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Body-Positive Media
Face: One Square Foot of Skin, A Book Review
September 13, 2021 by Nicole Ayers
I've been excited to read this book since a friend popped into my DMs to tell me it existed. A book that takes a deep dive into how society perceives women's faces as they age? And explores the effects of those perceptions on women? This is exactly the kind of conversation I want to have.
Justine Bateman (yep, Mallory from Family Ties) wrote a collection of fictional vignettes about the ingrained (and also fictional) beliefs we carry that teach us aging faces are ugly, undesirable, and unworthy. What bullshit. Yet we shame, demean, and ignore women as they age as if the wisdom they've collected is worthless. And this happens simultaneously as many women finally break free of the bonds that have kept them small and quiet. Fuck you, patriarchy.
I'm so glad this book exists because of the conversations that the title alone can spark. That said, I didn't love this book. It was an okay reading experience. Many of the vignettes felt repetitive. I think this is purposeful. Our wrinkles and sagging skin and age spots are bludgeoned with the same marching-band beat throughout our lives, so to see so many women of different ages and life experiences hit with the same fat cudgel of shame makes sense. But it got tiresome to read, especially because there were very few moments of redemption. So many of the women in these short stories attempt to stave off the perceived threat and shame of aging with miracle creams and needles and surgeries.
I wanted these women to find ways to rise up like tsunamis and swamp the haters with their brilliance. And they didn't. Many of their stories open with them feeling fly and end with them being crushed by the awareness that others are critiquing them like the meanest judge on reality TV. And the worst part—many of the people doing the smack-talking were other women. True to life and also gross.
Just last week, a social media acquaintance shared an old Geritol ad that shamed women in their forties for looking so old. Her post invited women to show how great they look today by comparison. And whew, did people say some rude, rude stuff about the women in that long-ago ad. It was unsettling and icky. We cannot lift ourselves up by putting other women down.
Even though I didn't love the book, I think it's a worthwhile read. Pick it up and randomly read stories rather than trying to read it straight through. Let it inspire conversations with yourself and with others about aging and the ways our faces reflect our lived experiences and what you want that to actually mean.
Dear Voice,
June 10, 2021 by Nicole Ayers
Your worth can never be measured in a mirror.
Nicole C. Ayers
It's been a month since you stepped onto the Ignite Charlotte stage, and I think I'm finally ready to reflect on the experience.
The weeks leading up to the event were a predictable roller coaster of emotions as I moved through all the steps of the creative process. Because I cared so much about this talk, each stage was intense—the highs were high and the lows were low. I'm so glad I chronicled each part of the journey because I know it will be a shining beacon for our next adventures.
I want more than anything for you and me to have more adventures like Ignite Charlotte.
The day of the talk, Nerves made an appearance, of course. But I used every tool that I have to keep them in the back seat while I drove.
I pampered myself and did things, like painting my nails and getting my hair styled, that make me feel beautiful. I'm sure you're wondering why I spent time beautifying myself when my whole message is about not needing to look any certain way to be worthy of self-acceptance and love. I get it, and I promise I'm not being a hypocrite.
I chose to do things that make me feel beautiful and cared for because I wanted to radiate my shine. Having fancy hair and wearing makeup and nail polish all help me tap into my sparkle. As did my choice to wear glitter sneakers rather than high heels. Heels make me feel unsteady, so I didn't wear them. Choosing jewelry that made me smile felt as good as the playlist I blasted on my way to the venue.
Each of my choices was designed to help me FEEL radiant, not LOOK beautiful.
So what else did I do to prepare?
I prayed. I asked Divi (my nickname for the Divine) to use you to spread the message of body-loving liberation through the talk. I sang and danced on the car ride. I chatted with my fellow participants. As show time neared, I took myself to a quiet(ish) spot, plopped myself in the floor, closed my eyes, and breathed. I sweet-talked myself and soothed Nerves.
When it was finally our turn, Hand made a deliberate effort to hold the mic gently. I took one more grounding breath. And you rang out.
You were glorious and steady and strong. You said everything I wanted you to say, and you were magnificent. I am so proud of you, so proud of us.
You took every moment I've prepared for public speaking—starting with that speech in fifth grade about Mrs. Woods, the school cafeteria manager, and her chicken noodle soup that warmed hearts as much as bellies—and you announced to the world that you are ready for more.
I don't know yet what more looks like, but I'm dreaming wildly about the possibilities. I envision us speaking to small, intimate groups of women and standing on brightly lit stages in packed auditoriums. And podcasts and IGTV interviews and opportunities that I've yet to even dream up.
We are going to change the world, one talk at a time.
More Than a Body Book Review
May 14, 2021 by Nicole Ayers
"Positive body image isn't believing your body looks good; it is knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks."
Book Description: Our beauty-obsessed world perpetuates the idea that happiness, health, and ability to be loved are dependent on how we look, but authors Lindsay and Lexie Kite offer an alternative vision. With insights drawn from their extensive body image research, Lindsay and Lexie—PhDs and founders of the nonprofit Beauty Redefined (and also twin sisters!)—lay out an action plan that arms you with the skills you need to reconnect with your whole self and free yourself from the constraints of self-objectification.
I recently read More Than a Body: Your Body Is an Instrument, Not an Ornament by Dr. Lindsay Kite and Dr. Lexie Kite. Their IG account, @beauty_redefined, is one I love to follow, so I have been looking forward to reading their book.
It's a solid read about living in a world that tries to make us believe that how we look is the most important thing about us. They use a metaphor, the Sea of Self-Objectification, throughout the book to help readers understand the many ways, or waves, that we can be overwhelmed by how we view our bodies, as well as other people's.
They weave together research and personal stories to offer actionable ideas to stop objectifying our bodies. I especially like their focus on building resilience as we practice facing our "feelings of body shame or embarrassment" and using them as "a catalyst for personal growth." Their reflection questions, if answered thoughtfully, can help readers get very clear about how they feel about their bodies and why.
My favorite section was "Critiquing and Creating Your Media Environment" with "From Divided to United as Women" my second. Back in my classroom days, I taught media literacy to my students, so I was happy to see the way this book helps readers deconstruct media messaging about our bodies as well as offering tips about how to curate media experiences that don't leave us filled with body shame. And helping women understand that we don't have to push anyone else down to lift ourselves up, especially around how we look, is a message that I will always support.
I also appreciated their thoughts about school dress codes, as I navigate this gauntlet daily with my daughters. On this and many other topics, they helped me refine my own thoughts and provided language to support me in articulating the messages I want to share.
I think this would be a fantastic read for people new to the concept of body acceptance. But it's also useful for people who have been treating their bodies with more kindness for a while to refresh and refine their thoughts.
Sitting Pretty Review
January 27, 2021 by Nicole Ayers
I began following Rebekah on Instagram about a year ago, and I was immediately captivated with her turns of phrase. She's a natural storyteller. When I found out she had a book coming out, I put it high on my wish list. Sitting Pretty did not disappoint.
I felt an immediate connection with Rebekah. I call her Rebekah as if we're buddies. We're not. But I feel like we easily could be. We're about the same age, and memories she shared of growing up often sparked similar memories for me, such as playing house and imagining fantasy romances after watching soap operas.
She writes about living as a disabled woman in a world that often doesn't consider her needs at all. I appreciated her honesty and her encouragement that we look at even the most uncomfortable aspects of disability, such as the complications of kindness and the way that the cost of healthcare forces people to make hard decisions.
What I most appreciated, though, was her gentle yet insistent urging that we use our imaginations and bring people with diverse bodies to our conversations to improve everyone's experiences. Rebekah shared her experience as a teacher and how exhausting and grueling the workload and expectations often are, which is amplified for her because her campus's accessibility makes a task as simple as grabbing lunch an ordeal.
This resonated so deeply because I left teaching because the workload and expectations weren't sustainable for me, and for so many others, as evidenced by the teacher shortage in many areas. But as Rebekah posits, what if we imagined teaching differently? Could it look different? Could it be kinder to our teachers' physical, mental, and emotional needs? Could it grow into a more sustainable model that doesn't burn people out? Of course it could. We just need to imagine it and then work to create it.
Read Sitting Pretty. It will make your ponder a more accessible world long after the you finish the last essay.
Two Book Reviews: What We Don't Talk About When We Talk about Fat and One To Watch
Over the holidays, I read two books, one nonfiction (What We Don't Talk About When We Talk about Fat by Aubrey Gordon), one fiction (One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London), that described the experiences of women living in larger bodies. Reading these two books back-to-back amplified their messages of inclusivity and body positivity and showed with poignant clarity the problems with fat phobia.
What We Don't Talk About When We Talk about Fat
In What We Don't Talk about When We Talk About Fat by Aubrey Gordon, creator of Your Fat Friend, Gordon writes a series of essays about navigating the world in her body. Her essays are both personal and academic and very readable. She writes about her experiences flying, the assumptions society at large has about her desirability, her medical-care history, and much more.
I appreciated her candor and vulnerability, and I felt like I was attending a master class in how to honor other people's experiences without being an asshole. The chapter "On Concern and Choice" was a powerful sermon about how much harm we cause when we tell people in larger bodies that we just want them to be "healthy," a word so loaded in this context with condescenion and righteousness that it's a weapon.
Gordon writes, "I did not come to body positivity for self-esteem. I came to it for social justice." And her phenomenal work makes clear why we should all look at body positivity through this lens.
One to Watch, Kate Stayman-London's debut novel, invites the reader into the fictional life of Bea Shumacher, a plus-size fashion blogger. Bea is charming and smart, and she upends her life when she agrees to be the star of a reality TV show similar to The Bachelorette. Bea knows this is a brilliant career move, and she hopes to inspire women who have never seen a woman with a body similar to theirs, in the role of the romantic heroine, on TV. She's also committed to not falling in love. Her journey is tender and funny and heartbreaking, and I was engrossed from the first page.
Read Both
When I heard echoes of Aubrey Gordon in One to Watch, I was pleasantly surprised to find that author Kate Stayman-London thanked Aubrey Gordon for her fat activism in the acknowledgments. I highly recommend both books, and if you can read them in close proximity, I think it will deepen your appreciation for both.
A Note on the Word "Fat"
Some people, like Gordon, have chosen to reclaim "fat" as a body descriptor, as an adjective for their bodies, similar to tall, brunette, or thin. You may cheer this on and encourage their empowerment. But there are also lots of folks who have been brutalized by the word and will never choose to use it. For them, that is an empowering choice. As with so many things, this is personal and individual. Let's honor everyone's choices. And only use "fat" to describe a body if that body is your own and you're comfortable with the descriptor, or the person you're describing has invited you to do so.
Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus
October 8, 2020 by Nicole Ayers
by Dusti Bowling
Summary: "Whoa! What happened to your arms?"
Aven Green gets that question a lot. She loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she'll have to answer the question over and over again.
Aven is a fantastic character who reminded me that people with different abilities don't need or want my pity. Aven's parents have always pushed her to figure things out, and she's one of the most capable heroines I've ever met (in the book, of course; although, I'd love to hang out with Aven in real life).
Aven may not have arms, but she doesn't need them to hold the reader captive with her wit, tenacity, and intelligence. She can teach us all lessons in self-love and self-acceptance.
© 2022 Nicole C Ayers – All Rights Reserved


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Postgraduate Scholarship for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Student
Commencing Scholarship in Art Curating or Museum and Heritage Studies for a student who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Closing date: 29 August 2022
Dale Harding, Spine 2 2018 outside the F23 Administration Building.
$10 000 per annum for a domestic student at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences who identifies as an Aboriginal and or/Torres Strait Islander.
Commencing or enrolled in Art Curating or Museum and Heritage Studies degree
Identify as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
This scholarship is valued at $10,000 and is tenable for up to one year for Graduate Diploma and Master's degree students.
This scholarship is valued at $5,000 and is tenable for up to six months for Graduate Certificate students.
be a domestic student
identify as an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person as defined in the University of Sydney's Confirmation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Identity Policy 2015.
have an unconditional offer of admission or having commenced in the current year in one of the following degrees within the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney on a full-time or part-time basis:
Graduate Certificate in Art Curating
Graduate Diploma in Art Curating
Master of Art Curating
Graduate Certificate in Museum and Heritage Studies
Graduate Diploma in Museum and Heritage Studies or
Master of Museum and Heritage Studies.
This Scholarship was established to assist an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander student studying a postgraduate degree in Art Curating or Museum and Heritage Studies at the University of Sydney.
For Terms and Conditions and further detail MORE

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Destruction of All Three World Trade Center Skyscrapers on September 11, 2001, The Collapse of WTC 7.
Noting the many shortcomings in Bažant's analysis, which have been studied and criticized extensively since 2001, Korol and his colleagues set out to apply a much more rigorous methodology for analyzing WTC 7, which, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), collapsed from normal office fires.
Dr. Korol has done extensive research on the axial loading properties of steel columns and beams.
He appeared in the documentary "9/11 in the Academic Community," and is seen here in his laboratory in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.


Product Usage:Used for anesthetize; oxygen input; artificial respiration.
Applicable Scope:Widely used in breathing machine or artificial ventilator.
Component: The Product Is Composed By Surface Of Mask、Inflatable Pad、The Locator And Check Valve.
For Single Use,Destroyed After Used.
Connect It With Pipe Tee Of Anesthesia / Breathing Circuit.
Wear The Anesthesia Mask On The Face Of The Patient.


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Every little does hurt, says Mullen
This Thursday's carbon tax increase should be seen for what it is – another tax on the hard-working families of Ireland, says Independent Senator and European Election candidate, Ronan Mullen.
"This is not just a tax on families but a tax on poorer, more vulnerable, people. It is the worst example yet of the regressive taxes being introduced by this Government. It takes absolutely no account of a person's ability to pay."
"On May 1, the so-called carbon tax will add €1.20 to the price of a bag of coal and 24 cents to the price of a bale of briquettes. This tax was originally spun as a source of ring-fenced funding for insulation programmes but this fiction has been abandoned by the Government."
"I would remind the Labour Party of the slogan they used before the last General Election – 'Every little hurts'. Unfortunately it seems that to the Labour party it was just that – a slogan."
"Whoever leads the Labour Party should grasp that each new tax the Government now imposes causes severe pain to already hard-pressed people."
"It does matter and it does hurt," he concluded.
Barracks closures false economy says Mullen
Sinn Féin must not attack McConville investigation


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Bury buried, Bolton cling on by fingertips in a tragedy to focus Sunderland minds
August 28, 2019 August 28, 2019 by Colin Randall
STOP PRESS: from the BBC … Bolton Wanderers: Football Ventures completes takeover to save League One club
We think of Bury and we think of Paul Butler, Chris Maguire and SuperKev's four promotion-winning goals. Bolton will stir older memories (Nat Lofthouse in Bolton minds, Charlie Hurley in ours). Here are Pete Sixsmith's reflections on a social and sporting tragedy …
In their breakthrough hit Letter from America, The Proclaimers charted the destruction of Scottish industrial towns like Methil, Bathgate and Linwood. After the events of yesterday, those towns could well be replaced by the names of old established football clubs on this side of the still invisible border.
Bury are first on that list. They went yesterday after a prolonged period on a deathbed that was created for them by two men with similar names.
Stuart Day was the man who mortgaged the ground, the social club, the historic trophies and memorabilia and who offered contracts to players that were unrealistic.
When his property companies went bust owing millions, he sold the club for one English pound (1.10 euros, 1.22 US Dollars, 8 Venezuelan Bolivars) to the last and final owner, Steve Dale, a man who appears to have neither knowledge of, nor interest in, football. His business record is unimpressive to say the least. Of the 51 companies he has owned, 43 were declared bankrupt, so not a great record for a prospective football club owner.
Why did he do it? He has no connection with the town, being born in Timperley, better known as the home of Frank Sidebottom. He doesn't like football. He "thought he was doing the people of Bury a favour by saving their club". Er, no Steve, you didn't.
Bury are now no more. Their Gigg Lane ground is empty and padlocked. The regular 3,000 supporters must be walking round in a daze, shocked at what has happened. The white knights who rode into save them, looked at the books and the deals that the last two owners had struck and decided that the club could not be saved. Credit to them for trying, but the financial tangle was so great that naught could be done. Bury are buried.
We were due to visit Gigg Lane on the December 21 and five days later we are supposed to host Bolton Wanderers for the Boxing Day game that last year drew a crowd of 46,000.
It may still go ahead. Bolton have been given a two-week extension as another white knight tries to solve the financial mess that they are in. They thought they had been sold on Saturday but the current owner, Ken Anderson, pulled the plug on the deal.
Mr Anderson has been in charge since 2016 when the family trust of former owner Eddie Davies, pulled out. The new owner has been declared bankrupt in the past and was disqualified from being a company director. This ban was lifted in 2013 so he passed the EFL rules and was deemed a "fit and proper person" by their criteria.
They may go on to survive although whether they can turn out a competitive team remains to be seen. They haven't so far this season and lost their manager, Phil Parkinson last week. Shambles doesn't even describe this situation.
It could have been us. We were close to administration and possibly liquidation. Ellis Short had the decency to pass the club on to new owners and write off the money that he was owed. We were given a fresh start and, so far, things are looking better – certainly far better than they do for Bury and Bolton.
We have lost one old Football League club in Bury. They are a club that Sunderland supporters have some affection for after that glorious night in 1999 when Kevin Phillips rattled in four goals in a 5-2 win that took us into the Premier League. When Bury hit a financial crisis the next year, many Mackems contributed to their Fighting Fund by "buying" seats in the main stand and following their results.
They won't come back. They may reform in the North West Counties League and struggle up the pyramid, perhaps joining the likes of former opponents Darlington, York City and Southport and others in the nether world of semi-professional football. Or they may just die and Gigg Lane become a housing estate.
Blame can be attached to Day and Dale, Anderson and others and to the EFL, who now simply must revise their approach to new owners. They have to attempt to find out if they are sustainable, if they have a sensible business plan for the club involved and if there is a likelihood of bills being paid and games being played. Alas, for fans of The Shakers and possibly The Trotters, it's all far too late.
We should be thankful that football men like Stuart Donald and Charlie Methven became involved with us. They have used the last YEAR wisely. We are solvent, we have attracted new investment and we have a possibility of reviving our fortunes. Bury don't. Bolton have but a whisker of a chance.
Donald and Methven have been criticised by a minority of fans. They should realise now, that without them, it might be "Bury no more, Bolton no more, Sunderland no more" – and not even the Mags would want that.
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Categories Content Tags Bolton Wanderers, Bury, Sunderland 5 Comments Post navigation
Burnley vs Sunderland: how important to them is winning on Wednesday?
Sixer's Sevens: Grigg's off the mark and Burnley are turfed out of the cup
5 thoughts on "Bury buried, Bolton cling on by fingertips in a tragedy to focus Sunderland minds"
I am not privy to the amount of debt Bolton and Bury are in. However, I would imagine it is possibly equal to the amount a PL "superstar" earns (and I use that word loosely) in a year, and about 5 or 10% of a transfer fee for same player. Is there no levy system in place whereby a proportion of these hideous wages and transfer fees can be put aside to help clubs with financial problems? If not, then there should be. I only went to Bury once, in 1979 for an Anglo Scottish Cup tie which we lost. It was a pretty depressing place but the pies were good. A sad day for football.
They should take a leaf from AFC Wimbledon. Start afresh. If so Safc should organise some friendlies where the red and white hordes could descend and put some money in the coffers.
It should be owned by the fans
Whilst i can understand the negativity aimed at the previous owners, one only has to look at the Prem to see owners basically cheating the system to get round financial rules. The difference is the scale of wealth. Billionaires get it wrong all the time but aren't bankrupted.
In light of all of this Ellis Short …at the end…played with a straight bat…..phew
KenG
While we're at it, Bob Stokoe captained them to the Div 3 (old money) title in 1961. Surely any owner who has 'previous' examples of financial irregularities on their CV shouldn't be allowed to take over a Football League side.
Alan J
Does any other Sunderland fan of a certain age think of Bury and not immediately of Brian Clough?
By the way, what if by some miracle Bolton are saved, and put together a decent competitive team – what happens to Ipswich's and Tranmere's 5-0 freebies? Could be significant at each end of the table come May….
salutsunderland
Crikey, Alan, yes. That one eluded me in an admittedly hurried intro to Peter's piece. Unforgivable since we were both there, in the Fulwell right behind the goal where it happened. Kate Adie was at the game, too, but by the corner flag (where the Fulwell met the Main Stand if I remember our interview correctly). Her memory was faulty: she thought Cloughie was hurt going for a header.


The protagonist of Orhan Pamuk's fiendishly engaging novel is launched into a world of hypnotic texts and (literally) Byzantine conspiracies that whirl across the steppes and forlorn frontier towns of Turkey. And with The New Life, Pamuk himself vaults from the forefront of his country's writers into the arena of world literature. Through the single act of reading a book, a young student is uprooted from his old life and identity. Within days he has fallen in love with the luminous and elusive Janan; witnessed the attempted assassination of a rival suitor; and forsaken his family to travel aimlessly through a nocturnal landscape of traveler's cafes and apocalyptic bus wrecks. As imagined by Pamuk, the result is a wondrous marriage of the intellectual thriller and high romance. Translated from the Turkish by Guneli Gun.


Now any machine with an IP address starting with those numbers will be prevented from accessing There Is No Cat. But my logs show that I'm being hit by computers in every subnet from 84.110.224 to 84.110.255. That's a lot of entries to cover each individual set of IP addresses.
There's a quicker way of doing this.
Now, binary math is not my strong suit, and I'm not really inclined to explain why this works, but if you find yourself in a situation where you need to specify a number of networks like this, there are calculators online that will help you out. I like this subnet calculator, which also includes other pages for other formats of IP addresses if you're a network administrator and need such things. For the purposes of adding a list of networks to deny access to in your .htaccess file, the CIDR calculator should suffice.
I really hope at some point to be able to stop writing about this stuff. It seems silly to maintain a weblog that then draws spam and devote the whole damned thing to preventing spam. If that's all I'm going to write about, then the most effective prevention would be to not have the weblog to start with. I do expect to do one more post exploring what are the characteristics of the spam POST requests I get, then hopefully that will be it for a while.


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UTCA ON WATER QUALITY ACCOUNTABILITY ACT: WE'RE HEADED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT THE LAW MUST BE STRONGER
September 19, 2019, 1:12 pm | in
Trenton – In testimony today before the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee, Utility and Transportation Contractors Association (UTCA) Director of Government Affairs Zoe Baldwin praised the Water Quality Accountability Act (WQAA) for laying the groundwork of getting the state's water/sewer infrastructure on the right path. The law, however, must be strengthened to bolster state oversight and authority. Baldwin was joined by UTCA CEO Robert Briant, Jr., who also serves as Acting Chair of the NJ Infrastructure Bank.
"This hearing, and the WQAA specifically, are the state's critical next steps toward tangible reform as they address the underlying issue: governance and planning," said Baldwin. "In the face of this continuing crisis, we need to make sure that state government has the regulatory tools it needs to ensure that the 500-or-so regulated drinking water systems are properly maintaining, upgrading, and replacing their pipes – including lead service lines."
UTCA's full testimony is provided below.
"Good morning, my name is Zoe Baldwin, and I am the Director of Government Affairs for the Utility & Transportation Contractors Association. I'm joined today by our CEO, Robert Briant, Jr., who also serves as the Acting Chair for the NJ Infrastructure Bank and can help answer any technical program questions you may have.
"Chairman Singleton and members of the Committee, we would like to start by saying thank you for the opportunity to testify. UTCA truly believes that the Water Quality Accountability Act laid essential groundwork for the state, and we look forward to the continued efforts toward ensuring that all New Jersey residents have access to clean and reliable water.
"We also commend the DEP and BPU on their strong testimony at the first hearing. We agree that the WQAA CAN be a transformative effort IF the current law is adhered to. UTCA supported the bill when it was proposed and strongly supports this oversight effort as it moves forward.
"Right now, the spotlight has been glaring on Newark as elevated lead levels, failed filters, and expired bottles of water made headlines across the region. The response from all levels of government to the emergency was swift and necessary, but as anyone in our industry will tell you, the real crisis extends far beyond city limits and NJ will need much more than money to bring its water systems up to date.
"This hearing, and the WQAA specifically, are the state's critical next steps toward tangible reform as they address the underlying issue: governance and planning. In the face of this continuing crisis, we need to make sure that state government has the regulatory tools it needs to ensure that the 500-or-so regulated drinking water systems are properly maintaining, upgrading, and replacing their pipes – including lead service lines.
"To that end, UTCA has several recommendations regarding ways the state can bolster its oversight and authority when it comes to water: implement the existing rules of the WQAA; expand the WQAA to wastewater; and increase funding and non-material support for all water projects.
"On Implementing the Existing WQAA
We agree with the DEP that compliance with the existing law has been mixed. Now that the full 18-month window for compliance has passed, we support the efforts by agencies – ranging from increased technical support to enforcement actions – that result in compliance and investment addressing the highest priority projects as identified by each system.
DEP testified that they are working on a rule proposal that would have clear compliance and enforcement steps built within them. UTCA supports DEP's efforts and encourages the DCA to take the same strong approach.
It is important to remember that the DEP does not oversee the budgets of any public water system, whether that system is investor-owned / operated or in the hands of a local government or MUA.
Therefore, DCA must be asked to increase oversight of the provision in the existing WQAA that states that "each water purveyor shall dedicate funds on an annual basis to address and remediate the highest priority projects as determined by its asset management plan." UTCA urges the legislature to seek data from the DCA as to compliance with this aspect of the WQAA and to consider enabling the agency to take enforcement action where necessary.
We cannot allow this issue to cover lead alone. We must look to this law as a primary tool to protect our communities – not only from lead and the myriad issues we face today, but for all of the treatment upgrades, repairs, and replacements we'll need to make tomorrow. Therefore, we must also empower DCA to enforce local system reinvestment
"On Expanding the WQAA
"UTCA works with groups like NJ Future through the Jersey Water Works collaborative, where we serve on the Steering Committee and as a Co-Chair of the Asset Management and Finance Committee. From this experience and through its own efforts we offer the following amendments to the WQAA framework:
Add a requirement for lead service line inventories that records be kept by every water system except for those that the DEP has found to have proven that no lead service line exists in their service area
Expand the WQAA framework to wastewater utilities. Each year, 7 billion gallons of diluted sewage are dumped in New Jersey's waterways, and the mechanisms established in the WQAA provide an excellent framework for similar stewardship on the waste side.
Exempt any wastewater utility that is under a permit requirement to develop a Long-Term Control Plan for CSO Compliance, as they are already required to meet these standards.
"On Increasing Support to Systems
"We don't need to wait for full WQAA compliance to know that water utilities of all shapes and sizes need more support from the state and federal government to fund their capital strategies. Estimates have NJ's need at about $40B, or $2B annually over 20 years to get us to a good state of repair. While that certainly sounds daunting, there is good news: our systems are already investing about a billion a year through rates and federal funding from the state's Infrastructure Bank.
"But to get us into the endzone, here are some quick ideas that don't involve a tax or bonding:
Empower regulatory agencies to enforce compliance with capital planning and investment components of WQAA
Enable the I Bank to receive federal WIFIA funds
Support Senator Booker's legislation that allows states to send funds between Clean Water and Drinking Water SRF, up to $100M
Distribution System Improvement Charge (DSIC) for wastewater – support BPU's efforts to put that mechanism in place
Streamline approvals at DEP for critical projects that are focused on replacing old infrastructure in existing communities.
"On the Overall Value
"Let's not forget the value of this investment goes past the environment and public health. UTCA, along with partners in Jersey Water Works, American Water Works Association, the NJAEA, and the NJ Water Environment Federation, conducted a broader economic study showing that:
A $1B investment in water infrastructure creates 13,787 jobs
And those jobs will be in demand – 44.6% of water workers are over 54 years old. Investing in our water infrastructure also serves to protect and expand access to those living wage jobs.
The longer we wait, the more repairs cost – emergency works costs an average of 10 times more than scheduled repairs and maintenance."
UTCA of New Jersey is a non-profit trade association headquartered in Wall, New Jersey. UTCA currently approximately 1,000 member firms in the public and private sectors, active in all phases of heavy, highway, utility, and marine construction, as well as site work including remediation of brownfields and contaminated sites.. For more information, log on to http://www.utcanj.org and follow on Twitter @UTCANJ.
Fifth PRME Northeast Conference: March 26-27, 2020 Burzichelli, Holley & Calabrese Bill Allowing State Lottery Winners to Remain Anonymous Becomes Law Quijano Bill to Require Severance Pay, Expand Employment Protections during Mass Layoffs Now Law Chaparro, Vainieri Huttle, Benson, Jimenez, Mukherji & Downey Bill to Establish Alert System for Hit-and-Runs Signed Into Law Governor Signs Bucco Measure Bolstering Historic Washington Association


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text:
Back [home](./index.md)

Hopper is written in javascript, and targets the nodejs runtime. If you'd like
to contribute to hopper development, there's a few things you should know:

* We have a [Code of Conduct](./CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md).
* We use [Github Flow](https://guides.github.com/introduction/flow/index.html)
  for contributions.
* We have a [Work in Progress board](https://waffle.io/zincmade/hopper).
* We love bug reports, documentation improvements,
  and/or request features being added to our [issue
  tracker](https://github.com/zincmade/hopper/issues).

## Creating a Development Environment for Hopper
1. Ensure you've installed [node](http://nodejs.org).
2. [Fork and clone](https://guides.github.com/activities/forking/) the [hopper
   repository](http://github.com/zincmade/hopper)>
3. Open the directory you cloned the repository into with your favorite text
   editor.
4. Run `npm install` to install the dependencies.
5. Run `make test docs` to run the tests and build the docs!
6. Run `./libexec/hop` to run your local version of hopper.

## Submitting a Patch
Once you've set up your development environment, you're ready to tackle adding a
feature, improving the documentation or fixing a bug.

7. Create a branch that describes the feature you're building/bug you're fixing
8. Type Type Type!
9. Run `make test docs` frequently! (I recommend using
   [wach](https://github.com/quackingduck/wach) to re-run the tests and docs on
   every file save)
10. Push your branch to Github.
11. Submit a [pull
    request](https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-pull-request/)
12. Adapt your code based on feedback from peers and project contributors
13. Watch your patch get merged
14. Revel in the adoration of your peers and professional associates!

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
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What is a bank run?
This is when a large amount of customers withdraw cash from the same bank at the same time because of rumours of the bank's instability. Despite the validity of these rumours, the chain reaction caused by so many withdrawals actually increases the bank's likelihood of bankruptcy.
Where have you heard about bank runs?
During the Great Depression there were many bank runs, causing banking crises. Certain states had laws that permitted the opening of only a single bank branch, so when customers decided to withdraw their capital, these lone branches ran out of money quickly.
What you need to know about bank runs.
Bank runs that happen to many banks at the same time are called banking panics and most of the recessions that have occurred in the United States have been because of them. Most developed countries use a system called fractional reserve banking, where only a tiny amount of money is reserved for demand deposits in cash. When this supply runs out it scares customers because they can't have immediate access to their money in cash. This then causes more customers to withdraw money from the bank, which in turn leaves the bank more unstable and increases the likelihood of bankruptcy.
Find out more about bank runs.
Find out how bank runs and banking panics have helped to cause recessions.


text:
Goldman offers more retirement contributions, paid leave for miscarriages and six-week sabbaticals to boost 'mental health'
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)
By Steve Gelsi
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Monday it made the largest worker benefit enhancements in years in an effort to promote better well-being in a competitive employment environment.
"We're focused on delivering energy optimization, resilience, and mental health programs that support our people in caring for themselves and their families," Goldman Sachs global head of human capital management Bentley de Beyer said in a statement provided to MarketWatch by a bank spokeswoman.
The new benefits at Goldman Sachs /zigman2/quotes/209237603/composite GS -1.20% include paid leave for miscarriage as well as increasing paid leave entitlement for loss of an immediate family member and a six-week sabbatical for long-tenured employees.
Specifically, Goldman Sachs will increase its retirement matching contributions for U.S. employees to 6% of total compensation, up from 4%, and contribute 8% of total compensation for employees making $125,000 or less with no requirement for employees to contribute the first 2%. As a result of employee feedback, the bank will no longer require a one-year waiting period for firm contributions for new joiners.
Goldman Sachs will also provide 20 days of paid family care leave for a miscarriage for an employee, spouse or surrogate, as well as the loss of a family member, including spouse, domestic partner, or child.
Globally, up to five days of bereavement leave for non-immediate family members will be available.
Employees with 15 years or more of service may take six weeks of unpaid leave for a sabbatical, with an additional two weeks for every five years of service at the firm thereafter. The firm estimated that 4,000 employees globally will be eligible for this program.
A bank spokesperson cited research from the Harvard Business Review that showed that time away allowed employees the space to generate new ideas for innovating in the organization and helped them gain greater confidence in themselves as leaders. The enhancements, which were initially reported by The Wall Street Journal, represent the most significant changes to Goldman Sachs employee benefits since the introduction of Pathways to Parenthood [fertility coverage] in 2019, according to a source.
Add to watchlist GS
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
US : U.S.: NYSE
Get news alerts on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. — or create your own.


Take part in underwater photo contests, gain recognition for your photos and win great prizes! Everyone has a chance to win and it could be yours!
Which are the underwater photo contests already organized and completed? Below, you will find the list of underwater photo contests that are now closed. Check out the results and find out more information about each contest by clicking on the name of the contest.
The ocean is a mysterious world that encloses some of the most amazing wonders. Between the sea life, the environment and the diver are established great synergies. See, admire, keep in the memory and protect are some of Best Spot Azores PADI 5* goals. In this contest we want to see the beautifulness of the ocean as well as the human footprint. Everyone is welcome to share their underwater photos with us.
Which underwater photos have been most voted by the jury and the public? Below, you will find the winning photos for each category of Best Spot Azores 2016 underwater photography contest.
The "BIO Nudis 2016" photo contest aims to raise awareness to Nudibranchs biodiversity and behaviour.
Which underwater photos have been most voted by the jury and the public? Below, you will find the winning photos for each category of BIO Nudis 2016 underwater photography contest.
Which underwater photos have been most voted by the jury and the public? Below, you will find the winning photos for each category of FUN Azores 2015 underwater photography contest.
Welcome to Festival Underwater North Atlantic!
Which underwater photos have been most voted by the jury and the public? Below, you will find the winning photos for each category of FUN Atlantic underwater photography contest.


Standard CV Format For Bangladesh pdf. Today i will give you some best sample of cv format for govt job, bank job and others job in Bangladesh. Data Job Resume Format And More Cv Format Template Available cv format bdjobs career Cv Format For Bangladesh bdjobs career essential job site in Bangladesh Bd jobs career is the leading career management site in Bangladesh.
2006-2007 : Customer service in Tate Modern (British Art Gallery).
Hobbies : Swimming, Reading, Traveling & Cricket.
To obtained a standard job in any well-known organization where I can apply my creative skills and competency.
COMPUTER LITERACY Major courses on computer completed Successfully completed the course on "Certificate in Computer Application" from BCC (Bangladesh Computer Council).
VALUE OFFERED Having six years (1999-2005) cultural experience as an organizer in a leading cultural group of R.U. named "Bangladesh Gonoshipli Shangstha", Rajshahi University Branch.
P.S.: Rajbari Sadar, Dist. Rajbari.
COMPUTER LITERACY Major courses on computer completed Operating Systems: Windows-98, Applications: MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point and Internet Basics.
Excellent communication skills in English and Bangla both written and verbal.
Supervised by- Apurba Kumar Roy, Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics and Breeding, University of Rajshahi.
VALUE OFFERED I am a debater of debate team of Genetics and Breeding Department as well as a debater of Shahid Ziaur Rahman Hall Debate team of Rajshahi University.
Having six years (1999-2005) cultural experience as an organizer (cultural secretary and assistant general secretary) in a leading cultural group of R.U. named "Bangladesh Gonoshipli Shangstha", Rajshahi University Branch.
I have completed a cultural workshop organized by Rajshahi University Shanscritic Jote.
I have worked as cultural secretary in two sessions and journal secretary in one session of Genetics and Breeding Sumity, Rajshahi University.
Looking for hard and Challenging Job where I will have the scope to utilize my potentiality, adaptability and skill to do something innovate and from where I will be able to enhance my knowledge.
Operating System : Windows 98, XP and Seven.
Application Package : MS. Word, MS. Excel & MS. PowerPoint.
Graphics Design : Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop.
Hardware : Computer Hardware Setup & Setting, Windows trouble shooting.
To build up career as an Executive in the Pharmaceutical Industries either in the national or in the multinational company, I would like to implement my knowledge, creativity and innovative thinking in this field.
Passing Year : 2010, held on 2011.
Passing Year : 2009, held on 2010.
A four weeks in-plant training in "Opsonin Pharma Limited".
December, 2010: Active performer in scientific exhibition arranged by Pharmacy Department during Golden Jubilee of Rajshahi University.
My Aim is to face all the challenges with realistic professional spirit and make the career brilliant one. The professional may be belongs to any profession.
Pro-active and oriented with diverse background in computer and communication. Strong team builder and facilitator, whose hands-on approach, personal integrating and reliable, consistently foster an atmosphere of credible relationship with the stakeholder.
Team spirit: Team Player, Work well under pressure and exhibits excellent communication skills, Understanding of Group Dynamics etc.
Well conversant and fluent in writing and oral communication in English & Bengali.


Angel's Billabong is one of the most stunning and thrilling experiences we had in Nusa Penida. A crystal clear tide pool, Angel's Billabong is also called "nature's infinity pool" because its waters overflow into the ocean. You can float in the warm water while the surrounding rock formations *mostly* protect you from the giant waves of the ocean. Definitely keep your eye on the ocean though, as the powerful waves can sometimes break through into the tide pool.
Angel's Billabong is located on the west coast of Nusa Penida island. This beautiful tide pool is located right next to Broken Beach, and about 35 minutes from Kelingking Beach.
Note that the drive to Angel's Billabong is not easy: think enormous pot holes and gravel roads; we found the last 15 minutes to be some of the worst roads on the island. If you aren't comfortable driving a scooter in these conditions, hire a driver or take it very slow.
Check the tides before you go and go at low tide! During high tide you won't be able to swim in the tide pool. As one of the top 3 most visited spots in Nusa Penida, Angel's Billabong can get extremely crowded between 10am and 4pm. Luckily, most of the tourists stay at the top to take photos and very few climb down to swim in the pool.
The entry fee is 5k IDR per person and 1k for parking. This fee also gets you entry to Broken Beach, which is located in the same area. There are many food stalls around these attractions where you can expect to pay 45k for Nasi Goreng and a coconut!
Swimming inside Angel's Billabong is an unforgettable experience. Just be cautious when swimming as the ocean can be powerful and unpredictable here.


text:
Q: Rails 3 HasMany Through with STI Here is my STI Models:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
end

class Athlete < User
  has_many :sports, :through => :user_sports
  has_many :user_sports
end

class Coach < User
end

The UserSports table has user_id and sport_id... but then you run this:
athlete = Athlete.all.last
athlete.sports

The SQL that is generated is trying to use the athlete_id instead of the user_id... not too sure what I am doing wrong here... any suggestions would be greatful!

A: I'm not sure why you have a UserSports table. You can just use a foreign key for either User or Sport, depending on their relation to each other.
The User model would need a specified relation to the Sport model, and vice versa.
More information on that is here: http://guides.rubyonrails.org/association_basics.html#the-has_many-association
It makes sense that it's trying to pull the athlete_id instead of the user_id, since you are calling on an Athlete object.
As a side note: There is no need to write Athlete.all.last - you only need to write Athlete.last.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Summer is almost here and that means hitting the multiplex for some A.C. and popcorn. From "Jurassic World" to "Straight Outta Compton," these are the movies we're looking forward to most.
What must a video rental shop do to stay open in 2015?


Are YOU the Next Salty Blogger?!
Are you a talented writer? Do you love running? Great news, we want you!!
Several times a year we take applications for committed, smart and enthusiastic women runners interested in sharing their training and insights with the Salty Running audience. And now is one of those times!
Interested in becoming a member of the Salty Running blogger family or know someone who might be? Then read on to find out more and how to apply.
share pictures of themselves and their running life, product reviews, race reviews, etc.
How is blogging for Salty Running different from my personal blog?
Well first you become part of a community of amazing running women, including veteran marathoners, 100-mile ultrarunners, sub-elite runners, beginners, masters runners and everyone in-between, which means access to a whole wealth of other perspectives. This is particularly helpful when you're writing on a topic and aren't sure what the audience will want to hear about it. We also help each other out when we have questions about our own training!
Next, other people are counting on you, so deadlines are important! By blogging with us you are committing to writing 2 posts a week (1 substantive post and 1 training log), with the option for occasional extras. We ask our new bloggers to commit to at least 3 months (with the possibility of renewal at the end of the term).
Also, your work is edited by others, which means you get to develop your talent for writing to an audience.
Speaking of writing to an audience, articles for Salty Running must also be reader-centric, that is, aimed toward helping other runners by sharing your insight. Personal stories are definitely encouraged, but they should, for the most part, have an objective of offering perspective or information to the reader.
What would I have to write?
Each week you would write 1 training log post, which is a simple, quick run-down of your week in running. To read our current blogger training logs go here.
You would also write one substantive post. These are expected to be 600-1000+ words; be well-researched with sources cited/linked; fit into the framework of SR (link back to other bloggers' posts, etc); and, most importantly, be reader-centric!
1) You must have an existing blog or submit a writing sample.
3) Besides the writing sample or link to your blog, complete the following application and email it to: saltyrunning@gmail.com. We know it's a lot of questions, but as a runner you know that nothing worth having comes easy!
Become a Salty Blogger and you too could take awkward selfies with Clove and me!
Please provide a link to your running blog and bio.
Do you train with a coach or follow a plan from a book or website? Please provide the coach's name or the source of the training plan you're following.
Why do you want to be a Salty Running blogger?
Can you commit to blogging an average of 2-3 times a week for a minimum of three months?
Are you willing to post photos of yourself?
Do you write for or blog for any other running sites?
Are you currently sponsored and if so by who?
Do you train or race with a club or team? Please specify.
What's your favorite herb or spice (use this list)? Tell us why!
What's your favorite post or category of posts on Salty Running?
Is there any additional information you'd like to provide about yourself?
Please apply by September 30, 2015 if you'd like to fill one of our four fall blogger spots!
Next Readers' Roundtable: How Long is Your Longest Training Run?


text:
Terre Haute este o localitate, municipalitate și sediul comitatului, Vigo, statul Indiana, Statele Unite ale Americii.

Referințe

!
!
Orașe din Indiana
Sedii de comitate din Indiana
Sediile comitatelor din Statele Unite ale Americii

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Home/News/Villagio Vista closed Down by Ghana Tourism Authority
Villagio Vista closed Down by Ghana Tourism Authority
PlugTimes.com June 3, 2019
Ghana Tourism Authority closes Villagio Vista
The Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) on Monday afternoon closed down Villagio Vista, located at Airport West in Accra which provides accommodation and catering services.
This is because the facility does not have an operating license according to the Ghana Tourism Authority.
Consequently, the GTA has placed a closure notice at the premises and given the management 24 hours to ensure that all clients check out of the facility.
The move follows a nationwide exercise commenced by the GTA to enforce the law in clamping down on illegal operators in the hospitality and tourism sector.
Facilities targeted are hotels, drinking spots, restaurants, movie centres, service apartments, fast food joints among others.
The first phase of the operation commenced in the Greater Accra Region Monday afternoon.
Briefing the media, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Tourism Authority, Mr Akwasi Agyeman said licensed institutions that do not meet the standards required by the Authority would not be left out.
"It Is quite unfortunate that some people will decide that I want to establish a hotel, a hostel, a restaurant, a guest house but will not go through the needed process."
"So we have decided to once again to go and weed them out. So all illegal operators that we have, we are embarking on the exercise to weed them out," he said.
He added that those whose standards do not meet the requirement will be given the opportunity to rectify their mistakes.
Mr Agyeman further stated that a national taskforce including security officers has been instituted to carry out the operations.
He said the team will be in the Greater Accra Region from Monday June 3 to Friday June 7 then move to Tema from Monday June 10 and to Tuesday June 11.
They will continue to the Central Region on June 12 to 14, Western Region from June 14 to 17, Ashanti Region from June 18 to 21, Brong Ahafo from June 22 to 25, Eastern Region from June 26 to 28 and Volta region from June 29 to July 2, 2019.
Source: graphic.com.gh
LIVE: NPP National Delegates Conference 2021
Taking Vaccine Shouldn't be Mandatory – Efia Odo
GPRTU Suspend Strike


Click here to access the daily presentation.
Check Google Classroom for your essay topics and rubric.
You will need Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God by Friday, February 9.
Tonight: Revise and send your email!


text:
Q: division in while loop I want to use a while loop to divide n numbers and print the quotient. For example if the user entered n=3, the program will ask for 3 numbers. Say the user entered 2, 2, and 3. The program then performs the following operation: 2/2/3 and then prints the answer ( i.e. 0.3333). I have a  program that uses a while loop for addition, division, and multiplication perfectly, but in division, it divides 1 by all the numbers entered(1/2/2/3). How do I fix it? Here is the code:
#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<conio.h>

void main(void)
{
int n, k=0;
float total=1, number;
printf("\nEnter the number of elements you want to divide:");
scanf("%d",&n);
printf("Please enter %d numbers one by one: \n",n);
while(k<n)
{
    scanf("%f",&number);
    total=number/number;
    k=k+1;
}
printf("Quotient of %d numbers = %f \n",n,total);
_getch();
}

A: Change
total=number/number;

to
if (k==0)
    total = number;
else
    total=total/number;

A: Start with k=1 then right before the while loop put
scanf('%f', &total);

You might want to wrap that line in if (n!=0). This way there's no if statement in the loop for very marginal, minuscule performance gains!
Then just change
total=number/number;

to
total=total/number;

and you should be set to go.


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text:
24 July 2019 — City Desk
Why You Might Have Noticed Taller Grass on Verges
by Sean Finnan
On Shanowen Avenue. Photo by Sean Finnan.
Weeds growing around the edges of the verges at Clontarf Promenade were getting as high as six feet, said independent Councillor Damien O'Farrell.
He brought up the issue at last week's meeting of the council's North Central Area Committee.
"The equipment they're using is too big," he says. "You see these guys on these ride-on lawnmowers that are too big. They're not getting into corners."
O'Farrell says he wants to see people out with harnesses and strimmers. Weeds in his area weren't being addressed "in any shape or fashion", he says.
And he's not the only councillor to have noticed more weeds around this summer, and overgrown verge edges.
But while years back, budget-skimping was responsible for contractors leaving the edges of verges uncut, it's a different picture now.
Grass Contracts
This isn't the first time O'Farrell has raised issues around cutting the edges of grass verges.
In 2016, he introduced a motion asking that councillors get more of a say in how the council measures the performance of contractors paid to cut the edges along roads and parks across the city.
It wasn't part of the contract for them to cut the edges, said Assistant Chief Executive Declan Wallace at the time. "The time involved vis-à-vis what it currently takes, I think would add hugely to the contract," he said. So edges were tidied up with weedkiller.
But for the current contracts, cutting the grass edges was included, O'Farrell says.
The total value of the contracts, for the period January 2017 to December 2020 is €4,078,095, according to the Office of Government Procurement.
The companies awarded the contracts were Peter O'Brien and Sons Landscaping (Central and South East areas), Redlough Landscapes (North West and South Central areas) and SAP Landscaping (North Central Area).
"They are contracted to cut grass in open spaces, grass verges, entrances into residential estates [and] some parks," says a spokesperson for Dublin City Council.
In 2016, O'Farrell had wanted an overseer, someone monitoring the work done by contractors to make sure it was up to certain standards. They got one.
"So somebody [now] goes around full-time making sure the work is done," says O'Farrell. But he doesn't think much looks different.
Changing Guidelines
A Dublin City Council spokesperson says that's because the performance indicators for grass-cutting have changed.
The council has been trialling ways to promote biodiversity, cut down on chemical use, and encourage pollinators, said the spokesperson – which means an update, again, in how contractors handle the edges of grass verges.
"Under instruction from us, the edges are not trimmed, as before," the spokesperson said.
And neither are they using weedkiller anymore to tidy up the edges, according to Coilín O'Reilly, North Central Area Manager, at the last area committee meeting.
"As the Parks Service reduces the use of herbicides in the public realm, weeds or native opportunistic plants will become move evident," says O'Reilly.
The council has in the past used glyphosate-based weedkillers.
In March 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans".
In May 2019, a court in California ordered Monsanto, the maker of glyphosate-based Roundup, to pay $2 billion to a couple who claimed they got cancer from the weedkiller.
However, in 2017 the EU decided to allow the use of glyphosate for another five years. In Ireland, a Department of Agriculture spokesperson has reportedly said as recently as this month that there are no plans to ban the chemical here.
In any case, in Dublin, the result of this new laissez-faire approach to tending the city's verges is shaggier edges on them. And perhaps happier bees and other creatures living in those weeds and grasses.
On Collins Avenue. Photo by Sean Finnan.
Mixed Responses
Fianna Fáil Councillor Daryl Barron says he sees grass maintenance as a big issue "all over the northside". But the council and contractors respond fast when he contacts them, he says.
Barron, though, is sceptical of any ban on using pesticides such as Roundup.
"We have to use stuff to keep the place clean and tidy," he says. "They say it causes cancers and things like that. I've never seen any cases brought against the city council for that."
"It's not plausible for our guys to be pulling weeds manually," says Barron.
He would like to see the council take on more staff for general manual labour but doesn't think it's a good use of their time to pull up weeds, he says.
Green Party Councillor Neasa Hourigan disagrees.
"One of the issues we need to talk about when it comes to caring for those areas is a biodiversity plan and, which the council is kind of slow to roll out, is a pollinator plan," says Hourigan.
The pollinator plan would look at having more wildflowers and less grass-cutting. There is currently a Biodiversity Action Plan, which finishes up at the end of this year.
Hourigan says that she is getting some comments from people about there being lots of weeds in the cracks in the pavement.
"I do think that people think it's untidy and I have to confess that I think 10 years ago I would have thought that too," says Hourigan.
Nowadays though, she thinks nothing of it. "Weeds are plants and weeds are part of their biodiversity. I know people think it looks untidy but I think in a couple of years time we won't see it that way," says Hourigan.
In her area, around Cabra, the overgrowth of the edges of grass verges isn't really much of an issue. "A lot of the grass verges have been tarmaced over," says Hourigan.
But even if they were untarmaced and made green again, she wouldn't like to see them mown all the time, she says.
We've been covering stories like this since 2015, addressing the important issues in Ireland's capital. The work we do isn't possible without our subscribers. We're a reader funded cooperative. We are not funded or influenced by advertising.
For as little as the price of a pint every month, you can support local journalism in your city.
Send me the print edition too! (€3 per month)
Sean Finnan: Sean Finnan is a freelance journalist. You can reach him at [email protected]
Peter FitzGerald
at 24 July 2019 at 21:20
This is great. We have to let nature thrive.
24 July 2019 issue
Developer Proposes Giving Cash Instead of Public Green Space
by Erin McGuire
On the Edge of Dublin Port, a Photographer Captures a Parade of Trucks
by Aura McMenamin
Scrutiny Needed of Council Spending on Homeless Services, Say Some Councillors
Scattered About the City, Reminders of a Revolutionary Woman


text:
Group Courses in England
Why learn English in Bournemouth?
Full immersion is the best way to learn a new language. Study English in England, surround yourself with English people and their culture and most importantly of all – have fun while you learn!
Our well-organised language courses consist of lessons in a language school, with the options of interesting excursion, fun events and activities as well as accommodation in carefully selected private homes, residence or hotels
Excursion packages
The excursion packages are designed to give you a deeper understanding of English culture and history through sightseeing and activities. Shopping and fun also play a big part in our excursions. The sports and evening events such as Beach volleyball, karaoke and going out on the Cavendish Speed Boat are some of the many fun additions to the excursions and are a great way for your group to have fun and relax during the holidays.
The language classes are held by qualified language teachers and offer a good opportunity to deepen students language skills. Each student will certainly get to know new words or new grammatical subtleties in addition to the improvement of communication skills.
The main learning objectives are
Development and expansion of communication skills, vocabulary, listening and reading comprehension.
In addition: Consolidation of grammar with the help of written exercises. The division into classes has usually already been done prior to your visit but may also happen when you arrive by means of an approved placement test. The allocation is made solely on the basis of the result, regardless of age. A change to another level can of course be done on site at any time.
Facilities at Cavendish School of English in Bournemouth
30 classrooms – most equipped with interactive whiteboards
IT room exclusively for adult students with free ultra fast access to internet
Free ultra fast Wi-Fi for the entire campus
Latest in-house multimedia facilities
Events venue for cinema/nightclub/disco/karaoke/party nights
Large, modern and beautiful conservatory
Canteen with breakfast, lunch and dinner
Vending machines are available with snacks and drinks
Daily home cooked barbecue in the summer
All public areas are fully air-conditioned
Landscaped gardens with palm trees, decked terraces and plenty of seating
Little London! This little taste of London is based in our gardens for all our students to enjoy. Cavendish students can find famous icons from London and the United Kingdom including a red London bus which has been converted into a café downstairs and has video screens and music equipment upstairs
The Little London catering trailer provides a variety of hot meals all year round
Group bookings made with Cavendish School of English will benefit from the following:
Group transfer to and from the UK airport.
The option of travelling on our own Cavendish Liner coaches to and from Europe if required.
Preferential rates for groups of 20 or more.
A specially designed excursion package.
Please ensure that you contact Cavendish School of English at least one month before making a group booking allowing plenty of time for a special programme to be developed for your group. Booking early is advisable, most especially during the summer months.
Custom-made courses for you
Adult Group Courses
Adult courses for groups of students aged 16 and over can be arranged all year round.
Cavendish School of English is highly experienced in designing the best courses for your groups.
Language courses can be specially designed for small or large /open or closed groups.
The Cavendish School of English team will work closely with you to make sure that your language course and your experience with us at Cavendish School covers the needs of all those taking part.
Schools, universities and businesses can all benefit from our special programmes to train and qualify their staff and students.
Junior Group Courses
Junior courses for groups of students aged 7 to 18 can be arranged all year round.
On the first day at Cavendish School, students are given a short informal English test and then placed into groups, from beginners to advanced, with other students of a similar level.
Often, on the first day, students are taken on a sightseeing tour of Bournemouth and the local area.
Morning lessons will be between 08:25 and 12:50 with teachers who are experienced at making English fun and easy to learn. The emphasis in the classroom is on the spoken word and students quickly gain confidence and start to enjoy the challenge of using English with their hosts and in normal everyday situations.
All main classrooms at Cavendish School of English are well-equipped with interactive whiteboards, computer and internet access, and the learning environment is friendly and fun. A variety of up-to-date teaching methods and materials are used to ensure that students reach their full potential.
Lessons will be between 13:10 and 17:35. If students have lessons in the morning then excursions are arranged in the afternoon to various places of interest including London, Stonehenge, Bath, and Winchester.
There is always something to do in the evenings with organised trips to local attractions like LaserQuest, an outdoor dry ski slope centre, cinemas, discos and karaoke evenings.
All students on our junior language courses stay with very carefully-chosen, regularly-inspected hosts in twin rooms, so parents can be certain that their children will be looked after. As well as being immersed in an English-speaking environment and gaining confidence in using their own English, our junior students will thoroughly enjoy their stay in England which is sure to be full of brilliant memories.
Junior Programmes are specially designed to meet the specific needs of diverse groups and the individual student.
Cavendish School of English has been running since 1983 and is accredited by British Council, FDSV, DIN CERTCO and is a member of EnglishUK and RALSA. The British Council, FDSV and DIN CERTCO hold regular inspections to thoroughly check not only the premises but our management, quality of teaching, accommodation arrangements and the safety and welfare of our students. This encourages excellence and high standards of care and efficiency throughout, with an absolute focus on the well-being and happiness of our students. We provide a friendly and caring atmosphere with a local doctor available 24 hours a day. From their arrival through to their departure, our students are under the constant care and attention of experienced staff, who receive regular training and advice on the care and education of under-18s, their supervision and security. In addition to this, all staff hold a criminal record background check to ensure their suitability to work with under-18s.
Our Safeguarding and Child Protection policies and procedures, reviewed annually, are available upon written request.
We systematically collect feedback from pupils, parents and staff to keep improving the quality of our programmes.
"Call Cavendish School of English Today on: +44 (0) 1202 770070"
Discover Bournemouth
Green and Safe
Known as the 'Garden City by the sea' and recently voted as the top seaside resort in the UK, Bournemouth is only 90 minutes away from London. It is said that Bournemouth has the cleanest air and is the safest place to bring up children. In addition, you also have the surrounding Dorset countryside with beautiful coastal walks as well as the picturesque and historic New Forest.
Today, Bournemouth is one of the most popular resorts in the country. Often the winner of 'Britain in Bloom', the town has gardens that are superb all year round. Through the town centre flows the river Bourne (from which Bournemouth takes its name).
The seaside resorts of the English south coast are famous for their miles of sandy beaches and the pleasantly mild climate. Bournemouth is said to enjoy more sunny days than any other seaside resort in England.
There are plenty of department stores such as House of Fraser, Marks & Spencers and Beales, as well as plenty of high street fashion shops. Bournemouth is well known for its designer boutiques, jewellers and antique shops. If you like shopping, you will definitely feel like you're in heaven!
Bournemouth University is very popular with foreign students with many coming to study in Bournemouth every year and making it one of the reasons why there is such a lively and cosmopolitan atmosphere.
At night, there is always something to do. Nightclubs, restaurants, bars, casinos, outdoor events, cinemas and concert halls all provide great entertainment.
Students and tourists from all around the world gather for a party that nobody wants to miss! Even locals drive for an hour or more to enjoy the famous nightlife hotspot on the south coast.
Bournemouth is an ever popular holiday location due to it's 11kms of fine sandy beaches which are perfect for beach volleyball, surfing, SUP boarding, windsurfing, kitesurfing, jet skis etc. There are also plenty of places in the surrounding countryside and in the New Forest where you can go horse riding, paintballing, canoeing, kayaking, hiking.
However you enjoy spending your leisure time, there is something here for everyone.
Famous people such as David & Victoria Beckham, Jamie Redknapp (footballer), his wife Louise (pop star) and Madonna all own properties within the local area.
Discover Bournemouth's surrounding areas
To the East of Bournemouth is the historic harbour town of Poole boasting the largest natural harbour in the world and in the middle lies the idyllic nature reserve of Brownsea Island. Pleasure boats wait at the quayside and regularly make the short trip over to the island. Poole Harbour is a great location for water sports and fishing. The town's picturesque old quay retains its 18th-century charm and is an ideal location to have something to eat while overlooking the harbour.
Just outside the historic centre you can discover modern entertainment facilities at Tower Park leisure complex including Splashdown which is an indoor and outdoor water park, Bowlplex with their special GlowBowling and Empire Cinemas with 16 screens showing all the latest blockbusters.
Christchurch and The New Forest
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England.
As a significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth is home to the world's oldest dry dock commissioned by King Henry VII in 1495 at Portsmouth's Historic Dockyard.
Portsmouth Dockyard is also home to some famous ships, including "HMS Warrior", the Tudor carrack "Mary Rose" and Lord Nelson's flagship, "HMS Victory"
Did you know that this city is the birthplace of Charles Dickens?
This small market town is dominated by the twin towers of the imposing Minster church, but offers a whole lot more. The Minster was built in the 12th century and is recognised for its unusual chained library which is one of only four surviving chained libraries in the world.
The town centre's recently modernised square is surrounded by cafes, restaurants and many shops offering fashions, antiques and arts. There is an antiques market every Friday, a flea market on Saturdays and a huge combination of the two on Sundays.
The historic town is beautifully situated on the picturesque water meadows of the River Stour, where it joins the clear, free flowing River Allen. The town's recorded history dates back to the 8th Century and there are many historic buildings, narrow streets and delightful squares and courtyards to explore as well as model village where you can explore a miniature version of the town!
Every year in June this quaint town's streets and small squares are filled with hundreds of musicians and dancers for the colourful Wimborne Folk Festival, the largest event of its kind in southern England.
Corfe Castle is a fortification built by William the Conqueror in the 11th century that stands above the village of Corfe in the county of Dorset. Part of the English National Trust and only 8 kms away from both Swanage and Wareham, it is a major tourist attraction with more than 1,000 years of history to discover.
It is believed that King Edward the Martyr was stabbed to death here on the orders of his stepmother in 978 AD, so that her son Ethelred 'The Unready' could rise to the throne.
Corfe is an idyllic, quaint English country village complete with churches, pubs and tearooms. You can choose to sit and sample an English cream tea whilst looking at the castle ruins or a typical ploughman's lunch in a pub if you prefer. Corfe has really old traditional pubs, one of which is actually an 'old watering hole' (it has an actual well and free running water underneath it) in fact, the pub is so small you might miss it. The village has amazing cottage style country shops and houses with thatched roofs, you can also take the steam train that runs from the village of Corfe to Swanage and back again.


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In Malaysia, although alcohol is banned in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu, the country's population still consumes an extremely high level of alcohol. In 2011, the country was named the tenth-largest consumer of alcohol by the World Health Organization. Even with the high sales tax rate, alcohol is readily consumed and accessible in many cafes, supermarkets and mini markets throughout the country. At the time of publication, Malaysia does not have a minimum legal drinking age.
According to Malaysia's Sharia Law, all Malaysian Muslims are forbidden from drinking alcohol. It is also illegal to sell liquor to a Muslim. In the past, laws against drinking have been strictly enforced, and the punishments -- which include caning -- for Malaysian Muslims caught drinking is severe and not without controversy. A legal ban has long been a highly fraught issue between the country's conservative Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, which frequently pushes for strict alcohol bans in Muslim-dominated neighborhoods, and the ethnically Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party, which oppose such bans.
In order to serve any type of liquor or alcohol in Malaysia, vendors, restaurants and retailers need a license. As retailers do not need a license to sell beer in cans, cafes and other vendors often sell beer and provide bottle openers so customers can drink at the cafe. Although serving beer on the premise without a license is illegal, coffee houses and vendors routinely do this throughout the country.
Section 32(1) and 33(1) of Malaysia's 1976 Excise Act Law requires that all vendors, retailers, shops and restaurants have a license to sell liquor. The license must also state where the sale is being made. However, illicit "moonshine" alcohol, such as "samsu," "tuak" or "toddy," is usually easily accessible, cheap and sold throughout the country.
Alcoholism has become a more significant health threat throughout Malaysia, as even government officials have recognized that alcohol consumption is a serious health problem. In the past, WHO has also focused on alcohol problems related to public health in Malaysia. As a result, many nonprofit organizations and NGOs within Malaysia have campaigned against alcohol and tried to push for a more aggressive national alcohol policy. This includes monitoring alcohol and liquor companies' advertisements and promotions. Although direct advertising, such as on billboards or television commercials, related to alcohol is illegal in most of the country, liquor companies have used other tactics, such as sponsored events and aggressive campaigns, to target consumers.
Cristiano, Jason. "Alcohol Policies in Malaysia." Travel Tips - USA Today, https://traveltips.usatoday.com/alcohol-policies-malaysia-108164.html. Accessed 26 April 2019.


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How Much Do You Know About the History of Log Cabins in the Smoky Mountains?
Visit My Smokies > Blog > Smoky Mountains > How Much Do You Know About the History of Log Cabins in the Smoky Mountains?
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The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a diverse collection of log cabins and other log buildings. But how much do you know about these old historical structures? Keep reading to learn all about the cabins and what makes them more unique than any other cabin you've visited.
(See Related: Beautiful Historic Areas and Old Smoky Mountain Buildings)
History of Log Cabins in the Smoky Mountains
According to the National Park Service website, there are over 90 historic structures, including houses, barns, outbuildings, churches, schools and grist mills that have been rehabilitated in the park. There are many distinct features that separate the log cabins in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from other cabins in the area.
1. Space
The cabins that make up the Great Smoky Mountains history are very small. The living quarters were extremely tiny compared to today's cabins. To make it even harder, the families who would stay in these cabins were very large.
2. Windows
There were not always a lot of windows at the cabins. Some cabins did have more than others. There were some windows known as 'granny holes,' which were tiny square windows near the chimney, where the grandmother would sit in the extra bit of sunlight to sew and knit.
3.Cabin Style
There were typically 3 styles of log cabins in the Smoky Mountains:
Single pen: A single unit home
Dog-trot: 2 units separated by an open walkway for people and dogs
Saddlebag: 2 units with a chimney in the center
Where to See Historic Structures in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Just about everywhere you visit in the national park, you can find historic buildings, cabins and other structures. These structures have been preserved since the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1934. These are some of the most popular places to visit for a historic experience:
Cades Cove
Obviously, Cades Cove is an extremely popular place to spend time, learning the Great Smoky Mountains history. For over 100 years, Cades Cove was a farming community with about 125 families. These families built the area, harvested crops and cared for the land. Once the national park was being created, these families were forced to move their life from the Cove to another area, outside of the national park. Some were able to stay, but they were not able to live the farming lifestyle as they had before since the land now belonged to the national park.
There are dozens of historical structures in Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These are some of the places you may recognize:
John Oliver Place
Missionary Baptist Church
Elijah Oliver Place
Henry Whitehead Place
Dan Lawson Place
Tipton Place
Carter Shields Cabin
Things to See at the Mill Area at Cades Cove:
LeQuire Cantilever Barn
Millrace and Dam
Cable Mill
Gregg-Cable House
Corn Crib
Sorghum Mill
Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail
The Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is most well known for its natural beauty, but there's also some historical significance in the area.
The Roaring Fork community was created when families were looking for a place to settle, over 150 years ago. Just like the people of Cades Cove, when the national park was created, the people living in Roaring Fork had to leave. There were a few given permission to stay, due to illness and old age. It was a difficult change for many because the land belonged to national park, meaning that the people were not allowed to farm the land, hunt or fish.
You may recognize the names of these farmer's homes at Roaring Fork:
Noah "Bud" Ogle Cabin
The Home of Ephraim Bales
Alfred Reagan Place
Bonus of Visiting Roaring Fork:
When you travel along the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail, you can take a short hike to see the Grotto Falls waterfall.
The log cabins in the Smoky Mountains are some of the most interesting and unique buildings throughout the entire area. The history that is preserved in these cabins is unparalleled. When you visit the cabins, you can truly embrace the Smoky Mountain lifestyle and culture.
For more information about the great places to visit in the Smokies, take a look at these 5 Places to Go in the Smoky Mountains that Will Make You Want to Visit Immediately.
Bears Hideaway
by Cathy's Cabins
The Flying Piggy
by Flying Piggy
Escape from Reality
by John Elliott
Lumberjack Rack
by Alpine Mountain Chalets
Mandatory Mask Order Extended in Sevier County TN


Our approach to teaching boating is simple -- we focus on hands-on experience under the guidance of skilled and patient instructors. All of our courses lead to internationally recognized Canadian Yachting Association certification, and all our instructors have surpassed CYA teaching standards.
Cooper Boating Instructors must be qualified prior to registration. To register yourself as an instructor make a request by telephone at 604-687-4110 or to admin@cooperboating.com. After your member account has been created you can begin requesting to teach courses on specific dates within the system.
Browse the Courses and select one from the list.
Beside the available dates the system will display the Instructors name if there is already one registered to teach this course on this date. If not, an alternate link is provided allowing Instructors to make a request to teach this specific course. Click on "request to teach". *Note: this link is only available once you have logged in as an approved and registered Instructor.
Confirm that you would like to make the request to teach the Course on that date. Your request will be sent to Cooper Boating administration. Courses that you are registered to teach and that are pending approval for registration are shown within your "Member Account".
Courses pending approval can be dropped at any time. However, once you have been approved and registered to teach a specific course, you must contact Cooper Boating administration to request to cancel teaching a course. Please provide as much time in advance of the course date as possible to allow for Instructor substitution, or if necessary, re-scheduling and/or cancellation.


Fortress Of Freedom Board :: View topic - Seasons Greetings/Merry Christmas!
Posted: Wed Dec 23, 2009 7:54 pm Post subject: Seasons Greetings/Merry Christmas!
From all of us at FOF/IAIJ and MORE VISION; we all wish you Seasons Greetings/Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Open The Door To A Healthy Meal - Bonny Was Fat. Not Anymore.
In this hectic, work filled life of today, most people find very little tie to do much else apart from their work, and maybe sleep a little. In this scenario, where every moment is precious, most people prefer to not spend time cooking their food but rather call for prepared food from restaurants or food joints.
This, however, is problematic for all those people who are trying to lose weight and hence need to cut down on their calories, or people who need to eat only a particular type of food on any given day to meet their dietary requirements and achieve their weight loss goals. This is where diet meal delivery plans step in and save the day.
They have been a common trend among dieters since the 1990's and b the looks of the industry today, the plan is not going to phase out any time soon.
When losing weight, along with the daily exercise routine, it is of utmost importance that a person eat calorie and portion controlled meals. However, after a hectic day at work, nobody is really in the mood to cook healthy food and hence meal delivery plans act like a boon for these people.
In a diet meal delivery plan, you can choose from various options about the kind of meal that you want and the portion size, and the prepared meal will be delivered at your doorstep. You can also have a different menu for each day and can set the time at which the meal needs to be delivered at your doorstep.
It thus takes away the necessity to grocery shop or cook or plan meals every day, and also offers the convenience of having meals delivered at your doorstep.
DO DIET MEAL PLANS REALLY WORK?
Diet meal plans offer a lot of benefits to people, no doubt, and may seem the best way but are they really as healthy as advertised and should they be traded in for home cooked meals?
Talking to certain dieticians and nutritionists has revealed that even though there are no major health problems that can be directly linked to having your diet meals delivered, it is recommended that these meals act only as a backup for days when you are in no position to cook, or should be alternated with home cooked food, in the sense that the plan could be activated for a month and then the next month you could have home cooked food, while re-activating the plan the month after, and so on.
This is primarily because it is essential to make sure that the body is not being harmed by all the preservatives or artificial flavours added to the delivered food to increase their shelf life. Thus even though these plans offer a great deal, there is no alternative to home cooking in terms of good health.
NutriSystem – It is a U.S. based service that has delivery options ranging from 1 to 4 weeks and its biggest plus point is that it is the cheapest diet meal delivery plan of the lot, without compromising too much on the food quality. It costs roughly $12 a day. The plan essentially emphasizes foods having a low glycemic index, the premise being that low blood sugar levels will result in weight loss. The general nutrition pattern is that the foods contain about 55 to 60 percent of good carbs, and 20 to 25 percent each of proteins and fat.
Bistro M.D. – It is essentially a weekly service and provides completely cooked food. The average calorie intake of each meal plan is about 1100 to 1400 calories a day. The service essentially focuses on maintenance of lean muscle mass by heavy protein consumption (about 40 to 50 percent of the total nutrient intake) spread over the day, and lowering blood sugar levels with low glycemic carbs (about 30 to 35 percent). The remaining calories are covered by eating about 20 to 25 percent fats. The meals delivered are flash frozen and can be reheated using a microwave. It also offers free calls to a nutritionist.
The other major diet meal delivery systems are Ediets, Jenny Direct, Chef's Diet, and Medifast.
Not All 'Foods' Are Good For You!


There's a rule that any defense of a film that begins with "If you had read the book . . ." automatically fails. A movie must to be able to stand on its own since most viewers will not have read the book . . .
However as with any rule there's an exception, and in this case the exception is when most of the viewers will have read the book. Recent examples include the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings and Twilight. To that must now be added The Hunger Games.
The first of an expected three films based on the phenomenal trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games is a near perfect adaptation that should satisfy fans of the books and, perhaps, win them new adherents. Nonetheless, as with the other examples, there will be those who haven't read or disliked the source material who will detest the film as hard to follow, boring, bad filmmaking, etc. This is not meant as a slam. This reviewer loved the Harry Potter books and movies, hated the Tolkien books and their adaptations, and never read the Twilight series and thinks watching paint dry is more exciting than seeing it on screen. Consider this fair warning.
The Hunger Games is set in a future North America where the nation of Panem is divided between the elites in the capital and those living at subsistence levels in the twelve surrounding districts. Years before there was a revolt that was suppressed and now, each year, the districts must provide two tributes – two teenagers – who will fight to the death in a tournament. Not made clear in the movie is that the victor/survivor wins additional food for his or her district for the coming year.
"One of the best film adaptations in recent years!"
The heroine of the story is Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) who volunteers to fight as a replacement when her younger sister is selected in the annual reaping. Katniss is one of the most fascinating teenage girls in modern pop culture. She's smart, tough and independent, but she's also insecure and not quite ready to tackle the intrigues of the adult world. Lawrence, who came to notice in the art house hit Winter's Bone, is sensational as Katniss, ably carrying the weight of the film on her shoulders.
In many ways the story is a metaphor for adolescence, which explains why this dark, dystopian story has been such a success as a YA novel. The adults make conflicting demands on Katniss and it's not always obvious who has her best interests at heart.
The surly and usually drunk Haymitch (a wonderfully cast Woody Harrelson) serves as mentor to Katniss and fellow tribute Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), since he was the last victor from District 12. The president (Donald Sutherland) is only interested in maintaining power, and a feisty underdog teen champion is the last thing he wants. TV personality Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci) uses his flashy interviews with the contestants for his own purposes. Only her fashion coordinator (Lenny Kravitz) seems to really care.
Director Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) has done a tremendous job transferring the novel to the screen. The screenplay (worked on by Ross, original author Suzanne Collins, and Billy Ray) compresses the story losing some minor characters and plot points. It stumbles primarily in assuming too much knowledge on the part of the viewer.
The fact that the various fauna – like the mockingjay and trackerjacks – have been created by the authorities to suppress the districts is not made clear. Thus Caesar actually has to do an info dump for the audience to explain the appearance of the trackerjacks, and the appearance of the feral mutts in the film's climax lacks the impact it had in the book.
So, if you've read the book go see The Hunger Games and enjoy one of the best film adaptations in recent years. If you haven't, you might want to read it beforehand or, at the very least, bring a teenager along to answer your questions.
Daniel is a veteran movie critic and author of a host of film-related books, the most recent being Jar Jar Binks Must Die . . . and other observations about science fiction movies. He teaches film at Suffolk University and lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.
The latest Hunger Games news!