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Bourke Demands New Trial; Says Gov't Witness 'Lied'
By Richard L. Cassin | Tuesday, May 10, 2011 at 7:08AM
Frederic Bourke said prosecutors in his 2009 trial knew a crucial government witness would give false testimony but they let him take the stand anyway. Now Bourke wants a new trial.
He was convicted in the Foley Square federal courthouse in Manhattan (left) of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and the Travel Act and sentenced to a year and a day in prison. He's free on bail during his appeal.
Separate from his appeal, Bourke is asking the trial court to grant him a new trial based on newly discovered evidence about the false testimony.
Bourke's beefed-up defense team, including high-profile lawyer Michael E. Tigar, said prosecutors admitted during oral arguments before the second circuit appeals court in February this year that some of Hans Bodmer's testimony was false. Bourke's lawyers said Bodmer's account about dates crucial to the government's theory of the case was wrong, including the day on which Bodmer said he talked with Bourke about Viktor Kozeny's plans to use bribery.
Bodmer, a Swiss lawyer who helped Kozeny move money that was used to bribe Azeri officials, is still waiting to be sentenced more than six years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to launder money. His cooperation with prosecutors might earn him a lighter sentence.
Bourke's lawyers have also charged that prosecutors knew beforehand that Bodnmer's testimony would be false. In their filing with the trial court asking for a new trial, Bourke's attorneys said:
The recent oral argument in the Second Circuit revealed a startling fact, previously unknown to the defense: The prosecution knew before key government witness Hans Bodmer testified that flight records from Viktor Kozeny's plane refuted Bodmer's account of the February 6, 1998 "walk talk" with defendant Frederic A. Bourke, Jr. Despite this knowledge, the prosecution presented Bodmer's false testimony, buttressed it with his time records and Rolf Schmid's redacted memorandum, and built its theory of the case around a chronology it knew to be wrong.
Bourke's newest lawyer, Michael Tigar, teaches at Duke law school and takes on controversial defense work. Past clients include Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Scott McClellan, Rep. Ronald Dellums, Fernando Chavez, Lynne Stewart, and Terry Lynn Nichols. In April, he was granted permission to appear in the federal court where Bourke was convicted to argue that his client deserves a new trial.
Bourke, 65, is co-founder of well-known handbag brand Dooney & Bourke. He was married to Eleanor Clay Ford, whose mother was Henry Ford's only granddaughter. The jury found that he invested in Czech-born promoter Viktor Kozeny's unsuccessful attempt in 1998 to gain control of Azerbaijan's state oil company, Socar, despite knowing Kozeny planned to bribe Azeri leaders.
Kozeny has also been charged in the case but is a fugitive living in the Bahamas. He beat back an attempt by the Bahamas attorney general to extradite him to the U.S. The Bahamas government has appealed his extradition to the U.K. Privy Council.
In arguing for a new trial, Bourke's lawyers said,
The prosecutor's stunning admission at oral argument leaves little doubt that the government violated Bourke's right to due process through its presentation of Bodmer's testimony. This is a matter of the utmost importance. The United States presented false testimony from a richly rewarded criminal to convict a distinguished American. It rested its theory of the case in opening statement on the falsehood. It sought to corroborate the falsehood during trial with documents and testimony. Confronted by the defense with the cooperator's falsehood, the prosecutors stipulated to the actual facts, but refused to disavow the cooperator's story. Instead, they characterized the falsehood as a mere "mistake," invented a new, equally false story in closing argument, and, when that story collapsed, concocted yet another false story on appeal. In their zeal to convict, the prosecutors have forgotten that they are "officer[s] of the court whose duty is to present a forceful and truthful case to the jury, not to win at any cost.'" Drake v. Portuondo, 553 F.3d 230, 240 (2d Cir. 2009) (quoting Wei Su v. Filion, 335 F.3d 119, 126 (2d Cir. 2003)). The prosecutors' shifting stories--all of which may be imputed to the government as admissions, see, e.g., United States v. GAF Corp., 928 F.2d 1253, 1259-61 (2d Cir. 1991)--represent precisely the kind of "abuse and sharp practice" that the Second Circuit has condemned, e.g., United States v. McKeon, 738 F.2d 26, 31 (2d Cir. 1984).
Bourke's defense team said in the government's "witness prep" of Bodmer, prosecutors "made a deliberate decision not to 'rehabilitate[]" him--that is, not to correct testimony the prosecution knew from the records to be false.'"
Judge Shira A. Scheindlin presided over Bourke's trial and will hear his latest motion. The case is U.S. v. Kozeny et al, (U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York at Foley Square), Case # 1:05-cr-00518-SAS-2.
Download the Memorandum In Support Of Motion Of Frederic A. Bourke, Jr. For New Trial Based On Newly Discovered Evidence here.
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In today's time, smartphones are one of the most popular electronic devices amongst the individuals of all age group from kids and teenagers to adults and elderly people. As 2017 comes to an end, which was the year of dual cameras and bezel-less displays, 2018 will not be so different. Smartphone manufacturing companies will try to bring new phones with unique upgrades to fulfill the demands of the customers. Here is the list of a few upcoming mobile phones that will launch in 2018 that you should know about. So without a further ado, let's get started!
Xiaomi Mi 7 is expected to launch next month, will be one of the first devices to sports Snapdragon 845 chipset. The phone will come with 6GB RAM and a 3350mAH battery. The company will use glass back to enable wireless charging on their device.
HMD Global with Nokia 8 has made a great comeback in 2017, and we can only expect more with its next flagship Nokia 9. It is said to be more premium than the recently announced Nokia 8.
In 2017, OnePlus launches well-designed phones OnePlus 5 and 5T with super-fast performance and a clean and likable Oxygen OS interface. With OnePlus 6, the company pushes things when it comes to camera performance, which currently is not quite flagship-grade.
People were most impressed with HTC U11 this year, but HTC U12 is anticipated to take things further: expect an edge-to-edge screen, an ever greater camera and a few needed improvement to the HTC Sense custom Android user interface.
In 2018, we expect Samsung to launch the Galaxy S9 which may involve a revolutionary new under-screen fingerprint scanner and fix the terrible position of the fingerprint reader on the current S8.
Samsung will not be placing both the lenses horizontally but vertically in the centre of the back panel. The company will go for a more conventionally place module under the camera.
Google's Pixel series of smartphones have rapidly grabbed the hearts of Android users. The Pixel phones are more premium, have amazing cameras and a smooth performance unlike that on any other Android device.


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BRAUN: Public rally against Bill 124 underscores nurses' dissatisfaction
Health care workers rally against provincial Bill 124 outside Bluewater Health in Sarnia on Aug. 12. Photo by PAUL MORDEN /POSTMEDIA NETWORK
Will the nursing shortage affect you?
You can bet your life on it.
Registered nurses are the engine of the health-care system, and after giving their all for 20 months during COVID, they are exhausted.
Nurses are fleeing the profession, and it's probably not just the inadequate salaries or the lousy working conditions.
It's the disrespect.
Ontario has a nursing crisis. It had a nursing crisis long before COVID happened, but the pandemic made everything worse.
For those who've been in the trenches for almost two years, the latest slap in the face came Friday when Premier Ford announced an end to capacity limits and a Jan. 17 end for proof of vaccination.
The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) responded at once with a statement decrying both the premier's rush to reopen and his failure to announce mandatory vaccination for all health care workers.
Dr. Doris Grinspun, head of the RNAO, doesn't understand why the premier is gambling with all the progress made thus far, "Especially when the end is in sight — when a vaccine for children has finally been approved, when we finally have an excellent rate of vaccination overall.
"Why lift restrictions now? Why drop the vaccine requirement now?"
The potential for dropping proof of COVID vaccination in January is particularly baffling, said Grinspun, as kids won't all be vaccinated yet and it's also flu season.
And it's nurses who'll be left to mop up the mess if COVID numbers head north again.
Grinspun is sounding the alarm about the exodus from nursing.
Among the social determinants of health is access to affordable health services of decent quality, something most Canadians take for granted.
At the centre of those services are Registered Nurses, the linchpin of the medical system. Nurses do 90% of the work in healthcare.
It's accurate to say there is no medical system without RNs. Their shortage — not a lack of surgeons or operating theatres — is the reason hospitals are having so much trouble playing catch-up with all the surgeries that got postponed during COVID.
But long before people require hospital care, they encounter nurses in a hundred different roles in the community: in primary care, education, wellness promotion and disease management.
Nurse-led programs are transforming health care, and its cost, in Canada.
Sadly, Ontario has the distinction of having the lowest RN-to-population ratio in the country, and it's just getting worse.
Having worked flat-out for 20 months with days off and vacations cancelled, "nurses have double and triple the patients now.
"The 'heroes' are totally exhausted and they don't want to work with unvaccinated people anymore. They don't want to risk their lives," said Grinspun.
"Add in Bill 124 and you have a toxic recipe."
Nurses quitting in droves, disrespected by pay cap bill, ER docs say
HORWATH: Let's turn things around for schools, hospitals and small businesses
Union warns of legal challenge to pay cap bill
Bill 124 limits wage increases to a maximum of one per cent total compensation for three years and was introduced by the Ford government in 2019.
Had the premier repealed 124, "Nurses would feel respected and valued and would continue to do the quadruple extra work they've been doing for the past 20 months."
What's required, said Grinspun, are a vaccine mandate for all health workers, a concerted provincial effort to retain nurses and recruit more into the profession, and the end of Bill 124.
"We have to solve this. We are facing a mega-crisis in nursing and there's not a peep about it from the premier or the Minister of Health," she said.
On Nov. 14, Grinspun and other speakers will be part of the Kill Bill 124 public rally at Nathan Phillips Square at noon.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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No. 8 Is Enough!
July 6, 2019 by Digital Sports Desk
BOSTON LANDING – (Staff Report from Official Press Release and Announcement) – The Boston Celtics have acquired three-time All-Star and 2018-19 All-NBA guard Kemba Walker and a future second round pick (the least favorable of Brooklyn and New York's 2020 picks) in a sign-and-trade agreement with the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for guard Terry Rozier and a future protected second round pick, the team announced.
Walker, 29, joins Boston's backcourt after an achievement-filled season in which he averaged a career-high 25.6 points (43.4% FG, 35.6% 3-PT, 84.4% FT), 4.4 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 34.9 minutes, while playing in all 82 games for the second time in his career (2012-13). He was one of only two NBA players to average at least 25.0 points, and 5.0 assists while playing in all 82 regular season games (Beal).
"Kemba has excelled in this league for many years while consistently playing at a level among the NBA's elite," said Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge. "His expansive skillset and model of consistency will fit in seamlessly with what we're trying to accomplish as an organization."
Walker (6-1, 184) comes to Boston from Charlotte, where he spent the first eight years of his NBA career. The Bronx, NY native produced 19.8 points (41.8% FG, 35.7% 3-PT, 83.5% FT), 3.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 34.1 minutes over 605 games (560 starts) in Buzz City. He's one of 12 players selected as an NBA All-Star in each of the last three seasons dating back to 2016-17.
Over the last three seasons, Walker has averaged north of 22.0 points, and 5.0 assists, while shooting at least 35.0% from beyond the arc. He's one of four NBA players to achieve that since 2016-17, joining Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, and Damian Lillard.
A three-year player at the University of Connecticut, Walker averaged 16.1 points (42.8% FG, 32.6% 3-PT, 78.3% FT), 4.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in 111 collegiate games. He played an integral role in guiding the UCONN men's basketball team to its third national title in 2011, producing 23.5 points (40.2% FG), 6.0 rebounds, and 5.7 assists across the six-game title run.
Walker will wear No. 8 with the Celtics.


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Q: Master branch changes while running CI - how to avoid restarting CI? (git methodology question)
*

*User is working on his feature branch.

*When his feature is ready, he merges/rebases from the master branch
to his branch, to make sure that all changes done by other
developers are incorporated into his branch.

*User runs a GitLab CI pipeline to make sure that his changes are
ready for merging to the master.

*However, his CI pipeline is quite long running (30 min?), and in the
meantime other developers merge their changes into the master. As a
result, by the time his pipeline completes, his branch is out of
sync with the master again. (needs to re-fetch and rerun pipeline).

*We don't have a dedicated integrator, who would control the traffic to the master.

Currently the workaround is setting up time slots on a shared calendar, when each developer may merge to the master. This is inefficient and not elegant.
What might be a better solution?
Note: we're considering "Merge Trains", but this is a premium feature and it has it's own drawbacks.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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This Latina Used Her Business Savvy to Launch An App That Helps Undocumented Students Find Financial Aid
BY Andrea Reindl | October 28, 2019 AT 4:42 pm
By Andrea Reindl October 28, 2019 at 4:42 pm
In senior year of high school, Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca was told by her school's guidance counselor that her dream of attending a four-year college was not in the cards for her. Salamanca, who had just found out that she was undocumented, had worked up the courage to tell her counselor about her immigration status. Instead of the support she was looking for, she was instead met with a discouraging response. "…She said to me, 'People like you don't go to college,'" Salamanca recently told Remezcla. Salamanca, needless to say, was devastated.
Unfortunately, due to Salamanca's status as an undocumented immigrant, she wasn't eligible for federal financial aid. And because Salamanca was one of 11 children, she didn't have the financial means to pay for college out-of-pocket. According to Salamanca, the conversation with her guidance counselor broke her "into a million pieces". "This was the moment where I lost all hopes of being the first in my family to go to college". But in the end, Salamanca had the last laugh.
Years later, Salamanca used this experience to inspire her to create "Dreamers Roadmap"–a free mobile app that helps undocumented students find financial aid for college.
While Salamanca was unable to take the traditional educational route that many entrepreneurs take, she instead used her grit and business-savvy to commit to changing the system that had failed her. "It took me a while to realize that I was probably not the only one in this situation," Salamanca told Forbes. Once she had that revelation, she decided it was up to her to fix the problem. Instead of taking the traditional four-year college route, Salamanca enrolled in community college and got to work building her own business.
First, Salamanca devoted herself to creating a blog that gave undocumented and low-income students information about scholarship opportunities. When realized that she was one of 3.6 million Dreamers in the U.S. who were unable to qualify for federal financial aid, Salamanca realized she had an un-tapped market on her hands. Deciding to go a step further, Salamanca decided to create an app specifically for undocumented students who were looking to fund their college education. Despite having no formal background in tech, she applied for tech competitions–like the 2013 Hackathon for Dreamers. She left that competition with renewed confidence in both her ideas and her leadership abilities. It was then that she committed to both bringing her app idea into fruition and taking on a role as CEO.
Spurred on by her initial success, Salamanca decided to try her hand at the Voto Latino Innovators Challenge in 2014.
At the time, Voto Latino (founded by Latina actress Rosario Dawson) had put out a call for "Millennial-led projects that will improve the lives of and expand opportunities for Latinos in the U.S.". Taking a leap of faith Salamanca decided to apply for the priciest grant: $100,000. Although she had no idea if she'd win, she decided it was worth a try. " I thought to myself, 'Well if I win even half, that's a huge win for my project'". And it seems that Voto Latino recognized the potential of her project as well.
Salamanca was ultimately chosen as a finalist for the competition and entered the final rounds in Washington D.C. as the only community college student as well as the only sole-female founder. At the challenge, Salamanca pitched her project to a panel of all-star judges that included Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, and Wilmer Valderrama. Apparently, Salamanca made an impression. Voto Latino gave "Dreamers Roadmap" a grant of $100,000 towards funding.
Now that Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca is CEO of her own company, her future has never been brighter.
Salamanca has come a long way from being told that college is "not for people like her". Now, Dreamers Roadmap has over 30,000 users and is integral to the college-admission process for many undocumented students. Not only was Salamanca named a "Champion of Change" at the White House in 2014, but she also received a House of Representatives Award in 2015, and placed in Forbes' prestigious 30 Under 30 list. Although she has encountered numerous obstacles in her life due to her ethnicity, gender, tax bracket, and immigration status, she has overcome them all through determination and perseverance.
But more than any of these other accomplishments, it's the impact she's had on people's lives that is the most impressive. To date, Dreamers Roadmap has helped over 20,000 students find scholarships for college. "We hear from our users via social media or email on how our app has changed their lives," she said in an interview with Forbes. "Hearing their stories reminds me that we are doing a good job and fulfilling our mission of bringing hope and financial opportunities to immigrant communities".
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Brazilian Researchers 3D-Print Part Of The Face For Cancer Survivor
By danielli January 10, 2020 at 2:14 pm
BY danielli | January 10, 2020 AT 2:14 pm
@mr_nobody / Twitter
A Brazilian cancer survivor has been fitted with a prosthetic eye and face to cover the hole that a devastating bout of skin cancer left. Denise Vicentin, 52, beat her cancer a decade ago and has since been living without a part of her jaw and her right eye ever since. Vicentin was so self-conscious about her battle scars, she became afraid to go out in public. People would stare at her everywhere she went and, soon, her social life and marriage fell apart. "[Before] when I was on the metro or train, I tried not to pay attention to the stares. At places like the bowling alley, I felt them looking, and the person would even leave when they saw me," she told the Daily Mail.
Ten years later, researchers were able to create a custom prosthetic using just a smartphone camera and a 3D printer. Now, she feels like she has her 'missing piece' and says she is so happy that she even sleeps with it on.
Years ago, she was offered a hand-made prosthetic, but it would have cost her half a million dollars.
CREDIT: @MR_NODOBY / TWITTER
A portion of her right jaw was removed, making it difficult for her to eat and slurring her speech. One of Vicentin's most painful wounds left behind by the cancer was her inability to navigate throughout society without being ostracized or made to feel different. When doctors offered her the opportunity to have a prosthetic made for her, she had no choice but to turn it down. It would have cost over half a million U.S. dollars.
Waiting for the right moment may have paid off for Vicentin. As technology has advanced, the capabilities of 3-D printing are only just now being realized. Vicentin sought out an alternative treatment at São Paulo's Paulista University just last year and is already walking into 2020 with a new lease on self-confidence.
The final prosthesis just took 12 hours to create and a fraction of the cost thanks to 3-D printing technology.
CREDIT: @VAZIYETCOMTR / TWITTER
The research team at Paulista University formulated a plan to give Vicentin her 'missing piece.' Vicentin would have to undergo several surgeries over the next year in order to fit the prosthesis. Then, the doctors took 15 photos of Vicentin's right eye socket from a simple smartphone. From there, they were able to use all the images to digitize a 3-D model that would eventually become the blueprint for the 3-D printer.
The final model was printed and refined in just 12 hours, from a mixture of silicone, resin, and synthetic fibers. After the 3-D printer created the technical piece that would sit flush on Vicentin's face, a bit of human artistry was applied to make the prosthetic as realistic as possible. The researchers painted the prosthetic to match Vicentin's exact eye hue and skin color. They even individually secured lashes to resemble that of her other eyelid.
The research team has been perfecting 3-D prosthetics since 2016, offering new levels of confidence to over 50 patients so far.
CREDIT: @CANAL_44 / TWITTER
Dr. Rodrigo Salazar has specialized in maxillofacial prosthetics for the last few years and has married technology with medicine to create lasting change for his patients. In order to get a proper model for a prosthetic, he used to have to create a mold of the patient's face, on the patient's face. Today, he needs only a smartphone camera to capture the necessary data to create a model prosthetic.
Vicentin never expected skin cancer to become a defining chapter of her life.
When Vicentin was in her early 20s, she found a strange growth on her face and went to the doctor. It was a tumor, but it was benign, non-cancerous. She had it surgically removed and thought that was the end of it. It returned again, once again, benign. She had it removed a second time and enjoyed nearly 20 more years tumor-free. Ten years ago, the tumor came back, but it was malignant, slowly ravaging the right side of her face.
Today, Vicentin has titanium hooks surgically placed around her eye socket in order to be able to securely wear the prosthesis and take it off when she pleases. So far, Vicentin has been wearing the prosthetic for just a month and she loves it. 'It was a long time looking at a face which was missing a piece, so I am so happy. I only took it off to clean it – I even slept with it," Vicentin told the Daily Mail.
MedicineCancertechBrazil
Travel Restrictions Limit Americans To Only Flying Into Havana But Sube Let's Americans Explore The Island
By Araceli Cruz at 2:08 pm
BY Araceli Cruz | January 10, 2020 AT 2:08 pm
subecuba / Instagram
The progression of Cuba's modern world has been a slow one, but it's also been eager to thrive thanks to the younger generation. The integration of the internet didn't arrive on the island until the late aughts. Back then, when U.S. relations with Cuba became friendlier under the Obama Administration, it looked as if Cuba was ready to get online. However, it wasn't until 2007 that Cuba decided to team up with Venezuela in order for the country to help them venture into the digital age. Now, under the Trump Administration, who is putting the breaks on the Cuba/U.S. relationship, the Cuban people have something more to aspire to.
A Cuban startup has launched a cab service that will help tourists get around the island now that the Trump Administration has blocked airline travel to all areas of Cuba except Havana.
Credit: subecuba / Instagram
The company is called Sube (which translations to "get on" or "hop on"), and it's basically a ride-share service like Uber and Lyft, although their intention is to seek out tourists who wish to visit the areas outside of Havana.
Late last year, the Trump Administration issued a travel ban throughout the island, which meant that American airlines could only fly into Havana. All other airports in Cuba were forbidden. The announcement didn't automatically erase flights that were already booked. U.S. travelers can only arrive in Havana, so if they have plans outside of the capital, getting there is trickier and expensive. The solution is Sube.
Sube wants tourists to know that their service is safe and that they can provide an exciting and fun way to get around the island.
"Sube is a ridesharing app founded in Cuba," their About section states. "Our drivers will help you move around safely and fast while sharing their knowledge of our customs and culture."
One of the most popular attractions in Cuba is their vintage cars. So how can these old cars keep up with this new motive of transportation? Sube owners say all cars, vintage ones as well, are in perfect condition and can drive long distances. All drivers have verified licenses as well.
The app launched in 2018, and since then, the app has been downloaded at least 10,000 times and so far has 6,000 registered users.
"We knew the trouble people go through in Cuba to get to work every day, to get home, or if they just want to go out," Claudia Cuevas Alarcón told NBC News. Aside from Cuevas Alarcón, a 27-year-old, Sube's creators include 26-year-old Damián Martín, 26, and 27-year-old Darién González.
What makes this company even more fascinating is that these young entrepreneurs have found a way to work the system to their benefit. For example, U.S. credit cards are prohibited on the island, which means travelers can only use cash.
Sube creators registered their company in the U.S., so this makes it possible for travelers to download the app before they leave their home country, upload their credit card information. Once they arrive on the island, they have already reserved their car service, and the exchange of payment is not needed.
It's not just tourists who use the app, locals are using Sube to get around the island as well.
"If you are visiting Cuba this December, move with SUBE and pay from abroad," one of their beautiful Instagram posts says. "We have 70 registered and available taxis, which will make your trips more enjoyable and safe. You can book them before your arrival at the airport, until departure. Do not hesitate."
Other ways to use Sube is pretty straightforward. You can use Whatsapp or Facebook to reserve a cab. Travel experts also suggest that if you're traveling to Cuba, you should also download apps that will help not only with travel information but translation, money exchange, and texting capabilities. Here are some useful apps that extremely useful: Maps.me, XE currency, Google Translate, Pocket, Havanatrans, Zapya, AlaMesa, CubaMessenger, and ProtonVPN. And, of course, Whatsapp and Airbnb.
It's very exciting to see young Cubans not allowing connectivity or travel regulations (or any sort of limitation) stop them from progressing into a new frontier of digital capabilities.
READ: The Trump Administration Took Another Swipe At Cuba By Banning Almost All Flights To The Island
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Interactive slot manufacturer Gamblit Gaming has signed an agreement with Pac-Man's creator, Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., to design a casino version of the arcade classic.
Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017 | 12:34 p.m.
Pac-Man could be munching through gamblers' cash next year, after interactive slot manufacturer Gamblit Gaming announced today it signed an agreement with Pac-Man's creator, Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., to design a casino version of the arcade classic.
In a news release, Gamblit said it plans to unveil the game, called Pac-Man Battle Casino, next week at the Global Gaming Expo, one of the gaming industry's biggest conventions, at the Sands Expo.
The gambling version of the game will be based on Pac-Man Battle Royale, one of the more recent Pac-Man incarnations. Two to four people will be able to play each other for a cash prize in a contest that keeps the game's familiar maze and much of its original look and feel.
Pac-Man first hit U.S. arcades in 1980. According to Bandai Namco, more than 100,000 units sold that year, and Pac-Man quickly became a cultural phenomenon, spawning multiple spinoffs, as well as television cartoons and hit songs.
If resorts in Nevada decide to put Pac-Man Battle Casino on their gaming floors, it would be the first time people could legally gamble on Pac-Man, but it wouldn't be the first classic video game people can wager on.
Konami Gaming now offers three slot machines based on Frogger, the arcade game where players must help a small frog navigate a busy road and cross a river without being squashed or drowning. A skill-based version of the game — Frogger: Get Hoppin' — was tested at the MGM Grand Level Up gaming lounge in February and is in a few other locations, although it hasn't officially been released.
Some even older video and arcade classic titles appeared as a bonus play on slots in the early to mid-2000s. Bally Technologies, later purchased by Scientific Games, offered Pong and Breakout as a bonus feature on slots in 2006 and 2007.


2012 Saxon Motorcycle Firestorm pictures, prices, information, and specifications. Below is the information on the 2012 Saxon Motorcycle Firestorm . If you would like to get a quote on a new 2012 Saxon Motorcycle Firestorm use our Build Your Own tool, or Compare this bike to other Cruiser motorcycles.To view more specifications, visit our Detailed Specifications.
Write a Review and rate the 2012 Saxon Motorcycle Firestorm . Your review and rating will help rank 2012 Cruiser.


The Mpls Downtown Improvement District Greening Lab is a pilot project for improving public realm greening outcomes in the downtown Minneapolis community. It is supported through research assistants at the University of Minnesota College of Design in partnership with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB), Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO) and Green Minneapolis.
The Greening Lab's scope of work focused on analysis of current greening situation, enhanced maintenance and streetscape pilot projects.
Through the MPRB inventory system, we found a robust tool that had incomplete and inaccessible data. Communication was not always straight forward. As of June 6, 2017, we had direct access. A UMN Research Assistant was verified.
Through supplemental watering of 2016-17 trees, there was $10,000 raised from Downtown Minneapolis Neighborhoods Association to support the project. The outcome was MPRB watering new downtown trees weekly throughout June at their expense.
Tree tags with auto-populated information (species, inventory number, and an automated text system) were implemented. The outcome was MPRB assigning dedicated tree inspectors downtown.
Research and communications efforts were also supported by MWMO.
Funding to support streetscape improvements this fall are now taking shape. The City of Minneapolis is issuing $142,000 toward this initiative, and private funding is being fundraised through Green Minneapolis. The Greening Lab has already contributed to the Washington Avenue streetscape project, with more opportunities on the way.
The mpls downtown council's Intersections: The Downtown 2025 Plan looks to establish and intensify the tree canopy throughout downtown—on every block and within every surface parking lot. Minneapolis' notable urban forest should find its way into downtown. Mature trees should grow along every sidewalk of ever block, as well as around the perimeter and into the midst of every surface parking lot.
In keeping with these best practices, we created three categories to track and frame all the progress being made toward achieving The 2025 Plan's green infrastructure goals.


March was a productive month! We got tons done, and we're here to share everything with you so you're up to date and can hold us accountable if you notice any bugs in the changes.
This week's live code demo comes to you during a week of final testing and tweaks prior to our launch of Exceptionless 4.0.
We recently announced Exceptionless 4.0, but we also recorded a short demo of some of the enhancements and talked through them.
We've made it super easy to get up and running, as you'll see below. Take a look and let us know what you think!
If you've used Exceptionless, chances are a search or filter system would have helped you out more than once. We know, and we agree! That's why we've made it a priority with Exceptionless 2.0, which is coming very soon.
To expand on our previous "Exceptionless 2.0 User Interface FIRST LOOK" article, we want to give everyone a little bit more of a look at the filtering system. This demo isn't anything super fancy, but it gives you a good idea of how easy and fast it will be to filter and search through your event data.


Want to read some of the great reviews of my book (A Woman's Guide to Living with Heart Disease, Johns Hopkins University Press, November 2017)? You know you do! Check them out here!
Dr. Ruth Simkin MD, Victoria, B.C.
"Heart Sisters is a compelling blog from a health advocate with heart disease. Carolyn Thomas is a public speaker with a background in communications and journalism, which is perhaps why her blog is so enjoyable to read. If you're looking for a heart disease blog that goes beyond exercise and food tips, this may be the one. Carolyn doesn't only write about the physical aspects, but also the emotional and mental ones, like dealing with post-heart attack depression.
Richard Gamlin, Senior Nurse, Marie Curie Cancer Care, U.K.
It isn't every day you get a thank you note from the British Medical Journal!


Police have been informed of a fire in Stratton-on-the-Fosse on the morning of Sunday June 10.
Fire fighters were called at 9am by a member of the public reporting a fire in a band stand at Stratton-on-the-Fosse just outside Shepton Mallet on the A37.
Two appliances from Avon and one from Shepton Mallet were sent.
The fire log states: "On arrival the officer in charge confirmed a fire in a band stand, and got to work using one hose reel jet to extinguish the fire.
"The fire was extinguished and police were informed."
Informing the police usually implies the fire may have been set deliberately.
It is the second fire in the area over the weekend.
On Saturday, a barn measuring around 20m by 6m was involved in a fire and two tonnes of hay bales were smouldering within.
After extinguishing the fire, Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service believe it to have been started deliberatly.


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Pro-choicers' persistent infant problem: now in the New York Times
January 25, 2023 /0 Comments/in Biology, Personhood, Philosophy, Uncategorized /by Monica Snyder
Photo credit Rene Asmussen with Pexels
On January 2, The New York Times ran a front page article called "When Does Life Start? A Post-Roe Conundrum," and on January 14, the Times published reader responses. The first response was from Richard Ambron, a professor of cell biology with Columbia University. Below is his opinion interspersed with my commentary.
When during gestation does an embryo become a human? This question has baffled philosophers and theologians largely because they do not understand the workings of the nervous system and the brain.
Ambron assumes his definitions of personhood (which we will see shortly) are uncontroversial, and disagreements stem from lack of knowledge/understanding of neurology, not from objections to his concepts of personhood and their implications. So how is Ambron defining persons?
Two attributes are widely accepted as criteria to be considered human. First is an awareness through our senses that we exist and that we exist within a world of objects. Second is the ability of the brain to use the information from our senses to create ideas and make predictions about how to best survive in that world.
Note the passive voice. Two attributes are "widely accepted"…by whom? And why does Ambron assume that people who value these attributes value them only as present capabilities, rather than abilities that develop over months, years, or a lifetime?
[See the related TikTok – Thalamocortical connections and the NICU]
But here's the bigger problem:
When during embryonic development do these activities emerge? The heartbeat becomes audible on a Doppler fetal monitor at about the 10th week of gestation, movements begin sometime after the 15th week, but the brain and most of the sensory systems develop later.
Each sensation requires the formation of millions of interconnecting neuronal circuits in the cerebral hemispheres that reach critical points of development between the 24th and the 28th week of gestation. Around that time, rhythmic brain waves resembling those of a newborn can be detected, indicating that neuronal circuits in the brain are highly integrated.
What this tells us is that a fetus cannot perceive most sensations, the first attribute of being human, until at least six months after fertilization.
Six months into pregnancy would be at least 24 weeks (and closer to 27 if you calculate 4.2 weeks per month). We are increasingly seeing premature infants as young as 22 weeks survive the NICU and return home. By Ambron's definitions, for the first couple weeks after birth these very premature infants aren't actually humans. Seems implausible.
Similarly:
The ability to formulate ideas, the second attribute of humans, probably does not occur until after birth when the newborn's brain begins to correlate all of the sensations into a coherent experience of its surroundings.
Whether he intends to or not (hopefully not), Ambron implies that if we emphasize this "second attribute of humans," then even newborns aren't fully human yet. But this implication seems absurd.
[Read more – Pro-Choicers' Persistent Infant Problem: A Reply to Boonin, Pro-Choicers' Persistent Infant Problem, Part 2: A Reply to DeGrazia and especially Personhood based on human cognitive abilities]
Perhaps philosophers and theologians continue to be baffled about "when life begins" not because they lack knowledge of neurology, but because they resist worldviews that end up defending infanticide.
https://i0.wp.com/secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/pexels-rene-asmussen-2505110.jpg?fit=1280%2C853&ssl=1 853 1280 Monica Snyder https://secularprolife.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SecularProlife2.png Monica Snyder2023-01-25 03:32:002023-01-22 19:18:53Pro-choicers' persistent infant problem: now in the New York Times
Algunas diferencias entre los embriones y los parásitos. Videos & Transcripts: March for Life Rehumanize Meetup


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Print January 31, 2018 4 comments
Behind the Wicker Man
Elizabeth Hand
Wylding Hall
New York: Open Road Media, 2015
The photos I saw in the pub—the hunting of the wren—the song Julian unearthed and a half-naked girl with feathers on her feet … it all adds up, doesn't it?
If you heard of a "dark fantasy" novel that took place, not in some Gothic castle in the olden days, but in the small town in the modern South, where an alt-Right group planned a rally, but their tiki torch parade unleased eldritch terrors, including the disappearance of their charismatic leader, would you buy it? Sure, we all would!
Well, this isn't that novel. But it's as close as we'll get for a while. See, it takes place amongst the alt-Folk group, or rather, in an alternative timeline starting in 1972, just prior to the release of The Wicker Man, among the British trad-folk-rock movement.
The author's website says:
In the aftermath of the mysterious death of their lead singer, the young members of a now-legendary British acid folk band hole up at Wylding Hall, an ancient English country house with its own dark secrets. There they record Wylding Hall, the album that makes their reputation– but at a terrifying cost, when Julian Blake, their new lead singer,[1] disappears within the mansion and is never seen again. Now, years later, each of the surviving musicians, their friends and lovers, meets with a young documentary filmmaker to tell their own version of what happened during that summer. But whose story is the true one? And what really happened to Julian Blake?
This book caught my eye when the kindle went on sale, and as a fan of the novella-length horror genre, I was quick to snap it up. I was also sure I had heard this tale before. Since Christopher Pankhurst is my go-to guy for anything to do with England's hidden reverse,[2] a little googling around turned up this:
In the summer of 1969 the members of Fairport Convention were gathered together at a country house in Farley Chamberlayne in picturesque Hampshire [as is Wylding Hall]. There they were to record their most celebrated album, Liege & Lief, the definitive statement in English folk-rock. The country retreat setting was partly therapeutic as the band had earlier that year been involved in a tragic road accident whilst on their way back from a gig in Birmingham. The drummer, Martin Lamble, and guitarist Richard Thompson's girlfriend, Jeannie Taylor, were both killed. Clearly, the remaining members of Fairport were looking for a new musical direction as they sought to put the past behind them.
They found a new voice by revisiting some traditional English folk songs and playing them as though they were contemporary rock songs. In 1969 this was heady stuff, and even now it's easy to pick up on the creativity and energy that went into the crafting of this seminal album. With the immortal voice of Sandy Denny delivering the vocals there is a genuinely timeless feel to the album. It could easily have been a case of "the worst of both worlds," with neither the folk elements being disciplined enough, nor the rock elements being wild enough. As it is, the traditional structures of the folk songs avoid a sense of pastiche through the musical brilliance of both Richard Thompson and Ashley Hutchings and the album is a perfect integration of the traditional and the modern.
In this case, Richard Thompson is swapped out for Nick Drake (also conveniently deceased at about this time). [3] Not that there's anything wrong with that:
You've seen the photos, so you know how beautiful he was when he was young. But really, they barely captured him. He stooped so much of the time, you never saw how tall he actually was. He wasn't a sylph—he was big-boned, long, lanky arms and legs, and that marvelous hair. Thick and straight and glossy: it felt like honey pouring through your fingers. He always wore the same brown corduroy jacket, a little short in the arms, so you could see his wrists. And his wristwatch: an old-fashioned watch that you had to wind every day. Expensive—I think he'd received it when he graduated from secondary school.
You might note the watch and "time," which will become a theme.
It might sound like I'm criticizing the conceit, but not at all; it's an interesting mash-up of the horror and alternative history genres,[4] and specifically an cultural era of some interest to Counter-Currents readers.
It also piqued my interest because the whole "rock band seeks desolate location for recording" meme is also a genre in itself, and almost uniquely expressed in the form of bad movies. In fact, some of the worst.
Reading the book's description, my first association was with the infamous Rock and Roll Nightmare (John Fasano, 1987), starring Canadian hair-metal titan Jon-Mikl Thor:
At an old farmhouse, a family mysteriously disappears at the hands of evil. Years later, hair metal band The Tritons comes to the farmhouse, whose barn now features a 24-track recording studio. Lead singer John Triton gets the band to perform their first night in the farmhouse after dinner, and weird little beasties suddenly appear, and strange things start to happen. Band members (and their tag along girlfriends) begin to act strangely and vanish one by one. Soon, only John Triton remains, and he holds a secret. Finally, the evil shows itself and a battle between heaven and hell ensues….[5]
Thor's previous outing, Zombie Nightmare (John Bravman, 1986), was bad enough to be featured on the original run of Mystery Science Theater (Episode 604); this one had to wait for the RiffTrax reincarnation to get its due.[6]
Yet another such work was also featured on MST3k (Episode 303), and in fact became a leading fan favorite: the beloved Pod People (Juan Piquer Simón, 1983). Here, the band is some kind of Euro-Pop monstrosity (though they are not the titular Pod People), and although technically they are actually escaping the recording studio for a camping trip, it's essentially the same idea.
Interestingly, though Jon-Mikl Thor and his eponymous band (Thor) were a real thing, and actually are a pretty good metal act, the Euro-Band of Pod People is loathesome enough to establish some MST benchmarks…
The film features the fictional pop band's performance of "Burning Rubber Tires", which was lampooned in a sketch on Mystery Science Theater 3000 for its unintelligible lyrics, specifically the chorus, "hear the engines roar now", which was interpreted by the MST3K cast as "hideous control now", "idiot control now" and other variations. The lead singer's after-song gesture of making the OK sign, smiling, and saying, "It stinks" became a recurring in-joke on MST3K.[7]
… Along with some somnolent "space" music that could come right off the Hearts of Space radio show; the brutal yanking between musical genres on the soundtrack echoes, if you will, the almost random editing together of the various subplots. [8]
Again, it might sound like I'm gearing up to slag this book by bringing up such crap, but quite the contrary, I mean to suggest that here we have a much more interesting musical genre in a much more interesting time.
Time! The author seems to be of the same generation as the reviewer, [9] and she is able to get the details right that suggest the period before blogs and iPhones – the NME, "The Old Grey Whistle Test," Nick Kent as the doyen of British rock critics; UFO – not a flying saucer; a time when a rock band could really just disappear into the countryside, and drop down at the local pub for a little busking without worrying about selfies and YouTube videos going online.
She also wisely refrains from trying to do more than suggest the sound of this never-was band; in fact, they rather bristle at comparisons with the more fashionable Steeleye Span and Fairport. One clue might be that they are eager to hear Lou Reed's "new" album, Transformer – they rather like "Perfect Day."[10]
Speaking of "albums" those the days when LP covers were large, often gatefolds, and full of material for meditation; like the watch, another plot point.
What of the text itself, the art, if you will? With a work this short, one doesn't want to get into too much detail, lest there be nothing left for the reader to discover. One can note, however, that there are two axes of disquiet at work here.
One, appropriately to a book of alternative history, is time. As noted, the narrative is an oral history, taken in the present, presenting the recollections of the surviving band members, along with their manager, various journos, and a photographer.
By my count, thanks to the kindle search feature, the word "time" occurs no less than 146 … um, times, which seems a significant number for a tale this short. And it occurs all the way through, from the epigraph (the "song Julian unearthed," a lyric of Thomas Campion)
Thrice tosse these Oaken ashes in the ayre,
Thrice sit thou mute in this inchanted chayre;
Then thrice three times tye up this true loves knot,
And murmur soft, shee will, or shee will not.
Through to the penultimate sentence, which delivers the climactic blow that Lovecraft, or his editors, would have put in italics.
And of course that watch, which will serve as the objective correlative of the shock:
And his wristwatch: an old-fashioned watch that you had to wind every day. Expensive—I think he'd received it when he graduated from secondary school. Lots of fancy dials and second hands—is there something smaller than a second? If there is, Julian's watch had a hand that measured that. He was always checking it, and I was always checking him. I could have stared at him all day. I did stare at him all day, sometimes, when we were rehearsing.
Julian, true to his namesake William, even delivers a nifty little lesson in interdimensionality to current bird:
Eventually he found a piece of white paper, drew something on it and folded it, like a fan. "Now look at this." He held it up: a narrow, folded rectangle of blank paper. "This is us, now. Profane time." I felt a bit of a stab at that. Because we'd just spent the night together, and for me, that had been sacred time. But I only nodded.[11]
"Okay then. Taa daa—" He unfolded the paper so I could see what he'd drawn—a simple landscape: hills and trees, sun coming up on the horizon. "Here's what's inside—a whole other world! Well, it's a bit bigger than this," he added, and laughed. "But that's what it's like …" For the next few minutes, he sat and slowly folded and unfolded the paper, staring at it intently: almost as though he were meditating or seeing something there that I couldn't. At the time, I thought he probably was just stoned: grabbed a few hits while I was in the loo. Now I'm not so sure.
The second theme is birds, specifically wrens, which seem to be everywhere – blocking out the sun while shooting a cover photo, subjects of a strange local hunting custom memorialized in photos displayed in a pub, to the floor of a hidden room:
It wasn't rolled-up carpets on the floor. It was birds, hundreds of birds, maybe thousands…They were all dead. Little birds, wrens or sparrows — I didn't know from birds. These were tiny, small enough to fit in your hand, and brown, with twisty tiny black claws, all piled atop each other like they'd been shoveled there. Some of them — a lot of them — were missing their beaks.
It's all very nicely done, and if I have any real criticism it's that, contrary to the epigraph above, I'm not at all sure it "all adds up." As a long-time fan of the novella form, for once I think more would really have been more here.
I'm not asking for a Van Helsing or Poirot style narrative explanation, but it would be nice to have some idea of how the bird/wren system – which is rather nicely developed – fits in with the eventual apparition, who seems sea-based (mermaid)?[12] Or is she a photographable fairy, a la Conan Doyle's Cottingley Fairies?
The local pub ("Time, gentlemen") seems the real nexus of evil, not Wylding Hall, spooky as it is – the pub has the photos that suggest some kind of Wicker Man-style rural cult, and that's where the apparition meets up with Julian – but none of the locals seems to understand who she is or why she appears in their midst. And how is all this related to the original female lead who's dead before the action starts; or is it?
Lovecraft – at his best, of course, such as "The Rats in the Walls" or The Case of Charles Dexter Ward — would have found some way to convey the history of the manor or the local cults obliquely enough to give the reader just enough enlightenment to grok what's happening and perhaps find it even more chilling.
But forcing comparisons with Lovecraft is always a bit unfair. What's here is a short enough read that delivers a fair amount of chill, in an atmos' that many readers here at Counter-Currents will find very simpatico. What more can one ask for?
[1] Curiously, unless I've been "ensorcelled" (a favorite word of Julian's)by my own reading, the author herself is mistaken; Leslie is the new singer, taking the place of the tragically dead Annibell; Julian is the charismatic singer, not the new one.
[2] See various essays collected in Numinous Machines (Counter-Currents, 2017). See also David Keenan's England's Hidden Reverse: A Secret History of the Esoteric Underground (2002; new edition London: Strange Attractor Press, 2016).
[3] "For fans of '70s Folk-Rock . . . Fairport [Convention] in a parallel gothic horror universe, with a touch of Nick Drake thrown in. Skillfully written and well-researched novella from Elizabeth Hand." —Richard Thompson, guitarist and songwriter, Amazon.com. There's also a girlfriend/psychic that reminds me of June Chadwick's character in Spinal Tap, but fortunately nothing else does.
[4] "Wylding Hall is an oral history of a folk band that never was." https://www.tor.com/2016/05/17/on-the-edges-of-a-haunting-elizabeth-hands-wylding-hall/.
[5] Chris Rutkowski, IMDB.com, here.
[6] Preview here.
[7] Wikipedia, here.
[8] Enjoy it here.
[9] "About the Author: Elizabeth Hand flunked out of college a couple of years after seeing Patti Smith perform and became involved in the nascent punk scenes in DC and New York." – Amazon.com
[10] No mention of "Satellite of Love," for an MST3k link.
[11] Julian's the sort of chap who takes a girl back to his room to show her the stacks of rare books under his bed, pulls out a volume of Eliade and says "Do you know this?"
[12] If not, why bring up the mermaid in Cornwall legend?
Russia as Failed State
Venus & Her Thugs
book reviewsH. P. LovecraftJames O'MearaThe Wicker Man
Durtal says:
For a novel-length treatment of the same or, rather, similar, theme try Phil Rickman's rather fine 'December'. There is even an accompanying album 'The Abbey Tapes'.
Elizabeth Hand is also the author of an excellent dark fantasy/horror novel, 'Waking the Moon', which, although written from a feminist perspective, treats the Apollonian versus Dionysian dichotomy in a suprisingly balanced way. It almost seems to be informed by a reading of Evola, specifically 'Revolt Against the Modern World', but, I think, predates Inner Traditions' English translations of Evola's work.
nineofclubs says:
Echoes here too of Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, Wales.
A great many bands recorded in the rural studios, including Motörhead, Hawkwind and Bad Manners.
As far as I know, no one disappeared or died during recording though..
The Wren, the Wren
The king of all birds
On St Stephens Day
Was caught in the furze
His clothes were all tattered
His shoes were all worn
So up with the kettle and down with the pan
And give us a penny to bury the Wren.
The Wren represents the kingship of the most able. Regardless of wealth or external appearances the Wren will win through.
Lawson wrote of the 'rough, crude men who will save White Australia' – the circle completes.
Libby E Berman says:
The dead lead singer whose death sends them to Wylding Hall ,is called Arianna not Annibell. ' The White Girl' might also be dead-unl3ss she is the singing voice heard in the house. Does she eat? DOES julian? Why is she screaming in the garden photograph? There are no definitive answers.


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Home Earth, Energy & Environment Small predator diversity is an important part of a healthy ecosystem
Small predator diversity is an important part of a healthy ecosystem
Biodiversity, including small predators such as dragonflies and other aquatic bugs that attack and consume parasites, may improve the health of amphibians, according to a team of researchers. Amphibians have experienced marked declines in the wild around the world in recent decades, the team added.
The study suggests that dwindling global environmental biodiversity and worldwide spikes in infectious diseases may be linked, said Jason Rohr, associate professor of integrative biology, University of Southern Florida.
"In the last century, there has been an unprecedented global increase in infectious diseases and a concomitant decline in and homogenization of biodiversity," said Rohr. "The controversial 'dilution effect hypothesis' suggests that the two phenomena might be linked, or that biodiversity often decreases disease risk."
In the study, which included a series of laboratory experiments, field surveys and mathematical modeling, the presence of various species of dragonfly larvae reduced the infections in frogs caused by parasitic flatworms called trematodes, said Val Beasley, professor and head of the department of veterinary and biomedical sciences, Penn State, who worked with Rohr and whose research group collaborated with Lucinda Johnson, senior research associate and director of the Center for Water and the Environment, University of Minnesota Duluth, to complete the field study.
Beasley said that various species of trematodes penetrate tadpoles, sometimes killing them and at other times weakening them with tissue damage, kidney failure, or severe limb deformities when the tadpoles develop into frogs. He added that other vertebrate species commonly catch trematode infections from bodies of water. These include wildlife, domestic animals and humans — mostly children — who are commonly affected by schistosomiasis in tropical parts of the world.
The researchers, who release their findings today (Feb. 23) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, did not see a similar reduction in trematode infections in the presence of larval damselflies, which are intraguild predators, meaning they attacked and killed not only the parasites but also the tadpole hosts.
According to Rohr, most research on biodiversity focuses on the diversity of parasite hosts, while this study reveals the importance of the diversity of species that attack and eat parasites.
"In our wetland survey, our microcosms and disease models, we discovered that there were fewer flatworms in frogs where there were more species of flatworm predators," said Rohr. "Additionally, the field study indicated that the diversity of these predators was a better predictor of flatworm infections than nutrients, frog immunity or the diversity and abundance of hosts."
The researchers emphasized the similarities between their findings and research on roles of small predator communities that help control crop pests. They concluded that both management of crop pests and efforts to prevent parasitic disease can be guided by the need to conserve the biodiversity of small predators.
Life & Non-humans
Baby blue-tongues are born smart
Meet the six-legged superfoods: Grasshoppers top insect antioxidant-rich list


Jerusalem (1898) —por Charles William Meredith van der Velde.
Peregrinaje a Jerusalén. David Roberts.
The Gate of the Cotton Merchants,Jerusalem. (1907).
An arch leading through a tower. (1907).
Entrando a la Ciudad Antigua. (Jerusalem, Israël 2013), por Paul Arps de Holanda.


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The Best Bond Pre-Title Sequences
© Metro Goldwyn Mayer
007's Opening Sequences, From Worst To Best
This article was originally published by AskMen UK.
Sam Mendes has promised that Spectre will have the most elaborate Bond opening sequence in history, although he was hardly likely to say, "We've just bodged together some old nonsense because we're tired and you're going to see it anyway". In order to best the rest of the series Spectre is going to have to compete with some pre-title numbers both majestic and bizarre. We went back and watched, then ranked, the lot – an idea we almost instantly regretted.
Start from the beginning
Nothing. Goes straight into the credits, and even they're not the grand, sexy production of the later films. There's just a load of dots, all blipping about, and then some silhouettes of women who look like they're at the tail end of an office party. Rubbish. To be fair, nobody knew it was going to be the longest running film franchise at this point.
Show Page 3
God, this is badly made. Sean Connery's brief return to the 007 series is one of the worst films in the entire series and the opening is disjointed, clunky and makes Connery look old and creaky instead of suave. He kills a woman with her own bikini top – a low point in Bond misogyny – and then has a rubbish fight, involving a mouse trap and some scalpels, before killing 'Blofeld' in a bubbling pool that looks straight out of a shonky tiki restaurant.
There's lots of death and oddness in this one, though it's not very dynamically directed. A British diplomat is killed in the UN. Another is killed on the streets of New Orleans. Then we cut bizarrely to a voodoo ritual and a portly man being bitten by a snake wielded by the oddball Baron Samedi. Like the entire film, it's a bit confusing, tonally all over the shop and more than a smidge racist.
One of the few times that Bond shows any kind of continuation. We see 007 visiting the grave of his wife, Tracy, who he married in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, back when he looked like George Lazenby for a spell. Summoned by the bosses, he heads off in a helicopter, which is hijacked remotely by a familiar-looking man stroking a familiar-looking cat. Trying to escape from an out of control chopper (which for some reason makes plane noises), Bond battles the forces of gravity and the limitations of 1980s special effects. By the time it gets to a man-versus-wheelchair chase it's all become so absurd it's worthy of Austin Powers. And then Blofeld tries to save his own life by offering to buy 007 a stainless steel delicatessen. What?
Not to be confused with the much better post-credits clown sequence. It's not really clear what's going on, but Bond is watching some horses and wearing a disguise he probably got from the bargain bin at Crazy Ernie's Budget Fancy Dress Shop. There's some business with a bomb and a plane but the only thing worth remembering is that Bond at one point deploys a rocket housed in a fake horse's arse. Sadly, this sequence isn't available online.
A View To A Kill
It's rather a bold choice to head back onto snow after the iconic beginning to The Spy Who Loved Me (coming up later) with its Union Jack parachute finale. This doesn't have anything to compare with that, but it does have some very high production values and a frankly absurd iceberg-cum-submarine. It's a Moore film, obviously.
It's clear, sadly, from the get go that this was not going to be one of the better Bonds. As Bond races along the Italian coast, zipping through traffic jams and evading faceless bad guys, it all looks very frantic but is virtually impossible to follow. The least you expect from a Bond movie is a competent car chase.
A whopper. We start with a US spacecraft being stolen, from space. Yes, really. Then the world's collected powers decide there's only one man qualified to find a pilfered rocket, and he happens to be shagging someone in Japan. Following a shoot-out Bond is apparently killed. It's sort of a good idea but why pretend Bond could be dead when we're less than five minutes in? What's the rest of the movie going to be, M filling out the paperwork?
Show Page 10
Licence To Kill
One of the rare sequences that shows Bond having a life outside spywork and casual sex. He's on his way to Felix Leiter's wedding, as best man no less. Obviously they are intercepted and there's a lot of well-staged shooting argy-bargy. The boys make it to the wedding just in time, by parachute! Timothy Dalton received so much criticism for his dour Bond, but this is a pretty solid entry.
Very knowing. Given this was the first Bond without Connery it plays (not at all subtly) on the confusion. Various members of the British government wonder where Bond might be. He turns out to be saving the lovely Diana Rigg on a beach for some reason and now looks very much like George Lazenby. A fight follows, Rigg nicks his car and Lazenby mutters, "This never happened to the other fellow." SO corny, but also kind of fun.
Die Another Day
Absolutely the worst Bond ever, though not a bad sequence. Bond and a couple of cohorts do some sneaky night-time surfing – because it's the only mode of transport he's never used, save sneaking up on his enemies by dodgem or cow – and steals a suitcase of diamonds. Then he's captured and tortured, showing a vulnerability to Bond we haven't previously really seen. It's trying something new, if not entirely successfully. And we think we're right in saying it's the only pre-title sequence that carries on through the titles, unfortunately to that old racket Madonna rattled together.
Poor old Dalton. He had too much to do in his first Bond foray, clawing the series back from the winking nonsense it became in Roger Moore's final days and bedding in a new super-serious tone. His intro is a cracker. Various 00 agents parachute into Gibraltar on a training mission, but someone is taking the game a little too seriously and starts bumping them off. But Bond's got them rumbled. It works, it was just too big an adjustment for Bond fans. The only real moment of levity comes when Bond is attacked by a monkey.
Functional, important, but maybe not actually terribly exciting. The first Bond in the Daniel Craig era had to make clear that we were no longer operating under the same silly rules as the Brosnan movies. Bond is serious now. So in grainy black-and-white, with lots of tight, unfussy shots, we get the backstory of a Bond gaining his 00 status. It's quick and dirty and in a little over three minutes it erases any thought that Bond might be past his prime.
This ushered in the trend of a proper pre-title sequence and it's a doozy. After sneaking around the grounds of a stately home, Bond is murdered! Or IS he? Of course he isn't. It's playful and teasing, setting the tone for the rest of the run.
This one's got a bit of everything: action, sex, silliness. The silliness is too silly because the first we see of Bond, he's swimming about with a seagull stuck to his head. How is having a bird on your head less conspicuous than not having a bird stuck to your head? Fortunately, it gets better. Bond strips off the wetsuit to reveal a perfectly pressed dinner suit underneath; he seduces a woman, but then uses her as a shield, which is a bit rum but hardly out of character; he has a fight with some goons and kills one of them with a heater in a bathtub.
M and her lackies watch from the safety of their London base as 007 infiltrates a terrorist arms sale, which has gathered together so many bad guys that a missile is launched to kill them all, despite the fact they're surrounded by enough nuclear weapons to end the world. Of course it's up to Bond to stop the missile and save us all. It's the epitome of the Brosnan 'more-is-more' era but it works. It's got great action, the classic race against time as the missile gets ever closer and some corking 'oh crumbs' reactions from Judi Dench as M.
The Man With The Golden Gun
A terrific intro to one of the great Bond villains and one of the great henchmen. We meet Scaramanga, and his triumvirate of nipples, on an exotic beach, and then we meet his creepy little sidekick, Nick Nack. Then we visit Scaramanga's trippy maze where he hunts assassins and keeps a waxwork of James Bond. This guy, it's clear, is a psychedelic lunatic and whatever the writers were on they should be sharing it.
Bond is lurking at the funeral of a baddie agent, which has been attended by nobody but the man's widow, whom 007 tails. Following the woman back to her palatial home, Bond socks the poor lady in the face. Because it is not the widow but the supposedly dead agent posing as his own wife and showing himself to be impressively adept at walking in heels. A punch-up that's as well choreographed as it is amusingly slapstick ensues, until Bond makes his getaway using one of the great gadgets of all the Bond movies: the personal jetpack.
The Pierce Brosnan era delivered everything people thought they wanted from a Bond film. They were almost never surprising or subversive, but they delivered functional excitement. Brosnan's introduction sets the tone. It opens with him bungee jumping off a dam, his magnificent hair never shifting a millimetre, then a shootout alongside comrade Sean Bean who is 'killed'. With no time for grief, Bond dashes off to catch a plane. As the plane tumbles off the end of a runway Bond strives to outdo his bungee jump by making an even more perilous leap, without a rubber band to hold him. Naturally, he catches up with the plane just in time. We have a new Bond and he does not believe anything is too over-the-top.
Another one with a stolen rocket, except this time it's nicked from the back of a plane rather than directly from space, as in You Only Live Twice. Bond's needed but off enjoying some above-the-clothes action on a plane in Africa. His conquest turns out to be a wrong'un and Bond winds up tumbling out of the plane without a parachute. Cue lots of exciting mid-air stunts done by someone who is patently not Roger Moore. And then he gets attacked by Jaws! Who tries to save himself from a squishy end by flapping when his parachute is cut. One of the highlights of the Moore years.
Marvellous. The pinnacle of the era of 90s excess. It kicks off in Bilbao, where a meeting gives way to fisticuffs and a very cool escape out of a window with a bit of string and some poor hapless goon used as an anchor. Then we're off to London where Bond is nearly killed by some money soaked in wee – you'll have to watch it, we haven't the time to explain – and then dashes off on a boat chase down the Thames, a flight in a hot air balloon and a bit with the Millennium Dome, which you young'uns will know as the O2. By far the best part of the entire movie.
The Spy Who Loved Me
The one everyone remembers, even if they don't know which film it's from. It's the one with all the skiing and the Union Jack parachute at the end. It is an unalloyed joy, easily one of Bond's best stunts, and that final unbroken shot of Bond leaping off the mountain is no less impressive than it was nearly forty years ago. The only thing that keeps it from the top spot is that Bond's yellow onesie is such a hideously dorky costume that it almost saps all the cool out of the sequence. Almost.
Once you're done reeling from the majesty of Roger Deakins's gorgeous photography we settle in for the best Bond intro of them all. It goes on and on and on, getting bigger and bigger. An attempt to rescue an agent goes horribly wrong and Bond goes tearing after the man who killed him, which leads to a rooftop bike chase, a train-top punch-up and a bit with a digger, plus Naomie Harris as the rare woman who gets to join in with the action without being the victim. Then Bond gets shot! Just this sequence alone contains a lot more plot and action that some of the Moore movies.
Does Spectre Cement Daniel Craig As The Greatest James Bond Actor Ever?
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Trending News: James Bond Has a Drinking Problem, According to a Study


Thru our sister Company AMARAMEDIA, partnerships with Signature Home Theaters and equipment manufacturers we can offer a wealth of knowledge, experience and products in the Digital Signage Medium.
Our services offered for your Digital signage campaign includes, Consultation, Planning, Design, and implementation of our Digital Signage project.
We are the intermediary for ExcelAg technologies in some select markets of the Caribbean. ExcelAg products have been designed for commercialization in various markets such as Agriculture, Turf & Ornamentals, Home & Garden, Lawn Care, Golf Courses, Landscape, Parks & Amenities, Public Health and Animal Health.


The EF-610 DG ST features a powerful Guide Number of 61 and is designed to work with the latest TTL auto exposure systems of all popular digital and film SLR cameras. It features TTL automatic flash exposure control for easy operation.The autozoom function automatically sets the optimum illumination angle in accordance with the lens' focal length in a range from 24mm to 105mm. When the built-in Wide Panel is used, the flash can cover the angle of 17mm. For bounce flash, the flashgun head can be tilted up by 90 degrees, to the left by 180 degrees, or to the right by 90 degrees. It can also be tilted down by 7 degrees allowing ease of use for close-up photography.In addition to automatic mode, the flashgun also features a manual flash mode, making it possible to set the flash power to full or 1/16. When the flashgun is fully charged, a confirmation 'ready' light will be emitted and the flash exposure level can be checked through the camera's viewfinder. Other features incorporated into this flashgun include the Auto Power-Off function to help save battery power.


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Size 236 shoe sculpted to honor century-old business
"Size 236" shoe sculpture unveiled at Ella Sharp Museum
Gallery: "Size 236" shoe sculpture unveiled at Ella Sharp Museum
By Taylor DesOrmeau | tdesorme@mlive.com
JACKSON, MI - An old pair of women's boots fascinated Bob LaZebnik on a regular stop to the Miller Shoe Parlor.
The early 20th-century kidskin leather boots weren't for sale, they were propped up as a reminder of the early days of the store - which opened around 1912 or 1913, owner James "Steve" Shotwell Jr. said.
Entranced with how skinny the heels of the boots were and the history they represented, LaZebnik, 89, wanted it to be seen by more of Jackson.
A 7-foot sculpture replicating the boot that now stands in front of the Ella Sharp Museum, 3225 Fourth St., accomplishes that, thanks to funding from LaZebnik. It was unveiled at a ceremony on Tuesday, Sept. 18.
"Bob got his first pair of high-top shoes, there," his wife, Laurice said. "His parents bought shoes for all the kids, there. It's still the place if you want a really good pair of shoes, you go there. Because they know how to fit you."
The boots have been on display in the store nearly three decades, Shotwell said. They were found in the house of his grandfather, J.C. "Shotty" Shotwell, after his death.
The elder Shotwell bought Miller Shoe Parlor in 1959 and four generations of the family have worked in the store. It moved to its current location at 103 W. Michigan Ave. from across the street in 1976.
"We've got people who show up from 150, 200 miles away," retired owner Jim Shotwell Sr. said. "They tell us that they drove that far because we're the only store that had anywhere near their size."
It took artist Joshua Diedrich four months to build the 1,200-pound concrete sculpture. The exterior is plasticized black concrete, with the inside crafted from Styrofoam, steel poles, fiberglass and more concrete, he said.
While the original boot was a size 6.5A, Diedrich estimates the sculpture to be a shoe size 236.
"I just looked at the sizing chart and figured out my best estimate," Diedrich said. "I attempted to make it a decent guess."
Based on advertisements in the Brooklyn Exponent and Jackson Citizen - before it became part of the Jackson Citizen Patriot - Shotwell Jr. said the boots retailed between $2.85 and $3.25.
"Art takes the hard edge off our life," Laurice LaZebnik said. "I think people are going to come here to get their picture taken by it. I think they're going to be married by it or engaged by it or (have their) first kiss by the boot."
Next on Bob LaZebnik's to-do list is to get a giant cello steel sculpture - which formerly stood in front of the Jackson Symphony Orchestra - to Ella Sharp Museum, he said.
"He's a Jacksonian and this is what Jacksonians do," Laurice LaZebnik said of her husband. "They're proud of their community and they contribute. That's what this event is all about."


I am NOT a fan of "faith based" films. Christians are often portrayed as sanitized ( I have yet to meet a sanitized Christian and if I did I would pray for their salvation) and non-believers are seen as drooling, angry God-haters living totally immoral lives. With reluctance, I watched "I Am Not Ashamed", a film based on Rachel Joy Scott, a Christian student killed at the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. The Christians in this film, based on eye witness accounts and the young girls journal entries, are flawed. The non-believers are, in general, well-meaning individuals. Here is a film that the viewer, believer and non, can relate with. It has it's eye-rolling moments and some "creative" moments but, after doing some research, is roughly 80% accurate.
Unlike the well-intentioned but painful "God's Not Dead" series and the Kendrick films, "I Am Not Ashamed" is worthy of your time.
Thanks for your time and comments are welcomed.
Haven't seen the film as this past year, well, good films made during that year are hard to find. Most have a political message forcing worldly conformity down peoples throats.
Might watch this one later so thank you for the tip!


Ciguatera is increasingly attracting greater public attention and discussion among the general public and within the community of food safety experts. As the geographical instances of ciguatera fish poisoning expand, discussion is turning to the implications this may have on the diets and nutrition of the affected regions and on international fish trade.
Earlier this week, FAO's Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, jointly with the Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department, organized an interagency meeting with the World Health Organization (WHO), UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Panel on Harmful Algal Blooms (UNESCO-IOC), and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The topic on the day-long agenda was how to tackle concerns about ciguatera fish poisoning. All experts agreed the only effective way to address the concern is to bring together international experts on fisheries, public health, researchers, and climate change, since the issue touches upon all of these areas.
Ciguatera fish poisoning is caused by ingesting fish that have been contaminated by the ciguatera toxin. The toxin is most commonly found in large tropical reef fish, including, among others, barracuda, grouper, and red snapper.
The ciguatera toxin forms in some harmful algal species, which tend to extend their geographic distribution due to the effects of climate change. Both herbivorous and carnivorous fish can become toxic, because small fish ingest the toxin and then are eaten by larger fish. Although the toxin is harmless to the fish that ingest it, it is dangerous to humans who the consume the fish. Ciguatera is not easily detectable: it is not visible in the fish that is caught, nor does it change the taste of the prepared fish.
Cases of ciguatera fish poisoning are most prevalent in the Caribbean and Oceana, causing specific concerns to Small Island Developing States that rely on fish for their own food security and nutritional needs, in addition to their economic development and livelihoods. NOAA produced a new study in the journal Ecological Modeling, which forecasts an increase in ciguatera poisoning in the Gulf of Mexico and the US Southeast Atlantic coast, with predicted rising global ocean temperatures due to climate change. These changes can lead to larger and longer blooms of the harmful algae and a migration of affected species further north.
The interagency meeting on Ciguatera resulted in important agreement on next steps for coordinating this work across agencies and in collaboration with member states. By working with a large array of experts and building capacity in affected countries and regions, participants felt countries would be better able to face the challenges posed by ciguatera fish poisoning.


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Newt Facts: Facts You Won't Believe!
Newts are semiaquatic amphibians. Newts are very much similar to the Salamander, and both belong to the same family. Interestingly, Newts are one of those species which can regrow their organs. Found across the globe, these animals are found in different colors and sizes. They are attractive with dark spots over bright scales. The species is nocturnal. They blend very well in their habitat and hide under the rocks and leaf litter. Newts carry toxins in their skin as protection from their predators, and few species are believed to be toxic to even humans. They carry excellent ability to swim and faster underwater than on the ground.
A few of the Newt species have become vulnerable, and a few are endangered due to human expansion and pollution of water bodies causing their habitat loss. They are an essential part of our ecosystem, and proper measures need to be taken for their survival by preventing pollution of water bodies.
If you like this article, you should also go through marine toad and bonito fish facts.
Newt Fact File
Worms, insects, mosquito larvae
100-300 eggs
0.3-1.8 oz
1.7-5.9 in
Green, black, brown, gray, orange, red, yellow
Humans, Snakes, Fishes
Marshes, Lakes, Swamps, And Grasslands, Creeks, Pond
Northern Africa, Europe, North-america, Asia, Eurasia
Pleurodeliane
Salamandridae
Newt Interesting Facts
What type of animal is a Newt?
Despite their appearance, Newts are not lizards and are more closely related to the frogs than they are to any reptile. They are closely related to the Salamander. There are roughly a hundred species of Newts found throughout the world and 15 species of Newts are found in the northern hemisphere.
What class of animal does a Newt belong to?
Newts belong to the Amphibia class of the Salamandridae family and are found in various colors and sizes across the globe. There are many types of Newts like Warty, Crested, Alpine, Triturus, among others.
How many Newts are there in the world?
Though exact data is not available on how many Newts are there globally, there are over a hundred species of Newts around the world. Their number is declining due to human expansion and pollution.
Where does a Newt live?
They can be found around a large portion of the world, from North American regions to Europe and North Africa to Asia except Australia and Antarctica. They prefer ephemeral wetlands for breeding, but as adults, they are terrestrial.
What is a Newt's habitat?
The Newt habitat includes both water and land. For part of a year, they live aquatic life in the stagnant pond and other water bodies, especially during the breeding season. However, some deviate into slow rivers and streams of fresh water. Most of the year, Newts are terrestrial and spend most of the time in the humid undergrowth under rocks, logs, moss leaf litter to stay away from predators. You can also find them in grasslands and forests like the Red-spotted Newt of eastern North America.
Who do Newts live with?
They are solitary animals and come together during the mating season in water bodies like ponds. They are semiaquatic species and coexist with many other species like fishes, mollusks, snakes, and frogs.
How long does a Newt live?
Depending on the species, a Newt lifespan varies between 6-20 years in the wild. It is a semiaquatic species, and the availability of water bodies is vital for its survival and longevity.
Newts have a different style of reproducing. They breed in water. Males of this species attract and seek the females by wafting a glandular secretion. Once a female is around the male grips the female with its broader feet. After courtship, the male transfers spermatophore, which the female collects with her cloaca. About three hundred fertilized eggs are laid by the female on broadleaved aquatic plants about a week later. Newts undergo metamorphosis. The egg hatches and a larva or tadpole come out. The tadpoles have external gills to help them breathe in water and a tail to swim around. They grow forelimbs first and later hind limbs. Then grow for few more months before transitioning into their terrestrial form. At this stage, they are known as an eft and later they become adult Newts.
According to the IUCN Red List, few species come under the Least Concern list while others are Vulnerable and Endangered. The Yunnan lake Newt of China is one species to become extinct in recent times.
Newt Fun Facts
What do Newts look like?
Newts have a slender body with four legs, with four toes each and a long tail. Sometimes they appear like a cross between lizard and frog. They have beautiful dark spots all over their body. The tail is rudder-like, which makes them good swimmers. The Newt is an amphibian and can breathe both on land and underwater. Males develop wavy crest during the breeding season.
They are very small four-legged creatures confusing onlookers to think that they are lizards in the wild. They are shy and nocturnal species and spend most of their time hiding. They are beautiful amphibians found in different colors across the world.
Newts mainly communicate by chemical and visual cues. But they also rely on low-frequency sounds (not much is known about their auditory ability). Their sounds are barely audible, but yes, they have vocal communication as well.
How big is a Newt?
Newts are small semi-aquatic creatures. There are so many species of Newts in the world that they wary in size and colors a lot. But most of them grow between 1.7-5.9 in. The largest Newt is the Great-crested Newt which is found only in Europe and female Newts reach seven inches in length.
How fast can a Newt run?
They move very slowly on land but are fast swimmers. On land, a Newt can run at a speed of 30 mph. They are prey to a plethora of species, including the snakes like garters and predatory fish, and sometimes birds. The young also have to be cautious of the adults as cannibalism is quite common.
How much does a Newt weigh?
Newts can weigh anywhere between 0.3-1.8 oz. These small creatures vary in size and length.
What are their male and female names of the species?
Newts do not have any particular name based on their gender. Mostly, males are larger than females with an exception in some species.
What would you call a baby Newt?
Newt babies that come out of eggs are called tadpoles. It grows into the terrestrial form, and this juvenile Newt is called an eft. After hatching from eggs, the larvae undergo metamorphosis and grows their limbs to become an eft.
They are born carnivores and remain so their entire lifetime. Young larvae consume aquatic invertebrates such as daphnia, mosquito larvae, and worms. The terrestrial adults have the ability to consume any small animal they can catch and swallow whole. Though they mainly feed on slow-moving mollusks such as slugs and the Newt diet includes abundantly available isopods such as woodlice.
Are they dangerous?
Newts are not potentially dangerous but their skin is toxic as protection from its predators. This toxin can be a real problem if ingested and can not be absorbed topically. So humans should handle them with care, as the toxin may get into the body if they come into contact with bruises or cuts. But the rough skin of a particular Pacific Newt species and Great Britain crested Newt creates enough tetrodotoxin to kill an adult human being. A species of Newt called Taricha found in western North American regions is also toxic.
Newts are taken in as a pet by few. They are semiaquatic animals, and hence they are kept in aquariums with docking areas of at least five gallons size. Closed lids are a must to prevent them from escaping. Since they are nocturnal, an aquarium with no direct sunlight is suitable for survival. They do well with tropical fishes as well.
The Japanese fire-bellied Newt can regenerate its own eye lenses multiple times throughout its lifespan.
There are 10 species of Warty Newt. The Warty Newt is found in China, Laos, and Vietnam.
How far can they jump?
Newts cannot jump. They cannot even climb the walls but can walk over little rocks and heights for food. They can walk and swim but jumping is an unlikely thing.
What is the difference between a Newt and a Salamander?
At first glance, there is not a whole lot of difference between the Newts and other Salamanders. But typically, Newts have drier and rougher skin, whereas Salamander's skin is usually wet and soft. The Newt slaw also possesses true teeth in both their jaws and their regenerative capability tends to be more extreme than that of Salamanders. Both are poisonous and carnivorous species.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly animal facts for everyone to discover! Learn more about some other amphibians including pool frog, or caecilian.
You can even occupy yourself at home by drawing one on our newt coloring pages.


For our readers today we have selected one of the popular Youtubers and Instagram celebrities. The name of this celebrity is Taylor Aleisa who has gained a mass following due to her witty and charming nature. Our guide will help you explore near about every possible fact and personal information available at the moment of this celebrity. So sit back and enjoy this joy ride of information.
Taylor Alesia is 20 years old and resides in Arizona with her family. She belongs to white ethnic group and is a born American national. Taylor Alesia is currently measured at a height of about 5 feet 5 inches while weighing 40 kg. The charming 20 year old has a unique style and a charming beauty that befits her profile for an Instagram star. Her light brown hairs and hazel green eyes have managed to get her a following of millions of social media.
Information related to career and personal life of Taylor Aleisa is as follows.
Taylor Alesia, by profession is a Youtuber and an Instagram celebrity.
Alesia opened her own YouTube channel by name of Tayloralesia, which since the time of it star has currently 554 thousand followers.
The channel mostly consists of videos in which she talks to her audience about her day to day life and also her relationship. Her rumors and witty style has been the cause of this amazing follower count.
Some of the most viewed videos on her YouTube page include Boyfriend VS Girlfriend, Dad ripped my belly button piercing out, Extreme couple challenges and Reacting to picture of me at age 15.
In addition to his YouTube account she has an Instagram page that gain has mass following. There are currently 1.3 million followers on his account. On this account she uploads various pictures of her depicting her beauty and seductiveness.
In addition to these major accounts of YouTube and Instagram, Taylor has a Twitter account as well. This account ahs following of about 74 thousand. She uses this account to let her fans know about her views and share her whereabouts.
Some of the facts about the famous social media Celebrity Taylor Alesia are as follows.
Taylor Alesia is committed in a relationship to a man named Tanner Fox. Tanner is also a major YouTube celebrity.
Alesia was born in Arizona and still maintains her life with her supportive parents and an older sister.
Taylor and Alesia are both are compatible couple that complete meet each other's life style. They post videos of each other together often on their YouTube channels.
Tanner once surprised Alesia by getting her to Disney Land and kissed her inside the castle.


text:
import { polygon } from '@turf/helpers';

/**
 * Takes a bbox and returns an equivalent {@link Polygon|polygon}.
 *
 * @name bboxPolygon
 * @param {Array<number>} bbox extent in [minX, minY, maxX, maxY] order
 * @returns {Feature<Polygon>} a Polygon representation of the bounding box
 * @example
 * var bbox = [0, 0, 10, 10];
 *
 * var poly = turf.bboxPolygon(bbox);
 *
 * //addToMap
 * var addToMap = [poly]
 */
function bboxPolygon(bbox) {
    var lowLeft = [bbox[0], bbox[1]];
    var topLeft = [bbox[0], bbox[3]];
    var topRight = [bbox[2], bbox[3]];
    var lowRight = [bbox[2], bbox[1]];

    return polygon([[
        lowLeft,
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}

export default bboxPolygon;

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The most dangerous thing that can happen to a born again child of God is for the Holy Spirit to leave you. If we keep on willfully sinning and keep on disobeying the Holy Spirit then He will leave us. If we do not feel the Spirit of God all the time then we are in grave trouble and we need to find out why the presence of God has left us.
Sin and disobedience separates us from God and then we grieve His Holy Spirit. If we keep grieving the Holy Spirit, keep on disobeying Him then He will leave us and we will be in darkness, we will be away from the presence of God.
If the presence of God has left you, if you do not sense the Holy Spirit in you any more, then RUN BACK TO Jesus, fall on your knees, cry out in repentance, ask Him to show you what there is between Him and you, whatever sin, whatever disobedience, unwillingness, He will show you. And then REPENT of it, plead for forgiveness and STOP DOING IT! Plead for His presence to return to you.
We have to ALWAYS FELL THE PRESENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT with us, that is God WITH US, Jesus IN US, a river of life flowing from our inner being. If that river stops flowing and you do not feel the presence of God you are IN GRAVE DANGER OF HELL FIRE! Make sure that you ALWAYS feel that presence of Jesus Christ IN you.
I had an experience some time ago, i desperately chase after it now. i woke up with this intense joy, yelling my soul is alive! twas so wonderful so loving so peaceful and on top of that everything was so easy to understand. now i just feel this faintly. im pressing towards this.