale to News Corporation was completed on December 31, 1986, WXNE-TV, renamed WFXT on January 19, 1987, became the seventh Fox-owned property and the first to be acquired separately from News Corporation's 1986 purchase of Metromedia's six television stations that served as the foundation for the new network. Besides adding The Late Show to the schedule, airings of The 700 Club were cut to once a day, and the daily broadcast of the Roman Catholic Mass was moved to an earlier timeslot. The station also began airing the syndicated, Fox-produced tabloid magazine A Current Affair on weeknights; WFXT was the second station, after producing station and Fox flagship WNYW in New York City, to air the program. WXNE staff announcer Chris Clausen had already been let go in late 1986 (promptly joining WNEV-TV in January 1987) in favor of the services of Fox affiliate voiceover Beau Weaver, who would remain with both the station and Fox Television Stations for over a decade. The station's schedule, however, was largely unchanged at the outset, aside from the removal of several older sitcoms that soon resurfaced on WQTV (channel 68, now WBPX-TV). The Sunday evening religious program block was finally discontinued on April 5, 1987, when Fox launched its prime time lineup, which initially aired only on Sundays before expanding to Saturdays that July (as such, WFXT is the only Boston television station that has never changed its network affiliation, as it has been with Fox since the network's prime time expansion; it wasn't until 1993 that Fox had programming on all seven days of the week).

Over the next few years, WFXT, for the most part was unable to acquire the better syndicated programs and continued to only acquire shows that WSBK, WLVI, and the market's network affiliates passed on. In addition to Fox programming, most of the shows added to WFXT's schedule were low-budget, first-run syndicated programs and cartoons. However, in 1988, the station did manage to buy two popular weekday syndicated shows away from WNEV—Hollywood Squares (the then-current John Davidson version) and Entertainment Tonight—when the CBS affiliate phased them off its schedule, due to other programming commitments. WFXT aired Squares through its 1989 cancellation; it carried ET weeknights at 7:00 p.m., as the lead-in to A Current Affair, until selling the show back to WHDH-TV (the former WNEV) in 1990. WFXT has again aired ET since 2015.

Sale to the Boston Celtics
As the FCC prohibited the common ownership of a television station and a newspaper in the same market, in purchasing channel 25, News Corporation had to apply for and was granted a temporary waiver in order to retain WFXT and the newspaper it had also published, the Boston Herald. On April 21, 1988, Rupert Murdoch, who had earlier stated his intention to retain the Herald, announced that WFXT would be put up for sale. In 1989, Fox proposed placing WFXT in a trust company as it sought to find a buyer willing to meet its $35 million asking price; on April 26, the FCC ruled that the trust would be required to sever all of the station's ties to Fox, including the network affiliation. That September, Fox agreed to sell the station to the Boston Celtics' ownership group for $20 million; the sale was completed on May 11, 1990. As part of the deal, News Corporation was given the opportunity to eventually buy back a 37.5-percent stake in the station. The Celtics made WFXT the NBA team's flagship station starting with the 1990–91 season, following the expiration of its existing contract with WLVI-TV. The station also gained a radio sister station, as the Celtics also purchased WEEI (then at 590 AM, now WEZE; now at 850 AM) at the same time.

The Celtics did not have the financial means to compete as a broadcaster. Nonetheless, under Celtics ownership, WFXT finally began to acquire stronger programming, becoming a serious competitor to WSBK and WLVI for the first time. In 1990, among securing the rights to several new, high-profile rerun syndication packages, WFXT managed to buy rights to The Cosby Show, reruns of which had been airing on WCVB-TV (channel 5) for the past two years. WCVB, which had lost a lot of money airing The Cosby Show in weekend blocks only, retained a small portion of the show's syndication rights for weekends and occasional airings in prime time (in the event that they chose to preempt an ABC network program). WFXT, meanwhile, began airing Cosby Show reruns on weekdays in the fall of 1990; aside from a couple of years off between 1994 and 1996, The Cosby Show would remain a staple of WFXT's schedule for well over a decade.

Return to Fox ownership
By 1992, WFXT was carried on many cable providers in areas of New England where there was no locally-based Fox affiliate station. Locally, however, the station was still rated in third place (though not as distant as the CBN or early Fox days), behind WSBK and WLVI. Still, for a while under the Celtics' watch, WFXT was perceived to be in danger of losing its Fox affiliation. As early as March 1993, Fox was again considering the purchase of a Boston television station, even though News Corporation still owned the Boston Herald, and entered into preliminary discussions with Boston Celtics Communications about reacquiring WFXT; the Celtics subsequently said, in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), that Fox had warned the company that it could pull its affiliation from the station if it were to acquire another property in the market. By this point, Fox held a 25-percent convertible interest in WFXT, and indicated it was seeking to expand this interest. That October, Fox obtained a 10-year option to repurchase the station as early as 1995, and immediately announced that it would not seek a waiver to own both channel 25 and the Herald; News Corporation sold the newspaper to its publisher, Pat Purcell, in February 1994, clearing the way for a potential purchase of WFXT. The Celtics also moved their games off their own station, shifting the team's over-the-air broadcast rights to WSBK-TV in a five-year deal that began with the 1993–94 season; this move followed WFXT's increasing difficulty in scheduling Celtics telecasts around the Fox lineup.

WFXT's Fox affiliation again came into question in 1994, in the wake of the network's affiliation deal with twelve New World Communications stations, when reports emerged that then-CBS affiliate WHDH-TV was considering a switch to Fox. After Westinghouse Broadcasting signed a deal that July to affiliate all of its stations, including WBZ-TV (channel 4), with CBS, WHDH was given the opportunity to choose between Fox and the NBC affiliation being vacated by WBZ; it elected to sign with NBC in August 1994, keeping Fox on WFXT. On October 5, 1994, Fox announced it would exercise its purchase option and buy WFXT. That November, the deal, as well as Fox's concurrent purchase of WTXF in Philadelphia, encountered objections from NBC, alleging that Fox's interest in SF Broadcasting, in connection with the Boston and Philadelphia purchases, would put Fox over the FCC's twelve-station ownership limit; NBC subsequently filed a separate petition concerning Fox's ties to the then-Australian-based News Corporation. NBC withdrew its petitions on February 17, 1995, allowing Fox to retake control of channel 25 on July 7.

As the 1990s progressed, WFXT began phasing in more talk and reality programs. It continued running cartoons (including the Fox Kids block) each weekday – later becoming the last station in the market that had run a morning children's program block – and sitcoms during the evening hours. WFXT served as the television flagship of the Boston Red Sox for three seasons from 2000 to 2002 (before that and since then, WFXT only carried Red Sox games that were televised by Fox itself, including games from its four World Series victories in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018).

In the fall of 2001, WPXT (which served as the over-the-air Fox affiliate for the Portland area since the network launched) disaffiliated from Fox due to a payment dispute between Pegasus Broadcasting (the station's owner at the time) and the network. This left Portland and the entire state of Maine without a Fox affiliate until then-Pax TV affiliate WMPX-TV switched to the network in April 2003; during this time, WFXT served as the default Fox affiliate for the New Hampshire side of the Portland market, while Foxnet provided the network's programming throughout Maine.

At one point in 2006, the station was "tentatively planning" to carry programming from News Corporation-owned MyNetworkTV (a sister network to Fox) on weekdays from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. if the new network was unable to find an affiliate in the Boston market. On July 21, 2006, News Corporation announced that Derry, New Hampshire-based WZMY-TV (channel 50, now WWJE-DT) would become the market's MyNetworkTV affiliate when the network began operations on September 5, 2006. Channel 50 ended its affiliation with MyNetworkTV in September 2011, shortly after changing call letters to WBIN-TV; WSBK (a CBS-owned sister station to WBZ-TV that had shunned the network at its formation) took over the affiliation at that time. Before MyNetworkTV became a programming service consisting solely of reruns, WFXT occasionally promoted that network's programming.

On October 12, 2007, Comcast began blacking out Fox prime time and sports programming from WFXT on its systems in Bristol County due to an invocation of the FCC's network non-duplication rule by WNAC-TV, the Fox affiliate in Providence, Rhode Island, leaving only channel 25's syndicated programs and newscasts available in that area. On July 31, 2008, Charter Communications' system in Westport also became subject to the blackouts, this contributed to WFXT's eventual removal from that system on September 23, 2008.

Trade to Cox Media Group
On June 24, 2014, Fox announced that it would trade WFXT and Memphis sister station WHBQ-TV to the Cox Media Group, in exchange for the San Francisco duopoly of Fox affiliate KTVU and independent station KICU-TV. The trade was completed on October 8, 2014. Following this deal, CBS-owned WBZ-TV and Telemundo-owned WNEU briefly became the only network O&O stations in the Boston area (prior to the launch of NBC Boston in January 2017), and also made WFXT the largest Fox affiliate not owned by the network (prior to the completion of the swap, KTVU held that title). In November 2014, shortly after the closure of the sale, WFXT was briefly pulled from Verizon FiOS in the Boston area for a week due to a discrepancy in contract negotiations.

On October 27, 2015, WFXT dropped the Fox O&O-style branding and introduced a new logo and on-air appearance; the logo was criticized by some viewers for its simplified appearance – omitting the standard Fox network logo in favor of an italicized Helvetica logotype – and received national attention when Larry Potash, anchor of the Morning News on WGN-TV in Chicago, criticized the change as a move by station-hired consultants to help bring in viewers who defected from WFXT's newscasts following the departure of longtime evening anchor Maria Stephanos earlier that year (Stephanos would join WCVB-TV in 2016). Prior to Super Bowl LI in February 2017, the station began downplaying the Fox name from its overall branding; this was reflected in a promo that aired prior to and during the game (which itself used the same music, tagline, and overall format as a 2014 image promotion made by Australia's Seven Network) that referred to the news operation as "25 News".

On April 13, 2017, the station announced that it would rebrand its newscasts as Boston 25 News on April 24, 2017; from then on, the "Fox 25" branding was retained as a generalized identity restricted to WFXT's entertainment programming and station promotions (the move followed a similar split branding structure that Cox Media Group employed when it operated KTVU as a Fox affiliate between 1986 and 2014, in which references to the Fox network were omitted from use within that station's local news programs). General manager Tom Raponi told The Boston Globe that the change was made to eliminate a perception that WFXT's newscasts leaned conservative, which the station attributed to an internal survey taken in 2015 in which 41% of Boston area news viewers that were polled associated its newscasts with the national Fox News Channel, rather than its sister broadcast network (as an affiliate of the Fox Broadcasting Company, WFXT's only association with Fox News is through a compulsory content arrangement with Fox News Edge, which supplies national and international news footage, and reports from FNC correspondents to Fox stations for potential but not mandatory inclusion in their local newscasts). In February 2018, the station dropped the "Fox 25" branding entirely and began referring to itself as "Boston 25" full time, including in promotions for syndicated and Fox network programming, making WFXT one of only a handful of Fox affiliates that does not use "Fox" in its branding.

Sale to Apollo Global Management
In February 2019, it was announced that Apollo Global Management would acquire Cox Media Group and Northwest Broadcasting's stations. Although the group planned to operate under the name Terrier Media, it was later announced in June 2019 that Apollo would also acquire Cox's radio and advertising businesses, and retain the Cox Media Group name. The sale was completed on December 17, 2019.

Pending sale to Standard General
On February 22, 2022, as part of Standard General's acquisition of Tegna Inc., as well as Cox Media Group's acquisition of the four Standard Media television stations, along with WFAA, KMPX, KVUE, KHOU and KTBU, Cox announced that it would sell WFXT to an affiliate of Standard General.

Programming
In addition to the Fox network schedule, syndicated programs broadcast by WFXT include Entertainment Tonight, Right This Minute, and TMZ on TV. WFXT also airs off-network repeats of The Simpsons.

Sports programming
Through the NFL on Fox, WFXT typically airs two New England Patriots games a year, usually when the team plays host to an NFC team at Gillette Stadium. However, the institution of the NFL's new 'cross-flex' rules in 2014 (in which Patriots games involving an AFC opponent are moved from WBZ-TV), along with Fox's broadcasting rights to Thursday Night Football starting in 2018, has given the station more opportunities to air regular season Patriots games. The station has aired five of the Patriots' Super Bowl appearances (XXXI, XXXVI, XXXIX, XLII and LI), including the team's championship victories (XXXVI, XXXIX, and LI).

The station also airs any Boston Red Sox games that are part of Fox's Major League Baseball telecasts. Owing to Fox's exclusive coverage of the World Series since 2000, WFXT has carried every Red Sox championship in the television era (2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018). It also served as the team's primary over-the-air broadcaster for three seasons from 2000 to 2002 as the flagship station of the "Fox 25 Red Sox Television Network". WFXT also carried a package of weekday afternoon Red Sox spring training games, produced by NESN, in 2018 and 2019. As mentioned above, it carried Celtics games under the team's ownership in the early 1990s.

When Fox held the NHL's U.S. over-the-air broadcast contract from 1995 to 1999, any games involving the Boston Bruins that were selected to air on the NHL on Fox were aired on WFXT.

News operation
WFXT presently broadcasts 64½ hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with 10½ hours each weekday, 5½ hours on Saturdays and 6½ hours on Sundays); in regards to the number of hours devoted to locally produced newscasts, it was the largest newscast output of any station in the Boston market and in New England until January 1, 2017, when WHDH-TV lost their NBC affiliation and became a news-intensive independent outlet by increasing their weekly news output to over 70 hours. During weather segments, the station utilizes live National Weather Service radar data originating from a radar site at the NWS Weather Forecast Office in Norton.

One of the few productive moves that WFXT made under the ownership of the Boston Celtics was entering into a news share agreement with regional cable news channel New England Cable News (NECN) to produce a prime time newscast at 10:00 p.m., which debuted on September 7, 1993. The half-hour Fox 25 News at 10 was initially anchored by Heather Kahn, with Tim Kelley on weather. Kahn lasted a year in this role before she was hired by ABC affiliate WCVB-TV (channel 5); Lila Orbach replaced her as anchor. In September 1994, NECN began to produce a half-hour midday newscast at 12:30 p.m. for channel 25, which was subsequently canceled.

In September 1995, WFXT announced that the contract with NECN would not be renewed, with the final broadcast airing on October 1. The next day, NECN moved the newscast to WSBK, which was more willing to commit to a longer-term deal with the channel, as channel 25 was planning to eventually replace the NECN production with its own news operation. For the next year, the only news programming on WFXT consisted primarily of national updates supplied by Fox News that aired during the day. During this time, Fox Television Stations created an in-house news department for the station, culminating on September 9, 1996, with the launch of a new 10:00 p.m. broadcast, initially branded as Fox News Boston before reviving the Fox 25 News title the following year. The 10:00 p.m. newscast has aired as an hour-long program since its inception, originally airing in the format on Monday through Saturday nights, while the Sunday edition aired for a half-hour in order to accommodate a sports highlight program, Sports Sunday on Fox; Sports Sunday ended its run on May 16, 2004, with the Sunday edition of the 10:00 p.m. newscast expanding to an hour the following week.

Over the next decade, channel 25 gradually expanded its news operation. On June 4, 2001, WFXT added a 4:30 p.m. newscast (making it the first Fox-owned station to have produced a newscast during the 4:00 p.m. hour) that was anchored by Jodi Applegate and was targeted at a female audience. By September 2002, the program had moved to 5:00 p.m., and on September 22, 2003, it was expanded to an hour and began using the same anchors and a similar format as the 10:00 p.m. broadcast, as Applegate became co-anchor, along with former WHDH-TV sports director Gene Lavanchy, of a three-hour weekday morning newscast from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. that launched the same day. One year later, Applegate left WFXT to become co-anchor of Good Day New York on then-sister station WNYW and was replaced by former WHDH and WBZ-TV anchor Kim Carrigan. Concurrent with the debut of the morning newscast, WFXT unveiled a  newsroom similar to that of WHDH, which also serves as the station's news set; it remains in use to this day. Channel 25 also opened a news bureau on Beacon Hill near the State House in downtown Boston, which serves as an interview location for Massachusetts lawmakers as well as a home base for weekday morning commentator Doug "V.B." Goudie.

The station debuted an hour-long Sunday morning newscast at 9:00 a.m. on September 12, 2004; the program was cancelled in July 2009. On May 19, 2009, WFXT and the CBS-owned duopoly of WBZ-TV/WSBK-TV entered into a Local News Service agreement, which allows the stations to share local news footage, along with a helicopter for traffic reports and breaking news. The helicopter originally used as part of the sharing agreement (which WFXT and WBZ/WSBK stopped using in 2013) was involved in a crash that killed two people in Seattle on March 18, 2014, while on loan by Helicopters, Inc. for use by KOMO-TV during technical upgrades to that station's own helicopter. On June 14, 2009, starting with its 10:00 p.m. newscast, WFXT became the last station in the Boston market at the time to begin broadcasting its newscasts in high definition (NBC owned-and-operated station WBTS-LD signed on in HD on January 1, 2017).

WFXT launched a Sunday through Friday 11:00 p.m. newscast on November 5, 2007; the weekday morning newscast has also expanded since its launch, and has aired from 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. since July 9, 2012. The 5:00 p.m. newscast, which consistently placed fourth in its timeslot, was discontinued in favor of a half-hour 6:00 p.m. newscast on September 14, 2009. That program was expanded to one hour with the launch of an additional half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m. on March 14, 2011, which competes against the national network newscasts airing in the timeslot on WBZ, WHDH and WCVB. On July 7, 2012, WFXT expanded the 6:00 p.m. newscast to Saturday and Sunday evenings; as is common with Fox stations that carry early evening newscasts on weekends, the newscast may be subject to delay or preemption due to network sports telecasts overrunning into the timeslot. On October 7, 2013, WFXT relaunched its 5:00 p.m. newscast after a four-year hiatus.

Under Cox ownership, a number of significant changes began to occur within WFXT's news department. On November 13, 2014, Doug Goudie, who was well known for his commentary segments during the station's morning show, was released from the station; he stated that his presence did not align with Cox's "philosophy", since they "aren't big on opinions." The removal of "V.B." came as part of a retooling of the Morning News into a conventional newscast, rather than a morning show emphasizing light talk and interview segments (such as Goudie's "Heavy Hitters"). The station restored the weekend morning newscasts in September 2015. The station would also focus less on hard news in favor of a slightly softer format with an abundance of human interest stories, which the station's website termed as "uplifting" stories.

In September 2021, the station laid off several staffers, including sports director Tom Leyden, as part of a series of cuts that also saw the cancellation of WFXT's 4:00 p.m. newscast (which had launched in 2016) and its Saturday evening newscasts. The cuts followed a period, following Apollo Global Management's acquisition of Cox Media Group, of reduced investment in the station (with an unnamed staffer telling the Boston Business Journal that half of the station's staff had turned over since 2019), as well as a cyberattack against Cox that June.

WFXT airs half-hour In Depth news specials at 10:30 p.m. on Fridays. These are compilations of special reports often unified by a single theme.

Notable current on-air staff
 Gene Lavanchy – anchor
 Butch Stearns – sports reporter

Notable former on-air staff
 Jodi Applegate – anchor (2001–2004); later at WNYW and WPIX in New York City
 Chris Flanagan – anchor (2016–2022); now at WDCW in Washington, D.C.
 Erin Hawksworth – reporter; later at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.
 Jim Polito – weeknight commentator (2012–2014)

Technical information

Subchannels
The station's digital signal is multiplexed:

Analog-to-digital conversion
WFXT's analog signal began malfunctioning on November 1, 2008, as a result of a failing transmission line, forcing the station to reduce its power. By December 9, 2008, the transmission line had deteriorated to the point that the station's effective radiated power was reduced to levels where viewers could then only receive the station via cable, satellite or its digital signal in most areas. The station then began to state that the possibility existed that its analog signal might have to be shut down ahead of the analog-to-digital transition deadline for full-power stations, which at that time was scheduled for February 17, 2009. In the end, the station's analog signal remained on the air even after that date (a result of the transition being delayed to June 12, 2009). However, due to the continued failure of the transmission line (to the extent that the station estimated its analog signal was only reaching 3% of its former coverage area, with no signal at all at the station's Dedham studios), WFXT shut down its analog signal, over UHF channel 25, on February 27, 2009, becoming the second English-language major network station in Boston to exclusively transmit a digital signal (WZMY terminated its analog signal in December 2008) and the only Fox-owned station to shut down its analog signal prior to the new June 12 transition date. The station's digital signal continued to broadcast on its pre-transition UHF channel 31. Through the use of PSIP, digital television receivers display the station's virtual channel as its former UHF analog channel 25.

Many Boston area residents complained about poor reception from WFXT's digital signal compared to the market's other major television stations. This was due to the fact that the transmitter previously operated at a reduced power output of 78 kilowatts from an antenna mounted below one of the tines of the Candelabra tower in Needham. WFXT's vice president of engineering Bill Holbrook stated publicly that the digital signal would not reach full power until August 2009, when installation of a new antenna and transmitter was expected to be completed. However, the signal upgrades were completed in April 2009, giving WFXT a signal considered to be on par with the Boston market's other full-power stations. The new antenna and transmission feedline had been replaced two weeks earlier. The license to cover was filed on April 23, 2009.

See also
 Channel 25 virtual TV stations in the United States
 Channel 34 digital TV stations in the United States
 List of television stations in Massachusetts
 List of United States stations available in Canada

References

External links

Fox network affiliates
Comet (TV network) affiliates
Laff (TV network) affiliates
Cox Media Group
Television channels and stations established in 1977
FXT
1977 establishments in Massachusetts
Former News Corporation subsidiaries
Companies based in Dedham, Massachusetts

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Fashion is only what you make of it, and it is different for each person. Regardless, you can learn a lot from other people, and you can then add these tips to your arsenal as you pick up more advice along the way. Continue ahead to learn new tips so you can get started on your journey towards becoming a fashion guru.
A great purse is crucial to your outfit. It should always complement any of the other bags that you carry as well. If you have a briefcase, you want it to match your purse. At most, you should only be carrying two bag kinds at any given time.
If you put on mascara, do not continually put the brush inside and outside of the container. Doing this actually does not put more on the brush, but it does trap air molecules within the bottle. If there is air inside your mascara, it will dry quickly and some bacteria might appear. Move your brush within the container as a safer alternative.
Travelers should try bringing neutral colors in different shades to create clothing combinations. You never have to worry about colors clashing, and you can create multiple outfits with just a few pieces. Also bring some belts and scarves to give you a pulled-together look.
Clean out your closet. Too much clothing can hamper your style. A closet that is cluttered and cramped will surely hinder your choices for fashion. If items do not fit well or are no longer fashionable to you, get rid of them. A few tasteful and versatile pieces are far more useful than styles from decades past.
You may have felt fashion was something that was out of reach for you. Hopefully, you've learned that it's more about personal taste and what you can learn and gain from others as you express yourself. Keep these tips in mind, and you'll always find your way in fashion.


text:
How Will Brexit Affect The British Indie Games Industry?
Posted by Jodie Fortuin on August 16, 2018 Average Reading Time: 3 minutes 0 Comments
No matter whether you are for or against it, Brexit is happening. Actually, it has been for some time now. And while the change's not yet fully completed, many industries are already being affected by it.
The Stirling fell drastically in the immediate aftermath of the Brexit vote. Now, it's said to be trading around 6% lower against the dollar than before the Brexit vote. With a mass of economic uncertainty, I am left wondering: how will this affect the British indie gaming industry?
What Are You Talking About!?
Let's start at the beginning: what is Brexit? The EU Referendum was a vote made by the British public in 2016 to leave the European Union (EU), later dubbed as Brexit. The yes to leave won by 51.9% to 48.1%. While the referendum took place in 2016, Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in 2019.
How One Vote Changed It All
In 2017, it was reported that 40% of companies in the UK games industry, including several indie studios, were considering relocation. This was due to the concern of losing European talent; an understandable concern!
In the months after the Brexit vote, many companies saw a negative effect on their global recruiting. With 57% of UK games companies employing workers from the EU, this could have an even greater effect on the industry as the last pieces fall into place. Once the maneuver is complete, EU talents will need a special permit to enter the United Kingdom and contribute to the creation of new games.
It is not all doom and gloom though! In a survey by trade organization TIGA, it was revealed that 11% of the 63 game businesses studied experienced a positive effect from Brexit. According to some of these entrepreneurs, the fall of sterling made some UK game studios more competitive on the global market.
Does Brexit Just Affect Britain?
In 2017, the United Kingdom was the fifth biggest video game market, with virtual reality as its fastest growing segment. At the time of writing, there are over 2000 UK games companies giving jobs to about 20,000 full-time employees, both from Great Britain and the rest of the world. In a sense, this could all change with Brexit.
As companies can no longer hire from outside of the UK, the entire gaming industry will suffer an array of consequences. There is a shortage of skilled UK candidates, which many within the industry see as a potential danger once the country breaks off from the rest of the continent.
If UK-based studios – indie or not – were to fall due to a lack of skilled employees, the international games industry might lose one of its biggest contributors. Relocation could be a solution, but that'd still isolate Great Britain from the rest of the world; effectively cutting off a reliable source of new ideas!
While the negative effect won't cause the loss of all 2000+ companies, a sizable number of them are very likely to fall off the radar. This means less studios; which leads to less games and thus to an impoverishment of the whole market. As such, the consequences of Brexit will be felt well beyond the country's natural borders.
What Can We Do About This?
Brexit is still a long way off; and while it is definitely happening, how it happens is still up for discussion. In an effort to limit the damage, several associations are already moving to counterattack. Among them, Games4EU is a project launched this month to "stop, or limit the damage, of a hard or no deal Brexit".
The group aim to demonstrate the harm this political maneuver will cause to the gaming industry, including the increased business costs and the loss of jobs we discussed before. They are currently looking for support, so make sure you visit their website or social media.
At the same time, local development studios also benefit greatly from your support. If you find yourself in the UK this summer, something as easy as visiting a convention could do a lot to ensure that these people will still have a job in the years to come!
Are you looking to learn more of the figures behind this article? Then the Ukie study and these articles from The Guardian and gamesindustry.biz should be the next on your reading list!
BrexitGame IndustryNews
Jodie Fortuin
Self proclaimed geek located in the good old United Kingdom