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Extent of Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Junior High Schools
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Salifu Maigari Mohammed 1 * , Kwaku Darko Amponsah 1, Ernest Ampadu 1, Eliot Kosi Kumassah 1
1 Department of Teacher Education, School of Education and Leadership, College of Education, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, GHANA
The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of implementation of inquiry-based science teaching and learning in Ghanaian junior high schools. We sampled 503 students, 18 integrated science teachers, and 23 educational administrators from rural and urban areas of four districts and municipalities in the Central Region of Ghana. We used concurrent triangulation mixed methods design to collect quantitative and qualitative data. Validities, reliabilities, credibility, and dependability of the instruments were adequate. Average item means and standard deviations, frequencies, percentages, ANOVAs, Two-way MANOVA, principal component analysis, and Cronbach alphas were calculated. Thematic analysis was also conducted. We found rare implementation of inquiry-based science teaching and learning in the selected Ghanaian junior high schools. We also found significant interaction of school location and school type on the implementation of inquiry-based science instruction. Specifically, we found that code-switching of English and the local language significantly promoted the implementation of social aspect of inquiry in rural schools. We recommend more reforms in science teaching and learning in Ghanaian junior high schools to be aligned with the features of inquiry. We also recommend that code-switching of English and the local language be actively promoted in schools, especially in rural and public junior high schools.
inquiry approach
traditional instruction
science teaching and learning
code-switching
Figure 1 data
Figures 2a, b, and c data
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9373
EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2020 - Volume 16 Issue 12, Article No: em1928
Article Downloads: 57
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Mohammed SM, Amponsah KD, Ampadu E, Kumassah EK. Extent of Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Junior High Schools. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2020;16(12):em1928. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9373
Mohammed, S. M., Amponsah, K. D., Ampadu, E., & Kumassah, E. K. (2020). Extent of Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Junior High Schools. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(12), em1928. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9373
Mohammed SM, Amponsah KD, Ampadu E, Kumassah EK. Extent of Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Junior High Schools. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2020;16(12), em1928. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9373
Mohammed, Salifu Maigari, Kwaku Darko Amponsah, Ernest Ampadu, and Eliot Kosi Kumassah. "Extent of Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Junior High Schools". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2020 16 no. 12 (2020): em1928. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9373
Mohammed, S. M., Amponsah, K. D., Ampadu, E., and Kumassah, E. K. (2020). Extent of Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Junior High Schools. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(12), em1928. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9373
Mohammed, Salifu Maigari et al. "Extent of Implementation of Inquiry-based Science Teaching and Learning in Ghanaian Junior High Schools". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 16, no. 12, 2020, em1928. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/9373
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Q: How to prefetch a list of unique values from a related Django model? I'd like to prefetch a list of unique values from a related model in Django in as few queries as possible.
For instance, consider the following :
class A(models.Model):
    b = models.ForeignKey('B')
    value = models.CharField(max_length=10)

class B(models.Model):
    pass

I'd like to annotate each model instance of a queryset on B, with a list of unique values from the value column in the related A objects.
>>> qs = B.objects.all().annotate(distinct_a_values=...)
>>> [a.value for a in qs.first().a_set.all()]
["value_1", "value_2", "value_1"]
>>> qs.first().distinct_a_values
["value_1", "value_2"]

The closest I could find was to use a Prefetch object :
>>> qs = B.objects.all().prefetch_related(
        Prefetch(
            'a_set',
            A.objects.all().distinct('value').only('value', 'b_id'),
            to_attr='distinct_a_values'
        )
    )

It works, but feels clunky, and it is definitely weird to get a list of A objects, only to discover that they are distinct on something other than the primary key.
Any other way?

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Snakes have been considered sacred in Greece and the Balkans, as well as other cultures, since at least 7000 BCE. They are symbols of rebirth and regeneration, as they travel between our world and the world below, disappear and re-emerge from the earth in spring, and shed their skins in seasonal renewal.
The Cretan Snake Goddess from Knossos (ca 1600 BCE) stands serenely with serpents wrapped around her body, showing how snakes were considered benevolent and were revered, not feared. Snakes are also powerful symbols of healing. Recently, I had an extraordinary experience of 'serpent healing' after a serious injury.
Friends of mine run a yoga retreat centre in Mani, Greece, called The Spirit of Life, where their son keeps a number of snakes including a beautiful Royal Python named Monty. Monty and I have met on several occasions over the years, and whenever I have spent time holding him, I have felt a sense of great peace and calm. More than that, Monty has shown an uncanny ability to move directly to places of tension in my shoulders, and to gently yet firmly massage sore muscles in a soothing way.
Therefore, on a recent visit, I decided to let Monty go wherever he wanted, just to see where he might choose to move. I had had quite a bad fall from my bicycle several weeks before, resulting in multiple injuries, to my back and to my right elbow, hand, rib, shoulder, calf and foot.
First Monty went straight to my right elbow and spent quite a long time circling around it.
Next Monty wrapped himself around my right hand for several minutes.
and fully embraced my right lower leg. He stayed here for at least twenty minutes.
Next Monty spent half an hour attending to my right foot and ankle, where he was very active, circling and massaging the whole ankle and foot.
Monty continued with long visits to the ribs, shoulder and upper back. All of the places he gave his attention to were the exact places where I had been injured.
After more than two hours together, I seemed to feel him inform me that the healing session was over. He curled up into his usual ball shape and appeared to go to sleep. I felt very well afterwards, and since that day I have been remarkably free of much of the pain which had lingered since my accident. I am calling Monty's healing technique Ophiotherapia, from Ophis, the ancient Greek word for serpent.
I find it interesting that Monty paid no attention at all to the uninjured parts of my body. My partner Kostantis' theory is that injured areas, which tend to be inflamed, are just a tiny bit warmer than surrounding areas, and therefore might appeal to a warmth-seeking snake.
But it doesn't really matter. Whatever the reason for Monty's attention to my injuries, I found his presence to be tremendously helpful. We know that in ancient Greece, snakes were kept in temples for purposes of ceremony, healing and divination; in temples to Asclepius, the deity of healing, seekers slept a healing sleep in chambers where snakes moved around freely.
Numerous archaeological finds show priestesses holding sacred snakes, like the feature image. My own theory about this priestess' tall headgear is that the snakes would have been taken from their cool homes in a torpid, nonmoving state, and placed inside the conical headdress. The heat of the priestess's movements throughout the ceremony – in my imagination, particularly through dance – would eventually warm the snake and inspire it to awaken, emerge and move around the priestess's body as depicted on this and similar votive figures.
I tried this once on a previous visit when we placed a sleeping Monty atop my hat while I was drinking tea with his caretakers…but he continued to snooze quite peacefully on my head. I guess he did not feel like moving around that day. Next time I shall try dancing.
Mani is a remote area of the southern Peloponnese, the closest part of the Greek mainland to the western tip of Crete. Christianity was established very late in Mani, after the twelfth century, and many archaic, pre-Christian customs remain, including the use of the serpent motif as a symbol of protection for the home, as seen on this 17th-C ceramic tile from Kardamyli.
My wise friend Niki, now in her seventies, keeps the old custom of welcoming and feeding a 'house snake.' It's a wild snake, which visits daily; Niki gives it a bowl of fresh goat milk on her doorstep, and the snake sheds its skin by her door in exchange. Many herb women in Mani use shed snake skins for medicinal purposes.
Both the spiral and the serpent symbolises life leading into death and again into life – the journey of healing and transformation.
This has been my journey too, at numerous times in my life, and again since my recent accident. I have had to go within, to a place of literal stillness, when at first it was not possible to walk at all, and then I could only walk with considerable pain and difficulty. After my serpent-healing session, I could walk without pain for the first time in two months. I am very grateful to Monty and his ancient gift, which helped bring me out of the still centre and back into the movement of life.
My heartfelt thanks to Monty and his devoted caretakers – and to our ancestors in ceremony, dance and animal communication who have left so many inspiring traces for us to follow. Thanks also to Carol Christ for bringing me close to the ancient serpent goddesses on her Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete (www.goddessariadne.org) and for encouraging me to write about my experience of serpent healing.
Laura Shannon has been researching and teaching traditional women's ritual dances since 1987. She is considered one of the 'grandmothers' of the worldwide Sacred / Circle Dance movement and gives workshops regularly in over twenty countries worldwide. Laura holds an honours degree in Intercultural Studies (1986) and a diploma in Dance Movement Therapy (1990). She has also dedicated much time to primary research in Balkan and Greek villages, learning songs, dances, rituals and textile patterns which have been passed down for many generations, and which embody an age-old worldview of sustainability, community, and reverence for the earth. Laura's essay 'Women's Ritual Dances: An Ancient Source of Healing in Our Times', was published in Dancing on the Earth.
As a feminist art historian, I have a great love of ancient Greek pottery, the Hymn to Demeter and the exquisite wall frescoes in Crete. But the statues of serpent goddesses/priestesses were too alien for my understanding. Thank you so much, Laura, for helping to close that gap in my love for all creatures under heaven, by way of this outstanding contribution to FAR!!
Sarah, I understand you completely, as the serpent goddess figures also seemed very strange to me when I first encountered them so many decades ago. As is so often the case, experience created the bridge to understanding. The physical and soul experience of Monty's presence, his simply knowing what to do to help, overcame all of my intellectual questions, doubts and fears. It felt so right. I remain very deeply touched by the encounter.
Thank you I enjoyed this healing story. The Ouroboros may be of interest to you too … the snake that bites its own tail ..
Such a deep experience, thanks a lot for sharing this with us, dear Laura.
For me it is also a wonderfull sign, how enligtened the nature in all their forms of beeing is..
I´m so thankfull to monty, that he gave you so much attention, unconditional love and devotion, that your selfhealing process works so deep and liberated you from pain.
And thank you also for sharing all the ancient roots of healing through snakes in Greece.
It a great gift for me to know about this yet.
love and blessings for you, dear Laura.
Thank you and thank Monty! Gorgeous post!
BTW The narrative character of The Maeve Chronicles has an intimate initiatory encounter with snakes in Magdalen Rising should any snake lovers wish to check it out.
Thank you for this post. Monty is gorgeous.
Sociological studies have shown that old people in nursing homes do much better in respect to their health and cognitive function if they are given access to birds, cats, and dogs. There is also a program in the USA to send 'comfort' dogs to communities where there have been shootings or other forms of violence. The dogs walk through the town hall and people pet them.
Yes, the snake was probably attracted to the sites of active inflammation on your body, but scientists still have yet to understand why physical contact with animals elicits such positive powerful psychological and physiological effects in humans.
This is an interesting line of inquiry, especially in its potential connection to rhythms of dance. Do you know if 'non-alpha dominant snakes' tend to be one gender or the other?
My living experience is with boa constrictors mostly and a cobra. My handling experience is with corns, hog noses, garter, burmese and ball pythons. Out of these, cobras are alpha dominant.
Gender for non-alpha dominant snakes is a matter of degrees with, females sometimes being more assertive than males due to need to eat more, while males may become more assertive during mating season.
Assertive (to me) means alert, quicker reactions, holding space rather than being aggressive. Cobras are extremely assertive, with their energy matching their image of the Kundalini rising. Mambas are considered aggressive.
I am overjoyed to read of your experience and even further to know that there is a 'Snake Healing Temple' (adjunct tho it may be) to the yoga retreat center in Greece! It's now on my bucket list to visit.
When I was in Crete in 2004, we hiked into Lissos, one of the Asceplian sanctuaries and I couldn't find even a shed snake skin. Further, when we were visiting around Delphi area, I found a snake that had been cut in half!! A picture later determined it wasn't a venomous species.
You will love dancing with Monty as one of his many gifts will be the movement signature of "choreography within the improvised phrase". My beloved Snake teachers have danced with me for years publicly & privately. I look forward to reading what you learn when you both collaborate in one of the ancient dances!
Thank you for sharing your personal experience and adding in Serpent symbolism & metaphor. It is a deeply embedded archetype within our bodies & psyche that yearns to be re-membered and activated. I fully agree with your theory of the conical headdress as it's a given today when working with snakes: entraining them biologically (temp) and environmentally (darkness) as a solicitation to be held by us.
This was such a beautiful confirmation of my sense that contact with the snake was inherently healing. I am so glad to know that you and others are working consciously with the power to heal which Monty and I intuitively discovered. This was my image of the sleepers in the Asklepion where snakes wandered freely – that they would come into healing contact with the bodies of those asleep in their realm and needing healing. Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful healing experience with Monte the snake. I would also love to visit the Snake Healing Temple.
Fascinating! I'm also intrigued by how snakes relate to the Minoan/Greek oracular tradition, possibly through the ingestion of their venom. Theresa Dintino's novel "Ode to Minoa" explores this topic beautifully.
I don't know about the use of venom as an oracular hallucinogen, but it would not surprise me. We do know that the behaviour of snakes was seen as a portent on many occasions. Marion Zimmer Bradley's book about Cassandra of Troy (The Firebrand) also has a lovely thread in it about Cassandra's training as a priestess involving keeping and raising snakes for purposes of healing and divination.
There are no poisonous snakes in Crete and I do not think this was the point, myself.
Thank you for this fascinating post, Laura. It's great to learn that snakes are healers, not just symbols of healing.
Exquisite irony in that insight, Nancy!!
Exquisite irony and also exquisite hope, as we so often start with a purely symbolic or intellectual approach to these ancient mysteries and then find that our experience confirms and deepens our intuition. Based on my various experiences over all these years in Eastern Europe, I have come to believe that the great healing skills and wisdom traditions from Old Europe are not completely lost.
Fascinating post Laura! Thank you! I have had the experience of watching a boa constrictor do a healing on a woman in circle–absolutely mesmerizing! And although no words were spoken, everyone present had no doubt that the woman and the snake went into trance together as the snake did its healing work.
Yes, that was my experience also, although I hesitated to name it as such when writing my story: definitely an altered state of awareness with deep knowing, trust, and intuition. It seems that the phenomenon of serpent healing / ophiotherapia is more widely known than I realised, as indeed it deserves to be.
I often feel some of my empathetic cats (females) give healing when I'm unwell. One would lie directly on my chest if I had a cough or bad cold.
Once during a rolfing session the practitioner's cat entered the room and sprang up onto the treatment bed and curled up on my back at a strategic point–so I suspect other animals (or at least cats!) also can transmit healing. Of course they were sacred animals in some cultures too, notably ancient Egypt.
Laura, it is so fascinating what you write about your encounter with Monty serpent and to see the fotographs is very touching and I can well imagine. Just the days before I had some toy-snakes in my hand and I thought, that I can´t get a connection to these beings. They are so special,strange, unknown for me, incalculable, a bit uncanny.
The sharing of your experience suddenly opens a door and also the sharings of all the others in this blog.
Thank you so much for the beautiful revelations in your newsletter; first, may I say I am so pleased you are on the road to recovery and preparing for your future circles – I pray it will continue unhindered.
Your experience with the snake was wonderful and whereas there could be a prosaic explanation, I feel there is more. This is because I experienced something similar, but not a physiological injury. My heart had been broken, to use a cliche, and I was grieving for a lost relationship in a way which was leading to deep depression when my daughter came out to Spain to visit me. I decided to take her to a safari park in the mountains which cared for rescued pets. There, I was invited to hold the boa constrictor which was out for its constitutional. It was placed around my neck, but was not comfortable and worked down until it was nestled against my heart, cradled in my arms. There, I could feel it pulsing, contracting and relaxing, warm and safe. It did not want to leave when the keeper offered to take it, and even though it was heavy to hold, I knew not to move it.
Some half an hour later, I felt it totally relax and loosen its hold, and knew it was ready to leave me.
I felt so different – and that day I smiled and laughed with my family, and ate a proper meal. To say I was cured sounds melodramatic, but I knew I was.
So, dear Laura, I do believe your meeting with Monty was healing and that there are things in the animal kingdom we cannot understand because they speak a different language and have skills we mere mortals can never achieve…yet we treat them as inferior, and destroy and fear them…how sad!


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You are here: Home > NFL Betting Picks > Eagles vs Giants – NFL Week 16 Betting Odds, Tips
Eagles vs Giants – NFL Week 16 Betting Odds, Tips
Eric Roberts 2016-12-21 in NFL Picks
It's Christmas time and the New York Giants can give their fans an early present by locking down their place in the playoffs when they face off against the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football.
The Giants are one of the form teams in the NFL, winning eight of their last nine contests, including two huge wins over the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions in back-to-back games.
Ben McAdoo's men can secure their spot as a wildcard in the playoffs and put pressure on the Cowboys at the top of the NFC East in their bid for the number one seed in the NFC Conference.
Breaking Down The Betting Options
The Giants have not been firing on all cylinders on offense, despite the presence of All-Pro wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr and two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback Eli Manning. Instead they have been relying on their shutdown defense to win them matches, limiting their last two opponents to a combined 13 points in their victories at MetLife Stadium.
The consistency of their secondary has been one of their success stories of the season, with Landon Collins and Janoris Jenkins leading the charge to prevent opposing offenses from moving downfield.
New York will be licking their lips at the prospect of facing the Eagles, who had a bright start to the campaign, but since week four have come crashing down to earth and are staring down the possibility of a 5-11 campaign.
Rookie quarterback Carson Wentz has shown enough promise to believe that he will a successful signal-caller in the NFL, but against the Giants expect him to struggle like most QBs in recent weeks. Backing McAdoo's men to triumph in their clash on the road at Lincoln Financial Field at 17/25 1.68 -148 0.68 -1.48 0.68 on the money line makes a lot of sense with sportsbook BetOnline.
Giants Making Their Run
The Giants have won the Super Bowl twice in the past 10 years, memorably defeating the New England Patriots on both occasions, including their huge upset to deny Bill Belichick's men a perfect 19-0 campaign in the 2007 season. In those years the club peaked at just the right time in readiness for the post-season and this term looks have some of the same characteristics, including the mastermind of their Super Bowl 42 triumph – defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
The 57-year-old has got the 2016 Giants playing extremely well on the defensive side of the ball, with previously mentioned Collins and Jenkins starring in the secondary – both earning places in the Pro Bowl. Jenkins produced arguably one of the finest performances by a cornerback this season by nullifying the threat of Dez Bryant in his side's win over the Cowboys. Should he continue that level of form against the best wideouts in the NFL, and Collins' continues his playmaking ability – the club have a solid chance at reaching the Super Bowl.
One limiting factor on the Giants' push for their third Vince Lombardi trophy over the past 10 years could be their struggles on offense. Running back Shane Vereen has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a triceps injury, leaving them short of options in the backfield and putting huge pressure on veteran Rashad Jennings to carry the load.
Beckham Jr has continued his excellent form with his third 1,000-yard season on the bounce, but he cannot do it alone with Manning pulling the strings at quarterback. Sterling Shepard and Victor Cruz have ability in abundance, especially the former who has had a fine rookie season, but both will have to raise the level of their games for the Giants to achieve their ultimate goal.
However, New York should have more than enough to see off the threat of the Eagles and put huge pressure on Dallas for their final two matches of the season, with the club backed at 14/1 15.00 +1400 14.00 14.00 -0.07 to win the NFC East ahead of their rivals with BetOnline.
Eagles Building For The Future
At the start of the season the Eagles were looking capable of mounting a charge for the playoffs, winning their opening three matches, with Wentz starring at quarterback in the infancy of his NFL career. Unfortunately for the club their bye week came at the wrong time just when they were playing extremely well, and since then they've won only two matches and lost their last five matches on the spin to leave them out of the playoffs for the third year on the bounce.
Their defense was extremely impressive at the start of the campaign, but has fallen off significantly allowing 25 points and over in their five-match losing run. The club have issues in their secondary beyond the talent of safeties Rodney McLeod and Malcolm Jenkins, with their cornerbacks struggling to maintain their coverage. Their defensive line and linebackers have a great deal of pedigree and are a solid unit to base their team around for the seasons to come, with players such as Fletcher Cox, Vinny Curry and Brandon Graham entering the prime years of their career.
On offense Wentz's struggles in the second half of the season are not all down to him hitting the rookie wall. The Eagles lack playmakers at wide receiver as former first-round pick Nelson Agholor along with Jordan Matthews and Dorial Green-Beckham have all failed to support their quarterback, and the club will need to be active in free agency and the draft to address those issues. Should Wentz be the player that he was in the first three games of the term then Philadelphia have a good shot of being competitive for the years to come.
Who Has The Edge?
The Giants have an overwhelming advantage here as the Eagles will be counting down the games until the end of the campaign. Although Doug Pederson's men were competitive against the Baltimore Ravens last time out their desire not to play overtime resulted in a two-point conversion late in the game which they failed to score.
New York are hungry for the win and have the talent in the right areas of their team to expose the Eagles' deficiencies, especially at cornerback. Anticipate a big game for Beckham Jr at Lincoln Financial Field in a victory for the visitors.
Tips Summary
New York Giants to beat Philadelphia Eagles
Thursday 22nd December 20:35 ET (Friday 23rd December 01:25 GMT)
Odds: 17/25 1.68 -148 0.68 -1.48 0.68
New York Giants to win NFC East
Odds: 14/1 15.00 +1400 14.00 14.00 -0.07
White Christmas Tips and Novelty Seasonal Betting
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Eric has been a sports journalist for over 20 years and has travelled the world covering top sporting events for a number of publications. He also has a passion for betting and uses his in-depth knowledge of the sports world to pinpoint outstanding odds and value betting opportunities.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
By Afshin Majlesi
Badab-e Surt: The rolling hills and lush landscape
Sure, trips to Tehran, Isfahan or Shiraz are nice — but sometimes the best vacations come from traveling off the beaten path.
So an alternative suggestion may be to skip the crowds by heading to lesser-known destinations which Iran never falls short of.
Your itinerary may include Badab-e Surt in northern Iran, where a scenic landscape bargains its visitors with a striking panorama of rust-colored travertine terraces adjacent to the Alborz mountain range.
The trodden, limestone formations of Badab-e Surt have been shaped over the span of thousands years by the flowing and cooling of water from hot mineral springs.
"The Badab-e Surt travertine springs take some effort to get to and in real life they aren't as large as they appear in photos. However, look closely at the terraces and you'll see how delicate the layers are and the color of the water and rock is unique. It is very photogenic and if you are able to visit during a clear day and experience sunset/sunrise, the colors changing as they reflect in the water is beautiful… it is one of Iran's natural wonders," said Wakitsubo from Perth, Australia in a comment posted to TripAdvisor on January 26.
While travertine terraces are found in other places across the globe, for instance Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone and Pamukkale in Turkey, Badab-e Surt is associated with distinct coloring results. Some believe such characteristic is due to high concentration of iron oxide sediments.
Joscar form Stockholm, Sweden, says in a July 2018 comment, "We drove there by car and were foolish enough to try to drive all the way up to the top. Don't do it, leave the car where the road still is ok and walk up. We got stuck... It's not too far to walk, but it's dusty and hot. Luckily they sell ice, cold water and soft drinks on the hill and the views are great… Kids sell bags of dried herbs and one boy sold clay figures he had made himself. Charming and very photogenic."
"Badab-e Surt is a mysterious and beautiful place. You can see this place in the spring because it is greener. It's better to be there at sunset because the sunlight makes it more beautiful," Monica A. from Spain said in July 2018.
The terraces are situated some 95 kilometers south of Sari, the capital of Mazandaran province, and 7 kilometers westward of Orost village. The site can be reached by conventional vehicles in bright weather, whoever a 4WD is needed after rain. It's best to visit there with a local guide to take you.
Stretched along the Caspian Sea and Alborz mountain range, Mazandaran is a popular destination for domestic holidaymakers and it is home to over 70 eco-lodges, 3500 villages and rural areas. It hosted over 11 million Iranian travelers during the previous Noruz holidays from March 18 to 30.
AFM/MQ/MG
Badab-e Surt astonishes visitors with dreamy views
Afshin Majlesi


I photographed police surveillance cameras in the French Quarter of New Orleans for a story about the NOPD's controversial plan to install more than 1500 cameras throughout the city.
NYT: Will 1,500 Street Cameras Be a Wet Blanket in New Orleans?
I rambled through Winston County, Alabama near the end of the state's Senate race for a New York Times piece about Southern identity, conservative politics, and Roy Moore.
Winston County once opposed secession but now enthusiastically supports Donald Trump. What does that tell us about Roy Moore's chances?
I followed US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos for two days as she toured schools in Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri for a feature story that appears in the November/December issue of POLITICO Magazine.


text:
package com.qianjia.douyu.http;

import com.qianjia.douyu.App;

import java.io.File;

import okhttp3.Cache;
import okhttp3.OkHttpClient;
import retrofit2.Retrofit;
import retrofit2.adapter.rxjava2.RxJava2CallAdapterFactory;
import retrofit2.converter.gson.GsonConverterFactory;

/**
 * Created by Jiansion on 2017/5/17.
 * 用于获取 Retrofit 实例
 */

public class RetrofitHelper {
    private RetrofitHelper() {
    }

    private static OkHttpClient initHttpClient() {
        File cacheFile = new File(App.getInstance().getCacheDir(), "cache");

        //设置缓存为 10M
        int cacheSize = 1024 * 1024 * 10;

        Cache cache = new Cache(cacheFile, cacheSize);
        OkHttpClient client = new OkHttpClient
                .Builder()
                .addNetworkInterceptor(new CacheInterceptor())
                .addInterceptor(new CacheInterceptor())
                .cache(cache)
                .build();

        return client;
    }

    /**
     * 获取 Retrofit 实例
     *
     * @param baseUrl baseUrl
     * @return Retrofit 实例
     */
    public static Retrofit getRetrofit(String baseUrl) {
        Retrofit retrofit = new Retrofit
                .Builder()
                .baseUrl(baseUrl)
                .addCallAdapterFactory(RxJava2CallAdapterFactory.create())
                .addConverterFactory(GsonConverterFactory.create())
                .client(initHttpClient())
                .build();
        return retrofit;
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
O FK Karaorman é um clube de futebol macedônio com sede em Struga. A equipe compete no Campeonato Macedônio de Futebol, na terceira divisão.

História
O clube foi fundado em 1923.

Ligações externas
 Sítio oficial

Clubes de futebol da Macedónia do Norte
Clubes de futebol fundados em 1923

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
North Texas wakes up to 'blustery' winter weather as arctic front plummets temperatures
businessRetail
J.C. Penney plans to have 500 stores open by next week and asked landlords to forgo rent
Penney has reopened 14 stores in Dallas-Fort Worth while five remain closed. At a bankruptcy hearing Thursday, Penney said it has asked all its landlords to defer or reduce rent through August.
Shoppers line up as they await the reopening of J.C. Penney on May 1 in Fairview, Texas.(Ryan Michalesko / Staff Photographer)
By Maria Halkias
8:58 AM on May 28, 2020 CDT
J.C. Penney said its stores are reopening at a faster pace now, and it has asked all of its store landlords for abatements on rent.
The Plano-based department store chain, which filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, said Thursday that it has opened 150 more stores and has 304 open in 27 states.
At a hearing Thursday morning, Penney's attorney Joshua Sussberg of Kirkland & Ellis said the company plans to begin permanent store closings in June. The process will take 12 to 14 weeks, and Penney is hoping to capture the back-to-school season with sales at stores that are closing, he said. A smaller second batch of store closings will start in July.
Sussberg said that so far, as its stores reopen, Penney's sales are down 39%, which is as good or better than what many competitors have reported.
Penney plans to have 500 stores, or 60% of its 846 locations, open by Wednesday. The company hasn't disclosed which stores it plans to close as part of its bankruptcy reorganization but did say in its preliminary business plan that more than 200 stores could close permanently.
Allen Questrom sizes up two local big bankruptcies: Neiman Marcus and J.C. Penney
Sussberg said Cushman & Wakefield is appraising all of Penney's properties. Earlier assessments were done "in a vacuum and don't account for where we are today."
The company is trying to maximize what it can get for its property to raise the money it will need to exit bankruptcy, Sussberg said. The goal is to have as small a loan as possible to emerge from Chapter 11, he said.
Penney has also asked its landlords to defer rent for June and July and has asked for rent abatements for June, July and August, Sussberg said. B. Riley Financial is helping Penney work with its landlords.
In North Texas, Penney stores have reopened in Arlington, Burleson, Cedar Hill, Denton, Fairview, Fort Worth (Alliance), Frisco, Hurst, Mesquite, Plano, Rockwall, Sherman, Waxahachie and Weatherford.
Stores that haven't yet reopened are in Dallas, Flower Mound, Fort Worth (Ridgmar), Greenville and Lewisville.
Penney and most retailers started slowly reopening stores in early May, some with just curbside service of online purchases. All of Penney's stores had been temporarily closed since mid-March, sending the retailer, which had been trying to refinancing its debt and had made some progress on its turnaround, into bankruptcy court.
"We are so grateful to our associates for helping us navigate through this environment as we build on our long history and continue the J.C. Penney story," said Jim DePaul, executive vice president of stores at Penney.
J.C. Penney to reopen 153 stores as clock threatens its bankruptcy reorganization
Penney enters its first week in bankruptcy with reopenings in Texas, Florida, Indiana and Ohio as it preps to close some permanently. Amazon and others may be circling its assets.
Penney is requiring its employees to wear protective gear and is providing them with masks and gloves. Store shifts are also being staggered to minimize employee contact and to clean stores more often.
Apparel and department stores have followed the lead of the grocery stores that stayed open throughout the pandemic stay-at-home period. Penney has added Plexiglas shields to its checkout areas and is offering contactless checkout from customers' phones via barcodes. The stores are also designating Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to noon as shopping times for at-risk customers such as senior citizens, pregnant women and others with health concerns.
This story has been updated at 5:23 p.m. to reflect that Penney's Lewisville store is not open.
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
Looking for more retail coverage? Click here to read all retail news and updates. Click here to subscribe to D-FW Retail and more newsletters from The Dallas Morning News.
J.C. Penney files for bankruptcy, a crushing one as it was making progress to fix itself
Maria Halkias, Staff writer. Maria Halkias has covered the retail scene for The Dallas Morning News since 1993. She has chronicled the stark changes in grocery, malls, e-commerce, major bankruptcies and local retail entrepreneurs.
mhalkias@dallasnews.com /maria.halkias @MariaHalkias mariahalkias LinkedIn Iconhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/MariaHalkias
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By Nataly Keomoungkhoun


Fresh from her recent appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show, Elizabeth Berg will be the feature of the Jan. 9 program at the Cliff Dwellers Club. Her current novel, Open House, was a selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club. The New York Times Book Review called it "agile and freshly observed." Author of a number of other novels, she had previously won the New England Booksellers Award for fiction. As usual there will be no program in December.
On Sept. 25, Sara Paretsky contributed her thoughts to the New York Times Writers on Writing series. Slugged "A Storyteller Stands Where Justice Confronts Basic Human Needs," Paretsky argues that "mysteries, like life, have to be political."The story line of her latest novel, Hard Times, involves the hardships of women in prison.
Robert Hellenga, winner of the 1995 SMA fiction award for The Sixteen Pleasures, recently returned from Bologna where he celebrated the publication of the Italian translation of his second novel, The Fall of a Sparrow. He also participated in the 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Bologna train station, the subject of the novel, whose Italian title translates as Bologna Blues. Hellenga's international shelf is getting crowded; the Dutch and Spanish translations were brought out last year, and he is awaiting a copy of the German version, which is available in bookstores in Europe. It's also available as an audio book from Dove.
Just out is Taking Cerebral Palsy to School, Mary Elizabeth Anderson's contribution to JayJo Books' Special Kids in School series. Anderson, of Grand Island, Neb., dedicated her book to a young friend with CP. The idea is to help classmates of such kids to better understand the condition, and even includes an experiment enabling children to experience what it might feel like.
Under the auspices of the Barrington Area Arts Council, Diane Johnson conducted a three-day, six-hour seminar for children aged 8 to 15 last summer. Johnson worked with the kids to write a screenplay or children's book, or both. Also participating were puppet dolls inspired by Johnson's book, Princesa and Friskie (available from Barnes & Noble of Crystal Lake, barnesandnoble.com and amazon.com). The puppet performance utilized a set painted by Randy Johnson, Diane's son, a professional muralist from Palatine.
Larry Lockridge writes from New York University that he won the Mid-America Award (1998) for his biography, Shade of the Raintree: The Life and Death of Ross Lockridge, Jr. It was published by Viking Penguin in 1994 and by Penguin in 1995 to critical praise.
In her new book, Turning 50, Olivia Wu reflects on what it means to hit that milestone, aided by results of interviews with 50 men and women who made it and survived to tell the tale. Wu has had a distinguished career in Chicago journalism (Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Herald) and now freelances. Wu's volume is not a how-to book, but a study of how turning 50 empowered her subjects. It was published in March by Andrews McMeel.
Augie Aleksy, proprietor of Centuries and Sleuths Bookstore (check new location at 7419 W. Madison, Forest Park) has planned an intriguing November schedule. On Saturday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. the C&SB History Discussion Group presents a meeting of the minds program featuring Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston S. Churchill and Josef Stalin. Seating is limited; call 708-771-7243 for more information.
Jerome Brooks, a member of the Society of Midland Authors since the mid-'70s, reports that three of his six novels have been issued as reprints by the Authors Guild-iUniverse.com. The three novels will have newly designed covers. Make Me a Hero was a serious contender for the Newbery in 1980. Naked in Winter was published by the prestigious French house, L'ecole de Loisirs, in both hardback and paperback, the latter for a national French book club. The third title is The Testing of Charlie Hammelman. The new covers are in keeping with Brooks's decision to re-issue the books as adult fiction. Brooks says they received superlative reviews at the time of their original publication, but never sold very well, for precisely the same reason YA critics gave them such fine reviews: they were fine reading, but not for the masses. As Brooks used to tell students enrolled in the fiction-writing workshops he was invited by the University of Chicago to develop and lead, as well as the throngs of people from around the country who participated in his America Online Bulletin Board, Art, Integrity, and Fiction, "a writer must not write down to his reader, as a parent must not speak down to a child. In both instances, that sort of evolutionary debasement leads to the increase in the rise of the mediocrity we can now feel all around us." Brooks had to leave his teaching and, to some extent, his writing because of a rare form of peripheral neuropathy. Only three percent of the patients in the world experience his illness so profoundly. It has attacked all the nerves in his lower body and has now progressed to the destruction of the myelin sheathing surrounding some of his cranial nerves. He is virtually unable to walk or wash dishes, to say nothing, of course, of touch-typing. Currently, he's trying to perfect his Naturally Mobile recording skills. He says he would be thrilled to hear from former friends and colleagues. "I haven't yet forgotten how to love and care and talk and speak."
Marilyn Chiat has signed a contract with Hidden Springs, a division of Paulist Press, to write The Spiritual Traveler: Chicago and the Great Lakes Region. The states to be included are: Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. The Spiritual Traveler series is an expansion of her book, America's Religious Architecture: Sacred Places for Every Community (Preservation Press/John Wiley & Sons, 1997) that surveyed places of worship in nine regions of the country. The first book in the new series, on New York City, was written by Edward Bergmann and will be available next spring. Sites to be included in the books are places of worship, cemeteries, grottos, natural and manmade landscapes, Native American sites and other "spiritual spaces and peaceful places." She says, "I welcome suggestions from readers for sites that should be considered for inclusion in my book."
"Heart, Mind, Justice A Voice of Dignity" will be the theme for this year's distinguished service award as the Phi Beta Kappa Association of the Chicago Area honors Gwendolyn Brooks for her many achievements. A reception with cash bar will start at 6:00 p.m. with dinner at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 10, at the Casino Club, 195 E. Delaware Pl., Chicago. The program is open to the public, cost $60 per person. A lifelong Chicagoan and Poet Laureate of Illinois for over three decades, Brooks was the first Black poet to win the Pulitzer Prize, awarded for Annie Allen. She has also served as a consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress. She has won two Guggenheim fellowships, the Frost Medal, the Shelley Memorial Award and honors from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She will sign copies of her work, which will be available for purchase at the event.
For further information, contact the Phi Beta Kappa Association president, Greg Gocek, at 630-968-7845 or E-mail GGGMAN@att.net.
Thomas Lynch, winner of the SMA nonfiction award for his 1998 book, The Undertaking, has become the man to quote on the subject of death and dying. He was quoted at length on camera during Bill Moyers' recent four-part special on PBS, as well as in a Time magazine article about an offbeat mortuary operation. Chicago Tonight on Chicago's Channel 11 rounded up Tim Unsworth among other commentators on Catholic affairs to discuss Cardinal Francis George's action in appointing an official exorcist.
Stella Pevsner's new book, Is Everyone Moonburned But Me? (Clarion), continues to get good reviews. "Starved for attention, middle child Hannah goes back and forth between living with her mother and her father and becomes determined to be an individual in a family that seems to barely notice her...a humorous, heartwarming story," says Books and More for Growing Minds.
Faithful Dissenters: Stories of Men and Women Who Loved and Changed the Church is Robert McClory's new book from Orbis. A journalism professor at Northwestern University, "he writes mostly as a journalist, choosing not to debate the merits of nonconformity, but to report each story and allow the facts to speak for themselves," says Publishers Weekly. His "well-researched" examples range from Galileo and St. Thomas Aquinas to lesser-known figures, whose stories illustrate that even in the Roman Catholic church "history often takes a kinder view of those known in their day as dissidents."
The indefatigable Martin E. Marty has agreed to serve as interim president of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. Caught between a president leaving and a new one coming aboard early next year, St. Olaf' turned to Marty, who was already chairman of the board of regents.


text:
State widens search for mercury
By Linda Bock and Jacqueline Reis TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Sep 24, 2010 at 12:21 AM Sep 24, 2010 at 12:24 PM
Two days after a student brought nearly a pint of mercury to Grafton Street School, local and state authorities widened their efforts from the school itself to the homes and day cares of 11 students found with mercury on their shoes.
"It's an ongoing investigation. We'll be going to their homes today," Edmund J. Coletta Jr., spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said yesterday.
The home of the sixth-grader who brought the mercury to school Tuesday is also being investigated.
Meanwhile, the district bused about 240 students in Grades 3 to 6 away from Grafton Street's Building 2 yesterday as a multi-agency decontamination effort got under way.
Building 1, which houses students in pre-kindergarten through Grade 2, is operating as usual. The district will continue to bus students in Grades 3 to 6 to the Fanning Building on Chatham Street today and Monday.
If Grafton Street's Building 2 is not ready by Tuesday, the district will have to find another site for the students, Worcester schools Chief Academic Officer Jeffrey J. Mulqueen said.
Students have had more than a change of scenery to keep them busy. Students and faculty in the building, plus second-graders who entered Building 2 to have lunch, had until 6 p.m. yesterday to voluntarily have their urine tested for mercury exposure. Mercury leaves the body quickly, so testing after a certain window doesn't make sense, Mr. Mulqueen said.
Dr. Leonard J. Morse, commissioner of the city's Public Health Division, said he does not expect to see any high readings. "I think our population should be reassured that it is unlikely, because mercury toxicity occurs when mercury is vaporized and inhaled, and all of this was simply skin exposure … We're doing the testing of the urine at the recommendation of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for completeness… and to aid in our better understanding of an incident like this. These are unusual incidents."
Analysis of the samples usually takes 24 to 72 hours, according to a state fact sheet distributed to parents.
The state Department of Public Health will also test clothes, shoes and backpacks students wore or had at school Tuesday or Wednesday.
Dr. Morse was impressed with how parents brought the clothes and shoes in plastic bags as instructed.
"It's just amazing," Dr. Morse said, "the magnitude of cooperation of the students and their parents at the school."
Clothing that was contaminated will be discarded, he said.
The clothing of five students, including the student who took the mercury to school and students who were in the immediate area when the bottle was opened in a classroom, tested positive for mercury, but there were no positive mercury readings on the children's bodies.
The mercury on 11 students' shoes was found through the use of a mercury-detecting wand before the students boarded a bus to the Fanning Building, Dr. Morse said.
Grafton Street's entire Building 2 was found to have "significant" levels of mercury, Dr. Morse said, with the highest levels on the third floor where drops of mercury spilled. The level decreased as testers went to lower floors, with the lowest levels being in the basement, he said.
Authorities are still investigating where the mercury came from. It's unusual to have that much mercury in the home, Dr. Morse said.
The boy who took the mercury to school Tuesday took the bottle from his home and showed his teacher, according to authorities.
"A lot of elementary students want to show and tell things when they find them in the neighborhood," said Robert F. Pezzella, executive assistant to the superintendent for school safety and violence prevention.
After the teacher poured a bit of the substance onto her hand, she suspected it could be mercury and put it back into the bottle.
The teacher is doing fine, and no one has reported any symptoms of mercury exposure, according to Dr. Morse.
The Fire Department went to the school Wednesday and called for a District 3 hazardous material response, which brought in the state Department of Fire Services.
The bottle was put in a secure container and kept isolated, said Mr. Pezzella.
Officials Wednesday night said that although the health risk to children at the school was minimal, proper procedures were followed. Clean Harbors, an environmental cleanup company, was working at the school building yesterday, along with officials from local and state health and environmental agencies, according to Mr. Pezzella.
The equipment that arrived at the school included an incident command vehicle that had enough space for people to meet around a table and provided them with an aerial view of the school, Dr. Morse said.
Superintendent Melinda J. Boone was at the school yesterday morning and was making sure health information was provided to parents in several languages, said Dr. Morse, who is in his last week of service to the city before retiring. Dr. Morse has worked for the city's health department for 50 years and commended all the school, fire, police and environmental officials who coordinated such a thorough and speedy response to the mercury contamination.
"I marvel so much at this community when it rises to the occasion," Dr. Morse said.
Mr. Mulqueen asked any parents with concerns about Grafton Street School to call his office at (508) 799-3018. They will not be able to get through at the school number.


The clutch is a pivotal part in the engine of a manual vehicle because, while the engine spins all the time, wheels do not. So, in order for a car to stop without stalling, the wheels need to be disconnected from the engine somehow. That's what the clutch does.
Cars need gearboxes also. Every engine has a maximum rpm value above which the engine cannot go without being damaged. The gearbox allows the gear ratio between the engine and the drive wheels to change as the car speeds up and slows down. You shift gears so the engine can keep the rpm within a limit that is safe for the motor.
It seems logical that we should look after such important parts of a vehicle's engine, but we often don't.
Even in this day when most vehicles have auto-transmission, the team at KAAR have expertise and experience in clutch repairs and the maintenance and repair of manual gearboxes.
If your clutch is slipping, your gearbox grinding, or you just get the feeling they're not performing as they should, bring your vehicle into one of KAAR's West Auckland service centres (Henderson or Avondale), and we'll work some KAAR magic.


Looking for your dream home? Well, look no further...this sophisticated La Habra Gem is just what you are looking for! Take a step through the double door entry, into the foyer, and you will immediately notice the open floor plan concept, with gorgeous views to the backyard. The entertainer's kitchen features custom cabinetry, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances, and recessed lighting. Adjacent to the kitchen, you will find the formal dining room- perfect for dinner parties or catching up with friends. Through the formal living room, complete with a cozy fireplace, you can enter to the backyard. The multi-level expansive backyard features 2 covered patios, several gardening areas, and stunning views of the hills. This split-level home features a private laundry room and a downstairs bonus room that features a built-in office and a full bathroom (can easily be converted to an in-laws quarters or similar). The attention to detail throughout this home is unlike any other- from the custom wall paneling and custom cabinetry, the crown molding, to the marble floors, all adds to the luxurious vibe this home has to offer. The landscape across the 9,375 square foot lot is impeccable. The front yard has been elegantly maintained and adds to the exquisite curb appeal this home embodies. Schedule your private tour today, don't miss this opportunity!


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Best-ever images of Pluto reveal baffling pepperoni slices
Space 2 July 2015
(Image: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute)
Pluto's veil is lifting. This closest-ever snapshot of the dwarf planet and its moon Charon shows two separate hemispheres in colour – and a line of weird dark spots that look like pepperoni slices. The image is the latest from the New Horizons spacecraft, which is en route to a Pluto fly-by on 14 July, and is a composite of pictures taken by two of the spacecraft's instruments.
To make it, team members laid down a high resolution black-and-white background from the mission's Long-Range Reconnaissance Imager, which has been scanning the Pluto system for new rings or moons that the spacecraft would have to dodge at the last minute. It hasn't found any, the team announced yesterday, so New Horizons can proceed as planned.
They then added in lower resolution colour data from the Ralph instrument to approximate what our eyes would see if we were tagging along with the spacecraft. The image shows a reddish-brown Pluto contrasted with its darker companion, Charon. Pluto's pole is pointed towards the camera, meaning the bottom of Pluto in these images is actually only the dwarf planet's equator.
The left panel features the face of Pluto that will be best observed as New Horizons passes. On the right side, Pluto has rotated to show its other hemisphere, uncovering a series of mysterious spots. Each spot is evenly spaced and about 480 kilometres in diameter, and scientists are still trying to figure out what they are.
"It's a real puzzle – we don't know what the spots are, and we can't wait to find out," said New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.
That new mystery, and the question of why Charon is so much darker than Pluto, are proof that the dwarf planet is stubbornly holding onto its secrets – even as New Horizons is fast approaching to pry them away.


Premier Mark McGowan has redoubled his defence of state government contracts with a controversial Chinese telecommunications company.
In Parliament on Thursday, he mocked the opposition for questioning the use of Huawei technology in the state's public transport system and accused them of throwing stones from inside a glass house.
The company, which has been banned from the NBN and Australia's 5G network, will build a $206 million rail data network – including 80 mobile towers – along Perth's passenger train corridors and has supplied hardware for Transperth's free public WiFi trial.
Mr McGowan said ministers in the previous government had used Huawei mobile phones and had signed a telecommunications contract that permitted Telstra, Vodafone and Optus to supply Huawei handsets and wireless modems.
He said former local government minister Paul Miles had used a Huawei handset and former Legislative Council President Barry House had used a Huawei wireless modem.
Vasse MP Libby Mettam was a staffer for Mr House.
"What was the member for Vasse doing while this was happening? Was she some sort of agent?" Mr McGowan said in Parliament.
"I will have to refer her to ASIO.
"It then turns out that in July, 2014, Mr Dean Nalder, the then Minister for Finance, met with the CEO of Huawei Australia to discuss strategic opportunities for the state government with Huawei.
"We have a nest of spies on the other side."
On Saturday, Mr McGowan's communications director Daniel Pastorelli tweeted that using commercially available products was no different from using other brands.
"Huawei is one of the largest providers of wireless technology in Australia," he said.
"My home NBN modem is a Huawei product."
In July, Fairfax Media revealed Transport Minister Rita Saffioti and Education Minister Sue Ellery were given an expenses-paid tour of China and free mobile phones in 2015 by Huawei.
The Australian Defence Force ditched the use of Huawei and ZTA phones in February amid national security concerns.
In August, the Democratic National Committee – the campaign wing of the US Democratic party – banned Huawei phones from Democrat mid-term campaigns.


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Tower of St Magdalene's Church
Scheduled Monument
Canterbury (District Authority)
TR 15117 57772
Tower of St Mary Magdalene's church, 30m north of St Thomas's Church and Hall.
A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the priest and contains the principal altar. Either or both parts are sometimes provided with aisles, giving additional accommodation or spaces for additional altars. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon and some churches have a free-standing or irregularly sited tower. Many parish churches also possess transepts at the crossing of chancel and nave, and south or north porches are also common. The main periods of parish church foundation were in the 10th to 11th and 19th centuries. Most medieval churches were rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little fabric of the first church being still easily visible.
Parish churches have always been major features of the landscape and a major focus of life for their parishioners. They provide important insights into medieval and later population levels or economic cycles, religious activity, artistic endeavour and technical achievement. A significant number of surviving examples are identified to be nationally important.
Despite later alterations, the Tower of St Magdalene's church survives well with a considerable amount of original upstanding masonry including some significant medieval architectural details such as the cinquefoil-headed lights. The site will contain below-ground archaeological information relating to the construction, use and history of the church.
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 17 December 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.
The monument includes the medieval tower of the parish church of St Mary Magdalene surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated on the south side of Burgate within the city walls of Canterbury.
The church tower is four storeys high, square in plan and constructed of Kentish ragstone ashlar and flint. It originally engaged with the north-west corner of the church. There are wide pointed stone arches to the original nave and north aisle. These are enclosed with modern glass screens, which are excluded from the scheduling. In the north wall is a doorcase with decorated spandrels above which are one two-light and two single-light cinquefoil-headed lights. There is a single cinquefoil-headed light in the east wall above the arch to the church. The tower has a pyramidal tiled roof. Within the interior of the tower is a Baroque stone memorial of the Whitfield family, dating from about 1680. The walls of the church still survive as upstanding remains in places. To the south-west of the tower is random and ashlar flint walling with traces of a stair to a first floor doorway in the south face of the tower.
The parish church of St Mary Magdalene dates to at least the 13th century although the tower was constructed in about 1503. Much of the church was demolished in 1871. The tower was restored in 1974.
The upstanding remains are Grade II listed.
Further archaeological remains survive within the vicinity of this monument but are not included because they have not been formally accessed.
KE 34
RSM - OCN
Cawley, D, The lost churches and bells of Canterbury (2004), accessed 20 Jan 2010 from http://kent.lovesguide.com/articles/lost_canterbury.htm
NMR TR15NE91. PastScape 464433. LBS 170469.
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.


Tarkus Tile Inc. is owned and operated by Mark Christensen. I am extremely committed to doing a job right and very passionate about my craft. It's just as important to me that each job turns out perfect as it is to my customer. In business since 1998. Licensed and insured contractor. Member of the NTCA (National Tile Contractors Association) Passionate Tile Craftsman, Artist and self proclaimed perfectionist. My goal is to provide a long lasting, functional and beautiful tile installation to each of my customers and to build an honest and lasting business relationship with each and every one of them. I am proficient in traditional mud float installation methods and am constantly researching, learning and practicing with new products and techniques to be able to offer the best tile installation available. I love my job and am dedicated to doing it well.
Custom Tile design and installation. Mortar floated walls and floors, complete waterproofing membrane system installation, radiant heat cable installation, linear drain installation.
Limestone Shower with radius wall and bench.
Commented: We love these vanities, where are they from? Thanks!I'm sorry but I don't know where the vanities are from. I was the tile contractor on the project.
Commented: What is the tile that has been used and where is it available? Love itThis tile is called Glow Cosmos from Interceramic. Shower was done with 6x24" tiles.
Commented: What are the dimensions of the tiles used on the shower walls?6"x24"
Commented: What color is the grout?The grout here is Mapei ultra color plus, color Silver.
Commented: Tile?The blue tile is made by walker zanger, it's called ash bury. Contact WZ to find your nearest vendor.
Commented: DimensionsThis shower is about 4' wide x 5' long including the bench if I recall.


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Through the sheer force of her extraordinary talent, bold vision, and larger-than-life personality, pop singer Bleona has achieved international stardom and emerged as a global icon. From her first performance in Albania as a teen, critics spotlighted her powerful vocals and charmingly brash persona. Since, she's sold millions of albums, won multiple music awards, graced dozens of magazine covers, and performed for hundreds of millions of fans — all while operating as a completely independent artist.
As part of her fast-growing acting career, Bleona has won the hearts of the writer, director and producers of the soon be worldwide release television series, "Paper Empire". A smart and edgy crime drama. Bleona plays a vocalist, starting at the bottom and attempting to make it completely on her own in a county foreign to hers. (Sounds Familiar) Bleona stars along with Denise Richards, Wesley Snipes, Robert Davi, Steve Gutenberg and Anne Archer.
Bleona also appeared alongside Nicolas Cage in the 2018 movie "#211" and co-starred with Dolph Lundgren in 2017's "Dead Trigger". Fresh off her role as a celebrity judge on the "X Factor" Albania, she also joined the jury of "Your Face Sounds Familiar" (a celebrity-impersonation competition broadcast in over 60 countries). And to cement her status as a fashion trailblazer, Bleona recently made headlines around the world by hitting the Vanity Fair Oscar Party where her presence was an automatic showstopper on the red carpet. Oscar night followed her much-talked-about appearance at the 2014 American Music Awards.
Bleona continues her trajectory into global pop fame with original HIT songs that daringly expand her sound. Those songs include her summer 2018 single "I Don't Need Your Love": a deeply personal track that finds Bleona defining her strength as a ballad singer. "I'd gone through a very turbulent time in my private life, so it felt right to channel my struggles into the art of music, to bare my pain so all that follow me understands where I came from, and how negative energy can be beaten," Bleona explains. "I'm still a dance singer and will keep on making dance music, but it is important to me that I relate to those that are experiencing what I did. I want to share with them and to let them know that they're not alone."
"Bleona teamed up with producers Rob Knox (Justin Timberlake, Rihanna, Britney Spears) and Fede Vindver to create the stripped-back yet soaring "I Don't Need Your Love, two cohorts of her longtime collaborator, the hitmaking super-producer Timbaland. In another game-changing departure, the edgy and artfully shot video for "I Don't Need Your Love" marks Bleona's long-awaited directorial debut.
Bleona stated that directing, 'I Don't Need Your Love" was a passion of mine, and because I always wanted to personally present my vision to my fans. 'I Don't Need Your Love" was the most perfect song in which to do so.
Bleona also directed the video for "Monster" — her slow-burning, irresistibly epic follow-up to "I Don't Need Your Love." Filmed at the majestic Villa Erba (a 19th-century villa near Lake Como in Italy), with its lavish costumes supplied by Marjan Malakpour (a stylist for Cher and Shakira), the video beautifully matches the song's spellbinding intensity. "'Monster' is another ballad, about a fairy-tale love gone wrong," says Bleona. "It's about ending up with a man who thinks he can tame you, but you're an artist and your boundaries cannot be restricted. It's a story very close to my heart."
Both "I Don't Need Your Love" and "Monster" are set to appear on Bleona's EP, due out early next year. In bringing the EP to life, she's purposely tapped into the fearlessly defiant spirit that's long fueled her music. "My songs are rebellious and all about girl power," Bleona says. "I've always had a strong do-it-yourself attitude and believed that if something's important to you, you will find a way to make it happen." With all the inspirational sway of a true pop legend, Bleona wants to create songs that empower her listeners as well.
Born in Albania on May 14th 1985 Bleona first revealed her vocal talents at age five, when she was cast in the Albanian answer to The Mickey Mouse Club. At 13, she began sneaking away from her rigorous, finance-focused high school studies ("My parents basically said, 'You will not be tra-la-la-ing your whole life'") to rehearse six days a week in a nearby theater — her homeland's equivalent to Broadway, where she landed starring roles. At 14, Bleona took a major step forward in her musical career by singing at Albania's National Music Festival (the country's premier music event), where she was recognized as its youngest performer. The following year, Bleona took the same festival by storm with a crowd-thrilling performance of her song "Let Me Be Free," casting off her shawl mid-song to unveil a racy blue-leather ensemble that the producers had warned her against wearing. "When I finished my song, the place was dead quiet for about three seconds," Bleona recalls. "And then everyone went crazy screaming, and the next morning I was on the front page of every newspaper."
Not content to rest on her overnight fame, Bleona spent much of 1996 through 2000 touring Albania and gaining her reputation as an electrifying live performer. In 1998, she put out her debut album I Run My Own Game — a self-funded, self-released effort and utter anomaly in her country. "Albums weren't even a concept in Albania then," Bleona points out. "Everyone just lived off the one song they'd sung in the festival." By 2001, she'd released two more albums (1999's "If You Really Love Me" and 2000's "I Could Care Less") and landed a deal to perform 80 concerts a year all over Europe for the next four years. In the meantime, Bleona earned her degree in acting from the Academy of Arts in Tirana, starring in such plays as Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. She also continued to turn out chart-busting albums, including 2002's "Need to Learn How to Love" (which she supported with a multi-city tour attended by up to 50,000 people per show) and 2003's "You Weren't Man Enough For Me" (which sold an unprecedented 300,000 copies within months of its release). After releasing "Boom Boom" in 2005, she offered up 2007's "Mandarin" and saw her career climb to dizzying new heights as the album sold more than 800,000 copies around the world.
Soon after performing in America for the first time — at New York City's Webster Hall — Bleona decided to make her way to the U.S. "I'd hit the ceiling back home, so it was time for me to go global," she says. "I was on tour in Germany and Timbaland had just come out with 'The Way I Are' and it was just so clear to me: 'Why don't I go to America and make a record with this guy?' I didn't even have a visa, but that didn't stop me" Her plan was set in motion when she was invited to perform for Donald Trump at his private membership club Mar-A-Lago, a performance that led to Bleona's making the acquaintance of 16-time Grammy Award-winner David Foster, who encouraged her to relocate to Los Angeles.
After moving to L.A. in September 2010, Bleona crossed paths with Timbaland at the Grammy Awards and began pursuing a collaboration with him. About a year later she made her American debut with the Timbaland-produced "Show Off" (feat. Petey Pablo), then joined forces with the producer again for 2012's "Pass Out" (feat. Timbaland and Brasco). Also in 2012, Bleona enlisted members of Timbaland's crew (including his official DJ Freestyle Steve) for a spur-of-the-moment European tour that she organized and booked herself in a matter of days. "We got to the first concert and there's 70,000 people there, and the guys are like, 'Whoa, is this for us?'" Bleona remembers. Blown away that "the same girl who'd spent a year hanging around Timbaland's studio asking for a song" was able to draw a sold-out stadium-sized crowd, Bleona's tour mates reported back to Timbaland to clue him in on her diva status and star power. "After Tim saw the footage of that first concert, he told me, 'All right, when you come back, we're gonna speak in a different language,'" she says.
Working with A-list producers like RoccStar (Usher, J.Lo), Fuego (Sia, Iggy Azalea), and Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins (Beyoncé, Lady Gaga), Bleona dedicated herself to forging her own distinct sound — a beat-heavy brand of high-passion dance-pop. As she sharpened her vision, Bleona also scrubbed the internet of countless videos that had amassed upwards of 40 million views. "They weren't at the level that I'm at today, and they don't reflect who I am as an artist," she says, adding: "Now that they're not online anymore, they've become like collectibles for my older fans."
Arriving in September 2013, Bleona's single "Take It Like a Man" shot to #7 on the UK charts entirely on the strength of its fierce attitude and club-ready beat, while 2014's fabulously tongue-in-cheek "F**k You I'm Famous" made its way into steady rotation on SiriusXM. That same year, Bleona proved to be the breakout star of the Bravo TV reality series Euros of Hollywood, winning over viewers with her offbeat humor and outrageous personality. And in spring 2015, she took the stage of the Albanian edition of The X Factor to unleash an unforgettable, can't-look-away performance of her single "Take You Over." Stepping from a metal cage, the startlingly gorgeous force of nature tore through her massive club anthem while getting up close with her wildly adoring crowd.
Over the years, Bleona has built up a tremendous fanbase within the LGBT community. Along with serving as the grand marshal at the 2013 Las Vegas Pride, she became the only artist (apart from Lady Gaga) to be invited to perform two years in a row at the legendary White Party — an honor that included headlining the 2014 party's 25th anniversary celebration. She's also invested in the world's most illustrious fashion photographers (including Vogue's Vincent Peters) and art designers to create the luxurious and elite "BLEONA" — a global brand that's unfailingly consistent with her music, personality, and message. In addition to launching www.shopbleona.com (an e-commerce site featuring custom jewelry, apparel, and shoes), she also launched a fashion line in partnership with ShoeDazzle, which has become a bestseller for the site.
As she finishes up her forthcoming EP, Bleona is also planning for an extensive tour and pushing forward with her acting career. Through it all, the unstoppable pop enigma has embraced the ups and down of playing by her own rules and following through on an unlikely dream, rising up from a place where opportunities are limited to none and transforming herself into a triple-threat superstar. "When I was a little girl, I set a goal to be an icon in my country," she says. "When that happened, I needed to set a new goal, and that's why I am here. I could have stayed back home and enjoyed my status there, but I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and take it to the next level. And I love the challenge of that more than anything. If you tell me, 'No, this can't be done,' then guess what? That's exactly what I'm going to do."


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text:
Bly Ranger Station ist eine Einrichtung des United States Forest Service und dient als Hauptquartier für den Bly Ranger District, einer Unterteilung des Fremont National Forest. Sie befindet sich in der kleinen Ortschaft Bly (Klamath County) im südlich-zentralen Teil des Bundesstaates Oregon in den Vereinigten Staaten. Die Station wurde zwischen 1936 und 1942 durch das Civilian Conservation Corps gebaut. Die sieben ursprünglichen Gebäude werden auch heute noch vom Bly Ranger District genutzt. Die Anlage wurde 1981 in das National Register of Historic Places eingetragen.

Geschichte
Zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts war das Netz der forstwirtschaftlichen Straßen nicht gut entwickelt. Um die Arbeit in den National Forests zu erleichtern, baute der Forest Service an strategisch günstigen Stellen Stationen, um die vollzeitbeschäftigten Angestellten unterzubringen und Stützpunkte für Waldbrandpatrouillen und Arbeitsgruppen zu schaffen, die in abgelegenen Teilen des Waldes eingesetzt wurden. Nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg erweiterte der Forest Service das Forststraßennetz umfassend, so dass Forstarbeiter die meisten Waldgebiete innerhalb weniger Stunden erreichen konnten. Deswegen wurden die meisten der isolierteren Rangerstationen geschlossen oder in nur während der Sommersaison genutzte Wachstationen umgewandelt. Die Bly Ranger Station diente seit ihrer Erbauung durchgehend als administratives Hauptquartier des Distrikts.

Der Aufbau der Bly Ranger Station begann 1935, als der Forest Service ein vier Acre (rund 1,6 Hektar) großes Grundstück in Bly erwarb, um eine Rangerstation für den westlichen Distrikt des Fremont National Forest einzurichten. Der Forest Service bezahlte 625 US-Dollar für das Anwesen. Die Station wurde von Arbeitern des Civilian Conservation Corps, die in der Nähe stationiert waren, mit Unterstützung örtlicher Männer gebaut. Die Konstruktion folgte Plänen, die der Architekt des Forest Service für den Pazifischen Nordwesten gefertigt hatte. Die sieben ursprünglichen Bauwerke entstanden zwischen 1936 und 1942. Ein modernes Bürogebäude wurde in den 1960er Jahren hinzugebaut.

Die vom Civilian Conservation Corps errichteten Originalbauten bestehen noch und sind in hervorragendem Zustand. Weil die Bly Ranger Station einen einzigartigen historischen Wert als Beispiel für eine der frühen Rangerstationen des Forest Service hat, wurde sie mit ihrer Umgebung am 11. März 1981 in das National Register of Historic Place aufgenommen.

Gebäude
Zu den historischen Gebäuden gehören ein administratives Gebäude des Distrikts, zwei größere Unterkunftsbauten, das Wohnhaus des Wächters, ein Lagergebäude, eine Garage sowie eine Tankstelle. Die Gebäude wurden in dem für die Kaskadenkette üblichen rustikalen Baustil gestaltet, wobei örtlich vorkommende Steine und vor Ort geschnittenes Kiefernbauholz zur Verwendung kamen. Das Dach wurde mit Schindeln aus Holz gedeckt. Die Fensterläden und die Giebelseiten sind mit dem Logo des Forest Service versehen, wie es bei den in den 1930er Jahren erbauten Bauwerken des Forest Service üblich war. Das Civilian Conservation Corps baute auch die 120 m lange Steinmauer vor der Einrichtung, um diese von den Parkplätzen am Highway abzugrenzen.

Die Baukosten für die Errichtung der Gebäude waren niedrig. Das Bürogebäude und die Hauptunterkunftsgebäude wurden 1937 fertiggestellt, wobei das Bürogebäude mit 1700 US-Dollar und die Wohnhäuser mit 2400 US-Dollar zu Buche schlugen. Die 1939 errichtete Tankstelle kostete 300 US-Dollar. Das letzte Haus, das gebaut wurde, war das Wohnhaus des Wächters. Es entstand 1942 für 1600 US-Dollar.

Lage
Die Bly Ranger Station befindet sich im oberen Sprague River Valley im östlichen Klamath County, Oregon inmitten des Fremont National Forest. Die Anlage befindet sich auf der Südseite des State Highway 140 in der kleinen nichtinkorporierten Siedlung Bly, 69 km nordwestlich von Lakeview und 85 kn nordöstlich von Klamath Falls.

Die Anlage ist ganzjährig für die Öffentlichkeit zugänglich. Etwa 15 km nordwestlich befindet sich das Mitchell Monument, dem einzigen Punkt in den kontinentalen Vereinigten Staaten, an dem während des Zweiten Weltkrieges US-Amerikaner als direkte Folge von Kampfhandlungen durch den Feind getötet wurden.

Weblinks
 Fremont-Winema National Forest

Einzelnachweise

Denkmal im National Register of Historic Places (Oregon)
Wohngebäude in Oregon
Erbaut in den 1930er Jahren
Bauwerk im Klamath County