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One Very Flashy New Dinosaur – Ubirajara jubatus
By Mike| 2020-12-20T12:40:58+00:00	December 15th, 2020|Dinosaur and Prehistoric Animal News Stories, Dinosaur Fans, Main Page, Palaeontological articles, Photos/Pictures of Fossils|3 Comments
Ubirajara jubatus – One Very Flashy Dinosaur
News about the discovery of a species of feathered dinosaur has now become relatively commonplace. Yet, it is worth remembering that it was just twenty-four years ago, back in 1996, that the first, non-avian dinosaur species with evidence of fuzzy feathers was described. Named Sinosauropteryx this lithe meat-eater literally "rocked" scientists as the long-awaited proof of feathered dinosaurs was revealed to the world. Sinosauropteryx was a compsognathid, a team of researchers, including scientists from the University of Portsmouth have described another feathered dinosaur, this new feathered theropod is a compsognathid too, but with a more elaborate and spectacular integumentary covering. The newly described Ubirajara jubatus is the first Gondwanan non-avian theropod with preserved filamentous integumentary structures. It is also the first non-maniraptoran possessing elaborate integumentary structures that were most likely used for display.
A Life Reconstruction of the Newly Described Brazilian Compsognathid Ubirajara jubatus
Ubirajara jubatus life reconstruction by the very talented palaeoartist Bob Nicholls.
Picture Credit: Bob Nicholls/Paleocreations
Dressed to Impress
Described as the most elaborately dressed-to-impress dinosaur described to date, the research team co-led by Professor David Martill and researcher Robert Smyth (University of Portsmouth), propose that U. jubatus will shed new light on how birds evolved elaborate display structures.
This chicken-sized dinosaur possessed a mane of long bristles running down its back and stiff ribbons projecting out and back from its shoulders, a combination of features never seen before in the fossil record.
The scientific paper has been published in the journal of Cretaceous research and involved a collaboration between the University of Portsmouth and the appropriately named Professor Dino Frey at the State Museum of Natural History, Karlsruhe, Germany, who discovered the new species while examining fossils in Karlsruhe´s collection and Héctor E. Rivera-Sylva of the Departamento de Paleontología, Museo del Desierto in Saltillo, Mexico. The fossil was authorised by the Brazilian authorities for export some time ago, but was only recently studied.
The bizarre integumentary structures must have had a purpose, whilst the body covering may have originally evolved to provide insulation, the stiff ribbons on either side of the shoulders were probably used for display, perhaps to attract a mate, deter a rival or to frighten a potential predator.
Professor Martill commented:
"We cannot prove that the specimen is a male, but given the disparity between male and female birds, it appears likely the specimen was a male, and young, too, which is surprising given most complex display abilities are reserved for mature adult males. Given its flamboyance, we can imagine that the dinosaur may have indulged in elaborate dancing to show off its display structures."
Not Scales or Fur
The ribbons are not fur or scales, they are not feathers in the modern sense, as seen on an extant bird. They appear to be structures unique to this animal.
Mr Smyth added:
"These are such extravagant features for such a small animal and not at all what we would predict if we only had the skeleton preserved. Why adorn yourself in a way that makes you more obvious to both your prey and to potential predators? The truth is that for many animals, evolutionary success is about more than just surviving, you also have to look good if you want to pass your genes on to the next generation."
The Holotype of Ubirajara jubatus Preserved as a Slab and Counter Slab
The holotype of Ubirajara jubatus preserved as slab and counter slab. Note scale bar = 50 mm.
Picture Credit: Smyth et al /Cretaceous Research
From the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation of North-eastern Brazil
Fossil discoveries starting with the ground-breaking Sinosauropteryx specimen that was described in 1996 have fundamentally changed our understanding of the phylogenetic relationships between birds and dinosaurs as well as the origin and evolution of feathers. A variety of elaborate integumentary coverings and structures are now known from the Theropoda and from ornithischian dinosaurs too. They have been linked to behaviours including egg incubation, mating displays and thermoregulation.
The Colourful PNSO Model of the Chinese Compsognathid Sinosauropteryx
PNSO Yuyan the Sinosauropteryx dinosaur model. The PNSO model of the compsognathid Sinosauropteryx.
Within the Theropoda, such features have only been previously recorded within the Maniraptoriformes, a theropod clade which includes birds and is defined as "the most recent common ancestor of the ostrich mimic Ornithomimus and Aves (birds) and all descendants of that common ancestor."
The majority of theropods preserving integumental structures come from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous of China or the Upper Jurassic of southern Germany and all are of Laurasian origin. Ubirajara jubatus from the Lower Cretaceous (Aptian) Crato Formation of north-eastern Brazil, is the first non-maniraptoran possessing elaborate integumentary structures that were most likely used for display.
It is also the first non-avian theropod with preserved filamentous integumentary structures to have been described from the southern hemisphere landmass of Gondwana.
The researchers compare Ubirajara to living birds stating that many modern Aves are famed for their exotic and colourful plumage along with their complex displays that are used to win mates. Male peacocks with their stunning tails and male birds of paradise are examples of this.
A Goldie's Bird of Paradise Male Bird Displays to Attract a Mate
A Goldie's bird of paradise displays. New Guinea is famous for its exotic and flamboyant birds of paradise.
Picture Credit: Tim Laman/National Geographic Image Collection
Ubirajara jubatus (pronounce You-bi-rah-jar-rah jew-bay-tus), lived approximately 110 million years ago (Aptian faunal stage of the Early Cretaceous). The genus name is derived from the local Tupi dialect and translates as "lord of the spear", whilst the trivial or specific name is from the Latin for "mane" a reference to the integumentary covering on its back.
Able to Raise its Hackles Like a Dog?
The mane running down its back is thought to have been controlled by muscles allowing it to be raised, in a similar way a dog raises its hackles or a porcupine raises its spines when facing a threat. Once the danger had passed, Ubirajara could lower its mane close to the skin allowing this little dinosaur to move quickly through the undergrowth without getting tangled up.
Professor Martill explained:
"Any creature with movable hair or feathers as a body coverage has a great advantage in streamlining the body contour for faster hunts or escapes but also to capture or release heat."
The unique body plan of Ubirajara with its long, flat, stiff shoulder ribbons of keratin, each with a small sharp ridge running along the middle, described by the authors as "enigmatic" might have looked cumbersome, but in reality they were located on the body in such a way as not to impede movement allowing Ubirajara to preen, hunt, move around and display unencumbered.
The scientific paper: The scientific paper: "A maned theropod dinosaur from Gondwana with elaborate integumentary structures" by Robert S.H. Smyth, David M. Martill, Eberhard Frey, Héctor E. Rivera-Sylva and Norbert Lenz published in Cretaceous Research


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"We've mitigated the impact by augmenting staffing, rerouting traffic, and increasing spacing between aircraft as needed". It's located in Leesburg, Virginia. That center handles air traffic on its way to and from the NY area and the Mid-Atlantic states.
"The President has been briefed and we are monitoring the ongoing delays at some airports".
"The shutdown hadn't affected me until now", the management consultant from Ann Arbor, Mich., tweeted. "I travel every week, and nothing surprises me".
Flights out of Philadelphia and Newark were also delayed owing to shortages. Air traffic controllers who spoke with TIME said they believed the staffing problems are related to the shutdown, and that the problem could worsen. It's unsafe, and we need to open the government, get them paid, get their support team there, our quality assurance people, our training teams, all of them there. In the case of air traffic control, about 60 other countries have de-politicized air traffic control, removing this vital function from the government budget by setting it up as a self-supporting corporate entity-generally either a government corporation or a nonprofit, private corporation.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Twitter that the shutdown is "pushing our airspace to the breaking point". "This is reckless, what has been going on with the shutdown".
The FAA did not indicate how many controllers are missing work. The airports with the longest average wait times were Atlanta with 42 minutes and Baltimore at 37 minutes.
Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump dismissed the struggles families are going through as just "a little bit of pain", adding, "this is so much bigger than any one person". The FAA continually reviews and analyzes its performance to assess its safety and efficiency. "It's starting to happen", said Chuck Banks, an FAA safety inspector in Florida.
"You can't mess with a system that is so integral to the United States", she told CNN Friday. "We have warned about what could happen as a result of the prolonged shutdown".
Even before Friday, airline executives were warning about turbulence from the shutdown. Delta Air Lines Inc. said last week that the political standoff was costing it about $25 million a month.
I found it sad, then, that the FA Cup got discarded at one stage, like the year that Manchester United didn't even enter it. And a major talking point has been the way Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba are leading the attacks and scoring goals .


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Signal BoxLiz Kendall2017-01-26T15:44:07+00:00
Signal Box
Signal boxes are rapidly being phased out in today's modern railway system. The Butterley signal box is a rare chance to see a historic operational signal box. The early Midland Railway signal box is located opposite the former goods yard. It is used operationally to provide access between the two tracks on the main line, as well as to the former goods yard.
We offer training courses for suitable applicants to operate this and other signal boxes at the Midland Railway – Butterley. Contact us here for more information.
Historical note: The signal box at Butterley was first built in 1900 and was formerly at Ais Gill on the famous Settle & Carlisle Railway.
Butterley Tea Room
Garden Railway

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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PUBG Corp. is looking to host its first official esports tournament for PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, according to a report from Polygon. Taking place in Berlin, Germany in the summer, teams who receive invites to the PUBG Global Invitational will be battling it out for the lion's share of the $2,000,000 (£1,435,357) prize pool.
The report states that 20 teams will be involved in the tournament, which is more than the usual 16 teams that have competed at previous events. The event will run from July 25th to 29th, with teams qualifying through regional tournaments hosted in North America, Asia, and Europe. It's reported that two teams will be crowned as world champions: one for the first-person perspective and the other for the third-person perspective.
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Esports Insider says: It's incredibly positive to see PUBG Corp. invest in esports. The prize pool is ridiculously surprising, especially when you consider the latest PUBG tournament – Global Loot League Season 1 finals – had a prize pool of $50,000 (£35,864.25).


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Q: How to implement process partitioning on non-integer keys without CRC32? I'm working on PostgreSQL with a Ruby client and I want to partition a table with SHA-1 hash ids like
                    id
------------------------------------------
 fe935b318f6976afdec83fa7339ff2069b0bc0c3
 d67948e38a645fd5ffdde6dab4dc627b2b19d1b1
 0d304f5134b0a46c2248a34c3e9c50ad2b547fdf

Process partitioning is where you partition a dataset into N parts and assign each to one of N processes. If you have integer keys in a RDBMS, it is simple:
select * from items_to_be_processed where MOD(id, N) = ASSIGNED_PARTITION

Ryan Smith suggests that if you have string keys, you can use CRC32 on them to get the integer and then the modulus - but, assuming your keys are mostly evenly distributed (like I think it would be with SHA-1 hashes), would this be easier? For N = 4, like:
select * from items_to_be_processed where id < ASSIGNED_PARTITION_1
select * from items_to_be_processed where id < ASSIGNED_PARTITION_2 and id >= ASSIGNED_PARTITION_1
select * from items_to_be_processed where id < ASSIGNED_PARTITION_3 and id >= ASSIGNED_PARTITION_2
select * from items_to_be_processed where id >= ASSIGNED_PARTITION_4

so maybe if N = 2, then
select * from items_to_be_processed where id < '8888888888888888888888888888888888888888'   <- process 1
select * from items_to_be_processed where id >= '8888888888888888888888888888888888888888'  <- process 2

Given N, how do I calculate the partition points (8888888888888888888888888888888888888888 dividing ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff in half, which maybe I didn't even calculate correctly)? Should I do it in SQL (Postgres) or in the Ruby client making the call?
PS. Inspired by the random attribute idea from the MongoDB cookbook.
Update
888... above was't calculated correctly - here's a way to do it in Ruby, thanks to Carl Norum's answer for bringing me closer:
>> 'f'*40
=> "ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff"
>> a = 0xffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff
=> 1461501637330902918203684832716283019655932542975
>> b = a / 2
=> 730750818665451459101842416358141509827966271487
>> '%x' % b
=> "7fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff"
>> '%x' % (b + 1)
=> "8000000000000000000000000000000000000000"

A: That's not calculated correctly.  Your example is something like taking the base 10 number 9999 and saying that dividing it by 2 yields 5555.  Rather:
0xffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

Is one less than:
0x10000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Dividing that number into ranges is easy.  For your N=2 example, half of the keys are less than:
0x8000000000000000000000000000000000000000

And half are greater than or equal.  For N=4, it's similar:
ASSIGNED_PARTITION_1 = 0x4000000000000000000000000000000000000000
ASSIGNED_PARTITION_2 = 0x8000000000000000000000000000000000000000
ASSIGNED_PARTITION_3 = 0xc000000000000000000000000000000000000000

If you try the partitioning with smaller numbers (like ones you can easily write in base 10), you'll see what's going on.
I'm not sure how the comparisons are going to work out for you - those are big numbers.  I'm not a ruby or SQL expert, I'm afraid.

A: You only need the first n characters of the hash depending on how many partitions. If up to 16 then only the first character:
select *
from items_to_be_processed
where left(id, 1) < '4'

select *
from items_to_be_processed
where left(id, 1) between '4' and '7'

There is no need for a conversion to integer.
Then you can have an index on just the n left characters to make it small and fast:
create index index_name on items_to_be_processed (left(id, 1))

It is necessary to have the left() expression in the where clause to make the planner use the proposed small index contrarily to the comments to this answer. This is how I tested in 9.2:
create table itbp (id char(32));

insert into itbp
select md5(a::text)
from generate_series(1, 100000) s(a)
;

I used md5 in instead of sha1 just to create a simpler test as there is no sha1 function in the default install of postgresql.
create index itbp_left_1_id_index on itbp (left(id, 1));

analyze itbp;

I did not forget to analyze before testing. Now both the explains:
explain select *
from itbp
where left(id, 1) between '4' and '7'
;
                                             QUERY PLAN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Bitmap Heap Scan on itbp  (cost=529.17..1979.74 rows=24663 width=33)
   Recheck Cond: (("left"((id)::text, 1) >= '4'::text) AND ("left"((id)::text, 1) <= '7'::text))
   ->  Bitmap Index Scan on itbp_left_1_id_index  (cost=0.00..523.00 rows=24663 width=0)
         Index Cond: (("left"((id)::text, 1) >= '4'::text) AND ("left"((id)::text, 1) <= '7'::text))

explain select *
from itbp
where id >= '4' and id < '8'
;
                         QUERY PLAN
------------------------------------------------------------
 Seq Scan on itbp  (cost=0.00..2334.00 rows=24784 width=33)
   Filter: ((id >= '4'::bpchar) AND (id < '8'::bpchar))

A: What you would like to do is to convert the id into an integer for partitioning purposes.  Here is a simple way to do that, assuming that the id values are distributed uniformly, you could use the first two digits to get a value from 0 to 255:
select substring(t.id, 1, 2)::bit(8)::int as IntHash,
       t.*
from t

You can then define your ranges using modular arithmetic, such as:
select (substring(t.id, 1, 2)::bit(8)::int)%8 as WhichOfEightPartitions
from t

This is assuming that the hash id is stored as a string.
The basic idea for this came from this post, in the response by "tom lane".  This is, apparently, undocumented behavior, but it does work on SQLFiddle.

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text:
Guerra Melvin 74's blog
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Hearing Trick Convinces People Their Arms Are Made of Stone If your arm falls asleep for a while, it can sort of feel like it's made of rubber. But how do you make your arm feel like it's made of marble? According to Italian researchers, all you need is the sound of a hammer tapping stone. And some psychological trickery....
Apple allegedly teaming up with Shazam for song-identification feature in iOS 8 Come iOS 8, you might soon be able to ask your iPhone what song is playing and get an answer. Apple is reportedly prepping an update to Siri that will enable music identification. Instead of rolling their own music ID software and library, however, Apple is doing as they've done...
Guerra Melvin 74
Jake Johnson: This is great. I have been looking for miami wi... | more »
On The Largest Selection of Window Blinds & Shutters
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Galway is one of the most phenomenal locations in Ireland for Windsurfing for enthusiasts of all ages and levels of experience. There are numerous suitable beaches from Salthill all the way to Dogs Bay/ Gurteen in Connemara which offer sheltered waters to enjoy. The most popular area only 5 minutes from the city centre is Rusheen Bay. The enclosed bay with calm shallow waters and prevailing cross-onshore winds is ideal for beginners. You can hire all the equipment you need onsite, year round.
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New Years Resolution – Visit Kylemore Abbey!


text:
by Pearl-Poet
Part 1, Verses 1–10, Lines 1–231 Summary and Analysis
Part 1, Verses 11–21, Lines 232–490 Summary and Analysis
Part 2, Verses 35–45, Lines 811–1125 Summary and Analysis
Part 3, Verses 46–66, Lines 1126–1647 Summary and Analysis
Part 4, Verses 88–101, Lines 2212–2630 Summary and Analysis
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Critical Survey of Contemporary Fiction)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Analysis
The author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is unknown, but the poem is believed to have been written by the same poet who wrote Pearl, Patience, and Purity, which exhibit similar language and themes.
The changing of seasons and the progression of a year serve as the backdrop of the poem. Gawain receives his challenge at the beginning of the year and is ordered to meet the Green Knight to receive his blow when that year is up.
Sir Gawain is faced with the powers of the divine, social, and natural spheres. He faces the dangers of the Green Knight's impending blow but also the forces of nature on his journey.
Last Updated on January 4, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 1018
During the Yule celebration, many knights and fair ladies gather in King Arthur's banquet hall, there to feast and enjoy the holiday festivities. Suddenly a stranger enters the room. He is a giant, clad all in green armor, and with a green face, hair, and beard. He advances, gives his...
Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Sir Gawain and the Green Knight study guide. You'll get access to all of the Sir Gawain and the Green Knight content, as well as access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts.
During the Yule celebration, many knights and fair ladies gather in King Arthur's banquet hall, there to feast and enjoy the holiday festivities. Suddenly a stranger enters the room. He is a giant, clad all in green armor, and with a green face, hair, and beard. He advances, gives his greetings, and then loudly issues his challenge. Is there a knight in the group who would dare to trade blows with the mighty Green Knight? He who accepts is to strike one blow with a battle-axe immediately. Then on New Year's morning, a year hence, the Green Knight is to repay the blow, at his own castle in a distant land. Arrogantly, the Green Knight waits for an answer. From King Arthur's ranks answers the voice of Sir Gawain, who accepts the challenge.
King Arthur and the other knights watch approvingly as Sir Gawain advances, axe in hand, to confront the Green Knight. The stranger kneels down, bares his neck, and waits for the blow. Sir Gawain strikes, sure and true, and the head of the Green Knight is severed from his body. While all gape in amazement, the Green Knight picks up his head in his hands, leaps upon his charger, and rides toward the gate. As he rides, the lips of the head shout defiance at Sir Gawain, reminding him of their forthcoming meeting at the Green Chapel in the coming new year.
The months pass quickly. Noble deeds are legion at the Round Table, and an atmosphere of gaiety pervades King Arthur's castle. Then, when autumn comes, Sir Gawain departs on his promised quest, and with much concern the other knights see him set forth. Sir Gawain—riding his horse, Gringolet—goes northward and at last arrives in Wirral, a wild and uncivilized region. On his way he was often in danger of death, for he faced fire-puffing dragons, fierce animals, and savage wild men in his search for the Knight of the Green Chapel. At last, on Christmas Eve, Sir Gawain sees a great castle in the middle of the wilderness. He enters it and is made welcome.
His host, Lord Bertilak of Hautdesert Castle, offers Sir Gawain the entire facilities of the castle. In the beautifully furnished chamber that he occupies, Sir Gawain is served the finest dishes and the best wines. Lady Bertilak, a lady more beautiful even than Queen Guinevere, sits with him as he eats. The next day is Christmas, and Lord Bertilak leads in the feasting. Expressing the wish that Sir Gawain will remain at the castle for a long time, Bertilak assures the knight that the Green Chapel is only a short distance away, so it will not be necessary for him to leave until New Year's Day. Bertilak also asks Sir Gawain to keep a covenant with him. During his stay, Sir Gawain is to receive all the game that Bertilak catches during the day's hunt. In return, Sir Gawain is to exchange any gifts he receives at the castle while Bertilak is away.
On the first morning that Lord Bertilak hunts, Sir Gawain is awakened by Lady Bertilak. She enters his chamber, seats herself on his couch, and speaks words of love to him. Sir Gawain resists temptation and takes nothing from the lady. That evening, when Lord Bertilak presents his bounty from the hunt, Sir Gawain answers truthfully that he received nothing that day. The second morning the same thing happens. Sir Gawain remains chaste in spite of Lady Bertilak's conduct. On the third morning, however, the day before Sir Gawain is to depart, she gives him an embroidered silk girdle, or sash, that she says will keep him safe from any mortal blow. Then she kisses him three times and departs. That evening Sir Gawain kisses Lord Bertilak three times, but he does not mention the silken girdle he received.
On New Year's morning, Sir Gawain sets forth from the castle and rides to the Green Chapel. He finds it without difficulty; as he approaches he hears the Green Knight sharpening his axe. When Sir Gawain announces that he is ready for the blow and bares his head, the Green Knight raises his axe high in the air in preparation for the stroke of death. Sir Gawain first involuntarily jumps aside as the axe descends. The second time, the Green Knight merely strikes at Sir Gawain, not touching him at all. With the third blow he wounds Sir Gawain in the neck, drawing a great deal of blood. Then Sir Gawain shouts that he fulfilled the covenant. The Green Knight laughs loudly at that and begins to praise Sir Gawain's courage.
To Sir Gawain's surprise, the Green Knight reveals himself as Lord Bertilak and explains the blows. On the first two blows Sir Gawain escaped injury because for two days he faithfully kept the covenant. The third drew blood, however, because Sir Gawain failed to reveal the gift to Lord Bertilak. Together with Morgan le Fay, King Arthur's half-sister, the Green Knight planned this whole affair to test the strength and valor of King Arthur's knights. They devised the disguise of the Green Knight and persuaded Lady Bertilak to try tempting Sir Gawain. Sir Gawain withstands the test of temptation well; his only fault is the keeping of the girdle. The host forgives him for his act, however, because it is the love of life that motivated Sir Gawain.
The two men return to the castle, and Sir Gawain journeys back to King Arthur's court. As he rides he gazes with shame at the girdle. It is to remain with Sir Gawain as a reminder of the moment when he yielded and succumbed to the weakness of the flesh. At King Arthur's castle all the knights and ladies listen to the tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and then, to show their love for the young knight, they all don silk girdles. This symbol becomes a traditional part of the costume of the Knights of the Round Table.
Last Updated on January 3, 2022, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 394
Camelot is the site of King Arthur's court. As the poem begins, attractive young lords and ladies celebrate the Christmas season at Camelot. Dressed in their best, the courtiers frolic in a charming atmosphere. Laughter and mirth prevail while a lovely Guinevere and a boyish Arthur sit on an attractive raised platform. The poem hints that the court, despite its superficial attractiveness, may be naïve and untried.
The Wirral
The Wirral is a forest in Cheshire, England, that Gawain enters from northern Wales during his quest through the wilderness. The weather is cold, and the woods are dark and full of wild men, giants, and monsters. The Wirral may symbolize the forces of nature as opposed to the civilized atmosphere of Camelot and Bertilak's castle. The geographical closeness of castles and the forests surrounding them suggests that civilization is fragile and that the primitive forces of the forests are always ready to destroy what human beings have built.
Castle Hautdesert
Castle Hautdesert is the home of Lord Bertilak de Hautdesert, the good-humored nobleman who is Gawain's host and who is disguised as the Green Knight by the arts of Morgan le Fay. Like Arthur's court, Bertilak's castle is a pleasant place. From a distance, its white silhouette looks as if it were cut from paper. The castle and its moat are set on a hill, near the Green Chapel. Gawain's private bedroom and luxurious bed emphasize that the castle is one of the finest of its era. However, the poet contrasts this luxury with Bertilak's hunt in the forest. By graphically describing the death and disemboweling of the deer, the boar, and the fox, the poet creates a realistic picture of the brutality of a medieval hunt.
The Green Chapel
The Green Chapel is the mound-like chapel of the Green Knight, which Gawain approaches on New Year's Day. The frightening-looking chapel stands in a wasteland; it is hollowed out, like a cave, and symbolic. It seems to connect with the tree worship of the pre-Christian Celts. On one hand, the castle seems like a tomb; on the other hand, because it is a chapel it reminds medieval readers that Christ left his cave-tomb and entered into everlasting life. Like many of the places described in the poem, the Green Chapel is rich with ambiguity.
The study of modern literature consists largely in the collection and interpretation of information about the authors. It is almost impossible, for example, to appreciate Byron without thinking of the author and his mystique. We do not, however, even know who the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (known as "the Gawain poet") was.
We may view this as a restriction, but, in fact, it does not have to hinder our appreciation very much. We also know nothing substantial of Homer or Dante, yet that does not prevent us from numbering them among the finest poets in history. Looked at from one perspective, our comparative ignorance of them and the Gawain poet could even be an advantage. It means there is more room for the imagination.
We should certainly take advantage of the knowledge that is available. Many people find they can enjoy Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with little or no knowledge of the author's times. A more sophisticated appreciation, however, will require some understanding of the historical context. Above all, this will help us to respond to the poem not merely as a delightful fantasy but as part of a great tradition.
Only a single copy of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight has been preserved from the Middle Ages. The manuscript also contains three other poems, Pearl, Patience, and Purity. They are written in the dialect of the northwest Midlands, the area of England known today as Lancaster and Yorkshire. Similarities of language, imagery, and theme, together with a high level of artistry, have convinced most scholars that they are the work of a single author. Pearl is a lament for the death of the author's daughter, while Patience retells the biblical story of Jonah and the whale. Purity is a religious meditation in which the author retells many stories from the Old Testament. All are considered to be among the foremost works of medieval literature. A fifth poem, St. Erkenwald, is sometimes attributed to the same writer. He was obviously educated in both religious lore and courtly ways, but virtually all our knowledge of him comes from his works.
The Middle Ages has been alternately praised as a period of romance or simple faith and vilified as a time of superstition and ignorance. Perhaps more than any other period of history, it arouses strong emotions. This is because it is a period of strong contrasts: splendid pageantry and squalor, gaiety and despair, compassion and cruelty, asceticism and extravagant sensuality. All of the popular images contain elements of truth, but none of them is complete.
The ethic of the nobility in the Middle Ages is known as chivalry. This is a set of customs that attempted to reconcile the virtues of a warrior society with Christianity. The ethos of the pagan warriors had emphasized physical courage and loyalty to one's tribe and lord. It placed great stress on fierceness in battle and usually regarded restraining influences, including pity, with disdain. Christianity, on the other hand, upheld an ideal universal love.
Chivalry retained the martial virtues of the pagan warriors but in the service of other ideals. It continued to place great value upon loyalty and courage, but it scorned blood-lust, egotism, and unrestrained sexuality. The knight, the Christian warrior, was expected to be gentle and refined in his domestic life.
Central to the culture of chivalry was the cult of "courtly love." Prior to the Middle Ages, there were only a few literary accounts of idealized lovers in Western culture. Love between the sexes had been regarded as a highly questionable passion, far less worthy of a hero than love of his companions or his country. This changed abruptly around the start of the eleventh century, as the Provencal poets of Southern France began to celebrate erotic love. This new preoccupation quickly spread to Germany and then to the rest of Europe. It became not only the major theme of lyric poetry but also a foundation of the chivalric epics.
Notions of love varied widely, just as they do today. Often a knight would elect to fight in jousting tournaments or on the battlefield in the name of a lady whose favor he wished to win. He was not supposed to expect either physical intimacy or expensive gifts in return, but he might be given a token of the lady such as a sash or a detachable sleeve from her dress. He would then take this with him into battle, sometimes using it as a banner to decorate his lance.
Often a knight might choose to serve the wife of another man. Since marriages among the aristocracy were largely political, love was usually outside of marriage. As long as the love remained only spiritual, the husband was not very likely to object. In practice, however, this sort of service could easily slide into adultery. In Mallory's Mort D'Arthur, the downfall of the celebrated Round Table comes when Lancelot, once the greatest of the knights, has a love affair with Queen Guinevere, the wife of King Arthur.
The chivalric ideal of love depended on a very delicate emotional balance. Courtly love may have been an important civilizing force, but it could easily become an occasion for violence as well. It was surrounded by all sorts of elaborate conventions designed to keep erotic passions under reasonable control.
When the Gawain poet wrote at the end of the fourteenth century, the age of chivalry was nearly at an end. An especially virulent outbreak of bubonic plague in 1347–50 had destroyed about a third of the population of Europe and shaken confidence in traditional ways. New weapons, including longbows, cannons, and muskets, were rendering traditional warfare, together with most of the knightly traditions, obsolete.
As it receded into the past, the age of chivalry began to seem more attractive. The mythical court of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, especially, became surrounded with growing nostalgia. The chivalric knight evolved into the English gentleman.
Even today, there is a good deal in contemporary culture which goes back to chivalry. The cowboy is a modern version of the knight wandering in search of adventure. Soap operas, with their preoccupation with power and adultery, owe quite a bit to chivalric romances.
Almost all literature centers, in one way or another, around human beings, but it does this in many ways. Literature of the Middle Ages frequently emphasized the relationship between humanity and God. With the Renaissance, emphasis shifted more to relationships among different human beings in society. Then, with the Romantic movement of the nineteenth century and the environmental movement of the twentieth century, the emphasis again shifts, this time to the relationship between human beings and the natural world.
The change of emphasis that began in the Renaissance was the result of gradual secularization that accompanied the development of science and industry. The reasons for the subsequent emphasis on nature is related to the same process. As human beings transformed more and more of the earth by cutting down woods, draining swamps, and building settlements, they began to feel increasingly nostalgic for the primeval landscapes that were being destroyed.
These are only rough generalizations, and the richest and most interesting works from all eras frequently explore all three relationships, as the hero confronts divine powers, society, and nature. This is certainly the case with Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. It contains many vivid descriptions of landscapes scattered throughout the poem. These set the mood of the story, but they are also included for their beauty.
Almost all of them emphasize the seasons. The cycle of the year, celebrated in the liturgical calendar, provides a sort of frame for the poem. Human life is compared to the year, which as life stirs beneath the snow, then progresses through stages of maturity to a final end.
The powers of nature are sometimes personified in the persons of the Green Knight, who doubles as Sir Bertilak, and Morgan le Fay, who doubles as Lady Bertilak. The Green Knight is a sort of personification of the woods. He is at first completely green, including his skin, like vegetation. Later, as Lord Bertilak, he changes color, not unlike leaves in fall. He also possesses the mysterious regenerative powers of nature. Like a tree that has lost a limb or even its crown, he simply lives on untroubled.
As for Morgan le Fay, the Green Knight actually calls her a "goddess." To include such a figure is a sort of pagan revival. It anticipates the Renaissance, which was already old in Italy but was just starting to reach England when Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was written. Gawain certainly speaks for some of his contemporaries when he comes across the Green Knight in a desolate place by a fairy mound and wonders if he is a devil.
Nevertheless, both the Green Knight and Morgan le Fay seem to be at least as devout in their Christianity as Arthur and his court. At their home in Hautdesert Castle, they celebrate Mass. Furthermore, though opinions about them will certainly differ, the two certainly have a sense of fairness, and they are at least reasonably benevolent.
If the Green Knight and Morgan le Fay are ambivalent, that reflects the contradictory attitude of people toward the natural world. The landscapes in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight may be very beautiful, but most of them are also harsh. Gawain, in his search for the Green Chapel, must not only suffer attacks by wild beasts but also cold and sleet.
The confrontation of humanity with nature found, for medieval aristocrats, its most vivid and exhilarating expression in the hunt. This was not only a means of training for war but also an important social occasion, where people of the castle were bonded in an exciting common endeavor. Ladies would take part as well as men. Each participant had a clearly defined role and a corresponding share of the game. Then the events of the hunt would provide material for tales told around the fire during long winter evenings. Only animals like boars and deer, known for their speed or fierceness, were considered worthy to be hunted by a lord.
This could be an exciting confrontation, even if it was an unequal one. The forests, however, were actually no more wild than our own. The Gawain poet, anticipating Romantics like Tennyson, loves to evoke the terror of primeval landscapes. One of the best examples is this passage:
By a mountain next morning he Gawain makes his way
Into a forest fastness, fearsome and wild;
Oaks old and huge by the hundred together.
The hazel and the hawthorn were all intertwined
With rough raveled moss, that raggedy hung,
With many birds unblithe upon bare twigs
That peeked most piteously for pain of the cold.
(Borroff trans., part 2, lines 740–747).
Impressive as this description sounds, it is doubtful whether there were any forests this primeval in Britain when the Gawain poet was writing. If there were, they could certainly not have sheltered any big castles, since people needed vast quantities of wood for everything from building to heating in winter. As, in recent years, the study of nature writing has become more popular, scholars have subjected it to greater scrutiny. They have realized that the idea of primal nature unaffected by human activity has usually been a daydream, even if it was a poetic one. Such natural settings had generally ceased to exist even in prehistoric times.
The aristocratic hunting preserves of medieval Europe sometimes must have looked very wild, but this was a carefully cultivated illusion. They were tended by foresters, who wanted them to look dark and dangerous so that hunters might experience their confrontation with nature more vividly. In a way, they were not totally unlike the theme parks of today.
Already, when the Romans conquered Britain around the end of the first century CE, there were almost no virgin forests. The woodlands had mostly been cut or burned down by the original inhabitants. By the early Middle Ages, a cultivated forest known as the "coppice" had become a center of economic and social activity in traditional village life. This was an area where the trees had been, when comparatively young, cut off just above the height of a tall man. This made many small branches grow out in all directions, so they made a sort of tent or canopy. It provided a sort of pleasant, natural shelter. Farmers would take livestock there to feed the animals on nuts and acorns. Markets were held there. The coppice even provided many thin sticks of wood that could be used as staves. The coppice often looked a bit like a gothic church with branches for buttresses. It may even have been the inspiration for the idea of the Green Chapel in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
This aspect of traditional British life ended in some areas when William of Normandy conquered Britain in 1066. He desired to greatly expand the royal game preserves. In some cases he went so far as to destroy buildings and even entire villages to make way for the forests. These forests sometimes became a refuge for political dissidents, the most famous of whom is the legendary Robin Hood.
However, the British forests were somewhat wild in at least one respect. It was very difficult to map them accurately. Without the benefit of a compass, which did not become widespread until the end of the Middle Ages, it was, additionally, very difficult to find one's way. Knights in search of adventure might ride out into the forest. They could never know in advance whom or what they might find. Gawain sets out into the forest to seek the Green Knight, without a map or direction, trusting only to providence.
In summary, the relationship between human beings and the natural world is one of our most urgent concerns in the late twentieth century. Since nature, however, has long been formed by human activity, we can certainly never expect to understand it apart from history. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight would be a good book to take with you on a camping trip. You might gaze up from the fire and imagine Castle Hautdesert somewhere among the trees.
Anderson, William. Green Man: The Archetype of our Oneness with the Earth. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1990.
Bechmann, Roland. Trees and Man: The Forest in the Middle Ages. Trans. from the French by Katharyn Dunham. New York: Paragon House, 1990.
Boroff, Marie. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight: A Stylistic and Metrical Study. New Haven: Yale U. Press, 1962.
Borroff, Marie, trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Norton, 1967.
Briggs, Katherine. The Vanishing People: Fairy Lore and Legends. New York: Pasntheon, 1988.
Burrow, J. A. & Thorlac Turville-Petre. A Book of Middle English. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1994.
Cartmill, Matt. A View to a Death in the Morning: Hunting and Nature through History. Cambridge: Harvard U. Press, 1993.
Clein, Wendy. Concepts of Chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Norman, Ok: Pilgrim, 1987.
Cosman, Madeleine Pelner. Fabulous Feasts: Medieval Cookery and Ceremony. New York: Braziller, 1976.
Davenport, W. A. The Art of the Gawain Poet. London: Athlone, 1978.
Dickson, Arthur. Valentine and Orson: A Study in Late Medieval Romance. New York: Oxford U. Press, 1929.
Ferrante, Joan M. and George D. Economy, eds. In Pursuit of Perfection: Courtly Love in Medieval Literature. Port Washington: Kennikat, 1975.
Gantz, Jeffrey, ed. & trans. Early Irish Myths and Sagas. New York: Penguin, 1982.
Haines, Victor Yelverton. The Fortunate Fall of Sir Gawain: The Typology of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Washington, D. C.: UPA, 1982.
Johnson, Lynn Staley. The Voice of the Gawain Poet. Madison: U. of Wisconsin Press, 1984.
Loomis, Roger Sherman. Studies in Medieval Literature: A Memorial Collection of Essays. New York: Burt Franklin, 1970.
Mathews, John. Gawain: Knight of the Goddess. London: Aquarian Press, 1990.
Miller, Mariam Youngerman & Jane Chance, eds. Approaches to Teaching Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: MLA, 1986.
Perlin, John. A Forest Journey: The Role of Wood in the Development of Civilization. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard U. Press,1989.
Sax, Boria. The Frog King: On Fables, Fairy Tales and Legends of Animals. New York: Pace U. Press, 1990.
Schama, Simon. Landscape and Memory. New York: Knopf, 1995.
Shahar, Shulamith. The Fourth Estate: A history of women in the Middle Ages. London: Routledge, 1993.
Shoaf, R. A. The Poem as a Green Girdle: Commercialism in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Gainsville, Fl.: U. Press of Florida, 1984.
Stone, Brian, trans. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Penguin, 1988.
Thibaux, Marcelle. The Stag of Love: The Chase in Medieval Literature. Ithaca: Cornell U. Press, 1974.
Tolkien, J. R. R. and E. V. Gordon, eds. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New York: Oxford U. Press, 1967.
Watson, Henry, trans. Valentine and Orson. Ed. by Arthur Dickson. New York: Kraus Reprints, 1971 (first published 1503-95).
Weston, Jessie L. From Ritual to Romance. New York: Doubleday, 1957.
Anderson, J. J. Language and Imagination in the Gawain-Poems. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 2005. Places Sir Gawain and the Green Knight within the context of the other poems of the manuscript, looking closely at religious concepts of humility, sin, God's justice, and truth.
Barron, W. R. J. Trawthe and Treason: The Sin of Gawain Reconsidered. Manchester, England: Manchester University Press, 1980. Examines Gawain's sin of deception, and the temptation and beheading games, in the context of medieval society and feudal law. Also examines the parallels between the hunting and temptation scenes.
Benson, Larry D. Art and Tradition in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1965. Excellent background material and discussion of the sources, literary conventions, style, structure, and meaning of the poem.
Boroff, Marie. Traditions and Renewals: Chaucer, the Gawain-Poet, and Beyond. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2003. The noted modern translator of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight examines the confessional scene, noting that it is the Green Knight who pronounces judgment on Sir Gawain as opposed to a priest.
Brewer, Derek, and Jonathan Gibson, eds. A Companion to the Gawain-Poet. Cambridge, Mass.: D. S. Brewer, 1997. Includes many fine readings, particularly a chapter by David Aers concerning Christianity and courtly codes.
Fox, Denton, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1968. A brief but useful collection of critical essays, which also includes brief writings on the poem by such noted critics as C. S. Lewis and A. C. Spearing.
Howard, Donald R., and Christine Zacher, eds. Critical Studies of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." Notre Dame, Ind.: University of Notre Dame Press, 1968. Classic collection of critical work on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, including several chapters on Christian significance, Gawain's lessons and flaws, and the meaning of the Green Chapel.
Thompson, Raymond H., and Keith Busby. Gawain: A Casebook. London: Routledge, 2005. Places the character of Gawain in a historical context, tracing his depictions from early medieval texts through modern day. Extensive annotated bibliography.
Waldron, R. A. Introduction to Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. London: Edward Arnold, 1970. Offers one of the best and most comprehensive overviews available of the poem's action, themes, and structure. Detailed annotation and an extensive glossary offer insights into the original text that are not found in most critical surveys. An excellent starting point.
Download Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Study Guide
What are the temptations of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?
Explain how Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is an example of medieval romance. Describe at least two different ways that this work fits.
What is Sir Gawain's quest in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight? How is he a near-perfect hero, and is Gawain a good or a bad knight?
At the end of the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, what is the Green Knight's opinion of Gawain?
Does Sir Gawain live up to the ideal Christian knight as defined in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?
The Complete Works of the Pearl Poet


text:
Nicolas Rossier is an American filmmaker and reporter best known for his biographical documentaries of the former president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and South African Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient (together with Nelson Mandela) F.W. de Klerk.

Filmmaking career
Rossier was the first journalist to interview ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide after the 2004 Haitian coup d'état, with excerpts of this interview being featured in the documentary Aristide and the Endless Revolution. The film has been called "vital" by Variety and "taut, well-balanced and insightful" by the New York Times. Rossier was also the last journalist to interview Aristide before he was allowed to return to Haiti in 2010.  His follow-up film, American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein, profiling the life and work of the controversial Jewish academic and author, received many positive reviews.

His work has aired on television networks around the world including PBS, Al Jazeera English, and the Hallmark Channel and leading international venues such as the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York, IDFA in Amsterdam, the Rotterdam International Film Festival, and Hot Docs. His work has been praised by industry peers such as Michael Moore, Albert Maysles and Mark Achbar. He has collaborated with many notable professionals in the industry, among them veteran CBC News reporter David Ridgen and Emmy Award-winning producer Jon Alpert.

Early career and biography
Rossier's first film, Life is a Dream: a Street Poet in New York was released in 2000 and won him the Audience Award at the New York Independent Film Festival.  He followed up with Brothers and Others in 2003 which exposed the impact and backlash of the events of 9/11 on Arab and Muslim communities within the United States which aired primetime on the Hallmark Channel several times.

Nicolas Rossier was born and raised in Geneva, Switzerland.  He pursued a career in the financial sector in Europe before relocating to New York City in 1998 to transition into a career in film and journalism.  He has studied at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, the School of Visual Arts and the New York Film Academy. He works and lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Awards
Aristide and the Endless Revolution took the Best Documentary prize at the Pan-African Film Festival and was selected for the Amnesty International Doen Award at IDFA in Amsterdam.  American Radical won the Audience Choice award at IFP/Chicago Underground Film Festival, the Cinema Politica Audience Award, the Jean Renoir Award for Best Anti- War Film and was named one of the 'top ten best political documentaries' by Screen Junkies.In June 2010, American Radical was invited to join the official collection of the Oscars library. In 2012, his short documentary ONE BREATH about free diver champion William Trubridge was voted best original reporting by CNN.

Filmography
Life is a Dream: A Street Poet in New York (2000) (with Emmanuel Tagnard)
Brothers and Others (2003)
Leila (2003) by Jean-Cyril Rossier (Executive Producer)
 The Bridge (2006) (Producer with Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill
Aristide and the Endless Revolution (2005)
American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein (2009) (with David Ridgen)
One Breath - The Story of William Trubridge (2012)
Good People go to Hell, Saved People go to Heaven (2012) by Holly Hardman (Executive Producer)
 The Other Man - F.W. de Klerk and the End of Apartheid (2015)
 Charlie VS Goliath (2016) by Reed Lindsay (Producer)

References

External links

Nicolas Rossier page on the Huffington Post
Baraka Productions
of the European broadcast premiere of the Other Man
of the World broadcast premiere of the Other Man
Aljazeera World page
American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein official site
Aristide and the Endless Revolution official site
Filmmaker interview about American Radical
Filmmaker interview about Aristide and the Endless Revolution

American film directors
Living people
Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies alumni
Film people from Geneva
Year of birth missing (living people)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Michigan Man Requests Help From Outdoor Enthusiasts in Search for Missing Parents
Lauren Gordon
Lauren Gordon Published: October 21, 2022
Pioneer Inspection Services LLC via YouTube/Photo by Leslie Cross on Unsplash
A Michigan man is searching for answers to solving his parents' missing person case, which has remained unsolved since 1977. His next step? Turning to outdoor enthusiasts across the state.
John Block Jr. has not seen his parents since their plane went missing on July 4, 1977, upon failing to reach its final destination. After 45 years of searching John Jr. is hoping to finally settle this case once and for all.
On a Monday afternoon, John Sr. and his wife Jean departed the Detroit area at approximately 11:10 a.m. in John's green and white 1969 Cessna 150 J. The couple was headed for the Lost Creek Sky Ranch in Luzerne, Michigan.
The flight was expected to last just under 2 hours and although conditions were a bit hazy on that Michigan summer day, with temperatures in the upper 80s to low 90s with high humidity, no distress call was ever issued by the pilot. In fact, the last message received from John Sr. was a request to have a car ready for him as the couple landed. The two have been missing ever since.
According to their son, John Sr. had been flying for 23 years and had approximately 340 hours of flying experience under his belt. Although he held a private flying license John Sr. was not instrument rated, meaning he would have primarily navigated using visual landmarks below.
Though a flight plan was never filed, it was well-known that John Sr. would avoid flying over large bodies of water, so it was assumed the couple's flight path did not take them directly to their destination via the Saginaw Bay. Instead, it is assumed John Sr. navigated his plane along I-75 north to MI-33.
Have You Seen the Blocks?
John Jr. is now exhausting any and all resources to locate his missing parents all these years later. I first heard of John's tragic tale when the Michigan Department of Natural Resources shared his story on social media saying,
John Block, is looking for one last helping hand from Michigan's outdoors enthusiasts to locate his parents. If you'll be outdoors hunting, fishing or enjoying trails near Huron National Forest or the Atlanta State Forest, please watch this video. It goes over what the wreckage may look like and details on where the plane was last seen.
I can't imagine everything John Block Jr. has been through, having to go all this time without any answers regarding his dear parents. Please watch John's video to familiarize yourself with the details regarding the missing wreckage. If you have any information to contribute please contact the Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office at (231) 995-5002.
Updated: Missing Plane Has Crashed in South Haven Killing Both Pilots
Missing Kids in Michigan 2022
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Source: Michigan Man Requests Help From Outdoor Enthusiasts in Search for Missing Parents
Filed Under: Detroit, John and Jean Block, Michigan DNR, missing, Missing in Michigan
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This is a special day for me. It's 5 years to the day that I was on Machu Picchu for the Fall Equinox, (their Spring Equinox); 50 years since my approximate conception date; and it's the approximate birthdate of Mary of Niza, Mary Magdalene's mother, known here as the Third Mary.
I will have the joy of spending time with my 1-year-old grandson and his parents today. Below is the excerpt the Third Mary requested I share especially for this day.
I was able to meet one of the daughters, my granddaughter, just before my transition from the Earth plane. She was a beautiful thing, and recognized me right off. We had the same hairline and the same little dip in our noses.
She took my hand and thanked me for everything I had done for my family, for her mother, the Lady Mary Magdalene, and for her personally, as she knew my Spirit had looked in on her and helped guide her at times. She told me her mother had shared with her everything I had taught her about the Goddess traditions, and that she spoke with great honoring of and longing towards me, a great love and respect.
I was moved beyond words. This was perhaps the greatest single moment of this Earthly lifetime, which sometimes seemed longer than I cared for it to go on. I was very grateful to have lived to experience this day. And I knew it would be one of my last, for I felt my earthly connection, my physical life force energy, dwindling a little more each day.
It was a peaceful passing, attended by two of my sons and their daughters. I had lived well and done all I could to fulfill my purpose. I was complete in my time on the Earth in this form.
And I knew great love through my sharing my calling toward Union and my time with Jesus the Christ and my daughter, the Lady Mary Magdalene, who exemplified this so well, beyond all probable odds and beyond the boundaries, the sense of limitation, that so often accompanies Earthly creation.


Staying in touch with new contacts is by far one of the biggest challenges I hear from would-be networkers. There are two key hurdles: 1) time and 2) strategy. Let's address both!
Eliminate time wasters. Browsing social media, unnecessary meetings, and hitting snooze are three that are common. If you audit your day, you'll likely find a few more (like constantly checking email).
Schedule it. We tend to follow our calendars, so add 30 minutes of "networking" to each weekday. You may be amazed at how much time you "find" to network.
Make it a habit. The brain thrives on habits because they're literally "mindless," taking minimal effort. Pair your networking strategy with an established habit (e.g., your commute on the train) and watch it become a regular part of your routine.
Find the nugget. Every interaction is an opportunity to learn. Find a shared goal, contact, or interest and use seemingly random conversations to your benefit and the benefit of others.
Engage technology. Linked In does the heavy lifting for you when it comes to reminders about work anniversaries, birthdays, promotions and other important events. Make it your personal assistant to celebrating your contacts' wins. Simply browse your "notifications" daily.
Attend events. If you know a group of your contacts will be congregating at a conference, retirement party or other social activity, make it a point to go. A few minutes of face time can go a long way in deepening a connection.
Give thanks. We accomplish nothing alone. When you have a "win," reach out to those who've helped you to achieve it, no matter how small their role. Gratitude makes the world go round!
Be a super connector. When you connect two of your contacts, you become a super connector – the common link between the two connections. This keeps you top of mind in both circles.
Contribute on social media. Write a blog, post a comment, share someone's work, offer a tip, quote or idea. With technology, we're all able to be "thought leaders" now. Free, relevant content keeps you front and center with your network.


How do you keep patients comfortable during surgical procedures?
How is it possible for patients to leave your office with teeth on the day of treatment?
What are the warning signs of periodontal disease and how does this affect general health?
"Dr. Holpuch and Dr. Blasingame really seem to care about their patients! They both are easy to work with and really good at what they do. The staff is very friendly and I've always enjoyed talking with them when I'm in the office. I would gladly send a friend or family member here!"


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Amazing Stories, Apple TV+'s highly anticipated original series, executive produced by visionary, award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, will make its global debut on Friday, March 6, exclusively on Apple TV+.
A reimagining of the original 1985-1987 Amblin Television anthology series, each episode of Amazing Stories will transport the audience to worlds of wonder through the lens of today's most imaginative filmmakers, directors and writers.
Showrunners for the anthology are Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and episode directors include Chris Long (The Americans), Mark Mylod, Michael Dinner, Susanna Fogel, and Sylvain White.
The series is executive produced by Spielberg, Eddy Kitsis, Adam Horowitz, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Chris Long, Don Kurt and David H. Goodman, and produced by Universal Television and Amblin Television.
1. The Cellar
While restoring an old Iowa farmhouse, Sam discovers a time portal in the storm cellar that transports him to 1919. (Original airdate: March 6, 2020)
2. The Heat
Tuka and Sterling are best friends whose bond transcends the physical world as they follow their dreams after tragedy strikes. (Original airdate: March 6, 2020)
3. Dynoman and The Volt
An awkward young boy and his grandfather both wrestle with their feelings of powerlessness until a novelty ring mysteriously arrives and they discover that it has the power to turn them into superheroes. (Original airdate: March 20, 2020)
4. Signs of Life
A mother awakens from a six-year coma without memories, causing her teenage daughter, Alia, to struggle to reconnect with a stranger who can't remember her old life. (Original airdate: March 27, 2020)
5. The Rift
Season finale. When a WWII pilot crashes in modern-day Ohio, a young widow and her stepson are swept up in his search for home. (Original airdate: April 3, 2020)
SERIES TRAILER
"Inside Amazing Stories" Featurette
"The Cellar" Teaser Trailer
"The Heat" Teaser Trailer
"Dynoman and The Volt" Teaser Trailer
"Signs of Life" Teaser Trailer
"The Rift" Teaser Trailer
Series Stills
The thrills, chills and laughs of Amblin Entertainment films come to the small screen in "Amazing Stories," Steven Spielberg's weekly anthology television series of the mid-1980s.
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous follows a group of six teenagers chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a new adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar. But when dinosaurs wreak havoc across the island, the campers are stranded...
In this animated television prequel to the original Gremlins, we travel back to 1920s Shanghai to reveal the story of how 10-year-old Sam Wing met the young mogwai called Gizmo.


Clothesline store are a Dublin based business who specialise in outdoor clothesline products. They produce the Breezecatcher branded rotary umbrella clotheslines and distribute their products directly through the Internet. Founded in 2009 by Tom Delaney.


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Thompson Vs.m1 Carbine ?
Started by Mike45 , Mar 09 2004 08:15 AM
#1 Mike45
Location:Gulf Coast
Interests:shooting,hunting,fishing,drinking,eating.
Many years ago the ATF decided that a 27 TSMG was NFA because it used same rec. as FA models. The M1 Carbine used same rec. as M2, why was the M1 not considered NFA?
#2 PK.
Technical Expert
Location:CO, USA
Interests:Full time gunsmith who loves Thompson's, 43+ years experience.
Because while the receivers are mechanically the same, the M1 was not originally made as a machinegun. Those marked M2 were. Once a machine gun, always a machine gun as far as ATF is concerned.
#3 Bill in VA
Bill in VA
Location:Southwest Virginia
I can't seem to find a reference for it now, but IIRC, the BATF considers (or at least used to...we all know they can spell "capricious") the hammer to be the "magic part" in an M2 carbine conversion kit (i.e., those few kits out there that don't rely on a serial numbered trigger frame. I think PK hit the nail on the head with the explanation that even though the receivers are identical, the "M2" marked receivers were manufactured with the intnet of being machineguns whereas the "M1" and overstamped receivers were not originally intended for use as machineguns. As far as the size of the M1/M2 carbine in a paratrooper stock being responsible for its "machinegun" status I don't see that. (Remember, OAL of stocked guns is measured with the stock open, not folded.)
FWIW, I've seen a number of M2 carbines that were converted using registered "kits," registered hammers, registered trigger frames, and even one that was converted using a registered disconnector.
Additionally, David Hardy's outstanding analysis of the '86 FOPA sems to make a good case for the M2 parts being responsible for machineguns being redefined in the '86 FOPA as not just a receiver but also "any combination of parts" intended to convert semis to full-autos.
Other than that, who really knows how/why the BATF determines what is a firearm receiver? There really doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, as evidenced by Phil's examples.
#4 Waffen Und Bier
Waffen Und Bier
Interests:Like the name says "Guns and beer" (and really hot chicks who like guns and beer).
We have this thing we do at work. Anytime someone mentions the word "logic" (or any form of that word), it goes like this: Someone holds up one hand, looks at it and says "logic". Holds up the other hand, looks at it and says "government. Holds up one hand, looks at it and says "logic". Holds up the other hand, looks at it and says "government. Everyone gets a good laugh and we go back to our government work.
There are seven parts that ATF considers an M2 Carbine conversion kit (read MACHINE GUN). Possession of all seven of these parts (unregistered) even without an M1 Carbine will get your cat stomped (if ya know whut I mean).
selector spring
selector lever
disconnector spring
disconnector plunger
This is just based on an old pamphlet ATF "Identification of Firearms Within the Purview of the National Firearms Act" ATF P 5300.1 (5-84). Check with your friendly ATF tech branch for more current regulations and interpretations.
I wouldn't feel comfortable with any of those parts without a registered M2 carbine (although the hammer doesn't bother me as it can function in an M1 Carbine, but the others are not needed in an M1 Carbine).
Oddly enough, they don't seem to care about the M2 bolt, the M2 slide, the M2 sear, or the M2 trigger housing (which you will find in many M1 Carbines, BTW).
The receiver of the M1 and M2 are identical save for the markings. Go figure.
Seriously though, "logic"......."government"......."logic"........
#5 wolfer113
wolfer113
Location:Tennessee
Interests:Guns,Shooting,Knob Creek,Gun Matches,Hunting,Building Guns etc
well...lets not forget the hk/cetme and fal etc etc....same receiver as "machine guns" kinda like the m1 v/s m2 carbine...and..the ar/m16....if you have a legal semi cetme or hk and then buy a parts kit....your able to be pounced on...right? a poor guy needing a straight barrel could go off to the big house.... you have the gun and the parts to make it fullauto..hows that any differant than having the m2 carbine fa parts?? i personally think the laws are screwed up and should be more detailed and not left so wide open for the goverment to make all the deciding factors as to what they want......reckon a man could get away with packing a 1911 with a "badly worn sear"? lol...you know what that'll do don't you?
At the risk of nit-picking, I'm afraid the HK/Cetme, AR15/M16, FAL analogy isn't terribly accurate. The M1 carbine and the M2 carbine use identical receivers (markings/roll stamps not withstanding.) This isn't the case with the other examples cited.
Other than a few minor comments, I cannot comment on the HK/Cetme series' receivers. I do know that the full-autos use a clip-on trigger group with the semis (at least here in the US) using a swing-down lower that necessitates modification of the trigger housing. I'm sorry I can't give a better answer...although I've played with plenty of full- and semi-auto HK rifles/subguns, I've never really torn them down for a close examination since I don't own any. (Never really cared to, although when I first bought my TSMG I was given the option of an HK MP5A3 for only $500 less than the TSMG...I'd already made my choice and have never regretted it.)
As for the FAL and the AR15/M16, there are also some differences in the receivers (i.e, the full auto FAL and M16 receivers are different from the semi-auto FAL and AR15 receivers.
The M16's receiver differs from the AR15's receiver by virtue of the pivot hole for the sear....no sear pivot hole in the AR 15 receiver. As for the FAL, the safety sear is mounted in a slot, half of which is on the left side of the ejector block (with the muzzle forward) and the other half machined into the inside of the upper (the part the BATF considers the receiver for the FAL and its variants.) Again, a difference, albeit a minor one, betweeen the full-auto and semi-auto FAL receivers.
#7 TactAdv
TactAdv
Location:N. Colorado
QUOTE (Waffen Und Bier @ Mar 9 2004, 09:50 PM)
Folks,
If I may, let me clear up some long standing confusion over the "M2 Carbine Ruling". When I was in the process of researching this issue for my M2 Carbine series in Small Arms Review magazine awhile back, myself and my legal counselor friend FOIA'ed the BATF and turned up a large amount of information, none of it answering the question "What LEGALLY constitutes a M2 Carbine conversion kit?", but we did apparently raise their concern level high enough to make sure the 'incriminating' parts of certain documents were sensored out. This made further FOIA investigation necessary, and to make a long story short here, what was discovered is that the long assumed "fact" that this was, at the MOST, an Administartive Ruling crumbled under the weight of the documents we uncovered that clearly showed that this extended back to old ATTU Legal Counsel discussions which merely advised that a collection of parts (they listed the "magic seven") COULD be construed as constructive possession of a machine gun conversion kit, but there was NO formal Ruling ever made. There exisits a MYTH of a LEGAL DEFINITION of a "M2 Carbine Conversion kit".
So where does that leave mere mortals?? Basically it falls under the constructive possession assumption. If you own a NFRTR registered M2 Carbine, additional spare parts are not likely to be viewed as a constructive issue,;if you own a Title 1 M1 Carbine, that bag of "rainy day parts" is a serious issue. 'Nuff said, Eh?
But what about those registered "M2 Carbine Conversion kits"? We are left to asume that BATFE Counsel, in previous incarnations at least, allowed the original registrations as industry courtesy, knowing they likely did NOT want to visit this issue in any formal Court surroundings......too much at stake for them.
Bottom Line.....there is NO single, or even all seven, "Evil M2 parts", period. Folks may wish to read my past article series in SAR , for more information.
BATFE Technology Branch is a decidedly twisted and tangled path to try and navigate! We have a virtual archive of Opinion Letters from them on such subjects over the years, it boggles the mind to read all the conflicting "opinions".....makes it tough. For the current series in SAR I did on the 'M60 Machinegun Owners Guide', I got a letter that basically stated a completely confusing and conflicting definition of the legal definition of an M60 receiver. Frustrating to say the least!
-TomH
#8 M1tommygun
M1tommygun
Location:Greenville, SC
Interests:Military history especially WW2. Firearms. Some aviation and muscle cars.
Hey PhilOhio, Clinton didn't inhale, remember?
I personally don't care what people have as long as they are not committing crimes with the guns or mucking it up for those who walk the straight and narrow and stay out of the shadows.
What I quoted came directly out of an ATF pamphlet printed since the 1970's. The most recent printing I have was in the 90's and they still state this (although they pulled the printing because they forgot the 1986 ruling about suppressor parts and left something in there about suppressor parts being okay if you don't have a can and vice versa).
Bottom line, if you have those seven parts and you do something to draw attention to yourself, you are playing a dangerous game. If you have these seven parts and an M1 carbine and do something to draw attention to yourself from the authorities, you are playing a really dangerus game. Bubba's cell mate? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on what you are doing and your history. Maybe just a bunch in legal fees. Maybe just give up your right to possess a firearm legally forever. Is it worth risking everything for? All of the above is just my opinion and not worth the paper it's printed on.
Remember guys "Someone holds up one hand, looks at it and says "logic". Holds up the other hand, looks at it and says "government. Holds up one hand, looks at it and says "logic". Holds up the other hand, looks at it and says "government."
Welcome aboard Tom!