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Supreme Court Restores Akpabio As Akwa Ibom APC Senatorial Candidate
Leave a Comment on Supreme Court Restores Akpabio As Akwa Ibom APC Senatorial Candidate
The Supreme Court on Friday restored former Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, as the senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Akwa Ibom North Senatorial District.
In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, the apex court upheld the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja which in September last year granted verdict in favour of the immediate past minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
Saulawa after reviewing the arguments canvassed by Akpabio said that his appeal was meritorious and therefore was allowed.
The judgement was on an appeal filed by Akpabio challenging the judgement of the Court of Appeal Abuja, which set aside his victory at the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Arriving at the decision, the Supreme Court in a unanimous judgement said each of the 10 issues formulated by the appellant was resolved in his favour, and against the respondent.
It held that the court below lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case, adding that whatever decision arrived at by the court amounted to nullity.
It would be recalled that the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal had on November 14, 2022, set aside the judgment of Federal High Court Abuja, removing Akpabio as the All Progressives Congress candidate for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
A three-member panel of justices led by Justice Danlami Senchi held that Akpabio failed to file a proof of arguments within the time provided by the rules.
The panel further ruled that Akpabio, having contested the presidential primary of the APC, could not participate in the valid primary of the party held on May 27 and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission which produced Udom Ekpoudom as a candidate.
But Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court Abuja, had on September 22, 2022, ordered INEC to reinstate Akpabio as APC's candidate, being the candidate nominated by the party in the second primary of June 9.
The trial court had directed INEC to accept the former minister of Niger Delta as the APC flag bearer.
Nwite also ordered INEC to publish Akpabio's name as APC senatorial candidate for Akwa Ibom North/West Senatorial District in 2023, stating that the commission acted illegally by refusing to accept and publish the former governor's name when it was submitted to it by the APC as its candidate.
He added that Akpabio was validly nominated as the Akwa Ibom North/West Senatorial District candidate of the APC from the primary conducted by the party's National Working Committee on June 9, 2022.
The trial judge faulted INEC for electing to monitor the May 27 primary, conducted by an illegal faction of the party led by Augustine Ekanem as against the June 9, primary authorised and conducted by the APC NWC.
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Parliamentary briefing
Academic medicine and research
Working for health
Inequalities in Health
Briefing on the Health and Care Bill for committee stage in the House of Lords
The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has issued a briefing to Peers in the House of Lords ahead of the Health and Care Bill committee stage starting on 11 January 2022.
Strengthening workforce planning in the health and care bill: coalition principles
A coalition of almost 90 health and care organisations – including the Royal College of Physicians – calling for stronger provisions on workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill has issued a briefing ahead of committee stage in the House of Lords in January 2022.
70 organisations unite behind the call for strengthened workforce planning in the health and care bill
See the latest information and briefing on workforce planning in the Health and Care Bill.
RCP briefing: Health and Care Bill
The RCP has produced a briefing for parliamentarians ahead of the Health and Care Bill report stage on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 November 2021. The Health and Care Bill seeks to put Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) on statutory footing, following the health and care white paper and an NHS England consultation.
Health and care leaders say the Health and Care Bill must be strengthened to improve workforce planning
See the latest information and briefing on workforce planning in the Health and
Keeping medicine brilliant
This report focuses on developing the evidence base to support new ways of assessing and improving doctors' morale.
Being a junior doctor
This report explores the challenges that face the NHS from the perspective of junior doctors, and it is drawn directly from their experiences.
Funding of the NHS after the UK leaves the EU
Briefing prepared for Chuka Umunna MP ahead of the adjournment debate on 'funding for the NHS after the UK leaves the EU', on 15 November 2016.
Parliamentary briefing: Staffing levels in Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
This briefing was prepared ahead of an adjournment debate on Thursday 21 July 2016 to discuss staffing levels in Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
RCP parliamentary briefing: Implications of the EU referendum
A briefing prepared by the RCP ahead of the House of Lords debate on the effect of the EU referendum result on staffing levels within the NHS and social care.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
module Spree
  class PaymentMethod
    class ShopifyPayment < Spree::PaymentMethod::Check
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Cheltenham News
Picture taken near Wetherspoon pub in Tewkesbury prompts concern about social distancing
The pub chain said: "Pubs and restaurants have power to ensure social distancing within their premises, but almost no legal powers once people leave"
Kim HortonSenior Reporter
An image taken in Tewkesbury on Saturday night (Image: Anonymous.)
A picture appearing to show people standing close together on a pavement in Tewkesbury has reignited the debate about pubs having to close their doors at 10pm.
The image was taken at 10.15pm on Saturday and sent to Gloucestershire Live by a concerned member of the public who said they were worried about the apparent lack of social distancing.
The group of people was a few doors down from the Wetherspoons pub, The Hop Pole, in Church Street, which had closed its doors at 10pm.
In a full statement, Wetherspoons said the image was not taken outside the pub.
It said as pubs in England have to close by 10pm, it has changed its service hours so that the last food order is at 9pm and the last drinks order is at 9.30pm to allow customers to 'disperse in accordance with the 10pm curfew'.
It added: "The 10pm curfew has met with fierce criticism from all political parties – and many responsible organisations.
"Pubs and restaurants have power to ensure social distancing within their premises, but almost no legal powers once people leave.
"As Wetherspoon Chairman Tim Martin has said 'the curfew is a foolish and retrograde step by the government. Pubs have an excellent record in creating a socially distanced and hygienic environment. Requiring people to leave at the same time, so that licensed premises can no longer supervise behaviour, is completely idiotic – as most police officers agree'.
"Wetherspoon has always cooperated with the police, and will continue to do so, in Tewkesbury and elsewhere."
What Turtle Bay is doing as 'window for socialising' gets smaller with 10pm closing
Nationwide pub closure could come to avoid second coronavirus lockdown
What the Chancellor said about the 10pm curfew
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has defended the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants saying it was "better than having places closed".
The Government is under pressure from Tory MPs to abandon the curfew amid claims there is no evidence that it is preventing the spread of coronavirus while it is damaging business.
However, Mr Sunak told BBC Breakfast last week: "The curfew was something we were told by our advisers could well make a difference to the spread of the transmission. We know social contact is how the virus spreads.
"In common with many other countries around the world this is thought to be something that can help suppress the spread of the virus. We are not an outlier in having a curfew.
"As a tool we have at our disposal to try and suppress the spread of the virus, it is one that is advised across the board can make a difference.
"What I would say is it is better than having places closed."
What are the fines for breaking lockdown rules in England? - including what you can and can't do this Halloween
What is a three-tier lockdown and what does it mean for you?
What the Government says about social distancing
To reduce the risk of catching or spreading coronavirus, try to keep at least two metres away from people you do not live with.
Social distancing is essential to stop the spread of the virus, as it is more likely to spread when people are close together.
An infected person can pass on the virus even if they do not have any symptoms, through talking, breathing, coughing or sneezing.
When with people you do not live with, you should also avoid: physical contact; being close and face-to-face; and shouting or singing close to them.
You should also avoid crowded areas with lots of people; and touching things that other people have touched."


The Raimon Jr High team may have bested the rest in the Football Frontier tournament, but there's an even bigger challenge - with even higher stakes - to face in Inazuma Eleven 2: Firestorm or Inazuma Eleven 2: Blizzard, on Nintendo DS.
Just a week after their triumph in the Football Frontier Tournament, Mark Evans and the team find themselves face to face with a bunch of alien invaders (yep, you read right, alien invaders) who plan on using their mad football skills to destroy the world. That is, unless someone can beat them at the beautiful game and send them packing!
It's up to you to guide Mark and his crew on a journey that'll take them all over Japan, with a choice of over 1,500 players to recruit, in order to make the best darn team you can to take on those extra terrestrial bad guys! With two versions to choose from, each with their own unique players, abilities and moves, and the option to play or trade with mates nearby, there's a feast of football goodness to chow down on!
Find out more about the game at the official Inazuma Eleven 2 website!
Inazuma Eleven 2: Firestorm and Inazuma Eleven 2: Blizzard are in stores across Europe from today, only for Nintendo DS.


The ending of the Asimov's Foundation series in " Foundation and Earth " (abbr. as"F&E" in following) is really a anticlimax. Asimov have lost his standard in his most important, even the most important science fiction epic in history.
It's weird that Asimov, a world-famous, half-century-experienced, genius writer have made such a mistake. As we have known that Asimov do not have any plan in mind when he was writing the Foundation series. These work have been written from 1951 ~ 1992.
Firstly, let's see the official interpretation. The following is the answer of What is the significance of the ending of Foundation and Earth? in Asimov's official site.
Foundation and Earth ends with a "hook" for a sequel – the main problem of the novel itself has been solved, but a new problem is introduced in the last few pages which threatens the future of mankind.
Asimov fully intended to write a sequel to Foundation and Earth, continuing the story chronologically. He had, however, no specific plans for how he would develop the problem with which Foundation and Earth ends, let alone how to resolve it. His next (and final) two Foundation books were stories of the life of Hari Seldon, written largely because he couldn't figure out what would happen after Foundation and Earth.
He died before he had any specific plans for what would happen next.
According to Asimov's Chronological table. "F&E" is published in 1986, directly after "Robots and Empire" in 1985. Major news event in that time have must influenced Asimov, especially which relate to Soviet-US relationship and human space exploration due to his own background.
Apr 26th 1986 – Chernobyl disaster killed at least 4056 people and damaged almost $7 billion of property. Radioactive fallout from the accident is concentrated near Belarus, Ukraine and Russia and at least 350,000 people are forcibly resettled away from these areas.
Oct 11th 1986 – Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev meet in Reykjavík, Iceland, to continue discussions about scaling back their intermediate missile arsenals in Europe, which end in failure.
Let's think more carefully about "Psychohistory". It's essentially the final form of Communism's "Central Planned Economy" - "Preset Central Planned Civilization". Even Soviet have launched "Mir" Space Station, the whole Soviet's economy already cannot hold it up anymore at that time thus Gorbachev's reform have started. In "F&E", Asimov's ideal future of mankind have changed from Soviet-like Second Foundation to Swiss-like Gaia.
The following is the ending of "F&E". Since "F&E" is the last book of Foundation series, it is also the ending of the whole series.
… And he did not look down to meet the brooding eyes of Fallom - hermaphroditic, transductive, different - as they rested, unfathomably, on him.
However, it is not even like an ending of a novel. The story is still going on.
What is the "real" ending of Foundation series. The name of heroes' name have already given us clue - a etymological clue.
No matter how Asimov emphasise how critical Trevize's decision is - it is still a trivial decision. The empire and foundation will fall and boom as history is going on.
As we all knows that the Foundation series is a tribute to Edward Gibbon's "The Decline and Fall of Roman Empire". We may regard the Foundation series as "The Rise and Fall of Galaxy Empire". The human beings, will unit, expand, separate, re-unit, from one continent to one planet, from one planet to one galaxy, repeat.


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Q: Is it possible to modify partitions of Android running Tablet? I have a Chinese tab and Probably its duplicate. The Model  reads:
SAMSUNG- N9106HD
The problem with the tab is it has two partitions of storage. One named as "Internal Storage" and another is "Phone Storage".Storege
Internal Storage contains the Operating System (Android-4.4.2 kitkat) and all the applications. The size of this storage is only 2GB. Therefore it becomes full and no more apps can be installed. I tried moving some apps to the phone storage (30GB) but most of the apps don't move.
So, I want to have a fresh installation of Android and delete extra partition and make one partition of 32 GB.
Is it possible to do so? if yes, then how do I do so?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The clinical and radiological absence of a tooth, temporary or permanent, in the oral cavity, with no history of extraction, avulsion, or exfoliation, is known as anodontia and this may be total or partial. If the absence is up to six teeth, the condition is known as hypodontia. The term oligodontia is used when more than six teeth are absent. This article describes a case of partial oligodontia in a young patient with a family history of this disorder.
by: Mayid, Barzuna U., et al.


...to save our waterways from micro plastics!
We are looking for Scout Groups to be part of a world leading environmental project, currently underway in Victoria. For only two to three hours participation every three months, your Venturers and Scouts will have the opportunity to take up lead roles in local environmental issues and also work towards their Scouting Awards.
Our youth are rapidly becoming aware of the devastating effects of plastics in our marine environments. Do they know that 80% of these plastics come from our local streets?
Scouts Victoria has received a Government grant to work with The Port Phillip Baykeeper to study the source of plastic litter entering our waterways that lead into our Bay. The Port Phillip Bay catchment is huge. From Mornington Peninsula up to the Yarra Ranges, over to Daylesford, and around Corio Bay.
Join other Scout Groups across the Port Phillip Bay catchments who have signed up to the Street2Bay Project and undertake to do micro plastic audits in your local area. The project has substantial resources, training and support available to assist Groups and their audit teams.
You can also book in for our upcoming online info session.


SPECTACULAR PENTHOUSE with sea views, in perfect condition, with 126 m2 built, plus two terraces, one with approximately 115 sq/m and 56.23 sq/m, the last one is completely closed with glass curtain which will make us take advantage of the terrace during all the year. The apartment consists of a hall, kitchen with laundry room, large living room with access to the terrace, 4 bedrooms with fitted wardrobes and two bathrooms, one of these privative. Wood floors, central air conditioning, garage and storage. We speak of one of the best and exclusive urbanizations of Torremolinos, very well connected with schools, pharmacies, supermarkets, paddle tennis court and playground, easy entry and exit for motorway A7, MA20 and EN340.
The common areas are impressive, great swimming pools and gardens to enjoy, the community has a social room so that neighbors can use and use it in celebrations, has a paddle tennis court. "


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Solntsevo () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia.

Urban localities
Solntsevo, Kursk Oblast, a work settlement in Solntsevsky District of Kursk Oblast

Rural localities
Solntsevo, Belgorod Oblast, a selo in Gubkinsky District of Belgorod Oblast
Solntsevo, Chaplyginsky District, Lipetsk Oblast, a selo in Solovskoy Selsoviet of Chaplyginsky District of Lipetsk Oblast
Solntsevo, Krasninsky District, Lipetsk Oblast, a village in Sotnikovsky Selsoviet of Krasninsky District of Lipetsk Oblast
Solntsevo, Omsk Oblast, a village in Krasnoyarsky Rural Okrug of Sherbakulsky District of Omsk Oblast
Solntsevo, Orlovsky District, Oryol Oblast, a selo in Obraztsovsky Selsoviet of Orlovsky District of Oryol Oblast
Solntsevo, Uritsky District, Oryol Oblast, a village in Podzavalovsky Selsoviet of Uritsky District of Oryol Oblast
Solntsevo, Zabaykalsky Krai, a selo in Shilkinsky District of Zabaykalsky Krai

Historical entities
Abolished inhabited localities
Solntsevo, a former town in Leninsky District of Moscow Oblast; since 1984—a part of the city of Moscow.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Clark and Jonathan are thrilled when Jake Jennings (TOM WOPAT - John Schneider's fellow star in the series "The Dukes of Hazzard"), Jonathan's oldest friend, comes to the Kent farm looking for their support in his campaign for reelection to the Senate. However, after a woman named Melissa (SARAH MUTCH) turns up dead, it is revealed that she was a stripper and Jennings' mistress, which makes Jennings the prime suspect. Searching for answers, Chloe convinces Lois (recurring guest star ERICA DURANCE) to go undercover as a stripper, but things take a dangerous turn when Lois is kidnapped by a diplomat's son who intends to sell her into slavery.


We arrive in Spain at 11 o'clock local time and sail through security and customs. Sleepy faces all round because it' s only 5 in the morning for us and some have managed to sleep more than others. But every one seems excited. After a long lay over in New York we're finally here! We meet Cristina our bus driver, load our bags onto the bus, and start the last leg of our journey. The ride to Salamanca is nearly 3 hours long. We head westward out of the Madrid region and its multitude of satellite towns, with the snow capped Sierra de Guadarrama on our right. An hour later we enter the plateau that makes up the region of Castilla-Leon, where Salamanca is located. The landscape is stark with patches of snow. There is not much to see until the walled city of Avila appears on our left like a mirage. As we get closer to Salamanca we begin to see more towns with their classic stone churches. We see lots of cattle roaming the high plains.
We cross the Tormes River and enter Salamanca. It's Sunday and traffic is light. Our ride comes to an end at pretty town square where our "new families" are waiting for us. Lots of kisses on both cheeks are given out to our students by the waiting Spaniards and we head out to our respective new homes but agree to meet at 6 at plaza Mayor, the historic heart of the city.
Ada, the director of our school takes us for a walking tour of the old city.
stop at Café Las Torres for churros and chocolate at Café . This is a tradition observed all over Spain especially in the cooler winter months where you dip the stick like churros made out of fried dough and sprinkled with sugar into a of thick hot chocolate. I notice at the café that most of the tables are occupied by groups of nicely dressed people in their 60's and 70's for their night out in the town. While we sit enjoying our snack at Las Torres, Laura one of the assistants at the school shows up with a map for each student highlighting where the school and their apartments are located. We say goodbye and return to our apartments to catch up our sleep.
the language school we will be attending. It is an attractive setting with artwork on the walls and comfortable workspaces. The school follows the European framework for languages that recognizes 6 levels of linguistic proficiency. Based on the placement test they took on line, our students are placed into 4 different groups. Over the next two weeks our students will work on grammar, conversation and culture from 9:15 until 1:30 in the afternoon with a 30 minute break in between.
how the two cathedrals were constructed. We then stop at the Casa de las Conchas (house of shells) a renaissance palace whose outside is dotted with enormous sculpted shells, a symbol of the founder's connection to the order of Santiago, patron saint of Spain. The palace now houses a library. We end our tour at the University of Salamanca, Spain's oldest founded by King Alfonso the Wise in the 1218 We marvel at its beautifully ornate façade then take a detour into one the buildings that houses an impressive fresco of the Zodiac which dates from the 1400's. We end our tour back in Plaza Mayor and our students return home to rest and have dinner with their families.


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January 30, 2015 / Tom Mooney	/ Leave a comment
Issues of Life
One to treasure, Issues of Life opens with the gloriously funky Moanin', one of the strongest tracks on a demonstrably powerful collection, in which that throaty tenor of Gregory Porter is more than a match for the superlative playing throughout.
The tempo, as you would expect from a Hardbop classic, is upbeat from the off, with a fluent stream of scatting by Porter, buoyed by a soaring trumpet from Barney Girlinger. This version of the Art Blakely classic finds its first official release on this CD. Not for the last time does Porter sound like an old blues man, twice his age.
Several bands feature, including the Infinity Quartet, whose saxophonist David Murry is also a superb arranger: Be My Monster Love, lyrics by Ishmael Reed, has been interpreted by Macy Gray, but this version of the love song is more meaty, with Porter's laid back vocal a footing for a stunning Murry solo. 'My neck is yours, suck me until I'm anaemic,' pleads Porter.
As a performer and a writer, you have to expect Porter to draw from a medley of influences, rooted in personal experience and the collective experience of the African-American community in America, particularly in the 1960's, and the biographical surfaces in the great Issues of Life, a collaboration with Zak Najor from Zbonics.
That desire to invest the lyrics with his own empirical marrow is omnipresent in About the Children (accompanied by the David Murray Infinity Quartet), a gorgeous ballad with stunning bass and piano from Jaribu Shahid and Marc Cary. Hope is a Thing With Feathers is an extension of About The Children, with one notable difference: Ishmael Reed's lyrics transmute as poetry with sharp edges.
She Danced Across the Floor, a get you out of bed on a Sunday morning track, is, frankly, faultless, electronically remixed for this CD, with an infectious ampleness to the percussion. A song for the summer in your head, on a dull January day.
1960 What? Gets the full Opolopo Kick and Bass Rerub treatment: a caustic lyric by Porter, epic in its sweep across the America of Kennedy and Johnson, 'hey,the motor city is burnin, and that ain't right,' his voice as onomatopoeic as the driving bass and percussion. 'There was a man, voice of a people, shots rang out, yes it was a gun' is recited like an old school preacher, but with the bark of the dispossessed in the eye of a hurricane.
Nils Landgren
Redhorn Collection
Landgren has made about 500 records, and he is one of the principal reasons why the German label, ACT, is the biggest exporter of contemporary jazz from his native Sweden.
The Redhorn Collection is an invaluable introduction to Landgren, who is multi-talented, multi-faceted and multi-focal: the consequence of his prodigious output is that there isn't what you might call a distinctive Landgren sound, and it is often difficult to reconcile the guy behind the laid back vocal of Riders On the Storm and the crooner of Imagine.
Riders On the Storm, in recent years, has been interpreted by anybody and everybody from Baez & Cornell Tunnel Club Mix to Nigel Kennedy, but Landgren's version is the first by a notable jazz musician to make it his own, which takes big balls.
So there is something indelible about the Landgren stamp. His Riders on the Storm is disco-cum-funk, minus the trademark Doors keyboard, with a killer horn solo by Landgren to bridge the song's tutti: abruptly, any semblance to Ray Manzarek or Jim Morrison evaporates with a totally unnecessary rap, with indistinct lyrics, which kinda ruins it for me. Morrison depicted a killer on the road, but Landgren's is in bed, with a hangover and two blondes.
But, and this is an important but, Landgren's spin can be addictive, and I grew to like his idiosyncratic imprint, which perfectly describes what he does. He can take a standard, cut it up into pieces, leave out what he doesn't like, and add something new to the mix. It isn't eveybody's cup of tea, but it does mean that tired songs get a kick up the ass, such as Imagine and, my favourite on the first of two CD's in the Redhorn Collection, Abba's Knowing Me, Knowing You.
This is Landgren at his most playful, but it would be a mistake to forget his roots: he has a funk master's heart and soul and, averaging 200 days a year on the road, uses his interpretations to transcend the traditional boundaries of jazz, as we know it. And so, Knowing Me, Knowing You, doesn't open with Bjorn and Benny's lyrics, but a concoction of East Coast rap, with infectious couplets: 'Remember when you felt under the weather/I'd be the one to make you green tea, or whatever.' Excellent.
Landgren's music comes with a smile, and the Redhorn Collection, a retrospective of 26 songs, including Landgren originals (Kibera Sunrise) and covers, James Taylor's Fire and Rain and Sting's Fragile, reflects the duality of his creative impulse, the grooving musician of his band Funk Unit, and the melancholic crooner.
Philip Marsden
Rising Ground/A Search for the Spirit of Place
If you can accept the premise that the history of a place can be uncoiled like a skein of wire, and that the landscape, specifically a rural one, is no less and no more than a palimpsest for our perusal and our understanding, then you will enjoy, immensely, Rising Ground by Philip Marsden.
He asks why do we react so strongly to certain places, like Newgrange, and why do layers of story and meaning build up around particular features in the landscape? From the outset, it helps if you realise that the readership Rising Ground is aimed at is primarily English, or should I say British, and not Irish. On this island, as Patrick Kavanagh put it eloquently, the source of the Iliad was a local row, and well documented.
It seems to me, after reading Rising Ground, that the Irish relationship with the history of our townlands, the umbilical connection between our history and the land – the Great Famine – our obsession with ownership of a half acre and the curious reverence for the natural world, pre-dating Christianity, and so enmeshed in the early and late poems of Seamus Heaney, for example, is encoded into our DNA to a greater degree than our neighbours.
It could be that Christinity in Ireland never fully exorcised the Celtic influence of our imaginative and creative ancestors, so that a people capable of creating its own alphabet in the sixth century (ogham), and which took the bother to carve what they were thinking into rock, is manifest today through our literary skill with a tongue that is not our own.
Marsden's loci are certain places in Cornwall – Bodmin Moor and Upper Fal – a terrain every inch as magical and as ancient as the blueprint Tolkein used in The Lord of the Rings, and Marsden's love for his native land, in his own words its ageless integrity, is sure to 'pour beneficence' over those smart enough to appreciate it.
He adopts a hands on approach to the work before him, whether re-building a mid-nineteenth century farmhouse in the sylvan and idyllic Ardevora, or immersing himself by hiking and trekking in the moors, spending a night in huts and outhouses, like Turner, for the purpose of sharpening his senses, and honing his awareness of orientation, with, perhaps theses words of Tolkien ringing in his ears: 'The Road goes ever on and on/Down from the door where it began./Now far ahead the Road has gone,/And I must follow, if I can,/Pursuing it with eager feet,/Until it joins some larger way/Where many paths and errands meet./And whither then? I cannot say.'
Marsden notes that the concept of a sacred landscape – in England – has recently slid into the academic mainstream, and that interpretation of the landscape's character, natural and man shaped, has become localised. If you believe, as I do, in Ned Culleton's call for a greater appreciation of heritage to which we are heirs and guardians (On Our Own Ground), then Rising Ground will afford you many hours of pleasure.
January 26, 2015 February 18, 2015 / Tom Mooney	/ Leave a comment
Sinfonia on Fire
1993 was a seismic year for conductor Fergus Sheil: he was honing his craft with the annual Wexford Festival Opera, and Wexford Sinfonia held its first rehearsal.
The opera to which he was attached, Ferdinand Herold's Zampa, left a lasting impression on the young conductor, so much so that he opened Sunday afternoon's concert with its rousing overture.
1993, in retrospect, was a vintage year for artistic director Elaine Padmore and the Festival: she unearthed the Canadian conductor Yves Abel – who conducted Zampa – and resuscitated a little known opera, but a gem, Cherevichki, by a composer who was also on Sunday's programme, Tchaikovsky, directed by the soon to be great Francesa Zambello, at her fourth and last outing at Wexford.
Revisiting the overture again, you can see the attraction for Sheil: it is infectious, lively, spontaneous, which explains its almost universal popularity – it has been recycled incidentally often in animation, Banquet Bust, The Band Concert and Two Gun Mickey – and is best described as happiness in eight minutes and 54 seconds, or there about. And because it opens at 90 mph, both orchestra and conductor are connected instantly, and the enthusiasm swiftly engages the audience, as the triumphal fanfare is addictive. Shame, however, about the rest of the opera.
The first time I saw violinist Ioana Pectu-Colan perform, outside of Ensemble Avalon, was with Philip Glass in Dundalk, and the last time was at Wexford Opera House, soloing in Glass's Fifth Symphony, conducted by, who else, Fergus Sheil. She returned on Sunday for a musical mano e mano with Beth McNinch, in Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major KV 364, in which Mozart specified that the viola be tuned up a semi-tone and played in D major to counter balance the brilliance of the violin.
A most amiable joust, then. There are, as the programme noted, irrepressible high spirits, yet Wexford Sinfonia – no percussion – was sufficiently at one with Sheil's sensitive guidance to embellish Mozart's unstated poignancy, an enchanting palimpsest with the reversal of roles of the violin and the viola.
The composer intended that both instruments should soar, and Sunday's concert was blessed by the performance of both Pectu-Colan and McNinch, the effortless virtuosity of whom was never in danger of being disassociated from the sensuous expressiveness of a large orchestra, from the opening tutti to the coda. In a word, magical, a performance framed by Sheil's composure, which also attest to his warmth and breadth of vision.
It's ironic that one of the highlights of Get Happy is a track that is anything but: Kitty Come Home, however, is in good company, because the members of Pink Martini and various guests, including Rufus Wainwright with an achingly beautiful vocal lamenting the aforementioned lost kitty, have a surplus of technique, talent and imagination to cover songs from all eras and all corners of the globe.
Get Happy opens with the swinging Ich dich liebe, as sung originally in the film, Freddy und das Lied der Prairie, by Mamie Van Doren, reprised by Pink Martini stalwart China Forbes in a bilingual tour-de-force. Wisely, the tempo is maintained immediately by Quizas, quizas, quizas, with new co-lead singer, Storm Large, demonstrably a match for the orchestration adapted from the Brazilian 1961 classic, Maysa, Amor…e Maysa.
Thus far, Pink Martini's assembled cast of hundreds – I jest – is happy to plunder songs from the 1960s, and we don't have to wait too long for the first of many pearls: an exquisite Mandarin vocal by Meow Meow, I'm Waiting For You to Come Back, with a sulphurous trumpet from Gavin Bondy accommodating the sultry piano of Thomas M. Lauderdale. When Meow switches to English and asks you 'to come back,' it's an offer you can't refuse.
Next is the highly rhythmic and Oriental Omide zendegani, originally performed by Dinah Shore in 1965, though perhaps not in the language it was written, Farsi, as it is here by the effusive Storm Large. Sadness permeates the opening handful of tracks on Get Happy, and accordingly Ari Shapiro caresses Yo te quiero siempre with the delicate finesse of Nicholas Crosa's autumnal solo violin.
Both Je ne t'aimes plus (China Forbes and Philippe Katerine) and Zundoko-bushi move proceedings from the bath to the bed, or the bed to the bath, whatever takes your fancy, with the latter the first real opportunity to sample the upbeat disposition of Get Happy, and Pink Martini's famous luxurious orchestral arrangement.
Other novas in this galaxy of delights include a Ravel-like rendition of Pana cand nu te iubeam (in the original Romanian by the multilingual Large), China Forbe's Dietrich-like vocal on Irving Berlin's What'II I do? and – memorably – the irrepressible Wainwright at his sonorous best with Kitty Come Home, written of course by his mum, Anna McGarrigle. Quite above extraordinary.
'The birds in the tress call your name
Nothing's changed
All's the same.'
Maria Venegas
January 9, 2015 / Tom Mooney	/ Leave a comment
The Ballad of an Outlaw and His Daughter
As befitting a memoir with one foot in Mexico, though which occasionally reads like fiction, Bulletproof Vest, The Ballad of an Outlaw and His Daughter, is the good, the bad and the mostly ugly story of the life and extraordinary times of Maria Venegas' father, the irrepressible and, for a budding writer, the utterly irresistible Jose Manuel Venegas.
The 300 page novel opens like a Sam Peckinpah movie: Jose, a cat with more than nine lives, is being ferried to hospital with a stab wound a hair away from his jugular vein, while his assailant, whom he shot at point blank after a card game, is destined for the mortuary.
Death spreads its shadow like a vulture drying its wings in Bulletproof Vest: its omnipresence from the bloody beginning to the bloody end is deployed to chilling and never less than entertaining effect by the author who has, for the most part, a front row view of her father's way with a gun.
Freud would have had a field day with Jose's mum, who prompted him to shoot his first man. He was 12. And as the Mexican stand offs continue to mount, and Jose puts a hole in many people, including himself and, mortally, his likeable brother-in-law, you begin to think that those who draw a living by the sword don't necessarily die by it.
Bulletproof Vest, the cover of which features a young Jose astride a horse, hand hovering over his holstered gun, sombrero blotting out the sun, a latter day Pancho Villa, is a breathless read, and credit is due to Venegas' brilliance as a stylist, as if Cormac McCarthy was holding the pen of William Faulkner.
However, any comparison does her a disservice: she has a unique voice, with a gift for dialogue, switching seamlessly between Spanish and English, and effortlessly conveys the past and the present of Chicago, where she was raised after her family fled Mexico, and the village of Le Pena, scene of her father's last stand. Perhaps that should read one of many.
The father she portrays in the first half of the book from memory – a largely absent figure who quits America to go on the run – is one dimensional: a gun toting nutter. It is only when Maria Venegas finishes college, takes up writing in New York and decides to learn more about her father by spending time with him on his ranch, that a more sympathetic portrayal is unveiled, something along the lines that a rose with one thorn is still a rose.
In the concluding chapters we hear what was either missing or misconstrued at the beginning, Jose Venegas speaking for himself. Bulleproof Vest is a landscape where the violence is never less than a thunderstorm away, especially when the drug cartels move in, but it is also a moving memoir bestrode by a paterfamilias you are unlikely to meet again anytime soon.


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An Optimist's Tour of the Future
One Curious Man Sets Out to Answer "what's Next?"
Stevenson, Mark
In the tradition of Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything , a smart and entertaining guide to the future of civilization
When unexpectedly confronted with his own mortality, Mark Stevenson-a writer, deep-thinker, and stand-up comedian-began to ponder what the future holds for our species. "The past is a foreign country," writes Stevenson. "By my analysis it's a bit like France-in that I've been to parts of it and eaten some nice food there. But the future? The future is an unknown territory-and there isn't a guidebook." Thus, his ambition was born.
Stevenson set out simply, asking, "What's next?" and then traveled the globe in pursuit of the answers. Along the way, he visited the Australian outback to visit the farmers who can save us from climate change, met a robot with mood swings, and talked to the Spaniard who's putting a hotel in space. While some might be overwhelmed, or even dismayed by the looming realities of genome sequencing, synthetic biology, a nuclear renaissance, and carbon scrubbing, Stevenson remains, well, optimistic. Drawing on his singular humor and storytelling to break down these sometimes complicated discoveries, An Optimist's Tour of the Future paints a wonderfully readable, and completely enthralling portrait of where we'll be when we grow up- and why it's not so scary.
Publisher: New York : Avery, [2011], ©2011
Branch Call Number: 303.49 St
Description: 373 pages ; 24 cm
Read more reviews of An Optimist's Tour of the Future at iDreamBooks.com
Research — Forecasting
Technological Forecasting
Technological Innovations — Forecasting
Science — Humor


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Opioid epidemic: New laws restricting prescriptions go into effect in three states
Beginning July 1, new laws aimed at limiting the supply of prescription opioids will go into effect in Florida, Michigan and Tennessee.
Opioid epidemic: New laws restricting prescriptions go into effect in three states Beginning July 1, new laws aimed at limiting the supply of prescription opioids will go into effect in Florida, Michigan and Tennessee. Check out this story on delawareonline.com: https://usat.ly/2KlZXhX
USA Today NetworkGeorgea Kovanis, Detroit Free Press Published 1:44 p.m. ET July 1, 2018 | Updated 4:03 p.m. ET July 1, 2018
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new numbers on the opioid crisis, saying the number of overdose visits to hospital emergency rooms soared last year, the latest evidence the nation's drug crisis is getting worse. AP
FILE - This Aug. 15, 2017, file photo shows an arrangement of pills of the opioid oxycodone-acetaminophen, also known as Percocet, in New York (AP Photo/Patrick Sison, File)(Photo: Patrick Sison, AP)
New state laws in Michigan, Florida and Tennessee will limit greatly the amount of opioids that doctors are allowed to prescribe patients.
Beginning July 1, Michigan doctors will be prohibited from prescribing more than a seven-day supply of opioid medication for patients in acute pain — pain from broken bones, bad backs, short illnesses and most surgeries, pain that's relatively short-term.
Doctors will not be allowed to write refills for the medications until the seven-day period has elapsed.
The law is aimed at making prescription opioids less accessible.
The idea behind the law: Fewer opioids will mean fewer chances to abuse them. Fewer chances for abuse will mean fewer overdose deaths, and fewer people getting involved in heroin. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nearly 80 percent of Americans using heroin reported misusing prescription opioids prior to using heroin, according to research.
More: A mother's guilt: my personal experience with the opioid crisis and what to do about it
More: House set to vote on dozens of bills aimed at fighting deadly opioid epidemic
Dr. Nabil Sibai, an anesthesiologist who is chief of pain services at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, said that most patients with acute pain don't need to be on opioid medications for longer than 7 days. "There's a lot of data out there that shows that for most, at least 90 percent of acute pain episodes, (patients) are only going to require three to seven days of opioids," he said.
And the longer a patient is on opioids, the more likely he or she is to become dependent on them. "Exposure is a factor. ... If you only use a couple of days of opioids, you're less likely to become dependent or addicted. ... If you're provided more, you are likely to take more even if it's not needed."
The new law does not impact patients with chronic pain.
New laws in Florida restrict prescriptions even further. Physicians will be limited to prescribing a three-day supply for acute pain, unless strict conditions are met for a seven-day supply.
Physicians and pharmacists will also be required to consult the state's database to review a patient's history. Health care professionals will also need to take some courses on responsibly prescribing opioids.
More: New Florida laws: Daylight saving time, marriage age, opioids, criminal records
More: Girl who lost parents to heroin starts over: `I want a family'
Under new laws in Tennessee, pharmacists can only partially fill a prescription for no more than half of the number of days it's written for. And there are limits on prescriptions, too: General prescriptions are limited to a 10-day supply (and no more than 500 cumulative morphine milligram equivalents).
Prescriptions after surgery are limited to a 20-day supply (maximum 850 cumulative MMEs). "Medical necessity" prescriptions are limited to a 30-day supply (maximum 1,200 cumulative MMEs).
The law now requires Tennessee doctors document the specific reasons a patient is getting an opioid prescription, as well as the fact that they're getting it with informed consent — the prescriber has warned you it can be addictive.
These restrictions do not apply to opioid prescriptions for a three-day (or less) supply (maximum 180 MMEs). Although this law technically takes effect July 1, but it won't be mandated until Jan. 1, 2019, to give pharmacies a chance to update their software.
Initially, the legislation was more restrictive — prompting concern from pharmacists that it would prevent "legitimate patients" from being able to get needed prescriptions and put a burden on pharmacists, said the Tennessee Pharmacists Association, which lobbied legislators for some changes.
"While this legislation is well-intended, TPA remains concerned about the unintended consequences of the legislation on patients and the pharmacy profession," the Tennessee Pharmacists Association said.
More: Here's what new Tennessee opioid restrictions mean at your doctor's office and pharmacy
More: Opioid epidemic requires a new perspective on addiction treatment and new solutions
Doctors have already been reducing the number of opioid prescriptions they write. Between 2013 and 2017, opioid prescriptions decreased 22 percent nationally, according to the American Medical Association.
However, the number of overdose deaths continue to increase. About 42,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016, more than any previous year on record, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Roughly 40 percent of those deaths involved a prescription opioid.
Between November 2016 and November 2017, about 73,000 people died from drug overdoses, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If recent trends hold true, the majority of those deaths will have been caused by opioids.
But as staggering as they may seem, the number of deaths by overdose is probably higher than the numbers reported by government agencies.
On Wednesday, "Public Health Reports," the journal of the Office of U.S. Surgeon General and U.S. Public Health Service, published an article saying that it's possible more than 70,000 overdose deaths went unreported across the nationbetween 1999 and 2015.
The reason? Incomplete cause of death reporting on death certificates.
Which means the opioid epidemic is bigger than anticipated.
Follow Georgea Kovanis on Twitter: @georgeakovanis
Contributing: Associated Press; Kristi L Nelson, Knoxville News Sentinel
Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2KlZXhX
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Be sure to check out our coverage from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama beginning on Tuesday next week. For now we answer your questions from AskChris@bills.nfl.net.
There appears to be some very strong "Slash" type quarterbacks in the draft (Newton, Pryor, the VT QB). Given Coach Gailey's success with "Slash" at Pittsburgh and Cam Newton's talents what do you think about that as a QB direction for the Bills. I know they like Fitz (so do I) but as a trend, maybe a "Slash" QB can create mismatches that seem to propel teams.
CB: There are some multi-faceted prospects in the draft, although Terrelle Pryor is returning to Ohio State for his senior season. Newton is the best of that bunch. Personally I'm not sure if Tyrod Taylor (the VT QB) has the measurables to be a full-time QB.
He's super athletic so he might be better fit as a Brad Smith or Josh Cribbs type that plays some wideout and returns kicks and dabbles at QB.
The guy I really want to look at closely is Nevada's Colin Kaepernick. He's the only QB in college history besides Tebow and Newton to rush for 20 TDs and pass for 20 TDs in the same season. He also orchestrated the huge upset win over Boise St. this year to ruin the Broncos perfect season. I think he'd be a realistic option for the Bills in the third round if he's still on the board.
Joe in Charlotte but long time Bills fan, Your opinion of Andy Dalton, possible 2nd or 3rd rd for the Bills?, I think he would really benefit from a year or 2 learning from Fitz. Has measureables, great attitude, and is a winner. Realize he comes from spread system but feel he is very adaptable. Your thoughts.
CB: He's another QB I'm interested in getting a better look at during the practices at the Senior Bowl next week. TCU had a great season and though their defense gets most of the press, Dalton put a nice season together running that attack. I think 3rd round is realistic, but as I stated above Kaepernick is intriguing as well.
Just wondering if you think the Bills might sign Vince Young to maybe be a backup? He's a veteran and he could do some damage with Gailey. Also, Fitzpatrick could be trade-worthy and the Bills could draft a QB.
CB: I don't see that happening. Someone will take a chance on him, but seeing as how he undermined his head coach in Tennessee, I can't see too many head coaches being in favor of bringing him on board even in a backup role.
If Donte does not return, what are our options at Safety? Can we get a difference maker through Free Agency or Draft? Who are the big names out there? Secondly, what will become of all the WR's we have, can we possibly keep all of them?
CB: First and foremost Bryan Scott is still under contract. Second, George Wilson, who is also a free agent could conceivably be had for far less money than what Donte Whitner is asking for at this point. Philadelphia S Quintin Mikell is set to become a free agent. He's a bit older than Donte (30), but is a capable safety. Not necessarily a difference maker, but Buffalo needs difference makers in their front seven and they in turn will make the men on the back end better playmakers.
In 2008 the Bills played the AFC West. They Oakland at home and KC on the road. Please tell me why the Bills are playing Oakland home again and KC on the road again (4th straight year) in 2011? Shouldn't that be reversed?
CB: Under the guidelines of the normal rotational schedule it would be, but the league put in a scheduling stipulation that when another division plays the AFC West they would not play both west coast teams in the AFC West (San Diego and Oakland) on the road in the same season.
So although the Bills were slated to play San Diego and Oakland on the road in 2011, this stipulation switched the location of their matchups with Oakland and Kansas City. Thus the Bills will play Kansas City on the road again and Oakland at home.


Simba, Timon, Pumbaa and all your Lion King friends return to Pride Rock in The Legend of the Lion King.
Not much to this postcard from the Legend of the Lion King. It's the standard promotional image that's been used many times. The Legend of the Lion King was in the Fantasyland Theater from 1994 to 2002. It was replaced by Mickey's Philharmagic.


text:
Supreme Court's Conservative Justices Weigh Scrapping Another Precedent
- The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority may be ready to overturn a longstanding precedent for the third time in recent weeks -- perhaps foreshadowing the vulnerability of its rulings on abortion rights.The justices will rule as early as Wednesday on a business-backed bid to overturn decades-old decisions that give federal agencies broad power to say what their regulations mean.The case is one of eight rulings due before the justices' term ends this week. The court also plans to rule on gerrymandered voting maps and the Trump ...
Supreme Court rules for FUCT in trademark case
The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the clothing brand FUCT in a trademark case (AFP Photo/Eric BARADAT)/ Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the clothing brand FUCT in a free speech case on Monday, saying the name could be trademarked. The nation's highest court, in a ...
Supreme Court Strikes Down Federal Ban on 'Scandalous' Trademarks
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a federal law prohibiting "immoral" or "scandalous" trademarks from being registered constitutes a violation of the First Amendment. By a 6–3 vote, the justices ruled in favor of a Los Angeles clothing line whose founder wishes to trademark the name "FUCT." ...
Supreme Court allows foul language trademarks in F-word case
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, U.S./ (Editor's note: contains language that some readers may find offensive) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a longstanding U.S. ban on trademarks on "immoral" or "scandalous" words and symbols, ruling in a case involving a ...
Supreme Court chips away at federal agency power
U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie speaks during ceremonies on Veteran's Day at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington/ WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday constrained the power of federal agencies, scaling back a legal doctrine that calls for judges to ...
No charges against NY police in choking death of black man
Protesters gather at police headquarters in Manhattan in May 2019 to protest during the disciplinary hearing for Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who was accused of recklessly using a chokehold that led to Eric Garner's death during an arrest in July 2014/ Protesters gather at police headquarters in ...
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Set of 2 Gonda Rakhi along with Roli Chawal in a Potli.
Wish your Bhai Happy Rakhsha Bandhan and tie this graceful bond of love on your beloved brother wrist it comes with a Roli and Chawal. Rakhi is a festival celebrating and honoring the siblings love. This is a highly demanded traditional gonda thread rakhis, your brothers will surely appreciate your choice. Honoring this ancient festival of morals and self-sacrificing love, we bring home-spun rakhis prepared for the time honored tradition and with same love and care that equates sisterly love. Product Includes : Set of 2 Gonda Rakhi and Roli Chawal Potli.


Mr. Sandman, send me a dream, ta da da da.....Seventeen year old Chasity Blake knows the Sandman is just a silly children's story parents tell their children to get them to sleep. At least she thought it was, until the day a mysterious, light golden sand appeared in her hands during a high school prank that went horribly wrong. A sand that has the power to send anyone it touches into a deep, sound sleep.
Fearing she had lost her mind, Chasity soon discovers the shocking truth of her heritage- she is a Dream Caster. Chasity was never supposed to be raised on the Domain, or what humans call Earth and she is forced to return to her true birth place, Revera – the world of Dreams.
However, in Revera there is no balance between good, the Light Casters, and darkness, the Shadow Casters, and Chasity is caught square in the middle. She soon learns that there is no place for anyone containing both the light and the darkness within them, and the shocking truth that if anyone in Revera ever discovered her shadow self, Chasity would be thrown into the Oblivion – the world of Nightmares.
Dreams are always more than they seem, and this time Chasity is going to discover just how different they can be.
TWO SETS OF FOOTSTEPS made barely a sound on the rough and weathered wood as they walked across the bridge that led from Main Pacific to the Glands. The streetlights were dimmed as dusk began to settle and last vestiges of light from the setting sun were fading to night. The lumbering clouds were moving in, blocking out any light from the two moons that shone overhead, even the stars seemed less bright dotted across their velvet backdrop. With his golden dust Graig Chen could conjure and wield anything by simply believing in its reality. If he wanted it to be real, it would be.
The Reverse was the most painful thing either of them had ever experienced, but Liam, a healer and Graig's only confidant, had promised him that they would be able to live in the Domain like normal Nomads, humans.
Graig and his pregnant fiancé, were fleeing from their home world in secret, having no other choice if they desired a normal life for their unborn child.
They knew neither of their families would ever understand, even though it had been his grandmother who had always said, the heart wants, what the heart wants. How could he have known that his heart would want a Shadow Caster, and not just any ordinary Shadow Caster. She was special, or at least her family was. She was expected to uphold the family line with her offspring, Graig knew that did not include carrying the child of a Light Caster.
The two lovers could never live in peace, not since the balance between good and evil inside Revera was thrown into upheaval. There were only two choices for casters like them, either light or dark. The balance could not accommodate a person containing both, so for his child's sake they had no choice but to leave Revera. Live like normal humans in the Domain, or what humans would call reality.
He'd found a perfect place, one he'd made sure no one would ever find, not even his two best friends.
They knew about the relationship, they'd been there when he'd first laid eyes on her, tried to talk him out of it, to forget the blonde bombshell that would only cause him darkness and misery, but without her his life would be spent in darkness and misery.
Her silver blonde hair and bright blue eyes had done him in, if only he'd seen the bow that she'd aimed straight at his heart. If it hadn't been for his love when arrow hit, and for Liam, a healer, he wouldn't be in his currant predicament; trying to get him and her off this dimential world that most people would call make-believe, but Revera was far from that. It was the world of dreams, and Graig was a Level Four Caster whose mission was to seek out Selene, their only live Somnium. It was on one of these very missions that he had met the love of his live, the one woman he couldn't live without, and he didn't care if she had black dust, he didn't care that she was a Shadow Caster, or what some would call a nightmare wielder. Yes, those horrible dreams that leave you paralyzed with fear are actually wielded by Caster's, not some grave impression of ones subconscious. They are responsible for doubts and forgotten dreams. She was his nightmare, and a nightmare he was prepared to die for.
He knew deep down that she would would never survive living in Revera and he was unable to cope with the Oblivion, wherever it was. Oblivion was the realm of the Shadow Casters, created when Selene casted out Magdelena, one of the first Shadow Casters, who was the third Somnium, as a consequence for the death of her brother, Darius, the second Somnium. Magdelena had no realm to call her own, so she created Oblivion by focusing her hatred toward Selene, a world that could exist inside Revera, far from Selene's sight. For years, Selene tried to find it, but as long as the Sodivic bloodline flowed through Shadow Caster's vanes, Oblivion would never be found by a Light Caster.
Sodivic blood was the key to Oblivion's secrecy, and Magdalena's family line. There were many Sodivic's since the dawning of Oblivion but Magdelena reigned over them all. Graig had met many Sodivic's on his quests, each meeting always ended up in a bloody mess, and in all the years he had encountered them, not one had ever shown any kind of mercy or remorse. They were sadistic and couldn't be reasoned with. He had been taught from a young age, if you see a Sodivic, you kill it. That was the number one rule taught to the Level One Dream Casters.
His fiancé was the only one that proved his theory wrong. Over the past century, their bloodline had been busy dying out, leaving her one of the few powerful Shadow Casters left.
Graig would pay dearly for loving her if her father ever found them, and he couldn't even think about what would happen to the unborn child she carried.
Craig squeezed the hand that was resting tightly inside his own grip as they neared the end of the bridge.
"You're sure nobody followed us?" Her eyes were wild, searching everywhere in the darkness.
"I'm sure. Besides, they won't be able to see us, remember." He opened his hand, just to make sure she hadn't forgotten what he was, and threw more golden sand into the air, shielding them from anything that tried to followed them.
Then he heard it, a crunch. He stopped abruptly and she slammed into him. One second of doubt was all it took to break the spell, and before he could realized that doubt, they were surrounded by Nimgolians, the biggest and wicket shadow hounds ever imagined. They were veil, and reminded him of a Rottweiler that had chased him ones in the Domain.
The author Adrienne Woods hits another home run with her new young adult Dream Casters Series where she creates a world of dreams. This series takes you into the world of Light Casters (known as the good) and Shadow Casters (those that are evil and create nightmares). She describes in rich detail the world that exists in Domain (humans live here), Revera the world of dreams where the Light Casters live and Oblivion where Shadow Casters live and create horrible unspeakable havoc after they were cast out of Revera.
This story starts with a superb opening chapter setting up the story line but you need to read it slowly to absorb everything going on which will make more sense as you get further into the book. I personally had to reread it twice to make sure I understood the story setup but I am glad I did. There were parts to the story where I did get confused but when I slowed down the speed of my reading it all made sense.
Character development was handled in a unique manner, taking you from the love between a Light Caster and a Shadow Caster who were expecting a baby through that child's "Initiation" and training as a teenager. Character descriptions set up the reader to become so engrossed in the story that I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't read it in one sitting like I did.
I felt the authors scene descriptions throughout the book were elaborately detailed causing the reader to become part of the story experiencing everything that Chasity, Leigh, and the others did. I recommend this book for all readers and give it 5 STARS.
Adrienne Woods was born and raised in South Africa, where she still lives with her husband and two beautiful little girls. She always knew she was going to be a writer, but it only started to really happen about four years ago. In her free time―if she gets any because moms don't really have free time―she loves to spend it with friends, whether it's a girls night out, or just watching a movie. She's a very chilled person. Her writing career started with Firebolt, book one in the Dragonian series. There will be four books in total, including a further two to three books, which will be stories that take place within the Dragonian series. Her other series, Dream Casters, will be released mid 2015. She also writes in different genres, and her woman's fiction, The Pregnancy Diaries, will be published under a pseudonym. And then, she has a paranormal series by the name of the Aswang series, which will consist of about ten novels. And if that wasn't enough, there is another series, Guardians of Monsters, which will be released in 2016.