text:
THE WARDEN by Anthony Trollope
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I49SF6K
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I49SF6K
The Definitive Edition of THE WARDEN by Anthony Trollope
-Rare illustrations from early editions bring the story to life.
-Complete, unabridged, and formatted for kindle to improve your reading experience
-Linked table of contents to reach your chapter quickly
-New edition marking the 200th anniversary of Trollope's birth in 1815
"In this novel, Trollope brilliantly examines the issue of personal responsibility, and the question of what, at the end of the day, means the most in life. Is it more important to have wealth and security, or the peace of a clear conscience and the knowledge that one has "done the right thing." I love the book, and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in 19th century British literature, or the kind of moral/social issues that I have mentioned above. In fact, I recommend the whole "Chronicles of Barsetshire" series, as some of the very best and theologically/philosophically probing material you're ever going to get" -Rick
"I must confess, I am a Trollope devotee and it was The Warden which started off my love affair with Trollope's literature. This book is quite short but definitely left me wanting more. Trollope's descriptions of all his characters brings them to life on the page, and his ability to describe the thoughts, feelings and motivations of his characters in second to none. Also, this may be a Victorian classic but the writing style is very accessible and anyone could easily read the novel. Prepare to fall in love and want to read more."-Lindsey
"I found The Warden unexpectedly relevant to today; with the issue of the power versus the freedom of the press and also the misappropriation of public funds. Food for thought with plenty of humour to accompany it. The characters were well drawn, and who could fail to love Mr Harding, our man of conscience and hero? This was a little gem of a book and has spurred me on to read the rest of the series" –Gail
"If you like rich character descriptions, British witticisms and a relationship-driven (rather than action-driven) story line, you might want to give Trollope a try. The friendships described in the book are tender and touching. The not-so-gentle jabs at the power of the press are insightful and comical. But let me warn you. There are five other books in the Barchester series. You may not be able to stop after just one." –WorthwhileBooks.blogspot.co.uk
THE WARDEN features Anthony Trollope's sensational novel in a specially designed edition for kindle. This adventure will intrigue and delight you. Read it as it's meant to be read: complete, and unabridged with illustrations from the period.
Labels: THE WARDEN by Anthony Trollope kindle ebook
BLEAK HOUSE by Charles Dickens
http://www.amazon.co.uk/complete-unabridged-original-illustrations-publication-ebook/dp/B00I3SQAVE/
http://www.amazon.com/complete-unabridged-original-illustrations-publication-ebook/dp/B00I3SQAVE/
The Definitive Edition of BLEAK HOUSE
-Illustrated with all 40 original Phiz illustrations from its first publication
"One of the 1000 novels everyone must read." The Guardian
"Bleak House is, to my mind, one of the most finely crafted works of literature ever written. The story lines and characters still feel fresh and alive today, 160 years after Dickens created them." J. Courtney Sullivan
"Bleak House is Dickens' grandest, most virtuosic achievement, but with all that grandeur and virtuosity it still makes me cry for Esther Summerson. The novel is divided into two strands: the story of rich, haughty, reserved Lady Dedlock, told by an omniscient narrator, and Esther's story, told in her own words. They are connected, as is everything in Bleak House, by the court case Jarndyce and Jarndyce, a tangle of disputed wills and disrupted inheritance that has tied up the High Court of Chancery for decades." Radhika Jones, Time Magazine
"I think it's Dickens's best book and, given that it's all about Chancery, I'd like to call expert witnesses. So here they are, the very unalike GK Chesterton and Vladimir Nabokov, both of whom agree that Dickens never wrote better." Kathryn Hughes, The Guardian
"Dickens's sophisticated juggling of narrative invents a style that really can't be defined, just like the novel itself. Is it a thriller, a romance, magic realism, a murder mystery? Yes and no. Is it a treatise on poverty, domestic violence, false charity, obsession? . . . emerges as one of the best novels ever written." Bonnie
BLEAK HOUSE is one of the most profound and exciting novels of all time. It has been made into film and television adaptations and captivated generations of readers. This is Dickens' masterpiece presented as it was meant to be read, with all the original illustrations.
Labels: BLEAK HOUSE by Charles Dickens kindle book, bleak house with phiz illustrations
THE PROVINCIAL LADY COLLECTION by E.M. Delafield
http://www.amazon.co.uk/PROVINCIAL-LADY-COLLECTION-E-M-DELAFIELD-ebook/dp/B00I1SBYS0/
http://www.amazon.com/PROVINCIAL-LADY-COLLECTION-E-M-DELAFIELD-ebook/dp/B00I1SBYS0/
THE PROVINCIAL LADY COLLECTION
"A great collection of some of the funniest and most well-observed diaries ever written, a wonderful summing up of a time and a place, and the illustrations bring them to life." Classic Fiction
THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY (with the original illustrations)
THE PROVINCIAL LADY GOES FURTHER (with the original illustrations)
THE PROVINCIAL LADY IN RUSSIA
-Linked Table of Contents
-Original illustrations
PRAISE FOR THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY
"I came to The Diary of a Provincial Lady in the early 1970s. I finished the novel in one sitting, leaving the children unbathed, dogs unwalked, a husband unfed, and giving alternate cries of joy and recognition throughout. How was it that anyone living a comparatively sheltered, upper-class life 40 years ago could think and behave so exactly like me?" Jilly Cooper, The Guardian
THE PROVINCIAL LADY GOES FURTHER
"Truly laugh-out-loud funny, as the unnamed diarist chronicles the humdrum every day details of life. Her life involves things mine do not (hiring servants, for one), but her feelings of inadequacy as a wife, parent, housekeeper, neighbour, friend, and citizen really hit home with me and make me howl in recognition. Would love to meet her at one of those dinner parties she is always attending, where she always feels slightly out of place." Tracy
Features three classic reports from 1930s Russia in a specially designed edition for kindle. E. M. Delafield's insightful writing will intrigue and delight you.
Labels: provincial lady kindle book, THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY by E. M. DELAFIELD kindle edition
Video Trailer for T.J. Brearton's stunning thriller HABIT
http://www.amazon.co.uk/HABIT-detective-mysteries-thrillers-BREARTON-ebook/dp/B00HRIJVFS/
http://www.amazon.com/HABIT-detective-mysteries-thrillers-BREARTON-ebook/dp/B00HRIJVFS/
Labels: t.j. brearton habit kindle thriller
THE THREE MUSKETEERS by Alexandre Dumas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/THREE-MUSKETEERS-illustrated-complete-unabridged-ebook/dp/B00HZVYHPG/
http://www.amazon.com/THREE-MUSKETEERS-illustrated-complete-unabridged-ebook/dp/B00HZVYHPG/
The Definitive Edition of THE THREE MUSKETEERS
-Includes wonderful vintage illustrations
"It is a fast paced adventure into French history which has cemented itself as a classic and refuses to let go. I have been a fan of this story for several decades." ManofLabook.com
"[Dumas's] historical novels always wind up saying that everything that matters — love, courage, pleasure and, especially, all-for-one-and-one-for-all friendship — exists most vividly not in the supposed centers of power, but elsewhere: in the margins of history, where the musketeers, immortally, live." Terrence Rafferty, NY Times
"I've had more fun reading "The Three Musketeers" than I've had with any book in a long time, and my only regret is that I didn't find my way to Dumas sooner. It's bursting with swordplay, political intrigue, romance, fortunes won and lost, mistresses kept and stolen, poisoned wine, devious nobility, and vengeance sought and attained. What more could a reader ask for?" Danny
"With five brilliantly laid out main characters and strong supporting ones, this stands out for fine individuals. D'Artagnan, the three namesake Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and the woman mostly called simply Milady are all of amazing clarity. The evil Cardinal Richelieu, the queen and king of France, various lackeys and servants, love interests, and others flesh out the many characters whom Dumas keeps clear, distinct, and never too many to follow." Steve
THE THREE MUSKETEERS is one of the most exciting adventures of all time. It immortalized Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and of course D'Artagnan. Presented in a beautiful edition specially designed for kindle, this is Dumas's swashbuckling epic masterpiece which will stay with you forever. All for one, and one for all!
Labels: bbc three musketeers ebook, three musketeers kindle ebook
THE COMPLETE THREE MUSKETEERS by Alexandre Dumas
http://www.amazon.co.uk/COMPLETE-MUSKETEERS-COLLECTION-illustrated-unabridged-ebook/dp/B00HZ1F9TE/
http://www.amazon.com/COMPLETE-MUSKETEERS-COLLECTION-illustrated-unabridged-ebook/dp/B00HZ1F9TE/
Discover all 6 original books featuring d'Artagnan and The Three Musketeers
THE COMPLETE THREE MUSKETEERS COLLECTION
"These are all six of Alexandre Dumas's masterpieces of action, adventure, history, and friendship in one great edition. There are hours and hours of wonderful reading here." Classic Fiction
Includes complete and unabridged:
TWENTY YEARS AFTER
THE VICOMTE DE BRAGELONNE
TEN YEARS LATER
LOUISE DE LA VALLIERE
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK
Six of the greatest ever epic historical novels
-Featuring vintage illustrations
-Linked table of contents to reach your book quickly
PRAISE FOR THE THREE MUSKETEERS
"Better than "Three Musketeers." Characters are much more developed and fleshed out and mature. More mature and thought-provoking themes. Loved reading every minute of it. Not one dull moment in all its 800+ pages. I love Dumas' sense of humor. d'Artagnan and Porthos really stood out so much more in this one, witty and truly humorous--I really enjoy laughing at true wit in a book. It makes me feel happy." K
"A most excellent return to the beloved heroes of this amazing saga. It does not matter that the four inseparables are now getting along in their years, they are all just as epic as before. D'Artagnan once more shows his character (especially when giving the young Louis XIV a much needed lesson) and then undertakes a devilishly clever affair in England, in the favor of Charles II." Alina
"I love reading Alexander Dumas' books! They are so romantic and delightful! This one is a fun one and is lengthy so the character development is wonderful." Kathy
"It's 1661 and Louis the XIV is taking over the reign of government from his ministers. D'Artagnan is captain of the Musketeers, Aramis is now a bishop, Porthos is as big, strong and hungry as ever and Raoul, the son of Athos, is still madly in love with Louise De La Valliere." Misfit
"In this, the last of the Three Musketeers novels, Dumas builds on the true story of a mysterious prisoner held incognito in the French penal system, forced to wear a mask when seen by any but his jailer or his valet." Venus
This series is also known as THE D'ARTAGNAN ROMANCES
Labels: bbc three musketeers ebook, dartagnan romances, THE COMPLETE THREE MUSKETEERS by Alexandre Dumas
HABIT a thriller by T.J. Brearton (Lake Placid, NY) published by Joffe Books (Shoreditch, London)
PRESS RELEASE
Joffe Books is delighted to announce the publication of this outstanding detective thriller.
"HABIT by T.J. Brearton is a pacey thriller set in upstate New York. It's one of the first books that I chose to publish with my London-based company, as I found it absolutely compelling, with a flawed and complex protagonist. The tension doesn't let up for a minute. And working with Mr. Brearton, who lives in the Adirondacks, has been fun, even though it's rather a long distance publishing relationship!" Jasper Joffe
A young woman, Rebecca Heilshorn, lies stabbed to death in her bed in a remote farmhouse. Rookie detective Brendan Healy is called in to investigate. All hell breaks loose when her brother bursts onto the scene. Rebecca turns out to have many secrets and connections to a sordid network mixing power, wealth, and sex. Detective Brendan Healy, trying to put a tragic past behind him, pursues a dangerous investigation that will risk both his life and his sanity. Habit is a compelling thriller which will appeal to all fans of crime fiction. T.J. Brearton amps up the tension at every step, until the shocking and gripping conclusion.
T.J. BREARTON
Praise for his previous books
"This book seriously crawls inside and messes with you." K.D. Scriminger, "Rehabilitation" review, Fourth Coast Entertainment Magazine
"Brearton's characters are individualized, idiosyncratic and well fitted to the roles they play." Jerry McGovern, "The Millionaire Rig Veda" review, Adirondack Daily Enterprise
Brearton's fiction first appeared in Third Rail, an underground magazine in New York City. His short stories have been published with The Rusty Nail Magazine, Orange Quarterly, Enhance Magazine, Nonsense Society, and Atticus Review, with non-fiction appearing in The Lake Champlain Weekly and Adirondack Almanack. A previous novel, "Rehabilitation," was published independently in 2009. He attended the New York Film Academy and has worked in film, broadcast television, and freelance journalism. He lives in the Adirondacks with his wife and two children.
JOFFE BOOKS
An independent publishing company based in the creative hub of Shoreditch, London, close to the digital and artistic communities that inspire it. Jasper Joffe, a contemporary artist, well-known for projects such as The Free Art Fair and The Sale of a Lifetime, decided to found a digital-only publishing company to release outstanding fiction and make the most of the new opportunities which are transforming the world of books.
"The age of Kindle means that I can bring great fiction out fast and with everything from cover, to blurb, to marketing done in-house. I've applied some of the knowledge I gained as a successful artist to the publishing world. It's a really exciting moment to be doing this, because for the first time in history, a writer can send me a book and within a month, if everything goes well, be selling their book and having thousands of people all over the world reading it!" Jasper Joffe
For review copies, interviews, or images:
Jasper@JoffeBooks.com
www.jasperjoffe.com
Labels: free kindle thriller ebooks, lake placid, london publisher, t.j. brearton habit kindle thriller, upstate new york books novels
HABIT a thriller by T.J. Brearton
"A great detective mystery: realistic, well-written, and with such dramatic tension that I was up all night racing to reach the conclusion." Chris Child
"Detective Brendan Healy solves a complex case, facing his own demons, in a brilliant police procedural with a dark conspiracy in the background." Sarah Victor
"Complex, beautifully drawn characters, twists and turns, great atmosphere, a real page turner." Beth Boyd
A brilliant mystery that you won't be able to put down
A young woman, Rebecca Heilshorn, lies stabbed to death in her bed in a remote, upstate New York farmhouse. Rookie detective Brendan Healy is called in to investigate. All hell breaks loose when her brother bursts onto the scene. Rebecca turns out to have many secrets and connections to a sordid network mixing power, wealth, and sex.
Detective Brendan Healy, trying to put a tragic past behind him, pursues a dangerous investigation that will risk both his life and his sanity.
Habit is a compelling mystery which will appeal to all fans of crime fiction. T.J. Brearton amps up the tension at every step, until the shocking and gripping conclusion.
Labels: new crime novel kindle ebook, police procedural kindle, thriller crime, tj brearton habit, upstate new york crime fiction
THE PROVINCIAL LADY GOES FURTHER by E. M. Delafield
http://www.amazon.co.uk/PROVINCIAL-FURTHER-complete-original-illustrations-ebook/dp/B00HPH3B2A/
The Definitive Edition of THE PROVINCIAL LADY GOES FURTHER
-Original illustrations by Arthur Watts from the 1932 first edition
"If anything, this book is funnier than the first one ... I couldn't stop laughing. What fun!! Bridget Jones is a piker compared to this!" Louise
"Delicious gem of a novel — even better than its predecessor! Told in a witty, telegraphic style, our delightful heroine, now a minor authoress, must balance caring for her children, navigating a foreign watering hole, soothing the frequently ruffled feathers of the French nanny who is always having a crisis, and budgeting within the confines of her shockingly thin bank account (or, unfortunately, budgeting not quite within the confines of her bank account). All of this while trying to write a follow-up book to satisfy her publisher! A dinner party with an old school chum whose glamorous life and ageless skin prompts a crisis for our dear heroine is worth the price of the book." Laura
"Sometimes it is hard to describe a book or review it because it is really good or really special or really difficult to describe. The Provincial Lady Goes Further is one of them. The story of the provincial lady and her friends and family. The phlegmatic husband Robert, the wild kids and the independent girlfriend. And of course the oh-so-French nanny and the stuck-up neighbour - the list goes on and on. It is a really wonderful book." WickedWonderfulWords
THE PROVINCIAL LADY GOES FURTHER features E.M.Delafield's comic classic in a specially designed edition for kindle. This is one of E. M. Delafield's masterpieces which will amuse and delight you. Read it as it is meant to be read: complete, and unabridged with illustrations from the 1932 first edition.
Labels: THE PROVINCIAL LADY GOES FURTHER by E. M. Delafield kindle ebook
THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY by E. M. DELAFIELD
http://www.amazon.co.uk/DIARY-PROVINCIAL-complete-original-illustrations-ebook/dp/B00HP5P1O8/
The Definitive Edition of THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY
"Loving this series--just discovered! This is the first of several written in the 1930s by a British woman. I'm on the second one currently, and I'm laughing aloud. Perfect for reading just before bed. A fascinating picture of life before WWII in Britain--when "middle class" meant something completely different--tutors, cooks, housekeepers . . . and an allowance for the "little woman." Our heroine in the Diary series struggles to not involve her husband (who is indifferent to anything domestic) in her day-to-day trials, and eighty years later, those trials still ring true" Sallie
"It takes a truly talented mind to take the day to day life of a country house wife and convert it into a journal of light satire and human observation. It is a little wonder why The Diary was a bestseller when it was published in 1933 and is still so popular. The book truly is delightful and full of interesting characters." Vipula
"An amusing glimpse into the diary of a very simpleminded and clumsy Provincial Lady, her careless and grumbly husband Robert, her too truthful children and her hopelessly pretending neighborhood. It reads almost like a forerunner to "Bridget Jones' Diary" with its endearing scenes of everydaylife, not-too-practical musings on personal economy and unlucky efforts to dye one's hair." Rikke
THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY features the classic comic novel in a specially designed edition for kindle. This is E. M. Delafield's masterpiece which will amuse and delight you. Read it as it is meant to be read: complete, and unabridged with illustrations from the 1930 first edition.
Labels: kindle ebook, THE DIARY OF A PROVINCIAL LADY by E. M. DELAFIELD kindle edition
FREE MYSTERY FOR KINDLE till January 9th
PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES by John Yorvik
http://www.amazon.com/PRETTY-GIRLS-GRAVES-suspense-thriller-ebook/dp/B00H2SK86E/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/PRETTY-GIRLS-GRAVES-suspense-thriller-ebook/dp/B00H2SK86E/
"An exciting thriller with the authentic gritty flavour of London's underworld." Ann Abrams
"A great read which has Lishman up against sinister forces trying to frame him for the murder of a pretty young Polish woman." Chris Child
"A true page turner with a dark conspiracy at its heart. If you like the Girl with a Dragon Tattoo books you'll love this." Norman Andrews
"Intelligent and atmospheric, with a gripping plot and complex believable characters." Clare Brenton
A thrilling suspense novel which will have you up all night following its twist and turns
On a wild night out Lishman seduces the beautiful Natasha Rok. Three days later, news of Natasha's murder is splashed all over the newspapers and Lishman is the prime suspect. Lishman, unable to remember much about the drunken night of passion, makes a snap decision to run. He becomes a fugitive hiding out on the backstreets of London, hunted through underground tunnels and canal networks. With the help of Dani, an edgy female photographer friend, he ventures into the murky world of East End gangs and conspiracy theories to unravel the mystery behind Natasha's death and try to save himself.
PRETTY GIRLS MAKE GRAVES is a gripping thriller by the talented new writer John Yorvik.
Labels: free kindle books, free kindle mystery, free thriller kindle book, john yorvik
THE UNLIT LAMP by Radclyffe Hall
http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-UNLIT-LAMP-RADCLYFFE-HALL-ebook/dp/B00HO16016/
The Definitive Edition of THE UNLIT LAMP
-The first novel by Radclyffe Hall, author of The Well of Loneliness
"I was therefore delighted - not to say astonished - to open The Unlit Lamp and find a well-structured novel written in engaging prose with even the occasional joke. In a subversive way, however, The Unlit Lamp is as radical a novel of lesbian life as its more famous successor [The Well of Loneliness]." 20th Century Vox
"The Unlit Lamp, the story of Joan Ogden, a young girl who dreams of setting up a flat in London with her friend Elizabeth (a so-called Boston marriage) and studying to become a doctor, but feels trapped by her manipulative mother's emotional dependence on her. It's grim, you want to shake Joan so much, but Radclyffe Hall writes the story not just for this one character but for all women whose lives are lived in quiet desperation submitting to the will of others. A powerful story to make anyone hesitant to jump at the chances life offers us" Velvetink
"I loved this book so much. It may be the most depressing book I've ever read but it was brilliant! Not knowing much going in really helped. It was about two sisters growing up at the end of the 19th century. Both had dreams, one wanted to go to the Royal College of Music and play the violin, the other, a tall thin boyish girl, wanted to study and become a doctor. But they lived in a dead-end town with selfish parents. The characterisation was just perfect" Mel
"I loved this book. So much feels preordained as the novel begins, but it's a page-turner nonetheless. Grappling head-on with the subjugation of women (within their own families) in a time not-so-distant from our own, the book particularly addresses the feelings of alienness gay people must certainly have felt as they recognized their own desires as different from the society at large. Heartfelt, heartbreaking, and very engaging; I highly recommend it." Jeff
THE UNLIT LAMP features this classic book in a specially designed edition for kindle. This is Radclyffe Hall's first novel, which will take you on a journey of women bravely pursuing their passion in the early part of the 20th Century.
Labels: classics kindle, THE UNLIT LAMP by Radclyffe Hall. lesbian novels
THE WELL OF LONELINESS by Radclyffe Hall
http://www.amazon.co.uk/THE-WELL-LONELINESS-RADCLYFFE-HALL-ebook/dp/B00HMEQIB2/
The Definitive Edition of THE WELL OF LONELINESS
-Illustrations from the life and times of Radclyffe Hall, plus the original notes from the first edition
THE BANNED CLASSIC LESBIAN NOVEL, COMPLETE AND UNEXPURGATED
"Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness, a candid, semi-autobiographical novel about coming to terms with a lesbian identity, brought to the forefront the question of whether or not the frank portrayal of lesbianism in a book was grounds for charges of obscenity. First published July 1928 in England by Jonathan Cape, The Well was soon seized and criminalized for violating the Obscene Publications Act of 1857" Sherri Liberman, New York Public Library Blog
"A classic novel and beautifully written, it was at times painful to read the story of Stephen, a lesbian in the 1920s, and the way she was treated for her then very radical style of dressing and acting mannish. Her parents each treated her very differently - the father accepted that she was different and tried to protect her whereas her mother, although suspecting something was very different about her daughter, never accepted her homosexuality when she found out and, indeed, they were estranged for a number of years. This novel by Radclyffe Hall is a thinly disguised biography of her own life and her struggles to be accepted in society." Terri
"There is so much more to this novel than being 'the bible of Lesbianism''. Hall writes beautifully about the father / daughter relationship, loss, what is means to be an outsider and the strong bond with home. It is an impassioned cry for equality from a society that denies the 'invert' everything of importance - home, parental affection, acceptance in society, meaningful friendships and love. Highly recommended!" Hannah
"In 1928 Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness . . . led to an obscenity trial which considered the implications of the national shortage of men and 'two women in bed making beasts of themselves'. Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister, his Chancellor, Winston Churchill, and Home Secretary Sir William Joynson-Hicks went to great lengths to suppress the book. Hall, a flamboyant lesbian, wrote The Well of Loneliness to 'put my pen at the service of some of the most misunderstood people in the world" The Guardian
THE WELL OF LONELINESS is the seminal lesbian novel in a specially designed edition for kindle. This is Radclyffe Hall's masterpiece which will intrigue and delight you. Read it as it is meant to be read: complete, and unabridged with illustrations from the life and times of Raclyffe Hall. Once banned, now is your chance to read it and make up your mind.
Labels: radclyffe hall, the well of loneliness, THE WELL OF LONELINESS by Radclyffe Hall kindle ebook
FREE EROTIC PARANORMAL ROMANCE till January 5th
BOUND ANGEL BOUND DEMON by Claire Spoors
http://www.amazon.co.uk/BOUND-ANGEL-DEMON-romance-books-ebook/dp/B00HES6DY8/
http://www.amazon.com/BOUND-ANGEL-DEMON-romance-books-ebook/dp/B00HES6DY8/
An extraordinary, sexy, and romantic journey through lightness and darkness which you won't be able to put down
"Bound Angel and Bound Demon together at last, what an epic romance." Ann Abrams
"I read through the night to find out what happened to Alex and Gary." Catherine Best
"So romantic, so hot, and such a great read." Maria Laing
For the first time ever, Bound Angel and Bound Demon, the epic parts of Alex's romantic journey through a world of love, demons, angels, pain, discovery, and joy are brought together in one volume.
When Alex married her childhood sweetheart Gary, she had no idea he ran an exclusive sex club for the rich and beautiful. But gradually drawn into his life she discovers her own inner desires and pleasures to the point that Gary worries he will lose her. Then the charming Harry, who Alex has a crush on, interviews for the club, unleashing a chain of events that no one could have expected. Will Harry's need for revenge finally separate Gary and Alex or will their enchanted bond remain strong enough to tie them together forever?
Then, after a fatal incident in her husband Gary's kinky club, it seems Alex will have to live besides him forever as a guardian angel, with all the frustrations that brings. However, a move to a large old mansion in Wales uncovers a secret about her family's involvement in witchcraft and her own paranormal powers. Alex will have to master her new abilities when a frightening alignment of planets brings about a fierce battle of the white witches against evil demons. Will the strength and love of hunky werewolf Ryan be enough to save Alex when she discovers the real danger is much, much closer to home?
First published separately as BOUND ANGEL and BOUND DEMON
Labels: fantasy romance kindle free ebook, free amazon kindle book, free romance
Video Trailer for T.J. Brearton's stunning thrille...
HABIT a thriller by T.J. Brearton (Lake Placid, NY...
THE PROVINCIAL LADY GOES FURTHER by E. M. Delafiel...


text:
<phpunit bootstrap="bootstrap_test.php">
    <coverage>
        <report>
            <clover outputFile="build/logs/clover.xml"/>
        </report>
    </coverage>
    <logging/>
    <groups>
        <exclude>
            <group>sqlite3</group>
        </exclude>
    </groups>
</phpunit>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Plans to Build A House Best Selling » Wonderful Guideline In Terms Of Interior Design, Plans To Build A House Interior design is just as challenging as you allow it get. When you are ready to discover and spend some time to enable new tips basin in, you can expect to effortlessly watch your success. The ideas in the post over were all tried and true by a lot of prior to, and may easily are employed in your favour way too.
Build House line Build A Home line Dreaded Build House Plans from Plans To Build A House, Take it along with you when searching for curtains or other designing supplies looks got from: gardensne.org.
Metal Building House Plans Image Plans For Building A House from Plans To Build A House, Take it along when shopping for window curtains or another redecorating components impression got from: tinapilione.com.
You must determine Plans To Build A House what type of frame of mind you want the room to obtain before starting any design and style job. Moods might be strong and extravagant or quiet and soothing. When you are aware what feeling you need Plans To Build A House your living space to provide you with, you will recognize that it's much easier to pre-plan projects to complete the room Plans To Build A House layout.
Plans to Build A House Best Selling » Use adaptable home furniture anytime decorating a smaller sized space. An ottoman is a superb selection. You can use it for sitting or even a desk, and you could even retailer products inside of, whether it starts. Items that have multiple functions are successful area savers for a small place.
Making Your Own House Plan Make Your Own House Plans Build Your Own from Plans To Build A House, Bring it with you when looking for curtains or some other decorating materials image downloaded from: gainarkansas.com.
Affordable Home Floor Plans With Low Cost To Build House Building Nz from Plans To Build A House, Take it along with you when shopping for window curtains or another redecorating components looks via from: ourfreedom.co.
Solar Pit House from Plans To Build A House, Take it along when looking for window curtains or another designing materials impression received from: naturalbuildingblog.com.
plans Build House Floor Plan Plans For Building A New Free Tiny Pdf from Plans To Build A House, Bring it along with you when buying drapes or some other beautifying resources impression via from: cmsjoomla.info.
Building Bird Houses Free Plans Unique Bird House Woodworking Plans from Plans To Build A House, Take it with you when searching for drapes or another decorating resources impression downloaded from: cakesbygrannyscorner.com.
Plans to Build A House Best Selling » Take your sofa support buying together with you. It may possibly really feel absurd, but using coupled component of your settee can help you save considerable time anything.
Plans to Build A House Best Selling » Lights are a great accessory for any property since these can be included in the family room or right with you within the bedroom. Not only do these products provide you with extra gentle to read through and create, nonetheless they can provide your home a traditional look and match a number of variations.
A Plans To Build A House sconce on each side of your treatments case will offer a level volume of lighting, ideal for proper grooming. Incandescent lights are much better to luminescent lighting, which can produce a bluish strengthen of Plans To Build A House.


text:
Humanists Were Busy During Secular Week of Action
by Emily Newman • 8 May 2019
Minnesota Atheists volunteered at a local food bank.
We at the American Humanist Association love welcoming new chapters and affiliates, and hearing about the opportunities these groups provide humanists to meet each other, share ideas, and work together. Our groups gather throughout the year and across the country for discussions, presentations, projects, rallies, and parties. They were especially active during the recent Secular Week of Action (April 26-May 2, 2019), which encouraged individuals and groups to put secular values into action. The campaign was described as one in which:
Local secular organizations across the diverse nontheistic spectrum—atheists, agnostics, Ex-Muslims, freethinkers, humanists, skeptics, and many more who make up the one-in-four Americans unaffiliated with religion—come together to demonstrate our shared commitment to making this world, here and now, a better place.
The Secular Week of Action demonstrates our values by organizing and participating in acts of service, education, and solidarity. It intentionally coincided with the National Day of Prayer, declared annually on the first Thursday of May, to emphasize that action is more powerful and productive than praying or pointedly abstaining from prayer. Each year the National Day of Prayer is set aside by executive proclamation as a day "to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, to create appropriate materials, and to mobilize the Christian community to intercede for America's leaders and its families." On the same day, the secular movement recognizes the National Day of Reason "to affirm our commitment to the constitutional separation of religion and government, and to celebrate reason as the guiding principle of our secular democracy."
Humanists of Long Island helped clean up the bicycle path.
The Secular Week of Action is radically inclusive of anyone who wishes to participate, and over a dozen AHA groups did. Some engaged in environmental projects (perhaps inspired by our HERE for Climate initiative). Several members from Humanists of Long Island helped clean up the bicycle path along the west side of Eisenhower Park. Secular Humanists of Tippecanoe, Central Colorado Humanists, and Minnesota Atheists cleaned up their adopted highways. The Humanists of Idaho combined Week of Action with Earth Week by welcoming the Citizens Climate Lobby to speak about climate actions.
One of the most unique events was happened in Oak Park, Illinois, with the End of the Line Humanists' multi-family garage sale, which raised money for the Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry. Each dollar spent at the sale went to buy the pantry $10 in food from the regional food bank. Secular Humanists of Western Lake Erie and Minnesota Atheists went directly to their local food banks to volunteer. The Ethical Society of Austin hosted a blood drive for those who are able to support neighbors in need in central Texas.
Some actions require proper education first, so several groups worked to inform themselves and their legislators on important local and national issues. In Indiana, Freethought Fort Wayne Inc and their local Unitarian Universalist congregation brought in a medical professional to discuss single-payer healthcare. The Ethical Humanist Society of Chicago welcomed Ethan Michaeli, author and former editor and reporter at the Chicago Defender, to discuss his new book how the newspaper became a national communications vehicle for Black America. Louise Jett, social media manager of Ethical Society of St Louis and the Secular Student Alliance, facilitated a letter to the editor workshop. As a former newspaper editor, Jett had lots of templates, best practices, and contact information to share. The Ethical Society of Austin (Texas) arranged a Better Angels program to bring together liberal and conservative Americans in a working alliance to bridge the political divisions in the US. Facilitators demonstrated how to listen and find common ground with people with whom we disagree politically. And Humanists of Long Island visited Senator Kevin Thomas's office to urge his support of the "Fair Elections" campaign.
National Day of Reason breakfast in Minnnesota.
In Minnesota, the Secular Week of Action ended strong with a National Day of Reason breakfast at the state capitol where about eighty people gathered to support secular government and policy based on reason, science, and evidence. They invited secular voices to speak up and welcomed religious people who actively support our nation's secular constitution. The event was sponsored by Humanists of Minnesota, Minnesota Atheists, First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis, and the Or Emet Minnesota Congregation of Humanistic Judaism, and endorsed by twelve freethought and advocacy groups. According to one Facebook event post: "Ten legislators, including State Representative Mike Freiberg, spoke or dropped by. Professor David Schultz spoke about the dangers of lawmaking that ignores the evidence…We hope this is the first step toward building a statewide coalition of secular voters!"
We appreciate all who made the Secular Week of Action events successful and invite you to visit weekofaction.org for future activities. Thank you to all who keep our humanist communities active year-round!
Emily Newman is the Education Coordinator at the American Humanist Association's Center for Education. She holds a BS in psychology and creative writing as well as an MA in professional writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Emily grew up in Ethical Culture and has been active with the Future of Ethical Societies, the National Ethical Service, and the International Humanist and Ethical Youth Organization.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
(Image: Florencianos)
8 police killed in attack on land restitution commission in northwest Colombia
by Adriaan Alsema April 11, 2018
At least eight policemen were killed in an alleged paramilitary attack on a judicial commission investigating land theft in northwest Colombia.
A bombs exploded when the convoy traveled through in San Pedro de Uraba, a municipality in the northwestern Uraba region, which is largely controlled by the AGC paramilitary group, or Gulf Clan as the government calls the group.
A judge, officials of the Land Restitution Unit and displaced farmers had gone to the rural area to inspect the return of land that was stolen during the armed conflict.
An explosive allegedly killed the policemen after which the commission retreated from the area. Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said that three members of the AGC also died.
President Juan Manuel Santos rejected the "cowardly attack" on the convoy that was inspecting the restitution of land in the Uraba region, the stomping ground of the AGC.
Inspector General Fernando Carrillo said that "it is not enough to reject the cowardly killing of the policemen in Uraba. The authorities have the obligation to verify the acts and punish those responsible."
The United Nations, which monitors a peace process in Colombia, reiterated in a press release the need for "the protection of life, the work and the contributions of community and social leaders, in particular those who promote the substitution of [coca] crops, the restitution of land, and the protection of resources and the environment."
"The death of the policemen illustrates the challenges of this protection," the international organization said.
In total, land property equal to 15% of Colombia's national territory was stolen during the country's armed conflict that began in 1964.
Colombia's obstacles for peace: returning the 15% of national territory that was stolen in the war
Much of this land was stolen by paramilitary groups formed by large landowners and businesses to protect private property from attacks by guerrilla groups like the FARC and the ELN.
The restitution of this land has been met by resistance from the new owners, who in some cases have hired "anti-restitution armies" to prevent the return of displaced farmers.
These illegal armed groups in some cases were formed by dissident paramilitaries who protect the property that was stolen during the conflict.
According to the IPC, an NGO that accompanies land claimants, 21 returning farmers have been killed in Uraba since 2008.
The legal and violent resistance against the return of land has complicated the process of land restitution that would allow the country's victims of displacement to return to their homes.
The AGC, which operates in approximately one fifth of Colombia's municipalities, offered to demobilize in September last year and is waiting for Congress to approve a bill that would allow the collective demobilization of illegal armed groups.
AGCAntioquialand restitutionland theftUraba
Colombia's prosecution blocks talks to dismantle paramilitary groups
Colombia's ceasefire is real, but is it bilateral?


text:
These NJ waterfront restaurants will be open for outdoor dining Monday
Sarah Slavin
NorthJersey.com
We'll have to wear masks. We'll sit six feet apart. And we'll wash our hands. Often.
But, starting June 15, we will dine outdoors. Some of the best outdoor dining in North Jersey is along the Hudson River, with commanding views of the Manhattan skyline.
Here is a sampling of waterfront restaurants offering outdoor dining. Check back often, as we'll continue to update this list. If you'd like to be included, email Sarah Slavin at slavins@northjersey.com.
De Novo: For drop-dead views of the George Washington Bridge, head to this contemporary Italian restaurant with delicious home-made pasta and darn-good cocktails too.
Since parking is nearly impossible on River Road, De Novo will have a valet help you out. To get to the patio, you will walk through the restaurant -- and admire the decor and the long, long bar that you'll want to come back to when indoor dining is once again allowed.
Go: 1257 River Road, Edgewater; 201-496-6161, denovoeuropeanpub.com.
More dining options:Outdoor dining starts Monday; Here's what's open in North Jersey
For subscribers:Despite the health crisis, these 7 restaurants recently opened for business in North Jersey
Haven Riverfront Restaurant & Bar: With covered outdoor seating, Haven is a good bet rain or shine. Owner Jerry Maher said he will open Monday, and that the restaurant will be taking reservations for 55 people. Walk-ins can try their luck for a table on the new river-front walkway seating. In total the restaurant will seat around 80 people, Maher said. Seatings will be timed from 1½ to 2 hours. What can you dig into in those precious two hours? Seafood, of course, including oysters, branzino, salmon. There's meat for carnivores as well. And lots of cocktails. Maher said that waitstaff will be wearing masks and that customers will be required to wear one unless they are sitting at a table.
Go: 2 Main St., Edgewater; 201-943-1900, havenedgewater.com.
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: Carnivores rejoice.This is a genuine steakhouse with the requisite proteins and sides. Think Tomahawk, filet mignon, bone-in rib-eye, prime New York strip. Also, for dessert: a slice of calorie-rich NY cheesecake. To ensure safety, the steakhouse re-certified all employees in safe food handling and has been conducting daily wellness check for all employees, said Elizabeth Watts, director of media and community relations at Bloomin' Brands, Inc., which owns Fleming's. Watts said that the restaurant will have a someone dedicated to frequently sanitizing high-touch surfaces.
Go: 90 The Promenade, Edgewater; 201-313-9463, flemingssteakhouse.com.
SEAK: SEAK stands for South East Asian Kitchen, and the restaurant is known for its unique blend of the foods of Thailand and Vietnam. Get the bahn mi fries, no matter what else. The restaurant will open June 15. Tables on the waterfront deck will be spaced 6 feet apart, and dining will be limited to 1½ hours. Diners will be seated first-come, first-serve; the restaurant will not take reservations.
Go: 725 River Road, Edgewater; 201-402-3400, seaknj.com.
Blue Eyes Restaurant: Named after, of course, Frank Sinatra, who was born in Hoboken, Blue Eyes serves old-school Italian favorites such as gnocchi, eggplant parmigiana — and wood-fired pizza. Enjoy the views of the mighty river with a cocktail, if you like. It will open Monday, and will not take reservations.
Go: 525 Sinatra Drive, Hoboken; 201-683-6861, blueeyesrestaurant.com.
Halifax: , Halifax, located in the W Hotel, has room for about 70 people on its partially covered outdoor space and the tables will be 10 feet apart. So that you don't have to touch the menu, there will be QR code to scan. As for what's on the menu? Modern American eats using fresh-from-the farm ingredients. Dishes include lamb meatballs, house-made charcuterie and roasted half chicken. Dining room manager Olivia Reynolds said all employees will have PPE and will provide wipes for patrons. Customers must wear a mask except when they are sitting down.
Go: 225 River St., Hoboken; 201-253-2500, halifaxhoboken.com.
The Ainsworth: This mini chain (there's a location in Manhattan too) known for its Foodgod 24K Gold Wings (the 50-piece dish costs $1,500) will open June 15 for outdoor seating, but will still have the to-go window as an option for takeout. With outdoor seating and tables being 6-feet apart, it will be at about 30 to 50 percent capacity. The restaurant will be first-come, first-served; no reservations. Come for the drinks — the bar is ample — and simple American eats.
Go: 310 Sinatra Drive, Hoboken; 201-716-7070, theainsworth.com/hoboken.
Porto Leggero: This traditional Italian restaurant will open June 15 for lunch and dinner . Lunch will be from noon to 3 p.m. and dinner will be from 5 to 9 p.m. The portions are ample; the dishes familiar: portobello Milanese, spaghetti Amatriciana, branzino Levernese. The restaurant will also be closed on Sundays, executive chef and co-owner Angelo Stella said. The restaurant has also recently undergone a renovation, Stella said.
Go: 185 Hudson St., Jersey City; 201-434-3200, portoleggero.net.
Waterside Restaurant & Catering: The views are spectacular: there's a reason couples marry here. Lesley Lovett, banquet sales event planner, said the restaurant will open on June 15. The restaurant is doing 2-hour long seatings: from 2 to 4 p.m., 4 to 6 p.m., 6 to 8 p.m., 8 to 10 p.m. and 10 p.m. to close. Lovett said that Waterside will only have its dinner menu and no specials. The outdoor patio can hold 92 people per seating, which is about 20 tables. Each table can only have up to eight people. Waterside will be reservation only. Waitstaff will be wearing masks, but customers are not required to unless they go inside the building to go to the bathroom, Lovett said.
Go: 7800 B River Road, North Bergen; 201-861-7767, watersiderestaurantandcatering.com.
Chart House: This high-end chain restaurant is famous for its breathtaking views of New York City. You'll be mesmerized. The food? Seafood, for the most part. Hans Nielsen, Chart House general manager, said that this riverside restaurant will open on at 5 p.m. June 15 with 30 tables for guests to dine at. He said that the restaurant decided to put the tables 7-feet apart instead of six to make guests feel more comfortable — and because of the wind conditions. The restaurant will serve its full dinner menu. Tables will be seated first-come, first-served. "Our first and foremost focus is to keep everybody safe and that they feel confident were taking care of things," Nielsen said.
Go: 1700 Harbor Blvd., Weehawken; 201-348-6628, chart-house.com.
Son Cubano: Another Alex Duran production (he also owns Ventanas in Fort Lee.) This hopping, lively, full-of-music Cuban restaurant will be opening on Monday and will require all guests to be wearing masks and will be taking temperatures at the door, reservationist Michelle Cruz said. The menu has been revised and the restaurant has a new chef. Make sure to get a mojito. Cruz said that Son Cubano is only accepting reservations for parties up to five.
Go: 40-4 Riverwalk Place, West New York; 201-399-2020, soncubanonj.com.
Not open yet
These restaurants are not open yet for outdoor dining but plan on opening in the near future.
Hyatt House: The rooftop bar at the Hyatt House in Jersey City will be opening, but not until at least July.
Lokal Eatery & Bar: This Jersey City restaurant also plans to reopen for outdoor dining but does not have a reopen date yet.
This story is being updated, please contact slavins@northjersey.com with restaurants opening with outdoor seating.


Haven't you wondered about those random inquiries from (supposedly) Chinese manufacturers of random stuff? Lonslo took one on in 2012 and here is the result. The Lad actually sounds kind of Chinese, but we aren't sure.
Lonslo Tossov, senior operative, has received Royal recognition and the admiration of the intelligence community for exploits such as the other one currently in play: MAY THE FARCE BE WITH YOU II.
He also masterminded such exploits as HOW ARE THINGS IN MBALONGA, LAST-MINUTE WITHDRAWAL, and such Foreign Office takedowns such as A REAL CHARLIE and THE SCAMMISH ARMADA.
This is Qingdao Jinli Trading Co.,Ltd, the manufacturer of Detergent Raw Materials, high quality and better price.
We are one of the leading manufacturers in China.
Should you need our products, please don't hesitate to contract me,best price will be quoted!
This may be of interest. We often have need of suitable cleaning material for the contract we have with the Royal Household, where standards are high. However we would need assurance that your products would not shrink, fade or otherwise degenerate the fabrics we have to deal with.
I attach two some images of the range of material we have to work with, especially with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall. In particular we have problems with claret stains and frequent horse sweating on bottoms.
Thank you for your reply. I know you request high standard of the goods, please rest assured the quality of our products. We manufacture Detergent Raw Materials for many years, has good reputation in this industry.
Would you please tell me which items do you need, LABSA, SLES or STPP ? I attached three images of the items's specification at the request of high standard.
We looking forward for your early reply.
We are considering which might be best. Which can best be recommended for Harris Tweed plus fours, especially those with grass stains in the posteriors and knees? Also what is the estimated time of shipping to the UK?
We recommend SLES for you, but It is determined by your technical personnel. We are pleased to offer you a favorable price when you decide which product you will buy. We will deliver goods after receive your deposit within 10-15 days. And the voyage time is 35 days.
We will appreciated for your timely reply.
How can you deliver goods within 10-15 days if the voyage takes 35?
Also what news about the Plus Fours staining problem. It can be a real issue at the Palace after Wentworth. HRH went through 8 pairs last season in a week alone.
I mean we need 10-15 days to prepare the goods, and it takes 35 days to deliver the goods to destination port.
I know you need to solve the staining problem. you can place an small trial order of 20 tons first. We believe that our product decontamination ability is very good. If our product can solve your staining problem, We can continue our cooperation.
Thank you for your prompt reply. I must say that 20 tons seems an awful lot for the amount of gentlemanly and sporting stains we have constantly to work on here. This is garmentry from the royal party after all, not the sheets from a knocking shop. Is there any less quantity that can be supplied in the first instance?
Dear Tossov , Do you receive my email, could you kindly tell me if you can accept the quantity of 5 tons? Hope your early reply, thank you.
I must admit to some hesitation. 5 tons seems a lot in the circumstances. We would have to store it in the stables along Horse Guard Parade. How many plus fours would be cleaned of difficult stains with that amount of powder? Normally Mrs Kwims here just adds a couple shakes of Persil and put the pants on hot wash. Also would the product make the colour run, or create any chafing for the royal engagements?
In this case, can you tell me how many would you like to order? How many product is suitable for you? As to how many difficult stains can be cleaned with that amount of powder , it is determined by your finished product, what I only can guarantee is the quality of SLES. Hope your timely reply, thank you.
We seem to have a lot of stains to deal with here at the moment, how soon did you say you can get some powders to us? HRH was around again showing his grass smears and I hate to give him the brush off for obvious reasons.
Having looked again at the condition of the laundry room in the basement with quite a back log, I think we'd be looking at a container load.
About four working days we can send some samples to you, but you need to pay the postage. Maybe our products can solve your problem. When you place the order, we will return the postage back to you.
Just a further thought: does SLES come in a range of scents? I know they are partial to parma violet, rosemary, and evening hankypanky at the palace. We would not want clothes to come out stinking like a stale pot noodle after all. Sorry to be particular, but we must be sure of our suppliers.
Now Wancy waits a week to reply.
Our products never have this case you worried. You will be assured of our products after sampling. We believe the high quality of our product.
We have just had a huge pile of athletics gear in from the Olympics, full of track and field stains. Under our contract with the Games authorities we need a quick turnaround and no fading of corporate logos. How soon can we get things moving? I am up to my armpits here in soiled spandex and tainted Speedos.
I have to emphasize the high quality of our products. If you worry the quality, we can send samples to you, it need about 4 days. If you trust the high quality of our product, you can considering a small trial order, one ton or several tons. It need about 20 days. We can continue our cooperation when our product solve your problem. If you are not satisfied with our product, we can looking forward to cooperate in the future.
Yes please send me those samples, that would be very useful. How will they be sent? Will I have to arrange collection from the docks?
One or two tons might be enough, there is room in the coal cellar, move over the squatters some.
Thanks for trusting our product. I believe you won't be disappoint with the quality of the products. I think I should quote you the price, CIF 1420 USD/ton London. And can you tell me how many samples do you need? Which mode of transportation do you like, sea transportation or air transportation?
After some thought I think I would prefer 50 tons sent by air transport. Can a flight be directed to Smegaroon International?
Are there any other port is convenient to you $B!) (BIn general $B!$ (Bit's better to use sea transportation for 50 tons. Please tell me you decision.
Perhaps you are right, also the freight connections to Smegaroon can sometimes be a little doubtful. Are you able to ship to Yusaplonka? I think that would work out alright.
We never hear of Smegaroon, can you tell us another big port that we know??
That is most peculiar. I drive past the docks every day. The alternative destination one imagines is Narnia, perhaps you could pack the delivery into a wardrobe?
Which country are you from, Britain or where does not exist-Narnia? I think you should be a wild beast or dwarf or a person looked like sheep and horse in Narnia. Perhaps you are not from Narnia, you are from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Are you Voldemort? no, may be you are Wormtail.
You may not have heard of Yusaplonka. But I know it when I see one.
Has he not given up?
I know about 100 ports in your country, but threre is no Yusaplonka. The shipping company could not arrive there. If you can tell me a bigger port which most people know about it, I believe that the shipping company can reach there.
If you really can't find our preferred port, then can you make the delivery to Wattawanka? I am sure at least you must recognise that name. We really can't wait much longer, and feel we are just been jerked around.
...and at that point, "Wancy" did give up.


text:
EFFECTIVE 11/13/2021
NEW LOCATION OF FOOD PANTRY
150 GRAND ARMY ROAD, THE CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH
Starting November 13th, 2021, the Food Pantry will be Open at the NEW Location.
The hours for the food pantry are as follows:
1st Friday of the Month 10 am to 2 pm
Saturday's 10 am to 12 pm
(EXCEPT the Saturday, after the Friday opening)
For more information, please call 549-3672
Town Office CLOSED Morning Hours January 25, 2023
DOG Licenses are Due NOW January 6, 2023
Keys Found December 1, 2022
Election Results 11.8.2022 November 8, 2022
Online Tax Payments October 12, 2022
Weather in Town of Whitefield


text:
Category: South America
November 13, 1985 The Awful Story of Omayra Sánchez
Omayra Sánchez Garzón was a little girl on this day in 1985, a typical thirteen-year-old and one among many, living in Armero. There is not enough meanness in all the world, to wish on anyone what this one little girl would endure for the next three days.
Fifty miles from the Colombian capital of Bogotá, the municipality of Armero was once home to 30,000 souls. Long known as "Colombia's White City", Armero was at one time a major cotton producer, seat of the prosperous agricultural region located in the northern Tolima Department, of Colombia.
Today, the place is a ghost town.
the "Armero Tragedy', before and after
Some forty miles from Armero, the Nevado del Ruiz Stratovolcano in the Central Andes, is the site of three major eruptive periods since the early Pleistocene era. The present volcanic cone formed some 150,000 years ago during the present eruptive period. Known to locals as the "Sleeping Lion", Nevado del Ruiz had not experienced a major eruption, since 1845. 140 years later, it was hard to imagine the thing presented much of a threat.
The eruption of November 13, 1985 was small by volcanic standards. For its unsuspecting victims, it was a distinction without a difference. Much as the ant may fail to notice. He was crushed by a very small elephant.
Nevado del Ruiz Stratovolcano
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD was later described in a letter written by Pliny the Younger, describing the catastrophe that killed the philosopher's uncle. The "Plinian Eruption" which killed the Roman author and naturalist Pliny the Elder would be repeated half a world away and some 2,000 years later, as a sleeping lion came to life.
The fast moving clouds of gas and volcanic material came in the dead of night, the "pyroclastic flow" super-heated to 1,000° Fahrenheit and racing away from the cone at speeds as high as 430 miles-per-hour. Next came the Lahars, the violent and terrifying mud flow of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and vast quantities of water released by the near-instantaneous melting of the Nevado del Ruiz glacier. Imagine a wall of rocky mud coming at you at 22mph, only a little slower than Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt's best 100-meter dash. Usain Bolt just happens to be the fastest man who ever lived.
Mount Merapi Lahar, Central Java
Lahars flow at depths as great as 460-feet. Vast, hideous walls of mud, rock and debris the consistency of wet concrete, speeding down rivers and valleys. The first of three lahars and the most powerful of that night wiped fourteen towns and villages from the face of the earth, killing as many as 20,000 in Armero, alone.
Galungung Lahar, Indonesia
Many years ago, I found myself pinned under a car while working on the engine. The motor and transmission assembly, free of its mount, swung down and pinned my hand underneath. It obviously hurt but, more than that, there was the strangest feeling of being…trapped. Permanently pinned in place like an insect in a child's science project, entirely denied the power of voluntary movement. It may as well have been a locomotive, sitting there on my fingers.
Omayra Sánchez suffered her legs to be so trapped, pinned under the collapsed stony structure of her own home, legs entangled in the dead arms of her aunt and submerged up to her neck, in water.
The nation of Colombia was a basket case at this time, engaged in a fight for its life with Leftist guerrilla organizations such as the M-19 Democratic Alliance (19th of April Movement), and the FARC. The Palace of Justice siege of less than a week earlier resulted in the murder of fully half the 25-member Colombian Supreme Court, as the Colombian military mobilized across the capital city of Bogotá.
Rescue efforts on the ground in Armero were frantic, disorganized and mostly local. Official government assistance was all but, non-existent, pumps altogether unavailable. Soon even supplies of simple hand tools such as stretchers, shovels and cutting tools, began to give out. Foreign aid rushed in from nations from around the world but, for most victims, such well-intended help arrived, too late..
After the lahar passed, Sánchez found herself buried in rubble. She managed to get one hand out of the wreckage as rescuers desperately worked to clear the wood, stone and debris from her upper body. As the water rose, a tire was placed around her body to keep her from drowning. Divers attempted to free her legs, but without success. She was trapped. Bilateral amputation was considered but there were no means, even to remove the water. In the end, doctors determined the most humane course was to comfort this child as much as humanly possible, and let her die.
Colombian Ambassador to Portugal Germán Santa María Barragán was at that time a journalist and volunteer in the Armero rescue. Barragán was with Omayra for much of her last three days. Sánchez herself remained relatively positive throughout the ordeal, sometimes asking for sweets or soda, sometimes even singing to the journalist. Some times she cried and others, she prayed. Stuck there as she was she agreed to be interviewed, her face and her desperate plight quickly becoming known, around the world.
"Colombia and half of the world remained with the bitter sensation that Omayra Sánchez could have been able to continue living after remaining for almost 60 hours trapped from head to toe amidst the rubble of Armero. Her face, her words, and her courage, which streamed throughout the world on television and were a heartbreaking image in the largest newspapers and magazines of the United States and Europe, remained a testimony of accusation against those who could have at the very least made the tragedy less serious. – Germán Santa María Barragán in El Tiempo, November 23, 1985
The color of her hands make it appear, as Sánchez is wearing gloves. She isn't.
French photographer Frank Fournier arrived at dawn on the 16th. Omayra Sánchez had been in the water for nearly three days and nights by this time. She was all but abandoned when Fournier first saw her, the whole place eerily silent, save for the occasional scream.
Fournier received vehement backlash for his pictures. How could he do that, just taking pictures like that, without trying to help. What are you, some kind of ghoul? A "vulture"!? Fournier himself had no means to help this girl, save to use his skill and his camera, to bring her story to the world. He was a photographer.
In her final hours, Sánchez began to hallucinate. She asked the photographer to bring her to school. She didn't want to miss her lessons. She had a math exam. At one point she even told her rescuers, to go get some rest.
Omayra Sánchez was trapped for sixty hours with only head and shoulders above water, caught in a kneeling position and pinned under massive and impenetrable piles of bricks and masonry. Her eyes reddened toward the end as her face swelled and her usually brown hands turned from pale, to white.
Two years later, the world held its breath for fifty-eight hours as scores of frantic volunteers worked 'round the clock, to free Baby Jessica from a West Texas well. Omayra Sánchez waited sixty hours for a rescue, that never arrived.
Red Cross workers desperately appealed to the Colombian government for a pump, and for help in freeing the trapped girl. In the end there was no alternative but to stay by her side, and pray. She died at 10:05am local time, from a combination of gangrene and hypothermia. Three hours after Fournier took the picture above.
In time, the water subsided. Those left alive moved away, to Bogotá or to Cali or a few kilometers north to the new town of Armero-Guayabal. Armero itself is a dead place now, save for a few memorials marking important places such as hospitals, parks, and theaters. And a small shrine, dedicated to one little girl.
Little was left of Omayra's family. Her father was killed in the collapse. Her aunt was dead. Two-thirds of the town in which she had spent her short life, were gone. 85% of Armero itself, had ceased to exist. From that day to this, the once prosperous "White City" of Colombia, remains a ghost town.
Omayra's brother survived the disaster, with only the loss of a single digit. Her mother expressed the forlorn anguish only the parent of a dead child, will ever experience: "It is horrible, but we have to think about the living … I will live for my son, who only lost a finger."
Author Cape Cod CurmudgeonPosted on November 13, 2019 November 13, 2019 Categories Disasters, South America, Today in HistoryTags Armero Tragedy, Colombia, Lahar, Nevado del Ruiz, Omayra Sanchez2 Comments on November 13, 1985 The Awful Story of Omayra Sánchez
September 13, 1987 Things that Glow
The abandoned machine was little more than a radiological time bomb.
On September 13, 1987, Roberto dos Santos Alves and Wagner Mota Pereira entered the Instituto Goiano de Radioterapia (IGR), bent on theft. The private hospital was permanently closed at the time, and partly demolished. Alves and Pereira were looking for anything they might sell, for scrap.
What they found, was more than either man had bargained for.
At one time, the radiotherapy unit in the central Brazilian city of Goiânia had served untold numbers of oncology patients, using ionizing radiation to control cell growth and even kill off any number of cancers, following surgical removal of the tumor.
Now, the abandoned machine was little more than a radiological time bomb.
Four months earlier, the IGR had attempted to remove their equipment, in the midst of a legal dispute with then-owner of the property, the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. A court order prevented the removal, as owners of the company wrote letters to the National Nuclear Energy Commission, warning that someone needed to take responsibility "for what would happen with the caesium bomb".
"A wheel type radiotherapy device which has a long collimator to focus the radiation into a narrow beam. The caesium chloride radioactive source is the blue rectangle, and gamma rays are represented by the beam emerging from the aperture." H/T Wikipedia
The radioactive source within the "external beam radio therapy" unit is a "wheel type" canister, with shielding walls of lead and steel and designed to rotate the source material when in use, between storage and irradiation positions.
Alves and Pereira removed the capsule from the heart of the machine, the stainless steel canister containing just over 3-ounces of highly radioactive caesium chloride, an inorganic salt derived from the radioisotope, caesium-137.
The court had posted a security guard, but he or she must have been snoozing, at the time. The two scavengers placed the canister in a wheel barrow, and brought it to Alves' home to see what they had found.
The pair experienced the dizziness and diarrhea of radiation poisoning, but attributed symptoms to something they ate. Pereira developed burns on his fingers, the size and shape of the canister's aperture. Meanwhile, Alves continued to tinker with the thing, finally freeing the capsule from its protective rotating head. Poking the capsule with a screwdriver, a dark blue light could be seen from within, the florescence of electromagnetic radiation.
Radiation burns following exposure to left hand, H/T ResearchGate.net
Radiation burns would cost Pereira his fingers and Alves his right arm, but the two would survive the exposure. The owner of the scrapyard they sold the thing to, wasn't so lucky.
Five days after the theft, Alves sold the items he had pilfered, to a nearby scrapyard. Noticing the blue glow from the punctured capsule, the scrapyard owner thought the object might be valuable or even supernatural, and took the thing inside. Several rice-sized grains of the glowing material were pried from inside the capsule, as Devair Ferreira (the owner of the scrapyard) invited friends and family to come and see the strange, glowing substance. Ferreira's brother Ivo brought some of the stuff home to his six-year-old daughter, about the time when Devair's 37-year-old wife Gabriela, became ill.
It was she who first noticed how many and how quickly, the people around her were getting sick. Too late for Ivo's daughter Leide, who couldn't resist rubbing the glowing blue powder on her skin, and showing it to her mother. Anyone who ever raised a six-year-old daughter, knows what that must have looked like.
International Nuclear Event Scale (INES)
By the time the presence of nuclear radiation was discovered on the 29th, the Goiânia nuclear disaster qualified as a Five on the International Scale of Nuclear Events, the INES. Tons of topsoil had to be removed from a number of sites, and several houses, demolished.
The incident was broadcast all over Brazil, and 130,000 people people flooded into area hospitals, afraid they had been exposed. One thousand individuals showed greater than background levels of radiation, 249 showed significant signs of contamination.
Four died. The wife of the scrapyard owner Gabriela, who was first to figure it all out. Two employees who had worked to remove the lead for its scrap value, Israel dos Santos aged 22 and Admilson de Souza, aged 18. And that little girl, Leide, who was so happy to see her skin, glowing blue.
In the public civil suit that followed, the three doctors who owned the IGR, were ordered to pay 100,000 Brazilian Real, (equivalent to $24,000 US), for the derelict condition of the building. The two thieves who stole the stuff in the first place, were never charged.
Author Cape Cod CurmudgeonPosted on September 13, 2018 September 13, 2018 Categories Medicine, Science & Technology, South America, Today in HistoryTags Goiânia Accident, Radiation incident, Today in HistoryLeave a comment on September 13, 1987 Things that Glow
January 2, 1935 Nazis of the Amazon
In 1935, the third Reich reached out to the Amazon basin, in search of 'lebensraum'. Living space. 3 SS officers bankrolled by the Nazi government, came with dozens of helpers to explore the region bordering French Guyana, with an eye toward colonizing the area for the 'thousand-year' Reich.
In 1978, the British-American science fiction thriller "The Boys from Brazil" told the story of a bizarre plot to clone Adolf Hitler, hatched by the "Angel of Death" Josef Mengele in his Brazilian jungle hideout.
In the film, Mengele met his fate at the jaws of a pack of vengeful Dobermans, under orders from one of his 94 'baby dictators'.
A story as squirrelly is this one could only come from the minds of Hollywood, but parts of it were closer to reality, than anyone knew at the time.
In the years following WW2, thousands of Nazi officers, senior party members and Nazi collaborators escaped across the Atlantic to find refuge in South America, especially Argentina, Chile and Brazil.
Though widely believed to be dead, Mengele himself was very much alive at the time of the film, living under an assumed identity in Bertioga, São Paulo. The Angel of Death would escape the noose he so richly deserved, succumbing to a stroke while swimming in 1979, and drowning.
Long before there were Nazis, before there was even a Germany, ethnically German people have been emigrating in search of a better life. In the United States, some 57 million people identify as being of full or part German ancestry, forming the largest single ethnic group, in the country. I am one of them.
Outside of Germany itself, The second largest German population in the world, resides in Brazil.
Mention Oktoberfest, and you're speaking of an annual celebration of Germanic traditions, in Munich. The second-largest Oktoberfest is a two-way tie, between the one held in Waterloo, Canada, and the city of Blumenau, in Santa Catarina, Brazil.
Outside of Munich, Oktoberfest Blumenau in Brazil is one of the two largest celebrations of the original festival, in the world.
Outside of Europe, descendants of German immigrant ancestors have largely assimilated into their host societies, adopting local languages and adapting Germanic-sounding surnames to spellings and sounds more familiar to their adopted cultures.
Brazilians of German ancestry are in every sense Brazilian, except to the racially obsessed mind, of a Nazi.
Talk about squirrelly ideas. The hardships of life in the Amazon jungle made this a strange choice of destination, but the idea made sense to these people. With over 1 million ethnic Germans already living in the country, the pieces were already in place. Or so they believed.
SS officer Joseph Greiner died of a 'fever' while on the expedition, most likely yellow fever or malaria. Expedition leader Schulz Kampfhenkel returned to the Fatherland with glowing reports of "The Guyana Projekt". "The two largest scantly populated, but rich in resources, areas on earth" Kampfhenkel wrote to his boss, the failed chicken farmer turned Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, "are in Siberia and South America".
As befitting a man who completely buys into Nazi ideas of racial superiority, the SS officer wrote "For the more advanced white race it offers outstanding possibilities for exploitation", adding that the people who lived there "cannot be measured in civilised terms as we know them in Germany".
A propaganda film was made of Greiner's work in the jungle, but Himmler showed 'scant interest' in such grandiose plans. "Given time", the bloodless bureaucrat wrote to his jungle emissary, "the plan may be submitted again".
So it is, that there is a Nazi graveyard by a tributary of the River Jary, in the Amazon jungle. There you will find a 9-ft. cross, bearing this inscription: "Joseph Greiner died here on 2.1.1936".
Author Cape Cod CurmudgeonPosted on January 2, 2018 January 2, 2018 Categories German History, South AmericaTags Amazon Basin, Boys from Brazil, Today in History2 Comments on January 2, 1935 Nazis of the Amazon
December 27, 1865 Confederados
The numbers are hazy, but port records indicate that somewhere between ten and twenty thousand former Confederates moved to Brazil in the twenty years following the Civil War. A great uncle of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, was one.
Most of us grew up learning that 600,000+ Americans were killed in the Civil War. 618,222 to be precise, more than the combined totals of every conflict in which the United States has been involved, from the Revolution to the War on Terror. Recently, sophisticated data analysis techniques have been applied to newly digitized 19th century census figures, indicating that even that figure may be understated.
The actual number may lie somewhere between 650,000 and 850,000.
The cataclysm of the Civil War would leave in its wake animosities which would take generations to heal. "Reconstruction" would be 12 years in the making, but some never did reconcile themselves to the war's outcome. Vicksburg, Mississippi, which fell after a long siege on July 4, 1863, would not celebrate another Independence Day for 70 years.
In 1865, Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil wanted to encourage domestic cultivation of cotton. Men like Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee advised southerners against emigration, but the Brazilian Emperor offered transportation subsidies, cheap land and tax breaks to those who would move.
Descendants of American Southerners wearing Confederate-era uniforms pose for a photograph during a party to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the end of the American Civil War in Santa Barbara D'Oeste, Brazil,
Colonel William Hutchinson Norris, veteran of the Mexican American War and former member of the Alabama House of Representatives and later State Senator, was the first to make the move. Together with his son Robert and 30 families of the former Confederacy, Norris arrived in Rio de Janeiro on December 27, 1865, aboard the ship "South America".
Some of these "Confederados" settled in the urban areas of São Paulo, most made their homes in the northern Amazon region around present-day Santa Bárbara d'Oeste and a place the locals called "Vila dos Americanos", and the inhabitants called "Americana". Some would return to the newly re-united states. Most would never return, and their ancestors, Portuguese speaking Brazilians all, remain there to this day.
Confederados earned a reputation for honesty and hard work, and Dom Pedro's program was judged a success by immigrant and government alike. The settlers brought modern cultivation techniques and new food crops, all of which were quickly adopted by native Brazilian farmers.
Small wonder. Mark Twain once wrote "The true Southern watermelon is a boon apart, and not to be mentioned with common things. It is chief of this world's luxuries, king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat. It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took; we know it because she repented".
That first generation kept to itself for the most part, building themselves Baptist churches and town squares, while traditional southern dishes like barbecue, buttermilk biscuits, vinegar pie and southern fried chicken did their own sort of culinary diplomacy with native populations.
Slavery remained legal in Brazil until 1888, but this nation of 51% African or mixed-race ancestry (according to the 2010 census), seems more interested in understanding and celebrating their past, than tearing their culture apart over it.
Today, descendants of those original Confederados preserve their cultural heritage through the Associação Descendência Americana (American Descendants Association), with an annual festival called the Festa Confederada. There you'll find hoop skirts and uniforms in gray and butternut, along with the food, the music and the dances of the antebellum South.
There you will find the Confederate battle flag, as well. It seems that Brazilians have thus far resisted that peculiar urge which afflicts Isis and the American Left, to destroy the symbols of their own history.
In 2016, the New York Times reported on the May celebration of the Festa Confederada, of Santa Bárbara d'Oeste:
'"This is a joyful event," said Carlos Copriva, 52, a security guard who described his ancestry as a mix of Hungarian and Italian. He was wearing a Confederate kepi cap that he had bought online as he and his wife, Raquel Copriva, who is Afro-Brazilian, strolled through the bougainvillea-shaded cemetery. Smiling at her husband, Ms. Copriva, 43, who works as a maid, gazed at the graves around them. "We know there was slavery in both the United States and Brazil, but look at us now, white and black, together in this place," she said while pointing to the tombstones. "Maybe we're the future and they're the past."'
"A woman in a traditional hoop skirt walked past graves adorned with Confederate battle flags in Santa Bárbara d'Oeste, Brazil. An annual celebration of the area's many Confederate settlers was held in the cemetery last month". Hat tip to Mario Tama/Getty Images, New York times, for this image
Author Cape Cod CurmudgeonPosted on December 27, 2017 January 2, 2018 Categories African History, American History, Civil War, Popular Culture, South AmericaTags Civil War, Confederados, Emperor Dom Pedro II, Toady in HistoryLeave a comment on December 27, 1865 Confederados
December 3, 1586, Spuds
ICYMI – Today, potatoes are the 5th largest crop on the planet, following rice, wheat, maize and sugar cane. Almost 5,000 varieties are preserved in the International Potato Center in Peru.
The expedition which would end in the Lost Colony of Roanoke began in 1585, financed by Sir Walter Raleigh and led by Sir Ralph Lane. On board was the Oxford trained mathematician and astronomer Sir Thomas Herriot, the man who would introduce the potato to England on this day, the following year.
The Inca of Peru seem to have been the first to cultivate potatoes, around 8,000BC.
Wild potatoes contain toxins to defend themselves against fungi and bacteria, toxins unaffected by the heat of cooking. In the Andes, mountain people learned to imitate the wild guanaco and vicuña, licking clay before eating the poisonous plants. In this manner, toxins pass harmlessly through the digestive system. Mountain people dunk wild potatoes in "gravy" made of clay and water, accompanied with coarse salt. Eventually, growers developed less toxic tubers, though the poisonous varieties are still favored for their frost resistance. Clay dust is sold in Peruvian and Bolivian markets, to this day.
Spanish Conquistadors who arrived in Peru in 1532 eventually brought potatoes home to Spain. The first written mention of the potato comes from a delivery receipt dated November 28, 1567, between the Grand Canaries and Antwerp.
Among its other virtues, the potato provides more caloric energy per acre of cultivation than either maize or grain and, being below ground, is likely to survive calamities that would flatten other crops. Taters quickly became staple foods in northern and eastern Europe, while in other areas remaining the food of peasants and livestock.
Louis XVI placing a potato blossom in his buttonhole, 1737
French army pharmacist Antoine-Augustin Parmentier was captured by Prussians during the seven years war, learning to appreciate the gustatorial delights of the potato while in captivity.
Primarily used as hog feed in his native France, Parmentier was determined to bring respectability to the lowly tuber. It must have been a tough sell, as many believed that potatoes caused leprosy. The Paris Faculty of Medicine declared them edible in 1772, thanks largely to Parmentier's efforts. He would host dinners featuring multiple potato dishes, inviting such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier. Franklin was enormously popular among the French nobility. Before long Louis XVI was wearing a purple potato flower in his lapel. Marie Antoinette wore them in her hair.
Sir Walter Raleigh first introduced potatoes to Ireland in 1589. By mid-19th century, the crop occupied one third of arable land in Ireland. This was due entirely to landless laborers, renting tiny plots from landowners interested only in raising cattle or producing grain for market. An acre of potatoes and the milk of a single cow was enough to sustain a family. Even poor families could grow enough surplus to feed a pig, which could then be sold for cash.
Calamity struck Ireland in 1845, in the form of a blight so horrific that US military authorities once considered stockpiling the stuff as a biological weapon. Seemingly overnight, Ireland's staple food crop was reduced to a black, stinking ooze.
There followed the seven years' "an Gorta Mór", "the Great Hunger", killing over a million Irish and reducing the population by 20-25% through death and emigration. Throughout the Irish potato famine, the country continued to produce and export thirty to fifty shiploads per day of food produce, more than enough to feed the population.
Today, many see the effects of the absentee landlord system and the penal codes as a form of genocide. At the time, already strained relations with England were broken, giving rise to Irish republicanism and leading to Irish independence in the following century.
Until Nazis tore it down, there was a statue of Sir Francis Drake in Offenburg, Germany, giving him credit for introducing the potato. His right hand rested on the hilt of his sword, his left gripping a potato plant. The inscription read "Sir Francis Drake, disseminator of the potato in Europe in the Year of Our Lord 1586. Millions of people who cultivate the earth bless his immortal memory".
Today, potatoes are the 5th largest crop on the planet, following rice, wheat, maize and sugar cane. Almost 5,000 varieties are preserved in the International Potato Center in Peru.
In the Star Wars movie "The Empire Strikes Back", there's a chase sequence through an "asteroid" field in which some of the asteroids are, in fact, potatoes.
Scientists have created genetically modified potatoes to ward off pests. The "New Leaf", approved in 1995, incorporated a bacterial gene rendering it resistant to the Colorado potato beetle, an "international superpest" so voracious that some credit the creature for creating the modern pesticide industry. Other varieties were genetically modified to resist phytophthora infestans, the cause the Irish potato famine.
Seeming to prefer insecticides and anti-fungal sprays, "food activists" decry such varieties as "Frankenfoods". Each time, the improved variety has been hounded out of business.
In 2014, Idaho-based J.R. Simplot Co. introduced the "innate" potato. Rather than "transgenic" gene splicing, the introduction of genome sequences from unrelated species, the innate variety uses a "silencing" technique on the tuber's own genes, to resist the bruising and browning that results in 400 million pounds of waste and a cost to consumers of $90 million.
In October 2016, NBC news reported that "The U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved commercial planting of two types of potatoes that are genetically engineered to resist the pathogen that caused the Irish potato famine. The potatoes next must clear a voluntary review process through the Food and Drug Administration as well as get the OK from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency".
The Innate potato produces less acrylamide, a known carcinogen produced by normal potatoes in the high heat of fryers.
This might actually be the first genetically modified variety to succeed in the marketplace, but McDonald's, possibly the largest potato user on the planet, has already announced that "McDonald's USA does not source GMO potatoes, nor do we have current plans to change our sourcing practices."
You can never underestimate the power of hysterical people, in large groups.
If you enjoyed this "Today in History", please feel free to re-blog, "like" & share on social media, so that others may find and enjoy the same. Please click the "follow" button on the right, to receive email updates on new articles. Thank you for your interest, in the history we all share.
Author Cape Cod CurmudgeonPosted on December 3, 2017 January 2, 2018 Categories Food, Popular Culture, South AmericaTags Food Crop, Gene Splicing, GMO, Potato Famine, Spuds, Today in History1 Comment on December 3, 1586, Spuds
November 6, 1860 A Peculiar Institution
From the earliest years of the "new world", every economy from Canada to Argentina was, to varying degrees, involved with slavery. Spanish and Portuguese settlers brought the first African slaves to the new world in 1501, establishing the new world's first international slave port in Santo Domingo, modern capital city of the Dominican Republic.
Hundreds of thousands of African slaves entered the Americas through the sister ports of Veracruz, Mexico, and Portobelo, Panama, "products" of the "Asiento" system, wherein the contractor (asientista) was awarded a monopoly in the slave trade to Spanish colonies, in exchange for royalties paid to the crown.
The first such contractor was a Genoese company who agreed to supply 1,000 slaves over an 8-year period, beginning in 1517. A German company entered into such a contract eight years later, with a pledge of 4,000.
Painting by Richard Schlecht, National Geographic
By 1590, as many as 1.1 million Africans had come through the port of Cartagena, Colombia, sorted and surnamed under the "casta de nación" classification system. To this day, black residents of the Colombian interior bear names like Kulango & Fanti, indicating their origins on the Ivory Coast or Ghana: Musorongo, Loango & Congo, (Congo Region), or Matamba, Anchico & Ambuila (Angola).
In the American colonies, 17th century racial attitudes appear to have been more fluid than they would later become. The first black Africans, 19 of them, came to the Virginia Colony in 1619 not as slaves, but as indentured servants. Their passage, involuntary as it was, was paid for by a term of indenture, a sort of 'temporary slavery', usually lasting seven years.
John Punch ran away from his term of indenture in 1640, along with two Europeans. The trio was captured in Maryland and sentenced to extended terms of indenture. Alone among the three, Punch was punished with indenture for life, effectively making him the first 'slave' in the American colonies.
Born in Angola in 1600, Anthony Johnson was one of that original 19, captured by an enemy tribe and sold to an Arab slave trader. Johnson was sold to a Virginia planter at the age of 21, paying off the cost of his passage with a seven-year term of indenture. As a free man, Johnson himself became a successful planter, going on to "own" indentured servants of his own.
One of them, John Casor, sued for his freedom in 1655, claiming to have completed his indenture of "seaven or Eight years", plus seven more. The court ruled that Casor himself was considered "property" and not his contract, making him the first person arbitrarily ruled a slave for life.
The unthinking view of history holds American slavery to have been a strictly southern-states phenomenon, but it isn't so. As late as the eve of the Civil War, "northern" slavery was more widespread than you might expect. The 1860 census reported 236 slaves in New Jersey, 90,368 in Maryland, 2,290 in Delaware, and 3,680 in Washington, DC. There were slaves as far north as New Hampshire as late as 1840. New York wouldn't legally emancipate its last slave until the following year.
Massachusetts became the first American colony to legalize slavery in 1641, with the passage of the ironically named "Massachusetts Body of Liberties". Slavery was legal at one time or another, in all 13 original colonies and even before, when slavery of and by native Americans, was commonplace.
In 1637, the Pequot tribe of southeastern Connecticut was all but wiped out in a bloody war with an alliance of English colonists from the Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth and Saybrook colonies, and their native American allies of the Narragansett, Mohegan, Niantic and Montauk tribes. Surviving Pequots were forced to become slaves in English households, or shipped to Bermuda or the West Indies, and exchanged for Africans.
Indigenous and African slave populations in northern climates were small compared with the more agricultural economies of the south, which were themselves a drop in a bucket compared with the slave economies of central and south America.
An essay from the New York Public Library (nypl.org) gives a sense of scale to the transatlantic slave trade. "As a whole, the transatlantic slave trade displaced an estimated 12.5 million people, with about 10,650,000 surviving the Atlantic crossing. Thus, even though a substantial number of Africans actually reached the United States, they were only a small proportion, about 3.6 percent, of the total number of Africans who were brought to the Americas. More Africans went to Barbados (435,000), while almost three times as many went to Jamaica (1,020,000). The number of Africans arriving in North America was considerably less than those who were taken to Brazil (4,810,000)".
The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 opened vast new territories. The fight for which would be free and which would permit slavery, would go on for years.
The philosophical underpinnings of southern secession was borne of the Hartford Convention of December 1814 – January 1815. There, delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, along with "unofficial" delegates from New Hampshire and Vermont, met to discuss New England's secession over the War of 1812. The convention reported that New England had a "duty" to assert its authority over unconstitutional infringements on its sovereignty, putting forth a legal position very similar to the later nullification position taken by South Carolina.
Protective tariffs were instituted in the wake of the War of 1812, intending to help domestic manufacturers compete with foreign imported goods. Instead, they tended to help northern manufacturing economies, while increasing the cost of manufactured goods to the southern states, and making it more difficult to export cotton.
By this time, cotton was becoming the chief cash crop in most southern economies, and tariffs hit South Carolina particularly hard. Throughout the colonial and early national periods, the Palmetto state climate sustained a strong agricultural economy. South Carolina's fortunes were hit hard with the panic of 1819, and slow to recover as the gulf states increasingly entered the cotton markets.
The Tariffs of 1828 – '32 lead to a nullification crisis in South Carolina, where the state told the federal government to pound sand, and mobilized military assets to defend itself against federal enforcement measures sure to follow.
That time the crisis was averted, but a pattern had been established for events to come.
Sectional differences grew and sharpened in the years that followed. A member of Congress from Kentucky killed a fellow congressman from Maine. A Congressman from South Carolina all but beat a Massachusetts Senator to death with a cane, on the floor of the Senate. A fist fight involving at least 30 Congressman broke out on the floor of the US House of Representatives.
Southern states talked about secession as early as 1850. Senator Stephen A Douglas proposed the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, in theory allowing a territory to determine its own free or slave status. This effort to "democratize" the issue led to the brutality of the "Bleeding Kansas" period, where pro-slavery Missouri "Border Ruffians" and anti-slavery Kansas "Jayhawkers" crossed one another's borders, primarily to murder each others civilians and burn out one another's towns.
Abraham Lincoln delivered his "House Divided" speech on June 16, 1858, in which he said "A house divided against itself cannot stand". A year later, John Brown was holed up at Harper's Ferry, trying to start a slave insurrection.
After 57 ballots, the Democrat's convention of 1859 adjourned without selecting a candidate for the Presidential election. Northern Democrats nominated Stephen A Douglas, while southern Democrats nominated John Breckenridge.
Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected 16th President of the United States on November 6, 1860, on a platform confusingly specifying "That all men are created equal", an "abhorrence of all schemes of disunion", and "The maintenance inviolate of the rights of the states, and especially the right of each state to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively".
One year later, to the day, former United States Senator and Secretary of War Jefferson Davis was elected to a six-year term as the first President of the Confederate States of America.
Author Cape Cod CurmudgeonPosted on November 6, 2017 January 2, 2018 Categories African History, American History, Civil War, Law, Presidential History, South AmericaTags New World, Peculiar Institution, Slavery, Today in History10 Comments on November 6, 1860 A Peculiar Institution


Hazel is three months old today! She has her checkup on Monday, but I feel confident she'll ace it! She's eating well, doing great at daycare, and sleeps like a champ. I think we'll see some serious growing when they bust out those growth curves!
– She is still super smiley and is happy 90% of the time.
– She really hates a wet and/or poopy diaper.
– She gets HANGRY (sorry, honey- you get that from me!).
– She is an amazing sleeper. She has been sleeping through the night for the past month. She goes to bed between 7 and 8, and she doesn't wake up until after 8am on the weekends (weekdays, I wake her up at 6:10am and feed her so we can get ready for work and daycare). It's utterly amazing.
– She coos a lot!
– When she gets cranky (which is rare), she quiets down when Ian sits next to her and starts singing her a song (so adorable to watch!).