1. Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, C.F. Møllers Alle, Building 1130, 8000 Aarhus C, Aarhus University.
2. Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus University, Bartholin Building Building 1240, Wilhelm Meyers Alle 4,8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.
Some of the main concerns with in vivo application of naked small interfering RNA are rapid degradation and urinary excretion resulting in a short plasma half-life. In this study we investigated how conjugation of polyethylene glycol (PEG) with variable chain length affects siRNA pharmacokinetics and biodistribution.
The PEG chains were conjugated to chemically stabilized siRNA at the 5' terminal end of the passenger strand using click chemistry. The siRNA conjugate remained functionally active and showed significantly prolonged circulation in the blood stream after intravenous injection. siRNA conjugated with 20kDa PEG (PEG20k-siRNA) was most persistent, approximately 50% PEG20k-siRNA remained 1h post-injection, while the uncoupled siRNA was rapidly removed >90% at 15min. In vivo fluorescent imaging of the living animal showed increased concentration of siRNA in peripheral tissue and delayed urine excretion when coupled to PEG 20k. Biodistribution studies by northern blotting revealed equal distribution of conjugated siRNA in liver, kidney, spleen and lung without significant degradation 24 h post-injection. Our study demonstrates that PEG conjugated siRNA can be applied as a delivery system to improve siRNA bioavailability in vivo and may potentially increase the efficiency of siRNA in therapeutic applications.
Keywords: siRNA, PEGylation, blood circulation, urine excretion, in vivo imaging.
RNA interference (RNAi) is a cellular mechanism, which regulates the expression of genes. RNAi based therapy has demonstrated promising advantages but a main concern for siRNA is delivery in vivo. A particular issue is how to increase siRNA stability in serum, prolong its blood circulation and reduce urine excretion, so a large proportion of drug can reach the target cells in the body. Chemical modification of the siRNA backbone has resulted in increased stability and reduced immune reactions, increased specificity and even enhanced silencing effects [1-4]. Aptamers and peptides are commonly conjugated to siRNA for in vivo application to improve target site delivery as well as to assist in translocation across the cell membrane [5-8]. However, if the conjugates are small in relation to the glomerular barrier in the kidneys, they will exhibit reduced circulation time and minimal exposure to the target before they are excreted .
Conjugation of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) groups to molecules, a technique termed PEGylation, is widely used to improve in vivo pharmacokinetics of protein and chemical drugs, and represents a potential strategy to improve systemic siRNA delivery. PEGylation was first described in the 1970's  and there are now numerous PEGylated proteins and aptamers on the pharmaceutical market. Due to the chemical nature and the hydrodynamic size of PEG, PEGylation can lead to increased stability, reduced immunogenicity and prolonged circulation time . The high water coordination of the polymer increases the hydrodynamic volume 3-5 times compared to a globular protein of the same molecular weight and this shell protects against non-specific cell uptake, glomerular filtration and, to some extent, protects the siRNA from enzymatic degradation. Although some studies have been done to test the PEG modified siRNA in vitro [12,13], there is a shortage of detailed work investigating the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of the PEG-siRNA conjugates in vivo [12,14].
In this study, we aimed to investigate how the length of the PEG chain influences circulation time and urine excretion. A siRNA sense strand, modified with an alkyne at the 5' end, was conjugated to 5, 10, 20 kDa PEG chains containing a terminal azide group. Additionally, the siRNA overhangs were LNA modified and PEG5k-siLNA, PEG10k-siLNA and PEG20k-siLNA were formed by annealing with the PEGgylated sense strand, respectively.
After annealing and purification, the conjugates were injected into the tail vein of mice. Real-time biodistribution in mice was monitored by an IVIS imaging system, a non-invasive optical imaging technique that provides a dynamic picture of the siRNA biodistribution and urine excretion. Also, RNA was extracted from blood and tissues at different time points and northern blotting was performed to analyze siRNA integrity. We found that in particular the longer PEG chains resulted in extended blood circulation and reduced urinary excretion of the siRNA upon conjugation without eliminating the RNAi function in vitro.
Chemicals and siRNAs: Methoxy-poly (ethylene glycol) derivatives with a terminal azide group (mPEG-Azide, Mw 5, 10, 20 kD) were obtained from Nanocs (New York, USA). siRNAs against enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) with locked nucleic acid (siLNA) modification on 3'- overhang and with 5' - alkyne or 5'- amino modification was provided by RiboTask APS (Odense, Denmark). The sequence of EGFP siRNA: Hexynyl-5'-GACGUAAACGGCCACAAGUtc-3' (sense) and 5'-GGUCAUCCAUGACAACUUUtt-3' (antisense), small letters denote LNA nucleotides. TBTA (tris[(1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl]amine), sodium ascorbate, CuSO4 were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Munich, Germany).
Human lung cancer cell line (H1299) stably expressing EGFP was kindly provided by Dr. Anne Chauchereau (CNRS, Villejuif, France). LipofectamineTM2000, RPMI 1640 culture medium, Penicillin/Streptomycin, Geneticin, Trypsin-EDTA, fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 10×TBE buffer (pH 8.4±0.10) were purchased from Invitrogen Corporation (Carlsbad, USA). Commercial transfection reagent, TransIT-TKO was obtained from Mirus Corporation (Madison, WI, USA) and LipofectamineTM2000 was from Invitrogen (Copenhagen).
siRNA-PEG conjugates were synthesized by employing a 'click chemistry' protocol . In a standard synthesis hexynyl-siLNA and Azido-PEG were dissolved in a 1:1 mixture of 0.1 M phosphate buffer pH 6.6 and DMSO. TBTA and CuSO4 were dissolved sequentially using the same buffer system, added to the Azido-PEG/siRNA mixture and activated by the addition of an ascorbic acid stock solution. The final concentrations of the various chemicals in the conjugation reaction between mPEG-Azido and alkyne modified siLNA are shown in Table 1. The reaction was incubated for 3½ hours at room temperature.
5ʹ-Amino modified siLNAs (20 nmol, 10 μL) were incubated with Atto 647N-NHS (100 nmol, 10 μL in DMSO) in 60 μL of a 1:1 mixture of 0.1 M HEPES (pH 7.8) and DMSO for 6 h. The crude dye-labeled siLNAs were precipitated by addition of 10 μL 3 M sodium acetate (pH 5.2) and 400 μL of a aceton/EtOH mixture (1:1), cooled to -20 °C for 1 h and centrifuged (12000 g, 1 h). The resulting pellet was washed three times with EtOH p.a. and dissolved in 40 μL nuclease-free water. The oligonucleotides were further purified by RP-HPLC on an analytical Phenomenex Kinetex XB-C18 column (150 × 4.6 mm) using a TEAA/MeCN gradient buffer system (50 mM TEAA pH: 7.0). The product containing fractions were pooled and freeze-dried.
Human lung cancer cell line (H1299) stably expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein (EFGP) was used to test the gene silencing efficiency of PEGylated siRNA. Cells were maintained in RPMI media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum, 1% penicillin-streptomycin, and 1% Geneticin at 37 °C in 5% CO2 and 100% humidity. For EGFP inhibition studies, cells were plated on 24-well plates (105 cells/well) 24 h before transfection. siRNA or PEGylated siRNA was mixed with cationic carrier TransIT-TKO or LipofectamineTM2000 according to commercial protocol and added at 50 nM final siRNA concentration per well. After overnight incubation, the media was replaced with 500 μl fresh cell culturing media. The cells were left for another 24 h and then harvested using a standard trypsin protocol and resuspended in PBS containing 1% paraformaldehyde. The EGFP expression level of each sample was measured using Becton Dickenson FACS Calibur flow cytometer. A histogram plot with log green fluorescence intensity (FL-1) on the x-axis and cell number on the y-axis was used to define median fluorescence intensity of the main cell population was defined by scatter properties.
Transfection efficiency and cellular uptake were analyzed by fluorescence microscopy in human lung cancer cell line (H1299). Transfection was performed as described above, but with Atto 647N labeled siRNA for all formulations. Cells were incubated overnight and washed with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) for 3 times. The fluorescence images were taken using an Olympus IX71 fluorescence microscope and analysed by the CellSense Standard Control Software (ver 1.3 Build 7990).
Balb/c mice (~ 25 g) were chosen to investigate the impact of MWs of PEG on siRNA pharmacokinetics. 10 µg siLNA duplex in 200 µl volumes (corresponding to approximately ~ 400 µg/kg body weight) either alone or conjugated with PEG5k, PEG10k or PEG20k were administered via tail vein injection (n=2 for each formulation). Blood samples were collected at 1, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min post-injection, and immediately immersed into liquid nitrogen for subsequent RNA isolation. A piece (~ 5x5x5 mm corresponding to 50 to 100 mg) of kidney, liver, spleen and lung tissue was dissected and transferred into 1.0 ml RNAlater (Qiagen, Denmark) at 24 h when the experiment was terminated.
Pharmacokinetic studies of PEG20k with 24 h as ending point were also performed in Balb/c mice (~ 25 g) (n=4). For i.v. administration, 10 µg siLNA duplex in 200 µl volumes either with or without PEG20k conjugation were injected by tail vein. 30-40 µl blood samples obtained by orbital puncture were collected into EDTA tubes, at 1, 5, 15, 30 min and 24 h time points. Organs obtained at experimental end point were dissected and stored in RNAlater as described above.
Total RNA was purified by Trizol® reagent (Invitrogen) from frozen blood samples and organ tissue in RNAlater. Two micrograms of RNA from blood and 4 µg RNA from tissues were run on 15% denaturing polyacrylamide gels and transferred onto Hybond-N+ membrane (Amersham Biosciences). After UV cross-linking, the membranes were probed with [γ-32P] ATP labelled sense strand LNA modified siRNA according to standard procedures. The membranes were analyzed on a Typhoon phosphorimager to visualize the antisense strand signal that bound with 32P labeled sense strand of the siRNA .
Hair from the back and the abdomen of Balb/c mice was removed by shaving to avoid autofluorescence during imaging. Seven hundred fifteen pmol siLNA duplex in 200 µl volume either with or without PEG20k conjugation were administered by tail vein injection, PBS was injected as blank control, resulting in a total of 3 groups (n=2). The mice were scanned using an IVIS® 200 imaging system (Xenogen, Caliper Life Sciences) under anesthesia with 2.5% isoflurane. Fluorescence excitation (λex= 640 nm) and emission (λem = 700 nm) filters were used to visualize Atto 647N labeled siLNAs. Identical illumination settings, including exposure time (1s), binning factor (medium), f-stop (2), and fields of view (13 × 13 cm), were used for all image acquisitions. Total emission from inflicted areas (Region of Interest, ROI) of each mouse was quantified with Living Image 4.0 software package. The ratio of average radiant efficiency [(photons/sec/cm2/sr)/(µW/cm2) ] in bladder/ in nose was calculated, to compare the urine excretion and blood circulation. The radiance unit of photons/sec/cm2/sr is the number of photons per second that leave a square centimeter of tissue and radiate into a solid angle of one steradian (sr).
All procedures of animal work were approved by "The Experimental Animal Inspectorate in Denmark" under The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries.
Paired Student's T-test was performed for evaluation of knockdown effects in in vitro gene silencing experiment.
Alkyne modified siLNA passenger strand and azide modified PEG chains of different length were coupled using the copper catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Huisgen Cycloaddition (Fig. 1A). After annealing of the guide strand the PEG-siRNA conjugate was purified by size exclusion chromatography (Fig. 1B) and analyzed on a native polyacrylamide gel (Fig. 1C). The migration of the PEG-siRNA conjugates was retarded proportionally with molecular weight of the PEG chain presumably due to the increased hydrodynamic radius and lowered charge density of the construct. All complexes appeared as distinct bands indicating that highly homogenous products are formed (Fig. 1C).
PEGylation of siRNA may interfere with RNAi potency. In order to investigate the interference of PEGylation on gene silencing, we used both LipofectamineTM2000 (Invitrogen, Copenhagen) and TKO-Mirus (Madison, WI) for transfection of PEG-siRNA conjugates in EGFP expressing H1299 cells. The cellular uptake of siLNA alone and all types of PEG-siLNA was comparable (Supplementary Material: Fig. S1). However, the knockdown effects of PEG5k-siLNA, PEG10k-siLNA and PEG20k-siLNA were 60, 55, and 50%, respectively, which were somewhat diminished compared to the knockdown of unmodified siLNA (85-90%; Fig. 2), but still significantly down regulated compared to the untreated control cells (p<0.05 or 0.01).
To assess the effect of PEGylation on siRNA half-life in the blood stream, siLNA, PEG5k-siLNA, PEG10k-siLNA and PEG20k-siLNA were injected into mice via the tail vein. We previously demonstrated that unmodified siRNA is rapidly degraded in less than 1 min after intravenous (i.v.) injection in mice, contrary to siRNA with two 3'-end LNA-modified overhangs (siLNA), which exhibits a half-life of up to 5 min with intact siLNA being detected at least at 30 min post-injection  (Fig.3A). In the present study blood samples were collected at 1, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min post injection. In accordance with previous observations (6), siLNA was rapidly removed from the bloodstream exhibiting a > 90 % decline after 15 min (relative to the 1 min time point). In contrast, ~50 % of the PEG20k-siLNA remained in circulation after 1 h and ~15-25 % after 2 h, demonstrating a strong influence of PEG20k on siLNA half-life. PEG10k also had a substantial impact on blood stability of siLNA (PEG10k-siLNA), with ~25% remaining at 30 min and >5% after 1 h. PEG5k (PEG5k-siLNA) only had a slight effect on siLNA blood levels (Fig. 3A). The siRNA levels and integrity were analyzed in the organs 2 h post-injection (Fig. 3B). We observed that non-PEGylated siLNA accumulated in kidneys and lungs consistent with previous observations  . Conjugation of PEG5k had only little influence on the biodistribution pattern whereas PEG10k-conjugation enhanced the intensity of the siLNA for all four organs. Biodistribution analysis of PEG20k-siLNA yielded a different pattern with spleen being the most strongly targeted organ and a general increase in all other organs. In conclusion, PEG20k-siLNA clearly exhibited the most extended circulation time in the blood stream leading to a more even distribution in different organs. This observation was confirmed by an additional experiment within 4 mice that were terminated at 24 h post-injection with PEG20k-siLNA. The siLNA was accumulated in four organs with similar intensity (Fig. 3C), with no detectable signal in either the blood samples collected at same time point (Supplementary Material: Fig. S2), or in any organs from mice injected with siLNA alone (mouse 5 and mouse 6 in Fig.3C), indicating that PEG20k could preserve siRNA as an intact molecule within various tissues, even longer than it did in the circulation.
Reaction scheme, purification and purity of obtained product. A: Reaction scheme showing the conjugation between siRNA and PEG by Azide-Alkyne Huisgen Cyclo addition. B: Size exclusion HLPC chromatograms after the reaction between siRNA and PEG10k (left) and PEG20k (right). The first and second peak in both chromatograms represents PEG-siRNA and unreacted siRNA, respectively. C: Analysis of the final conjugation product in 12 % non-denaturing gel polyacrylamide gel. Lane 1: naked siRNA, Lane 2: PEG5k-siRNA, Lane 3: PEG10k-siRNA, and Lane 4: PEG20k-siRNA.
Gene Silencing of PEGylated siRNA in vitro. EGFP knockdown in EGFP expressing H1299 cells by EGFP specific siLNA and siLNA conjugated with different MW PEG and formulated using LipofectamineTM2000 or Mirus-TKO. All constructs were applied at 50 nM final concentration of siRNA under serum free condition. EGFP expression was analyzed by flow cytometer and data were obtained from three independent experiments and presented as mean ± SD (n=3). Significant downregulation of EGFP expression was observed among all treatments (**p<0.001 or *p<0.05).
Influence of PEG MW on siRNA blood clearance and organ distribution in mice. Northern blot was performed for analysis of siLNA, PEG5k-siLNA, PEG10k-siLNA and PEG20k-siLNA after i.v. injection of 200 μl in mice (n=2). (A), siRNA stability in blood circulation: The main band, corresponding to intact siRNA, was harvested at the indicated time points post injection. Loading order: lanes 1-3 controls, (C, C1 and C2) correspond to 1, 0.5 and 0.1 ng unformulated siRNA, respectively, for all 4 blots; lanes 3-7 and 8-12, RNA samples from blood harvested 1, 15, 30, 60 and 120 min post injection from mouse 1 and 2 in each group, respectively. (B). siRNA biodistribution: Lane 1, 0.1 ng siRNA (Control); lanes 2-5 and 6-9 are samples obtained from organs (Lu-lung, Sp-spleen, Ki-kidney and Li-liver) from mouse 1 and 2 at 2 h, respectively; two blots represented mice injected with siLNA/PEG5k-siLNA, and PEG10k-siLNA/PEG20k-siLNA, respectively. (C). PEG20k-siLNA biodistribution 24 h postinjection: Lane 1, 0.1 ng siRNA (Control); lanes 2-5, 6-9, 10-13 and 14-17 are samples from organs (lung, spleen, kidney and liver) from mouse 1 - 4, respectively, and the same order of loading was performed for mouse 5 and mouse 6 which injected with siLNA alone.
Optical imaging of living animals provides a non-invasive technique that enables real-time monitoring of fluorescently labeled siRNA biodistribution and excretion. In this study we i.v. injected Atto647N labeled siLNA conjugated either with or without PEG20k and scanned the mice from 5 min up to 24 h post-injection.
We observed that PEG20k-conjugation significantly retarded the siLNA accumulation in the bladder, peaking at around 3 h (Fig. 4A) This contrasts with naked siLNA which peaked in the bladder 5 min post injection (Fig. 4A). The signal in urine was exclusively seen for naked siLNA already at 1 min after injection (Example shown as Supplementary Material: Fig. S3), clearly demonstrating a significant effect of PEG20k on urine excretion. To quantitate the effect, we calculated the ratio of the average radiant efficiency in bladder vs. nose&mouth (which is rich in capillary blood vessels). The ratio in the unmodified siLNA treated group was significantly higher than for the PEG20k-siLNA treated group with the most dramatic difference around 1 h post injection (Fig. 4B). A significant amount of PEG20k-siLNA is still circulating at 3 h post-injection, indicated by the strong signals from eyes, nose and paws (Fig. 4A). In contrast, the unmodified siLNA signal was only seen in the kidneys further underlining the improved circulation of PEGylated siRNA.
Fluorescence imaging of siLNA and PEG20k-siLNA in live mice. Mice were shaved and fluorophore Atto647N labeled siLNA, Atto647N labeled PEG20k-siLNA and buffer were administered i.v. (n=2). Fluorescent scanning was performed at the indicated time points post-injection. (A), Columns 1-5, images from the ventral side of the mouse at 5 m, 1 h, 2 h, 3 h and 24 h, showing the signals at mouth/nose and bladder; (B), images from dorsal side after 3h, showing signals from paws, ears and kidney. (C), To quantify the signal intensity of images from 4A, the average radiant efficiency [(photons/sec/cm2/sr)/(µW/cm2)] was measured using a Living Image 4.0 software package. Ratios of radiance efficiency at the region of interest (ROI) (Bladder/Nose & Mouth) at the indicated time points are presented.
In the present study we investigated the impact of conjugation of PEG to siRNA in terms of gene silencing in cell culture, blood circulation and biodistribution as well as urinary excretion in mice.
We demonstrated that the use of the copper catalyzed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction resulted in the successful construction of stable siRNA-PEG conjugates, which was confirmed by both HPLC and gel electrophoresis. Moreover, siRNA bioactivity was conserved during conjugation strategy. We observed a slight inhibition of silencing effect after attaching PEG with longer PEG chains displaying higher inhibition. The silencing potential of siRNA-PEG conjugates has previously been investigated by Jung et al. . Their data also showed a modest 15% decline in gene silencing efficiency when a PEG5K was attached to the 3' end of the sense strand via a non-cleavable thioether bond. This impeded silencing is not due to decreased cellular uptake after PEGylation (Supplementary Material: Fig. S1), but rather due to the possible interference of PEG chains with the interaction between siRNA-PEG and Dicer as suggested by Jung et al. . Coupling a targeting ligand at the distal end of PEG or introducing a cleavable bond such as disulfide might be able to solve this problem .
In our in vivo experiments we found that PEG20k was able to postpone urine excretion, extend circulation time and results in a more even distribution pattern in the various organs.
Prolonged blood circulation is of utmost importance for siRNA delivery in vivo. The life time of unmodified siRNA ranges from 1 min to 5-6 min in the bloodstream according to previous reports [3,16,17]. To improve the stability of siRNA in blood and to extend its circulation time various options are available: chemical modification on the backbone, conjugation with peptide, antibody or other macromolecules, as well as formulation with non-viral carriers have been widely applied. Conjugation with cholesterol improved half-life with up to 95 min evaluated by radioactivity measurement , and >30 min by direct gel electrophoresis for pre-labelled siRNA combined with northern blot analysis . The conjugation of PEG can greatly reduce undesired effects such as immune response, unspecific interactions and degradation [12,13], indicating a broad potential in RNAi based therapeutics. In the current study we show that PEG20k can prolong half-life of LNA modified siRNA from ~5 min up to 1 h in blood circulation.
Scintillation counting and fluorescence measurements are frequently used to detect the radioactivity or fluorescence signal of labelled siRNA in circulation, due to the challenge of isolating RNA from limited materials e.g. blood samples at multiple time points . However, this is misleading due to contribution of degraded siRNA molecules to the signal. Hence, evaluation of intact siRNA half-life in blood by northern blotting is preferred, because this method can assess both the amount and the integrity of the siRNA [17,18].
When using chemically stabilized siRNA renal excretion is probably the dominating pathway for siRNA disappearance from the blood. In order to improve the circulatory half-life and concomitant siRNA dissemination into the organs , it is required to reduce kidney glomerular filtration . Even small chemical modifications can provoke major changes in biodistribution and in vivo bioactivity, e.g. LNA overhang modification, single nucleotide modification by UNA incorporation can significantly increase stability in blood circulation, enhance the nuclease resistance and in vivo gene silencing . Fluorescently labelled siRNA can readily be monitored by in vivo imaging which allows for real time monitoring of whole body siRNA distribution at multiple time points in the same animals, thereby dramatically minimizing the number of mice required. Noninvasive living imaging has been employed previously to assess siRNA delivery in vivo e.g. by positron emission tomography (PET)[21-23], scintigraphic images and fluorescence imaging scanner.
In our study living imaging demonstrated that the PEG20k modification significantly delays urine excretion compared to naked siLNA. This result is consistent with previous studies which showed that the fluorescence signal of naked siRNA accumulated in the bladder almost immediately after intravenous administration of siRNA [1, 24]. Similarly, siRNA was observed to be rapidly cleared by the kidneys and excreted into urine in mice using Near-Infrared Fluorescence (NIRF) and positron emission tomography (PET) imaging .
The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of PEG on siRNA pharmacokinetic and biodistribution in mice. Firstly, conjugation of PEG to siRNA was carried out effectively using a click chemistry approach. Secondly, the PEG conjugation was found to prolong circulation time and reduce urine excretion of siRNA. Thirdly, optical imaging could be used to monitor the siRNA circulation and urine excretion in a dynamic fashion and may be useful for a rapid screen of siRNA distribution in vivo. The information gathered is applicable in the design of carrier-free siRNA delivery systems for a successful knockdown in vivo.
We thank the Lundbeck Foundation for supporting this work through the grant: Lundbeck Foundation Nanomedicine Center for Individualized Management of Tissue Damage and Regeneration. We thank Rita Rosendahl and Claus Bus for their excellent technical assistance. EGFP expressing cell line H1299 was kindly provided by Dr. Anne Chauchereau (CNRS, Villejuif, France).
Corresponding author: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, C.F. Møllers Alle, Building 1130, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. Email: jkau.dk or shgau.dk; Telephone: 0045 87154975; Fax: 0045 86196500.


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Law Quilt: A response to Edward James' writing on homosexuality
Fine Art - Posted on 16th September 2021
FINE ART SUMMER SHOW 2021
EDWARD JAMES
By Robin Bray-Hurren, MFA student
Law Quilt was a response to some of the materials from the Edward James Archive, where Edward James was writing about homosexuality, morality, and the law, including a description of a friends' experience of police entrapment and subsequent court case in LA in the late 1950s.
There were so many potential places to take work in response to these texts, but one line particularly stood out, 'from early childhood I was taught the law would be my protector and not my persecutor'. This gave me a focus, and I started gathering the different laws used at that time in the USA that were used to persecute LGBTQ people. It wasn't just sodomy laws, there were laws against cross-dressing, which were used against people of all genders, written material discussing homosexuality was considered obscene and therefore illegal to send by post, and bars could lose their liquor licences for serving LGBTQ people, and vaguely worded laws against disorderly conduct gave police officers ways to harass LGBTQ people out on the street for no real reason other than their visible existence.
I wanted to make something that could hold my feelings about this part of my community's history in a way that a viewer could approach in their own time, and in a way that evokes empathy. A quilt felt like the right kind of object, it connected with domesticity and North America, and could be something that on the surface appeared entirely comforting. The text printed on the fabric was small, and the patches were carefully worked, hopefully inviting the viewer to come in close and allow enough time for the quilt's emotional undertow to break through the surface.
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Making the quilt
To start off, I prepared striped and plain cotton ticking by coating them with cyanotype solution, which is light-sensitive. I printed acetates with the different laws I wanted to use, and on every bright day I could, put the acetates on the prepared fabric, weighed them down with a sheet of glass, and exposed them in the sun. After leaving them on the balcony for 10 - 30 minutes (brighter days = shorter exposure) I rinsed the fabric in water to wash away the unexposed fluid and fix the cyanotype on the exposed areas.
Once my fabric was dry, I cut it into pieces - 5x5cm, 5x8cm, and 5x14cm. Each block took 9 pieces, and to create a 1.95m x 1.5m quilt I needed 130 blocks. Because time ran out, I ended up making it a little smaller than intended - 8 blocks wide by 13 long.
The blocks were constructed using English paper piecing, where a paper template is sewn into the fabric pieces, which are hemmed around the template. This keeps each piece accurate, and gives them a little stability making them easier to hold as the pieces are hand sewn together.
Once all the blocks were made, I stitched them into rows, then stitched the rows together to make a complete quilt top.
The quilt top was then made into a "sandwich" with cotton batting in the middle, and wool pinstripe suiting as the backing fabric. This was tacked together, and I sewed binding around the edges. The last stage was sewing a single stitch through the centre of each block and tied each one off - it's the multiple layers of fabric sewn together that makes a quilt, a quilt.
Once complete, the quilt was shown as part of the 2021 West Dean Fine Art Summer Show, and at the BOUNCE exhibition by Fine Art students at the Copeland Gallery, Peckham.
'Law Quilt' detail. Image courtesy of @inkysloth via Instagram.
One square of the law quilt
Detail of the Law Quilt
The back of the law quilt
'Law Quilt' detail.
'Law Quilt' in-situ at the West Dean Fine Art Summer Show 2021. Photo courtesy of Barney Hindle Photography
Recently I was contacted by a curator and interior designer, Davy Pittoors, about the quilt's inclusion in an exhibition called Coming In, exploring queer domestic interiors. Seeing it in an expressly Queer setting, on a bed rather than hung, is a very different experience. It becomes a more defiant object, and to me, less painful. I'll be interested to see how else it can be shared in the future.
Poster artwork by Robin Bray-Hurren
Law Quilt, pictured on display for the COMING IN exhibition. Image credit Scott Keir.
Law Quilt, pillows. Pictured on display for the COMING IN exhibition. Image credit Scott Keir.
Law Quilt, Detail. Pictured at the COMING IN exhibition. Image credit Scott Keir.
The MFA is an advanced two-year full-time masters of fine art designed to further advance student's capacities in practical, theoretical and professional domains, with an emphasis on specialist studio practice. Interdisciplinary practices are encouraged and supported, as well as those focused on a single discipline such as Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Drawing, Tapestry and Textiles. Students have unrivalled access to fully equipped studios, workshops and facilities making it possible to realise ambitious work.
Find out more about the MFA programme on our next virtual open days, 10th and 24th November.
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Student Commission and Residency at Cherryburn
Posted on 7th May 2020
Psychotropical: Fine Art visit to New Art Centre
Posted on 2nd March 2020

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I tried printing one of these and din't have any luck either. I measured all my parts and they are within the tolerance that my printer promises. After some pondering, I can came to the conclusions that it's the planetary gears. They too tight of a fit. I put the stl files into cad program and it looks to me the design is too tight (attached an image). What is the radius of the pitch circle supposed to be on these ? if its 6mm, then I'd need 36 mm on the outer gear (right ?), which I'm only measuring at 32mm.
I did not notice any problem with my Anet A8 printer, model is OK too. The printed parts can be easily set up. time. (Planet wheels first place in the wreath then deploy the rider and end deploy sun). 32mm is the correct hole dimension in the wreath cover.
Moudule is 1.2mm outer gear ring dimesion is (27+2) x 1.2. = 34.8mm --- 32mm is only hole in gearbox cover.
If the outer pitch circle has a radius of 16.2 (32.4/2), then the outer pitch circle is 2xpixR = 101.8 mm.
Divide this by 27 teeth, that gives me a pitch of 3.77 mm per tooth.
Divide that by 9 teeth gives me 3.76 mm per tooth.
It must be that my printer is printing on the large side of the tolerance. I guess, on a 10.8mm gear 0.1 mm is about a 1% error, which might be just too much to make my gears fit properly.
I wonder if I could print the sun and planetary gears at 99.5% of scale….?
I made a simple models (desing in FreeCAD) and printed on my printer (scale 1:1), assembled and used for more than a year in my telescope. Print error about is 0.05 to 0.1 mm, can be corrected eg by needle file.
If my model does not suit you, you can try another one, such as https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2114390 or design your own.
actually, its what you did with your telescope that I really like. I'm trying to make something similar, though not for a telescope.
Got it to work -- key for me was to print the planetary gears at 98% size and everything else at 100%. Thanks for the feedback !
Struggling to get this to print. Getting closer now. 4th attempt.
My printer is bang on, e.g. the Outer is 41.02mm square.
The trick seems to be minimum temps so that the teeth form exatly as they should rthare than flow a little.
Using a Pruisa i3. 0.3 nozzle. Slic3r.
Printing at 205 now. 55 Bed.
I printed your first group of gear and enclosure and I am having trouble getting them to fit together. I am wondering if I had a printer setting different than your... can you tell me what your's were. I had a 1.2mm shell. .1mm Layer thickness, cooling on.


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Q: when can i was find iPhone app sample code for used CoreTelephony framework? I have requirement block the incoming call, outgoing call and sms. so any one share your knowledge how to do that task.
Then give some samples or sample code using CoreTelephony framework in iPhone SDK.
Thanks,

A: Your requirements are not possible on iOS. You can not block calls/SMS/MMS in any way.
CoreTelephony will only allow your app to detect incomming calls if it is running in the foreground. You will not be able to detect the number of the person calling. This ment to be used in for example a VOIP client so that it can pause the VOIP conversation when a phone call some in.
You cannot interacte SMS/MMS at all.

A: I believe blocking a call/sms is not possible in IOS .
But you can handle it using application delegate method -
- (void)applicationWillResignActive:(UIApplication *)application

Refer: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/uikit/reference/UIApplicationDelegate_Protocol/Reference/Reference.html

A: pls read Apple docs before asking features. Apple clearly states You cannot  alter calls, in or out, in any way.

A: use this for CoreTelephony

*

*http://tech.ruimaninfo.com/?p=83

*http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/navigation/#section=Frameworks&topic=CoreTelephony
see this  Core Telephony framework partially public in 4.0

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Fahrenheit Films is a professional film production company based in Canada. I was approached to help them redesign their business cards and we ended up with a brand. We wanted to create something that felt organic while still being iconic. After a few rounds of explorations (shown at the bottom of the page) we landed on the Fahrenheit F.


text:
Featured Lizards Non classé
What Are the Main Features of the Turtle Skeleton?
One of the most common mistakes made by beginner turtle keepers is confusing the difference between a turtle skeleton. Skeletons are simply dead bodies of a live turtle, which have been repaired in order to look like a dead turtle. Turtles lay their eggs inside of these Skeletons. Turtle Skeletons differ from a turtle shell in many respects, including size, shape, and color.
A turtle shell, on the other hand, is the living (but usually dead) turtle's closest living relative. A preserved turtle skeleton demonstrating how the plastron and carapace connect to the remainder of its skeleton to form a protective shell enclosing the whole body. Plastrons (upper front surface) and carapaces (lower back surface) consist of many bones arranged in a manner which allows the turtle to move its head and neck freely and regenerate itself. The thickness and arrangement of the bones determine the shape and size of the turtle shell. The size of the shell, in turn, is related to the size and weight of the turtle.
The word "plastron" comes from the Latin word meaning shell. In a turtle skeleton, the upper portion or plastron is made of soft plasters and is attached to the end of the lower carapace by a series of grooves and channels. The channel arrangement of the channel provides a means for the turtle to push back or retract its head and neck. This action is powered partly by muscular activity and partly by a series of ligaments and muscles. The plastrons and the portions of the shell which surround them form the ribs of the turtle skeleton.
Although the origin of the turtle remains unknown, most research suggests that it evolved about two million years ago in the Middle East Sea (which is now known as the Cretaceous geological formation), before spreading out over the entire world. Estimates based on fossil evidence indicate that the first species of the modern turtle lived in the seas of what is now modern day Brazil approximately twenty five million years ago. It was later that these sea turtles evolved into the land turtles we know today, with the greatest diversity occurring in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Estimates of the total number of sea turtles that inhabited the earth are uncertain because there is no evidence to support the age of fossils from more than one hundred years ago.
The plastron or the turtle skeleton consists of the following parts: the breast or the chest area including the nipple and the breast bone (the most important bone in the body); the sternum (the chest cavity); the diaphragm or the stomach; the colon or the large intestine; the uvula or the vocal cords; and the diaphragm or the rib cage. At the lower end of this skeletal frame there are two pairs of ribs or osteophytes. The upper half of the turtle body including the head, neck, legs, tail, and claws (beak and claws) is considered a plastron. In addition, the upper part of the turtle body is covered with small feathers called carotea, which serves as a protection for the muscles. These arrangements are believed to have originated around sixty million years ago in the Late Jurassic period.
Due to the extensive fossil record and the limited number of fossils that can be identified, it is impossible to determine exactly when the first turtle shell evolved. The most parsimonious theory is that the first bony plates that protected the body of the ancient reptile evolved and became the modern plastron. Phylogenetics proposes that the first bony plates (heloma) were derived from an ancestor of the modern day turtles. They were covered with scales and other hard or soft elements and evolved into the familiar modern turtle shell. There is also some evidence to suggest that the bony plates evolved first and were replaced by the softer plastrons that cover the modern turtle shell.
The fossil record does not provide clear evidence on when the modern turtle developed. Many believe that the dinosaurs became flightless sometime during the Cretaceous geological period. Others think that the earliest dinosaurs, which are thought to be the ancestors of today's turtles, emerged during the Triassic period. In either event, the earliest known stem-t Turtle was a small theropod that possessed a very complex nervous system and a complex body shape that was nearly identical to that of its modern day descendants.
The most parsimonious hypothesis for the origin of the first turtle shell is that the ankylosaurids, a group of small marine reptile that are closely related to the dinosaurs, possessed shell. The ankylosaurids went on to become the ancestors of all later reptile species. Their enlarged jaws and powerful jaws allow them to consume large prey, including fish, and swim fast through water. The ankylosaurids gradually replaced their small terrestrial shells with bigger shells belonging to the Carboniferous family. The evolution of the turtle can thus be traced back to the rise of the Ceratoides.
@ 2023 Wiki Reptile. Made with Love by HighFive


text:
Mt. A students form new club to volunteer with Atlantic wildlife
By Emma Bush
Campus club assists the Atlantic Wildlife Institute in actions and activism
Mount Allison offers many clubs and societies that allow students to engage in the Sackville community. However, a relatively new club, the Atlantic Wildlife Institute (AWI) Mount Allison has broadened the scope, both in terms of volunteerism and location, of this community engagement.
Fourth-year biology student and president of the club, Erica Geldart, founded AWI Mount Allison, with integral support from vice president Emily Hubley, secretary/treasurer Mary Austin and former secretary/treasurer Allison Harris, a 2017 graduate. The club works in collaboration with the AWI, a non-profit organization that provides emergency care and rehabilitation for injured or orphaned wildlife and facilitates an educational forum for community and school groups. Their website says that they are "the leading wildlife response service in Atlantic Canada," as well as "the only one licensed to handle injured or distressed migratory birds in all four Atlantic provinces."
In her second year, Geldart, along with friends Hubley, Austin and Harris, started to spread awareness. "We received a large number of interested students by making a Facebook group, putting up posters and posting on the MASU Facebook page," said Geldart. Members were introduced to the AWI with a tour and, later, fundraisers and get-togethers. Members were then able to go and volunteer with the animals. Though the club was not officially recognized by Mt. A at that time in terms of paperwork, this was completed in the early months of 2016, and by the 2016-17 school year the club had secured spots at both the Clubs & Societies Fair and Garnet & Gold rush during orientation week.
In explaining her inspiration to start this club, Geldart said, "Animals, specifically wildlife, [have] always been a passion of mine; therefore, coming into Mt. A, I was interested in getting experience with them." Geldart quickly realized that there were no such forums available at the University. "I introduced the cause to Mt. A students so that others who share my passion could have the opportunity to get the same experiences that I was hoping to find."
One of the activities that the club has undertaken is weekend volunteering, one aspect of which, Geldart explained, consists feeding wildlife, including squirrels, birds, porcupines, beavers and woodchucks. "When animals are too young to eat for themselves we will hand feed them formula. I have helped [to hand feed] a lot of squirrels, a bear, a baby bobcat and lynx," said Geldart. Volunteers also help out by doing dishes and laundry, cleaning enclosures and cages, preparing and distributing daily meals and water, building enclosures or buildings, taking animals on walks, and, "finally and hopefully," releasing animals back into the wild.
The involved students are able to spread awareness through Clubs & Societies fair, the Garnet & Gold Rush, environmental events and local media. There are also opportunities to attend biweekly meetings to brainstorm other fundraising ideas together.
The club also has educational aspects, such as the opportunity to attend wilderness strategy workshops, seminars and conferences either at or in collaboration with Pam Novak and Barry Rothfuss, the directors of AWI.
Novak recently visited the University campus to meet with the new group of this year's volunteers about what the AWI is, what it does and the impact of the club. She shared that AWI had been providing emergency and rehabilitation care to Atlantic wildlife for the past 20 years. However, this is not all that they do, as they also host education and research opportunities for surrounding communities, schools and universities. They cannot do this alone; as a non-profit organization, they must rely on a community of professionals, as well as volunteers, in order to accomplish the work that they do. She expressed her appreciation for the club, saying, "We love our Mt. A volunteers."
Caitlin McGowan, a third-year biology student recalled volunteering at AWI through the Mt. A club during the fall of last year. "I absolutely love animals and thought it would be a great way [to] learn more about the species we have around here, as well as [to] help a great cause," she said. "There are many things that volunteers can do – from feeding, to cleaning cages and dishes … last year I even helped clean the bear enclosure!"
Shae Scully is also a third-year biology student. Though she has not been able to attend the AWI to volunteer yet this year, she expressed her appreciation for the organization. "The Atlantic Wildlife Institute is a really special spot," she said. "It provides students with a rare opportunity to interact with wild animals in a safe environment while learning more about them."
Atlantic Wildlife Institute is a registered charity that depends on the community through donations and volunteering. AWL/Submitted
"Volunteering at AWI is a great way to take a step back from academics while also getting a unique [volunteering] experience," added Catherine Fiset, a fourth-year biology student and year-long volunteer.
Geldart reflected that she likes to help this particular institute because she can feel like she is helping the wildlife, not only in a hands-on manner but also by spreading awareness. "It is important for me to give back this way because, unfortunately, humans cause many of the environmental issues that are affecting our wildlife … [This] affects the everyday interactions that wildlife have with [their] ecosystems," she said. "I would therefore like to do my part to help the … animals that may have been impacted directly or indirectly by human activity.
Though Geldart is graduating in the spring, she has high hopes for the future of the club as they start to look for their new executive members, who will officially take over the group in May 2018. "This is a very new club but I hope that it continues to be offered at Mt. A and that it grows and improves each year," said Geldart.
AWI is located in Cookville, N.B. If you are interested in volunteering or learning more about this organization you can visit their website, atlanticwildlife.ca, or reach out to the club through their Facebook page, AWI Mount Allison.
Emma Bush


An illustrated guide to the Ibizan Hound that covers every aspect of dog ownership and care that the new Ibizan Hound owner needs to know. In addition to the history and portrait of the breed, the book covers grooming, selection, feeding, exercise, housebreaking and training, behavior modification, health and dental care, breeding and showing. There's more information about keeping a dog in the KW books than in any other similarly sized and priced manual.


text:
Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, and the Hidden Genius of George R. R. Martin's Storytelling
With the first episode of season two of Game of Thrones premiering on HBO last Sunday, the world of Westeros has been pretty hot recently. Water coolers across the US were overwhelmed with talk of dragons, Craster's Keep, and how big Rob's direwolf has gotten.
Beyond that, talk also strayed to the book series the show is based on—A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin. I've noticed two camps, those who have read the books and watch the series, and those who have only done the latter. Both seem to enjoy the series in different ways, but comments like "Oh, but you have to read the books," inevitably slip into conversation when the two groups cross paths. And inevitably, you hear the sales pitches for why the books are so good:
"He just fleshes out so many more characters in the books."
"It's fantasy, but it's so realistic."
"The perspective changes are amazing."
"He's not afraid to kill off characters. Nobody is safe."
These are all great reasons to read the books (and in some cases, also to watch the series) but there's one element of GRRM's storytelling I've noticed usually gets left out of these "water-cooler" conversations:
Blending back story with action.
Anyone's who's ever tried to write something has struggled with back story. It's a pain. You need the reader to know information that's happened in the past—people who have been in love, wars that have been fought, feuds burning below the surface—but you don't want to slow down the present action.
A Song of Ice and Fire has more back story in twenty pages than some novels have in their entirety, and GRRM juggles this information like the master storyteller he is. He melds back story with action through a variety of means. Characters remember scenes and moments that are similar or related to the situation they're currently in, other times two characters talk about a third character candidly, and some characters even relive past events in their dreams.
But George's most effective strategy—his bread-and-butter of back story, if you will—is tucked between lines of dialogue and small mannerisms. It's the events characters allude to but don't ever state outright, the tensions between them that they dance around, and the veiled insults that mean more to them than they do to the reader. For now.
To me, this is one of my favorite parts of reading A Song of Ice and Fire—experiencing a story that's evolving from two directions and getting richer and more interesting with every page. I can't wait for the next episode (or the next book!).
But what about you? What's your favorite part of A Song of Ice and Fire?
And just as a not so subtle heads-up, there might be a back-story element to the next WEbook writing contest coming on April 15th.
If you can't wait that long, the All Aboard Writing Contest is still sailing strong!
Tags: a game of thrones, a song of ice and fire, game of thrones storytelling, george r r marting, Writing Tips and Advice
Laurence 12 May 2012 at 14:20
Few of your winners had any backstory. Backstory is when two characters share their past, or the narrator explains the past. I saw none in the Pliny tale or the boys yammering like douches.... Nothing was revealed about their 'past.' Pliny was just about the past.... We are not filled with wanting to know more of any of these characters.... Please tell me have not joined a group that favors cute for well-written prose...
GED Online 17 May 2012 at 23:44
Words can't say how much I appreciate what you've mentioned here... Thanks a lot for this info.
Levis Jeans Online 25 June 2012 at 22:12
Levis 506 sind die original 501 Einkommensgruppen verbringen 16 Unzen Gewicht der Dicke des Gewebes, die verschiedenen Modelle mit der Dicke des Gewebes mit unterschiedlichem Gewicht ausgestattet
The All Aboard Writing Contest Winners!
Pulitzer 2012: Love Is All You Need
The Back Story Writing Contest
Writers' Workout
Spoiler Alert! The Titanic Sinks
Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, and the H...


On the 29 October The Law Society President publicised National Pro Bono Week which takes place from Monday 2 November to Friday 6 November 2015. He emphasised that now, more than ever, lawyers need to get involved. Cuts to legal aid are a barrier to access to justice.
The closure of Law Centres and the fact that many welfare rights organisations, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau, are suffering cuts to funding, means lawyers really do need to "do their bit".
We set up our firm in 2004 to serve both our business community and individuals which includes offering a program of community engagement. This includes advice clinics, training and skills sharing. We provide over 100K of free legal work each year.
On 4 November 2015 Fiona Martin has been invited by Brighton Community Works to provide her expertise on employment law and people management to trustees. Other professionals with insight in charity finance, best practice and volunteer management will also attend to advise local voluntary and charitable organisations.
On 9 November we will be participating in Wired Sussex "HR Round Table" offering free specialist employment law advice to local Digital Media firms.
In the last three months, we have provided employment law and HR support for Wired Sussex through our HR Digital Media Group and 'Ask the HR Expert', Care Act and employment law training for Brighton Community Works, Community Care Law advice clinics for Age UK Brighton & Hove and The Carers Centre, and pro bono Employment Law advice for Employment Support Retraining Agency (ESRA).
We also work with schools and colleges to provide careers advice and legal opportunities.
Find out more about our upcoming events and our work in the community.


I was looking for a way to propagate exceptions from my tg2 app to the ErrorController to permit to propagate errors from controllers to the user. To generate errors and show them you usually have to redirect to /error/document and pass as parameters the error message and error code, but this isn't really flexible and also modern languages have a really good feature to propagate errors: Exceptions.
So I was looking for a way to raise a webob.exc.HTTPForbidden, place a message inside it and let the ErrorController render the message. Usually you don't want to tell to the user what went wrong with your 500 server side exception, but you might want to tell to the user why he can't do what he is trying to do, let him know why it is Forbidden to him.
First thing you can easily do is check for resp.status_int inside your ErrorController.document and fetch only 403 error (the forbidden one). This permits to create a specific message for Forbidden errors, but doesn't tell much to the user about why it is forbidden. webob.exc.HTTPForbidden permits to set a detail message and also generates an error page, but the turbogears stack when gets a status code different from 200 hooks the response and calls the ErrorController.document to generate a new response. This way your HTTPForbidden exception is lost forever.
Actually it isn't really lost, as you can access the previous error page from request.environ.get('pylons.original_response'). If you want a quick solution you can hook ErrorController if status_int is 403 and return the original_response instead of rendering ErrorController.document template.
But the original response isn't really nice and you usually want to adapt it.
This by itself doesn't change a lot as you will get the same ugly page with simply a div around your error. But now by using BeautifoulSoup you are able to get only your message from the original_response inside your ErrorController.document action.
message = "We can't perform this, reason was:"
I know that this isn't a really great solution as you have to parse your already generated error page to fetch only the error message and generate a new error page, if anyone has a better solution that permits to directly access the exception instance feel free to tell me!
which can then be retrieved from the response object in the error controller.
That is also a very good solution, we ended in using the headers to report "login required" errors from controller methods that have be used as API and so should not redirect the user to the login page.
We set a API = YES header and inside the ErrorController we check for that.


text:
Юдейське царство — південне ізраїльське царство зі столицею в Єрусалимі. Царство Юди проіснувало понад 300 років і було знищене Вавилоном близько 600 до н. е.

Ізраїльське царство проіснувало 120 років: Саул, Давид і Соломон царювали кожен по 40 років. Після смерті царя Соломона царство поділилося. Десять колін (племен) утворили Північне Царство зі столицею в Самарії. Два коліна (племена) Юда та Веніямин утворили Південне Царство, зване Юдея, зі столицею в Єрусалимі.

Але і тих два царства не були тривалі. Північне Царство проіснувало понад 200 років і було знищене Ассирією 721 р. до н. е. Південне Царство проіснувало понад 300 років і було завойоване Вавилоном близько 600 р. до Різдва Христового.

У Юдейському царстві проповідували такі пророки: Авдій 848-841, Йоїл 835-796, Міхей 740-736, Ісая 736-716, Наум 640-609, Авакум 609-597, Цефанія 597-586, Єремія.

Правиили такі царі: Ровоам 930-914, Авія 913-911, Аса 911-870, Йосафат 870-848, Порам 848-841, Агазія 841, Гофолія 841-835, Йоаш 835-796, Амазія 796-781, Узія 781-740, Йоафам 740-736, Ахаз 736-716, Єзекія 716-687. Після падіння Самарії правив Манасія 687-642, Амон 642-640, Йосія 640-609, Йоаким 609-597, Седекія 597-586.

Правління Юдейських царів

Першим царем Юдеї був Ровоам син Соломона. Його правління описане в Другій книзі царів.

849—842 р. до н. е — правління Йорама. В його часи Ідумея виборює незалежність. Одружився на дочці царя Північно-Ізраїльського царства Аталії.Вона стала, знищувати нащадків Давида по всій Юдеї, але упустила одного сина Ахаза — Йоаса, якого приховав і виховав первосвященик Єгояда.

837 р. до н. е. — Йоас проголошений царем, а Аталія страчена.

727—698 — правління Єзекії. Зміцнення Юдейського царства. Єзекія був вихований під впливом пророка Ісаї (2 Цар. 19:5), та приступив до суттєвих релігійних та культурних реформ. В цей час була написана книга пророка Ісайї.

701 до н. е. — невдала облога Єрусалиму Санхерібом

609—598 р. до н. е. — цар Йоаким. На 13 році його правління починається пророча діяльність Єремії. Пророк Єремія написав книгу «Пророцтва» (Книга пророка Єремії), «Плач» (книга «Плач Єремії») про зруйнування Єрусалиму і Послання.

Вавилонський полон (586—537 рр. До н. Е.)

586 — зруйнування Єрусалимського Храму та переселення юдеїв. Вавилонський полон не знищив народ Юдеї, на відміну від ассирійської полону, який став фатальним для населення Ізраїлю. Згідно з Біблією в цей час припадає діяльність пророків Єзекіїля та Даниїла, написана книга пророка Єзекіїля. За цар Артаксеркса відбуваються події описані в книзі Есфір, що лягли в основу свята Пурім.

Юдея під перським пануванням (537—332 рр. До н. Е.)
Через 70 років за наказом перського царя Кіра II, який зламав могутність Вавилону, юдеї отримали можливість повернутися на свою землю.

516 р. до н. е. — завершено будівництво Другого Храму на чолі з Зоровавелем.

458 р. до н. е. — прибуття до Єрусалима пророка Ездри. Маючи статус представника перського царя він багато зробив для відновлення юдейського життя. Було відновлено святкування шаббату, сплату десятини і інших вимог Закону.

Юдея під грецьким пануванням (332—167 рр. До н. Е.)
Після завоювання перської монархії Олександром Македонським Земля Ізраїлю (Палестина) спочатку була підпорядкована Птолемеям в Єгипті (320—201 р. до н. е.), потім Селевкідам в Сирії. У цю епоху в юдейське середовище проникає грецька культура.

Хасмонейського царство (140 — 37 рр. До н. Е.)

Єврейське повстання 165 року до н. е. не тільки відстояло релігійну незалежність Юдеї, а й призвело до створення незалежного Хасмонейського царства (164 – 37) зі столицею в Єрусалимі.

У 63 р. до н. е. спалахнула війна між синами Соломії, Гірканом II і Аристобулом II, в результаті якої був покликаний третейським суддею римський полководець Помпей, який взяв Єрусалим і звернув Юдею в етнархію, що ввійшла до складу римської провінції Сирія.

Юдея під владою Риму

Після смерті Ірода Великого стався розподіл Палестини поміж його синами. Галилея та Зайордання були віддані Іродові Антипі; землі на північ від них — Іроду Пилипу; а Юдея з Самарією — Архелаю, який повинен був з часом успадкувати й титул царя. Однак Архелай викликав незадоволення як у євреїв, так і у римлян, і імператор Август змістив його в шостому році нашої ери, передавши владу над Юдеєю римському прокуратору.

З політичної точки зору Галілея і Юдея були хоч і підвладними Римові, а проте цілком окремими державами. У євангельські часи Галілеєю правив Ірод Антипа (з 4 р. до н. е. до 39 р. н. е.), а Юдеєю — Понтій Пилат (з 26 по 36 р. н. е.), про що також повідомляє євангеліст Лука (3.1). Юдея і Галілея були штучно об'єднані Давидом в 11 ст. до н. е., однак після смерті його сина Салимона (Соломона) у 927 р. до н. е. ця імперія розпалася на Ізраїль зі столицею в Самарії і вчетверо меншу Юдею зі столицею в Єрусалимі. У часи Хреста в Галілеї проживала незначна юдейська діаспора, а в Юдеї були компактні поселення галілеян, наприклад, у Витанії неподалік Єрусалима.

Галілеяни і юдеї відрізнялися не лише етнічно, але й расово: перші були арійцями, а другі — семітами (вихідцями з Аравійського півострова). Про етнічно-расові відмінності, серед іншого, свідчить те, що «арамейська мова була загальновживаною мовою Палестини часів Ісуса» (Геллей Генри. С. 410), проте, розмовляючи нею, галілеяни і юдеї суттєво відрізнялися способом її вимови. Наприклад, попри всі старання Петра, єрусалимляни його легко впізнали за галілейською вимовою (Мт 26.73, Мк 14.70, Лк 22.59).

Варто пояснити, що після повернення юдеїв з вавилонського полону арамейська мова стала у них розмовною, хоч їхні священні тексти традиційно писалися давньоєврейською мовою. Галілеяни також перебрали арамейську мову, але, попри те, зберігали свою материнську, «хатню» мову. Саме цією мовою Христос промовив свої останні слова: «А коло дев'ятої години Ісус скрикнув сильним голосом, кажучи: Елі Елі лема савахтані» (Мт 27.46). Почувши їх, юдеї подумали, що Ісус кличе пророка Іліяху (Мк 15.34—35).

Див. також
 Імена царів Юдеї

Посилання

 Олександр Мень, прот. Сын Человеческий. —Bruxelles; FOYER ORIENTAL CHRETIEN, 1998. — С. 17.

Примітки

Юдея
Стародавній Ізраїль
Біблійні місця
586 до н. е.
Стародавній Ізраїль та Юдея
Стародавні держави Азії

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


This week has moved by quickly and we made some good steps towards finishing projects. I'm waiting on the coffee to finish brewing so my writing may be a touch off until I get that wake up. We have our first family Christmas gathering this afternoon so I wanted to get this written. It has been a blessed year and the one ahead shows signs of being even more productive. I've put some updates up on http://www.cdiproductions.com although the site needs additional updates it gives upcoming release dates and such.
Our 1st film in the QUEST TRILOGY "40 Nights" has been the big push. Our distributor has a large retailer order but that requires us to upload the film to the distributor at the beginning of the new year. Right now music is being composed and laid into the film and VFX is being completed. Both the opening sequence and VFX need to be laid in this week coming forth. I've seen some of the plates and the VFX transitions. Great stuff by Vroman arts.
We've been working to finalize a commercial project and additionally get the foundation in place for "Chasing the Star" the 2nd film in our QUEST TRILOGY. The LLC is in process and our docs have been revamped. We'll be attaching the investors over the next two weeks. Casting has been in full swing and I hope to attach cast and crew first part of Jan. 2016 and be ready for a Feb./March shoot in Yuma, AZ.
"An Ordinary Killer" has been remastered and we're about to do a DVD run with the new packaging. This film played at our FILM & SPIRITS program at Sanctuary Spirits on the 3rd Thursday of the month. This month we will be watching FIGURE IN THE FOREST. This film has enjoyed numerous TV play. (TBN, Parables, UpLifTv) I think we'll be doing a remastered run of this film also.
I've got a great list of new 2016 goals forming. I put them down every year and like to see what areas made strong advances and what requires more attention. I've also been reviewing a few scripts for acting in 2016. I'm feeling pretty confident on C.U.J.O. shooting this coming year. I've got a CDI western that will shoot with Jesse Low (4o Nights) at the helm. Aside from that I've got a handful of possibles but that depends upon many factors.
I'm going to conclude this short weekly update because I have gifts to wrap for early this afternoon. I want to also comment that I'm so excited about the new STAR WARS film(s). I saw the 1st one in 1977 many times. So many in fact our parents did not want us to keep watching the same movie. We would sneak into other theaters to watch – STAR WARS:) So I've had a blast with all the merchandise that is in stores. It also was a major inspiration for my path. I'm proud to have chosen and been allowed by you the fans, to have a career. Our recent QUEST trilogy has a Star Wars influence for sure.
MSU my alumni school locked up the BEN TEN championship! Our Lions are …the Lions. Still no major snow here in Michigan so it feels like a California Christmas. I'm sure that will change in the weeks ahead.
This entry was posted on December 12, 2015 by DJ Perry. It was filed under Blogroll, Uncategorized and was tagged with 1977, 40 Nights, acting, An Ordinary Killer, AZ, Big 10 Champions, C.U.J.O., casting, CDI, Chasing the star, Christmas, coffee, crew, Figs, film, investors, Jesse Low, merchandise, MSU, Parables TV, Quest Trilogy, Sanctuary Spirits, Star Wars, TBN, UpLiftV, western, Yuma.


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in: Handheld Games, Games, Related Games, Super Mario Games
TOSE
Game & Watch Gallery 4 is a compilation of Game & Watch games released on the Game Boy Advance in 2002. It features both the original versions of several games and updated versions featuring characters from the Super Mario series.
Balloon Fight
The museum includes a list called "G&W History" which includes every Game & Watch game released. On this list, it includes both the Crystal Screen and New Wide screen versions of Balloon Fight. It lists the release date of the crystal screen version as November 19th, 1986, and the New Wide Screen version's release date as March 1988.
Game & Watch Gallery 3 - Chee-Chai Alien
Game & Watch Gallery 4 - Kururin Paradise - WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! - WarioWare: Twisted!
Daigasso! Band Brothers - WarioWare: Touched! - Electroplankton - Tetris DS - Picross DS - Daigasso! Band Brothers DX - WarioWare D.I.Y. - Jam with the Band
PiCTOBiTS - Nintendo DSi Instrument Tuner
Pushmo - Club Nintendo Picross - Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS - Club Nintendo Picross Plus - Ultimate NES Remix - Nintendo Badge Arcade - Stretchmo - Hey! Pikmin - WarioWare Gold
Super Smash Bros. Melee - Animal Crossing - WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! - Donkey Konga 3
WarioWare: Smooth Moves - Super Smash Bros. Brawl - WarioWare D.I.Y. Showcase
Game & Wario - Wii Fit U - Taiko no Tatsujin Wii U Version - NES Remix - Super Smash Bros. for Wii U - amiibo tap: Nintendo's Greatest Bits - Super Mario Maker
Super Mario Odyssey - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - Nintendo Labo: VR Kit - WarioWare: Get It Together!
Joust - Taiko no Tatsujin Red Version
More Balloon Fight Wiki
1 Balloon Fight (NES)
2 Balloon Trip
3 Balloon Fight GB


Orlando Florida's Evan Smith has made a name for himself by taking the road less traveled. While most aspiring skaters spend half their time trying to figure out how to live the California dream, Smith spends his getting busy wherever he's at. Both on board and in life, Evan has found creative routes to doing things his own way. Currently in Pittsburgh, skating untapped wells of urban spots, he's also helping his uncle run a music venue. This unorthodox approach transfers to Evan's skating as well where you'll catch him pulling out tricks others might not think of, and approaching classic spots with a fresh set of eyes.


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Liliana Bakhtiari to Re-Challenge Councilwoman Archibong in 2021
October 17, 2020 MATTHEW CHARLES Leave a comment
(APN) ATLANTA — Progressive activist Liliana Bakhtiari will run again for Atlanta City Council District 5 in the 2021 City of Atlanta Municipal Elections.
The District 5 seat, covering East Atlanta, is currently held by Atlanta City Councilwoman Natalyn Archibong.
Over the last four years, since Bakhtiari's first run for District 5 in 2017, she has continued her grassroots work in the community and says she has learned much more about the problems facing Atlanta.
Incumbent Natalyn Archibong has been one of the most progressive members of the Atlanta City Council, based on Atlanta Progressive News's Atlanta City Council Scorecard, based on over one hundred votes.
However, she has fallen to second place, behind Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large); and Archibong has spent the last four years supporting efforts to limit public comment at Atlanta City Council.
Archibong supported a harmful ordinance that has limited public comment delegations from sixteen minutes to ten minutes. "I don't see why anyone needs to speak to us for more than ten minutes," Archibong said at the time.
Archibong supported the move to cut public comment delegations shortly after the controversial Gulch Redevelopment debate, where critics of the administration used "time donations" of public comment time to allow certain speakers to speak for up to sixteen minutes.
Archibong then supported two rounds of cuts to speaking time for former elected officials and current elected officials from other bodies.
Archibong then supported a resolution, during COVID-19, limiting people's ability to call in to record public comments on a voicemail, to only a two hour window on the day before the meeting.
This resolution occurred after Councilman Antonio Brown (District 3) had encouraged critics of the Atlanta Police Department to leave public comment voicemails; and hundreds of voicemails were received.
As part of that resolution, Archibong encouraged all seven Committee Chairs to limit public comments to only matters on the agenda of the committee – not even matters under the purview of the committee.
"I don't agree with them," Bakhtiari said of Archibong's votes.
"I think being a public servant is about hearing the public's voice. How can you make decisions about what's best for the community without hearing what they have to say?" Bakhtiari told Atlanta Progressive News.
"How can you do that if you're busy limiting their time and making efforts to silence them?" Bakhtiari said.
"When you limit your interaction with the public, you dehumanize the public, and then your ability to be a true public servant is compromised," she said.
Following Bakhtiari's narrow defeat to Archibong in 2017, Bakhtiari continued her progressive work in the community.
In 2018, she volunteered for Stacey Abrams's campaign for Governor of Georgia.
She purchased a bus that she used to drive all over the state to educate and mobilize voters.
"When the Republicans came out and had the deportation bus, that one Republican candidate [Michael Williams] was talking about immigrants and refugees," Bakhtiari said.
"I said, why don't we do something like that with a message of hope? We bought a school bus and called it the Georgia for all Georgians Bus and painted a message of the diversity of Georgia on one side and the history of voting on the other," she said.
"We took it to the Pride Parade and we took it around the state to do voter education workshops," she said.
"We're in the process of building it out into a mobile advocacy unit to take it to underserved areas around the state and around the city."
Since the onset of COVID-19, Bakhtiari has been working in her community doing food and supply drives for seniors.
Partners for Home, the lead organization for the City of Atlanta Continuum of Care, hired Bakhtiari to be their Homeless Emergency Response Coordinator.
Bakhtiari had a two-month contract with Partners for Home to establish a "Healthy Hotel" to serve many of Atlanta's residents currently experiencing homelessness.
"Which was to help people who were unsheltered and had tested negative for COVID, but were high risk because they had underlying conditions," she said.
"My reasons for running are the same as before, but everything is amplified, we still have a housing crisis, we still have unsheltered people on the street," she said.
"We need an elected official who's going to be present," she said. "It's time for a new generation of leadership."
"If she runs, she runs. If she doesn't she doesn't," Bakhtiari said of Archibong. "I'm running for the district."
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS TAKING SHAPE
Municipal Elections for 2021 are already taking shape. In addition to Bakhtiari's announcement, at least three additional candidates are challenging incumbents.
Brandon Cory Goldberg is challenging Councilman Michael Julian Bond (Post 1-at-large).
APN sent a text message to Courtney English, who ran against Bond in 2017, to see if he was running again, but Mr. English did not respond.
In District 3, APN's News Editor–the present writer–is running for the District 3 seat, challenging incumbent Antonio Brown.
Former Atlanta Public Schools Board of Education Member Byron Amos has also announced that he is running again for District 3.
Councilman Brown won in a 2019 Special Election after Ivory Lee Young, Jr., passed away.
Brown is facing federal criminal charges for falsely claiming identity theft for his purchase of two luxury vehicles and for personal loans that he took out and used on plane tickets in his name and other expenses.
(END / Copyright Atlanta Progressive News / 2020)
eight − = 4


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Deeks Family History
Deeks Name Meaning
English: variant of Dyke.
Similar surnames: Reeks, Beeks, Meeks, Dees, Leeks, Weeks, Deets, Derks, Deeds, Deere
77 thousand record(s) for Deeks
Where is the Deeks family from?
You can see how Deeks families moved over time by selecting different census years. The Deeks family name was found in the USA, the UK, Canada, and Scotland between 1880 and 1920. The most Deeks families were found in the UK in 1891. In 1880 there were 16 Deeks families living in New York. This was about 57% of all the recorded Deeks's in the USA. New York had the highest population of Deeks families in 1880.
Use census records and voter lists to see where families with the Deeks surname lived. Within census records, you can often find information like name of household members, ages, birthplaces, residences, and occupations.
View Census Data for Deeks
What did your Deeks ancestors do for a living?
In 1940, Salesman and Waitress were the top reported jobs for men and women in the US named Deeks. 25% of Deeks men worked as a Salesman.
View Census data for Deeks | Data not to scale
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There are 21,000 census records available for the last name Deeks. Like a window into their day-to-day life, Deeks census records can tell you where and how your ancestors worked, their level of education, veteran status, and more.
Search US census records for Deeks
There are 1,000 immigration records available for the last name Deeks. Passenger lists are your ticket to knowing when your ancestors arrived in the USA, and how they made the journey - from the ship name to ports of arrival and departure.
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There are 1,000 military records available for the last name Deeks. For the veterans among your Deeks ancestors, military collections provide insights into where and when they served, and even physical descriptions.
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You've only scratched the surface of Deeks family history.
What is the average Deeks lifespan?
Between 1962 and 2004, in the United States, Deeks life expectancy was at its lowest point in 1994, and highest in 1991. The average life expectancy for Deeks in 1962 was 84, and 81 in 2004.
View Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for Deeks
An unusually short lifespan might indicate that your Deeks ancestors lived in harsh conditions. A short lifespan might also indicate health problems that were once prevalent in your family. The SSDI is a searchable database of more than 70 million names. You can find birthdates, death dates, addresses and more.
Discover the unique achievements of ancestors in the Deeks family tree


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City receives directive to deal with pollution in Milnerton lagoon
Published by Lucinda Dordley on February 9, 2021
The residents of Milnerton were relieved to find that the Green Scorpions have issued a directive essentially forcing the City of Cape Town to acknowledge and fix the multiple sources of pollution dirtying Diep River Estuary and Milnerton Lagoon.
The problems at the Potsdam plant in Milnerton have also led to the loss of drinking water. This is because the Milnerton fuel refinery, which would normally use treated effluent, has switched to municipal water because the effluent is too dirty.
The treated effluent from the Potsdam plant is used notably by Astron Energy, which operates the fuel refinery, as well as for irrigation by farmers, Century City, and MyCiTi. It also flows into Diep River, which becomes the Milnerton Lagoon before flowing out to sea.
The Green Scorpions issued a directive to the City of Cape Town on September 21, 2020 ordering it to remedy the state of the lagoon which is filled with stagnant, polluted effluent. Failure to comply is a criminal offence.
"On January 21, MEC Anton Bredell rejected the City's appeal and confirmed the validity of the directive issued in September 2020 by the Western Cape Government's Directorate: Environmental Law Enforcement (Green Scorpions) ordering the City to remedy the state of the Diep River Estuary and Milnerton Lagoon," the Milnerton Central Residents Association said via Facebook.
Should the City of Cape Town not adhere to the strict conditions set out in the directive to address the problems at the Potsdam Wastewater Treatment Works and related issues that caused the large-scale pollution in the Diep River Estuary and Milnerton Lagoon, they may be held criminally liable and will face fines up to R10-million or individuals within the City may face imprisonment for up to 10 years.
"Minister Anton Bredell and the Green Scorpions team are to be commended for the very thorough investigation and the real commitment to see it through despite obstacles and opposition. The directive demonstrates what can be achieved when government is prepared to act effectively to enforce the law irrespective of party politics," the Association said.
"Our heartfelt thanks to OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse) for support with independent water testing and legal advice. OUTA's involvement and professionalism have been game-changing bringing swift resolution after years of fighting unsuccessfully with the City for a cleaner environment. We now look forward to clean water and a return to the Lagoon's natural beauty!"
ALSO READ: Green Scorpions order City of Cape Town to sort out pollution in the Milnerton Lagoon
Picture: Milnerton Central Residents Association/Facebook


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High Plains Blogger
About John Kanelis
Is Trump really that rich? Really … ?
Tag Archives: midterm election
Donald Trump, national security, political news
'Lyin Ted' wants 'Amoral' Donald to stump for him? Wow!
August 8, 2018 kanelis2012	Leave a comment
Oh, man, I want the president of the United States to accept U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's request to campaign for him in Texas.
You see, this is a potential "opposition research" gold mine for Democrats seeking to shoot down the Cruz Missile's attempt at re-election to a second term in the Senate. Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke — who's in a neck-and-neck race with Cruz — ought to welcome it, too.
You've got Donald Trump's infamous nickname for Cruz, who he labeled as "Lyin' Ted" while competing against him for the 2016 Republican Party presidential primary campaign.
Then he posted that hideous picture of Heidi Cruz, the senator's wife, on Twitter and sought to compare her unflatteringly with Melania Trump, the future president's model-wife.
Let us not forget how the GOP nominee then sought to suggest that Ted Cruz's father, Rafael, might have been somehow complicit in President Kennedy's assassination because he supposedly was seen sharing a meal with Lee Harvey Oswald.
All of this enraged Sen. Cruz. As it should have.
He launched into a scathing attack on Trump, calling him out for the way he treated his family; he called Trump "amoral" and a "pathological liar." He said Trump has no moral grounding.
Has any of that changed in Sen. Cruz's mind? He says it has. The public domain, however, is still loaded with those angry words of two years ago, which in reality he cannot take back.
And does Trump think differently now of the man he once called "Lyin' Ted"? Hmm. I am betting … no!
By all means, Mr. President, come to Texas. Campaign for Cruz. If you come anywhere near where I live in the D/FW Metroplex, I'll be there with bells on to listen to your off-the-rails campaign-rally speech.
I'll be sure to have my notebook and pen in hand.
Beto O'RourkeDemocratic PartyGOPmidterm electionTed CruxUS Senate
Why not 'celebrate' Election Day?
This isn't an original thought but I am going to pitch it here with vigor. Election Day should be an event Americans should commemorate, indeed even celebrate.
Thus, I am leaning heavily toward proposing a national holiday for the day we go to the polls to elect the leader of our government. I make this pitch partly out of frustration as well.
I spent a lot of years as a journalist trying to boost voter turnout on Election Day. It was an exercise in futility. I ran out of ways to say the same thing. We cheered when turnout at the national level exceeded, say, 55 percent when we chose our president. I consider that to be a disgraceful turnout. Fifty-five percent turnout among all Americans who are eligible to vote? That means more than 40 percent of those Americans don't bother to cast their ballot.
Here's my thought: Make Election Day every two years a national holiday. I include the midterm congressional election as deserving of this extra attention.
Why don't people vote? I guess it's for a variety of reasons. Frustration with the choices. A feeling that their vote doesn't matter. Not enough time.
Ah, about that last item. The time element can be fixed by declaring a national holiday. Give working Americans the day off from work, the way we do for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day.
We can remove one key barrier from Americans who might want to vote, but who say they don't have the time, that their bosses won't allow them to take a few moments to go cast their ballots.
I understand fully that we cannot give everyone a day off from work on Election Day. Medical personnel, police officers, firefighters, public utility workers all need to be on the job.
I much prefer the national holiday idea to other efforts to boost turnout, such as mail-in voting. I have noted many times already that I like the ritual associated with going to the polls, of waiting in line, of kibitzing with fellow voters. Mail-only voting has boosted turnout in many states — such as my home state of Oregon. I stand by my preference, though, to cast my ballot in a polling place.
I live in state, Texas, with a shamefully pitiful voting turnout. We tend to vote on everything here, so there might be some voter fatigue that suppresses turnout. I don't know how to deal with that.
However, I want there to be a national push — for the midterm election and for the presidential election — to give this process the level of veneration it deserves.
Declaring Election Day to be a national holiday might do the trick.
Election Daymidterm electionpresidential electionvoter turnout
local news, political news
Where does ideology fit in this office?
February 8, 2018 kanelis2012	Leave a comment
I get a kick out of looking at political campaign signs … and Lord knows we've got a lot of them sprouting up all over Amarillo, Texas, as our state's primary election is less than a month away.
One such sign caught my eye this morning and it brings to mind a question I've pondered for nearly as long as I've lived in Texas; that's nearly 34 years.
Susan Allen is running for Randall County clerk. The current county clerk, Renee Calhoun, isn't seeking re-election. I don't know Allen, but I am struck by a message on her sign, which reads "A Conservative Choice."
Hmmm. So, the long-pondered question is this: Why do we elect some of these statutory offices on partisan ballots?
Moreover, when does political ideology matter when we're pondering for whom to vote for an office such as county clerk?
I'm not sure how a "conservative" county clerk is more desirable than a "liberal" one. How does one apply the duties of county clerk to fit a political ideology? Now that I think about it, I can come up with only one possible avenue: whether the county clerk would issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as required by federal law. It is my fervent hope that I might be reading too much into that explosive issue and how it might determine whether voters will make a "conservative choice" in selecting their next county clerk.
The county clerk is responsible for maintaining records for county courts at law. The clerk also manages voter registration and serves as the chief elections officer for a given county. Where does it really matter whether the county clerk adheres to a conservative or liberal political philosophy?
I've wondered before — on the record — about the partisan or ideological requirements for a number of such offices. They include tax assessor-collector, treasurer, district clerk (which administers records for state district courts) and, yes, even for sheriff and district attorney.
Does it really matter if a county's top cop and top prosecutor belong to a particular political party? For that matter, how does a Republican tax collector-assessor do his or her job any differently from a Democrat? Same for treasurer.
Perhaps you've known that I also dislike the idea of electing judges on partisan ballots. I won't go there — this time!
I'm sure Susan Allen and all the other county clerk candidates are fine people. They all are more than likely technically qualified to do the job required of them under the state laws they take an oath to follow to the letter.
Ideology should be a non-starter. I damn sure hope that's the case in Randall County.
county clerkideologymidterm electionRandall County
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A comic strip with facts, beautifully illustrated fiction and non-fiction, gripping stories and funny books are all on the shortlist for the Blue Peter Book Awards
Posted on December 4, 2014 by TheFableists
Award-winning author and illustrator Chris Riddell's latest book on the adventures of Goth Girl is among six children's books shortlisted for the prestigious Blue Peter Book Awards 2015.
For the first time, a book using comic strips to tell real-life stories is also nominated for an award.
The Blue Peter Book Awards, which are celebrating their 15th year, are special as they ask children to read the shortlisted books and then vote for the two winners.
The shortlist was announced live on today's (Thursday December 4th) Blue Peter by Michael Morpurgo, author of more than 120 children's books, including War Horse, and President of the reading charity Booktrust, which manages the Blue Peter Book Awards.
Morpurgo was also presented with the CBBC show's highest accolade, the gold Blue Peter badge, for inspiring millions of children with his books.
Chris Riddell's Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death is vying for the Best Story Award along with Boy in the Tower by primary school teacher Polly Ho-Yen and The Spy Who Loved School Dinners written by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by Thomas Flintham.
Adam Murphy's Corpse Talk, which uses comic strips to tell the stories of scientists, writers, sovereigns and rebels from history, is competing for the Best Book with Facts with Animalium written by Jenny Broom and illustrated by Katie Scott, and The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff written by Andy Seed and illustrated by Scott Garrett.
The four judges – Liz Pichon, Michael de Souza, Anna James and Ewan Vinnicombe – highlighted the quality of illustrations used in many of this year's shortlisted books, as well as the brilliant stories and imaginations of the authors.
Liz Pichon, author of the Tom Gates series, and winner of the Blue Peter Book Awards Best Story 2013, said: 'We have a brilliant selection, something for everyone. There's beautifully illustrated fiction, gripping stories, funny books and the FIRST comic strip style book with facts which is fantastic.
'We keep hearing that kids don't read anymore, but if you get the right books in front of them they really will – I've seen it!
'The Blue Peter Awards are a fantastic way of showcasing even more great books.'
Michael de Souza, co-creator of Rastamouse said: 'We have a great selection of original stories as well as a book using comic strips, which is very different.
'Books open up a new world for children. If we want to encourage children to read, we need to give them great stories, great illustrations and something they can relate to.'
Blue Peter Editor Ewan Vinnicombe, who was the non-voting Chair of the judging panel, said: 'In our 15th year of the Blue Peter Book Awards I'm really excited with the judges' shortlist. There is such a good range of titles in the mix and I can't wait to find out on World Book Day when the winners are revealed – live on Blue Peter.
'It was great that we could honour Michael Morpurgo with a Blue Peter gold badge. His stories have inspired so many children over so many years to read and love books.'
Approximately 200 children from 10 schools across the UK will read the shortlisted books and vote for their favourites in each category. The two winning books will be announced on the Blue Peter programme scheduled for World Book Day on 5 March 2015.
The enormously popular Blue Peter Book Awards, which are managed by Booktrust, celebrate the best authors, most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children.
The shortlist:
Best Book with Facts
• Animalium written by Jenny Broom and illustrated by Katie Scott (Big Picture Press)
• Corpse Talk: Season 1 by Adam Murphy (David Fickling Books)
• The Silly Book of Side-Splitting Stuff written by Andy Seed and illustrated by Scott Garrett (Bloomsbury)
• Boy in the Tower by Polly Ho-Yen (Doubleday Children's)
• Goth Girl and the Fete Worse Than Death by Chris Riddell (Macmillan Children's Books)
• The Spy Who Loved School Dinners written by Pamela Butchart and illustrated by Thomas Flintham (Nosy Crow)
The judges for this year's Awards are:
• Michael de Souza – Co-creator of the Rastamouse book series and co-founder of Little Roots Ltd.
• Anna James – Editor, We Love This Book and Media Editor, The Bookseller, and former school librarian
• Liz Pichon – author of the Tom Gates series, and winner of the Blue Peter Book Awards Best Story 2013
• Ewan Vinnicombe (non-voting chair) – Editor, Blue Peter and Head of Presentation for CBeebies and CBBC
Posted in Some Stuff We'd Like to Share	| Tagged Blue Peter, Book, Books for Children, Booktrust, Children's Books	| Leave a reply
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