Celebrating Leadership Burbank's project to upgrade the Kids' Community Dental Clinic during the ribbon-cutting reception on April 15 are, from left, Suzy Jacobs, class liaison; Renee Johnson, project leader; Dale Gorman, clinic executive director; and Rep. Adam Schiff.
There were smiles all around as Leadership Burbank class members proudly showed guests the new storage module and other upgrades made to the Kids Community Dental Clinic.
The unveiling took place during a ribbon-cutting reception on April 15 at the facility on West Elmwood Avenue.
The class originally was asked to build a storage shed, but after they toured the facility, they asked Executive Director Dale Gorman for a wish list, said Brad Recker, physical project leader.
"We are pretty much accomplishing everything on that list," Recker said, adding they had started working the last weekend in February and worked between several rainy weekends.
"We still have to build a handicapped-accessible ramp leading to the front door and shelving in the storage shed — another weekend's worth of work," he said.
There was something for each of the 27 class members to do. They corrected water damage to the outside of the clinic, painted the building, installed rain gutters, improved the water drainage, added paving stones and built the base for the storage shed in the yard.
The total cost of the project was $23,000, said class treasurer David Escobar. The class raised $16,000 for the upgrades and received about $7,000 worth of in-kind donations of materials and labor from community members and businesses, said Renee Johnson, project leader. Some of the materials were donated, while others were received at cost.
Purchasing the storage shed allowed the class more time to perform additional upgrades, Escobar said.
In congratulating the class on the project, Rep. Adam Schiff said the storage facility was way too nice to be called a shed.
"It's a garden house!" he said.
The storage facility is going to free up more space inside the clinic, said Ana Gomez, dental assistant.
The clinic provides services for children whose parents can't afford dental treatment, don't have insurance, or don't qualify for government dental insurance programs, officials said. Treatment is available to children living throughout Southern California. A visit is $15.
Donating time to the clinic are 30 dentists, six dental hygienists, 55 dental hygienist students from Pasadena City College and West L.A. City College, and several volunteers, including Vicki Oldham, who gives 40 hours a week. The two full-time paid employees are Executive Director Gorman and pediatric dental assistant Gomez. About 7,000 children a year come through the clinic.
Leadership Burbank is a nine-month training program that provides people the opportunity to enhance their personal and professional skills, gain a deeper understanding of community dynamics, and build a network of colleagues and associates throughout the city.


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But IGNORING Arrow (and the totally awesome season 3 of American Horror Story, which I've ALSO started and do you know how rarely I sit down and get into a show nowadays because it is never I am telling you), there was reading done. Mostly of short novels. Also called "novellas" even though they could totally be called "shnovels" which is obviously way better.
1. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry. Remember? The bookseller! Who adopts the kid! And he learns something about life. And it's all "Heyyyyyyyy book people, you're gonna like me," and we do.
2. Safe Passage. Ok, I got this from NetGalley, because around Valentine's Day NG was all "HEY do you wanna read lesbian romances?" and I was like "I mean....I guess I could" and this said it was about some girl who found a safe with old papers in a wall and I'm SO INTO THAT, but then it was like 60 pages long and basically "Butch lady likes femme lady and she cooks for her and it's obvious the author's into cooking and wanted to bring this into her story and they find old journal entries also by a lesbian and this brings them together" and nope.
3. Old Mr. Flood. I THINK WE'VE ALREADY ASCERTAINED THAT THIS IS THE BEST AND YOU SHOULD ALL READ IT.
4. The Visionist. Did you guys know that the author commented on the post and said where she found the underwear thing? BECAUSE THAT HAPPENED.
5. The Time Tutor. Read The River of No Return. Then read this. Do you know how rare it is to find a well-written novel? Like an actually well-written one? Let alone a well-written time travel kind-of-romance novel? This is the best.
6. Ripe Tomatoes. Omg. I bought this at Left Bank Books in Seattle, which is a "collectively run anarchist bookstore," because I thought it seemed like hippie ridiculousness, and I think it's maybe the least worthwhile book I've ever read. At 100 pages long. There's a collective tomato farm? And the narrator wants to bang some guy? That's what I got out of it. Completely the worst thing ever.
7. Him Her Him Again The End of Him. I might full-on review this, but remember when Megs read it ages ago? Yeah, so I bought it ages ago and have now finally read it, and I ENJOYED it, because the author was super-rambly and in case you magically have not picked up on that, that is my STYLE.
So there we go. Seven books, but a lot of them pretty damn short. For March I just finished a Nancy Mitford, and am working on Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman, a Rick Riordan Percy Jackson book (I LOVE PERCY JACKSON AND I NEVER SAY THAT HERE), Stephen King short stories (which are all actually shnovels), Bleak House obvs, and...I dunno. Other stuff I've forgotten about. They're all good.


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Supernatural: We built this city on the souls of monsters
By Whitney Hall on May 6, 2011 at 2:28 PM
On Mother's Day, do something nice for your Mom. Why not take her out to lunch? Credit: The CW
THEN: "It's about the souls. You'll understand when you need to."
Samuel Colt's special delivery bottle is empty. Dean has been hard at work carefully filling and packing shotgun shells with the phoenix's ashes. Five whole shells. Sam glass half fulls that that's five more than they had last week. The number of shells isn't the only thing that has Dean worried. He smears a bit of the ash along his arm and … nothing. It gives them all a moment of pause, but Sam reasons that it's like iron or silver. There's only one way to find out, but they've got to find Eve first. It's time for Dean to make a call. "Why's it always gotta be me that makes the call, huh?" Well, you do share a more profound bond. We try not to bring it up because we know it makes you uncomfortable. Kind of like now. "It's not like Cas lives in my [aspirations]. Dude's busy!" Bobby's eyes shift focus from Dean to just behind him. It takes him a beat or two to realize why. "We've talked about this. Personal space?" Dean spins around to angrily greet the one in the dirty trench coat who's in love with him.
"Cas, get out of my [aspirations]!"
The angel is confused. He was never in … never mind. Castiel was hoping they had news of Eve. She's hidden from him, as she is from all angels. Sam suggests they get help from an inside man. Friendly monsters may be in short supply, but they've met one or two. They consult various journals before Castiel flutters in from Season 2 with vampire Lenore in tow. She's dirty and disoriented and scrambles to find a dark corner to hide in. She slowly gets her bearings and Dean asks if she remembers them. She remembers Gordon almost killing her. "Well, if it makes you feel any better he turned into a vampire, and I chopped his head off." Dean can't help but fanboy with admiration for his little brother. "Yeah. With razor wire. Wicked!" For serious. Best. Kill. EVER!! It actually doesn't make her feel better, nor do their questions about Eve. What are they thinking? Lenore is trying to stay away from her. Not that it's easy. Eve's voice lives in the monsters' heads now. It drove the others in her nest to start killing humans again. Oh, and p.s.? It's a two way feed. "She could be listening to us right now. I might as well be a video camera." Dean slowly looks up as though he expects to hear footsteps in the room above them. Lenore says she can't help them, but Sam knows she doesn't want to kill. She doesn't want the whole planet dead. She hesitates, and then decides that if Sam could believe in her once, she can believe in him now. "Grants Pass, Oregon. And now she knows you're coming." Lenore doesn't have the luxury of time to wait and see how this plays out. "You don't know how hard it is not to give in. Everyone gives in." She quietly and earnestly asks Sam to kill her. It's not Eve she's afraid of – it's herself. "I'm dangerous. I hear her voice all the time. I'm exactly like them. I fed. I couldn't help it. The girl couldn't have been more than 16, Sam." She moves closer as she speaks, eyes locked on Sam's. "I'll do it again. I can't stop. Not anymore. You have to. Please." Light suddenly erupts from the vampire. Castiel is behind her, hand on top of her head, his face focused and intent. Sam and Dean turn away and close their eyes against the brightness until finally the life burns out of Lenore and her body falls to the floor. "We needed to move this along."
And with that, Castiel zaps them all – minus Lenore's smoking corpse – to Grants Pass. Metallicar is all like, "S'cool. I've been meaning to catch up on these back issues of The New Yorker, so…" They land in the middle of a street that seems disconcertingly normal and quiet. "If she is here I'm glad we've got Smitey McSmiterton on our squad." They begin their search at Ervin's Diner. When Bobby said he needed a computer I assumed they would go to a library. Bobby assumed he would be pulling up the police databases on something with a keyboard. I don't really get the appeal of tablets either, but then I'm usually 3 years behind the adopting curve. When Bobby comes up dry, Castiel offers to search the town. Just give him a movement … "Cas, we can still see you." The angel closes his eyes and tries again, but "now it just looks like you're pooping." Sam suddenly wishes he were sitting on the other side of the booth. Castiel realizes that he's powerless. Something in the town is affecting him. "It's Eve." Surprise and concern turns to frustration as Dean peppers him with questions he can't answer. "That's great, because without your power you're basically just a baby in a trenchcoat." Castiel gives him a look that says, 'I'm a … You're a … I am not … you know what, I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day' before leaning back in the booth and staring aggressively out the window. Misha is just poetry in this scene. Sam stage whispers that Dean hurt his angel's feelings. Dean silently thinks to himself, 'freaking girl.' Bobby breaks the tension with a hit from the CDC. A local doctor made a call to Atlanta to report an illness he couldn't identify. It's not much, but it's enough.
Castiel and Dean check out the doctor's office. They explain to the receptionist as she locks up that Castiel is very sick. "I have a painful burning sensation…" She suggests he get himself some ointment. Dean sets to picking the lock on the back door and notices fresh blood on the pavers. There's a smear of blood on the lock of the door to a small storage space. Dean forces the door and finds patient Ed Bright's decomposing body wrapped in heavy plastic. Nothing about this town is adding up, but Dean does know one thing. They need kerosene. Bobby and Sam find the doctor's house empty and abandoned, but they do make the acquaintance of local law. Bobby handles him adroitly. "Wow. Talk about talking out of your butt." They rendezvous with Castiel and Dean outside of Ed's frat house. When Cas spots another Ed in the window, they realize they may be dealing with shifters. The boys leave Bobby and the angel outside to cover the front door. Castiel reminds Dean that he is "fairly unpracticed with firearms."
"You know who whines? Babies."
Sam and Dean burst through the front door with guns drawn and discover a room full of dead, oozy Ed Brights. An Ed in the corner stirs and takes a sip from a hip flask. He coughs up more liquid than he can get down. They reassure him that he's going to be fine and that he – Marshall – looks nothing like his roommate Ed. He has a fever and he's hallucinating. That's the ticket. Sam tries to get usable intel out of the man in between chest rattling spasms of wet hacking coughs. Dean tries to hold his breath and not touch anything. Is this germ thing new this season? Maybe a subconscious scar left behind by his encounter with Pestilence last season? Anyhoo, Marshall is finally able to tell them that he and Ed met a girl at a bar the night before. A barefoot girl in a bloodstained white nightgown of DOOM! "If [Eve's] going to make a shifter army, why make one that's sick, gooey, and dying?
A trip to the bar yields more questions and a whole mess more of dead bodies. Dean uses a cocktail napkin to pull back the lip of one corpse and finds vampire fangs. Then he picks up her arm to expose the wraith spike coming out of her wrist. Pudding! What do you even call these things? Bobby tells him that since he discovered it, he gets to name it. It takes Dean all of three seconds.
"Jefferson Starships."
"Because" – wait for it – "They're horrible … and hard to kill."
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Dean looks ever so pleased with himself, as well he should. I know they're not exactly the same band, but "We Build This City (On Rock and Roll)" is #3 on my list of all time most hated songs. Had he named these hybrid monsters Katrina and the Waves I would have taken it as a personal shout out. The sheriff and two deputies join the party, leading Bobby, Sam, and Castiel away in handcuffs while Dean ducks behind the bar. Sam does his best to maintain the FBI charade as they're bundled into the station. They walk past a security monitor and he sees that all the lawmen have glowing eyes. Jefferson Starships!! Fight fight struggle fight. Castiel is sprayed with blood as Dean appears and decapitates one of the hybrids. The angel dispatches a second, but Sam restrains Dean from killing the third. Bobby suspects he's Eve's Mr. Wolf, sent to clean up the mess and keep a lid on the town. The boys leave Bobby to the questioning to check out a noise in another part of the station. They expect to meet more Starships, but instead find two boys, bound and locked in a cell. The doctor's sons. The older one, Joe, can't tell them much. The Starships never mentioned Eve. They only said they were food. Little Ryan works on a candy bar and never makes a peep. They have an uncle a short drive away, and Castiel steps in when he realizes that the mission is about to take a detour. The angel is never so human as when he's trying to keep Dean on task. Shock and exasperation color his voice as he reminds him that millions of lives are at stake. "There's a greater purpose here." Really? Have you met Dean? He doesn't care about purpose or destiny. He only cares about getting two frightened boys to the only family they have left. As he and Sam leave, Dean looks back at Castiel, and the family theme plays under the score. Saving people first. Then they hunt.
Two sets of brothers ride through the night in silence. Joe tucks Ryan up under his arm in the backseat. Sam looks over at Dean, and they both smile. Castiel broods and snarks at Bobby's assurances that they won't be long. "You don't know that. They may find more wayward orphans along the way. Pardon me for highlighting their crippling and dangerous empathetic response with *air-quotes* sarcasm *air-quotes*." It was a bad idea letting them go, but as Bobby points out, no one "lets" them do anything. "They do what they gotta. You know that." Castiel pensives, and wonders if the Winchesters will understand that he has done what he's had to. He takes out his frustration on the Starship. Five minutes is all he needs. There's a cry from the interrogation room that is abruptly strangled silent. Castiel walks out calmly wiping blood from his hands. I like to imagine that Castiel snatched the Starship's head off, reached down his neck, and yanked Eve's location out of him.
The boys return and Dean hands around the phoenix infused shotgun shells, keeping back two for himself. They walk up on the address Castiel obtained during his "rigorous interrogation" – they're right back at Ervin's Diner. Cas and Bobby wait outside again while Sam and Dean stroll in through the front door. The look on Bobby's face says he's never going to see them again alive (again some more). They take seats at the far end of the counter. Sam pulls out his Blackberry and scans the room. They are the only people in the diner who are not "flesh eating monster[s]." Starships begin snapping the blinds closed. One grabs the duffel from under Dean's feet and presents it to the Mater. She sniffs one of the shotguns and then angrily tosses it down. She sends the Starship off to destroy the weapons, but assures the boys she's not there to fight. "No, just to rally every freak on the planet. Dragons. Really, sister? Dragons?" Sometimes you just want to dust off the old classics. She slowly leans across the counter – Dean leans back – and begins her Evil Overlord monologue.
Eve set her children to play because someone else was mucking about with the natural order. She was happy with their arrangement. "My children turned a few of you. You hunted a few of them." Neat. Simple. But then her children, even her firstborns, were kidnapped and tortured. "I was pushed into this. After all, a mother defends her children." And if they don't believe it from her lips, maybe they'll believe it from Mary's. Dean can't even look at her, the thing wearing his mother's face. Eve simply wants the person responsible for hurting her children. She wants Crowley. They may have watched him roast months ago, but she "sees his face through the eyes of every child he strings up and skins." He's not doing it for the real estate. He's doing it for the souls. "It's about the souls." Monsters apparently have them, "each soul a beautiful little nuclear reactor. Put them together, you have the sun. Think what the King of Hell could do with that vast untapped oil well. How powerful he'd be." Drinking her milkshake is bad enough, but torturing her children to do it? She's done playing nice. "I'll turn you all. Every soul. Let's see how hot his Hell burns when everyone comes to me." As to the small matter of the billions of humans on the planet, what do they think she's been doing in Grants Pass? "Call is beta testing. There were a few unfortunate failures." Eventually Eve got it right. "Quiet. Smart. Inconspicuous. It can spread through a whole town in under a day." And the best part is – it's undetectable to hunters. Sam and Dean proved the concept when they delivered little Ryan to his uncle. They shouldn't be so upset. He was bound to work on them, little wayward orphan. They can wring their hands, or they can talk business. "Crowley. You find him. Bring him to me. I let you live." Before Dean says no, maybe he should consider that it's not just his and Sam's lives at stake. Castiel and Bobby are brought in through a side door by a brace of Starships. Even so, the more Eve cajoles, the more Dean digs in his heels. "For the last few months we've been working for an evil [Richard]. We're not about to sign up for an evil [bish]." Castiel and Bobby exchange looks. I'm sure it's meant to be surprise that this is Eve's angle, and not silent agreement that, hey they're cool with working for an evil bish if it means they get to live. "We don't work with demons. We don't work with monsters. And if that means you gotta kill us, then kill us!" Eve makes a counter offer. "I turn you, and you do what I want anyway." Sam considers the prospect of being a monster again, this time forever.
"Beat me with a wire hanger, answer's still no."
Eve is on Dean in less than a heartbeat. Sam's flight response kicks in instinctively and he's up out of his seat. Two Starships restrain him before the fight response can take over. Dean tries to keep the panic at bay as Mary leans into him and hisses into his ear. "Don't. Test me."
"Bite me."
Well, since you asked so nicely … Dean grimaces in pain, but just as quickly Eve lets him go. She begins coughing and gasping for air. I may have actually said out loud, "Vervain?" Nope. "Phoenix ash!" Dean holds up an empty shell casing as Eve's chest begins to glow from the inside. "One shell. One ounce of whiskey. Down the hatch. Little musty on the after burn. Call you later, mom." Eve doubles over and Mary's face burns away. Thick black goo pours down her face and from her nose and mouth. She collapses on the floor and the Starships attack, but Castiel is back in business. He shouts at the hunters to shut their eyes as light explodes from his palm. When the glare subsides the floor of the diner is littered with dead Starships, all of them with their eyes BURNED OUT OF THEIR FOOL SKULLS! "We gotta take you on more monster hunts." Sam points out that Dean is "bleeding pretty good."
"I think she turned me into a Jefferson Starship. Could you clear that up too?"
Castiel claps Dean on the shoulder and his wound is healed. He reluctantly tells Castiel that they have to go after Ryan. He's a Starship. He gets a rather unangelic "Unbelievable" from Castiel before cutting him off. Save the 'I told you so's' for later after the Starshipocalypse is averted. Based on the uncle's mutilated corpse, it looks at first like the "Wicked Witch" has won. Bobby opens the door to the basement and finds Ryan and Joe's bodies on the stairs. There's sulphur on the threshold. "I think that demons don't give a crap about monster tweens unless they're told to." Maybe Eve was telling the truth. "About what?" Castiel oh so innocently asks. "She said that Crowley's still kicking." Bobby's face is a mask. His eyes flick to the angel, waiting for an answer, watching his reaction. It's quiet, stunned confusion. Castiel burned the demon's bones. He doesn't understand … Dean tells him that Eve sounded certain, and makes the reasonable assumption that the crafty King got one over on them again. Castiel is offended at the idea. "I'm an angel. I'll look into it immediately." Dean shouts after him into the empty air, and Bobby and Sam share a look. Bobby's the one who voices their doubts. "How did Crowley get away? I mean, it's not like Cas to make mistakes like that. Unless …" Dean's brain is incapable of connecting the dots. "This is Cas we're talking about." The idea of betrayal is unthinkable. Bobby makes him think it. Maybe Castiel meant to make the mistake. Dean looks to Sam to back him up, but his brother can barely meet his eyes. It's clear from his expression that he's already come to the same conclusion. His silence is his answer. Finally he manages a half hearted, "You know what, you're right. It's probably nothing."
Castiel stands alone in the diner. The camera pushes in on him, moving low across the dead. The jukebox hums to life. "If only you believe like I believe, baby We'd get by." He regards Eve's body, and the camera swings up and around him to reveal interplanetary wheeler-dealer, attorney at law, President of the 12 Colonies, FBI Agent, King of the Crossroads, Lord of Hell, and my personal Facebook friend … Crowley. Castiel's face is set like stone with a look of utter loathing.
"Really Cas. This is getting ridiculous. How many times am I going to have to clean up your messes?
Wrecking the natural order is not quite such fun when you have to mop up the mess, is it?
I was at a Lynyrd Skynyrd show the night this episode aired, so by the time I watched it I was spoiled about Mark Sheppard's return. Even so, that reveal was awesome. Kudos to director John Showalter. Plot threads are converging with a quickness, and I'm glad they have (apparently) wrapped up Eve's story. That character never sang for me. While it might have been a little heavy handed, it's a shame Samantha Smith couldn't have played the Mater all season. In her five minutes on screen she brought a sass, charm, and menace to the Mother of All that was lacking in Julia Maxwell's portrayal. Momma Winchester has got the chops to be a Big Bad. Eve's motivation doesn't really hold up to close scrutiny either. She was okay with losing some of her children to hunters because it all came out in the wash? It's just the way they're dying that upsets her now? That doesn't really make sense to me. Being offended that the natural order has been subverted does make sense. That was the lesson that Death tried to impart in "Appointment in Samarra". There are rules for a reason. Once the rules go out the window, so does everything else. It's interesting to me though that even in the alternate timeline, the boys still averted the Apocalypse. It's almost like it's meant to be. Does that mean that God is sick of destiny and fate too? Has He just decided to give everyone – human and angel alike – their freedom? Is the true test in what we do with it? I am a little confused by the idea that monsters have souls, if only because it seems to contradict what Simon said (heh) in "Family Matters." To whit:
You smell cold. Do you feel how empty you are? The thing about souls – if you've got one, of course – they're predictable. You die, you go up or down.
Where do my kind go? When we 'freaks' die, where do we go?
I took that to mean that monsters don't have souls. Did I misread the line, or are we glossing over it in service of the plot? Oh, look! Something shiney! So happy to see Mark Sheppard back, and I can't wait to see what tonight's episode has in store. Have the demon and the angel been working together all season? Did Castiel see an opportunity somewhere along the way – maybe in "Caged Heat" – to strengthen his position? Did they strike a deal? Does Crowley get to rule in Hell, as long as Castiel can have Heaven? Considering that he was only meant to be around for a few episodes, Castiel has developed into a fascinating and complex character. Due credit to the writers, but the biggest share of that goes to Misha. In his portrayal there is always something alien, other, and apart about the angel, and yet he is infused with a great deal of humanity. His righteousness is balanced with doubt. That look that he gives Crowley at the end … he hates himself for the compromises he's made, but he believes that the consequences of losing are so much worse.
Supernatural airs Friday at 8:00 p.m. on The CW.
Whitney is also watching The Vampire Diaries, and will be firing Hawaii Five-0 at the end of this season.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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'Marvel's Spider-Man' Developers Should Explore Peter's Origins In A Prequel
Published 14:38, 13 April 2021 BST
| Last updated 12:44, 22 April 2021 BST
I've said it before and I'll say it again: with Marvel's Spider-Man, Insomniac Games has given us one of the greatest versions of the iconic hero in any medium. I am prepared to fight anyone who disagrees with me, but only if they're smaller and weaker. I'm sure the bigger, stronger naysayers have some valid points.
The 2018 game introduced an entirely new Marvel universe for an entirely new Peter Parker, one that draws as much from the comic books as it does from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Insomniac were able to cherry pick the best and most interesting elements from all corners of Spidey history, utilizing the best of Stan Lee, Dan Slott, Brian Michael Bendis, Sam Raimi, Sarah Pichelli, and so many other talented creators to weave a world that was familiar, but wholly new.
With 2020's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Insomniac was further able to explore this new world and flesh out Miles' fledgling Spidey in the process. What immediately struck me when playing Insomniac's latest adventure for the first time was just how delightful it was to be back in this universe with these characters. Whether working with Ganke and learning more about the people in Miles' life or hearing from Peter and discovering what he'd been getting up to, it's clear that Insomniac is building out a world that it intends for us to stay in for a long, long time. Keep the good times rolling, I say.
It typically takes several years of development between main entries in any franchise, and Marvel's Spider-Man is no different. Miles Morales was essentially Marvel's Spider-Man 1.5, a spinoff that leveraged the open world and mechanics of the first game to tide us over while we wait for Marvel's Spider-Man 2.
As a strategy, I'm all for it. Miles Morales felt different enough and fresh enough that even calling it Marvel's Spider-Man 1.5 feels a bit like I'm doing it a disservice. It may have a shorter runtime and recycled open world, but Miles feels completely different from Peter, both in terms of gameplay and story. And if Insomniac wants to carry on dropping more spinoffs in between main entries, I know where we can go next: back to high school.
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales / Credit: Insomniac Games
When Marvel's Spider-Man starts, Peter has been spinning webs and catching thieves for about eight years. He's a seasoned crime fighter with a killer selection of gadgets and a good relationship with the city he's sworn to protect... minus a certain mustachioed podcaster.
We learn through the game's story and a number of open-world collectibles that Peter had a rocky road in his early years as Spidey. He got beat down by Kingpin a bunch, tangled with Vulture, and of course, lost his uncle Ben and discovered that whole thing about power and responsibility. You get it, he's lived a life - and it's one I'd love to see.
I'm well aware that we all know how Peter got his powers and that superhero origin stories have kind of been done to death at this point. But I also know that if anyone could come up with a fresh take on Spidey's formative years, it's Insomniac. Look at Marvel's Spider-Man and Miles Morales. It gets these characters.
Marvel's Spider-Man / Credit: Sony
Insomniac knows what makes Spider-Man work, what needs to always stay the same to remain true to the core of the characters and world, and what exactly needs to change to keep us surprised. Spending time with younger versions of Peter, MJ, and Aunt May would only give these relationships and this world more depth, making subsequent sequels that much richer as a result. I'd also point out that we haven't actually seen uncle Ben shot since 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man, so I reckon it's high time we wheeled that mf out for another death scene.
Perhaps more than any other superhero, Peter Parker's origins remain an intrinsic part of who he is throughout his career as a costumed crimefighter. Insomniac's take on the character is one that who will always do what he perceives to be the right thing no matter the personal cost. Even as a grown-ass man, we see him put protecting New York ahead of work, personal relationships, and his own wellbeing. Anyone with a passing knowledge of Spidey history knows that uncle Ben's murder is a big part of what made him this way, but I firmly believe Insomniac would find a new and interesting way to tell this time-honoured origin story again.
I'm sure it also goes without saying that playing as a younger Peter would open up new possibilities in terms of gameplay. A Spidey that's clumsier and more reliant on his strength and agility than high-tech web gadgets is something Miles Morales definitely touches on, but a Peter Parker origin story could take that concept even further.
If nothing else, it's just fun to see Peter as a younger hero balancing high school and superheroics. That is, after all, how the character was originally envisioned. I adore the older and more mature version of the character depicted in the modern comic books and Insomniac games, obviously, but there's something quintessential about teenage Spidey, isn't there? That was a rhetorical question. There definitely is.
I also wanna stress that I'm not trying to bench Miles here. I have my suspicions that he'll play a big role in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and a potentially even bigger role in any sequels that may or may not (but definitely will) happen. Rather than simply relegate Miles solo adventures to spinoffs or expansions, I'd rather see the past explored at least once. Insomniac's Spider-Man universe is such a joyous and lovingly made one, it just seems like it'd be a missed opportunity not to visit the time and place where it all began.
Featured Image Credit: Sony
Topics: Marvel's Spider-Man, News, PlayStation, Opinion
'Marvel's Spider-Man 2' Needs To Kill Off Peter Parker
Andrew Garfield Weighs In On 'Spider-Man: No Way Home's Best Scene


BY THE BOOK. To master anything means to make it automatic for you to handle anything related to it. Since it is securely under your control, purview and jurisdiction, that which you master is your personal, real, (es)tate. In this vein, this mastered talent or skill may also be a measure of your personal worth as a human being. If you are a master plumber, electrician, locksmith, or expert in any of the building trades, you not only have skills, you have honed them and turned them into a salary and job security. You made choices that resulted in your being a member of a specialized union or trade group. Membership in the special group means higher income, status, social perks and other rewards, in addition to the personal satisfaction masterful attainment always brings.
Some masters shy away from being members of special groups. They do what they do very well, and have clients or customers who patronize them faithfully. Their need for unions or professional associations is minimal, because their reputation does the work of protecting them in the public sphere. They do their work by the book, and people respect that they abide by a professional code of ethics or standard of conduct.
Master teachers may be an exception to this generalization. In public school districts they are beloved by students, but school leaders underappreciate them. The principle of Praise, and wholesale reverence for education and those who edify, is not the cultural norm. The Industrial Age commitment to preparing line workers for the benefit of advancing society is now viewed as an upper class, paternalistic position. The teaching-to-the-test movement is often cited as the reason for poor public education outcomes that thwart U.S. math and science proficiency.
In response to this struggle, master teachers invariably choose to be modest. They often choose not to protest because to do so will invite promotion to elevate their status, which would take them out of the classroom. Promotion to management is viewed as a reward for their tenacity and brilliance, as if the same is not best displayed and served by teaching in the classroom.
In their interaction with parents and the community, these teachers share that they have to stay under the radar while delivering the test scores and mentoring the orphans. Discerning parents, interested in their children developing literacy and subject mastery, are increasingly deciding to home-school their children or send them to private schools. Society's refusal to master public education reflects the interplay between the political, media, community, policy and staffing levers that seem designed to forestall social change.
The spiritual tragedy is master teachers are not charged with developing the attitude of loving living in their students. They know they have to teach to raise test scores and are successful at it. Still, these teachers are examples of loving living because they love their work and demonstrate alignment with their life purpose. The master teacher's real purpose, to prepare young people for lifelong learning as envisioned by Mary MacLeod Bethune, Mortimer Adler and others, is viewed by some as bourgeois. This academic ideal evolved from the original premise of public education to prepare children with enough literacy to serve the industrial economy. Mastery for everyone was not the intention of Industrial Age public schooling, which is why some students were tracked to attend vocational schools, bypassing the liberal education altogether.


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O-klass kan avse:

O-klass (slagkryssare) – en fartygsklass bestående av slagkryssare planerade för tyska flottan före andra världskriget
O-klass (ubåtsklass) – flera olika ubåtsklasser
O- och P-klass (jagare) – en brittisk fartygsklass bestående av åtta jagare
Klass O-stjärnor – den sällsyntaste stjärnan i huvudserien, se Spektraltyp
NZR O-klass – en klass av lokomotiv byggda i USA för Nya Zeeland
SECR O-klass – en brittisk klass av 0-6-0 ånglok
WAGR O-klass – en australisk klass av 2-8-0 ånglok byggd under sena 1800-talet
NER O-klass – en brittisk klass av 0-4-4T ånglok
Highland Railway O-klass – en brittisk klass av 2-4-0, senare 4-4-0T, ånglokomotiv byggda under senare delen av 1870-talet
O (ånglok) – en tidig typ av ryska ånglok

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
CCS Reform Ideas
NEW EDUCATION POLICY: PRINCIPLES, PRIORITIES & PRACTICES
Centre for Civil Society
In keeping with the Directive Principles in the Constitution of India, the government has been working towards providing universal access to and participation in education. The government has since endeavoured to build a National System of Education through certain instruments of large public purpose schemes that include several influential and high-level expert committee reports, two National Policies and an Action Plan on Education that built on each of these, an earmarked cess to fund education, and lastly passing the Right to Education Act.
Each of these instruments helped tackle a particular contemporary challenge, be it access to primary education, increasing school enrolments especially for underprivileged communities, creating distinct financial support and funding streams for public schooling, or reducing inequities in access through physical infrastructure and financial incentives. The government has built a formidable institutional architecture around the overarching goal of a National Education System comprising curriculum development, research & planning, and teacher training. Each measure has brought us a step closer to universal education, mass literacy, and skilling of the general population.
The previous National Policy on Education (NPE) was passed in 1986, and amended in 1992. The 1986 Policy was an outcome of a review of National Policy of Education 1968, conducted at the time of Parliamentary Budget Session of 1985. This policy focused on universal access, enrolment and retention particularly among disadvantaged segments, and achieving essential levels of learning. In 1992, NPE 1986 was modified into the National Programme of Action following the recommendations of the Ramamurthy Committee and the J N Reddy Committee. 23 years after the National Programme of Action, India is gearing up for a New Education Policy.
STATUS CHECK
Progress on Education: High Enrolment, High Drop-outs and Low Learning Levels
Change in Context: High Aspiration, Preference for English Education, Willingness to Pay
DRAFTING THE NEW EDUCATION POLICY (KEY CHALLENGES NEP SHOULD HELP ADDRESS)
Missing Motivation for Performance in Government Schools
Low Economic Efficiency of Public Expenditure in Education
Expanding Private Schools amid Uncertain and Counter-productive Regulatory Framework
WHAT WOULD A GOOD POLICY ACHIEVE? (BUILDING BLOCKS FOR A RESULTS-ORIENTED NEW EDUCATION POLICY)
An Idea Shift: Paradigm Change instead of Intensification of Effort
System Shift: Evolve towards Decentralisation, Competition and Parental Choice
In-School Shift: Encouraging School Autonomy, Leadership and Customised Teaching
Minimum Government, Maximum Governance in Education: * Key Values, * Principles, * and Policy Suggestions as per the MHRD NEP Themes
CCS EDUCATION POLICY REFORM IDEAS
3 Values and 5 Principles
10 Reforms in the Education System
6 Reforms for Schools and Students
6 Reforms for Teachers and Principals
Page last modified on Thursday July 14, 2016 17:11:44 IST
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Danish minister: EU ruling would have left Europe "wide open"
Danish immigration minister Inger Støjberg says that, had the EU not ruled in favour of Belgium in a recent visa case, an increased flow of immigration would have been likely.
Published: 7 March 2017 13:40 CET
Danish immigration minister Inger Støjberg. File photo: Ólafur Steinar Gestsson/Scanpix
The European Court ruled that Belgium was not obliged to issue visas to a Syrian family that wanted to apply for asylum there.
The outcome of the case was a fortunate one for EU countries wanting to restrict numbers of refugee arrivals, Støjberg said.
"The consequences could have been unimaginable if the EU Court had decided that we should be obliged to issue visas for the purpose of travelling to a country to claim asylum," the minister said in a written statement, reports news agency Ritzau.
A Syrian couple with three children applied for visas at the Belgian embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut, where they clearly stated that they intended to claim asylum, reports Ritzau.
After the family returned to their hometown of Aleppo, the application was rejected on the grounds that they had intended to stay in Belgium for longer than the 90-day validity of the visa.
"It would have left the doors to Europe wide open, thereby directly counteracting the measures we have taken to control the flow of people to Denmark," said Støjberg.
Martin Henriksen, immigration spokesperson for the nationalist Danish People's Party (DF), was also in favour of the outcome, but said that the ruling would unlikely have had a serious effect on Denmark due to the exemption right regarding EU law that Denmark voted to retain in a December 2015 referendum.
"It would have meant that many people would have had the chance to come to the EU and applied for asylum. That would obviously also affect Denmark on some level," Henriksen told Ritzau.
Denmark suspends asylum centre talks with Rwanda
Denmark to change approach on deportation cases for young Syrian women
Denmark now aims to work with other EU countries to transfer asylum seekers to centres outside Europe and has suspended talks with Rwanda as it no longer plans to go it alone, its migration minister said on Wednesday.
Published: 25 January 2023 14:50 CET
The Scandinavian country's plans, first announced by the previous Social Democratic government, called for people seeking asylum in Denmark to be transferred to reception centres outside the European Union while their requests were processed.
A law adopted in June 2021 did not specify which country would host the centre, but said asylum seekers should stay there even after they were granted refugee status.
Discussions were launched with Rwanda and other countries, but they have now been suspended since the installation of a new Danish left-right government in December headed by the Social Democrats.
"We are not holding any negotiations at the moment about the establishment of a Danish reception centre in Rwanda", Migration and Integration Minister Kaare Dybvad told daily Altinget.
"This is a new government. We still have the same ambition, but we have a different process", he added. "The new government's programme calls for the establishment of a reception centre outside Europe "in cooperation with the EU or a number of other countries".
The change is an about-face for the Social Democrats, which had until now rejected any European collaboration, judging it slow and thorny.
"While the wider approach also makes sense to us, [Denmark's change of heart] is precisely because there has been movement on the issue among many European countries", Dybvad said. "There are many now pushing for a stricter asylum policy in Europe", he said.
Danish government to open office in Rwanda as asylum plan progresses
Denmark 'expressed concern' over rights abuses before agreeing Rwanda asylum deal
Amnesty slams Rwanda migrant deal as 'new low' for Denmark
Inger Støjberg, leader of the Denmark Democrats said on Facebook that she was "honestly disgusted" by the government's decision to delay plans for a reception centre in Rwanda, pointing out that Kaare Dybvad had said during the election campaign that a deal would be done with Rwanda within a year.
"Call us old-fashioned, but we say the same thing both before and after an election. We stand firm on a strict immigration policy. The Social Democrats, Liberals and Moderates clearly do not," she said.
Lars Boje Mathiesen from the New Right Party accused the government of perpetrating a "deadly fraud" on the Danish people.
"It is said in Christiansborg that it is paused. But we all know what that means," he wrote on Facebook, accusing Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen of "empty words" in the run-up to the election.
In the face of this reaction, Dybvad told the Ritzau newswire that although talks with Rwanda were not happening at present, the government had not given up on a deal with the African nation. He also said that he was confident that asylum reception centres outside of the EU would be a reality within five years.
EU interior ministers are meeting in Stockholm this week to discuss asylum reform. Those talks are expected to focus on how to speed up the process of returning undocumented migrants to their country of origin in cases where their asylum bid fails.
Denmark's immigration policy has been influenced by the far-right for more than 20 years. Even Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, the head of the Social Democrats, has pursued a "zero refugee" policy since coming to power in 2019.
Copenhagen has over the years implemented a slew of initiatives to discourage migrants and made Danish citizenship harder to obtain. In 2020, it became the only country in Europe to withdraw residency permits from Syrians from Damascus, judging that the situation there was now safe enough for them to return.
AFP/Ritzau/The Local [email protected]
What do we know so far about Denmark's plan to relax family reunification rules?
New Danish government could relax family reunification rules


text:
'Housefull 2' Releases First Trailer
Director Sajid Khan's upcoming film "Housefull 2; The Dirty Dozen" releases its first official trailer on Thursday.
By W RORRKYCHAND SINGH
February 12, 2012 17:14 IST
The forthcoming action comedy film is a sequel to 2010's commercially success film "Housefull". Apart from actors like Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Boman Irani, Randhir Kapoor and Chunkey Pandey who cast in the first movie, John Abraham, Jacqueline Fernandez, Zarine Khan, Shazahn Padamsee, Shreyas Talpade, Mithun Chakraborty and Rishi Kapoor are acting in the sequel. The film is set to be released April 5. Official site
Sajid Khan's forthcoming film "Housefull 2: The Dirty Dozen" released its first official trailer on Thursday.
The action comedy film is a sequel to the successful "Housefull" (2010) and has been produced by Sajid Nadiadwala.
The film revolves around four fathers and their daughters... with one confusion: son-in-laws named Jollys. The film will star Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Shreyas Talpade and Riteish Deshmukh in the lead roles
South Indian actress Asin will be paired opposite Akshay Kumar, while the film's other cast members include Ritesh Deshmukh, Boman Irani, Randhir Kapoor and Chunkey Pandey are also feature in the upcoming movie. The other female leads are Jacqueline Fernandez, Zarine Khan and Shazahn Padamsee. Finally, to complete a high-profile cast, Mithun Chakraborty and Rishi Kapoor will also feature.
Meanwhile, Malaika Arora Khan will sway to an item song; the songs in the film have been choreographed by Farah Khan. The music has been composed by Sajid-Wajid (Sajid Ali and his brother Wajid Ali).
The film is scheduled to be released on April 5.
Here is the Official Trailer


text:
Michael Conroy  is a Gaelic footballer who plays for Davitts and the Mayo county team.
He started at right corner forward and scored a point in the 2012 All-Ireland Final which Mayo lost by 0-13 to 2-11 against Donegal.

References

Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Mayo inter-county Gaelic footballers


text:
'Purple Evening' Purchase Makes Dad a $10,000 Winner
Ravens scratch-off ticket purchased at Purple Evening sets off family celebration
The Baltimore Ravens' Purple Evening event is always a night of football fun aimed at female fans of the NFL team, and the Maryland Lottery enjoys being part of the festivities. This year's Purple Evening, held Oct. 3, was an especially good time for a Baltimore woman who had a close encounter with both Ravens football and Lottery winning. She purchased a $10,000-winning $5 Ravens scratch-off ticket just before leaving the stadium.
The 48-year-old woman, bought a series of tickets as gifts for the men in her family. She had just finished trying some football drills on the M&T Bank Stadium field when an energetic Lottery vendor caught her attention. She selected 10 of the $5 Ravens scratch-offs, enough for her brothers and father to share in some of the Purple Evening fun, and passed them out when she returned home.
The next morning, her father called her with some unexpected news. The ticket she gave him was a $10,000 winner.
"I was so excited I wanted to cry," she said, explaining that the night she purchased the lucky ticket marked the passing of a dear family member.
Her father, a 66 year-old retired Army Scout and Vietnam veteran, was also ecstatic.
"When it happened I was thinking about jumping through the sky," he said, adding that he planned to use a portion of the prize money for auto maintenance and would put the rest into savings.
The $5 Ravens ticket launched in July alongside a $2 Ravens scratch-off. The $5 game still has four $100,000 top prizes that are unclaimed, along with six $50,000 prizes, seven more $10,000 prizes, and thousands of additional prizes ranging from $5 to $1,000. The $2 Ravens ticket offers a top prize of $20,000. All non-winning $2 and $5 Ravens tickets are eligible for the Lottery's Ravens second-chance contests, where prizes include cash and season tickets. For rules and details on the Ravens second-chance promotion, visit mdlottery.com/ravens.
Categories: Scratch-Offs, Winners Tags: $5 Ravens, baltimore
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Lucky Germantown Man Finds Third Big Lottery Prize →


The gunners will today face Rennes at home and it will be a must win game for the North Londoners, so here are the two players that will make a difference in this game.
Arsenal will today face Rennes and it's going to be an interesting match because the North Londoners lost in the first leg so they will be hoping to make a come back so that they can progress to the UEFA Europa League quarter finals. So let's take a look at two Arsenal players that will make a difference in today's match.
We all don't know if Alexandre Lacazette will be in the starting eleven that will face Rennes but he will be in the 18 man squad because UEFA cleared him to take part in today's match. The Frenchman has been very impressive for Arsenal this season in mostly home matches and the gunners will be hoping that he does the same tonight because they need three goals to eliminate Rennes from the Europa League.
Lacazette's work rate and ability to control the ball will be useful to Arsenal's build up in trying to break down the defence of Rennes who will be expected to play a defensive match at the Emirates Stadium. If Aubameyang also starts, Lacazette's presence improves his overall game because they link up well with each other on the pitch. So Lacazette will definitely make a difference in today's match.
Aaron Ramsey was used in a defensive role on Sunday when the gunners faced Manchester United and he did a remarkable job in that game because he made about 8 tackles, and was able to frustrate Paul Pogba in the midfield.
Aaron Ramsey will however be used in the central attacking midfield role tonight because Lucas Torreira will be in the squad since he did not take part in the Manchester United game because he is still serving his sentence for the red card he received in the North London Derby.
Aaron Ramsey is usually needed in these sort of matches that have a lot of intensity because he is very strong and can help in both the attacking and defending moments.
Will Sokratis and Granit Xhaka play in Arsenal's game vs Wolves?
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Генна́дий Тимофе́ев:
 Тимофеев, Геннадий Геннадьевич (род. 1963) — советский и российский футболист.
 Тимофеев, Геннадий Евгеньевич (Герман; род. 1937) — епископ Русской Православной Церкви, митрополит Волгоградский и Камышинский, глава Волгоградской митрополии.


Why the Baby-Sitters Club books enchanted me when I was a 7-year-old boy.
As a Boy, I Was Obsessed With the Baby-Sitters Club Books. I Have No Regrets.
The first time I ever saw a Baby-Sitters Club book, I was 7 years old, browsing the spinning racks at the public library near my house. It was Baby-Sitters Club No. 2: Claudia and the Phantom Phone Calls. On the bright pink cover, a preteen girl in a funky, oversized sweater clutches a baby in one arm while she cradles a telephone under her chin. Claudia looks slightly haunted, but also—to my young eye at the time—competent, collected, and hopelessly cool. I wondered exactly how sinister this phone call was. I wanted to know more.
The book called to me on a primal level. I took it home, read it twice in one day (it was short), and then a third time the next. I pored over the checklist of books in the series, trying to decide which ones sounded most fascinating. (BSC No. 8: Boy-Crazy Stacey especially piqued my interest.) On my next trip to the library, I walked out bearing an armful of the slim, pastel paperbacks.
I felt like I had just hit the jackpot. My mom looked a little concerned. Even in my progressive community in suburban Maryland, the world of babysitting was considered an eccentric and perhaps worrisome interest for a little boy. This was not something that I understood. I just thought the books looked fun and exciting, with their poppy, late-1980s color palette and painted covers depicting exciting tableaus of babysitting in action. And, of course, there was something incredibly alluring to me about teenage girls, whom I had already learned from TV sitcoms were the most glamorous and exciting creatures on Earth. I couldn't wait to be a teenager myself and hopefully start my own Baby-Sitters Club.
The first BSC book, Kristy's Great Idea, was published 30 years ago this month. According to legend, a Scholastic editor named Jean Feiwel had noticed that both books about babysitters and books about "clubs" were healthy sellers, so she enlisted writer Ann M. Martin—herself a former editor—to combine the two topics into a project that would be irresistible to young girls.
The plan worked. The resulting series—chronicling the exceedingly mild adventures of a group of enterprising 13-year-old girls who provide babysitting services to the small town of Stoneybrook, Connecticut—was an unexpected smash hit. Originally slated for just four books, the Baby-Sitters Club would be published continuously for almost 15 years, with new books released monthly, and would eventually balloon to 131 books in the main series, with increasingly mundane titles such as Mary Anne + 2 Many Babies (No. 52), Kristy and the Dirty Diapers (No. 89), and Claudia and the Little Liar (No. 128). If you count the various spinoff series, which include the Baby-Sitters Club Super Specials, Mysteries, Super Mysteries, Little Sister, and Friends Forever series, there were probably close to 300 BSC books published in total over the course of its publishing history.
This was more than fine by me. Once I was hooked, my thirst for the BSC could not be sated. I almost always carried a Baby-Sitters Club book with me wherever I went, and proudly read them on the school bus, under my desk during class, and in the school cafeteria. Somehow, by age 7, I was still oblivious to the strict gender cues that other kids my age already responded to on a gut level, and I was blissfully ignorant—at least for awhile—that the books were, in no uncertain terms, For Girls.
When other boys would ask me why I was reading those, I was confused by the question. Really, I was put off that everyone didn't find the books as enchanting as I did and wasn't sure why discussions about the exploits of Kristy, Claudia, Stacey, and Mary Anne ("America's Favorite Girls!" as the covers billed them) were such a conversational dead-end with my male peers. Weren't boys supposed to like girls, I wondered?
My obsession did, however, make me a hit with friends' older sisters, whom I'd take aside during play dates and birthday parties for rollicking, barb-filled debates over who was the best baby-sitter (definitely Claudia or Stacey, depending on whether you preferred Claudia's boho-hip fabulousness or Stacey's sleek, urban sophistication) or which BSC members should be kicked to the curb. (No one liked homely, bookish Mallory.) Some of these big sisters were already old enough to be embarking on their own babysitting careers, and I loved picking their brains for insider tips and behind-the-scenes dirt about the profession, while my friends ran around playing capture the flag outside.
Eventually, I started to catch on. When I went in search of more Baby-Sitters Club books, librarians began urging me to expand my horizons, often trying to interest me in the books of Matt Christopher, which had names such as The Lucky Baseball Bat and The Boy Who Only Hit Homers. My parents, who had mostly humored my interest without too much judgment, started to set some limits. When I tried to rent the classic Adventures in Babysitting from the video store, my father gave me a fed-up look and told me I had already reached my monthly limit on babysitting-related media.
I kept reading the books, but I had learned to be self-conscious about it. On my monthly pilgrimages to the bookstore to pick up the latest installment in the series, I found myself sneaking them to the register, concealed in a larger pile. At school, I became openly scornful of girls who read the Baby-Sitters Club, just to make sure everyone knew that I had moved beyond all that.
Eventually, I just outgrew them. As I approached middle school, my fascination with teenage girls diminished just as my friends became more interested in them. I knew plenty of girls, and if I wanted to talk to one I could just call her on the phone. Anyway, part of what I had enjoyed about the Baby-Sitters Club as a small child was their comforting sense of repetition, not to mention the fact that they were often almost conflict-free. (There's one book that revolves around Dawn organizing a sleepover party.) But as I got older, I wanted a little more friction in my reading material. I discovered the X-Men and realized that the lives of superheroes were much more suspenseful than the lives of babysitters. I moved on.
Still, I held onto my Baby-Sitters Club collection. As an adult, it's now clear to me that the books are shockingly, almost unbearably dull, but that was always sort of the point of them. And when I return to them now, usually when I'm stressed out or bored, I always find myself touched and a little bit proud of my child self: for having the willful innocence to not notice or care what anyone thought of me, and for refusing to pay attention to who the world was telling me to be.


Knee pain is classified as pain anywhere around the knee. The knee is a complex joint that although very strong is a little more vulnerable to injury than other joints.
Ligaments, tendons, muscles and cartilage can all cause pain and inflammation if overloaded or strained.
Swelling, redness and pain on weightbearing and bending the knee can often indicate inflammation or even damage to the different knee structures. Careful examination and testing can enable your osteopath to identify the likely cause of the problem and therefore guide you effectively to receive the most appropriate form of treatment. We specialise in knee pain treatment at our Glasgow, Paisley & Ayr branches.


text:
Die 64. Internationale Sechstagefahrt war die Mannschaftsweltmeisterschaft im Endurosport und fand vom 25. bis 30. September 1989 im baden-württembergischen Walldürn sowie im Odenwald statt. Die Nationalmannschaft Italiens gewann zum fünften Mal die World Trophy. Die Nationalmannschaft Finnlands konnte zum ersten Mal die Junior World Trophy gewinnen.

Wettkampf

Organisation
Der Wettbewerb fand nach der 31. (1956), 33. (1958), 37. (1962), 44. (1969) und 54. Internationalen Sechstagefahrt (1979) zum sechsten Mal in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland statt.

Für den Wettkampf waren 504 Fahrer von 23 Motorsportverbänden der FIM gemeldet. Um die World und Junior World Trophy fuhren Mannschaften aus 20 bzw. 13 Nationen. Zudem waren 25 Fabrik- und 86 Club-Mannschaften am Start.

BRD und DDR nahmen jeweils an World und Junior World Trophy teil. Österreich und die Schweiz stellten jeweils eine Mannschaft für die World Trophy. Überdies nahmen 17 bundesdeutsche, drei österreichische sowie jeweils eine Schweizer und eine DDR-Clubmannschaft teil.

Start und Ziel sowie das Fahrerlager befanden sich auf dem Flugplatz Walldürn.

1. Tag
Von den 504 gemeldeten Fahrern nahmen 473 den Wettkampf auf. Die Strecke des ersten Tages waren zwei identische Runden über insgesamt 248 Kilometer. Die Sonderprüfungen je Runde waren ein Motocrosstest auf der WM-Strecke des MSC Schefflenz und ein "Extra-Test" bei Rippberg. Das Wetter war niederschlagsfrei.

In der World Trophy führte Frankreich vor Italien und der Mannschaft Schwedens. Das Team der BRD folgte auf Platz 4. Die DDR belegte den 6., Österreich den 13. und die Schweiz den 14. Platz.

In der Junior World Trophy führte die gastgebende BRD vor Frankreich und der Mannschaft Finnlands. Das Team der DDR belegte den 5. Patz.

2. Tag
Am zweiten Tag wurde die minimal auf 246 Kilometer veränderte Strecke des Vortags in entgegengesetzter Richtung gefahren.

In der bis dahin führenden französischen World Trophy-Mannschaft wurde Alain Olivier disqualifiziert: Als er nach der ersten Runde mit schwerwiegenden Motorproblemen zum Service kam, wurde er auf frischer Tat von einem technischen Kommissar ertappt, wie ihm sein Team unerlaubter Weise ein komplett gleiches Motorrad für die Weiterfahrt vorbereitet hatte. Für das Team bedeutete der Ausschluss fortan 15.000 Punkte täglich und den letzten Platz in der Wertung. – Es führte damit Italien vor Schweden und der Mannschaft der BRD. Das Team der DDR folgte auf Platz 4, die Schweiz und Österreich belegten Platz 11 bzw. 12.

In der Junior World Trophy führte Italien vor Schweden und der Mannschaft der BRD. Das Team der DDR belegte weiter Platz 5.

3. Tag
Am dritten Tag waren insgesamt 240 Kilometer in zwei identischen Runden zu absolvieren. Die Sonderprüfungen je Runde war ein Motocross- sowie ein "Extra-Test" auf dem Truppenübungsplatz der Prinz-Eugen-Kaserne bei Külsheim statt. Den ganzen Tag über gingen starke Regenschauer nieder, die die Streckenuntergründe im Gelände stellenweise aufweichten und damit fahrerisch anspruchsvoller machten.

In der World Trophy führte weiter Italien vor Schweden und der Mannschaft der BRD. Die DDR belegte Platz 5, Österreich Platz 10 und die Schweiz Platz 11.

In der Junior World Trophy führte die BRD vor Frankreich und der Mannschaft Finnlands. Das Team der DDR verbesserte sich auf den 4. Platz.

4. Tag
Es war die Strecke des Vortags in umgekehrter Richtung zu absolvieren.

In der World Trophy führte nach wie vor Italien vor Schweden und der Mannschaft der BRD. Das Team der DDR belegte den 5., Österreich den 10. und die Schweiz den 11. Platz.

In der Junior World Trophy führte Finnland vor Frankreich und der Mannschaft der BRD. Die DDR rutschte wieder auf den 5. Platz ab.

5. Tag
Die Strecke des fünften Tages – wieder in zwei identischen Runden – war mit insgesamt 288 Kilometern die längste Etappe der Veranstaltung. Der Motocrosstest je Runde fand wieder auf dem Truppenübungsplatz der Prinz-Eugen-Kaserne in Külsheim statt, der "Extra-Test" je Runde bei Hardheim.

In der World Trophy führte Italien vor Schweden und der Mannschaft der Tschechoslowakei. Das Team der BRD rutschte auf den 4. Platz ab, dahinter folgte die DDR auf dem 5. Platz. Österreich und die Schweiz belegten Platz 10 bzw. 13.

In der Junior World Trophy führte Finnland vor der BRD und der Mannschaft Frankreichs. Die Mannschaft der DDR machte wieder einen Platz gut und folgte auf dem 4. Rang.

6. Tag
Am letzten Fahrtag waren lediglich 14 Kilometer Strecke zu fahren. Das Abschluss-Motocrossrennen als letzte Sonderprüfung fand auf dem Truppenübungsplatz der Nibelungenkaserne in Walldürn statt. Die dortige Strecke war 2,1 Kilometer lang und eine völlig ebene Graspiste.

Obwohl der bundesdeutsche World Trophy-Fahrer Joachim Sauer in seinem Lauf zweimal stürzte, konnte durch gute Einzelleistungen der Mannschaftsmitglieder in ihren Läufen noch die Tschechoslowakei mit nur gut 2 Punkten Vorsprung überholt werden und man sicherte sich den dritten Rang in der Gesamtwertung.

Von 473 am ersten Tag gestarteten Fahrern erreichten 440 das Ziel.

Endergebnisse

World Trophy

Junior World Trophy

Club-Mannschaften

Fabrik-Mannschaften

Einzelwertung

Teilnehmer

Trivia
Einzige Teilnehmerin war die Britin Katrina Price auf einer Kawasaki 250 cm³.

Literatur

Weblinks

 6 Days Memories – WALDURN GERMANY 1989

Motorsportveranstaltung 1989
Motorsportwettbewerb in Deutschland
Internationale Sechstagefahrt


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Die Berti sind eine afrikanische Ethnie im Westen des Sudan, deren Siedlungszentrum in den Tabago-Hügeln von Nord-Darfur liegt. Ein weiteres Siedlungsgebiet befindet sich nach einer Wanderungsbewegung im 19. Jahrhundert im Westen Kurdufans. Ihre Gesamtzahl beträgt einige zehntausend Menschen.

Lage
Das Gebiet der Berti liegt im Distrikt Mellit nördlich von al-Faschir, der größte Ort heißt ebenfalls Mellit. Nordöstlich der Stadt liegt an der ganzjährig befahrbaren Erdstraße der kleinere Ort Sayyah, weiter nordöstlich führt diese Straße zu den vulkanischen Tabago-Hügeln, die mit relativ fruchtbaren Böden zwischen etwa 700 und 1000 Meter hoch sind. Der größte Teil der Bevölkerung lebt in den umgebenden Dörfern, außerhalb dieses Siedlungsstreifens erstreckt sich nach allen Seiten Wüste mit alten Sanddünen oder Trockensavanne. Der Jahresniederschlag beträgt im Durchschnitt 300 Millimeter und fällt in drei Monaten ab Juli.

Die meisten Berti leben verstreut in kleinen Siedlungen mit teilweise weniger als 100 Einwohnern. Die Gehöfte sind kreisförmig oder annähernd quadratisch und von einem Zaun aus Hirsestroh umgeben. Darin befinden sich ein bis drei aus Ziegel gemauerte Rundhäuser, deren Kegeldächer mit Hirsestroh oder Gras gedeckt sind, und einige Unterstände mit Flachdächern auf Pfosten.

Das gesamte Gebiet war im anhaltenden Darfur-Konflikt mehrfach umkämpft. Im November 2007 waren Mellit und Sayyah Regierungsgarnisonen, in den Dörfern patrouillierten Einheiten der SLA. Laut der Aussage des Stammesführers der Berti, Sadiq al Mellih Ahmadai, vom Oktober 2006 ist sein Volk unbeteiligt zwischen die Fronten geraten.

Ein weiteres Siedlungsgebiet liegt im Südosten von Darfur um die Orte Umm Keddadda (östlich von al-Faschir) und Taweisha (nördlich von Ed Daein). Dorthin sind Ende des 18. Jahrhunderts viele Berti als Teil einer allgemeinen Wanderungsbewegung vom Norden in den Osten Darfurs ausgewandert. Kleinere Kolonien wurden um 1900 bei Um Ruwaba in den Nuba-Bergen und in Gedaref gegründet, einige Berti fanden in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts Arbeit im Dschazira-Projekt.

Wirtschaft
Auf regenbewässerten Feldern werden im Hackbau verschiedene Hirsearten, Erdnüsse, Sesam und Okra zur Selbstversorgung angepflanzt. Verek-Akazien, deren Gummisaft vermarktet wird, gedeihen wild oder in Plantagen. Das dazwischen angepflanzte Karkadeh kann ebenfalls exportiert werden. Benötigt eine Familie zusätzliche Arbeitskräfte, zum Beispiel für den Hausbau, werden Verwandte oder Nachbarn mobilisiert, die mit Hirsebier verköstigt werden. Reiche Haushalte stellen arme Berti oder Meidob an, um die Felder zu ernten oder das Vieh zu hüten.

Rinder und Ziegen werden während der Regenzeit im Dorf, in der Trockenzeit um Wasserstellen auf der Weide gehalten. Kamele und Schafe verbleiben ganzjährig außerhalb des Dorfes. Die Weideflächen für Großvieh sind seit langem zu einer gerichtlich und handgreiflich zu klärenden Landfrage geworden und müssen im Streit mit den umliegenden Volksgruppen wie den Zayyadia, Meidob oder Kababisch (letzteres sind arabische Nomaden aus Nord-Kurdufan) abgegrenzt werden.

Herstellung und Gebrauch von Töpferwaren ist Frauenarbeit. Eine Spezialität der Berti sind Tongefäße, die nach dem Brennen mit Graphitpaste (kangal) für den Marktverkauf bemalt werden.

Geschichte
Berti siedeln möglicherweise seit Mitte des 16. Jahrhunderts in Darfur, falls das in der damaligen Reisebeschreibung des Giovanni Lorenze d'Anania bei der Stadt Uri (nahe Ain Farah) im damaligen Tunjur-Reich von Nord-Darfur erwähnte Volk Saccae der früheren Eigenbezeichnung der Berti Siga entspricht. Mitte des 18. Jahrhunderts wurde das Siedlungsgebiet der Berti dem Sultanat von Darfur einverleibt, das zur selben Zeit den Islam als Staatsreligion einführte. Gemessen daran, dass das 1795 von Sultan Abd al-Rahman eingeführte Verbot von Hirsebier (allgemein im Sudan Merisa) kaum Beachtung fand – Bier wurde sogar von den Frauen in seinem Palast weiterhin gebraut, war der Islam noch nicht tief im Volk angekommen. Sufi-Heilige, die zugleich Händler waren, kamen ab dem 18. Jahrhundert aus dem ägyptischen Ort Asyut auf einer Handelsroute, genannt Darb el arba'in (arabisch: "40-Tages-Route"), die weiter ins südliche Darfur führte. Sufi-Bruderschaften (Tariqa) gab es, anders als weiter östlich in Sudan, nicht vor Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts.

Die ebenfalls Berti genannte Sprache, die neben dem Zaghawa zu den Ost-Saharischen Sprachen gehört ist ausgestorben, da die Berti den in Darfur gesprochenen Dialekt der arabischen Sprache angenommen haben. Bis um 1960 war die alte Sprache zumindest noch teilweise verständlich, vermutlich war sie noch bis Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts weit verbreitet. Einige Sprachlaute des Berti, die sonst im Arabischen nicht vorkommen, haben überlebt, beispielsweise η, ferner einige Wörter wie beispielsweise baghū, wie das Hirsebier heißt, und dūlaη für den Tontopf, in dem das Bier aufbewahrt wird.

Religion und Kultur

Lokale Tradition des Islam
Die Berti sind Anhänger eines besonderen volksislamische Glaubensvorstellungen enthaltenden sunnitischen Islam der in Sudan üblichen malikitischen Rechtsschule. Im Gegensatz zu den Zaghawa, mit deren islamischer Religion lokale Traditionen verschmolzen sind, unterscheiden die Berti sprachlich zwischen āda (Mehrzahl: awāid), "Gewohnheit" und dīn, "Religion" genannten Praktiken. Das lokale Gesetz (āda) wird als Hilfsquelle der Schari'a verstanden. Traditionen, die dem Islam nicht völlig zuwiderlaufen, sind konfliktfrei im Alltagsglauben integriert. Gegenüber den allgemeinen Vorschriften des Islam (Sunna) sprechen die Berti von ihrem Gewohnheitsrecht als Sunna Berti. Davon unterscheiden sich die awāid, die nicht als Bestandteile des Koran oder der Hadithen gesehen werden und die dennoch für die meisten Berti keinen Glaubenskonflikt bedeuten. Wie es bei anderen sudanesischen Volksgruppen – in vielen muslimischen Gesellschaften in Afrika allgemein – üblich ist, werden die islamischen Pflichten von den Männern, die traditionellen Rituale eher von den Frauen gepflegt. Die Rituale werden in diese zwei Klassen geteilt. Berti nehmen an kollektiven Ritualen eher teil, als dass sie von Einzelnen zu praktizierende Glaubensgebote befolgen. Der Fastenmonat Ramadan ist daher eine von der Gemeinschaft eingehaltene und intensiv erlebte religiöse Pflicht. Männer halten sich strikt daran, Frauen etwas weniger.

Jedes Dorf hat eine Moschee, die im einfachsten Fall aus einem flachen, mit Stroh gedeckten Dach besteht, das von Holzpfosten getragen und von einer niedrigen Umfassung aus Dornenbüschen abgegrenzt wird. Der islamische Glaube ist mehr auf kollektiver, denn auf individueller Ebene angekommen. Die beiden islamischen Jahresfeste Id al Fitr und Id ul Adha werden von der gesamten erwachsenen Bevölkerung begangen, die täglichen Gebete dagegen kaum durchgeführt. Allgemein beten nur die fūgarā (Plural von faki, einfacher Islamgelehrter) fünfmal täglich. Abdullahi Osman El-Tom schätzt, dass weniger als fünf Prozent der Berti Koranschulen besuchen und zwischen ein und zwei Prozent der Bevölkerung fūgarā sind.

Freitagsgebete werden nicht in allen Dörfern abgehalten, da hierfür 13 Gläubige erforderlich sind, die auch in Dörfern mit 300 bis 400 Einwohnern normalerweise nicht zusammenkommen. Islamische Gebote werden zur Beibehaltung gewisser Rituale und Gewohnheiten elastisch interpretiert. So ist nach wie vor das leicht alkoholische Hirsebier nicht nur Getränk, sondern durch seinen Stärkegehalt auch ein Hauptnahrungsmittel. Der lange Weg nach Mekka wird als Entschuldigung für die nicht unternommene Pilgerreise (Haddsch) angegeben. Der Besuch eines Heiligenschreins in der Umgebung dient dafür als Ersatz. Es gibt nur wenige Schreine eines Sufi-Heiligen (allgemein qubba), da die islamische Heiligenverehrung keine große Rolle spielt. Die qubbas werden meist von kinderlosen Frauen oder Kranken besucht.

Der Ursprungsmythos der Berti kennt einen weisen Fremden, Muhammad Yanbar (Yanbar: "mit großem Turban") als Urvater der Abstammungslinie. Auf ihn lassen sich alle Herrscher zurückführen. Mit seinen direkt vom islamischen Gott empfangenen übernatürlichen Kräften gelang es ihm als erstes, den Hunger im Land und seinen Gegner, den bisherigen Urmenschen der Berti, den Riesen Namudu zu vertreiben. Es ist eine Bekehrungsgeschichte: Die Weisheit hat ihren Ursprung in Mekka. Mit der Bekehrung zum Islam musste die Arabisierung der Vorfahren als Voraussetzung für die Übernahme der neuen arabischen Kultur einhergehen.

Faki
Im Dorf lebt mindestens ein Islamgelehrter (faki) der für das Wohlergehen der Gemeinschaft und die Durchführung religiöser Rituale zuständig ist. Dazu gehören für den Dorf-Faki (faki al-hilla) die Leitung von Hochzeiten und Begräbnissen und die Durchführung von Regenzauber. Dürre wird als ein Zeichen Gottes für Gier, Selbstsüchtigkeit und mangelnden Respekt für Ältere angesehen. Fūgarā sollen auch Vögel von den Feldern abhalten, ebenso schayātīn und dschinn (Plural dschūnun) von den Dörfern. Sie fertigen meist nach Auftrag Amulette, die von den Berti stets bei sich getragen werden und die handgeschriebene astrologische Formeln, einige der 99 Namen Allahs oder sonstige religiöse Texte enthalten. Koransuren und andere religiöse Formeln werden vom faki beidseitig auf eine hölzerne Tafel geschrieben, der Text wird dann mit Wasser abgewaschen, und das gesammelte Heilwasser (mihāi) wird gegen Krankheiten, Unfruchtbarkeit, für gute Geschäfte und als Schutz vor übler Nachrede getrunken. Bei einer Epidemie, Dürre, Heuschreckenplage oder Buschfeuer bedarf es großer Gegenmaßnahmen. Der ganze Koran muss abgewaschen werden, wozu der faki al-hilla einige fūgarā aus den Nachbardörfern einlädt, die den Koran in der Dorfmoschee abschreiben. Die Macht des Korans kommt zur Entfaltung, wenn das Wasser von der gesamten Dorfbevölkerung getrunken worden ist.

Mittels Wahrsagen versucht der faki, verschwundenes oder gestohlenes Vieh zu finden oder die mögliche Antwort des Mädchens auf ein Heiratsangebot vorherzusagen, er gibt über das Befinden entfernt lebender Verwandter Auskunft und schätzt den wirtschaftlichen Erfolg von Marktgeschäften ein. Die meisten Männer kennen für einfache Fragen die ramul (von ramla, "Sand") genannte Methode, bestimmte mit dem Finger in den Sand gedrückte Punkte zu interpretieren. Nur dem faki steht für schwierige Aufgaben das sagit al-kitāb ("Herleiten aus dem Buch") zur Verfügung, bei dem er mit astrologischen Formeln (Kombination von Zahlen und Buchstaben) operiert, die sich in seiner persönlichen religiösen Zitatensammlung (umbatri) befinden. Fūgarā werden wegen ihrer islamkundlichen Kenntnisse und ihrer magischen Fähigkeiten geachtet und respektiert, geschätzte fūgarā können durch ihrer Tätigkeit zu Wohlstand gelangen.

Fūgarā trinken selbst keinen Alkohol, respektieren aber den allgemeinen toleranten Umgang mit Hirsebier; häufig braut auch die Frau eines faki Hirsebier für sich, ihre Kinder und für Gäste des Hauses. Insgesamt sind Gewohnheitsrituale ein zentrales Element der Berti-Identität, der soziale Druck der Mehrheitsgesellschaft sorgt für die Lebendigkeit der Traditionen.

Rituale
Bei ihren Ritualen interessiert die Berti in erster Linie das zu erzielende, nützliche Ergebnis, sie sorgen sich weniger um deren Funktionsweise oder Bedeutung. Die wichtigsten religiösen Rituale der Berti-Gesellschaft sind Opfer (karama) zu verschiedenen Anlässen, die als Ausdruck des islamischen Glaubens verstanden werden. Alles Unglück wird als Zeichen gedeutet, dass Gott verärgert ist. Also wird von jedem Dorf etwa alle zwei Monate ein karama für eine gute Ernte, für baldigen Regen oder zur Vermeidung von Krankheiten veranstaltet. Geopfert wird auf dem Platz vor der Moschee meist ein junger Ochse, gelegentlich auch ein Schaf oder eine Ziege. Der Schlachter, der nicht unbedingt ein faki sein muss, spricht dreimal die islamische Eröffnungsformel Basmala. Er tötet das Tier, das mit Wasser aus einem Tonkrug übergossen und damit rituell gereinigt wird. Anschließend wird das Tier nach einem speziellen Plan restlos in Portionen zerlegt, die den einzelnen Haushalten zugeteilt werden. Reicht das Fleisch nicht aus, um an alle verteilt zu werden, wird es am Ort gemeinsam verspeist.

Alles was mit Schlachtung zusammenhängt gehört in den Bereich der Männer. Es gibt Rituale, die von Männern und solche, die von Frauen durchgeführt werden. Zu den Männerritualen gehört auch die "Öffnung" eines Brunnens am Beginn der Trockenzeit. Wenn die flachen Tümpel, die als Viehtränken gedient haben, ausgetrocknet sind, wird in trockenen Flussbetten ein (tiefer) Brunnen gegraben. Bei dem als lokales Gesetz (āda) klassifizierten Opferritual singt ein Mann von der Westseite des Brunnens nach Osten gerichtet Koranverse. Andere Männer binden Kürbisse und Melonen an Holzpfosten um den Brunnen. Auf der Westseite wird eine Ziege geopfert, deren Blut in den Brunnen fließen soll. Erst danach darf Wasser aus dem Brunnen genommen werden.

Frauenrituale, zu denen die Männer keinen Zugang haben, betreffen Aussaat, Ernte und das Dreschen auf dem Dreschplatz, der sich zwischen den Feldern befindet. Es geht symbolisch um Fruchtbarkeit und den Geschlechtergegensatz.

In zahlreichen Ritualen werden Zweige der Wüstendattel (hajlid) verwendet. Ein hoffnungslos Kranker kann zu zwei hajlid-Bäumen gebracht werden, die in Ost-West-Richtung eng beieinander stehen. Beide Stämme werden mit Milch begossen, während der Patient von einem Helfer gestützt jeweils siebenmal um die Bäume herumgeführt wird. Bei Bedarf wird die Aktion nach sieben Tagen wiederholt. Der hajlid gilt als der wirkmächtigste aller Bäume, als Bestandsgarantie des Lebens. Seine Macht kann auch verwendet werden, um einen Feind mittels Hexerei (sihir) zu töten. Der Magier geht, wiederum nachdem Milch an den Stamm geschüttet wurde, siebenmal gegen den Uhrzeigersinn um den Baum und bleibt in Blickrichtung Süden stehen, der Richtung des Todes (Friedhöfe werden südlich der Dörfer angelegt). Er beginnt mit dem Ruf "Allahu Akbar", danach folgt der Fluch. Zur Illustration dieser Qualitäten wird angegeben, dass die Früchte des hajlid Blut in Wasser verwandeln könnten. Der Baum darf nicht gefällt werden. Der hajlid-Kult war möglicherweise bereits vor Einführung des Islam in Darfur verbreitet.

Rolle der Geschlechter
Es gibt zwar, wie in islamisierten Gegenden üblich, einen für Frauen abgeteilten Bereich innerhalb des Gehöftes (sudanarabisch ḥōsh ḥarīm). Dennoch nehmen Frauen auch außerhalb am gesellschaftlichen Leben teil. Feldarbeit, Verkauf auf dem Markt und Wasserholen sind Tätigkeiten, die Männer und Frauen gleichermaßen verrichten.

Die Gesellschaft ist patrilinear organisiert. Eine Verwandtschaft über die väterliche Linie gilt als nahestehender. Die Reaktion unmittelbar nach der Geburt eines Kindes fällt unterschiedlich aus. Ist es ein Junge, wird er gefeiert als gisma kabir ("großes Geschenk"), unter dem Ausruf von "Allahu Akbar" schießen die Männer in die Luft. Bei der Geburt eines Mädchens hingegen verhalten sich die Männer still und die Frauen stimmen ein zagharat ("lautes Gejammer") an. Damit wird nicht nur umgehend das Ereignis der Geburt, sondern auch das Geschlecht des Kindes an die Nachbarschaft übermittelt. Die Plazenta wird im Fall einer Mädchengeburt im Westen des nach Süden gerichteten Hauseinganges, bei einem Jungen östlich davon vergraben und mit einem hajlid-Zweig gekennzeichnet. Osten gilt als bevorzugte Richtung, da hier Mekka liegt.

Aufgrund männlicher Dominanzvorstellung gehen Männer üblicherweise den Frauen voraus und essen zuerst. Frauen akzeptieren dieses Modell, indem sie es, quasi aus Bequemlichkeit, als einen männlichen Mythos rechtfertigen, der ihnen in anderen Bereichen eine "reale" Macht zu behalten erlaubt. Es gibt im traditionellen Zusammenleben eine Abhängigkeit der Männer von den Frauen, die durch bestimmte Handlungstabus bestimmt wird: Dreschen und Hirsestampfen ist Frauenarbeit, die nicht von Männern getan werden darf. Feldarbeit ist Männern nur in Ausnahmefällen möglich, sie sollten dabei nicht von Frauen gesehen werden. Bierbrauen und Hirsebrei Kochen ist für Männer undenkbar. Folglich wären sie in einem Einzelhaushalt ohne Frau nicht überlebensfähig, da Bier zwar auf dem Markt gekauft werden kann, gekochte Nahrung aber nicht. Das weibliche Monopol der Essenszubereitung stellt eine Machtquelle der Frauen dar. Die wenigen Frauen, die auf dem Markt Bier verkaufen, werden von der Mehrheit der Frauen verachtet, da sie die weibliche Solidarität gegenüber den Männern untergraben. Bierverkäuferinnen leben meist allein und verfügen nur über diese Einkommensquelle.

Allgemein ist der Gebrauch von Feuer Frauensache. Zu den Ausnahmen gehören die Zubereitung des Opfertieres und das Abbrennen der Felder nach der Ernte durch Männer, die hierfür glühende Holzkohle aus dem Haus der Frau nehmen. Die Frauen stellen also das Feuer zur Verfügung. Schmiede haben in vielen traditionellen Gesellschaften wegen des Gebrauchs von Eisen und Feuer eine Außenseiterrolle und leben am Rand der Siedlung. Bei den Berti-Männern ist es dagegen die Eigenschaft des Feuers als zum Bereich der Frauen gehörend, weshalb diese Tätigkeit üblicherweise nicht von ihnen, sondern von Zaghawa ausgeübt wird.

Der symbolische Ausdruck des Erwachsenenstatus ist der eigene Haushalt. Im Alter bleiben die Berti in ihrem Haus, sie leben nicht bei den Kindern. Bereits mit der Heirat der Kinder geben die Eltern Eigentum und damit Einflussmöglichkeiten ab, mit der Erwartung, dadurch im Alter von den anstrengenden Arbeiten entlastet zu werden. Die Tochter erhält Land und ein paar Tiere, die meisten Tiere gehen an den Sohn. Die Plantagen der Verek-Akazien werden nur an den Sohn übertragen, da sich aus ihnen das meiste Geld erwirtschaften lässt. Die frühe Übertragung von Eigentum befreit von Generationskonflikten.

Praktisch jedes Mädchen der Berti wird beschnitten. Die Notwendigkeit hierfür wird aus dem Koran abgeleitet.

Übergänge
Das Weltbild der Berti ist durch das Gegensatzpaar Innen–Außen geprägt. Von großer Bedeutung sind zahlreiche Übergangsrituale, die diese räumlich festgelegte Barriere sicher überwinden helfen und Übergangsrituale in der biografischen Entwicklung des Menschen.

Zu letzteren gehört der mit der Heirat vollzogene Übergang vom Mädchen (binei) zur Frau (mara), der einen sozialen Aufstieg bedeutet. Wird die Frau geschieden oder stirbt ihr Mann, kann sie als Alleinstehende einen Haushalt weiterführen und behält ihren durch die Ehe erworbenen Status als azaba (Geschiedene) bei. Anders der Mann: Er verliert nach der Trennung seinen Status und fällt auf die Stufe eines Jugendlichen zurück, falls er nicht erneut eine Frau in seinen Haushalt aufnimmt.

Die räumlichen Übergänge beziehen sich auf das Verhältnis von Dorf (hilla) / innen / Kultur / relative Sicherheit zu der Welt außerhalb (khala) / Natur / Gefahr. Außen lauern direkte physische Gefahren durch Schlangen und Hyänen, aber auch durch die eher harmlosen Geister (dschūnun) und die gefährlichen schayātīn. Der Glaube an schayātīn ist besonders ausgeprägt, sie werden als größte Gefahr außerhalb des Dorfes vorgestellt. Sie sollen zahlreicher als Menschen sein, unterhalb und oberhalb der Erde leben und sich an Brunnen, auf Felsen, im Schatten kleiner Bäume und an Ameisenhügeln versammeln. Am aktivsten sind sie um die Mittagszeit und nach Sonnenuntergang. Die schayātīn verweisen auf ihre vorislamische Herkunft.

Am gefährlichsten ist der Grenzübergang zwischen beiden Welten, weshalb es für beide Richtungen Rituale zu befolgen gibt. Das erste individuelle Ritual für ein Kind wird frühestens 40 Tage nach seiner Geburt durchgeführt, wenn es zum Brunnen, zum Sammeln von Feuerholz (ebenfalls exklusiv Frauenarbeit) oder auf das Feld gebracht werden soll. Jedes Mal kommen in einem Ritual, dessen Zweck es ist, den jeweiligen Ort zu einem sicheren Platz zu erklären, gekochte Hirse, Hirsebier und Wasser zum Einsatz.

Wie es Rituale in der Bewegungsrichtung von innen nach außen gibt, müssen auch in umgekehrter Richtung Rituale stattfinden, um nicht äußere Gefahren einzuschleppen. Wenn die Sparren für ein neues Haus (bētu) gesetzt sind und bevor das Dach gedeckt wird, besprengen es Frauen mit Wasser und Hirsebier. Beim Hausneubau für ein frisch verheiratetes Paar sollte noch vorsichtiger vorgegangen werden. Es sollte am besten aus dem Abbruch alter Häuser im Dorf errichtet werden, damit kein Material verwendet werden muss, das direkt von außen (khala) stammt. Aufwendige symbolische Rituale regeln den Einzug der Braut, die Ordnung der alltäglichen Abläufe von Schlafen, Kochen, Hirse mahlen wird etappenweise eingeführt.

Krankheiten werden häufig mit traditionellem Verständnis betrachtet. Habbōba (oder habboaba) ist eine unsichtbare mystische Figur, die Kindern Masern bringt. Es ist ein Wesen aus dem gefährlichen Bereich des khala, das in das Dorf eindringen kann, falls durch das Nichtbeachten einer Regel die Grenze offen ist. Es muss also die Grenze rituell wiederhergestellt werden, damit habbōba geht und die Krankheit daraufhin verschwindet. Solange wird habbōba mit Respekt behandelt. Wurde die Krankheit ausreichend mit einer bestimmten Diät (deren Hauptbestandteil wiederum Hirsebier ist) behandelt, wird das Kind am siebten Tag rituell mit Wasser gewaschen. Dieses vom Brunnen außerhalb gebrachte Wasser darf nicht wie üblich mit dem Esel, sondern muss auf dem Kopf oder mit einem Kamel heransportiert worden sein. Nach der Waschung ist habbōba aus dem Haus verabschiedet.

Literatur
 Abdullahi Osman El-Tom: Berti Qur'anic Amulets. In: Journal of Religion in Africa, 17, 1987, S. 224–244
 Abdullahi Osman El-Tom: Drinking the Koran: The Meaning of Koranic Verses in Berti Erasure. In: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Bd. 55, Nr. 4, Popular Islam. 1985, S. 414–431
 Abdullahi Osman El-Tom: Islam and cultural identity among the Berti of Sudan. In: GeoJournal 46, 2, 1998, S. 155–161
 Ladislav Holy: Religion and Custom in a Muslim Society: The Berti of Sudan. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1991 Introduction (PDF; 750 kB)
 Ladislav Holy: Gender and Ritual in an Islamic Society: The Berti of Darfur. In: Man. New Series, Bd. 23, Nr. 3, September 1988, S. 469–487
 Ladislav Holy: Neighbours and Kinsmen. A Study of the Berti People of Darfur. St Martin's Press, New York 1974
 Ladislav Holy: Residence Among the Berti. In: Ian Cunnison, W. James (Hrsg.): Essays in Sudan Ethnography. C. Hurst, London 1972, S. 58–70
 Alison S. Pyle, Omer Abdel Gabbar: Household vulnerability to famine: Survival and recovery strategies among Berti and Zaghawa migrants in Northern Darfur, Sudan, 1982–1989. In: GeoJournal, 30, 2, 1993, S. 141–146

Einzelnachweise

Ethnie in Afrika
Ethnie im Sudan


text:
Reflections on the US-Mexico Border
Allan Wall
Sgt. 1st Class Gordon Hyde | U.S. Army
The border between the U.S.A. and Mexico is 1,954 miles long.
It's the 10th-longest border in the world, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west.
It's the most frequently-crossed border in the world.
I've crossed the U.S.-Mexico border over 300 times.
I've crossed it on foot. I've crossed it in a car. I've crossed it in a bus.
The border is an exciting place. It's also a dangerous place.
Even when the border was better managed than it is now, it was a risky area.
Many people have legitimate purposes for crossing the border.
But, by its very nature, a border attracts those who are attempting to escape, evade, or get away with something.
Once, I almost got jumped and robbed on the Mexican side of the border. I'm not certain if my would-be-assailants were Mexicans or Mexican-Americans. But it appeared that they were about to do something so I took off running for the border and got away from them.
On another occasion, on the Mexican side of the border, I ran into an American who was on the lam from the law in the U.S. He had fled to Mexico and was bragging to me about how he'd escaped the U.S. and abandoned his family. He seemed proud of it. This guy enjoyed telling me this, even though he'd just met me and didn't know who I was. I could have been an undercover federal agent for all he knew.
When my family and I would cross the border in our car, sometimes we'd wait in a long line of vehicles, for hours on end.
When we arrived near the checkpoint on the U.S. side, I would give my two young sons the same lecture: When we are being interrogated by the agent, be serious. Don't answer more than he asks. Tell the truth. Don't be funny. It's not the time for that.
I would drive up to the checkpoint and show our paperwork. The agent would open the side door and talk directly to my young sons, asking them if my wife and I, seated in the front, were really their parents.
Now why would they ask that?
Because there are individuals who will cross with other people's children, using them as props.
This was when the border was still generally under control, though still porous.
Ncysea | Wikimedia Commons
For decades, our border was too porous. There were too many in our ruling class who just looked the other way.
But our previous president, Donald Trump, was able to improve U.S. control of the border, and he deserves credit for that.
The current administration, on the other hand, has reversed Trump's gains.
What we currently have at the border is an invasion.
It's not a conventional invasion, in which one country invades another and the invaded country fights back.
This is an invasion encouraged and managed by the government of the country being invaded, by our government.
How do you fight that? You have to change the policies.
Hordes of migrants and illegal aliens from around the world cross the border from Mexico into the United States.
Some are sent back, but many are allowed to stay in the country. Some are even transported at taxpayer expense deeper into the U.S. interior.
Those who don't make it through hang around on the Mexican side to try again later.
In all the chaos, there are also many "gotaways" who just head on into the country on their own.
How can an average American citizen keep up with all this?
That's where BorderHawk.news comes in.
BorderHawk.news is an aggregation site, frequently updated, featuring news items about illegal immigration.
On BorderHawk.news, you can see how bad things have gotten on our border.
However, being informed, as important as it is, is not the end.
Our next step, after seeing how bad it's gotten, is to do what we can improve the situation.
We have to join with other concerned Americans and turn this situation around. As soon as possible.
You can find more of Allan Wall's work at his website.


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Megan received a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.S. in raptor ecology from Boise State University. She returned to her home state of Montana to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Montana in Wildlife Biology on the scent-marking behavior and territoriality of wild dogs in Botswana. She began pioneering training methods for con- servation detection dogs in 1996. Megan has been involved in dog training, obedience, and search-and-rescue since childhood. She is interested in the international use of conservation working dogs to help under-funded projects acquire excellent data, reduce costs and preserve endangered species.
Working Dogs for Conservation is the world's leading conservation detection dog organization. We combine expert canine data collection with cutting-edge laboratory techniques to help answer some of the most pressing questions in conservation. Building upon techniques from narcotics detection, cadaver detection, and search and rescue, we have pioneered ways to use dogs' extraordinary sense of smell to protect wildlife and wild places.
Our dogs can detect weeds before they break the surface, animals that live below ground and aquatic organisms invisible to the human eye. Our co-founders were the first to train dogs to detect wide-ranging carnivores non-invasively, to uncover illegal snares in Africa, and to find invasive plants, insects, and sh. We are also at the forefront of the fight against wildlife tracking, training dogs to detect ammunition, guns, poisons, snares, ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin scales.


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SPECTRUM @ Heaven (11th April 1988) Orig Projection S - It's all about flyers!
The visuals where done by the POP boys Mike and Mark Jones and projected within the club on the opening night !!
100% Original and a super RARE piece of memorabilia from one of the most iconic club nights ever.....in fantastic condition !!