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Past Issues > 2018 > October 2018 > Why all your friends are going vegan
Why all your friends are going vegan
Plant-based diets have skyrocketed in recent years, taking a fringe movement into the mainstream, but should Christians get their teeth into this new trend?
It was, probably, the first time lunch had been confessed in the traditionalist church to which I used to belong: "Bless me father, for I have sinned," I said, in the awkward, self-conscious voice that always took over at this point in confession. I continued, solemnly: "I ate a cheese sandwich."
It put the priest in a tricky position: he was partial to the odd cheese sandwich himself, not to mention lamb chops and bacon rolls. But what we concluded – after a discussion about ethics that went on for so long the rest of the confessional queue must have assumed I'd committed first-degree murder – transformed my animal-free diet from teenage rebellion to religious conviction. Veganism, he said, was a prompting of my conscience, formed by God.
From rebellion to religion
It certainly hadn't started that way: when I abandoned a meat-eating diet, aged 16, it was because I was passionately in love with the vegan lead singer of the 1990s Australian rock sensation, Silverchair. As I grew up and started to learn more about industrial farming and the treatment of animals, a snap decision that began as an adjunct to my dyed blue hair and multiple piercings took on a moral significance of its own. Nevertheless, when I became a Christian, and learned to not "call anything impure that God has made clean" (Acts 10:15), I anticipated that God might ask me to let veganism go, that it was part of my old identity; that I was trying to justify myself by picking veggie burgers over sausage rolls; and that freedom in Christ meant tucking into the occasional sushi.
But the more I prayed, the more convincing the case for veganism became; and I wasn't the only one who thought so. When I first turned vegan, 17 years ago, I joined a small movement consigned to the dusty shelves of health food stores. Since then the number of vegans in the UK has exploded, from around 150,000 in 2006 to a staggering 3.5 million today (that's 7% of the country). The extraordinary rise in the number of people following a diet that eschews all animal products – as well as meat and fish, cheese, eggs, milk and honey – is, in part, due to the wellness movement, whose UK cheerleader "Deliciously" Ella Woodward consistently tops recipe book charts. Veganism might be the fastest-growing lifestyle movement in the country, but it's hard to stick to what – at first – appears to be a very restrictive diet.
The wellness and 'clean eating' movement does have a point: there is very good evidence to suggest that going vegan can have a transformative effect on your health – not because you live off matcha green tea and chia seeds, but for the very simple and common sense reason that you are eating more vitamin-rich fruit and vegetables and less processed meat. Our bodies are "temples of the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 6:19). That doesn't mean we should be obsessed with 'clean eating', but it does mean looking seriously at recent studies showing that eating red meat increases the likelihood of cancer and heart disease.
A Christian vegan doesn't gloat over their cheddar-loving neighbour
A healthy vegan diet – done right – improves quality of life. Recent vegan converts often report higher energy levels, healthy weight loss, better sleep and clearer skin. Venus Williams, Lewis Hamilton and ultramarathon runner Scott Jurek all credit a vegan diet with improving their performance; and try telling America's top weightlifter, Olympian Kendrick Farris, that a vegan diet won't make you strong. I'm no Olympian, but since turning vegan I have run six half marathons, deadlifted twice my own body weight and cycled around the world.
As well as having a positive impact on your own body, there's substantial evidence to suggest that veganism is good for the environment. Meat and dairy farming – even in their least intensive forms – have a devastating effect on the environment. The impact of meat and dairy production across a number of categories – land use, greenhouse gas emissions, water and air pollution and freshwater withdrawals – is much, much worse than even the most unsustainable vegetable and cereal growth. Summing up his recent study on this, which was published in the journal Science, the University of Oxford's Joseph Poore wrote: "A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth."
Finally there's the issue of animal abuse. Battery farming – which, as well as depriving hens of space and light, includes, in its worst incarnations, practices like forced malting by depriving birds of food and water for a week, and acutely painful debeaking (thankfully on the decline in Europe). Intensive dairy farms continue to use a zero-grazing model that traps cows inside for the duration of their lives; in August the RSPCA said it was considering legal action against a British wool farm after footage emerged of shearers punching, throwing and stamping on the necks of sheep.
For vegetarians who haven't made the leap to veganism, there is the troubling issue of animal culling: male calves born onto dairy farms are sold off as veal. Dairy cattle past their prime have their throats slit and are sold as beef. A common – legal – way of disposing of male chicks born on an egg farm is to throw them, alive, into an industrial macerator. It's possible to make more ethical choices – by buying organic, free-range eggs, for example – but this is easy when putting in your Ocado order, and much harder when you grab a sandwich from a petrol station in a hurry.
Didn't Jesus eat fish?
If it is good for our health, the environment and animals, it seems to me that there is a divine harmony to veganism. But that is not to say that veganism and Christianity pair easily together. I discovered this as a theology undergraduate when at the termly faculty dinner I had to explain to the assembled dons, bishops and priests why I was tucking into a banana instead of sticky toffee pudding.
The chief Christian objection to veganism – even vegetarianism – is that Jesus ate fish. I don't think there is definitive evidence that Jesus ate meat, but it seems very likely that he did. Add to that the passages in Genesis, where God gives Adam dominion over animals, and tells Noah: "Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you", and you have a clear biblical mandate for eating meat. The early Christians certainly ate meat: Paul, in Romans, tells the Church: "One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them" (14:2-3).
I struggled for a long time with the chasm that seemed to exist between my conscience and scripture. How could it be wrong to eat meat if Jesus ate meat? Finally another well-known Pauline saying pointed me towards a solution: "Everything is permitted, but everything isn't beneficial" (1 Corinthians 10:23, CEB). The beauty of this was that it wasn't just a tidy theological riposte: it saturated veganism with grace. One of the great problems with veganism is that it only works in certain contexts: even the most hardened PETA activist would struggle to prove that veganism is an appropriate lifestyle for Kazakh herdsmen or people who suffer from anaemia. But secular veganism clings to its own extreme, objective truth – consuming animal products is always wrong, everywhere.
Christian veganism, by contrast, is a life of graceful sacrifice; a way of living kingdom values. Eating animal products is not objectively sinful; but there are contexts where it isn't beneficial. For example, when a doctor has told you a diet high in saturated fat will kill you. Or when industrial farming is destroying creation: individually, in the small animals it grinds up, and on a global scale. Yes, Jesus cooked a fish breakfast, but they were fish from the Sea of Galilee in the first Century, not the kind of industrial Pacific operation that has caused global marine populations to decline by 49 per cent over the course of a single generation. God gave humanity dominion over animals – before rhino were poached to the point of extinction. Noah was told he could eat anything that moved before anyone realised you could make pâté by overfeeding ducks to the point where their swollen livers make it hard for them to move.
Four films that might turn you vegan
1. Okja
This Netflix-produced feature film tells the story of a 'super-piglet', created as a potential solution to global hunger. In reviewing the film, Empire magazine commented: "Not since Babe has an adorable porker inspired such peculiar joy or unexpected heartache." Watch it: Netflix
2. What the health
This follow up to the awardwinning documentary Cowspiracy accuses governments and health organisations of being complicit in overlooking diet as one of the leading causes of cancer today. Watch it: whatthehealthfilm.com
3. Carnage
This BBC mockumentary by Simon Amstell is set in 2067 and is a scarily realistic imagining of a world where veganism has become the norm and we all regret our meat-eating past. Watch it: BBC iPlayer
4. Forks over knifes
Celebrities including Katy Perry and Ariana Grande have praised this documentary, which examines the claim that most, if not all, of the degenerative diseases that afflict us today, including cancer and heart disease, can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting animal-based and processed foods. Watch it: forksoverknives.com
Legalism vs vocation
Christian veganism guards against the legalism that can so often emerge from 'clean eating'. If you are eating clean, is everyone else dirty? The Christian who believes they are is confronted by Jesus asking his disciples: "Have ye here any meat?" (Luke 24:41, KJV). A Christian vegan doesn't gloat over their cheddar-loving neighbour: they're too busy trying to figure out how to fix a broken world. One of the most beautiful depictions of Jesus in art is of a shepherd carrying a stray lamb back on his shoulders; in this century, that lamb might never have had a chance to escape – millions of sheep and lambs are reared indoors and never even see pasture.
Veganism is, seen this way, a kind of vocation. God first spoke to me through a long-haired Australian rock star's impassioned anthem about animal rights, but that commitment endured because of God's grace. I thrive as a vegan: I have more energy, I'm a better cook and decades spent eating bananas instead of sticky toffee pudding has nurtured the spiritual fruit of self-control. Veganism was never a reason to despise God's gifts, but a way to celebrate him in other things: a bowl of slow-cooked Indian dahl; Ma Po tofu drowned in Szechuan pepper oil; rich coconut ice cream; dark chocolate; a colourful salad. But I also know people for whom it wasn't a vocation: friends who suffered fatigue and vitamin deficiencies, or who spent months miserably stealing chunks of cheese when no one was looking before they finally admitted it wasn't a lifestyle for them. For a secular vegan, this is unmitigated failure. For me, it just means it wasn't their call.
Jesus said: "it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth" (Matthew 15:11, ESV). It isn't eating a bacon sandwich that matters, it's what's going on in your heart. If your conscience is crying out over climate change, battery farmed hens or with compassion for a friend whose health problems mean bacon is off the menu, God might be urging some dietary discernment. If he is calling you to try an animal-free diet, you can trust him to turn it into something beautiful; like he does with any sacrifice. But wherever you are on the journey – a hardcore vegan, a ponderous vegetarian, a flexitarian or a 'reducetarian' trying to eat less meat – the most important thing is to respect the call of those around you. And to remember, as I learned in the confessional after an unremarkable cheese sandwich worried my conscience, there is always grace.
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Liz Dodd
Liz Dodd is a journalist specialising in religion and travel. A former news editor, she recently took a break from the newsroom to cycle around the world
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https://lebronwire.usatoday.com/2021/06/09/heat-president-pat-riley-fined-for-tampering-after-wanting-reunion-with-lebron-james/
Heat president Pat Riley fined for tampering after wanting reunion with LeBron James
The NBA fined Miami Heat president Pat Riley for violating tampering rules after Riley made comments about being open to a reunion with LeBron James.
Riley, who has been with the Heat since the 1995 season, made the comments during a live radio show.
In an interview with The Dan Le Batard show, Riley talked about James possibly returning to the Heat after the Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round.
"I would leave the key under the doormat if he would call me and let me know that he's coming. I would do that, but I doubt very much that key… That key is rusted now… It was the best time for the Heat. So I wish him nothing but the best, and if he ever wanted to come back, I'll put a new shiny key under the mat."
James played for the Heat from 2010 to 2014 when he signed with the organization in free agency. He won two championships in 2012 and 2013, and in both of those years, James also won the MVP award.
But a reunion with the franchise anytime soon is highly unlikely. The 36-year-old forward is under contract with the Lakers until 2023 after agreeing on an extension earlier this season.
NBA all-time leading playoff scorers: From James Worthy to LeBron

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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LeBron wins Schroder wager but Curry still the no-look king
By Rob Lancaster 13 January 2021 19
LeBron James revealed his no-look three pointer against the Houston Rockets was all about sealing a bet with Los Angeles Lakers team-mate Dennis Schroder.
During the second quarter of Tuesday's game, James caught a pass in the corner and, after a pump fake on a defender, let go with an attempt from deep.
The ball went in - but the four-time NBA Finals MVP was not watching. Instead, James had turned around after his release to engage with one particular member of the Lakers' bench.
Schroder had offered an impromptu $100 bet over whether the shot would be successful or not, leaving James needing to "look him in the eye" to confirm the wager had been placed.
"He hit me with a bet on the sideline and I took the bet while I was still shooting the ball," LeBron explained to the media after the Lakers' 117-100 win.
"A bet isn't official until you look a man in the eye, so I had to look him into the eye. I was able to win that one."
"First time I've seen LeBron do that."
(: @SpectrumSN) pic.twitter.com/Tg46L2TI5X
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 13, 2021
Explaining the exchange with Schroder in more detail, he added: "He said, 'Bet you won't make it'. In order to make a bet official, you've either got to have a handshake or look a man in the eye.
"He said, 'Bet it?' - I turned around, looked him in the eye and said, 'Bet it'."
James appreciates that while he was successful on this occasion, he is by no means the master of the no-look shot in the NBA, a title that belongs to another player: Stephen Curry.
"Steph [has] definitely probably done it the most in our league, and when you shoot the ball as beautiful and effortlessly and precisely as Steph does, he has the ultimate, ultra-green light to do that," James said.
"Because 10 times out of nine, it's going in for Steph."
James finished the game with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the reigning champions improved to 9-3 on the season.
Rob Lancaster


The 30-year-rice trading company and now is the second generation views that the competition with only price isn't the solution of the competition anymore. Showing the benefit that the customer will receive is as important as the price. The value from religion concept is attentiveness and honesty that we receive from rice. We work with this concept since refining concept to make it clear and stable. Then we redesign every identity to harmonize with brand identity and this modern time.


Quality employee management is a key determinant of an organization's success. By investing in high quality management of employees, organizations see an increase in employee engagement, higher employee retention, and improved overall work quality. As strong management systems are put in place, organizations prepare themselves to attract and retain the top quality candidates needed to move the work forward.
By strengthening its own workforce, organizations increase the likelihood they will survive in the event of changing resources, community needs, or other items that impact the operations of the organization. Strong employee management enables an organization to ensure that company culture and leadership reflect the organization's mission and impact.
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Organizations benefit from investing in leadership, and development of employees at all levels, to foster an environment that prepares current employees to advance to further positions of leadership. Leadership training and ensuring employees have access to the resources they need to perform their job well help strengthen an organization's work culture and level of performance. Resources include adequate training, physical materials, as well as attention from supervisors that help coach the employees to better performance. Additionally, employees benefit from understanding their place in the organization in terms of what value they bring to the organization's work and fulfilling the long-term mission.
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Nigeria's Revenues Have Fallen By Almost 60 Percent – Buhari Says
Budding Stars Health
By Gentille Communications / September 7, 2020
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in trying times, not just for the Nigerian people, but also for the government.
The President said the country's revenues and foreign exchange earnings have fallen by almost 60 percent since the pandemic took hold.
Buhari's remarks were delivered by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the start of the first-year Ministerial performance review retreat holding in Abuja.
"For the government, it has been a particularly trying time," Buhari said. "As a result of the poor fortunes of the oil sector, our revenues and foreign exchange earnings have fallen drastically. Our revenues have fallen by almost 60 percent
"Yet we have had to sustain expenditures, especially on salaries and capital projects, in order to keep the economy going."
The pandemic forced many economies across the world to shut down, drastically reducing the demand for crude oil, Nigeria's main export foreign exchange earner.
The President said his administration adopted a N2.3 trillion economic sustainability plan to mitigate the effect of the economic slowdown.
The plan, which consists of fiscal, monetary, and sectoral measures, is expected "to enhance local production, support businesses, retain and create jobs and provide succor to Nigerians, especially the most vulnerable."
"But we have also had to take some difficult decisions to stop unsustainable practices that were weighing the economy down," he said.
'Government Not Insensitive'
President Buhari's speech on Monday was delivered amid concerns raised by several groups in the country over increases in the price of fuel and electricity tariffs in the country.
"This government is not insensitive to the condition of our people and the very difficult economic situation and we will not inflict hardship on our people," the President said.
He directed Ministers and senior administration officials to swiftly implement the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) to give succor to Nigerians.
"In this regard, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has created credit facilities (of up to N100B) for the Healthcare (N100 Billion) and Manufacturing (N1 Trillion) sectors," Buhari said.
"From January 2020 to date, over N191.87B has already been disbursed for 76 real sectors projects under the N1Trillion Real Sector Scheme; while 34 Healthcare projects have been funded to the tune of N37.159B under the Healthcare Sector Intervention Facility.
"The facilities are meant to address some of the infrastructural gap in the healthcare and manufacturing sector as a fall out to the COVID-19 pandemic and to facilitate the attainment of the Governors 5-year strategic plan."
Tags: 60, Almost, by, Have Fallen, Nigeria's, Percent – Buhari, Revenues
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Here's a brief look at a few of today's top security companies and how they perform as wireless providers.
Vivint is one of the top leading companies in home automation technology. Staying true to purpose, Vivint offers one of the world's best wireless video doorbells on the market. The company offers both flexible pricing options and upscale equipment, both of which allow you to protect your home without breaking the bank. All Vivint security packages use both wireless and cellular communication. However, the Vivint control panel is installed and connected to a power source, meaning it's not wireless. The sensors are what's wireless. Unfortunately, the company does not offer any DIY installation and once in your home, installation technicians often use aggressive sales tactics, such as recommending additional security products.
With Frontpoint home security, you'll always get 100% cellular monitoring and wireless technology, regardless of the package you choose. Safety is too important to be complicated, so Frontpoint takes a DIY approach to installation, striving to make designing, setting up, and controlling your home's security as easy as possible. The company's customer service is top-rated and reps are on standby if you need help. The initial equipment cost can be high, and while there are cheaper alternatives, Frontpoint has superior home automation features and personalized security designed to keep you safe.
ADT security serves more than eight million customers and offers a wide range of system options, including both wireless and cellular technology. Adding cellular monitoring requires users to upgrade from the basic package, which increases your investment, but ADT makes available multiple wireless package options allowing you to choose one that complements your budget. The company has highly-trained ADT monitoring professionals who boast more than a century of experience. ADT Pulse is one of the provider's most popular options, giving users mobile access to full-home automation.
No contracts, no commitments, and a focus on functionality and affordability are at the core of SimpliSafe's home security approach. With some of the lowest monitoring prices available, it has become one of the most affordable wireless security providers. Users are given the option to pay as you go for cellular monitoring, or if you are on a strict budget, you have the option to monitor the system yourself. Equipment selection will determine your upfront cost and you have the option to add additional equipment later. SimpliSafe offers an interactive package, giving users more control with mobile access and both text and email notifications. DIY installation means no installation or activation fees.
Almost all security systems are not truly wireless. A system worth investing in will at least require the use of a control panel that is connected by wires. You want the system to be connected to some sort of phone line that keeps the system up and running even if the power goes out. Being that landline phone lines are not dependent upon electricity, this means even if the power goes out, the system can still provide optimal protection. If you would like to learn more about home security and your various options, contact Protect America. We offer free quotes, free installation, and up to $1,400 in free equipment, making it incredibly simple and affordable to protect your home with the latest in technology.


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16-Sep-2011 2:25 PM
Virgin Atlantic alliance decision likely to reset 'balance of power'
In a recent interview with Forbes, Virgin Atlantic's flamboyant chairman, Richard Branson revealed the carrier is near a decision on joining one of the three global alliances. Virgin is one of the largest airlines still unaligned and its home base at London's crowded Heathrow Airport makes it an especially important addition to one of the groups.
But count oneworld out
In actuality, the competition is between only two, as oneworld already includes British Airways, Virgin's prime competitor at Heathrow. Regulators would be very unlikely to allow such an alliance consolidation at an airport with little opportunity for new entrants.
This leaves SkyTeam, driven by Delta and the AirFrance/KLM group and Star Alliance, currently the world's largest in terms of membership and coverage.
SkyTeam currently only has a 6% share of the market at Heathrow while Star has 26%. Adding Virgin Atlantic would give Star a respectable 31% while SkyTeam would almost double its market share to 11%. Oneworld, led by trans-Atlantic joint venture partners BA and American, now have a dominating 47% share of the Heathrow market.
London Heathrow Airport capacity share by alliance (based on seats per week for 12-Sep-2011 to 18-Sep-2011)
Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation and Innovata
Virgin Atlantic currently has about 90,000 seats per week at Heathrow, giving it a 5% share of the market, according to Innovata. Virgin Atlantic is Heathrow's second largest carrier, well behind BA and just ahead of Star Alliance member bmi.
London Heathrow Airport capacity by carrier (seats per week for 12-Sept-2011 to 18-Sep-2011)
Virgin Atlantic currently serves 18 destinations from its Heathrow hub, including eight in the US. It also has smaller hub at Gatwick, where it focuses on leisure routes with seven destinations in the Caribbean and two in the US.
Virgin Atlantic is currently the seventh largest carrier at Gatwick with about a 3% share of the total market. Gatwick is primarily a non-aligned airport given the high concentration of low-cost carriers. According to Innovata data, oneworld currently has a 16% share of the market at Gatwick while Star only has a 2% share and SkyTeam has less than 1%.
Virgin Atlantic also has much smaller operations at Manchester and Glasgow, where it currently operates three routes and one route, respectively. In total Virgin Atlantic has 32 destinations, including 10 in the US, eight in the Caribbean, six in the Africa and the Middle East, five in Asia-Pacific and three in hits home market of the UK.
Almost 70% of Virgin Atlantic's total capacity is now deployed on the trans-Atlantic and its eight largest routes are all across the Atlantic. Its strength in the trans-Atlantic market makes Virgin Atlantic a very attractive alliance target as it is one of only a few remaining unaligned carriers in the key trans-Atlantic market.
Virgin Atlantic Airways capacity by region (seats per week for 12-Sept-2011 to 18-Sept-2011)
Virgin Atlantic Airways top 10 routes by capacity (seats per week for 12-Sept-2011 to 18-Sep-2011)
Virgin Atlantic is currently the 10th largest carrier between Western Europe and North America, based on capacity data from Innovata. Of the top 20 carriers in this market (see background information), only four are currently not members of a global alliance – Canada's Air Transat, Virgin Atlantic, Aer Lingus and Icelandair.
Of the 16 carriers that are alliance members, eight are in Star while only four are in SkyTeam and only four are in oneworld. But SkyTeam has in its camp the largest trans-Atlantic carrier, Delta, while oneworld has the second and fourth largest in BA and American.
VS is a special prize
Virgin is not like other airlines. Firstly, its network is entirely composed of long-haul routes, the shortest being to Dubai, about 5,500km from London.
Its fleet is also composed entirely of widebody aircraft, including 23 A340s, 12 B747-400s and two A330s. It has 26 widebodies on order including B787s and A380s.
Virgin Atlantic Airways fleet as of 12-Sep-2011
Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation and Ascend
Virgin Atlantic has no domestic or European routes, making it especially interested in feed traffic to grow. It also is already in a loose affiliation with its sister companies, Virgin America and Virgin Australia, which could very likely follow Virgin Atlantic into the same alliance.
If that were to be the case, the addition of numerous routes from Heathrow, coupled with access to Australia, makes the outcome a truly big deal to either Star or SkyTeam.
To the observer, advantage to Star
While the final outcome remains unknown, Virgin's current operations and aspirations may favour Star. At present, Star member Singapore Airlines, owns 49% of Virgin Atlantic and Star's Lufthansa, looking to shed its ownership bmi, has been in talks with Virgin, perhaps giving it some influence on the alliance selection process.
Virgin Atlantic already codeshares with six Star members - Continental, bmi, Singapore Airlines, ANA, Air China and South African Airways. It also codeshares with India's Jet Airways, which is still unaligned but could join Star.
But SkyTeam has proven to be a scrappy opponent
However, as witnessed during the attempt by SkyTeam to pry Japan Airlines from its oneworld link, the group is willing to be very aggressive in attracting new members with special appeal. This is definitely true in this case as the addition of Virgin to Star Alliance would result in both of SkyTeam's competitors having a strong presence at the world's foremost international airport, further marginalising SkyTeam in this vital market.
If Virgin Atlantic takes over Lufthansa's stake in bmi and SkyTeam is able to woo the new Virgin Altantic-bmi combination, SkyTeam's market share at Heathrow would increase to 16% while Star's market share would decrease to 21%. However, Lufthansa is unlikely to let that happen and could require that bmi retain its membership in Star as part of any deal with Virgin Atlantic.
A three in one deal?
The ramifications for Virgin Australia and Virgin America are also profound. In a recent interview with Virgin America's CEO, David Cush, told CAPA that one of the driving forces behind the airline's migration to Sabre was to achieve closer IT alignment with Virgin Atlantic. If Virgin Atlantic were allied with a larger group, that association would likely spill over into the operations of the US and Australian affiliates as well. See related story: Virgin America's David Cush says the airline's unique formula will drive success
The long-awaited inclusion of Virgin Atlantic will certainly reset the competitive relationships not only between the alliances, but will also affect independents like Emirates, which see the alliances, rather than individual airlines, as their prime competition.
Unlike many alliance additions, the final announcement will result in a clear winner and an equally obvious loser.
Top 20 airlines between Western Europe and North America based on capacity (seats per week for 12-Sep-2011 to 18-Sep-2011)
Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation Innovata


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Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations (EDLF)
Our fine faculty is committed to providing quality and professional research, scholarship, education, and service to the El Paso region and around the nation.
Through the context of our bi-national location we train leaders for the contemporary challenges in education with an innovative interdisciplinary approach. Graduates of our programs are educated to incorporate ideas, values and experiences that reflect a pluralistic society with an eye on social justice. We combine theory, practice, research and service to create a supportive environment to nurture the development of scholars in practice who will lead in a variety of educational settings including K-12, higher education, adult education and the nonprofit sector.
The Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations offers three degree programs and two certification options that can be tailored to meet a professional's career and educational goals. The Principal and Superintendent Certification programs train practicing educators to exceed State Board of Education Certification objectives in preparation of state examinations. Our master's level degree options include programs in educational administration concentrating in the K-12 or higher education setting. Opportunities are available to pursue the M.Ed. or M.A. (thesis option) in either concentration area while students who pursue K-12 Educational Administration may incorporate principal certification in their degree plan.
At the doctoral level, the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership and Administration offers broad training for individuals interested in leadership roles in all aspects of the educational continuum. Our program's graduates typically enter general career areas that include central office leadership (with superintendent certification), school site leadership, leadership in other educational settings (e.g., higher education, adult education, nonprofits), or educational policy and evaluation.
UTEP Recognized for Innovation in Lifelong Learning and Serving Community
The University of Texas at El Paso's Professional and Public Programs (P3) recently won the Learning Resources Network's (LERN) Best Management Practice award. The international award recognizes innovation in the field of lifelong learning and serving communities. It was presented last month at LERN's annual conference in San Diego, which was attended by 800 professionals in lifelong learning from five countries.
A longtime professor at The University of Texas at El Paso known for his academic creativity has taken a two-dimensional approach to make STEM concepts relevant and relatable to middle school students.
UTEP Ceremonies to Honor about 2,500 Graduates
For native El Pasoan Karina Rodriguez, the 2019 Winter Commencement at The University of Texas at El Paso signifies the end of a long, arduous journey. But as with many of her fellow graduates, part of success is reaching the finish line.
Graduate Inquiry Form
Education Building, Room 414
E: education@utep.edu


This is a guest post from my friend Jenny over at HerePup.com – an organization that aims to be the only news source about dogs. They cover everything about dogs in the news, health, media, and more. She asked to feature a little more about how dogs can improve health and well-being. I know dogs can make us feel better, but did you know all the ways a dog can make you a better gentleman?
Check out this guest post, and learn more about HerePup and all things "dog" by clicking here.
Dogs and men. They go back a very long way. As they say, a dog is man's best friend. Getting a fur-baby from the canine family is one thing that can benefit a man. Believe it or not, it has its effects on their health. It is something that nobody can deny.
There are a lot of ways your pet dog can make you healthier. But did you know that a dog has ways that will make a gentleman out of you at the same time? Yes, it has certain traits that can combine health and gentlemanliness. For one, they are very patient. Their patience rubs off on you in the long run. In turn, you get to practice this also on your wife or girlfriend while they take their time preparing themselves for that special date.
Some guys have the tendency of not having enough patience while waiting for an hour while their partners are still fussing over what to wear. In certain cases, men get impatient and instead of appreciating her efforts, the wait ruins their night. Women love taking their time while making themselves look their best. It is for their man's benefit. In this case, men with dogs tend to be more patient and calm while waiting.
Being in the presence of a dog develops calmness in you. Being a gentleman often includes a combination of being calm and patient. These two traits make you healthy as well. They both lower your stress levels and heart rate. It also gives you peace of mind.
The infographic below offers information on how your dog can affect your health in positive ways. Check it out and learn more about how these four-legged creatures are actually good for you. Each of these show just how a dog can make you a better gentleman – and a healthier one!
Do you have a dog that keeps you on your toes? What about keeping you healthy?
How do you feel your dog has contributed to your gentlemanliness?


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To Colorado's Secessionist Leader, The Problem Is 'The Urbanization Of America'
By Catherine Thompson
November 7, 2013 8:22 a.m.
Jeffrey Hare doesn't want to live in Colorado anymore. But he doesn't want to move away either.
So the conservative at-large member of the Weld County Council has been helping lead the charge for several rural counties, including his, to secede from the state and create North Colorado. The dream Hare and others have is that the nation's 51st state would be a place where residents could be free of what they see as burdensome gun and oil regulations imposed on them by their current leaders.
That dream won something of a muted victory this week when voters in 11 rural counties split on whether the idea was a good one. Five counties voted to encourage their counties to explore secession. Six, including Weld County, the most populous among them, voted against it.
TPM caught up with Hare on Wednesday, the day after the vote, to ask what his group, the 51st State Initiative, plans to do next, why he thinks "the urbanization of America" is a problem, and why he thinks such an extreme measure is necessary.
TPM: The 51st State Initiative says creating a new state was meant to address a "growing divide between urban and rural interests." So what do you see as the fundamental differences between those interests?
JEFFREY HARE: Well, we talk about certain things in particular. Gun control legislation, which was widely opposed by rural communities, more supported by urban communities. And even the governor, in signing the gun control legislation, admitted that he was trying to solve an urban issue and it would require some inconvenience for people living in rural communities. So gun control, and obviously that's made national news. You have 55 out of 64 sheriffs filing suit against the state, which is primarily, virtually all the rural sheriffs in the state. So number one is gun control.
Number two would be renewable energy policy. If you date back to 2003, when the initial 10 percent renewable energy mandate happened in the state of Colorado, requiring all electrical providers to have 10 percent from alternative sources — most of rural Colorado, those that are most influenced by agriculture and energy, as opposed to those rural communities that are more the ski towns, voted against that 2003 initiative. And in this last legislative session we had what we call the assault on rural Colorado, the war on rural Colorado, where the urban-based legislature passed an increase of those alternative energy mandates from 10 percent to 20 percent. Widely opposed by both lobbyists, if you will, for the REAs, rural electrical associations, co-ops, as well as protested against by the average citizen. It was a very heated debate. And of course the urban legislature went ahead and signed it and forced that on rural Colorado. So that's number two.
The third I would say is energy policy in general. If you look at just what happened last night and the votes with the anti-fracking groups — Boulder, Fort Collins, Broomfield, as examples — they passed what are essentially fracking bans, even though its an indefinite moratorium or a five-year moratorium depending on which county it is. So they feel very strongly about, if you want to call it, the environmental risks of oil and gas drilling. And by and large rural Colorado feels very comfortable with those risks We would argue that there hasn't really been any reason to be concerned about environmental risks.
To go back to gun control, what's a reason these counties would oppose background checks for gun buyers?
Well, there has been criminal background checks for gun buyers for a long time, both at the federal level and the state level. There's just a principled opposition to anything related to Second Amendment rights. Both the magazine ban and the universal background check are just an erosion of Second Amendment rights. People would argue that both of them are setting up for a national database of gun owners. So typical, you would call it, arguments.
So on renewable energy, is there also just widespread, on principle, opposition to imposing percent standards on where each farm needs to get its energy from?
In principle, you shouldn't have a state government forcing its will on certain portions, even minority portions, of the state. … So I would argue that's not the proper role of government. The role of government is not to erode liberty, the role of government is to protect liberty. So the principled argument is you have rural communities saying we don't want this. It's imposed upon us. And you have an urban-centric legislature that's saying we don't care what you want we're going to do it anyways.
So that's a principled argument, but that fact is it relates to, if you look at wind and solar, there is not an economic benefit, it's an economic detriment. We've already seen that, that the energy rates in Colorado are 20 percent higher than in adjacent states primarily because of the original 10 percent alternative energy mandate and when you have farmers running, as an example, irrigated pivots that is driven by electricity, you have people living, just looking at the eastern plains, you look at the five counties that did vote for it, they are in a regional economy and they can't pass those costs on. They can't increase the cost of their byproduct through their production or the end price, if you will, because its a regional market. So they're competing with Nebraska and Kansas farmers to sell hay or corn and have higher input costs. So it means either: number one, they're going to go out of business potentially; or number two, they're going to make much smaller profit margins. So what people really want in the rural parts of the state is a free market energy economy. What we don't want is the government saying you must provide input — and it would be the same case if natural gas and oil or coal was higher priced than alternative energy — the principle of the matter is government shouldn't be picking winners or losers in that debate.
So this is an issue of the bottom line then for these co-ops?
Right. It's purely an economic, free-market-driven argument.
So you'd say those are the three main issues, the straw that broke the camel's back and led to proposing the ballot initiative?
There's a lot of things that have gone on for a long time. The urbanization of America has driven all the power, if you will, into all the population centers. The one thing that often the press gets wrong in this is they say this is really a Republican versus Democrat issue. And I would just point to Kansas and Nebraska, which are two hardcore-red states, Republican-dominated states and you have very disenfranchised rural farmers living in the Western parts of those states equally as frustrated with being underrepresented in the state legislature, even with an "R" behind people's names, so it really is a systemic issue. Not all farmers vote "R." If you go to certain states like Iowa, for example, there's probably more people that vote for Democrats than they do Republicans.
So how are those 11 counties that put the initiative on the ballot represented in Colorado's legislature?
I'm trying to think — collectively, they may have one senator and one house member. At least, I'm not familiar with how the lines are drawn enough to say with certainty. I know at least in those five counties, I can only think of one state senator that lives in those five. If you go to the 11, there was four or five House members and three senators perhaps. So they're underrepresented because both the Senate and the House are based upon population. So even in the cases where there is rural areas drawn into a particular district, they have a much greater population that lives in the urban areas so they're going to tend to vote for what's in the interest of the urban people as opposed to the rural folks.
So why was creating a new state the first avenue that the county commissioners turned to?
Well, I would say it wasn't the first. They've been actively working on resolving these issues, on all three of them if you will, during normal legislative means. So they were down in front of Congress, the state legislature last year, testifying against all these. You've heard all that, this is the gun control stuff, how people felt very disenfranchised and not being able to testify in front of meetings, even elected sheriffs were turned away from testimony. As it relates to alternative energy and oil and gas, again, our commissioners and commissioners throughout this region were very involved in that process and were just flat out ignored by the state legislators. So it's not that they haven't been involved with all the normal means of making sure good people get elected. It just comes down to the deficiency, that urban communities don't have to even listen to rural communities because they have more than the majority vote in the legislature. So this is a response to many years of frustration, not just this last legislative session. The last legislative session was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
What happens now? Five of the 11 counties who put the initiative on the ballot voted in favor. Six voted it down. So what happens to that voter referendum now?
Well, we're gonna go meet with the county commissioners in those five counties. We actually have a meeting next week in Burlington, which is Kit Carson county, one of the five counties. So we sent an email out today and basically asked the county commissioners how to you want to proceed and how can we help.
The referendum has always been known to be non-binding. It's just official feedback. So through gathering information, through talking to people, and just in general the campaign process of the last few months we kind of know where the areas are we could have done a better job at educating people. We just didn't have the time or money really to do what we wanted to do in terms of educating people and getting them to be supportive of initiatives.
So we could still could go to a statewide ballot in 2014. Maybe a little bit more of an uphill battle than we would have liked with a stronger vote yesterday. But the other thing that's being pursued is a restructuring of the state Senate, which is what we call a Phillips County proposal because that came out of a commissioner that recommended that or suggested that in Phillips County. And that would restructure the state Senate to get more representation to rural Colorado and provide a natural check and balance between the population-dominated House and potentially a state Senate that would be more representation for rural Colorado.
And what would it take for the Phillips County proposal to advance? What would it need to pass?
It takes a statewide constitutional amendment, which … would have to go to a statewide vote in 2014, of the entire state with a majority vote. It could either get referred by the state legislature, I think 2/3 of the state legislature would have to refer a constitutional amendment to a vote, or it could be brought forward by a citizen's initiative, which we have, it's a referendum process in Colorado.
Would the five counties that did vote in favor ever proceed without support from the others that were considering the initiative?
I think that remains to be seen. I'm not gonna pre-judge that, because I'm not in a position right now. Our role would be to support them if they wanted to do that. It could be that they could proceed and we could still draw on other counties, that maybe we don't have the support at this time, but we feel like we could get the support in 2014. So it doesn't necessarily mean there would only be five counties if we went to a statewide ballot and continued the 51st state initiative. We just know we have to do a better job of educating people to get a stronger vote next time around.
You've been mentioning 2014 a lot. What do you hope to accomplish with the initiative by then? What's your main goal going forward?
I think it remains to be seen which path we're gonna take. I would frankly love to see a statewide ballot on the 51st State Initiative, whether it's five counties or we can get that expanded and feel comfortable with including 15 or 20 counties, I still think that's a possibility. It is the right solution in the long run. It's a much better solution than the Phillips County proposal. I think it will bring back representation closer to the people, which is what we're advocating. It's much more local control than our state government, in the new state.
The Q&A has been edited for length and clarity. Photo provided by Jeffrey Hare.
Catherine Thompson (@kt_thomps) Catherine Thompson is a senior editor for Talking Points Memo in New York City. She came to the site in 2013 and reported on national affairs. Previously, she worked as a research assistant to investigative reporter Wayne Barrett. She can be reached at catherine@talkingpointsmemo.com.
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text:
Monte Vista is een plaats (city) in de Amerikaanse staat Colorado, en valt bestuurlijk gezien onder Rio Grande County.

Demografie
Bij de volkstelling in 2000 werd het aantal inwoners vastgesteld op 4529.
In 2006 is het aantal inwoners door het United States Census Bureau geschat op 4159, een daling van 370 (-8.2%).

Geografie
Volgens het United States Census Bureau beslaat de plaats een oppervlakte van
5,0 km², waarvan 4,9 km² land en 0,1 km² water. Monte Vista ligt op ongeveer 2339 m boven zeeniveau.

Plaatsen in de nabije omgeving
De onderstaande figuur toont nabijgelegen plaatsen in een straal van 40 km rond Monte Vista.

Externe link

Plaats in Colorado

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Akihiko Kamikawa (; * 9. Juli 1966 in der Präfektur Kanagawa) ist ein japanischer Fußballtrainer.

Karriere
Kamikawa erlernte das Fußballspielen in der Schulmannschaft der Kamakura High School und der Universitätsmannschaft der Meiji-Universität. 1994 wurde Kamikawa Co-Trainer der Meiji-Universität. Von 2004 bis 2013 war er der Cheftrainer. 2016 wurde Kamikawa Cheftrainer vom Drittligisten Grulla Morioka.

Weblinks

Fußballtrainer (Iwate Grulla Morioka)
Japaner
Geboren 1966
Mann


text:
Governor Deal Caves
Georgia Governor Nathan Deal can teach us an important lesson or two about religious liberty.
I remember when I first heard Chuck Colson, on a BreakPoint commentary years ago, make a distinction between religious liberty and freedom of worship. "Freedom of worship," a phrase being used more and more Chuck warned, is the freedom to believe what you want in the privacy of your own mind, and maybe inside the doors of your house of worship. But what the founders had in mind was much more robust—the freedom to carry our deeply held beliefs into the public square and allow them to shape our lives.
As I admitted to him later, I thought Chuck was making much ado about nothing with that distinction. But as we've clearly seen in how the government has argued for the HHS Mandate and the way the courts have ruled against wedding-related business owners, Chuck was absolutely right.
This week's incident, however, threatens even that neutered, watered-down version of freedom of worship.
As we talked about yesterday on BreakPoint, Georgia Governor Nathan Deal vetoed HB757, saying the bill "doesn't reflect the character of our state or the character of our people." Deal, despite his insistence otherwise, was the latest governor to cave to the well-orchestrated pressure from the NFL, Disney, Salesforce, and the LGBT lobby.
That would be disturbing enough if this were the same type of religious freedom bill that caused so much trouble in Arizona and Indiana. But as Ryan Anderson notes at the Daily Signal, this bill offered no protections for florists, photographers, bakers or other wedding-related professionals to live by their religious convictions. This bill would have only protected the freedoms of ministers from officiating same-sex ceremonies, for faith-based organization from hiring employees whose views undermined their mission, and for protecting churches and their ministries from state government-level discrimination.
In other words, this bill would have only protected something like the "freedom of worship" Chuck worried our religious freedoms would be reduced to. And, Republican Governor Nathan Deal vetoed it, basically allowing even this soft, spongy version of conscience rights to be labeled hate and intolerance.
Even more, according to Anderson, Governor Deal actually argued states did not need religious freedom protection, other than the "broad protections of the First Amendment." Wow. Anderson called that view "nonsensical." I would use much, much harsher words than that.
Still, all who care for religious freedom must learn from this incident. The Indiana Religious Freedom Act firestorm a year ago showed us that "religious freedom," an idea as American as baseball and apple pie, was no longer considered to be a cultural "good." When many, many people in our country hear "religious freedom," what they really hear is "license to discriminate."
The Georgia governor's words and actions this week prove just how far that redefining of religious freedom has gone. Apparently, not even pastors should be able to hold religious convictions that violate the new orthodoxies our culture has embraced.
Folks, this is a "culture-moment check." We may not like where we are as a society, but it's where we are as a society. We haven't often had to choose between God and Caesar in our lives, but we'd better decide now where we stand. And any parent or pastor or community leader or teacher or conservative media spokesperson, who cares about religious freedom, must learn to make the case for what it is and why it matters, before yelling and screaming that we should protect it.
We may be using the same vocabulary as our culture, but we're not using the same dictionary. So all of us, as Chuck would say "over the backyard fence and around the barbecue grill," have our work cut out for us.
And finally, we must remind each other again and again, that times may be tough but hope is not lost. In Christ, and Christ alone, we find true freedom.
Governor Deal Caves: What We Must Learn about Religious Freedom
As John mentioned, Chuck Colson spoke specifically about the threats to our religious liberties through just such political "cave-ins" highlighted in today's commentary. For background information on this threat and what we must do to protect our liberties, check out the resources linked below.
Georgia governor to veto 'religious liberty' bill
Ralph Ellis | CNN | March 28, 2016
Redefining the First Freedom: More Than Worship
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | June 30, 2010
The Crux of Religious Liberty: Practice What We Preach
John Stonestreet | BreakPoint.org | August 4, 2014
The First and Foremost Freedom: Freedom of Religion
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint.org | February 15, 2012
← Atlanta, We Have a Problem
The Little Sisters, the Government, and the Supremes →


For slightly more advanced students in biology or 2-4 year college life science classrooms, the Leica DM300 compound microscope is compact, maintenance-free and easy to use to provide trouble free operation each day.
Equipped with a mechanical stage to accommodate two specimen slides and labelled Abbe condenser, the DM300 can be configured with rotatable monocular or binocular tubes for shared viewing and easy storage. Trinocular tube is also possible to go digital.
With 165 years of microscope design and manufacturing experience, the Leica DM300 student microscope provides students with the capabilities they need to study the finest details in all the Life Sciences.
Maintenance free, sealed, brass shaft, focus mechanism; the same design that is used in our Clinical Microscopes provides accurate focusing control over the life of the microscope.
Leica EZLite™ LED illumination saves the cost of replacement lamps and provides a cool white light for over 20 years of average use at 80% lower energy consumption.
Compact size with small footprint for easy storage and easy carrying.
Built in mechanical stage with low position X/Y controls for accurate specimen movement at high magnifications and the ability to accommodate two specimen slides.


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Lechuguilla Cave: Exploring a Wondrous World Beneath the Guadalupe Mountains
Published October 27, 2022 at 6:45 AM CDT
photograph by Dave Bunnell. The stunning Chandelier Ballroom – in Lechuguilla Cave at Carlsbad Caverns National Park – is composed of the largest known gypsum stalactites in the world.
photograph by Dave Bunnell. In the backcountry of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Lechuguilla Cave is regarded as one of the most beautiful caves in the world. Since its discovery in 1986, cave explorers have mapped 150 miles of caverns and meandering tunnels.
Carlsbad Cavern is a global destination. Each year, hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world descend into the cavern's "Big Room" – to tour the immense labyrinth of otherworldly cave formations. And on summer evenings, there's the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of bats taking flight from the cave's entrance.
But the cavern – namesake for the New Mexico national park – is just one of more than a hundred caves in this part of the Guadalupe Mountains. The story of Lechuguilla Cave, in the backcountry of Carlsbad Caverns National Park, is a reminder of the deep mysteries of the Chihuahuan Desert. And it's proof that there are frontiers of discovery not only beyond our planet, but within it.
A passionate spelunker from his teenage years, Paul Burger has written two books on cave exploration.
"Pretty much I got hooked from trip number one," Burger said, "and have been solidly into it ever since. That would have been 1985, so it's been a while."
Burger spent 11 years in a caver's dream job – as a Carlsbad Caverns National Park staffer. He works at parks now in Alaska, but continues to map caves in the Guadalupes. He says he speaks as a cave explorer, not a park-service representative.
Most great caves – like Kentucky's Mammoth Cave, the planet's longest known cave system – are formed from the top down. Surface water works its way through limestone, creating sinkholes and underground rivers. But the caves of the Guadalupes are different. They're "hypogenic," meaning the water that formed them came from below.
The caves formed between 7 and 12 million years ago. As rain fell on the Guadalupes – a more extensive range then – it percolated down into deep aquifers. There it mixed with another substance found beneath the Earth here: petroleum. The encounter created a potent sulfuric acid, with microbial life intensifying the process.
The result, Burger said, is "a lot of hollow ground" beneath the Guadalupes. It's just geological serendipity if these hollow spaces, these chasms and tunnels, have an opening at the surface.
For Carlsbad Cavern, that opening is a yawning chasm. But not all cave openings are so obvious.
The 70-foot-deep pit that marks the entrance to Lechuguilla Cave was known since at least 1903, when local ranchers mined guano there. And later, Carlsbad park staff noted that there was powerful airflow coming out of a pile of rubble at the bottom of the pit.
That airflow was barometric – wind rushed in or out depending on atmospheric pressure. It suggested there was a vast open space below.
Beginning in 1984, an engineer and caver named Dave Allured led an effort to penetrate the rubble. And on Memorial Day 1986, his crew succeeded. Their discovery was electrifying.
"They quickly explored the first 1000-plus feet till they hit the first real big pit in the cave," Burger said, "which is Boulder Falls, which is an almost 200-foot-deep pit. The air is just ripping through there, so they knew they were on to something big. No one ever expected there would be a cave that extensive and that big that hadn't already been found in the Guads."
At 30 miles long, Carlsbad Cavern was assumed to be the most extensive cave in the Guadalupes. But cavers have now mapped more than 150 miles of meandering shafts and caverns in Lechuguilla Cave. And exploration continues.
And length isn't even the cave's true calling card. Lechuguilla Cave is widely considered the most beautiful cave in the world. The Chandelier Ballroom – with massive formations of delicate, crystalline gypsum – has become iconic. But there are pellucid waters and exquisite forms throughout.
Exploring this hidden world is rigorous work, an intense physical and psychological challenge. Camps have been established within the cave, and cavers often spend six days together underground.
Burger made his first trip here in 1988. As a young caver, the tight squeezes and traverses, the descents into baffling abysses, tested his limits.
"One wrong move and you just tumble down into the darkness," he said. "It really is underground mountaineering. Having that much technical work just to move through the cave was definitely intimidating."
There have been injuries. In 1991, caver Emily Davis Mobley suffered a broken leg in Lechuguilla's remote depths. Her evacuation took four days, and required the help of 200 people.
But to map a "virgin cave," Burger said, more than compensates for those rigors and risks. Burger himself was the first to enter a cave room he named "High Hopes." To name its stunning features – and to see those names become part of the record – is deeply satisfying, he said.
"It's almost like discovering a continent," Burger said, "and in this case you're not usurping Native names that should have been on there in the first place. You can kit yourself out for a few hundred dollars and explore the far ends of these caves, and you're doing original exploration that you can't image from above. It's one of the few true individual exploration opportunities that there are on the planet."
Carlsbad Caverns National Park offers guided tours of remote Slaughter Cave, for visitors seeking an underground wilderness experience. But Lechuguilla Cave itself is not open to the public. It's a fragile resource – of global significance. When Carlsbad Caverns National Park was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Lechuguilla Cave was a central reason.
And when it comes to caves here, it probably isn't the end of the story. Burger suspects there are caves yet to be discovered in this rugged, desert-mountain country along the Texas-New Mexico state line.
"All we can do is wander around the desert," Burger said, "getting torn up by the rocks and vegetation and look into every nook and cranny and hope there's a cave there and not just a mountain lion or a rattlesnake."
The Chihuahuan Desert is known for its vast spaces and mountain vistas. But it also conceals singular beauty within its depths.
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Mr. Smith's mother's side of the family immigrated from Czechoslovakia (today Czech Republic and Slovakia), Austria-Hungary (today Croatia), and Romania at the turn of the 20th century. As seen in articles in the Family link on this website, his parents lived in Waveland, MS in 2005, which was ground zero for Hurricane Katrina. As such, all family albums and historical images and information reside at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. However, in the summer of 2010 Mr. Smith's maternal uncle discovered a small set of images among his mother's belongings—images that include Mr. Smith's great grandmother, grandmother, and mother when she was pregnant with him.


So I went to start up my Arrma kraton, went to throttle and the motor just jolted, with no movement to the wheels, the yellow wire seemed to overheat, then it sparked and snapped off.
Wth? This was running fine, any suggestions as to why this happened? Was it caused by the ESC or the motor?
From here it looks like it's possibly a bad solder joint that finally gave up. I'd check the others too.
Can you turn the motor ? If so, re solder it and see if it works. It could be a bad bearing or bearings too. Causing lock up. Locked rotor amperage draw could be high enough to instantly un solder a joint.
Agree, probably a bad solder joint. No real scortching damage to the wire insulation, or the heat shrink. The wire looks clean - too clean. My guess, not enough solder for a solid connection, and it just de-soldered itself. My suggestion - Resolder, new heat shrink, and run it.
Helpful video for soldering thick wire.


You're simply in luck if you're looking out for information regarding LG phones to aid your purchase because this article focuses on the best LG phones available.
LG is a technology powerhouse with its base of operations in South Korea. The company has proven over decades their prowess in the tech universe. Even more, their smartphone capability is game!
When top smartphone OEMs are mentioned, LG also makes the cut as a result of the stunning devices they produce & their consistency in doing so. LG's got the mobiles for each category ranging from flagship to mid-range to low-end.
Considering their smartphone technicality is the focus of this article, let's waste no time as we delve deep into the subject of the matter.
As was mentioned earlier, LG phones are compartmentalized into three sections (flagship, mid-range and low-end) depending on the budget. So we'll be looking at the best of mobiles from this brand in full. Read on.
When flagship is considered, LG V30 is number one, even when LG smartphones are considered generally, it is also the best. Being the latest of the LG V Series, this flagship device wows from different angles. Its display is well oriented with the six inches P-OLED capacitive touchscreen.
The smartphone takes on the IP68 certification giving it its dust and water resistance. At the seat of operations, there's the powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC with possession of eight Kryo processors.
Cameras on the device are image sweeteners as they are in a triple cam setup of 16MP plus 13 MP cams at the rear and one 5 MP camera sensor at the front. Android 7.1.2 Nougat OS is the chief commander of software functions on the device.
Here's another smartphone that belongs to the flagship section of LG phones – LG G series. LG G6 sports a 5.7-inch display as well as 1440 x 2880 pixels resolution. The heart of this device is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC. Android 7.0 Nougat runs the OS show inside while a 4 GB RAM assists in the smartphone's performance.
In the mid-range section, the top strike man in the LG Q series – LG Q6 takes the top seed. LG Q6 is a classy smartphone with 18:9 aspect ratio on its 5.5 inches display. The software handling on the device is taken care of by the Android Nougat OS. Multitasking is made easy on the device by 3 GB RAM while the storage of files is handled by a 32 GB internal memory.
With the possession of a stylus pen, this device makes it easy for users to scribble down notes. Its 5.7 inches display relays beautiful media with the 720 x 1280 pixels. Active at the center of operations is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 SoC.
Announced at the Mobile World Congress, LG K10 (2018) owns a 5.3-inch IPS display with an HD resolution. Space available for storing files is 32 GB.
LG produces sleek and stylish smartphones with killer and sometimes just decent specs. As we've seen above, LG phones are contenders any-day, anytime in the smartphone world. That leads to the question I have for you: What are your views on LG phones generally?


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Halloran has published over 70 books, including bestsellers in Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Teen and Young Adult Fantasy, Genetic Engineering, Urban Fantasy and more…Scroll down and take a look and find the best series suitable for you.
Dive into the epic background story of Nath Dragon, son of the Dragon King, in his first Dungeons and Dragons type adventure. Nath steals the all-powerful sword, Fang, when he is banished from the Mountain of Doom, and quickly finds himself in a dangerous world and all alone. Soon, the wicked take advantage of the young hero, and he must decide which side he will fight on, evil or good? A great starter for readers of all ages, but written before The Chronicles of Dragon, Series 1.
Craig's #1 bestselling epic fantasy series … The Chronicles of Dragon. Welcome to the world of NALZAMBOR … Nath is a special warrior. He is a dragon born a man. In order to become a dragon, he must save the dragons. Dive into this one-of-a-kind fantasy written for all ages to enjoy!
The continuation of Nath Dragon and Brenwar Boulderguild's dangerous adventures against an all-powerful menace called Eckubahn who returns to destroy Nath Dragon's father, Balzurth.
Do you love legendary portal fantasy such as The Thomas Covenant Chronicles, the Magic Kingdom: For Sale/Sold and the Seventh Sword series? Then let me pitch you this!
A champion out of time. Pro Athlete Abraham Jenkins must trade a bat for a sword.
Until one day he dozes off and fate intervenes.
Abraham is suddenly catapulted into a medieval fantasy world unlike anything he's ever imagined. A world of knights, brutal lords, and war without rules. To survive, he fakes his way into a notorious group known as the King's Henchman, renown for doing the crown's dirty work.
If you aren't sure where to start with Craig's books, then the Clash of Heroes is the perfect fit. This thrilling fantasy crossover combines the best of Craig's top-selling fantasy worlds as his two titanic heroes, Nath Dragon and The Darkslayer, collide. This story occurs at the beginning of the Darkslayer series and during the 2nd series of the Chronicles of Dragon. No matter what, you can't go wrong with these heroes!
The riveting trials of the Darkslayer have only just begun, as he and his thieving and fighting comrades find themselves up against a God-Like being called Scorch. With the completion of book series 2, THE DARKSLAYER epic is more than one million words long and unlike any fantasy you have read before. You can't miss the final gut wrenching and startling conclusion that made Craig Halloran an all-time favorite with devout fantasy readers world-wide!
A sensational new series from Craig Halloran, 'The Bounty Hunter Files'. Agent Sidney Shaw is one of the FBI's finest. Tough as nails with a calculating mind, she thought she was ready for anything. Enter John Smoke. He plays by his own rules and can back it up with a cunning mind and relentless spirit.
If you love post-apocalyptic stories such as the Road Warrior, Maze Runner, Reign of Fire and anything with mutants, then don't miss out on this bestselling masterpiece about a head strong boy name Gabe that bonds with a dragon named Squawk. Together, they must survive the deadly Dragon Games and find a way to overthrow a depraved new world government called THE DOMINION.
Are you looking for something different than the walking dead? How does weaponized zombies sound? Do you like conspiracies, humor, and a new twist on a decades old story line? You just found what many zombies fans call 'BRILLIANT'.


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Horizon Station
In the distant future, humanity has spread across the stars, and now the majority of people live in space stations. Almost all habitable planets have been converted to agricultural purposes and the promise of liberation through space colonization has been forgotten. But even in a universe where people live like insects in hive-like space stations and trade conglomerates have replaced governments, there is hope.
For Ava, Remi, and Vance, life on Habitat Station is terrible. But when they discover an abandoned space station drifting, their luck might just change. The first story in the Horizon Station series.
Symbiotes
When Vance, Ava, and Remi claimed an abandoned space station, they left many of their problems behind. But even with an entire station to themselves, they still have to learn with one another. The second story in the Horizon Station series.
Things have been going well on Horizon Station. Ava, Remi, and Vance have begun to turn the abandoned space station that they discovered into their home. But as much as they would like to forget the problems of the worlds and stations, those problems still exist right outside their walls. When pirates attack, they must learn how to survive in a hostile universe. The third story in the Horizon Station series.
Although Horizon Station can produce many of the things that it needs, there are things that it cannot, and of those some cannot be bought, but must be stolen. The second story in the Horizon Station series.
This work by Tom Dillon CC BY-NC 4.0


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