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Tuesday, April 23 at 7 pm the Bowers House is hosting a very special guest…..
Tuesday, April 23 at 7 pm the Bowers House is hosting a very special guest. Nationally known environmental activist and award-winning writer Scott Russell Sanders will speak on "Literature and Legacy." In an essay entitled "The Way of Imagination," published in the summer 2012 issue of The Georgia Review, Sanders wrote about a man who sought to provide old-growth forests for future generations to enjoy. Sanders will read an excerpt from the essay and discuss the powers of imagination illustrated by this benefactor's legacy—powers crucial to the making of literature, to the practice of science, and to works of compassion. A question-and-response period will follow.
Sanders, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at Indiana University, has published more than thirty works of nonfiction and fiction over the past forty years, including a number of books for children. Among his titles are Earth Works: Selected Essays (2012), A Conservationist Manifesto (2009), A Private History of Awe (2006), The Country of Language (1999), Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World (1993), The Paradise of Bombs (1987), and Wilderness Plots: Tales about the Settlement of the American Land (1983). His enduring concerns include the place of human beings in nature, the pursuit of social justice, the relationships between culture and geography, and the search for a spiritual path.There is no charge for the evening however donations are greatly appreciated. It is very important we have a great turn-out to support this special event!
This entry was posted in Announcements, Blog on April 13, 2013 by Cindy.
Tapping the Creative for Health and Healing weekend retreat.
Twenty-five women gathered recently at the Bowers House for the Tapping the Creative for Health and Healing weekend retreat. Led by three facilitators, small groups gathered to write or paint on the upstairs veranda or wander around the beautiful grounds. Author Sara Baker's guided participants to "approach the reality of who you are in all your brokenness and begin to make marks on paper … (and) your own true self will show up." Fitness Trainer Lisa Knighton mentored participants as they learned to combine guided movement with meditation and focused writing prompts. Artist Sarah Pattison ushered participants into the discovery that play and creativity can open the door to the healing of mind, body and spirit.
One participant responded to the event with this comment: "the presenters left me wanting more, this group of women bonded with each other, the doors to healing were flung open! …The house is magnificent, so very welcoming." Another commented, "I arrived, open to whatever was to unfold and was amazed with everything about the weekend. (It was) a very peaceful setting, full of positive energy. I look forward to my next visit!"
Ellen Bowers Davenport , Bowers House Director and Sandra Scott, Bowers House Writing Facilitator are planning future events. Keep an eye on our website and visit our Facebook page, The Bowers House Writers Retreat to see this historic house as it established itself as the Creative Retreat Center for Northeast Georgia.
This entry was posted in Blog on April 13, 2013 by Cindy.
On Tuesday, April 23 at 7 pm
On Tuesday, April 23 at 7 pm the Bowers House is hosting a very special guest
Nationally known environmental activist and award-winning writer Scott Russell Sanders will speak on "Literature and Legacy." In an essay entitled "The Way of Imagination," published in the summer 2012 issue of The Georgia Review, Sanders wrote about a man who sought to provide old-growth forests for future generations to enjoy. Sanders will read an excerpt from the essay and discuss the powers of imagination illustrated by this benefactor's legacy—powers crucial to the making of literature, to the practice of science, and to works of compassion. A question-and-response period will follow.
Sanders, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at Indiana University, has published more than thirty works of nonfiction and fiction over the past forty years, including a number of books for children. Among his titles are Earth Works: Selected Essays (2012), A Conservationist Manifesto (2009), A Private History of Awe (2006), The Country of Language (1999), Staying Put: Making a Home in a Restless World (1993), The Paradise of Bombs (1987), and Wilderness Plots: Tales about the Settlement of the American Land (1983). His enduring concerns include the place of human beings in nature, the pursuit of social justice, the relationships between culture and geography, and the search for a spiritual path.
There is no charge for the evening however donations are greatly appreciated. It is very important we have a great turn-out to support this special event!
Internationally Acclaimed Georgia Writer Terry Kay
at The Bowers House
In April the Bowers House Literary Center in Canon, Georgia, and the University of Georgia's award-winning journal The Georgia Review welcomed writer Terry Kay at the Bowers House.
Terry Kay, a Hart County native who currently makes his home in Athens, is the author of some fifteen books—among them eleven novels, a collection of essays, a children's book, and a recently released volume of short stories, The Greats of Cuttercane.
Three of Kay's novels have been produced as Hallmark Hall of Fame movies: The Runaway, The Valley of Light, and his best-known work To Dance with the White Dog—the last of these starring the famous acting couple of Hume Cronin and Jessica Tandy.
Readers around the world can find Kay's books translated into more than twenty languages; most notably, To Dance with the White Dog has sold some two million copies in Japan.
After Kay's reading in the house's spacious living room/parlor, Georgia Review editor Stephen Corey moderated a conversation between Kay and the audience. A reception followed, during which attendees enjoyed refreshments while walking the grounds or sitting on the first- and second-floor wraparound porches.
The Georgia Review, published quarterly at the University of Georgia since 1947, features short stories, poems, general-interest essays, reviews, and visual art by the famous and the newly discovered. Winner of National Magazine Awards in both the fiction and the essay category, and a recipient of the Georgia Governor's Award in the Arts, the Review has a long tradition of sponsoring and cosponsoring reading events in the Athens area. For more information, go towww.thegeorgiareview.com or call 706-542-3481.
This entry was posted in Blog, Readings on April 13, 2013 by Cindy.
A few of the Writers who have stayed at The Bowers House:
Alison Hawthorne Deming is author of four poetry books : Rope: Science and Other Poems, winner of the Walt Whitman Award of the Academy of American Poets; The Monarchs: A Poem Sequence; and Genius Loci. She has published three nonfiction books, Temporary Homelands, The Edges of the Civilized World, and Writing the Sacred Into the Real. She has completed a new nonfiction book titled Zoologies: on Animals and the Human Spirit. She co-edited with Laurent Savoy The Colors of Nature: Essays on Culture, Identity, and the Natural World, reissued in 2011 in a new expanded edition. Her work has been widely published and anthologized, including in The Norton Book of Nature Writing, and Best American Science and Nature Writing. She grew up inConnecticut and now lives in Tucson, Arizona and on Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada. Deming is Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. Recently she worked at the Jacksonville (FL) Zoo and Gardens as poet-in-residence as part of a national Language of Conservation project.
Playwright Cedric Liqueur performed his one-man show, "Satchel" Paige, at the Bowers House on April 4. The play was written during a recent writer's retreat Liqueur took at the Bowers House.Satchel Paige, considered the greatest pitcher in the history of the Negro Leagues, went on to play in the Major Leagues and in 1971 he was the first player from the Negro leagues to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Cedric Liqueur, a member of London's Royal Shakespeare Company, writes and performs theatre-stage plays, prose, narratives, poetry, and sonnets.
The Georgia Poetry Society
(L-R) Keith Badowski, Matthew Payne, from Birmingham; Michael Diebert, an Atlanta-area poet who is one of the other co-editors for Future Cycle Press; Steven Shields, photographer, poet & co-editor for Future Cycle Press; Barry Marks, a lawyer and poet from Birmingham whose book Possible Crocodiles was published by Brick Road Press.
Members of The Poetry Society of Georgia returned for their second annual 3 day retreat at The Bowers House. As part of this retreat, onSunday, Jan 15, at 7 PM, they conducted an evening of reading of their original works at The Bowers House. The public was invited.
We had a terrific time at the Bowers House. There's a good energy about the place. We all agreed that we got more done over that weekend than some of us had for many months. ~ Steven Shields
From readings and workshops to residency programs, the Bowers House is dedicated to cultivating an environment where writers thrive. Through a wide variety of events and associations, we are committed to nurturing the talents of writers from across the country.
The harvest benefits us all: Works of art that enrich, enlighten and connect us in ways that transcend geographic and cultural boundaries. Read more
Recent Posts For Announcements


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100 Words of Wisdom
Adult Giftedness
Over-excitabilities
Peer Relationships
SMPG
SENG Director's Corner
Social & Emotional Development
Stress, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma
Twice-Exceptionality/Nontraditional
Rosina Gallagher
100 Words of Wisdom: Rosina Gallagher
By Rosina Gallagher.
Some say it is "will, skill and drill." Others say it is "a continuous journey."
Yes, I agree. Success is knowing who you are. Discovering your strengths and virtues. Choosing a focus. Setting your goals and steps to achieve them. Working hard. Sharing with others. Learning to listen, observe, inquire, communicate. Embracing fresh ideas, blazing new trails. It is understanding and managing emotions. Overcoming criticism, rejection, at times ridicule, self-doubt, complacency. It is forging ahead and always improving. Giving back something of value. Persevering with laughter and joy. And starting all over again.
¿Qué significa tener éxito?
Unos dicen es tener voluntad, destrezas, determinación. Otros dicen es "una jornada contínua." Sí, estoy de acuerdo. Tener éxito es conocerse a si mismo.
Es descubrir sus habilidades y virtudes. Enfocarse. Definir sus metas y los medios para alcanzarlas. Es poner mucho empeño. Compartir con otros. Aprender a escuchar, observar, cuestionar, comunicar. Es acoger nuevas ideas, iluminar nuevos senderos. Es apreciar y guiar nuestras emociones. Es superar críticas, rechazos, a veces el ridículo, o dudar de si mismo, habituarse. Es seguir adelante, siempre mejorando. Es realizar algo de valor por otros. Perseverar sonrientes y alegres. Y empezar de nuevo. ________________________________________________________
Former SENG President Rosina Gallagher, Ph.D., was born and raised in Mexico through early adolescence. Her 30-year career includes being a psychologist and administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, and she is currently president of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children. Dr. Gallagher is the co-author of Educando Hijos Exitosos (with James T. Webb, Great Potential Press) and numerous articles.
100 Word of Wisdom: Amy Snapp
"They don't need our help—they're gifted, they'll be fine!" How many times have I heard that statement, have I uttered that statement?
100 Words of Wisdom: Tiombe Bisa Kendrick-Dunn (July 2015)
By Tiombe Bisa Kendrick-Dunn. With summer finally upon us, families are preparing for vacations and much needed time away from their typical daily duties. This is also the season when gifted and talen
100 Words of Wisdom: Jim Delisle
By James R. Delisle. Many years ago a gifted young man told me something I've never forgotten: "The only thing worse than being denied opportunities is being forced to take them." So many of our gifte

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Hey Aaron Lewis – Listen to Dima, NOT Putin!
May 24, 2022 Category: VideosTag: aaron lewis, Alexei Navalny, anti-flag, Caution, dima, fsb, Ksenia Sobchak, kyiv, Louana, moscow, propaganda, punk outlaw, putin, putin war crimes, qanon, Sobchak!, st. petersburg, staind, steven segall, support ukraine, tarakany!, ukraine, vladimir putin, war in ukraine, war machine
Former Staind frontman and now solo country artist (and possible Qanon nutbag) Aaron Lewis disgustingly asked his audience to "listen to what Putin has to say" at a concert down south back in March.
What does this have to do with Dima, the lead singer of Tarakany! Well, first, let me give you a brief history.
2010 – I MEET TARAKANY! IN MOSCOW
Some of you may know the Russian band Tarakany! (Cockroach), I signed them to Punk Outlaw Records back in 2012, after a Punk Outlaw film trip to Moscow & St. Petersburg in 2010.
I interviewed lead singer Dima and the band at early morning rehearsals. It was my very first interview of that epic Russian trip.
I recall being extremely jet-lagged, groggy, and disbelieving that any punk band would rehearse so early in the morning. Welcome to Russia, where many of the best and brightest work with the precision of Germans but under an incompetent, disorganized, brutal, corrupt state structure run by kleptocratic, greedy buffoons. More on that later.
In preparing for the trip, I researched Tarakany! very little and did not realize the history of the body of work they had already amassed by 2010.
As I returned to the USA, I left Moscow with a stack of CDs thinking, "how does a Russian punk band afford to put out this much music"? I did not realize then the depth and breadth of material from this band.
The following month, I was to move from NYC to California via a stopover in Latin America for a year.
So when I returned to NYC from Russia, I was busy preparing for the move of my life and my first real experience of living abroad.
Thus I put the CDs in a storage facility with my other belongings and flew down to my new home base of Medellin, Colombia.
From there, I traveled and hopped around South America for the better part of a year.
In late 2011, I finally resurfaced in Los Angeles, where my stuff (sans a couch that had somehow gotten "misplaced" by Schleppers Moving) met me, including my unopened Tarakany! CDs.
It was in LA that I would finally be able to give Tarakany's music a serious listen.
Once I hit play on the first CD, I was hooked and astounded that I missed spotting such talent. I blamed the jet lag. I mean I was essentially witnessing Tarakany's rehearsal at 3AM NYC time.
I'd come to find out that Tarakany! had put out so much music because they had been playing punk music for twenty years by the time I'd first met them in 2010.
After finally making my way through all their CDs and listening to their music, it was clear this band possessed first-rate musicianship.
Tarakany @ Rehearsal in Punk Outlaw Gear
Most of the tunes were original and had a surprising range of styles and influences. But they also had a unique, catchy, melodic character, thanks to Dima's sometimes gravelly but not unpleasant vocals and the young, classically-trained musicians backing him.
Tarkany! had opened for The Offspring and played with Anti-flag, Frank Turner, and others. They routinely sold out large venues and played massive festivals all over Europe. I knew nothing of this when I interviewed the band, and it slowly dawned on me that these guys were actually quite big… in Russia.
After initially working with two bands from Latin America, I decided to get more serious about Punk Outlaw Records and expand our roster from other parts of the world and Tarakany! seemed a natural fit.
Dima in 2010
And then, coincidentally or through fate, two young punk rock transplant students from Moscow, also new to Los Angeles, answered my Craigslist ad for an internship.
When interns and future LA "Taco-Tuesday" pals, Tim and Snick, drove up to my apartment in Santa Monica from Orange County in a beat-up gas guzzler from the 1980s, I liked them immediately.
They were fans of Punk music and knew of Tarakany! well. They filled me in on the band's history and what it was like to grow up in a place like Russia. Their stories of Russia fascinated me even more and I marveled at Tarakany's success under such conditions.
I wanted to work with Tarakany! to see if we could get them a broader audience by exposing them in the US if they'd agree to work with an unknown like me.
To my surprise and delight, Tarakany! agreed.
Despite the band's European success, Dima, who had never seen the band get much US exposure over the years, was eager, and I could tell he had high hopes.
We collaborated on which songs to use from their existing catalog, and Dima went to work like a possessed man on a mission to record new versions of the songs.
He rounded up friends from the bands – Useless ID, Anti-Flag, and Frank Turner and secured the talents of Louana, a Russian metal band that was hitting massively worldwide at the time.
He re-recorded several songs in English, and I helped him translate some of the lyrics.
I had that kind of time back then, and we had that kind of enthusiasm.
Russian Democrazy was born in 2013, the same year that a TV project I'd been working on for three years, Raw Travel was about to hit the airways.
I was losing my mind with the work of launching a new TV show completely independently and grossly understaffed. To say I was juggling multiple projects would be an epic understatement.
But I was committed to fulfilling my promises to Dima and the guys at Tarkany! I couldn't let them down just because I'd finally broken through on my TV project.
Fortunately, most of the work on Russian Democrazy was already recorded by Dima and Co. We'd be able to get it out and semi-marketed on whatever grassroots initiatives we could scrounge together, considering we had next to no budget. That's where Tim & Snik came in, leading a guerilla, grass-roots campaign that was largely a success, at least for reaching Russian fans living in the USA.
But first, we needed some killer artwork for the album cover. Dima came through again with several potential designs, one featuring a not-so-flattering illustration of Putin and his oligarch pals. I loved it and, not thinking it through, offered it as a "sneak peek" teaser on social media.
Dima immediately frantically messaged me, asking me to take the post down post-haste because that artwork was not "approved."
Of course, I did, but I realized then and after subsequent conversations with Tim and Snik that Dima was not working as freely as my other artists from Latin America. I'd taken for granted that he'd have freedom of expression that I'd always… taken for granted.
Dima, as a Russian citizen, had to think twice about what he was doing before doing it. He had to weigh the risk versus rewards for anything that could be remotely interpreted as critical of the government or even Russian society at large.
During the 2010 trip, I'd had my own semi-run-in with the FSB while filming in Red Square.
Red Square just before confrontation by FSB Goon.
I was just an American tourist at the time, so I only received a tiny taste. At the time, I had been concerned about getting my camera confiscated. Still, my poor Russian guide who was with me was borderline traumatized after this short but memorable encounter. Her concern gave me concern. I felt she, or perhaps we had just narrowly escaped arrest or at least a miserable few hours of questioning for the simple act of filming in Red Square with a microphone sans permission. The burly, barking gent's bullying, needlessly aggressive attitude, and the literal spit coming out of his mouth as he yelled at us, is the primary image I recall from that encounter. That and my guide's nervous attitude afterward. This was a real and genuine fear of his blanket authority.
Russian DemoCrazy's Actual Cover
Fast Forward to 2022, and Russia has gone even darker. Putin even more controlling.
Tarakany! has been blocked from performing in their home country and forced to disband. Dima and his wife are now exiled from Russia for taking an anti-war stance. What once was allowed and tolerated (mild and vague criticism of modern Russian society) was no longer allowed.
I'm trying to help Dima, and his spouse re-locate to another country in the Americas. I won't get into specifics because you can't be too careful when dealing with Putin's Russia.
Most educated, young Russians are Alexei Navalny supporters. Do you know Mr. Navalny's story? If not, please google him.
As an opposition candidate to the Kremlin's kleptocracy, Navalny has survived vicious government harassment and slander, he's had dye thrown in his face while walking down the street, most famously, he had a state-sponsored attempted poisoning while campaigning against Putin, and he is currently imprisoned under horrific conditions for a made-up crime, which he bravely returned to Russia to serve. He may very well be the bravest human alive.
Putin has demonstrated with assassination attempts of enemies residing in Britain and elsewhere that he is not above sending his meathead goons to kill a perceived enemy of the state, no matter where they live.
So, with this in mind and with Dima's permission – I am publishing below, for the first time in the USA, Dima's experiences over the past two years. He has already published this in Russia. It's only been lightly edited in a few places by myself and Ryan, our current intern, for clarity's sake in translating.
BUT WAIT – SO WHAT DOES AARON LEWIS HAVE TO DO WITH THIS?
Well first, perhaps it may help you understand why I'm so angry that a fellow musician would take Russia's side and repeat Putin's propaganda after the illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Aaron Lewis (formerly of Staind), on stage, in an unhinged Qanon-inspired rant about "the deep state," said that "maybe we should listen to what Putin has to say"?
Does "listening to what Putin has to say" mean targeting and killing innocent civilians, including schools and train stations? Or allowing criminals disguised as Russian Soldiers to rape babies (google it) and women? Or execute civilians on the spot? Or simply invade a sovereign country that posed a ZERO threat to Russia? Or perhaps he can explain to my Ukrainian videographer's family which has been internally displaced in 2014 when Putin invaded Crimea and now externally displaced in 2022 with this latest adventure, what he meant by "listening to what Putin has to say"? Can he explain to Anastasia's little 13 year old brother why she's his sole caretaker now that his mom and dad had to stay behind in Ukraine to fight Russian criminals disguised as soldiers?
I'm not sure where Mr. Lewis makes a stand between right and wrong, but he has forever stained his and his former band's legacy.
Even if, after all the misery of
Russian war crimes
Four million-plus Ukrainian displaced external refugees and millions more internally displaced refugees
Civilian targeted killings
Separation of millions of families
Loss of Ukrainian economy
Food shortages that will lead to starvation in much of the developing world
Trauma that will be felt for decades by Ukrainian youth (the ones that survive)
Even if Lewis walked back his words now (as far as I know, he has not), their impact on the Russian invasion cannot be muted.
Innocent Ukrainian Civilian Murdered by Putin's Soldier
It's hard to believe of all the inspiration Lewis could garner from the early days of the war, it was to praise the one man responsible for so much death, destruction, and misery.
Yes, forget Ukrainian bravery. Lewis was inspired to take the side of a proven murderer and now child killer.
Not the outmanned and outgunned Ukrainians whose brave president Zelensky refused to leave his country, though, at the time, it would have meant certain death.
Yes, Lewis took Putin's side. Why?
Does Lewis identify with Putin's bullying ways? Does Lewis beat his wife? Is he married? Perhaps he's an incel? He's famous but let's face it he's nothing to look at.
Does he secretly wish he could silence his critics, like me? Mr. Lewis, I'll meet you anywhere, any place, with pleasure. Try not to bring an AR 15 if you can please.
I know you won't because, like Putin, you are a coward. Seeking out controversy from the stage to presumably stoke the fading flames of your foundering career. Fucking pathetic.
Or maybe you are a tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracist and you are being sincere? Maybe you tried to challenge the mainstream conformity for so long that you forgot where reality ends and fantasy begins?
I don't give a shit. There is no justification for unjustifiable. There is no defense for the indefensible.
Yes, I know, Lewis is a washed-up, has-been here in the USA.
Still, he parrotted Russian propaganda and implicitly supported a soulless, heartless, brutal regime hell-bent on driving Ukrainians and their culture off the face of the earth. He planted doubt in the credulous minds of his few fans who can't think for themselves and clearly distinguish a corrupt, murdering kleptocrat from a legitimate, brave leader like Zelensky.
Aaron Lewis's propaganda has been repeated for State-Run media in Russia. You see, they're just not that into nuance or facts in Russia. Steven Segal, a bloated D-list joke, and Aaron Lewis, a washed-up has-been former musician (what is he now? I'm not sure but he's no artist). Same, same.
Like the right-wing, fantasy-dwelling MAGATs Mr. Lewis allegedly represents, they only want the news that justifies their falsely held beliefs.
Putin represents everything dark in the world, trying its best to extinguish everything light, including music.
The Kremlin can only rule through terror, and they fear free speech and light because they hide in the darkness and crevices of corruption. Mr. Lewis, supposedly a beacon for "free speech" and "expression of opinion," has chosen to celebrate a regime that stands for the opposite of what he proclaims to believe. How ironic. But such is the case with many ignorant statements of arrogant and ignorant people.
I'll bet my life's savings that Mr. Lewis has traveled little outside of the small and limited confines of touring.
He knows little of the challenge of free speech in places like Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Belarus, Myanmar, Russia, etc.
Mr. Lewis – the video that is below from Tarakany… Lie for Lie is dedicated to you. And remember, if you don't know what you're talking about, it's okay to "just shut up and play." Or, if you're truly unhappy with the USA, I'll borrow another phrase from low-level thinkers on the extreme right – "love it or leave it." I hear Moscow is lovely in January.
But if you do want to learn, truly learn, the truth about Putin and Russia, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with Dima.
Or I can invite you to travel with me to help the 4 million Ukrain refugees next month. The lucky ones, the ones still breathing.
Don't worry. I won't hold MY breath.
BELOW IS DIMA'S LETTER TO TARAKANY! FANS
FROM DIMA / LEAD SINGER OF RUSSIA'S "TARAKANY"
Light editing by Robert & Ryan for translation clarity
Human rights activists and opposition media have concluded that the media purge that continued throughout 2021 (the recognition by "foreign agents" and "extremist organizations" of blocking) was nothing more than preparation for war. It was these media platforms that helped the public to shape their own opinions, and that would inevitably create a powerful counteraction to state propaganda with the outbreak of war.
In addition to targeting the media, there were also powerful attacks on us, the musicians. It becomes clear now – with the same goal.
We had been left alone for a while. There were already many Russian bands that had already been under pressure for several years at the time: their concerts were banned and canceled, and the organizers were strained and intimidated.
We calmly sang our songs (all of them, even those with the sharpest and most unambiguous content). On stage screens in halls of various sizes across the country, footage with Putin was shown, in which he was mounted with various world villains, performed in Ukraine, spoke from the stage and in interviews whatever they wanted.
For a long time, it was clear we were in the "blind" zone for the "FSB": Either too small to notice or considered incapable of having a significant influence.
In 2021, this all began to change.
In January, we shot the video for our song "And Nothing but the Truth." At the suggestion of the director, almost the entirety of the filming was done at a Moscow rally in support of Alexei Navalny, A brave man who had been unfairly taken into custody at the last major Russian opposition rally.
Alex Navalny After Putin Poisoned Him
The premiere of the video took place on the Youtube channel "Caution, Sobchak!" (Ksenia Sobchak was an opposition candidate in the presidential elections in Russia in 2017) in March 2021. Suddenly, we were in the spotlight; our message reaching the broadest masses of Sobchak. I believe Ksenia herself and her public and journalistic activities have long been under the supervision of the FSB, and thus we had become as well.
2021 was our 30th anniversary, and we wanted to celebrate as brightly and loudly as possible. On a grander scale than ever before to surpass our previous anniversary five years ago, and to make it up to the public for our noticeable decrease in activity due to COVID restrictions in 2020.
But in most regions and cities in which concerts were scheduled, restrictions were not lifted in any way. It was decided to postpone the concerts to the fall of 2021, and time has shown, our efforts were done in vain. Out of 20+ concerts, we were given only 1 regional show. Ironically, taking place in Belgorod (a city on the border with Ukraine), just 3 weeks before the war. Even at this time, tanks with the letter Z on their sides could already be seen driving around.
Then suddenly in April, I was notified by the Police that an administrative case had been opened against me. Under Article Part 2 of Art. 20.2 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation for "The organization or holding of an unauthorized public event".
At first, I thought this was in response to several of our fans being detained while we were filming at the rally (we asked them not to come, but how could we control this?). Unfortunately, one of them was underage, and the police held him in custody at the department for a day, called his school, and notified his parents. A frightened mother wrote to me, directing insults, accusations, and everything else my way, as usual. She claimed it was our influence that got him involved, and now that he's in trouble we are distancing ourselves to avoid being held responsible.
My sources said the investigator who was in charge of the case was putting serious pressure on the parents to write a statement about me "involving a minor", for which we have a separate article in our country, much more difficult than Part 2 of Art. 20.2
In the end, I truly don't know if they wrote it or not; but after examining the notification with a little more detail, I was even more surprised.
As it turned out, the issue was that I recorded a video in support of Navalny (when opposition politician Alexei Navalny returned to Russia after treatment due to poisoning, he was immediately arrested).
The caption accompanying the video posted on the FBK channel read: "January 25, Lubyanka street. Everything."
In the video, I do not call people to take to the streets, nothing like that. But they decided to blame me for calling for an unsanctioned rally, as well as organizing it. A violation that, in the event of a second offense, may result in criminal penalties.
We lost the trial and I was sentenced to a fine. We filed an appeal, but it also did not help. After all the "internal" methods were used, we filed an appeal with the ECtHR.
In May 2021, the organizer of our concert at one of Moscow's most famous venues told us that he had received a call "from the prefecture". The caller, without identifying himself, said that our event was undesirable, and that during it a raid by Rospotrebnadzor (a department in Russia that, among other things, monitors the implementation of epidemiological restrictions. They too, have in fact become another tool of repression), was likely to take place and accuse us of violations. Violations that would, in turn, entail the closure of the club for 90 days.
It was our first "call" in 30 years of our career.
After hearing this, I contacted many other artists who, like me, had recorded videos in support of Navalny in January; asking them if they too had been facing problems with the police. Did they start a case, did they go to court, and were they fined? It turned out they had not, we were the only ones being targeted so severely. This puzzled me greatly.
A couple of weeks before the start of our anniversary tour in the fall of 2021, it became clear that the tour was falling apart, as our concerts were banned in most cities. All done so according to one of three schemes: cancellation/postponement due to real pandemic restrictions, cancellation/postponement due to fictitious restrictions, and pressure from the authorities on the organizers/site directly, without using COVID as a cover-up.
It turned out to be more expensive to speak loudly about the lawlessness that the authorities applied to artists. For more than a year, we have had to live with our mouths sewn shut, keeping quiet about the fact that we had fallen under the repressive surveillance of the authorities and hiding the true reasons for the cancellations of concerts.
Why? Because if we were to publicly declare that our concerts have been canceled due to pressure from the authorities, the organizers and venues in other cities would immediately cancel them themselves, without waiting for a call.
People in the regions are so frightened and so strongly demoralized by the authorities that they are ready to personally refuse the concerts of those who have been rumored that they are now "undesirable".
Additionally, some of the local authorities had not (yet) made their own blacklists and knew nothing about bans in other regions; but if we were to officially admit that we were "banned", we would have informed them of this ourselves.
We really wanted to keep our anniversary tour. Up to a point, we hoped that a couple of cancels here and a couple of transfers there were just random hits, but there were also COVID restrictions. Therefore, reluctantly, we had to agree with our management's opinion that we should not advertise the true reasons for our cancellations / transfers but explain them to the public as a result COVID restrictions. A decision that was very difficult for us.
In the end, not a single regional concert of our tour in honor of the band's 30th anniversary in 2021 ever took place. The organizers of the Moscow anniversary concerts, scheduled for November, continued to call and warn, warn and notify. It is these terms that have become synonymous with the demand to cancel the concerts of "undesirable artists" in Newspeak of the Russian word substitution.
No one addresses anyone openly. Not required to cancel events, but warned not to hold them. Even the "blacklists" that we were already on at that time were a sort of secret. Every promoter and owner of every venue in this country has seen them, but officially they don't exist.
As a result, at the cost of incredible efforts and transcendent courage of the organizers of the Moscow anniversary series, we played the capital's concerts. How? The organizers were simply not afraid. It was that simple
In most cities, these venue owners don't even dare to utter a word. Each time we asked them to provide an official paper from the prohibitors, with a reasoned ban. The answer they gave us? – See screenshots.
They value their businesses, refusing to make a stand to remain safe. I wonder what will happen to these businesses when the authorities ban all the artists? Will they close due to losses? Our unwillingness to fight, at the very least for our right to do business and perform the way we want, will eventually lead to even greater, already global costs.
A recent example is Evening Urgant (A late-night show on Russian federal TV, akin to Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show). They invited us to do a show on the eve of Moscow concerts, and conveniently the day before filming "the lights went out".
Despite claiming throughout years of the show's existence that they could call anyone on the air and did not depend on the opinion of the authorities of Channel One, the editors of Evening Urgant canceled our debut shooting with them in less than a day. Many other regional organizers and clubs did this as well, as hosting our performances was considered "too expensive" and "bad for business".
In addition to banning concerts and appearing on federal channels, the authorities also tried to put pressure on us through vague warnings. Twice we were sent messages through "distant relatives of friends of colleagues of friends", who allegedly were involved with authorities and who "accidentally" came across a development just for us.
The second we found out that a command had been assigned to monitoring our personal accounts on social networks, I was being prepared to be labeled as "foreign agents". Finally, we saw (see screenshot) the same "blacklist". It was sent to us by a familiar organizer from the Urals.
At the end of 2021, having not played a single scheduled regional concert and rescheduling them all to February/March 2022, we decided that we would not be rescheduled for the third time. If we are not allowed to perform, if they continue to suppress us, we will announce a farewell concert in Moscow at the end of 2022 and end the existence of the group.
We entered 2022 with several dozen concerts that were absolutely excellent, a couple of dozen concerts postponed for the third time to February / March, and the decision that we will be rescheduling anything else; that if we fail to perform, we will announce their cancellation and the end of the band's career. Moreover, I personally had been ready for our finale for a couple of years, for a number of personal and professional reasons.
One of the cancellations went according to a non-standard scenario: it was the only time the club received a written (rather than verbal) order to withdraw from the concert. It came from two all-powerful Russian departments at once: from Rospotrebnadzor and the prosecutor's office.
I and the other guys wanted to go public with this so incredibly bad, to scream and shout and expose the authorities' actions; but again, there were reasons not to do this.
We became co-organizers of the festival in Moscow in February, and we still wanted to hold it. Raising noise would be a clear and guaranteed end to both this and the rescheduled dates.
After the failure of the 30 Years Tour, it was naive to expect that we would be given another, albeit a farewell one. We decided that we should at least say goodbye to our Moscow fans with dignity, especially since concerts in Moscow have not been canceled in a while for the time being.
We no longer dreamed of concerts in other regions or even in St. Petersburg.
Even the summer festivals (already brought to a half-dead state by miraculous anti-COVID measures) have begun to give alarming signals; the "lists" seem to have informed them as well.
But there was still hope that the capital's concerts would remain inviolable.
However, our plans did not come true here either.
Exactly one day before the start of the war, on February 23, 22, a meeting was held at the mayor's office. We (and a few others, apparently) had finally been banned completely, now in Moscow. The next day the war began. We made the decision to refuse performances ourselves, canceling any and all the concert plans we had remaining at that time on our own.
Now, finally, I can say the following:
All our "rescheduled" concerts have been canceled. Request a refund at the place where you purchased your tickets. Tomorrow we will publish a detailed explanation for each ticket holder.
The group announces the termination of its activities. There are still a couple of releases with old material ahead, which were planned long before the start of the war.
In the event of a change of political power in the country, we will still try to organize farewell concerts.
END OF DIMA'S LETTER


text:
ConCen › Main › Legal Issues
National Ocean Council: MAJOR UN Agenda 21 Initiative
07-28-2010, 06:38 PM, (This post was last modified: 11-02-2010, 12:04 PM by FastTadpole.)
hilly7
National Ocean Council
By Cassandra Anderson
NASMISThirty states will be encroached upon by Obama's Executive Order establishing the National Ocean Council for control over America's oceans, coastlines and the Great Lakes. Under this new council, states' coastal jurisdictions will be subject to the United Nations' Law Of Sea Treaty (LOST) in this UN Agenda 21 program. America'a oceans and coastlines will be broken into 9 regions that include the North East, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, the Gulf Coast, West Coast, the Great Lakes, Alaska, the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii) and the Caribbean.
Because of the decades of difficulty that the collectivists have had trying to ratify the Law Of Sea Treaty (LOST), Obama is sneaking it in through the back door, by way of this Executive Order establishing the Council. Because LOST is a treaty, Obama's Executive Order is not Constitutional as treaty ratification requires 2/3 approval from the Senate. Michael Shaw said that the Agenda 21 Convention on Biodiversity treaty of 1992 failed to pass Congress so it was executed through soft law and administratively on local levels, and Obama's Executive Order is a similar soft law tactic to enact the LOST treaty.
In fact, our Constitutional form of government is being completely destroyed because buried in the CLEAR Act (HR 3534) there is a provision for a new council to oversee the outer continental shelf- it appears that this Regional Outer Shelf Council will be part of the National Ocean Council. This means that if Congress makes the CLEAR Act into law, then the implementation of the UN Law Of Sea Treaty, as part of the National Ocean Council's agenda, will be "ratified" in a convoluted and stealth manner, in full opposition to the Constitution and its intent.
The excuse for this extreme action is because of the emergency in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama and Congress have always had the legal and military power to force BP Oil to take all necessary action to stop the gusher and clean the oil spew. While there is evidence that the problems in the Gulf have been a result of collusion and planned incompetence, it begs the question, why in world should America's oceans and resources be controlled by Obama appointees?
NATIONAL OCEAN COUNCIL MEMBERS:
John Holdren, Obama's science and technology advisor, is the co-chairman of this new council. He is also a depopulation enthusiast and advocates sterilization by way of using infertility drugs in water and food as well as forced abortions which he describes in his book "Ecoscience".
Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of Interior, and its subagency, MMS (Minerals Management Service) has authority over offshore drilling and responsibility for enforcing spill prevention measures. The Department of Interior's BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is the entity that controls federally managed land extending across 30% of America in 11 western states. Last week, Congressman Louie Gohmert said that Ken Salazar personally prevented drilling on land in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, thereby also preventing energy independence. In addition, the federal lands have been grossly mismanaged and present fire dangers. The federal government is $3.7 billion in arrears for maintenance of the federally managed lands.
US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, by way of the US Forestry Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service, has been complicit in the decline of our country's food independence. For example, US Fish & Wildlife (along with the Department of Commerce) shut the water off in California using Endangered Species Act; it was later proven that partially treated sewage was the primary culprit in killing the salmon and delta smelt that was previously blamed on farmers. This is phony environmentalism. The US Forestry Service has also misused the Endangered Species Act to limit farmers and ranchers. Remember that the USDA co-owns the Terminator Gene patent with Monsanto that makes seeds sterile.
Lisa Jackson is the EPA administrator who has threatened to impose 18,000 pages of new regulations to curb global warming which is based on lies, claiming that carbon dioxide is a danger to human health.
Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano: it is unclear how these two federal appointees will enhance environmental 'sustainability' over oceans and coasts. Traditionally, national security threats (like the War on Terror) have been used by the federal government to take control of resources. For example, many years ago when the interstate highway systems were first being built, the Feds got in on the action by claiming that they were building a defense highway system, and they encroached into an area that belonged to the states. Interestingly, there were no overhead structures on highways originally because of the Feds' claim that large missiles would be transported on these "defense" highway systems.
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, a leading globalist, is likely to plunge our country into international entanglements and subjugation, based on her past performance; an example is her support of the UN Small Arms Treaty, which is contrary to the Constitution.
Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke are logical choices for this destructive council as some of the planned funding for this program will come from permits and leases (oil drilling leases, for example). These agencies will limit America's energy independence.
Click here to see the full list of the 24 member council.
THE SMOKING GUN:
Agenda 21 Sustainable Development is the overarching blueprint for depopulationa and total control, and the National Ocean Council is clearly an Agenda 21 program:
The National Ocean Council is headed by John Holdren, an avowed eugenicist which is selective breeding through brutal means like forced abortion.
The National Ocean Counci's own report (Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, pg. 8) incorporates a section of the 1992 Rio Declaration which is an original UN Agenda 21 document!
In fact, the report says that it will be guided by the Rio Declaration in cases "Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation." (pg. 8) This means that regulations will be imposed even if the science is not understood or if the science is based on global warming manipulated data.(6)
The 3 primary tools of Agenda 21's phony environmentalism are global warming, water shortages and the Endangered Species Act; the National Ocean Council intends to exploit all of these tools to their full extent.
1-lostThe National Ocean Council's main objective is to sink American sovereignty through the United Nations Law Of Sea Treaty (LOST) with the intended result of domination by the UN over our coasts and the Great Lakes. LOST originated in the 1970s as a wealth redistribution plan to benefit Third World countries. LOST sets rules for commercial activity beneath the high seas and establishes new international bureaucracies and a tribunal to interpret and apply rules to sea activity. And LOST can proceed with those rules, even against US objections! LOST threatens to complicate deep sea mining. LOST sets a precedent that US rights are dependent upon the approval of international entities. LOST also extends to ocean flowing rivers.
REGIONALISM:
Michael Shaw pointed out that non-elected councils are increasingly expanding their jurisdiction through air quality boards, water quality boards, sewer systems, transportation districts, metropolitan planning, etc. to gain control over resources. Often, large corporations and financial interests form Public- Private Partnerships with the government within these councils.
Breaking areas into regions and placing authority with non-elected councils is a Communist trick used to hijack resources, thereby usurping local and state power by re-zoning the areas that do have Constitutional authority. Appointed bureaucrats are untouchable because their jobs are not dependent upon serving the voting population. And they are usually inaccessible to the public and do not have to face those who are affected by their "insider" decisions. When state and local governments become corrupt, the public is able to confront them eye to eye, but distant bureaucrats can avoid accountability. Regionalism is used as a psychological tactic to intimidate state legislatures into creating the system for a new political and economic order.
Obama's Executive Order that has created the 9 new regions amounts to re-zoning, and his appointed bureaucrats are answerable only to him. In David Horton's testimony in 1978 on regionalism, he said that the State of Indiana made this declaration, "Neither the states nor Congress have ever granted authority to any branch or agency of the federal government to exercise regional control over the states." Horton further stated that Congress holds all legislative power that is granted in the Constitution, as opposed to Executive Orders that are not legislative. Therefore, Obama's Executive Order for re-zoning and appointing a governing body to usurp state and local power is Constitutionally invalid.
The public must become aware of state sovereignty and the Tenth Amendment to demand that state and local governments assert these Constitutional laws and principles.
COASTAL AND MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING REPORT:
This is a general overview of the new National Ocean Council's goals based on its 32-page report that uses indirect language and acronyms in order to confuse the public and local lawmakers. Depopulation advocates, globalists and collectivists, like John Holdren, faced opposition a few decades ago when they clearly expressed their objectives, so now documents are written in complicated and clouded language to fool those they wish to control.
This report states that the Council's jurisdiction will extend from the continental shelf to the coast AND additional inland areas will be involved. The National Ocean Council identifies "partners" as members of each regional planning body that will include federal, state, local and tribal authorities, with a top-down hierarchy of control.
The intentions of the Council are stated on page 8 of the report that include implementing LOST and other international treaties. The report also states that the Counci's plans shall be implemented by Executive Orders, in addition to federal and state laws. This section mentions 'global climate change' which is a new term used as a substitute for 'man made global warming' after manipulated data and lies were exposed in numerous global warming scandals. 'Climate change' is blamed for sea level rise and acidification of oceans; evidence exists that these are more global warming deceptions.
The stated goals of the Council include regulating investments, collaborating with unidentified international agencies, controlling public access to oceans and "protecting" ecosystems. This means that commerce and trade will be controlled by the Council, the UN will gain power over American oceans and the Great Lakes through UN subagencies, public access will be limited and the Endangered Species Act will be unleashed, with heavy regulations. Incidentally, the Endangered Species Act is based on 5 international treaties. It has never had a successful result: of the 60 species that have been de-listed, not a single species was saved as a result of any restrictions stemming from the Endangered Species Act!
The targeted areas for Endangered Species Act regulations are the the Great Lakes, the Gulf Coast, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, South Florida and the San Francisco Bay (the Bay Delta is where the irrigation water for farmers was was cut off using the Endangered Species Act, causing food shortages, an increase in food imports and massive economic devastation).
While this report does not clearly outline how the National Ocean Council's schemes will be financed, regulatory permits for all activity on the water and mining (oil) leases will play a part, along with tax increases. The report does indicate that grants and assistance programs will be available so that state, local and tribal authorities will support the Council's "efforts". In other words, the Council will try to buy off the state and local governments to "collectively use" them for a base of support and influence. (pg. 28) Strings are always attached to federal money. The federal government and the Council are reliant on state and local governments for implementation through state and local legal authority, which means that state and local authorities hold the power to implement or refuse the Council's directives, especially under the Tenth Amendment.
However, the report does state that disputes will be settled by consensus, if consensus fails, then the decisions will ultimately be made by the President. He is Commander in Chief of the Navy and has the power of the military behind him. Further, the report indicates that legislative changes and more Executive Orders may be necessary to achieve control.
An important point is made on page 5, which states, "Strong partnerships among Federal, State, tribal and local authorities, and regional governance structures would be essential to a truly forward-looking, comprehensive CMSP effort." This means that the states, local governments and tribes have power. Our collectivist government needs the consent of the state, local and tribal authorities, to implement this scheme, otherwise, the feds wouldn't bother to include these Constitutional authorities. If the state, local and tribal authorities are aware of, and willing to act on their Constitutional authority, then they can limit this federal power grab through the Tenth Amendment.
The report further states that signing onto the Council's plan would be an "express commitment by the partners to act in accordance with the plan..." (pg. 20) Therefore, it is imperative that all of the states be aware of the Council's intended usurpation and carefully protect their Constitutional jurisdictions and sovereignty. There are 30 states that will be affected by this new council. (pg. 12)
The Council's strategy plan will go into effect immediately, fully developing Agenda 21 objectives and undue UN influence within 5 years. Interestingly, one article said that if state, local and tribal authorities choose not to participate in in writing the plans, the plans would be written without them. Therefore, it bears repeating that state and local governments must protect their Constitutional authority when dealing with the Council. The Constitutional authority that states and local governments have can only be taken if the power is given away.
SAVING OUR COUNTRY:
If your freedom is important to you, the most effective action that you can take is to e-mail this article and Michael Shaw's "Understanding Agenda 21 Sustainable Development" booklet to all of your State Legislators, County Commissioners/ Superintendents and City Council members.
Tell all of your friends, co-workers and neighbors about Agenda 21 Sustainable Development and how it is destroying our country. The National Ocean Council is detrimental on so many levels and the time to act is now. If state and local officials refuse to stand up against this federal incursion, they must be thrown out of office in favor of representatives who support the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment.
Be sure to check back with http://www.MorphCity.com on July 30th to watch a special video presentation about how a local official stood up against encroachment by the federal government.
http://www.morphcity.com/home/79-national-ocean-council
RE: National Ocean Council: MAJOR UN Agenda 21 Initiative
Just read the bill WOW. I was about to post on in it's own thread but it seems hilly was right on top of it. Incredible that this got zero coverage!
Here's are excerpts from the bill with emphasis is mine.
Quote: Executive Order--Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the Great Lakes
Section 1. Purpose. The ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes provide jobs, food, energy resources, ecological services, recreation, and tourism opportunities, and play critical roles in our Nation's transportation, economy, and trade, as well as the global mobility of our Armed Forces and the maintenance of international peace and security. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and resulting environmental crisis is a stark reminder of how vulnerable our marine environments are, and how much communities and the Nation rely on healthy and resilient ocean and coastal ecosystems. America's stewardship of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes is intrinsically linked to environmental sustainability, human health and well-being, national prosperity, adaptation to climate and other environmental changes, social justice, international diplomacy, and national and homeland security.
This order adopts the recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, except where otherwise provided in this order, and directs executive agencies to implement those recommendations under the guidance of a National Ocean Council. Based on those recommendations, this order establishes a national policy to ensure the protection, maintenance, and restoration of the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources, enhance the sustainability of ocean and coastal economies, preserve our maritime heritage, support sustainable uses and access, provide for adaptive management to enhance our understanding of and capacity to respond to climate change and ocean acidification, and coordinate with our national security and foreign policy interests.
This order also provides for the development of coastal and marine spatial plans (3c) that build upon and improve existing Federal, State, tribal, local, and regional decisionmaking and planning processes. These regional plans will enable a more integrated, comprehensive, ecosystem-based, flexible, and proactive approach to planning and managing sustainable multiple uses across sectors and improve the conservation of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.
Sec. 2. Policy. (a) To achieve an America whose stewardship ensures that the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes are healthy and resilient, safe and productive, and understood and treasured so as to promote the well-being, prosperity, and security of present and future generations, it is the policy of the United States to:
* (i) protect, maintain, and restore the health and biological diversity of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems and resources;
* (ii) improve the resiliency of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems, communities, and economies;
* (iii) bolster the conservation and sustainable uses of land in ways that will improve the health of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems;
* (iv) use the best available science and knowledge to inform decisions affecting the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes, and enhance humanity's capacity to understand, respond, and adapt to a changing global environment;
* (v) support sustainable, safe, secure, and productive access to, and uses of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes;
* (vi) respect and preserve our Nation's maritime heritage, including our social, cultural, recreational, and historical values;
* (vii) exercise rights and jurisdiction and perform duties in accordance with applicable international law, including respect for and preservation of navigational rights and freedoms, which are essential for the global economy and international peace and security;
* (viii) increase scientific understanding of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes ecosystems as part of the global interconnected systems of air, land, ice, and water, including their relationships to humans and their activities;
* (ix) improve our understanding and awareness of changing environmental conditions, trends, and their causes, and of human activities taking place in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes waters; and
* (x) foster a public understanding of the value of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes to build a foundation for improved stewardship.
(b) The United States shall promote this policy by:
* (i) ensuring a comprehensive and collaborative framework for the stewardship of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes that facilitates cohesive actions across the Federal Government, as well as participation of State, tribal, and local authorities, regional governance structures, nongovernmental organizations, the public, and the private sector;
* (ii) cooperating and exercising leadership at the international level;
* (iii) pursuing the United States' accession to the Law of the Sea Convention; and
* (iv) supporting ocean stewardship in a fiscally responsible manner.
Sec. 3. Definitions. As used in this order:
(a) "Final Recommendations" means the Final Recommendations of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force that shall be made publicly available and for which a notice of public availability shall be published in the Federal Register.
(b) The term "coastal and marine spatial planning" means a comprehensive, adaptive, integrated, ecosystem-based, and transparent spatial planning process, based on sound science, for analyzing current and anticipated uses of ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes areas. Coastal and marine spatial planning identifies areas most suitable for various types or classes of activities in order to reduce conflicts among uses, reduce environmental impacts, facilitate compatible uses, and preserve critical ecosystem services to meet economic, environmental, security, and social objectives. In practical terms, coastal and marine spatial planning provides a public policy process for society to better determine how the ocean, our coasts, and Great Lakes are sustainably used and protected -- now and for future generations.
© The term "coastal and marine spatial plans" means the plans that are certified by the National Ocean Council as developed in accordance with the definition, goals, principles, and process described in the Final Recommendations.
Sec. 4. Establishment of National Ocean Council. (a) There is hereby established the National Ocean Council (Council).
(b) The Council shall consist of the following:
* (i) the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, who shall be the Co-Chairs of the Council;
* (ii) the Secretaries of State, Defense, the Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Commerce, Labor, Transportation, Energy, and Homeland Security, the Attorney General, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere (Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the National Science Foundation, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff;
* (iii) the National Security Advisor and the Assistants to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, Domestic Policy, Energy and Climate Change, and Economic Policy;
* (iv) an employee of the Federal Government designated by the Vice President; and
* (v) such other officers or employees of the Federal Government as the Co-Chairs of the Council may from time to time designate.
© The Co-Chairs shall invite the participation of the Chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, to the extent consistent with the Commission's statutory authorities and legal obligations, and may invite the participation of such other independent agencies as the Council deems appropriate.
(d) The Co-Chairs of the Council, in consultation with the National Security Advisor and the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, shall regularly convene and preside at meetings of the Council, determine its agenda, direct its work, and, as appropriate to address particular subject matters, establish and direct committees of the Council that shall consist exclusively of members of the Council.
(e) A member of the Council may designate, to perform committee functions of the member, any person who is within such member's department, agency, or office and who is (i) an officer of the United States appointed by the President, (ii) a member of the Senior Executive Service or the Senior Intelligence Service, (iii) a general officer or flag officer, or (iv) an employee of the Vice President.
(f) Consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations, the Office of Science and Technology Policy and the Council on Environmental Quality shall provide the Council with funding, including through the National Science and Technology Council or the Office of Environmental Quality. The Council on Environmental Quality shall, to the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations, provide administrative support necessary to implement this order.
(g) The day-to-day operations of the Council shall be administered by a Director and a Deputy Director, who shall supervise a full-time staff to assist the Co-Chairs in their implementation of this order.
Sec. 5. Functions of the Council. (a) The Council shall have the structure and function and operate as defined in the Final Recommendations. The Council is authorized, after the Council's first year of operation, to make modifications to its structure, function, and operations to improve its effectiveness and efficiency in furthering the policy set forth in section 2 of this order.
(b) To implement the policy set forth in section 2 of this order, the Council shall provide appropriate direction to ensure that executive departments', agencies', or offices' decisions and actions affecting the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes will be guided by the stewardship principles and national priority objectives set forth in the Final Recommendations, to the extent consistent with applicable law. The Council shall base its decisions on the consensus of its members. With respect to those matters in which consensus cannot be reached, the National Security Advisor shall coordinate with the Co-Chairs and, as appropriate, the Assistants to the President for Energy and Climate Change, and Economic Policy, and the employee of the United States designated by the Vice President, subject to the limitations set forth in section 9 of this order, to present the disputed issue or issues for decision by the President.
Sec. 6. Agency Responsibilities. (a) All executive departments, agencies, and offices that are members of the Council and any other executive department, agency, or office whose actions affect the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes shall, to the fullest extent consistent with applicable law:
* (i) take such action as necessary to implement the policy set forth in section 2 of this order and the stewardship principles and national priority objectives as set forth in the Final Recommendations and subsequent guidance from the Council; and
* (ii) participate in the process for coastal and marine spatial planning and comply with Council certified coastal and marine spatial plans, as described in the Final Recommendations and subsequent guidance from the Council.
(b)Each executive department, agency, and office that is required to take actions under this order shall prepare and make publicly available an annual report including a concise description of actions taken by the agency in the previous calendar year to implement the order, a description of written comments by persons or organizations regarding the agency's compliance with this order, and the agency's response to such comments.
© Each executive department, agency, and office that is required to take actions under this order shall coordinate and contribute resources, as appropriate, to assist in establishing a common information management system as defined in the Final Recommendations and shall be held accountable for managing its own information assets by keeping them current, easily accessible, and consistent with Federal standards.
(d) To the extent permitted by law, executive departments, agencies, and offices shall provide the Council such information, support, and assistance as the Council, through the Co-Chairs, may request.
Sec. 7. Governance Coordinating Committee. The Council shall establish a Governance Coordinating Committee that shall consist of 18 officials from State, tribal, and local governments in accordance with the Final Recommendations. The Committee may establish subcommittees chaired by representatives of the Governance Coordinating Committee. These subcommittees may include additional representatives from State, tribal, and local governments, as appropriate to provide for greater collaboration and diversity of views.
Sec. 8. Regional Advisory Committees. The lead Federal department, agency, or office for each regional planning body established for the development of regional coastal and marine spatial plans, in consultation with their nonfederal co-lead agencies and membership of their regional planning body, shall establish such advisory committees under the Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App., as they deem necessary to provide information and to advise the regional planning body on the development of regional coastal and marine spatial plans to promote the policy established in section 2 of this order.
Sec. 9. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order, the establishment of the Council, and the Final Recommendations shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
* (i) authority granted by law to an executive department or agency or the head thereof; or
* (ii) functions assigned by the President to the National Security Council or Homeland Security Council (including subordinate bodies) relating to matters affecting foreign affairs, national security, homeland security, or intelligence.
(b) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
© In carrying out the provisions of this order and implementing the Final Recommendations, all actions of the Council and the executive departments, agencies, and offices that constitute it shall be consistent with applicable international law, including customary international law, such as that reflected in the Law of the Sea Convention.
(d) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 10. Revocation. Executive Order 13366 of December 17, 2004, is hereby revoked.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/executive-order-stewardship-ocean-our-coasts-and-great-lakes
So in summary this bill enables ..
* The NOC is the executive branch of implementing The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. They are bound to implement it by law. They decide who, what, where and how it is to meet the requirements. The team that is deciding the how on our behalf is handcuffed by this dictatorial order.
* Its jurisdiction extends to land that affects oceans and is inclusive of climate change regulation it is forced to adopt the articles of The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force which was basically told to do the following.
"Our focus is to ensure that there is a strong science and policy basis for our environmental policy, to move the nation to greater reliance on clean energy and increase energy security, to combat global warming while growing the green economy, to protect public health and the environment, especially in vulnerable communities, and to protect and restore our great ecosystems."
Climate Change Adaptation Task Force
Agency Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration
New Proposed NEPA Guidance and Steps to Modernize and Reinvigorate NEPA
Review of MMS NEPA Procedures for OCS Oil and Gas Exploration and Development
Federal Sustainability
GreenGov
Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force
Recovery through Retrofit
Updated Principles and Guidelines for Water and Land Related Resources Implementation Studies (P&G).
America's Great Outdoors Initiative
Interagency Carbon Capture and Storage Task Force
An updated list of CEQ initiatives with documentation is available at the CEQ website.
* Appropriation funding from a number of agencies through the back door of their budget for monitoring human activity that can potentially have an environmental impact.
* It is charged with educating (greenwashing) the public to adopt these standards.
* It has established that climate change is real and is working with globalist crony partners like NASA and NOAA (who were involved in the fabrication of the IPCC AR4 report) to do the research and development to create alternative resource streams for national security (the military is using green biofuel), social and environmental purposes. This is being established through subsides, grants and PPPs**.
** Often, large corporations and financial interests form Public-Private Partnerships with the government within the regional ICLEI councils and now they can garner funding from a bigger pot federally. Regional Advisory Committees (Section 8) are normally comprised of private corporate interest groups.
* It is to establish areas for development of the green economy. It will likely appropriate lands to private biofuel corporations and subsidize them (more) to get more biofuel from sources like corn, soy and algae. I go into detail on the algae perspective in another thread - Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Dead Zone: The Algae Biofuels and Carbon Exchange Agenda.
* It has autonomy to enact changes within the scope of the environment and humans in it except when vetoed by Homeland Security and/or it's member agencies.
THE WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force
The CEQ was formed to develop the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force which make up the primary initiatives (spatial planning) for the NOC to enact .
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/091209-Interim-CMSP-Framework-Task-Force.pdf
Final Recommendations Of The Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force
The spatial planning agenda is based on this document and defined as the "Final Recommendations" that guide the NOC.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/files/documents/OPTF_FinalRecs.pdf
White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq
The National Ocean Council (NOC)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/oceans
How you can help stop the fascist globalist takeover of land and resources:
Michael Shaw and the late Joan Veon have been at the forefront of combating UN Agenda 21. Freedom Advocates is a group of concerned US citizens that are on the front lines of this battle and need your help.
Alabama Adopts First Official State Ban on UN Agenda 21 SiLVa 0 600 06-05-2012, 05:14 PM
Last Post: SiLVa
Virgin Media cuts Pirate Bay access for millions, First major telco to imp h3rm35 2 997 05-04-2012, 06:22 PM
Last Post: Swordfish
National speed limit may be scrapped Djones 2 813 09-25-2011, 07:20 PM
Last Post: IanPotter
National Criminal Justice Commission Act Passes House Unanimously h3rm35 0 578 07-28-2010, 09:55 PM
Supplanting the Constitution: War, National Emergency &the "Continuity of Government" h3rm35 0 617 05-19-2010, 11:30 PM
ICLEI Primer: Your Town and Freedom Threatened (Agenda 21) FastTadpole 0 881 03-15-2010, 09:42 AM
Last Post: FastTadpole


We travel. We parent. We see the beauty of many cultures and places. We cook. We read. This is a blog about those things. Welcome.
A couple days ago we visited my cousin Tabita in Iowa and ate uncle Olle's tekakor for dinner with salmon, cheese and cucumbers – delicious! I asked for the recipe, and I've translated it from Swedish and converted the units to US measurements.
Melt the butter and mix all ingredients into a dough and let it rise 30 minutes.
Roll out the dough to a 1 cm thick layer. Use a teacup or something to cut it into round cakes.
Prick with a fork and let it rise another 30 minutes.
Bake in 250° C (480° F) for 8 minutes.
Slice and make open-faced sandwiches with cheese, sliced meat, tomatoes, cucumbers.


Yvonne is thrilled to be singing in another production of South Pacific; this time at Cape Playhouse in Cape Cod, Massachusetts! The production runs August 7–18, and will be directed by Michael Rader with choreography by Joyce Chitick and musical direction by Garrett Taylor. The cast will be led by Mike McGowan as Emile, Becky Gulsvig as Nellie, Tim Rogan as Lt. Cable, Shea Renne as Liat, and Michael Thomas Holmes as Luther Billis. You can find more information on Playbill and the Cape Playhouse website.


Make yourself at ho-ho-home, doll. We were just whipping up some Bloody Marys with Bronson van Wyck, event planner to chi-chi revelers like Martha Stewart and President Obama and chic brands like Chanel, Christie's, and Barneys New York. His holiday fêtes are particularly legendary, with one-of-a-kind festive details like breakdancing elves, falling snow, and stilt walkers pouring champers. With Christmas around the corner, now's the perfect time to listen in as Bronson reveals everything from which Christmas tree to buy to the best way to lux up old ornaments.
So we can learn a trick or tow, how do you go about creating a holiday design concept for a client?
It's important to understand what the holidays mean to the client. Is it all about the children? Is it important to incorporate an annual tradition? Should the tree blend with the home décor? After learning a bit more, I weave those memories or themes into something new for the client. Maybe a country home in the mountains demands a tree covered with woodland creatures, hand crafted birch balls and gilded pine cones.
What about those of us who are a bit more do-it-yourself? How can we create a fresh look rather than pulling out the same stuff every year?
Gold leaf can transform any object. It's my favorite way to lux up something tired. Gilded objects make beautiful ornaments or table decorations. One of my favorite tricks for adding some chic seasonal sparkle to a room is gold-leaf sheets called Sepp Leaf, which can be found at most art stores.
How do you choose the right tree for a space? Do you have a favorite type?
Measure your ceiling and have your tree cut to fit just shy of the ceiling. The tree should truly fill your space. My favorite is a blue spruce. We walk through the tree farms early in the year to reserve the best ones. That might seem overkill but it's worth it. Ask your nursery to call you as soon as the spruces arrive!
You've said that tartans are the ultimate way to create a sense of warmth when it's cold outside. What are some of your other favorite holiday signatures?
I love decorating with magnolia leaves. When it dries, it looks even better and lasts well through the season. The leaves are also particularly beautiful when you gild them.
Should someone take a different approach if they're in a warm climate? Can we pull off red tartan in, say, Miami?
Of course! It warms up any space to give it a cocooning and cozy effect. Use tartan in napkins and table runners without feeling too heavy.
Holiday party snack? Candied bacon!
And your favorite host or hostess gift to give?
I love to give the host a Bloody Mary basket complete with everything you need to whip up a strong one the morning after. Don't forget to include your favorite vodka and pickled garnishes with a bottle of your favorite mix. Mine is Arrowhead Farms Hellfire Bloody Mary, naturally. There is no better way to start Christmas.
We'll drink to that. Thanks for stopping by, Bronson.


text:
How to Fix Common Plumbing Leaks
Learn how to fix common leaks from Master Plumber John Wood in this plumbing repair video from Howcast.
Okay. So I'm going to talk for a few minutes about how to fix some of the most common plumbing leaks that you might see in your home or business. Okay. But first, before I go into that I should talk about the types of joints that you have. When we say "joints" in the plumbing world, we're talking about connections between pipes of like or unlike materials. So one of the most common is what we call an IPS joint. IPS stands for iron pipe size, this being an iron pipe. This is most likely found in gas, which is a no-no, so stay away from it. But this also translates to other pipes, too. You could have a brass pipe, all right, exactly the same as this, which is called a nipple, but this would be made out of brass. That would found in a water distribution system. Okay.
This is a three-quarter IPS steel nipple. You could just as samely have a three-quarter IPS brass nipple. So let's just assume that this nipple is brass. Okay. And when you have a leak on something like this, as long as it's not decayed or old or banged-up or dented or otherwise destroyed, okay, you can seal that leak by doing two things. One is Teflon tape. Okay. This is a non-sticky type of sealing tape. Okay. I always try to take the first few inches of it off and get rid of it, because it's been dusty. Okay. What you want to do is you can see that tape is just kind of laid on the tip of my finger. I would take the pipe that I'm going to be sealing and wrap the tape around it three times. One, in the direction of the joint so turning clockwise, two, three.
A lot of amateurs and homeowners will try to mummify the threads of these things in tape. It's just not necessary. Three is the number. Now that could actually serve. That could be enough. But I also like to use pipe dope, the amusingly named pipe dope, or pipe thread sealant. Okay. And again, same as in my video about soldering a joint, you don't need a ton of this stuff. The first three threads are more than enough. When you take your Master Plumber's exam with the City of New York, they'll actually fail you for using too much of this.
Okay. Just kind of go gently around, and make sure that you've got a film of it on these threads. So now you've got a sealed joint. Okay. Now if we were taking this, and if it were brass and we're screwing it into a fitting in the wall, we're turning it clockwise into the fitting. And you're going to feel it stop. It's going to be too much for your hands to do. That's when your trusty Channel Locks come in or a wrench. You would grab down and turn it in. A lot of people use the Incredible Hulk type strength to turn these things in. It's not necessary. These thread, you can see this side better, they're tapered. Okay. As you turn a nipple in, and IPS nipple in, those threads will bury into the fitting. You'll leave about four threads. It's enough. It's enough.
You don't need to kill it. You don't need to put it in there like it's never, ever going to come out of there again. Just snug is good. If you have to do it more than that, there's something wrong. Maybe you've damaged the threads, or maybe the fitting is bad. Maybe the threads are damaged. So you don't need to kill it putting it in there. That's an IPS joint. Another type of joint that you will see in the plumbing system is a compression joint. Now a compression joint works in a very, very different mechanism. Okay. This here is what we call a three-eighths compression coupling, coupling meaning it joins two sections of three-eighths pipe together. All right. This works on a nut-and-ferrule system. This is the nut, and the ferrule, this little brass ring. What happens with this type of joint, notice the threads are only in this nut to hold the ferrule down to the pipe.
It's kind of a neat way of working. They call it compression because when you slip this nut over the pipe, followed by the ferrule, now we're over a pipe and we're going to thread it onto this coupling. Okay. As you turn this nut down, that brass ring, that brass ferrule inside actually crushes down to the pipe wall. And it crushes down so tight that it effectively makes one piece of pipe. Once you crush the ferrule down to the pipe, it's on the pipe forever. If you need to make a repair, you have to get rid of it, cut in another joint, and then fix it that way.
But that's another type of joint. So this would be the other side. You'd put your nut over the pipe first, followed by the ferrule. You thread it on, and then you would kind of hold that with two pair of Channel Locks or two adjustable wrenches, and just join that together. It's a very, very tight what we call a mechanical joint. This is a mechanical joint. The last joint that you would see with some exceptions in the plumbing system is the one that we covered earlier, the soldered joint. This is generally seen on any pipe from half-inch up to six--, seven, eight-inch. The six- or seven-, eight-inch pipe is going to be about that wide around, and a lot of times you see a different type of mechanical joint with them as well. But for your purposes doing a home repair, that's going to be completely irrelevant. But this is your typical half-inch joint here, soldered joint. And if you had a leak in a soldered joint, that would indicate either a poorly soldered joint in the first place or just age corrosion, in which case you would, let's say this 90 was leaking right here. We would cut out the affected area, right, and install a new 90 and join it and solder it much the way we did in the other video. And that is how you would fix a leaking pipe.
Plumbing Basics with Master Plumber John Wood
How to Become a Master Plumber in NYC
3 Tips on How to Buy New Plumbing Fixtures
Most Common Plumbing Tools
Why Your Basement Toilet Smells
3 Big No-Nos of DIY Plumbing Repair
Know Where the Shutoff Valve Is
How a Toilet Tank Works
How to Avoid Clogging a Sink Drain
How to Fix a Kitchen Sink Drain
How to Solder a Pipe & Fix Water Lines


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Energy giant Innogy books hefty charge on nPower
The £428m writedown comes after SSE and the German firm announced they had reached an agreement to merge their operations in the UK
insider.co.uk
Innogy said the SSE-nPower deal would have no impact on the impairment charge (Image: PA)
Energy giant Innogy has booked a €480 million (£428 million) charge on utility provider nPower as it grapples with the commercial and regulatory pressures in the UK market.
The German firm said it was confronted by a "difficult situation" in the UK, driven by "very tough" competition, squeezed margins and a proposed move by the Government to cap poor value energy tariffs.
SSE confirms nPower merger plan as it reveals it lost 410,000 retail customers since last year
The hefty writedown comes as the Big Six energy firms look likely to become the Big Five after SSE and NPower announced last week that they had reached an agreement to merge their operations.
However, Innogy said the deal would have no impact on the impairment charge.
The firm added: "The competitive landscape in the UK retail business remains very tough and pressure on margins is very high.
"The UK Government has initiated recently the legislative process to introduce a general price cap for standard variable tariffs and is proposing an expansion of the existing price cap for vulnerable households.
"As part of the annual impairment test, a goodwill impairment of 480 million euro for the UK retail business was recognised. This impairment reflects the deterioration in commercial assumptions and tougher regulatory conditions."
The comments came as part of Innogy's results for the nine months ending in September, where it reported UK retail revenues had tumbled 17% to 4.99 billion euro (£4.45 billion).
Adjusted earnings for the group rose 5 per cent to 3.1 billion euro (£2.8 billion) over the period, despite losses on UK earnings deepening to 33 million euro (£29 million), down from a loss of 6 million euro (£5 million) last year.
Innogy's group revenues also dropped 2.1 per cent to 30.79 billion euro (£27.4 billion) for the nine months.
'Biggest company in Scotland' in talks over merger with rival
Bernhard Gunther, Innogy's chief financial officer, said: "The past nine months show that our earnings position has continued to show robust development.
"And we are making good progress, also in the UK. Despite the difficult situation on the UK market, Npower is a strong part of the planned combined retail company with SSE."


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What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Chris Stricker shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach.
Chris is married and has 4 children – 15 year-old son, 13 year-old twin sons, and a 11 year-old daughter.
Break everything into relatable levels: Barclays level, National level, College.
At the younger ages – the most important thing to teach is technique. To keep the kids engaged you have to find creative ways to keep it fun.
An effective way to teach is have your most talented kids help teach the less talented kids.
This entry was posted in Podcasts and tagged in athlete, baseball, basketball, cheerleading, Chris Stricker, coach, Coaching, coaching podcast, coaching your own child, coaching your own kid, coaching youth, coaching youth sports, Coppell High School, dad, dad coach, daughter, ESPN, football, gymnastics, hockey, Jenn Starkey, Jim Tressel, lacrosse, league of your own, loyobook.com, mental toughness, mental toughness kids, mlb, mom, mom coach, national alliance youth sports, nays, NBA, NFL, Parenting, pca, peak performance, Pete Carroll, podcast, podcasts, positive coaching, Positive Coaching Alliance, soccer, softball, son, sports, sports podcast, sports specialization, strickersoccer.com, swimming, The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance, The Inner Game of Tennis, volleyball, W. Timothy Gallwey, winning, Winning Youth Coaching, Winning Youth Football, youth, youth coaching, youth sports, youth sports podcast.


The new caterpillar kit is a great success!
Our new Live Caterpillar Kit is a hit!
We had Adventure Butterflies visit our Early Learning Center. Sharon was fantastic she had several activities set up so we could have small groups of children feeding the butterflies. She went through the whole butterfly life cycle answering all the children's questions, not rushing them. The following week Eddie brought out 6 caterpillars in the Caterpillar Kit. The children fed them and we watch them form chrysalises before emerging as butterflies. Eddie answered all our questions and was so helpful. The children, teachers and families learnt so much. Thank you for this wonderful experience.


Lt. Comm. Anthony A. Mitchell and Paul Creston shaking hands; at a United States Navy Band performance at Carnegie Hall, New York.
Descriptive caption and information stamped on back by U.S. Naval Photographic Center.


Unbreakable Ice Cube Bowl suitable for your home, office, events, parties, outdoor set ups.
This is our very fine quality brass silver plated ice cream bowl set engraved on it give them a very immese look.and it is perfect to serve ice cream in it to your guest and you family members.
We offer hammered finished ice cream cup, finger bowl with underliners that compliment the range of hammered tablewares. The cup can also be used for serving other desserts like halwa, gulab jamun apart from ice cream scoops.
four bowl ice cream set with silver plated.


On hot summer days, residents of Edwardsville, IL rely on HVAC systems to keep them cool and comfortable. If your A/C unit isn't cooling your home or the system costs too much to run, there are some steps you can take to increase your HVAC system efficiency. Follow these tips to increase the energy efficiency of your HVAC system.
Outdoor air conditioning units work most efficiently when they are clean and free from debris. At the beginning of summer, clear the area around your outdoor condenser unit. Remove any dead leaves, mud, grass clippings, outdoor toys, bicycles, or garden tools that are blocking airflow to the unit. Clean the condenser unit thoroughly to increase HVAC efficiency. If you are not sure how to clean the outdoor condenser unit, hire an HVAC contractor who can perform an in-depth cleaning.
Keeping the indoor vents unblocked can also increase HVAC system efficiency. Move heavy items of furniture that are blocking airflow from the vents. Vacuum the vents to remove dust, hair, and small pieces of debris. These basic cleaning actions may help your air conditioner to blow cool air around your home.
One good way to increase HVAC efficiency is to reduce the amount of heat that enters the home in summer. Keep curtains and blinds closed to block out sunlight to prevent rooms from heating up. If you don't want to miss out on views of the beautiful sunny day, use slatted blinds or net curtains. These block the most direct rays of sunlight from entering the home, while still allowing you to see out.
If you follow these tips and yet continue to struggle with HVAC efficiency, call a professional HVAC contractor in Edwardsville, IL. We can examine your HVAC system and determine whether it has any maintenance issues that are causing it to run less efficiently. We can also clean and service your air conditioner to help keep it in good working order throughout the hot summer months.


text:
Govt rejects calls for drug 'safe rooms'
PaulPaladin
The Government has rejected calls to introduce officially sanctioned rooms for drug addicts to inject themselves.
The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) had claimed that 'drug consumption rooms', or DCRs, could prevent drug deaths.
But the Government rejects this claim and has said it has "no plans" to legislate for them.
Abstinence from all drugs is the only way to begin recovery.
Tommy Cairns, former drug addict
A Home Office spokesman said: "Our policy remains the same and we are not suggesting local authorities introduce DCRs."
Tommy Cairns, a former addict from Halifax in West Yorkshire, said: "Whoever came up with the idea has never been addicted to drugs. I used to take six bags of heroin a day, I got imprisoned for four and a half years for dealing, and let me tell you, a consumption room wouldn't have helped me.
'Extraordinary'
Earlier this year, a senior police officer was panned by critics after he claimed that drug addicts should be allowed to take free heroin.
Mike Barton, Chief Constable of Durham Police, told the Mail on Sunday of his intentions to use police funding to provide the Class A drug to addicts twice a day in a supervised 'shooting gallery'.
Neil McKeganey, of the Centre for Substance Use Research, described the suggestion of police funds being used in this way as "extraordinary".
"Once you set up a centre like this, it will attract addicts and they will remain dependent on heroin, undermining services committed to getting people off drugs".
Drug consumption rooms ruled out by government (bbc.co.uk, 26 July 2017)
Government ignores research and advice to rule out 'fix rooms' (policeprofessional.com, 26 July 2017)
'Give free heroin to addicts in shooting galleries,' says police chief (9 March 2017)
Drug deaths soar to record high in England and Wales (13 September 2016)
Going soft on cannabis
Institute welcomes drop in 'legal high' deaths
'Don't confuse tested medicines with recreational cannabis'