Hush Tours is the premiere Hip Hop Tour Company offering celebrity guided excursions throughout the boroughs of New York City. Founded in 2000 by Debra Harris, devout hip-hop aficionado, ex-talent agent, and New York City licensed tour guide, Ms. Harris pioneers this genre with educational tours and experiences to the critical destinations past and present. Ms. Harris, a legal secretary, began taking members of her family on impromptu driving tours to places like the former site of Harlem World Entertainment Complex on 116th Street, where rival rap crews had faced off in rhyme battles a quarter-century ago. "Our vision for this business was to create an interactive and comprehensive learning experience for all ages and nationalities. I really wanted to share the true inside story of the evolution of this music culture – ultimately helping people to learn what hip-hop culture was and continues to be; 'how' it all started, where exactly it all began, who the influencers and influences were (and continue to be) that made this music lifestyle grow into what has become a $30 billion dollar business today", states Ms. Harris. Hush Tours has been featured in The New York Times, Daily News, Miami Herald and has been picked up by Associated Press International and United Press International. Televised footage of tours has appeared on MTV, VHI, ABC, NBC, NY1, and BET.


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Fat or thin: How gut bacteria affects our eating
When we can't lose weight, we tend to want to blame something outside our control. Could it be related to the microbiota - the bacteria and other organisms - that colonise your gut?
Our gut harbours some trillion microorganisms. These are key in harvesting energy from our food, regulating our immune function, and keeping the lining of our gut healthy.
The composition of our gut microbiota is partly determined by our genes but can also be influenced by lifestyle factors such as our diet, alcohol intake and exercise, as well as medications.
What is the human microbiome?
The bacteria in the gut obtain energy for growth when we metabolise nutrients from food. So our diet is a crucial factor in regulating the type of bacteria that colonise our gut.
One key role of the gut microbiota is degrading the carbohydrates we can't digest into short-chain fatty acids. These help regulate our metabolism and are also important for keeping our colon cells healthy.
Changes in our diet can rapidly change the gut microbiota. Generally, a high-fibre diet which is low in saturated fat and sugar is associated with a healthier gut microbiome, characterised by a greater diversity of organisms.
On the other hand, diets high in saturated fat and refined sugars with low fibre content reduce the microbial diversity, which is bad for our health.
Our animal studies have shown that consuming an unhealthy diet for only three days a week has detrimental effects on the gut microbiota, even when a healthy diet is eaten for the other four days.
This may be because the gut microbiota are under selective pressure to manipulate the hosts' eating behaviour to increase their own fitness. This may lead to cravings, akin to your system being "hijacked" by your microbiota.
Can gut microbiota changes lead to obesity?
Bacteria in humans fall into two major classifications: bacteroidetes and firmicutes. Obesity is associated with a reduction in the ratio of bacteroidetes to firmicutes but weight loss can reverse this shift.
Many studies have found that the gut of an obese person is more likely to contain bacteria that inflame the gastrointestinal tract and damage its lining. This allows the bacteria in the gut to escape.
We still don't know definitively if changes in the gut microbiota from an unhealthy diet can contribute to obesity.
Most evidence supporting this hypothesis comes from animal studies; for instance, the transfer of faecal material from an obese human can lead to weight gain in a recipient mouse.
One possibility is that the obese microbiota may be more efficient in harvesting energy, in part, by influencing the host to eat foods which favour its growth. This could ultimately contribute to weight gain.
Gut changes after weight-loss surgery
Bariatric surgeries such as gastric bypass, are one of the most effective treatments for obesity because they reduce the size of the stomach.
This limits how much food can be eaten and has also been shown to promote the release of hormones which make us feel full.
But other factors may be involved. Intriguingly, some patients report a shift in food preference away from energy-dense foods after surgery. This may contribute to the success of the procedure.
Gastric bypass-induced weight loss has also been associated with increased diversity of the gut microbiota. But how much this contributes to the success of the procedure remains to be determined.
One possibility is that the changes in food preferences reported in bariatric patients may relate to changes in the composition of their gut microbiota.
How gut microbiota affect our behaviour?
Apart from regulating gut health, there is compelling experimental evidence that gut microbiota play a role in regulating mood.
Several studies have shown that depression is associated with changes in the gut microbiome of humans.
Depressed patients showed changes in their abundance of firmicutes, actinobacteria and bacteroidetes.
When these patients' gut microbiota was transferred to mice, the mice showed more depressive behaviour than mice that received biota from healthy people.
More work still needs to be done as it is unclear whether this may indicate a causal relationship, or be related to other factors associated with depressive disorders such as a poor diet, changed sleep patterns and drug treatment.
Emerging evidence suggests that gut microbiota can influence other behaviours through the "microbiota-gut-brain axis".
Put simply, the gut and the brain communicate in part via the microbiota, which links the emotional and cognitive centres of the brain with our intestinal functions.
Recent work from our lab showed that rats consuming diets high in saturated fat or sugar, for just two weeks, had impaired spatial memory.
These rats consumed the same amount of energy as the control rats (those on a regular diet) and were also a similar body weight.
We found that the memory deficits were associated with changes in the gut microbiota composition and genes related to inflammation in the hippocampus, which is a key brain region for memory and learning.
Similar memory deficits have also been reported when healthy mice were transplanted with microbiota from overweight mice who had been fed a high-fat diet.
Together, studies such as these suggest the gut microbiota could play a causal role in regulating behaviour. This may, in part, be due to the different microbiota profiles influencing the production of key transmitters such as serotonin.
What can you do now?
Further research is needed into the relationship between poor diet, the gut microbiota and behavioural changes. In the long term, such knowledge may be harnessed to develop targeted therapeutic interventions to replace relevant microbiota diminished by an unhealthy lifestyle.
Meanwhile, the good news is that the gut microbiota can change relatively quickly and we have the capacity to promote the growth of beneficial bacteria which may ultimately improve a range of health outcomes. Eating a healthy diet of unprocessed foods, including adequate fibre, avoiding excess alcohol and getting enough exercise are key.
Professor of Pharmacology, Head of Pharmacology, UNSW Australia
Jessica Beilharz
PhD candidate, UNSW Australia
This article first appeared at The Conversation. It is part of a series which you can check out here.
Apple Watch Series 2: Freedom to get moving
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kick the kilos
bacteria general-seniors-news health kick the kilos obesity science weight loss wellbeing

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The Most Famous Girl You've Never Heard Of
Alicia Padron, Entertainment Writer|April 22, 2019
You may have heard her name lately (probably because she just won four Grammy awards) yet, not many people seem to know who Kacey Musgraves is.
Just last April I was in the same place, until my friend recommended I listen to the title track of her fourth and latest studio album, Golden Hour. I didn't think much of it at the time, but a few months later I decided to give her another try, since she had been opening shows for Harry Styles during the summer. When I listened to the full album I fell in love; every song was beautiful in a different way, and listening through it was an enthralling experience. Needless to say, I saved all 13 tracks.
As it turns out, I'm not the only one who thought so: Golden Hour received a whopping 8.7 on Pitchfork (a source notorious for its harsh reviews) and an 89 on Metacritic. This February, Musgraves won the four Grammys she was nominated for: Country Solo Performance for her song "Butterflies", Country Song for "Space Cowboy", Country Album and most importantly, Album of the Year. Although I was sure she would triumph within her own genre, I wasn't as confident that she would receive what's arguably the most important award of the night. The other contenders for Album of the Year included Cardi B, Drake, Janelle Monáe and the various artists of the Black Panther soundtrack. Moreover, the Grammy awards have been known to snub deserving artists, instead awarding those that are more popular.
Nonetheless, Musgraves won. But how exactly did she manage this when not many people know her music? I believe the answer lies in her authentic songwriting and sincere, romantic lyrics. The Texan singer has been around since 2013, but her latest album stands out from the previous ones; on Golden Hour her smooth vocals and dreamy aesthetics enhance her approach to themes like nostalgia, security in relationships, and wonderment at the simple beauty of the world. The record is country pop with a dash of disco, which means you'll hear the classic acoustic sound of country music (think guitar and banjo), but with contemporary twists. There are fun songs like "High Horse" and "Lonely Weekend", and more mellow, contemplative tunes like "Slow Burn" and "Oh, What a World" (two of my personal favorites). The album is coherent, yet each song brings something new.
I think her lack of popularity may be due to a few factors. Firstly, country is not an immensely popular genre outside the United States. Describing her as a country artist may put some people off, even though she is often recognized for redefining the genre. She also wasn't very well-known outside of that category before this album. Regardless of the quality of her music, it's not at the top of the charts on Spotify or playing on overseas radio. Even so, the past year has been a great one for Musgraves. Besides the many awards, she's done all the important talk-show performances, as well as Saturday Night Live. Her touring with Harry Styles also served as a great prelude to her own world tour. Slowly but surely, Musgraves has been making her talent known.
When I first heard of Kacey Musgraves, I thought I wouldn't be interested. I gave her a chance and ended up becoming a huge fan, and I hope other people will give her a chance too. I also thought I didn't like country at all, but in the past year I learned how my prejudice was holding me back from a load of great music. With this in mind, go give her a listen and maybe you'll like what you find.
Alicia Padron, Entertainment Writer
Your Teachers' Favorite Movies!
"Are You The One?" Throughout the Years
Drake's not the only one who went to Rock in Rio…
The Rolling Waves of Hallyu on the Beach of the World
"Bohemian Rhapsody" Will Rock You (No Matter Your Age)
Elon Musk's Plan to Mars
The Question of Impeachment: It Actually Is That Simple
MUN and HACIA: Choose the best one for you
'Sea levels are rising and so are we'


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Interview – Amusement Parks on Fire
It's no secret that we are big fans of Amusement Parks on Fire and their thick, atmospheric fog-of-war like music. So we rounded up a big bunch of questions, answered kindly by Mr. Michael Feerick.
Hope you enjoy this, our first interview of 2011!
1) We liked 'Road eyes' quite a bit. What has been your general experience with it?
Well, it's been a life changer in many ways. It's pretty much been my life since 2007 or something, And that kicked up a notch massively when we decamped to Los Angeles in 2009… So it's been an ongoing, life thing… Which I like, because that fits with the title and theme of the album quite nicely…
2) Any clues about the origin of the title of the album 'Road Eyes'?
I have this weird thing with titles, I like them to be kind of intriguingly abstract but also have some kind goofy double meaning! On the surface it's a Neil Young reference, from his 1979 live film Rust Never Sleeps. It was a dreamlike production, with massively oversized amps as the set and strange, hooded techs called 'Road Eyes', a play on 'roadies'. I wanted to reference Neil Young as he's one of my heroes, and there are hints of the whole 'hero' idea thematically in the album, albeit in a dreamlike way. He's also the maker of some of the classic 'LA' albums we were hoping to reference and, well, mess with the idea of basically! As a title it summed up a lot of the more abstract ideas I had thematically, like the idea of human perception being somehow final, even though the point of perception is always subjective, like time or space perception being point A to point B, or a 'Road', and that idea being so inevitable it's kind of cold, and sad. That's why there's a lot of perspective stuff going on in the cover art anyway:..
3) What is 'Echo Park \\ Infinite Delay' about?
It was never supposed to be on the album, I wrote it as a kind of jokey secret track about us coming over to LA to rock out and live the dream! The title is another goofy double meaning thing. 'Echo Park' is the name of the delay pedal that 4 of us use, named after the part of LA where we incidentally stayed when we arrived, and where I still actually do most of my hanging out! 'Infinite Delay' refers to the full-feedback achievable with the pedal, and which we tend to leave ringing at the end of our shows (I just like the idea of never-ending feedback anyway) and in an equally jokey way to the seemingly infinite delay to the starting of the recording process! We waited for a long time before being able to figure out a way, financially and otherwise, to make the album. So yeah that all basically sums up the lyrical theme ('We'll work it out in the blazing sun, turn the feedback up and stare out at everyone' etc)…!
4) In one of your interviews, you've defined your sound as "stargazers" instead of "shoegazers". Why stargazers and what do you believe defines this genre?
That wasn't actually us, I think someone put that in a press release for us as we always denounced the 'shoegaze' tag because the idea of being a 'genre band' or whatever made it all seem pointless and depressing, even though I really like some of the bands that are thrown into that genre! I understand it though, of course, but it's not for me to say, you just put it out there and people categorise and comment on it however they want.
5) First album, recorded in your room, remastered in Nottingham. Second one, recorded in Nottingham, remastered in Iceland. Now, Los Angeles. How has this continuous movement changed the definition of your sound?
Well, the first album wasn't recorded in my bedroom, I didn't have that kind of gear when I was that age!! I didn't even have a computer. I still don't! It was recorded and mixed on a shoestring budget in a small studio in Nottingham by Dan and mastered in London (which cost as much as the entire recording budget again). A lot of the second album was recorded in Iceland, most of the 'vibey' stuff, and it was mixed there, but that was mastered in NYC by Howie Weinberg (who did Nevermind, Siamese Dream and every other album in the world) for an insane amount of $$$, I really wish we could get that cash back to put towards a tour and master it ourselves! Aaaanyway, yeah I've always been really aware of how the location where you're working affects what you do and how you feel about it, and I like it all to feel like a journey anyway, hence the move from winter in Iceland to summer in LA…
6) How was it recording in Los Angeles with Michael Patterson?
It was many things! A massive learning experience, hard work, a lot of fun, an eye-opener. At the end of the day we needed to be pushed hard at that point, and they did that. I have huge respect for Michael and Nic and I'm really glad we got to work with them, the end result is exactly the kind of album I'd hoped we'd make…
7) One feature we have found from your albums is that one song wouldn't make any sense nor would keep all of its magic if we skip a song, so it feels like a symphonic experience. What is your approach to the album experience?
Yeah I aim to make it just that, an experience! I grew up listening to my dad's prog records and always liked the idea of albums being these huge, flowing peices, but I also like pop songs a lot! So I guess, especially with the new record, I like them to flow like that and have some kind of narrative, or at least have unifying lyrical themes, but I wanted the tracks to also work in and of themselves, especially the poppier tracks like Flashlight Planetarium and Wave Of The Future etc. Not in a synical way, as that's how people tend to listen to music these days, but in the way that all the really 'classic' albums I can think of manage to do both effortlessly, that's the vague goal anyway!
8) There seems to be a theme going through your albums, not only sonically as songs flow into each other, but also thematically. First one seemed about longing and confusion, second one seems about being lost in life and third one feels like a nervous breakdown. Are you making concept albums? (You can dismiss this question as overanalysing bollocks).
Hehe, I don't know what to say to that really, that observation could be right on the money. I guess those kind of emotions and feelings are present even if I'm not aware of them. That's really interesting!
9) A personal question about your self-titled album. Your song "Venus in Cancer", what does it refer to? My guess is that is refers an astrological position of planets…
That was originally the title of a song I wrote when I was about 14, and more 'astrologically inclined' for want of a better phrase! I re-used it as a kind of personal in-joke. I was making fun of myself for the kind of straight-up 'this is how I'm feeling' angle I was taking, I'd never really done that before.
10) On that note, the lyrics to 'Smokescreen' feel like an expression of feeling frustrated? Is this the meaning of the song?
That's actually one of the more 'political' songs I've written I suppose. It was right around the time of the invasion of Iraq. I was recording demos all night, every night with a producer at the time. I was basically nocturnal for 6 months! Anyway I would get home at 6am or so and switch on the news, and just sit there playing guitar, staring at these images on TV, struggling to understand reality I guess, and that's the song that came out of that time.
11) Any plans for another UK tour? Have you considered dropping by Mexico any time in the future?
Absolutely! We're working on it…
12) Your first album came out when there was a trend towards post punk, dance rock and new new wave. Did you expect your quite distinct sound to get such a warm reception?
Did it get a warm reception? I don't know, it never even occured to me that people would hear it, other than my friends at the time. I was really grateful to get to play around the world off the back of it, it was all very surprising. I feel a pretty big disconnect with what's happening in the music world at large anyway, that's probably why I've been so indulgent!
13) What are your thoughts when you are up on stage, behind a wall of noise? What images fly through your head?
Nothing specific whatsoever, just a powerful, beautiful, comforting ethereal netherworld! It's my favourite place to be…
14) There's been a few rumours flying that there's enough Amusement Parks on Fire material for another album. Will it come out in 2011?
Yeah there's loads, the last 2 albums could have had a second disc. I'd like to release a collection of all that stuff at some point #fingerscrossed !
All images pillaged from Amusement Parks on Fire's website and Myspace.
Website. Facebook. Twitter. Myspace. Last.fm. Spotify.
Our review of Road Eyes.
Road eyes was one of our choices for "Best of 2010".
Posted in Angry music, Apocalyptic stuff, I take the Lord Jebus and all his cohorts' music, Interview, Interviews, Proper RockTagged Amusement Parks on Fire, Interview, Nottingham, Out of the Angeles, Proper Music, Road eyes, StargazeBy Sloucher.org2 Comments
2 thoughts on "Interview – Amusement Parks on Fire"
Massive thanks to Michael Feerick for answering these questions. And Echo Park (both the song and the delay pedal) rule! Gotta love the "ping pong" setting on that pedal.
Pug says:
Michael is such a dude, long live APOF x
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The crypto market continues to struggle on its way of reaching mass adoption, with most people focusing on Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin still has its fair share of problems, a few of which are quite challenging, with no guarantee that they will ever be fully solved.
While Bitcoin is, and has been the largest cryptocurrency from the moment it was created, there is no guarantee that it will remain at the number one spot forever. While this is mostly what skeptics tend to say, it is still a possibility that cannot be ignored. With that in mind, here are top 3 cryptos that might serve as an alternative to Bitcoin in the future, or maybe even now, considering how high its fees are, and how long its waiting periods tend to be.
XRP has become known as a 'remittance coin' due to its goal of providing better, faster, and cheaper international transactions. It was created by a company called Ripple Labs, and so far, it has been one of the best ways for sending money cross-border. It works in combination with Ripple's products such as xRapid, fueling it and allowing for near-instant transactions at low fees.
The company has decided to offer its products to banks around the world, and most of the financial institutions decided to accept the offer. This is their way of trying to remain relevant in the world that is rapidly turning towards crypto, rather than continuing to use old, outdated systems. Of course, due to its connection to Ripple Labs and banks, many view XRP as fake crypto, a centralized coin, or even a scam. However, these are mostly speculations, and Ripple claims that XRP can continue its existence even if the company were to disappear. Whether or not this is true, XRP is certainly highly scalable and a great solution for sending cash cross-border.
Stellar comes as an alternative to XRP and BTC alike. It is actually very similar to XRP in the sense that it provides an extremely fast way to settle international transactions. However, there is one large difference, which lies in the fact that Stellar is offering its services to individuals directly, where XRP offers its services to the banks.
Stellar is one of the fastest coins on the market, and it is fully decentralized, so there is not even a hint of danger that a third party might meddle with their transactions. Because of this, many in the crypto community see XLM as a better coin than XRP and even its greatest rival. However you choose to look at it, it is a fast, scalable, decentralized payment method which can certainly do what Bitcoin does, only much faster.
Finally, there is Litecoin, which is a coin coming from the Bitcoin family, as it forked from Bitcoin back in 2011. The coin's developers realized that the issues Bitcoin is facing might never be resolved, and even if they did — it would likely take years. It turned out that they were right, as BTC still faces a lot of the same issues even now, eight years after the fork.
Meanwhile, Litecoin dedicated its efforts to improve, becoming just as capable P2P payment facilitator as BTC. However, its features a much faster block-processing rate, which keeps its miners not only intrigued, but also properly rewarded for their efforts. Its PoW algorithm is believed to be more decentralized than that of Bitcoin, and it also implemented the SegWit upgrade, which improves blockchain capacity, while reducing fees and settlement times.
The post Top 3 Cryptos to Serve as an Alternative to Bitcoin appeared first on Global Coin Report.


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Five things Hollywood could learn from the Catholic Church after Harvey Weinstein
Posted on 27/10/2017 0 CommentPosted by Christine Hogan in Ethics
Jim McDermott sj is the Los Angeles Correspondent and an Associate Editor at America magazine. He considers the lessons the Church might take out of the Weinstein affair.
Living in Los Angeles and watching the cascade of horror that is the unravelling story of Hollywood uber-exec Harvey Weinstein and his abuses of women, I have had a strange sense of déjà vu.
I was a seminarian studying for the priesthood in Boston in January 2002 when The Boston Globe began publishing its astonishing series of articles on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
Those reports began a lot like the Weinstein story, with allegations surrounding one man, John Geoghan, who had been committing horrific acts of abuse for decades throughout the Archdiocese of Boston.
I suspect the Weinstein story, too, is just the beginning of a much larger set of revelations about abuse and power in the entertainment industry. And 15 years into the Catholic crisis, having witnessed the choices the institutional church has made (some of them disastrous), I suspect there are things that Hollywood could learn from that experience right now. Here are five that come immediately to mind.
1. It's all going to come out
It's just Harvey Weinstein—one horrible, sick person.
Except it isn't. Just last week Andy Signore from Honest Trailers was fired for some of the same things. Two weeks ago it was Harry Knowles, forced to take a leave of absence from the blog he founded, Ain't It Cool News. Last year it was Devin Faraci, deposed as editor-in-chief of the website Birth. Movies. Death.
And those guys are minor figures in the entertainment industry. Rumors of sexual misconduct have surfaced of late about perhaps the most popular white comedian on the planet right now. And let's not even start with the well-trod tales of Woody Allen or Roman Polanski.
The studios, the networks, the talent agencies, production companies, TV shows, celebrities…come on. It was never just Father John Geoghan or Father Marcial Maciel Degollado or Gerald Ridsdale. And it is not just Mr Weinstein.
As it should have a long time ago, it is all going to come out. It does not matter how deep it has been buried or how afraid the victims or others may still be right now. The press chases the story, and people will start to realize they, too, can be released from a piece of their own private hell.
It took years for the Catholic Church in the United States to stop trying to hide the facts. Even now, some insist it is still guilty of that. And the effects have been catastrophic. Look at our empty pews and our battered flocks.
Want to learn from the church, Hollywood? Don't wait for the press to dig up the stories. They will find them. You know where the problems are. Act now.
You made Spotlight. Shoot, you gave it the Academy Award. It is all in there.
2. There is an even bigger issue you have to face, and it is everyone else
As each new accusation of child abuse has broken in the Catholic Church over the last 15 years, the first wave of horror has been in the sickening tales of brutality, the unthinkable trauma which these children suffered.
But that reaction was quickly followed by the necessary next question: Who else was involved? Who else knew?
There is no Harvey Weinstein without a culture that not only allows for but enables a Harvey Weinstein: The fellow executives and subordinates who turned a blind eye or even aided him in the astonishing things he was doing to women and the movie stars who did the same.
The press, too, shares some responsibility for allowing these crimes to continue. Indeed, as with the church stories, we are already hearing that the very organization which broke the Harvey Weinstein story, The New York Times, may have buried a similar report 13 years ago, allegedly at the behest of Hollywood figures including the actors Matt Damon and Russell Crowe….
Full story from America online magazine: Five things Hollywood could learn from the Catholic Church after Harvey Weinstein
Fr McDermott studied literature at Marquette and Harvard University and Old Testament and Liturgy at the Weston Jesuit School of Theology.
Images from Wiki Commons
Harvey Weinstein and his estranged wife, Georgina
Lupita Nyong'o, Oscar-winning actor and Weinstein accuser
Ashely Judd, actor and Weinstein accuser
3 − two =


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Q: wordpress: How can I display multiple pages on one page? Let's say I have three different pages, page1, page2, and page3.
I want page1 and page2 to display on my static front page. Do I restrict the loop to only pull page1 and page2, or do I need to start the loop, test for name="page1" or something like that, and then print?
Thanks!
-Joe

A: I would skip the loop and simply use get_page($id) as described here:
http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/get_page
All you need to know is the ID's of your pages, and you can pull them one at a time anywhere you want.

A: Here is an example of how you could do it. This code will work if you have all the pages that you want to be displayed under one parent. In this case, I was putting pages under the home page (p.post_parent = 2).
if ($post->post_type == 'page') {

    $pages = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT p.ID, p.post_name, p.post_title, p.post_parent, pm.meta_value FROM $wpdb->posts AS p LEFT JOIN $wpdb->postmeta AS pm ON pm.post_id=p.ID AND pm.meta_key='wp_menu_nav' LEFT JOIN $wpdb->posts AS P ON P.ID=p.post_parent WHERE p.post_parent = 2 AND p.post_type='page' AND p.post_status='publish' ORDER BY p.menu_order ASC");

    if ($wpdb->num_rows > 0) {

        foreach($pages as $page) {

            //echo $page->ID . "<br>";
            $args = array( 'numberposts' => 1, 'post_type'=> 'page', 'include' => $page->ID, 'post_status' => 'published' );

            $myposts = get_posts($args);

            foreach($myposts as $mypost) {
                setup_postdata($mypost);
                echo the_content();
            }

        }

    }

}

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Tag: ken griffey
The 5th Street Stairs: A Sweet Story
There's a town along the Monongahela River, just north of the bright yellow Stan "The Man" Musial Bridge, called Donora. The old mill town is famous for being the "Home of Champions," most prominently the aforementioned baseball legend, plus Ken Griffey, Sr. and his son, Ken Griffey, Jr, who was born in Donora but moved with his parents to Cincinnati when he was six.
The Musial and Griffey homes are located uphill from the main drag, McKean Avenue, which runs along the flood plain next to the Mon, as locals call the Monongahela. When I say uphill, I mean it. Pretty much all the roads emanating from McKean upward are rather steep, particularly 5th Street, part of which was closed off years ago because it proved too dangerous for car travel.
On 5th Street now, between Prospect and Murray Avenues, there is a street-wide swath of grass with a set of stairs on either side. The stairs on the right, looking upward, are replacement stairs installed a number of years ago. The stairs on the left, however, of which there are 186, are original and tell an interesting story.
Each riser, from the very bottom to the very top, is but 4 inches tall. Most stairs today have risers about 8 inches tall. So why do the 5th Street stairs, and many other staircases in Donora, have risers half that height?
It turns out that Rose Marie Iiams' grandfather-in-law was the engineer who designed the stairs. Mrs. Iiams, 90, was a long-time pharmacist in Donora and worked all day, every day during the 1948 smog event. The story she tells may be apocryphal but it's adorable nonetheless.
"Women were wearing hobble skirts then," she says.
I didn't know what a hobble skirt was, so she kindly explained. "The skirts were sort of tight, so you couldn't raise your legs very far..
Go on.
"Well, his wife was a little woman, and his daughter was a big woman. And he measured the distance that each could raise her legs, and he made the steps halfway between."
Then she laughed and said, "Isn't that a marvelous story?"
It is indeed, Mrs. Iiams, it is indeed.


© 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008. 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019. Richard Chinn Environmental Training, Inc. All rights reserved.
Richard Chinn is the author of "The Enemy of My Enemy" a historical fiction account of the Doolittle Raider crew that flew to the USSR after bombing Japan, was interned by the Soviet Union for 14 months before they escaped into Iran. This book espouses several theories of the mission. What was the US militaries role in the landing in the Soviet Union? What was the KGB's role in their escape? This book is under contract with a traditional publisher and is scheduled to be published in 2018.
Richard Chinn is also a Professional Mangrove Trimmer and his company Florida Mangrove Trimming, LLC provides mangrove trimming services and consulting to improve the view of the water for homes with riparian mangrove fringe in an ecological, aesthetic manner.


Because the month names are derived from pagan names, Quakers abhorred the names of the months and days . Therefore, they never used them. Quaker dates will be numbers -- with March being the first month and Sunday the first day. An example of a Quaker rendering of a date would be: the 4th day of the 2nd week of the 8th month 1699. This would be Wednesday of the second week of October 1699.


James McOnie is a journalist and broadcaster who has come close to winning several awards. Born in Te Awamutu during the disco era, he attended Hamilton Boys' High School, during which time he starred in four school productions to mixed reviews.
These days James is proud to call himself the co-host for PRIME & SKY TV's The Crowd Goes Wild. He started on the show in 2006 as a reporter and has interviewed some of sport's biggest names, including Michael Phelps, Jacques Rogge, Jurgen Klinsmann and Stephen Donald (in a bath). He has also sung and danced with a lot of sportspeople.
McOnie has been a print journalist for more than a decade, having written for Sky Sport Magazine, the Taranaki Daily News, the Waikato Times and all three Sunday papers. He interviewed Charlize Theron (google it) and has the framed photo to prove it. He has worked on LiveSport radio as the "host with the most" during the "hour of power".
Apart from sport, James likes open fires, the French language, the seven wonders of the world, soft librarian voices, most chips and dips (except for hummus), geography and TV shows about Mediterranean real estate. He doesn't like uninsulated houses and really high pants.
"James was easily the highlight of our annual awards evening and was spot on with his humorous – and often risqué – take on life. Great on his feet, very engaging and just what the doctor ordered to get the night firing. Highly recommended."


There are telltale signs that your septic system is in need of attention, from odors to backups. Proper septic pumping and disposalais required on a regular basis to ensure these messy and unhealthy malfunctions do no occur.
If you notice a constantly wet, soggy area of your lawn where your septic tank is buried, this could indicate a failing or overflowing unit. Solution? Get it pumped ASAP before you experience a nasty backup into your home. Another warning sign that your tank needs a pumping is a pungent odor coming from your toilets and drains. Once the sewage backs up into your bathroom, you?ve posed a health risk to your family. It?s important to get a professional in right away to clean up the situation and fix it, then get your tank pumped or even replaced if there has been irreparable damage done to the unit. If you have one of the newer septic tank systems on the market, these often come with an alarm that goes off when your tank is getting full. This is a fool proof way to know that it?s time to get it pumped.
As a rule, having your system pumped at least every three years, but this depends on the size of your tank, the size of your family and the volume of solids, according toaUSA Today. Those with 900-gallon tanks and a family of four should have their septic tank pumped every two years. Got a bigger 1500-gallon tank? Pump it out at least every four years. If you have a garbage disposal unit in your kitchen sink, consider this an invitation to pump your tank more often. Why? You?re essentially throwing more solids into your tank than a household without a disposal ? up to 50 percent more. TheaEPAasays that maintaining your septic system increases its life span and protects your home as well as the surrounding ground. When you fail to instill proper septic tank drainage, the unit can back up into your bathroom, plus it causes contamination of the groundwater. Think about this: that groundwater eventually becomes your drinking water. You may also have to invest thousands of dollars in a new tank if there?s a malfunction. The National Environmental Services Centerasays it costs between $100 and $300 to pump out your system, compared with the cost of having to replace one at between $3,000 and $10,000. Properly maintaining your septic tank now will save you money, time and hassle later.
Offering both residential and commercial septic disposal and septic tank treatments since 1964, Mr. John?s team of experts trained in septic system maintenance has all the tools to fit your needs. Proper maintenance of your system can save you money in the end, call 800.642.3971 to talk to a representative today.
Guests are arriving soon. Are you prepared? Shopping, baking, decorating, and all of the hustle and bustle over the next several weeks can take its toll on the best of us ? even the best plumbing system! The increased use of pipes, sinks, and drains can often lead to a pain in the drain and cause a holiday nightmare. Don?t let this happen to you. After all, you want this to be the happiest time of the year for you and your family.
Abacus Plumbing knows how important a fully-functional plumbing system is to your household each and every day, especially during the holiday season. We?ve offered some tips on how to unclog your sink drain on your own.
If that doesn?t work and the clog just won?t go away, call us at 832-554-9951. We offer emergency plumbingasame-day service. We?ll help you with any plumbing issueaseven days a week!
Victor Perkins is a Mass Communications graduate and an ardent blogger. He has sound knowledge over the topics of business, sports, politics and the daily news updates. With a good eye for writing and copy editing Victor writes blogs for A-General Plumbing and Sewer Service company. View all posts by Victor Perkins ?
We hope you enjoy your summer and avoid plumbing-related problems through the season. Homeowners in the Pittsburgh area in need of help clearing the sewer or fixing the garbage disposal or dealing with other plumbing-related problems listed in this blog can contact Terry?s Plumbing. With a 24-hour emergency hotline and over 30 years experience in the business, we?re ready for anything and we can get the job done.
Two major factors affecting the performance of properly sited and installed solar water heating systems include scaling (in liquid or hydronic-based systems) and corrosion (in hydronic and air systems).
Domestic water that is high in mineral content (or ?hard water?) may cause the buildup or scaling of mineral (calcium) deposits in hydronic solar heating systems. Scale buildup reduces system performance in a number of ways. If your system uses water as the heat-transfer fluid, scaling can occur in the collector, distribution piping, and heat exchanger. In systems that use other types of heat-transfer fluids (such as glycol, an anti-freeze), scaling can occur on the surface of the heat exchanger that transfers heat from the solar collector to the domestic water. Scaling may also cause valve and pump failures on the potable water loop.
You can avoid scaling by using water softeners or by circulating a mild acidic solution (such as vinegar) through the collector or domestic hot water loop every 3?5 years, or as necessary depending on water conditions. You may need to carefully clean heat exchanger surfaces with medium-grain sandpaper. A ?wrap-around? external heat exchanger is an alternative to a heat exchanger located inside a storage tank.
Most well-designed solar systems experience minimal corrosion. When they do, it is usually galvanic corrosion, an electrolytic process caused by two dissimilar metals coming into contact with each other. One metal has a stronger positive electrical charge and pulls electrons from the other, causing one of the metals to corrode. The heat-transfer fluid in some solar energy systems sometimes provides the bridge over which this exchange of electrons occurs.
Oxygen entering into an open loop hydronic solar system will cause rust in any iron or steel component. Such systems should have copper, bronze, brass, stainless steel, plastic, rubber components in the plumbing loop, and plastic or glass lined storage tanks.
Ashburn, VA: Is a Tankless Water Heater Right for Your Home?
Pex Inventory - drains, joints, cover etc.


text:
J. H. Yoder, Radical Theologian
John Howard Yoder
J. Denny Weaver
John Howard Yoder, Radical Theologian
Contributors: J. Denny Weaver, Earl Zimmerman, Zachary J. Walton, Gerald J. Mast, Ted Grimsrud
This book argues that for John Howard Yoder both theology (in particular Christology) and ethics are expressions of the meaning of the narrative of Jesus. All such statements are relative to a particular context, which means that theology and ethics are always subject to reaching back to the narrative in order to restate the meaning in new and ever-changing contexts. This methodology is visible in Yoder's Preface to Theology, which has been little used in most treatments of Yoder's thought. Yoder has been characterized as standing on Nicene orthodoxy, criticized for rejecting Nicene orthodoxy, called heterodox, and designated a postmodern thinker to be interpreted in terms of other such thinkers. None of these characterizations adequately locates the basis of his methodology in the narrative of Jesus. Thus John Howard Yoder: Radical Theologian aims to go beyond or to supersede existing treatments with its demonstration that Yoder is a radical theologian in the historical meaning of radical--that is, as one who returns to the root. For Christian faith, this root is Jesus Christ. Parts II and III of the book explore the sources of Yoder's approach, and its application in several contemporary contexts.
J. Denny Weaver is Professor Emeritus of Religion at Bluffton (Ohio) University. His other books include Keeping Salvation Ethical (1997); Anabaptist Theology in Face of Postmodernity (2000); Teaching Peace (coedited with Gerald Biesecker-Mast, 2003); Becoming Anabaptist (2nd ed., 2005); Defenseless Christianity (coauthored with Gerald J. Mast, 2009); The Nonviolent Atonement (2nd ed., 2011); and The Nonviolent God (2013). He has lectured on atonement theology in the United Kingdom, the Congo, and Germany. He lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
From among the spate of recent books parsing John H. Yoder's thought, this is the one I want within arm's reach. Within one volume, Weaver and his co-authors manage to articulate the sources for Yoder's radical theology. . . . The authors are not dabblers in Yoder's thought, but those who knew him more intimately than most scholars and those whose lives were altered by their contact with John and his writings. Yet this is no hagiography; it is written by those with a profound knowledge of both Yoder the brilliant theologian and Yoder the flawed human being.
– Keith Graber Miller, Professor of Bible, Religion, & Philosophy, Goshen College, Goshen, IN
Numerous thoughtful, reflective young Christians are becoming enamored with Yoder--something giving rise to many different interpretations of his thought. Weaver and his co-authors offer an alternative approach to many others. For them, Yoder's whole lifework is rooted in the narrative of the life and ministry of Jesus and therefore in Christology. If they are correct, Yoder can only rightly be understood as 'radical,' which means 'back to the roots' of Christianity in the man Jesus. I highly recommend this volume to everyone interested in Yoder and the increasingly lively conversation about his theology.
– Roger E. Olson, Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics, George W. Truett Theological Seminary, Baylor University, Waco, TX
I have wept with one sexually assaulted by Yoder, and her story often blocks me from reading him. Yet he deserves to be read; more to the point, Weaver's analysis of Yoderian theology begs to be read. This book forthrightly addresses Yoder's abhorrent actions, freeing me to not only engage but ultimately embrace Weaver's compelling case for a Yoderian theology persistently rooted in the Jesus of the New Testament.
– Megan M. Ramer, pastor, Chicago Community Mennonite Church, Chicago, IL
This engaging treatment illumines Yoder's key role in twentieth-century social ethics, while demonstrating that he should remain pivotal for the pressing questions of the twenty-first, from Christology, to war, to the public role of the church and interreligious dialogue. Two chapters on Yoder's sorry history of sexual harassment are models for confronting the sins of the church and its members, while remaining respectful of and faithful to the gospel witness that even sinners can provide. This work will be essential for scholars and students of Christian social ethics.
– Lisa Sowle Cahill, J. Donald Monan Professor, Theology Department, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA
Zurück zur Buchliste Kategotie: Buch, Bücher, Theologie, Mennoniten, täuferisch.


text:
Have you ever been to a live poultry market?
By Krystal D'Costa on March 13, 2012
Au. Note: This post is about live poultry markets, and includes descriptions and images that may be upsetting for some readers. Readers are advised to proceed at their own discretion.
The smell greets you well before you step in the door to the tiny storefront selling chickens, turkeys, ducks, and supposedly, rabbits. It's bearable, you might tell yourself, as you peer a bit anxiously into the dark, feather-strewn interior from which a cacophony of squawks occasionally erupts. Trying not to breathe too deeply, you step inside and join the queue, which moves with the briskness of a well-tuned assembly line. You're going to purchase live poultry—well, it might not be live when you leave with it, but it won't be the frozen variety from your supermarket.
New York City is home to about 80 live poultry markets, which cater to the robust immigrant community for whom live poultry is a tradition rooted in a necessity: in places where people raise their own livestock, refrigerated goods can be difficult to obtain and a needless expense. Live poultry markets have been criticized for the treatment of the animals, however, which are often packed into crates and cages for extended periods and are allegedly left without food or water or clean accommodations. And in China, at least, they have been identified as a possible source of H5N1 infections. Despite these concerns, business appeared to be fairly steady at the small shop on Rockaway Boulevard in Queens, NY, as a stream of customers filtered in and out—some albeit more squeamishly than others.
Once inside, I huddled a little anxiously next to S, trying not to think about what might be in the trickle of greenish-brown liquid flowing into the drain in the center of the floor, and trying not to get too close to the racks of cages serving as temporary housing for medium-sized white ducks, large gray speckled ducks, turkeys, roosters, white hens, and brown hens. The live poultry market we visited was small by comparison to some of the other larger establishments in the neighborhood, where you can get goats and sometimes cows and pigs and other animals. We took note of the ordering process, while we inched to the front where a man stood in a very dirty apron, heavy black boots, and gloves. "What ya havin'?" he would ask, his Trinidadian accent running the words together. And then, "What size?" (Large, medium, or small.) He would stride over to the appropriate holding cage, reach in fearlessly, and grab a protesting bird, string it up by its feet to a scale in the center of the room and note its weight, ask a few more questions, and then toss the bird down a chute leading to a back room where it would be slaughtered, plucked, roasted, cut, and bagged while the customer waited.
When I was growing up, my Trinidadian parents regularly obtained their poultry from markets like this one, but they had never taken me along. They swore that the chicken was fresher, tasted better, and that you got more for your money when compared with the supermarket variety. They also were more confident that they knew what they were getting—after all, they picked out the bird. S and I were there to pick up a chicken in honor of a long overdue visit from my mother. Standing in line, however, I wasn't so sure about the purchase. My senses were assaulted with smells and sounds that were new and shocking to me. Like many Americans, I might have subconsciously known them to be a part of livestock slaughtering process, but wouldn't otherwise have had to face them. I inched closer to S, increasingly glad I had left my coat in the car and worn my beat-up fishing sneakers as the line drew us closer to that greenish-brown fluid on the floor.
The door to the processing area swung open, and the frame of another man filled the doorway. He lumbered over to the cages and peered in. "Stand aside, Miss," he said to me, as he pulled a tray out from under the cage filled with feces and feathers. The confines of the small shop quickly filled with swirling feathers and I had just enough time to desperately wish I had thought to tie my hair up in addition to wearing those old sneakers. When he pulled a second tray out, the dust and feathers proved to be too much. I squeezed S's arm and backed up hastily to the exit. An older West Indian woman glanced at me curiously, and then watched with some amusement as I took a deep breath of air and shook myself sending a flurry of dust particles into the bright sunlight. I turned just in time to see S talking to the man in charge of weighing the birds. In a matter of seconds, a white hen was weighed and disappeared down the chute-of-no-return.
S joined me outside. "I got us a medium-sized bird," he said showing me his ticket and shrugging. This was new to him too. "Is that okay?" "I think so," I said as he picked a few feathers out of my hair. "You are covered in stuff," he said wrinkling his nose. "Come on, let's go grab the rest of the ingredients we need. And you need to shake yourself off before you get in the car later." We crossed the street to a supermarket where we soon found ourselves in the freezer section facing somewhat sparse shelves of pre-packaged drumsticks, thighs, and wings. The packages looked old and the meat they contained was oddly discolored in some places. I suppose in a neighborhood where so much poultry is sold from a live market, the frozen options aren't necessarily going to fly off of the shelves.
S and I crossed the street back to the market where we joined the small queue waiting at the door to the slaughter room. The cages looked substantially emptier and the market had a sense of a lull about it. The weighing man was gone from his post. In fact, the only person around was the cashier. Though the floor had been washed and the brownish-green liquid was gone, a bird had relieved itself in transit to the weighing post leaving splotches of feces in its wake. No one had gotten around to cleaning that up yet and customers stepped around it without looking down. The room was humid and small feathers stuck to the cages. S paid for our medium-sized bird and joined the few people waiting near the door to the back room, which would occasionally open and a worker would appear with a small plastic bag and call out a number. "What number?" he asked S on his third pass. S showed him the ticket and he disappeared to return with our bag. Still warm, we put it in the car and headed home. And I made a childhood dish, just as my mom had made it for me, for her.
Critics of these small markets are loud and focused, calling for customers to adopt a plant-based diet and decrying the treatment of the animals. Primary concerns of activist groups, such as United Poultry Concerns, are that the birds are kept in cramped dirty transport cages without access to fresh food and clean water, are handled roughly by workers, that the slaughter process is unnecessarily cruel and painful, and that live birds are sometimes sold to individuals who are beyond regulations. The latter issue may actually be exempt [pdf] from federal review, but at the live market level, federal and state jurisdiction seems a bit murky. Though a 2005 notice from the Food and Safety Inspection Service in the Federal Register [pdf] reminded poultry slaughterhouses that they are required to treat the birds as humanely as possible:
The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is reminding all poultry slaughter establishments that, under the Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) and Agency regulations, live poultry must be handled in a manner that is consistent with good commercial practices, which means they should be treated humanely. Although there is no specific federal humane handling and slaughter statute for poultry, under the PPIA, poultry products are more likely to be adulterated if, among other circumstances, they are produced from birds that have not been treated humanely, because such birds are more likely to be bruised or to die other than by slaughter.
It appears, however, that steps have been taken to ensure consistent slaughter practices, and from what I witnessed, some of the suggestions [pdf] proposed by activists have been adopted. For example, birds removed from cages were held by their feet, which was a request meant to minimize the damage to the bird.
These markets tend to thrive in urban areas with large immigrant populations, who bring this familiarity with livestock with them as they reconstruct essences of home. (For more on this, you might enjoy these two posts on the neighborhood of Jackson Heights.) They often face NIMBY arguments from local residents who aren't at all thrilled about having these small-scale slaughterhouses down the street. And there's no arguing that the smell can be difficult to escape. However, perhaps as local food movements gain more support, these establishments will gain a firmer foothold in the food supply landscape—birds sold in New York City, for example, come from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New England as opposed to Maryland (Perdue), Arkansas (Tyson), or Colorado (Pilgrim's Pride).
Live markets can reintroduce customers to the process of procuring meat, which—surprisingly—does not magically appear on grocery shelves. Meat sold in supermarkets is anonymous and impersonal. At a live market, even if you aren't specifically choosing which animal you're taking home—and you certainly can do just that: we watched one woman specifically instruct the weighing man which bird she wanted ("No, not that one. The one over there, to the side. Ayup. That's the thing, right there.")—you're making a conscious decision about what you're purchasing and you're intimately involved in the animal's demise. You, after all, have selected it for dinner. And it will feed your family, perhaps over several meals. None of that is supposed to dissuade you from consuming meat, but perhaps it makes you more aware of the foods you are choosing.
Comments have been disabled on Anthropology in Practice, but you can always join the community on Facebook.
Krystal D'Costa
Krystal D'Costa is an anthropologist working in digital media in New York City. You can follow AiP on Facebook.
The Rise of Pumpkin Spice
How Do Leaders Impact Our Definition of Responsibility?
It's True: We're Probably All a Little Irish--Especially in the Caribbean
A More Social Explanation of "Cold Hands, Warm Heart"
By Krystal D'Costa on March 9, 2012
Editor s Selections: Grave Goods, Mother-Fetus Burials, Taste, Ornaments, Hallucinations, And Fig Cakes


text:
TGTPATH='./nodejs/streamsapp'

function copyFile {
  SRC="$1"
  TGT="$2"
  echo "Copying ${SRC} --> ${TGT}"
  cp ${SRC} ${TGT}
}

echo "Copying the built sab files to ${TGTPATH}, so the Node app can deploy them"
find ./com.ibm.streamsx.* -name '*.sab' | while read file;
do
  copyFile ${file} ${TGTPATH};
done
chmod 644 ${TGTPATH}/*

echo "Reminder that you may also need to update the IOT toolkit!"
echo "Download from: http://github.com/IBMStreams/streamsx.iot/releases"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


It's officially December and what better way to kick off the month than by stopping by the Grand Floridian to take a look at one of my favorite Holiday treats (pun intended), the gingerbread house!
The 16 foot tall gingerbread house is made up of 600 pounds of sugar, 800 pounds of flour, 1050 pounds of honey, 35 pounds of spices, 180 pounds of apricot glaze, 10,000 pieces of gingerbread, and 400 hours to create! While the house fit for Hansel and Gretel is amazing as a whole, the details found upon and around the house are just as impressive!
The 40 window panes found throughout the house feature various Disney characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, and even more obscure characters like stitch and Remy from Ratatouille! In addition, several hidden Mickey's can be found on the gingerbread, decorations, and upon parts of the 1,000 feet of trim scattered around the house!
While all of this seems very impressive, one of the most amazing features is that the house doubles a shop where guests can purchase pins, ornaments, and of course gingerbread! If you are ever visiting Walt Disney World during the holidays make sure you visit this treat made for the eyes, mouth, and nose! You won't be disappointed!


Mike Hardwick is founder and president of Churchill Mortgage, a mortgage-industry leader providing conventional, FHA, VA and USDA residential mortgages across 45 states.
Hardwick's autobiography, "Keep Chopping Wood: A Pastor's Son Who Had it All, Lost it All, and Then Regained True Wealth," offers advice on how to achieve both business and personal success while leading a more meaningful life in the service of others. Visit www.churchillmortgage.com or follow the company on Twitter @ChurchillMtg and Facebook at www.facebook.com/churchillmortgage. Reach Hardwick at mikeh@churchillmortgage.com.
There is no traditional or clear-cut path to success for those entering the mortgage industry. Whereas most employers look to recent college graduates or technically skilled workers to fill their ranks, individuals looking to work as mortgage originators typically have a wide variety of skills and backgrounds.
coach their own staff of mortgage professionals.
It's a frank truth that most branch or office managers started exactly where their newfound employees did: as a single mortgage originator looking to positively impact borrowers' lives. While this makes managers well-equipped to explain the nuances of the mortgage process, it does not necessarily make them natural leaders.


Short films are really a work of art. They convey so many messages in such a short amount of time. There are so many emotions and so many life lessons to be seen and learned from them. These actors are giving us the meaning of life in their short films which are unique and a must watch. Have a look at them below.
Alia shown in this amazing short film that shows not every guy is going to eve-tease girls who are walking alone in the streets. It focuses on the safety of girls and how we can get that milestone if all men in our country start behaving like those shown in the film who dropped Alia security at home.
Ahalya is a meaningful, dark and mystery short film that is based on the life of a policeman who contacts Radhika Apte's spouse in the search of a lost man named Arjun. See this short film with leisure on a weekend and see what happens next with the policeman.
This film shows Sunny Leone and other famous stars like Alok Nath along with Deepak Dobriyal. It focuses on the issue of smoking and its disadvantages.
This short film features a realistic discussion amongst a couple from their dating past to being siblings until their taste in the music. The uniqueness and clarity that is required in any relationship have been focused in this film.


text:
package org.apache.hc.client5.http.impl.win;

import java.security.Principal;

import org.apache.commons.codec.binary.Base64;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.RouteInfo;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.AuthChallenge;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.AuthScheme;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.AuthSchemes;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.AuthenticationException;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.BasicUserPrincipal;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.ChallengeType;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.CredentialsProvider;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.auth.MalformedChallengeException;
import org.apache.hc.client5.http.protocol.HttpClientContext;
import org.apache.hc.core5.annotation.Experimental;
import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpHost;
import org.apache.hc.core5.http.HttpRequest;
import org.apache.hc.core5.http.protocol.HttpContext;
import org.apache.hc.core5.net.URIAuthority;
import org.apache.hc.core5.util.Args;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;

import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Secur32;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Secur32Util;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Sspi;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Sspi.CredHandle;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Sspi.CtxtHandle;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Sspi.SecBufferDesc;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Sspi.TimeStamp;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.Win32Exception;
import com.sun.jna.platform.win32.WinError;
import com.sun.jna.ptr.IntByReference;

/**
 * Auth scheme that makes use of JNA to implement Negotiate and NTLM on Windows Platforms.
 * <p>
 * This will delegate negotiation to the windows machine.
 * </p>
 *
 * @since 4.4
 */
@Experimental
public class WindowsNegotiateScheme implements AuthScheme {

    private final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(getClass());

    // NTLM or Negotiate
    private final String scheme;
    private final String servicePrincipalName;

    private ChallengeType challengeType;
    private String challenge;
    private CredHandle clientCred;
    private CtxtHandle sspiContext;
    private boolean continueNeeded;

    WindowsNegotiateScheme(final String scheme, final String servicePrincipalName) {
        super();

        this.scheme = (scheme == null) ? AuthSchemes.SPNEGO.ident : scheme;
        this.continueNeeded = true;
        this.servicePrincipalName = servicePrincipalName;

        if (this.log.isDebugEnabled()) {
            this.log.debug("Created WindowsNegotiateScheme using " + this.scheme);
        }
    }

    public void dispose() {
        if (clientCred != null && !clientCred.isNull()) {
            final int rc = Secur32.INSTANCE.FreeCredentialsHandle(clientCred);
            if (WinError.SEC_E_OK != rc) {
                throw new Win32Exception(rc);
            }
        }
        if (sspiContext != null && !sspiContext.isNull()) {
            final int rc = Secur32.INSTANCE.DeleteSecurityContext(sspiContext);
            if (WinError.SEC_E_OK != rc) {
                throw new Win32Exception(rc);
            }
        }
        continueNeeded = true; // waiting
        clientCred = null;
        sspiContext = null;
    }

    @Override
    public String getName() {
        return scheme;
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isConnectionBased() {
        return true;
    }

    @Override
    public String getRealm() {
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public void processChallenge(
            final AuthChallenge authChallenge,
            final HttpContext context) throws MalformedChallengeException {
        Args.notNull(authChallenge, "AuthChallenge");
        if (authChallenge.getValue() == null) {
            throw new MalformedChallengeException("Missing auth challenge");
        }
        challengeType = authChallenge.getChallengeType();
        challenge = authChallenge.getValue();
        if (challenge.isEmpty()) {
            if (clientCred != null) {
                dispose(); // run cleanup first before throwing an exception otherwise can leak OS resources
                if (continueNeeded) {
                    throw new IllegalStateException("Unexpected token");
                }
            }
        }
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isResponseReady(
            final HttpHost host,
            final CredentialsProvider credentialsProvider,
            final HttpContext context) throws AuthenticationException {
        return true;
    }

    /**
     * Get the SAM-compatible username of the currently logged-on user.
     *
     * @return String.
     */
    public static String getCurrentUsername() {
        return Secur32Util.getUserNameEx(Secur32.EXTENDED_NAME_FORMAT.NameSamCompatible);
    }

    @Override
    public Principal getPrincipal() {
        return new BasicUserPrincipal(getCurrentUsername());
    }

    @Override
    public String generateAuthResponse(
            final HttpHost host,
            final HttpRequest request,
            final HttpContext context) throws AuthenticationException {

        final HttpClientContext clientContext = HttpClientContext.adapt(context);
        final String response;
        if (clientCred == null) {
            // client credentials handle
            try {
                final String username = getCurrentUsername();
                final TimeStamp lifetime = new TimeStamp();

                clientCred = new CredHandle();
                final int rc = Secur32.INSTANCE.AcquireCredentialsHandle(username,
                        scheme, Sspi.SECPKG_CRED_OUTBOUND, null, null, null, null,
                        clientCred, lifetime);

                if (WinError.SEC_E_OK != rc) {
                    throw new Win32Exception(rc);
                }

                final String targetName = getServicePrincipalName(request, clientContext);
                response = getToken(null, null, targetName);
            } catch (final RuntimeException ex) {
                failAuthCleanup();
                if (ex instanceof Win32Exception) {
                    throw new AuthenticationException("Authentication Failed", ex);
                }
                throw ex;
            }
        } else if (challenge == null || challenge.isEmpty()) {
            failAuthCleanup();
            throw new AuthenticationException("Authentication Failed");
        } else {
            try {
                final byte[] continueTokenBytes = Base64.decodeBase64(challenge);
                final SecBufferDesc continueTokenBuffer = new SecBufferDesc(
                        Sspi.SECBUFFER_TOKEN, continueTokenBytes);
                final String targetName = getServicePrincipalName(request, clientContext);
                response = getToken(this.sspiContext, continueTokenBuffer, targetName);
            } catch (final RuntimeException ex) {
                failAuthCleanup();
                if (ex instanceof Win32Exception) {
                    throw new AuthenticationException("Authentication Failed", ex);
                }
                throw ex;
            }
        }
        return scheme + " " + response;
    }

    private void failAuthCleanup() {
        dispose();
        this.continueNeeded = false;
    }

    // Per RFC4559, the Service Principal Name should HTTP/<hostname>. However, <hostname>
    // can just be the host or the fully qualified name (e.g., see "Kerberos SPN generation"
    // at http://www.chromium.org/developers/design-documents/http-authentication). Here,
    // I've chosen to use the host that has been provided in HttpHost so that I don't incur
    // any additional DNS lookup cost.
    private String getServicePrincipalName(final HttpRequest request, final HttpClientContext clientContext) {
        String spn = null;
        if (this.servicePrincipalName != null) {
            spn = this.servicePrincipalName;
        } else if (challengeType == ChallengeType.PROXY) {
            final RouteInfo route = clientContext.getHttpRoute();
            if (route != null) {
                spn = "HTTP/" + route.getProxyHost().getHostName();
            } else {
                // Should not happen
                spn = null;
            }
        } else {
            final URIAuthority authority = request.getAuthority();
            if (authority != null) {
                spn = "HTTP/" + authority.getHostName();
            } else {
                final RouteInfo route = clientContext.getHttpRoute();
                if (route != null) {
                    spn = "HTTP/" + route.getTargetHost().getHostName();
                } else {
                    // Should not happen
                    spn = null;
                }
            }
        }
        if (this.log.isDebugEnabled()) {
            this.log.debug("Using SPN: " + spn);
        }
        return spn;
    }

    // See http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa375506(v=vs.85).aspx
    String getToken(
            final CtxtHandle continueCtx,
            final SecBufferDesc continueToken,
            final String targetName) {
        final IntByReference attr = new IntByReference();
        final SecBufferDesc token = new SecBufferDesc(
                Sspi.SECBUFFER_TOKEN, Sspi.MAX_TOKEN_SIZE);

        sspiContext = new CtxtHandle();
        final int rc = Secur32.INSTANCE.InitializeSecurityContext(clientCred,
                continueCtx, targetName, Sspi.ISC_REQ_DELEGATE | Sspi.ISC_REQ_MUTUAL_AUTH, 0,
                Sspi.SECURITY_NATIVE_DREP, continueToken, 0, sspiContext, token,
                attr, null);
        switch (rc) {
            case WinError.SEC_I_CONTINUE_NEEDED:
                continueNeeded = true;
                break;
            case WinError.SEC_E_OK:
                dispose(); // Don't keep the context
                continueNeeded = false;
                break;
            default:
                dispose();
                throw new Win32Exception(rc);
        }
        return Base64.encodeBase64String(token.getBytes());
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isChallengeComplete() {
        return !continueNeeded;
    }

}


Lately we have been seeing lots and lots of kids in the office, and many of these children have significant levels of anxiety. This concerns me greatly, because our children truly are our future. Without healthy children, it is impossible to have a healthy society. As a product of the world we live in today, children now are exposed to more stress than ever before.
A recent Psychology Today article stated that the average high-school student now has stress levels similar to that of an adult institutionalized psychiatric patient in the 1950's and 1960's.
I can only imagine the struggle that many parents go through, in trying to help their children who are exposed to such high levels of stress. In the traditional model, these children are often given a cocktail of powerful medications. This worries me greatly, because the brain continues to myelinate (a crucial part of brain development) heavily until about the age of 26. We simply do not know what future effects will occur as a result of giving these powerful medications to the developing brain.
Here is a direct excerpt from Scientific American.
The overwhelming consensus that I hear when I talk to parents is that they simply do not know what to do to help their children. As a chiropractor, my primary job is to assist the innate wisdom of the human body by correcting misaligned vertebrae that are obstructing the proper flow of communication in the body.
When you do have vertebrae that are misaligned, the body is put into a state of stress and increased anxiety. The care we give to these children is specific, scientific, and extremely gentle. Children are given specific corrections with very light pressure. The goal of the care is not to relieve individual symptoms, but to assist the inner wisdom of the body, and restore the entire person to a greater state of ease.
If you have children, I highly encourage you to have them checked.
Lauren Chapman (Salisbury, MA)	Do you have any of these 5 spinal warning signs?


text:
E Squadron, formerly the Increment, is a British military unit tasked with conducting covert operations, paramilitary operations and others at the behest of the Director Special Forces and Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service. Its members are selected from the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF), Defence Intelligence and are trained and tasked with carrying out operations in close contact with the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6.

Its name was publicly mentioned in an email sent out by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence in 2021.

This article is a review of both SIS Paramilitary Operations and E Squadron, the unit drawn primarily from UKSF.

Operations alongside the CIA

E Squadron has been known to operate alongside and in conjunction with the U.S.' Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA's) Directorate of Operations' (DO) Special Activities Center's Special Operations Group's (SAC/SOG) Ground Branch.

History (including the Increment)

The Increment, the predecessor of E Squadron, can trace its roots back, in function and role, to the Special Operations Executive (SOE) of MI6 formed during WW2.

From Richard Tomlinson's book, The Big Breach, detailing the accounts of his experience as an SIS Intelligence Officer, the basic facts about the composition of the Increment and its relation to SIS are noted:

The army provides a detachment from the SAS regiment, called Revolutionary Warfare Wing in Hereford, and the navy provides a small detachment from their Special Boat Service in Poole. Both have similar roles as far as MI6 is concerned and are known collectively within the service as the `increment'. To qualify for the increment, SAS and SBS personnel must have served for at least five years and have reached the rank of sergeant. They are security vetted by MI6 and given a short induction course into the function and objectives of the service. If they have not already learnt surveillance skills, they take a three- week course at the Fort. Back at their bases in Hereford and Poole, their already substantial military skills are fine-tuned. They learn how to use improvised explosives and sabotage techniques, as well as advanced VIP protection skills, study guerilla warfare organisation and practise advanced insertion techniques - for example high-altitude parachuting from commercial aircraft or covert landings from submarines. Advanced civilian qualifications are acquired: several of the SBS Increment have commercial ship's skipper's tickets in their alias name, enabling them legally to hire, say, a fishing trawler.

On the IONEC, a week of the course is dedicated to familiarisation with the increment and the S&D flight and `military week' was eagerly anticipated by most of us.

IONEC is an acronym for the "Intelligence Officers New Entry Course", the programme in which Intelligence Officer recruits/trainees at SIS enroll. Some of the training, specifically the firearms training, takes place at Fort Monckton.

From the personal blog of former British Army 22 SAS Soldier Colin Armstrong best known by his pseudonym Chris Ryan:

I've been asked if the Increment is real, and if the kind of deniable 'black' ops I depict in my novel of that title really happen. The Increment most definitely exists. It's a small group of badged guys who are part of E Squadron. They are specially selected for their skill, which is amazing even by SAS standards. They have to undergo incredibly stringent background security checks because they are entrusted with the most sensitive operations within the entire military. To be a member of the Increment is to be the best of the best.

Selection, Training and Operations
Increment members were drawn, as previously stated, primarily from the Revolutionary Warfare Wing (RWW) of 22 SAS and from the equivalent wing of the SBS or the SBS itself. They were deployed for assassinations, sabotage or dangerous/high-risk operations such as the arresting of war criminals in the Balkans.

Living persons closely affiliated with E Squadron or its predecessor, the Increment

Matthew Howard Dunn is a former SIS Intelligence Officer, who worked with the Increment during his active time in the service.  He, being an Intelligence Officer, was in the SIS's (MI6's) Directorate of Requirements and Production, SIS's operational directorate,   analogous to the CIA's Directorate of Operations (DO).

"Officers operating in particularly hazardous areas were those who had excelled in the paramilitary side of training. I worked with the Increment, the SAS unit attached to SIS.

They provided back-up for anything that might be extremely dangerous. I was trained in close quarter and unarmed combat. I was good at it, I enjoyed it. Yes, there is an element of James Bond. There were no watches that could burn holes through walls but you might have a letter with explosives in it that could blow off a door."

It has been stated in his bio  that:

...typically he operated in highly hostile environments where, if compromised and captured, he would have been executed.

Matthew was trained in all aspects of intelligence collection and direct action, including agent running and debriefing, deep-cover deployments, small-arms, explosives, military unarmed combat, surveillance, anti-surveillance, counter-surveillance, advanced driving, infiltration and exfiltration techniques, and covert communications. His skills were widely deployed by him in the field. Matthew typically worked alone but he also had significant experience of working with highly-specialised units of the British SAS and SBS...

SIS Paramilitary Operations

Although SIS has routinely and consistently denied arming its officers, carrying out paramilitary operations and special operations, it has been well-known to do so, not least due to the accounts of former SIS employees, including operations/case officers, especially those working with paramilitary units of the British Government.

One myth is the false notion of needing a 'licence to kill'. An intelligence officer is nominally conducting espionage, which is illegal, so the concept of needing a licence to kill is irrelevant.

See Also

 CIA Special Activities Center's Special Operations Group
 Covert Operations

References

 Special forces of the United Kingdom

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Monitor Audio Studio
Home/Featured/Monitor Audio Studio Review – High-end in compact, elegant design
FeaturedReviewsSpeaker
Monitor Audio Studio Review – High-end in compact, elegant design
Michael Holzinger Follow on Twitter Send an email 28 January 2020Last Updated: 5 December 2020
If you want to address customers who not only expect the finest in sound, but also value exclusive, simple design, then Monitor Audio Studio could be the answer. Elegance paired with sovereign appearance despite the most compact design are united here, as our extensive test proves.
It would hardly be necessary to mention it, because it should have been common knowledge long ago that hi-fi must be understood as part of a modern lifestyle. After all, hi-fi is a variety of everyday luxury that people want to afford. It is therefore crucial that hi-fi can be seamlessly integrated into the customer's environment, that it is perceived as an enrichment in every respect.
Loudspeakers are by nature the crowning glory of a hi-fi chain. There is no getting around them. Regardless of which electronics are used at the beginning, the quality of the entire chain ultimately depends on the quality of the speakers at the end. It is therefore absolutely essential that loudspeaker systems in a living room are not perceived as disturbing but as an integral part, that they can be harmoniously integrated into the room and thus match the interior. Only in this way will customers ultimately accept hi-fi in their environment.
For a loudspeaker manufacturer, this is of course an immensely complex matter, because when designing his solutions, he must not only ensure that they are flawless from a purely technical point of view, that they meet his specific idea of sound characteristics, but also pay attention to design trends and fashionable currents and incorporate these promptly into the product range. Even for loudspeaker specialists who are about as broadly based as the English company Monitor Audio Ltd. this is no easy task. However, a product range that is as broad as possible offers the chance to reach as many customers as possible with different concepts.
Not only does Monitor Audio Ltd. cover all relevant areas of loudspeaker development, from classic stereo to home cinema and custom installation, but the respective product groups also offer a wide variety of series that naturally follow a basic, largely uniform philosophy, but are also very versatile in terms of design. From rather classical approaches to very modern, innovative solutions, a lot is represented here.
First and foremost, a speaker system stands out, because while Monitor Audio Ltd. is very careful to develop product series that are already broadly based in themselves in order to be best equipped for the most diverse tasks, this speaker system is, at least so far, a loner, namely the Monitor Audio Studio.
Alone on a wide corridor…
In fact, Monitor Audio Ltd. has a unique design concept with Monitor Audio Studio, so this speaker system is not part of a product line. Clearly, this speaker is a solution aimed at modern, design-oriented music lovers who are looking for a solution that is compact and focused on the essentials. It was thus designed primarily for users who rely on innovative, flexible electronics that offer modern hi-fi solutions from a wide range of manufacturers, even in the premium segment, and which can be integrated into any modern living environment simply by virtue of their design.
Monitor Audio Ltd. clearly describes the Monitor Audio Studio as a premium-class solution, and identifies this loudspeaker as a system that is designed to provide unrestricted sound reproduction in a compact form, while at the same time offering a detailed and powerful reproduction. How does Monitor Audio Ltd. intend to achieve this, and how did it succeed? Questions that we will get to the bottom of in this test…
Clear lines, very subtle in appearance…
Even at first glance, it is clear that the designers were guided by modern industrial design, slim form, clear lines, free of any dazzle and embellishment, and even in the choice of colouring, they were very careful not to use any kind of veneer. Only Satin Grey, Satin White and Satin Black are available as options. And while it's normally almost obligatory for us to write that a loudspeaker grill is included, we have to point out here that no loudspeaker grill is provided at all. The Monitor Audio Studio should show its full splendour, and this includes the special arrangement of the chassis at the front, as well as the very specially designed baffle. But more about that in a moment.
It is striking that the Monitor Audio Studio is a very slim speaker, it measures no more than 156 mm in width, and the height is also very compact at 340 mm. In order to still achieve a reasonable volume, the depth of 361 mm is relatively generous. It's also remarkable, even if we're already talking about the technical key data, that the Monitor Audio Studio weighs 7.58 kg with these extremely compact dimensions. The reason for this can be found in the elaborate construction…
Sophisticated housing construction
As is well known, a solid construction of the cabinet of a loudspeaker system is virtually indispensable for accurate reproduction. Especially in the compact segment, this requires a clever approach instead of a sheer "battle of materials". The developers at Monitor Audio Ltd. have used a simple but clever "trick", which is only revealed to the user by a tiny detail on the back of the speakers.
The Monitor Audio Studio is completely symmetrical, as can be seen from the chassis on the front, and this is further emphasized by a look at the rear. This is of course also continued inside.
The cabinet of the Monitor Audio Studio is, how could it be otherwise, made of MDF, whereby a comparatively low wall thickness of 15 mm was used to achieve sufficient volume with such compact dimensions. It goes without saying that high manufacturing quality with the smallest tolerances allows for a flawless cabinet, whereby the inside is appropriately damped. Solid bracing of the sides is achieved by the construction of an inner chamber, which also accommodates the crossover, and is directly connected to the rear connection panel, thus centrally located. The symmetry already mentioned several times is also maintained in the rear bass reflex system of the Monitor Audio Studio, because the inner chamber divides the airflow of the two mid-bass drivers into a slot on the top and another slot on the bottom. To put it in a nutshell, the bass reflex system uses elongated outlet openings at the top and bottom. The manufacturer refers to these as Monitor Audio HiVe II reflex ports with slots.
And then there's that detail we were talking about, two massive screws, one above and one below the rear connection panel. Hidden behind them are metal rods that go all the way through the interior to the drivers on the front, even screwed tightly to them. The drivers, in turn, are not directly embedded in the MDF baffle, but are located on a separate aluminium panel. This aluminium plate has been precisely recessed into the baffle, whereby the screws mentioned above are screwed from the rear to the front, thus eliminating the need for screws that would impair the perfect appearance. A rather simple concept, but exactly for this reason very ingenious, which gives the whole construction enormous stability. This is what well thought-out solutions look like.
Classic D'Appolito arrangement around AMT tweeter drivers…
Monitor Audio Ltd. advertises that the Monitor Audio Studio uses technology from the outstanding Monitor Audio Platinum II Series, with particular reference to the two low-mid drivers that make up this compact model, which are based on a so-called D'Appolito arrangement. Have we already said that symmetry plays an important role here?
D'Appolito arrangement means nothing else than that the two 4 inch drivers are arranged above and below the tweeter. This increases the effect of the drivers by their arrangement alone, while at the same time, in combination with the tweeter, a very directional radiation is achieved, which in turn minimises the influence of the room.
The low/midrange drivers are modified drivers from the Monitor Audio Platinum PL500 II, they are called Monitor Audio RDT II drivers and use the so-called Monitor Audio C-CAM technology and polymer cast chassis. The heart of the system is a diaphragm in sandwich construction, whereby a carbon fibre fabric forms the basis, on which a layer of so-called Nomex with a special honeycomb structure is applied, and a wafer-thin aluminium layer as a final layer. This results in a very rigid, yet very light construction, which should be able to reproduce every detail accurately and with the appropriate dynamics.
An extremely detailed reproduction is also promised for the AMT tweeter, which the manufacturer calls MPD, i.e. Micro Pleated Diaphragm High Frequency Converter. Here, too, a very low weight of the diaphragm is said to provide incredible clarity, whereby the description of its function is based on an extremely fast accordion, in which the folds are compressed at top speed, so that smooth, extensive and naturally fast reproduction is possible even up to the ultrasonic range. According to the manufacturer, this means a natural sound without sharpness and distortion.
Also for the crossover, the manufacturer relies solely on excellent components, such as polypropylene film capacitors. Even the connection panel has been designed with every detail in mind in order to eliminate any sound-damaging influences. Therefore, rhodium-plated connections are used to guarantee the lowest resistance and reliable "contact" for many years.
The new Monitor Audio Studio should be able to reproduce a frequency range between 48 Hz and 60 kHz, with the crossover working at 2.7 kHz. The impedance for the new Monitor Audio Studio is specified as 4 ohms and the recommended amplifier power as 100 watts, with 40 to 100 watt amplifiers being recommended. According to the manufacturer, the sensitivity is 86 dB and the maximum sound pressure is 110 dBA.
So much for technology…
As essential as the technology may be, numbers alone do not say much, but practice is much more important, and for this we had a fine chain of products at our disposal around Monitor Audio Studio. We used a solution from the Arcam HDA range, the Arcam SA20 Integrated Amplifier, which boasts outstanding Class G technology, as well as an Arcam CDS50 SACD/ CD player, which served as our primary source with its integrated streaming functionality. When it came to cables, we relied on solutions from Wireworld, whether it was the choice of signal cables, speaker cables or power cables.
First of all, we placed the Monitor Audio Studio where it is probably often actually used, namely on a sideboard. This is also the position that the manufacturer himself likes to use product photos to illustrate the flexible integration into the living environment.
Let me say one thing about this: just put it up, and well, that's not how it works. And this has nothing to do with the Monitor Audio Studio alone, but concerns all so-called shelf speaker systems. Of course, it is tempting to simply place the speakers on such a piece of furniture, after all, such compact systems are chosen to save space. Without the right "base", however, you are giving away an enormous amount of quality. A good decoupling is therefore a must.
For such tests, we are therefore happy to use solutions such as IsoAcoustics Aperta Series or in-akustik Excellence Gel Absorber, to name just two examples of the countless solutions available for this problem. This is the only way a compact speaker on a lowboard or sideboard can actually unfold its full potential without transferring energy into the furniture.
After just a few bars of music it was clear that the Monitor Audio Studio's comparatively highly directional radiation described above can be a great advantage, especially when the room is not perfect, as is often the case in a normal living room. With a little patience, the Monitor Audio Studio was eventually set up in an optimal position for a comparatively direct radiation towards the listening position, and thus a reproduction was achieved that is hardly affected by any disturbing factors in the room. This applies, for example, to rather sparsely furnished living rooms that have been propagated as chic for years, floors with tiles, rooms with large glass surfaces through windows or doors, in short, anything that can be considered problematic from the point of view of room acoustics.
So that this is not misunderstood, of course the radiation of the Monitor Audio Studio is not so strongly directed that it only has a very small sweet spot, and as soon as you move your head a little, you are already outside. In fact, it is possible to cover a sufficiently large area with the finest sound to enjoy music while sitting comfortably on the couch, not only alone, but also in pairs…
In the course of our test, we naturally placed the speaker on a stand, the stand that Monitor Audio Ltd. offers as the optimal solution for the Monitor Audio Studio. Once again, based on this experience, we have to conclude that even a bookshelf speaker ultimately needs a stand to be able to really reach the full potential of the speaker system. Despite perfect decoupling, the placement on a conventional furniture is always a compromise, the placement on a stand is always the optimal solution.
The fact that Monitor Audio Studio has done it for us was probably already apparent from what we wrote so far, after all, we were repeatedly leading the way in terms of fine sound. But what does this mean in concrete terms?
First of all, the Monitor Audio Studio presents itself as remarkably "grown-up", in a typical living room of 15 to 25 m2 it plays with great ease, nothing that would allow conclusions to be drawn about its extremely compact dimensions. The basses are punchy, crisp and to the point, voices and instruments have contour and body, and are reproduced with astonishing detail. The reproduction of the sound stage in width and depth is also extremely impressive, not least in view of the compact design.
One thing was once again clearly audible during this test, compact speakers do not mean that one should save on electronics, it is certainly a solution that is powerful enough to have everything under control. This applies all the more to the Monitor Audio Studio, as it has a sensitivity of 86 dB, which is quite usual in this class, but in the end is low, so it is grateful to have a powerful gaming partner and rewards this with appropriate pressure. A task that the Arcam SA20 Integrated Amplifier took on with flying colours.
In conclusion, the following can be said in summary…
The Monitor Audio Studio initially attracts with an extremely elegant appearance, it facilitates integration into the living room through very compact dimensions, but also through a radiation characteristic in which any acoustic inadequacies in the room are not so important. A sophisticated design and technologies borrowed from speakers located above the Monitor Audio Studio deliver a flawless sound in the most elegant, compact form.
The new Monitor Audio Studio is the result of the company's efforts to create a loudspeaker system that is both elegant and compact, yet powerful and of a high quality to appeal to a wide range of users, even those who do not want to compromise on performance. Our extensive testing shows that Monitor Audio Ltd. meets this objective with flying colours.
Manufacturer: Monitor Audio Ltd.
Distribution: R.M.S. State of the Art Audiovisual Products
Price: Monitor Audio Studio € 1.300,-
Monitor Audio Studio Ständer € 500,-
The Good – Extremely elegant and simple design
– highly compact
– fits into every modern living space without any problems
– comparatively uncritical of acoustic inadequacies in the room
– confident appearance
The Bad – Requires somewhat more powerful electronics than game partners
AMT Tweeter Bookshelf Speaker C-CAM Technology D´Appolito HiFi Monitor Audio Ltd. Pannes Vertriebs GmbH R.M.S. State of the Art Audiovisual Products Stereo Two-way-System
Piega ACE Wireless Series now with Apple AirPlay 2
KEF KC62 Uni-Core Force Cancelling Subwoofer now in Titanium Grey
M&K Sound X+ Series – THX Certified Reference Subwoofer


Having lived through the first day of my adult life in a furlough status and on the threshold of day 2, I can state that it is a very weird feeling to have a profession but not be able to go do the things that I am trained to do.
I like, I think the number is 800,000, of my fellow federal employees are idle. We know that what we do is important and that we contribute in a positive way to life in the US. I was a bit hurt that there were bills introduced to get the National Park Service back on the job before the rest of the federal workforce. I guess seeing the museums shuttered on the Washington Mall brought the reality of what was happening just a bit too close to Congress.
I went to a meeting of the Howard County Public School Academic Calendar Planning Committee last evening and found that three other of the committee members, like myself, are furloughed. We exchanged some pleasantries about the day, but were very quickly consumed with the business of the committee--but, it helped to know of others outside my own small work unit who are similarly affected by the nonsense occurring within the government.
I was somewhere yesterday and we were naming the states from which people commute to get to work. The states were Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Confusion.
I have a huge list of things to do today, so I guess I will practice being retired and do all kinds of things to keep myself busy while keeping an eye on the news to see if I can return to work tomorrow and if the insanity to the south will abate.