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Labor and Guilds
Golrokh Iraee Calls Citizens to the Defense of Persecuted Activist Soheil Arabi
Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) – Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, a civil rights activist imprisoned at Evin, has written an open letter in response to the recent re-sentencing of Soheil Arabi, a prisoner of conscience in Great Tehran Penitentiary who has been held without furlough since November 7, 2013.
On new charges of "propaganda against the regime" and "disturbing the public mind," Tehran Revolutionary Court Branch 26 sentenced Arabi to three more years of imprisonment and three years of exile on September 22, 2018. Cited as evidence against him were voice files he allegedly sent from inside the prison, in which he can be heard comparing Evin to a torture chamber.
In her letter, Iraee accuses authorities of using the exile sentence to banish dissidents like Arabi from public memory.
Golrokh Iraee pictured here with husband and fellow prisoner of conscience Arash Sadeghi
While behind bars on separate charges in June of this year, Arabi was issued a six-month prison sentence by Judge Moghiseh on charges of "blasphemy" and "propaganda against the regime." The charges stemmed from a case file opened up against Arabi and his ex-spouse Nastaran Naimi, who was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment for "blasphemy" and "aiding and abetting."
Iraee's letter warns the Iranian public that apathy towards the extension of Arabi's detainment would be ignoring symptoms of a malaise for which all Iranian citizens are responsible.
The full text of her letter, translated into English by HRANA, is below:
"He has been behind bars for years without having committed a crime. He is held captive by a vengeful system that has no tolerance for dissenting views, that stifles them instead in bondage, with physical and mental tortures.
Soheil Arabi was first detained on a misunderstanding that devolved into a blasphemy charge. After spending years behind bars and nearing the end of a sentence that tore his family apart (after the immoral and inhumane pressures they submitted him to, to break his spirit), yet another case file emerges, yet another prison sentence is leveled against him. After compounding his suffering with a ban on visits from his daughter, they now want to do with him what they did with Arjang Davoudi and Gholamreza Kalbi: exile him to the middle of nowhere, remove him from public memory, and let his existence perish into the abyss.
After the hunger strikes and beatings he endured in prison, Soheil's condition is worrisome indeed. It is fitting that we be reminded, after commemorating the World Day against the Death Penalty, of Soheil's initial execution sentence. He was made to suffer for a long time under the threat of execution, and the [long-term] imprisonment to which his death penalty was commuted, yet we are still witnessing concerted efforts to annihilate him with continued torture and new case files extending his imprisonment.
This method of eliminating activists, protesters, and dissenters may be the current status quo of the judicial system, but it is critical we consider these actions as the red flags that they are, and that we increase public sensitivity and attract the attention of international organizations so that we can put a stop to the annihilation of political and ideological activists. Abandoning them in this state renders us guilty of spreading the disease of our judicial system, and condoning the repetition of such crimes.
Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, Women's Ward of Evin Prison, October 2018.
Golrokh Iraee was arrested along with her husband on September 6, 2014. She was first held at an IRGC safe house for two days and then spent 20 days in the solitary cells of Evin's Section 2A, which is under IRGC jurisdiction, before being released on a bail of 800 million rials. On October 24, 2016, the IRGC arrested Iraee again, without a warrant. Her husband Arash Sadeghi, who was sentenced to 19 years in prison, is currently in Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison and has undergone operations for cancer. Iraee was sentenced to six years in prison, which was reduced to 2.5 years based on amnesty and Article 134 of the Islamic Penal Code. She was convicted of "insulting the sacred" and "gathering and collusion against the regime."
Tags: Evin Prison, Exile, golrokh iraee, Golrokh Iraei, Golrokh Irayee, Nastaran Naimi, Soheil Arabi, Women's Ward of Evin Prison
Posted in: Freedom of Expression, Prisoners
Mokhtar Asadi kept in exile despite court ruling
HRANA News Agency – Iranian security and intelligence officers have so far ignored a ruling issued by an Iranian court to end Mokhtar Asadi's exile. Asadi is a Kurdish teacher and a member of Teachers Association of Iran as well as Teachers Association of Kurdistan. (more…)
Tags: Exile, Kurdistan, Mokhtar Asadi, Teacher
Posted in: Ethnic Minorities, Labor and Guilds
Injured protesters are facing life threatening infections
15 years imprisonment for two of the arrestees of last November protests
Three days of protests: Iran faced protests after admitting it shot down plane
The Execution of a Juvenile Offender Was Postponed for a Month
Seven Civil Rights Activists Were Imprisoned
Annual Report on Human Rights in Iran- 2019
48 Cases of Child Brides Under the age of 13 Were Registered in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province
Father Was Arrested for Child Abuse in Tehran
The footage of Ghezel Hesar Prisoners' rebellion against death penalty
October to October- Annual review of executions in Iran 2013-2014
Six years imprisonment, a new sentence for Mohammad Ali Taheri
Five citizens killed in police shooting – Pictorial report
The latest list of Political prisoners at Ward 350 Evin Prison
"Masoume Zia" transferred to IRGC Intelligence Ward at Evin
Monthly Report – A Review of the Human Rights Situation in Iran
Maryam Sadat Yahyavi, a Civil Rights' Activist arrested
Video Footage Of A Public Execution In Surak City In Northern Iran
Mandatory Hijab: Fatemeh Mohammadi Was Arrested After Being Harassed
Photo Report: Public Execution in Ghaem Shar, Iran
Video report of public execution of three prisoners in Bandar Abbas
One Prisoner Executed in Babol in Public
Photoreport of Public Executions in Shiraz – Iran
Tweets by @HRANA_English
Copyright © 2020 Hrana – News Agency


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Too Much : How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today
Yayınevi: Little Brown
Lacing cultural criticism, Victorian literature, and storytelling together, Too Much explores how culture corsets women's bodies, souls, and sexualities - and how we might finally undo the strings.
Written in the tradition of Shrill, Dead Girls, Sex Object and other frank books about the female gaze, Too Much encourages women to reconsider the beauty of their excesses - emotional, physical, and spiritual.
Rachel Vorona Cote braids cultural criticism, theory, and storytelling together in her exploration of how culture grinds away our bodies, souls, and sexualities, forcing us into smaller lives than we desire. An erstwhile Victorian scholar, she sees many parallels between that era's fixation on women's 'hysterical' behavior and our modern policing of the same; in the space of her writing, you're as likely to encounter Jane Eyre and Lizzie Bennet as you are Britney Spears and Lana Del Rey. This book will tell the story of how women, from then and now, have learned to draw power from their reservoirs of feeling, all that makes us 'too much'.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Reading: Tragic eruption of Mt Semeru in Indonesia
Tragic eruption of Mt Semeru in Indonesia
This year's volcanic eruption of Mt Semeru has left thousands of people in West Java vulnerable. But this year's volcanic eruption is much worse than last year's.
By News Desk Published December 5, 2022
People fleeing as the volcano erupts turning miles of fields and houses into ashes. Image Credit: Stuff.co
West Java locals in the capital of Jakarta, 400 miles east witnessed the natural disaster on Sunday evening.
Villages around Mt Semeru were put on high alert as there was volcanic activity observed in the tallest volcano in Indonesia. A radius of 8 kilometers was evacuated and people were brought to safety beforehand.
Rainfall in the area caused the volcanic matter to spew relatively higher than normal on 5 December. The next half of the day was relatively safe as there was less rain due to which some of the effects of lava travelling down were deterred.
The volcano erupted on Sunday causing great damage to nearby fields and villages, including infrastructures such as roads and vehicles which were stranded. The smoke and ash covered the day sky for many hours and following it came to the lava which destroyed valuable commodities along the way.
2500 people fled to safety as the catastrophe struck. Videos shot by residents show the incident and its massive impact on the nearby localities. On average the Indonesian people heavily reside along dangerous volcanoes.
The evacuated residents have been delivered to local shelters, hospitals, and public buildings. Fortunately, no deaths have so far been reported. The number of casualties in such conditions is much harder to evaluate since the affected area ranges to almost 12 kilometers in radius. Rescue teams have been employed in the surrounding areas.
Mount Semeru belongs to the family of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia and around the world. It is more than 12,000 ft high. Indonesia is also included in the Ring of Fire which is a 40,000-mile area shared by several countries bordering the Pacific Ocean and is most notorious for its volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
Mt Semeru erupted last year as well, moving similar amounts of people to alternate residences. But this year's volcanic eruption is estimated to be much larger than that of 2021.
Usually, after an eruption of this magnitude, a tsunami follows. There is no evidence of a tsunami yet. However human casualties are fearfully being anticipated. Last year more than 300 people lost their lives due to the eruption.
TAGGED: eruption of Mt Semeru in Indonesia, indonesia volcano eruption, jakarta volcano, mount semeru, mt semeru, volcano eruption, west java volcano
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ACCEPTED

#### According to
Index Fungorum

#### Published in
Hedwigia 27: 104 (1888)

#### Original name
Coniothyrium subcorticale P. Karst.

### Remarks
null

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in the southern hemisphere
Yesterday morning, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild was the first to venture into the famous doldrums. Franck Cammas and Charles Caudrelier, firm fixtures at the head of the Transat Jacques Vabre race for the past six days, approached this zone with a comfortable lead over their rivals, albeit it with the trepidation that colours these fluky latitudes. For 24 hours, they had to battle to keep the boat well trimmed so as not to end up becalmed and keep the blue maxi-trimaran making headway to the south and the way out of the intertropical convergence zone. By late morning this Monday, even though the 32-metre giant was yet to post speeds worthy of her true potential again, they did seem to have extricated themselves from the area. As such, her skippers could turn their attention to the next stage of the programme: the passage into the southern hemisphere this evening and the long tack down to the waypoint of Trindade and Martim Vaz offshore of the Brazilian coast.
First in, first out
Sailors are all too aware of it and that's why they fear this passage where you can never take anything for granted! Indeed, the doldrums can often be unfair, as Charles Caudrelier reminded us yesterday. And although it was a lengthy process, spanning nearly 24 hours, it hasn't caused mayhem at the head of the race. Indeed, the main goal was to be the first to get out and hopefully retain a comfortable lead over their rivals. In this regard, it's fair to say that the 300-mile cushion that the Cammas - Caudrelier duo boasted over the second boat has shrunk considerably, but they've still managed to hold onto a sizeable margin. At 18:00 UTC, it was the crew comprising Armel Le Cléac'h and Kevin Escoffier who had moved up into the second spot some 156.4 miles astern of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild. Furthermore, the trio of Ultimes in hot pursuit of Gitana 17 didn't appear to be out of the ITCZ given the instantaneous speeds at the latest position report.
"It's never really the exit", explained Franck Cammas with a touch of irony at midday, the skipper especially eager to latch onto the SE'ly trade wind and rediscover a steadier rhythm at the head of the race! "There are still a few clouds rolling over us, killing the wind, but things are gradually sorting themselves out… We need to be patient for a little while longer! Up next, we're lined up for 2 days of beating / reaching towards Trindade with a few headsail changes, but in principle there are no major options on the cards. The route looks fairly simple, but we need to be quick and hence highly focused. These are the kind of conditions Charles and I like and they really suit the boat", concluded the skipper from Aix-en-Provence.
Shortly before 19:00 UTC, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild entered the southern hemisphere! And so another race commence with 4,533 miles still left to cover to make the Antilles Arc and the bay of Fort-de-France.
Positions on Monday 15 November at 19:00 UTC
1. Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (F. Cammas / C. Caudrelier) 4,533 miles to the finish
2. Banque Populaire XI (A. Le Cléac'h / K. Escoffier) + 165.7 miles
3. SVR - Lazartigue (F. Gabart / T. Laperche) + 196.1 miles
4. Actual (Y. Le Blevec / A. Marchand) + 210.7 miles
5. Sodebo (T. Coville / T.Rouxel) + 534.4 miles


Die merkliche Wachstumsbeschleunigung, die 2004 in fast allen MOEL zu beobachten war, ging auf unterschiedliche Faktoren zurück. Die meisten Länder verzeichneten ein robustes Wachstum der Binnennachfrage. Die neuen EU-Länder profitierten auch von der relativ guten Konjunktur in der EU 15, die EU Beitrittskandidatenländer Bulgarien und Rumänien von der Steigerung der Zuflüsse an ausländischen Investitionen, die Westbalkanländer von größerer politischer Stabilität und verbesserten Aussichten für die EU-Integration. Russland und die Ukraine schließlich waren vor allem durch die hohen Weltmarktpreise von Energie und Metallen begünstigt.
In 2004, nearly all countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) recorded an acceleration of economic growth and once again outperformed in this respect the EU 15. However, the reasons for this have been different across individual countries. In the new EU member states domestic demand has picked up, Romania and Bulgaria have improved their competitiveness due to the surge in foreign direct investment, the Western Balkans have benefited from greater political stability, whereas Russia and Ukraine have taken advantage of the high world prices for their major export commodities: energy and metals.
The accession of eight CEE countries to the EU on 1 May 2004 was well prepared and has provided an additional growth stimulus to the new EU member states, particularly for agriculture. The migration of labour force from those countries to the EU 15 has been moderate, despite the sizeable income gap and the stubbornly high unemployment, especially in Poland and Slovakia. The Baltic countries and Slovenia have already joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II and are planning to introduce the euro in 2007-08. However, in the remaining new EU member states persistently large public deficits are the main formal obstacle to adopting the euro in the medium term.
The EU accession prospects for the countries of Southeast Europe have improved. Bulgaria and Romania have signed accession treaties with the EU and are expected to join in 2007. Croatia has been given the status of EU accession candidate, and Macedonia has applied for EU membership. Under an optimistic scenario the whole region might become part of the EU as soon as 2015. However, many of these countries face the task of solving the problem of huge foreign debt, which in several cases appears unsustainable.
Russia and Ukraine are recording signs of 'overheating' due to the booming commodity exports and the resulting surge in current account surplus. The general macroeconomic picture is favourable, but serious structural distortions remain untackled, not least due to the rough climate for foreign direct investments.


I'm building up a nice stockpile of these because of various contests, so I thought I'd post them here so they don't end up forever lost in my computer. One post for each, if I can fit them. Feel free to comment if you'd like; this isn't a gallery so much as an organization tool, and I'd love feedback if you're willing to give it.
When an opposing champion plays a card, there's a 33% chance to summon a Kismet's Omen.
"Fortune favors all in equal measure. But perhaps not at the same time."
The post was edited 2 times, last by Legan ( Nov 9th 2017, 4:06pm ).
She crept along the edge of the cliff, stiffening and holding her breath as a small piece of the rock beneath her crumbled underfoot and fell hundreds, thousands of feet to the ground far below.
After a few seconds wherein the rest of the ground held firm, she slowly, cautiously moved towards the sturdier, wider section of cliff just ahead. A sigh of relief was released as her feet touched down upon the firmer ground, even as she savored the brief adrenaline rush. A moment's rest later, and she resumed her forward movement over the even narrower path that came next.
This sort of dangerous journey wasn't unusual for the Highlands Blackbelt- far from it, half her time was spent on such expeditions. Her martial arts styles, created from scratch, took inspiration from the most dangerous creatures in Entrath. Extremely direct inspiration- in order to fully understand what she was making and how each style should work, the Blackbelt insisted on seeking out, observing, and (on occasion) even fighting the monsters she sought to imitate. It had worked quite well thus far- 20 trips had seen 20 styles created, each one meant for different situations, and each preparing her just that much more for anything Entrath could throw at her.
Right now, this saw the young woman inching her way forward across the top of Scarcliff, hoping to reach the nest of the manticore that supposedly lived here. Frankly, the journey itself was looking to be more perilous than anything she had heard about the creature itself, deadly poison or not.
At last, a wide, flat plateau loomed before her. Quietly pulling herself up on to the platform, the young woman spied the prone, snoring body of a lion at the center of a nest, and inwardly began to celebrate.
...until then she saw the goat head.
The Blackbelt's hopes plummeted. This wasn't a manticore at all. It was a chimera, an infamously similar monster that also happened to have a lion's body and batlike wings, but had a snake (an entire snake) instead of a scorpion's tail. More bizarrely, it also had the head of a goat, emerging from the middle of its back- which supposedly also happened to breathe fire, somehow.
A large rock made itself known to the side of the goat's head a few seconds later, causing it to cry out in pain at such treatment.
THAT should have gotten its attention.
Indeed, the goat head's loud, bleating cry at being struck immediately roused the lion and snake, the former of which snarled irritably at having its sleep so rudely interrupted. The tail waved back and forth through the air, undulating as it scanned the area for signs of its attacker. Spying the Blackbelt standing in a ready stance just nearby, the Scarcliff Chimera gave a massive roar before readying its tail and preparing to pounce.
The woman simply grinned in response.
This was the kind of moment she lived for.
Use Blood Sphinx's ability on Adrenaline Rush to copy it when played.
Turn 1: Play a ruby shard.
Turn 2: Draw Crimson Clarity. Play a ruby shard. Play Crimson Clarity to give you an extra resource and ruby threshold. Play Scarcliff Chimera. It has Rage 1.
Turn 3: Draw another Crimson Clarity. Play Crackling Vortex. Play two Crimson Clarity (you are at 5/3). Play Highlands Blackbelt. Play the copied Adrenaline Rush on Blackbelt (Blackbelt appears and adrenaline flows, strong enough for her to defeat Chimera; she is an 8/1 swiftstriker and gets the jump on it). Attack with Chimera for 4.
Turn 4: Draw a ruby shard. Play a ruby shard (you now have five charges). Use Lionel Flynn's power on Blackbelt to make her an 11/1 (strength increased, Sting of the Manticore created). Pay 2 to use Blackbelt's Sting of the Manticore style. Attack for 22 damage (27 damage if we pretend chimera is still around), ending any normal game.
The Highlands Blackbelt stared at the enormous songbird in front of her, trying to figure out if there was something she was missing.
...Perhaps she had expected a little too much of Cerulea's "Phoenix Guard". Never having seen them in person until now, she hadn't realized that... well... this was not exactly what leapt to mind when one thought "phoenix".
While he had been speaking, the young woman had climbed on to the back of the closest songbird and begun to adjust herself in the saddle.
The "Phoenix" took off of its own volition, before its rider could even grab the reigns. She clung desperately to what she could grab of the saddle as the Phoenix ascended to a height of roughly 150 feet, and immediately began circling the city. Eventually, the Blackbelt managed to regain enough of her bearings to pull herself fully in to the saddle and grab the bird's reigns, panting with relief.
Regardless, as she began to calm, the fact that she was literally flying finally began to set in, and the young woman found herself in awe as the bird swept around the city, giving her a full aerial view of Cerulea. Somehow, even the views she'd had from the cliffs of the Highlands could not quite compare to such a scene while in motion.
Impressive as it was though, she needed to look at her mount up close while she had the chance. She wouldn't be able to create anything fancy after only seeing its basic flying patterns, but it would be enough for a start.
Unfortunately, there was a slight problem in that she couldn't steer and watch her mount at the same time- not very easily, at least. Perhaps this wasn't going to work after all... but, she was determined to try anyways.
After about a minute of this less-than-effective observation, a voice called out from the young woman's right.
The Blackbelt looked off the direction the voice had come from and spotted a woman on her own phoenix, flying beside her with a trained ease.
"Do you know how?" the Phoenix Guard Trainer called over the wind.
The Blackbelt shook her head.
could do so later on.
Yes, this definitely could still work.
As they approached the ground, the trainer began to call out instructions on how she should move to land the phoenix. It wasn't exactly easy, but the Blackbelt did manage to pull it off, albeit in a way that resulted in her bird giving her a very irritated looking glare as soon as she dismounted.
The Blackbelt shook her head and smiled.
The Blackbelt turned to see the guard who'd initially led her in to the training compound running towards her, his face red with a mix of exertion and anger.
The Blackbelt gave the trainer a quick, slightly embarrassed smile before turning and running for the gates.
Use Blood Sphinx's passive ability to double the effect of Crimson Clarity.
Turn 1: Play a sapphire shard.
Turn 2: Draw Time Ripple. Play a ruby shard. Play the doubled Crimson Clarity to get to 6/2 and three ruby threshold. Play Supporting Fire. Play Highlands Blackbelt. Play Time Ripple to put Highlands Blackbelt back in your hand (such is the length of the journey that it certainly feels as much- or at least, I'm assuming the Highlands are a fair distance away from Cerulea).
Turn 4: Start at 6/3 due to Supporting Fire. Draw Air Superiority. Activate Urgnock's charge power to make Highlands Blackbelt a 3/1. Activate Wings of the Phoenix on Highlands Blackbelt (I mean, you COULD use Sting of the Manticore, but that wouldn't make much sense in the context). Play Air Superiority (Phoenix style has been created, strength is gained due to incorporation of "flight" tactics). Attack with both her and Phoenix Guard Trainer for 7 damage and an 1 additional damage to the opponent's (nonexistent) troops.
The Highlands Blackbelt steeled herself as she stood at the forest's edge, reflecting on why she was here to begin with, if only to keep her mind occupied.
By any account, this would be an extremely dangerous venture. To approach a dragon, even the ones that were not particularly foul tempered, was a huge risk for anyone, of any size or skill. Especially those without any magic. Her father, normally a major advocate of her journeys, had even tried to talk her out of this particular one. Surely she could just infer the manner of its movements, fully flesh out the style without direct observation of the creature it was based on, just this once.
But she couldn't. Oh, not that it was physically or mentally impossible. But it would never feel complete without this. If she wanted the style to imitate all that a dragon had to offer, she had to have reference of a dragon to imitate. It was as simple as that.
She had done everything she could to be cautious about this. Of the dragons whose locations were actually known, all but two had been almost immediately thrown out. This had quickly narrowed down her options to Jadiim, the wild dragon of Feralroot, or Zakiir, the former wild dragon of Feralroot. From what she'd been able to gather, Zakiir had at some point changed from a wild dragon to a ruby one, and subsequently been chased, along with his followers, in to Ashwood. She'd been leaning towards trying to find him, being the more destructive, but slightly less territorial of the two- up until it had been pointed out that "slightly less" really didn't mean much when it came to dragons, and actually getting to Zakiir would be much more dangerous, as the Ashwood elves were notoriously aggressive.
So, Jadiim it was. Hence her current position, standing at the boundaries of Feralroot forest.
She couldn't dawdle forever. It was time to find what she had come here for. Taking a deep breath, the Blackbelt took her first step in to Feralroot.
The young woman spun on her heel, immediately falling in to the flexible, evasive opening stance of the shin'hare style. Her eyes scanned the surrounding area... and saw nothing. Where...?
Her gaze moved south to the top of a small mushroom, where a small blue fae with a long bushy tail and a patchy green suit sat smoking a pipe, a wide smile on his face. No wonder she had missed him, he couldn't have been taller than her knee- even including his large top hat.
"Tis' been quite a while since I've seen someone try to venture in to Feralwood alone." the fae stated, still smoking.
The Blackbelt didn't respond, but began to back away, wary despite this fae's small size.
The fae stood, dusted himself off, and disappeared in to the foliage. The Blackbelt remained where she stood, slightly confused.
Had... had that been all he had to say?
Fickle creatures, the fae. It only made them more dangerous. But her nerves were gone now, at least.
Thus, without further ceremony, the Highlands Blackbelt entered the forest of Feralroot.
For the past half hour, the young woman had been heading through the forest in a straight line. Strangely enough, she had not encountered any other sentient life as of yet. Though that was partially due to the sheer breadth of the forest, and likely to some extent the extremely isolationist nature of the elves that made up the majority of the "sentient" category, it was still quite strange that she had not come across even a single Satyr or Dryad as of yet.
Perhaps it had something to do with her unwanted tagalong.
The notion that the fae had left peacefully had quickly been dispelled upon her entering the forest. He'd popped back in a minute later, dressed in a slightly different suit, and then proceeded to follow her relentlessly while asking her an endless string of riddles.
The answer to this latest one was the letter m, obviously. The riddles had started out extremely obscure and challenging, but had gradually dropped in difficulty to roughly this level as she continually refused to answer any of them. She was quite certain that any response beyond flat silence would do nothing but encourage him.
She couldn't outrun him for some reason, as he always seemed to reappear at her back. Reasoning didn't seem to work either- when she'd asked why he was following her, he'd replied that perhaps she, was in fact, following him, and had he mentioned yet that it was in fact quite rude of her to be doing so? Asking the fae which way it was to the nearest landmark resulted in either him pointing in several different directions while holding a massive grin, or holding the answer hostage with (what else?) a riddle. Talking with him was evidently pointless. Thus the Blackbelt was seemingly stuck with him until he got bored of her stonewalling his questions and left.
A noise from off to her right had the young woman standing in a ready stance again, this time the opening of the manti style, before the originator of the sound gallumphed through the trees and revealed itself to be a succulent cluckodon- generally known for their quality taste, not threat level. It was the type with an avian head and a dinosaur's body anyways, which were generally less dangerous than the reverse.
Sensing an opportunity to rest her legs and still make forward motion for a while, the Blackbelt crept to the side before the four legged creature could see her, and began to stalk up on it from behind.
She might have screamed, half in panic and half in frustration, would it not have alerted her prospective mount. The fae had somehow gotten on her shoulder without her noticing, and on top of that he was still asking her riddles, when she was trying to be quiet and stealthy.
There was a loud SNAP next to her ear, and then she was looking ahead not at a chicken headed dinosaur, but a rhinoceros of roughly equivalent size. How did-?!
The Blackbelt shuddered as the fae smiled widely at her from her shoulder, laughing before jumping down.
The fae's voice actually sounded a little shocked as the young woman broke from stealth and charged the rhino from behind, jumping on to its back and sending it in to a panic. The beast blindly began charging forward, knocking aside any trees in its path, with the Blackbelt still hanging on to its back- albeit with some difficulty.
The Blackbelt grimaced as the small blue creature spoke from behind her, somehow having gotten on board her mount before it had taken off. What exactly did it take to shake him...?
Her statement was met with silence,which the Blackbelt found odd given the fae's propensity for talking. Long seconds ticked past until finally, there was a response.
The tone was odd, almost serious. It was bizarre, coming from a voice she'd already come to associate with constant, near manic glee.
The young woman's sentence cut out mid way as the rhino beneath her was suddenly replaced by a breeze of wild magic, sending her sprawling in to the grass in a tangle of limbs, her head facing the partially canopy-covered sky above. The fae quickly made his way in to her limited side vision before she could recover enough of her bearings to get up.
The Blackbelt squinted and sat up, confused. Why would he even care?
The response was short, blunt, and swift.
The young woman was taken aback at the change in tone this conversation had taken, but replied all the same.
The fae was silent for a moment.
The small blue man's frown abruptly flipped in to a grin, one that spread further across his face than any the Blackbelt had seen as of yet, stopping just one step short of malevolent.
There was an anticlimactic pause that lasted roughly two seconds before a massive wind swept over the portion of forest they were standing in, blowing the Blackbelt to the ground once again. Through the waving canopy of branches, the shadow of an enormous emerald wing flew over, followed by another shockwave that would have blown the young woman back to the ground, had she not already been splayed out upon it.
And then it was gone. Over, as if it had never been.
The Blackbelt was too stunned to respond. The fae grinned.
Another SNAP, and suddenly she was outside the forest.
Seconds ticked past as the Blackbelt remained on the ground, trying to process what had just happened. Eventually, slowly, she stood, and briefly shivered.
Perhaps she COULD just create the dragon style without observation.
Just make it up wholesale.
Have Gardener's Hat equipped (Chlorophyllia costs 1 to play).
Turn 1: Play a wild shard. Play both Chlorophyllia (you now have 1/3 and 3 charges).
Turn 2: Draw Succulent Cluckodon. Play a ruby shard. Play Highlands Blackbelt. Play Jovial Pippit.
Turn 3: Use Jovial Pippit's ability on Succulent Cluckodon to turn it in to a Rhinoceros. Draw Chlorophyllia but do NOT play it. Play the Rhinoceros. Do not attack. (but feel free to imagine Blackbelt wrangling the rhino).
Turn 4: Use Jovial Pippit's ability on Chlorophyllia (the "rhino-turned-wild-magic") to turn it in to Jadiim. Draw a wild shard. Play a wild shard. Play Jadiim. There are no resources left to play the Highlands Blackbelt in your hand (she is no longer in Feralroot). Do not attack.
Welcome back, child. Have you come prepared to listen, this time?
I shall not blame you if you choose to leave again. I certainly would do the same, were I given the option.
Shall we start at the beginning? It seems as if there would be little point... perhaps, given the end of our last meeting, I should tell you of how others who have gained this knowledge reacted to it.
Some simply refuse to accept their existence, either unable or unwilling to believe the truth. In their ignorance, they are blessed, for they may proceed through life unburdened, other than a persistent belief that the upper echelons of the Cerulea government are collectively quite mad. It is for this reason that I believed you wiser when you turned away before, and refused to hear my words- only fools choose to learn this of their own volition.
mechanism than anything else- that which you believe can visualize is infinitely less frightening than that which you can not, after all.
...I see that look in your eye. You agree with them, do you? That we should plan to face them when they arrive? Hah, much as I wish that was possible, it is not. Fight them? You cannot fight them. None of us can. To fight them would require the mortal mind to be able to process them. Their mere existence is anathema to our senses. They do not see you as an enemy; they do not even consider you to be relevant. Keep that well in mind.
the purest religion to exist on Entrath as it stands. The primals are not gods, but They... They are perhaps the closest thing to that idea which mortals could ever, will ever know.
You think I exaggerate? You think they cannot be considered such; that they have no influence here? Tell me, child, do you recall the former high warlock of Cerulea? You wouldn't even have been out of cadet training yet I imagine, certainly not an apprentice yet, but you may have glimpsed him on occasion. Do you remember the bags beneath his eyes, the pallor of his skin in the months before his death? Astoria was a personal friend of mine, so I am very well aware that every night for over half a year, he was tormented by dreams, nightmares that THEY sent. They drained him, sapped the life from his bones and the sanity from his mind. Each and every night They waged war on his very soul, until, finally, inevitably, it gave out. We traced what afflicted him to its source through our magic, but our efforts at stopping Them were futile. We poured over what little is known, agonized over spells and cures as we tried to expunge their presence from his mind- but once they have grasped on to something, they do not let go. In the end, Astoria died a broken man, begging for a death we had little choice but to grant him.
...But that is not the worst of it. When he finally may have found peace in the afterlife, his body was taken, stolen away not by the Necrotic, but by THEM. His corpse, twisted beyond all recognition in to that... thing the catalogers have taken to calling the "Eldritch Dreamer". Which I find to be rather funny- the name is meant to be singular, as if Astoria was an isolated case. But he is NOT. You think he is the only one they have taken to use as a temporary proxy? You think he is the only puppet they have ever created?! Countless have been lost to the throes of madness, and we can do nothing more for them but lock them away, while we fruitlessly search for some solution! We are not speculating here child, They have LONG been spreading their influence throughout Entrath, and it grows, it grows EVERY DAY, DO NOT SPEAK TO ME AS IF YOU KNOW BETTER!
…I am sorry. I know you were unaware. But this is not this is not something you can avoid once you have learned of it. You cannot rationalize it away as some concocted falsehood, as seeing things not there. They are real, and their presence, if not their bodies, are here.
Let me tell you of another. Almost a century ago, there was a man named Wilcox. He was lured, guided beyond his knowledge in to the perfect position to steal a certain artifact. Do you know the artifact I speak of? If you do not, I shall refrain from saying its name, for knowledge of it is best left forgotten, so as to reduce the chance it ever is taken again.
Wilcox successfully thieved away the artifact, spirited it out from under the noses of those who thought to keep it safe. But he did not understand why he had stolen it, not truly. They were behind his every action, pushing their influence in to him through the artifact, and had Wilcox not been discovered and stopped, the item he possessed would have torn the gap asunder; let them loose in to this reality completely. For that is their main goal... and much as I hate to say it, it is going to happen, someday.
I say this not because I have given up, child. Do not think I am simply a senile old man, resigned to a fate of oblivion. I say this because stopping them is simply not possible. They can be held back, yes, but there is no way to kill them; no way to destroy them permanently and prevent the coming end. No defense is perfect, no method is foolproof, and we barely have one as it stands. It is not being passive, it is being realistic.
When will it happen? I know not, nor does anyone else. But happen it will. They are timeless, while Entrath is not. They cannot be held back forever, and one day they WILL breach the walls that hold them back. Always, they are lingering at the fringe, clamoring at the borders, pushing in on reality like a slowly tightening noose.
What do they want? Again, we cannot know, other than their ravenous desire to rupture and swarm through the boundaries of our universe. But if you are asking my opinion, it is not us, nor our destruction they seek- or at least, not that alone. This planet is not the destination- it is only the beginning; the nexus through which they seek to pass. Entrath? What would they care of merely Entrath, when the universe is so much more...?
Hmm? The Void Society? Well, aren't you well informed. I know not how you learned of their dealings in this regard, but you are correct. The society has dedicated itself to pushing Them back, forbidding them entry to this world. When one of Them breaks through, the society rebuffs it, forces it back and seals the gap before others may follow- we likely have them to thank for the fact that the state of affairs is not far worse than it is now.
But They... They are an unstoppable force, and the Society not an immovable object. It costs them, each time they do this, and as the only ones who can do so their forces will one day fall from sheer attrition. They know, just as well as we do, that they are fighting a losing battle.
...that look in your eyes is still there. I can see you're not convinced... Child. If you take away one thing from this, it is that They are not an enemy you can fight. They are the unfathomable void, the darkness beyond reality. You could no sooner fight a concept than fight the eldritch horrors that reside just beyond our view. You will waste what precious time you have on a vain, futile dream. They are aliens, gods, monsters beyond all mortal conception. What must I say to make you turn from the course I know you are about to take?
...Is there truly nothing? Nothing at all?
...very well. I believe our talk is over, then. You had best go report to your master. I'm sure she will congratulate you on being willing to listen to this- after all, she intends to fight them as well.
I pray, child, that you never know the arrival of the Chaostouched.
For They are inevitability itself.
The post was edited 1 time, last by Legan ( Feb 23rd 2017, 9:40am ).
Harmonize 3: Troops in Harmony with this have this troop's other keywords.
At the start of your turn, you may choose a rarity. Symphona, Monarch of Tiny Hollow becomes that rarity.
At the end of your turn, you may give Symphona, Monarch of Tiny Hollow cost+1 or cost-1.
Harmonize _: Apply the following effect to all troops you control that share _ or more of this troop's qualities (ie. A trait, a threshold, rarity, attack, defense, and cost).
A troop can be taken out of Harmony with another by removing one from the field, or by removing/changing enough qualities of either troop to make them fall out of Harmony with the other (attack and defense buffs/debuffs, cost alteration, etc). The same method works to bring troops in to Harmony with each other.
Allegiance does not qualify as a quality, because the only cards that have Harmonize are unaligned/neutral (in a similar manner to how Valor and Dreadlings are Ardent/Underworld exclusive). Is is the prerequisite which allows Harmony to occur at all, so to speak.
Symphona is part of a theoretical set (see rarity/set symbol) taking place a good ways in to the Herofall war. To summarize, Herofall has already made it evident that the neutral creatures of Entrath have it little better than those actually fighting. Some are being used as war machines (Siegesaurus), others have died just from being caught up in the conflict (Casualty of War), and whole locations that many used to call their home have been destroyed (Horrors of War). But the Ardent and the Underworld don't care. For what seems like an eternity, they simply continue their fighting, inflicting loss upon loss and casualty upon casualty on each other, heedless of anything and everything else.
...and thus they are ill-prepared to respond when an entirely new "faction" appears out of nowhere, striking both sides with equal ferocity. It is only after they have already lost a great deal to this unknown foe that the two sides gather themselves enough to understand what is going on. That is, that the majority of the sapient unaligned creatures of Entrath (the fae, the manti, the elementals, the woolvir, etc.) have united and collectively decided to take action. The Ardent and the Underworld's endless fighting has scarred the land irrevocably, and the threat they present to not only the neutral races, but the planet itself, can no longer be ignored.
The post was edited 3 times, last by Legan ( Nov 9th 2017, 4:08pm ).
After all that i feel bad just saying just "nice work"... but well, nice work. Keep on keeping on.
Deploy - You may set another target troop you control's attack or defense equal to this troop's.
"We shall teach them the folly of imperiling this world."
A continuation of my Symphona design/set, which I thought would be fun to do. This particular fae has teamed up with an elemental- I thought it would be cool to bring back the "groups", which we currently only have four of at the time of this writing, especially considering how Harmonize works. To note, Harmonize has been tweaked in wording since the last time, and now reads as follows.
Harmonize _: If you control a troop that shares _ or more of this troop's qualities (ie. A trait, a threshold, rarity, attack, defense, and cost), apply the following effect to both troops.
Note that a troop can Harmonize with any number of other troops if they meet the requirements, but the effect only activates once per troop (ex. If this was out with two Dandelion Sprites, which share a wild threshold, the fae trait, and the uncommon rarity with this, it would be in harmony with both, but would only become a 4/4, not a 5/5). The effect can be removed by making the troops stop sharing enough requisite qualities with each other (ie. attack/defense is changed), or just plain removing one of them from the board.
Utremeld also did some lovely fanart of this card!


Following the recent replacement of the statistics office chief, the ongoing dispute concerning the Moon Jae-in administration's income-led growth initiative has now expanded into an argument on the credibility of key economic indicators here.
While the presidential office and the ruling party held the statistics office liable for a sampling flaw, the opposition camp claimed that the administration was deceiptfully trying to cover up its thwarted economic strategies.
"Statistics cannot be generated in assumption of a specific context," Statistics Korea Commissioner Kang Shin-wook told reporters Tuesday after his inauguration, underlining the political neutrality of the office.
The new chief had been appointed earlier to replace predecessor Hwang Soo-kyeong, whose sudden dismissal drew suspicions that Cheong Wa Dae was exerting pressure on the statistics office for "tailored" economic indexes.
Further amplifying the conspiracy theory was the discontented remark by the former statistics office head.
"I was not much of an obedient type, I suppose," Hwang said in a press interview, shortly after her farewell ceremony.
Statistics Korea's quarterly report on household income earlier showed that the average wage of the lower 20 percent income bracket dipped further, rekindling doubts over Moon's income-led economic growth agenda.
The office issued an additional set of press releases, underlining the differences in the sampling of households, but combined with the nation's struggling employment indexes, these income figures delivered a heavy blow to Cheong Wa Dae's policy legitimacy and the president's approval rating.
In the second week of August, President Moon's rating hit 58.1 percent, the lowest since he took office in July last year, while that of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea came down to 40.6 percent, according to local pollster Realmeter.
Though partly attributable to an online opinion-rigging scandal involving a close presidential aide, the downtrend was mostly due to a series of pessimistic economic indicators, according to observers.
"Appointing (the previous commissioner last year), Cheong Wa Dae claimed that she was the right person to support the income-led policy as a reform-minded economist," said Rep. Joo Ho-young of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party.
Household survey data were slated to be abolished starting this year, due to a decreasing response rate, especially from high-income households.
But the incumbent government revived the survey system late last year, in the hope that results might show a rebound in household income and thereby add fuel to the income-led growth agenda.
In the process, the number of sample households was raised back to 8,000 from 5,500 to improve the accuracy of the results and to better reflect the demographic changes of the nation.
The consequent increase of single households and elderly families -- which tend to account for low-income units -- was a key reason for the sudden income decrease shown in the data, according to the presidential office and the ruling party.
"Statistics are at all times subject to various interpretations, and the demographic change in the sampling households may possibly have affected the outcome (of the survey)," said Woo Seok-jin, a professor of economics at Myongji University.


The top diplomats of Japan and South Korea are closing ranks on their demand that North Korea return to negotiations to end its nuclear weapons programs. After a meeting in the South Korean capital, Tokyo's foreign minister also offered regrets aimed at soothing historical Korean grievances.
The foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan demanded Thursday North Korea come back unconditionally to six-nation talks aimed at getting rid of its nuclear weapons capability.
After talks with his Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada, South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan downplayed Pyongyang's recent demands for international sanctions to be lifted before it returns to talks.
He says South Korea and Japan share the view that North Korea should first return to six-party talks, and that there should be "practical progress" on scaling back its nuclear programs.
North Korea also recently repeated its demands for peace treaty negotiations for the Korean peninsula as a condition for disarmament. A 1953 armistice ended three years of fighting after North Korea invaded the South, but the conflict was never formally concluded.
More than four years ago, North Korea signed an agreement with China, Russia, Japan, South Korea and the United States on getting rid of its nuclear weapons. In return, it was to get benefits such as aid and eventually peace negotiations. Since then, North Korea has tested two nuclear devices.
Washington says no peace treaty is possible with the North until there is substantial progress on the nuclear issue. Likewise, South Korean officials describe North Korea's demands for peace negotiations as premature and unhelpful.
The South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers said Thursday their two countries' relationship is becoming "closer than ever."
Minister Okada offered a statement of regret on the part of his government for Japan's colonial rule of the Korean peninsula.
He says, 100 years ago Japan deprived Koreans of their nation and left a great wound on their national pride. He says we should not forget the pain of the victims of that period.
Korea spent the first half of the twentieth century under harsh Japanese rule. The governments of both North and South Korea have accused Japan in the past of failing to atone sufficiently for that time, and glossing over the era in its school textbooks.


text:
Respiratory Research
Table 1 Demographics, severity of disease, clinical, laboratory, radiological findings on admission, microbiology and empiric antibiotic therapy of the study population, according to the three study groups
From: Phenotyping community-acquired pneumonia according to the presence of acute respiratory failure and severe sepsis
p (Among 3 groups)
p (Group B vs. Group C)
n. (%) 954 (100) 771 (100) 420 (100)
Male, n. (%) 451 (47) 368 (48) 186 (44) 0.492 0.255
Age, median (IQR) years 67 (47–81) 75 (61–83) 75 (61–84) <0.001 0.868
Comorbidities, n. (%)
Congestive heart failure 148 (16) 170 (22) 103 (25) <0.001 0.332
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 139 (15) 237 (31) 115 (27) <0.001 0.225
Diabetes mellitus 111 (12) 118 (15) 61 (15) 0.069 0.731
Cerebrovascular disease 83 (9) 93 (12) 70 (17) <0.001 0.027
Chronic renal failure 63 (7) 63 (8) 68 (16) <0.001 <0.001
Liver disease 52 (6) 27 (4) 32 (8) 0.008 0.002
Residency in a nursing home 46 (5) 63 (8) 54 (13) <0.001 0.009
Severity on admission, n. (%)
PSI Risk Class IV and V 332 (35) 464 (60) 343 (82) <0.001 <0.001
CURB-65 score 3, 4 and 5 127 (13) 198 (26) 231 (55) <0.001 <0.001
Admission to ICU 6 (0.6) 54 (7) 90 (21) <0.001 <0.001
Physical findings on admission, median (IQR)
Systolic blood pressure, mmHg 127 (112–145) 130 (115–150) 108 (85–133) <0.001 <0.001
Diastolic blood pressure, mmHg 70 (64–80) 71 (62–80) 60 (50–72) <0.001 <0.001
Heart rate, beats/minute 95 (83–107) 100 (85–114) 110 (100–120) <0.001 <0.001
Respiratory rate, breaths/minute 20 (18–26) 24 (20–30) 30 (24–34) <0.001 <0.001
SpO2,% 96 (95–97) 92 (89–95) 90 (85–93) <0.001 <0.001
Laboratory values, median (IQR)
Arterial pH 7.45 (7.42-7.48) 7.44 (7.40-7.48) 7.39 (7.31-7.46) <0.001 <0.001
PaO2/FiO2 ratio 339 (318–378) 256 (216–279) 229 (182–276) <0.001 <0.001
PaCO2, mmHg 33 (29–38) 36 (31–42) 36 (30–48) <0.001 0.164
Respiratory acidosis, n. (%) 0 (0) 59 (8) 47 (13) <0.001 0.014
White blood cells, cell/L−1 11900 (8238–16300) 12790 (9100–17000) 144000 (9993–19000) <0.001 0.001
Platelet, cell/L−1 232000 (182000–300500) 237000 (186500–317000) 233000 (166750–307250) 0.054 0.028
Hemoglobin, g/dL 13 (12–14) 13 (12–14) 13 (11–14) 0.010 0.021
Hematocrit,% 39 (36–42) 40 (37–44) 39 (34–43) <0.001 0.001
Urea, mg/dL 37 (27–54) 45 (31–64) 63 (42–103) <0.001 <0.001
Creatinine, mg/dL 0.9 (0.8-1.2) 1.0 (0.8-1.2) 1.2 (0.9-1.9) <0.001 <0.001
Sodium, mEq/L 137 (134–139) 137 (134–139) 136 (133–140) 0.650 0.409
Glucose, mg/dL 105 (73–128) 113 (74–148) 101 (65–149) 0.002 0.035
Radiology findings on CXR, n. (%)
Multilobar involvement 161 (18) 195 (28) 141 (36) <0.001 0.003
Pleural effusion 204 (22) 150 (20) 100 (24) 0.209 0.078
Microbiological findings, n. (%)
Patients with isolated bacteria 184 (19) 198 (26) 141 (34) <0.001 0.004
Polymicrobial infection 3 (2) 8 (4) 4 (3) 0.369 0.547
Patients with > = one MDR pathogen 17 (4) 20 (5) 22 (8) 0.015 0.060
S. pneumoniae 90 (49) 114 (58) 64 (45) 0.064 0.027
S. aureus 15 (8) 19 (10) 23 (16) 0.049 0.064
Legionella pneumophila 16 (9) 16 (8) 5 (4) 0.156 0.088
Respiratory viruses 11 (6) 12 (6) 13 (9) 0.439 0.273
Atypicals 31 (17) 22 (11) 9 (6) 0.014 0.137
H. influenzae 17 (9) 14 (7) 7 (5) 0.328 0.419
Empiric antibiotic therapy, n. (%)
Levofloxacin 287 (30) 234 (30) 106 (25) 0.133
Ceftriaxone 348 (37) 324 (42) 145 (35) 0.015
Amoxicillin (clavulanate) 295 (31) 218 (28) 148 (35) 0.045
Azithromycin 230 (24) 189 (25) 72 (17) 0.007
Clarithromycin 198 (21) 211 (27) 152 (36) <0.001
Piperacillin/tazobactam 34 (3.6) 44 (5.7) 43 (10) <0.001
Antibiotics compliant with local guidelines 731 (81) 595 (79) 328 (79) 0.606 0.933
Length of hospital stay, median (IQR) days 6 (3–11) 9 (6–14) 12 (7–21) <0.001 0.004
In-hospital mortality, n. (%) 43 (4.2) 72 (9.3) 108 (26) <0.001 <0.001
n: number; IQR: 25–75 interquartile range; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CAP: community-acquired pneumonia; PSI: pneumonia severity index; ICU: intensive care unit; CXR: chest radiograph; ESBL: extended-spectrum beta-lactamase; MDR: multidrug resistant (including methicillin-resistant S. aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistant to antipseudomonal penicillins, cephalosporins, carbapenems, and quinolones, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, Acinetobacter baumanii, extended spectrum b-lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae, and other non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli); SpO2: oxygen saturation; PaO2: partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood; PaCO2: partial pressure of carbon dioxide in arterial blood. +Hypotension defined as Systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure < 60 mm Hg. Differences in continuous variables were monitored with Kruskal-Wallis test (three groups) and Mann–Whitney U Test differences (two groups); differences in proportions were monitored with ANOVA (three groups) and the chi square test (two groups).
Group A: Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) patients with neither acute respiratory failure (ARF) nor severe sepsis (SS) on admission. Group B: CAP patients with only ARF on admission. Group C: CAP patients with both ARF and SS on admission.


Well hello, I hope you have had a good week. I have had a very busy work week but still managed to read some cracking good books. I am still enjoying Ilona Andrew's free serial from the Innkeepers series One Fell Sweep. I have almost started to think that the Inn Keeper, Dina is surpassing my fave heroine, Kate Daniels. Shock horror! Reading last week's instalment has spurred me on to having an Ilona Andrews re-read-a-thon. I re-read both novellas from the Kinsmen series, a set of Curran POVs, Sweep in Peace, Magic Stars, Magic Mourns, and Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels #3). But what else did I read?
I received a copy of the novella A Song for No Man's Land which is set mainly in France during WWI. I used to read a lot of WWI literature after reading Pat Barker's The Regeneration trilogy. At one point I was reading books about WWI, going to plays about it and listening to music from the period. I rather burnt out on this tragic period of history until I came across Andy Remic's story of Robert Jones of the 3rd Battalion of Welsh Fusilliers. This could be viewed as just a traditional story of the horror of war in the trenches but it is more than just that. The story starts right at the brink of the war and goes back a decade when Robert Jones was a young boy exploring the woods near his home. He encounters the Skogsgra - a mythical tree-like being who declares that he is destined to be a hero and fight in a war that crosses not just one world but two. Jones is partnered with another soldier Bainbridge and the two discovers the true atrocities of the war and fight not just defeat the enemy.
I liked this book but just when I thought I knew what was going on Remic totally confused me with the ending. I thought that he realistically portrayed the horrors of the battles and the beasts he discovered in No Man's Land were frightening indeed. I guess I couldn't see the value of introduction of Jone's childhood friend Webb into the war or the plot overall. Perhaps that will become clear in further stories about Robert Jones. I absolutely LOVE the cover. Creepy and gorgeous in equal measure.
The second book I want to tell you about is Alternate by Ernie Luis (which is my own copy). Grey is an assassin, not just any assassin. He travels through time to ....well kill people. He is a sad an lonely man who has turned to alcohol to help him get over the tragic death of his wife and young daughter and when he discovers a way to go back in time to save his daughter he is willing to do anything and everything to save her.
For those of you who read my WIR will know I am a bit dubious about time travel stories especially when they diverge from Star Trek's view of time travel. I did enjoy Luis's time traveling tale but did think it was very similar to the plot of the movie Looper. Grey was a tragic character and the story behind the existence of the time traveling gates and the assassins was an interesting and twisted tale but well constructed nonetheless. This is a quick and easy read and well worth the time.
That is it for me this week. I hope you have some good books to tide you through the week ahead. Unless next time happy reading.
He signed up to fight with visions of honour and glory, of fighting for king and country, of making his family proud at long last.
But on a battlefield during the Great War, Robert Jones is shot, and wonders how it all went so very wrong, and how things could possibly get any worse.
He'll soon find out. When the attacking enemy starts to shapeshift into a nightmarish demonic force, Jones finds himself fighting an impossible war against an enemy that shouldn't exist.
Andy Remic's A Song for No Man's Land is the first in an ongoing series.
His daughter died when she was eight years old.
He joined a secret time traveling organization soon after.
Now, almost a decade later, he still clings to their promise.
The promise that they'd let him go back and stop his daughter from ever dying.


I am letting the subconscious take its turn to bring up ideas and thoughts about this next song and just let things come out and when you do that sometimes unexpected things come into focus. It seems that the more you let go and trust in brainstorming etc. that the possibilities are endless. I brought up a flush of ideas one seemed to keep nagging at me for more attention than the rest. The idea I liked the most was about makin a livin and I decided to go with that one and if you listen to the song you will get the full story I am trying to convey.


A suburban community in the St. Louis area, Warson Woods, Missouri, is situated between Ladue and Glendale, sitting on less than one square mile in St. Louis County. The town is a small and wealthy one, with a population said to be just over 1,800 in 2008, and the median household annual income in the city estimated at almost $100,000 in 2007, with a median value of houses and condos in the area at more than $400,000. The city has actually experienced a slight decline in its population since the 2000 census, at 6 percent.
The community is divided into four districts. It was incorporated in 1936 and named Royal Oak, but because of confusion with a town by that same name in Michigan, the town's board voted in 1941 to change the city's name toWarson Woods. Joseph White, a resident, began building the Warson Village Shopping Center in 1948 and built a second section onto the center in 195. The shopping area was purchased in 1994 by investors who then built the newWarson Woods Shopping Center.
Warson Woods is about 15 miles west of St. Louis and just south of I-64. Education employs about 15 percent of the town's population, health care employs another approximately 10 percent, finance and insurance 10 percent, and professional, scientific and technical services 15 percent .The workforce is highly skilled and educated. Young people who grow up inWarson Woods will be assigned to attend public schools within either the Kirkwood and Webster school districts. There are also private schools in town: the K-6 Rohan Woods school and the K-8 Saint Genevieve DuBois Catholic school.
Parks in the city include Royal Oaks Park, Dreher Park and Sundial Park. Other attractions include the Warson Woods Tennis Courts, Old Warson Country Club, and Warson Woods Pool. There are at least half a dozen colleges and universities within just 10 miles of here, ensuring access to education. Located within just a few minutes of here are theShriners Hospital for Children and Plaza Frontenac shopping center.


I try to be completely open with my girl, but I have a few skeletons in my closet that I don't want to let out. Is it okay to keep secrets from the one you love?
I'm all for showing what's in your closet, but just because you're committed to this girl doesn't mean you give up the right to keep a few locked boxes on the back of the top shelf. Tape 'em shut: You'll resist the temptation to stroll down memory lane, and she'll get the point.


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In general, motor vehicles are subject to taxation in the city or town where, in the normal course of their operation, they most frequently leave from and return to or remain, although state law provides some exceptions to this general rule (Chapter 203 - Sec. 12-71).
Residents/taxpayers who require "clearance" to register a motor vehicle or renew registration with the State of Connecticut DMV must be current on their taxes. If a resident/taxpayer has any outstanding balance, all accounts must be paid in full. Acceptable forms of payment are cash, money order, or certified bank funds.
If payment is made in person or online with a personal check, a "clearance" will be provided after10 business days from receipt of check. You may request that the "clearance" be mailed to you directly or may stop in to pick it up after the 10 days.
If payment is made with a debit or credit card online, you must print your confirmation(s) and bring it/them to the Collector of Revenue to obtain your clearance. This may take up to two business days for payments to be posted to your accounts(s) to obtain a "clearance".
The assessment of a motor vehicle is 70% of its average retail value. Generally, assessors use average retail values that the National Automobile Dealer's Association (NADA) compiles annually. Assessors are responsible for determining the value of any motor vehicle for which the NADA Guide does not provide an average retail value.
All motor vehicles a taxpayer owns on an assessment date are subject to taxation, regardless of whether the Department of Motor Vehicles issues a Connecticut registration for them. Taxes for such vehicles are due the following July 1. Motor vehicles registered subsequent to October 1 are also subject to taxation. The assessment of a vehicle registered between November 1 and the following July 31, which represents only a portion of the assessment year, is included on a supplemental grand list. Supplemental grand list taxes are due on the January 1 following the conclusion of the assessment year in which the registration of these vehicles occurs.
A property tax reduction or credit is available when a taxpayer sells a motor vehicle and does not replace it with another vehicle. If a taxpayer replaces one vehicle with another, the assessor reduces the assessment of the replacement vehicle on the supplemental grand list to reflect the credit (Chapter 203 - Sec. 12-71b).
A property tax reduction or credit is also available for a totally destroyed vehicle and for a vehicle that a taxpayer registers in another state when the taxpayer becomes a resident of that state during an assessment year. Taxpayers must claim this credit within the time period that state law prescribes (Chapter 203 - Sec. 12-71c).


What is the patho physiology of Acute myeloblastic leukemia type 5?
The cells which cause malignancy are the myeloblats. In the normal process of hematopoiesis the myeloid precursor cells are the cells which form the myeloblasts. The normal myelo blast can form the mature white blood cells. In the case of AML a single myeloblast can accumulate the genetic changes which freeze the cell in the immature form and prevent the differentiation. It is not the sole factor which gives rise to leukemia. It is combined with the other mutations and disturbs the proliferation of gene which results in the uncontrolled growth of the immature clone of cells which lead to the clinical entity of AML.
The diversity of the AML is due to the leukemic transformation which can occur at a number of different steps along the differentiation path. The different classification systems can identify the characters and behavior of leukemic cells which depend on he stage at which the differentiation was stopped. The clinical signs of this disorder occur as a result of the leukemic clones of cell. They affect the normal development of the blood cells in the bone marrow. There are cyto genetic abnormalities seen in the patients with AML. They have a great prognostic significance.
The trans location of the chromosome encodes abnormal fusion proteins. It involves the transcription factors whose altered properties can cause arrest in the differentiation. In the case of pro myelocytic leukemia the process of translocation forms a fusion protein. It binds to the retinoic acid receptor element in the promoters of many myeloid specific genes which inhibit the differentiation. The symptoms of AML are due to the low number of normal blood elements. In few cases patient can develop a solid tumor of the cells which are present outside the marrow and can lead to many symptoms.
What is an Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia Without Maturation?
How Cancer can be treated?


text:
Quack doctor arrested for killing two patients in Ondo State
A quack doctor has been arrested in Ondo State after killing two patients.
Ondo State Ministry of Health and the Police officials have apprehended the quack doctor, Adewale Emmanuel Owolanke, in Uso.
A statement issued by the Ministry and signed by its Press officer, Abooluwa Famakinwa, explained that the quack doctor was arrested after some cases of his patients ended in fatalities.
According to her, the ministry had received a series of complaints from some individuals until there was a complication with one of his patients who undergo an ectopic pregnancy in his hospital.
The patient was however redirected to the Federal Medical Center, Owo, where it was discovered that the operation was done by a quack medical doctor.
Famakinwa explained that the hospital had been closed down by the Ministry last year when two people who were badly operated upon lost their lives but said the hospital was illegally reopened by Owolanke.
She said Owolanke has three other staff at the hospital, known as Divine Hospital, situated behind St. Andrews Anglican Church Uso, while his wife also operates a pharmaceutical store beside the hospital where patients usually buy drugs.
Owolanke was said to have claimed to graduate from Barbados University as a medical doctor but later said he was an undergraduate of University of Benin, Edo State
It was also discovered that the suspect has been moving from one village to the other to render medical services to clients in his capacity as a medical doctor for a fee.
Adunni Ade mocks Instagram trolls, after they body shamed her
Destiny's Child's Michelle Williams seeks depression treatment


text:
Q: Is there an Algorithm to index a collection on permutation of properties? Given:
IMatchCriteria {
    string PropA{get;}
    string PropB{get;}
    int? PropC {get;}
    int? PropD {get;}
}

IReportRecord : IMatchCriteria {...}

IMatchCriteriaSet : IMatchCriteria {
    int MatchId {get;}
    double Limit{get;}
}

public class Worker{

private List<IMatchCriteriaSet> _matchers = GetIt();
//Expecting this list to be huge, ***upto 0.1m***. Some of the sample matchers:
// MatchId=1, Limit=1000, PropA=A, PropC=101, PropD=201
// MatchId=2, Limit=10,   PropA=A
// MatchId=3, Limit=20,            PropC=101
// MatchId=4, Limit=500,                      PropD=201

   //Based on sample entries:
   //Input: reportRecord{ PropA=A, PropC=101 }, Ouput: 1000, 20
   //Input: reportRecord{ PropA=A1, PropC=102, PropD=201 }, Ouput: 500
    public IEnumerable<double> GetMatchingLimits(IReportRecord reportRecord) {
         //Bad, very bad option:
         foreach(var matcher in _matchers){
             var matchFound=true;
             if(reportRecord.PropA!=null && reportRecord.PropA!=matcher.PropA){
                 continue;
             }
             if(reportRecord.PropB!=null && reportRecord.PropA!=matcher.PropB){
                 continue;
             }
             if(reportRecord.PropC!=null && reportRecord.PropC.Value!=matcher.PropC.Value){
                 continue;
             }
             if(reportRecord.PropD!=null && reportRecord.PropD.Value!=matcher.PropD.Value){
                 continue;
             }
             yield return matcher.Limit;
         }
    }

    }

Note: Expecting IMatchCriteriaSet to be 0.1m records.
Expecting GetMatchingLimits to be called 1m times.
The requirement is to do all this for a real-time application.
Essentially what I need is a way to index list of IMatchCriteria. But can not use Dictionary because my key is not defined.
Looking for some algorithm to tackle this problem efficiently.
Any suggested solution in scope of .net (not just c#) would be useful.
Thanks.

A: Use one dictionary for each indexable property, mapping to a set of matchers. Then you can do a dictionary lookup for every property that is set in your record (logarithmic complexity), and intersect the resulting sets. Start with the smallest result set and whittle it down to get the best run time.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
What are you looking for Book "Summary The 4 Hour Workweek" ? Click "Read Now PDF" / "Download", Get it for FREE, Register 100% Easily. You can read all your books for as long as a month for FREE and will get the latest Books Notifications. SIGN UP NOW!
The 4 Hour Work Week
A new, updated and expanded edition of this New York Times bestseller on how to reconstruct your life so it's not all about work Forget the old concept of retirement and the rest of the deferred-life plan - there is no need to wait and every reason not to, especially in unpredictable economic times. Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint. This step-by step guide to luxury lifestyle design teaches: * How Tim went from $40,000 dollars per year and 80 hours per week to $40,000 per MONTH and 4 hours per week * How to outsource your life to overseas virtual assistants for $5 per hour and do whatever you want * How blue-chip escape artists travel the world without quitting their jobs * How to eliminate 50% of your work in 48 hours using the principles of a forgotten Italian economist * How to trade a long-haul career for short work bursts and frequent 'mini-retirements'. This new updated and expanded edition includes: More than 50 practical tips and case studies from readers (including families) who have doubled their income, overcome common sticking points, and reinvented themselves using the original book as a starting point * Real-world templates you can copy for eliminating email, negotiating with bosses and clients, or getting a private chef for less than £5 a meal * How lifestyle design principles can be suited to unpredictable economic times * The latest tools and tricks, as well as high-tech shortcuts, for living like a diplomat or millionaire without being either.
Author : Timothy Ferriss
The 4 Hour Workweek
An edition expanded with more than 100 pages of new content offers a blueprint for a better life, whether one's dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management or just living more and working less.
Publisher : Crown
The 4 Hour Workweek In 30 Minutes
The 4-Hour Workweek ...in 30 minutes is the essential guide to quickly learning how to break free from the 9-5 and embrace the revolutionary New Rich world as outlined in Timothy Ferriss's best-selling book, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. In The 4-Hour Workweek, best-selling author Timothy Ferriss asserts that anyone who is willing to adopt a new set of rules--one that centers on creating freedom and automated income rather than relying on conventional concepts of wealth--can successfully embrace the New Rich lifestyle. As Ferriss explains, the New Rich are people who reject the model for living that focuses on years of tireless work followed by permanent retirement. Outlining four clear steps to achieving a liberated life, Ferriss provides the tools for utilizing the currency of the New Rich--time and mobility. Whether you are a time-strapped workaholic or feel trapped by your 9-5, The 4-Hour Workweek offers Ferriss's formula for a life of passion, learning, service, excitement--and extremely minimal work. A 30 Minute Expert Summary Designed for those whose desire to learn exceeds the time they have available, 30 Minute Expert Summaries enable readers to rapidly understand the essential ideas behind critically acclaimed books. With a condensed format and chapter-by-chapter synopsis that highlights key lessons, readers can quickly and easily become experts ...in 30 minutes.
Release : 2012-11
File : 42 Pages
Summary The 4 Hour Workweek By Tim Ferris
Tim Ferriss is the author of The 4-Hour Workweek, a New York Times bestseller that incorporates the Pareto Principle and Parkinson's Law into a lifestyle of reduced working hours and more personal free time. After graduating from Princeton University, where he earned a degree in East Asian Studies, Tim started his first business selling nutritional supplements at the age 23. Since selling his business, he has become a Guinness Book Of World Records holder in tango and a host of his own program on the History Channel. Currently working as an angel investor, in 2011 Tim announced he would publish a third book, The 4-Hour Chef. The book is being released by Amazon.com and is expected to become available for purchase in April 2012. The 4-Hour Workweek is Tim Ferriss' first book. Detailing his personal experiences of success and failures in 'lifestyle design,' the book provides readers with a clear road map on how to outsource mundane work, reduce clutter and information overload to create smooth income streams and more free time. The author believes that pursuing dreams and goals now is more important than deferring them until after retirement, and his book promotes a variety of lifestyle design options that give readers exciting alternatives to the ordinary 9-5 routine.
Author : Swiftread
The 4 Hour Chef
Presents a practical but unusual guide to mastering food and cooking featuring recipes and cooking tricks from world-renowned chefs.
Genre : Cooking
Selling The Invisible
SELLING THE INVISIBLE is a succinct and often entertaining look at the unique characteristics of services and their prospects, and how any service, from a home-based consultancy to a multinational brokerage, can turn more prospects into clients and keep them. SELLING THE INVISIBLE covers service marketing from start to finish. Filled with wonderful insights and written in a roll-up-your-sleeves, jargon-free, accessible style, such as: Greatness May Get You Nowhere Focus Groups Don'ts The More You Say, the Less People Hear & Seeing the Forest Around the Falling Trees.
Author : Harry Beckwith
Publisher : Grand Central Publishing
Summary The 4 Hour Workweek
Must-read summary of Timothy Ferriss's book: "The 4-Hour Workweek" - Escape the 9-5, Live Anywhere and Join the New Rich | Key Takeaways Whether your dream is escaping the rat race, experiencing high-end world travel, earning a monthly five-figure income with zero management, or just living more and working less, this book is the blueprint. Added-Value of this summary: • Save time • Understand the key concepts • Expand your knowledge
Author : Icebreakers Publications
Publisher : Icebreakers Publications
The must-read summary of Timothy Ferriss' book: "The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich". This complete summary of the ideas from Timothy Ferriss' book "The 4-Hour Workweek" introduces you to the lifestyle of people who have decided against the 9-5 jobs and have organised their lives according to a set of rules that allows them to be financially successful without being chained to a desk. Discover how time and mobility can work to your advantage and how you can become one of the 'New Rich' in four steps. Added-value of this summary: • Save time • Understand the key concepts • Expand your business knowledge To learn more, read "The 4-Hour Workweek" and discover how to become a 'New Rich' in four steps.
Genre : Self-Help
Author : BusinessNews Publishing
Publisher : Primento
The 4 Day Week
In The 4 Day Week, entrepreneur and business innovator Andrew Barnes makes the case for the four-day week as the answer to many of the ills of the 21st-century global economy. Barnes conducted an experiment in his own business, the New Zealand trust company Perpetual Guardian, and asked his staff to design a four-day week that would permit them to meet their existing productivity requirements on the same salary but with a 20% cut in work hours. The outcomes of this trial, which no business leader had previously attempted on these terms, were stunning. People were happier and healthier, more engaged in their personal lives, and more focused and productive in the office. The world of work has seen a dramatic shift in recent times: the former security and benefits associated with permanent employment are being displaced by the less stable gig economy. Barnes explains the dangers of a focus on flexibility at the expense of hard-won worker protections, and argues that with the four-day week, we can have the best of all worlds: optimal productivity, work-life balance, worker benefits and, at long last, a solution to pervasive economic inequities such as the gender pay gap and lack of diversity in business and governance. The 4 Day Week is a practical, how-to guide for business leaders and employees alike that is applicable to nearly every industry. Using qualitative and quantitative data from research gathered through the Perpetual Guardian trial and other sources by the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology, the book presents a step-by-step approach to preparing businesses for productivity-focused flexibility, from the necessary cultural conditions to the often complex legislative considerations. The story of Perpetual Guardian's unprecedented work experiment has made headlines around the world and stormed social media, reaching a global audience in more than seventy countries. A mix of trenchant analysis, personal observation and actionable advice, The 4 Day Week is an essential guide for leaders and workers seeking to make a change for the better in their work world.
Author : Andrew Barnes
Publisher : Piatkus
The Four Day Workweek
This provocative book makes a compelling case for reducing the number of workdays in a week to four. Globalization has brought with it fiercer competition and greater worker mobility, and as organizations compete for top talent, they are becoming more open to unconventional worker arrangements, such as remote working and flextime. International business expert, Robert Grosse, draws on scholarly research to construct an appealing argument for why the four-day workweek benefits both the organization and the employee. Research has demonstrated that longer work hours harm the individual and don't amount to a more effective organization, which begs the question: then why do it? The book goes beyond merely arguing that a reduced workweek is a good idea. It delves into why, explores the means for achieving it, and scrutinizes the barriers to getting there. This is a book for forward-thinking executives, leaders, and academics who understand that work–life balance is the secret sauce not only for organizational success, but also for greater productivity and satisfaction in their careers and those of the people they manage.
Author : Robert Grosse


Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are all set to get married in a grand ceremony at the Windsor Castle in the UK. Popular actors, footballers, politicians and the royals have started turning up for the ceremony. Our very own desi girl who has now earned a name for herself globally, Priyanka Chopra, has arrived for the Royal Wedding. The actress has gone for an outfit with a tinge of mauve, keeping the base as silver grey. Piyanka's outfit looks absolutely stunning. Priyanka's head gear also grabbed a lot of eyeballs as she wore a stable hat with a mauve colored net at the edges.
Priyanka entered the venue with Suits actress, Abigail Spencer. Both Priyanka and Abigail were engaged in a conversation as they walked in with elegance and poise for the Royal Wedding of would be Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Also in attendance were stars like, George and Amal Clooney as well as Victoria and David Beckham. Scroll down for pictures!