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The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola
Complete translation of the most important scientific and artistic work of our past
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (Die Ehre des Hertzogthums Crain) is one of the most important Slovenian symbols, a foundation stone of Slovenian history, a polyhistorian work published in 1689 in Nuremberg in German language. It is Baron Johann Weikhard von Valvasor's most influential work and still remains on of the most important scientific works about Slovenia, encompassing all knowledge of that time's about the area of today's Slovenia and its people. It is one of the best-known and most comprehensive books written by a Slovenian, a book that raised awareness of Slovenians and bound the Slovenian nation together.
The complete work comprises of 15 volumes, bound in four tomes, which encompass 3,552 large-format pages; in addition there are 24 appendixes and 528 copper engravings. Valvasor described Carniola in terms of its history, geography, topography, medicine, ethnology, biology, geology, and other fields of science. The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola is thus the first systematic approach to present our history, land, and ways of life. Even today, in the beginning of the 21st century, it satisfies most of the contemporary criteria of serious scientific work.
Until very recently, only few fragments have been translated to Slovenian …
Unsurpassable Baroque masterpiece in every respect.
Most frequently quoted and referenced book in Slovenia.
Valvasor spent his entire fortune on working on this book.
The author does not only concentrate on Carniola but also describe the entire world of that time.
The four tomes contain knowledge in a quantity that is hard to imagine even today.
Encyclopedia and chronicle of Carniola, one of the most influential works of such kind in the world.
The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola is not a dull encyclopedia but a personal account of Valvasor, exciting and humorous, but scientific from the first page on.
Unique scientific and historic book but at the same time a great source of stories, myths, accounts, legends, anecdotes, morals and ideas, in which such great poets as Anton Tomaž Linhart and France Prešeren found an inspiration.
The Glory contains a number of historical letters and documents that were preserved only through this book; originals and other transcripts had been lost in the course of history.
The Glory is much more than a book; it is a cultural and historical monument, one of the Slovenian greatest, and a true literary masterpiece.
The prestigious first edition of the first complete translation is a unique family heritage and investment opportunity. Because there will be no reprint of the book in this form, the value of the first-edition copy will only rise in the next decades.
»The accounts and descriptions in The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola are so numerous that I cannot find words to explain it all to you. I cannot see nor describe with words, I cannot even comprehend the scope of knowledge in the book. It is similar to counting all the stars in the sky, one cannot count not even those one can see, let alone the ones that are too high in the sky for our eyes to see them. And yet there was someone who had counted everything that God and his servant Nature created in one small land of Carniola.«


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Galane Gold Ltd. Announces That it Has Entered Into a Secured US$5,000,000 Loan Facility and Gold Prepayment Agreement With Samsung
TORONTO, Aug. 25, 2014 /CNW/ - Galane Gold Ltd. ("Galane Gold" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:GG) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a secured US$5m loan facility and gold prepayment agreement with Samsung C&T U.K. Limited ("Samsung").
Pursuant to the agreement, Samsung has agreed, subject to certain conditions, to provide a US$5m loan facility to Galane Gold in return for the sale and delivery by the Company'sBotswana operating subsidiary, Mupane Gold Mining (Pty) Ltd. ("Mupane"), of a minimum of 1,607 ounces of gold per month for a period of two years (38,568 ounces in aggregate) payable by Samsung at a fixed discount rate to the then prevailing spot price upon delivery. Samsung is also provided with the further exclusive option to purchase all gold produced by Mupane above 1,607 ounces per month on a non-discounted basis at the then prevailing spot price for such two year period. The loan facility is repayable by the Company over the two year period by way of 18 equal principal payments commencing seven months after the initial advancement of the facility. The facility shall be secured first by a pledge of the shares of Mupane and then replaced with a first charge against the assets of Mupane. Using recent industry forecasts on gold price, it is anticipated that the arrangement will have an approximate cost of capital of 9.1% per annum. The arrangement requires neither hedging nor share dilution.
The advancement of the facility is subject to certain conditions precedent and is expected to close on or about August 29, 2014. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the facility to repay early and in full the outstanding debt and accrued interest owed toIAMGOLD Corporation with the balance for general corporate and working capital purposes. With the repayment of this debt, all related covenants at the parent company level of Galane Gold including those prohibiting the payment of dividends, share repurchases, and certain other corporate activities will be removed, allowing the Company significant additional flexibility in its pursuit of shareholder value creation.
Chairman Ravi Sood commented "After a period of thorough strategic, technical, legal, financial and management due diligence of Galane Gold by Samsung, we are very pleased to have entered into this arrangement which demonstrates Samsung's support for our company. We are optimistic that this initial arrangement will pave the way for additional collaboration in the future."
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements". All statements other than statements of historical fact contained in this press release, including, without limitation, those regarding the Company's mine plan, objectives, goals and targets, and any statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words "believe", "expect", "aim", "intend", "plan", "continue", "will", "may", "would", "anticipate", "estimate", "forecast", "predict", "project", "seek", "should" or similar expressions or the negative thereof, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from what is expressed, implied or forecasted in such forward-looking statements.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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« This Week in Panels: Week 59
The Cipher 11/10/10 »
You've Got A New Horizon, It's Ephemeral Style [Gorillaz]
November 9th, 2010 by david brothers | Tags: damon albarn, gorillaz, jamie hewlett, music
I've been pretty well obsessed with the Gorillaz lately.
I rediscovered them earlier this year when "Stylo" leaked, and I thought it was pretty okay. Later, after buying Plastic Beach late, I got into the habit of listening to all three of their proper albums every couple of weeks. I've been through the wikipedia pages explaining the meta-story, watched the videos on Youtube, and spent a lot of time thinking about the band.
It all comes down to fiction, I think. Telling stories and how you tell them. Each album is accompanied by a series of videos, background pieces, and text explaining its story. Each album, then, represents, or is part of, a story. The characters begin in one place and end up in another, for good or for ill, and each album evokes a specific mood or style. The narrative isn't always clear just by listening to the album, the way the narrative in a comic isn't crystal clear if you just have the art, but when you add in the other media, the picture becomes more filled in.
It's modular storytelling, isn't it? You can enjoy the Gorillaz on their own, just listening to the music and buying the albums every few years, and stop there. That's how I did it until earlier this year. Gorillaz hit while I was in high school and got a lot of spins. I liked the joint with Del on it, even though I wasn't even really a Del fan, because there was rapping. Demon Days was college, and I think I gave it short shrift at the time. I forget what song I bumped on that one… these days, it's "Feel Good, Inc." I feel like I dug "Dare," but I can't call it. Regardless, I love it now. But that's how you consume music, isn't it? I listened, I liked the tracks I liked, and I kept it moving on to the next one.
You can also begin absorbing the other media info–the DVDs, music videos, website info, and so on. They fill in the picture around the album, expanding upon the mood and vague hints found on the albums. Why does Demon Days sound so dark? What is a "Plastic Beach?" If you wanted just the story, not the music, you could use Wikipedia, Youtube, and fan sites to get the job done. I think the music is an integral part of the narrative, personally, but whatever floats your boat.
Together, all the parts make one whole. You don't need all of it to get the job done. Each individual piece has merit on its own, whether it's as marketing or art. But together, you have something really interesting. You have a genuine narrative. It's told in a fractured way, but you can track forward motion.
The Gorillaz themselves are fictional, the product of Damon Albarn, Jamie Hewlett, and whichever musicians they're working with at the time. In the world of the Gorillaz, those musicians are used as in-story personalities. Del the Funkee Homosapien is turned into one of the spirits inside Russel's head. De La Soul are malevolent forces in "Feel Good, Inc." Shaun Ryder is a giant severed head turned music box.
Even their live band features other, standalone musicians operating under the umbrella of Gorillaz. Everything is subordinate to the story. Sure, we know that Albarn or members of The Clash are there, but while they're on stage, they're Gorillaz, which suggests a certain style or sound.
Look at the group, too. A young Japanese girl (20 years old this year). A black guy from the US. Two Brits. They don't exist. They're fake. And yet, they have detailed histories on Wikipedia. You can point out what they were doing on specific dates. They aren't real, and yet, they are. Just like Batman.
This kind of thing is really interesting to me. I think most of what I've written about on 4l! is all about fiction and narrative. You can even look at the race stuff as pointing out things where storytelling got it right or wrong. It's all about the telling of stories.
Everything is. That's why I read comics, play games, watch movies, listen to music, and everything else. The rappers I like, the ones I come back to, paint pictures with their words. Sometimes it's an entire story in one song, sometimes it's evocative of a certain mood or emotion, or something it's just a song about how they're the best ever. It's all creating something new, whether from the ashes of something old or entirely from scratch. Create and innovate.
I like the multimedia approach of Gorillaz a lot. It's 2010, and I have more information available to me after a five second Google search than probably every person combined two hundred years ago. Coincidentally, my attention span is exponentially shorter than what people were working with two hundred years ago. I need a lot of information in varied formats and styles and I need it two weeks ago. The Gorillaz fulfills that need in some way by giving me a lot to absorb, and most importantly, whenever I want to absorb it.
Honestly, though, I'd kill for a Gorillaz comic. I need more Jamie Hewlett in my life.
(There's this strange connection in my head between the Gorillaz and Jet Set Radio Future, the classic Xbox joint. I'm not sure if it's because they share Miho Hatori [and maybe Dan the Automator?] or if they both were working in a similar flat kind of art style around the same time or what. They're both fairly global in scope, too. JSRF and the Gorillaz have a multi-ethnic that synthesizes myriad and sometimes obscure influences to create something fresh.)
The Cipher 08/18/10
"It's a new way of thinkin'…" [On Vinyl]
Top 8 of 08 #05: Young Jeezy – The Recession
Top 8 of 08 #1: The Roots – Rising Down
"i deal with the real" [The Roots – Things Fall Apart]
Posted in comic books by david brothers |
7 comments to "You've Got A New Horizon, It's Ephemeral Style [Gorillaz]"
My sister is obsessed with these guys, with my default asshole setting be "ignore everything sister likes", I never gave it no mind, but I got dragged to the October 30 concert in Oakland (did you go to that David). And
I must say, maybe it was being confined to a seat for several hours with every major song and video being blasted out right before my eyes but by the time Bruce Willis was going all Death Proof on the band, color me impressed with the whole thing on the whole.
also oh my god JSRF, I miss that series to fucking much :frown: Why has Capcom completely abandoned that series?
by Nathan November 9th, 2010 at 13:49 --reply
fuck me, I confused SEGA and Capcom :frown:
Also I get a similar odd connection in my head between Gorillaz and the manga Soul Eater, aside from the fact the protagonist has the surname Albarn, Atsushi Okubo's art brings to mind so many artistic queues from the videos.
A Gorillaz comic I could get behind.
I've always enjoyed the concept, and I'm definitely all for this kind of fiction/real life crossover, but the music's never really done much for me. But comics have no soundtracks!
by claire November 9th, 2010 at 14:39 --reply
Having been a big fan of the band since their first release and having experienced them in person, I agree with you entirely about the multimedia experience and their approach. I love it, and I find that it involves me more with the experience to the point that I appreciate the music more (however, I'm not sure the audience at Coachella this year would agree).
I'm unsure why this is, but I also have always associated them with JSRF. God I miss that game. That's reason enough for me to go back and buy a Dreamcast again.
by David Harper November 9th, 2010 at 15:30 --reply
I'm a big Gorillaz Fan. Neil Gaiman did a great interview with the Gorillaz in Wired magazine a while back and it made me figure out why I liked the Gorillaz in the first place: Broken Narrative contained in various media that, when stitched together, make up a whole band.
I picked up their book a while back that told the history of the band and it reads like a remix of every single one of those bio-books you've read. Russel is not just Russel, but every single hip hop biography you've read in the past. Noodle has parts of Shoken Knife and Blondie and every other female-pop singer background in her background. Murdoc has every homicidal musician, from Alice Cooper to Ozzy Ozborne. Damon is every pretty-boy front-man British guy that goes all the way back to John Lennon. It reminds me of a Promethea issue where Promethea uses her sword to cleave away at the evil Wizard, who was a writing amalgamation of different ideas molded into one character. If you cleave away at the Gorillaz, you can see every band and every band member in the group.
Gorillaz are the ur band, the band that every band is sort of like. It is like Monkeys or the fake Janis Joplin/Jimmi Hendrix couple from Across the Universe or maybe the Wonders (from that Tom Hanks Movie, "That Thing You Do") where there is an appropriation of parts of other bands to make a statement of that culture or that life we're currently living in popular culture today.
I wonder what the Gorillaz are making a statement about? What is the message that they're trying to make about bands today?
by gary November 9th, 2010 at 18:06 --reply
I also wonder if Gorillaz fans are the same fans of Metallocalypse. Brendon Smalls does the same thing that the Gorillaz do by creating an ur metal band that has actual metal musicians playing different parts. I know that his statement for Metallocalypse is a running commentary on celebrities and the ridiculous nature of celebrity fan worship, which has actually turned many heavy metal fans against him, even though his love for heavy metal music really shines throughout musicianship of the show.
– l.k.
@Claire well everyonce in a while, A writer will include a suggested track list to make the experience more enjoyable.
off the top of my head there is what Paul Cornell did with WISDOM, and Nobuyuki Anzai provided one for the last 5 volumes of Flame of Recca


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(Re)building together - the city
Local: 7.30pm
Paris: 7.30pm
Bibliothèque de l'Institut national d'histoire de l'art - Salle Labrouste Institut national d'histoire de l'art, 58 rue de Richelieu - 75002 Paris, FR
https://www.inha.fr
During an exceptional evening, which will take place in the prestigious Labrouste room of the Library of the National Institute of Art History, the INHA proposes to open the debate on the theme "(Re)building together".
The city is not only the framework of social and political dynamics, but an issue in its own right in which inhabitants, artists and architects are stakeholders. In this respect, periods of construction or reconstruction are privileged moments when representations, sometimes contradictory, are brought together and confronted to determine the forms and contours of a future landscape. This Night of Ideas will address the way in which consensus and dissensus are defined and expressed, at the moment when cities are made or unmade.
The first consequence of destruction, whether the product of cataclysm or conflict, is to transform the urban landscape into ruins. Modern cities in Europe are marked by such events, which, from the Great Fire of London (1666) to the Lisbon earthquake (1755), produce a contradictory spectacle, a vestige of a destroyed past and a prelude to a possible renewal. The ruins are at the heart of a negotiation as to whether reconstruction should be moulded into the traces of the past, or whether it should be a clean slate.
Challenges to the urban order and opposition to development projects take many forms. If the dramatic aspect of the great revolutionary scenes, in which fires and looting overturn the monuments and symbols of an established order, constitute canonical examples, there are also low-intensity conflicts which locally express the point of view of inhabitants, users or groups who oppose major works. From the Haussmannian breakthroughs to the renovation of the Les Halles district, what are the forms taken by urban struggles?
Finally, in this long history, the 1960s, which saw the emergence of a 'right to the city', perhaps marked a turning point. Architects and urban planners then tended to rethink the modalities of their interventions, by inventing practices of cooperation with the inhabitants. In short, this historical overview aims to draw up perspectives for understanding and acting on the very profound changes that metropolises are undergoing today, and which affect our daily lives.
The event will focus on a European dialogue on the major issues of our time through an interdisciplinary prism and in a user-friendly format.
In partnership with the French Institute and the Louvre Museum
Lou Forster (INHA)
7.30-7.45 pm
Introduction byÉric de Chassey
7.45pm-9pm
Traces of the past, signs of the future
Charlotte Chastel Rousseau (curator at the Louvre Museum)
Reflections on two landscapes in Lisbon
Joana Cunha Leal (Professor of Art History at the Nova University of Lisbon)
Marco Folin (professor of architectural history at the University of Genoa)
François-René Martin (professor of history at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris)
Moderated by Charlotte Chastel-Rousseau (curator at the Louvre Museum)
9-10pm
Criticism and resistance
Pauline Chevalier (lecturer at the University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, scientific advisor at INHA)
An industrial architecture for painting: The XIIIth Paris Biennial at La Villette
Isabelle Backouche (director of studies at the EHESS historical research centre)
Françoise Fromonot (architect, professor at the Ecole nationale supérieure d'architecture de Paris-Belleville)
Moderated by Vincent Lemire (lecturer in contemporary history at the Gustave Eiffel University, director of the French Research Centre in Jerusalem)
Cooperation and participation
Catarina Alves Costa, Casas o povo (2010), HD video, 15 min
Presented by Mickaël Robert-Gonçalves(PhD in film studies)
Produced as part of the Lisbon Architecture Triennial using archival documents, Casa o povo shows how, following the Carnation Revolution (1974), social housing in Portugal was rebuilt through the SAAL project (Serviço de Apoio Ambulatório Local [Local Support for Ambulatory Services]).
Delfim Sardo (director of the Centro Cultural de Belém, curator of the exhibition The SAAL Process: Architecture and Participation, 1974-1976)
Nicole Concordet (architect)
Dorota Jędruch (Professor of Art History at the Jagiellonian University, Krakow)
Moderated by Lou Forster (researcher at INHA)
11.15-11.30pm
John Cage, Imaginary Landscape no.4 for 12 radios
Written in 1951, Imaginary Landscape No.4 is a landmark work by John Cage. Composed using a random method, it opens up musical composition to the ambient sounds broadcast on radio waves. A few months before 4'33'' (1952), it announces the importance that the composer would give to silence, as a way of welcoming 'everything that can happen'. This piece is part of a series composed from 1939 onwards under the influence of the futurist artist Luigi Russolo. Cage made 'the sounds of contemporary cities [...] the source of his music'. Written for percussion orchestras including car brakes with drums, an anvil or a gong immersed in water, the first three opuses trace the path of a noisy music. The fourth part offers a different kind of figuration of the city, since it is now based on a factor of indeterminacy linked to the place and the moment when the piece is performed. Finally, the orchestral form, which brings together 24 instrumentalists, induces the idea of a group or a community at work, outlining the challenge that the composer will face in taking into account music as an eminently social activity. For the Nuit des idées, this piece performed by amateur musicians will be conducted by international conductor Claire Levacher.


Get a chance to win Maybelline from 10.0 Notezine. Just "Like" them on Facebook. Post the promo poster in their wall with your beauty tips for you (20's,30's and 40's), then tag yourself and 2 other applicable friends with the remaining age groups.
The three of you will win the gift packs, so instruct them to do the same for you guys to have more chances of winning.Good luck ladies.
Winners will be announced every Monday until the end of October.


As a war reporter, Marie Colvin chased death to expose the reality of war and violence to civilians. She was well-known for her 'outrageous' bravery, diving headfirst into killing zones and dangerous situations at the risk of her own life – a streak of daring that, while a common expectation for those in the field, Colvin pushed to the extremes. In the seven years since her death in February 2012 – when the home she was staying in came under mortar attack by Assad forces – several books and films have come forth to honor and give a portrait of her life. Colvin passed away at the age of 56, with the final moments leading to her death a culmination of all she had fought against in her career.
The assassination of a leading Iraqi novelist and poet in the middle of a street in the holy Shiite city of Karbala on February 2 has sparked outrage inside and outside Iraq, raising speculation that he was the latest victim in the targeted killings of prominent figures that started last summer.
Alaa Mashzoub was fatally shot 13 times by two assailants on motorcycles outside his home in the neighborhood of Bab Al Khan. According to Amar Al Massodi, head of Karbala's Literature Group, a branch of the Iraqi Literature Association of which Mashzoub had been a member, the writer was returning home from a weekly meeting when he was ambushed. On February 3, intellectuals and artists from Karbala staged a sit-in in protest. News media throughout the world continue to report and comment on the writer's death.
The Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990) spurred the production of a vast literature. Yet only a small fraction of these books, novelsand memoirs are available in English. An even smaller portion received wide attention through reviews or publicity campaigns. This leaves a void in the English language about the literature of this war. This essay highlights one novelist's contributions in the Arabic literature of the war as well as a brief glimpse into her life.
Jocelyne Saab belonged to a generation of Lebanese filmmakers and artists, often described as progressive and leftist, that emerged before, during, and after the Lebanese Civil War. A contemporary of directors like Burhan Alawia, John Chamoun, Maroun Baghdadi, Nahla al-Shahal, young progressive directors of the time, Saab shared their commitment to social justice, basic reforms in the pre-1975 Lebanese political system, and a commitment to defending the rights of Palestinians both within Lebanon and supporting their struggle against Israeli occupation.


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Simulated Real Time is a literary method of creating an event with the help of authentic material accompanied by a commentary framework. By publishing documents (letters, diaries, official reports etc.) on the date on which they were written but a specified number of years later, an event can be reconstructed with exactly the same duration as when it first took place. The aim of this method is to gain greater understanding of a historical event in this way, using modern technology to bring it to life as vividly as possible. The method is giving an important contribution to contemporary Remembrance Culture, in a time where the survivors of the Holocaust are getting fewer.

The first project ever to be published in Simulated Real Time was the literature and art project 32 Postkarten, by Torkel S Wächter, in which 32 authentic postcards sent from Hamburg during 1940 and 1941 were published in Simulated Real Time – on the date they were written, but 70 years later. This project has been followed up by Wächter's on this day 80 years ago, built around authentic letters, diary entries and official documents that are being published on the day on which they were written, but 80 years later. This online publication started on 30 January 2013, eighty years to the day since Hitler was appointed Chancellor, and will end on 2 July 2013 (according to the projects website). It depicts the Nazis' first five months in power, and how this affects the life of a German-Jewish civil servant family in Hamburg.

January 30, 2013 was also the starting date of 1933: The Beginning of the End of German Jewry in which the Jewish Museum Berlin throughout the year 2013 will present a variety of primary source materials that bear witness to the disenfranchisement and exclusion of German Jews, as well as to aspects of their everyday life (according to the museum's website). The project is part of Diversity Destroyed, a cultural project under the auspices of Berlin City.

In March 2014 32 Postkarten - Post aus Nazi-Deutschland,  , was published as a book.

References

Narrative techniques

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text: Examples of Akka and Java 8

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


WNS-Cleaner is a new technology that cleans with a improved micro-fluid formulation that penetrates dirt layers, down to the nano- scale of the surface structure. The ultra -wetting ability of the WNS-Cleaner is significant enhanced by a state of the art patent protected micro fluid technology.
The extreme wettability enables WNS-Cleaner to penetrate even excessive dirty surfaces in micro seconds without the use of harsh chemicals. This even works on waxed surfaces or hydrophobic coatings and in extreme high dilutions.
With the same simple application, WNS-Cleaner creates a protective layer of Nano scaled Carnauba wax that adheres to the micro structure of the surface. The durable effect creates a high gloss and self-drying effect. The product prevents the adhesion of new dirt and dust, and gives you a show room finish, every time you wash your car or boat. APPLICATION Remove dirt and dust by rinsing with the substrate with clear water . Mix 20 ml WNS-Cleaner in 10 litre clean tap water .
Dilution is 1 part WNS with 500 parts tap water In areas with bore water the concentration can be higher.
Wash the car with a sponge or appropriate cloth, and rinsing it off with clean water after. Let dry by itself or wipe dry with a suitable chamois, if required The product is skin friendly and fully biodegradable. WNS-Cleaner contains biodegradable surfactants , tensides and modified polymer/carnauba wax emulsions.
250 ml ultra concentrate for 125 litre cleaning solution.


We've had a rough few months. Lots of ups and downs. Poor choices. Risky behaviors. Destructive decisions. Mood swings.
LOVE. It's what makes the world go round; it's what builds self-esteem in children; it's what our kids need above all else. Parental LOVE.
Recently, I had the honor of speaking with a woman (I'll call her Colleen) whose teenager just came out as transgender (FTM). This woman needed a friend. She needed some insight into her son's "secret" world. She wanted to understand, from my perspective, how I reacted to the same news. How, we, as a family, are handling things. She also asked to speak to Hunter. To her credit, she was really trying to be open. I have to say that I was surprised by what seemed to be the most upsetting to her; her mother (the grandmother) had chosen her baby's name at birth. Colleen was devastated at the prospect that her teen wanted to walk away from this name; this identity.
I certainly can understand the sentiment attached to a name. In the Jewish religion, we often name our children after a loved one who has passed away. This is a beautiful way to honor their memory. However, parents, our children are so much more than a name. What good is the name if they are living a lie? What good is a name if they can't live authentically? What good is the name if they are depressed, isolated, unsupportive, suicidal, …?
This morning I read a story about a transgender teen (MtF) who jumped in front of a semi-truck because her parents couldn't find a way to love her unconditionally. This is the second story in about a week's time. Parents need to wake up and realize that you cannot control, choose or change gender identity or sexual orientation. Can I tell you something? My world is so much richer because of my son. I have made new friends. I am more open-minded. We have a stronger parent-child relationship.
I have trans teens private messaging me and friending me on Facebook because they need someone to talk to. I don't know these kids. I've never met them. But, I am here for them; a stranger who is giving support and a safe ear to listen. One teen told me that he can't remember when his mom told him that she loved him.
At the beginning of this rant I shared that we've had a rocky few months. We never would have made it through without LOVE. Maybe this sounds corny to you but I really believe that without showing my son how much he is loved and supported and accepted, we wouldn't have made it.
Our journey is far from over. I am positive that we will encounter rough terrain in the days, weeks, months and even years ahead. We will get through it. We will do it together. To all you parents out there who are struggling…please open your hearts; love your son or daughter (or fill in other identifier) for who they are and for who they want to be.
I was invited to be a guest blogger by Dara Hoffman Fox. She is a gender therapist and runs a site called Conversations with a Gender Therapist.
Here is the link to the blog that appeared on her site.
A while back I wrote another post on the concept of choice also. Remember, please, that we don't choose our sexual orientation, gender identity or eye color. We do choose how accepting we are. We choose whether to support our children. As a parent, I cannot imagine not being there for my child, regardless of who they love, how they dress or what gender they affirm.
I look forward to hearing from other parents of transgender individuals. How are you coping and handling things in your world?
"I always knew I was different." I've heard this sentiment echoed by many, including my own child. Funny thing is, I always knew he was different, too. In the early days we didn't have a label for it.
Aside from the "tomboy" behavior, there were little things in her/his behavior that, individually didn't mean much, but when cobbled together raised eyebrows and questions. In fact, I remember at one point we bought a beautifully illustrated children's book titled, It's okay to be different. We wanted to reassure our young child that not everyone is the same, diversity is a good thing and that it was truly okay to be different.
Young children who don't fit into the perceived definition of what's normal, by either their peers or others around them, are open and at risk for ridicule, self-doubt and numerous anxieties and insecurities. Olivia always loved playing with the boys. I vividly remember a group of "mean girls" in third grade telling her that if she continued to play with the boys then they would no longer be her friends. Honestly, I think I was more hurt by these insensitive children. Where did they learn such discriminating behavior at such a young age? We've always taught our kids to "be nice to everyone" — live and let live.
Speaking of differences, did you know that gender identity and sexual orientation are different? I never had thought about this until recently. Actually, I didn't really understand the notion that these two worlds have different definitions.
So, for those uninitiated, let me explain. It's really quite simple. Gender identity is how you see yourself, the gender in which you affirm — used to be the only choices were male or female. Sexual orientation is about attraction, sexual preference. For example, my gender is female and my sexual orientation is heterosexual; I am attracted to men (only my husband, of course). I am not going to get into the array of "preferences/attractions" in this post…suffice to say that the boundaries are moving and changing. Perhaps they always have. The good news is that what used to be viewed as "deviant" is now referred to as "variant." Think about the autism "spectrum" and how that's changed.
Transgender individuals have a variety of sexual attractions. A trans man (FTM) may prefer women or may identify as gay and prefer men or may be attracted to men and women. The same holds true for trans women (MTF). Just because she identifies as female doesn't mean she prefers men. It can be complicated and confusing and full of anxiety for trans families and individuals trying to find their way. This is all uncharted territory for most of us.
Regardless of the journey, no matter the road travelled, one thing's for certain. It's okay to be different.


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Case Study: Keep Track of the Bright Ideas
Nine out of 10 senior managers see innovation as a key source of future competitive advantage, according to a study by business consulting firm Bain & Company, yet the same study found that two-thirds of the respondents were dissatisfied with their company's innovation performance.
Doug Henschen
Executive Editor, Enterprise Apps
Nine out of 10 senior managers see innovation as a key source of future competitive advantage, according to a study by business consulting firm Bain & Company, yet the same study found that two-thirds of the respondents were dissatisfied with their company's innovation performance. What many companies lack is a formal process for capturing and vetting ideas. "In a low-odds, inductive game like innovation, the idea you lose could be the idea that would have worked," notes Bain's Paul Calthrop.
People tend to associate innovation with industries such as high-tech, pharmaceuticals, genetics and the like, but it's also the source of competitive advantage in comparatively low-tech industries. Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS), for example, has been perfecting its idea management program for more than two years. The manufacturer of polyethylene pipe used in residential and commercial construction first adopted a paper-based approach to capturing ideas and then sharing them among the company's 12 fabrication shops. The program involved some 100 employees, and it helped ADS develop standardized best practices that improved efficiency and quality.
In 2003, ADS decided to take the program companywide, applying the same principles, though not the same paper-based process, to 21 manufacturing plants and associated production and operations activities. By May 2004, the company piloted a centralized idea management program managed on a Microsoft Access database accessible throughout the company on a shared network drive. Facilitators in each plant collected ideas from employees (most of whom had no access to up-to-date PCs) and submitted them to the central database at headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, where reporting and tracking took place.
Unfortunately, the prototype system was soon overwhelmed. "We were pulling in hundreds of ideas out of just a few plants, and working with the network drives and Access proved slow and time consuming," says Scott Anderson, manager of employee involvement.
The next step was to look for purpose-built software that could scale up. Innovation management software, or "idea management" as some call it, is a small but growing category that also includes Brightidea.com, Imaginatik, MindMatters Technologies and General Ideas. Anderson narrowed ADS's choice to two vendors. After seeing demos, the company selected Brightidea.com's On-Demand Innovation Management Suite. The hosted service starts at $49 per registered user and $1 per contributor per month.
ADS chose Brightidea in part because the hosted solution was compatible with older computers in the company's plants. These dated machines were fine for punching in production numbers, and with browser-based access to Brightidea.com, they could also serve as capture stations where employees can submit their ideas.
Anderson says Brightidea also simplified central administration. "I used to spend 20 hours a week on tracking and reporting, but that's down to about five hours," he explains. "Now I can spend more time doing the prescreening, making sure ideas are valid and that they haven't been submitted by another plant."
The system also facilitates collaboration without the chaos of e-mail. Users can share their ideas and related attachments, and reviewers can then enter comments that are captured and visible to all.
Once ideas have been prescreened, review groups at each plant approve suggestions for their own facilities and can then escalate ideas for review by a corporate review group. When ideas are approved as companywide best practices, the system also tracks progress toward implementation in all locations.
Thus far, the more than 1,000 employees with access to the system have been a wellspring of new ideas. In fact, one standout employee has submitted more than 60 ideas, 90 percent of which have been implemented and half of those companywide. Some ideas are simple and easily implemented. In one example, an employee suggested switching the type of spindle bearings used on perforators in the pipe plants; as a result, bearing replacements and, thus, equipment outages are now rare.
The next step for ADS is to extend Brightidea to ADS's six international plants. Translation technology available with the system is expected to ease idea sharing among Spanish- and English-speaking employees in North, Central and South America.
Software GovernmentEnterprise ArchitectureEnterprise ApplicationsInformation Management
Defending Against Critical Threats
Security Blind Spots - Are You Protected?
[Essential Guide] End-to-End Encryption


Social Security's current path is unsustainable. With average life spans increasing, the working-age population is not growing fast enough to support the growing number of retirees at current benefit levels and tax rates. Benefit cuts, revenue enhancements, or some combination could return the system to balance. The arithmetic is fairly straightforward, but impacts on workers and retirees depend crucially on design details. Using a microsimulation model, we show distributional effects of illustrative benefit-cut and revenue-enhancement options on retirees. Results show that impacts differ greatly for workers in different generations and age groups and with different lifetime earnings.


Odine Solutions has been delivering bespoke custom tailored solutions that help organizations accelerate revenue growth, increase market penetration, and optimize operating costs. The Systems Integration practices of Odine Solutions help organizations put through toughest integration challenges for more than 15 years.
We have organized our best of breed solutions in four categories suited for Operators, Wholesale Carriers, Enterprises, and Regulatory Authorities.
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The Bone Curse
Book Review: The Bone Hunger by Carrie Rubin
May 30, 2021 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 17 Comments
The Bone Hunger
If you're looking for a great medical thriller, check out The Bone Hunger by Carrie Rubin, the second in the Ben Oris series. Set in Philadelphia at the fictional Montgomery Hospital, it picks up after the first book, The Bone Curse. (Read my review here.) The Bone Hunger can be easily read as a standalone novel and follows the personal and professional life of Ben Oris. Ben was a medical student in the first book and now he's a resident at Montgomery. Here's a rundown of the story's opening:
Dr. Ben Oris is not looking for trouble. After what he's been through, he likes the ordinary. Three years earlier, he was cut by an ancient bone and became involved in a strange incident involving a mysterious disease and a Haitian Vodou priestess. Now Ben's life is busy, but normal. A second-year orthopedic surgery resident, he's under the tutelage of Dr. Kent Lock, one of the best reconstructive surgeons in the country. He's also a single dad to three-year-old Maxwell. Nothing but work, family, and a hopeful romance on the horizon, just the way he wants it.
On a wintry walk through the Wissahickon Valley Park, Ben and Maxwell's mother, Sophie, discover the severed limb of a recent knee surgery patient. Police and hospital seniors think it may be a sick prank, but later, when more orthopedic surgery patients go missing and their hacked-off limbs turn up, bearing alarming bite marks, Ben finds himself at the center of a murder investigation. In a rush against time, he must balance his demanding job and parenting responsibilities, follow hunches and most important, protect the people he loves.
At Montgomery, Lock and his surgical team continue their surgery schedule, replacing knees and hips, on the heels of a near-death plane crash in Alaska while on a humanitarian mission. Psychological stress and fears about who the next victim will be may be too much for the team. In addition, new developments make Ben question his professional loyalties. Are the surgical implants somehow connected to these grisly crimes? Should Ben investigate or leave it to the police?
Rubin provides readers with a great look at what it's like to work in the medical world, with a big dose of grueling schedules, hospital hierarchies, politics, feuds and power plays. She also offers a realistic commentary about life situations, specifically related to diversity, treatment of the elderly, religion and respecting differing beliefs. She does all this with compassion and humor and expertly builds these details into the story.
Rubin also includes chapters about the mysterious "monster" responsible, but not its identity. Written in first-person, these chapters offer insight and suspenseful details as the story develops.
The plot moves at a steady pace and then, bam! Readers get what they've been waiting for: a thrilling confrontation between good and evil, with all sorts of unexpected twists. Even the final pages reveal additional developments, setting Ben and the rest of the characters up for the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Bone Hunger and recommend it to readers who like medical thrillers, suspenseful stories and mysteries. I look forward to the next in the series.
I received a copy of The Bone Hunger from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Check out my reviews of Rubin's other books below:
The Seneca Scourge
Eating Bull
Book Club Mom's Author Update – Carrie Rubin
October 2, 2020 October 2, 2020 ~ Book Club Mom ~ 46 Comments
Author name: Carrie Rubin
Genre: Medical Thrillers
Book: The Bone Hunger
During these pandemic times, I've remained focused on my writing (or at least I've tried to…) and have some book updates to share. Thank you so much, Barbara, for the opportunity.
Last month, Book 2 in my Benjamin Oris series about a man of science who faces otherworldly situations was released. In The Bone Hunger, a standalone thriller, Ben is now a second-year orthopedic surgery resident. When the severed limbs of his former patients start turning up in Philadelphia parks, he must once again bury his skepticism and risk his career to uncover the monstrous force behind the murders before someone close to him becomes the next victim. Publishers Weekly notes: "This is just the ticket for Robin Cook fans."
And because I don't always walk on the dark side, in June, my lighthearted cozy mystery, The Cruise Ship Lost My Daughter, was published under the pen name Morgan Mayer. Inspired by a cruise I accompanied my mother and stepfather on, it's about a spry and tenacious octogenarian couple who go searching for their daughter on the same British Isles cruise she went missing from six weeks before.
Meanwhile, my agent has my newest manuscript on submission, and I'm working on another one I hope to submit to her by the end of November.
Thank you again, Barbara. Always a pleasure to visit Book Club Mom!
Website: www.carrierubin.com
Are you working on a new book? Have you won an award or a writing contest? Did you just update your website? Maybe you just want to tell readers about an experience you've had. Book Club Mom's Author Update is a great way to share news and information about you and your books.
Email Book Club Mom at bvitelli2009@gmail.com for more information.
Open to all authors – self-published, indie, big-time and anything in between. Author submissions are limited to one per author in a six-month period.


Cats, Dogs, Rabbits, Owls and other animals make up the design for this cute and colourful scrub top from Zoe + Chloe. This fashionable patterned top is called "neighbourhood friends" and you can see why with lots of smiling animal faces. This Women's printed top includes roomy pockets to hold your instruments and accessories, plus side slits for ease of movement.
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Z12202 Neighborhood Friends Fashion Print Nurse Scrub Printed Top Fashion inspired Women's prints. Printed scrub tops are perfect for bringing fun and cheer to patients and their families; not to mention, a great opportunity to showcase your individual style. New Christmas printed tops available.


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