You know how spinach likes to grow in cold weather and that's why it's hard to find in the mid-summer months? Orach, also known as Mountain Spinach" grows here during our entire growing season. Upon googling "orach" once again, I'm reminded and in turn reminding you of its nutritional value. This plant is packed with vitamins and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, anthocyanins, phosphorous, iron, protein, zinc, selenium, tryptophan, vitamin C, vitamin K, carotenes and dietary fibre. Orach is a nutrient-rich superfood. Canadian Living magazine (May 2016 issue) calls orach "the new kale." It also has a long history of use as a medicinal plant.
Descriptions include "possibly one of the more ancient cultivated plants" and "a substitute for spinach either fresh or cooked". The seeds are edible and rich in Vitamin A, can be ground into a meal and put into stews, breads, cereals, etc. and are also used to make a blue dye.
The result was wonderful. You can toss in any mixture of nuts, seeds, fresh or dried fruits, sprouts, shoots, cheese . . . limitless options. Add a bagel or some multi-grain bread on the side and it makes a complete meal.
These little puppies are still playing the "maybe I'll be ready Friday, maybe I won't be" game. I'm trying to make sure each of you gets some when you order.
Different name as above, same game. Each day when I do my walkabout through the gardens I pick a few cherry tomatoes and a few larger ones, not really an orderful but enough to say some are ready . . . today. These should all be available to order next week.
The peppers are loving the rain and are producing very well. So far, I have green jalapenos and yellow alma paprika peppers for you while the others are reddening or yellowing up.
The jalapenos will turn red eventually but the green ones are what we use in our fresh salsa and can be used on pizza without burning your mouth.
Alma Paprika peppers are interesting. They are round about the size of a medium tomato. They start out yellow, then turn orange and finally a bright red which makes them look exactly like a tomato and can be confused for one if in the same basket as tomatoes. They are not considered a hot pepper but definitely add a bit of "zing" to a salad. I plan to dry some this year to make paprika.
These have now been weeded and are going to take a little break from picking so they can grow up big and strong.
Have you ever said "I love to eat eggplant but don't know how to cook it."? I certainly have. The old standard roasted (or barbecued) 1/2 inch slices which have been soaked in salt and rubbed with olive oil just doesn't cut it for me anymore. I need more recipes for this truly beautiful looking and fabulous tasting vegetable. We're growing hundreds of eggplants which are getting larger by the day and I really want us all to enjoy them. We have two varieties: round striped and deep purple (not sure what size yet nor the proper names but they are lovely).
Back to googling recipes again I found a few. The one I'll try first is Indian Spiced Roasted Eggplant, which calls for turmeric and red chili/cayenne pepper. That sounds pretty healthy. I'll let you know how it turns out. I see Martha Stewart has a slew of recipes for eggplant varieties.
Do you have a favourite Eggplant recipe? If you do, please share.
I just remembered I have these two cookbooks called "Plenty" and "Plenty More" that are both loaded with delicious looking recipes for Eggplant. I am excited to try as many as I can.
I pulled out all of the garlic the other day and gently placed it on shelves in the garage to cure for the next two weeks. There were no small or damaged bulbs. All in all it's a good year for garlic.
When I went out in the rain to take some pictures for you I didn't think to take a basket so came back with a tee-shirt-apron holding about a pound of beans. I guess they love the rain too. These are the bush beans. The pole beans aren't quite ready yet.
Lack of rain didn't help the onions grow large but we do have many. I'll start by picking the largest ones and hope the others will follow suit.
In order to have cilantro for the fresh salsa when the time comes, we sowed a fresh batch in the greenhouse and will do the same outdoors this week. We also started more sunflowers for fall decor as well as beets, green onions, parsnips and carrots, dill and chard.


For an all-around microphone that does a little of everything, the Blue Yeti won't disappoint.
Though it's only a cardioid mic, it's one of the best out there.
If you value access, convenience, and portability above all else, then this mic was made for you.
If your main focus is recording vocals, the Rode NT-USB microphone needs to be connected to your laptop, stat.
It isn't the best, but If you want a mic that is leaps and bounds better than your computer mic this is for you.
In the past five years, we've seen an impressive rise in the public's interest in podcasts and accessible content, like YouTube musicians and vloggers. If you've thought to yourself, "Hey, I'd like to try my hand at that," but didn't know where to start on the hardware side of things. From the enthusiast to the professional, a solid USB microphone will jumpstart your passion project.
Editor's note: this list was updated on April 19, 2019, to include more information on necessary equipment.
If you're one to keep up with the latest audio gadgets and gizmos, then you've probably had a run in or two with the Blue Yeti microphone. We've reviewed a handful of Blue headphones—yes, the company makes headphones—which are great, but the real stars of the Blue lineup are its USB microphones. The Yeti is a condenser microphone and it allows you to choose between cardioid, bidirectional, omnidirectional and stereo recording patterns.
Aside from the built-in presets, the Yeti is outfitted with basic controls such as a mute toggle, the ability to adjust gain settings, and a 3.5mm headphone jack for listening in real time. Doing so is great for adjusting levels on the fly and making sure that your annunciation of the word "popsicle" isn't creating distracting pops and hisses.
Inside the Yeti is a tri-capsule array which consists of three condenser capsules that are each angled differently to record omnidirectional sound. This is great if you want to capture room ambiance, but the ability to switch presets to something more focused—say cardioid mode—is just as valuable. What's more, this the best of the best USB microphones for a reason and that's because it records 16-bit audio at 48kHz.
As far as additional hardware goes, the Blue Yeti acts as its own stand; the legs kick out so you can record virtually anywhere with a flat surface. Additionally, you can angle the mic for optimal recording, and it's available in platinum, silver, space grey, black, and white and is compatible with Macs and PCs.
So, you're in the market for an easy-to-use USB microphone. Well, there are a handful of things you should know first.
The cardioid mic on the Beyerdynamic Custom Game headset is effective but doesn't capture high-quality audio like our best USB microphones can.
Not all USB mics are universal, meaning that they work with both Mac and PC operating systems. However, we've made sure that all of our picks are compatible with both, saving you the trouble of checking, checking, and triple-checking.
There is a variety of recording patterns offered from one USB microphone to the next, but not all of them are available with each pick. In brief, cardioid patterns are going to be your best bet; they do a great job at recording sounds that are directly in front of the recording element while simultaneously reducing distracting background noise. That said, if you want to record a certain background presence, you may want something with omnidirectional capabilities like the Blue Yeti.
There are few instances where you'll need anything greater than a 16-bit, 44.1kHz recording. We promise.
Should you get a USB microphone?
Well, if you need something portable with zero learning curve, yes. Though most of these are just fine if not superb for vocals that will be streamed as a compressed MP3 file, there are instances where a non-USB microphone will better serve you. For one: if you make your living on recording and mixing audio, then you'll want to look at something like the Rode NT1A. Its recording capabilities surpass any of the listed following microphones, but it also requires an external recorder, which will cost much more than any of the following options. We can help you out if it comes to it, but a USB mic sidesteps this issue.
Even if you are a professional in the audio industry, you may want a USB microphone as a go-to backup. As they say, "redundancy saves lives." By having something as easy as a USB microphone, having a backup recording will be a thoughtless process that could save you from a world of frustration.
Depending on which side of the audio pond you're from—production or listening—you've probably heard of Audio-Technica. The Japan-based audio company has made its way onto plenty of our best headphones lists, but today we're going to highlight a lesser known product: the AT2020USB microphone. Like the Blue Yeti, this is a condenser mic that records in 16-bit, 44.1/48kHz sampling rate.
The AT2020USB+ includes a standard headphone jack like some of the other best USB microphones listed, which—again—lets you monitor the microphone's signal sans delay. This USB mic includes a high-output, internal headphone amplifier, delivering a clear reproduction of your subject. Below the microphone's grill, you'll find two horizontal dials that allow for basic audio mixing as you go. The left dial mixes vocals with pre-recorded audio; if done correctly, this could save you ample time in post-production. Then there's the right knob, which adjusts the volume delivered to the headphones.
Just like the other mics listed, the Audio-Technica AT2020USB+ is a universal USB microphone. You can skip any additional downloads because, well, there aren't any. Just plug in and record. Oh, and lest we forget, this includes an external pop filter, mic mount, and carrying pouch. Sure, it's a bit pricey at around $160, but it'll make your project sound oh, so crispy.
Take the Samson Go Mic anywhere. No, really, anywhere.
As is the nature of the best USB microphones, they're all relatively portable. And by that, we mean relative to something like the Rode NT1A microphone package. Though it's a fabulous choice, it's both expensive and a pain to transport. The Samson Go mic takes portability to the next level. It's smaller than most USB mice and can definitely fit into your pocket. Yes, even the pockets of women's skinny jeans; it's that compact.
Though portability is the main selling point, it's also budget-friendly at around $40. The Samson Go Mic has two modes: cardioid and omnidirectional polar patterns. It folds down and into its stand, which doubles as a minimal protective covering when sheathed. You can even" clip it to your laptop screen. Aside from the USB cable and mic itself, the only other inclusion is a zipper carrying case. It provides ample protection while respecting the compactness of the mic.
Now, the Samson Go Mic wouldn't be here if it didn't record high-quality audio. And for such a small microphone, it goes above and beyond users' expectations. The Though it's not going to compete with the AT2020USB+, it's great for business people who are constantly traveling and need it for telecommuting and for content creators who need a budget-friendly mic that fits in anywhere and on anything.
Whether you've been yearning to get a jumpstart on that "Which is better: Ketchup or mustard?" podcast idea or you already have a substantial following, the Rode NT-USB microphone is the best USB option for you. From shotgun mics to boom mics, and now to USB microphones, Rode is the brand that content creators can't get enough of.
The Rode NT-USB mic offers a wide array of features. Starting from the outside and working in, it's clear that this microphone is built for the road—excuse the wordplay. Its metal chassis is durable, and if something does happen to go awry, the company backs this mic with a two-year warranty. Though, you have to register the product to qualify; otherwise, you're bumped down to the standard one-year warranty.
Now, at first glance, you may think, "Oh, cool. I can adjust the gain directly from the housing." Well, not quite. The engineers at Rode made sure that the NT-USB has been set to an ideal internal gain setting, hence why there aren't any gain adjustments on the microphone. Though it's fair to say that some users may find this to be a drawback, many who are in the market for the best USB microphone are looking for the most streamlined recording process. Rode? Well, the company has mastered ease-of-use with the plug-and-go NT-USB mic.
Though, the top knob is useful for basic audio mixing between your mic input and the computer, just like the Audio-Technica AT2020USB+. It's worth noting, that one of the main selling points of this mic is its compatibility with the Apple iPad. You can streamline your work directly with the iPad so long as you have an appropriate USB adapter, like this one. Aside from that, Rode includes plenty of accessories like a pop filter for mitigating vocal hissing, a ⅜" desktop tripod stand, and a pouch for transport. Once you accept the $169 price tag, the Rode NT-USB is an easy pick.
If you've been following the updates to this best list, then you'll notice that the CAD U37 USB Studio has been here for a while. That's no mistake. This affordable SB microphone features a large, front-facing condenser mic element easily registers vocals, while the cardioid pattern attenuates ambient noise. This gives full attention to the subject without increasing the gain, risking the appearance of unwanted noise in your recordings.
The CAD U37 is equipped with a 10dB overload protection switch to reduce distortion from loud sources—perhaps a kick drum. It also has a bass-reduction toggle that's great for immediately reducing room noise; again, this allows for your subject to take center stage when it comes to listener's auditory attention spans. And like all the best USB microphones listed here, the CAD U37 is a universal mic that works with both Macs and PCs.
The whole package comes with a 10-foot USB cable and a desktop mic stand. If you want a pop filter, you'll have to make a separate (online) shopping trip for that, but it's easy enough to get. If you're still on the fence, just know that CAD has been in the audio game for over 85 years, so it's safe to say that the company knows how to manufacture a solid microphone. The U37 just happens to be the best value-packed USB mic available.
The Beyerdynamic Fox USB Microphone includes a bright orange USB-C cable, which is easy to find in an overstuffed suitcase.
Shure MV5: It's easy to set up and takes up less space than a majority of our picks, save for the Samson Go Mic. It's easy to transport and provides pretty good sound quality. Though, it's going to cost you about $100.
Beyerdynamic Fox: The Fox is the only USB microphone listed that provides 24-bit audio recording; though, it's at 96kHz.
Blue Snowball: Similar to the Blue Yeti, the Blue Snowball has managed to accrue a wide base of avid users. Its appearance is similar to that of the Shure MV5 but the stand and general aesthetic are less graceful.
Samson Meteor: The Samson Meteor is a step up from the company's Go Mic. It records at a 16-bit, 44.1/44.8kHz resolution and works with Apple's iPad when using the appropriate USB adapter. It's a trite complaint, but the Meteor uses a ⅛" headphone jack instead of the standard 3.5mm option.
Adam, Chris, and Lily are each dedicated to SoundGuys as their day jobs. Through the countless hours spent testing a wide array of audio products, each of us can identify a good product from a gimmick, saving you time and energy. Ultimately, we want this site to serve your needs and understand that researching audio products can be tiresome and time-consuming, albeit enjoyable too.
We do our best to test as much as we can hands-on.
We're not invested in any purchase you much, but we do want you to be happy with whatever product you pursue. None of us may benefit from championing one USB microphone over another and, while the site makes money from referrals, the writers are paid based on their work, period. If you feel compelled, feel free to read our ethics policy.


Balsamic Glazed Brussel Sprouts With Pancetta, as seen on Cooking Channel's Dinner at Tiffani's Special.
Jamie Rector, 2013, Cooking Channel, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Although you may remember them as the bane of your childhood existence, Brussels sprouts are the slightly smaller, but equally delicious, cousin of cabbage. Forget whatever you may have thought about Brussels sprouts in your youth and give them another try. When in doubt, pair sprouts with pork; whether it's bacon, pancetta or even chorizo, no one will be able to resist your bacon-y Brussels sprouts.
On their own, Brussels sprouts are quite the superfood: They're low in calories, yet packed with vitamin C, fiber and even protein.
Brussels sprouts grow on a long branch, and although it's a shock at first glance, a stalk of Brussels sprouts is easy to manage; carefully cut off the individual sprouts and peel off the first layer of leaves before rinsing and cooking. Alternatively, purchase trimmed Brussels sprouts for a jump-start in the kitchen.
Thanksgiving is the perfect occasion to showcase your newfound love for sprouts. If you're still curious about sprouts, check out this Brussels sprouts tutorial, then get cooking. Your mother would be so proud.
If you've never made Brussels sprouts (or have never truly enjoyed them), start out with simple Roasted Brussels Sprouts.
Deep-fried Brussels Sprouts are tossed with a miso-sake sauce and crispy bacon for an Asian take on classic flavors.
Brussels sprouts are often roasted, but they can also be cooked on the stovetop. Get them nice and brown, then add water, stock or white wine to cook them the rest of the way. Try the method out with Tiffani Thiessen's Balsamic-Glazed Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta (pictured above).
Bal Arneson's Indian Brussels Sprouts are tossed with garlic, ginger, coriander seeds, smoked paprika and fenugreek leaves for a fully flavored side dish.
Anne Burrell's simple Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon are finished with toasted pine nuts and a bit of shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Simply cooked Slow-Cooked Brussels Sprouts are the base for a great side dish. Add some fresh herbs or spices like crushed red pepper to give it a kick.
The classic combination of Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Bacon is the perfect vegetable dish for your holiday table. Cooking the sprouts in bacon fat adds a whole lot of flavor to the sometimes-bitter vegetable.
Blanch and then cool Brussels sprouts in an ice bath for Aarón Sánchez's Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Chorizo.
If you don't have the time for roasted sprouts, try Shredded Brussels Sprouts, which cook up in a matter of minutes when sauteed.
Emeril Lagasse grills the whole stalk of Brussels sprouts before cutting off the tiny cabbages and cooking them with bacon and white wine in his Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Hash.
Parmesan-Crumb-Coated Brussels Sprouts are an easy side dish for the holidays. You can par-cook the sprouts until bright green and tender the day before you want to eat, then toss them in the oven to heat up right before you're ready to sit down at the table.
Peel the leaves off of Brussels sprouts for Chuck Hughes' Brussels Sprouts Salad cooked in duck fat.
Steamed Brussels Sprouts and Turnips are topped with a rich anchovy butter sauce. Cream-based sauces don't reheat well, so eat all of the veggies on the first go-round, or serve the sauce on the side if you're planning on having leftovers.
Sunny Anderson's Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon make a quick and easy side for a Southern-style meal. Serve the sprouts alongside Apple Cider Chicken, then finish off the meal with Upside-Down Cornbread Cake for dessert.
A step up from the standard sprouts, Michael Symon's recipe for Roasted Brussels Sprouts with a Bacon, Mustard and Walnut Vinaigrette is sweet, rich and tangy all at the same time.
Laura Calder utilizes the best of the season and reimagines Thanksgiving dinner with her recipe for Turkey Paupiettes with Chestnuts and Brussels Sprouts.
Bacon-Braised Brussels Sprouts are tender from being braised, but they're also crispy, tossed in panko breadcrumbs and baked in the oven.
Rachael Ray turns Brussels sprouts into a full meal with Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Mac and Cheese.
Serve Mustard-Brined Pork Loin with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with German Dumplings for a fully authentic meal. Don't soak the pork for more than six hours or it will absorb too much salt.
Instead of the usual bacon or pancetta, diced ham is thrown into the mix for Brussels Sprouts, Kale and Celery Root Gratin. So. Many. Vegetables.
Gochujang is the flavor base behind Korean-Style Brussels Sprouts with Marinated Skirt Steak. Gochujang, a fermented soybean-chile paste, is a staple in Korean kitchens and can be found in the global section of some grocery stores, as well as in Asian specialty markets.
Use a mandoline to thinly slice fingerling potatoes for Potato Crusted-Trout Fillets with Caramelized Brussels Sprouts, Plump Golden Raisins and Toasted Pecans.
Whole-Wheat Veggie Lovers' Pie is a lightened-up pizza, perfect for your next Meatless Monday.
Create an Italian masterpiece in your own kitchen: Venetian-Style Polenta Cakes with Cavolini di Bruxelles. Polenta is finely ground cornmeal, similar to Southern grits, which can be used as a substitute in a pinch.
Core Brussels sprouts to quickly separate the leaves for Michael's "Little" Cabbage Salad.


text:
« On The Other Side of Migration
The rainbird and the 2009 monsoon »
Riding the wind between continents: the epic migration of dragonflies
This entry was posted Monday, 17 August, 2009 at 3:04 pm
by R. Nandini and Sanjay Sane
In popular folklore the appearance of certain birds is considered to herald the approaching rains. But there are other, less conspicuous, organisms whose arrival often goes unnoticed. Migratory insects of several species arrive in the thousands, either alone or in swarms, staggered across the days preceding the arrival of the rains.
In a recent paper that generated headlines worldwide, Globe Skimmer dragonflies Pantala flavescens (also called Wandering Gliders) were discovered to have the longest insect migration route recorded so far – a roundtrip flight between India and Africa with stopovers in the Maldives and the Seychelle islands.
Charles Anderson, reporting his findings in the Journal of Tropical Ecology <1>, recorded the arrival and departure of dragonflies in southern India, Maldives and West Africa over a period of fourteen years, with Malé, Maldives being the focal site. Dragonfly occurrence (particularly P. flavescens) in Malé began in October, peaking between November and December, coinciding with the east-bound high-altitude winds (~ 1000 m asl) of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ <2>).
Putting together dates of arrival across the study sites as well as the duration of residency of dragonflies at Malé, he reconstructs a steady north-south movement of dragonflies from southern India through the Maldives across 500-1000 km. A second wave of dragonflies was recorded in Malé between April and June, coinciding with occurrence of the Somali Jet, a band of fast low-lying southwesterly winds over the Arabian Sea blowing from Africa to India.
While this study was focused on dragonflies, Anderson also reports some information on birds, and found that the pattern of bird arrival in the Maldives mirrored that of the dragonflies, peaking between November and December. Among the bird species he reports as crossing the Western Indian Ocean are the Pied Cuckoo, Lesser Cuckoo, Eurasian Cuckoo and the Amur Falcon.
Collating available information on the migration of birds like the Amur Falcon, wind patterns like the ITCZ and Somali Jet, and records of occurrence of certain species of dragonflies at specific times of the year in the Maldives and India, Anderson hypothesizes that dragonflies, like some species of birds, possibly migrate in a loop from India over the Maldives and Seychelles to east Africa (Tanzania or Kenya) and then back again to India. The ITCZ is known to travel across the African continent, bringing rains to different parts of Africa over the year <3>, and insect, including dragonflies, are reported to migrate with these winds. Anderson suggests that, once in Africa, Globe Skimmers probably move southwards and then loop back north to equatorial east Africa before leaving the continent on the return migration to India.
In all, this incredible circuit would cover a total distance of 14,000-18,000 km, with 3,500 km over the open ocean, and would span possibly four generations of dragonflies.
How could insects only a few inches long undertake journeys that span their own body lengths several million times over? On the face of it, this implies deterministic and purposeful flying, as well as knowledge of which winds to harness to get to a destination. Anderson proposes instead that dragonflies need only rise upwards, encounter a passing wind and then largely soar or glide along this wind till they reach land. If this simple explanation is indeed the way in which dragonflies cover these enormous distances, how will such behaviour be affected by phenomena like global warming, which is known to alter the intensity and speeds of winds like the Somali Jet <4> and the ITCZ?
Dragonflies are reputed to be powerful fliers, and several species migrate long distances <5>. The Globe Skimmer is considered to be the most widespread dragonfly, occurring between the 40th parallels of latitude worldwide, and it is common across India <6>. Several populations of this species are known to migrate, and there are recorded migrations of Globe Skimmers from South America to Easter Island (possibly 3,600 km or more), to New Zealand (2,000 km), across the Chinese Bohai sea (nocturnal migrations) and over the Hindu Kush mountains (at altitudes of 6,500m asl). Within the Indian subcontinent, the Globe Skimmer arrives in Tamil Nadu after the North-East Monsoon, while in the western regions it arrives with the South-West monsoon, implying that there might be more than one migratory circuit even within this region.
While dragonflies and insects remain challenging to track over long distances, a number of studies have used arrival date information, mark-recapture techniques, and even radio-telemetry <7> to determine their migratory patterns. But, given the epic scale of the migration uncovered by Anderson, perhaps it would make sense to simultaneously examine both more visible taxa like birds and more populous taxa like insects. Doing so might provide a more comprehensive account of migratory patterns, mechanisms, and the evolutionary reasons for these spectacular journeys.
1. Anderson, R.C. 2009. Do dragonflies migrate across the western Indian Ocean? Journal of Tropical Ecology 25(4): 347-348. Download pdf.
2. The ITCZ is a weather system around the equator where the North-East and South-West trade winds converge. More information.
3. The ITZC in Africa. http://people.cas.sc.edu/carbone/modules/mods4car/africa-itcz/index.html
4. Meijing, L., Ke, F. and Huijun, W. 2008. Somali Jet Changes under the Global Warming. Acta Meterologica Sinica. 22 (4): 502-510. Download pdf.
5. Corbet, P. S. 1999. Dragonflies: Behavior and Ecology of Odonata. Cornell University Press, Ithaca.
6. Subramanian, K.A. 2005. Dragonflies and damselflies of peninsular India. A field guide. Edition 1.0. E-book of Project Lifescape, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science and Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, India. 118 pages. Copyright K.A.Subramanian, 2005. Download pdf.
7. Wikelski, M., Moskowitz, D., Adelman, J.A., Cochran, J., Wilcove, D.S. and May. M.L. 2006. Simple rules guide dragonfly migration. Biology Letters, 2: 325-329. (Wikelski and colleagues radio-tagged 14 dragonflies in North America and followed them for 12 days with Cessna planes and ground teams.) Download pdf.
Tags: Dragonfly, Globe Skimmer, Maldives, Monsoon, Pantala flavescens, Pied Cuckoo
Category: Insect migration, Monsoon winds
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4 Comments to Riding the wind between continents: the epic migration of dragonflies
Prashanth says:
Very nicely written. Especially interesting was the effort of Wikelski et al in radio-collaring dragonflies and flying behind them for 12 days in Cessna planes!! Considering that Cessnas are quite the 'dragonflies' among air crafts, it must have been quite exciting.
Rajesh Kapadia says:
very very interesting. says it all, Please do not disturb the pattern of Nature..it can manage on its own..and does not need man's asisstance..
Ingrid Alvial says:
Very good your information. Do you have records about migrations of Globe Skimmers from South America to Easter Island?, or Where I can see these records?, Thanks you very much.
February 1st, 2017 at 1:26 am
I'm afraid that we are unaware of this information. Please do share here if you do find out — thanks!
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text:
L. Neil Smith's
Number 27, May 1, 1997
Kick The Habit!
By Victor Milan
vicmilan@ix.netcom.com
Exclusive to The Libertarian Enterprise
There's no mystery why people institute government: in order to derive unearned benefit from the lives and labors of others, of course. To question the why of this is as goofy as pondering why criminals outside of government steal.
The Big Question is why people all but inevitably agree to be governed.
I say: habit.
Too simple? I don't think so. We're pattern-loving creatures. As a recovering asthmatic, I can tell you that a severe spasm is liable to persist until actively broken.
We're all taught a conventional explanation for why we put up with governance: "anarchy" is so awful that the people invariably welcome those who confer the blessings of subservience upon them. One standard-issue fairy tale runs that bands of robbers settled down -- presumably when they had accrued too much loot to carry readily away -- and made compact with local peasants, whereby the peasants would supply their needs in exchange for the first pack of marauders protecting them against the depredations of subsequent thieves.
That, my friends, is a load of happy horseshit.
First, please notice, those of you clinging to authoritarianism, that this widely-accepted scenario shoots the concept of "legitimate authority" right in the back of the head. Unless one accepts the notion that long usage somehow confers legitimacy; which would mean, say, that it was fine for the Carthaginians to sacrifice children to Moloch, because they did it for a while.
But the scenario itself is nonsense on a rocket sled. There's no evidence anything of the sort has ever happened, anywhere. Sense, observation, and a reading of history not colored by the soul-purchased subservience to power characteristic of most historians -- like other academics -- leads strongly to the conclusion that what really happened was that said band of robbers, immobilized by stolen wealth, squatted down and enslaved the circumambient farmers. They then fought off other packs of two-legged predators out of sheer self-interest, with no more thought for the well-being of the slaves they were defending than a rancher trying to ward off coyotes has for the suckling calves he's protecting.
The rancher does not chase away the coyotes and rustlers because he loves his calves; he does it because he wants to eat them. Similarly, governments are instituted for the benefit of the governed to precisely the extent that stockyards are instituted for the benefit of cattle.
The myth of external authority -- which is really what we're talking here -- benefits any numbers of players, hence the universality of its perpetuation. Even families: there have always been parents shiftless enough to borrow the mantle of external authority from government in order to exploit their children without exerting any wearisome efforts to earn or maintain their respect; even as today there are plenty willing to abdicate all parental responsibility not just to our abusive "public schools" but to Congress.
The reason we keep getting government is we're taught to believe it's necessary. We're in the habit. It doesn't actually provide us anything except illusion, sulfurous smoke and cracked fly-specked mirrors.
Yet even people who claim to be libertarian will utter gibberish to the effect that "the only way to win liberty is through governing." The only liberty to be won through governing is the liberty to share in the plunder.
Government is theft and rape. Most libertarians have heard those words, or concepts, so often that they don't hear them anymore, the way most Americans shine on the words "give me liberty or give me death" as mere vibrations of air, mantras if you will, not to be taken seriously by reasonable folk. And yet government literally is about those things, and it isn't about anything else. Nor can it ever be. The urge to govern can be nothing more than the urge to enslave, no matter how the possessor of that urge may deceive even him or herself as to its true nature.
As long as most people accept the lie that government is necessary and good, we'll have government. So long as we play government games -- so long as we participate at all, we support government. It is imperative that we give over fantasies of reform, of making government "better;" of returning to some cloud-cuckoo land of "constitutional" government. There are no limits we can impose on government power and growth which those in government will not figure out how to evade -- if, indeed, they haven't already figured how to subvert or ignore any constraints the most resourceful of us can conceive.
There is no government we can build that will safeguard our property or our freedom. Government is government. Government is theft. Government is tyranny. We will change those things after we change the Sun to cherry Jell-O.
Sometime in the next 20 years, technology will gift our rulers with the choice of whether to unbreakably enslave us all with self-replicating assemblers controlling all our brain functions in real time, or to simply wipe out the bulk of humanity as superfluous and annoying, and use their nanotechnology to supply all their desires -- an ever-warring handful of sorcerer kings and queens.
We don't have forever to fart around with failures -- as manifest and undeniable as the other side's Wars on Poverty and Drugs -- such as "working within the system" and "limiting government," that surrender all meaningful objectives before battle even begins.
Freedom can win. But the only way to do so is to kick the ancient habit of faith in government.
We, the freedom movement, must be first to break the spasm. Or it will most assuredly break us.
Prometheus Award-winner Victor Milan is the author of over 70 novels, including the just-released CLD from AvoNova and War In Tethyr from TSR.
Next to advance to the next article, or Previous to return to the previous article, or Index to return to The Libertarian Enterprise, Number 27, May 1, 1997.


And yes, I know the competition is fierce. In fact, the title of the post is pretty redundant. But still.
Thanks to Bas for the link. Here's my ppt riff. And yes, I still think it applies to any field, at any level. No exceptions for doctors, CEOs, structural engineers or marketers.


FXCM went public at the end of 2010 at a share price of $14.0, reaching $15.0 and even more during intraday trading on the IPO day. It was all the way down since and the share price hit rock bottom reaching $8.50 at one point, almost halving FXCM's $1.05bn IPO valuation. Something changed however in the past few months and FXCM stock rallied rising from $9.00 in November to almost $14.00 today. Yesterday FXCM reported its January 2013 monthly metrics and results were significantly better than December with retail average daily volume being second highest in FXCM history.
The share price rally may be due to solid FXCM's performance in the past few months, its acquisition of Lucid Markets, the end of the dispute with Thomson Reuters and the overall spike in forex trading activity in the past month which may signal investors that the forex market is back to its high growth mode.
Whatever the case is this is good news for the forex market in general as well as for brokers like OANDA, Alpari and FxPro who have their eyes on an IPO for some time now.
Gain Capital, the second forex broker to go public, unfortunately isn't doing similarly well as its share price is still less than half the IPO levels.
Time to short! don't forget credit band will literally kill the US business. As we know, JAPan and other nations will implement it as well.


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The Great Flame Wars: Mac vs. PC for 3D Artists
When you think about the Mac vs. PC debate, unfortunately one of the first things that comes to mind is probably the flaming that will occur when it's brought up. A lot of that, probably thanks to not only the impassioned opinions of users around the world, but also because of the ad campaigns by the two companies at the heart of the debate, Apple and Microsoft. For example, the popular Get a Mac ad campaign from Apple fanned the internet flame wars between Mac and PC users as it pitted the two against each other. What most ad campaigns don't mention, though, is that Macs actually are PCs. After all, PC is only an acronym that means "personal computer" and has nothing to do with the hardware or software that makes up that personal computer. Still, common perception is that there's a difference between a "Mac" and a "PC". While they may look vastly different on the outside, when you open them up those vast differences start to disappear rather quickly. They're all made up of the same sort of hardware components, made even more similar ever since Apple started transitioning away from proprietary hardware inside of their computers and continues to this day, as evidenced by Apple's recent partnership with IBM. Basically all of this means the primary differences of what's commonly thought of as Macs and PCs isn't really in the hardware, but instead can be found with the software that run on them. In this article we'll take a look at some of key things that you'll need to keep in mind when deciding on a Mac vs PC for 3D.
If you step back and think about how ingrained computers have become in our everyday life, it's sort of strange to think about how there's really only a handful of operating systems at the core of the technology that's running our everyday life. Mobile operating systems aside, the "big three" of computer operating systems that are run on most desktop PCs are, of course, Apple's OS X, Windows and the various Linux distributions. When it comes to a preferred operating system, everyone has an opinion. Although no one can realistically deny the fact that there are pros and cons to each of the "big three", unfortunately when it comes to operating systems many times personal opinions tend to lend themselves towards an "either/or" mentality. As a result, many people will avoid using anything that's outside of their comfort zone. As Ben Franklin's now-famous quote says, "Time is money". Although this may be a bit more literal for 3D artists who are freelancing, you don't have to be a freelancer to recognize that the more efficient you are, the more valuable you are to your employer. The faster you can get work done, the more time you'll have to either move onto the next project or, at the very least, spend more time tweaking and polishing the work. In either case, saving time is a good thing. While the whole Mac vs. PC debate certainly isn't anything new, as a 3D artist it's in your best interest to use whatever tools help you accomplish your projects more efficiently. Your choice of an OS can have a huge impact on that efficiency simply because of the tools that may or may not be available to you. Of course, exactly how an OS can save you time is going to vary depending on what sort of 3D projects you're working on.
Pros and Cons of Macs
For many years and with the help of numerous ad campaigns, Apple has positioned Macs to be the chosen computer of creative artists. Some of the reasons for this range from great integration with Adobe's suite of software to simple things like being able to tag folders visually with colors. Even though a lot of the benefits for Macs are focused more at designers then being targeted specifically at 3D artists, that doesn't mean 3D artists can't appreciate and take advantage of the visual nature of the beautifully designed interface in OS X. One of the biggest drawbacks to the use of Macs for 3D artists are some of the tools that aren't available with OS X. Perhaps the biggest of these is 3ds Max and, even though it's been given it's end of life, the still-very useful tool Softimage also isn't available for OS X. Even though some programs, like 3ds Max and MotionBuilder, aren't available for Macs, there are plenty of tools like Maya, MODO or CINEMA 4D you use directly inside of OS X. Let's face it, computers are computers. Anyone who tries to tell you that Macs don't have technical problems is wrong. Macs will fail just like any other computer. However, because Apple has locked down the OS X pretty heavily to avoid a lot of extreme customization that can be found in other operating systems, as a result there's naturally a lot less tweaking or optimizing that goes on for Macs. While some consider this to be a drawback of OS X, when looked at in another light the time saved by completely avoiding the need to tweak the hardware and software is a huge pro for OS X. This time saved can then be time spent tweaking your projects. It's worth pointing out that while it can require a lot of technical knowledge (and perhaps some questionable practices) to force OS X onto a non-Mac PC, if you start off with a Mac then you aren't limited to OS X as your operating system. In another move that blurs the line between "Mac" and "PC", Apple's Boot Camp allows you to run Windows on your Mac. This is huge for a 3D artist because it means you'll be able to run Mac hardware while running Windows-only software like 3ds Max. Or, if you're feeling extra ambitious you can even triple-boot Windows, Linux and OS X.
Pros and Cons of Linux-based PCs
Even though Linux isn't a mainstream operating system, it's actually quite common in the 3D industry. The primary reason for Linux's popularity among studios is because of the fact that most Linux distributions are open source. This sort of customization is a two-edged sword. On one hand, being open source means you can basically do anything you want with Linux. With this customization, you could do anything from helping standard 3D programs run faster by stripping out any extraneous software running in the background to building out your own custom workflows directly into the OS itself. On the other hand, with the possible exception of some of the Linux distributions that are specifically targeted at the masses, like Ubuntu, generally speaking Linux often isn't regarded as a user-friendly operating system. A lot of this has to do with the customization that can be built into Linux. So, while that customization can ultimately save a lot of time, it can also mean either a more difficult initial learning curve or the need to code your customization. Thanks to it's popularity in studios, most of the major 3D applications can be found for Linux. However, there are a few noteable exceptions like 3ds Max and ZBrush. Linux for 3D artists is really best if you're the type of user who loves customization and doesn't mind getting their hands dirty with coding now and again. If you do go with Linux and still find you're wanting to hop into ZBrush to do some sculpting, you can always dual boot Windows on your Linux PC. Although there isn't an official Boot Camp for Linux PCs, there doesn't really need to be. Dual-booting Linux and Windows is done commonly enough to mean there's plenty of walkthroughs and tutorials you can find on the internet to show you how to do it.
Pros and Cons of Windows-based PCs
Love it or hate it, Windows is by far the most popular operating system for desktop computers with a percentage share of about 91% so far in 2014 according to Net Market Share. That means if you're reading this, you've probably either using Windows right now or you've used it before. For 3D artists the popularity of Windows means two very important things. The first is that, thanks to it's popularity, just about every tool you could ever want is available for Windows, including some exclusives like the aforementioned 3ds Max. Simply put, if you want the widest range of tools at your disposal then Windows is the way to go. If Macs are great for anyone who doesn't want to worry about tweaking their systems and Linux systems are great for anyone who wants extreme customization, then Windows-based PCs are a great middle ground between ease of use and customization. The other item of importance that comes out of the popularity of Windows is simply that there's , also thanks to it's popularity, there's a lot of unwanted things that often come with Windows computers. One of the more serious of these unwanted things are viruses or malware. While other operating systems certainly aren't immune to viruses, sometimes despite marketing to the contrary, as Windows is the most popular operating system it also means it's the biggest target for malicious code. Fortunately, you're not the only one in this boat so it's not very hard to keep your Windows computer secure these days, but as a 3D artist, this means you'll likely need some sort of internet security software running at all times. This can take away from processing power for your 3D programs and, depending on the security software you're using, could completely freeze your 3D programs if all of the processing power is being dedicated elsewhere.
Cross-platform Capabilities of 3D Programs
As you can imagine, a huge part of what OS you decide to use should rest heavily on the tools that are available to you. To assist with that, here's a table with some of the 3D programs out there and what OS they support. While this list isn't intended to be all-encompassing, you can get a pretty good idea of what tools are available on which operating systems.
Software Operating Systems
3D-Coat System Requirements
3ds Max System Requirements
Arnold System Requirements
Backburner System Requirements
Blender System Requirements
CINEMA 4D System Requirements
CrazyBump for Mac or CrazyBump for Windows
FumeFX for 3ds Max or FumeFX for Maya
Houdini System Requirements
KeyShot System Requirements
KRAKATOA for 3ds Max or KRAKATOA for Maya
MARI System Requirements
Massive System Requirements
Maxwell Render System Requirements
Maya System Requirements
MODO System Requirements
MotionBuilder System Requirements
Mudbox System Requirements
RealFlow System Requirements
RenderMan System Requirements
Sculptris System Requirements
Shave and a Haircut System Requirements
Softimage System Requirements
Substance Designer System Requirements
TopoGun System Requirements
UVLayout System Requirements
V-Ray for 3ds Max or V-Ray for Maya
Vue System Requirements
ZBrush System Requirements
Tips for Finding Your Operating System
As with many things, there's no one size fits all OS that will work for every situation. When you're looking for the OS that will help you be as efficient as you can be for your 3D projects, it's important to be able to separate yourself from what you may want and instead focus on what may be best. Once you realize those two things may not be the same, it's a lot easier to look at your options in a more objective light. While there's way too many possible scenarios to talk about here, a common one for many 3D artists is to have a computer that's completely dedicated to 3D work. It doesn't matter if it's a custom-built workstation or a pre-built system, by keeping your work computer separate you can not only free up your 3D computer to be focused only on 3D work but you can also choose an OS that works best for your 3D work. Now that you've had a chance to see some of the pros and cons for each OS, we'd love to hear what OS you've chosen and why you picked it.


CQUniLife - International student? Have you had a health check recently?
International student? Have you had a health check recently?
As an international student, we understand there are many things to consider when studying and living in Australia. These include your personal health and wellbeing. We encourage all our international students to undertake regular health checks.
To arrange a health check, please call to make an appointment with a local medical centre. Check the yellow pages directory under Doctors, or Medical Practitioners to find a doctor or clinic.
If you ever require emergency medical care, go to the Emergency section at the nearest hospital, which are usually open 24 hours.
A full list of all public and private hospitals in Australia is available at MyHospitals.
If the situation is life threatening, call an ambulance immediately. The emergency number for Ambulance, Police, and Fire services is 000.
Should you ever feel unwell, or require medical attention, please don't hesitate to seek advice from a qualified health professional during your stay in Australia.


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High prices for baby eels in Maine as season nears end
May 16, 2019 — Maine's annual fishing season for baby eels is nearing the end, and prices have approached record highs.
Fishermen seek baby eels, called elvers, in Maine rivers so they can be sold to Asian aquaculture companies for use as seed stock. The Maine Department of Marine Resources says fishermen are just about out of quota this year, and that means the season's about finished.
Read the full story at the Associated Press
Maine's lobster exports to China plunge 84 percent due to trade war
May 16, 2019 — The latest data from the Maine International Trade Center indicates that the state's lobster exports to China plunged dramatically in the wake of retaliatory tariffs placed on a wide range of U.S. goods.
The tariffs, implemented in July 2018, had an immediate affect on the state's lobster industry. Prior to the tariffs, Maine had been on track to have a record-setting year, with USD 87 million (EUR 77.8 million) worth of lobster exported through June 2018, over double the USD 42 million (EUR 37.5 million) shipped through the same period in 2017.
Soon after tariffs were implemented, however, Maine's exports to China nearly disappeared completely, and according to the latest data from the MITC exports have plunged nearly 84 percent since the tariffs were implemented.
The latest talk on the trade front doesn't point to any improvement in those numbers any time soon. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened and then implemented further tariff increases on 10 May. In response, China fired back with its own increased tariffs, including additional tariffs on a number of seafood products.
Despite the threat of escalation, for many lobster exporters, the damage has already been done. Whether the tariffs increase or not, most of the business had already dried up.
"Retaliatory tariffs, or a move upward to 25 percent, doesn't really change anything for U.S. exporters to mainland China," Sheila Adams, the vice president of sales and marketing for Maine Coast Lobster, told SeafoodSource.
Read the full story at Seafood Source
West Coast swordfish landings hit slight dip in 2018
May 15, 2019 — West Coast swordfish stocks are on the upswing, but Homeland Security stipulations could mean fewer of them will be offloaded at docks in California.
According to a recent stock assessment report to the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-Like Species in the North Pacific Ocean, in 2018, swordfish biomass increased from 51,000 metric tons in 1998 to an estimated 71,979 metric tons in 2016.
The U.S. fleet working the waters in the Western and North Central Pacific Ocean harvests but a fraction of what the fleet from Japan catches in a year. According to data from the stock assessment report, Japan's average catch has hovered around 3,500 metric tons in recent years, and the U.S. harvest has come in at around half of the landings posted by fleets from China.
Read the full story at National Fisherman
McDonald's rolls out Canada-wide product featuring MSC-certified haddock
May 14, 2019 — After a successful pilot in Atlantic Canada last summer, McDonald's Canada is rolling out a new Fish & Chips meal at its restaurants throughout the country.
The fish used in the meals is Marine Stewardship Council-certified haddock, supplied by High Liner Foods in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada. McDonald's restaurants expect to use around 260,000 pounds of Atlantic haddock for the Fish & Chips during the limited-time offer, McDonald's Canada said in a press release.
The haddock is caught off of Nova Scotia and packed in Atlantic Canada.
The new limited-time meal includes two pieces of fish coated with a crunchy batter and served with French fries and tartar dipping sauce.
China retaliates by upping tariffs, sending markets spiraling
May 13, 2019 — On Friday, 10 May, the United States formally implemented higher tariffs on USD 200 billion (EUR 178.6 billion) of Chinese goods – a move that had been announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, 5 May.
On Monday, 13 May, China responded with its own announcement that it will raise tariffs on USD 60 billion (EUR 53.4 billion) of American goods from 10 percent to 20 or 25 percent.
The back-and-forth occurred after negotiations between the two countries appeared to have suffered a setback on 10 May after talks in Washington D.C. failed to produce an agreement on reducing the trade tensions.
Rabobank: Global seafood trade now worth USD 153 billion
May 7, 2019 — Seafood is one of the world's most important food commodities and the trade continues to grow in line with rising demand and supply, but the dynamics of that trade are likely to change in the coming years, according to a new seafood trade map and report compiled by Rabobank International.
With an estimated traded value of USD 153 billion (EUR 136.5 billion) in 2017, increasing by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4 percent in the five-year period 2012-2017, the global seafood trade has been led by value growth rather than increased volumes. As Rabobank's "World Seafood Map 2019" finds, the largest trade flow in value terms is still from Norway to the E.U., mainly consisting of salmon and some whitefish. This is followed by trade flows of salmon and crustaceans from Canada, and flows of whitefish and crustaceans from China to the U.S. market.
Rabobank Analyst Behyhan de Jong, who compiled the map, told SeafoodSource that in 2013, the average price of salmon in Norway was NOK 40 (USD 4.60, EUR 4.11) per kilogram, but this had increased by 50 percent to a level of NOK 60 (USD 6.91, EUR 6.16) in 2018. Meanwhile, the supply growth of shrimp has led to decreased prices, however, increased exports, "particularly from India and Ecuador," have driven an increased crustacean trade globally, added de Jong.
Underpinned by the importance of localized production and the rising global demand for products, Rabobank expects seafood to maintain its standing as one of the most traded food commodities. Processing and re-exports are also important contributors to the traded volumes.
Trump announces tariff increases against Chinese goods
May 6, 2019 — U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday, 5 May, escalated the trade war between the United States and China when he announced his intention to raise a 10 percent tariff on USD 200 billion (EUR 178.6 billion) of goods to 25 percent on Friday 10 May.
That hike will affect numerous types of seafood products already under the 10 percent tariff.
"The Tariffs paid to the USA have had little impact on product cost, mostly borne by China," Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon. "The Trade Deal with China continues, but too slowly, as they attempt to renegotiate. No!"
In addition, another USD 325 billion (EUR 290.3 billion) of goods that have previously escaped tariffs will also be hit by the 25 percent fee. That would cover the remaining products China, the largest importer to the U.S., ships to America.
The move from 10 to 25 percent was originally supposed to take place in January, but U.S. officials announced a postponement of the move in December as the countries with the world's largest economies worked to resolve their trade disputes.
However, as it appeared both sides were close to reaching a deal in March, Trump announced the tariffs would remain "for a substantial period of time."
Rising incomes, increased urbanization to underpin seafood consumption growth
May 3, 2019 — The considerable growth in both fisheries and aquaculture production, matched by a rising public awareness of the important role that fish as a food group plays in healthy and diversified diets has driven seafood consumption upwards over the past five decades. Other factors contributing to the steady rise in people eating seafood include reduced wastage, better utilization, improved distribution channels and growing demand.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in per capita terms, global food fish consumption grew from 9 kg in 1961 to 20.2 kg in 2015, representing an average expansion rate of 1.5 percent per annum. Its preliminary estimates for 2016 and 2017 point to further growth to about 20.3 kg and 20.5 kg respectively. Moreover, since 1961, the average annual increase in global food fish consumption of 3.2 percent has outpaced the population growth (1.6 percent) and exceeded the consumption of meat from all terrestrial animals combined (2.8 percent), and individually (bovine, ovine, pig and other), except poultry (4.9 percent).
In 2015, fish accounted for approximately 17 percent of animal protein, and 7 percent of all proteins, consumed by the global population. As such, it provided about 3.2 billion people with almost 20 percent of their average per capita intake of animal protein.
Of course, consumption varies significantly across and within regions because of the influence of cultural, economic and geographic factors – ranging from less than 1 kg to more than 100 kg. In general terms, though, of the global total of 149 million metric tons (MT) consumed in 2015, Asia accounted for more than two-thirds (106 million MT and 24 kg per capita), while Oceania and Africa consumed the lowest share.
The FAO also highlights that while consumers in many advanced economies have a wide choice of value-added fish products and are not deterred by price increases, their per capita consumption levels have been approaching their "saturation point" in terms of quantity. It notes that the growth of per capita fish consumption in the EU and United States has slowed in the past few years, and also over the past two decades in Japan (albeit from a high level), while the per capita consumption of poultry and pig meat in these markets has increased.
Chinese-led supply constraints to drive global seafood prices up by 25 percent
May 2, 2019 — The rising global demand for seafood and a projected slowdown in the growth of fisheries and aquaculture production, particularly by China – the world's leading provider of these products – will lead to a decade of higher prices, anticipates the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
In 2016, total fish production reached an all-time high of 171 million metric tons (MT), with wild-capture fisheries and aquaculture providing 53 percent and 47 percent respectively. Of the total, 88 percent or 151 million MT was utilized for direct human consumption. Capture fisheries production accounted for 90.9 million MT, while aquaculture supplied 80 million MT. Although the contribution of farmed species to human consumption is higher than that of wild-caught fish.
Based on the assumption of higher demand and technological improvements, the overall production is expected to continue to expand, reaching 201 million MT by 2030. While this would represent a growth of 18 percent or 30 million MT over 2016, it amounts to an annual growth rate of just 1 percent for the 2016-2030 period, compared with 2.3 percent for 2003-2016.
By 2030, the FAO expects capture fisheries production to reach about 91 million MT, only 1 percent more than in 2016. It foresees that factors influencing this limited growth will include a 17 percent decrease of capture fisheries in China due to the implementation of new policies, which it reckons will be compensated for by increased catches in a number of other regions. In this regard, it believes there will be higher landings from fishing areas where stocks of certain species are recovering due to improved management, as well as increased catches in waters of the few countries where there are underfished resources, as well as where new fishing opportunities exist or where fisheries management measures are less restrictive.
In addition, the FAO believes there'll be enhanced use of fisheries production, including reduced onboard discards, waste, and losses as driven by legislation or higher market fish prices. But it also acknowledges that in some years, the El Niño phenomenon can be expected to reduce catches in South America, especially for anchoveta, resulting in an overall decrease of world capture fisheries production of about 2 percent in those years.


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Sun 24th Oct 2021, 7:30pm
Talon - The Best Of The Eagles
at West Cliff Theatre, Clacton-On-Sea
The Legacy Tour
Talon have risen from humble beginnings to become one of the most successful theatre touring shows in the UK and 'The Legacy Tour 2020/21' will once again feature the Eagles timeless back catalogue including Hotel California, Take It Easy, One Of These Nights, Take It To The Limit, Desperado, Lyin' Eyes, Life In The Fast Lane and many more.
This world class seven-piece band are a phenomenon and have truly transcended the tag of 'tribute'. They have become a brand name in their own right who are not only revered by their peers, respected by the music industry but dearly loved by their massive and expanding fan base that together have become a 'family'.
The ability of Talon to evolve and go from strength to strength in delivering bigger and better shows year on year continues once again with what promises to be an event!
This truly amazing concert has to be seen to be believed. The legendary sounds of The Eagles are faithfully and brilliantly recreated by seven extremely talented men collectively known as Talon. With hits such as 'Hotel California' and 'Best of My Love', to name but a few, they are without a doubt - The Best of Eagles.
See 40 tour dates featuring Talon - The Best Of The Eagles
> Clacton-On-Sea Music
> West Cliff Theatre
West Cliff Theatre
CO15 1LE
westcliffclacton.co.uk
Disabled Booking:
Talon - The Best Of The Eagles image © Talon - The Best Of The Eagles
Find places to stay on Sun 24th Oct 2021


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Q: Make a flexbox middle part scroll, without the container taking 100% of the page Making a flexbox child have a scroll bar instead of growing, takes a container with fixed height.
easy to create in a an isolated environment:
 #container {
  height: 100%;
  display: flex;
  flex: 0 0 auto;
  flex-flow: column;
}

#list {
  display: flex;
  flex-flow: column;
  overflow: auto;
}

https://jsfiddle.net/1yjk5ojp/
but let's say i want to use a page header.
i don't know it's exact size, so i can't use aboslute position with mergin.
i also can't use any flex component along the way, cuz it's must be fixed size.
for example - added a 100px header

Page header

https://jsfiddle.net/z6dsq822/1/
is there anything i can do to make a fixed height component after an unknown size component?
my constrains are that i don't want another scroll bar, and i want the header to be outside this structure (it's a large application with different views, the header is in a template)

A: Make the parent container for everything a flex column and set #container to flex-grow: 1 so it takes up the available space, then everything else works as you already had it.

* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
  padding: 0;
  margin: 0;
}

html,
body {
  height: 100vh;
}

body {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
}

header {
  flex: 0 0 100px;
}

#container {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  flex-grow: 1;
  overflow: auto;
}

#list {
  display: flex;
  overflow: scroll;
  flex-direction: column;
  flex-grow: 1;
}

#top {
  flex: 0 0 20px;
  background-color: #db9277;
}

#bottom {
  flex: 0 0 20px;
  background-color: #db9277;
}

.row {
  height: 100px;
  background-color: #85d8d5;
}

  header

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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


One of our long-termers, Maarten, has a background in web development and is using his highly-trained skills to build a new domain whose title explains its its purpose – hippylife.eu. He hopes it will grow into an encyclopedic assortment of articles, videos, ideas and tools to help lead an alternative lifestyle in the age of late-stage capitalism.
Maarten is encouraging people to contribute material to his site in the hope of assisting people who are struggling to break free from the chains of their wage slavery. He hopes to highlight the many positives that dropping out can bring.
Maarten has spent time floating around after leaving his homeland and escaping the stresses of modern life. He has found happiness, contentment and a purpose that late-stage capitalism was never able provide. He wishes by this electronic means to share his experiences with others, but he also hopes others will contribute. Contact him on Facebook or send a message via the website if you wish to be a contributor or help generate ideas. It could be the start of something special.


Winston Churchill talked about his black dog. The way it would sit in the corner of his room quietly staring at him until one day out of nowhere it would pounce on him and sit on his shoulder or at his heels, refusing to move. The black dog, cloud, void whatever you want to label it, it is depression. A deep down pain that consumes your every breathing moment, seeps into your muscles, grinds at your bones and steals your appetite. Depression kills your soul from within. No one sees it, no one can heal it and at times no one believes it.
The world around you spins at its normal pace but your world slows down, similar to a black and white movie where everything becomes silent and only your inner-mind consumes you. You become deaf to everything positive. Every time you blink a tears seeps through and stings your heart.
I'm not really convinced that my depression was solely down to the trauma of giving birth to Arjun or whether I was always prone to it. I had suffered in my younger days but it was undiagnosed, it was just seen as 'teenage hormonal moodiness' but now I recognise it as depression. It had crept back into my life when I first got married; the new life of marrying through an arranged marriage had taken its toll. This time though it felt different. The internal pain was more physical. My heart hurt, it felt like someone was shredding it into small parts, slowly and deliberately to cause maximum pain. It felt like someone was actually enjoying my suffering.
As the weeks and months rolled by, Arjun endured a new set of tests, and we were given further results which revealed more and more of the devastating effects of the brain damage, I withdrew more. I withdrew from Arjun and Dav. It is truthful to say that it is a miracle that we are still married after what I put him through. I showed him and Arjun no loving emotions, no tenderness and definitely no physical compassion, instead the anger at him for saving Arjun consumed me. Anger at Arjun for surviving. I know this sounds wicked, but it took me almost 10 years of therapy to admit to this, and then realise that in reality I was grieving.
Anger fuelled my grief and depression.
Post natal depression or PND can hit you at anytime, it is not necessarily at birth or indeed after 5 day when the so called /baby blues hit. This is much more. In many cases you are left dealing with your emotions alone.
In Indian culture, there is no recognition of depression. For most of the older generation (and some of younger) depression is a taboo, it is a stigma and a parasite, so much so that no one discusses it. For many there is only one solution, 'get over it' or turn to 'GOD'. By the time I was deep into my depression, I had lost my faith, and couldn't just ' get over it'. All I wanted to do was hide away like a snail in my shell, hide away and pretend that Arjun was not here, that I had not been pregnant or indeed have a child with such a depressing (excuse the pun) prognosis.
My most poignant memory is when I left Arjun with Dav and walked out of the house , knowing that I may not return. My mind was telling me to end it, drive my car straight into a wall or over a cliff edge. I cannot even begin to recall the deep dark emotions that clouded my numb mind. Yes, memories can play tricks on your mind sometimes, but I do recall parking up in the middle of nowhere (not really knowing where I was) and screaming in the car like a mad woman, almost beating myself as I did so. It was like the depression was consuming me from within and I was fighting with it physically as well as mentally, I recall the consuming anguish eating me and spitting me out.
It was only when I was exhausted that I felt the tug of the love for my son, for the child I had treasured in my womb for all those months that I managed blindly to return home. I have no idea how I got home, how I drove or how I survived, but I think the tug of love for my own blood running through Arjun, the love my parents and loss for Dav that brought me back, well physically, but emotionally I am still a mess.
I was grieving for the life I though I was creating, my perfect world, I had an amazing career ahead of me, Dav was the same, we had just bought our first home, I had fallen pregnant after such a difficult journey and we were finally independent. The pregnancy was the icing on the cake. The grief was unimaginable.
I am not saying that I am ok now. I am not. I continued to suffer with depression, throughout the years, triggered and exacerbated by two further difficult pregnancies and births. Simran's birth at 29 weeks triggered the PTSD and nightmares. All I could here were the machines, bleeps and emergency C-section agony and the unknown again. We were fearful that she could have brain damage like Arjun. Priya's pregnancy was extremely tough, I suffered with a low lying placenta (Placenta Pre via) so bled from 16 weeks onwards and was on bed rest, couldn't be further that 15 min from a hospital and was fearful of a fatal haemorrhage. We wont even talk about her birth (that's another blog)!
I am still not well, but I have been off medication for almost 5 years, despite there being some very difficult times and my depression making a return.
My depression hangs around me always, however by keeping myself busy I dodge the impending cloud on the horizon waiting to come in. I must stop this in its tracks; like hanging on a cliff -edge with my white knuckles screaming for release, I am consumed with darkness therefore I find myself getting imvolved in many community and charitable events, I fill my life with 'busy ess'.
Many friends, family and colleagues would never guess my depression and anxiety is part of me, I still perform in the classroom, laugh with friends and even stand infront of an audience of hundreds ( including a Parliamentary gathering) and give speeches to raise awareness of children's prematurity, disability and life-limiting outcomes. This does not make me 'better' it just means I'm avoiding sitting still for too long to allow my depression to consume me.
I am what we call a 'smiling depressive'. I smile on the outside but inside I'm a mess, but you know what, that's how it is.
Support the 1 in 4 Mental Illeness Awreness Campaign with me. Post and tag a picture of yourself to any of my social media outlets holding 4 fingers up represent that harrowing statistic the 1 in 4 of us will deal with some form of mental illness in their lives.
Your such an inspiration to us all! I am loving reading your blogs, your an amazing wife/mother!
Words can not describe how you make me feel .You are a inspiration to children with special needs keep up the blog . I look forward to reading your blog each day and helps me cope with mine .


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A Catholic Town at the Center of Sri Lanka's Deadly Attacks
The Associated Press's Gemunu Amarasinghe writes that the Sri Lankan fishing town of Negombo is in mourning after a church there was bombed as part of a coordinated attack on a half-dozen churches and hotels across the country. At least 110 people were killed at St. Sebastian's Church, a Catholic church in a town that has been called "Little Rome" for its many churches and tightly knit Catholic community. Amarasinghe writes, "On Monday, many people came to pray in the garden outside the church, gathering at a statue of St. Sebastian, an early Christian martyr who was riddled with arrows during Roman persecutions."


Alex is ordered to stop a diamond heist, but he encounters an old colleague who is seeking information. Mr. Johnson and Cassandra step in and threaten to call off the bets. Later, Alex attends Ginny's funeral and discovers details surrounding her murder.


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The HAT will be a very different test to any which you have ever sat before but should hopefully be a more interesting and enjoyable one too!
Angus Brown has just started his second year studying History and Politics at Magdalen. He studied at a State Comprehensive in Lancashire for both his GCSEs and A-Levels, studying History, Politics and English Literature at A-Level.
Researching the history of international relations
Leo Keay lives in Winchester and studied Modern History at St. Benet's Hall. After graduating in June 2017, Leo was awarded the 2018 Undergraduate Dissertation Prize by the Society for the Study of French History.
Terra Foundation for American Art Visiting Professor announced for 2019-20 academic year
Professor Amy M. Mooney, a specialist in African American Art, has been appointed as the next Terra Foundation for American Art Visiting Professor
Making Maritime Memories: The British Country House and the Sea
Prof. James McDougall wins British-Kuwait Friendship Society Book Prize in Middle Eastern Studies
Tuesday 4 December 2018
Uncomfortable Oxford Tours


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New Research Takes Us One Step Closer to a Bionic Eye
Filed to: BiotechnologyFiled to: Biotechnology
bionic eyes
Researchers have 3D-printed a sensing array onto a hemispheric glass dome.
Image: University of Minnesota, McAlpine Group
For the first time ever, scientists have 3D-printed an array of light sensors onto an eyeball-shaped surface. Eventually, a scaled-up version of the device could restore vision to the blind, or even improve the vision of sighted people.
New research published this week in Advanced Materials describes the device. Researchers at the University of Minnesota 3D-printed a light-sensitive array, comprised of silver particles and semiconducting materials, onto a domed surface made of glass. The printed material managed to cling to the rounded surface and convert light into electricity. Though the device looks like an eyeball, it's nowhere near the stage where it could be transplanted and made to work like a functional eye. Rather, it's a proof-of-concept that paves a path forward as scientists work to develop a bonafide bionic eye.
To make it, a research team led by Michael McAlpine started with a hemispherical glass dome similar in shape and size to a human eyeball. Using a custom, multi-material 3D-printer, the team laid down a base, or scaffold, comprised of silver particles. Next, the researchers used semiconducting polymers to print photodiodes capable of converting light into an electrical current. The manufacturing process took about an hour.
The video here shows how they did it.
In tests, the researchers were able to achieve 25 percent efficiency in converting light into electricity using the fully 3D-printed semiconductors.
"We have a long way to go to routinely print active electronics reliably, but our 3D-printed semiconductors are now starting to show that they could potentially rival the efficiency of semiconducting devices fabricated in microfabrication facilities," said McAlpine in a statement. "Plus, we can easily print a semiconducting device on a curved surface, and they can't."
From here, the team would like to create a prototype in which the light receptors work with even greater efficiency. The researchers are also hoping to find a way to print on a soft round material, rather than glass, that can be implanted into a natural eye.
There's still plenty of work to be done. The ability to print photosensitive arrays onto a rounded surface is hugely important, as it's an approximation to how a natural eye actually works, converting incoming light into an electrical current that the brain's visual cortex can understand. Looking ahead, scientists will have to find a way to connect such a device to the brain, and "teach" it to process visual stimuli. That will likely take some time.
A device like this could one day help the blind to see (after some extensive training), but it could also potentially enable some more transhumanistic applications, like giving sighted people the ability to see with even greater clarity, or see light in different spectrums, such as infrared or ultraviolet light.
But we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves. For now, let's celebrate this latest achievement.
[Advanced Materials]
Watch Amputee Monkeys Control Robotic Arms by Changing Brains
10 Incredible Robots That Are Inspiring Us to Build the First Artificial Human
Brain Implant Allows Paralyzed Woman to Spell Out Messages With Her Mind
Elon Musk Is Wrong to Think He Can Save the World By Boosting Our Brains
I Spent a Weekend With Cyborgs, and Now I Have an RFID Implant I Have No Idea What to Do With
Brain Implant Will Let Amputees Move Individual Fingers on Prosthetics With Thoughts Alone
George is a senior staff reporter at Gizmodo.


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Hellmuth Marx (Linz, 17 de junho de 1915 – 1 de janeiro de 2002) foi um escultor austríaco.

Biografia

Hellmuth, o mais novo de cinco irmãos da família Marx, nasceu em Linz, Áustria.
O seu pai, Viktor Marx (1870-1928), oficial do exército do Império Austro-Húngaro, era de Graz. A sua mãe, Clara Marx (de solteira Pichler, 1876-1948) era de Oberdrauburg na Caríntia onde a sua família possuía um restaurante, o "Gasthof Post".

Marx frequentou o "Marieninstitut" em Graz de 1926 até 1933. Esta escola privada era gerida por padres católicos que tinham pendor para o Desporto e para as Artes.
Em 1933 Hellmuth Marx ingressou na universidade a "Technische Universitat" de Graz. Estudou arquitectura durante três anos e meio. Ao mesmo tempo frequentou a escola "Styrian School of Arts" tendo como professores Daniel Pauluzzi, Alfred Wickenburg e Fritz Silberbauer. Também é certo que frequentou as aulas de escultura em madeira e em pedra do professor Wilhelm Gosser, filho do escultor e autor de vários monumentos da cidade de Graz, Hans Brandstetter.

No período de 1938/39 Marx foi convocado para o serviço militar em Klagenfurt e, consequentemente, foi enviado para a Frente no Mar do Norte. A instabilidade  da guerra levou-o para a Lapónia, Finlândia e Noruega até terminar em Narvik.

Marx interrompeu o serviço militar de Maio de 1939 até Janeiro 1940 para se preparar para o exame de admissão à escola de escultura, a "Akademie der bildenden Künste" ( Academia de Belas Artes) de Viena. Feito o exame com sucesso, conseguiu permissão para usufruir de um período sabático para se dedicar aos estudos durante o Inverno de 1941/42.
Devido à sua personalidade, Marx rapidamente superou as memórias negativas da guerra valorizando nas suas representações a beleza da paisagem nórdica e o charme das mulheres nórdicas no seu traje tradicional. Apenas com a ajuda de um canivete, esculpia pequenas figuras de madeira representativas de Madonna que ofereceu à sua mãe e à sua tia.).

Depois da segunda guerra mundial, entre 1946/47 Marx regressou a Viena e continuou os seus estudos na Academia de Belas Artes de Viena. Frequentou as aulas de escultura do professor Josef Mullner. Em 1948 mudou-se para Heiligenblut, Caríntia para viver com a sua mãe e duas das suas irmãs. A partir de 1948 Hellmuth Marx começou a trabalhar de forma independente. Finalmente, depois de anos em constante mudança, radicou-se em Oberdrauburg. Viveu e trabalhou na sua casa de família "Stainernhaus".

Marx era conhecido em Oberdrauburg como bastante introvertido, modesto e muito educado.
O seu trabalho espelha a sua personalidade em vez de reclamar o seu mérito artístico. Talvez não tenha sido devidamente reconhecido o seu valor ; era visto  mais como um artesão, um artesão muito hábil que estava sempre pronto para reparar objectos de qualquer material, do que como um escultor.
A sua contribuição para a estética tanto da cidade de Oberdrauburg como para a de muitas casas e edifícios religiosos fala por si própria.
Marx morreu no dia 1 de Janeiro de 2002 em Lienz, Tirol Oriental.

Obra
Hellmuth Marx deixou muitas esculturas e pinturas que tinham como denominador comum o corpo humano. A par da sua carreira como escultor, ele continuou a desenhar e pintar, actividades que faziam parte da sua formação. Muitas aguarelas e pinturas a óleo -  a maior parte das últimas em painéis de madeira e em tela - estão conservadas. Mais tarde, Marx também se dedicou à fotografia, no entanto, os negativos das suas fotografias, incluindo muitos retratos, perderam-se.

De acordo com a sua personalidade artística, Marx era influenciado pelas características neoclássicas dos anos 20 e 30. Manteve-se fiel ao seu estilo mesmo contra a tendência do anunciado Avantgarde.
Do vasto  legado de esculturas deixado à cidade de Oberdrauburg destaca-se a estátua da fonte representando uma jovem cidadã vestida com o traje tradicional da região e a segurar o brasão da cidade. Esta fonte, vem a ser parte integrante do cenário do filme de comédia e mistério britânico "The Lady Vanishes" (1979).

A maioria das obras de Hellmuth foram esculpidas em mármore, granito e cerâmica. No entanto, o seu material preferido era a madeira. Quando a enorme árvore limeira que caracterizava a paisagem da praça principal de Oberdrauburg teve de ser cortada, deu origem a numerosas esculturas e gravações assinadas por Marx.

Hellmuth Marx participou em várias exposições na galeria "Kunstlerhaus" em Klagenfurt.
A sua escultura "Mutter und Kind" (Mãe e filho) pode ser apreciada no Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Belvedere em Viena.
A restauração de edifícios de cariz religioso foi uma parte importante do trabalho de Marx.

Galeria

Bibliografia
Heidi Brunnbauer: Hellmuth Marx. Bildhauer in Oberdrauburg, Leben und Werke, 2014, Edition Weinviertel, ISBN 978-3-902589-51-4

Pintores da Áustria
Escultores da Áustria

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Hi my name is Scooter, and this is what my foster mom says about me: Scooter is a very gentle, lovable pittie mix; pretty sure his predominant breed is American Staffordshire or Staffordshire Bull Terrier. he looks more like the Staffordshire Bull but is a little big; he weighs around 50 lbs. We rescued him as a stray, and have had him for about 18 months - I'm in no hurry to re-home him, as he is no trouble to have around, except for now my job is changing and I am going to be on the road most of the time and he doesn't like to be alone. We have a sitter that watches him and our other dog, but sometimes he runs away looking for people. He always comes back, but he has chewed our gate and door trying to get back in and I always worry about him. He's fine when we go to work or do errands, its just if we are gone overnight. We have neutered him, he is current on his shots, and the vet thinks he is four or five years old. Scooter is a fierce looking dog with a rabbit heart. His favorite thing to do is to just sit by you and let you rub his head. He likes to sleep, and isn't very energetic. He will run in the morning with the other dogs, but then he is content to just lay around. He has been around a lot of dogs as we do medical foster and frequently babysit my son's dog, and he is fine with them, just won't engage in play. I think it confuses him :) He won't play with them but if it is a quiet dog he will let them share his bed, which he is quite fond of. He loves stuffed toys; smaller ones are his favorites. He will nibble on them like a rabbit, trying to get any little designs or pieces off. Its super cute - one of my favorite things to watch him do. He is house trained; we have a doggie door and if it is closed he will bump against you to have you open it for him. He will sleep in a kennel, but doesn't like the door shut. He rides well in the car. He is good with kids in the sense that he doesn't bother them. Its the same as he is with other dogs; he will watch them, but doesn't really want to have anything to do with them. If they are very quiet and gentle they can pet him, but if they are loud (and what 3-5 year olds are not?) he will just escape to his bed. A three year old fell on him from the couch, and he just squealed and ran to his bed. I have been told by more than one person (one a Marine vet with a service dog for PTSD) that Scooter would be a great companion or therapy dog for someone. He grows very attached to an individual and once he is attached, his favorite thing is to just sleep by you. I was worried he would be too attached to me, but he also loves my dispatcher and my neighbor who watches him when I am out of town. If I had to describe a perfect home for Scooter it would be in a home with either a single person or a family that wasn't too high energy; I don't think he would care, its just that there are a lot of high energy dogs looking for high-energy families :) Give my guy a look - you may find yourself falling in love, as we did without planning to.


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With Magic And Fables, 'Angel Of Losses' Breathes Life Into History Stephanie Feldman's debut novel is about Jewish folk tales and family history. It's also an exploration of the inheritance of loss and the guilt of survival as it is passed down through generations.
With Magic And Fables, 'Angel Of Losses' Breathes Life Into History
With Magic And Fables, 'Angel Of Losses' Breathes Life Into History 2:33
August 5, 20146:32 PM ET
Ellah Allfrey
The Angel of Losses
by Stephanie Feldman
Hardcover, 280 pages |
Buy Featured Book
Stephanie Feldman
At the heart of Stephanie Feldman's debut, The Angel of Losses, is a deceptively straightforward story. The heroine, Marjorie, is a Ph.D. student living and studying in New York. Her subject is the "Wandering Jew" — the mapping and reclamation of an ancient legend. She spends her days in the library, reading and researching, the evenings redrafting and honing her thesis. She is a woman with "a weakness for stories," but one who is often selfish and cold. When we meet her, she seems well on the way to walling herself into an ivory tower.
Marjorie is intolerant and suspicious of her brother-in-law, Nathan — for whom her sister Holly has converted to Orthodox Judaism — despite a shared obsession with the esoteric texts of his faith. The sisters were close as girls, but now each encounter ends in misunderstanding and recrimination. And there's no doubt that our heroine is often the one at fault.
When Holly clears out the house in preparation for the birth of her first child, she invites her sister to claim what she wants of the family's library. Among the books, Marjorie finds a notebook containing a closely written account of the legend of the White Rebbe, a powerful, miracle-performing rabbi who is said to be an immortal, cursed to wander the earth until the coming of the Messiah. It is here that the treasures in Feldman's breathtakingly accomplished debut begin to unfold into a story of magic and bold imagining.
Feldman's prose is beautifully crafted throughout, but where she tells of the White Rebbe and his fateful pact with Yode'a, the Angel of Losses, her prose takes on the cadences of a biblical tale` and offers up some of the book's most memorable writing: "As the first son granted to the rebbe, who was already late in life and parent to three daughters, Solomon was called to study as soon as he could speak. He was too small to hold his father's books, and so they were spread before him like the fields of a kingdom are spread before a prince."
This story, and the notebook, are the inheritance that Marjorie has longed for; she becomes convinced that the stories of the Rebbe are connected to her research and, more important, that they will allow her to understand the anger and despair with which her grandfather faced his last days. Although it is clear there had been a close bond between the two, for much of the book the grandfather we see through Marjorie's memory is neither gentle nor kind.
In one scene, Marjorie recalls being summoned on a late night winter excursion to the waterfront, her studies interrupted. "If the Almighty could be perceived by the human mind," her grandfather says to her as they watch the waves crash against the shore, "he would be this. The filthy ocean biting down on Coney Island." This disapprobation of faith allows a glimpse of the secret her grandfather took to his grave. Such a statement, filled with fury and disgust, could only come from one who had once believed.
There are enough clues at this point for the reader to be sure which 20th century tragedy it is that Eli has tried to erase from memory. We discover that Marjorie is right to think that the story of the White Rebbe will eventually deliver the truth of her grandfather's past. But the impact of the tale on her own life, as she searches for the three remaining notebooks she knows her grandfather also left behind, as her relationship with Holly and Nathan deteriorates and as her newborn nephew falls ill, soon takes on the fateful cast of the legend itself.
The conflict between the sisters and the uncovering of a family secret could have made for an easily recognizable contemporary New York family drama — and probably quite a good one. But Feldman is an ambitious writer who conjures up instead a deeply moving modern-day fable that far transcends the boundaries of its location and time. As she moves between the Rebbe's wanderings, grandfather Eli's tribulation and Marjorie's quest for the truth of her family's past, she has written a story that is at once thriller and mystery; and a nuanced exploration of the inheritance of loss and the guilt of survival as it is passed down through generations.
Every once in a while a book comes along that reminds us that even though a horror was visited upon a particular people, in a particular place and at particular moment in history, the story told is really about all of us, everywhere and for all time. It takes an extraordinary writer like Stephanie Feldman to bring that story to life.
Ellah Allfrey is an editor and critic. She lives in London.


TMIB Lite: Welcome to Matt Prosseda - The Kafafian Group, Inc.
Matthew "Matt" Prosseda joined The Kafafian Group in July of 2018 and is a Managing Director in our Management Advisory, Profit and Process Improvement and Strategic Management practices. Matt has been a community banker, working in sales, operations and management, for 35 years. Most recently he was President and CEO of a high performing community bank located in north central PA. Matt started his career in credit and commercial lending, working for 25 years in loan and business service sales and sales management and eventually directing policy and developing strategies to grow profitable lending portfolios on a bank-wide basis. Matt brings a wealth of executive level leadership and lending experience to The Kafafian Group and we are delighted to have him on the TKG team! Join us to learn about Matt and also about TKG!


iCloud login – iCloud Online Access – is one of the safest place to save your photos, videos, documents, noted and contacts. If you do not have iCloud account then you need to sign up iCloud now to enjoy all the benefits.
There are other platforms to save your files and they will still be safe but majority of them can never be compared to iCloud. Apple has the best software when it comes to mobile or PC building.
We have discussed several topics on iCloud but on this topic I will focus more iCloud login and how to access iCloud online vis apple devices including mobile and computers.
I do not want to waste time on this post so I have to be very brief in discussing this article for the benefit of those reading iCloud for the first time. If you have tried to sign in to iCloud but failed then this article is for you.
All you have to do is make sure you read to the end of this post to understand the procedure in iCLoud login. Do not forget that sign in and login are the same thing.
Follow the onscreen instructions to verify your identity by entering a code sent to a trusted device.
You must verify your identity this way to use any web app except Find My iPhone.
For your comments on this article use the comment box below. Do also share this post to your friends on social network.