text:
\section{Introduction}
\vspace{-2mm}
In many online sequential decision-making problems, such as contextual bandits \citep{bubeck2012regret} and reinforcement learning \citep{sutton1998introduction}, an agent needs to learn to take a sequence of actions to maximize its expected cumulative reward, while repeatedly interacting with an unknown environment. Moreover, since in such problems the agent's actions affect both its rewards and its observations, it faces the well-known exploration-exploitation dilemma. Consequently, the exploration strategy is crucial for a learning algorithm: typically, under-exploration will make the algorithm stick at a sub-optimal strategy, while over-exploration tends to incur a huge exploration cost.

Various exploration strategies have been proposed, including $\epsilon$-greedy (EG), Boltzmann exploration~\citep{sutton1990integrated, cesa2017boltzmann}, upper-confidence bound (UCB)~\citep{agrawal1995sample, auer2002using} type exploration, and Thompson sampling (TS).
Among them, TS \citep{thompson1933likelihood, russo2018tutorial}, which is also known as posterior sampling or probability matching, is a widely used exploration strategy with good practical performance~\citep{li2010contextual, chapelle2011empirical} and theoretical guarantees~\citep{russo2016information, agrawal2012analysis, russo2018tutorial}.
 The vanilla TS is computationally efficient when there is a closed-form posterior, such as with Bernoulli or Gaussian rewards. For cases without a closed-form posterior, other variants of TS have also been developed~\citep{agrawal2013thompson,chapelle2011empirical}. However, most such TS algorithms cannot be extended to cases with complex generalization models, such as neural networks, in a computationally efficient manner.

In this paper, adopting ideas from Wasserstein-gradient-flow literature, we propose a general particle-based distribution optimization framework for Thompson sampling. Our framework improves the recently proposed particle-based framework for TS \citep{lu2017ensemble}. Specifically, our framework employs a set of particles interacting with each other to approximate the posterior distribution (thus it is called particle-interactive Thompson sampling, or $\pi$-TS), while \citep{lu2017ensemble} treats particles independently.
Specifically, we optimize the posterior distribution in TS based on the Wasserstein-gradient-flow framework. In this setting, Bayesian sampling in TS becomes a convex optimization problem on the space of {\em probability measures}, thus the optimality of the learned distribution could be guaranteed. For tractability, the posterior distribution in TS is approximated by a set of particles (a.k.a.\! samples). We test our framework on a number of applications, first in a simulated dynamic scenario and then on large-scale real-world datasets. In all cases, our proposed particle-interactive Thompson sampling significantly outperforms other baselines.
\vspace{-3mm}
\section{Background}
\vspace{-2mm}
\subsection{Contextual Bandits and Thompson Sampling}
\label{sec:contextual_bandit}
We consider a contextual bandit characterized by a triple $\left(\mathcal{X}, \mathcal{A}, P\right)$, where $\mathcal{X} \subseteq I\!\!R^d$ is a context (state) space with dimension $d$, $\mathcal{A} = \{1, 2, \dots , K\}$ is a finite action space, and $P$ encodes the reward distributions at all the context-action pairs.
The agent is assumed to know $\mathcal{X}$ and $\mathcal{A}$, but not $P$. The agent repeatedly interacts with the contextual bandit for $T$ rounds. At each round $t=1, \ldots, T$, the agent first observes a context $\xb_t \in \mathcal{X}$, which is independently chosen by the \emph{environment}. Then, the agent adaptively chooses an action $\ab_t \in \mathcal{A}$, based on the current context $\xb_t$ and the agent's past observations. Finally, the agent observes and receives a reward $r_t$, which is conditionally independently drawn from the reward distribution $P_{\xb_t, \ab_t}$.
The agent's objective is to learn
 to minimize its expected cumulative regret in the first $T$ rounds, {\it i.e.}, $R(T)= \sum_{t=1}^T \mathbb{E} \left[ \max_{\ab\in\mathcal{A}}[{r}(\xb_t, \ab)] - r_t\right]$.

Many practical online decision-making problems that fit into the framework of contextual bandit have intractably large scale. Specifically, in such problems, at least one of $\mathcal{X}$ and $\mathcal{A}$ has unmanageably large cardinality (if it is discrete) or dimension (if it is continuous). One standard approach to develop scalable learning algorithms for such large-scale problems is to exploit generalization models.
Specifically, in this paper, we assume that the learning agent has access to a generalization model $m(\xb, \ab; {\bm{\theta}})$ for the mean reward function $\bar{r}(\xb, \ab)$, where ${\bm{\theta}}$ is the model parameters. We assume that the generalization model $m$ is ``accurate'' in the sense that there exists a specific model parameter vector ${\bm{\theta}}^*$, with
$
m(\xb, \ab; {\bm{\theta}}^*) \approx \bar{r}(\xb, \ab), ~\forall (\xb, \ab)
\in \mathcal{X} \times \mathcal{A} .$
Note that $m$ is a function of the context-action pair $(\xb, \ab)$ and the parameter vector ${\bm{\theta}}$.
One example of the above-mentioned generalization model is neural network and simpler generalization models, such as linear regression models and logistic regression models, can be viewed as special cases of it.

Thompson sampling (TS)~\citep{thompson1933likelihood} is a widely used class of algorithms for sequential decision-making. For the contextual bandits with reward generalization, assuming the reward generalization is perfect, the vanilla version of TS proceeds as follows:
Given a prior distribution $p_0(\bm{\theta})$ on the model parameters $\bm{\theta}$ and the set of past observations $\mathcal{D}_t \triangleq \{(\mathbf{x}_i, \ab_i, r_{i})\}_{i=1}^{t-1}$,
Thompson sampling~\citep{thompson1933likelihood} maintains a posterior distribution over ${\bm{\theta}}$ as $p_{t-1} \triangleq p({\bm{\theta}}|\Dcal_{t-1})$.
Then, at each time $t$, it first samples a parameter vector $\hat{{\bm{\theta}}}_t$ from the current posterior $p_{t-1}$; then, it chooses action $\ab_t \in \mathop{\rm arg\,max}_{\ab} m(\xb_t, \ab; \hat{{\bm{\theta}}}_t)$, and receives the reward $r_t$; finally it updates the posterior. The pseudocode is provided in Algorithm~\ref{algo:vanilla}.

\subsection{Wasserstein Gradient Flows}
Wasserstein gradient flows (WGF) is a generalization of gradient flows on Euclidean space (reviewed in Section \ref{sec:gf_euc}), by lifting the differential equation above onto the space of probability measures, denoted $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ with $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^d$. Formally, we first endow a Riemannian geometry~\citep{carmo1992riemannian} on $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$.
The geometry is characterized by the length between two elements (two distributions), defined by the second-order Wasserstein distance:
{\small$\label{eq:w2dist}\nonumber
	W_2^2(\mu, \nu) \triangleq \inf_{\gamma}\left\{\int_{\Omega \times \Omega}\|{\bm{\theta}} - {\bm{\theta}}^\prime\|_2^2\mathrm{d}\gamma({\bm{\theta}}, {\bm{\theta}}^\prime): \gamma \in \Gamma(\mu, \nu)\right\}
	$},
where $\Gamma(\mu, \nu)$ is the set of joint distributions over $({\bm{\theta}}, {\bm{\theta}}^\prime)$ such that the two marginals equal $\mu$ and $\nu$, respectively.
If $\mu$ is absolutely continuous w.r.t.\! the Lebesgue measure, there is a unique optimal transport plan from $\mu$ to $\nu$, {\it i.e.}, a mapping $T: \mathbb{R}^d \rightarrow\mathbb{R}^d$ pushing $\mu$ onto $\nu$ satisfying $T_{\#}\mu = \nu$. Here $T_{\#}\mu$ denotes the pushforward measure~\citep{Villani:08} of $\mu$.
The Wasserstein distance thus can be equivalently reformulated as
{\small$
	W_2^2(\mu, \nu) \triangleq \inf_{T}\left\{\int_{\Omega}\|{\bm{\theta}} - T({\bm{\theta}}) \|^2_2\mathrm{d}\mu({\bm{\theta}})\right\}$}.

Consider $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ with a Riemannian geometry endowed by the second-order Wasserstein metric.
Let $\{\mu_{\tau}\}_{\tau\in[0,1]}$ be an absolutely continuous curve in $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ with distance between $\mu_{\tau}$ and $\mu_{\tau+h}$ measured by $W_2^2(\mu_{\tau}, \mu_{\tau+h})$. We overload the definition of $T$ to denote the underlying transformation from $\mu_{\tau}$ to $\mu_{\tau+h}$ as ${\bm{\theta}}_{\tau+h} = T_h({\bm{\theta}}_{\tau})$. Motivated by the Euclidean-space case, if we define $V_B_{\tau}({\bm{\theta}}) \triangleq \lim_{h\rightarrow 0}\frac{T_h({\bm{\theta}}_{\tau}) - {\bm{\theta}}_{\tau}}{h}$ as the {\em velocity of the particle}, a gradient flow can be defined on $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ correspondingly in Lemma \ref{theo:gf_w_exist}~\citep{Ambrosio:book05}.
\vspace{-0.2cm}
\begin{lemma}\label{theo:gf_w_exist}
	Let $\{\mu_{\tau}\}_{\tau\in[0,1]}$ be an absolutely-continuous curve in $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ with finite second-order
	moments. Then for a.e.\! $\tau\in [0, 1]$, the above vector field $V_B_{\tau}$ defines a gradient flow on $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ as $\partial_{\tau} \mu_{\tau} + \nabla_{{\bm{\theta}}} \cdot (V_B_{\tau} \mu_{\tau}) = 0$, where $\nabla_{{\bm{\theta}}}\cdot\ab \triangleq \nabla_{{\bm{\theta}}}^{\top} \ab$ for a vector $\ab$.
\end{lemma}
\vspace{-2mm}
Function $F$ is in the space of probability measures $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$, mapping a probability measure $\mu$ to a real value, {\it i.e.}, $F: \mathcal{P}(\Omega) \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$.  Consequently, it can be shown that $V_B_{\tau}$ in Lemma~\ref{theo:gf_w_exist} has the form $V_B_{\tau} = -\nabla_{\xb} \frac{\delta F}{\delta \mu_{\tau}}(\mu_{\tau})$ \citep{Ambrosio:book05}, where $\frac{\delta F}{\delta \mu_{\tau}}$ is called the {\em first variation of functional} $F$ at $\mu_{\tau}$~\citep{dougan2012first}.
Based on this, gradient flows on $\mathcal{P}(\Omega)$ can be written in a form of partial differential equation (PDE) as
\vspace{-0.15cm}
{\small
	\begin{equation}
	\begin{aligned}\label{eq:gf_dis1}
	\partial_{\tau} \mu_{\tau} = -\nabla_{{\bm{\theta}}} \cdot (V_B_{\tau} \mu_{\tau}) = \nabla_{{\bm{\theta}}} \cdot \left(\mu_{\tau} \nabla_{{\bm{\theta}}}(\frac{\delta F}{\delta \mu_{\tau}}(\mu_{\tau}))\right)~.
	\end{aligned}
	\end{equation}
}
\vspace{-8mm}
\section{Thompson Sampling via Optimal Transport}
This section describes our proposed Particle-Interactive Thompson sampling ($\pi$-TS) framework. We first interpret Thompson sampling as a WGF problem, then propose an energy function to design a specific WGF, and finally propose particle-approximation methods to solve the $\pi$-TS problem.
The posterior distribution of ${\bm{\theta}}$ in Thompson sampling is defined as $p_{t-1} \triangleq p({\bm{\theta}}|\Dcal_{t-1}) \propto e^{U({\bm{\theta}})}$, where the potential energy is defined as
\vspace{-2.5mm}
{
\small
\begin{align
U({\bm{\theta}})\triangleq \log p(\mathcal{D}|{\bm{\theta}})+\log p_0({\bm{\theta}})
= \sum_{i=1}^t\left(\log p(r_i|\xb_i, \ab_i, {\bm{\theta}})+\frac{1}{t}\log p_0({\bm{\theta}})\right)
= \sum_{i=1}^NU_i({\bm{\theta}}).
\end{align}}
\!\!To apply WGFs for posterior approximation in Thompson sampling, a variational (posterior) distribution for ${\bm{\theta}}$, denoted as $\mu({\bm{\theta}})$, is learned by solving an appropriate gradient-flow problem. To make the stationary distribution of the WGF consistent with the target posterior distribution, we define an energy functional characterizing the similarity between the current variational distribution and the true distribution $p_t$ induced by the rewards as:
\vspace{-2.5mm}
\begin{equation}
\small
\begin{aligned}\label{eq:imp_energy}
F(\mu) \triangleq -{\int U({\bm{\theta}})\mu({\bm{\theta}})\mathrm{d}{\bm{\theta}}} +
{\int \mu({\bm{\theta}})\log\mu({\bm{\theta}})\mathrm{d}{\bm{\theta}}}
= \mathop{{\rm KL}}\left(\mu\|p_{t}\right)~.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
The energy functional $F(\mu)$ defines a landscape determined by the rewards, whose minimum is obtained at $\mu = p_{t}$. We investigate the discrete-gradient-flow (DGF) method to solve \eqref{eq:gf_dis1}.

\begin{wrapfigure}[13]{R}{0.45\textwidth}
	\begin{minipage}[T]{0.43\textwidth}
		\vspace{-10mm}
		\begin{algorithm}[H]
			\caption{Particle-Interactive TS ($\pi$-TS)}
			\label{algo:algo2}
			\begin{algorithmic}[1]
				\REQUIRE {$\mathcal{D}_0 = \emptyset$; initialize particles $ \Theta_0  = \{{\bm{\theta}}_0^{i}\}_{i=1}^M$};
				\FOR{$t = 1,2,\ldots,T$}
				\STATE Observe context $\xb_t$
				\STATE Draw $\hat{{\bm{\theta}}}_{t}$ uniformly from $\Theta_{t}$
				\STATE Select $a_t \in \arg\max_{\ab} m(\xb_t, \ab; \hat{{\bm{\theta}}}_{t})$
				\STATE Observe and receive reward $r_t$
				\STATE $D_{t+1} = D_t\cup(\mathbf{x}_{t} , \mathbf{a}_{t}, r_{t})$
				\STATE Update $\Theta_{t+1}$, according to (\ref{eq:svgd_update3})
				\ENDFOR
			\end{algorithmic}
		\end{algorithm}
	\end{minipage}
\end{wrapfigure}

Discrete gradient flows (DGFs) approximate \eqref{eq:gf_dis1} by discretizing the continuous curve $\mu_t$ into a piece-wise linear curve, leading to an iterative optimization problem to solve the intermediate points denoted as $\{\mu_k^{h}\}_k$, where $k$ denotes the discrete points, and $h$ is refered to as the stepsize parameter. The iterative optimization problem is also known as Jordan-Kinderleher-Otto (JKO) scheme \citep{jordan1998variational}, where for iteration $k$, $\mu_{k+1}^{(h)}$ is obtained by solving the following optimization problem:
\vspace{-2mm}
{\small
\begin{align}\label{eq:ito_discrete}
\mu_{k+1}^{(h)} = \arg\min_{\mu}\mathop{{\rm KL}}\left(\mu\|p_{\bm{\theta}}\right) + \frac{W_2^2(\mu, \mu_k^{(h)})}{2h}~.
\end{align}
}
\!\!Following methods such as those in \citep{chen2018unified}, we  proposed to use particle approximation to approximate $\mu$ with $M$ particles $\{{\bm{\theta}}^{i}\}_{i=1}^M$ as
$\mu^{(h)} \approx \frac{1}{M}\sum_{i=1}^M\delta_{{\bm{\theta}}^{i}}$,
where $\delta_{{\bm{\theta}}_k}$ is a delta function with a spike at ${\bm{\theta}}_k$. Consequently, the evolution of distributions described by \eqref{eq:gf_dis1} can be approximated with gradient ascent on particles. Specifically, \eqref{eq:ito_discrete} can be decomposed as
$F_1 \triangleq -\mathbb{E}_{\mu}[\log p({\bm{\theta}}|\mathcal{D})] + \lambda_1\mathbb{E}_{\mu}[\log \mu],
F_2 \triangleq \lambda_2\mathbb{E}_{\mu}[\log \mu] + \frac{1}{2h}W_2^2(\mu, \mu_k^{(h)})$.
According to \cite{liu2016stein}, the gradient of the first term can be easily approximated as, $
{\small {\partial{F_1}}/{\partial{{\bm{\theta}}^{i}_k}} =  \sum_{j=1}^M \left[ -\kappa({{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{j}, {{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i}) \nabla_{{\bm{\theta}}_{k}^{j}} U( {{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i}) + \nabla_{{{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{j}} \kappa({{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{j}, {{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i})\right]}
$, where $\kappa$ is the kernel function, which typically is the RBF kernel defined as $\kappa({\bm{\theta}}, {\bm{\theta}}') = \exp(-\|{\bm{\theta}} - {\bm{\theta}}'\|^2_2/h)$.
For the second term $F_2$, we can solve the entropy-regularized Wasserstein distance
by introducing Lagrangian multipliers as:
$\label{eq:gradf2}
{\partial{F_2}}/{\partial{{\bm{\theta}}^{i}_k}}\approx -\frac{\sum_ju_iv_jc_{ij}e^{-\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda_2}}}{\partial {\bm{\theta}}^{i}_k}
= \sum_j 2u_iv_j\left(\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda_2} - 1\right)
\exp^{  -\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda_2}  }({\bm{\theta}}^i_k-{\bm{\theta}}^j_{k-1})$.
where $c_{ij} \triangleq \|{\bm{\theta}}^i - {\bm{\theta}}^j\|_2^2$. Theoretically, we need to adaptively update Lagrangian multipliers $\{u_i, v_j\}$ as well to ensure the constraints in \eqref{eq:gradf2}. In practice, however, we use a fixed scaling factor $\gamma$ to approximate $u_iv_j$ for the sake of simplicity. The entropy-regularized Wasserstein term $F_2$ works as a complex force between particles in two ways: $\RN{1})$ When $\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda} > 1$, ${\bm{\theta}}_k^{i}$ is pulled close to previous particles $\{{\bm{\theta}}_{k-1}^{j}\}$, with force proportional to $(\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda} - 1)e^{-c_{ij}/\lambda}$; $\RN{2})$ when ${\bm{\theta}}^{i}$ is close enough to a previous particle ${\bm{\theta}}_k^{j}$, {\it i.e.}, $\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda} < 1$, ${\bm{\theta}}_k^{i}$ is pushed away, preventing it from collapsing to ${\bm{\theta}}_k^{j}$.
Formally, in the $k$-th iteration, the particles are updated with:
\vspace{-2mm}
{\small
	\begin{align} \label{eq:svgd_update3}
	{{\bm{\theta}}}_{k+1}^{i} = {{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i} + \dfrac{h}{M}\sum_{j=1}^M \left[ -\kappa({{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{j}, {{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i}) \nabla_{{{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i}} U( {{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i}) + \nabla_{{{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{j}} \kappa({{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{j}, {{\bm{\theta}}}_{k}^{i}) +
	\left(\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda_2} - 1\right) \exp^{  -\frac{c_{ij}}{\lambda_2}  }({\bm{\theta}}^i_k-{\bm{\theta}}^j_{k-1})\right]
	\end{align}
	\vspace{-4mm}
}

By applying the methods above to solve the WGF for Thompson sampling, we arrive at the Particle-Interactive Thompson Sampling ($\pi$-TS) framework. The pseudocode of $\pi$-TS is described in Algorithm \ref{algo:algo2}. In $\pi$-TS, the initial particles are drawn from the model prior $p_0({\bm{\theta}})$, which are maintained updated iteratively via discrete gradient flow to approximate the posterior distributions. Different from vanilla Thompson sampling, one approximate posterior sample is randomly selected from the particle set $\Theta_{t-1}$ in each iteration of $\pi$-TS to make decisions at time t.

\vspace{-3mm}
\section{Experiments}
\vspace{-2mm}
We conduct experiments to verify the performance of our proposed $\pi$-TS framework in both static scenarios and contextual-bandit problems. Our implementation is in TensorFlow and will be released upon publication. All computations were run on a single Tesla P100 GPU and all results are averaged over 50 realizations.
\vspace{-3mm}
\subsection{Linear and Sparse Linear Contextual Bandits}
\vspace{-2mm}
\label{sec:exp_linearcase}
We consider a contextual bandit scenario where uncertainty estimation is driven by sequential decision making. This is more challenging because in this case the observations $\mathcal{D}$ are no longer i.i.d., leading to larger accumulative error as time goes on.
We test the proposed method in the linear setting~\citep{riquelme2018deep}.
We can see from the figure that the proposed method, $\pi$-TS-DGF, performs almost as well as Lin-TS, the exact model; whereas other methods such as Neural-Linear and VI-TS receive much larger regrets. The gap is mostly caused by the approximation error between the exact posterior and approximate posterior. Especially, VI-TS shows a higher regret variance.
\vspace{-3mm}
\subsection{Deep Contextual Bandits}
\vspace{-2mm}
\label{sec:exp_deep}
Following the settings of \citep{riquelme2018deep}, we evaluate the algorithms on a range of bandit problems created from real-world data: Statlog, Covertype, Adult, Census, Financial, and Mushroom datasets. We normalize the cumulative regrets relative to that of the Uniform action selection, and plot the box-plot of the final normalized regrets in Figure \ref{fig:nregret}. In Figure \ref{fig:deep} are shown the mean (dark curves) and standard derivation (light areas) of regrets, along with number of pulls over 50 realizations.

To conclude, $\pi$-TS outperforms other methods; the performance of Lin-TS is not as good due to its poor representation.
With more data observed, it becomes increasingly difficult to approximate the exact posterior with the Lin-TS. With feature extracted by a neural network, the Neural Linear improves the performance and generally outperforms Lin-TS. Nevertheless, there are some cases where valid features cannot be well extracted by neural networks, leading to poor performance of Neural Linear. Furthermore, VI-TS consistently performs poorly with very high variances. The main cause might be that the underestimated uncertainty would lead to poor exploration. Our proposed $\pi$-TS outperforms other methods, since it can provide better uncertainty estimation than VI-TS, and endows more representation power than Lin-TS. Importantly, the performance of $\pi$-TS for relatively large datasets is much better than that of other methods.

\begin{figure*}[ht]\centering
	\vspace{-3mm}
	\includegraphics[width=1.0\linewidth]{./Figures/icp_plot_all}
	\vspace{-6mm}
	\caption{Normalized Cumulative Regret on all settings.}
	\label{fig:nregret}
	\vspace{-4mm}
\end{figure*}
\vspace{-2mm}
\section{Conclusion}
\vspace{-2mm}
In this paper, we proposed a scalable Thompson sampling framework $\pi$-TS for posterior application in Thompson sampling. We approximate the posterior distribution without an explicit-form variational distribution assumption, which leverages more powerful uncertainty estimation ability. Importantly, our methods can be applied on large-scale problems with complex models, such as neural networks. Specifically, $\pi$-TS approximates a distribution by defining gradient flows on the space of probability measures, and uses particles for approximation. Extensive experiments are conducted, demonstrating the effectiveness and efficiency of our proposed $\pi$-TS framework. Interesting future work includes designing more practically efficient variants of $\pi$-TS, and developing theory to study general regret bounds of the algorithms, as was done in \citep{lu2017ensemble,zhang2018stochastic}.
\newpage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Put simply this process involves the inhalation of oxygen and exhalation of carbon dioxide. Now if you were to imagine oxygen you would picture two "O's" floating around in space. During the process of respiration these two oxygen molecules are separated and therefore form 'free radicals' or 'reactive oxygen species'. These reactive oxygen species are infact important in the body when produced as normal by products of metabolism and have many roles such as cell signaling and homeostasis (1).
In saying that, it is no secret that reactive oxygen species when produced in excess can do more harm than good. Things that can cause an increase of reactive oxygen species in the blood include stress, high fat- high carbohydrate diets, highly refined carbohydrate diets and cigarette smoking, just to name a few. You can see how all of these factors combined can alter the number of free radicals in the body so that they go from benefiting our health and wellbeing to causing a lot of harm (2). Oxygen molecules are at their happiest when they are paired. Therefore when they are split they will do anything in their power to pair up again. Imagine them as a 'bitter ex'- having been split up from their partner and now seeking revenge on the body and potentially damaging tissues. This damage is known as oxidative stress and can contribute to health issues such as heart disease and cancer. (3).
So what can we do about all of these 'bitter exes' pulsing through our veins? One of the major ways we can reduce the excess of free radicals in the blood and therefore oxidative stress is through the consumption of antioxidants. Antioxidants can be imagined as an 'A' paired with an 'O', which means they have an oxygen molecule that they can donate to the single bitter guy. Antioxidant rich sources are your coloured plant foods. Think greens, reds, oranges, purples and yellows, eating a diet rich in plant foods and eating an array of different coloured vegetables is your best protection against oxidative damage! It is incredibly important to eat a diet based on whole, unprocessed, natural foods and this is one of the reasons why it is infact so important. In particular, a crucial food item to incorporate into your diet daily is berries as they pack a powerful antioxidant punch (4).
Others ways you can limit oxidative damage in the body is by reducing or better yet, eliminating highly refined carbohydrates from your diet and also upping your intake of organic foods. Organic foods have higher levels of secondary nutrients that are crucial for providing antioxidant activity in the body (4).
To sum this all up in one sentence, decrease the quantity of pollutants you are exposed to and increase the plant content in your diet and the number of damaging bitter exes in your life will be greatly decreased!!
1. Balz, F. (1997). Reactive Oxygen Species and Antioxidant Vitamins. Oregon: Linus Pauling Institute.
3. Brieger, K., Schiavone, S., Francis, J. (2012). Reactive oxygen species: from health to disease. Swiss Medical Weekly, 132 (12) 14-21.
4. Devasagayam, T., Tilak J., Boloor K., Sane Ketaki S., Ghaskad, S., Lele, R. (2004). Free Radicals and Antioxidants in Human Health: Current Status and Future Prospects. Journal of Association of Physicians of India, 138 (52): 296-302.


Parent FAQ Series: "I have the option to apply this year for grade 5, or next year for grade 6. What is the benefit of applying for grade 5?" We've had many parents ask this question when they attend our admissions events, and we are excited to explore the answer in depth!
The transitional years in middle school, set between foundational learning in elementary school and subject mastery in high school, can sometimes be seen as the lost years of education. However, these are the years where independence truly develops and where students can prepare for future academic settings.
At BASIS Independent Brooklyn, our Middle School Program begins in grade 5. There are distinct advantages to transitioning your child directly into grade 5 versus waiting until a later grade, and those students who join us earlier often see tremendous success in our middle and high school programs. Because the intermediate years of middle school are critical, beginning as soon as possible is essential for a comfortable and easy transition.
1) Easier program assimilation. Beginning in grade 5 allows your child to adjust to rotating classes and utilizing lockers, as well as using Communication Journals (CJ). This grade is an entry grade at our campus, and all of our students are entering our community new at the same point. There are great opportunities to build connections with new classmates and teachers.
2) Exposure to curricular content. The BASIS Independent Middle School Program provides a liberal arts and sciences program with a STEM offering. Our program is specifically designed to lay the exciting foundation of deeper learning and connections. Students are exposed to a new curriculum and have the flexibility to build organization skills as well work and study habits. 5th grade at BASIS Independent provides a connection to an elementary environment with exposure to middle school content taught by subject expert teachers for each discipline. Student also focus on science more than in past years with physicial geography in addition to a more comprehensive daily science class covering the fundmentals of biology, chemistry, and physics.
3) Exposure to Subject Expert Teachers. Our educators are deeply invested in every child's success. The earlier students have the chance to lay down the groundwork for critical thought and application with a teacher who has deep content knowledge, the better. They will have more chance to build a trusting and supportive relationship with your child.
4) Additional year of Saxon Math. Starting in grade 5 allows students to transition even more seamlessly into Pre-Algebra or Algebra 1 in grade 6. Grade 5 is also where we begin to differentiate math and allow students to take classes with older students if ready for that challenge.
5) Early introduction to Latin. Students in grade 5 take Latin, which is required in grade 6. An extra year enables general language acquisition and helps students to have a more thorough understanding of the subject matter by the next year. Latin is a classical language and helps students in grades 5 and 5 with the sciences and developing critical thought.
Our exceptional teaching staff and school administration will ensure that any transition your child makes into our curriculum, be it grade 5 or grade 6, is as smooth as possible! We offer extensive support for both parents and students according to their individual needs.
BASIS Independent Brooklyn is a preschool –12 private school in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The deadline to submit an application for fall 2018 is January 24, 2018. To learn more about Admissions or to apply, please click here. Please reach out to Admissions via e-mail with any questions.


text:
US Attorney General finds "no voter fraud that could overturn election"
"To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election"
By Charlotte Krol
William Barr. CREDIT: Jeff Roberson - Pool/Getty Images
The US Attorney General has confirmed he's found no evidence of fraud so far in the 2020 US presidential election.
William Barr said his justice department has found no proof to support president Donald Trump's claims of fraud. "To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election," Barr said [via BBC News].
Barr is considered to be close ally of the president, which makes his admission even more significant.
READ MORE: What a Joe Biden victory at the US election means for YOU
President-elect Joe Biden defeated the incumbent president by 306 to 232 votes in the US electoral college. In the popular vote, Biden won at least 6.2 million more votes than Trump.
But Trump has not yet conceded defeat. His administration has continued to file multiple lawsuits alleging fraud since the results began trickling in during the week of November 3.
President Donald Trump speaks in the Diplomatic Room of the White House on Thanksgiving on November 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. CREDIT: Erin Schaff – Pool/Getty Images
A Department of Justice (DOJ) spokesperson added that the department had not concluded its investigation and would continue to "receive and vigorously pursue all specific and credible allegations of fraud as expeditiously as possible".
In October, Barr issued an order to US attorneys allowing them to pursue any "substantial allegations" of voting irregularities before the 2020 presidential election was certified.
"There's a growing tendency to use the criminal justice system as sort of a default fix-all, and people don't like something they want the Department of Justice to come in and 'investigate,'" Barr told AP.
Trump's campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis said in a joint statement: "With the greatest respect to the Attorney General, his opinion appears to be without any knowledge or investigation of the substantial irregularities and evidence of systemic fraud."
The DOJ news comes days after Trump confirmed he will exit the White House in January if the electoral college makes Biden's election victory official. In a departure from his refusal to concede so far, the incumbent US president said he would "certainly" leave his position in the event of a settled win for Biden.
Meanwhile, the US election 2020 infiltrated much of pop culture in recent months. Earlier this week, YouTuber Lars von Retriever produced a new mash-up video that sees Joe Biden take lead vocals for Metallica's 1997 single 'King Nothing'. And NME columnist Mark Beaumont did a deep-dive into the meanings behind the politician's election campaign's song choices.

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Зображення сторінки
The Ordinance of Covenanting
За John Cunningham
tion to God into which by swearing the juror is brought. Viewed as a covenant among men, God is not properly a party to it, but a witness. But those who require the oath being possessed of power deputed to them from above, the same engagement may be also considered as a covenant made with God by him who swears. The engagement viewed in the former light, appears as affording the matter of a covenant between the juror and Him by whom he swears; but, contemplated in the latter, stands forth as one made with God, through the instrumentality of his servants. The oath is sworn to himself; but He, and those whom he hath vested with office, will demand the fulfilment of it.
When the oath usually represented as promissory is sworn, a covenant with God is thereby made. When such an oath is sworn to confirm a vow to God, made not before men, most manifestly a covenant with Him is constituted; but no less is a covenant with Him entered into when such an oath is given to men. By this species of oath is generally understood that which is used in reference to obligation to be fulfilled in the more or less distant future. It has been shown, that even the oath given to confirm an assertion, belongs to this class. Accordingly, all kinds of oaths are generally promissory. But while both species may not be implemented in some cases till the far distant future, some of an assertory nature may be performed at the time when they are sworn. Evidence has been given, that the latter kind of oaths, viewed as promissory, brings under an engagement to God. That both do so, even when taken by men, moreover farther appears. A vow is essentially a promise made to God, but to none other; and the fulfilment of the vow is required, at least in virtue of the making of it.45 But not less does God require
45 Deut. xxiii. 21, 22.
what is promised to another by oath, than what is vowed to himself. The vow binds the soul with a bond which cannot be else than the bond of a covenant with God; but that bond also which is made by swearing an oath to bind the soul being spoken of in the same manner as the bond made by the vow, cannot be another than the bond of a covenant with him. 46
God is properly a party to the covenant made in vowing to Him. When an oath is sworn at the desire of men, they are a party to the covenant that is entered into by him who swears; but God is party to a covenant that is also thereby made ; and when the oath is sworn in secret to God, He alone is a party to the covenant into which the juror enters. In all the cases God is a party to a covenant to which he who swears is the other. Again, though Christ forbade unlawful swearing, yet when he says, " Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: but I say unto you, Swear not at all," 47 he does not teach that the oath, when properly sworn, is not to be performed to God, but rather intimates, that when He is properly appealed to in swearing, he is thereby contemplated as having addressed to him a solemn promise or vow, the fulfilment of which he will demand. A severe penalty followed the non-payment of the vow,
48 and the punishment due to the nonperformance of an oath sworn, even to men, is represented as incurred by failing to fulfil a covenant obligation to God himself. The children of Reuben, and the children of Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, sware thus to their brethren of the children of Israel, " The Lord God of gods, the Lord God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know, if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the Lord, (save us not this day,)
that 46 Num. xxx. 2. 47 Mat. v. 33, 34. 48 Eccl. v. 4-6.
we have built us an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer thereon burnt-offering, or meat-offering, or if to offer peace-offerings thereon." And testifying to their conviction that a failure in the fulfilment of their promise would be a breach of an engagement to God himself, they said, " Let the Lord himself require it." 49
Accordingly, the giving of the " oath for confirmation," whether of a statement of fact or of a promise to be fulfilled in the future, is in every case a taking hold on the covenant of God. There is every possible variety in the matter of the engagements made by oath, but not one of them is disconnected from a covenant with him. As the hand given among men was in every age a pledge of friendship—the maintenance of which is so palpably a design of a covenant, and betokened" always an accession to conditions of peace; as when the hand was given on the occasion of swearing an oath, a covenant was wont to be made, 50 so when the hand, which, when lifted up in devotion, points out always reconciliation with God, in swearing is held
up towards heaven, a sign that a covenant is being made with him is thereby given.
Hence, when men, in making a league or covenant with one another, lawfully vow or swear to the Lord, they Covenant with him—and this is, moreover, corroborated by the Scripture account of some such covenants. The covenant between Jonathan and David, made by swearing unto God, is denominated a "covenant of the Lord."51 The covenant of marriage, made by vowing or swearing, to the Lord, is recognised as the covenant of God.52 A covenant between God and each of these different parties must therefore have been made. One reason of these designations of such covenants is, that they were according to God's appointment; but it would be absolutely gratuitous to deny that there is this other reason—that those who sware in each case, by swearing came under an engagement to the glorious Object of all worship to fulfil the promises made by them to each other. Though marriage be not a sacrament, yet it is universally admitted to be solemnised either by the making of vows or by swearing to God; and if this covenant, and all others that are ratified by oath, afford not the matter of covenants with God entered into by the parties, there is not afforded by the scriptural forms of transactions with God concerning things essentially religious, that are ratified by oath, the least evidence of their being covenant engagements to him. A covenant transaction among men concerning lawful things civil, if ratified by oath, has the solemnity of an exercise that carries along with it an engagement, of its own nature, to God, not less than an exercise of Covenanting concerning things civil and religious, or concerning things exclusively religious. Nor is it any valid objection to the sentiment that every covenant-not excluding those that are civilwhich is ratified by an oath, is to be fulfilled, in virtue of an engagement or vow to God made by the oath, that the designation of "a covenant of God" was applied to covenants confirmed by swearing, which were not kept, and probably had not been made in sincerity.53 The transactions with God in such cases are designated by what they professed to be, and ought to have been : and with those who dishonoured God in conducting them it became Him to deal accordingly.
49 Josh. xxii. 21-23. 50 Ezek. xvii. 18. 51 | Sam. xx. 8. 52 Prov. ii. 17.
From the foregoing statements regarding the oath, there may be deduced the two following conclusions :
First, That the civil or moral use of the oath, in the intercourse of society depends wholly upon its
53 Ezek. xvii. 16–19.
spiritual character. The oath of an atheist or unbeliever is not necessarily of any value. The indi vidual who cherishes no sense of responsibility to God for his actions will not always, if at any time, scruple to swear falsely. When a witness is not impressed with the fear of God, his oath is of no more value than his simple affirmation : both may be true, but no security is afforded by his character that both are not wrong. In civil and moral life, the presumption that a witness is competent is based at least upon the profession which he makes of a regard to Divine truth : and though many, even while they tell the truth, swear without reverential feelings to Him whose dread name they use, their evidence or engagement of whatever kind is estimated as trust-worthy, only because it is supposed to be accompanied with the oath religiously employed.
Second, That the oath is distinct from the vow. The vow is a solemn promise to God. He is properly a party to the covenant entered into in making it; and it may be made either on occasions of entering into engagements with men, or in other circumstances. The oath is an appeal to God; it may be made on occasions of covenanting, whether he be properly the party or not, and is an invocation of him, that he may witness and judge concerning a transaction entered into either with himself, or with himself and also with others. The row is essentially a promise, but is made to God, who must be viewed necessarily as a witness to a transaction with himself; and, consequently, though the name of God may not be used in making it, as it is employed in the act of swearing an oath, yet, when it is made, the exercise of swearing is implied ; or, every vow to God implies the giving of an oath, or the act of swearing by his name. The swearing of an oath always brings under obligation to God, and therefore always includes the making
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Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church has been a witness to the love of Jesus Christ in the community for the past 160 years. Our life together began in a log cabin in 1837 moving to a wooden building in 1850 and to a brick sanctuary dedicated as the Morrow Chapel in 1871. In 1926 our education building was added. Additional changes to the structure were made in 1960 and in the 1970's as well.


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Democrats and Republicans disagree about Covid-19 facts, in a divide that goes beyond usual political partisanship
Our research found that Democrats and Republicans held genuine but different beliefs, not just about values or policies, but about basic facts.
By Andrea Robbett and Peter Hans Matthews Aug. 31, 2020, 8:39 a.m.
Politics can divide even friends and families. When this happens, we like to tell ourselves that the explanation lies in honest differences in values and preferences. From this standpoint, friends from different political parties won't really disagree, for example, about the number of workers displaced in the pandemic, but they might differ on who should bear the costs. It's another matter, however, if political conflict results from differences in information or attachments to alternative realities.
It's possible to disagree — but still engage — with friends or fellow citizens who evaluate the benefits of test and tracing policies for COVID-19 differently, but how do we communicate with someone who — armed with the same public information — concludes that there is no pandemic?
We are behavioral economists who use controlled experiments in human decision-making to study political behavior. One of our current research programs finds that Americans who identify with a political party — that is, partisans — don't always vote for what they believe to be correct. Rather, assuming their vote won't matter much, they use it to express their partisan affiliation, even when their vote is anonymous.
Covid-19 may be the exception to this rule.
Political expression before Covid-19
In our 2018 paper, "Partisan bias and expressive voting," we found that differences arise along party lines even when people vote on the answers to factual questions about politics. Rather than reflecting sincere differences in belief, we found these responses were largely "expressive," or a way of affirming political identity.
We conducted an online experiment in which we asked Democrats and Republicans a series of multiple choice questions about climate change, immigration, and police shootings, among other topics.
Each question had an objectively correct answer. For example, participants were not invited to evaluate the importance of climate change, about which honest differences exist. Rather, they were asked how much mean global temperature had changed. By asking respondents to identify verifiable facts, we left no role for partisan interpretation. Instead, we focused on their willingness to acknowledge facts that may conflict with their party's preferred views.
Participants answered multiple choice questions as "individuals" or as members of small groups of "voters." Individuals received a cash bonus when their own answers were right. Voters got the bonus when a majority of their group was correct.
We speculated that someone affiliated with climate skeptical politicians or parties might choose one answer to the question about temperature change as a voter, but another, less partisan, answer as an individual. The reason is that voters who anticipate that their own response is unlikely to be decisive in determining the group's answer may prefer to express opinions that are more favorable to their own party, while individuals know that their own answer will definitely determine whether they get the bonus.
We found that, despite the financial rewards for correct responses, a partisan gap did indeed emerge among voters. On most of the questions we asked, there were substantial differences between the choices of Democrats and Republicans, with voters tending to give answers more favorable to their own party's position.
If these gaps were purely due to differences in beliefs, then we would expect to see similar differences when people answered these questions as individuals. Instead, we found that people answering as individuals were much less partisan than people voting as part of a group.
Additionally, individuals were far more likely than voters to correctly answer questions that challenged their party's preferred views. This suggests that the partisan differences were primarily due to expression, or the desire to affirm party affiliation, rather than sincere differences in belief. On balance, we found that Republicans were more expressive than Democrats.
Cheering for your team
Our findings provide fresh perspective on a longstanding theory of how and why people vote. Citizens who recognize that their vote is rarely decisive may prefer to cast their votes, not to influence the outcome of an election, but to express themselves or reaffirm their political identities. In this light, voting has been compared to cheering for a favorite sports team. In most cases, we don't actually believe we will influence the outcome by going to a game or screaming at our televisions, but we do it because it brings us joy and helps us feel connected to fellow fans.
The consequences of such expressive voting behavior can be serious. Polls indicated that the number of Leave voters who regretted their vote immediately after the learning the outcome of the June 2016 Brexit vote was similar to the margin of victory. This suggests that if voters had been less expressive, and had voted for the option they truly wanted, the course of European history might have been different.
Still, our initial research indicated that citizens shared a common set of facts about the world, and so provide some reason for optimism.
Unfortunately, our most recent research suggests that this isn't the case for the Covid-19 crisis, and that at least some partisans seem to live in alternative realities.
Covid is different
This spring, we returned to the field with questions for more than 600 survey respondents in the U.S. about the Covid-19 pandemic. We expected to find that, despite sometimes heated rhetoric, Americans understood, or at least didn't disagree about, the facts concerning estimates of the mortality rate and U.S. testing capacity.
What we found surprised us. We asked, for example, about the number of completed tests per million residents in the U.S. relative to Italy, one week after the White House announced its "historic public-private testing partnership" on April 13. At the time, Italy had conducted about 3,000 tests per million. Our participants were offered five options for how many tests had been completed in the U.S. per million residents. The correct answer, at the time, was between 100 and 2,000.
The participants who answered as part of a group were told that they would be rewarded if five or more in a random group of nine voted for the correct answer. Consistent with our previous work, voter responses varied with their political affiliation. More than 1 in 3 (34.2%) Republicans chose the answers most favorable to the Trump administration, and claimed that the U.S. performed as many or more tests than Italy. Fewer than 1 in 7 (14.2%) Democrats did. Overall, we found a large gap in the average response provided by Democrats and Republicans who voted.
The surprise was that these percentages did not change much, if at all, for individuals, who were rewarded when their own answer was correct. One in 3 Republicans (33.7%) still chose the incorrect options that were most favorable to President Trump, while the number of Democrats who did likewise fell a little, from 14.2% to 12.6%. Thus, unlike the patterns we observed for non-COVID-19-related questions, we found that little of the difference can be attributed to partisan expression.
We saw a similar pattern with our question regarding the Covid-19 mortality rate. Our research found that Democrats and Republicans held genuine but different beliefs, not just about values or policies, but about basic facts. To the extent that members of different parties evaluate differently the seriousness of COVID-19 and our government's response to it in their voting decisions, our results indicate that this assessment is due to differences in beliefs rather than partisan expression.
While it is tempting to attribute these results to the polarization of television and radio audiences and the influence of social media — that is, to characterize the choices of our participants as somehow uninformed — it's worth repeating that we did not see the same partisan gaps in 2016, when we asked questions that were no less salient to partisans.
We can only speculate as to the source of these differences. It may be that the Covid-19 threat overwhelmed our usual impulse for partisan expression, and that conflicting information in the earliest stages of the pandemic allowed separate narratives to take root. It also remains to be seen whether Democrats and Republicans will continue to live in these alternative realities, whether this division will extend to other issues, or what the consequences for the 2020 election will be. Until then, however, we may have to accept that some arguments among family and friends reflect the different worlds we now live in.
Andrea Robbett is an associate professor of economics at Middlebury. Peter Hans Matthews is the Charles A. Dana professor of economics at Middlebury. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
Photo of social distancing signs by Sheep"R"Us used under a Creative Commons license.
POSTED Aug. 31, 2020, 8:39 a.m.
SEE MORE ON Audience & Social
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Peter Hans Matthews, Andrea Robbett and. "Democrats and Republicans disagree about Covid-19 facts, in a divide that goes beyond usual political partisanship." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 31 Aug. 2020. Web. 1 Feb. 2023.
Peter Hans Matthews, A. (2020, Aug. 31). Democrats and Republicans disagree about Covid-19 facts, in a divide that goes beyond usual political partisanship. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/08/democrats-and-republicans-disagree-about-covid-19-facts-in-a-divide-that-goes-beyond-usual-political-partisanship/
Peter Hans Matthews, Andrea Robbett and. "Democrats and Republicans disagree about Covid-19 facts, in a divide that goes beyond usual political partisanship." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified August 31, 2020. Accessed February 1, 2023. https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/08/democrats-and-republicans-disagree-about-covid-19-facts-in-a-divide-that-goes-beyond-usual-political-partisanship/.
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| title = Democrats and Republicans disagree about Covid-19 facts, in a divide that goes beyond usual political partisanship
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SunEast Closes Development Capital Investment from New Energy Capital
SunEast Development LLC ("SunEast"), a leading developer of solar-generating projects, is pleased to announce the closing of a development capital raise from New Energy Capital Partners, LLC ("NEC").1
The capital funding will support the continued development of a 105 MWAC solar portfolio acquired by SunEast in June 2018, and further accelerate the company's solar development and acquisition efforts in the eastern United States.
"We were looking for an investor that shared our strategic vision for the U.S. solar markets, and we found that in NEC," said Tom Swank, President of SunEast. "We are excited for the opportunity to utilize NEC's investment to continue to expand SunEast's efforts to develop clean, affordable, renewable energy projects."
"SunEast's strong track record of developing solar projects at scale aligns well with NEC's strategy of investing in small and mid-sized clean energy infrastructure in the U.S.," said Ian Marcus, Principal of NEC. "We are pleased to partner with SunEast on the next phase of its growth."
Whitehall & Company LLC served as financial advisor to SunEast on the transaction. Foley & Lardner LLP and Rath, Young and Pignatelli served as legal advisors to SunEast and NEC, respectively. Download Full Press Release
1 New Energy Capital Partners, LLC ("NEC") was acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc. on November 1, 2021. At that time, Victory Capital Management Inc. assumed the investment advisory activities of NEC.
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ICC Newsletter – March 26, 2018
By ICC-TomMarch 25, 2018No Comments
All parents, regardless of address or income, deserve the ability to make choices in education that reflect their basic convictions and aspirations for their child. A new bill to provide for Education Savings Grants, Senate Study Bill 3206, passed out of a subcommittee last week. Some parents could use that money to help pay for nonpublic school tuition. The bill is now eligible for consideration by the full Senate Appropriations Committee.
Thanks to those of you who have sent a message in support to your Iowa Senator. If you haven't been able to send a message yet, there's still time to do so at https://www.votervoice.net/ICC/campaigns/57977/respond.
SSB 3206, titled the "Iowa Student Opportunity Act," would offer some parents a state-funded Educational Savings Grant. For the school year starting July 1, 2019, Education Savings Grants (ESGs) would be available for kindergartners in an accredited nonpublic school, students transferring from a public school, and those who received an ESG in the previous year.
Obviously, we would like to see a bill that would help current Catholic school parents, but this legislation would expand choice to many more Iowa families and is a solid foundation on which it can grow to additional families.
The "Education Celebration" at the State Capitol in support of nonpublic schools is quickly approaching. You can join us on Wednesday, April 4 to show support for parental choice in education and school choice initiatives like the School Tuition Organizations and Education Savings Accounts. You can visit your legislators between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and attend the school choice rally at noon in the first floor rotunda. Registration and other details are available HERE.
The Iowa House conducted a public hearing last week for Senate File 359. It would stop trafficking in fetal body parts which remain following an elective abortion. There will be an amendment to the bill which would prohibit abortions after a baby's heartbeat can be detected. Click here for more information and to let legislators know what you think about the bill.
Immigrants and supporters held a rally at the Capitol last week in opposition to Senate File 481, the so-called "anti-sanctuary cities" bill. Father Michael Amadeo of Des Moines spoke in opposition to the bill on behalf of Bishop Richard Pates, our ICC board chair. Click here to send a message in opposition to the bill: https://www.votervoice.net/ICC/campaigns/57593/respond.
In other news, House Joint Resolution 2009 passed both the House and Senate last week. This bill would add language from the federal Second Amendment guaranteeing gun rights to the state Constitution with an additional sentence, "Any and all restrictions of this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny." This privileges gun rights over other rights.
The ICC recommended opposition because it would have the effect of making future regulation of firearms more difficult and could put current state law regarding background checks and permitting at risk. HJR 2009 must pass both chambers again next year or in 2020. If so, it would be on the ballot for a vote of the people of Iowa in the fall of 2020.
House File 2456 was unanimously passed by the Senate last week and is headed to the governor. The bill will increase the availability of government-funded mental health services in Iowa. A key provision of the bill defines the following as core services to be funded, primarily by Medicaid:
Twenty-two assertive community treatment teams
Six access centers
Intensive residential service homes that provide services to up to one hundred twenty persons.
U.S. BISHOPS SUPPORT FREE SPEECH, CONSCIENCE RIGHTS
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, praised the work of pro-life pregnancy centers last week on the occasion of oral arguments being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in NIFLA v. Becerra.
"Pro-life pregnancy care centers embody everything that is right and good in our nation: generosity, compassion and love that is offered to support both mother and child. But rather than applauding and encouraging the selfless and life-affirming work of these centers, some governments want to force them to provide free advertising for the violent act of abortion in direct violation of their pro-life convictions and the First Amendment … We pray that the Court will do the right thing and uphold our fundamental right to free speech when it decides this case," the Cardinal said.
Cardinal Dolan and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, chair of the USCCB's Committee for Religious Liberty, also reacted with deep disappointment to the news that a very modest but critical piece of legislation – the Conscience Protection Act – was not included in the 2018 appropriations bill just released by Congress.
The bishops said: "The CPA is an extraordinarily modest bill that proposes almost no change to existing conscience protection laws on abortion – laws that receive wide public and bi-partisan support. The CPA simply proposes to provide victims of discrimination with the ability to defend their rights in court to help ensure that no one is forced to participate in abortion. Those inside and outside of Congress who worked to defeat the CPA have placed themselves squarely into the category of extremists who insist that all Americans must be forced to participate in the violent act of abortion. We call on Congress not to give up until this critical legislation is enacted."
Thanks to those of you who took time to send a message in support of the Conscience Protection Act.
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Why dating apps don t work
Hand her a puppy. If you are one of millions of people hoping to swipe, click or type your way to meeting Mr. And NOT swiping right, sending my intentions out into a cold, vast, indifferent cyber universe. Maybe they were bored, or joined on a dare, were just curious, or met someone and have since forgotten about the app and no longer check responses. Leah Groth is a writer and editor currently based in Philadelphia. Ask her a question. The participants met in a series of four-minute speed dates and afterward rated their level of interest and whether they were sexually attracted to their matches.
Dating Apps Don't Work and It's Not Your Fault How To Adult
Why Online Dating Doesn't Work For Most Guys
Swiping sucks and even the dating industry knows it
Why Dating Apps Just Don't Work And What We Can Do About It james writes
If you want a relationship, but you aren't on dating apps (or you are and you hate them), let me ask you a question: Why? Would you rather. Tired of striking out on dating sites & apps?
We'll tell you why online dating doesn 't work for most guys, and how to actually meet attractive women online!. The trouble with the advent of dating apps is that people just don't meet in person It's a lot of effort and to be honest, quite a bit of hard work.
Women that enjoy late night philosophical conversations over a cocktail?
Maybe they were bored, or joined on a dare, were just curious, or met someone and have since forgotten about the app and no longer check responses.
Video: Why dating apps don t work Why Online Dating Sucks For Men [Video] (LUMA –Luxury Matchmaking Service)
Right, you might want to consider trying some other method that actually works. If the app on my phone delivered profiles of beautiful, funny women who like dogs and Star Wars and nachos? And out of the hundreds of women that I liked, some would respond.
PROFESSIONAL GAMING TOURNAMENT The participants met in a series of four-minute speed dates and afterward rated their level of interest and whether they were sexually attracted to their matches.
That way you can find out if there are legitimate sparks without wasting too much of your cellular data. Right, you might want to consider trying some other method that actually works.
What if you could skip to the part where you click with someone? According to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, matching with someone on paper — or with the help of apps or dating websites like Tinder, Match and eHarmony — does not translate to a love connection in real life.
Using an algorithm, researchers tested whether it was possible to predict which two people would be a match before they met based on the answers given on a questionnaire. The one thing they all have in common is that none of them work for me.
"When I get a match, I tend to message the guy but often they don't reply or if they So, if swiping's not working, why not just delete the apps?.
Here are four reasons to delete your dating apps immediately. A lot of people on Tinder will say they're there because they "don't have time extra headspace to work through why you keep dating women who are just like.
Zero women are responding to me on Hinge or Bumble. For those of you that don 't know, Hinge and Bumble are the allegedly less creepy dating apps. I've used.
Do you think you can you predict whether two people will be a match?
Leah Groth is a writer and editor currently based in Philadelphia. Buy her a flower. What if you could skip to the part where you click with someone?
Or maybe some of them would ruin things with tales of a previously undisclosed cat or by chewing with her mouth open. And a handful of them would meet me and give me the opportunity to ruin my chances with them in person.
Sarah Fader made me write this.
Why dating apps don t work According to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, matching with someone on paper — or with the help of apps or dating websites like Tinder, Match and eHarmony — does not translate to a love connection in real life.
Tell her a story.
Use the 3 second rule, and if you see a woman out and about that you fancy, do something! Do you think you can you predict whether two people will be a match? But I believe that there are two possible reasons why these apps suck so incredibly bad for me:
Relationship experts agree that dating apps can be useful — but not (she used to work at Tinder) previously told me that you shouldn't be spending hours Duran isn't against dating apps per se — but she doesn't think.
The contested proposition was whether "dating apps have killed turmoil for certain groups of young people who don't feel they need quite so. Dating Apps Don't Work and It's Not Your Fault. By Leah Groth ; Updated April 06, A new study maintains that a computer can't determine whether or not.
Right, you might want to consider trying some other method that actually works. A report published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest came to the same conclusion: If you are one of millions of people hoping to swipe, click or type your way to meeting Mr.
What if you could skip to the part where you click with someone? What has been your experience with online dating? Because no one is out there to notice.
According to a new study published in the journal Psychological Science, matching with someone on paper — or with the help of apps or dating websites like Tinder, Match and eHarmony — does not translate to a love connection in real life.
40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN SPEED DATE SCENE Hell yeah it would!
And you have 3 seconds to do it in. And this is where it got really interesting. The participants met in a series of four-minute speed dates and afterward rated their level of interest and whether they were sexually attracted to their matches. But I believe that there are two possible reasons why these apps suck so incredibly bad for me:
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Екдизис () — линяння, скидання кутикули у багатьох безхребетних клади Ecdysozoa. Оскільки кутикула цих тварин зазвичай утворює здебільшого нееластичний екзоскелет, вона скидається під час росту й утворюється новий, більший покрив. Залишки старого, порожнього екзоскелета називаються екзувіями.

Після линяння членистоногих називають тенеральними, голими; вони «свіжі», бліді та м'якотілі. Впродовж однієї-двох годин кутикула твердне і темніє завдяки процесу дублення, аналогічного виробництву шкіри. Під час цієї короткої фази тварина розширюється, оскільки ріст в іншому випадку стримується жорсткістю екзоскелета. Ріст кінцівок та інших частин, які зазвичай покриті твердим екзоскелетом, досягається перенесенням рідин тіла з м'яких частин до затвердіння нової шкіри. Деякі членистоногі, особливо великі комахи з трахейним диханням, розширюють свій новий екзоскелет, ковтаючи або іншим способом набираючи повітря. Дозрівання структури та забарвлення нового екзоскелета може зайняти дні чи тижні у довгоживучих комах; це може ускладнити ідентифікацію особини, якщо вона нещодавно пережила екдизис.

Екдизис дозволяє регенерувати або істотно переформувати пошкоджені тканини та відсутні кінцівки. Повна регенерація може потребувати серії линянь, регенерат стає трохи більшим з кожним линянням, доки він не стане нормального або майже нормального розміру.

Посилання

Біологія розвитку тварин
Етологія
Линяючі

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Fisher Price Woodsy Friends Bouncer is your little one's ticket to a world of forest-themed play. Deep seat with cosy head hugger ensures that your baby is in the lap of luxury while they stimulate their imagination with colour and sound.
… The adorable design of this bouncer, which includes a colourful toy bar music that'll transfix and entertain your little one.
No need to go down to the woods with your little one, as they'll feel like they're already there with the Fisher Price Woodsy Friends Bouncer. Playful colours and design will spark your baby's imagination and the pull-down musical owl brings a delightfully interactive element to your little one's play time.
The Fisher Price Woodsy Friends Bouncer features a kickstand that's hidden out of your baby's reach and allows you to control the motion of the rocker. With an adjustable backrest and cosy head hugger, your little one can play in comfort or sit back and relax to their heart's content.
Good value for money bouncer, easy to put together and looks nice. The toy bar is handy as you can remove and put it back it easily.
Great bouncer, my 2months old daughter loves the owl :) . Vibrations don't do much to her, but she likes to be in the bouncer and it's a good way to have her close to me or secure without being in her cot. The music is not that great though, they could have done better on that point.
+ A great buy. Great quality. All the new borns in our family have used this bouncer.... its good for settling your little one down and carrying on with your chores or resting.
Sturdy, comfortable, colourful. Baby loves it and falls asleep comfortably in it. When awake he can look around and be stimulated. Love it.
My mam bought this as a gift for my newborn son. It's easily the best gift we received. The bouncer is really sturdy and secure. My little boy is 8 weeks now and we haven't gone a day without it. The calming vibrations are brilliant for soothing him to sleep. And the bouncer is very comfortable to sit him in without having to put him in his moses basket. The battery lasts for ages for the vibrations, I just changed it last week. Loved this so much that I've bought a second one for my mams house. Although we don't use the toys or music that much. Maybe just for 5 or 10 mins a day as he's still really young, but they're a nice addition to the bouncer.
+ Goes together easily - nice and comfy.
- Could have more tunes on there and not sure it will still be big enough up to six months.
+ Very comfy and easy to assemble. Looks great.
- Only two short tunes.
Toys hard to reach for small babies- no ability to adjust the overhang.
+ My little boy has reflux and struggles to spend any amount of time napping in the day but he is able to in this!
It's a sweet design, has a gentle bounce and cocoons him well so, all-round, we're very happy with it.
+ Bright, fun design. 2 month old baby comfortable & happy to sit for up to 45 minutes. He loves the owl!
- Would like music/noises to last longer.
Although happy with chair it is expensive. Bought with vouchers otherwise would have chosen cheaper option.
+ We like the hanging owl and toadstool etc and the fact it vibrates as well as bounces!
+ This chair has been extremely useful and popular with our little son. We got it when he was 6 weeks old and he has been happily bouncing in it for the last 6 weeks. We even took it on our road trip holiday to Scotland and it was a great substitute for a high chair in every restaurant and pub! It has been designed for little babies to create their own bounce by kicking rather than rocking, so it works really well.
- It would be nice for it to be a bit more portable - it has a screw together system which is a nightmare to assemble and then strike when travelling. We ended up squeezing it into the car fully assembled with the mobile arm removed.
+ Well padded and very colourful. Love the toys.
+ My boy loves to kick when he's sitting and he also loves vibration as it send him to sleep so this chair was perfect for him. I got it in the sale so was better value for money otherwise it would have been too expensive. He's comfy enough in it to fall to sleep but also to amuse him self with the hanging toys. His face lit up with a smile when he saw the owl. He loves the music which he can't set off himself yet as he's only 11 weeks old. I like that it will last a good while too. Brilliant product and so glad I bought it for him.
- Just that out of the sale, it would have been too expensive.
- The toys that hang from it are pretty much pointless. And a pain if it's on for getting baby in and out.
- Takes unusual size of battery. Music very short.
+ This is fantastic, my lil boy loves it as soon as he hears the music and sees the owl he will stop crying.
He loves to sit and bounce in it too.
- You can't have a repeat button for the music or let it play a few more times before it stops.
+ A good colourful, light yet sturdy product which is easy to assemble.
- Toy bar looks quite "tacky"
+ Very easy to assemble.
Great thick material and headrest for comfort.
Very secure on the floor for when little one gets excited l.
- Takes batteries that are not included.
+ Soothing vibrations are good to keep baby calm. Rubber grips on the bottom keep the seat in place.
- the music is not continuous, you have to keep pulling the mushroom to play the music.
+ Our little boy loves this bouncer and always falls asleep when we place him in it. We switch off the vibrate function when he has fallen asleep.
+ The gentle vibration is a life saver.
- The song should last a little longer.
- may grow out of it quickly a little small.
+ My 4 week old is able to sit comfortably in it, but has lot and lots of growing room. The vibrations send my daughter to sleep, and she's already trying to reach the owl.
- The "branch" was hard to attach.
+ Easy to put together, easy to wash, baby loves the vibrations and the tunes from the owl.
- Tad tricky to put together but that could be because we were trying to do it ok Christmas Day!!
+ Snug , cozy, very sturdy , I love how compact it is and doesn't take up too much space!
+ Baby soothed by vibration.
- Batteries should be included.
- Could easily get broken by an older sibling if they leaned on it too hard.
+ Our baby stays very settled in this, especially when the vibrations are on.
- I assumed the music/noise function would be continuous. A short noise/tune comes on every time you pull down on the owl.
An easier way of changing the battery would be useful (need a screwdriver each time) although I assume this is for safety.
+ Lots of comfortable padding, vibration feature works really well!
+ Great quality, well padded. Our little girl loves it!
- 9kg is quite light - would be good if lasted longer. Also option for noises/music to last longer or be easier for a baby in the less than 9kg age range to self-operate.
+ Batteries last many hours. Bright & colourful.
+ This bouncer supports baby really well. The additional head support is lovely and soft and my 3 month old looks very comfortable in it. It is also the only place he will settle for his day time naps and loves the gentle vibration. It is very well made compared to other bouncers and seems very sturdy. I don't know what I would do without this now!
- As mentioned in other reviews, the musical owl only plays tunes for 10 seconds at a time and the toy bar is impractical to use when rocking the chair.
I think it should come with batteries for the price, and the battery is not a common one so you must make sure you buy that at the same time or the vibration can't be used.
+ our grandson looks so comfortable.
- could have more songs.
- Music only plays for a few seconds when activated.
+ Comfortable and sturdy and son is happy to sit in it for a while and the vibration puts him to sleep.
+ This has been an absolute life saviour for us! Our little girl stopped wanting to be held/cuddled, and she'd cry until we put her in the chair. The bouncing would send her to sleep, and meant my husband & I could even eat dinner together! We originally bought a fancy electric version, but it wasn't as good. Because you control the bounce using your foot you can alter how gently / vigorously you need to bounce depending on the state of your little one!
- It would be nice if there was a little place to rest your foot, putting it on the metal frame to bounce hurts after a while, or you have to make sure you always wear shoes! Not a big issue in the scheme of things though.
bought this after a particularly bad night with my then 4 week old daughter, on the recommendation of a friend who'd bought two for her twins. It's brilliant at soothing her to sleep, she loves the gentle vibrations. The music she can take or leave. It's great for when you have a few things to do and need to put her down but don't want to just put her in the Moses basket again. Would recommend.
+ With only having a 4 week old baby this bouncer is ideal. When he is sat in it he isnt able to flop over and hurt himself as he propped up correctly. And he loves the vibrating motion, he often falls asleep in it.
+ Looks absolutely gorgeous and seems very comfortable, baby is only two weeks old and he already enjoys looking at the toys on it.
- It was a bit tricky to put together and the Base is a little wobbly but doesn't affect use.
+ Just what I wanted, sits baby in comfortably and safely. Bright and colourful. Good quality.
- Only plays a couple of short songs, would be better if these were longer and more variety. The vibrate function is good but some models have a bounce function too which could be useful so you don't have to use your foot to move it all of the time.
- Music could do with lasting longer.
+ It's a lovely colour and the activity bar is at an ideal height for my 8 week old to touch and explore.
- The only thing I didn't like was the fact that when you pull the owl the tune doesn't last long or it could do with a music button as well as vibrate.
+ An excellent product if you want to keep your child entertained and part of the conversation but want to keep your hands free.
- I wish it had more than two songs. You will never want to hear "A hunting we will go" ever again.
+ Haven't used the product yet, but can't wait to!
+ My 7 week old loves this chair. Sits back so baby looks very comfortable, not up right like some bouncy chair's you see. Quite pricey but worth the money.
+ Baby loves it. So what more can I say.
+ Light weight, easy to assemble and clean.
- music very limited and poor!
+ Very comfortable for baby.
- Wish music played longer.
+ I love the design, as it is unisex and colourful, but not too bright.
It is well padded and was easy to put together.
- It would be better if the bar wasn't such chunky plastic but it is removable.
+ Lightweight and easy to move.
Vibration mode helps to settle baby.
Straps easily secure baby into seat.
Can be used with or without the musical arm attachment.
- Would have liked more variation in music and for the music to have lasted a little bit longer on the arm attachment.
+ Lovely design good quality.
- Awkward to get baby in and out because of arm with hard toys on.
+ Bright, comfy and cheerful withe the lovely woodland characters.
The Owl twit twoo was apt and the music was delightful.
- Baby didn't seem to like the vibration but that is a personal thing rather than the item itself.
+ My 2 week old granddaughter loves her chair and is comfortable with the padded seat watching things around her or the toys on the bar. It is light and easy to move around and doesn't take up too much space.
+ My little girl adores this bouncer. We bought it when she was about 8 weeks old and she loves it from the moment we first put her in it. She gazes at the owl and when the music plays, it provides a great source of amusement! It is of sturdy quality and a nice design. Great value for money.
- It would be nice if the songs played for a little longer.
+ The bouncer is a nice colour, my Grandson relaxes in the seat and enjoys the vibrating action, he also likes the musical animals on the arm across the front of the bouncer.
+ I love the colours. My baby loves to sit in it and play with the toys.
- Would love to have more tunes available to play - there are only two.


The territorial scope of the insurance coverage is the entire EU and the Member States of the European Economic Area Treaty.
All lawyers practicing in the law firm Thomas Deckers Wehnert Elsner are admitted as lawyers in the Federal Republic of Germany and are all members of the Düsseldorf Bar Association and Chambers.
The complete German text of these professional regulations / codes can be found on the website of the German Federal Bar Association (Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer, BRAK) under www.brak.de .


Banner stands are one of the tools that can be effectively used for advertising. In fact, it has been found that banner stands are ideal means through which one can advertise about goods and services. Mostly, banner stands can be found in large numbers at exhibitions, displays and trade shows.
Depending on the type of goods which you want to advertise, you can choose a location and through the use of banner stands, say what you want to tell to your prospective customers. The idea of any business is to attract customers who will buy their goods. And what better way to do this than using banner stands to advertise about your goods and services. Based on the target audience which you have in mind, you can choose where to set up your advertisement and attract people towards what you want to sell. This is one great and simple way to come to the notice of the public.
Banner stands have been found by many people to be an effective medium for advertising. Anything different has the capacity to attract people. Likewise if you tell your message in a different way through the use of banner stands, you are bound to catch the attention of people. Just make sure that your banner is entirely different from the other banners that are in display in the trade show.


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Author : Robert Louis Stevenson
Category : Novels
No of Pages : 43 Page(s)
Treasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "buccaneers and buried gold". Its influence is enormous on popular perceptions of pirates, including such elements as treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen bearing parrots on their shoulders.
Treasure Island is traditionally considered a coming-of-age story and is noted for its atmosphere, characters, and action. It is one of the most frequently dramatized of all novels. It was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881 through 1882 under the title Treasure Island, or the mutiny of the Hispaniola, credited to the pseudonym "Captain George North". It was first published as a book on 14 November 1883, by Cassell & Co.
Stevenson conceived the idea of Treasure Island (originally titled, "The Sea Cook: A Story for Boys") from a map of an imaginary, romantic island idly drawn by Stevenson and his stepson Lloyd Osbourne on a rainy day in Braemar, Scotland. Stevenson had just returned from his first stay in America, with memories of poverty, illness, and adventure (including his recent marriage), and a warm reconciliation between his parents had been established. Stevenson himself said in designing the idea of the story that, "It was to be a story for boys; no need of psychology or fine writing; and I had a boy at hand to be a touchstone. Women were excluded... and then I had an idea for Long John Silver from which I promised myself funds of entertainment; to take an admired friend of mine... to deprive him of all his finer qualities and higher graces of temperament, and to leave him with nothing but his strength, his courage, his quickness, and his magnificent geniality, and to try to express these in terms of the culture of a raw tarpaulin." Completing 15 chapters in as many days, Stevenson was interrupted by illness and, after leaving Scotland, continued working on the first draft outside London. While there, his father provided additional impetus, as the two discussed points of the tale, and Stevenson's father was the one who suggested the scene of Jim in the apple barrel and the name of Walrus for Captain Flint's ship.
घासवाली
काबुलीवाला
Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore
रमला
देशबंधू दास
नरक का मार्ग
छोटा जादूगर
लांछन
यज्ञ
परमेश्वराने सर्व ब्रह्मांण्ड निर्मिले. स्वतःच्या संकल्पातून ही चराचर सृष्टी त्याने...
अधिकार-चिन्ता
Mansarovar Katha Sangrah Bhag 6 -Adhikar Chinta short story by...
गीताई
Vinoba rendered Bhagavad-Geeta in Marathi at Mahilashram, Wardha. (7th October...
नशे का तमाशा
एक आदमी बड़ा शराबी था। शाम होते ही वह शराबघर...
बलिदान
Mansarovar Katha Sangrah Bhag 8 - Balidan; short story by...
Mansarovar Katha Sangrah Bhag 5- Hinsa Param Dharam; short story...


Feet casually crossed on the bench seat of the Orca Song, I waited. The 70-foot vessel owned and operated by Major Marine Tours in Seward was one hour into a three-and-a-half hour day cruise around Resurrection Bay. To find whales, Orca whales, to be exact.
A calm day, thankfully, to raise binoculars to eyes and gaze across the blue-green water of Resurrection Bay with hope a dorsal fin would appear as a giant black triangle, signaling that on this cruise we had indeed spotted the elusive Orca.
But we didn't. In fact, we didn't spot much of anything at all. But I'm a pro, accustomed to the "sometimes-you'll-see-them-sometimes-you-won't" mantra of wildlife day cruising. Heck, I just enjoy being on the water, bobbing among the puffins and gulls (pretty much a sure thing), watching the craggy mountains ahead and to port and starboard change with the shifting clouds and rays of occasional sunshine. It's a cruise, not an amusement park ride.
Kids, though, don't always see things the way we adults do, and even the name "whale-and-wildlife-watching" all but seals the deal: WHALES and WILDLIFE.
On the boat with us? Whether three hours or nine, cruise companies do their best to keep family members engaged and having fun, critters be darned. Here are five ideas for onboard amusement if wildlife appears to be hiding out the day you cruise.
Become a ranger. Junior Ranger, that is. Five of Major Marine's day cruise options feature a Kenai Fjords National Park ranger (Seward cruises) or a Chugach National Forest ranger (Prince William Sound cruises). Receive your adventure guide upon boarding and spend the cruise learning about the landscape, history, and wildlife, whether you see them or not. Rangers often bring pelts or skeletons for kids to touch, and award badges at the end of the cruise.
Create your own scavenger hunt. Can you find the following things… A life jacket; a captain's hat; an eagle; a cup of coffee; the name of your boat; something blue; a WWII bunker; a tree growing on a rock; a waterfall; a cruise ship; the captain; an otter; a hole in a rock big enough for a person to go through; an old dock; the bow of the boat; the stern of the boat; a rain coat; a huge camera.
Visit the captain. Major Marine, like most day cruise companies, enjoys showing off vessels and crew to young visitors. Who knows, you may grow up to be a captain someday. Ask the crew when you board if kids are allowed to come onto the bridge during the tour to learn how everything works.
Have a snack. Major Marine Tours features snacks and drinks on all of their cruise tours. From mac 'n cheese to salmon and prime rib, your family will be well-fed and happy while waiting for those whales to show up. Check your unique tour for a listing of meal and snack options. And don't forget dessert, and, for grownups, a cocktail or craft beer.
Get to know the land. Prince William Sound and Seward's Resurrection Bay are huge areas. So huge, in fact, that some mountains aren't even named. Borrow a map from the crew and take a look at the sheer size of glaciers, mountains, and waterways you'll be traveling near. If you like reading, grab a book before departure at Major Marine's shop, or a Seward bookstore. Try this cool list of books, stories, and activities that will give you a better sense of where you are. Cool, huh?
A cruise is an opportunity to experience Alaska, of which wildlife is but one part. There are so many fascinating things to see and do while you float our famous waters. So tell your parents that it's OK not to see the Orca whales. Maybe they are out looking at other things, too.
Posted in Kids' Corner, Wildlife/Glacier cruising and tagged Alaska with Kids, cruise, day cruise, Family Travel, Major Marine, Prince William Sound, Resurrection Bay, Seward, whale watching, wildlife tour.


Mwa received the materials you sent him.
I tried to kiss Rex, but he wouldn't let me.
Melinda wanted to help Carsten, but he didn't know where to begin.
Jelske still doesn't look very happy.
Amigo was responsible for it.
Vernon insists on talking to you.
I didn't know Space could cook so well.
Lonhyn never fails to send a birthday present to his father.
Moran is going to help us tomorrow.
Soohong rushed into the subway.
You'd better be very sure before you accuse Ramadoss of anything.
Elsa isn't supposed to even talk to Aimee.
Vistlik says he knows how difficult it'll be to do that.
Owen and Stefan are helicopter parents.
Lenora made her own lunch.
Tell Son I love her.
Wendy parked his car in the garage.
Floria doesn't want to live in the country.
I wish we could ask Rod to help.
Do you think Turkeer is dangerous?
Brender slid the door open.
Lex has what Hein wants.
Cristi didn't let me do that.
I'll make Van do it.
I sent Nathan back home.
Dawson thinks Seymour is amazing.
Edmund said he needed to ask me a few more questions.
Tracy got up and started to walk away.
Oskar says that he hasn't made up his mind yet.
The police arrested Tharen after responding to reports of a disturbance at his home.


Many of my clients have faced charges for Possession of drugs in a car, and I have a 99% dismissal rate on these charges. In Union County, driving with marijuana carries 6 months in prison, $1,000 in fines, 2-year license suspension, and license points. One of the easiest ways to beat these marijuana charges is by proving that the marijuana traffic stop was improper. I have a solid history of eliminating charges in traffic stop cases so my clients face no jail time, $200 in fines, no license points, and no license suspension! This is what I can do for you. I defend marijuana charges throughout New Jersey including the towns in Union County, Linden, Cranford, Roselle, Elizabeth, Roselle Park, Westfield, Rahway, Clark, Mountainside, Garwood, and Scotch Plains.
I love to win and never settle for pleas unless it's absolutely necessary, but it's important to know when to negotiate and when to fight. Officer violations in traffic stops are a great way to beat charges, but can also be used to bargain penalties down to nothing. In order for the stop to be proper, police must have both the proper cause to pull you over and the proper cause to detain you.
Police must have a 'reasonable articulable suspicion' that you have violated the law in order to pull you over. The suspicion does not have to be drug related for a later drug arrest to occur. It can be as simple as a broken headlight. I spin facts to show there was no cause to conduct a stop, which means your rights have been violated, and evidence cannot be used at trial.
Not only must the stop be proper, but once it occurs, if you provide the proper identification, license and registration, the officer cannot detain you for a search, unless there is evidence of criminal conduct. I have won countless cases by showing that the officer did not have evidence of criminal activity once the proper documentation was provided.
How quickly you retain an attorney can separate your case from thousands. This is one thing that only you can do for your case. The time period immediately following arrest is the most important for eliminating and reducing charges. Take advantage of this by calling me immediately and make the difference. 1-866-664-8118.


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Art, Architecture & History
Customs & Etiquette
Hotels & Other Accommodations
Pet-Friendly Travel
Romance/Honeymoon
Safaris/Wildlife
Travel Essays
Travel Quizzes
Why a Travel Concierge
Musical Notes: Ojai, California
By Laura Meyer, www.LauraMeyer.net
Musical Notes is a regular column by Laura Meyer, a touring songwriter and guitarist. Each month, Laura clues us in on musical venues in towns and cities around the world.
There are many reasons to visit Ojai, a small town just 75 miles north of Los Angeles and home to many actors, artists, and musicians. Whether it's the culture--the Ojai Film Festival, Ojai Music Festival, and Ojai Playwrights Conference--or the refuge found at the Matilija hot springs and Los Padres National Forest, travelers are bound to discover something special about the quiet valley originally named for the moon by the Chumash Indians.
Two years ago, when I first visited Ojai to perform, I was immediately convinced I'd found paradise. The neat rows of orange groves leading to Upper Ojai starkly contrasted the dark, snowy northwest from which I'd come. As I rolled down the windows and took in the idyllic scene, I felt another world away from the clamoring cities I'd left behind.
For me, Ojai's greatest draw, aside from its tranquil beauty, is the Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts, which is situated on a serene area of land overlooking the pink rocks of Topatopa appropriately called Happy Valley.
The Beatrice Wood Center consists of two neighboring houses, once home to the extraordinary contemporary artist Beatrice Wood and her friend, Rosalind Rajagopal. That first evening I arrived, there was a performance held in a living room now being used as a gallery and performance space.
The director, Kevin Wallace, and his wife, Sheryl, served wine and refreshments for attendees while Gwyneth & Monko, a folk duo from Northern California, unpacked their guitars, mandolin, and violin. It was more than just their lilting music that made the evening so memorable. It was the whole scene. Swallows swarmed above the glass doors lining the side of the house and the sunset illuminated the facing mountains for the enchanting "pink moment" unique to valleys situated east-west. The songs were punctuated by the sound of coyotes howling in the distance. This was Ojai at its finest.
Last winter I was thrilled to return to Ojai for a month to live as the artist-in-residence (in this case, songwriter-in-residence). I was thrilled to see how on weekends the center comes to life with visiting artists, ceramic and basketry workshops, children's programs and varied musical offerings, including a workshop with a Grammy-winning singer. With such a wide variety of artistic events, all set in this truly inspired setting, Ojai never fails to work its magic on me. I predict it always will.
Sunset photo by Laura Meyer
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Eddie's Attic, Decatur, Georgia
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Ok, I have a laptop. The internal cd drive is not working for some reason. I need to boot one of my live linux cd's.
There is no option to boot from an external CDROM in the bios. There is an option however, to boot from USB. So, I tried hooking up my cdrom drive by plugging it into my USB port, that did not work.
The only other options are floppy (i dont have a floppy drive), cd (my internal cdrom drive is broken), usb (tried it by plugging in external cdrom drive, didn't work).
I can also hook my cdrom drive up through the PCMCIA port becuase I have a firewire PCMCIA card, so I plug my cdrom drive into that card. However, nothing I have tried works... any solutions?
Do you not have an option in the BIOS to boot from "boot other device" or something along that line?


Wisdom, to support harmonious energy in the education section of your home. Element - earth; Direction – Northeast; Color - orange Ingredients: Sage-purifies, clarifies perception, inspires wisdom, ideal space-clearing agent; Clary Sage – inspiring, balancing supports psychic growth and knowledge, clairvoyance; Lavender – relaxing, balancing, revitalizing, supports good memory; Sandalwood – guidance, protection, inner strength; Frankincense – clears atmosphere, supports reflection and meditation; with other fine ingredients. Approx. 10 sticks per package.


Happy Thursday! This is the final installment for this week of the Mikeblog Bible Reading Podcast, and this morning I'm going over Genesis 8 and 9. In these chapters we read about the flood subsiding, Noah and his family coming out of the Ark, and some of the ways that the world was changing from the way it used to be into the way it is today.
So is there any physical evidence for the events described here in the Bible? I believe there is! I think the fossil record is one such piece of evidence, as the best explanation for it is that it is the remains of millions upon millions of creatures that were all wiped out in a catastrophic event that resulted in their burial under layers of sediment. Such a catastrophic event would explain a lot of the landforms that we see today and a lot of the geological curiosities we see today, such as fossil graveyards and coal seams that go on for miles. I've read a good bit on evidence for the flood, and while I'm by no means an expert, I can try to find some answers for you if you have questions about the flood. Just leave your questions (trolls will be banished to live under bridges) in the comments for this post, and I'll see if I can help out.
Good work! will comment as I catch up with previous posts.


At Monford Diamonds we specialise in supplying quality diamonds to meet client requirements based on the specific characteristics of a single diamond or two or more matching stones. Monford diamonds is not a jeweller, we supply graded and ungraded stones to our customers where there is a desire for a more bespoke individual requirement.
The diamonds we supply may be sourced from our own stock or we can source from the market sources where we have a network of contacts; we can also arrange for stones to be set and for a very bespoke service in relation to design and production of jewellery.
The stones we supply may be graded (see Our diamonds) or may be ungraded. Any ungraded diamonds will still have a certificate showing its characteristics as well as a replacement value for insurance purposes.
We may also supply diamonds graded by ourselves and whilst these may be of a perceived lower quality they may offer excellent value.
Diamonds are not the only gem stones we stock.
While we mainly deal in diamonds and gem stones, we also stock, from time to time, a number of special antique and vintage items. some of these will be on display in the Swan Antique Centre in Tetsworth, Oxfordshire or are available directly. Please contact us for further information.