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Elementary Student Finds Strength in Running Through Girls On The Run
April 19, 2012 by Tucson Medical Center Leave a Comment
It hasn't been easy, but 10-year-old Isabella Glenn says she's learned some valuable lessons as part of a program that trains elementary school girls to run a 5k race.
Initially not a big fan of running, Isabella said she had serious doubts about whether she'd even be able to complete the 3.1 mile run.
But when she crossed the finish line last year, she said, "I felt proud of myself."
This year, she's back again, getting ready for the April 22 Girls on the Run race, which encourages girls ages 8 through 11 to develop healthy lifestyles through running.
Earlier this week found her training with 13 other Whitmore Elementary girls. It was nearing in on 90 degrees after school, but that wasn't stopping them.
At least not if coaches Mary Atkinson and Kristin Wook had anything to do with it.
"Hey, you guys. No walking! Run! Run! Run! You've got the energy!" Atkinson called, monitoring their last practice lap around the field.
Running is actually only part of what the nearly 160 girls who are participating this year will get out of the 12-week program.
"It's really about teaching them how to be confident and self-assured," said Atkinson, the director of food and nutrition services at Tucson Medical Center, which has taken the lead on the Girls on the Run Tucson program. The event was launched in 2009 with financial support from the Aetna Foundation and assistance from Everyone Runs, Pima County Department of Transportation and Fleet Feet Sports.
"It's about loving who they are and reinforcing that it's not about how they look or whether they hang out with the popular people," Atkinson said. "They all exude their own sparkle."
Those lessons are embedded in the curriculum every week. For example, this week the girls had to sprint to a classmate sitting on a bench, say something supportive, and sprint back.
Bella was told she was smart and nice and a good friend.
Wook, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with "Impossible is Nothing," said she's seen the girls grow in strength and confidence. But the coaches said they aren't the only one noticing the changes. Atkinson said teachers tell her the girls are more assured in class, raising their hands more often to answer questions and participate. "They realize they can stand up for themselves and that they have something to contribute," Atkinson said, noting the training also touches on how to cope with peer pressure, bullying and standard girl conflicts.
Tackling childhood obesity and promoting healthy lifestyles is another outcropping of the program, and participating girls often take that message home to their families. In Bella's case, her dad, Frank Glenn, has signed up as her "running buddy" to provide support to her. She's been jogging a little at night when the family walks the dogs, and she's been getting her younger sisters, ages 6 and 7, to run as well.
Frank Glenn, who was born at TMC in 1963, said his daughter has made more friends and is a stronger runner. "I'm proud of her," he said.
And with all that running, Bella figures she'll work up an appetite for pizza or Chinese food for their celebration dinner later that day.
For more information, log onto http://gotrtucson.org/
Do I need a fence for the inflatable above-ground pool? Pediatric Emergency Notes
Obstetrix now providing care through TMCObstetrics - new name, same expert care
TMC One welcomes breast oncology surgeon Dr. Michele Boyce Ley to guide prevention and treatment
Tucson's first comprehensive concussion care center launches
2017 TMC Mega Raffle winners share joy and gratitude
Filed Under: All, General
« Program Provides Therapeutic Bridge for Families
TMC Looks to Fill Openings in Patient Care »


I love color and fabric and have been sewing since I was 10 years old. I am self-taught and learned to sew by making string-quilt blocks on newspaper squares using a treadle sewing machine about 50 years ago. I like the traditional quilts, but also like to work with different patterns and colors. I like it all!
The quilt picture with your bio is just beautiful. I love traveling through Arkansas and I love to check out local artisans whenever I can. Do you have a shop somewhere in the state?


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Firm gives boost to Joshua Tree project
A MAJOR Northwich company is the latest organisation to get behind the idea of a support centre for families of sick children.
Money for the proposed centre, which is envisaged as a holiday home for children with life-threatening diseases and their families, has been flowing in from indi -viduals and groups.
Now AMEC Nuclear Holdings Ltd has pledged to help The Joshua Tree charity, based in Northwich, find the estimated £650,000 needed to build the centre - which would house four families. AMEC project manager Dave Lamb, also secretary of the company's social club, The Canute Club, said: 'Every year we choose a charity to support and one of our members gave a powerful speech in support of The Joshua Tree so we decided to adopt it.
'We have arranged various events for staff including a fun run which raised £900 and we are holding a monthly raffle for an extra day's holiday donated by the company.
'We also have photo-graphic competition for our social club calendar which we will sell for £3. We anticipate raising in the region of £2,000 because The Joshua Tree is a local charity and people can see and feel that their money can make a difference.'
Charity founders Lynda and David Hill, of Redgate, Northwich, thought up the idea of the support centre after son Joshua, seven, was diagnosed with leukaemia in September
2004. Because he needs to be near a hospital, any long-distance holiday is out of the question.
Lynda said: 'We've raised about £13,000 which doesn't sound a lot when you need so much but it's shooting up quite quickly and I've only started to trawl through charity grant applications - all the money so far has been from individuals and groups.
'People's kindness and their belief in what we are trying to achieve gives David and I so much encouragement.
'Josh was in hospital last month and consequently we had to cancel a short break and Adam and Bethan, Josh's brother and sister, were taken to grandparents so that we could care for Josh.
'This again emphasised to us that The Joshua Tree would be beneficial to many families in a similar situation.
'It confirms to us to keep going and this is made so easy for us when many individuals and now, companies, are coming on board.'
* To support The Joshua Tree, call Lynda on 01606 781777 or visit www.thejoshuatree.org.uk.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We are redirecting the "old" list to the "new" list immediately.
In the new Whole30 book, we're making it a bit more clear that adding yogurt, tofu, or beans to the Whole30 program is not the Whole30. Having a shopping listed branded with Whole30 including those foods was creating a lot of confusion. So we've revised the new list to include only Whole30 compliant foods, allowing vegans to fill in their own protein sources based on the recommendations we make in ISWF and The Whole30.
We can say "these foods are generally better choices on a vegetarian or vegan plan," but until you actually do a strict Whole30, you'll never really know which plant-based protein sources are the least problematic for you! It's a catch-22; which is why we recommend pescetarians do a full Whole30 using only seafood and eggs for 30 days as an experiement to help them figure out which plant or dairy proteins are best for them to use going forward. Vegans don't have this option, as a vegan diet using only Whole30 foods is impossible (and unhealthy). So, we made some recommendations in our books, and you'll have to do the best you can.
Sorry for the confusion--we have some new resources going up and old ones coming down at the same time, so there's some mess on the site right now.


To find out more about how a World Options franchise works, and how you can start earning as soon as possible, fill in the form below.
We will send you a copy of the World Options franchise pack that contains everything you need to know to begin your journey to becoming a franchisee. Work wherever you want, whenever you want - all you need is a computer and a phone to get started.


The case involved a woman who sought damages from her estranged, much older fiancé because he had lied to her about the nature of her engagement ring (not to mention its value). The majority of the court denied her claim, declaring that she, given the difference in their ages, had relied foolishly on his assurances.
When his spouse finds he's given her cubic zirconium.
I find her reliance was with justification.
His critics, however, seem to be suggesting that the musical properties of verse are insufficiently serious for the task at hand; and that the characteristic virtue of poetry—to condense and transmute whatever it wishes into memorable, indestructible language—somehow harms the facts, stripping them of the gravitas appropriate, in this instance, to an instrument of law.
Yet there is a venerable legacy of serious nonfiction in verse. For instance, Lucretius in his treatise On the Nature of Things, from the first century B.C., presents in hexameters a full-scale exposition of the Greek Philosopher Epicurus and the atomic theory of Democritus. There is also Ovid's satirical but no less serious handbook of seduction, The Art of Love.
So maybe poetry, or even merely verse, is not the problem here. Maybe the justice's quatrains—his creative nonfiction, if you will—are unsuitably creative because they employ the wrong poetic techniques. If he had written his dissent in a less galloping meter or even in verse libre, if he had chosen fewer polysyllabic rhymes, or had used slant rhymes, or had dispensed with rhyme altogether, perhaps his colleagues, and the guffawing public they imagine, would not think his verse a diminishment.
Poetry, in its official get-up, is a matter of lines and line breaks, of course, and the interplay of these with sentences draped down the page, through the stanzas, across the pauses. It's a spectacular confinement, and at its best, a delicious, necessary unsettling of the language.
But we also know that poetry appears in prose, as prose, perhaps as often as it appears in verse, as verse. It's something other than just lines. So we might assert, for the sake of argument, that verse is to poetry as nonfiction is to creative nonfiction.
Nonfiction prides itself on trafficking in facts. But many poets assert that poems should be factually accurate, even when fictive. So what happens to the status of a fact once it is introduced into a poem? Is there such a thing as a poetic fact? If there is, can it be introduced into nonfiction? How is its status changed by doing so? And how does it alter the status of nonfiction?
Poetic writing consorts with a lyric consciousness, of course, and with the metaphoric—saying one thing by saying another, saying one thing in terms of another but in a more controlled and sharpened way than the metaphoric slip-slop of ordinary speech. A poetic fact—not a fact made poetic—embodies more than one kind of perception. It registers more than one kind of measurement. And it inspires in us a devoted restlessness among those perceptions and measurements, because it also welcomes the possibility of discovery at its edges. It presents—and verges on presenting something more.
Every day I live I live forever.
The statement is true, undeniably factual in several ways but not like My heart beats sixty times a minute now.
Both lines might be verse, since they both scan, but only the first is poetic, or poetry.
Consider now Norman Maclean's masterpiece Young Men and Fire. It is a book of nonfiction fact, relating the story of the death of a dozen smokejumpers—and the unlikely survival of three others—in a forest fire blow-up at Mann Gulch, Montana, in 1949. Maclean meticulously replays, rethinks, re-imagines and researches the last thirty minutes of the doomed men's lives—setting this quest for comprehension against the backdrop of what was known about fire at the time of the disaster and what has been learned in the 38 years afterward. The book brims with historical documentation and scientific data about fire fighting, about burn rates and the effects of wind; it contains maps and photographs, diagrams, transcripts and mathematical equations; and it also draws on his and others' intimate knowledge of the local landscape, gleaned from lifetimes spent in the Montana woods.
The word "tragedy" should cue us here. Maclean is also drawing on a lifetime of teaching Shakespeare and the Romantic poets, and this is where the poetry comes in. His book is haunted by the search for compassion and understanding about the earth and our place on it. While acting as a factual detective, Maclean is also confronting the problem of identity, which, even as he faces old age and his own mortality, remains unsolved for him—unsolvable for us all.
It is probably not surprising, then, that the book was left unfinished at his death, though it is, most assuredly, complete.
The evidence, then, is that at the very end beyond thought and beyond fear and beyond even self-compassion and divine bewilderment there remains some firm intention to continue doing forever and ever what we last hoped to do on earth. By this final act they had come about as close as body and spirit can to establishing a unity of themselves with earth, fire, and perhaps the sky.
This is as far as we are able to accompany them. When the fire struck their bodies, it blew their watches away. The two hands of a recovered watch had melted together at about four minutes to six. For them, that may be taken as the end of time.
I, an old man, have written this fire report. Among other things, it was important to me, as an exercise for old age, to enlarge my knowledge and spirit so I could accompany young men whose lives I might have lived on their way to death. I have climbed where they climbed, and in my time I have fought fire and inquired into its nature. In addition, I have lived to get a better understanding of myself and those close to me, many of them now dead. Perhaps it is not odd, at the end of this tragedy where nothing much was left of the elite who came from the sky but courage struggling for oxygen, that I have often found myself thinking of my wife on her brave and lonely way to death.
These few details become supreme poetic facts because they allow the nonfiction facts about the nature of fire—and the facts about the smokejumpers' deaths, the strange solitude of their deaths—to also stand metaphorically for the obscure solitude of Maclean's grief at his wife's lonely death. These poetic facts revise our understanding of the book by suddenly multiplying the dimensions of its assumed subject. The nonfiction book of nonfiction facts is called Young Men and Fire. But the poem it also becomes by virtue of that final passage could be called Old Man and Ashes.
Thus, we might assert that creative nonfiction—if we can now think of it as a form of poetry—is the most impure, and thus capacious, of poetic forms because it allows the broadest range of rhythms and "content." It honors the nonfiction fact, reveres and seeks the clarity of definition that nonfiction fact aspires to, but, like Maclean's fire, it knows and submits to the earthly reality that, in a moment, a fact of that sort can become quite something else.


It's well-known by now that Alberta has had a rough couple of years.
Following the massive oil crash, dropping oil prices by more than 60%, thousands lost their jobs in one of Canada's primary "have" provinces. This has led to reduced spending, wages, and overall real estate transactions.
That said, Calgary has not seen a great change in new listings compared to this time last year, and the year before. In the first half of 2015, Calgary had 10,756 listings, as opposed to 10,326 during the same time this year. Edmonton followed a similar pattern: 10,444 in the first half of 2015, 9,988 in 2016.
So, how did the real estate markets in both Calgary and Edmonton manage to weather the storm? Why have prices stayed relatively the same?
Luckily for much of Alberta, many of the workers who were employed in the oil sector arrived from other provinces. While this may seem like a massive detriment to the province—a massive outflux of locals—it's actually what's saved the Calgary real estate market from crashing.
These temporary workers, called "itinerant workers", were employed here but kept their primary residences elsewhere, travelling back and forth for work every few weeks. This means they were participating in their own local economies more often than in Calgary, which includes buying and selling property.
Because of the reliance on these itinerant workers, there is a sudden surge in the amount of vacant homes. For example, Calgary saw 12,526 vacancies in 2015; today, there are 20,843, a difference of over 8,000 homes. That puts the vacancy rate at 4.3%, a number that should be concerning for all Albertans.
However, the majority of those vacancies are rentals. While most itinerant workers rented in the oil-driven communities of Fort McMurray and Slave Lake, rentals across the province are sitting empty. Owner-occupied homes actually rose by over 3,000 year-over-year, meaning the real estate market remains fairly healthy.
After nearly two years of economic downturn in the province, Alberta may start to see home prices reflect their struggling economy. CBC reported that Calgary has been lucky in that it hasn't seen economic distress like this since the 1980s, meaning residents now are not familiar with what that could look like.
A stagnant rental market with a high vacancy rate will not help, as owners with apartments to rent out will also be looking to sell and flee, pushing housing prices even lower.
And if, in a worst-case scenario, the Toronto real estate market and Vancouver real estate market both receive even the smallest correction in the next year, that means many of Canada's largest housing markets will suddenly look a lot different, affecting the entire country's economic future.


This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged feminism, John Rawls, parenting, Plato.
← Reflections of a Failed Tiger Mother: What is a Good Parent?
Very interesting! I hadn't considered (or noticed directly) this problem with attitudes to parenting. But I have, of course, felt it. I still haven't been back for a college reunion or women's dinner because I can't imagine what I'd have to talk about to most of the other 'successful' people there! I shall now consider this as part of a major society issue and perhaps go next year with a friend who appreciates my efforts and makes her own amazing efforts as a mother.
I wouldn't have read your friend's comment as a lack of respect, Holly. Knowing the good you were doing and the massive effort required, with respect, I think I would have sympathized with regards to the timing. He clearly understood the challenges of completing a Phd without also having a child to care for and might naturally think that the provision of some kind of LDS child care would support its domestic philosophy too. The fact is you did both. Amazing. I couldn't.
Very well explained Holly. And I can see how valuing parents help with the undue burden on caretaker argument. But what about the basic inequality that parenting creates? I know Plato's answer. How does someone else suggest we handle that?


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Mittting's Win Streak Reaches 17 Matches in Close Team Loss to LaGrange
Tom Mittring / Tim Hengst (BC)
def. John Mitchell Benton / Kyle Kelley (LCM)
8-7 (7-5)
Will Thompson / Caleb Edde (LCM)
def. Andrew Ingram / Tyler Frazee (BC)
Trevor McLemore / Mathias Vera (LCM)
def. No player / No player (BC)
FINAL - FORFEIT
Tom Mittring (BC)
def. Will Thompson (LCM)
Tim Hengst (BC)
def. John Mitchell Benton (LCM)
Tyler Frazee (BC)
def. Caleb Edde (LCM)
7-5, 3-6, 10-8
Kyle Kelley (LCM)
def. Andrew Ingram (BC)
Caleb Tyler (LCM)
def. Alex Glaze (BC)
Trevor McLemore (LCM)
def. No player (BC)
BREVARD, N.C. - Senior Tom Mittring extended his singles win streak to 17 matches as the Brevard College Tornados Men's Tennis team (2-7, 1-4 USAS) narrowly fell to the LaGrange Panthers (5-2, 4-1 USAS) by a final of 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at the McCoy Tennis Complex.
Mittring, Tim Hengst, and Tyler Frazee each picked up singles victories, while the duo of Mittring and Hengst earned a come-from-behind doubles win.
Fielding only five players on Saturday, the Tornados took forfeits in the no. 3 doubles and no. 6 singles spots.
The Mittring/Hengst no. 1 doubles victory proved to be a thriller, as the senior duo from Germany claimed an 8-7 win over LaGrange's no. 1 duo of John Benton and Kyle Kelley.
BC's senior pairing trailed 7-2, but rallied back to tie the match, saving two match points in the process. Mittring and Hengst won the tiebreaker, 7-5, to claim the win for the Tornados.
Mittring swept through his no. 1 singles match, while Hengst came away with a 6-0, 6-3 win. Frazee, the defending USA South Men's Tennis Rookie of the Week, defeated LaGrange's Caleb Edde in a close, 7-5, 3-6, 10-8 decision that came down to the final set.
LaGrange picked up two points via forfeit, along with no. 2 doubles, no. 4 singles, and no. 5 singles wins to clinch a 5-4 victory over Brevard.
The Brevard Men's Tennis team returns to action tomorrow as it visits NCAA DII Johnson C. Smith in Charlotte, N.C. at 1 p.m.


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A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Het Amsterdams Theaterhuis
The people responsible for last night's adaptation of A Christmas Carol (James Johnson and Hugh Mackay) made the intelligent choice of minimising the amount of narration in it. This was not one of those productions where you leave the theatre feeling cheated, reflecting that you would have been better served by simply staying home and rereading the original text.
The actor playing Scrooge, Casey Goodman, was superb, particularly at the beginning of the play: he chose to depict the character as twitchy and irate rather than the monster of vituperation to which we have become accustomed. The ghosts – all played by one man, Eli Thorne – were also a triumph. The Ghost of Christmas Past was faceless, his entire form shrouded in a white veil, and he spoke with a voice that was both amplified and distorted by special effects. The Ghost of Christmas Present was a garrulous, cheerful, sybaritic figure; the audience seemed to enjoy Eli's performance more than any other in the play. The Ghost of Christmas Future was also faceless, also veiled (in black, not white), and he entered the stage on all-fours – an artistic decision that succeeded in making his inhumanity seem bestial as well as spectral.
It is a sad fact that most people are now familiar with A Christmas Carol through the Muppets' 1993 film adaptation. Last night's production paid an acknowledgement to this by way of an opening joke in which a muppet was ousted from the stage. In the play's concluding scene, when Scrooge, now cured of his miserliness, has set about organising a Christmas feast for the various people whom he has mistreated (Martin Amis once astutely remarked that is the fate of all of Dickens' villains to be either 'tritely punished or implausibly converted'), one of Bob Cratchit's children discovers this same muppet lying beneath the Christmas tree. A nice dig, I thought. Jacob John Shale 4th December 2022
← STET presents A CHRISTMAS CAROL at Muiden and The Hague
The Amsterdam Light Festival →


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Posts tagged with "NPR"
Above, NARCAN is a potentially lifesaving medication designed to help reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in minutes. (Photo source: NARCAN)
A major drugmaker plans to sell overdose-reversal nasal spray NARCAN over the counter
Drug maker Emergent BioSolutions is seeking approval from the Food and Drug Administration to sell NARCAN over the counter (OTC), without need for a prescription, reports NPR.
The medication, an easy-to-use nasal spray version of the drug naloxone, has a strong track record reversing deadly opioid overdoses, which have soared in recent years largely because of the spread of fentanyl.
"I think it's a wonderful thing," says China Darrington, an addiction counselor in Ohio who was, herself, addicted to heroin for 16 years, adding, "The potency of the drugs nowadays is just so unfair. Naloxone has got to be around. People have got to have access to it."
Darrington tells NPR she survived addiction because people happened to have NARCAN on hand when she overdosed. "I've experienced being NARCANed, I want to say, about a half dozen times in my life. It kept me alive. You have to give people a chance to stay alive," she says.
During severe opioid overdoses, people stop breathing and die. Narcan and other forms of naloxone quickly reverse those harmful effects. But right now the medication is often hard to get, with access complicated by a dizzying patchwork of state and federal laws.
Speaking at a press conference this month, Dr. Rahul Gupta, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, pointed out that last year alone roughly 80,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses. With naloxone on hand, many of those deaths would have been avoided.
"There is today no excuse, no excuse absolutely for not having it everywhere available, when we know that's one medication that can save tens of thousands of lives right now," Gupta said.
Emergent BioSolutions CEO Bob Kramer says the FDA has now agreed to fast track its application to sell NARCAN over the counter without a prescription, with an answer expected by the end of March.
Kramer says that the goal is to have NARCAN so widely available that it's everywhere, ready in people's purses, in school classrooms, in shops and businesses, whenever someone overdoses.
"It's very easy to administer," he says. "You place the device in the nostril in the nostril and you deploy the mechanism with a puff."
Research contact: @NPR
This entry was posted in Business and tagged CEO Bob Kramer, Dr. Rahul gupta, Easy-to-use nasal spray version of the drug Nalooxone, Emergent BioSolutions, Expect FDA to answer by end of March, FDA, Fentanyl, NARCAN, NPR, Over the counter (OTC), reversing deadly opioid drug overdoses, White House Office of National Drug Control Policy on December 14, 2022 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, University of Maryland quidditch team member Heather Farnan, center, stands on defense with a bludger during practice in College Park, Maryland. (Photo source: Will Newton for The Washington Post)
Quidditch rebrands as 'quadball,' to distance game from J.K. Rowling, league says
Fans of quidditch are now fans of "quadball," the new name for the real-life sport that was first inspired by the Harry Potter book series, reports NPR.
U.S. Quidditch and Major League Quidditch announced the name change on Tuesday as well as their own rebranding as U.S. Quadball and Major League Quadball. The groups announced their intention to find a new name for the sport in December, citing what they called anti-trans positions of the series' author J.K. Rowling.
In addition to distancing themselves from the author, organizers hope the name change will give the sport more opportunities to grow and not be inhibited by the trademark for "quidditch" being owned by Warner Bros.
"Bringing full creative control of the name of our sport to the vibrant community of players and fans that has grown and sustained it will allow our organizations to take the next step," MLQ co-commissioner Amanda Dallas said in a statement. "We are now able to pursue the kinds of opportunities that our community has dreamed about for years."
Fans and players were polled as part of the name change process, MLQ said, with "quadball" receiving "strong support across demographic groups in the surveys."
The rules of the sport will remain the same, with four balls on the field and four different positions. Both of those are referenced in the new name.
The names of those positions and the balls will remain the same for now, but MLQ notes that both could change at a later date.
The first quidditch match took place at Middlebury College in Vermont in 2005, where the game was created by. Benepe called the name change a "bold move."
"For me personally there is definitely some nostalgia to the original name, but, from a long-term development perspective, I feel confident this is a smart decision for the future that will allow the sport to grow without limits into its own unique space for many years to come," he said in a statement.
During the sport's initial years, many were drawn to it because of the connection with the blockbuster book and movie series, but since then it has become known as an intense, full-contact sport full of athleticism. It's now played in at least 40 countries with nearly 600 teams in existence.
While the inspiration for Harry Potter may remain a draw for some, MLQ media outreach coordinator Jack McGovern said it's important for the sport to remain welcoming to everyone.
"I think our leagues have always and still attract people from lots of different backgrounds. People who come to the sport because they are Harry Potter fans and people who come to the sport because they are looking for an outlet for athletics in their life," McGovern said. "The sport has also always drawn heavily from the LGBTQ+ community and maintaining a welcoming space for all of those people who might be interested in the sport is really important to us."
The change in name has already been adopted by USQ and MLQ will officially adopt the new name after the 2022 MLQ Championship, scheduled for August 20 to 22 in Howard County, Maryland.
The International Quidditch Association also plans to adopt the sport's news name following the conclusion of the IQA European Games this weekend.
This entry was posted in Lifestyle and tagged Distancing from Rowling, International Quidditch Association (IQA), IQA European Games, Major Leage Quadball, Major League Quidditch, Middlebury College, MLQ co-commissioner Amanda Dallas, NPR, Quiddith, Rebranded as 'quadball', Trademark for quiidditch is owned by Warner Bros., U.s. Quadball, U.S. Quidditch, \Anti-trans positions of the series' author J.K. Rowling on July 20, 2022 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, Nala makes herself right at home. (Photo source: Julie Johnson)
Dog sneaks into couple's home during storm and snuggles her way into their bed
It could have been that a door was left ajar, or maybe a window. Julie Johnson from Tennessee isn't sure; all she knows is that somehow, someway—a stranger was able to freely enter her house one night.
This stranger however wasn't trying to steal, but only to snuggle. A brown bull terrier with a golden heart and silent feet crept into the Johnsons' house, jumped right into bed next to Julie and her husband Jimmy—and went to sleep, head on the pillows, reports Good News Network.
"You could see light coming into our curtains in our bedroom and I feel my husband not just roll over—but kind of startled, like almost a jump roll over, and it woke me up," Julie told NPR this week. "And in a quiet but stern voice, he said, 'Julie, whose dog is this?'"
Despite the startle, in such a situation; it didn't take long for Jimmy and Julie to realize the intruder meant them no harm, and was just "100% content being there."
How Nala the dog managed to enter their house without disturbing or garnering the attention of Jupiter, Hollis, and Zeppelin, the three dogs who normally sleep alongside the couple, the Johnsons will never know, and it must have made for an interesting chit-chat over morning coffee.
Julie took to Facebook to see if she could locate the dog's owners, posting a variety of selfies she took with the pup. Not long after, Nala's owners contacted them to explain she had slipped out of her collar on a walk the day before just ahead of a serious thunderstorm.
She had escaped into the woods, and between the four dog parents, the working theory arose that Nala had entered the Johnsons' house out of fear of the thunder and lighting.
"Our overly friendly pup, Nala, has hit an all-time record for ignoring personal space and added yet another trick to her long list of Houdini acts," Cris Hawkins, one of Nala's owners, wrote on Facebook.
"Shame [on] Nala for somehow breaking into a stranger's house and invading their personal space. Thankfully, the couple thought it was hilarious and they aren't even mad about it."
Since the incident, the four pooches have had playdate in the park, celebrating their new, and entirely accidental friendship.
Research contact: @goodnewsnetwork
This entry was posted in Lifestyle and tagged '100% content being there', Brown bull terrier, Cris Hawkins is Nala's owner, Dog 'broke into' house and went to sleep in the bed of the owners while they already were sleeping, Face on pillows, Facebook, Good News Network, Julie and Jimmy Johnson of Tennessee, Lightening storm, Nala, NPR, Playdates afterward on May 18, 2022 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, a sign outside Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. (Photo source: Patrick Raycraft/Hartford Courant via TNS)
Sandy Hook families agree to $73 million settlement with Remington Arms
The families of nine victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, have settled their lawsuit against Remington Arms—the manufacturer of the rifle that was used in the 2012 mass shooting—in an historic moment they said should put the gun industry and the banks and insurance companies that work with it on notice, reports Business Insider.
"Today is a day of accountability for an industry that has thus far enjoyed operating with immunity and impunity," Nicole Hockley, whose son Dylan was killed in the shooting, told reporters. "And for this I am grateful."
The settlement was for $73 million, Josh Koskoff, an attorney for the families, said at a news conference on Tuesday, February 15. Four insurers for the gunmaker will cover the costs, Koskoff said.
It marks the first time a gunmaker has been held responsible for a mass shooting in the United States.
"The gun industry's protection is not bulletproof," Koskoff said at the news conference.
Koskoff said the biggest feature of the settlement is not even the cash amount, but rather the "hundreds of thousands of documents" the families received through the discovery process that presumably details Remington's internal decisions about how to market and manufacture what became one of its best-selling products.
The families of victims of the shooting first filed suit against Remington Arms in 2014 over its marketing of the Bushmaster rifle that was used by Adam Lanza to kill 26 young children and educators at the school in Newtown, Connecticut.
Many of the families pointed out that legal experts said their case faced long odds. At issue is a 2005 federal law that offered gun makers and dealers sweeping immunity protections with narrow exceptions. Hockley called the settlement a "crack" in "the gun industry's impenetrable armor."
Remington took its legal fight over the situation all the way to the Supreme Court. In 2019, the high court declined to intervene after the Connecticut Supreme Court allowed the suit to proceed. Remington argued that it was protected by the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.
The Connecticut court found that the federal law did "not permit advertisements that promote or encourage violent, criminal behavior," NPR reported at the time.
Koskoff took reporters at the press conference through a lengthy review of Bushmaster's marketing for the firearm Lanza later used in the massacre.
"They will tell you it's made for hunting, but where's the animal in all of this?" Koskoff said pointing to one ad. Another ad in the presentation depicted the firearm with a message to prospective buyers about their "man card."
Research contact: @BusinessInsider
This entry was posted in Business and tagged $73 million, 2012 mass shooting, Adam Lanza, Bushmaster, Business Insider, Connecticut, Connecticut Supreme Court, First time a gunmaker held responsible, Josh Koskoff, Newtown, Nicole Hockley, NPR, Reminton Arms, Sandy Hook, School shooting, Settled lawshit, Supreme Court on February 16, 2022 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, Jeff Bezos and the Koningshaven 'De Hef' bridge in Rotterdam. (Photo source: The Times UK)
Yokesters: The Dutch vow to egg Jeff Bezos' yacht if a bridge is dismantled to let it pass through
It's not exactly smooth sailing these days in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, where locals are voicing their objection to a plan that would temporarily dismantle an historic bridge to enable the passage of a mega-yacht reportedly owned by former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, reports NPR.
In fact, some already are making plans—albeit, in jest—for what they will do if the project comes to fruition: Throw eggs at the yacht as it traverses the water under the Koningshaven Bridge, known locally as "De Hef."
Some 13,000 people are "interested" and nearly 4,000 have said they will attend a Facebook event titled "Throwing eggs at superyacht Jeff Bezos," which has been shared more than 1,000 times in the week since its creation.
"Calling all Rotterdammers, take a box of rotten eggs with you and let's throw them en masse at Jeff's superyacht when it sails through the Hef in Rotterdam," wrote organizer Pablo Strörmann.
He told the NL Times that the protest started as a joke among friends and has quickly gotten "way out of hand." (The English-language news site also notes that this isn't Strörmann's first campaign to go viral.)
The news of De Hef's potential disassembly, however brief, has clearly struck a chord with both locals and international observers.
It all started last week when Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond reported that the city appeared willing to grant a request to dismantle the centuries-old steel bridge so that Bezos' yacht could pass through.
De Hef was built in 1927 as a railway bridge, with a midsection that can be lifted to allow ship traffic to pass underneath, according to The Washington Post. It was replaced by a tunnel and decommissioned in 1994–but was saved from demolition by public protests and later declared a national monument.
The yacht's three masts apparently would be too high for the bridge's roughly 130-foot clearance. The yacht in question was reportedly commissioned by Bezos and currently is being built at the Oceanco shipyard in The Netherlands, according to Boat International. It will comprise three masts with aluminum and steel construction and will measure more than 415 feet in length.
Once delivered, not only will she become the world's largest sailing yacht, but she also will hold the title for the largest superyacht ever built in the Netherlands.
The waterway where the bridge sits is the only way the ship can get from the shipyard in Alblasserdam to the open seas, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. So Oceanco asked Rotterdam officials to temporarily remove the middle section of the bridge.
City spokesperson Netty Kros told the CBC that "the applicant" would cover the costs of the project but did not clarify whether that refers to the yacht's owner, the shipbuilder or both.
Bloomberg reports that Oceanco will foot the bill. NPR has reached out to Amazon and Oceanco to confirm these details.
The city appeared to agree to the arrangement last week, with municipal project leader Marcel Walravens telling Rijnmond that the project would proceed for logistical and economic reasons. He said an exact plan was being developed but estimated it would take about a week to prepare and another week to "put everything back in place."
This entry was posted in Lifestyle, Uncategorized and tagged 000 people are interested, 13, Amazon, Bloomberg, Boat International, De Hef, Dutch broadcaster Rijnmond, Facebook event, If it's dismantled eggs will fly\, Jeff Bezos, Koningshaven Bridge, Marcel walravens, Mega-yacht, NPR, Oceanco shipyard, Pablo Strormann, the Netherlands, The Washington Post, Throw eggs at yacht, Won't fit under bridge, World's largest sailing yacht on February 10, 2022 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, Save the Redwoods League donates redwood forestland to tribal council. (Photo source: Save the Redwoods League)
A California redwood forest has officially been returned to a group of Native tribes
A conservation group is returning guardianship of hundreds of acres of redwood forestland to a coalition of Native tribes that were displaced from the land generations ago by European American settlers, reports NPR.
Save the Redwoods League purchased the 523-acre area (known as Andersonia West) on the Lost Coast of California's Menodcino County in July 2020.The group announced on Tuesday, January 25, that it had donated and transferred ownership of the property to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council—a consortium of 10 Northern California tribal nations focused on environmental and cultural preservation.
The forest will be renamed Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ—which means "fish run place" in the Sinkyone language—as "an act of cultural empowerment and a celebration of Indigenous resilience," the league said in a release. The tribal council has granted it a conservation easement, meaning use of the land will be limited for its own protection.
"Renaming the property Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ lets people know that it's a sacred place; it's a place for our Native people. It lets them know that there was a language and that there was a people who lived there long before now," said Crista Ray, a tribal citizen of the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians and a board member of the Sinkyone Council. She is of Eastern Pomo, Sinkyone, Cahto, Wailaki, and other ancestries.
According to NPR, the league's 2020 purchase of the forest cost $3.55 million and was fully funded by Pacific Gas & Electric Company (the utility, which has been behind multiple deadly wildfires, supports habitat conservation programs to mitigate other environmental damage it has caused).
Establishing Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ supports meeting the power company's 30-year conservation goals, which the league says were developed alongside the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency also approved the long-term management and stewardship plan for the property.
Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ is home to ancient trees, important bodies of water and a variety of endangered species. It comprises 200 acres of old-growth coast redwoods and 1.5 miles of Anderson Creek, a stream and tributary of the South Fork Eel River.
"Second-growth redwoods, Douglas-firs, tanoaks, and madrones also tower over a lush understory of huckleberries, elderberries, manzanitas, and ceanothuses," as the league describes it. This habitat supports endangered species like the northern spotted owl, steelhead trout, coho salmon, marbled murrelet and yellow-legged frog.
The council and the league say their partnership will protect the environment by preventing habitat loss, commercial timber operations, construction, and other development.
They plan to rely on a mix of Indigenous place-based land guardianship principles, conservation science, climate adaptation, and fire resiliency concepts to heal and preserve the area.
"We believe the best way to permanently protect and heal this land is through tribal stewardship," said Sam Hodder, resident and CEO of Save the Redwoods League. "In this process, we have an opportunity to restore balance in the ecosystem and in the communities connected to it, while also accelerating the pace and scale of conserving California's iconic redwood forests."
People involved with the partnership stress that it's not just the protection of the land that matters — it's also the restoration of the property to descendants of its original inhabitants.
Notably, the Sinkyone Council has designated Tc'ih-Léh-Dûñ as a tribal protected area. "This designation recognizes that this place is within the Sinkyone traditional territory, that for thousands of years it has been and still remains an area of importance for the Sinkyone people, and that it holds great cultural significance for the Sinkyone Council and its member tribes," said Priscilla Hunter, a tribal citizen of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians and chairwoman of the Sinkyone Council.
Returning farmland to Yakama Nation is a step toward self-sufficiency tribes once had: It joins another 180,000 acres of conserved lands along the Sinkyone coast, the release notes. The council hopes that the acquisition will continue expanding the network of adjacent protected lands with similar ecosystems and cultural histories.
Research contact: NPR
This entry was posted in Lifestyle and tagged Conservation group, Cost $3.55 million, Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Endangered species, NPR, Pacific Gas & Electric, Permanantly protect and heal land, Protected area, Returns guardianship of redwood forestland, Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, To coalition of Native tribes on January 26, 2022 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, Putin (left) and Biden. (Photo source: MGN)
Biden phones Putin to de-escalate tensions along Ukraine border
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday afternoon, December 30, again warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of painful economic consequences, should Russian forces invade Ukraine, reports NPR.
But Biden also made clear that the United States sees a diplomatic path forward to address some of Russia's concerns about the expansion of the Western-backed NATO in the region.
An Administration official who asked to have his name withheld said the purpose of the call, which Putin requested, was primarily to set the "tone and tenor" for planned security talks between U.S. and Russian officials on January 10 in Geneva.
It was the second time the two leaders spoke during December, as Russia has assembled as many as 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border, prompting fears of an invasion.
Another Administration official has described the situation as a "moment of crisis." U.S. officials say they have not seen any significant signs of de-escalation.
"President Biden urged Russia to de-escalate tensions with Ukraine," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement after the call. "He made clear that the United States and its allies and partners will respond decisively if Russia further invades Ukraine."
The 50-minute call was "serious and substantive," according to the administration official who briefed reporters on Thursday.
Biden laid out two paths forward, the official said: "One is a path of diplomacy, leading toward a de-escalation of the situation. The other path is more focused on deterrence, including serious costs and consequences should Russia choose to proceed with a further invasion of Ukraine."
But both leaders acknowledged areas where "meaningful progress" could be made, as well as some areas "where agreements may be impossible," the official said.
Putin aide Yuri Ushakov described the talks as good and frank, but said that Putin warned Biden that his promise of punishing sanctions could lead to a complete breakdown in U.S.-Russian relations that would in the future be seen as a big mistake.
According to NPR, Putin has made his concerns clear: He wants written assurances that Ukraine will not be admitted into NATO. He also wants Western troops and arms out of other former Soviet states in Eastern Europe.
The U.S. and its allies have refused any such guarantees, but White House officials said they were open to hearing Russia's concerns about NATO.
In addition to economic sanctions, Biden told Putin in their earlier call, on December 7, that if Russia were to invade Ukraine, the U.S. would provide additional defensive equipment and supplies to the Ukraine—and potentially deploy U.S troops to other nearby Eastern European countries.
U.S. and Russian leaders will lay out their concerns during the January 10 talks. Moscow is expected to continue the conversation with NATO officials two days later and then after, on January 13, tp meet separately with the members of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE), of which Ukraine is a member.
Whether there is a resolution that can satisfy Putin's demands and avoid war is unclear.
Samuel Charap, who was a top Russia adviser in the Obama Administration, is not optimistic. "I don't yet see a pathway out of this where everyone can go home and there's no conflict," said Charap, who is now an analyst at the Rand Corporation. "It seems clear to me that Putin is not willing to take away the threat until he gets something. And if he doesn't get something, I think he seems prepared to act."
That Putin called for Thursday's call led some to believe that he may be seeking a way out of the stand-off.
The Biden official told reporters that Putin did not share if he had made a decision on whether he would invade Ukraine."We're not going to draw conclusions and there were certainly no declarations as to intention from this conversation," the official said. "But regardless, our focus is really on action, and on indicators, not on words at this point."
This entry was posted in Politics and tagged 'Moment of crisis', Not optimistic, NPR, OSCE, Putin wants written assurance that Ukraine will not jjoin NATO\, Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Samuel Chrap, Second phone call in December, Talk set tone and tenor for planned talks on January 10 in Geneva, Troops at Ukraine border, U.S. President Joe Biden, USA amd allies 'will respond decisively' if Russia further invvades Ukraine, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaka on December 31, 2021 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, E. Jean Carroll. (Photo source: Christian Science Monitor)
Why is DOJ still defending Trump in E. Jean Carroll lawsuit?
The Biden Justice Department is forging ahead with a controversial legal effort started under former President Donald Trump to intervene on Trump's behalf in a defamation lawsuit brought against him by a writer who says Trump sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, NPR reports. But the question remains, why?
E. Jean Carroll leveled the accusations against Trump in her memoir published in Jean Carroll leveled the accusations against Trump in her memoir published in 2019. Trump denied the allegations and accused Carroll of lying to sell books.
Carroll sued the then-president for defamation, but the suit has been caught up in litigation since the Trump-era Justice Department attempted to step in on Trump's behalf and make the government the defendant instead of the now-former president.
In its filing late Monday, the Justice Department—now led by Attorney General Merrick Garland under the Biden Administration—sought to continue its defense of Trump while distancing itself from his alleged actions.
"Then-President Trump's response to Ms. Carroll's serious allegations of sexual assault included statements that questioned her credibility in terms that were crude and disrespectful," Brian Boynton, the acting head of the department's Civil Division, wrote in the brief. "But this case does not concern whether Mr. Trump's response was appropriate. Nor does it turn on the truthfulness of Ms. Carroll's allegations."
Instead, Boynton said, it boils down to a few legal questions, including whether a president is an "employee of the government" and whether Trump's denials were made within the scope of his office. The department said the answer to both questions is yes, and therefore under federal law it said the government should be able to replace Trump as defendant in the case.
If the department were to succeed in its efforts, legal experts said the move would effectively end the case because the federal government can't be sued for defamation.
According to NPR, Carroll's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, slammed the Justice Department's decision to continue the Trump-era effort to intervene.
"The DOJ's position is not only legally wrong, it is morally wrong since it would give federal officials free license to cover up private sexual misconduct by publicly brutalizing any woman who has the courage to come forward," she said on Twitter.
"Calling a woman you sexually assaulted a 'liar,' a 'slut,' or 'not my type'—as Donald Trump did here—is NOT the official act of an American president."
The new filing is the latest development in the case since the Trump-era Justice Department first took the unusual step of seeking to intervene in the lawsuit last year.
The Justice Department and then-Attorney General William Barr came under fierce criticism for the move, which opponents argued was one in a series of actions the department took under Barr that benefited Trump or his friends.
A federal judge in October denied the Justice Department's initial attempt to step in on Trump's behalf. Trump appealed the decision to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, where the matter now stands.
This entry was posted in Politics and tagged Attorney General Merrick Garland, Biden Justice Department, Carroll alleged she was sexually assaulted by Trump, Carroll sued former president for defamation, Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan, Defending Trump, E. Jean Carroll, Former AG Bill Barr, Government should be defendant in case, NPR, Trump accused Carroll of lying to sell books, Twitter on June 9, 2021 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, damage inside the Capitol building. (Photo source: Fox 8 News)
Architect of the Capitol outlines $30 million In damages from pro-Trump insurrection
The cost of repairing damages caused by rioters during the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol—paired with investments to harden security there right afterward—already has spiraled to a number in excess of $30 million and will keep rising, Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton told lawmakers last week, NPR reports.
The events of January 6, he said, were "difficult for the American people and extremely hard for all of us on campus to witness."
Blanton said that, to date, congressional appropriations committees have approved a transfer request of $30 million to pay for expenses and extend a temporary perimeter fencing contract through March 31.
But more money will be needed, he added: "History teaches us that project costs for replacements and repairs beyond in-kind improvements across campus will be considerable and beyond the scope of the current budgetary environment."
The price tag will go even higher, Blanton told lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee, if the fence and other security measures are needed beyond March.
In his prepared testimony, Blanton described how his employees tried to minimize the threat to the Capitol and lawmakers on January 6, when thousands of former President Donald Trump's supporters breached security perimeters at the Capitol grounds.
"[Architect of the Capitol] employees sheltered congressional staff in their shops to protect them from the roving mob," Blanton said, adding, "Other members of our team raced to the roof to reverse the airflows within the building to help clear the air of chemical irritants, like bear repellents and pepper spray, while more team members rushed bottles of water and eyewash stations to Capitol Police officers in need of assistance."
When the mob thronged the Capitol, the Architect of the Capitol's painters and artisans were laboring to complete the massive task of readying the campus to host a presidential inauguration. "Over the course of a couple of hours, the hard work of our team was destroyed," Blanton said.
"The [inauguration] platform was wrecked. There was broken glass and other debris. Sound systems and photography equipment was damaged beyond repair or stolen. Two historic Olmsted lanterns were ripped from the ground, and the wet blue paint was tracked all over the historic stone balustrades and Capitol building hallways."
In the Capitol building complex, historical statues, murals and furniture were damaged, mainly from pepper spray accretions and residue from chemical irritants and fire extinguishers, requiring expert cleaning and conservation. Work crews covered gaping holes with plywood and cleared "a small mountain of debris left behind on the west and east fronts," Blanton said.
Blanton also said many lawmakers have asked his office about preserving mementos from the unprecedented violence wrought by U.S. citizens on their own Capitol. While most damaged items had to be removed because of safety concerns, he said his staff preserved the panels of the historical Columbus Doors on the east front "for a potential presentation or display."
According to NPR, Blanton also addressed the security failures that contributed to the U.S. Capitol being occupied by an angry mob that sought to block the certification of then-President-elect Joe Biden's victory over Trump.
"The events of January 6 were stark reminders that institutional biases, priorities and actions taken out of sync with actionable data resulted in poor decisions," he said. "If we do not learn from these mistakes, the campus will continue to remain vulnerable to unknown and unexpected threats."
Blanton also asked the committee for help in securing additional funds for a campuswide security assessment to prevent similar events in the future and to protect the Capitol and the people who work there.
This entry was posted in Politics and tagged Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton, Fence and security meaures, Historical statues and murals and furniture damaged, House Appropriations Committee, Inauguration platform wrecked, NPR, Over $30M of damage repair and facility hardening costs at U.S. Capitol, Security failures on February 26, 2021 by Poll-Vaulter.
Above, buses are not as popular as they used to be. (Photo source: eyedrkbl/#londoncentral/Instagram)
'Wheels come off' for bus companies, closing down travel options for lower-income Americans
The wheels on the nation's buses aren't going round and round very much these days. Indeed, demand for bus travel has fallen by more than 80% during the pandemic, NPR reports.
That is raising concerns about the potential long-term damage to an essential transport sector for millions of lower-income Americans—even as air travel has shown signs of picking up since the Thanksgiving holiday period.
Even now, getting a bus ticket is becoming more expensive—and routes are being cut nationwide.
Feeling the pinch most are people such as Andrew Sarkis, said NPR, which interviewed him as he tried to make his way home for the holidays. Sarkis said he paid $97 for a one-way bus ticket from Hampton, Virginia, to New York City—a 12-hour journey that required two transfers.
"It's expensive, man," said Sarkis, while stretching his legs after his bus took a brief stop at Union Station in Washington, D.C.
"I used to go on another bus, for $45 a trip, that goes straight to New York," he added.
Sarkis was on his way to visit family for Christmas but ended up with a half-day travel option on a Greyhound bus after finding his usual options in competing services pared down. "The service is not bad," he said. "It's just long hours of traveling."
For its part, Greyhound told NPR that it's operating at less than half its normal bus routes during the pandemic, while revenues have fallen nearly 60%.
"Greyhound has been immensely impacted by the effects of COVID-19," the company said in a statement. "From temporary and permanent closures of routes to sudden workforce reductions, our ability to provide critical service to communities—especially those that are underserved and/or rural—has been reduced."
Industrywide, the service cuts are even deeper.
"We see the industry operating at about 10% capacity," said Peter Pantuso, president of the American Bus Association.
And it's hard to estimate how soon demand will pick up. Not many people are interested in riding the bus these days, which means spending hours with strangers in an enclosed space.
Unlike airlines, which saw an uptick in travel over Thanksgiving, demand for bus tickets remains severely depressed, according to Wanderu, a travel website.
That raises concerns about the long-term health of a sector that generally operates on thinner margins and has less financial cushion.
Pantuso estimates that 85% of the 100,000 people who work in the bus industry have been laid off or furloughed—in most cases since March.
It's not just long-haul services like Greyhound that are limping. Traffic on commuter lines that ordinarily ferry workers to and from the suburbs has also dried up, since many people are working from home.
Charter buses and specialty services are struggling as well.
The Nitetrain Coach Co. in Nashville offers tricked-out buses with bars and bunk beds for touring musicians. Since March, the company's 120-bus fleet has gone silent.
"It's been a hard time with concerts not happening," said Nitetrain's Angela Eicher. "No job. No income." The company has idled more than 200 drivers as well as mechanics and office staff.
"We're at the mercy of the venues," Eicher said. "When the venues allow the concerts to start happening, that's when our buses will start rolling again."
But while Congress has offered billions of dollars in financial aid to airlines and Amtrak, bus companies have been overlooked.
Pantuso, the bus trade group president, told NPR that the lack of attention from Congress was a concern, calling his sector a critical piece of the nation's transportation network. "If more members of Congress took the bus on a more regular basis," he said, "we'd probably be at the top of the list for funding."
This entry was posted in Business and tagged 85% of industry laid off or furloughed, American Bus Association, Buses are more expensive now, Charter buses also struggling, Fewer routes, Greyhound, Nitetrain Coach, NPR, Operating at 10% capacity, Pandemic, Peter Pantuso, Strangers in close quarters on December 29, 2020 by Poll-Vaulter.


Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition is an action video game developed by Capcom Game Studio Vancouver and published by Capcom.It was released on 6 Sep, 2014 for PC.I started playing Dead Rising on the first game of the series, the only thing which is a con compared to the previous titles of the franchise is the ugly filter, but then again it is California so it's probably true to form. However as for the fifth installment, that's an entirely different story that lost me the moment the voice actor was not casted. The people who rag on this one likely never playwe provided Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition PC Game with pro account of mediafire(without ads, direct link) under 14 GB.Is this game is free and for Pc? Yes this game is free video game and for Computer. Please see below screenshots and system requirements to understand you, Can you able to play this game on pc? so after check out download , Install, play and Enjoy!.Now Check Out Below Download link ,download game and enjoy!.According to me Download >>Install>>Play>>Enjoy!.
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CWTea Shop coming soon to 203 Main Street in Woodstock, IL . Our expected opening will be sometime in April 2019. Follow us on social to stay up to date on our plans.
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Best of Kenya Tanzania Luxury Safari
Home/ Best of Kenya Tanzania Luxury Safari
May 10, 2021 adminTanzania Lodge Safaris
Upon arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, you will be met by our representative and transferred to the 5-star hotel Boma Hotel.
Dinner (not included) can be taken at the hotel or at any of the cities many restaurants.
Overnight at The Boma-Superior room BB
Day 2: Nairobi to Ol Pejeta
After an early breakfast, drive north travelling to Nanyuki onto Ol Pejeta Conservancy
Check-in to Sweetwaters Tented Camp. A sheltered oasis, clustered around a water hole and set in the pristine calm of the private Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Sweetwaters offers a charming blend of under canvas ambience and safari luxury. Located on the plains of Mount Kenya, the camp features thirty-nine luxury tents, each with its own private veranda overlooking the water hole. The central Rhino Restaurant, housed in the former manager's house of this once colonial farm offers both regional and international cuisine. Also, within the house is the Kashoggi Bar and lounge, which centres on a blazing log fire. The Waterhole Bar, built in the style of a game-viewing hide, overlooks the waterhole and offers unrivalled wildlife-watching
Overnight at Sweetwaters Serena Camp-Standard Tent LDBB
Day 3: On safari in Ol Pejeta
Spend all day on safari in the reserve with morning and afternoon game drives and breakfast, lunch and dinner at the camp.
Visit the local Rhino and Chimpanzee Sanctuaries in the course of your game drives
About Ol Pajeta Conservancy:
From a working cattle ranch in colonial Kenya to a trailblazer of conservation innovation – the story of Ol Pejeta is as enchanting as it is inspirational. Today, Ol Pejeta is the largest black rhino sanctuary in East Africa, and home to two of the world's last remaining northern white rhino. It is the only place in Kenya to see chimpanzees, in a Sanctuary established to rehabilitate animals rescued from the black market. It has some of the highest predator densities in Kenya and still manages a very successful livestock programme. Ol Pejeta also seeks to support the people living around its borders, to ensure wildlife conservation translates to better education, healthcare and infrastructure for the next generation of wildlife guardians.
Overnight at Sweetwaters Serena Camp-Standard Tent-LDBB
Day 4: Ol Pejeta to Naivasha
After breakfast, drive south to Lake Naivasha in time for lunch at the charmingly located Lake Naivasha Sopa Lodge. The lodge stands in 120 acres of lakeside land, most of which is covered in green riparian meadows, which sweep down to the shores of the lake, one of the most beautiful in the Great Rift Valley. A jetty has been built out onto the lake, from where guests can watch the antics of the hippos in the lake and experience 360-degree views, which include Crescent Island, Mount Longonot, the Mau Escarpment and the misty outline of the Aberdares. The grounds are alive with a colourful selection of birds, and the trees with monkeys.
Afternoon crescent Island walk & boat ride in Lake Naivasha (included in this safari) ..Alternatively you may choose to just chill out at the lodge
About Lake Naivasha
A freshwater lake, the highest of the string of lakes that glitter down the vast trench of the Great Rift Valley, Lake Naivasha is infamous for its rapidly shifting moods. Enigmatic, and dotted with floating islands of Nile cabbage (water hyacinth) and papyrus, Lake Naivasha has no known outlet, and legends abound regarding the vast tunnels that supposedly run beneath its surface. Towered over by the brooding bulk of Mount Longonot (2,776 m), and featuring a submerged volcanic crater known as Crescent Island, this beautiful lake is best known for its high numbers of water birds. Also, for the haunting cry of the fish eagles, which feed on the black bass and tilapia of its waters.
Overnight at Naivasha Sopa Lodge-Standard room-LDBB
Day 5: Naivasha to Masai Mara
Leaving the lodge after breakfast, continue up the floor of Rift to arrive in the famous Masai Mara National Reserve, and at the Il Keliani Camp
Il Keliani Camp: Nestled in a river glade in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, the area is a favourite for elephants coming to drink from the Talek River. The camp has been designed to combine the old traditional safari style with a modern and fresh feel. Ilkeliani Camp offers only 17 tents and each commanding views of the plains and the wildlife action throughout the day. It is a permanent camp designed along with eco-friendly principles. The ethos is to leave a minimum footprint on nature. Each well-equipped tents are stylish with an en suite bathroom. They are sited under its own cluster of shady indigenous trees and you do feel that you are out in the wilderness. The interiors are spacious and comfortable featuring a front verandah with a day bed and canvas safari chairs. Home-cooked meals combined with personal service contribute to an unforgettable safari experience
Enjoy lunch at the camp located on the edge of Talek River
In the afternoon, enjoy your first game-drive in the Mara. World-renowned for the breath-taking spectacle of 'the greatest wildlife shows on earth', the awe-inspiring annual migration of the wildebeest, the Mara is Kenya's most visited protected area. Technically an extension of Tanzania's renowned Serengeti National Park, the Mara constitutes only 4% of the entire Serengeti ecosystem but its rolling grasslands, meandering rivers and towering escarpments offer one of the world's most rewarding and evocative wildlife arenas. Returning to the camp, enjoy some relaxation on your private veranda, sundowners and dinner in the central restaurant.
All meals and overnight at Ilkeliani Camp, Masai Mara-Standard room-LDBB
Day 6: On safari in the Mara
Spend all day on safari in the reserve with morning and afternoon game drives and breakfast, lunch and dinner at the camp
When it comes to game-viewing, there is nowhere in Africa richer in wildlife or more eventful in encounters than the Mara. A pristine wilderness of haunting beauty, it promises its visitors a profusion of wildlife, prolific birdlife and the unprecedented opportunity of catching up with all the members of the 'Big Five' in one morning.
Day 7: On Safari in Maasai Mara
Day 8: The Mara to Serengeti (Travel by light flight via Migori & Tarime)
After breakfast transfer to the local airstrip in Masai Mara for a scheduled Airkenya Flight to Serengeti Seronera Airstrip via Migori and Tarime Airstrips near the border of Kenya and Tanzania respectively. The flight which departs Masai Mara approximately 08.45 0hours is half an hour to Migori Airstrip where upon arrival you are put on a road transfer across the border for immigrations and custom procedures, then on to Tarime Airstrip to connect to Tanzanian domestic flight departing 1030hours to arrive approximately 1105hours in Serengeti National Park and to Serengeti Acacia Camp (Central) which is ideally located for safari game drives as well as optional activities such as balloon safaris
Lunch and afternoon game drive.
All meals and overnight at Serengeti Acacia Camp (Central) Standard room-LDBB
About the Serengeti
Covering 14,763 sq km of endlessly rolling savannah plains, the Serengeti is Tanzania's first-established, largest and most famous park wherein tens of thousands of hoofed animals roam in a constant and unremitting search for the fresh grasslands upon which their survival depends.
Day 9: On safari in the Serengeti
With a full day's game-driving in the park, your options are wide. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served at the camp, where guided nature walks can also be taken. Game drives can be taken morning and afternoon. Whilst the annual migration is the Serengeti's most famous attraction, the Park is also renowned for its lion, many of which have been fitted with radio-transmitter collars so that their movements may be tracked, and additionally for its wealth of cheetah, zebra, giraffe, Thomson's and Grant's gazelle, eland, impala, klipspringer, hippo and warthog.
All meals and overnight at Serengeti Acacia Camp (Central) -Standard room-LDBB
Day 10: On safari in the Serengeti
Day 11: Serengeti to Ngorongoro
After breakfast depart the camp not later than 08.00 AM with game drive en-route, drive through the Serengeti to the Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area, stopping en route for a visit to the world-famous Olduvai Gorge Paleolithic site and reputed Cradle of Mankind'. Thereafter proceed leisurely to Ngorongoro Crater to check in at Ngorongoro Serena for lunch in the afternoon proceed to visit a traditional Maasai Homestead within Ngorongoro Area
The remainder of the day spent at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge, which offers the finest location of all the crater rim lodges, lying on the southern rim of the crater, directly above the yellow fever trees of the Lerai Forest.
Dinner and overnight at Ngorongoro Serena Lodge-Standard room L-DBB
Day 12: Ngorongoro to Lake Manyara
Rise early with a packed breakfast to descend for a half-day game drive in the crater.
Often referred to as 'the eighth wonder of the world' the Ngorongoro Crater is one of Africa's best-known wildlife arenas. The Ngorongoro Crater is one of the largest volcanic craters in the world covering a total area of 264 square kilometres. An utterly unique biosphere, the Crater harbours grasslands, swamps, forests, salt pans, a fresh water lake and a glorious variety of birdlife, all enclosed within its towering walls. It boasts a high concentration of wildlife with exceptionally close-range viewing opportunities. Leaving the crater behind, we will continue to visit our local school project, Simba Milima Primary School where you will have the opportunity to learn about the school and interact with the students. After this experience continues to check in to Manyara Serena Safari Lodge for a late lunch and much-needed rest.
All meals and overnight at Manyara Serena Lodge-Standard room LDBB
Day 13: Lake Manyara to Arusha/Kilimanjaro Airport
Check out of the lodge after breakfast
Drive into Lake Manyara National Park for morning game drives
A packed/box lunch will be provided from Manyara Serena Lodge to allow participants flying from Manyara Airstrip to connect in good time
For participants departing via Arusha time permitting stop for lunch at Arusha Coffee Lodge
Transfer to Arusha or Kilimanjaro Airport for your onward flight.


Dibrugarh University (DU), Dibrugarh has invited applications for admission to part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme for the academic session 2015-2016 from all the MBA aspirants. Read for full details.
Dibrugarh University (DU), Dibrugarh has invited applications for admission to part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) programme for the academic session 2015-2016 from all the MBA aspirants.
Last date of issue/submission of forms: 24th July 2015.
Date of CMSDU test: 2nd August 2015.
1. The interested candidates should have completed their graduation from a recognised university in any discipline except music and fine arts.
2. They must also possess a work experience of minimum 2 years.
1. The candidates will be selected on the basis of the Center for Management Studies Dibrugarh University (CMSDU-2015) results.
2. This will be followed by an interview which will be conducted by a panel of judges.
3. The candidates who score more than 500 as their MAT score will be exempted from their CMSDU test.
• The candidates need to buy a registration kit which would contain the application form and other admission procedure details by paying Rs 650 and Rs 400 for candidates who seek exemption from CMSDU Test.
• Candidates may request for a registration kit by sending a bank deposit slip of Rs 650 in the prescribed format PNB A/C: 0157002100032540 (code: PNBO 994000) which can be tendered through any Branch of Punjab National Bank along with postage worth Rs 50.


text:
Epaphrodita är ett släkte av bönsyrsor. Epaphrodita ingår i familjen Hymenopodidae.

Kladogram enligt Catalogue of Life:

Källor

Bönsyrsor
Epaphrodita

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


"This majestic and patriotic theme in red, blue and white colors features a bright banner of the American flag on the main background which is ideal for presentations dedicated to the United States of America, the Constitution of the USA, American economy, American policy, American history, and various other presentations connected to American life and culture."
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Decluttering your home is a massive project that involves a lot of decisions. Establishing a list of problem areas in your home (with consultation with your other family members) will help you identify your spring cleaning priorities and help smooth over the process when it comes time to a make difficult decision.
By working through each room in your home, it not only limits the size of the mess, but it'll help you process the scale of your cleaning through smaller sample sizes. Doing your cleaning this way will also help you establish a list of tasks you want to complete in the near future, but simply don't have the time or energy to complete right now. Stay focused and make solid progress on each room every day and you'll achieve your spring cleaning goals with ease.
According to psychologists, one of the key principles of hoarding disorder is the fear of losing an emotional attachment to an item or object. This prevents many people from effectively reducing the clutter within their home and before they realize it, they've accumulated an unwieldy amount of junk. Staying open-minded and having a non-family member help you sort through your belongings may help reduce separation anxiety during the decluttering process.
Cleaning an entire home is hard enough work on its own - downsizing and decluttering one is work enough for an entire family over several days or weeks. Old furniture, appliances, or simple piles of junk can often be too big a task for even several people to handle when you take into account responsible recycling and waste removal. For the projects you can't quite handle yourself, consider giving a junk removal specialist a call. The folks at Happy Hauler LLC work hard, fast, and responsibly, picking up and sorting your old, unwanted clutter and junk to donation centers and recycling facilities before we turn to the landfill. Contact us today to schedule a pickup and get started on a cleaner, happier home.


text:
Never Mind, The Raiders Actually Want Martavis Bryant Now
Filed to: Oakland RaidersFiled to: Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders dropped wide receiver Martavis Bryant 11 days ago, insisting at the time that the guy they traded a third-round pick for on draft night wasn't released because of a possible drug suspension, but rather because he wasn't very good and kept missing practice. Now, they've taken him back. Bryant signed a one-year deal with the Raiders today, a day after NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that Bryant had returned to the Raiders facility to practice and hammer out an agreement.
ESPN's Adam Schefter reported earlier this week that Bryant faces a year-long suspension for a failed offseason drug test. The league could make its decision before the Raiders play the Broncos on Sunday. It seems that Oakland's lack of wideout production on Monday night—Jordy Nelson and Amari Cooper combined for four catches and 32 yards—outweighed the possibility of losing Bryant until 2019. Only took a week and a half to figure it out!
Head coach Jon Gruden was asked whether surrendering the 79th overall pick for a guy who may legitimately never take the field for the Raiders was wise, and he responded by pointing out that the Raiders always screw up and waste picks anyway:
"I don't think so," he said. "I think the guy is a superb talent. The guy has great talent. We released our second-round draft choice last year and the year before and the year before that. Not everything is a perfect science, but we'll be criticized for that. It was a risk I thought well worth taking."
Let's conclude with one more dank Raiders item:
Alarmingly Red Jon Gruden: Khalil Mack Didn't Want To Be Here
Raiders Insist Martavis Bryant's Release Was About Competition And Not His Impending Drug Suspension
Jon Gruden Says He'll "Look At The Reasons Why" The Raiders Had No Pass Rush


text:
"Shock" at proposals for AM to take over TravelWatch role
September 16, 2010 - Martin Hoscik@martinhoscik
TravelWatch represents passengers in and around London
The capital's passenger watchdog London TravelWatch has expressed "disappointment" at proposals to end its status as "a separately constituted organisation" and hand its functions and duties to the London Assembly.
The proposals, which are set out in a draft report to be presented at a meeting of the London Assembly Business Management and Administration Committee next week, follow a six-month review of the watchdog by Assembly Members.
At present the London Assembly funds TravelWatch and appoints its board members, however the draft report has recommended that AMs do not fill six places on the watchdog's board which will become vacant in December.
Further the report proposes that existing TravelWatch staff "be re-located to City Hall as soon as is practical, and by the latest April 2011" and that discussions be opened with TravelWatch's landlord over the future of its Middle Street offices.
Other proposals include "contracting Passenger Focus to fulfil the functions of London TravelWatch in relation to rail passengers in the capital" and that the body "stops responding to borough consultations relating to streets with immediate effect."
It is also proposed that "London TravelWatch ceases committing resource to production and publication of its performance monitoring reports with immediate effect" and that the watchdog "remove its contact details from publicity on buses by the end of 2010."
The report also proposed that "discussions to this end, and any necessary legislative changes, are taken forward with the relevant government departments during the autumn."
Responding to the review, TravelWatch Chair Sharon Grant said the organisation was "deeply shocked that the London Assembly wants to silence the only independent passenger voice in London, where transport is absolutely central to everyone's life."
The report will be presented to Business Management and Administration Committee on 23rd September 2010
Tagged With: Devolution
Nick Biskinis says
It might have been surprising to the Chair of LTW, but not to many users groups who have encountered TravelWatch. This was a failing watchdog that called itself the "voice of transport users" but often acted like an arrogant quango, often using its position to endorse cuts to services, particularly in South London and consistantly compromising on compromises. The Chair would make emphatic statements about an issue only to renege and adopt a contrary position two months later. In South London, TravelWatch supported axeing of direct links to London Bridge and Victoria for several stations. Two years ago the previous Chair was fired for inappropriate political activity during the Mayoral election. It's latest satisfaction figures are as low as 45%. All this in return for £16 million of Londoners' taxes since 2000. The Assembly Review ostensibly sought to axe TravelWatch because of 'rationalisation' but in fact many Assembly Members were not impressed by this watchdog. I am afraid Sharon Grant's protests have little sympathy with passengers who have seen their services axed with the support of this discredited organisation. The question is how to replace it with a proper watchdog that has the committment and passion to challenge and advocate Londoners' interests
Damian Hockney says
In the draft London Assembly report, one's eye is drawn to the statement: "Other proposed changes to the devolution settlement in London are likely to put significant pressure on accommodation within City Hall" (I read that as more staff and more spending). I may have missed something, but when you look at detail of the draft report's claim about savings (in the very clearly presented box), you see large amounts listed for "ceasing to respond to borough road consultations and multi-modal consultations, ceasing production of performance monitoring reports, reducing the number of non-appeal inquiries by removing contact details from buses". So who is going to perform these vital functions, and where are the corresponding costs listed for those who will do them (presumably at City Hall)? Or are they not going to be done by anyone? There are a number of such anomalies, and if these are not made really clear, then it simply looks like an attempt to downgrade passenger representation using the excuse of taking the committee under democratic control. BTW if you want real democratic control, then why not put the body up for election, not bury them in a body which already has a large number of committees and where there is a danger that the functions will simply get lost. But that's another issue…
Nick Biskinis does have a point (in fact many!), but is this a reason to scrap a body and possibly see passengers' interests even more badly served? Surely the failure is as much the London Assembly's already; isn't the Assembly supposed to oversee and hold to account Travelwatch? A similar example might be Parliament – it should not be scrapped just because MPs abused their expenses, or because they have handed away powers to other bodies in return for bawbees or whatever…when changes are proposed you always surely have to look at the real reason behind the proposals and what they might lead to. And to make sure that 'reforms' (lovely word) will not neuter yet further passengers' interests under the guise of 'accountability'.


text:
La Pola de Gordón é um município, e a vila com o mesmo nomem, da Espanha na Montanha Central da província de León, comunidade autónoma de Castela e Leão, de área 157,43 km² com população de 4170 habitantes (2007) e densidade populacional de 28,09 hab/km².

Demografia

Pola Gordón (La)
Municípios da Espanha por nome
Localidades da Espanha
Localidades de Castela e Leão
Localidades de Leão (província)


text:
Q: How can I decrypt an encrypted MCRYPT_RIJNDAEL_256 value in C#, that was encrypted by mcrypt in PHP? I am trying to read a Base64-Encoded value from a Database table managed on the Linux side. In that
table there is a column called first_name. On the Linux side I can decrypt this easily by using the following command in PHP:
$data = mcrypt_decrypt(MCRYPT_RIJNDAEL_256, "patient_fn_salt",
                       base64_decode("H6XmkH+VWvdD88THCliKJjLisGZIBk3CTNvyQMLnhpo="),
                       MCRYPT_MODE_ECB);

However I try as much as I can to duplicate this logic on the C# side and all I get is gibberish.
My C# code is below, i hope you have some suggestions because I ran out of ideas :(
byte [] cipherText =
         Convert.FromBase64String("H6XmkH+VWvdD88THCliKJjLisGZIBk3CTNvyQMLnhpo=");
byte [] key = Encoding.UTF8.GetBytes("patient_fn_salt");
Array.Resize(ref key, 32);
byte [] iv = new byte[32];

string fname = Utilities.Decrypt(cipherText, key, iv);

public static string Decrypt(byte[] cipherText, byte[] Key, byte[] IV)
  {
   // Check arguments.
   if (cipherText == null || cipherText.Length <= 0)
    throw new ArgumentNullException("cipherText");
   if (Key == null || Key.Length <= 0)
    throw new ArgumentNullException("Key");
   if (IV == null || IV.Length <= 0)
    throw new ArgumentNullException("Key");

   // TDeclare the streams used
   // to decrypt to an in memory
   // array of bytes.
   MemoryStream msDecrypt = null;
   CryptoStream csDecrypt = null;
   StreamReader srDecrypt = null;

   // Declare the AesManaged object
   // used to decrypt the data.
   RijndaelManaged rj = new RijndaelManaged();

   // Declare the string used to hold
   // the decrypted text.
   string plaintext = null;

   try
   {
    // Create an AesManaged object
    // with the specified key and IV.

    rj.Mode = CipherMode.ECB;
    rj.BlockSize = 256;
    rj.KeySize = 256;
    rj.Padding = PaddingMode.Zeros;

    rj.Key = Key;
    rj.GenerateIV();
    //rj.IV = IV;

    // Create a decrytor to perform the stream transform.
    ICryptoTransform decryptor = rj.CreateDecryptor(rj.Key, rj.IV);

    // Create the streams used for decryption.
    msDecrypt = new MemoryStream(cipherText);
    csDecrypt = new CryptoStream(msDecrypt, decryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Read);
    srDecrypt = new StreamReader(csDecrypt);

    // Read the decrypted bytes from the decrypting stream
    // and place them in a string.
    plaintext = srDecrypt.ReadToEnd();
   }
   finally
   {
    // Clean things up.

    // Close the streams.
    if (srDecrypt != null)
     srDecrypt.Close();
    if (csDecrypt != null)
     csDecrypt.Close();
    if (msDecrypt != null)
     msDecrypt.Close();

    // Clear the AesManaged object.
    if (rj != null)
     rj.Clear();
   }
   return plaintext;
  }
 }

A: Post is old, but this might help somebody in a future. This function encrypt exactly like mcrypt_encrypt with parameters MCRYPT_RIJNDAEL_256 and MCRYPT_MODE_ECB
    static byte[] EncryptStringToBytes(string plainText, byte[] key)
    {
        if (plainText == null || plainText.Length <= 0)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("plainText");
        if (key == null || key.Length <= 0)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("key");

        byte[] encrypted;
        using (var rijAlg = new RijndaelManaged())
        {
            rijAlg.BlockSize = 256;
            rijAlg.Key = key;
            rijAlg.Mode = CipherMode.ECB;
            rijAlg.Padding = PaddingMode.Zeros;
            rijAlg.IV = new byte[] { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 };

            ICryptoTransform encryptor = rijAlg.CreateEncryptor(rijAlg.Key, rijAlg.IV);
            using (var msEncrypt = new MemoryStream())
                using (var csEncrypt = new CryptoStream(msEncrypt, encryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Write))
                {
                    using (var swEncrypt = new StreamWriter(csEncrypt))
                        swEncrypt.Write(plainText);
                    encrypted = msEncrypt.ToArray();
                }
        }
        return encrypted;
    }

And here is function to decrypt it
     static string DecryptStringFromBytes(byte[] cipherText, byte[] key)
     {
        if (cipherText == null || cipherText.Length <= 0)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("cipherText");
        if (key == null || key.Length <= 0)
            throw new ArgumentNullException("key");

        string plaintext;
        using (var rijAlg = new RijndaelManaged())
        {
            rijAlg.BlockSize = 256;
            rijAlg.Key = key;
            rijAlg.Mode = CipherMode.ECB;
            rijAlg.Padding = PaddingMode.Zeros;
            rijAlg.IV = new byte[] { 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 };

            ICryptoTransform decryptor = rijAlg.CreateDecryptor(rijAlg.Key, rijAlg.IV);
            using (var msDecrypt = new MemoryStream(cipherText))
                using (var csDecrypt = new CryptoStream(msDecrypt, decryptor, CryptoStreamMode.Read))
                    using (var srDecrypt = new StreamReader(csDecrypt))
                        plaintext = srDecrypt.ReadToEnd();
        }
        return plaintext;
    }

A: As  Paŭlo says, ECB mode does not use an IV.  If C# insists on one then use all zero bytes.
The key "patient_fn_salt" is 15 characters, 120 bits.  Your decryption function is expecting 256 bits of key.  You need to be very sure that the extra bits are identical in both systems and are being added in the same place in both systems.  Even a single bit wrong will result in garbage decryption.  Read the PHP documentation very carefully to determine exactly how "patient_fn_salt" is expanded to a 256 bit key.  In particular check if the actual key is SHA256("patient_fn_salt").
As an aside, ECB mode is insecure.  Use either CTR mode or CBC mode in preference.  CTR mode does not require padding so will probably mean less cyphertext to store.
ETA: on another read through I notice that the C# side is padding with zeros.  What padding is the PHP side using?  Zero padding is not a good idea, as it cannot recognise a faulty decryption.  PKCS7 padding has a much better chance of recognising a faulty output.  Best to explicitly specify the padding on both ends rather than rely on defaults.

A: I hit the same problem when comunicating with a legacy system. I had to come up with my own solution as Rijndael with a Blocksize of 256 seems to be not supported by dotnet core.
Here is my solution using the bouncy castle library:
    public static byte[] Rijandael256Decrypt(byte[] inputBytes, byte[] keyBytes)
    {
        // set up
        IBufferedCipher cipher = new PaddedBufferedBlockCipher(new RijndaelEngine(256), new ZeroBytePadding());
        KeyParameter keyParam = new KeyParameter(keyBytes);
        cipher.Init(false, keyParam);
        int sizeAtLeastRequired = cipher.GetOutputSize(inputBytes.Length);
        byte[] outputBytes = new byte[sizeAtLeastRequired];

        // decrypt
        int length = cipher.ProcessBytes(inputBytes, outputBytes, 0);
        length += cipher.DoFinal(outputBytes, length);

        // resize output
        Array.Resize(ref outputBytes, length);
        return outputBytes;
    }

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Children Of The Tide
Imprint: Corgi
Val Wood
It is the late 1850s and a tired woman holding a baby walks from Hull to one of the big houses in Anlaby – the home of the wealthy Rayners. She knocks at the door, and shoves the baby at young James Rayner. The father was 'young Mr Rayner', and the mother is dead. Then she vanishes.
The respectable shipping family of Hull are shattered. No one wants to take responsibility for the baby and it is about to be put into an orphanage when Sammi, James's cousin, decides to take the baby back to her parents' home on the Holderness coast. James is banished to London, and disaster begins to beset the three branches of the Rayners.
The third novel in The Hungry Tide sequence, this epic, many-faceted story of three related families tells the triumphs and tragedies of their lives, as the whaling industry of Hull begins to decline, and the farmlands and homes continue to slip into the sea.
If you enjoy books by Katie Flynn and Dilly Court, you'll love Val's heartwarming stories of triumph over adversity.
Children of Fortune
The Innkeeper's Daughter
The Lonely Wife
Four Sisters
Rich Girl, Poor Girl
Nobody's Child
A Mother's Choice
No Place for a Woman
The Kitchen Maid
Every Mother's Son
The Doorstep Girls
His Brother's Wife
The Hungry Tide
The Maid's Secret
The Songbird
Since winning the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her first novel, The Hungry Tide, Val Wood has become one of the most popular authors in the UK. Born in the mining town of Castleford, Val came to East Yorkshire as a child and has lived in Hull and rural Holderness where many of her novels are set. She now lives in the market town of Beverley. When she is not writing, Val is busy promoting libraries and supporting many charities. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Hull for service and dedication to literature. Find out more about Val Wood's novels by visiting her website: www.valwood.co.uk


Save tax on restricted stock awards -Lanigan, Ryan, Malcolm & Doyle, P.C.
Consider the Sec. 83(b) election to save tax on restricted stock awards. Restricted stock is stock that's granted subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. Income recognition is normally deferred until the stock is no longer subject to that risk or you sell it. You then pay taxes on the stock's fair market value at your ordinary-income rate.
But you can instead make a Section 83(b) election to recognize ordinary income when you receive the stock. This election, which you must make within 30 days after receiving the stock, can be beneficial if the stock is likely to appreciate significantly. Why? Because it allows you to convert future appreciation from ordinary income to long-term capital gains income and defer it until the stock is sold.
You must prepay tax in the current year — which also could push you into a higher income tax bracket or trigger or increase the additional 0.9% Medicare tax.
Any taxes you pay because of the election can't be refunded if you eventually forfeit the stock or sell it at a decreased value.
If you've recently been awarded restricted stock or expect to be awarded such stock this year, work with us to determine whether the Sec. 83(b) election is appropriate for you.