text:
Cabinets of Wonder
Cabinets of Wonder by Christine Davenne explorers those strange precursors of modern museums: wunderkammer, grottoes, or cabinets of curiosities. Cabinets of wonder have been around since the Reneissance, and the book explores those collections, old and new.
These fascinate me partly because they were very much in vogue in the Victorian era as well, so I bought this book mostly for inspiration, but it's a work of art in itself. Beautiful. I especially enjoyed the section on modern cabinets of curiosities.
I feel like I got my money's worth.
Terribleminds Challenge: Why Do You Write?
Last week's Terribleminds challenge was an essay this time. I did the challenge, but didn't have any way of posting it from my trip, so here goes. Better late than never, right?
I've always loved stories. I think that's where it began. I haven't been a writer that long, but I've been a reader as long as I can remember. To quote George R. R. Martin: "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one."
This is what it's all about.
Reading is an escape, an adventure, a drug. I don't understand people who don't read. If I go a day or two without reading, I get antsy. Difficult to be around. I need my books. My favorites tend to be sci-fi and fantasy. They're the books that got me through some tough times growing up. And why read hundreds of pages about someone's dreary existential angst described with absolute realism? Wouldn't you rather ride a dragon or meet some aliens?
I would.
At first I wrote fanfiction. Actually, I didn't even know what fanfiction was when I wrote my first Start Trek story. Fanfiction is a great way to begin writing, because you know the world and you know the characters, so it's easier to start with. Of course you don't own that universe, so you shouldn't be making money off it, but I don't think that's much of an issue. I, like other fans, wrote fanfiction because I loved the characters and the world. Then I gradually moved on to writing my own stuff.
I've always suffered from an overactive imagination, and I sometimes have very vivid dreams. There was one particular one that started recurring every night, and it didn't stop before I started writing the story down. When I get a story idea, it feels like an itch inside my skull that gets worse and worse if I don't do anything about it. So I write to get the stories out of my head, I guess.
On the macro scale, writing is a way to make sense of the world; why do people behave like they do? Why did this awful thing happen? On the micro scale, it's a way of coping with your own issues and personal tragedies, the little injustices and cruelties of daily life. Writing is therapy. I'm a happier person when I write. For that alone writing is worth it.
I think a lot of writers have a sense of not belonging. I was a socially awkward, chubby kid in a Star Trek t-shirt. You can guess what happened. Suffice to say that I felt like an outsider and escaped into books. The scars have faded but they're still there. Maybe it's true that happy people don't write? Why would they?
I also think that most of us have a need to do something creative. My mother is awesome at sewing and my grandfather did oil paintings. Writing is my way of relaxing. My day job is stressful and draining at times, and writing provides much-needed relief.
Having said all that, mainly I write because I enjoy it. It's fun. I love the rush you get when you finish a first draft, the tingly, bubbly feeling of writing a funny scene, and even the nitpicky joys of editing. I love creating something from nothing, something that would have never existed if it weren't for me. I write for myself, but it's pretty great if someone else reads a story of mine and likes it.
I write because I can.
I write because I need to.
I write because it helps me be a happier person.
But above all, I write because I love to.
Labels: Terribleminds challenge, writing
Etymology Expeditions: Coolest Name Ever
Paracelsus aka Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim.
If I ever have a kid, that's what I'm naming him.
*Husband crosses arms, shakes head.*
No? What about just 'Bombastus' then?
*Husband: facepalm.*
Okay, okay. Jeez.
Well, at least I can explore the names a little.
Paracelsus (1493-1541 was a Reneissance physician, alchemist, botanist, and occultist. He was known for insisting on using observation of nature in medical practice, instead of just looking at ancient texts, and he was the first to note that some medical conditions have their roots in the mind, and he founded the branch of medicine called toxicology. He also gave zinc its name, zincum. So, pretty cool guy, all around.
The name "Paracelsus" means next to, or beyond, Celsus. (Referring to Roman encyclopedist Aulus Cornelius Celsus, who was known for his tract of medicine.) So, basically this name is about bragging rights. He had a reputation for being arrogant. Somehow I don't doubt it:)
Philippus comes from Philippos, meaning fond of horses, from Ancient Greek philéō, "I love" + híppos, "horse."
Aureolus from Latin, meaning "golden."
Theophrastus From Latin theos from word-forming element theo "god, gods" and phrazein "to speak" Speaks to gods?
Bombastus from bombast "cotton padding," from Latin bombax "cotton," a corruption of Latin and Greek Bombyx "silk." From the 1580s on bombastic also referred to pompous speech, probably because of the meaning of stuffing and padding for upholstery and clothing the word had.
So "bombastic" doesn't come from Paracelsus then...
I think old Bombastus was probably quite bombastic, don't you?
von Hohenheim this is the last name, from hoch "tall, high" heim "home."
Quite a word-picture we're painting here: golden horse-lover who speaks to gods from his high home. (And then disses poor Aulus Celsus across the centuries.)
I still think it's a pretty great name.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the deep, dark recesses of my mind, there is a poor fictional character about to receive a very unfortunate, pompous name.
You might even say bombastic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracelsus
http://www.memidex.com/theophrastus#etymology
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=theo-
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page
Posted by curiousthings at 10:20 AM No comments:
Labels: Etymology Expeditions
The Anatomy of a Hero
I saw this documentary recently called 10%: What Makes a Hero? It's by Yoav Shamir, and it explores heroes, trying to find a common denominator from genetics to psychology. There are some very stirring images in this. The one that really stuck with me was a black-and-white photo of a Nazi rally, where the crowd is giving the Nazi salute, but if you look closely, there's one man who stands with his hands crossed. I might be imagining it, but I think he looks uncomfortable and a bit defiant. That must have taken guts to do.
The ten percent in the title refers to an old psychology experiment where they took people and split them into students and teachers, or so the teachers thought. The experiment had the "teachers" give electrical shocks to the "students" when they gave the wrong answers. The shocks grew progressively higher, up to life-threathening levels. The students were really actors, and they weren't really getting shocked, but their responses had been pre-recorded. The hypothesis was that most people wouldn't give the shocks when they knew they were hurting another person, even though the guy in the white coat (i.e. authority figure) pressured them to continue. Imagine their surprise when only 10% of people refused. This has been seen as proof that good people can do contemptible things when the environment encourages it. Everybody wants to think that they'd be part of the 10% who refused, but really? The odds are that most of us would have done what The Man said. Shamir postulates that maybe the 10% who refused are the heroes.
He goes on to interview heroes, takes a gene test for a gene that is associated with altruism (turns out 70% of the population has it?!), and interviews psychologist Philip Zimbardo about his study to find out what traits heroes have in common. He is also the scientist who conducted the (in)famous "prisoners and guards" experiment in the seventies.
The interesting thing is that the study actually turned up seven things that the heroes they interviewed had in common:
- attachment to a male parental figure at an early age
- having been through some kind of trauma, working through it, and growing as a person
- some kind of practical realisation or growing up, maturing. (Things like a gang member realising that he wants to get married and have kids, and seeing that his lifestyle stands in the way of that.)
- ideology
- separating oneself from the group
- role models
- being a born leader/rebel
In the interviews of real-life heroes, the thing that separated them from the rest of us was that when the opportunity for helping someone came, they saw a choice, and then chose to help.
I find this fascinating from a writing perspective. We writers know what makes a hero, right? We make them up every day. I started thinking about how this relates to the writing advice on creating characters, heroes in particular.
According to most writing books, to make a hero, you take a likeable character, mix in some personal quirks and flaws, and then add a "ghost" or "wound" (traumatic secret or event), and bring to a boil. Then you send him on the hero's journey. Usually the character is pretty happy with the status quo at the start of the story, then something happens, and he gets reluctantly dragged on a quest of some sort, usually by the mentor, who is often an older male figure. Usually there is some lie the hero believes about himself, and he spends the first half of the story banging his head against the wall, trying to solve his problems the wrong way, because he still believes the lie. At midpoint, he usually realises the truth, and then goes on through tons of conflict to use it to defeat his antagonist/complete his quest. This usually involves great sacrifice and a hard choice between the lie and the truth. The hero changes in some fundamental way during the story, that's important, too.
Sounds kind of familiar, right?
Let's look at that list again:
- attachment to a male parental figure at an early age -> The mentor?
- having been through some kind of trauma, working through it, and growing as a person -> the ghost or the wound?
- some kind of practical realisation or growing up, maturing. (Things like a gang member realising that he wants to get married and have kids, and seeing that his lifestyle stands in the way of that.) -> The Lie He Believes vs. the Truth?
- ideology -> The Truth?
- separating oneself from the group -> going on a quest?
- role models -> the mentor again, or other characters like the best friend, the love interest etc?
- being a born leader/rebel -> most fictional heroes are, at least the traditional ones.
Heroes also have to make that hard choice at some point. In the documentary, one hero was a Palestinian woman, who tried to commit suicide by a terrorist bombing on an Israeli military checkpoint. She ended up as a peace activist.
That's some change arc right there. I bet she had to make a hard choice to get where she ended up, too.
So turns out that writers have been using these heroic traits all along.
That's kind of awesome, if you ask me.
Here's to all the heroes, real or fictional. We need more of you in the world.
Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us
Memento Mori: The Dead Among Us is a gorgeous book by Paul Koudounaris, who is an author and photographer specialising in the visual culture of death. The book explores ossuaries, burial caves, and mummies, and the ways people around the world revere their dead. Some might find this macabre, but that's not how I felt about the book. As the writer points out in the introduction, the message is more memento vitae, reminder of life.
Seeing different burial customs from around the world also serves to illustrate how narrow the Western idea of death is. Many cultures see it not as a boundary or border, but a metamorphosis. There's an account of a mummy of a little girl discovered in a cave in the Toraja region of Indonesia, and how she was taken in as a part of a local household. Why? Because they sensed it felt lonely and abandoned. Doing that in a Western country would get you a visit to a psychiatric ward.
Here's the mummy girl.
An interesting and thought-provoking read, with beautiful pictures (fyi, this is a coffee-table book, so it's quite picture-heavy.). I heartily recommend this to anyone with an interest in the subject matter.
SpeckLit: Midsummer Snow
Just a heads-up, I'm on SpeckLit again!
http://specklit.com/blog/2015/07/23/midsummer-snow/
Labels: SpeckLit
Etymology Expressions: That's so Cliché!
Have you ever wondered where some of those clichés and worn phrases come from? Let's check out a few.
Above board, in open sight. This comes from 1610-20, from having to keep your hands on the table (the board) to discourage cheating at cards.
A basket case, made powerless or inefficient by nerves etc. This originates from WWI. Back then it meant a soldier who was missing both his arms and legs, and had to be carried around in a basket, according to Wictionary.org.
The bee's knees. The term first emerged in the 18th century, and back then it meant something very small. The modern meaning is from 1920s American slang, meaning an outstanding person or thing. Other examples include the cat's whiskers, the canary's tusks, and my personal favourite, the flea's eyebrows.
Come on, everybody. Let's bring back "the flea's eyebrows." It's a perfectly good phrase, right?
A bone of contention, meaning something disputed. This comes from two dogs fighting over the same bone.
Blow smoke up someone's ass, to give someone insincere compliments. So, apparently in the 1700s doctors actually blew tobacco smoke up people's rectums. Why? To resuscitate people presumed dead, especially drowning victims. I guess it wasn't very successful, because they came up with a plethora of other ailments to treat with this, such as headaches, hernias, respiratory problems, and abdominal cramps. Check out the link: there's a hilarious picture of the equipment they used. http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/05/origin-expression-blow-smoke-ass/
http://dictionary.reference.com/
http://clichesite.com/alpha_list.asp?which=lett+1
https://en.wiktionary.org/
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/05/origin-expression-blow-smoke-ass/
On Expressions and Clichés
When you're learning a foreign language, there's a point when something just clicks; suddenly, you start to understand what you're reading without having to translate every word, or maybe you're sitting in a coffee shop, and all of a sudden you realise you understand what the couple at the next table is arguing about. It's got to be one of the best feelings ever.
That's usually when you can think in that language. Forming sentences doesn't feel like pulling teeth from an angry ogre anymore.
You start to enjoy yourself.
When you have the basics down, you get hungry for more: all those delicious idioms and sayings, those quaint turns of phrase. It's not enough that you can communicate adequately; you want to show off. I know what this means, just like the natives! Hey, just watch me use it in a sentence!
This is as good as it gets. You give yourself a mental high five every time you make a joke or use that neat new phrase.
Idiomatic language is the dream; it's what we all want to learn.
Because that's how people talk, right?
Then you find out that none of this applies to writing.
No, with writing, you need to be original. You can't use those shiny little metaphors you've picked up.; you have to make up your own. You know, something new and different. Not cliché.
Now you're approaching that ogre again, clicking your pliers. Only now the ogre sees you coming and runs away, throwing boulders the size of houses at you. In a bog. In the middle of a snowstorm. And one of your legs is broken.
You see where I'm going with this, right?
But there is a way to use those phrases and clichés; just give them a little twist, and they seem fresh again.
Joss Whedon is a master at this. Here are some of my favourite quotes from Firefly that illustrate the point:
Mal to Jayne: "Well, my time of not taking you seriously is coming to a middle."
Mal: "Ah, the pitter-patter of tiny feet in huge combat boots..."
Mal: "Looks like business ain't runnin' so much as crawlin' away."
Go on, go watch Firefly or Buffy again. You know you want to. It's for educational purposes this time. (As if you need an excuse!)
Here's a challenge for you: whenever you come upon a cliché, try to think of a way to make it more interesting.
So do the twist.
It's fun and good for you.
Terribleminds Chalenge: Random Phrase
Chuck's back, and so's his weekly flash fiction challenge, yay! This week we got a random phrase to build into our story. I got "illusory needlework." Here's what I came up with:
Family Obligations
I sneaked another glance at the general, and, seeing he was still wide awake, got back to my illusory needlework. Cornelia dozed in the armchair next to me. Good. It had taken me two years to make her acquaintance, then another ten months to become a close friend of the family. I liked Cornelia; she had been nothing but kind, inviting me to her uncle's box at the opera and to carriage rides with her aunt, never commenting on the color of my skin like the others. She had shared all her darkest secrets with me. I believe she considered me her best friend.
Poor thing.
She shouldn't be so trusting.
The general coughed, sending ripples pulsating across his voluminous belly, and lit another cigar. "Isobel, my dear, would you mind?" He held out his empty glass to me.
"Not at all, Sir Elbert."
I set the glass on the side table that housed the general's supply of whiskey and brandy, both in cut-crystal decanters, and slipped another dollop of sleeping draught in the glass before pouring a generous measure of brandy into it. I had dosed the tea liberally with the tincture, but perhaps it was the general's respectable girth that kept him from feeling the effects.
I handed him his drink and decided to grab the bull elephant by the tusks.
"I wonder, Sir, if you might show me your cabinet of curiosities again? I should like to examine those artifacts so I can describe them when I write to Mother?"
"Certainly, my dear." The general heaved himself up. "Oh, darling Cornelia seems to have dozed off. Perhaps I should ring for Hilda?"
"She looks so peaceful. Let us leave her be." I forced my jaw to relax and my tone to stay light. The old fool would wake half the household staff if he rang, and that didn't fit into my plans. I laid a hand on his arm and he relented.
"I believe you're right, my dear."
We shuffled through the dining room and the library into his study, a masculine room of dark wood and plush burgundy velvet, and stopped in front of a large cabinet, its front a delightful enamel study of oriental harvest scenes. The general, still huffing from the exertion of walking, pulled out a delicate, black iron key and unlocked it. He stood back, undoubtedly examining my features for awe and delight. I gasped, right on cue.
"Oh, Sir Elbert, how wonderful! May I?"
He nodded his permission, beaming like a proud parent, and I picked up this knick-knack or that, asking inane questions or prattling on about the fine craftsmanship of the Peruvian statuette, or the delicate pink hue of the conch shell he had brought back from the West Indies. I was beginning to wonder about the effectiveness of my potion when, finally, the general's eyelids drooped and he swayed.
"I'm afraid I feel a bit unwell, my dear. I believe I shall take a short rest."
He got halfway to the armchair before he succumbed, landing on the lush Persian carpet. When his loud, snorting snores grew regular, I placed the little ushabti figure I had been examining back into the drawer I had found it, and reached for my true objective, a withered human skull with gilded teeth.
"Hello, Grandmother," I said.
About time! the skull answered.
I hurried back towards my room, trying to ignore the running diatribe of admonishments Grandmother kept up.
What on earth are you wearing, child? And what have you done to your hair? Oh, how you stride, my dear, you were such a graceful child, like a dancer, what happened? Who will want to marry such an unfeminine figure, I'm sure I don't know . . .
On and on it went, to the point I almost regretted freeing her. Indeed, she drew my attention from the task at hand so thoroughly that I almost ran straight into Hilda's arms. As it was, I only had time to shove the skull under my dress (Where are your bloomers, my dear? These smallclothes are simply scandalous!) before she rounded the corner.
Hilda curtsied. "Good evenin', miss."
She looked at me curiously.
"You're looking a bit flushed, miss, if you pardon me for sayin'. Are you feelin' quite well?"
"Oh, yes. It must be the brandy. I'd best go lie down, I think." I was having a hard time keeping the skull from slipping out from between my sweaty knees.
"Good night, then, miss."
"Good night, Hilda."
With a sigh of relief, I slipped into my room and pulled on the clothes of a young gentleman, pinning my hair up under the hat, and then stuffed Grandma into the large doctor's bag I had purloined from the surgeon next door. What are you doing, child? Just wait till I tell your father!
There wasn't much time. Hilda could discover Cornelia at any moment, and I'd need to make my escape before that. I sneaked down the servants' staircase on the north side of the house, not encountering anyone, to my relief. When I slipped into the hallway leading outside, I surprised the housekeeper and the chauffer in the middle of an amorous encounter. (Well! said Grandma in a scandalized tone.) We stared at one other for a long moment, and then the woman screamed. I ran, toppling an army of buckets and brooms as I went. I heard the chauffer trip and curse behind me as I slammed the door shut.
I didn't stop running before we were in the cover of the woods, where I slumped down on a fallen tree trunk, panting, and watched the house light up as if for a dance party behind me. Come, child, we have a ship to catch. You'll like the old country, I'm certain of it, Grandma said conversationally.
I would like the old country.
I got up and we melted into the night.
Labels: flash fiction, Terribleminds challenge
Going Nautical
After I visited the Pommern, I started writing a short story about The Flying Dutchman. It ended up being sci-fi, but fun nonetheless. Now I'm plotting a horror story set on an 1800s sailing ship. I'm thinking something . . . Lovecraftian.
To set the mood, here's an excerpt from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner courtesy of the Poetry foundation:
The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out;
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea,
Off shot the spectre-bark.
We listened and looked sideways up!
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip!
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;
From the sails the dew did drip—
Till clomb above the eastern bar
The hornèd Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
One after one, by the star-dogged Moon,
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye.
I'm off to have a nice and creepy weekend.
Source: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173253
Etymology Expeditions: Dark and Stormy
I'm feeling nautical this week, so let's explore words related to the four winds and storms:
Tempest, from Old French tempeste (French: tempête), from Latin tempestas ("storm"), from tempus ("time, weather"), is apparently a storm with severe winds.
Hurricane, from Spanish huracán, ultimately from the name of the Taino storm god Juracán whom the Taínos believed dwelled on El Yunque mountain and, when he was upset, sent the strong winds and rain upon them. This one is pretty cool!
Cyclone, from Ancient Greek, from either κύκλος (kúklos, "circle, wheel") or κυκλόω (kuklóō, "go around in a circle, form a circle, encircle"). This means a system off winds rotating around a low pressure system.
Typhoon probably ultimately of Sinitic origin, Mandarin 大风 (dàfēng, "big wind"), Cantonese 大風 (daai6 fung1, "big wind"), via Arabic طوفان (ṭūfān), Hindi तूफ़ान (tūfān), and Persian توفان (tufân). Ancient Greek Τυφῶν (Tuphôn, "Typhon, father of the winds") is unrelated but has secondarily contaminated the word.
Ha, "big wind"! I love it! But seriously, I'd have sworn this was Greek in origin. Fascinating.
What about the four winds, then? They apparently go back to ancient Greece mythology and the Anemoi (greek for winds). The four main ones were:
Boreas (Septentrio from septum triones=seven oxen, the stars in Ursa Major in Latin) was the north wind and bringer of cold winter air. His name meant "North Wind" or "devouring one," and he was often depicted as a winged old man with shaggy hair, holding a conch shell and wearing a billowing cloak. The Greeks believed that his home was in Thrace, and Herodotus and Pliny both describe a northern land known as Hyperborea "Beyond the North Wind" where people lived to an old age in complete happiness.
According to Wikipedia, the etymology of Boreas in uncertain: theories include "boros", an old variant of "oros" (Greek for "mountains", which were to the north geographically), or "boros" meaning "voracious". There's also a phrase ἀπὸ τῆς βoῆς ("from the roar"), that could refer to its violent and loud noise
Zephyrus meaning from the west (zóphos, "darkness, west")(Favonius, "favourable" in Latin) was the west wind, the messenger of spring, and the gentlest of the winds.He wa said to be the husband of Iris, the goddess of the rainbow. He apparently also had a love triangle with Boreas and a goddess called Chloris, and also a good-looking, athletic Spartan prince named Hyacinth and the god Apollo. When Apollo won, Zephyrus caused the boy's seat by a falling discus, and Apollo created the hyacinth flower from his blood. Gotta love those Greeks, right?
Notos "notios" "moist", a reference to the warm rains and storms brought from the south (Auster, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ews- ("east")) was the south wind and bringer of late summer storms.
Eurus from brightness Eos was the goddess of dawn, perhaps the same root (Subsolanus in Latin, something about under the sun, maybe? I couldn't find an exact etymology for this.), the east wind, was thought to bring warmth and rain, and his symbol was an inverted vase, spilling water.
https://en.wiktionary.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemoi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_compass_winds
Archipelacon: Part 2
This post is less about Archipelacon and more about Mariehamn. It's a beautiful city with lots to see.
Here's a peacock from Lilla Holmen, a small island where you can go see bunnies, parrots, and chickens, in addition to the peacocks. (Did you know peacocks can fly, btw? I didn't, and then three of these did.)
Peacock posing.
I liked this sign. Mariehamn is a seaport, so that explains why it's in nautical miles.
This is the Pommern, a four-masted barque that was built in 1903 in Glasgow. She used to carry grain (among other things) from Australia to England until the second world war. After that she was donated to the town of Mariehamn as a museum ship. (You can read more here)
Did you know that when a storm hit the sailors would climb up the rigging every time a wave washed over the deck, and then make their way forward between waves? Pretty scary!
I wouldn't mind having dinner with the captain in here.
Here's a few newspapers I picked up at the con. They make cool props for photographs.
A final cosplay pic:) Here I am, steampunked up.
Labels: Archipelacon, Mariehamn
Losing Time
Steampunk Top Hat
Look, Mom, I'm on SpeckLit!
Etymology Expeditions: Strange Phrases
Terribleminds Challenge: Six Random Titles
Where's My Shoggoth? aka the Coolest Birthday Pres...
Etymology Expeditions: The Four Temperaments


text:
For the Future, Four to Watch
As previously noted, below you'll find Part Two of your narrator's Q&A for Michael Sean Winters at the NCR's Distinctly Catholic.
As you'll see, a strict construction of today's question proved impossible, and no less than another six freshmen to keep an eye on likewise come immediately to mind. Still, hopefully the result's as interesting as it ended up running a tad long; either way, it's just a treat to return, however fleetingly, to something a bit more long-frame than the usual. (And, admittedly, still feeling a bit rusty from the summer break, being able to hack it with a modicum of coherence has come as a pleasant surprise.)
As this isn't the kind of thing you'll find in The New York Times -- or, for that matter, pretty much anywhere else -- thanks again to everyone who's lent a hand to keep these pages coming your way. Compared to keeping the bills paid and the lights on, an analysis of this sort is a breeze, so to everyone who's made the former burden manageable and, ergo, the latter grace possible, just remember that this one's for you... and, indeed, thanks to you.
All that said, today's DC Question is "Who is an up-and-coming bishop we should keep an eye on and why?"
... and, without any further ado, your narrator's stab at it:
Picking a single "up and comer" among the bench's new crop is kinda like that potato chip slogan -- "you can't have just one."
Being accustomed to its sprawling nature, many of us tend to give it short shrift, but globally speaking, the US church is an immense enterprise -- only Italy and Brazil have more bishops, and given the scope of the turf here, it's impossible to boil the situation down into a single column because, well, the culture of Catholicism in New England and New Mexico are two drastically different things.
As much as ever, the story of this moment in the American Catholic journey is that of divergent realities of East and West... only now, the latter finds itself in the driver's seat of the national fold's future -- and in a scenario that defies all precedent, with the South riding shotgun. For those of us who appreciate things through the lens of history, this is nothing short of an epochal shift, and God knows it makes for fascinating watching.
All that said, back to the main point: on a bench that counts some 300 active bishops and exists in a constant state of churn, I can't really narrow my mind down to one rising star. And maybe that's a fitting reflection on the conference's dynamic at this point in the game. See, the days of one "strongman" bishop as the church's de facto National Leader -- a line extending back to John Carroll, then John Hughes and James Gibbons, to Francis Spellman and his successors -- ended on 3 May 2000: that is, the night John Cardinal O'Connor passed from our midst.
While many among us have had high hopes for a restoration of New York's claim to the tradition under the latest of the line, for all Archbishop Tim Dolan's considerable gifts, all of a decade since the Last Lion of Madison Avenue departed the stage, the church in America -- and, indeed, the wider world -- has become a very different place: more than anything else, the evolution of media has irrevocably busted up the Manhattan-based monopoly of the national conversation, granting a thousand bishops (or so it sometimes seems) entree to a broad audience; even more than the scandals, the polarization within the USCCB (only ever increased in 2002's wake) would see any one viewpoint quickly and prominently rebutted -- we all know how the mainstream press loves a good ad intra spat, eh?; the demographic center's double-whammy flight toward Hispanics and the West (expedited by a hemorrhaging of Anglos) has stripped the Northeast of its historic standing as the Stateside church's flagship....
The scribe could go on, but you get the idea.
In a changing conference leading a changed church -- and one fallen on harder times than any of us have ever known -- the need for effective, credible, savvy leadership only becomes all the more pressing. And while this observer still hasn't a clue what way the body will swing come mid-November in Baltimore as it elects its next vice-president -- a race that, thanks to all the new, markedly centrist blood in the electorate, feels more up in the air than it's been in quite some time -- here are a couple names readers might well find guiding the high-hat fold as it journeys on over the years and decades ahead.
Before delving in, though, two explanatory caveats: first, tempting as it is to include earlier -- read: JPII -- picks that most armchair church-watchers would still see as "up and comers," the group below were all still priests at Benedict XVI's election and only named bishops once the pope got the selection process working his way....
And, lastly, lest anyone start trying to connect dots that don't exist, keep in mind that these names are listed in alphabetical order.
With that, away we go.
Paul Etienne, 51, bishop of Cheyenne: As the current state of things has made the high-hat an ever heavier object, "within reach of power tools" is probably the last place you'd want a nominee to be on learning of his appointment. But, indeed, it was while brandishing a chainsaw to chop some trees on a Monday off last summer that Etienne got the call informing him that he was B16's choice to head Wyoming's statewide diocese, which had been vacant for nearly 18 months.
Luckily, the rural Indiana pastor didn't harm himself at hearing the news, accepted, and in retrospect, the moment vindicated the wisdom of the selection process: if you're seeking a good fit for Wyoming, someone whose idea of relaxing is cutting trees (and who, with his priest-brothers, swapped hunting rifles as ordination gifts) would be hard to beat.
Keeping with the "golden thread" highlighted yesterday, Etienne was pastoring two country churches when the nuncio's call came; one was his boyhood parish, his parents still living in its lines. On a farewell tour of his prior assignments before heading West, each Mass was packed and said to be notably emotional. Yet behind the woodsy angle lies a veteran of the national scene, with a pedigree that some Catholic conversationalists might find rather curious.
Such is the current bleeding of secular politics into the ecclesial discourse that, most days, you'll easily find someone or other calling for the detonation of the USCCB, citing this or that passage from Joseph Ratzinger's writings. One thing the pope himself would've noticed in Etienne's file, however, is that while on a leave from the seminary in the mid-'80s, the future bishop found his way onto the staff of the old NCCB/USCC in its full-tilt, highly-liberal heyday. Clearly, Benedict saw that as anything but a deal-breaker (and accordingly, not long after his appointment, Etienne returned to Mothership duty, landing a seat on one of the conference's most work-intensive, high-stakes committees of recent years -- namely, Child and Youth Protection.)
More to the point, the young bishop of Yellowstone Country brings a refreshing shot of openness to the table; performing his first priestly ordination, he preached about his own struggles with accepting celibacy, he blogs daily, and a recently-released vision statement for the diocese saw Etienne speak of his longtime "ache" over the high number of inactive Catholics and call for a new spirit of outreach.
"For God's family to be whole," he wrote of the fallen-away, "we need to do all we can to reach out.... We need to listen to their stories and experiences and, where possible, help them find healing and wholeness. We need to do all we can to help them take up their rightful place within our practicing family of faith once again."
As a progressive friend in Wyoming recently put it, the bishop has "worked wonders" in his first year on the job... pointedly adding that, with the new boss' arrival, "the Council has finally arrived" in the Cheyenne church.
Daniel Flores, 49, bishop of Brownsville: Usually, the head of one of the nation's 15 dioceses with a million or more Catholics wouldn't be eyed as a cleric yet to make his mark, but as someone already established in the top tier.
When it comes to the guy known at home as "Bishop Danny," however, one can't help but see even bigger things ahead.
As noted yesterday, before the South Texas-born prelate's December return from Detroit after braving (by his count) "three winters" as an auxiliary there, no Hispanic bishop of any age had ever been given a Stateside diocese of a million-plus, and no Anglo still in his 40s had nabbed a post so massive since Roger Mahony's triumphant homecoming to LA a quarter-century ago this month. That alone should underscore the height of expectations Rome has for the 49 year-old who's quickly carved out a rep as one of the most intense, brilliant, charismatic figures in the Stateside church's emerging generation of leadership, even if his national profile is still to launch.
Able to quote verbatim from Thomas in Latin, Tolkien in English and Sinatra in song, with a mind for penning poetry in his spare time, Flores inherited a border church that's home to the most densely-Catholic population per capita (85%) of any US diocese. Its boom shows no signs of abating, either; tripled in size since 1980 and doubled since 1990, a majority of today's Brownsville church is younger than age 25.
To its north, the archbishopric of San Antonio -- for the last three decades, seat of the bench's lone senior Hispanic -- might be awaiting its next occupant (...and with the post's ethnic distinction now left for Hollywood along with Archbishop José Gomez, could just see an Anglo named to fill it). Either way, for now, the bench's Latin star reigns by the Rio Grande, and the locals couldn't seem more pleased; Flores' February installation saw some 2,000 people pack the Brownsville's Mission Basilica for the Mass....
Impressive as that sounds, it gets even better -- another 2,000-plus celebrated outside.
Wild as the enthusiasm might seem, to have watched Flores is to know this caliber of reaction as something approaching standard fare. In an attribute that likewise held up in Detroit, as pastor of Corpus Christi Cathedral -- and, at the same time, a commuting vice-rector of Houston's St Mary's Seminary -- prior to being named the youngest US bishop, his base of admirers extended all the way from his former ordinary, Bishop Rene Gracida (whose retirement blogging usually refers to the White House's current occupant as "Barack Hussein Obama"), to at least one Anglo veteran of the Catholic Worker movement who, during those fractious days of the 2008 elections, wrote in to fume that "McCain will find more people to kill if he becomes president"... but only after going on about how much he missed "Danny."
On an ecclesial scene whose ever-warring echo chambers barely seem to agree on Revelation, that breadth of regard says it all.
Bernard Hebda, 51, bishop of Gaylord: The paper-trail is unusually distinguished, even for an American bishop -- Harvard BA, JD from Columbia Law, JCL from the Gregorian, for 13 years a top-flight Vatican canonist as the #3 official at the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts.
Ask the folks back in Pittsburgh, though, and you're more likely to hear stories of Bernie Hebda doing the "Electric Slide" at parish festivals on return trips to his hometown.
Over the course of his reign, B16's shown a distinct liking for the Steel City, naming three more of its native sons to head dioceses (for a grand total of seven), sending the native-born former ordinary to the nation's capital, bringing the energetic, pastorally savvy Bishop David Zubik home in Donald Wuerl's footsteps... and above all, in Dan DiNardo, giving the Burgh its second native-son to reach the brass ring and don the cardinal's red hat.
The trend's been wise -- if you're rebuilding a bench, Steeler Country's a great place to start; Eastern enough to boast a strong Catholic ethos, but Midwestern enough to be devoid of the ecclesiastical grandeur that's only expedited the faith's epic fall along much of the Amtrak/I-95 corridor. Moreover, Pennsylvania's western edge prides itself on its down-home sensibility -- and like DiNardo before him, Hebda's yearning to trade St Peter's for PNC Park became so well-known that, one night a couple years back, a friend in the Canadian hinterlands called with word that "Bernie wants out," even if the "news" was never a pontifical secret.
In the end, Hebda had to settle for half his wish -- as opposed to a return to the Burgh, his ticket out of the Vatican saw him dispatched to the northern reaches of Michigan, where the nuances of the canons are about as useful as shorts in December. But the move was no exile -- despite his path, like most of his fellow appointees under Benedict, Hebda's blood runs more pastoral than administrative; fresh from the Greg, he spent three years on a pastoral team tasked with serving a new parish formed from the closure of seven churches, then led a local college's Catholic center when the call to Curial service came. Seen far more widely as "brilliant, generous, gentle and pious" than through the lens of ambition -- the latter being, as never before, a particular file-killer in Benedict's value-judgment -- even if he was heading to a place he'd never been before, simply returning to the trenches made for an especially happy homecoming.
Still, the story is just seeing its start.
When DiNardo was named the American South's first-ever Roman prince three years ago, this scribe asked a friend what would happen to the simple "Council ring" the cardinal-designate received at his 1997 ordination as bishop of Sioux City -- the only bishop's ring he would wear until the pope slipped the gold bas-relief of the Crucifixion (today's version of the now-abolished sapphire band) on his finger.
Quickly, the answer came: "He's holding it for Bernie."
After seven happy years in northwestern Iowa's 125,000 miles of cornfields, the cleric who'd become "Sixburgh's" second Roman prince was transferred to Texas, and the rest is history.
Hebda marks his first anniversary in Gaylord come December... so for the rest, see you in 2016, or sometime thereabout.
David O'Connell CM, 55, coadjutor-bishop of Trenton: As the dust kicked up by the church's battle royal over health-care reform was still settling, at the episcopal ordination of a figure (strangely) viewed as "arch-conservative" by his critics, one face particularly stuck out in a front pew of Trenton cathedral: the bishops' bete noire of the health-care brawl, the president of the Catholic Health Association Sr Carol Keehan.
The move was vintage Dave O'Connell. Policy spat, hell or high water, nothing would get in the way of having a close friend of three decades sit with his family -- and, later, be offered a dinner seat alongside the Vatican crowd in attendance -- as, after years of widespread chatter over where the 14th president of the Catholic University of America would end up, the Philly-born Vincentian landed in an unsung gem of the downtrodden ecclesial Northeast: Central Jersey's 850,000-member diocese, home to a notably happy presbyterate, the nation's second-largest crop of permanent deacons, nationally-recognized lay ministry efforts and, all around, a warm, happy, energized local church.
In case any readers have been living under a rock, the successor to the beloved Bishop Mort Smith is anything but your typical rookie high-hat. For starters, while most new bishops walk the Vatican's inner halls like kids on their first trip to Disney World, O'Connell's 12 years effectively re-founding the nation's top pontifical institute made him a familiar presence in Rome... and, indeed, his hosting of the pope during Benedict's 2008 visit to Washington isn't just warmly recalled by those in the room who listened to the pontiff's speech. The same spirit of esteem is shared by the bishops -- for whom, until joining their ranks with his June appointment, he worked -- and but the latest proof of their enduring goodwill has just landed on the table: with stunning speed, this year's November ballot for USCCB leadership posts already has O'Connell slated for a head-to-head vote to oversee one of the conference's key task-groups....
Guess which.
Sure, he might be anything but a stranger to the Floor at the "Fall Classic" -- even if he'd rather be singing karaoke down in the lounge. Still, not in memory has the body nominated a member for a committee chairmanship who has yet to attend his first Plenary as a bishop. Then again, remember well that the last time an American priest began his episcopacy with this kind of mega-watt prominence, his name was Tim Dolan. Unlike the new Trentonian, though, even now, not even the made-for-TV Manhattanite can claim the words "CNN analyst" for himself.
When that's the cred one brings to the bench, there's nowhere to go but up. But what's even more, now freed from answering to a Board of Trustees that features more bishops than the whole episcopates of multiple small countries combined, in a way, the once wild-haired religion teacher gets to be his own man again... and as that gear-shift gets underway, you might just want to buckle up.
As a final note, we'd be remiss to forget two other recently-elevated, pastorally-gifted American prelates who'll likely be key leaders on the road ahead... for now, though, they're not members of the Stateside bench -- at least, not yet.
Of course, this refers to the two US-born archbishops now serving atop Roman Congregations: the elegant, Yale-trained theologian (and B16 favorite) Gus DiNoia OP at Divine Worship, and the "Congregation for Religious'" just-named "ray of hope," the former Redemptorist superior-general Joe Tobin, who'll be ordained next month in St Peter's Basilica by no less than Benedict's very "Vice-Pope."
Most of the time, Vatican practice holds that the #2 officials overseeing the church's lead "cabinet" departments tend not to remain Curial lifers. Many, if not most, are eventually given high posts at home, so smart money would expect at least one to return to a major archdiocese here at some point down the line. In that light, while a lot can change in three years, one prediction's already hit the ground, and however premature, it makes particular sense: given the latter's Midwestern roots, penchant for collaboration, experience both in Rome and with running a large, complex ecclesial apparatus on top of his ministry-long care for a Hispanic flock whose language he's said to speak "beyond fluently," once Tobin's done bringing the controversial and turbulent Apostolic Visitation of the nation's women religious in for a smooth landing on all sides, the early line has already posited the Detroit-born Big Red in the mix as a strong contender for Chicago in succession to Cardinal Francis George, who reaches the retirement age of 75 in early 2012.
Lest anyone forgot, the Windy City crowd can easily recall another shepherd who arrived as "Joseph, your brother"... and an encore might just work the same kind of magic.
SVILUPPO: Correcting the initial draft of this piece, DiNardo was not, as previously stated, the first Pittsburgh native elevated to the College of Cardinals, but the second after Adam Maida, who received the red hat in 1994, four years after his appointment as archbishop of Detroit.
The post has been edited to remedy the error.
PHOTOS: Diocese of Cheyenne(2); Joel Martinez/The McAllen Monitor(3); The (Trenton) Monitor(5)
The Bench, Rebooted
On Anglicanorum, the Delegate Speaks
"The Kindly Light"
St Mary of the Cross... Patroness of Whistleblowers?
In PopeTrip's Wake, "A New Foundation"
Anglicans, Hatcaves and Quakes... oh my. Just ano...
Anglicanorum Wuerlibus
For the Forces, B16 Taps a "Hound"
Might've been quiet here, but the freshly-launched...
2012: B16 Into Irish Storm?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Public Release: 6-Jun-2014
Our ability to identify the source of pain varies across the body
A new UCL study defines for the first time how our ability to identify where it hurts, called 'spatial acuity,' varies across the body, being most sensitive at the forehead and fingertips
IMAGE: Researchers from University College London use lasers to stimulate pain in a volunteer's hand. Sometimes only one laser would be activated, and sometimes both would be, unknown to participants. They... view more
Credit: UCL (University College London)
"Where does it hurt?" is the first question asked to any person in pain.
A new UCL study defines for the first time how our ability to identify where it hurts, called "spatial acuity", varies across the body, being most sensitive at the forehead and fingertips.
Using lasers to cause pain to 26 healthy volunteers without any touch, the researchers produced the first systematic map of how acuity for pain is distributed across the body. The work is published in the journal Annals of Neurology and was funded by the Wellcome Trust.
With the exception of the hairless skin on the hands, spatial acuity improves towards the centre of the body whereas the acuity for touch is best at the extremities. This spatial pattern was highly consistent across all participants.
The experiment was also conducted on a rare patient lacking a sense of touch, but who normally feels pain. The results for this patient were consistent with those for healthy volunteers, proving that acuity for pain does not require a functioning sense of touch.
"Acuity for touch has been known for more than a century, and tested daily in neurology to assess the state of sensory nerves on the body. It is striking that until now nobody had done the same for pain," says lead author Dr Flavia Mancini of the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience. "If you try to test pain with a physical object like a needle, you are also stimulating touch. This clouds the results, like taking an eye test wearing sunglasses. Using a specially-calibrated laser, we stimulate only the pain nerves in the upper layer of skin and not the deeper cells that sense touch."
Volunteers were blindfolded and had specially-calibrated pairs of lasers targeted at various parts of their body. These lasers cause a brief sensation of pinprick pain. Sometimes only one laser would be activated, and sometimes both would be, unknown to participants. They were asked whether they felt one 'sting' or two, at varying distances between the two beams. The researchers recorded the minimum distance between the beams at which people were able to accurately say whether it was one sting or two.
"This measure tells us how precisely people can locate the source of pain on different parts of their body," explains senior author Dr Giandomenico Iannetti of the UCL Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology. "Touch and pain are mediated by different sensory systems. While tactile acuity has been well studied, pain acuity has been largely ignored, beyond the common textbook assertion that pain has lower acuity than touch. We found the opposite: acuity for touch and pain are actually very similar. The main difference is in their gradients across the body. For example, pain acuity across the arm is much higher at the shoulder than at the wrist, whereas the opposite is true for touch."
Acuity for both touch and pain normally correlates with the density of the relevant nerve fibres in each part of the body. However, the fingertips remain highly sensitive despite having a low density of pain-sensing nerve cells.
"The high pain acuity of the fingertips is something of a mystery that requires further investigation," says Dr Mancini. "This may be because people regularly use their fingertips, and so the central nervous system may learn to process the information accurately."
The findings have important implications for the assessment of both acute and chronic pain. Dr Roman Cregg of the UCL Centre for Anaesthesia, who was not involved in the research, is a clinical expert who treats patients with chronic pain.
"Chronic pain affects around 10 million people in the UK each year according to the British Pain Society, but we still have no reliable, reproducible way to test patients' pain acuity," says Dr Cregg. "This method offers an exciting, non-invasive way to test the state of pain networks across the body. Chronic pain is often caused by damaged nerves, but this is incredibly difficult to monitor and to treat. The laser method may enable us to monitor nerve damage across the body, offering a quantitative way to see if a condition is getting better or worse. I am excited at the prospect of taking this into the clinic, and now hope to work with Drs Mancini and Iannetti to translate their study to the chronic pain setting."
Harry Dayantis
h.dayantis@ucl.ac.uk
44-020-310-83844
@uclnews
http://www.ucl.ac.uk
Annals of Neurology
Pain Experiment (IMAGE)
Dr. Flavia Mancini and Dr. Giandomenico Iannetti, University College London (IMAGE)


I am looking for ways to extend my son's learning this year and decided that since he is such a quick reader, that I would add in weekly book reports for him to do. This will help him think more about what he is reading. I am also having him choose more educational books, like biographies and historical fiction so he is learning from these books he chooses for his reports.
I was searching for an elementary book report template to use so we could have it ready to pull out each week. I like simple things without lots of cartoons or color when I print it. I also wanted the questions to be thoughtful and aid in his learning. I was unable to find anything that had all of the questions that I wanted him to answer for his reports, so I decided to make one myself.
It is pretty basic, but answers all of the questions that I wanted. I printed them double sided. I hope this will be of some use to some of you!
Space for drawing their favorite part.
Download Your Free Elementary Book Report Template in my Subscriber Freebie Library.
Thanks for sharing these–I'm pinning them to my free printables board!
wow very nice. got any tricks to getting a reluctant reader to read?
So fantastic! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the book report template! Do you have suggestions to help a smart, 2nd grader understand inferences when he read books at or above his suggested reading level (N) like Harry Potter and Big Nate? We talk a lot about deeper understanding and what is implied by the author but not written – but I'm wondering if there are activities or other things I should do with him to help this. Thanks!
I think what has most helped my kids is to read to them regularly. My son is an amazing reader, but I still read a lot to him. I read books at a higher reading level that he would struggle with on his own, Then when we come to difficult words or passages, we can stop and discuss it. I am sure there are still things that he may read on his own that he may not quite understand, but it comes with more experience.
I love your ideas on teaching maths. I specially love the aids that we can create to help us in teaching. Thank you for an awesome website.


Open Topic. Let us combat the global warming.
This one seems fit for a PF2019 greeting. PF2019 everyone !
These were taken with the X-T10 and 18-55 in the Austrian Alps.
The distant high peak is Monte Antelao (3264m), further to the right (invisible) is Marmolada (3343m).
I rather like this one. Looks like a nicely peaceful scene, but if you want to see what the conditions were really like, have a look at this (with sound on !). It was freezing cold, I could hardly operate my poor camera.
If you´ll pardon a bw version of the same one. I can´t decide which one is better.
Wonderful and inspiring set, George!
Thank you, sir ! You are very kind. I was just lucky to be there at the right time. But, on a holiday with my three sons and my wife, as usual, it was a "shoot quickly and run" affair - no time for some serious business like using a stative or filters or composing carefully. These were all taken with my X-T10 (before I bought the X-T2). What a little jewel of a camera that is.
I am really enjoying the series you are sharing with us, but after listening to that audio I also hope you are keeping warm!
@sixtygp This is really beautiful, thanks for sharing. Welcome to the party. Where is it from ?


Do you wish to upgrade your luxury yacht with high quality, state of the art control levers? Come visit Lilaas at the Superyacht Pavilion, part of the METS TRADE exhibition. At booth 11.612 you are able to discover the complete product range of Lilaas control levers. Both Lilaas and Elma Components will be present with product experts. A great opportunity for you to ask all you want to know about the technical specs and applications of these high-end levers!
The SuperYacht Pavilion (SYP) at the METSTRADE Show is a destination in its own right. With two dedicated halls and an associated educational and social networking programme, the SYP is far more than an exhibition – it serves as a superyacht experience to visitors. The Pavilion is the only truly international B2B exhibition providing products and services for the large luxury yacht industry.


text:
Lauv Shares New Single 'All 4 Nothing (I'm So In Love)'
"It's a song about surrendering to love and life..."
ClashMusic
Forward-thinking pop pioneer Lauv has shared new single 'All 4 Nothing (I'm So In Love)'.
Praised for his multidisciplinary approach – a singer, songwriter, producer and instrumentalist all in one, Lauv accelerates towards his second full-length album 'All 4 Nothing' which is due in August. Accompanied with visuals that capture Lauv plunging into the ocean, sporting neon green hair and a reflective suit, the track is immersed in budding relationships and infatuation, whilst leaning into its own insecurities.
There is a bitter-sweet element to the single, which is both igniting in its big drums and mellowing with acoustics. – Up til this point, the Myspace fanatic – so much so that he has the logo inked behind his ear – has remained firm in his independence, amassing 11 billion streams since his entrance in 2015.
Across his journey, Lauv has used his material as an honest outlet, one that confronts his own struggles with depression and anxiety, building an intimate relationship with his fanbase.
Today, Lauv channels these same introspective qualities from a matured stance, reflecting on his own story and the innocence of youth – Lauv comments:
'All 4 Nothing (I'm So In Love)' is a song about loving someone so much at a time in your life when you're still in the process of learning how to love yourself and being scared how your own personal insecurities could ruin a love that is and could be so genuine and transformative. In essence, it's a song about surrendering to love and life.
Lauv will release new album 'All 4 Nothing' in August.
Words: Ana Lamond
Photo Credit: Clare Gillen


Wiz Khalifa drops his hot new mixtape, Cabin Fever 2, hosted by DJ Holiday with features from Juicy J, Problem, Chevy Woods, French Montana, & Lavish. Wish there was an appearance from the 1st lady of Taylor Gang, Lola Monroe, but oh well. Check it out & download below.


If you play Heroes & Generals and your computer still operates on Windows XP, at least one of those two will no longer be the case in the coming months. The latest update to Heroes & Generals, dubbed the Zhukov Armored Ambush update, dropped today introducing new vehicles, new weapons, and various tweaks and anti-cheat updates. In addition, the folks at Reto Moto announced that this update will be the last to support Windows XP.
This will be the last update supporting Windows XP. Microsoft ended their support in April 2014, so there has not been any security etc. updates for more than one and a half years. So, if you're still running XP now is the time to upgrade as the next update to Heroes & Generals (in early 2016) will no longer be playable on Windows XP.
Players have until next release to update their operating system or find a new game.


Washington Monthly | Wonder Where They Could Have Gotten That Idea?
Wonder Where They Could Have Gotten That Idea?
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) ripped the media in a speech Tuesday to the Ripon Society, arguing press coverage is partly responsible for the GOP's messaging woes.
Cantor, who has tried to recast the image of the GOP with his Making Life Work agenda, said the party's economic message is often drowned out by coverage of debt and deficits.
Gee, wonder where media types could have gotten the idea Republicans were a mite obsessed with debt, deficits and domestic spending? Could it be the fact that they were calling incessantly for deficit reduction measures at every single point during and after the Great Recession? Were the GOP's serial threats (which continue today) to throw the entire global economy into chaos if they don't get spending-cuts-only deficit reduction concessions of an epochal nature actually taken seriously?
Since it is quite literally incredible that Cantor doesn't understand all that, it's more likely his intention in lashing the media is to get them to report that Republicans don't enjoy insisting on public-sector austerity. That probably is an argument worth making for a Republican leader these days, because there is in fact a lot of evidence that conservatives view with great satisfaction prospects for shredding the social safety net as an end in itself, and would (because they often have) support it even if the economy were booming. Sure, you could say they do so because they believe it is necessary in order to "reenergize the opportunity machine." But we all know that for many conservatives that's another way of saying lazy bums dependent on the federal government need to experience some real fear of starvation and then maybe they'll learn to be grateful for whatever opportunities the nation's "job creators"–the Atlases from whose efforts the rest of us are parasitically benefitting–see fit to give them.
The nation's unemployment rate would probably be nearly a point lower, roughly 6.5 percent, and economic growth almost two points higher this year if Washington had not cut spending and raised taxes as it has since 2011, according to private-sector and government economists.
After two years in which President Obama and Republicans in Congress have fought to a draw over their clashing approaches to job creation and budget deficits, the consensus about the result is clear: Immediate deficit reduction is a drag on full economic recovery….
Tax increases and especially spending cuts, these critics say, take money from an economy that still needs some stimulus now, and is getting it only through the expansionary monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.
Now Republicans are free to argue such immediate pain is ultimately necessary to prevent some long-term debt crisis, or to bring to an end the long New Deal/Great Society era of a leaner-and-meaner (compared to Europe) but still-existing welfare state, or to help America survive in a vicious global competition for resources with societies even more unequal than our own. What they are not free to do is to complain when the media or people generally don't buy their spin and notice that the GOP's all-purpose prescription for economic, fiscal and social policy is to find every way possible to cut public spending on everything other than defense and maybe fossil fuel or farm subsidies, while cutting taxes on the wealthy and eliminating public scrutiny of their business dealings. Maybe they have pure motives for pursuing this agenda, or maybe their hearts have been hardened into stone. But it just doesn't much matter to those most affected.


What to expect when you take your child to their first gala!
So, your child's new to competitive swimming and just signed up for their first gala! This can be a daunting moment for both you and your child but don't worry here's an insight from a parent's point of view on our first gala we attended in Cornwall.
It was the CCASA development gala held at Bodmin leisure centre, we turned up not really knowing what to expect, 'would we know when she's meant to race?' 'Where will she need to go?' As it happened our daughter spotted her swimming friends and coach straight away and soon settled in with her team mates. We purchased the programme and flicked through to find her name in the races we had put her in for. The coach made them aware it was warm up time soon so to get their hat & goggles ready. An announcement was then made over the speaker for warm up to commence which was split into different time slots for girls & boys, it's amazing how many kids can fit in one pool!
When warm up was over the children that were in the first races were told to go to marshalling where they all seemed to be ushered into the correct order of heats, I was surprised at how organised it all was, the volunteers do an amazing job at keeping everything running smoothly considering how many children there are to organise!
It was nerve wracking to watch her stand at the blocks ready for her first race. Three whistles were blown to announce the race was about to commence and everyone quietened down for the competitors to hear, then a long whistle was blown, and all the swimmers got ready on the blocks, they then announced take your marks before the loud buzzer to start the race. When her first race was over, and we watched her climb out with a smile on her face it was lovely to see her enjoying the competition.
A short while later the times were printed on pieces of paper and at Bodmin leisure centre stuck on the big glass windows in the corridor to the pool for everyone to see their times and how they did in their age categories. The first second and third places in each age category & race were announced throughout the day and the children who got medal positions got to receive their medals from the volunteer at the medal table.
Give yourself enough time to get in get seated and your child not to be rushing to get ready for warm up.
Most local galas are based at Penzance or Bodmin pools, Penzance leisure centre has a viewing area upstairs with chair seating, Bodmin leisure centre has pool side viewing slatted benches so if your there all day it's worth taking a small cushion to sit on.
Bodmin leisure centre doesn't have a cafe so be sure to take all food needed for the day.
It gets quite hot with the number of children & spectators so it's a good idea to wear light clothing.
Take plenty of water for yourself and your child and encourage them to drink throughout the day.
Listen out for the 3 whistles to announce the start of races, even if your child is not in those races be sure to reduce the noise, it's very hard for the competitors to hear the buzzer if there is too much noise around the pool.
Check the times of the races you've entered before you go as sometimes the days are split into different sessions and you may not need to arrive till the start of the afternoon session to warm up.
Take something to read or do in-between races, sometimes there is long gaps between your child's races.
Take some change if you want to purchase a programme. There is often raffle tickets on sale also.
Most of all enjoy watching them! I'm on my 3rd year now and still enjoy the buzz of a gala day!


text:
BBNaija's Cindy Okafor involved in ghastly motor accident
Bayelsa State government has explained that Big Brother Naija star, Nengi Hampson was never at any time appointed as the Face of Bayelsa Girl-Child.
Clearing the air on Wednesday over reports that the former lockdown housemate was removed from the position, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Daniel Alabrah told the BBC that no such appointment was made in the first place.
Governor Diri had earlier in the week, named Ebizi Blessing Eradiri as the Face of Bayelsa Girl-Child.
Eradiri is the first female First Class graduate from the Faculty of Law at the Niger Delta University, NDU and also finished with First Class from the Nigerian Law School.
Recall that Governor Diri was heavily criticised for having picked Nengi ahead of the double First Class graduate for the position.
Also, after the announcement of Eradiri's appointment was made on Monday, Nengi took to her social media to pledge her support and promised to work together with the NDU graduate.
However, Alabrah told the BBC that the government never appointed Nengi for that role, adding that the government could appoint as many people as it likes depending on whatever sector they want to emphasize.
"Nengi is in the entertainment sector so she can function in that aspect while Ebizi Eradiri is in the education sector.
"All is for them to inspire and encourage girls in the state so they can aspire better. It is bad for people to speculate and politicise everything."


text:
OrphanPip
Uncertain Fate for Transgender Rights Bill
, 11-27-2012 at 09:11 PM (2189 Views)
I've decided to write a bit about a current bill, that is currently before a Parliamentary committee, which would make explicit the extension of Canada's Human Rights provisions to transgender persons.
The bill hasn't got much media attention at all, and like usual transgender issues are ignored unless they are being used for some salacious thrill on daytime talk shows. There are two main reasons why I wanted to try and do a little publicity for the bill.
First of all, the bill's future is precarious at the moment as 15 Tories have pledged to support its passage. If all of the left of centre MPs supported the bill, another 6 Tory abstentions or supporting votes would be required to get it into law. It is rare in Canadian politics that a bill could go either way, and I think a little more attention could help pressure some of the Tory brass to quietly whip a few members into supporting its passage.
Secondly, I've been a bit incensed by the substance of the debate from Tory critics of the bill. MP Rob Anders spread a petition which implied that transgender women (which he mistakenly refers to as transgender men) are pedophiles, or perverts looking to lurk in women's bathrooms for the purpose of assaulting women. Or, that such perverts would be able to hide under the protections of transgender identity to freely invade women's changing rooms.
This line of argument is problematic in a number of ways. First of all, transgender women already use women's bathrooms, it is usually not an issue, and the extension of anti-discrimination laws wouldn't change that. A few provinces already have extended these protections, and none of the ridiculous scenarios Anders proposed have occurred. Finally, it is baseless fearmongering as there is no evidence of transgender women sexually assaulting women or children, at least no more than the regular population.
All of this brings me to why extending anti-discrimination legislation for transgenders is necessary. Trans people, out of every minority in Canada, are the most likely to be the victim of a violent assault by a stranger, and indeed the most likely to be murdered. This fact alone should be evidence enough that we are not doing enough to protect these people. Another Tory MP, Shelly Glover, has spoke out in favour of the bill because of her experience as a police officer witnessing the violence inflected on trans Canadians. This bill would be an important step to affirm equality for sexual minorities in Canada, and allow Canada to stay at the forefront of progressive human rights protection.
Buh4Bee - 11-27-2012 09:32 PM
I think the statistics are a powerful argument in building support for the passage of this bill.
cafolini - 11-28-2012 03:42 AM
I agree wholeheartedly and wholemindedly with what you said.
Kuala Lumpur but from Canada
An Autobiography (with many omissions)
LGBT - Queer literature
by cafolini
What I've Been Up To; Thoughts on Graduate School
by Buh4Bee
The City and The Pillar - Gore Vidal
by OrphanPip
Making an odd decision.
Giovanni's Room - James Baldwin
by Ron Price
Save my Forest!
The Red Light is Just About Put Out
Darcy88,
Dreamwoven,
L.M. The Third,
Lykren,
Manaxshl,
Ohmyscience,
Omicron8887,
Silas Thorne,
SullyB74,
tonywalt


text:
// Generated from /POI/java/org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/IconMultiStateFormatting.java

#pragma once

#include <fwd-POI.hpp>
#include <java/io/fwd-POI.hpp>
#include <java/lang/fwd-POI.hpp>
#include <org/apache/poi/ss/usermodel/fwd-POI.hpp>
#include <java/lang/Enum.hpp>

template<typename ComponentType, typename... Bases> struct SubArray;
namespace java
{
    namespace io
    {
typedef ::SubArray< ::java::io::Serializable, ::java::lang::ObjectArray > SerializableArray;
    } // io

    namespace lang
    {
typedef ::SubArray< ::java::lang::Comparable, ObjectArray > ComparableArray;
typedef ::SubArray< ::java::lang::Enum, ObjectArray, ComparableArray, ::java::io::SerializableArray > EnumArray;
    } // lang
} // java

namespace poi
{
    namespace ss
    {
        namespace usermodel
        {
typedef ::SubArray< ::poi::ss::usermodel::IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet, ::java::lang::EnumArray > IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSetArray;
        } // usermodel
    } // ss
} // poi

struct default_init_tag;

class poi::ss::usermodel::IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet final
    : public ::java::lang::Enum
{

public:
    typedef ::java::lang::Enum super;

public: /* package */
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_3_ARROW;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GREY_3_ARROWS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_3_FLAGS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_3_TRAFFIC_LIGHTS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_3_TRAFFIC_LIGHTS_BOX;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_3_SHAPES;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_3_SYMBOLS_CIRCLE;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_3_SYMBOLS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYR_4_ARROWS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GREY_4_ARROWS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *RB_4_TRAFFIC_LIGHTS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *RATINGS_4;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYRB_4_TRAFFIC_LIGHTS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GYYYR_5_ARROWS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *GREY_5_ARROWS;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *RATINGS_5;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet *QUARTERS_5;

private:
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet* DEFAULT_ICONSET_;

public:
    int32_t id {  };
    int32_t num {  };
    ::java::lang::String* name_ {  };
    ::java::lang::String* toString() override;
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet* byId(int32_t id);
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet* byName(::java::lang::String* name);
protected:
    void ctor(::java::lang::String* name, int ordinal, int32_t id, int32_t num, ::java::lang::String* name1);

    // Generated

private:
    IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet(::java::lang::String* name, int ordinal, int32_t id, int32_t num, ::java::lang::String* name1);
protected:
    IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet(const ::default_init_tag&);

public:
    static ::java::lang::Class *class_();
    static void clinit();

public: /* protected */
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet*& DEFAULT_ICONSET();

public:
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSet* valueOf(::java::lang::String* a0);
    static IconMultiStateFormatting_IconSetArray* values();

private:
    virtual ::java::lang::Class* getClass0();
    friend class IconMultiStateFormatting;
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


It is known that the life journey of one of India's tallest leaders will be portrayed on celluloid in one of the most talked about and highly anticipated biopic titled 'PM Narendra Modi' by none other than biopic maestro Omung Kumar.
With the commencement of the film's shoot, we bring you exclusive pictures of Omung on the sets of his next film. Being known for his dexterity towards his craft and his sense for perfection, we are in for one of the most promising biopics of 2019.


The DA has written to the Public Protector requesting an investigation into the awarding of school sanitation tenders by the Mpumalanga Department of Education.
This, after it emerged that Education MEC, Sibusiso Malaza could be paying as much as R68 000 per toilet through the Mpumalanga Regional Training Trust (MRTT) in provincial schools.
Please click here for MRTT's 4th quarterly report.
The Department recently appointed MRTT as the implementing agent to construct waterborne toilets at a cost of R3.4 million. 16 toilets where built at Mpumelelo Primary School and another 16 toilets where built ay Sihlangu Primary School, both school are located in in Nkomazi Local Municipality. A further 18 toilets were built at JB Khoza Primary School in Bushbuckridge.
During a recent DA oversight inspection at Mpumelelo and Sihlangu Primary Schools, we found that the plastic fittings used were flimsy and were unlikely to withstand daily use by hundreds of learners. From our observation, it was unlikely that these fittings could be associated with a R68 000 toilet.
The urinals installed in these toilets were small and looked unlikely to have cost the service provider anything close to the Departments R68 000. See pictures above and below.
Further DA research has revealed that the cost to install a water-less toilet is estimated at a maximum of R32 000 per toilet, meaning that the Department of Education could be paying more than double for the exact same item.
School sanitation in Mpumalanga continues to be a problem as thousands of learners still use unsafe pit toilets and dilapidated structures to relieve themselves while at school but the failing ANC government continues to use the plight of disadvantage learners as a platform for corruption.
The public protector is currently reviewing the DA's complaint but we will continue to monitor the situation as far too many learners are compromised by the ANC-led government's mismanagement of public funds.
Only a DA led government bring real change to the people of Mpumalanga, change that build One South Africa for All, where money meant for the people is spent on the people.


text:
package com.novacloud.data.commons.suffixtree;

/**
 * Represents an Edge in the Suffix Tree.
 *
 *

 * Note: This class is used only internally by
 * {@link GeneralizedSuffixTree}.
 *

 */
class Edge {

	/** The label of this edge. */
	private String label;

	/** The node this edge points to. */
	private Node dest;

	/**
	 * Creates a new {@link Edge} instance with the given label and destination
	 * {@link Node}.
	 *
	 * @param label
	 *            the label
	 * @param dest
	 *            the destination {@link Node}
	 */
	public Edge(final String label, final Node dest) {
		setLabel(label);
		this.dest = dest;
	}

	/**
	 * Returns the label attached to this edge.
	 *
	 * @return the label
	 */
	public String getLabel() {
		return label;
	}

	/**
	 * Set the label for this edge to the given value.
	 *
	 * @param label
	 *            the new label
	 */
	public void setLabel(final String label) {
		this.label = label;
	}

	/**
	 * Returns the destination {@link Node} this {@link Edge} is pointing to.
	 *
	 * @return the destination {@link Node}
	 */
	public Node getDest() {
		return dest;
	}

	/**
	 * Sets the destination {@link Node} of this {@link Edge}.
	 *
	 * @param dest
	 *            the new destination {@link Node}
	 */
	public void setDest(final Node dest) {
		this.dest = dest;
	}

}


Parkdale Food Centre launched the second phase of its social enterprise, Growing Futures, at a reception held at the Innovation Centre on April 6. Present at the occasion were Mayor Jim Watson, Kitchissippi Ward Councillor Jeff Leiper, members of the Parkdale Food Centre, partners from the community, and 120 budding young entrepreneurs. This initiative uses produce-growing towers to help children participate in a business enterprise, become financially literate, and understand the value of wholesome, nutritious food.
Karen Secord, the manager of the Parkdale Food Centre (PFC), is the driving force behind this initiative. In January 2016, Karen was nominated to participate in a unique residency on economic inequality at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Karen has spearheaded several initiatives to help families and younger members, including the Thirteen Muesli project. (Which you can read more about here and here.).
The Growing Futures program uses hydroponic growing towers to grow fresh produce and herbs indoors, all year long. The towers are installed in the community, and participating children tend to the plants, harvest and sell the produce as-is, or turn the produce into marketable products like pesto. Children from five Ottawa Carleton District School Board schools have participated in the first phase, and towers have also been installed in schools and community centres like Rochester Heights Community Houses, Morrison Gardens Community House, and Dovercourt Recreation Association.
In the second phase, PFC wants to grow the business further. Several community partners are supporting this endeavour: Thyme & Again, Culture Kombucha, Urban Element, Pure Kitchen, Tartan Group, Algonquin College, the Innovation Centre, Red Apron, CakeLab, WWBIA, GCTC, Absinthe, Hintonburger, Seed to Sausage, and the Beckta group of restaurants.
These supporters will sponsor, mentor, and teach leadership and financial skills to the children. This approach ensures that children and families can access fresh, healthy food, and help build the community, by adding social purpose and value. As Councillor Jeff Leiper pointed out, PFC has changed the notion of a food centre and has pioneered a new model of working with the community.
At the event, Mayor Watson congratulated Parkdale on being awarded the United Way Community Builder of the Year award, and supported PFC's vision of having 150 towers set up to celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial. He also committed to the City of Ottawa buying five of the growing towers.
Sue Hall, the project lead for Growing Futures and PFC's Head Nutritionist, says there are many ways to help this initiative grow in phase two. A community member can choose to be one or more of the following: a Sponsor (provide funds to set up growing towers), a Host (provide space for a tower), a Business Partner (purchase the produce), a Mentor (share knowledge and experience), or a Harvester (plant, maintain, and harvest).
PFC, she says, is fortunate to have a community that supports their cause and is hoping for more social participation. For more information, contact Sue at 613-558-8264 or by email at sue@parkdalefoodcentre.org.


text:
Wharton Digital Press "Brilliant Mistakes" by Paul J. H. Schoemaker Named to "Best Business Book of the Year" List
Publisher Also Announces New NetGalley Book Request Service for "Best Business Book of the Year" Recommenders, Bloggers and Journalists
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania announces that Wharton Digital Press, its all-digital publishing initiative, has capped its inaugural year with acclaim and recognition for its roster of titles including receiving "Best Business Book of 2011" accolades for its most recent book, Brilliant Mistakes: Finding Success on the Far Side of Failure, by Paul J. H. Schoemaker. Brilliant Mistakes received "#1 Best Business Book of the Year" kudos from the Patriot-News' PennLive.com and has been featured by Inc.com, Forbes and the International Business Times, among others.
To make Brilliant Mistakes and all Wharton Digital Press (WDP) eBooks accessible to journalists, reviewers and bloggers, WDP is pleased to now offer NetGalley, a book request service for people who read and recommend books. NetGalley users can read galleys via their favorite digital devices including Kindle, Android, Nook, Kobo and iPad/iPhone with full search capabilities.
To request a digital galley of any Wharton Digital Press eBook, recommenders should visit the WDP section of NetGalley's site here: Wharton Digital Press NetGalley. Once on the WDP page, NetGalley users may click the cover image and press the "requests" button. WDP will provide notification of approved requests via email.
Besides Brilliant Mistakes, other WDP titles available on NetGalley and receiving consideration for "Best Business Book of 2011" include:
• The Leader's Checklist: 15 Mission-Critical Principles by Michael Useem–In this fast-reading and illuminating expanded edition of the bestselling Leader's Checklist, world-renowned leadership expert Michael Useem deepens his examination of 15 mission-critical principles for leaders.
• Wharton Executive Education Customer Centricity Essentials: What It Is, What It Isn't, and Why It Matters by Peter Fader–Upending some of our most fundamental beliefs about customer centricity, renowned behavioral data expert Peter Fader, Co-Director of the Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative, helps businesses radically rethink how they relate to customers. He provides a roadmap for revamping your organization, performance metrics, and product development in order to make sure you meet the needs of your most valuable customers.
• Wharton Executive Education Finance and Accounting Essentials by Richard A. Lambert–In direct and simple terms, Richard A. Lambert, Miller-Sherrerd Professor of Accounting at the Wharton School, demystifies financial statements and concepts and shows you how you can apply this information to make better business decisions for long-term profit.
About the Wharton School and Wharton Digital Press
The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania— founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school — is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of 88,000 graduates.
Wharton Digital Press brings together communities of readers and authors committed to identifying and solving the critical problems business managers face today. Leveraging a wide range of cutting-edge digital technologies, Wharton Digital Press helps inspire authors to develop bold, insightful messages, and communicate in creative ways with their audiences. Managers and policy makers need new sources of innovative and practical knowledge that will enable them to deal with the problems of the present and the challenges of the future. Wharton Digital Press takes advantage of the Wharton School's global presence to disseminate relevant business knowledge from the world's leading experts to readers wherever and whenever they need it.
To request a digital galley of any Wharton Digital Press book, journalists should visit the WDP section of NetGalley's site here: Wharton Digital Press NetGalley
December 9, 2011 | Press Releases


Editor's note: Ask the Mayor is a weekly feature in the American News. It will appear each Monday in the Community section of the newspaper. To submit a question, e-mail askthemayor@aberdeennews.com or send the question to Ask the Mayor, American News, Box 4430, Aberdeen, SD 57402-4430. Q. Why do plumbers in Aberdeen have to be registered with the city and electricians don't? Plumbers are already registered with the state and have to do continuing education. The city provides them nothing for being licensed. I heard it was because there is no one licensed with the city to do electrical inspections. The city inspectors are not licensed plumbers, so who are they to say if plumbing is done right or not? A. Some of the larger cities in the state do their own electrical inspection work, and some do not, said Brett Bill, Aberdeen housing and zoning director. Aberdeen has had an electrical inspector in the past, but a city commission determined that having the state do the electrical inspections worked better. The city chose to not impose its own electrical code and instead determined that the code adopted by the state works well for builders and occupants here. Consequently, Aberdeen city inspectors do not need to have electrical certifications. Electrical contractors know they must meet the state requirements and work together with the state to get those inspections done. This seems to be working, as Bill said there have not been many complaints reaching him. In contrast, the city does have a local plumbing code, having adopted the 2003 Uniform Plumbing Code. The city inspectors are tasked to enforce that local code and work with contractors and builders to see that residential and commercial work is done in a safe and sanitary manner. City plumbing inspectors do not need to be licensed plumbers, but are required to be tested and meet ongoing requirements for international certification to perform the inspections. Mike Levsen is mayor of Aberdeen. In July, the mayor's position became a part-time position with the hiring of full-time City Manager Lynn Lander.


text:
Q: save digital sign as png into database I am trying to save a digital sign from php into my database using mysql and php
it works but it does not save anything.
I added js library in the head
javascript,HTML code
<canvas class="sign-pad" id="sign-pad" width="300" height="100"></canvas>
<button id="btnSaveSign">Save Signature</button>
     <script>

$(document).ready(function(e){

    $(document).ready(function() {
        $('#signArea').signaturePad({drawOnly:true, drawBezierCurves:true, lineTop:90});
    });

    $("#btnSaveSign").click(function(e){
        html2canvas([document.getElementById('sign-pad')], {
            onrendered: function (canvas) {
                var canvas_img_data = canvas.toDataURL('image/png');
                var img_data = canvas_img_data.replace(/^data:image\/(png|jpg);base64,/, "");

                //ajax call to save image inside folder
                $.ajax({
                    url: 'save_sign.php?su=$id',
                    data: { img_data:img_data },
                    type: 'post',
                    dataType: 'json',
                    success: function (response) {
                       window.location.reload();
                    }
                });
            }
        });
    });

});
</script>

save_sign.php  code
    <?php
if (isset($_post['su'])){
        $su_id= $_post['su'];
        }
        $imagedata = base64_decode($_POST['img_data']);

           require 'includes/connection.php';
$query =mysqli_query($database, "UPDATE `user registration` SET `sign`='$imagedata' WHERE `SupplierID`=$su_id");

?>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


To an extent, Sleepwalkers also offers a meditation on storytelling and its potential for changing the world. Confronted with multiple paths that his life might take, Daniel must learn to "play" in each of them, shaping each through the power of his will even as he follows them to their logical conclusions. As Magic Man exhorts Daniel to learn how to play, how to shape the world positively through the power of imagination, it's easy to hear the ghost of William Shakespeare whispering that all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players, easier still to detect echoes of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series with its emphasis on dreams, death, and desire. We are all dreamers, Sleepwalkers insists at every turn, and we all have the power to change the world for the better.


Join us for an exclusive opportunity to hear more about this RIBA Award winning building. As part of this series of events showcasing 2018's Award winners, Durham Cathedral Open Treasure will host a talk and tour by Chris Cotton from Purcell Architects.
The sequence of spaces have been carefully adapted to create a range of environmental conditions that respond to the differing needs of the collection from medieval stonework and book collections through to Anglo-Saxon artefacts. The design seamlessly integrates historic features and modern interventions that include creative repair and conservation and adaptive re-use of the historic buildings.
The quality of the workmanship and detailing including delicate inclusion of lead framed secondary glazing enhances the performance of the structure without affecting its appearance. The joinery throughout and the subtle integration of new lighting and ventilation systems without visually impacting the historic structure reinforces an overall sense of accomplishment and skill.
This scheme has won a RIBA Regional Award, Regional Conservation Award, RIBA NE Building of the Year Award and RIBA National Award.


text:
Q: Big Query pretty print String values are escaped with \ I used TO_JSON_STRING(value[, pretty_print]) function to get the pretty print of struct in BigQuery. However, the output JSON contains string escape characters with '\'. Also I see control characters are also escaped.
Big Query has already published about struct with the following statement

Invalid UTF-8 field names might result in unparseable JSON. String values are escaped according to the JSON standard. Specifically, ", \, and the control characters from U+0000 to U+001F are escaped.

What can I do?


text:
Alabama wins third game in a row
Alabama guard Jaden Shackelford scored 28 points against Richmond.
By Matt Zenitz | mzenitz@al.com
Alabama will enter SEC play on a three-game winning streak.
The Crimson Tide beat Richmond, 90-78, Sunday at Coleman Coliseum.
It was the fifth win in the last six games for Alabama, which improved to 7-5 overall heading into that SEC opener against Florida on Saturday.
The Tide led 43-39 at halftime and then by as much as 16 during the second half over a Richmond squad that entered Sunday 10-2 with wins over Vanderbilt, Wisconsin and Boston College.
Alabama freshman guard Jaden Shackelford had a game-high 28 points and hit six three-pointers. Kira Lewis and John Petty both had 17 points.
Matt Zenitz is an Alabama and Auburn reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.


As Secretary of State, Eric Pickles heads a team of Ministers: Baroness Warsi, Mark Prisk, Nick Boles, Don Foster, Brandon Lewis and Baroness Hanham. Biographies and a brief description of the policy responsibilities of his Ministerial team can be found below.
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from Communities and Local Government. Make your own badge here.