Even though Netflix has been dishing out plenty of original movies every month, their feature length animated fare has yet to find as much acclaim and success as their live-action film. But that might change with two new animated properties getting their own movies at Netflix.
Nickelodeon is teaming with Netflix for two movies based on their animated shows Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Loud House, two of the cable channel's most popular programs. However, it sounds like they both movies won't be continuations of the shows, but new, original stories that will stand on their own while also promoting the shows that exist.
Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles premiered on Nickelodeon last year, giving the heroes in a half-shell quite the makeover. Not only was the dynamic of the team changed a bit with Raphael becoming the leader and Leonardo turning into the "coolest" turtle of the group, but the whole gang was given new weapons with mystical powers. Plus, the turtles' friend April O'Neil was turned into a feisty young black girl.
A big part of the appeal for Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the impressive voice cast. Not only are Leo, Mikey, Raph and Donny voiced by Ben Schwartz, Brandon Mychal Smith, Omar Benson Miller, and Josh Brener, but the villain line-up features the talents of Lena Headey as Big Mama, Johnny Rotten as a beefy, deadly pig chef named Meat Sweats, Rhys Darby as Hypno-potatmus, Tom Kenny as Alberto, John Michael Higgins as Warren Stone, John Cena as Baron Draxumand much more.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles veteran Rob Paulsen was the voice director for the series, which was produced by Andy Suriano, a character designer on Samurai Jack, along with Ant Ward, a supervising producer from the previous iteration of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It's not clear if the team will be brought in to work on the animated movie or not, or even if the same voice cast will be utilized.
Unless you have kids, there's a good chance you haven't heard of The Loud House until now. The series follows the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only son in a large family with 10 sisters.
The Loud House is Nickelodeon's second most popular show in their targeted demographic of kids aged 2 to 11. Only SpongeBob SquarePants is more popular. The Loud House was also an instant sensation, becoming one of the highest rated children's animated shows in the United States within the first month of its debut. The series is heading into its fourth season and it even has a spin-off in the works called The Casagrandes.
The series has also garnered acclaim for bringing an impressive amount of diversity to the table. The GLAAD Media Awards even nominated the series for their inclusion of the characters Howard and Harold McBride, supporting characters who are an interracial gay married couple.
The Loud House is created by Chris Savino, but it's not clear how involved he or anyone else from the show will be with the movie.
Considering the popularity of both shows on Nickelodeon, these are bound to be big projects for Netflix. We'll have more details as soon as they become available.


The moment you think about a curbside appeal, beautiful long palm and coconut trees, as well as powdery white! Only one place comes to mind and that's the sand on the beaches of the crystal ocean blue. Located some 80 miles south of Cancun on Mexico's Yucatán peninsula is the town of Tulum, more and more people are buying houses every day. Thereby adding Caribbean coastline to their real estate portfolios.
Being a historical location engraved in ancient Mayan history, the tradition of the land holds that, the Tulum's earliest settlers chose the name (Tulum which means Wall in Mayan) due to the giant cliffs which personifies its topography. Coupled with the combination of sky-high rocky cliffs as well as deep blue water surrounding it makes the area a pleasant place to call home.
Tulum, as well as its mystical charms, have attracted lovers of adventure for generations upon generation. And now thanks to this effect, a town's authorities in collaboration with the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources Mexico's ministry of environment launched the Tulum Eco-Community. The community is known as Aldea Zama and has been a source of attraction to visitors and residents year on year.
With the ability to purchase land or real estate not just limited to its locals but rather to everyone with the financial muscle to close a deal. This factor alone has helped transform the real estate market for this small Mexican Caribbean community. In addition, Pleasure seekers are charmed by the appeal of the Aldea Zama which means the city of dawn.
The town of Tulum, as well as its' unspoiled Tulum Mexico Land, is blessed with year-round sunshine, fascinating archeological treasures, Mayan history and culture, friendly faces, exotic jungles, and pristine white-sand beaches. All of the attributes are much to the delight of the not just the locals but thee foreigners and tourists alike. Enclosed below are some of the listed houses for sale in Tulum.
Conclusively, one of the main triggers to the recent demand for houses in Tulum has come as a result of not only the touristic hotspots, welcoming people, as well as the town's history. Rather, the creation and availability of international airport and the expanded highway from Playa del Carmen down to Tulum have been a massive influence towards all the town of Tulum is today.


Unidos Para Ti, a Santa Ana-based non-profit, is gathering toys for its annual holiday event at Jerome Park.
Unidos Para Ti, a Santa Ana-based nonprofit, is planning its sixth annual Toy Drive in the Barrio.
On Dec. 15, the organization plans to distribute toys to more than 2,000 children at Jerome Park, at McFadden Avenue and Center Street.
"We are trying to collect as many toys as possible by Dec. 14, but toy donations will also be accepted the day of the event," said Mayra Chavez, the organization's secretary. The group, which is collaborating with the Orange County Lowrider Alliance, is targeting the New Horizons neighborhood.
The event, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., includes a car show, music, food and activities. Cars can be entered for $15 plus an unwrapped toy; bike entry is $10 plus an unwrapped toy.
If you want to help, call Chavez at 818-641-3685. See ToyDriveintheBarrio.com.


text:
LES GRANDES VACANCES
ÉVOLUTION PROBABLE DU TEMPS
LES CHAMBRES D'AMOUR
CHAMBRES EN HIVER – CHAMBRES D'OR
LES IDOLES ET LES SACRIFICES
LES ÉCRITURES
LA FIN DE L'IMAGE
PEINTURES – BOÎTES
LE TEMPS D'AVANT
LE TEMPS D'APRÈS
LE PLUS BEAU JOUR DE MA JEUNESSE
MARABOUDFICELLE
MES ROUTES
MES ROUTES I
MES ROUTES II
MES ROUTES III
SAINT MARTIAN
LA COLLINE ENCHANTÉE
JEAN FAUCON
PIERRE FAUCON
MADY HOME VOLUME 1
DYNASTIE BERNARD & FAUCON
LES FAÏENCES D'APT
LA CARTE DU TEMPS D'AVANT
COURTE BIOGRAPHIE
BF PAR ARTHUR DREYFUS
TABLES D'AMIS
QUINZE MENUS
LA PEUR DU VOYAGE
FICTIONS VRAIES
BF PAR JEAN-CLAUDE LARRIEU
RESCAPÉS PAR ANAËL PIGEAT
LA LIQUIDATION DU CABANON
CHENGDU CONTEMPORARY IMAGE MUSEUM
AGENCE VU
MATTHEW LIU FINE ARTS
YI YUAN SPACE
HOLDEN LUNTZ GALLERY
L.A. GALERIE LOTHAR ALBRECHT
VU - LA GALERIE
VU - LA BOUTIQUE
NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM OF ART
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM
NATIONAL GALLERIES SCOTLAND
COLLECTIONS FRAC
LE CHÂTEAU D'EAU
ARTOTHÈQUE - LA RÉUNION
LES ÉDITIONS DE L'ŒIL
ÉDITIONS P.O.L
ÉDITIONS ACTES SUD
ABOUT BTS / BERNARD FAUCON PERMANENT EXHIBITION IN CHENGDU
HLG FILMS / VIMEO
HLG FILMS / YOUTUBE
Bernard Faucon facing Beijing
Bernard Faucon, Été 2550
Bernard Faucon, Galerie Patrick Gutknecht
PATRICK BAILLY-MAÎTRE-GRAND
ALAIN BLOTTIÈRE
PIERRE EUGÈNE
PAPI FREDO @ SAINT MARTIAN
LES FAÏENCES D'APT @ NEW YORK
LOÏC LE GALL
ROCHEGAUSSEN
NANASAI CO.
BERNARD FAUCON / YOUTUBE
BERNARD FAUCON / VIMEO
#bernardfaucon / INSTAGRAM
ENCYCLOPÆDIA UNIVERSALIS
FIFTEEN RECIPES
Insouciant Spring
Buckwheat pancakes with grated carrot
Carrots, cider vinegar, olive oil, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper.
Finely grate carrots by hand, season with olive oil, a lot of cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. The constancy of the sauce is more like a remoulade than a vinaigrette. The effect of the vinegar, yeast and carrot is intense.
About 200g of buckwheat flour, Fourme d'Ambert blue cheese, water, olive oil, salt, pepper.
Combine the flour and water to make a thick crepe batter, add salt and pepper. Dab little pieces of cheese over the surface of the pan, then cover with the batter. Bake in a hot oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
The Faggot's Quick Spaghetti, Hans-Georg's Recipe
500g of spaghetti, 3 tomatoes, 1 head of garlic, a bunch of basil, a cup of olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper.
In a salad bowl, dice the tomatoes, thinly slice the garlic, add the basil leaves, salt, pepper.
When the spaghetti is almost cooked, bring the oil to a boil, until it starts to smell strange, then pour it over the other ingredients so that they sear without cooking. Mix it into the pasta and serve with parmesan cheese.
Light Clafouti
Unfatty velvety effect.
1 kilo can of peaches, pears or apricots in syrup, 4 whole eggs, a glass of milk, 2 heaping teaspoons of wheat flour, same amount of buckwheat flour.
Beat or mix the eggs with the milk and the syrup from the can. Add the fruit, cook it in the oven an hour at 180-200°.
A Perfect Summer Every time
Romaine Lettuce, Goat's Cheese, and Melon
A firm and crunchy lettuce, ideally Romaine, 3 half-aged goat's cheeses, a melon (the sweeter the better!), olive oil vinaigrette.
Right before serving, place the slices of melon and goats cheese over the seasoned and tossed salad. It's perfect.
Oak Leaf Lettuce and Figs
A big head of oak leaf lettuce, 6 ripe figs, vinaigrette.
Cut the figs in big slices and lay them over the seasoned salad.
Lukewarm Zucchini Mousseline
2-3 zucchinis per person, not too large, very firm, 3-4 bay leaves, 1 egg, olive oil, a little spoonful of mustard, salt and pepper.
Don't peel the zucchinis, steam them with the bay leaves. Make a mayonnaise with the egg yolk, the mustard and the oil. At the last moment delicately fold in the egg white, which has been beaten into very stiff peaks. Serve the zucchini hot covered with mousseline. It's astonishingly good, it tastes like asparagus!
Wild Strawberry and Peaches with Mint Tea:
3 cartons of wild strawberries, 2 or 3 peaches, 1 big bunch of fresh mint, 2 teaspoons of green tea, ½ liter of boiling water, a dozen sugar cubes.
Let the tea leaves, mint and sugar infuse in in the boiling water for 10 minutes, then strain it out and pour the hot tea over the peaches sliced in quarters and the wild strawberries. Let cool.
Missing Asia
"Surf and Turf" Bohémienne
Less than a kilo of little round light-green eggplants, more than a kilo of ripe tomatoes, a few cloves of garlic, fresh cilantro, green peppercorns, ideally fresh, olive oil. Salt.
In the wok, quickly brown the garlic cut into slivers in a good amount of oil, then throw in the eggplant in quarters or slices, stir frequently, add a little water if necessary. When the eggplants have changed color, add the chopped tomatoes, the green peppercorns and salt. Toward the end of cooking which takes a little less than an hour, add the coarsely chopped cilantro.
It's as good served hot as cold and can be accompanied by toasted bread, rice, bulgur, spelt, poached eggs, steamed potatoes…
Khaopatmangsawilat
Regular short grain rice, 1 red pepper, 2 to 3 onions, a few mushrooms, 2 unripe tomatoes, a few snow peas or string beans, a few leaves of Chinese cabbage or green cabbage, a few fresh garlic stalks if it's in season, 3 to 4 kaffir lime leaves, Asian basil (natural anisette flavor), bergamot leaves, vegetable oil, soy sauce, 3 eggs, a small piece of tofu.
Cook the rice: 10 minutes in boiling water, strain it quickly but leave a little water at the bottom of the pan and cook 10 more minutes covered. Cut the tofu into little dice and quickly panfry on both sides in a little oil. Make a very dry omelet and season with soy sauce.
Cut the vegetables coarsely and throw them in the hot oil. Cook quickly on high flame, stirring often. The bergamot leaves are put in at the beginning, the basil near the end, and the soy sauce for saltiness.
When the veggies are cooked through but still firm, add some rice, followed by the tofu, the crumbled omelet, toss it all together for a few more moments.
Pickled ginger works well as a condiment.
or else:
Cashew Nuts and Mushrooms
500-800g of button mushrooms, 3-4 onions, 150-200g of unsalted cashews, a bunch of cilantro, soy sauce.
Start by cooking the onions in the wok with a little olive oil, at a very high temperature, stirring constantly and adding a little water when necessary, until they're golden brown. Then throw in the mushrooms cut into quarters, before the end of cooking, add the cashews and the cilantro, and salt with soy sauce.
You can serve with red rice from Camargue or sticky rice (a special rice that has to be soaked for hours and then steamed for 15 minutes (a couscous pot will do the trick).
Soy Cream and Crisped Lemon
Mix ½ liter of non-dairy soy, rice, or oat milk with 30 g of corn starch, 75g of powdered sugar and the zest of a kaffir lime, thicken on the stove.
Serve with "poor man's biscuits": flour, baking powder, water, anise grains, egg whites, sugar.
Around the Corner from Maghreb
Moroccan Salad
5 red bell peppers, 4 ripe tomatoes, 4 cloves of garlic, a half a teaspoon of cumin and mild red pepper, a bunch of fresh cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Roast the peppers over the flame or on the grill until the skin is charred. Peel them under the sink, being careful to remove all the seeds. Cut them into thin strips. Simmer over low heat in a covered crockpot with the sliced tomatoes, garlic, cumin, pepper, cilantro, oil, salt and pepper for just under an hour. Eat cold or lukewarm. If there are leftovers it makes a wonderful sauce for pasta or rice.
Vegetarian Couscous
2 kilos ripe tomatoes and a big bunch of mint for the coulis. A kilo of onions, 150 g raisins, a few walnuts, 125 g of butter, a little olive oil, 500 g of couscous, salt, pepper.
The coulis: simply stew the tomatoes with the mint and put the mixture through a vegetable press.
The onions: cut them into slices and slowly simmer with a little oil, salt and pepper.
Prepare the couscous just before serving. Boil water – a third more water than couscous (the raisins will absorb water too) with the butter, raisins, salt and pepper. Pour this liquid over the couscous in a pre-heated salad bowl, fluff up the couscous, mixing energetically to separate the grains. Repeat the operation a few minutes later. Add the walnuts. Serve the couscous very hot with the coulis and the onions. Let guests mix it up however they like.
Saffron Flan
5 eggs, just under a liter of milk, 18 sugar cubes, a few saffron threads.
Make a nicely golden brown caramel with the sugar and a little water, pour the caramel onto the bottom of a baking dish. Pour the milk into the pan and scrape up what remains of the caramel. Beat the eggs, gradually adding the milk and spread the frothy mixture over the caramel. Lay the saffron on top. Cook for a half hour at 180 degrees. Pour the caramel over the semi-sweet flan to serve.
Very simple and astonishingly delicious, tastes like asparagus!
2-3 zucchinis per person, not too large, firm, a few bay leaves, an egg, olive oil, a little spoonful of mustard, salt and pepper.
Steam the unpeeled zucchinis with the bay leaf until they're just right. Make a mayonnaise with an egg yolk, a little mustard and olive oil. In a big bowl with a big spoon, make ample gestures, keeping the spoon on the sides of the bowl. It goes faster and is less risky. Delicately fold in the egg white beaten into stiff peaks. Serve the zucchini hot, covered with the mousseline.
Faster Variation
The zucchini is steamed with a bunch of fresh rosemary, seasoned with sesame oil.
Vegetarian Caviar
A variation on a national Cuban dish.
In Cuba one is served some variation of red-bean soup at every meal. Very red, almost black, which is used to moisten and flavor white rice which is too dry.
Instead of beans, which aren't very easy to digest, use beluga lentils, so called because they resemble caviar. Cook them with a few vegetable bouillon cubes which will give them a little fat and flavor. Don't hesitate to overcook so that the broth is unctuous, but stop before the mushy consistency of Indian dal. Then, as is customary in Cuban, let diners serve themselves the rice and beluga lentils. Add a rare commodity in Cuba: a little olive oil.
Jacqueline's Baked Apples
Jacqueline, a name that recalls happy days spent in the valley of Apt, the paintings of Valentine, and the old Blanc brand of candied fruits.
A few years ago, my mother's childhood friend Jacqueline, shortly before she lost her faculties, had insisted one day on honoring me with a meal of truffles, which I adore: a warm truffle and potato salad and an omelet. But instead of the odor of truffles I was greeted by the extraordinary smell of baked apples and, mysteriously, strawberry. It was the desert, whose efficient simplicity pleased me so much that I reproduced it in Paris a dozen times in the following months with great success, except when I served it for the third time to the same guests!
It's very simple, it consists of cutting apples in half lengthwise, setting them face down in a baking dish and pouring strawberry syrup over them – the most artificial you can find. The cooking time is faster than with whole apples. The result is unexpected, the apples become pink and very redolent. And moreover, under their spell, you don't even bother to spit out the seeds and skins!
A Terrace in the Luberon
Oak-Leaf Lettuce and Figs
Place seasoned and tossed lettuce over ripe figs cut into thick slices. The flavors are on par with the beautiful colors!
Onion Pie
A marvel of simplicity from my mother's kitchen, without the revolting combination of egg and milk with the onion.
A thinly rolled piecrust – thinner than the store-bought kind, onions, olive oil, salt, pepper.
Peel a heap of onions under the faucet. Cut them into slices and fill the pie crust 2-3 cm high. Every nook and cranny must be filled, including the sides. Add salt and pepper, and sprinkle generously with olive oil. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil and cook for about 45 minutes at 200 to 220 degrees. Remove the foil and finish cooking at a slightly lower temperature for another 20 minutes, just long enough for the crust to dry out and the onion to brown.
It's a real delight. Serve with an aperitif or as an appetizer with a green salad.
Throw together a pie crust…
250g flour, a cup of olive oil, a tablespoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, water.
Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. Pour the oil and water over the mixture and stir as vigorously as possible. Don't be afraid to adjust the flour or water to get the right consistency. Knead the dough for several moments and roll out.
Catherine's Raw-Cooked Fruit Salad
1/2-1 kg cherries, 4 peaches, 1/2 melon, 1 or 2 kiwis, granulated sugar.
Cook the cherries with a little sugar and a splash of water rapidly, so that they remain firm. Carefully pit them so as to keep them whole. When they've cooled mix them with the rest of the thinly sliced fruit.
Desert Couscous
A glass of quinoa and spelt couscous, a glass of water, lemon olive oil, sugar, homegrown strawberries, or else a papaya and two limes.
Add couscous to boiling water, then lower the flame and simmer for a few minutes with the oil and sugar. Serve with strawberries, or papaya which has macerated in lemon juice and sugar.
Misaï Palace
A smart vegetarian always brings along a little survival kit on a trip! A few ingredients that will allow them to fix up a restaurant dish, or improvise a meal in a hotel room (with the tea kettle as the only cooking instrument). Examples: a bottle of olive oil, a pack of couscous, instant bulgur, a few cubes of vegetable bullion, Miso, nutritional yeast, laughing cow cheese, olives, cream of chestnut, etc.
Makeshift Miso
A miso cube per person in a bowl of warm water and 3 or 4 spoons of nutritional yeast.
Hotel Room Couscous
Fluff up the couscous with a single volume of boiling water, let it cool and serve it with finely diced raw veggies that you may have found: cucumber, onion, pepper, radishes, a few olives, oil and lemon juice.
A ripe mango, a papaya with lime, yogurt with chestnut cream…
To Make Children Grow
Fatima's Chorba
With meteorological regularity, as far back as I can remember, two or three times a year, the house would fill with the smells of redolent "chorba," a honeyed smell of apricots and fresh mint.
I would block out the smells of meat and close my eyes to the scraps of lamb among the apricots. I would add this unctuous sauce to pasta without thinking much about it.
One day it occurred to me that the spirit of the recipe wasn't meaty at all, that it had more to do with the meeting of fresh mint, dried apricots and onions.
2 kg of onions, as many tomatoes, 250g dried apricots, a big bunch of fresh mint, olive oil, pepper, salt, and pasta if you like.
Sauté the onions in a little olive oil for as long as possible, then add the tomatoes, apricots, mint, salt and pepper and cook for a long time until the tomatoes and apricots are unrecognizable.
At the last minute add some pasta, like tagliatelle.
Parsley Pie
A pie crust, 4 eggs, a lot of parsley, a container of cottage cheese.
Fill the pie crust with a mixture of chopped parsley (the frozen kind works), eggs and cheese, salt, pepper. Bake in a medium oven, serve while still puffy.
The secret is to simmer the dish on very low heat in a Dutch oven or on the stovetop – it can take as long as two hours. A liter of whole milk and a small glass of short grain rice (about 140g), with 4 to 5 tablespoons of powdered sugar, a vanilla bean or a half grated Tonka nut.
Serve the rice creamy and lukewarm, with seasonal fruit or a rhubarb compote.
Brousse Cheese and Quince Jelly
Brousse is a slightly salty French white cheese and it goes marvelously with quince jelly.
To Keep Little Children Small
Zucchini Soup
4 to 5 zucchinis, 2 onions, a potato, a little crème fraiche (just this once) salt, pepper.
Coarsely chop the vegetables and boil. Puree them in a food processor, add a little cream at the end in each bowl.
Flan with Tomato Coulis and Mint
On a lazy afternoon during peak tomato season, make a few liters of coulis, it stands up well to freezing and can be served in serval ways.
Cook the ripe tomatoes with a lot of fresh mint and at the end put it through a food mill, which is the best way to keep out the skins, stems and leaves.
The Flan
Beat together 5 eggs with an egg beater and stir in ½ liter of the coulis and ¼ liter of the milk, add salt and pepper, bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes, or better yet cook in a bain marie.
Cream Puffs with Raspberries
I detest the way people rave about the pastries in Paris shop windows, which are nothing more than sophisticated slabs of fat. The richest desert I can imagine is the cream puff! I like the honesty of the whipped cream and puff pastry.
Mady's Recipe: 125g of water, 50g butter, 75g of flour, a pinch of salt, a cube of sugar, 3 eggs, granulated sugar.
Bring the water and butter to a boil with the sugar and salt. Dump in the flour and mix vigorously. After two minutes, take the pot off the fire, wait a moment and incorporate the eggs, one after another.
Make little heaps of batter on a buttered cookie sheet, sprinkle each puff with a few grains of sugar, cook in a very hot oven, about 250° for a dozen minutes. Mady recommended keeping the puffs in the warm oven to prevent them from collapsing. It doesn't work every time!
Beat 250 cl of heavy cream (the long-life kind won't work) for a minute with an electric egg beater, and sweeten with the confectionary sugar.
Cream puffs, whipped cream and raspberries are hard to beat – except by adding a little vanilla ice cream!
A Comforting Winter Supper
Indian Soup
Just over a liter of whole milk, two big bunches of fresh cilantro, 3 medium-sized potatoes, salt, pepper.
Cut the potatoes into thin matchsticks and cook in the milk seasoned with salt, pepper and cilantro for about an hour, depending on how high the flame is. If the soup starts to stick, add a little water. You'll know it's ready when the mixture is thick and creamy. Fish out any big cilantro stems with a fork.
Lentil Risotto with Fennel
250 g of green lentils, a few young fennel bulbs, pitted green olives, olive oil, water, salt, pepper.
Simmer the lentils for a few minutes in olive oil as though you were making a rice pilaf. Throw in a little water, then add the fennel bulbs cut into quarters, or smaller depending on their size. Cover and let them steam in the liquid, adding water when necessary. Add the olives and salt and pepper about halfway through cooking time.
Lentils are a great alternative to potatoes, corn and even rice. Finally a legume that doesn't cause flatulence!
Mady's Apple Tart
A pie pan, 5-6 golden delicious apples, powdered sugar.
Roll out the pie crust, place the thinly sliced apples on top and sprinkle liberally with sugar. Cook ½ hour at a high temperature until the apples are slightly caramelized.
Mix the flour with the baking powder and salt. Pour the oil and water over the mixture and stir as quickly as possible. Don't be afraid to adjust the flour or water to get the right consistency. Knead the dough for several moments and roll out.
Garlic broth with Mini Grilled Cheese
1 liter – 1.5 liters of water, 1 to 2 heads of garlic, 1/2 baguette, olive oil, a branch of sage, grated gruyere, mustard, salt, pepper.
First bring to a boil and then simmer the slivered garlic in the water with the salt and pepper. Add the sage 4 to 5 minutes before the end of cooking.
Slather slices of the bread with mustard and cover with gruyere. Cook the open-faced sandwiches 8 minutes in a hot oven. Place the grilled cheese sandwich in the bowl of broth just before eating it.
Andean Scalloped Potatoes With Milk and Cilantro
Variation of the Indian soup, a simple but highly effective coupling.
1 liter of milk, potatoes, bunch of cilantro, salt, pepper.
In a gratin dish: pour the milk over the diced potato and fresh cilantro, add the salt and pepper. Bake as long as necessary.
Sweet Potato Endive Boats with Cilantro
A light appetizer or hearty hors d'oeuvre. Cook the sweet potatoes in water and mash until smooth. Add a healthy dose of chopped cilantro, olive oil, salt and pepper – and fill the endive leaves with it.
Cherry or Chestnut Cream Jelly Roll
This is the most basic of cakes, the famous jelly roll from the 60s, which appeared with the first electric egg beaters. My mother would throw this together as a snack.
3 whole eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1 ½ cups sifted flour, 1 tsp baking powder, grated zest of one lemon, ½ cup butter.
Cream the eggs and sugar, add the lemon, flour and baking soda and beat vigorously. Bake in a buttered rectangular pan at 180 degrees for about fifteen minutes.
Loosen cake from sides of pan and turn upside down on a towel. Roll cake and towel up together, and wait a few seconds – long enough to give it its shape. Unroll cake and remove towel, cover with jam and gently roll back up.
If the cake breaks it's overcooked – you'll get it right next time!
Lulu's Cherry Preserve
A little less sugar than fruit, about 4/5ths of the weight, juice of one lemon per kilo of fruit.
Pit the cherries if possible. Cook on a high flame in a copper kettle. Boil for 20 minutes and then turn off the heat. Let the mixture cool for 2 hours and begin the same operation twice more for a total of 60 minutes cooking time and 4 hours of rest. It's very important to respect this cooling time, it's what keeps the cherries firm and a little candied. If necessary, remove a ladle or two of syrup at the end to thicken.
Shaved Beets
They always say: "I always hated beets… until now."
Without the right mandolin, don't bother. The main thing is to get paper-thin shavings. The seasoning is a simple rémoulade that is drizzled over the shavings – rather than mixed in – just before serving. It is made with a lot of mustard, a little cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, oil – not necessarily olive oil, you could use colza for variation and to get your dose of omega 3.
Baked Onions
3/4 of a medium-sized onion per person, olive oil, bay leaves, salt and pepper.
Peel the onions and pack them tightly into a baking pan, sprinkle with oil, salt, pepper, and a few bay leaves. Cook like you would the three vegetables above: 45 minutes under foil, then the same amount of time uncovered, until they caramelize a little.
You'll never tire of these tender caramelized hearts, everyone loves them. With wild rice they're divine.
Pumpkin Gratin
2-3 pumpkin quarters, a handful of short-grain rice, 1 liter of milk, a little butter, a piece of gruyere, salt and pepper.
Dice the pumpkin and line the bottom of the baking dish with it. Spread the rice on top, pour in the milk, salt and pepper. Add dabs of butter and the gruyere. Cook on medium heat for about an hour. Take it out at the ideal stage when the rice is cooked and the pieces of pumpkin are still whole and glistening.
Baby-Flesh Baked Apples
Two large apples per person
Simply bake them in water, all day long, for 8 to 10 hours, in a 70-80° oven. The water shouldn't boil, the inside remains intact. The apple remains firm and melts in your mouth.
In a Playful Mood
Lettuce Mimosa with Walnuts
When your only supplies come from the tiny grocer in the deserted countryside, after 8 o'clock, this unspeakably simple appetizer comes as a great surprise!
Two, three, or four heads of lettuce, they will be soft, only keep the hearts, 4 or 5 eggs, shelled walnuts, oil, mustard.
Hard boil the eggs, shell them. Season the salad with a remoulade, mustard and oil, salt and pepper. Toss the salad then crumble the eggs into small slivers over it, and add a few walnuts! Basta!
Chickpea Pasta
Large Elbow Macaroni, 3 or 4 zucchinis, lemon, a 500 g can of chickpeas.
Simmer the diced zucchini in the olive oil with lemon juice and the finely grated lemon zest.
Cook the macaroni and add the chickpeas at the end of the cooking time.
Dress the pasta with the soft zucchini, and top it off with the parmesan cheese.
Pasta and chickpeas may seem redundant, but they're not. They make a perfect pairing and the Italians know it.
Honey and Orange Flan
1 liter of milk, 5 eggs, lavender honey, two oranges
Beat the eggs and milk with a little honey. Place the orange slices on top, which will make pretty designs in the oven. Bake on medium heat, around 180°.
Rose Compote Without Roses
A few golden delicious apples, a kaffir lime, sugar.
Quarter the large apples and cook with sugar and lemon zest over low heat, first with a lid, then uncovered, long enough so that they change color, but not long enough to fall apart. You get a strange chemical reaction: the meeting of the apple and the kaffir lime gives off a rose smell.
The Last Week of June Revisited
Arugula and Endive Salad
In any proportion
A remarkable marriage of flavors. The taste of the endives disappears in an Assumption of the arugula!
Don't chop the endives into rings. Instead, after trimming the base, slice them lengthwise. Avoid vinegar: olive oil, salt and pepper do the trick.
Simple and irresistible.
Sticky rice, buffalo mozzarella, zucchini, olive oil.
Remember that sticky rice is a specific variety. You can't just overcook regular rice! Soak it for several hours in cold water, then steam it for about 15 minutes just before serving (a couscous steamer does the trick). Serve it up hot with zucchini you've also steamed, mozzarella, olive oil and sea salt.
Three Roasted Vegetables
This surprisingly simple recipe from my mother is light and yet refined.
4 or 5 zucchinis, and the same number of tomatoes and onions.
Slice the zucchinis lengthwise into thick matchsticks, and the tomatoes and onions into large rings. In a roasting pan, make a row of each by standing them on end: thus all the slivers are placed on the slice and you have to squeeze a little so that the construction doesn't topple over and stands up to cooking. Add a dash of olive oil, a few bay leaves, salt and pepper, then cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil, making sure to fold it over the sides so the vegetables steam. Cook at 200° for 45 minutes with the foil, then another 45 minutes uncovered until the vegetables are dry and lightly caramelized.
Slightly Sweet Flan with Cardamom and Honey
5 eggs, a little less than 1 liter of milk, 12 sugar cubes, 3 tablespoons of honey.
The idea is to have an abundance of caramel that will slowly spread its sweetness during cooking.
With the sugar, honey and a little water, make a golden caramel and spread it over the bottom of an oven dish. Beat the eggs until frothy and then gradually whisk in the milk. Pour the mixture over the caramel and bake for a half hour at 180°. Spoon the caramel over the flan before serving, this produces an enjoyable sensation, like when you eat yogurt while holding a sugar cube between your teeth.
Exquisite Ginger Madeleines
2 or 3 fresh ginger roots, 100g butter, 100g powdered sugar, two eggs, wheat flour, yeast.
Peel and grate the ginger, mix it with the sugar and melted butter, add the eggs and baking soda and beat vigorously. Add the flour, sifting it for a smoother batter. If you don't have a Madeleine mold, pour batter into little piles on a buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 180° for fifteen minutes.
One Day We'll Be Happy Again
Lulu's Provencal Tomatoes
Use 4 or 5 mid-sized tomatoes per person, a bunch of parsley, garlic, breadcrumbs, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Cut the tops off the tomatoes, taking off almost a third. Put them face down in a big baking pan with a little oil so they sweat: bake for about twenty minutes on medium-low heat, so that they don't rupture. After that, discard the juices, and delicately return the tomatoes to the pan right side up. Keep them crowded in the pan. Cover each tomato with parsley and chopped garlic, salt and pepper, finish with a little cap of breadcrumbs and a dash of olive oil. Cook on low heat between one and a half and three hours until you get little chalices of slightly candied fruit. "Now those are tomates à la Provençale!" Lulu would say.
My Mother's Tabbouleh
Not Lebanese – the tart kind with coarsely chopped parsley – nor the North African version with couscous and mint that you'll find in school cafeterias!
3 bunches of flat parsley, 250g of pilpil (cracked wheat bulgur, medium rather than fine grain), a small glass of water, 3 lemons, 4 or 5 ripe tomatoes, a few fresh onions, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Prepare in the morning for that evening or the following day's lunch. Chop the parsley coarsely with the onions and tomatoes, making sure to keep their juices. Squeeze 3 lemons and mix it all with 250g of pilpil. Add a cup of water, plenty of olive oil and a fair amount of salt because the lemon neutralizes the effects of the salt and pepper. Let it sit for a while, mixing several times. If you don't wait long enough, the grain will stay too hard. If you wait too long it will become mealy. It's hearty, cool, generous.
Orange Blossom Cream with Pine Nuts
1/2 liter of milk, 30g of corn starch, a tablespoon of orange blossom water, a handful of pine nuts, 75g of powdered sugar.
Mix the cold milk with the corn starch. Bring to the boil while stirring, cook a few more minutes. Serve very cold with wafer cookies.
Cream with Orange Flower Water, Served with Fresh Figs
1/2 liter of milk, 1/2 liter of water, 50g of semolina flour, 1 big spoonful of orange blossom water, a little sugar.
Mix all the ingredients except the semolina, which you pour into the boiling mixture. A few minutes after cooking, the mixture will appear too soupy. It won't look like a desert, but in the fridge it sets after a few hours and it's perfect with fresh figs.
Translation by David Pickering
© 2019 BERNARD FAUCON - TOUS DROITS RÉSERVÉS
ANCIEN SITE FLASH

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
the_stirrer November 16, 2021 November 16, 2021 COVID-19 / lockdown / new normal
We can't help but notice the demonisation of anyone opposing vaccine passports, digital or paper, as so called 'anti-vaxxers'. It would be too easy to dismiss this demonisation as lazy, uniformed thinking. That would be wrong because this is part of a strategy of divide and rule. The problem we face is that too many people are falling for this rather than taking a few steps back, having a critical look at the situation and asking a few pointed questions.
If the corporations, politicians and their willing accomplices in the media pushing for mandatory vaccine passports think that everyone who has been jabbed is up for this, they're very much mistaken. As we've mentioned before, while this is anecdotal evidence, it's pretty telling – we know a lot of double jabbed people who are adamant they do not want to have to download a digital vaccine passport onto their smartphone. We know a fair few people eagerly awaiting their 'booster' jabs who are equally adamant that they do not want a digital vaccine passport. Many of these people are also pretty reluctant to even have a paper vaccine certificate. There is not an automatic correlation between having the jab/s and wanting to download a digital vaccine passport.
These are people who over the last twenty one months have pretty much complied with everything that was asked of them. They've worn the masks when they've been in crowded indoor settings. Quite a few have tested themselves regularly. When it was expected of them, they've observed physical distancing protocols and sticking to bubbles. For some of them, this has come at a cost to their mental health and well being. Despite doing 'their bit', they're adamant they do not want to go down the route of a digital passport.
Obviously, there's a range of reasons why they're resisting vaccine passports. At a basic level, there's a lack of faith in any government sponsored IT project because they don't exactly have a brilliant track record when it comes to working efficiently! Moving on, there are fears that personal health data will end up being sold to third parties. Going up a few levels, in an already fractured society, they see vaccine passports as something else that's going to divide people. Going up another few levels, there's an instinctive reaction against the imposition of a 'papers please' society.
If someone has spent the last twenty one months complying with diktats that we think were unreasonable, but are now coming out as strongly opposed to vaccine passports, we're going to welcome them as allies. We can't afford the luxury of being purist about this in any way shape or form. We've no time for the unvaccinated, self defined 'pure bloods' who would reject any form of alliance with double or even triple jabbed vaccine passport refuseniks. These purists are equally as complicit in the divide and rule agenda as are those pushing the jabs and the vaccine passports. Given what's at stake, we can't afford to reject allies, regardless of how late in the day they're coming over to our way of thinking.
As the title of this piece suggests, it's complicated. Despite elements at both extremes wanting to present this as a black and white, right or wrong issue with no grey areas, the reality is a heck of a lot more nuanced than that. Once people grasp the levels of nuance, it's generally a lot easier to have a reasonable discussion about how we can resist what's being done to us and what's planned for us further down the line. Obviously, we realise there are elements who understand that the situation is complicated but who, for their own nefarious ends, choose to carry on polarising people, perpetuating a culture of divide and rule.
As for those former comrades who continue to smear all strands of resistance to what's being done to us as 'alt right', may we politely suggest that they read/re-read these pieces we wrote a while back: Dealing with the complexities of reality… – September 25, 2021 and: Dealing with the new (ab)normal – a situation report – August 6, 2021. Obviously, an apology for some of the slurs that have been aimed in our direction would be welcome but we won't be holding our breath.
Lastly, if you are one of those people who have seen footage of scenes in countries such as Austria where the goons are stopping people at random to demand they show their vaccination status and think that's acceptable, you need to take a good look at yourself. The same applies to those who think that shutting the unvaccinated/not 'fully vaccinated' out of pretty much every aspect of life until they struggle to survive because they can't even shop for food. We see you. History is not on your side.
divide and rule, divide and rule agenda, fighting vaccine passports, opposing vaccine passports, resisting divide and rule, resisting vaccine passports, vaccine passports, vaxxers vs anti-vaxxers
Previous Psychological warfare
Next Is this really the future you want?
Ghosts of Kingswood Free Miners says:
Spot on! I know plenty of vaccinated people who are opposed to enforcements.. unvaccinated & vaccinated peeps who are sharing solidarity, and have similar perspectives on digital/'health' I.D's &enforcement measures, especially around the health care sector, from discussions with workers I know and have recently met within NHS and Care Homes. Personally I'm finding it difficult to find employment after getting fired for resisting and refusing new enforcement measures within the care company I used to work for as a housekeeper. Though had support from some workers there (vaccinated and unvaccinated), who understood why some of us would oppose our bosses new powers & perminant enforcment of intrusive medical procenforcmeas well as standing up to the general authoritarian attitudes from management after lockdown.
The situation with enforcements and I.D is definately not as clear cut as the politrick'uns and corporate media would have us believe. Though for sure at least a few bosses will definately be rubbing their greesy claws over these power grabs to force out militant workers.
We'll see how things manifest, when or if the State does a full mandate across the sectors in Blighty, like in Italy, France, Greece and Aus etc. Where situations are getting quite interesting and difficult for power to manage. If not pretty intense for those standing up.
In Greece people are banned from public life, though supermarkets and pharmacys still accept unvaccinated people so far. There is a general escaltion of police brutality and out right murder over there( which was already pretty brutal anyway). Recently a Roma youth was sprayed with bullets from specialist police units there, during recent new lockdown, + untold deaths/murder of refugees and migrants at the hands of fascists and cops. Rebels are still taking to the streets in defiance though. If they didnt they know they would be making it too easy for the bastards in power over there.
Elsewhere, in St Vincent & the Grenadines a few months ago now, the Prime minister got mobbed & then stoned (the state claimed) by an elderly lady against to mandates:
For those who dont like seeing people in power realise they are just as vulnerable as the next person, (despite their illusions of grandure.) Probably not a good idea to watch this one:


This is a placeholder page for Andy Ashby, which means this person is not currently on this site. We do suggest using the tools below to find Andy Ashby.
You are visiting the placeholder page for Andy Ashby. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Andy Ashby. We created this page automatically in hopes Andy Ashby would find it. If you are not Andy Ashby, but are an alumni of Evergreen High School Evergreen, CO, register on this site for free now.


text:
← The Human Aversion to "Doing the Right Thing"
Saturday Matinee: Chicago 10 →
25 Signs That The Global Elite's Ship Is About To Sink
Posted on July 31, 2015	by Luther Blissett
By Lance Schuttler
Make no mistake about it. The tide has turned on the global elite and there will be no going back. A new day is rising for humanity as those who have planned for complete control are now being exposed, cornered and investigated from many different angles. There is no need to buy into the fear-based propaganda the major media and even several alternative media outlets dispense. Very good things are happening and even better things are coming. Let's take a look at some of the major stories that have occurred in the last 8 weeks alone. Piecing the puzzle together, we see that the jig is up and the events surrounding it are growing in size and speed.
1. 57 Nations approved as founding members of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Notable countries who signed on June 29th, 2015 include Russia, India, Iran, Switzerland, Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Indonesia, the UK, Italy and Austria. Notables who did not join are the U.S. and Japan.
2. May 12th, 2015: Russia asks Greece to join the BRICS Alliance. Notice the BRICS trend in the stories to follow.
3. May 24th, 2015: The Pentagon released documents to Judicial Watch, a government watchdog law firm,
proving that the US Government played a central role in creating ISIL. Interestingly, the mainstream media failed to cover this story. A few weeks later, ex US Intelligence officials confirm the report.
4. May 31st, 2015: Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras writes an open letter, warns European leaders they are "making a grave mistake," and suggests they re-read Hemingways's "For Whom The Bell Tolls."
5. June 2nd, 2015: The U.S. Federal Government was hacked as the personal data of 4 million current, former and prospective employees believed to have been breached. 3 weeks later FBI Director James Comey told US Senators the actual number could be 18 million. Some believe the hack was coordinated to gather further evidence
of crimes by certain government officials. More on that further down.
6. June 2nd, 2015: Kentucky Senator Rand Paul calls for the U.S. Government to declassify 28 pages in the 9/11 attack report that the Bush Administration blacked out.
7. June 3rd, 2015: Famous musician Akon announces his Solar Academy will bring solar power to over 600 million people in Africa. A major victory for clean energy and humanity.
8. June 4th, 2015: Whistle-blower Edward Snowden says a "profound difference" had occurred since releasing the NSA documents and that the balance of power has shifted in our world. Is he referring to the BRICS Alliance?
9. June 5th, 2015: "There Will Be A Reset of The Financial Industry." The International Monetary Fund says the Chinese yuan is no longer undervalued. This sets the stage for the yuan to be recognized as a global reserve currency, something the U.S. Dollar (which is backed by war and oil) does not like.
10. June 7, 2015: Deutsche Bank, one of the world's largest banks, co-CEO's Jain and Fitschen resign. Two days later, German prosecutors raided the Bank's headquarters in a criminal tax-fraud probe.
11. June 15, 2015: China says the G-7 Summit in Germany was a "gathering of debtors." They mean this literally as the Bretton Woods western financial system is based on debt. And in fact, the entire western financial system has been running illegally and is technically bankrupt. For more on the real history of Bretton Woods and its connection to JFK, The Global Collateral Accounts and the gold standard, read here.
12. June 17th, 2015 is quite the day with the next four stories all being reported at that time. First, JP Morgan's number 2, the Vice Chairman Jimmy Lee, suddenly and unexpectedly passes over. Since late 2013, the list of high-level banking officials to have passed over has grown to 70. Clearly, something is happening.
13. June 17, 2015: Russia and China announced that all natural gas and crude oil sales between
the two countries will now be done in Chinese yuan( formerly the U.S. Dollar) and will be convertible into Russian Rubles. The U.S. Dollar hegemony is waning.
14. June 17, 2015: The State of Texas has signed a bill that calls for the repatriation of their gold from the Federal Government. When asked what would happen if the government tried to steal back the gold, State Representative Giovanni Capriglione said this: There is a motto in the office of almost every state legislator in Texas, and it's a flag that we have [from the Texas Revolution], it's below a cannon and what the motto says is, "Come and Take it."
15. June 17, 2015: Greece's Hellenic Parliament's Debt Truth Committee released a report stating that the debt Greece "owes" is illegal, illegitimate and odious, according to international law. Further, they stated the IMF and ECB ( European Central Bank) having illegally and knowingly imposed these illegitimate debts upon Greece and other nations. A direct call out to the global banking cartel.
16. June 18th, 2015: Baron David de Rothschild has been indicted by a French court over financial fraud. French police have been ordered by the court to track down Baron. The Rothschild family has long been viewed as the family sitting atop the global financial ponzi scheme. Lawyer Antonio Flores told reporters, " it's a real breakthrough moment for everyone involved."
17. June 18, 2015: In a 2-1 ruling, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals says Bush era officials can be held liable for detaining innocent people after the 9/11 attack. Will this lead to some major arrests?
18. June 19, 2015: While European leaders try to save face on the debt crisis, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras was in Russia and gave a speech at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, stating that "the economic center of the planet has already shifted" and that new powers are playing an "important role on an economic and geopolitical level." * Reread story header number 8…BRICS, anyone? Oh, and Greece and Russia signed a €2 billion gas pipeline deal that day too…a strategic economic and geopolitical game-changer.
19. July 5th, 2015: Greece votes "NO" to the creditors' bailout offer. This is a massive stance for humanity that Greece just took against the banking elite. As of this writing, a "deal" has been reached but is expected to fall apart in the coming days. Kicking the can down the road does not solve the issue, but rather speeds up the revolution mindset of many frustrated Greek citizens. September/October is when many financial experts are saying that some fireworks are to be expected.
20. July 7th, 2015: The BRICS Bank officially opens for business.
21. July 8th, 2015: On this day, several strange events occurred. The NYSE was taken down for multiple hours, the Wall Street Journal was taken offline just after the stock exchange went down, United Airlines was forced to ground all of its flights nationwide due to computer "issues," and 2,500 people losing power in Washington D.C. This whistle-blower journalist just wrote that his Pentagon sources said the Pentagon/BRICS Alliance took it down as a "dry run."
22. July 7th, 2015: Backing up one day we see that the hacking group Anonymous tweeted this on the evening prior to the stock exchange hack: Wonder if tomorrow is going to be bad for Wall Street….we can only hope.
David Wilcock has previously written a detailed document stating that Anonymous is working with certain patriotic US Military forces to legally take down the banking elite.. This aligns nicely with what the whistle-blower journalist, Benjamin Fulford, just wrote this week about the Pentagon and BRICS Alliance in the previous story.
23. July 14th, 2015: Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. reach a historic deal on Iran's nuclear program. Entire books could be written on the geopolitical, financial and technological implications of this move. There are also reports that the reality of this situation is that Iran has free energy technology and will be using this to help bring down the banking/political/oil industry elite. This would make sense as the strongest opponents to this deal have been Israel and its Prime Minister and several American politicians like the Bushes, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
24. July 15th, 2015: Santa Cruz County votes to stop doing business with 5 major banks, including JP Morgan Chase, Barclays, Citigroup, Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS. Watch this set off a chain reaction in those who will follow suit.
25. Now: You are here on the planet at this time to make a wonderful contribution. Please continue playing your role for the benefit of us all.
It is clear that something big is happening. Use this information to move forward with optimism and hope. Share with your friends. Discuss with your friends. Continue to search and dig for the truth. Two people I strongly suggest the reader looking into are Benjamin Fulford, the whistleblower who was the Asia Pacific Bureau Chief for Forbes Magazine and is listed in stories number 21 and 22, and Neil Keenan, who is working with many well connected sources to open up the global collateral accounts. These accounts are what President Kennedy was assassinated over and are what the banking elite does not want the public to know exists. This revolution WILL NOT be televised.
This entry was posted in consciousness, Conspiracy, Corporate Crime, Corruption, culture, Economics, Empire, Energy, Financial Crisis, Geopolitics, History, Recession, Social Control, society, State Crime, Technology and tagged 9/11, AIIB, Alexis Tsipras, anonymous, BRICS, Deutsche Bank, Edward Snowden, G-7, Global Elites, Gold, Government Hack, Greece, Iran Nuclear Deal, ISIL, ISIS, JP Morgan, NYSE Hack, Oligarchy, Plutocracy, Rothschild, United Airlines Hack. Bookmark the permalink.
2 Responses to 25 Signs That The Global Elite's Ship Is About To Sink
Reblogged this on An Outsider's Sojourn II and commented:
Let us hope this article is correct!
swo8 says:
I kind of think that too.
Dore: The CNN/Warren Debacle on Political Film Blog
Sickness from 5G Cell Towers |… on Rangitikei Environmental Health Watch


The Flats | ZUFF e.V.
Our sheltered flats are located in different districts of Berlin.
• We make a sublet contract with each resident. The minimum rental period is two weeks.
• The women themselves are responsible for the day to day life within the apartment. This includes self- catering, parental responsibility and regular rent payments.
• The identity of the residents, the flats and phone number must be kept anonymous at all times – even after the woman has moved out.
• Men are not admitted to the flats – regardless of their relationship to the women in the shelter flats.
• Each woman has her own room together with their children, where they live independently.
• The women are responsible to organize their daily life by themselves, cooperating with the other residents living there. Living in a shared accommodation enables them to redraw their boundaries and discover and experience their own needs for freedom.


text:
Published on 09 March
Young Malagasy Street Singers — Remixed by Meddling Musicians
Street performers are fairly common around Antananarivo. But these boys are special—so special that some vazaha (white/foreign) musicians took the video and then added guitar and drums from their respective home studios.
The "Series" video is the other three videos played end-to-end.
Backing the Busking Boy Band – Series
Backing the Busking Boy Band – 1 of 3 – Original Video
Backing the Busking Boy Band – 2 of 3 – Plus Guitar and Drums
Backing the Busking Boy Band – 3 of 3 – Plus Bass
The first remix (with drums and guitar) was shared on the Facebook page of LaChasse-info, a Madagascan news website.
It reminded me of when I added bass and electronic drums to "I'm Fat and Nobody Likes Me." And certainly this "collaboration" demanded bass.
But in less than the time it takes me to do anything with music these days, another bass player stepped up and filled that vacuum.
Updates March 10, 2019:
I noticed that many people were only watching the original acapella video and thereby missing out on the additions from the musicians. So I added the "Series" video and put it first in the list.
I found out that these boys were dubbed "The Underground Boys of Tana" and they have a Facebook page and a YouTube channel—both of which appear to have been created by English-speaking foreigners.
Disclaimer: I didn't have anything to do with creating any of these videos; I merely compiled them into one place. The "original" video was a bit hard to track down. I eventually found it on a sketchy-looking site called Instahu, apparently one of many sites that scrapes other people's content from Instagram. Thank you—and also Sorry—to original creator of this video.
Alien with a Green Balloon
Dodo Sneaker (Sketch)


text:
<!DOCTYPE html>

    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Check Moco for LUFA connection - Arduino with Moco for LUFA</title>

    <link rel="import" href="./bower_components/x-webmidi/x-webmidirequestaccess.html">
    <link rel="import" href="./web-arduino.html">

Moco for LUFA connection Test

    <web-arduino id="arduino"
                 pinmode='{
                   "analog":[null, null,  null, null],
                   "digital":[null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null, null]
                 }' hidden></web-arduino>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Health Policy and Planning Debated
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated catastrophic financial burden: a tragedy still in the making
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing? Alcohol Industry's Involvement in Road Safety
Ensuring access to essential sexual and reproductive health products during COVID-19: Challenges and future directions
Health Systems of Oppression? How health systems operate within and perpetuate systems of oppression
SUPPLEMENT LAUNCH! Health policy and systems research mentoring: Supporting early career women in LMICs
SUPPLEMENT LAUNCH! Innovations in Implementation Research in LMICs
Key lessons from Mexico's changes to the obesity policy agenda
Providing essential TB services during COVID-19
Health Policy and Planning's Top 10 Articles Contributing to the 2019 Impact Factor
Chronicle of deaths foretold – six lessons and needed actions based on the Brazilian COVID-19 outbreak
We invest millions in health, but still millions are dying
By phpunsal · March 20, 2018 · health policy, health systems, low-income countries · No comments
Tags: community care, health systems, India, TB, tuberculosis
By Shelly Batra (Co-Founder and President, Operation ASHA)
TB – a disease that continues to plague the poorest
When I was a student in King George's Medical College, India, a group of doctors came from the UK to visit our hospital. They said to my Professor,
May we see a tuberculosis (TB) patient."
They wanted to see just one patient as a learning experience, because at that time, TB had largely been eradicated from high income countries. I recall my Professor's reply:
We have wards and wards full."
This was in the 70s. Today, there are 10.9 million new TB cases in the world every year. A disease which is as old as the hills has become a global pandemic, leading to huge suffering, economic loss and deaths. In fact, TB has been responsible for the death of more people than any other infectious disease in history. In 2006, I established Operation ASHA with a focus on TB, the biggest health crisis in the world and , which the World Health Organization declared a 'global emergency' in 1993.
Health systems challenges in India
We conducted extensive research to find out what the reason was for this sorry state of affairs with respect to tackling TB, focusing first on India. What we found was an eye-opener. India has a huge government program where there are well equipped TB centers all over the country. These have the best equipment, specialists, medicines & diagnostics, all available for free – everything was available- but not accessible. The challenge was of last-mile delivery (close to patients' homes), which is essential both for early diagnosis and for ensuring completion of the six-month TB treatment course .
All over the country there are posters that say, if you are coughing, go to the nearest government laboratory for a sputum test. The message is loud and clear but unfortunately, it does not reach the people. No one seems to know where the nearest laboratory is located. Very often the disadvantaged are intimidated by government infrastructure and absenteeism in government programs is as high as 40%. How many times would a daily wager or laborer go for a simple sputum test to the lab? Each day means a loss of work, and when there is no work there is no food for the family. This is one of the reasons why, in some cases, patients go undetected for decades.
Those who do get diagnosed, find it impossible to travel every day to the government center in order to take their 6 month medication. In the DOTS program, medicines have to be swallowed at a designated center in the presence of a trained provider. Existing centers are few and far between and are open during working hours. It is unfeasible for patients to travel, say 10 miles daily, invest in bus fares, and suffer a loss of wages for the day. Patients who do initiate treatment often leave midway when they start feeling better, and this is how drug-resistance sets in.
Stigma and TB
Another issue is the stigma related to TB. Patients suffering with TB remain hidden in the shadows and live with fear, shame and guilt. Every day they struggle with negative thoughts:
TB is a curse from the gods. It's because of my past karma. It's a curse from the gods. I am doomed to die. My children will die."
Every year, a 100,000 women are abandoned by their families if they have TB and 300,000 children forced to leave school. People are thrown out of jobs, and the loss of wages is 260 million GBP every year.
We concluded that the only solution was to fill the gaps within the government program, and we tackled this in several ways.
We collaborated with the Indian government's TB control program to get free services, including medicines from the government
In urban slums, we opened treatment centers in the premises of community partners. This could be for instance, a religious place like a temple, mosque or gurdwara a local doctor's clinic, or even a small shop. These would be conveniently located and open early morning and late at night
Following success in India we applied this model in Cambodia
This was all about providing doorstep delivery, convenience and privacy.
We hired a cadre of workers called TB Providers. They belonged to the same community they would serve. They would eat the same food and worship in a similar manner as the rest of the community. We train our Providers in nutrition and hygiene and other health issues, so that they project themselves as health workers, not TB workers. This helped them overcome stigma. Our Providers carry out the full spectrum of TB activities which includes awareness, detection and counselling of families. They facilitate testing of patients in the government centers, either by finding out what time the lab technician will be available, or by carrying sputum samples themselves to the lab. They also provide every medicine with their own hands, so every dose is supervised. They use eCompliance (a Microsoft Research collaboration) where we use fingerprints to track every dose taken. We are now using eyeAdherence, where iris scans are used for the same purpose. Providers help dispel myths, ensure unstigmatised provision of care, and also offer free over-the-counter medicines to take care of treatment side effects. Where patients are scattered, providers go on bicycles, motorcycles and even on boats, right up to the doorsteps of patients to do their work.
Outcomes of treatment
We have successfully overcome many challenges, and our results are there for all to see. A research paper by Soumya Swaminathan (Deputy Director General, WHO) says that
Our default rate is less than 3%, and we have a system where data fudging is not possible. A fingerprint/iris print cannot be fudged. According to Soumya, the treatment success rate in India is only 74%, while ours is 89%.
Our cost is also 32 times less than others. A post published by Deen Garba in CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), says:
Globally, NGOs spend an average of $852 detecting each patient. By contrast, Operation ASHA spends $80 on both detection and treatment."
While the fruits of labour give great happiness and success is sweet, I must truthfully say that it has been an uphill task. Over the years, I have faced ridicule, opposition, resistance and even threats. Even today there are some government officers who claim that their results are superlative and they don't require NGOs, neither do they require technology for accuracy and transparency. No doubt it has been difficult, but I am not daunted. There's miles to go, and I know there are many people like me, who work with courage and joy in their hearts, and together one day we hope to eradicate TB for good.
Image credits: Dr Shelly Batra and Dr Mishal Khan (LSHTM)
Website (including http://)
Enter the words above* Enter the numbers you hear*
« The need for new approaches to Global Health Aid Allocation
INFOGRAPHIC: Global Strategy for TB Control »
Sign up to email alerts
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated catastrophic financial burden: a tragedy still in the making December 9, 2020
Wolf in Sheep's Clothing? Alcohol Industry's Involvement in Road Safety November 23, 2020
Ensuring access to essential sexual and reproductive health products during COVID-19: Challenges and future directions November 18, 2020
Health Systems of Oppression? How health systems operate within and perpetuate systems of oppression November 18, 2020
SUPPLEMENT LAUNCH! Health policy and systems research mentoring: Supporting early career women in LMICs November 9, 2020
access to health care Africa AIDS Child health citations cost COVID-19 Ebola epidemic equity Financing fragile states funding gender Ghana global health governance health health policy health systems health systems strengthening HIV Human resources for health India innovation integration LMIC Malawi Maternal health mental health pandemic policy politics practice private sector public health public sector resilience South Africa TB tobacco tuberculosis UHC universal health coverage Zambia
health systems (129)
low-income countries (113)
performance-based financing (22)
Tweets by HPP_LSHTM
Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
© 2021 Health Policy and Planning Debated.
Website by AWESEM.


Tracy & Richard Civil Marriage Ceremonies in Turkey was excellent british wedding ceremony. We have prepared a Luxury Wedding decoraiton for Tracy & Richard and for their family. They came to Turkey Antalya to celebrate their civil marriage in Antalya at Gloria Golf Hotel. Their wedding venue was perfect and we decorated this venue like their dreams. We have had a great time with them during the wedding ceremony. We took excellent wedding pictures.
They were very cheerful and happy couple.


text:
000037 Pelican Drive
Polk City, IA
Bridgeview is a beautiful tract of wooded ground adjacent to pristine undeveloped property owned by the Federal government as part of the Saylorville reservoir. The development plan offers a nice mix of lot sizes and configurations, several daylight capabilities. The site features large, wooded cul-de-sac lots located west of Parker Boulevard and north of Highway 415, is ideal for families, and is within walking distance of North Polk Elementary, the Polk City Library, Leonard Park and a connection to the school and to the 28-mile long Neal Smith Trail system. For more complete information and additional features, call today.
Listing Provided by: Knapp Properties, Inc.
MLS Area Polk City
Zoning Res
Lot Features Cul-De-Sac
Road Surface Type Asphalt
000037 Pelican Drive Polk City, IA is a Single Family Home for sale at $125000 and a lot size of 0.68 Acres Acre(s). 000037 Pelican Drive Polk City has 0 bedrooms, 0 baths . The property's zip code is 50226 which is in Polk City, IA
Ryan Hoover
I'd like a Tour of MLS#592922 located at 000037 Pelican Drive
I have a question about MLS# 592922 at 000037 Pelican Drive


Brooklyn's New Lab is not your average venue - TAPUZ, INC.
Tell me about the unique architecture. It seems like a combo of the old and new.
New Lab's home is a century-old shipbuilding factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The expansive space, and its long history of being a center for manufacturing, inspired the development of New Lab as a hub for advanced technologies, from robotics and AI to vertical farming and solar energy. Our beautiful 84,000 square foot flagship includes space and resources for our on-site community of entrepreneurs, as well an expansive offering of event spaces to host provocative conversations, dinners, and original programming.
So New Lab is not simply an event space? Who else is in the building ?
Well it's home to over 100 member companies, each which has its own story of innovative work relating to sustainability, the future of cities, and the intersection of technology and human experience. Our event spaces are designed to serve as a loudspeaker to help tell the stories of innovation happening on-site.
Tell us about the events you host?
All events hosted here tie into our mission of supporting crucial work and advancing the intersection of technology and the human experience—whether it be a panel discussion about Mars exploration or a salon dinner or venture capital funding for scaling advanced tech companies.
It sounds like New Lab is a robust community that is always percolating with activity and exciting stories. How you do you publicize these?
New Lab tells these stories through its monthly zine, Tech Fancy--and is crackling with great stories, as each of our 100+ member companies are developing exciting new technologies every day. We decided to capture and tell some of these stories ourselves—each issue of our monthly zine and newsletter explores members doing work in a particular theme (from food innovation to blockchain).
Tell me about your programming ?
We include quarterly conversation series that will launch next fall, focusing on topics related to the work happening here, like medical tech innovation and artificial intelligence. We think a lot about the intersection of technology and people, and what it is like to live and work alongside new technologies. This lends itself to some serious dinner table conversations! We are launching our own quarterly series in the coming months to bring these types of discussions to a platform large enough for the public to join in on.
To host an event or to learn more about what's going on at New Lab, please reach out to stephanie@newlab.com.


Write a review about "Chatsworth 6 Chair Dinning Set with 1.35m Round Table 3m Parasol 20kg Base Grey/Grey"
We want to know your opinion! Write a review about the product "Chatsworth 6 Chair Dinning Set with 1.35m Round Table 3m Parasol 20kg Base Grey/Grey" and be in with a chance to win a flowerland Gift Voucher for £25 !
Are you looking for the product "Chatsworth 6 Chair Dinning Set with 1.35m Round Table 3m Parasol 20kg Base Grey/Grey"? We offer this product in our garden centre in Iver and Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. You can order the product "Chatsworth 6 Chair Dinning Set with 1.35m Round Table 3m Parasol 20kg Base Grey/Grey" online or you can visit our garden centre in Iver and Bourne End, Buckinghamshire for more information about the product "Chatsworth 6 Chair Dinning Set with 1.35m Round Table 3m Parasol 20kg Base Grey/Grey". We look forward to seeing you soon!


text:
\section{Introduction}

The problem of graceful exit from the pre- to the post-big bang
branch, and the recovery of classical dynamics at late times, has
remained a major issue for Pre-Big Bang (PBB)
models~\cite{Gasperini:1992em} (for a review,
see~\cite{Gasperini:2002bn}). The equations derived from the low
energy effective action of string theory, cannot provide a smooth
transition between the pre-big bang phase and the standard
post-big bang phase of decreasing curvature. There have been many
attempts to solve this problem of overcoming the curvature
singularity. If it is assumed that the curvature at the transition
time is small enough to use the low energy equations, then a
smooth transition can be achieved either by adding a nonlocal
dilaton potential to the
action~\cite{Gasperini:2002bn,Gasperini:1996fv}, or by considering
an anisotropic universe dominated by some kind of matter with a
suitable equation of
state~\cite{Gasperini:1991qy,Giovannini:1997cv,Giovannini:1998xw,DeRisi:2001ed}.
If the curvature is very large, higher-order corrections to the
low energy effective action have to be added, which can be derived
from the loop expansion and from the $\alpha'$
expansion~\cite{Gasperini:1996fu,Brandenberger:1998zs,Easson:1999xw,
Foffa:1999dv,Cartier:1999vk,Cartier:2001gc}. Both of these
approaches are based on ad hoc assumptions that have to be imposed
by hand for a graceful exit solution. This is a consequence of our
poor knowledge of the non-perturbative regime of string theory.

Curvature singularities have been recently studied in the
framework of Loop Quantum Cosmology (LQC)~\cite{aa-review}, which
is a canonical quantization of homogeneous cosmological spacetimes
based on Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG). The gravitational phase
variables are the matrix-valued Ashtekar connection $A_a^i$ and
the conjugate triad $E^a_i$, and the elementary variables are the
holonomies of the connection and the fluxes of the triad. In the
quantum theory, holonomies represent fundamental excitations of
quantum geometry which are polymer-like one-dimensional
excitations. Holonomies also provide information about the
connection which does not have a corresponding operator in LQG/C.
For classical FRW cosmology, connection is proportional to $\dot
a$ and thus holonomies encode information about the expansion
(contraction) of the universe.

The quantum theory obtained from loop quantization turns out to be
different from the Wheeler-de Witt quantization (the polymer
representation is not equivalent to the usual Fock
representation). Wheeler-de Witt quantization does not resolve the
cosmological singularity, but in LQC a generic resolution of
curvature singularities has been obtained. The resulting picture
is of a universe which bounces when curvature reaches Planck scale
and is classical at low curvatures. This picture is based on
extensive analytical and numerical investigations for FRW
flat~\cite{aps,aps2}, closed~\cite{apsv} and open~\cite{k-1}
models, Bianchi~I models~\cite{dc}, de Sitter~\cite{abp} and
anti-de Sitter models~\cite{bp-lambda}. Recent investigations for
flat models have further revealed the genericity of the bounce for
a dense subspace of the physical Hilbert space~\cite{acs}.

LQC therefore in principle allows us to incorporate
non-perturbative effects in PBB models, at least at a
phenomenological level. If string theory and LQG both encompass
elements of an eventual Quantum Gravity theory, then it is
interesting to explore the phenomenology that results when one
applies ideas from one approach to models constructed in the
framework of the other. We focus only on this phenomenology, and
do not attempt to address the fundamental issue of the relation
between string theory and LQG. Instead our approach is to extract
the basic elements of LQC quantization that are relevant to
understand singularity resolution, and apply them to PBB models.

We start with the massless dilaton $\phi$ in the Einstein frame
and cast the problem as a Hamiltonian system in connection-triad
phase space variables. Since there is no external time parameter
in quantum gravity, subtleties arise in recovering the
conventional notion of dynamics and identifying the post- and
pre-big bang branches. These subtleties have been emphasized
previously in the quantum cosmology of the PBB
scenario~\cite{kiefer}. To resolve them, we employ the ideas of
relational dynamics used in LQC~\cite{aps,aps2,apsv} and treat the
dilaton, which is monotonic, as an internal clock. The change of
scale factor (or other observables) with respect to the internal
clock can then be found by solving the Hamiltonian constraint and
computing for example, $d a/d \phi$. Classically, as well in the
PBB scenario, in the backward evolution of the post-big bang
branch, the scale factor goes to zero as $\phi \rightarrow -
\infty$, and it increases with an increase in $\phi$. Similarly,
the forward evolution of the pre-big bang branch results in a
decrease in the scale factor as $\phi$ increases, with the scale
factor vanishing as $\phi \rightarrow \infty$.

The pre and post-big bang branches are distinguished by the
behavior of the scale factor with respect to the dilaton. In
classical general relativity and in PBB scenarios (without any
tree-level corrections), the pre- and post-big bang branches are
disjoint. A Wheeler-De Witt quantum cosmology analysis of the PBB
scenario reveals that the pre- and post-big bang phases correspond
to different branches of the wavefunction~\cite{kiefer}. At an
effective level, trajectories for the scale factor or the dilaton
with respect to proper time can be obtained by recasting the
equations via introduction of a parameter $t$, for example: $d a/d
\phi = (d a/d t)/(d \phi/d t)$. The parameter $t$, which plays the
role of classical external time, can be thought of as emerging by
semi-classical approximations. We would employ this algorithm in
our analysis, using the observation that the underlying loop
quantum dynamics can be described by an effective Hamiltonian for
states which are semi-classical at late times~\cite{aps2,apsv}. As
it will turn out, loop quantum geometric effects lead to a
non-singular transition between the pre- and post-big bang
branches, with respect to the internal clock $\phi$. Unlike the
Wheeler-De Witt quantization, the pre- and post-big bang phases
correspond to the same branch of the wavefunction in
LQC~\cite{aps,aps2,apsv}. Using the effective Hamiltonian, this
dynamics translates to a non-singular evolution with respect to
the time parameter $t$.

Since our approach captures the features of the polymer
representation in LQG/C, we will refer to it as ``polymerization",
as in a recent work on the quantization of cosmological
spacetimes~\cite{alex}. Once the polymerization has been performed
in the Einstein frame, we transform the dynamical equations to the
string frame and study the solutions. We show that polymerization
indeed cures the curvature singularity in both the Einstein and
string frames. Furthermore, at late times there is a smooth
transition to classical dynamics. Thus the graceful exit problem
in the PBB scenario is overcome in this approach.

The paper is organized as follows. In Sec.~II we start with the
zeroth order effective action in the Einstein frame for the
dilaton without potential, and use a Legendre transformation to
cast the problem as a Hamiltonian system with connection-triad
phase space variables. We then perform polymerization of the
connection and show that generic solutions of the modified
dynamical equations in the Einstein frame are non-singular. In
Sec.~III, we give the modified dynamical equations in the string
frame. Interestingly, polymer modifications appear similar to
quantum one loop corrections in the string frame. By numerically
integrating the dynamical equations we show that singularity
resolution is obtained also in the string frame. In Sec.~IV we
summarize our results and compare the  polymer modifications
leading to non-singular dynamics with previous attempts in PBB
scenarios using one loop quantum corrections in the string frame
action.

\section{Polymerization in the Einstein Frame}

Our starting point is the low-energy effective action derived from
string theory in the Einstein frame. We set the antisymmetric
$B_{\mu \nu}$ field to zero, and assume stabilization of all
moduli fields associated with compactification. In the absence of
a dilaton potential, the action is (with units $c = \hbar = 1$ and
$8 \pi G = M_P^2$)
 \begin{equation}
S = - \int d^4 x \sqrt{-g} \left[ \frac{M_P^2}{2}\,R - \frac{1}{2}
g^{\mu \nu} \partial_\mu \phi \partial_\nu \phi\right].
\label{Eaction}
 \end{equation}
Variation with respect to the metric and the dilaton gives the
equations of motion
 \begin{equation}
M_P^2G_{\mu \nu} =  \partial_\mu \phi \partial_\nu \phi -
\frac{1}{2} g_{\mu \nu}\, \partial_\sigma \phi \partial^\sigma
\phi \,, ~~~ \nabla^\mu\nabla_\mu \phi = 0\,. \label{Eeq}
 \end{equation}
For the FRW metric these lead to
 \begin{eqnarray}
H^2 = \frac{1}{6M_P^2} \dot{\phi}^2 \,,~ \dot{H}  =-\frac{1}{2
M_P^2} \dot{\phi}^2 \,,~ \ddot{\phi} +3 H \dot{\phi} = 0\,,
\label{FRWeq}
 \end{eqnarray}
of which only two equations are independent. In the PBB scenario,
there are two disjoint solutions: an expanding post-big bang
branch and the contracting pre-big bang branch, separated by a
curvature singularity at $t = 0$, as shown in Fig.~\ref{e_a_plot}.

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=e_a_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{The scale
factor $a(t)$ in the Einstein frame: blue (dashed) curves are the
standard singular PBB solutions; the red (solid) curve is the
non-singular solution after polymer LQC modifications. (We set
$M_P = 1=\beta$ in all the plots.)}
 \label{e_a_plot}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

In order to implement effects of polymer quantization we cast the
problem in the Hamiltonian framework with same phase space
variables as in LQC. These are the gravitational degrees of
freedom $(c,p)$, corresponding to the connection and the triad
variables (the latter kinematically related to metric as $p =
a^2$), and the matter degrees of freedom $(\phi,\pi_\phi)$. In the
classical limit,
 \begin{equation}\label{dotphi}
(c,p)=(\dot a,a^2)\,,~~ (\phi,\pi_\phi)=(\phi,a^3\dot\phi)\,.
 \end{equation}
We obtain the Hamiltonian from the action (\ref{Eaction}) using a
Legendre transformation:
 \begin{equation}\label{classicalH}
{\mathcal{H}} = - 3 \, M_P^2 \, c^2 \, p^{1/2} +
\frac{\pi_\phi^2}{2 p^{3/2}} \,.
 \end{equation}
The dynamical equations (\ref{FRWeq}) can be obtained via
Hamilton's equations of motion: $\dot x = \{x,{\cal H}\}$.

In LQC, there is no analog of the connection operator. Information
about the connection is instead obtained from the holonomies,
whose elements are of the form $\exp(i \lambda c)$, where the
underlying quantum geometry imposes \cite{aps2}
 \begin{equation}\label{lambdap}
\lambda = \beta \,\frac{L_P}{p^{1/2}}\,.
 \end{equation}
Here $\beta$ is a dimensionless constant, which in LQC is O(1). It
determines the minimum eigenvalue of the area operator in LQG,
$\beta^2L_P^2$. The parameter $\lambda$ thus captures the discrete
nature of quantum geometry in LQC. Dynamics in LQC is described by
a quantum difference equation. However, using geometric methods of
quantum mechanics one can find an effective Hamiltonian of the
form (\ref{classicalH}) that provides an excellent approximation
to the quantum evolution of the states which are semi-classical at
late times~\cite{josh}. One of the features of this Hamiltonian is
the presence of higher order terms in $c$ which arise by
expressing the Hamiltonian in the elements of holonomies. The
effective Hamiltonian contains terms of the form $\sin(\lambda
c)$, which can be thought of as capturing the non-local character
of quantum curvature at leading order in an effective continuum
spacetime~\cite{fn1}.

To capture this key feature of LQC, we will adopt it at an
effective level in the present scenario and perform a
phenomenological polymerization,
 \begin{equation}\label{poly}
c~\to~ \frac{\sin(\lambda c)}{\lambda}\,,
 \end{equation}
which leads to
 \begin{equation}
\mathcal{H}_{\rm eff} = - {3 M_P^2} \frac{\sin^2 (\lambda
c)}{\lambda^2} \, p^{1/2} + \frac{\pi_\phi^2}{2p^{3/2}}\,.
\label{EffHam}
 \end{equation}
For small curvature, $\sin(\lambda c)/\lambda \approx c$,
Eq.~(\ref{EffHam}) reduces to Eq.~(\ref{classicalH}). However
significant departures from classical dynamics are expected when
$\lambda c$ is large. As we show below the effective Hamiltonian
(\ref{EffHam}) leads to classical dynamics where expected, and to
a significant departure from it when the curvature scalar is
large, $R=O(M_P^2)$, producing  a non-singular evolution from the
pre- to the post-big bang.

Let us first consider the Hamilton's equation for $p$,
 \begin{equation}
\dot{p} = \{p,\mathcal{H}_{\rm eff} \} = \frac{2
p^{1/2}}{\lambda}\sin (\lambda c) \cos (\lambda c)
\,,\label{HamEqp}
 \end{equation}
which leads to
 \begin{equation}\label{LQC-nonpert}
H^2 = \frac{\dot p^2}{4 p^2} = \frac{M_P^2}{\beta^2} \,
\sin^2(\lambda c) \, \left[1 - \sin^2(\lambda c) \right].
 \end{equation}
This can be cast in the form of a modified Friedman equation by
using the Hamiltonian constraint ${\cal H}_{\rm eff} \approx 0$,
and Eq.~(\ref{dotphi}) to determine $\sin(\lambda c)$:
 \begin{equation}\label{LQCFRW}
H^2 = \frac{1}{3M_P^2}\,\frac{\dot \phi^2}{2} \, \left(1 -
\frac{\dot
\phi^2/2}{M_*^4}\right),~~M_*=\frac{3^{1/4}}{\sqrt\beta}\,M_P\,.
 \end{equation}
We obtain the Raychaudhuri equation from this by using the
Klein-Gordon equation (or alternatively from Hamilton's equation
for $\dot c$),
 \begin{equation}\label{LQCRai}
\dot{H} = -\frac{1}{2M_P^2} \dot{\phi}^2 \left(1 -
\frac{\dot{\phi}^2}{M_*^4} \right) \,.
 \end{equation}

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=e_phi_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{The
dilaton $\phi(t)$ for the standard PBB (blue, dashed) and the LQC
polymerized (red, solid) models.} \label{e_phi_plot}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=e_H_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{The
Hubble rate $H(t)$ for standard PBB (blue, dashed) and LQC
polymerized (red, solid) models, and the dilaton velocity
$\dot{\phi}(t)$ in standard (black, dashed) and polymerized
(green, solid) models.} \label{e_H_plot}.
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=e_R_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{The Ricci
curvature $R(t)$ for LQC polymerized (red) and standard PBB (blue)
models. } \label{e_R_plot}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

As is evident from the modified Friedman and Raychaudhuri
equations, corrections originating from polymerization die away
rapidly when $\dot \phi^2 \ll M_*^4$. However, when $\dot \phi^2$
is comparable to $M_*^4$, quantum gravity modifications become
significant and lead to a bounce.

The Klein-Gordon equation implies $\dot\phi=\,\pi_\phi/a^3$, and
substituting into Eq.~(\ref{LQCFRW}) we find
 \begin{equation}
\left(\frac{a}{a_0}\right)^6=1+3\frac{M_*^4}{M_P^2}\,t^2\,,
 \end{equation}
where $a_0>0$ is the minimum value of $a$, at $t=0$. Then it
follows that
 \begin{eqnarray}
\phi &=& \sqrt{\frac{2}{3}}\,M_P\sinh^{-1} \left( \frac{\sqrt{3}
M_*^2}{M_P}\,t \right),  \\
H &=& \frac{M_*^4 t}{M_P^2+3M_*^4t^2}\,. \label{Solutions}
 \end{eqnarray}
These solutions are regular for all time, as shown in
Figs.~\ref{e_phi_plot} and \ref{e_H_plot} . The curvature stays
finite through the bounce (Fig.~\ref{e_R_plot}). The scale factor
undergoes a bounce from a phase of accelerated contraction as can
be seen in Fig.~\ref{e_a_plot}. The  kinetic energy of the dilaton
is also regular and well behaved. The maximum dilaton kinetic
energy and Ricci curvature are
 \begin{equation}
\frac{\dot{\phi}_0^2}{2}=M_*^4\,,~~|R_0|=\frac{6M_*^4}{M_P^2}\,.
 \end{equation}

It is important to note that the polymerization (\ref{poly}) is
truly of non-perturbative character in the sense that
$\sin(\lambda c)$ is an infinite series in powers of $\lambda$.
However, by writing Eq.~(\ref{LQC-nonpert}) in the form
(\ref{LQCFRW}), this feature is concealed. Then the term in
Eq.~(\ref{LQCFRW}) that is quadratic in kinetic energy may appear
to originate from a truncation of a series expansion in kinetic
energy of the dilaton. No such truncation has been performed, and
the appearance of the $\dot \phi^4$ term is an artifact of our
expressing the non-perturbative Eq.~(\ref{LQC-nonpert}) in the
form of a modified Friedman equation (\ref{LQCFRW}).

\section{Dynamics in the String Frame}

We have seen that LQG-inspired polymerization of the connection
variable leads to non-singular evolution between the pre-big bang
and the post-big bang in the Einstein frame. A complete
understanding requires analyzing the dynamics in the string frame,
since a reliable solution of the graceful exit problem must work
in both frames~\cite{Gasperini:2002bn}. The string frame action is
 \begin{equation}
\tilde S = -\! \int\! d^4 x \sqrt{-\tilde g}\, e^{-\varphi/M_P}\!
\left[\!\frac{M_P^2}{2} \tilde R + \frac{1}{2}\tilde g^{\mu \nu}
\partial_\mu \varphi \partial_\nu \varphi\!\right]\!. \label{Saction}
 \end{equation}
In an FRW universe, this action gives the equations of motion,
 \begin{eqnarray}
\tilde{H}^2 - \frac{\varphi'}{M_P} \tilde{H}+
\frac{\varphi'^2}{6M_P^2}&=& 0\,, \label{sf}\\
{\tilde{H}'} + \frac{2\varphi'}{M_P} \tilde{H}-
\frac{\varphi'^2}{2M_P^2} &=& 0\,, \label{sr} \\
{\varphi''} +3\varphi'{\tilde{H}} - \frac{\varphi'^2}{M_P} &=&
0\,. \label{SFRWeq}
 \end{eqnarray}
Here a prime denotes a derivative with respect to proper time
$\tilde{t}$ in the string frame, and $\tilde{H} =
\tilde{a}'/\tilde{a}$. The transformation between the Einstein and
string frames is given by
 \begin{eqnarray}
{dt }&=& e^{-\varphi(\tilde{t})/2M_P}\, d\tilde{t}\,,\\ a(t)&=&
e^{-\varphi(\tilde{t}\,)/2M_P}\tilde{a}(\tilde{t}\,)\,,~ \phi(t) =
\frac{1}{\sqrt{2}}\varphi(\tilde{t}\,)\,. \label{transform}
 \end{eqnarray}

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=s_a_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{As in
Fig.~\ref{e_a_plot}, in the string frame.}
 \label{s_a_plot}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

Using these transformations, the LQC modified equations in the
string frame are
 \begin{eqnarray}
\tilde{H}^2 - \frac{\varphi'}{M_P} \tilde{H}  +
\frac{\varphi'^2}{6M_P^2}\left[1 +
e^{\varphi/M_P} \, \frac{\varphi'^2}{ 8M_*^4}\right] &=& 0\,,
\label{sfp} \\
\tilde{H}' +  2\frac{\varphi'}{M_P}\tilde{H} -
\frac{\varphi'^2}{2M_P^2}\left[1+ e^{\varphi/M_P}
\, \frac{\varphi'^2}{4M_*^4}\right] &=& 0\,, \label{srp} \\
{\varphi''} +3\varphi'{\tilde{H}} - \frac{\varphi'^2}{M_P} &=&
0\,.\label{SframeModeq1}
 \end{eqnarray}

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=s_phi_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{As in
Fig. \ref{e_phi_plot}, in the string frame.} \label{s_phi_plot}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=s_H_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{As in
Fig. \ref{e_H_plot}, in the string frame.} \label{s_H_plot}.
\end{center}
\end{figure}

\begin{figure}[tbh!]
\begin{center}
\epsfig{file=s_R_plot.eps,width=8cm,height=7cm} \caption{As in
Fig. \ref{e_R_plot}, in the string frame.} \label{s_R_plot}
\end{center}
\end{figure}

Solutions of Eqs.~(\ref{sfp})--(\ref{SframeModeq1}) are
illustrated in Figs.~\ref{s_a_plot}--\ref{s_R_plot}. The dynamical
evolution in the string frame is such that the Hubble parameter
(and hence the curvature) reaches a maximum and then starts to
decrease, thus providing a graceful exit from the singularity
problem. The dilaton monotonically grows with time as in the
classical PBB scenario, but its slope decreases with time, and its
derivative approaches zero. This opens up an interesting
possibility, as it appears that polymer modifications can possibly
alleviate the problem of late-time stabilization of the
dilaton~\cite{Gasperini:2002bn}. For a more complete
investigation, one needs to study the dynamics with a
non-perturbative potential, which is beyond the scope of the
present work.

\section{Conclusions}

We have shown that LQC inspired polymerization applied to the PBB
scenario leads to a solution of the graceful exit problem, i.e., a
regularization of the singularity that divides the pre- and
post-big bang branches in the PBB case. The polymerization was
performed in the Einstein frame and the resulting modified
dynamical equations were transformed to the string frame. The
graceful exit is achieved both in Einstein and string frame
without any fine tuning of parameters. In addition, the dilaton in
the string frame approaches a constant value at late times. Thus a
phenomenological approach using ideas from LQC within the
string-theory based PBB leads to a resolution of a key problem in
the standard PBB scenario.

We note that, unlike other attempts to construct graceful exit
solutions, which introduce matter that violates the null energy
condition to regularize the
singularity~\cite{Gasperini:1996fu,brus-madd}, our model
regularizes the singularity via gravitational effects, without
needing any null energy condition violating matter. Polymerization
of the connection induces quantum gravitational effects which are
only significant at large curvatures. As the curvature becomes
small they die quickly and lead to classical dynamics at low
curvature scales. Thus in comparison with previous attempts, our
model does not suffer from the lack of classical solutions at late
times and there is a generic graceful exit not only from the
curvature singularity but also to the classical branch.

An important question which arises is whether polymerization has
anything in common with quantum corrections considered so far in
PBB. The appearance of the $\exp(\varphi/M_P)$ factor with the
squared kinetic energy term is notable, since this is apparently
similar to the term obtained by considering one-loop quantum
corrections to the string frame action. With a correction
 \begin{equation}
{\cal L}_q = 2 \frac{(\nabla \varphi)^4}{M_P^4}
\label{stringcorrlagr}
 \end{equation}
added to the  string frame action~\cite{brus-madd}, one obtains a
first order correction to the energy-momentum tensor. This has the
form of a perfect fluid with
 \begin{equation}
\rho_q = 3 \frac{\varphi'^4}{M_P^4},~~p_q =
\frac{\varphi'^4}{M_P^4}\,, \label{stringeos}
 \end{equation}
so that the the equations of motion give
 \begin{eqnarray}
3\tilde{H}^2 - 3\frac{\varphi'}{M_P}\tilde{H} +
\frac{\varphi'^2}{2M_P^2} &=&
e^{\varphi/M_P} \rho_p, \\
\!\!\! 2\tilde{H}' + 3\tilde{H}^2 -\frac{\varphi''}{M_P} +
\frac{2\varphi'}{M_P} \tilde{H}- \frac{\varphi'^2}{2M_P^2} &=&
e^{\varphi/M_P} p_q. \label{stringcorreq}
 \end{eqnarray}
Notice that in this case, $w_q = p_q/\rho_q = 1/3$. By contrast,
using Eqs.~(\ref{sfp})--(\ref{SframeModeq1}), we find that for the
LQC polymerization,
 \begin{equation}
\rho_{\mathrm{poly}} = - \frac{\varphi'^4}{16 M_*^4} \, ,
~p_{\mathrm{poly}} = - \frac{3\varphi'^4}{16 M_*^4}\,,
~w_{\mathrm{poly}} = 3\,. \label{rqpq}
 \end{equation}
Thus it appears not to be possible to re-cast the LQC-inspired
polymerization in terms of a one-loop quantum correction to the
low energy string theory action.

In our phenomenological approach we have exported to PBB scenarios
one of the key features of quantum geometry in non-perturbative
LQC, as understood at the level of an effective continuum
spacetime. In related work on string-based cyclic
models~\cite{cyclic}, the results have been encouraging for the
resolution of singularities, as in the present analysis. However,
these investigations should be viewed as first steps in the
direction of applying insights from non-perturbative quantum
geometry approaches to string-based cosmological models. Various
questions remain open, including an understanding of the relation
of polymerization to an action framework. It is a priori not clear
whether an action with a finite number of terms as understood in
conventional treatments can be written to mimic polymerization at
an effective Hamiltonian level. Another issue is to consider
polymerization of the matter degrees of freedom along with the
gravitational ones. Furthermore, the polymerization considered in
our analysis does not capture effects arising from quantum
properties of states, such as dispersions and skewness, which
although expected to be small in magnitude may provide useful
insights.

We conclude with a remark on the different possible ways to
polymerize, alternative to Eqs.~(\ref{lambdap}) and (\ref{poly}).
Although it is tempting to consider various other choices, for
example treating $\lambda$ as a constant or a function of $p$
different from Eq.~(\ref{lambdap}), it turns out that such
versions of polymerization are ruled out by physical constraints.
Firstly, the alternatives do not lead to classical GR at low
curvature scales, and secondly, they produce unphysical quantum
gravity effects at gauge-dependent scales~\cite{aps2}.
Polymerization based on the correct loop quantization of
cosmological spacetimes~\cite{aps2} does not suffer from these
problems. Apart from the functional dependence in $\lambda$, we
could also consider polymerizations such as $c \rightarrow
2\sin(\lambda c/2)/\lambda$, which may arise from a different
quantization scheme. Any such choice (or a similar trigonometric
form) leads to similar qualitative results, only effecting the
value of $\beta$ in Eq.~(\ref{lambdap}).

\[ \]
{\bf Acknowledgements:} We thank Alejandro Corichi, Aseem
Paranjape, Luca Parisi and Kevin Vandersloot for helpful
discussions, and Maurizio Gasperini for useful comments. GDR is
supported by INFN. The work of RM is partly supported by STFC. PS
is supported by NSF grant PHY-0456913 and the Eberly research
funds of Penn State. He also thanks the Institute of Cosmology \&
Gravitation at Portsmouth for warm hospitality at the beginning of
this work.

\newpage

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


AIM believes in redefining patients movement patterns by integrating both, the art and science of human motion.
AIM envisions to continually reimagine and redefine human motion by taking movement patterns that have been organically acquired through ones' life, work, and sport experiences. By creating a holistic and integrative approach specialized to each patient, allows the prevention, repair, and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal deformities, injuries, and degenerative conditions.
AIM, in partnership with its medical staff, its employees, and other small practice providers, will be the high quality, primary orthopedic surgeon of first choice. Our practice will be recognized as local healthcare professionals dedicated to providing the best care for the surrounding area and community.
WHAT DOES AIM FAST SPORTS MD STAND FOR?