I'm planning my summer vacation. Is it more ecological to fly or drive?
With gas prices breaking new records every day I am wondering, is it better for the environment to fly or drive to my summer vacation?
In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the quick answer is that driving is far better than flying. But let's see why that is.
According to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the internationally accepted process for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions, the emissions from a long-haul (less than 1,000 miles) flight are 180 grams per passenger mile. So a nonstop flight from San Francisco to Boston would create 487 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions per person (2,708 miles x 180 g/passenger mile), or almost 1 ton for a round-trip. For a family of three, the "carbon footprint" of your vacation would already be almost 3 tons! Generally, larger airplanes are more efficient per mile, so short-haul flights release even more emissions.
But according to the International Panel on Climate Change, these numbers are only for CO2 emissions and don't take into account the additional greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide), water vapor, and the increased effects from releasing all of these at such a high altitude. We therefore need to apply a "radiative forcing index" of 2.7 to correct for this, bringing your family's emissions to over 8 tons.
Now, let's say that your family decided to take your medium-sized (defined as having a 1.4-to-2.1-liter engine) family car, such as a Toyota Corolla, on that same trip. Sure it would take you a lot longer to get there, but think of all the national parks you could visit on the way! Again, according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, your emissions would be 300 grams per mile (equivalent to a 30-mpg vehicle). Since you can't drive a straight line all the way across the country, the trip is going to be about 3,100 miles, releasing 930 kg of greenhouse gases, or less than 2 tons for the round-trip. Unlike for flight emissions, the vehicle's emissions are not measured on a per-occupant basis, so you would release one-quarter less by driving across the country on your vacation.
If that is not enough incentive, think about the cost. Last week, the cheapest San Francisco-Boston round-trip flight I could find was $445 per person, or $1,335 for the family. Now that United Airlines has cut a fifth of its fleet, prices on all airlines are even higher. To drive your 30-mpg Toyota across the country you would need 207 gallons of gasoline; at today's average price of around $4 per gallon you are looking at a gas bill of $828, more than enough savings to pay for campgrounds on your cross-country drive.
Let's take a quick look at some other alternatives. The emissions from taking a passenger train (Amtrak) are roughly comparable to those from driving (310 g/passenger mile), but these emissions are per passenger. This adds up to almost 6 tons for the three-person family -- less than flying, but a lot more than driving. Unfortunately, it would also take longer and cost more than both driving and flying.
No matter which form of transport you use, you can always mitigate your climate impact by purchasing high-quality, verified offset credits through nonprofit organizations that fund energy-efficiency improvements, such as LiveNeutral, or provide energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs to low-income families, such as LiveCooler.
But are you sure you really have to travel? Consider taking what is being called a "staycation." Visit your local museums, go camping at a local state or national park, or stay at a local bed-and-breakfast. Not only will you have a relaxing escape from your daily routine, but you will also support your local economy and reduce your impact on the environment.
Whatever you do, enjoy your summer!
Got a question about the environment? Ask Pablo at AskPablo@Salon.com.


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Learn More About Morrin Law Injury Help App!
by Robert Morrin | Dec 1, 2019 | CarAccident | 0 comments
https://video.wixstatic.com/video/ef4ff5_11a5d8fa7b594306b5c847e5d726e2ea/1080p/mp4/file.mp4
Little in life is as overwhelming as the moments immediately following a car crash. That's why one Kentucky attorney is making sure those who download this new app are never alone when they are in car wreck.
Attorney Rob Morrin, of the Richmond, KY law firm Morrin Law Office, has developed a free mobile application for your smartphone that will use your phone's sensors to detect a collision and automatically alert the driver's emergency contacts when the driver is in a car accident.
"This new app makes your phone function a lot like OnStar only it's free and instead of a stranger checking in on you after a high impact collision you will get a call from someone you trust and love," Mr. Morrin said.
"More than 30 percent of those who have suffered a serious car accident could have avoided permanent impairment or even death, if they had only received more timely medical care," Mr. Morrin said. "That's why app is so vital to the community. It has the ability to help save lives."
The key feature of the app is clearly the Automatic Car Crash Detection system. This allows the app to recognize an accident the second it happens using the phone's built-in accelerometer and GPS and notify the user's listed emergency contacts via text message, even if the app is operating in the background. Using sophisticated car crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it can easily distinguish between a hard brake and a true accident.
As some added benefits the Morrin Law Injury Help App also allows its users to conveniently document the scene of an accident: photos, videos, location, and vehicle/contact information for the other driver, any witnesses, and the reporting officer. One may also find and contact the nearest emergency services–such as the nearest ER or hospital, towing companies, and more. It also allows users to readily store license and proof of insurance information, review frequently asked questions and accident advice, and even record any trip like dashboard camera using the camera in your smartphone.
The Morrin Law Injury Help App is available for download on Apple and Google Play stores. For more information about the app or Morrin Law Office services, contact Rob Morrin at [email protected] or 859-358-0300.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Erich Muhsam
AprilApr 6, 1878
Jul 10, 1934 (age 56)
Birth Sign
Most Popular#217038
First Name Erich#14
April 6 Author#25
A German-Jewish author, poet, playwright, performer, and anarchist, he is known for works such as Die Eigenen and Räterepublik. In the years leading up to World War II, he had a second career as a prominent cabaret performer. In many of his performances, he poked fun at Hitler.
He published his first poetry collection, Der wahre Jacob, in 1901. A play, Die Hochstapler (The Con Men), soon followed.
He died in 1934 in a Nazi Concentration Camp at Oranienburg.
He was born in Berlin as the third child in his family. His father, a pharmacist, was not supportive of his wish to become a poet.
His primary school, Katherinium Gymnasium, was known for its endorsement of corporal punishment. It became the model for similar places mentioned in Buddenbrooks, a novel by Thomas Mann.
Erich Muhsam Popularity
Erich Muhsam Is A Member Of
First Name Erich
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Do We Really Need a National Weather Service?
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2011/08/27/do-really-need-national-weather-service/
Iain Murray, David Bier • August 27, 2011
As Hurricane Irene bears down on the East Coast, news stations bombard our televisions with constant updates from the National Hurricane Center.
While Americans ought to prepare for the coming storm, federal dollars need not subsidize their preparations. Although it might sound outrageous, the truth is that the National Hurricane Center and its parent agency, the National Weather Service, are relics from America's past that have actually outlived their usefulness.
The National Weather Service (NWS) was founded in 1870. Originally, the NWS was not a public information agency. It was a national security agency and placed under the Department of War. The Service's national security function has long since disappeared, but as agencies often do, however, it stuck around and managed to increase its budget.
Today the NWS justifies itself on public interest grounds. It issues severe weather advisories and hijacks local radio and television stations to get the message out. It presumes that citizens do not pay attention to the weather and so it must force important, perhaps lifesaving, information upon them. A few seconds' thought reveals how silly this is. The weather might be the subject people care most about on a daily basis. There is a very successful private TV channel dedicated to it, 24 hours a day, as well as any number of phone and PC apps. Americans need not be forced to turn over part of their earnings to support weather reporting.
The NWS claims that it supports industries like aviation and shipping, but if they provide a valuable contribution to business, it stands to reason business would willingly support their services. If that is the case, the Service is just corporate welfare. If they would not, it is just a waste.
As for hurricanes, the insurance industry has a compelling interest in understanding them. In a world without a National Weather Service, the insurance industry would probably have sponsored something very like the National Hurricane Center at one or more universities. Those replacements would also not be exploited for political purposes.
As it stands today, the public is forced to pay more than $1 billion per year for the NWS. With the federal deficit exceeding a trillion dollars, the NWS is easily overlooked, but it shouldn't be. It may actually be dangerous.
Relying on inaccurate government reports can endanger lives. Last year the Service failed to predict major flooding in Nashville because it miscalculated the rate at which water was releasing from dams there. The NWS continued to rely on bad information, even after forecasters knew the data were inaccurate. The flooding resulted in 22 deaths.
Private weather services do exist, and unsurprisingly, they are better than the NWS. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, the National Weather Service was twelve hours behind AccuWeather in predicting that New Orleans would be affected. Unlike the NWS, AccuWeather provides precise hour-by-hour storm predictions, one of the reasons private industry supports them.
It is not just random mistakes in crises either. Forecast Watch has found that the National Weather Service predictions of snow and rain have an error rate 20 percent higher than their private alternatives. "All private forecasting companies did much better than the National Weather Service," their report concludes. In 2008, they found that the NWS's temperature predictions were worse than every private-sector competitor including the Weather Channel, Intellicast, and Weather Underground. Even NWS's online ZIP code search for weather reports is in some cases totally inaccurate, giving reports for areas hundreds of miles away.
NWS claims to spread information, but when the topic of budget cuts came up earlier this year, all they spread was fear. "There is a very heightened risk for loss of life if these cuts go through," NWS forecasters said, "The inability for warnings to be disseminated to the public, whether due to staffing inadequacies, radar maintenance problems or weather radio transmitter difficulties, would be disastrous."
Disastrous? The $126 million in cuts would still have left the Service with a larger budget than it had a decade ago. The massive bloat in government should not get a pass just because it's wrapped in good-of-the-community clothing. NWS services can and are better provided by the private sector. Americans will invest in weather forecasting because if there is one thing we can be certain of, people will want to protect their property and their lives.
More about Regulatory Reform
The Administrative State
Trump's Executive Branch Restructuring: What If The Federal Government Is Beyond Streamlining?
Clyde Wayne Crews
CEI on The White House Plan to Reform and Reorganize Regulatory Agencies
Trey Kovacs, Iain Murray


New real estate investors often think of repossessions as a way to get started in the business. A repossession happens when property owners can't pay their mortgage. The bank takes over the property and sells it to recoup its money.
The idea that an investor can make big money buying and selling repossessed properties makes sense from the outside looking in. A lot of people think they will get a steal.
What most people do not know is that most repossessions end up selling for market value and, on a few occasions, they sell for more. The banks want to get as much as they can so they'll hire a real estate. Usually the real estate broker will list the property very close to its market value with the hope of attracting a lot of buyer interest and multiple offers.
The problem is that repossessions don't come with legal warranty. The bank was never the property owner so it doesn't have to provide any property history or declare any issues. You get what you get. If you find a hidden defect, such as issues with the foundation or water infiltration, you are stuck with it.
When you submit a promise to purchase, the bank will make you sign an Annex A form, which means the bank is not liable for any irregularities in the house or property. And, you'll likely have an added cost of $600-$900 for a new certificate of location, which will take 2-4 weeks to be completed. If that new certificate of location comes back showing any differences from your original understanding of the property, you are stuck with it because you've signed the Annex A.
A lot of repossessions have water issues. Not all do but be aware. These properties were repossessed because the owner did not have enough money to pay their monthly mortgage payments. Most times, because of the lack of money, the building has not been getting any attention or maintenance. So you will most likely see brick issues, old roofs, cracked caulking around the windows, cracks in the foundation… all of these problems allow water to infiltrate.
If you want to buy a repossessed property, make sure you work with a real estate broker and hire a professional building inspector. If it's an old building, pay for extra reports on the foundation, structure, electrical wiring, and sewer/water main. If the house is in an area where builders may have used pyrite or asbestos, it would be in your best interest to test for these materials as well.
Be prepared to walk away if need be. Don't get caught up in the emotion of buying. What is the point of buying a high risk building if you aren't getting a great deal?


Sustainability | Free Full-Text | Is Globalisation Sustainable?
Martens, P.; Raza, M. Is Globalisation Sustainable? Sustainability 2010, 2, 280-293.
Martens P, Raza M. Is Globalisation Sustainable? Sustainability. 2010; 2(1):280-293.
Martens, Pim; Raza, Mohsin. 2010. "Is Globalisation Sustainable?" Sustainability 2, no. 1: 280-293.


TROUBLESHOOTING - If there is no solution, we will find one.
We offer help for all Windows, Mac, Linux and even Android operating systems.
If you can't get your graphics card working or need a sound card replacement contact PLUSPC. With 17 years experience and certified by Microsoft and Cisco Systems we can help. We'll troubleshoot your LAN (local area network) or WAN (Wide area Network) to track problems. Printers, scanners and the more and more popular Multifunction Devices are part of our daily workload.
Count on us to find out why your server, motherboard or iPhone isn't working and get it fixed by the professionals.


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Oxypogon lindenii é uma espécie de ave da família Trochilidae. Endêmica da Venezuela, onde pode ser encontrada nos Andes nos estados de Merida e Trujillo.

Oxypogon
Aves descritas em 1845
Aves da Venezuela

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Here are some samples of my work during my time as a freelance journalist – from 2000 to 2007. Articles are organized by theme. To see samples of my content marketing work, please visit the Content Marketing page. To see samples of my sustainability/corporate responsibility work, please visit the Sustainability page.


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Recaps & reaction from dispiriting Union loss in LA, league results, US news, more
Posted by Ed Farnsworth on May 27, 2014 at 9:22 am
Sunday's 4-1 loss to LA — a scoreline that really could have been even worse — sees the Union at a new low, having now allowed 9 goals in the last two games.
It was a display in which it seemed as if the Galaxy were playing the role of the Pacific Ocean, with wave upon wave falling upon the Union in the role of an eroding California coastline.
Conceding a soft opening goal from a restart two minutes after the opening whistle set the tone of the match, with silly errors from the Union gifting the home side possession and goals.
Two of those goals were from Landon Donovan, his 135th and 136th in MLS, making him the league's all-time leading goalscorer. So out of synch was the Union defense that Robbie Keane said of Donovan's goals, "He could have been in the hotel room, and he would have scored those two goals." (If you've got 11 minutes to spare, here's a video compilation of all of Donovan's league goals.)
Said John Hackworth of the Union's performance, "Inexcusable start, to give up a goal on a restart in the second minute. Then it took us a while to get into it. Finally, we get going and we start playing well. [But] we were never truly that dangerous in the first half. That was a problem. You think coming out at half time that you'll have a chance to correct some of the things in the first half, and we gave the Galaxy too many easy opportunities. And they put the game away."
Danny Cruz was blunt. "Shitty result, we didn't play well at all. From the very beginning we give up a goal two minutes into the game, and we had to play from behind the entire time…Then three minutes into the second half we give up another goal. It's unacceptable. If we don't clean it up, things aren't going to turn around."
Maurice Edu, back with the team after falling short of his quest to make the US World Cup team, said simply, "We let ourselves down."
Recaps and reaction from PSP, here at PSP.
Photo galleries from USA Today and Getty Images.
More on the Union lamenting giving up an early goal to LA at MLSsoccer.com.
At Brotherly Game, Barry Evans looks at the game-changing moments in Sunday's loss.
Given the Union's recent performances, is it really a surprise that the Union remain dead last in ESPN's power rankings? At Soccer America, it's a one-spot drop to No. 17. At SI, it's a two-spot drop to No. 17.
Brotherly Game has some free forwards from the Premier League the Union might consider.
At MLSsoccer.com, Dave Zeitlin has a long form piece on how the Union and the Sons of Ben embraced Gabe Shertz after the recent passing of his father, Eric.
Lancaster Online looks at Penn Legacy's affiliation with the Union.
The Union Academy teams has the holiday weekend off.
Reading United — and Union Academy product Darius Madison — continued their strong start to the season with a PSP, Reading United, PDL, and Baltimore Bohemians.
Reading are on the road to face Rochester Rhinos in US Open Cup third round play on Tuesday. You can read our preview here.
Ocean City Nor'easters were off this weekend for the championship weekend of the USASA National Amateur Cup. You will recall from Friday's roundup that Ocean City lost 2-0 to NPSL side Sonoma County Sol in Thursday's semifinal. On Saturday, they played NTX Rayados through 90 scoreless minutes that saw both teams down to ten men after a double red card in the 70th minute. The teams went straight to penalty kicks after stoppage time with Ocean City goalkeeper Colin Webb (Indiana University) making two saves to give the Nor'easters the 3-1 win to claim third place.
At Penn Live, Michael Bulloch talks to Harrisburg City Islanders coaches and players about Landon Donovan being cut from the US World Cup roster.
At the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jeff Gammage talks to area residents whose origins are in Brazil about their mixed feelings about the World Cup. On the one hand, people want the Brazil team to win the World Cup. On the other hand, there are real concerns that the enormous amounts of money the Brazilian government is spending on hosting the World Cup given the poverty in the country.
At Philly.com, Jonathan Tannenwald talks to Charlie Stillitano, the man behind Relevant Sports, the company that is behind the Ireland-Costa Rica game next week at PPL Park, and the Inter-Roma game at the Linc in July.
In Eastern Conference play, first place New England (23 points) defeated third place DC (18 points), 2-1. Second place Kansas City (18 points) drew 2-2 with seventh place Toronto (13 points) after conceding in stoppage time. Fourth place Houston (17 points) lost 3-0 on the road to San Jose. Fifth place Columbus (16 points) had their first win since March 29 with a 2-0 home victory over eighth place Chicago (12 points). Sixth place New York (14 points) lost 2-1 at home to visiting Portland. Ninth place Philadelphia (11 points) lost 4-1 to LA. Last place Montreal (7 points) lost 4-1 to Colorado.
In the Western Conference, first place Seattle (26 points) drew 2-2 with fifth place Vancouver (17 points). Second place Salt Lake (24 points) drew 0-0 with fourth place Dallas (18 points). Third place Colorado (18 points) thumped visiting Montreal, 4-1. Sixth place LA (15 points) thumped Philadelphia, 4-1. Seventh place San Jose (13 points) thumped visiting Houston, 3-0. Eighth place Portland (13 points) earned their second win of the season with a 2-1 come-from-behind road victory over New York. Last Place Chivas USA (10 points) had the weekend off ahead of Saturday's game against Philadelphia.
Kansas City's Chance Meyers is out for the rest of the season after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left ankle in Friday's draw with Toronto.
Reuters reports, "ESPN is considering selling online access to live Major League Soccer games to consumers without pay TV subscriptions, an experiment that could help the sports network find ways to generate revenue outside the traditional pay television system."
Apparently, some Indonesian corporate criminal who once had "an indirect, passive minority interest" in DC United no longer does.
Robinho to New England?
The Washington Post reports, "Mayor Vincent C. Gray on Friday asked the D.C. Council to approve a complex series of land deals that would allow the city to gain control of an expanse of land a few blocks from Nationals Park for a major league soccer stadium."
An editorial at The Washington Times says of the proposed stadium deal for DC United, "There are too many moving parts before the deal can be signed, sealed and delivered, so stakeholders should pay close attention."
Minnesota Vikings VP Lester Bangley says, "One of the things we intend to get done is secure an MLS franchise. We've gone to [Seattle] and met with their ownership and front office. Same thing with Sporting KC, we're going there next week. We're continuing our discussions with franchises as well as Commissioner [Don] Garber. More on MLS hopes in Minneapolis here.
More on Las Vegas' efforts to land a MLS franchise.
First place Seattle (23 points) drew 2-2 with sixth place Western New York (11 points). Second place Chicago (16 points) defeated eighth place Houston 3-1 on the road on Friday. Houston (4 points) then was on the road themselves on Monday, losing 3-2 to fifth place Washington (13 points). Third place Kansas City (15 points) defeated last place Boston (3 points) 2-0 on the road. Fourth place Portland (14 points) lost 1-0 at home to seventh place Sky Blue FC (10 points).
Following the release last week of the final 23-player roster, the US will face Azerbaijan tonight in the first of three World Cup warm-up games (10 pm: ESPN2, UniMás, Watch ESPN). On Sunday, June 1, the US face Turkey at Red Bull Arena. They then face Nigeria on Saturday, June 7 in Jacksonville.
Interestingly, Berti Vogts, who was recently announced as an adviser to the USMNT and is the former head coach of the German national team, is the head coach of the Azerbaijan team. The AP reports, "He is quick to clear up a couple of things: Klinsmann hasn't asked him to make any tactical adjustments based on better preparing the Americans even though his Azerbaijan squad has faced all three of the United States' World Cup opponents; and Klinsmann offered the idea of this match."
Vogts says in the AP report, "First, I'm the national coach for Azerbaijan. Proud to play here against the United States. It's a huge match for Azerbaijan, and I hope the match also will help the United States."
Vogts says of his role as adviser to the US, "I'm not a coach. Maybe Jurgen [has] some questions for me about special things. I give him a clear answer. That is my part."
Jurgen Klinsmann says of Vogts, "He's been a big mentor throughout my life and he just has an outstanding soccer brain, an outstanding knowledge — the way he reads the game, the way he analyzes things. [The] tremendous experience he has is without question a huge benefit for us."
Vogts will certainly have a busy schedule over the next two weeks.
Looks like we may see Klinsmann doing some experimenting with the backline tonight. More on the possibility here.
Look for our preview of the Azerbaijan game later this morning. ProSoccerTalk has a preview. ASN has "6 Big Questions" before tonight's game. Soccer America has some more questions.
Landon Donovan on not making the 23-player US roster for the World Cup:
I think if I'm being judged based solely on what happened in camp, then I absolutely deserved to be going to Brazil.
I think I was at least as good as everybody else in camp. I think you guys that know me well know I'm pretty honest when it comes to my assessment. When I say I don't play well, I didn't play well. When I say I played well, I think I played well. I think I trained and played very well in camp. I think I was one of the better players. If I had gone in and thought I didn't deserve it, I can live with that. But that's not the case here.
I'm disappointed. I'm sad. I'm human, and I wanted to go. I really wanted to go. I'm at peace with it. I respect the decision. I just feel in my heart that I deserved to be there. That's the pill that's hardest to swallow.
At the LA Times, Kevin Baxter has reaction on Donovan's omission from those who did make the team.
At Soccer America, Mike Woitalla on "the nonsense behind Klinsmann dumping Donovan."
Clarence Goodson believes he should have made the team. "I asked Jurgen for an explanation. It was something that he was unwilling to give me. He said that he would speak with me after the World Cup about it, and I said that I thought I certainly deserved an explanation. And it was something that he was unwilling to give.
Also cut was Michael Parkhurst, who said, "I don't think there's anything I could have done more. I don't think there was anything negative on my part that made him (coach Jurgen Klinsmann) not choose me. I just think that his mind was set up even before the camp was started. That makes it a little easier to swallow knowing I don't think I could have done anything else."
Jurgen Klinsmann said of the tweet his son Jonathan posted mocking Donovan's omission from the final roaster,
Hugely disappointed. I called him right away, he realized just a few minutes after that what he has done. He came out of school kind of fooling around with his classmates, and they just went off on Twitter not being aware of that he's actually followed on Twitter.
He has a huge admiration for Landon. He's actually a big fan of his since many many years, he has his jersey in his room and he realized what he's done. He was devastated yesterday. Obviously as a father you put him in line, and he owes him a huge, huge apology. That was highly disrespectful, and I think he got his biggest social media lesson he could imagine. It was very disappointing.
Who wants some profiles? San Jose Mercury News has one on Chris Wondolowski and another on Omar Gonzalez. At The AP, Aron Johannsson is the subject. At USA Today, it's Jozy Altidore. At Wall Street Journal, it's Clint Dempsey.
At SI, George Dohrmann looks at the US World Cup squad's relative lack of Latin American influence.
At ProSoccerTalk, Kyle Bonn says the hopes of the US in making it out of their group "likely hinge on Germany domination."
Are you going to Recife for the USA-Germany game? SI has some background on the city.
At the Miami Herald, Linda Robertson how the growth of soccer in the US is accompanied by growing expectations for the US at the World Cup.
At the AP, a look at Fox's efforts to bring "American voices" to their broadcasts of the world's game.
Real Madrid, Champions of Europe.
The AP reports, "Players' union leaders want UEFA to ease the punishment imposed on Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain for breaking 'Financial Fair Play' rules. FIFPro Europe President Bobby Barnes hopes UEFA can find 'some way of lessening the blow' to avoid excluding players from Champions League squads."
The Wall Street Journal on the Brazuca.


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Q: iPhone - Force localization of Default.png I know how to force localization with this code
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setObject:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:@"fr", nil]
forKey:@"AppleLanguages"];

And I know how to localize Default.png (different bundles English.lproj, French.lproj...). Now imagine the phone language is English, but the user set the application language to be French.
How can I force the app to use the Default.png in French.lproj?
I tried to put the code above in main() even before UIApplicationMain(), but it doesn't work.

A: As crazy as it may sound, i think the "Apple way" to do this is not have a language setting inside your App at all. Actually you shouldn't have any settings in your App at all. You should create a settings bundle that will show upp in the Settings app. I know that very few apps do this as not all users are aware that there are App-specific settings in the Settings App, but this is the "right" way around.
However, I do not think this will fix your Default.png issue. To load the correct Default.png, your app should strictly adhere to the system language setting ie. you should have no language settings at all.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


One of the least bemoaned results of Walt Disney Imagineering's wars against all things not "Story" is the overall Presentationalist aesthetic – that mode of design which forgoes convincing, unified places and times for the straight, linear, didactic shot into information and conceptualization. Individual elements are sometimes mourned – EPCOT Center's Future World pavilions chief amongst them – but nobody seems to reserve much love for Tomorrowland in its "white period". Yet I think of all elements removed wholesale from The Magic Kingdom, the loss of all the character from that portion of both parks ranks as the most damaging. Tomorrowland balanced and reinforced the rest of the Disney lands, and the park is now a scale tilted too far off balance to ever fully recover.
The future has always been remade. In the 1960's, Disney did the chief sensible thing and had the 1955 Tomorrowland removed entirely to make way for the 1967 model. This version of Tomorrowland probably got the formula the "most right" of them all: the movement of the spinning Rocket Jets attraction to the top of the Peoplemover platform created perhaps one of Disney's most recognizable architectural features, giving the land interest and form. Those little pastel Peoplemovers dashing this way and that, the monorail, the Matterhorn bobsleds, Rolly Crump's rising stage, the spinning Carousel of Progress and more spoke of a hub of energy, interaction, the "World on Move" Disney wanted. Many of the key features were already in place: a dark ride inside a commercial, a circle-vision film, a simulated moon flight in a theatre with vibrating seats. When Disney would add Space Mountain to this mix in 1977, the energy of the place would be nearly uncontainable.
The Florida version added scope and size. Those little triangular ridges atop the buildings housing America the Beautiful and Adventure thru Inner Space became enormous spires fighting the castle for attention; whereas Anaheim had little fountains outside the entrance to the land, Orlando's spires would spurt water straight down into the castle moat while water cascaded down the sloped walls to the left and right; a true torrent unmatched by any other Disney structure ever devised. Inside, the symmetry of the Disneyland version become even more pronounced, each building on the main pedestrian corridor becoming a terraced, glass enclosed, buttressed expression of modernism (fans of California Googie unfamiliar with this version would do well to study it). Claims about this "white Tomorrowland" often ignore the fact that, even in those early days, the area was overflowing with pastel yellows, oranges, blues and pinks. In later years the subtle palette would be cheapened to bright whites, blues and reds, but at least this earlier paint scheme was perhaps the best affirmation of John Hench's claim that he had something like 70 versions of "white" in his paint palette.
Nor was the land totally monochromatic; in full evidence were bright reds and blues inside Space Mountain and on the Star Jets, black and yellow and white inside If You Had Wings, green and black on the Grand Prix, and astonishing yellows, oranges, reds and browns inside the Tomorowland Terrace. Once the area was fully built up with its own Carousel of Progress, Space Mountain, a less meandering but more advanced Peoplemover and more, it was distinctly related but very different from the Disneyland sibling.
What these future worlds were all about was variety. While much of the rest of The Magic Kingdom, for example, was lit by ornate lanterns and sconces, Tomorrowland was ablaze with bright halogens, neons, and incandescents casting variations on white too carefully planned to be ugly. The Tavern Singers and J.P. and the Silver Stars offered area/period correct music elsewhere in the Magic Kingdom, but at the Tomorowland Terrace, the modern and tastefully suspect Kids of the Kingdom offered show tunes and red polyester. In later years, the fascinating Michael Iceberg held court here in his fog-spewing electric organ shaped like a pyramid. In Anaheim especially, youth held court in Tomorrowland with dancing and nighttime festivities, while adults were more likely to be found over in the Blue Bayou or Tahitian Terrace. Tomorrowland was a fully developed deviation from something like Frontierland or Adventureland and their fantasies nostalgic. Without the 1971 Tomorowland, for example, the east side of the 1971 Fantasyland makes no sense, gradually becoming more austere and angular around the Mr. Toad area in comparison to the rich Germanic atmosphere of the Skyway area. The loss of this variation makes the overall "palette" of Disneyland and The Magic Kingdom less rewarding.
The 1994 Tomorrowland is really an effort to bring the area in line with the rest of the park's aesthetic mode, to tame the wild aesthetic departure into a homogenous sameness. Whereas once the playful nostalgic was the sole domain of the West Side of the park, now Tomorrowland would be remade as nostalgic futurism, a la 30's pulp. This concept is much better of paper than it is in actuality for, much how EPCOT Center is today filled with distracting junk, this makeover essentially involved putting shells over all the existing infrastructure. Those massive water-spewing towers were demolished and, in their place, jutting rocks arrived – and not cool, futuristic, Fortress-of-Solitude type rocks, but more like Big Thunder Mountain Wished Upon Futuresville Rocks. The two most obviously dated shows – Mission to Mars and the Circlevision film – were replaced with "edgy" attractions like the ambitious Timekeeper and witless Alien Encounter. The WEDway People Mover became the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, evicting the harmless if unremarkable ORAC-1 with shouted announcements and other nonsense.
Sky-reaching palms, added to reinforce the angular nature of the Tomorrowland 1971's structures, were replaced with bland shrubs and flat-leaf plants. Anything not made metallic was painted purple or blue. It all amounts to a lot of work that doesn't enhance what was there to begin with. There are some whimsical touches that are too little, too late, such as a phone of the future, a robotic newsboy and some clever parodies of local organizations which were, still, done better at Disneyland's Toontown. There's nothing wrong with the ideas present, but in execution they are too often straddled with low budgets and unreasonable expectations.
Disneyland's Tomorrowland met with an even less enviable fate for at least Orlando was permitted to retain its' Peoplemover, Astro Jets, and for several years Skyway. Bad decisions compounded on bad decisions in California and, among other changes seemingly calculated to remove the "local color", the spinning attraction was moved to ground level and tacked onto the hub of Disneyland, the Peoplemover was replaced with an unreliable speed rocket attraction which destroyed the original open air track in the process of zipping around Tomorrowland, and the Skyway was long gone. Crump's rising stage became a sign for the food court which it anchored. All of the life was sapped from the place.
The question then becomes what the role of Tomorrowland is in the Disney patheon. If Imagineering will no longer tolerate the Presentational mode, and if Tomorrowland must have a "story" and exist harmoniously with the other themed areas of the castle parks, perhaps Disneyland Paris had the best idea with their Verne-themed Discoveryland. Orlando's pulp writing theme is promising, even if it needs less Buck Rogers and more Fritz Lang in its DNA and a lot more work and money after its abortive first try. Anaheim's gold-hued Tomorrowland has already been vanquished in favor of that "old", "white" version, but there is still no real life to the space. Both areas are in a transitional mode right now, and either need to be allowed to be what they are designed to be or rethought and reworked even more than they are now.
Space Mountain, one of Disney's most viable franchises, seems to have doomed Tomorrowland to existence, and the inclusion of Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters seem to be the most viable opportunities to continue to resuscitate the land. But I ask: why? Hong Kong Disneyland's flaccid, flat, vacant Tomorrowland is window dressing to their version of Space Mountain, so if the inclusion of a whole area to validate the existence of a single thrill ride is deemed important to the essential makeup of the park, then the solution is to reinvent Space Mountain so it doesn't have to inhabit a Tommorowland area and axe Tomorowland from all future designs entirely. Disney seems uncomfortable with futurism these days, and real forward-thinking futurism died in mainstream culture around the time of Walt Disney's passing.
What Tomorrowland really is doomed to be today is camp, in the true, almost lost meaning of the term: the elevation of unimportant things to places of undue prominence. The 1994 Tomorrowland is awash in irony, where the spectator is encouraged to perceive something like a robotic newsboy as a relic of an outdated era and its' idea of what the future will be. The existence of such a "futuristic" but simultaneously obsolete figure creates a distance where the spectator is superior to but still celebratory of the object in question; it becomes camp. This isn't a future that's relevant to us today, which is the joke, and the "modern", "cutting edge" Alien Encounter, with its' attitude and jaded horror film vibe is what we were meant to see as the "dark heart" of that Tomorrowland, where there's no beautiful tomorrow on the horizon.
This concept was antithetical to the rest of the Magic Kingdom, and now that Timekeeper, Alien Encounter, and much of that Tomorrowland's ancillary themeing (remember when there were walk around alien face characters and rollerblading custodians??) is gone, the area – and the Tomorrowland concept - is waiting for its' future to arrive.
It is my genuine, firm belief that if all one ever does is to expose herself to culture that is culture approved of by Disney, then her world view will be far narrower than any shared by any of the artists who created the Disney product from the great eras. Disney isn't high culture, but it isn't low culture either, and as such I genuinely hope to point the receptive spectator in the direction of related but challenging, exciting art which will significantly broaden the richness of the experience Disney offers.
Walt Disney often sought in his life and work to associate himself with other notable figures of American history - other movie moguls, oftentimes immigrants, aligned their product with the great international masters such as homespun Warner Brothers offering England's Bard in our last For Further Study - Disney sought and found success in America by creating works of undeniable local color. His early films have been often described as "Barnstorming" - as much for their irrepressible energy as their rural Midwest atmosphere and unsophisticated humor. His one big effort to recruit "Continental" sophistication - Fantasia - mired an already troubled studio in even more financial doubt. It was not an experiment Disney would repeat. His bread and butter for the next several years would draw heavily on American pop rather than the European Gothic of Snow White and Pinocchio.
Disneyland, Walt Disney's largest manifestation of American mythology, included a "River of America", essentially a fantasy of the Mississippi in miniature, a big sternwheel riverboat called the Mark Twain, a whole attraction called Tom Sawyer Island based much on "recieved knowledge" about Sam Clemens' most popular book, and would eventually expand to include a whole New Orleans section, a miniature great northwest, monument valley, and more.
Walt Disney World's version of American history tied together by that river was overall perhaps a bit more ambitious, and in the intervening sixteen years of additions and reconceptualizations the threads of the fictions of Sam Clemens, Walt Disney, larger American myths and WED enterprises had become tangled so finely that extracting any one element from the others would be almost impossible. Mike Fink's Keel Boats, based on a historical figure appearing in Davy Crockett Disney-produced television episodes and extrapolated by Bob Gurr and others into operable form for Disneyland, circled Tom Sawyer Island, a careful index of many places and incidents sometimes mentioned only in passing by Clemens in his famous book, passing along the way Wilson's Cave Inn, a factual figure and location along America's waterways, integrated into the Disneyland television show, and redesigned by Marc Davis for the Walt Disney World show. The ties become culture soup, unlikely and undesirable to untangle.
In 1996 the Magic Kingdom Florida's remaining steamboat Richard F. Irvine was refurbished and renamed the Liberty Belle, in an effort to tie the boat more concretely to her dock in Liberty Square. Part of this effort included a new spiel, rewritten and revised perhaps more extensively than any other equivalent spiel at Walt Disney World. These spiels were often recorded by a jovial but generic sounding "captain" who would point out various attractions of interest along the ride path in typical "folksy" fashion. The new Liberty Belle spiel, adapted from the existing Keel Boat Standard Operating Guide Narration, split the role amongst two narrators, a "captain" and a "pilot", allowing for some degree of banter to enter the narration. The clever touch is that the pilot is Sam Clemens and the captain is a gentleman named Horace Bixby, putting the time frame of the attraction somewhere about 1857 - 1860. Instead of being the result of Clemens' fanciful adventure tales, Tom Sawyer Island is now the place which inspired them.
There are a handful of objections to the spiel, including certain historical inaccuracies - Horace Bixby was never a riverboat captain to Clemens, for example, a Captain of a riverboat being the owner rather than chief operator of the vessel - and the generally pervasive sense that the existing spiel was peppered with passages from a rather short collection of famous Sam Clemens quotes in fairly desperate fashion. It is, however, the only attraction in Disney to casually mention almost hanging somebody as a throw-away joke, and deserves more credit than the above paragraph perhaps suggests.
At this point we reach the For Further study portion of this history lesson, which is not, as expected, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" by Mark Twain but rather, his lesser known and wickedly entertaining "Old Times on the Mississippi". This series of seven articles is the absolute basis of the Liberty Belle spiel, and although nowhere in the work does Clemens once mention Horace Bixby by name, any cursory examination of Clemens' personal history will dredge this name up. It is the stuff of legend that Clemens was once a Riverboat pilot, and "Old Times on the Mississippi" proves the tall tales true with comic anecdotes, technical specifications, atmosphere and nostalgia. In the shadow of the book does the Liberty Belle spiel become a fount of rich history.
One of the secondary functions of Disneyland and The Magic Kingdom is teaching; histories and architectural styles are taught with mere glances, while films, novels, plays, music and all other media are annotated vigorously and continually. Although probably not everyone was led from Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad to Kenneth Grahame's beautiful The Wind in the Willows as I was, but youthful expeditions on Tom Sawyer Island at Walt Disney World may one day bear fruit as assigned readings of Mark Twain in high school become as nostalgic and enjoyable as hey deserve to be. It would probably be impossible to construct a full list of references for something like The Haunted Mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean, but memories of everyone from Charles Dickens to William Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde and Robert Louis Stevenson echo through Walt Disney World like a chorus.
The full text of Old Times on the Mississippi.
Further information on Clemens and Bixby.
Full text of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
Old Times on the Mississippi, 1876, Mark Twain - nonfiction.
In the industry of theme entertainment, much has changed since the sophisticated Disneyland model entered the marketplace in 1955. Once, the roller coaster was a competitive market, but the tide has gradually turned away and coasters are becoming smaller draws year by year. Anybody who remembers when it seemed like "virtual reality" would soon dominate all creative, entertainment output will recognize the pattern, even more abbreviated. In truth, Disney designed rides have gone through so many "fads" that the origin of them today seems slightly obscured. It's a fairly safe bet that, for example, most people under the age of 30 wouldn't consider anything that doesn't move in a linear direction on some kind of guidance system to be an "attraction". And yet it is illuminating to consider that, in 1955, by far the bulk of the Disneyland attractions were "self guided" in nature, including most of Tomorrowland. In light of this - and the next 50 years of theme design – there is a compelling argument that the "Walking Attraction", as much as the "Theatre Show", "Dark Ride" or "Roller Coaster" is its' own unique aesthetic mode of attraction, worthy of its' own careful considerations.
This is not to say that the self-guided attraction is actually thriving in today's market; if it is built at all today it is likely to take the form of a queue experience funneling the spectators towards a motion based ride. This is a logical if unenviable fate for the original aesthetic mode of the themed experience; the spectator is waiting her turn in line anyway, and there might as well be a highly themed walkthrough attraction as a preface. This reaches its' apotheosis at Disneyland's Indiana Jones Adventure and Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest, where the queues are done with a great deal more care and detail than the rides themselves.
Perhaps the inevitable decline of the number of Disney self guided attractions is an end result of the fact that it's very hard to straddle a line between a museum (One Man's Dream) or a corporate exhibit (Transcenter) to make a walk-thru feel like an organic creation. The original EPCOT pavilions were sometimes good and sometimes bad at this, but were usually done with a degree of aesthetic class and cleverness not often found in today's Innoventions or Project Tomorrow displays.
"Type A" of the self guided attraction may be regarded as the linear attraction, where the flow of peoples is projected in a linear fashion through a series of rooms or exhibits. This flow of peoples is essentially similar to the forward flow of vehicles on a track, where variances in speed and direction can slow down the entire chain. This is the mode which the indoor attractions would all eventually become based on, but an especially desirable example here is the Swiss Family Treehouse because it is not only a linear attraction, but one which is essentially an outgrowth of the Adventureland area itself. The Treehouse is a form of interactive public art, where spectators from the ground level can enjoy viewing the tree and spectators on the tree can enjoy viewing the ground. Both views are different but essentially analogous. The Treehouse is a pastoral which flatters both itself and the areas it views, especially at Walt Disney World where the Adventureland Veranda loop of facades were built to be viewed from on high. It has its visual interest but the primary focus is on the view and the privileges it presents.
The Treehouse is also unique and interesting in that it is the most complete example of the "phantom population" – the debris and signifiers of a "local" population Disney goes to great lengths to suggest inhabit its' parks, going about day to day business, which of course never exist. The Treehouse, remarkably, is an open house for a house literally inhabited by nobody, but the emptiness is never uncanny thanks to Buddy Baker's "Swiss Polka". For an attraction with only one moving part – the fascinating water wheel – it feels very little like a static tableau.
This quality is thanks to the fact that the Swiss Family Treehouse is really part of Adventureland, and although is may be "gated", the life it has is the life of Adventureland's shops and attractions and walkways. It does not answer but it once again invokes the essential question of whether the themic unit of a Disneyland "-Land" is the original walking attraction.
"Type B" of the self-guided attraction is best typified by Tom Sawyer Island, which is an area where the direction and speed of the experience is open, but the boundaries of the area are defined and controlled. Tom Sawyer Island, an area defined by a river with only one point of entrance and exit, is mythologized by its' remote nature. But the Island recreates the mythical state of youth, and the big river and circling steamboat elevate the experience to a fully convincing illusion of the great outdoors, which is of course absurd because the entire island is manmade and crisscrossed with electrical lines and utilities.
The free-roaming nature of the Tom Sawyer Island attraction goes a long way towards creating the illusion of a totally unrestricted environment in strong contrast to the single direction demanded by the Treehouse. The Island offers a degree of uncertainty, facilitated by the design of the cave walk-through attractions - the caves are large show buildings buried in dirt, and as such the Island is a mound of earth where one can never see the attraction's other shore, creating surprise when one comes across the old mill, or the entrance to another cave.
Those caves, in particular - self-contained Type A walking sub-attractions placed in a Type B environment - are the dark heart of Tom Sawyer Island, it's true reason for existence. Nowhere else in Disney attractions is the illusion of being in a truly unrestricted environment where things could genuinely go wrong played out so carefully and effectively, the true Haunted Mansions where all bets seem to be off. The "adult" characters on the island – blacksmiths and a fort guard at Walt Disney World, General Jackson at Disneyland – are distracted or rendered harmless, furthering the illusion of free reign in what is actually a very controlled sector. In Type B attractions, Tom Sawyer Island especially, the designers stress choice over a linear path. What defines it is the controlled entrance and exit, the turnstile or the ticket booth.
This pattern, of course, is the pattern which the Disney parks emulate – one is presented with labeled choices through which one may wander. The illusion, however, on Tom Sawyer Island (where the area behind Fort Wilderness seems to go off into "nature") as everywhere at Walt Disney World, strives to be a "Type C" attraction – all possible choices and all possible directions. Type C attractions most often function as exhibit halls, the Halls of Chemistry of Disney history. As such they tend to be small pockets set down inside the larger park, unguarded and unticketed, and most resembled those dreaded arcades, museums and corporate exhibits Disney's team of designers often seek to differentiate themselves from.
The earliest in Disneyland history – the Penny Arcade – begat increasingly complex versions, and the mode of Type C self guided attraction which has most repeated itself arrived with the 1967 New Tomorrowland, with its' Bell Telephone preshow to the Circle-Vision America the Beautiful film, and especially the Monsanto exhibits at the exit of the Adventure Through Inner Space, an area with a fashionable 1967 look and feel quite removed from the Claude Coats stark dark ride which ostensibly prefaced it. The most exhaustive use of the Type C walk-thru attraction occurred in 1982 at EPCOT Center, where nearly every Future World pavilion had an adjoining exhibit at its' exit as well as a sponsored space in Communicore. The most influential may have been Image Works, a free-flowing digital playground which was the template for many a children's science museum nationwide, but the most complete and complex execution of a Type C attraction was and is Communicore, which has a poorer modern-day equivalent in Innoventions.
Communicore represents the total integration of varying types of attractions within a unitary whole because each self-guided attraction was an extension of the traditional attractions ringing it. EPCOT Center's didactic messages and inspired executions took form in a variety of concept exhibits and interactive pieces working overtime to validate the park's humanist aims. The triumph of Communicore lay not in the content, but the concept – whereas previously different attractions existed throughout a Disneyland-type park sharing only an apparently linked physical or narrative similarity, Communicore posited a theme park where all types of attractions can be united under a conceptual or intellectual common element. One doesn't need to see the Swiss Family Treehouse, for example, to understand aspects of the Jungle Cruise, but a trip through the Universe of Energy in 1982 was greatly expanded by Communicore's Exxon Energy Exchange. This minor facet is just one example of EPCOT Center's explosion of aesthetic norms in themed design, the most important innovation in the field in the last quarter of the 20th century.
Ironically as the number of self-guided exploratory type attractions has dwindled, the definitions and rules governing such non-traditional attractions has exploded open. Under the A – E ticket system Disney defined anything requiring a ticket to be an attraction. With the disbanding of this system in 1983 (following, ironically, the walking attraction's greatest achievements), many different areas can now sport the title "Attraction", such as Walt Disney World's minor Fantasyland Pooh playground, or EPCOT Center's loud but benevolent Club Cool.
And yet the variety of things available at Disneyland and Walt Disney World has been slowly shrinking, as each Stateside attraction moves towards being a water-sprizting scent-wafting 4-D roller coaster with each passing year. As such, the state of the self-guided attraction is in a state of flux, as those low-tech Type A and B attractions not already endangered are becoming increasingly rare. Yet if Imagineers are disinterested in considering the self-guided tour as a viable mode of entertainment, a hybrid attraction of the past may be worth considering for the future: the 1975 Space Mountain, where the queue and post-show were self-contained Type A attractions – past displays of RCA products.
The ultimate problem with trying to classify the successes or failures of a walk-through attraction at Disney is that, on a certain level, everything begins to resemble one. Particularly with Disney's constant attention to detail does something like Main Street, USA begin to appear to be an attraction, or perhaps Disneyland's Riverfront. It's hard to draw an exact boundary between attractions and non-attractions in Disney theme design, and even the rule that an attraction is something guarded by a turnstile cannot hold because Disneyland herself is bermed in in all directions and gated. In the days of the individual attraction tickets one could buy herself a ticket only good for admission. Although this functioned as a extension of Disney's old policy that tickets never expire, it also functioned as an economical solution for those only in seek of all the myriad rewards Disneyland offered that weren't inside, in the dark.


How can we cultivate our ability to stand in someone else's shoes, while firmly planted in our own? Isn't that impossible?
Impossible? No. Challenging? Yes. It depends on your ability and skill at entering someone else's world so you can deal effectively with them, without becoming like them. It's incredibly powerful and can produce extraordinary results. Not only will you will handle difficult people better, you'll make your already good relationships even better, as well.
Fortunately, there are small, doable ways you can get started right now.
1. Change the way you reference the difficult person.
Don't underestimate how this one small step will yield big results in terms of your own emotional regulation. From here you'll be better able to keep your cool and avoid becoming part of the problem yourself.
2. If someone is behaving negatively, respond by adopting the positive aspects of their negative behavior.
If someone is getting loud or yelling, don't get quiet or speak softly. Match their negative behavior, which is yelling, with the positive aspect of it by using a clear, strong voice. In other words, meet them where they're at in a positive way. Once you're on the same wavelength, it creates the possibility that you can now influence them to join you in a calmer, more rational place for problem-solving.
If you're in a seated position and find yourself intimated by someone standing over you, rise to a standing position, too. Match the positive aspect of their intimidating energy by joining them, but in a neutral standing position. They know how to stand up for themselves and now it's obvious, through your body language, that you do, too.
There's research that suggests this tactic can help defuse potentially violent encounters. If you start feeling intimidated on a phone call, stand up and notice how your energy changes. Similarly, if someone is sitting and as a power play doesn't offer you a seat, politely and confidently go ahead and take a seat.
Think of these as warmups to start boosting your E.Q. — emotional intelligence skills and savvy. This success experience will motivate and prepare you for the more challenging psychological work ahead.
Let's say that a good description of you is responsible, straightforward, and accommodating. If you started acting unreliable, oblique, and taking charge, it would feel really weird and wrong. If someone were to describe you as unreliable, sneaky, and controlling, it might be one of the worst things someone could say about you. Maybe you've worked your whole life to be as unlike those qualities as possible.
To think or behave differently from your internal set of do's and don'ts would violate who you are as a person. "I just don't do that. That's just not me." And yet, what if your original strengths that have served you so well are now limiting you—or even working against you? What do you do? To live your "best life" or be your "best self," you may now need to expand beyond your original strengths and up your game to get what you want out of life.
I'm not advocating "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Getting on the other person's wavelength or matching their energy in a positive way doesn't mean moving into their realm of extreme. But, it sure can feel like you're going to the dark side when you first attempt to meet someone where they are. Or, you may indeed overreact. It's a bit tricky. Don't be surprised if you need some help getting traction so you can make progress without going too far.
This isn't about changing or fixing yourself. This is a strengths-based process of getting smarter, savvier, and more skillful. You're still you, there's now just more to you. Now, you've got more insight and skill in dealing effectively with more kinds of people.
Best Case Scenario: The relationship improves, deepens, and you actually get closer.
As Good as it Gets: Within its limitations, what's the best you can make the relationship? You'll be able to talk about some things, but other topics will be off-limits and you'll not be as close as you'd hoped. Relationships with relatives, in-laws, and work relationships often settle into this category.
Damage Control: The best you can do is learn how to "handle" the person, so they cause as little hurt and harm as possible to those around them, including you.
Last Resort: Some situations are so toxic you have to remove yourself or them. No confrontation, no explanation, just get out.
I can't promise you that every relationship is salvageable and every situation redeemable. We're just upping your chances. And in the process, you end up smarter, savvier, and maybe even happier.


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Nintendo's Dr. Mario World for iPhones and iPads Releasing on July 10
Posted by Rajesh Pandey on Jun 18, 2019 in iOS Apps, News
Nintendo has announced that it will be launching Dr. Mario World for iOS and Android on July 10th. The game will be available as a free download with IAPs.
The game was originally announced in January this year. It is based on the 1990 puzzle game Dr. Mario in which players need to arrange different color pills falling from the top with viruses to eliminate them from the screen.
The game will use Diamonds as its currency using which players can buy in-game items. There is a stamina meter in the game which is automatically exhausted if you play the game repeatedly. You can fill this stamina meter using diamonds or exit the game and then come back later.
The game requires one to have access to a constant internet connection while being played. This means if you don't have access to an internet connection, you won't be able to play Dr. Mario World on your iPhone or iPad.
Dr. Mario World will be Nintendo's first mobile title release for 2019. It has another game scheduled to release in Summer 2019: Mario Kart Tour.
You can find more information about Dr. Mario World over at its dedicated website launched by Nintendo. Pre-registrations for Dr. Mario World have started on the App Store.
➤ Download


text:
Poison Genius Consort
Chapter 125: Havoc at the Duke of Qin's estate
Chapter 125: Havoc at the Duke of Qin's estate Original and most updated translations are from volare. If read elsewhere, this chapter has been stolen. Please stop supporting theft.
Though there was still some distance to the main gates, the clamorous noise outside was obvious. Lady Xu was saying something that the crowd echoed back, creating a sensation. If Han Yunxi heard, then naturally Grand Concubine Yi and Murong Wanru would hear as well. Although her heart was in a flurry, Han Yunxi still smoothed out her lips and paid respects. "May mufei be fortunate."
Grand Concubine Yi wasn't sure what was going on outside. Steward Xia was going to report when he saw the Duke of Qin and Qin Wangfei turn and told them first. Seeing Han Yunxi in the middle of rushing outside, Grand Concubine Yi was about to ask when Murong Wanru opened her mouth first.
"Sister-in-law, did you go somewhere far away? How come I haven't seen you in the past few days? I looked for you multiple times without finding anyone."
"Go somewhere far away?" Grand Concubine Yi was filled with doubt. Han Yunxi was part of the Duke of Qin's estate now, so shouldn't she tell her before heading off first?
She couldn't have gone to the empress dowager's palace, right?
Ever since the last time Han Yunxi came back from there, Grand Concubine Yi had taken precautions in her heart and told Murong Wanru to keep an eye out on the sly. Murong Wanru had always kept tabs on Han Yunxi's movements. She hadn't returned after leaving with Mu Qingwu that day. Though Murong Wanru had no way to find out the affairs of the general's estate, nor did she dare, she'd been observing the Han Family on the side. She'd long sent someone over to get all the details.
Han Yunxi agreed to let the wives of the Han Family meet Han Congan in prison. She should've gone yesterday, but she wasn't at home. When Lady Xu came by last night to look for her, it was Murong Wanru who received her.
Han Yunxi's kidnapping was related to the matter of the enemy spies, so it was inconvenient for Han Yunxi to mention it. She made up a lie on the fly. "I caught a bad chill these few days and couldn't get off the bed. It's only today that I felt a little better."
Murong Wanru rushed over at these words, face filled with concern. "You didn't get off the bed so many days? It must be a severe chill. Why doesn't sister-in-law rest more?"
Han Yunxi was in a rush to take care of the situation outside, and didn't have time to play false friends with Murong Wanru. She ignored her complete and said, "Mufei, there's a situation outdoors. I'll go take care of it."
So speaking, she took large strides until Grand Concubine Yi stopped her. "Han Yunxi, it was clear that you weren't home the past few days. Where did you go? All that fuss before the door, could it be that you're the reason?"
Hearing this, Han Yunxi was filled with doubts. Grand Concubine Yi didn't know what was going on outside? Looks like the person backing up Lady Xu wasn't her. Her heart filled with suspicion, she nevertheless came out with the truth. "Yes. But it's just a misunderstanding. Mufei don't worry, chenqie will handle it appropriately."
"Sister-in-law, they're making quite a fuss. I think they're cursing people? They dare to stir up trouble right by our gates, so it must be a big deal. Just who did you provoke? Is it all right for you to go out alone?"
Murong Wanru the white lotus really had a formidable mouth. It sounded like she was speaking out of concern, but she easily stirred Grand Concubine Yi's curiosity and indignation with her words. Before Han Yunxi could reply, Grand Concubine Yi had already spoken. "Han Yunxi, I'd like to see exactly who you've provoked. Who has the guts to clamor at my gates?" So speaking, she furiously whipped her sleeves and walked towards the front doors.
This damned Murong Wanru. Would she die unless she disgusted her and drove a wedge between them every time they met?
Han Yunxi's eyes flashed with fury before she hurried after them. She thought, a fortune won't be disastrous, a disaster can't be avoidable. Even if Lady Xu has the guts to make a fuss at the Duke of Qin's gates, that should be her limit. It's just a storehouse key, she shouldn't make too big of a deal, right?
She wanted to see her anyways to fulfill her promise. She might as well bring the Han Family to see Han Congan right away! However, when she reached the gates and heard clearly the words being spoken, she realized that things had exceeded her expectations to turn serious. Lady Xu hadn't come on her own, but brought along quite a few old "women of dubious character[1]" to shout by the front door.
"Everyone chime in, what kind of good intentions does a married off daughter have, coming back to her parents' home to meddle in family affairs?"
"Our Han Family's storehouse key is the emblem of the household head. We've plenty of young masters holding up the house, so why did that Han Yunxi seize it from us?"
"Saying that our family head gave her the key for safekeeping so she could choose a heir from our young masters? Think it over, everyone, is that possible? Can you believe it? Han Yunxi isn't the mother of the Han house, has my family head turned muddleheaded?"
"As I see it, the old father wasn't muddleheaded, but was forced! Otherwise, why would he give something so important to a married daughter?"
Lady Xu and the women murmured amongst the crowd, attracting debate and voices of support.
"That's no logic. Even if Eldest Young Miss Han is Qin Wangfei, she has no right to interfere in her parents' home affairs. This is too preposterous!"
"A married off daughter, hehe. She's not going back to compete over the family properties, is she?"
"Couldn't be, as if the Duke of Qin's residence would covet those Han Family properties?"
"Then what's going on? Ah! Unless the grand imperial concubine embezzled Han Yunxi's stipend, so this esteemed wangfei has no silver to spend?"
Murong Wanru supported Grand Concubine Yi's arm as they stood behind the gates. The more Grand Concubine Yi listened, the uglier her face became. Han Yunxi sucked in a cold breath, not expecting things to develop this way. She originally thought that Lady Xu was coming to ask for the storehouse key. If she was too wanton, she'd be sullying her claim to the Han Family properties. But who knew that she'd implicated Grand Concubine Yi in the matter?
Wasn't she tarnishing Grand Concubine Yi's image?
The one thing this esteemed imperial concubine couldn't afford to lose was face!
"Mufei, it's all a misunderstanding. I'll go out right away to clear things up," Han Yunxi said, ready to open the gates.
But Grand Concubine Yi stopped her, so angry her teeth were chattering. "Keep listening!"
"Mufei, how about…" Han Yunxi wanted to explain, but Grand Concubine suddenly turned stern.
"Han Yunxi, shut that mouth!"
Han Yunxi gave a start, but could only resentfully shut her mouth. Things were already at this state, so there was no choice but to continue. Soon enough, even more outrageous statements came from outside the door.
"Aiya, those with wealth speak louder than others. The Duke of Qin's estate has no need to cherish those rubbish properties of the Han Family, but the Han estate's medicinal ingredients are very rare. That person's not interested in silver, but the medicine! These years, you can't buy good ingredients even if you do have silver."
"Heheh, that's possible. I heard that the esteemed wangfei even paid a special visit to the storehouse when she went to the Han estate that day. Who knows what kind of treasures she took away?"
"Tsk, a married off daughter, what right does she have to go into her parents' home storehouse? The Duke of Qin's estate is going too far with their bullying! I think someone from their house must have bought off the justice court's men. Otherwise, old Han wouldn't be so muddleheaded!"
"Lady Xu, didn't your father personally promote the newest official of the justice court? What happened in the justice courts, do you know?"
Lady Xu was immediately choked with sobs. "Ever since the old master was sent to jail, not a single member of our Han Family was able to see him. So what if my father appointed the newest justice court official? There's another master behind him preventing me from seeing the old master!"
Sighs and hissing followed her words. No one knew how Han Yunxi had a hand in rescuing the crown prince, so of course they wouldn't believe she had any privileges at the justice courts. As a result, many of them thought that this master behind the scenes was Grand Concubine Yi.
In fact, someone mentioned it on purpose. "Who's this person behind the scenes!? Qin Wangfei can't order around the justice courts, right? I heard she'd still not favored, even to this day!"
"Aiya, in that case there must have been someone who instigated Qin Wangfei to go home and fight for the family properties?" Someone else shouted out loud on purpose.
Even an idiot could tell that these mocking words were all placing the blame on Grand Concubine Yi. When she heard them, her very bones trembled as her eyes flashed. She narrowly fainted away, but luckily Murong Wanru was there to support her.
Grand Concubine Yi had lived in luxury since her youth, enjoying the comforts of her high position. She stayed aloof from politics and material pursuits and had never been disgraced in her life. Neither had she accepted any of the presents bestowed on her by the previous emperor, but left them behind in the palace when she moved out. Putting aside the Han Family, she didn't even covet the imperial family's things.
But now, people were smearing her name!
After living for all these years, this was her first time losing so much face, and before the very citizens of the capital. How was she supposed to get along in the capital in the future? If news of this traveled to the palace, the empress dowager, and the various concubines' ears, how was she supposed to face them in the future?
How unbearable would it be?
Grand Concubine Yi touched her forehead with one hand while Murong Wanru supported her by the other. She calmed herself first before her fierce phoenix eyes swerved to Han Yunxi, pinning her down with a look that could dismember her to pieces. This was the first time Han Yunxi had seen such a ruthless glare from her, and she couldn't help giving a start. But she didn't have time to worry about it, and turned to open the doors.
Instead, Grand Concubine Yi shouted, "Someone, detain her and take her outside!"
Grand Concubine Yi was perfectly capable of issuing an order to drive away all the people before her gates, then pin them all with the crime of defying their superiors. But if she did that, her namesake would be even more ruined. Heaven knows what kind of rumors would follow instead? Since everyone originated from Han Yunxi, of course she had to turn her over to the that shrew of a woman and have Han Yunxi give up the key.
The doors slowly opened, silencing the crowd beyond. There really was a sizable mass of people sincerely interested in the proceedings. Lady Xu and a few other married woman stood in the center, facing the crowd instead of the front gates. It was obvious that they were instigating the crowd to create a disturbance. Still, in a society ruled by imperial power, their authority was absolute enough to still the crowd as soon as the doors opened. Everyone turned quiet as Lady Xu and the rest hastily turned around.
Hidden in the crowd, Mu Liuyue smiled coldly as soon as she saw Han Yunxi walk out. As the day of their bet drew closer, she was naturally very interested in the progress of the investigation. Unfortunately, neither her father nor her elder brother would tell her anything. However, she'd heard from Murong Wanru that Han Yunxi hadn't been home for the past few days, so she was probably disoriented from all her investigating. There were only three more days until the deadline, so of course she'd find ways to hinder Han Yunxi's progress.
It was only three days. She'd wait until Han Yunxi's reputation turned notorious enough for everyone to curse her, before adding more frost to the layer of snow. When it was time for her to strip and run around the streets, she'd definitely attract a crowd.
This time, Han Yunxi is dead meat!
Lady Xu was surprised to see Han Yunxi appear. She had been waiting all this while to see Han Congan, but the ten days had passed without Han Yunxi showing up. Of course, she was ready to spread the facts all over town to ruin Han Yunxi's reputation so she couldn't sit still. Unexpectedly, Han Ruoxue actually helped her thread the needle through the eye[2] by ganging up with Mu Liuyue and Murong Wanru to make up this idea. They also said that if she wanted to get the key immediately, she'd have to make a fuss at the front doors and blame everything on Grand Concubine Yi. Only then would she see results.
Lady Xu didn't have the guts to act this way, but Murong Wanru and Mu Liuyue both promised that she'd be all right.
[1] women of dubious character (三姑六婆) - san gu liu po, literally "three aunts and six grannies", a name for women who make a living via less mainstream methods (female matchmakers, sorceresses, etc.)
[2] thread the needle through the eye (穿针引线) - chuanzhen yinxian, to act as a go-between, middleman.
Original Chapter Teaser:[expand]
Murong Wanru: Han Yunxi...
Murong Wanru: The show's only just started!
Han Yunxi: Gee, I haven't seen you in 30 chapters and this is the welcome you give me? Why am I not surprised....
Murong Wanru: 29, sister-in-law. It's been 29 chapters.
Han Yunxi: Close enough...any chance you can disappear for 29 more?
Murong Wanru: How could I dare? You and mufei are both here, so it's only natural that I'm around as support.
Han Yunxi: Whose support?
Murong Wanru: *chortles* Wouldn't you like to know? Well, I'm not telling you.
Han Yunxi: *grins* Wouldn't you like to win? Well, I'm not letting you.
Murong Wanru: You...! I'd like to see how you'll succeed when you're this outnumbered!
Han Yunxi: Even 10 of you can't compare to me, you rotten white lotus![/expand]
Where our PGC Bonus Chapters at?!
First things first, here's the list of quiz answers for those of you who missed the previous post. I'm sure this has been on the brains of all readers since Christmas. And now we have an answer! Except the 22 bonus bombshell (which includes our one sponsored chapter) to drop on Lunar New Year, January 25th!
Yeah, that basically makes me one month late to deliver the goods. Better late than never? >o>
2020's looking to be the Year of the Make-Up Chapters from yours truly! Take care, everyone.
♬♩♪♩ ❄🎁Ruyi's Xmas Playlist 🎄🔔♩♪♩♬
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Updated December 2019
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Dreaming of more chapters? Dip into the world of sponsored releases!
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Ruyi's 1st Ever Translation Project


text:
Home Breaking In the new Cao requested to return the presumption of innocence
In the new Cao requested to return the presumption of innocence
the updated Code of administrative offences is proposed to return to the norm about the presumption of innocence of persons brought to responsibility for administrative offense, before making a decision. The draft document the Ministry of justice has placed on the portal of normative legal acts.
the justice Ministry said that on the return of the rule of presumption of innocence asked the business community, reports TASS. Informed of the new administrative code, this rule was removed because it was regulated in the draft Procedural code of administrative offences (PCoIP). But, given the importance of this fundamental principle of the legislation, it was decided to reflect the statement on the principle of the presumption of innocence in the administrative code. That is the principle of the presumption of innocence is enshrined in the administrative code, and issues of implementation will be dealt with in the project (Pcap).
the Ministry of justice added that the re-draft of the administrative code finalized taking into account comments and proposals received upon the results of its examination by interested government agencies and citizens.
Also in the code will not increase the existing level of fines and the period of limitation for bringing to administrative responsibility. Changes were made only a General rule for convenience and simplicity: General limitation of bringing to administrative responsibility in the new Cao will be one year. A one-year term provided for the same compositions, as in the current code of administrative offences.
exceptions to the General one-year Statute of limitations on the components of administrative offences in respect of which they currently account for less than a year: 2 weeks (when considering the case on administrative offence body or official) and 3 months (when considering the case about administrative offense the court), or more than one year (2, 3 and 6 years).
Also in the new code of administrative offences provides that instead of fines will be more common warnings. Administrative punishment in the form of a warning provided for in the provisions of articles 263 KoaP (in the current code of administrative offences of such rules, a total of 156).
To reduce the number of persons brought to administrative responsibility in form of penalty proposed to extend the mechanism of replacement of the administrative penalty a warning for all legal entities and individual entrepreneurs and their employees, the appointment of administrative punishment for administrative offences identified in the course of state control (supervision), municipal control, state (municipal) financial control. The rule applies when the administrative offence was committed for the first time, is not classified as gross administrative offenses and no aggravating circumstances.
Another innovation: to extend the possibility of paying half the amount of the fine for all offenses, except in case of gross. Discount is available within 20 days from the date of the judgment in the case of an administrative offense.
in addition, the draft Procedure of the administrative code will be a mechanism of restoration of rights of persons illegally brought to administrative responsibility. Speech including goes about compensation of moral harm, caused physical to the person, and compensation for harm caused to business reputation of legal entity, for illegally bringing them to administrative responsibility.
Recall that in January the Ministry of justice published a new draft of the administrative code. The paper proposed to dramatically increase a number of penalties, including traffic violations. Document immediately fell to sharp criticism. So, in the state Duma said that the Ministry of justice Cao reinforces repressive mechanisms and does not meet the tasks set by the President in address to the Federal Assembly, and the document is unlikely to be approved by deputies. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at the same time declared that in Russia "have not achieved such a growth in wages, so as to increase the fines." He pointed out that the proposed new code of administrative offences to a fine of 5 thousand rubles per day.and speeding — too much for many and the amount proposed to revise the approach to setting penalties "taking into account solvency of the population" and from the point of view of improving the administration. Also Mishustin said about the need in principle to revise the rules of work with documents and not to make the statement "raw and unfinished" projects, because it "generates a corresponding image of the state" from the citizens and gives not the best public interest. The document was sent for processing.
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text:
Q: Multiplicity of the discriminant hypersurface for degree $d$ divisors on $\mathbb{P}^1$ Basic definitions Let $X$ be a smooth variety and $Z\subset X$ a hypersurface. Let $f$ be a local equation for $Z$ near $p\in X$, then we say that the multiplicity of $Z$ at $p$ is the largest $k$ such that $f\in \mathfrak{m}^k_p$ where $\mathfrak{m}_p$ is the maximal ideal of the local ring $\mathcal{O}_{X,p}$. We write this multiplicity as $\text{mult}_p(Z)$.
Set up Let $\mathbb{P}^d = \mathbb{P}H^0(\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^1}(d))$ be the projective space of degree $d$ divisors on $\mathbb{P}^1$. Note that we have a hypersurface $\mathcal{D} \subset \mathbb{P}^d$ , which we'll call the discriminant hypersurface, defined as $\{ F \in \mathbb{P}^d : \text{$F$ has at least one double root}\}$. So $\mathcal{D}$ parametrizes "singular" degree $d$ divisors on $\mathbb{P}^1$.
Question Is the following claim true? Let $F\in \mathbb{P}^d$, then $\text{mult}_F(\mathcal{D}) = \sum_{p\in\mathbb{P}^1 : F(p) = 0} (\text{ord}_p(F) - 1)$.
Recall that here $\text{ord}_p(F)$ means the order of vanishing of $F$ at $p$: the largest $k$ such that $F\in \mathfrak{m}^k_p$ in $\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^1,p}$.
I have some suspicion to think the above claim is true. For example, I know that a polynomial $F\in\mathbb{P}^d$ is a smooth point of $\mathcal{D}$ if $F$ has only one double root (meaning the order is $2$) and all other roots are simple roots (meaning the order is $1$), and in this case our formula gives us $\text{mult}_F(\mathcal{D}) = 1$; which precisely means that $\mathcal{D}$ is smooth at $F$.
I tried to prove this formula, but have so far failed. One idea I had was to use the the space $X = \{(F,p)\in\mathbb{P}^d\times\mathbb{P}^1 : F(p) = 0\}$, which contains the hypersurface $Y = \{(F,p)\in X : \text{ord}_p(F)\geq 2\}$. We then have the projection $\pi: X\rightarrow \mathbb{P}^d$, and I think here we have $\pi^\ast\mathcal{I}_{\mathcal{D}/\mathbb{P}^d}= \mathcal{I}_{Y/X}$. Note that for $F\in \mathcal{D}$ the fiber $\pi^{-1}(F) = \{p \in \mathbb{P}^1 : F(p) = 0\}$ contains the locus $\{p\in\mathbb{P}^1 : \text{ord}_p(F)\geq 2\}$, which is $Y\cap \pi^{-1}(F)$. I wasn't quite sure how to get this to work, but I think conjectured that
1 $\text{mult}_{(F,p)}(Y) = \text{ord}_p(F) - 1$
2 $\text{mult}_{F}(\mathcal{D}) = \sum_{p\in \pi^{-1}(F)} \text{mult}_{(F,p)}(Y)$
Putting together 1 and 2 would then answer the above question affirmatively. I'd really appreciate any help on this. Thanks!


At 3:30 in the afternoon, when most high school students are being dismissed from school, students at Changemaker High School (CMHS) are still immersed in rich, engaging and world-changing activity. Small groups of students from the Urban Agriculture Lab are working in the greenhouses, propagating plants for an urban core restoration project, preparing garden beds, turning compost or planting vegetables. Teachers and students engaged in participatory research are walking through the surrounding neighborhood, knocking on doors and gathering data on community safety and health, in order to propose sound solutions and design innovative projects to meet the identified community need. In the art room (better known as the Creativity Lab), students are working on large-scale paintings and mixed media pieces that speak to civic engagement and global transformation, while others are preparing for the runway debut of their upcycled fashion line as part of a student venture to raise money to create a scholarship fund.
Changemaker High School is a public charter high school in Tucson, where student leaders are prepared to turn ideas into action. A Changemaker is defined as anyone who, through his or her own idea, takes initiative and causes positive change for the greater good. At CMHS, learning based on empathy, problem solving, teamwork and leadership combines with standard core curriculum to create changemaker education, preparing students to become future leaders prepared to take on the challenges of a world defined by change. Since being selected as a member of Ashoka's International Changemaker School Network, CMHS has been in the spotlight as an innovator in public education. This past September, CMHS was selected as one of five schools nationwide to be featured in the "Think It Up" live telecast. The video featured on the telecast captures the amazing story of an educational institution at the cutting edge of innovation in education. This recognition sets the stage for other schools to benefit from a model of teaching and learning that promotes young people as innovators and creators for the world that they wish to see.
All students at CMHS are required to engage with their community, identify challenges and propose and put into action solutions to those challenges. Twice a year, CMHS students present their social venture ideas in Pitch-a-thons which are open to the public and judged by community representatives, who themselves are changemakers and social entrepreneurs. During the Pitch-a-thon, students are given five minutes to pitch his or her idea in an effort to raise the seed money needed to launch their venture. Students with established ventures give report-outs, accounting for funds spent and outlining next steps. Presentations also include foundational research, business strategies and accountability plans. The ideas are creative and diverse, and are grounded in the personal experiences of the students.
One student, who came to this country as a refugee, is organizing a 5K run in support of local refugee relocation initiatives. Another student has successfully launched a project to support teens struggling with body image issues, which she herself battled with as a young teen. Homelessness, food insecurity, sustainability and community health and wellness are other examples of issues being tackled by the students.
Changemaker education is empathy in action; the moment when a person moves from feeling concerned to actually putting solutions into action. As these young people step out into the world at this very critical time, they will find themselves being asked to address the monumental problems facing the world and will be required to call upon their empathy and compassion, as well as the essential 21st-century skills of creativity, problem-solving, teamwork and leadership.
CMHS senior Marbella Rodriguez, who is in the second year of her venture and is currently deciding which university she will be attending, says that changemaker education has changed her in many profound ways. Rodriguez says she now understands how she is connected to an entire world, and that she has responsibility to that world, "by being a changemaker." "We help not only ourselves, but our communities. Changemaker education has taught me that success goes hand in hand with creating the change we wish to see in the world," she says.
Linda Cato is the assistant director and artist-in-residence at Changemaker High School in Tucson. For more information about Changemaker High School, please visit us online at changemakerhighschool.org.