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Forgotten History: Halifax
Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Halifax has one hard luck history. Part of it is other peoples' hard luck. But that only helps so much.
Fourteen years ago this month Swissair flight 111 fell into Margaret's Bay, just outside town, killing all 229 people aboard. The Halifax military bases responded. There are two memorials out on the bay.
After the crash, Ian Shaw, a Swiss national who last saw his daughter Stephanie when he drove her to the Geneva airport, moved from Switzerland to the tourist village of Peggy's Cove and built a restaurant called Shaw's Landing, to be near his deceased daughter. Shaw's Landing only recently closed, Shaw presumably having finally worked through his loss.
As in the Swissair tragedy, when the Titanic sank in April 1912, ships were dispatched from Halifax to recover bodies, since Halifax was the nearest big port with continental rail connections.
The Mackay-Bennet, a Halifax-based steamer normally used for laying communications cable, led the effort. Two days after the sinking she set out with a cargo of coffins and canvas bags, an undertaker and a preacher.
Over the next four weeks two ships from Halifax followed, the Minia and the CGS Montmagny. Altogether they and the SS Algerine, sailing from St. John's, Newfoundland, recovered over three hundred bodies. Some were buried at sea, but 209 bodies returned to the Halifax shore.
Just 59 were sent away to their families. The rest, including the Titanic's unidentifiable and unclaimed victims, were buried in Halifax, and local businesses donated bouquets of lilies.
The most horrific tragedy still lay five years down the road, and it was all Halifax's own. In 1917 Halifax harbor fell victim to the greatest conflagration of the Great War. I don't know if it's just me, but polling people I know, it sounds like nobody else knew about the largest man made explosion before Hiroshima, either.
Halifax is an attractive, purposeful, working town. With a population just under a million, it hosts 200,000 cruise ship passengers a year and some 40 percent of Canada's defense assets. Nova Scotia is the world's largest exporter of lobster and Christmas trees.
It doesn't look at all like a place afflicted. Perched on two rocky shores, Halifax and it's sister city Dartmouth, across the water, enjoy refuge from Atlantic storms, set back from the ocean. Still further back, the Bedford Basin affords a strategic ice-free port, invaluable in wartime.
With one of the world's deepest and most protected harbors, Halifax always prospered in wartime, from the Napoleanic wars and the War of 1812, and continuing to the onset of World War One, providing men and materiel for various war efforts.
Canada entered the Great War in 1914 as a colony, when Britain declared war on Germany. Canadians were just about unanimous in support. Halifax boomed, and harbor traffic ultimately rose to seventeen million tons a year, from just two.
By 1917, businesses were bursting. Industry struggled to keep up with demand. A quarter of the men in Halifax were serving overseas.
Foreshadowing the U.S. experience in World War Two, women took jobs formerly thought of as men's work. Ultimately, women's suffrage came to Canada in 1918, two years ahead of the United States.
The U.S. held to a position of neutrality. But after a German declaration of U-boat warfare against Atlantic supply lanes and the sinking of both merchant and passenger ships with Americans onboard, the U.S joined the Great War in April 1917.
The first regular, systematic convoy of war material from Canada left Sydney, Nova Scotia's easternmost harbor, on June 24th, 1917. By October as many as 36 supply ships were assembled for each convoy.
The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax describes a typical convoy as five ships abreast with two corvettes out front and one on each flank.
Typically, freighters with deck cargo of tanks, trucks and tankers, other freighters with aircraft, and maybe a heavy lift ship with locomotives sailed alongside rescue ships and an oiler with fuel for the corvettes. A destroyer carrying the escort force commander brought up the rear.
Convoy traffic moved to Halifax from Sydney during winter, owing to the back bay, the ice-free Bedford Basin. The basin, with a surface area of just six and a half square miles, was jammed with ships.
By winter 1917 a jittery uncertainty had prevailed across the twin cities for months. The Canadians dragged submarine nets across the harbor each night to prevent German U-boats from sneaking in.
Thursday, December 6th, 1917: The SS Imo, an empty Norwegian relief ship en route from Rotterdam and bound for New York to load civilian relief supplies for Belgium, was keen to get a move on at first light.
Coal for its boilers had arrived too late the day before, trapping it in the Bedford Basin, behind the submarine nets, overnight. The Imo had to bide its time another night. It was later than ever.
The same submarine nets prevented the French ship Mont Blanc, arriving from New York laden with war supplies, from sailing into the harbor to join up with a convoy. It spent the night outside the nets.
There was a time, just four years before, when a munitions ship like the Mont Blanc wouldn't have been allowed into the back bay. But with the outbreak of the war, control of the harbor transferred to the British Admiralty, which allowed munitions ships in.
The Mont Blanc carried a formidable and fearsome load - 5.8 million pounds of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, and ten tons of guncotton. 35 tons of benzol, a high octane gasoline, were stacked in drums across her decks.
Picric acid was a relic of the time, an explosive chemical compound used in artillery shells by the Allies. It was less stable than TNT, which largely replaced it for war applications between the World Wars.
So worried was the New York port authority that when loading the Mont Blanc, they lined its holds with wood secured by non-sparking copper nails before putting on the cargo, and stevedores who loaded the ship wore cloth over their boots.
Both ships, the Imo leaving the Bedford Basin and the Mont Blanc coming in, were intent on making time, and Halifax became ground zero in its own unique horror.
Riding high in the water, the empty and impatient Imo was ready to move. Captain Haakan From, a Norwegian, having sailed twice through Halifax before, must have felt familiar with the harbor. He may have been driving the Imo too fast.
The Narrows is the smallest space between Bedford Basin, the protected back bay, and the twin cities of Halifax and Dartmouth. It's scarcely two thousand feet wide, and it's precisely where the Imo and Mont Blanc collided.
Benzol spilled from the drums onto the deck of the Mont Blanc. Fires broke out. The smoke was so thick, the crew couldn't tell if it was the benzol or the picric acid that was burning, but everyone knew it didn't matter.
All too aware of what lay ahead, they bailed out frantically for shore, for safety. Townspeople, meanwhile, unaware of the Mont Blanc's deadly cargo, gathered at the waterfront to watch as flames engulfed the ships.
Halifax's fire crews raced to the waterfront, responding with horse drawn wagons. The fire chief arrived aboard the town's only combustion engine fire truck. He and most of the town's fire brigade were incinerated.
When the big blast came, it laid bare two square kilometers. The Mont Blanc became the most potent bomb exploded until Hiroshima. The windows in most of Halifax's houses were blown out or, more accurately, into their inhabitants faces.
The Mont Blanc exploded into the air and rained fire back down on the town. It's big gun landed two kilometers away. Rocks sucked up from the sea floor fell onto the town, with deadly shrapnel.
The blast was so terrific that a tusnami took the water away and back in across the opposite, Dartmouth, shore, where a settlement of native Micmac indians was entirely washed away.
The town burned. Heating in Halifax homes in those days came predominately from coal and wood stoves, most of which were in full use in winter. The heaters overturned in the blast, setting further fires.
At nightfall a blizzard began, the worst in years, with temperatures plunging to 10 to 15 degrees fahrenheit. People who survived the blast died in place, trapped, frozen in the blizzard.
Halifax was in shock. Rumors swept it. Word spread that the naval artillery stores at the Wellington barracks would explode (they didn't). Dazed and traumatized victims, many with their clothes and even skin burned right off of them, fled like zombies.
Halifax was being bombed by the Germans. Or maybe it was a naval bombardment. Some thought Halifax's unique hell came from German zeppelins.
Some people were lucky, if only by comparison. People told of being lifted up and deposited up to a mile from where they lived. In the end, as many as 9,000 people lost their homes, some 6,000 were injured, and 2000 were dead.


It's as much about the presentation as the taste of the dishes we selected at Bistro Luneta in San Mateo. For starters we ordered the shrimp ukoy which I thought was well prepared. It was served crisp and brown and not a minute longer in the pan.
The tortang talong or grilled eggplant omelette was perhaps the most visually appealing dish and as delicious as it looks above. The eggplant (the restaurant served Japanese eggplants) is topped off with sautéed ground pork like an open face sandwich. It's important that the eggplant is grilled long enough else it's too chewy which is why it may take longer to prepare it.
We also had fish escabeche with teriyaki sauce. This is more appetizing to the American palate. I prefer the Pilipino version with some vinegar and soy sauce. On the whole, we enjoyed our dinner at Bistro Luneta amidst a simple zen background and convenient parking at the back of the restaurant.
Let's Shop Around the World!


Chronic respiratory symptoms are common among children living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). We investigated the radiological features of chronic lung disease in children aged 6–16 years receiving antiretroviral therapy for ≥6 months in Harare, Zimbabwe.
Consecutive participants from a HIV clinic underwent clinical assessment and chest radiography. Participants with an abnormal chest radiograph (assessed by a clinician) and/or those meeting a clinical case definition for chronic lung disease underwent high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT). Radiological studies were scored independently and blindly by 2 thoracic radiologists. Relationships between radiological abnormalities and lung function were examined.
Among 193 participants (46% female; median age, 11.2 years; interquartile range, 9.0–12.8 years), the median CD4 cell count was 720/µL (473–947/µL), and 79% had a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) load of <400 copies/mL. The most common chest radiographic finding was ring/tramline opacities (55 of 193 participants; 29%). HRCT scans were evaluated in 84 participants (69%); decreased attenuation (present in 43%) was the dominant abnormality seen. The extent of decreased attenuation was strongly correlated with both the severity and extent of bronchiectasis (rs = 0.68 and P < .001 for both). The extent of decreased attenuation was also negatively correlated with forced expiratory volume in first second of expiration (rs = –0.52), forced vital capacity (rs = –0.42), and forced expiratory flow, midexpiratory phase (rs = –0.42) (P < .001 for all).
The HRCT findings strongly suggest that obliterative bronchiolitis may be the major cause of chronic lung disease in our cohort. Further studies to understand the pathogenesis and natural history are urgently needed.


Senior Officer: Analysis of Sunday 13/12/15 by R.M Lamb esq.
Today I think the anti-Christ is a living human person on earth with supporters in the seen and unseen worlds. He keeps us in doubt as to his true identity and vocation unlike John the Baptist in his teaching and the preaching of Jesus Christ Himself. Who leave no doubt about their positions and careers. The anti-Christ now living will live and die like R.M Lamb and all men. This anti-Christ is not one of my wider or closer family. I also have supports in the seen world and unseen as senior officer in Christs' Army. How I will come to 'face' this anti-Christ is not yet clear - nor is it apparent how this anti-Christ will challenge my authority as Senior Officer in Christs' army. The final resolution, in its manner, of this challenge is also not clear. But that challenge will most certainly be repulsed I have no doubt. I have now discerned my successor as Senior Officer da la plus haute classe. That was done out of caution and proper rule of conduct. My successor will decide his role which may be less combative than mine. His essence will be charity and humility as uttered by the previous Senior Officer Colonel Ralph May to R.M Lamb in June 2012. He died 3/9/2012 in Warwick Bridge, Cumbria. My hallmark since Ralph's death has been battle won after battle won as Senior Officer de la plus haute classe in Christ's earthly army. I consider my holding of this office will not go on after the year end of my 70th birthday which begins and happens on 30th March 2022. My campaigning will be done by the end of that 70th anniversary year. In all modesty. I am mortal and I will make way for my heirs and the Successor to the Senior Officer rank either in that 2022 year or earlier. I cannot decide the matter - it is out of my hands. I will expose, defeat and condemn this anti-Christ by virtue of my Senior Officer rank in Christs Army on earth. As a mere unknown and, unread by others, catholic layman, I could not have defeated this anti-Christ. My power to do so derives from the Senior Officer rank and the grace consequently channelled to me by Christ. My 23/6/2013 essay lays out my stall and plan of action with my tactics. The unmasking of the anti-Christ is "foretold" in that Catholic Church essay if truth be told. The "danger" was present then and still is now, such is the task given to me. The anti-Christ must be made to succumb or I sense he will do great harm. My brief is very difficult but I have been chosen and I will preserve to the very end- success or failure. I have the power derived from Christ as his officer and the groundswell of public support for my Death Sentence Campaign. As I have written Christ also supports this campaign to restore the Death penalty (discretionary) for murder in England and Wales. His support is my talisman and without his help I would have no chance. All things are possible with Him but not the impossible. He is my Superior Officer of the utmost calibre and quality - He is divine. With Him I cannot fail. I firmly believe that. I will go on until I prevail over this anti-Christ and his party.
He is pure evil spirit and moves invisibly between the seen and unseen - backwards and forwards. I denounce the devil and all his works and pomp and empty promises. The devil. prompts the anti-Christ to preach publicly and openly against Christ Himself. And His grande Armee. This preaching is in the form of public life. Thus as Senior earthly officer in Christs' Armee I will rebut and repudiate this anti-Christ's preaching. This will be my firm stand in all my essays on my website mounted since 12/11/15 approx. I will work by handwritten letters and papers to utter my denials and refutations of these falsehoods of this anti-Christ. The devil does exist in my estimation. Michael the Archangel expelled this Lucifer and all his entourage from heaven as we are taught. My middle name is Michael and my leader is Sir Michael Havers QC en ciel of my advocacy of this death Sentence cause. I am Michael in my soul and Richard by character. As a Christian I have taken the name Damien for whom I am a soldier of Christ. (the Saint of Lepers). He lived on a leper colony in mid-19th Century and died there of leprosy.


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About The Open Mind
LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST EXCLUSIVES
Trans Discourse
Jill Soloway, creator of the Amazon original series Transparent, talks about gender identity.
READ FULL TRANSCRIPT
HEFFNER: I'm Alexander Heffner, your host on The Open Mind. Fascinated, enthralled, and amazed. These were just three of the emotions running through my bones when binge-watching Jill Soloway's groundbreaking Amazon Prime series Transparent. And days and months later reflecting on her momentous Golden Globe-winning work.
The show stars Jeffrey Tambor as a 70 year old father who comes out to his three adult children as a transgender woman and transitions gender assignment from male to female, from Mort to Maura over ten episodes. "Such precision about language, politics, and etiquette is ever-present in the cultural milieu that Soloway entered when creating the show," The New York Times wrote about our guest's series. Soloway told NPR I think of my work as this kind of holy trinity … funny, dirty, sad. It's really easy to be funny, you get a lot of funny people in a room, the show is funny. It's really easy to do sad, you just put some sad music on and write dramatically and everybody can do that. It's really hard to get dirty right.
Now she's developing a female MTV comedy about two women who are hit by lightning after meeting at a camp ten years earlier and who bond over enthusiasm for feminism. And I want to thank Jill so much for being on The Open Mind today.
SOLOWAY: Great to be here.
HEFFNER: What is contemporary feminism according to Jill Soloway?
SOLOWAY: I feel like feminism has been at a bit of a, of a dead end for the past I don't know, five or ten years where uh, feminists have been fighting about things like whether or not Emma Watson is a feminist, whether or not Beyoncé is a feminist. There were the sort of second and third wave feminists and I guess the first wave feminists who um, you know, the sex positive thing ended up I think causing some real trouble for feminism.
When I came up, it in, uh, women's studies, it was all anti-porn and then now the sort of sex-positive feminists came to the forefront and uh, the question I think of um, these huge questions, huge questions about, about porn, about consent, about beauty standards, about gender presentation, um, about gender, uh, trans, transwomen and lesbians sort of are, are in a, or have been in a bit of a standstill. Um, so I think that feminism is just about to break open into a place where there can be a lot of inclusivity and a lot of um, conversation and hopefully a lot of excitement, and things seem like they're changing right now.
HEFFNER: And for our viewers on PBS who have not yet downloaded and streamed Transparent on Amazon Prime, tell us a bit about the history here, it's personal, it's intimate.
SOLOWAY: Um, well I've been a TV writer for I don't know, maybe 10 or 15 years, if not more, and was kind of uh, uh, always trying to figure out what that show was gonna be for me, what was gonna be the moment where I created, um, something that was gonna break through. I always felt, I would, I would go into meetings and pitch ideas and say to TV executives I want to write something that nobody's ever written before. Um, I want to create television that's gonna change the world, and I didn't really know, you know, what I was talking about when I said that, I didn't have anything in mind, I just sort of was speaking that way generally. And then, in my own life, my parent came out as transgender maybe 3 or 4 years ago now, and then they did and I, I realized that uh, there was a whole huge part of my legacy that I was only beginning to understand. I also realized that um, that this was gonna become my cultural contribution.
HEFFNER: What has been the most surprising takeaway, Jill, about the reception?
SOLOWAY: Yeah, well I think it was surprising for us and it was also probably surprising for Amazon, because I watched as Amazon went like oh, let's you know, let's dedicate more attention, more money to the marketing and the publicity of this show because people in a wide range of you know, there's a wide range of audiences who are responding so yeah I think for us, we did think there would be like those feminists who are like this is my show or maybe Jewish people or maybe queer people or maybe people with trans people in their lives or gay people in their lives would say this is my show. The show has really caught on as just a sort of a very loveable family show for a really wide audience, and that's been incredibly exciting.
HEFFNER: When you were accepting your award, you were perfectly, no pun intended, transparent in your endorsement of these values that are shifting as you describe, a whole generation towards not only a greater sympathy and consciousness but a, a real respect for community that's, that's struggled, uh, you're, um, completely emphatic in that position and I think back to, to Jodie Foster's comments only a year or a few years earlier, which were kind of cryptic and um, not as long as a half decade later, you're on the stage, um, embodying, uh, advocacy for um, a, a long-maligned, um, group in, in this country. Tell, tell me about that moment because it, it really um, so uh, viscerally hit people.
SOLOWAY: I appreciate that, thank you for saying that. Yeah, I know when we started writing the show and started creating the show, the actors, writers, me personally, we were really thinking about it as art and thinking about it as comedy and drama and trying to get the, you know, story right and shoot great scenes and I was learning how to direct and learning how to really create my own show and it was, it was really about creativity. And of course the process is always gonna be primarily about creativity, primarily about creativity but as we started to put the show out into the world, we recognized how important the show was to the civil rights movement of the trans community right now. Um, that the trans community is really at the beginning of a civil rights movement and it's huge, the number of um, you know, laws that still have not been changed, it's perfectly legal to discriminate against trans people in a majority of the states, you can say, you can say to somebody, no you can't have this apartment because you're trans. Um, no, you're actually getting fired because you're trans. Oh you can't use either restroom actually because you're trans, that's legal in most states, so we are just like at, if the, if the, you know, if the um, if the civil rights movement has you know, is at a hundred, we've probably only gone one percent so far. Uh, first we need to get the basic human rights in order. Um, and so yeah, in preparing for the possibility that I might win at the Golden Globes, that the show might win, I definitely like sort of took off the table the notion that I would approach the stage and go ah, oh my God, um, okay, oh phew, what am I gonna say? Like I knew that um…
HEFFNER: No you freed us from that too. [LAUGHS]
SOLOWAY: Well that's a, that's a luxury I think and I recognize that uh, if we had the, a moment where we were gonna have the ears and eyes of potentially the entire globe, you know, with an international audience, then I wanted to use those 30 seconds and they were very clear, you know, 30 seconds. I wanted to make sure that I use those, those 30 seconds to potentially affect the movement and to um, help as many trans people be humanized in as, as many places in the world. So yeah I, I worked hard to make sure that um, I, if we won I would be able to speak clearly and speak open-heartedly about love and about compassion and connection with the trans community.
HEFFNER: How moving. Jill, does that make you an artistic activist or an activist artist, how do you think of yourself?
SOLOWAY: Yeah, I think of myself as an artist and I think um, artists are activists, a lot of times when things change in the world of politics, they happen culturally first, they happen with the artists first. Arts and culture can change people and then the people can make demands for the government, um, make demands, make political demands based on how they're, they've um, you know, transformed. So um, yeah I think you know, it was really cool to hear Obama say the word transgender for the first time in his uh, in his speech a few weeks ago and I had people Facebooking me and saying it's because of your show, you know, but I think that yeah, when you, when you get to know trans folk, um, and you know, let's say uh, you know, Ian Harvie, the character who plays um, Ali's boyfriend Dale, you know, in episode 7, and he's a transman and uh, you know, you watch, besides, besides Maura, all the other trans people, you know, something as simple as, as caring for a person like that and saying listen if they go to the mall, they have to run home to go to the bathroom, they're not safe anywhere. Uh, it's really just an odd, [LAUGHS] odd thing that our country still hasn't quite figured out how to do, so um…
HEFFNER: So are we embarking on the end of a stigma, Jill?
SOLOWAY: Yeah, it's gonna take some time, I mean um, I'm learning so much about gender and gendered language and gendered spaces and, and uh, you know, there are, there is a lot of use for gendered spaces, people use the idea of gender to break down the feeling of chaos in the world, you know? I notice gender all the time now so you know, I'll be waiting to get on an elevator and notice that you know, somebody, ladies first, you know, it's like the chaos of 10 people standing in front of an elevator and figuring out you know, how do we get on? Well one thing that people do is they let ladies go first. And uh, what's a lady? Is that somebody who's, you know, born female, who's dressed beautifully, is it somebody who's female, female assigned at birth, somebody who is presenting female or presenting fem, is it, you know, it's, it's so odd when you start to notice the ways that gender offers people, um, tools for reducing chaos. Um, but um, the fact that people gender other people and need to, to gender other people seems odder and odder and odder to me everywhere I go, you know? I notice that waiters really like to gender people. Sometimes I'll be at, I'll be at a restaurant with friends of mine who are genderqueer who don't necessarily, you know, who may be, you know, female but who may look really butch and get really offended when waiters come to the table and go ladies, you know, has anybody brought you a menu? Ladies, would you like, even though they're female they hate being called ladies. Um, so uh, yeah, I'm not necessarily trying to create a gender revolution but I am, I am excited to be part of something that causes people to question their assumptions about gender.
HEFFNER: Like you said, it was a family story, um, how, how is that going to evolve further in, in what you're currently working on with season two?
SOLOWAY: Yeah, well um, we're just starting to get into it, we're just trying to figure out what exactly the family wants for season two, um, you know, they all sort of connect to each other and they all trigger each other. In season one, we found ourselves, uh, talking about this thing we called the ring of light. It's uh, this idea that Maura and Shelly and Sarah and Josh and Ali were all connected to this ring of light that they didn't really understand but it was their legacy, it was their family, it was their connection, it was their Pfefferman-ness, it was the fact that they all grew up in the same home but they didn't really know what else. They didn't know how to take care of each other, they, they didn't know how to really be honest with each other, um, so in season two they're really kind of learning. In season one we asked a question that we like to call would you still love me if, dot dot dot. And in season two we're asking the question would you still love me if I'm happy? So all the characters are going to be taking a step towards their own personal happiness and having to deal with the fallout of how that affects the rest of the people in their family.
HEFFNER: One of the motifs seems to be nature versus nurture in some sense. The, one of the questions in our conversations about homosexuality for example, are you born gay?
SOLOWAY: Mm hm.
HEFFNER: And I don't, your, your answer is complex because it shows that the circumstances under which someone comes out, uh, as an environmental factor, can very much influence norms within a household.
SOLOWAY: Mm hm. I think in particular when you talk about you know, whether or not somebody is born gay or is gay or what their nature is, when you think about Sarah who didn't identify as a lesbian, uh, but who identified as a straight woman but who experimented with her uh, sexuality in college so um, you know, there's, there's the moment before uh, Maura comes out where Sarah is um, having uh, this sort of dalliance with, with her ex, Tammy, um, and then as soon as uh, Maura comes out, Sarah really conflates and confuses Maura as coming out with her own. Uh, Sarah then decides very, very quickly oh you know, my parent is trans and I am a lesbian. Um, she sort of grafts her parents' queer identify onto her own life as a way to I don't know, maybe not experience the feelings of um, integrating her parents' transness or possibly to finally grab onto something that she suspected could be her legacy but that she maybe didn't really want to um, face. Maybe it allows her to face herself. But um, yeah, that's very common when people come out in families, everybody starts to come out, it's not necessarily people come out as trans, people can come out as anything, um, uh, or even go into recovery, some people you know, go back in rather than come out, they say I'm, I'm not gonna drink anymore or I'm not gonna gamble anymore and when, and a family is a system and so when one person makes a big change, uh, it automatically sets off this domino effect on everybody else in the family.
HEFFNER: So it's nature but nurture contributes?
JUMP?
SOLOWAY: I think the best hope would be a sort of toppling of the global patriarchy. It's probably more important for there to be some sort of you know, gender reparations first for the next hundred years before…
HEFFNER: [LAUGHS] Explain that.
SOLOWAY: Well, there are so many women who don't have any access to a lot of the things that men have access to, so that's the first thing is that there's an imbalance between um, the masculine and the feminine in our society, so uh, trans-ness is one thing and trasnmisogyny is something else entirely. Um, there's a book called Whipping Girl by Julia Serrano who really explains how transmisogyny and misogyny are connected. Uh, when women transition and become male, they actually have a, don't have a ton of trouble, um, because they're going and grabbing that male privilege…
HEFFNER: Mm hm.
SOLOWAY: Um, and they, and that access to male privilege kind of gets them applauded by society, like oh look, now you're a man, we're happy for you. However when men transition and become women, they really, really have a hard time. Uh, transwomen are victims of violence at a rate, you know, of ten times the regular population, the cis population. Transwomen of color are murdered and like, you know, many have already been murdered this year, um, there is something about uh, the transfeminine population that really raises the ire of people and makes them the victim of violence much more so than just their transness. So um, that's huge, that's a really big deal in terms of you know, what this has to do with feminism and what that has, this has to do with uh, the feminine being respected in our culture. I, I, I look at things like um, so, so to me when I read Whipping Girl and I see how much more trouble transwomen have than transmen, how, how much hatred there is towards transwomen, um, it's, Julia Serrano says, she says this idea that's so interesting to me which is people really give transwomen a hard time through bullying, through violence because there's this underlying expectation that anybody who would choose to be a woman must be crazy. And so, people look at transwomen with sort of subconscious judgment, um, and that's really a hatred of the feminine, that's a sort of, that's an ingrained misogyny. Um, so, to me when I look at what the feminist movement is asking for, particularly around um, conserving women's uh, right to their own bodies as well as keeping the earth safe from violence, these are, women's relationship with their bodies and the way that we're policed by the government, uh, the way that the earth is policed by war, uh, these are all about this planet being out of balance towards the masculine. So uh, first when I talk about the gender reparations, first we need like a few, a hundred thousand years of the feminine being in power and uh, you know, some sort of matriarchy coming into position to try and you know, do something about all the murder all over the planet. And then after that, a gender-neutral world.
HEFFNER: Hm.
SOLOWAY: [LAUGHS]
HEFFNER: Well that's a healthy blueprint, aspirational certainly. As we inch closer towards that, um, reparations being maybe a little unrealistic, right, no?
SOLOWAY: I can, I can dream.
HEFFNER: You can dream, no…
SOLOWAY: Female directors, female writers, you know, women politicians.
HEFFNER: No of course, is that, is that though enough of a reparation, would a reparation be in effect the United States Senate not being dominated by old white men?
SOLOWAY: I mean you know, you, you look at something like President's Day and I recognize what, you know, what it looked like for me to be a little girl looking around at the pictures of all these white men as presidents and, and all the little girls were told you know, just by looking at who the presidents are that uh, you know, that you can't uh, you can't lead this country, you know…
HEFFNER: You think still though? I mean especially given,
SOLOWAY: Well so we've got, we've had one African-American president and so we might, we might have Hillary but uh,
HEFFNER: [LAUGHS] But I mean in terms of who's in the classroom? And what that curriculum is dictating? And if they're going to assign Transparent, I hope it might not be, you know …
SOLOWAY: I mean yeah, that's great that things are changing, I mean Shonda Rhimes spoke at the Writer's Guild Awards and said that I think Scandal was the first time in 35 years that an African-American woman was the lead in a television show? I think the last one was Julia, about a housekeeper.
HEFFNER: Mm.
SOLOWAY: I mean there's still so much work to be done for women and people of color, queer people and people who are otherized every single day to keep white men feeling comfortable with their privilege. I mean giving up privilege is, is really hard. And you know, white cismales, and cis is the opposite of trans, white cismales have had power for hundreds of years, thousands of years, they're not giving it up easily, and all of the people who are otherized so that white people can have power or white cismales can have power, women, people of color, queer people, trans people are slowly but surely asking for the privilege of protagonism. Whether that means as a character on a television show, as a writer, as a director. Uh, running a company, running a, running a country, running a, a state, like you know, this is just starting, this is just starting. We're nowhere near finished. We're only just beginning and uh, I hope I get to live to see some of it, some of it really change.
HEFFNER: Mm hm. I think you are a representative of that, of that change, do you feel that way?
SOLOWAY: I.. uh, you know, It's weird because I think as a kid, you know my mom is here with me, I think, I grew up in the 70s as part of the civil rights movement, my parents were activists and I really believed that the world was going to change, I really believed that the peace movement was going to work and that the war was going to stop and racism was going to end, and I believed in what you know, Dr. King was doing, you know, all of it, we were very excited as children in our neighborhood, believing that … um …revolution was really afoot, and that the world was going to become a better place and it was a real disappointment to get into my teenage years and my adult years and see that you know … things were going to get a lot, lot worse before they got better, so, it's exciting to see that things might be getting better soon.
HEFFNER: Is the civil rights movement in your mind a model because you talk about a trajectory here that is similar to the way that folks began to think about reparations and then moving towards practical means of securing those rights in the political process – um, often senators will say, um, behind closed doors that this has been important in the political story that it was the women, it was the Susan Collins, and Olympia Snow, the presence of – the small presence of women in some of our deliberative body who created a platform where policy would actually be enacted because there wouldn't be this divisive climate.
SOLOWAY: Yeah, well, a lot of people talk about the difference between the masculine and the feminine style of leadership, that the masculine is competition, the feminine is collaboration. Uh, you know, we, I look at all of these like you know, these monitors everywhere and all this war and all this real horrificness, real horrificness happening in our culture and um, it, it does seem like if some of the, some of the you know, male politicians would just you know, give some women just sort of maybe take a year or two off…
SOLOWAY: You know, just like okay we've had our way with the globe, we, let's admit, we have no idea what we're doing. Uh, we don't know how to get from point A to point B, we thought we did. Uh, let's, let's get some help from, from our feminine side.
HEFFNER: So in the ideal world, does, I don't think you're suggesting a patriarchy is replaced by a matriarchy but yes.
SOLOWAY: Why not? Sure, let's start there.
HEFFNER: Okay.
SOLOWAY: Yes, let's start there.
HEFFNER: Well, well there are certainly, and I don't, I don't know if you're cast as fine…
SOLOWAY: It would be fine.
HEFFNER: Well, I think it would be fine too but, but it's, it would be as to your mind a fantastic and, and yet radical uh, departure from, from the present. And, and uh, and so I don't want to call it a lofty vision, because you have shown real demonstrations of, of progress. But in, in the um, in the lingo, in the, in the rhetoric, in the kind of nomenclature behind these conversations, uh, how do you suggest to a woman on a college campus who uh, sees the Rolling Stone publish a story uh, alleging a gang rape, a horrible horrific scenario and in the click of a button, uh, retraction, uh, which uh, totally disregards what they just said, uh, this woman was gang raped, oh no wait she wasn't.
SOLOWAY: I'm glad you asked about this because people don't talk about consent anywhere near enough. To me, to me the question is not whether or not anything happened to that woman and whether or not she lied and whether or not uh, journalistically it should have been reported. I mean the fact that these questions keep coming up, the fact that these questions keep coming up, the fact that uh, over and over and over again this notion that uh, someone who says that they have been raped isn't trusted, this to me is the interesting part.
SOLOWAY: The thing that the gender movement teaches us and the, the mind-blowing stuff that has occurred to me over the past few years is I've gotten to know women who don't have vaginas and men who don't have penises, is you begin to question why, uh, this question of consent is only placed on women.
HEFFNER: Hm, hm.
SOLOWAY: And uh, as long as you're asking, Alexander, Alexander, the peop—the, the vagina is thought of as the receptive organ and thus consent is always in question because the vagina receives. Consent is never in question for the masculine, because the penis enters. And so this is the problem, is not that people are either lying or not, but that nobody's talking about the fact that women are bec—by their very nature questioned as to whether or not they're consenting because of their physiology. So nobody asks this question about transwomen, nobody asks this question about men. Nobody, you know, the article in The New York Times over the weekend about a, about a college student who is 21 who had an affair with a, with an older mentor who is 28 and you know, they had sex for the course, over the course of the year and now she says she was sexually assaulted, she says it was rape, she says she was a sex slave, slave, this question wouldn't happen with a male student and a female professor because of people's physiology.
SOLOWAY: And that to me is the unspoken thing that nobody speaks about, that nobody teaches high school students, nobody talks about with college students which is because of the way women's bodies are built, because of the way men's bodies are built and because of the way intercourse happens, uh, the question of consent is always upon uh, the woman or the feminine, so I wish people would have these kinds of gendered understandings of consent so that uh, these symptoms like this thing you're talking about with Rolling Stone, this is a symptom, this is not, the question is not whether somebody is lying, the question that, the idea that someone could by lying is a, is the problem and, and all of these news stories, all this constant confusion is a symptom of an unhad discussion.
HEFFNER: On that note Jill, I want to thank you for being on The Open Mind. And thanks to you in the audience. I hope you join us again next time for a thoughtful excursion into the world of ideas. Until then, keep an open mind. Please visit the open mind website at Thirteen.org/openmind to view this program online or to access over 1,500 other Open Mind interviews. And do check us out on Twitter and Facebook @OpenMindTV for updates on future programming.
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They are wonderful and helpful and always looking out for me. I will always come back here and openly recommend them to everyone.
Great, honest group of guys. Keep up the good work.
i always get reliable, fast & courteous service.
well i asked for new tires to be put on front of car that was not done. the mechanic should read the instructions on the service tickets.i paid for tire rotation and didn't get it.I will go back to give them a second change,knowingly that they have been in business for many years, maybe this was an off day.
I dropped the car off, they called me when they were done, I picked it up. A "text book" example of good service.
I was very pleased with your service. You called and explained what needed to be fixed and what my options were. Everything was explained clearly. I was not presssured into anything. Thank you for being so pleasant and answering all my questions.
Autocamp went the extra mile to find out what was causing the vibration and noise my car was making. I appreciate their diligence. I also appreciate their honest opinions about the overall condition of my car, dispelling my concerns that it was time to buy another car.
As usually the experience was good. I believe they always do good work. They don't cut corners but, they also don't sell new if they can repair. i.e.: Rodents chewed wires in the engine compartment on my car. They repaired the wires, I was afraid that I would need a new, full wiring harness. I think the Dealer shop would have charged for a new harness.
Amazing service. They are always up front with what your vehicle needs and try to help you as best as they can.
I've been taking our vehicles to AutoCamp for years. I trust their expertise and honesty. They have always given us great service. I would recommend them to anyone.
Always work get done on time!
As usual, the service at AutoCamp excellent.
Take all of our vehicles to AutoCamp and every time we are met with outstanding quality and service Thanks guys!!
Steve & Vince at Autocamp are honest and always helpful. This time they couldn't find the root of my Odyssey's intermittent no start issue..but they checked everything possible to validate that everything was operating properly. Steve explained all steps taken and shows genuine care in working through things. I will definitely be going back.
Work done in a very timely manner. Always greeted with a friendly smile very courteous.
You all did a great job again! Our new tires are quiet and provide a very smooth ride.
Always a good job and a pleasure to do bussiness with!
Wonderful customer service. I wouldn't go anywhere else.
Steve & Vince are the best! Not only a great deal on tires...but a nice visit while waiting for the tires to be put on. Thanks Guys!
I have been coming here for 10 years, and can say I have never experienced anything but the most courteous and professional service. The work is always done in a timely manner, there are never any suprises and I have never had a problem with the work they have done. All work is throughly explained beforehand, and I have never felt pressured to have any work done that I did not feel was necesary.
A friendly place that does great service work.
You always such do a great job on our cars and your advice is very helpful.
Professional, thorough, pleasant. From the mechanics to the owners. If you want great service and a team that wants you driving safe they are the best.
Great prices and great service! I appreciate the respect that they show their customers. Nothing shady about the place - finally a garage I can count on. Keep up the great work!
Auto Camp is awesome Steve and Vince are great. The quality of work is excellent. They always fix my car and Husband's truck in a timely fashion. Got a $15.00 discount which was nice for the holidays. Merry Christmas and thanks!
Prompt, professional service as always! Thanks!
Excellent personal service! Quick and care-free; they will call your contact number if they have any questions for you. They do a fantastic job and have very convenient services.
Excellent service as always! I've been with you guys for about 10 years because of your honesty and customer service!
They are always professional and fun! I love to take my car here as I can count on their professional service and opinion on my car. They are honest here!
Auto Camp always provides great service in a timely manner!


text:
Taylor Swift to her fans: 'I love you so much'
The singer's fans went wild when she showed up in person at a mural she commissioned in Nashville to celebrate the release of her new single, "ME!."
Transcript for Taylor Swift to her fans: 'I love you so much'
Swift exclusive dropping a brand-new music overnight. That song by the way shooting to number one after thousands of her fans rushed in to see it at the gulch in Nashville. You saw the whole thing happen. Back to Paula Faris with more. Hey, Paula. Reporter: Good morning to you from Nashville. You know that song as you just mentioned already topping the charts. I may or may not have listened to it 15 times. It's catchy but dropping hints to her fans about her work and her location. Yesterday they found her here in Nashville and, wow, did she ever reward them. I'm the only one of me I'm the only one of me that's the fun of me Reporter: Taylor Swift delighting fans with the release of "Me" sending them into a complete frenzy online. Me Reporter: Telling our own robin Roberts that "Me" is for everyone looking for a pick-me-up. "Me" is a song about embracing your individuality and celebrating it and owning it and, you know, I think that with a pop song we have the ability to get a melody stuck in people's heads and I want it to be one that makes them feel better about themselves. Who have helped you feel better about yourself over time. The fans are amazing. I cannot believe how dedicated they are. How thoughtful. I can't believe how much they care so it makes it more fun for me to create music to create music videos knowing that they'll care about little Easter eggs or clues or hints. You have no idea how much fun that is to make stuff for people who care so much. Reporter: Swift surprising hundreds of lucky fans in person yesterday. Showing up to a mural that she commissioned in Nashville after posting these Instagram stories right before her appearance. It's kind of a morphing filter. Reporter: What happened was complete mayhem. Fans screaming, lining up for selfies. And autographs. This is the gulch, by the way. If you want to stop by this mural, it's pretty great. Thank you so much for being with us. Reporter: For the past several weeks it's all been leading to this, photo after photo of dreamy pastel hues and quirky details. Taylor even gracing the cover of "Time's" 100 most influential people in the same color palette and showing up in brand in this flowy dress to the "Time" party. You're amazing to figure it out. No one knew we were coming. No one knew it was part of the campaign so you figured out the you're the best. I love you so much. Reporter: If you look closely, you'll see 13 hearts gracing the mural. That's a nod to her favorite number. Cats, a reference to her beloved Olivia and Meredith popping up in a couple of spots and many of the images and pastel colors showing up on her Instagram feed including the giant butterfly were on display coming to life in the newly released "Me" video. Me ooh Reporter: It sms all that mystery led to a happy ending for them. The pop princess' adoring fans. And I promise nobody's gonna love you like me Reporter: I love what she told robin. It's about embracing your individuality and celebrating it and owning it and it really does make you feel better about yourself, this song, I can't help myself, Cecilia, I find myself dancing a little bit. It's catchy. I think it might be song of the summer material but got to give a little credit to Taylor Swift. She spent so much time with her fangs yesterday. Again, they love her and she loves them right back. It's a really beautiful She is amazing and, Paula, I got to say we saw you dancing while the package was on because you're on a giant monitor. Is that what I was doing? Yeah, yeah. You got that action on Apparently you had the Beyonce thing with the wind in your hair. It's not windy. I actually have fans, part of my contract. Thank you, Paula. Over to rob.
Taylor Swift drops anticipated new single, 'ME!'
Plus, the singer takes "GMA" on a tour of her beloved Nashville.
Taylor Swift surprises fans in front of mysterious Nashville mural
The singer has been teasing a big reveal on social media this Friday, April 26.
Now Playing: Taylor Swift drops anticipated new single, 'ME!'
Now Playing: Taylor Swift surprises fans in front of mysterious Nashville mural
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ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI - After being one of the engine supporting the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) from its inception in 1998, and being very vocal and a strong advocate in their recent 2015 landslide victory, times have changed.
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- Newly appointed Deputy Governor Mr David D. Archer said he was "surprised" with his appointment as Deputy Governor (DG) last month.
Julian Willock calls for a National Security Advisor to be appointed!
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- Known throughout the Virgin Islands for being the voice of the voiceless and not afraid to take on hard issues and bring forward solutions, Mr Julian Willock has yet again brought forward another solution and suggestion, this time to address crime.
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- Our roving cameras caught up with popular and controversial radio personality Mr Paul A. Peart aka 'Gadiethz', who is back in the Territory.
ROAD TOWN, Tortola, VI- He has been very vocal on many issues, including political matters, affecting the Virgin Islands and most naturally the question that came to many is whether former Chairman of the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA) Board, lead pastor at the New Life Baptist Church in Duff's Bottom and Businessman, Bishop John I. Cline would be seeking office at the general elections constitutionally due in the Virgin Islands in 2019.


Background: Linear regression of efficiency or LRE introduced a new paradigm for conducting absolute quantification, which does not require standard curves, can generate absolute accuracies of ±25% and has single molecule sensitivity. Derived from adapting the classic Boltzmann sigmoidal function to PCR, target quantity is calculated directly from the fluorescence readings within the central region of an amplification profile, generating 4–8 determinations from each amplification reaction.
Findings: Based on generating a linear representation of PCR amplification, the highly visual nature of LRE analysis is illustrated by varying reaction volume and amplification efficiency, which also demonstrates how LRE can be used to model PCR. Examining the dynamic range of LRE further demonstrates that quantitative accuracy can be maintained down to a single target molecule, and that target quantification below ten molecules conforms to that predicted by Poisson distribution. Essential to the universality of optical calibration, the fluorescence intensity generated by SYBR Green I (FU/bp) is shown to be independent of GC content and amplicon size, further verifying that absolute scale can be established using a single quantitative standard. Two high-performance lambda amplicons are also introduced that in addition to producing highly precise optical calibrations, can be used as benchmarks for performance testing. The utility of limiting dilution assay for conducting platform-independent absolute quantification is also discussed, along with the utility of defining assay performance in terms of absolute accuracy.
Conclusions: Founded on the ability to exploit lambda gDNA as a universal quantitative standard, LRE provides the ability to conduct absolute quantification using few resources beyond those needed for sample preparation and amplification. Combined with the quantitative and quality control capabilities of LRE, this kinetic-based approach has the potential to fundamentally transform how real-time qPCR is conducted.


text:
history life and society
From The Lost, 2:00 pm on 23 October 2017
The Lost - Launches Friday November 3.
Every year, thousands of New Zealanders go missing. On average about one every hour.
Most are found quickly. But some are never seen again. They are the lost.
RNZ's new five-part podcast, The Lost, digs into some of those missing persons cases and talks to the families about their quest for answers and the hole left by those who have disappeared.
Kirsa Jensen went missing near Napier in 1983. Robyn Jensen (mother) pictured, at home 2017 Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Where are they? And will they ever be found? You can listen to a preview for The Lost here:
"There are more questions than answers. And there continues to be more questions than answers." duration 1′ :29″
"There are more questions than answers. And there continues to be more questions than answers."
Subscribe to The Lost for free on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
The first episode, available tomorrow at 7am, is on Kirsa Jensen, a 14-year-old girl who went missing while riding her horse along a Napier beach in 1983.
Her story gripped the country for weeks as New Zealanders wrestled with how a young girl could go missing in broad daylight. Kirsa and her horse Commodore became household names, but the police are still searching. Despite the years, her mother, Robyn, is still desperate to find her.
She says with time, it's become harder to cope with her loss.
"One day I may be dead and she may not be found," she says.
"To be able to locate her and put her in a decent place, to rest forever, is vitally important to me."
And next week, The Lost explores the case of Judy Yorke, a mother-of-two who was last seen at an orchard party in Matapihi in 1992.
Someone must know where they are. Is that someone you?
The Lost is out Friday. Subscribe to the weekly podcast here, on the RNZ app, on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.
<iframe src="https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/remote-player?id=2018618968" width="100%" frameborder="0" height="62px"></iframe>
Recent stories from The Lost
RNZ and Stuff present Gone Fishing
The Lost: Francesca Martin
The Lost: Jefferie Hill
Jim Donnelly - The answer lies in the mill
The Lost: Jim Donnelly
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Retrieves the number of the table with a specified table name.
The name of the table whose number is to be retrieved.
logWr "TableNo failed. It didn't return a long"
This function is only needed by applications that do not support a table number. It is used to convert a name into a number so that it can be used by the OpenTable function.
If TableName does not exist, 0 is returned.


Image Title: ELITE 1413 Unique Oval Cloud Style Tempered Glass Bathroom Vessel Pertaining To Sinks Designs 18. Filename: elite-1413-unique-oval-cloud-style-tempered-glass-bathroom-vessel-pertaining-to-sinks-designs-18.jpg. Image Dimension: 1600 x 1600 pixels. Images Format: jpg/jpeg. Publisher/Author: Jay Wunsch. Uploaded Date: Wednesday - May 09th. 2018 23:07:25 PM. Category: Architecture. Image Source: homestyler.com.
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This last week I had the pleasure of attending WordCamp Ann Arbor and organizing the WordCamp WarmUp event. I spent Thursday through Sunday in Ann Arbor and the time flew by quicker then I thought was possible.
Thursday started with an airport run to pick up some iThemes folks then we were off to WordCamp WarmUp that evening. My Friday included two business panels and one SEO lunch. The speaker dinner was that evening, but I was a little too pooped to attend. Saturday continued with me presenting on WordPress SEO and then I held another SEO lunch for 25 people. Sunday rounded out WordCamp with a trip back to the airport to drop off some WordPress friends.
Did I mention it was a busy weekend?
Our little WordCamp Ann Arbor event had grown from a small group to well over 300 attendees in just a few years. To say I'm proud of the organizing team would be an understatement. They not only scaled the event, they did so without road bumps or issues.
While my part was much smaller, I was able to organize and execute the WordCamp WarmUp event.
To recap, WordCamp WarmUp took place before the actual WordCamp started and it was designed to make introductions to new attendees or those who felt they were a bit introverted. We set registration at 50, but surpassed that amount and I had to close registration a few days before the event.
Not only did most WarmUp guests arrive right on time, we had a full room of WarmUp attendees and even had a few unexpected friends show up.
In preparation for the event I had prepared a list of interesting things about our WordCamp attendees. Some of them were just great.
I was an extra on Married With Children.
I wrote Bible study aid on the entire Bible.
I was an award-winning baby.
My tiny company was just included in the GHP Magazine 2016 International Life Sciences Awards and it's probably mainly due to my WordPress blog.
I coded an entire NES game (6502 ASM) in two weeks when I was in high school.
I'm a non-licensed lawyer managing a legal blog from home (often in my pajamas).
I once spent two months in almost-Siberia living on a food budget of $12/wk, and worked my way out by doing English-language voice recordings for a technology company who wanted to put their tutorial videos on YouTube.
I have a milk cow.
My upcycling business saves everyday items from the trash and ultimately the landfill by recreating, reinventing, and repurposing these pieces into art and useful household items.
This above list demonstrates something I've long known – we have super cool people within the WordPress community.
Next I created a list of people with their talents and another list of people and their interests. This was to allow attends to self select people to talk to based on interest level and experience. I'm not sure how many people used my lists, but I will say most people took packets with them when they left hte event.
I also provided some conversation starters for WordCamp and I presented the WarmUp attendees with a challenge to meet 20 people over the course of the weekend. I greeted everyone who arrived, so that left them with just 19 more people to meet.
I sent out a quick poll yesterday and I received 15 responses. While it isn't everyone who attended, it does provide some good insight on what attendees thought of the event.
In actuality, I really don't care how many people an individual met. My goal was to get them to meet more then they would without WarmUp and to encourage them to get to know others if their personalities allowed. I have met dear friends from WordCamps and I wanted them to have the same opportunity.
Would you recommend we schedule another WordCamp WarmUp next year?
Would you recommend other WordCamps hold similar events?
If we hosted a WordCamp WarmUp next year, would you want to attend?
Recognizing a few people made it easier to talk to people at the event for me and I found myself meeting just more and more people because of it. It did actually warm it up for me.
The challenge of meeting 20 new people and the sheet of information that was provided made the event fun! It was great to put a face to the internet personality and to meet so many new people.
I enjoyed being able to interact with the people I met over the weekend. Felt even more connected to the WP community.
It was nice to see familiar faces the next day. I could get a feel for what other types of people were attending and for what reasons. I also learned about some local meet-ups that happen.
I was able to connect with other WordCamp goers, which made the following days more exciting. It helped me orient myself mentally to think ahead about what I wanted to learn and what I wanted to get out of the event as a whole.
I met some people! So then there were familiar faces at the actual WordCamp.
As Rebecca knows, I'm fairly outgoing and with that, my goal was to meet new people at the event, thus allowing them to feel connected and see a friendly face at the WordCamp itself. I'd like to think that it worked.
The event was a great ice breaker to WordCamp.
It helped me get better acquainted with organizers and attendees of the event beforehand, and made me feel more connected throughout the weekend.
Having that head-start of making some new friends before the conference started made it easier the next day, I saw lots of familiar faces already.
While we didn't hear from everyone who attended, I'm very happy with the feedback we did receive. And it gave me a few lessons learned to take forward with us next year.
For those of you who came to WordCamp WarmUp, I appreciate your time and I hope you enjoyed the event. I would have liked to have spent more time getting to know you, but with 50 people present, it wasn't possible.
If you haven't yet attended a WordCamp, please consider it. They can be wonderful experiences for both building your knowledge base and for cultivating some great new relationships. You can visit WordCamp Central to find an event near you.
Here's a snap shot of our event. You'll see WordCamps and their associated events can be lots of fun.
I had planned on taking more pictures, but I stopped myself. People were engaged in conversation and I really didn't want to interrupt that flow of discussion.
This sounds like such a great idea! I hope it catches on with more WordCamps. Already somewhat stressing about all the people that are going to be at WCUS and hoping I don't chicken out and just stay home.


Amazon, quite simply, is an American e-commerce company that has erupted onto the global market in recent years, with its share price rocketing and customer base booming. Its founder Jeff Bezos has ensured that his brainchild has continued to be relevant in an ever changing market, and, as of today, Amazon not only survives, but thrives. Although other companies such as Alibaba have seen a rapidly depreciating share price, Amazon makes sure that its profits continue to soar and that it takes up an ever increasing market share, in a market that should be positively brimming with competition and fresh faces. It does this through a simple but ingenious business model, which has ensured itself a steadily growing base of regular users, who are willing to spend disposable income on items sold and marketed by Amazon.
Bezos, and indeed, Amazon, understand that they will not gain a substantial market share through a one-dimensional system of simply marketing items made by themselves and no one else. As such, they have added more depth to their business model and offered themselves as a medium for smaller sellers to sell their goods, with Amazon taking a cut of the profits. This ensures that Amazon gets revenue both from selling its own products and from taking small portions from small transactions. They have also entered themselves into the "used product" market, with some used products being more plentiful than brand new ones. Used products are almost always cheaper than brand new ones, and consequently Amazon has attracted the frugal users as well as the more lavish type. The three pronged system which has been described here makes sure that, if one part of their business fails for whatever reason, they have another two parts to fall back on, and a means to keeping the profits.
New, emerging technologies are something which does not pass Amazon by, and as such, Amazon have also used "Big Data" to their advantage. This manifests itself when one goes to the Amazon website, with products tailor made for the customer appearing on the front screen of the simple, sleek website. Items which the customer did not even know existed will be in the virtual shopping basket for delivery in a mere matter of minutes, which in turn leads to further customisation of the website to suit the interests of the customer. This effect ensures that people will keep coming to Amazon as a means to acquire the goods which they require, as they know that they can purchase them quickly, easily, and efficiently just by looking at the front page of Amazon. The company also realises the obvious drawbacks of online shopping, in that people cannot observe the product in real life, and so they counter this by having a review system, where users rate the product from 1 to 5 stars, with additional spaces for extra comments available. The customer can therefore see what other people thought of the product, and adjust, delete, or carry forward his or her purchase after seeing the reviews. This system ensures that Amazon has plugged the gap between online and real life shopping, which means that a great many people will prefer Amazon to do their shopping.
After seeing the success which Amazon has had in the UK, Bezos has realised that this is a formula which can deliver incredible success on a global scale, and therefore, Amazon has branched out into many different countries, including the obviously lucrative emerging markets. This is evidenced by the "Diwali Dhamaka" sale that the Amazon India site had in 2014, which left a great deal of Indians very impressed with the service as a whole, turning them into regular customers. Of course, Amazon would not want to miss out on Chinese sales, leading them to acquire Joyo.com in 2004, which was henceforth turned into Amazon China. The surging demand in China has recently led Amazon China to launch a whole new logistics service to accommodate for the aforementioned, indicative of the present success and the potential for growth which Amazon China has in later years. Another reason why Amazon appeals to so many different markets worldwide is its firm return policy, where people can return a product if they do not feel that it has matched up to their expectations, or if the product is broken, for example. This will logically increase customer satisfaction, meaning that more and more customers will return to use the Amazon service, even if one product which they have bought perhaps has underperformed. All of these factors in conjunction ensure than Amazon is, and will remain, an international superpower in the coming years.
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I've never actually used Amazon, but many of my friends do. I can see why it's incredible as there is so much items (obviously as it's called Amazon). Compared to eBay nowadays, it has good reasons to be popular. I just can't seem to find anything on eBay anymore. It's lacklustre in my opinion.
It's true to be honest, eBay is just like Alibaba in that they simply don't have the international recognition that Amazon has, and I doubt they ever will do.
The story of Amazon is amazing. I still can't believe all this company has managed to achieve. They started selling books and are now an e-commerce superpower. Can't wait to see what Jeff Bezos does next.
I belive the alluvium is getting away! SO include more alluvium. Other than that it was ok.
It's amazing when I look at my previous orders, and see how much I've grown to order off their site.
I'm amazed! You are really knowledgable and accomplished for your age!
I love Amazon and I am fully immersed in their culture. I use Prime Music, Prime Movies, Fire Tablets and do most of my shopping on Amazon. I feel like they have done a great job of almost becoming a culture rather than a store.
I love Amazon so much. Prime has been so awesome. I love not having to leave my house to go shopping anymore.
Amazon is a go to for me. I use the prime videos, e-books, shopping in bulk and for gifts. I especially love the fast 2-day shipping.


A longtime resident of the area, Tim is a Sacramento gay Realtor who knows and loves the Sacramento Valley from the parks, pathways to the shopping and fine restaurants. He knows the unique qualities that make up these communities in the Sacramento Tri-County Area. Tim's background in marketing, negotiations and transaction management leaves him well equipped to help you in your search for the perfect home or the sale of your current property.
Tim was great from beginning to end! He was patient and always there for us when we needed him.


Following the decision to enter Works cars for the 24-hour race at Le Mans in 1949, three new cars were built which became the transitional design between the Two Litre Sports and the DB2.
In The Motor for October 18th 1950, the late Laurence Pomeroy, the motoring guru of the time, wrote "It would appear that every so often the gods pass over some works or another and, with an inclination of the head, inspire the production of a car having outstanding virtues. The original side-valve Aston Martin was surely such a one, and the six-cylinder Aston Martin D.B. Mark II stands worthily in the pedigree of real motor-cars stretching back through the 4 1/2-litre Bentley to the 30/98 Vauxhall".
The chassis and running gear for the new DB MKII, as they were sometimes recorded by the Factory, were essentially the same as on the Two Litre Sports, except that the wheelbase was shortened. However, there remained a small amount of torsional weakness in the earlier frame so a new young designer, one Ted Cutting, who was to play a very significant part in the racing success of 1959, was set to overcome the problem, which he did by introducing a cruciform frame in the space above the fuel tank and also beneath the passenger area as well as an additional tubular rail over, and parallel to, the existing side rail. While this produced a deep sill, it did the job.
The three cars had a purposeful two-seater body designed by Frank Feeley and one was powered by a new 2.6-litre, six-cylinder twin overhead camshaft engine designed, in about 1943, for the Lagonda company's product that would follow the 1939-1945 world conflict. The design team was led by W.O. Bentley and included Willie Watson, who would be key a person at Aston Martin in the years to come. Watson had been involved with the Lagonda V12 produced in the years before the conflict mentioned above and in the years to come, would design the next V12: He had also been with Invicta.
Since the bodywork and wheelbase closely resembled the subsequent DB2, rather than the Two Litre Sports and initially one (later another) was fitted with the 2.6 engine which was to become the standard unit on the DB2, all three may be regarded as DB2 prototypes. There is some evidence that they were so regarded by the factory: for example, the chassis numbers are in the DB2 series. Another prototype, LML/49/4, was completed in 1949 and used as a development car: it was raced twice as a works-supported entry.
At about this time Gordon Sutherland and St. John Horsfall, followed by Claude Hill, left the Company, the first to devote his time to Abbotts of Farnham, the coachbuilders, in which he had a controlling interest, the last took up a post at Ferguson Research where he joined the team developing four-wheel-drive systems. Sadly, Jock Horsfall was killed in racing accident.
Further development led to the cars with the body that was to be used on production cars, LML/50/5, was used for development work on the 2.6-litre engine, and final minor changes to the body design because early photos of this can show it without the characteristic bonnet heater scoop. LML/50/6 the New York Show car, had all the features of the first "normal" production car.
Details of the DB2 were released to the Press on April 12, 1950 and it was shown at the New York Motor Show on April 15-23. The construction of the chassis frame was essentially the same as in the prototytpes mentioned above, with a number of rectangular tubes welded together to form the main members in an open frame, but the wheelbase was shorter than the 2 Litre Sports by 9 inches (23cm).
In the early days of production, the low compression 2.6 litre, LB6B six cylinder engine was the 'standard' unit. But as the quality of the pump fuel improved, it was possible to up-rate these engines to the new Vantage specification (LB6V/). Later the "Vantage" engine (VB6B/) with larger induction manifolds was available as option. The VB6E/ version fitted to some DB2s (usually export models), but more commonly in the DB2/4, was essentially the same except for the controls. The earlier LB6E/ engine, was fitted to relatively few cars, and also had larger induction manifolds and 1¾" carburettors, but with an intermediate compression ratio of 7.5:1.
A prototype three-litre engine (DP/101) was fitted to a few cars, but, contrary to some accounts, there never was a 2.3 litre (see AM, Vol. 22, No. 94, 1986). Three litre, VB6J, engines have now been fitted in some cars.
Transmission, after a Borg and Beck 9" single dry plate clutch, was through a David Brown four-speed gearbox and a Salisbury hypoid bevel back axle. Both floor and steering column gear changes were available.
The bodywork of the two-seater saloon-foreshadowed by the three works prototypes-was a substantial departure not only from previous Aston Martin practice, but also from contemporary design generally. It had a notable simplicity of line. The whole of the front bodywork hinged forward, the windscreen was divided and the rear window was rather small (and have been subsequently enlarged on some cars). Generous space was provided for the driver and a passenger, although the lateral support provided by the seats, in effect a split bench, did not match the cornering power. The earliest cars (probably up to LML/50/51) had three separate grilles at the front of the bonnet (developed from the DB1) and large rectangular vents behind the front wheel arches. A rubbing strip was also fitted along the top of the door sill on most of these, and was offered as an 'extra' on later cars. A drophead coupé was announced late in 1950 and 98 were made, the largest batch (of 15) appearing near the end of the production run. At least 5 rolling chassis, /69, /97, /173, 257 and /323 were sold to be fitted with special bodies by other coachbuilders, including 3 more dropheads by Graber (see AM, Vol 3 No. 1, 1952, p 15).
Road tests were carried out with Team Cars by the Motor (Sept. 27, 1950; LML/50/7), Autocar (Nov. 17, 1950; LML/50/9) and Autosport (March 2, 1951; LML/50/9). Motor Sport (Feb. 1951) tested the first drophead coupé (LML/50/10) and LML/50/66 was tested by Road and Track (Dec. 1951). In addition the car was described in the Motor (April 12, 1950 and Sept. 30, 1953), Autocar (April 21, 1950), Mechanix Illustrated (LML/50/21), (April 1951 and the text was published in AM Vol IV, No 6), Automobile Engineer (July, 1951) and Motor Trend with a test by Phil Hill on his own car (LML/50/66) (February 1952). The Motor recorded the times for acceleration from 0-60 and 0-100 m.p.h. at 11.2 and 34.5 sec., a standing ¼-mile in 18.5 sec. and a maximum speed of 117.3 m.p.h. Note: In the following text, a number of chassis numbers are in bold type which shows them to be 'works cars' entered in motorsport. Their histories are elsewhere in this volume, but the numbers are left in to show their relationship to the other cars.
Apparently, these cars were extra to the original Production Sanction, though why the extra cars appear within the production run rather than at the end is unknown.
From the 50th car, the side vent was deleted and three part grille was replaced by a simpler arraignment of horizontal bars, a design which lasted in production through to the DB2/4 Mark 2 in 1957. The rear 'boot' lid is really for entry to the spare wheel. Since the DB2 is strictly a two seater, there's plenty of space for luggage behind the seats.
The desirable and attractive Drophead Coupe version of the DB2 was announced a few months after the saloon in 1950. The first example, which was the tenth production DB2, (chassis number LML/50/10) was built as chairman, David Brown's personal car.
Power output 105 b.h.p. at 5,000 r.p.m.
The earlier LB6E/ engine, fitted to relatively few cars, also had larger induction manifolds and but with an intermediate compression ratio of 7.5:1 it had a rated output of 116 b.h.p. (at 5,000 r.p.m.).
From November 1950 a more powerful (125 b.h.p. at 5,000 r.p.m.) "Vantage" version (LB6V/) was available as an optional extra: this had an 8.16:1 compression ratio.
Valve timing. Inlet camshaft; Set No 1 piston to TDC firing stroke. Turn crankshaft 14° after TDC. Turn camshaft until inlet valve no 1 cylinder is open 0.082" – 0.087" on opening side. Bolt up sprocket. Exhaust camshaft; Set No 1 piston to TDC on firing stroke. Turn crankshaft 8° before TDC. Turn camshaft until exhaust valve no 1 cylinder is open 0.082" – 0.087" on closing side. Bolt up sprocket.
LB6B/ engines SU H4 (1½" bore) carburettors, GB needles.
LB6V/ had HV6 (1¾") carburettors.
VB6B/ had larger induction manifolds and HV6 (1¾") SU carburettors, RJ needles.
LB6E/ engine, H6 (1¾" bore) carburettors larger induction manifolds, RJ needles.
David Brown gearbox with Borg and Beck 9" single dry plate clutch.
Alternative back axle ratios of 3.5, 3.67 and 4.1:1 were offered.
Front:12" cast-iron drum. Total friction area, front and rear, 152 sq. in.
Rear Rear: 12" cast-iron drum plus hand brake operated by 'umbrella' handle.
Leather covered seats with the appearance of a bench but split asym-metrically to allow independent movement. All trim panels leather covered. No boot space but there was carpeted space behind the seats for luggage. A small leather trimed bench was available to make a child seat behind the seats. Interior heater was a 'standard' fitment.
Fuel tank capacity 19 gall. (86.3 litre), of which 3 gall. (13.6 litre) was in reserve.
Fuel Type: Petrol (Originally low octane 'pool') 95 Ron, leaded.
Standard LB6B/, compression ratio 6.5:1; 105 b.h.p. at 5,000 r.p.m.
'Vantage' LB6V/, 8.16:1 compression ratio 125 b.h.p. at 5,000 r.p.m.
LB6E/ engine (fitted to a few cars), 7.5:1 116 b.h.p. at 5,000 r.p.m.
Standard LB6B/, 125 lbs/ft at 3000 RPM.
Vantage 0 to 60mph; Motor 11.2secs; Autocar 12.4 secs Autosport 10.5 secs.
Standard Road and Track quarter mile 18.7 secs.
Vantage Motor 116.4 mph; Autocar 110mph; Autosport 110mph.
Standard: Road and Track 105.7mph (two way average).


A fight to the death against yourself?! But which 'self' is the bad one? Killer premise, right?
Author Elsie Chapman's 'Dualed' has a mantra to her novel...'Be the one, be worthy'. This statement is what every Alt hears when they become active. Everyone who lives in the city of Kersh must prove their worthiness to society by killing their Alternate sometime between the age of 10 - 20 years old. They are given 31 days from their date of activation to eliminate the other person. If at the end of this time period both individuals are still alive, then both will self-destruct and neither will be considered worthy. Your Alt is your enemy from the moment that you are born. A genetically-created twin, who is raised by another family. You may look exactly the same but personalities, where you live, who brings you up, your friends…all different. The protagonist, West Grayer, is a fifteen year old girl, she has lost two siblings and both parents. Now that she is active…she is uncertain on whether or not she is the one worthy to live the life before her. Time is running out. She must die, kill or wait and self-destruct.
I was able to ask Elsie Chapman a few questions about the intense brutal world of 'Dualed' and how she creates.
How difficult is it to kill off protagonists?
Not that difficult, if it makes the book deeper and more interesting. It's that addition by subtraction thing. Though I'm sure that as a series progresses and a character grows, it does become harder and harder for an author to make that decision.
How long did it take for you to write 'Dualed'?
I wrote the first draft in five weeks. Revisions took many more weeks after that. I've come to really appreciate having a solid outline on hand before diving in.
How would you describe your 'writing' education?
Nearly everything I know about writing comes from reading. Just reading as much as I can, especially when I was a kid. I read once that almost everything you'll ever need to know about writing happens before you hit the age of fifteen. So whatever you've read, watched, or experienced up until then becomes this foundation you draw from again and again. I think it's a really interesting perspective.
How would you describe your writing process? What are your writing habits like? How do you create?
I tend to write straight from beginning to end, moving from scene to scene in a very linear fashion. Lots of writers have the ability to jump around, working on different sections at different times, but that doesn't work for me. If I run into a plot issue, instead of jumping ahead, I need to stop and think it out and finish it before moving on. It makes the revision process a bit painful. Also, music is a must.
What do you consider the elements of a good novel? A great one?
For me, a good novel is one that I don't have to struggle to finish. If I need to put the book aside for a bit for whatever reason and I'm still thinking about a scene or a character, that's a good novel. If it makes me feel enough of anything to keep me reading, that's a good novel. A great novel is one I'll read again.
How would you define the actual role that an Author is supposed to fill?
Well, as a reader, I really enjoy discovering authors and falling in love with their books and everything they're able to convey with their words. It's really does feel as though they are speaking directly to you, and somehow know exactly what you want and need to hear. But I don't think this ability to connect is an author's role—I think it's more that an author holds the potential for a reader to make that connection.
In a nutshell, Chapman's writing is detailed and nuanced, and she is not afraid to put her characters in dark corners or let them make morally ambiguous choices. A few strings are left open at the end of the novel, making room for what is sure to be another gritty, dangerous sequel in 'Divided'.


These are the diseases most frequently diagnosed at birth. The main causes of malformations are diseases or bad habits that the mother had during pregnancy: severe viral infections, use of alcohol, tobacco or other psychoactive drugs and others.
If diagnosed with a congenital malformation, a periodic monitoring and review of the treatment plan by a vascular surgeon or angiologist is recommended.
What types of congenital malformations of the blood vessels are there?
Vascular anomalies can occur in the superficial or deep veins, arteriovenous malformations and others.
Where can I monitor my condition?
Dr. Kyuchukov is a vascular surgeon and has years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of different vascular conditions.
For a consult click here.
The nature of the congenital malformations requires individual approach to each patient. Dr. Kyuchukov can offer professional advice and appropriate treatment. He is using the most innovative and improved methods of treatment of vascular diseases that have a shorter recovery period and are less painful compared to surgical treatment.


text:
What was the first Marvel movie in 90s?
What superheroes came out in the 90s?
What order do I watch Marvel?
Is Doctor Strange in Thor Ragnarok?
What was the first Marvel movie?
Is Blade the first Marvel movie?
Direct-to-video and television films
1989 The Punisher New World Pictures
1990 The Death of the Incredible Hulk New World Television / Bixby-Brandon Productions
Captain America 21st Century Film Corporation
1994 The Fantastic Four Constantin Film
What is the 26 Marvel movies in order?
How to watch the Marvel movies in order – chronological order
Captain America: The First Avenger (1942-1943)
Captain Marvel (1995)
10 Iconic Superhero Movies Of The '90s, Ranked According To IMDb
1 Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) – 7.8.
2 The Crow (1994) – 7.6.
3 Blade (1998) – 7.1.
4 Batman Returns (1992) – 7.0.
5 The Mask (1994) – 6.9.
6 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) – 6.8.
7 Darkman (1990) – 6.4.
What's the 1st Marvel movie?
Iron Man That brings us to Iron Man, the very first Marvel movie made, but the third in chronological order. Set in 2010, this origin movie started it all for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Tony Stark creates the Iron Man suit to escape his captors and then become a powerful but arrogant superhero.
How to watch the Marvel films and TV series in release date order
Agents of Shield (2013-2020)
Thor 2 (2013)
What are the 23 Marvel movies in chronological order?
Captain America: The First Avenger. (Image credit: Marvel)
Captain Marvel. (Image credit: Marvel)
Iron Man. (Image credit: Marvel)
Iron Man 2. (Image credit: Marvel)
The Incredible Hulk. (Image credit: Marvel)
Thor. (Image credit: Marvel)
Avengers Assemble. (Image credit: Marvel)
Thor: The Dark World. (Image credit: Marvel)
Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme, appears in Ragnarok, as the post-credits scene to his debut film promised he would.
Who would play Avengers in the 90s?
It's a question as old as time, or at least as old as the '90s….Here Is Who Would Play The Avengers If They Were Cast In The '90s
Brendan Fraser – Star Lord.
Denzel Washington – Black Panther.
Keanu Reeves – Doctor Strange.
Sandra Bullock – Wasp.
Is Aquaman part of the Avengers?
Aquaman: NO Warner Bros. Aquaman is a DC Comics character and is played in the DCEU by Jason Momoa. A solo movie starring Momoa and directed by James Wan comes to theaters this November, and is definitely not part of the MCU.
Blade is a 1998 American superhero film directed by Stephen Norrington and written by David S. Goyer. Based on the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name, it is the first installment of the Blade franchise….Blade (film)
Box office $131.2 million
Are there 23 Marvel movies?
Spider-Man: Far From Home released in Indian theatres in 2019, and served as the final offering from The Infinity Saga—comprising a total of 23 films from Phase One, Two, and Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
How do I run a query from a table in Access?
How TV Ruined Our Lives?


unable to work because of a disability.
Who is eligible to receive Social Security disability?
FICA tax, you will be eligible for Social Security Disability.
What is the definition of "disability" under SSDI?
Under the law, disability is defined as the inability to perform a full-time job in a regular competitive work environment due to a physical or emotional problem or a combination of physical and emotional problems that your doctor feels makes you unable to work. In addition, the disability must be expected to last at least 12 months.
It is important to note that the determination of whether or not you are disabled does not hinge on whether you can do the job you did previously, but whether, considering your age, education and work history, you would be unable to perform any job that exists in the national economy on a full-time basis. The rules are more lenient for those who are over 50 years of age, because the law assumes that as you get closer to retirement age you are less adaptable. By the same token, those under 50 must clear much higher hurdles in order to receive benefits.
With that definition in mind, to obtain benefits you must have a doctor state that you are unable to work a normal, competitive, 5-day a week, 8-hour a day job. The doctor's opinion must be supported by 'medically acceptable clinical and laboratory findings'. Unfortunately, many genuinely disabling conditions are difficult to diagnose by objective testing.
You must contact your local Social Security office at 1-800-772-1213 and inform them that you wish to apply for disability benefits. They will take information from you and process your application. You may also obtain the forms needed to file a claim online.
A good rule of thumb is to apply as soon as you and your doctors agree that your disability is going to last a full year. This is important because it can take many months for Social Security to approve or deny your claim. When you are ready to file you can obtain the necessary forms from your local Social Security Office or by applying online.
What steps are involved in the SSDI process?
There may be as many as five steps involved.
1. Complete the forms, make sure that you have gathered and submitted all the information necessary, and submit your claim.
2. While you may be awarded benefits when you first apply, most claims are denied. If your claim is denied, you will then have to file for reconsideration. Reconsideration is the stage in the process in which you are least likely to be granted benefits.
3. If you are again denied, you must request a hearing in front of an Administrative Law Judge. You must be prepared to present medical evidence and you will have the opportunity to tell the judge in your own words why you can't work.
4. If you are again denied, you have the right to bring your claim before The Appeals Council. The Appeals Council can also deny your claim or send the case back to an Administrative Law Judge for another hearing. In some instances, they will reverse the case quickly and order the system to pay your claim.
5. If you lose at every stage of the administrative process, you are entitled to file in the United States District Court.
Do I have the right to be represented by an attorney?
If you think the system is designed to discourage disabled workers from seeking the benefits they've earned and that their families may desperately need, you're right. The process is extremely difficult to navigate and a it can be years before a final decision is handed down. Not to mention the fact that you'll be attempting to battle the bureaucracy while you're struggling to deal with your disability and the financial problems that accompany being unable to work.
That's why the law allows you to be represented by professionals who understand the system—like the legal team at Anzellotti, Sperling, Pazol, and Small.
Does having legal representation really make a difference?
Yes. According to report issued by the U.S. Inspector General in August of 2010, being represented by counsel does make a notable difference in the outcome of SSDI claims.
including reading, understanding, and completing forms.
them that claimant representation was available.
Clearly, having representation—and having the right representation—substantially improves the chances that your disability claim will be approved more quickly than if you take on the system alone.


On April 9th, 2016, the Hill Country Land Trust hosted the first of two educational field days for the year at the C.L. Browning Ranch in Blanco County. Led by Browning ranch manager and HCLT board member Scott Gardner, and former board member and well-known natural resource educator Steve Nelle, the workshop offered a number of strategies and methods for managing Ashe juniper (cedar). The thirty-eight people who attended the field day learned that Ashe juniper removal is most successful when treated on a site-specific basis, by using a variety of tools and techniques, instead of extreme clear cutting.
Steve described the beneficial ecological values and functions of Ashe juniper, including its historic role in the landscape. The effects of over-grazing, loss of topsoil, and lack of natural fire were listed as the primary reasons why Ashe juniper been able to dominate in many places, especially in depleted or degraded areas. In those locations where all the topsoil has been eroded from hills and slopes, Ashe juniper is among the few plants that can colonize barren areas and play an important role in restoring new topsoil and organic litter. Alternatively, when soil is present, removing or thinning Ashe juniper can lead to the recovery of soil-retaining grasses, perennial forbs beneficial to wildlife, and numerous other native tree species.
Scott describes the planning process that determined where and where not to remove the Ashe juniper on the Browning Ranch.
A description of how the C.L. Browning Ranch planned their project to reduce Ashe juniper was provided, including the important decision of where not remove the juniper. Historical imagery research identified where old growth juniper was located, and on-site observations identified prime Golden cheeked warbler habitat, north-facing slopes and/or any slope greater than 20%, and riparian corridors as locations where no juniper thinning would occur. Due to the challenges of disposing of cut juniper, special attention was devoted to showing the beneficial response on grasses, forbs, and trees when the juniper slash was left spread out over the site. Scott demonstrated how on the "juniper blanket method" used on the C.L. Browning Ranch provided numerous benefits, such as increasing the amount of loose topsoil retained by the fallen branches, more germination of Little bluestem under the cut branches as a result of different temperature and moisture conditions, and the emergence of young tree species under the branches which protected them from Whitetail deer browsing. Cut juniper branches also improved habitat for wildlife, especially Bobwhite quail. The overall message for the day was that properly planned, juniper thinning on a site-by-site basis can improve plant diversity, wildlife habitat, livestock forage, and aesthetic value. Conversely, the message was also stressed that improperly planned juniper management efforts can increase soil erosion and habitat loss, which is turn, reduces land value. The concluding message for the day was that like most beneficial management practices in the Texas Hill Country, juniper management is not a one-time project. As Scott and Steve emphasized, it is a life-long process that requires a commitment to continued follow-up control.
An educational video on managing juniper was also filmed during the field day. Stay tuned to learn when that video will be published, and for further detailed information on this common Hill Country management topic.
The Rainwater Collection Barn for Community Fire Suppression mentioned in previous posts recently received its first visit from the Johnson City Volunteer Fire Department. Investigators believe that a brush fire was intentionally ignited across the Pedernales River from us that required much of the JCVFD fleet to suppress. Instead of driving the tanker truck back into Johnson City to re-fill, they filled up at our water barn right across the highway from the fire. Using the pumps on the tanker truck, JCVFD personnel were able to fill the three thousand gallon tanker truck in less than fifteen minutes. The driver mentioned that their access to our water barn saved them roughly twenty-five minutes on their re-filling task. We enter this information into a log book that tabulates the time-savings benefit per year that our rainwater tank provides the local volunteer fire department.
The picture below was taken with my cell phone at dusk, so the image quality is really poor.
Converting old barns into rainwater collection systems for community fire suppression is an easy project for landowners that can provide significant regional benefits. Remember...five hundred and fifty gallons of water per thousand square feet of roof space per one inch of rain.