text:
Team 'Lego my Lego' Visits Big Viking Games
By bvgDecember 4, 2014Culture
Big Viking Games had the honour of hosting some very special guests last week! Team 'Lego my Lego', entrants in the First Lego League (http://www.usfirst.org/), came to visit our main office in London, Ontario, and got to learn a bit more about all the fun, excitement, and effort that goes into developing a full stack mobile game at one of the best gaming studios in Canada.
Highlights from their visit: watching some of our talented artists bring illustrations and animations to life, learning about the thousands upon thousands of lines of code that's required to create an awesome mobile game, and being inspired by our very own CEO, Albert Lai, as he referenced the book "Talent is Overrated" and spoke to the fact that practice and passion is the true path to success.
Still, the greatest moment came when the team, aged between 8 and 14 years of age, pulled out a laptop and showed off their fully functioning FPS game – all developed using Unity and Java! Needless to say, we were blown away by their talent, especially at such a young age! We were tempted to give them a job on the spot, as we're always looking for amazing developers to join the team!
What's more? The team comes with great credentials: last year, they won first place at regionals (held at UWO), third place at provincials (held in Waterloo), and even placed third in the international competition held in San Diego, California for their robot design!
Best of luck to team Lego my Lego this year, as you go out and represent London, Ontario in this year's Lego League competition held on Dec. 6th! We thought you guys were pretty awesome, and hope you all get in touch once you inevitably graduate from one of the many renown engineering programs in the area!
Follow team 'Lego my Lego' via their twitter handle, @Lego_Robotics.


Egg enthusiast Chief Keef laid relatively low in 2016 after dropping his "Superheroes" video and a track with CeeLo Green and Tone Trump, but he's already gearing up for a big new year. The Chicago rapper has unveiled plans for a new project titled Two Zero One Seven.
Presumably a mixtape, the offering is due out on January 1, appropriately enough.
Keef teased its release by simply sharing the colourful, masterfully Photoshopped artwork pictured above with the simple caption: "NECKS. JAN1$T."
Keef's last mixtape arrived last November under the name Finally Rollin 2, preceded by the two-part Bang 3. While we wait for the young rapper to ring in the new year with a follow-up, relive his aforementioned video for the A$AP Rocky-featuring Bang 3 cut "Superheroes" down below.


text:
Students Object to Yale Honoring Slave-owning White Male Ben Franklin
Some background: Yale undergraduates live in glorified dormitories known as "colleges." The incredibly rich university is finally building two new colleges, the first since 1961, after keeping its class size the same for many decades. Yale announced in April that its two new dorms will be named after Pauli Murray and Benjamin Franklin.
Who was Pauli Murray, you may ask?
She is perfect for The Current Year: a Talented Tenth lesbian transgender black studies professor / Episcopalian priest. From Wikipedia:
In 1973, Murray left academia for the Episcopal Church, becoming an ordained priest in 1977, among the first generation of women priests. Murray struggled in her adult life with issues related to her sexual and gender identity, describing herself as having an "inverted sex instinct". She had a brief, annulled marriage to a man and several deep relationships with women. In her younger years, she occasionally passed as a teenage boy. …
Murray struggled with her sexual and gender identity through much of her life. Her marriage as a teenager ended almost immediately with the realization that "when men try to make love to me, something in me fights".[58] Though acknowledging the term "homosexual" in describing others, Murray preferred to describe herself as having an "inverted sex instinct" that caused her to behave as a man attracted to women. She wanted a "monogamous married life", but one in which she was the man.[59] The majority of her relationships were with women whom she described as "extremely feminine and heterosexual".[4] In her younger years, Murray would often be devastated by the end of these relationships, to the extent that she was twice hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, in 1937 and in 1940.[4]
Murray wore her hair short and preferred pants to skirts; due to her slight build, there was a time in her life when she was often able to pass as a teenage boy.[58] In her twenties, she shortened her name from Pauline to the more androgynous Pauli.[60] Murray pursued hormone treatments in the 1940s to correct what she saw as a personal imbalance,[27] and even requested abdominal surgery to test if she had "submerged" male sex organs.[61]
Of course, the highly problematical dorm name is not Pauli Murray, but Benjamin Franklin. From the Yale Daily News:
For some, college name impacts transfer choice
by JINGYI CUI & BRITTON O'DALY OCT 18, 2016
Student response to the recent announcement that transfers into the two new residential colleges will be randomly placed into either Pauli Murray or Benjamin Franklin college has shown that Yale's campus is not of one mind on the significance of a college's name to its community.
When its name was announced last April, Pauli Murray College — which honors civil rights activist and 20th century intellectual Anna Pauline Murray LAW '65 — became the first residential college named after a woman or a person of color. Under the shadow of a yearlong debate over the name of Calhoun College, the decision to pair Murray with Benjamin Franklin drew condemnation from students who were both confused by the choice to recognize an individual who did not attend the University and disappointed by the Yale Corporation's decision to honor another slave-owning white male.
Admittedly, late in life Franklin became an abolitionist activist.
But Franklin was still a white male. And that's what can never be forgiven.
Though the two new colleges are comparable in terms of both size and facilities, their namesakes are different enough that students interviewed disagreed over the relative merits of the two colleges, with some preferring placement in Murray over Benjamin Franklin — a preference that will not be taken into account, per an Oct. 13 email from Yale College Dean Jonathan Holloway regarding the transfer process.
While Holloway acknowledged last week that some students may prefer to live in Murray over Benjamin Franklin, both Holloway and Head of Benjamin Franklin College Charles Bailyn '81 said Franklin's legacy makes him a good role model for Yale students.
But of 21 students interviewed, only one told the News they would prefer to be placed into [Bemjamin] Franklin over Murray. Nine students reported a preference for Pauli Murray College, and 11 students reported they would have no preference for either college were they to transfer. Furthermore, as the placement by lottery in the new colleges will be nonbinding, some students told the News they would opt out of the transfer process if placed into Benjamin Franklin.
"If it turns out that some people, when they discover they are in Franklin rather than in Murray, are unhappy about that, part of my job is to talk them into it," said Bailyn, a professor of astronomy and physics. "I hope that we would be able to persuade people that it is going to be a really exciting experience whichever college you end up in." …
Yet many students who said they favor Murray College over Benjamin Franklin College pointed to the importance of Murray's identity as the primary reason they would want to join the college.
"She is an important figure for visibility for queer women of color, and I think that's important for Yale, more so than Franklin, who is similar to a lot of the other honorees of other buildings and Yale events," said Sara Harris '19.
Yale has not had to deal with the issue of transfers to new residential colleges since 1961, when upperclassmen helped fill in the ranks of the newly opened Ezra Stiles and Morse colleges. But despite the familiar position, the controversy over placement preference is new.
Richard Holbrook '63, who transferred from Saybrook into Morse in 1961, said he never encountered anything similar to the current naming complexities surrounding the new residential colleges.
"I just thought it would be interesting to join the new colleges. I didn't have any preference whether it was Morse or Stiles," said Holbrook. "I think we were just out to try something new and expand our acquaintanceships among other students."
Yale's cultural climate and the issues pertinent to the student body have shifted since the early 1960s.
"In those days, of course, there were just men in the colleges … We didn't have girls, so the whole subject [of social issues] began 10 years later," said David Rosenberg '63 LAW '73, who transferred into the newly founded Morse College from Davenport College. He added that transferring into Morse entailed a "straightforward, simple application process."
Rosenberg noted that although he had been "perceived back then as very liberal, almost radical, for Yale terms," due to his involvement in the 1961 and 1962 sit-ins in the American South, he said that as an older alumnus he was "oblivious" to the current naming controversies surrounding Benjamin Franklin College.
Part of the controversy stems from the fact that Charles Johnson '54, who in 2013 donated $250 million toward the construction of both new residential colleges, requested that one college be named Benjamin Franklin out of his own admiration for Franklin.
Similarly, the single student interviewed who said he would prefer to be placed in Benjamin Franklin cited the Founding Father as a role model.
"I personally regard Franklin as one of my role models in many ways, [as] he is a historical figure that I really respect, and, to be honest, I don't know that much about Murray," the student, who asked to remain anonymous, said. "I don't know too much about the controversy. I wasn't here last year. I was in the military and I just came back, so I'm one of the unusual cases."
Obviously, this Franklin-respecting veteran is irredeemably deplorable.
Current students said they would rather be in Murray to avoid the emotionally taxing dialogue about slavery, racism and naming they expect will happen regularly in Benjamin Franklin.
After all, what did Ben Franklin ever do for America?
P.S., this Charles B. Johnson who gave a quarter of a billion dollars to build these two dorms and had the racist insolence to ask to have one named after Ben Franklin is your classic college donor: a straight white male Republican jock veteran alumnus. From Wikipedia:
Johnson attended Montclair High School, and then Yale College, where he graduated in 1954. At Yale he played offensive guard for the football team and waited dining hall tables as a scholarship student. An ROTC cadet, he later served as a lieutenant in the United States Army stationed in Germany.
With his brother Rupert Johnson, Jr., Charles served as Chairman at Franklin Resources, a mutual fund company started by Rupert Sr. in 1947. Johnson is currently principal owner of the MLB San Francisco Giants…
Johnson is one of his alma mater's largest benefactors, having given considerable sums to athletic and student facilities at Yale. Johnson Field, used for field hockey, was opened in 2001. In 2005, he was the principal donor to a renovation of the Yale Bowl. Johnson has also funded academic programs, including the Johnson Center for the Study of American Diplomacy and Brady–Johnson Program in Grand Strategy.
In September 2013, Yale President Peter Salovey announced that Johnson had given $250 million to support the construction of two new residential colleges costing $400 million. The gift was the largest in Yale's history in nominal terms. One of the new colleges has been named for Benjamin Franklin, a personal hero of Johnson's whose name is borne by the family investment firm. This decision has been met with criticism by some Yale students, as Benjamin Franklin, who owned slaves, neither attended nor taught at Yale.
Johnson is one of the largest donors to Republican and Tea-Party-backed political campaigns. Since 2000, he has contributed over $900,000 to the campaigns of Mitt Romney, John Boehner, and Ben Quayle. In 2015, Johnson donated $1 million to a Super PAC supporting the presidential candidacy of Jeb Bush.
That's the problem with Deplorables: you tell them over and over that you hate them for being who they are, and then they still turn around and give you $250,000,000.00.
[Comment at Unz.com]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Blog The Weather Channel Predicts 6 Days of Rain!
The Weather Channel Predicts 6 Days of Rain!
Threaten to take The Weather Channel widget off the blog and what a response – 6 days of rain in the forecast! Well, lets leave it on and see what happens! Sure would be nice to have it rain all week to end with sunshine on the weekend!
Remember 1 inch of rain can cause Manchaug Pond to come up 10 inches (.84 feet our dam reports say) If you're a reader from Whitin Reservoir, 1 inch will bring your water level up 1.35 feet.
For those of you following the drama on the dam, flashboards are still in with the courts still reviewing the case.
How about this little sunshiny flower which popped out of the sand on the beach last month – Coltsfoot, I'd say.


If you are a citizen of one of the countries which have signed agreements on the visa-free movement, you do not need a visa to enter the European Schengen area, including Poland. You can come to Poland just on the basis of your valid travel document (e.g. passport). However, the total stay on the territory of all the member states of the Schengen area cannot exceed 90 days within each 180-day period.
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The list of countries and the exceptions is available here.
If you have a residence permit or a visa issued by another EU Schengen country, you are authorized to move within the territory of the Schengen area member states for the period not exceeding 90 days within each 180-day period. Therefore, you can come to Poland and start working on the basis of one of the documents for the period of up to 90 days.
If you don't have neither the residence permit nor visa issued by another European Schengen country or you are not coverd by the visa-free movement, you have to apply for a visa to Poland before arrival. Visas are issued by Polish consular units abroad – embassies or consulates (the list of consular units) and they are issued for different purposes. If your purpose to come to Poland is to conduct scientific research, you need to apply for the visa for this particular purpose. It is important because you cannot work for instance on the basis of a tourist visa.
National visa (marked with the letter D) can be issued for a maximum period of 365 days, depending on the length of your planned stay in Poland. Having the D-type visa also entitles you to travel to other Schengen countries for max 90 days within the 180-day period.
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in some cases you also need to submit a work permit.
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This is an obligatory registration not only for foreigners but also for Polish nationals. If you are planning to stay in Poland in a certain town for more than 14 days, you need to register in the relevant municipal office.
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text:
Marx, Heidegger and the Crocodile
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/16933/marx-heidegger-mesbah-yazdi
Because Fardid knew no German, his knowledge of Heidegger was based on scanty reading and misreading of French or Persian translations.
Fardid's understanding of Heidegger could be summed up in two erroneous beliefs: society's need for order and the need for an unimpeachable leader to impose that order. He also claimed a visceral hatred of Marxism in all its many different forms
No one was allowed to join the debate and suggest, ever so modestly, that maybe it was time for Iranians to use their own heads and begin thinking themselves.
At a time that the ruling elite in Tehran were busy marking the anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Khomeinist movement lost another of its iconic figures: Ayatollah Muhammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi (pictured). (Image source: Mostafameraji/Wikimedia Commons)
At a time that the ruling elite in Tehran were busy marking the anniversary of the killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the Khomeinist movement lost another of its iconic figures: Ayatollah Muhammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi.
The 86-year-old cleric who changed his surname from Givehchi (sandal-maker) to Mesbah (Arabic for lamp) was alone among Khomeinist mullahs to have secured the title of "Super Scientist" (Allameh in Arabic) from the establishment. He was marketed as "the greatest living Islamic philosopher" and, as head of the Imam Khomeini Center of Studies, the custodian of Khomeini's theologico-political heritage.
However, Mesbah-Yazdi's chief distinction may well have been his role in providing a pseudo-religious basis for the cult of personality built around the "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei. This is perhaps why Khamenei took the unusual step of personally leading the "prayers on the mortal remains" of the cleric.
To enable Khamenei to perform the ritual, his security forces had to deal with complex logistics.
Since the "Supreme Guide" is in lockdown because of coronavirus pandemic, the corpse of the mullah had to be ferried in a military helicopter to Khamenei's palace, to be ferried back for burial in south Tehran.
The select group of individuals allowed to attend the ceremony had to pass infection tests and observe other protocols on wearing masks and social distancing. According to some accounts, when eulogizing "our elder brother" and "one of the greatest teachers in Islamic history", Khamenei was close to tears.
With a green light from the Leader's palace, other state-controlled clerics also issued statements praising Mesbah-Yazdi's mostly imaginary achievements in philosophy and theology. In another sign that the traditional Shiite clergy are distancing themselves from the regime, however, none of the non-state grand ayatollahs of Qom, Mashhad or Najaf chose even to note Mesbah-Yazdi's demise, let alone mourn him.
Outside the official clerical circles, Mesbah-Yazdi was, perhaps, the most hated figure in the Khomeinist sect, at times to a degree he didn't deserve.
His popular nickname was "crocodile" (timsah in Arabic) because the shape of his face reminded cartoonists of the amphibian beast with a bad reputation.
I first met Mesbah-Yazdi in the 1970s when he was a follower of the philosopher Ahmad Fardid who, in turn, cast himself as a disciple of the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. Because Fardid knew no German, his knowledge of Heidegger was based on scanty reading and misreading of French or Persian translations.
Fardid's understanding of Heidegger could be summed up in two erroneous beliefs: society's need for order and the need for an unimpeachable leader to impose that order. He also claimed a visceral hatred of Marxism in all its many different forms, a hatred that he transmitted to Mesbah-Yazdi and other disciples such as Muhammad-Reza Davari Ardakani who was to become the republic's official philosopher.
By the mid-1970s the group seemed prepared to accept the Shah as the unimpeachable leader who could ensure the desired social order. The Shah's regime saw the group as useful in combating Communism, which the security services wrongly identified as the main threat.
That was poor timing, however, as Iran soon entered a revolutionary moment and the Shah, rather than trying to protect the existing order, decided to throw in the towel and go into exile to avoid bloodshed.
As Khomeini emerged as the symbol of the revolution, the group began to see him as the ideal leader, a kind of Fuhrer with a turban.
To be sure some members of the group, including, Mesbah-Yazdi had Ardakani had professed sympathy for Khomeini in his first anti-Shah uprising in 1962 and had little difficulty to drop the Shah and follow the mullah.
Such a switch, however, was harder for Fardid who was an Aryan supremacist, seeing Islam as an Arab-Semitic phenomenon, and a man whose knowledge of French wines was unrivalled in the Persian Empire. Nevertheless, like his master Heidegger, who had discovered Hitler as the ideal leader, Fardid, too, started making pro-Khomeini noises, thus not only keeping his chair but, perhaps, even saving his life.
In the early years of the new regime, Mesbah-Yazdi became a TV star by taking part in a number of debates with leaders of various Communist groups, including the pro-Soviet Tudeh (Masses) Party.
By all accounts, "the crocodile" won most rounds. He had an advantage in the fact that the Communists had to acknowledge the "Islamic" nature of the revolution and new regime, plus Khomeini's infallibility (ismah in Arabic).
Mesbah-Yazdi's reputation as a great thinker soared when several prominent Communists, including Ishan Tabari, chief theoretician of the Tudeh Party, and Nureddin Kianuri, the party's leader, publicly renounced Marxism and converted to the Khomeinist version of Shiism. Other Marxist-Leninist protagonists such as Farrokh Negahdar, a guerrilla leader, transferred to Europe to defend the revolution from abroad.
Encouraged by those TV victories, Mesbah-Yazdi tried to find Islamic sources for his Heideggerite misunderstanding. He found them in the imami theory, according to which all power has a divine source and can only be exercised by infallible Imams or their worthy heirs who act as "nails" (mesmar in Arabic) that keep the world fixed and safe from falling into nothingness.
In that doctrine, ordinary folk are not qualified to take decisions beyond quotidian matters which they understand. Mesbah-Yazdi liked to quote the verse from the great Persian Sufi Molavi (Roumi in Arabic):
Oh God! Don't leave our affairs to us;
Woe betides us if you do.
Soon, Mesbah-Yazdi identified Khamenei as the "Ideal Leader" who must be obeyed on all matters without question. According to the official RJANEWS, Mesbah-Yazdi on his deathbed said he had only one regret: Having had the honor of kissing Leader's hand, he had not yet kissed his feet, which he longed to do.
Mesbah-Yazdi said: "Islam, today, can be summed up in one phrase: Absolute obedience to the Leader."
It was good of the Leader to allow elections for various positions but no one should forget that this is a favor, not a right. That Khamenei was the "Ideal Leader" until the return of the Hidden Imam was clear from the fact that he had not made a single mistake in four decades at the helm. Mankind today, is in a phase of "waiting" for the Twelfth Imam as part of a divine scheme that lesser mortals could never understand.
The choice offered to Iranians was between Marx and Heidegger, or between Communism and Nazism.
3 Reader Comments
David • Jan 13, 2021 at 08:58
To quote from the excellent article by Amir Taheri " ..the fact that he (Ayatollah Khameini)
had not made a single mistake in four decades at the helm.." In an Orwellian dictatorship such bizzare proclamations are common and publically sceptical citizens risk jail, assault and death,
Even without the USA sanctions, the standard of living, Iranian currency, level of employment have been in continuous decline since 1980. However the personal wealth of the compliant members of the Iranian leadership increases exponentially. If in reality these are not horrific mistakes then what are they?.. Glorious achievements!!
Interesting yet bizzare and disappointing that Mesbah-Yazdi ( the greatest living Islamic philosopher) has reached a conclusion devoid of lessons of simple history, common sense and
humanity... namely that "islam today can be summed up in one phrase: absolute obedience to the leader"
If we assume that Mesbah-Yazdi favourably accepts such a shallow and common declaration then he must also accept its obvious consequences:
a) the leader is entitled to exercise such power
b) it does not matter if leader makes mistakes!! His/ her orders must be obeyed.
c) the followers must ignore their conscience, sense of good and evil, morals and obey orders without question as issued from a higher government official
d) a person committing an act of evil under orders from the government cannot be charge with criminality. This is in clear defiance of one of the conclusions from the Nuremberg trials.
Numerous other dictatorships have also insisted on same absolute obedience to the leader eg
Germany under Hitler; USSR under Stalin; China under Mao Tse Tung; etc
And in each case the consequences were identical: murder of millions of innocent men, women and children.
Finally for what reasons was Mesbah-Yasdi given the title "super scientist"? Which theories did he create and in which reputable journals did they appear?
Paul Klee • Jan 10, 2021 at 20:44
There is simply no one better at explaining the religious, political, philosophical and pseudo-philosophical foundations of the Khomeneist regime than Amir Taheri. As my father use to say: "He is a Gentleman and a Scholar."


The Status Report gives a quick view of pertinent reporting information for any selected asset.
Various reports are available in the OMS Personnel Module including; personnel status, training expiration, and overdue reports for traveling personnel. All reports are available in multiple formats.
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Prema Dasara is the founder of Tara Dhatu. Using the vehicles of sacred song and dance, Prema has traveled throughout the world in dedicated service to humanity. Her purpose has been to inspire and uplift, inviting everyone to experience the power of their own human potential through sacred music and dance.
Participants in her workshops benefit from her many years of study and practice on the spiritual path. Her joy, exuberance, and friendliness draw everyone who work with her into heartful participation.
"I must have danced out of my mother's womb," says Prema, who began formal ballet training at the age of three. She soon abandoned the formalities to dance on her own, like her idol Isadora Duncan, as a personal expression in nature. She dipped in and out of western expressions of dance but did not return to formal classes until she went to India in 1976 and became a student of Ramani Ranjan Jena, a master of the Odissi style of Classical Indian Temple Dance.
During the six years she spent in India she worked as an editor for the Theosophical Society, immersing herself in the study of comparative religion. To compliment her dance training she studied Classical Indian Music, She studied Sanskrit to deepen her understanding of the Hindu Culture.
In 1983 she settled in Hawaii where she became a student of the Tibetan Buddhist meditation master, Lama Sonam Tenzin. He encouraged her to continue her sacred dance work which culminated in the creation of the Mandala Dance of the 21 Praises of Tara, a group ritual based on the profound mind training practices of Tibetan Buddhism.
She has traveled the world since 1986 teaching this dance and the accompanying meditations. She has been invited to present the ritual to many of the most accomplished Tibetan Lamas including His Holiness the Dalai Lama who proclaimed the dance, "wonderful".
Prema continues to create dance rituals. For inspiration and authenticity, she studied Charya, the ritual dance of Nepali Buddhists, a style based on Odissi movement but dedicated to Buddhist practice. She studied Tibetan Lama dancing at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts, and sacred Balinese dance from the Queen of Peliatan in Bali.
Prema teaches with humor and clarity. She leads anyone who participates in her work into an experience of their own potential, and teaches simple, clear methods of developing this wisdom in their day to day life.


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We hired Kim to handle all the affairs of the wedding and the reception. She went above and beyond and ha.
This valuable e-book has helped more than 7,000 people reach a far better relationship than they thought was possible just a few months earlier! Posted by chua on September 18, 2012 at 4:05 am under Relationship Repair.


A couple of years ago, I was reading through a book called Dying To Be "Me" by Anita Moorjani . The book itself is about Anita's fight with Cancer, A case of Stage-4 Hodgkin's lymphoma and how she battled to come out of it. More than the battle itself, Anita delves into her spiritual / out of body experiences when she had almost lost the battle against the disease. She talks about her own choice that made her come out of the disease & live a fruitful life fearlessly.
The difference in both the photos was marked. The boy on the left had lost every inch of his hair. While on the right, I was looking at a strong Spartan ( As I later realized). Intrigued, I immediately followed Robert & browsed through his feed. Some research confirmed my doubts. It was clear that Robert had recently fought successfully, a battle against Cancer; All of this at 21 years of age. Curiously, I DM'd him & waited for his response. Robert responded almost immediately. Having confirmed his victory over the illness, I was sure in my mind that this is a story that the world ought to hear and that gave birth to an audio-cast on YogicDesire. This is a 40-minute unedited interview I did with Robert & I recommend you to use earphones to listen to every second of Robert's inspiring story.
Before you scroll down and hit the play button, Here's a little bit about Robert. He is a 21-year-old who has always been a track n field & gymnasium enthusiast through school. Robert has completed the Spartan Trifecta event in 2016. For those who haven't heard of the Spartan races before, the Spartan Races are obstacle races which test the participant endurance to the limit. Each race is of varying distances and difficulty. The 3 core races are – The Spartan Sprint, The Spartan Beast, and The Spartan Super. When a participant completes all these three races in one calendar year, It's called a Trifecta. Robert completed his Trifecta in 2016. It was after the Spartan races that he was diagnosed with a Cancer that had already advanced. A loving family, an integrated friend circle, oodles of his positive attitude, An indomitable will, some excellent hospital care from the Seattle Children's hospital & a strong physical body ( probably owing to all the training done before the illness) helped Robert battle and win over his disease.
Listen in to the interview below & do leave your good words for Robert in the comments section below!
Suggestion: Please use your earphones to listen in clearly. Thank You.


text:
Bally's to Host Listening Tour in Richmond About Casino
By Andi Petrini @andipetrini
Bally's will host a listening tour in Richmond as its proposal for Bally's Richmond Casino Resort is being evaluated along with two others for potential development in the city.
One of three finalists for a proposed casino in Virginia's capital city, Bally's has made a $650 million resort proposal. Urban One and Cordish Cos. proposals are also being considered by Richmond leadership. One is scheduled to be selected in June, and it will be on the ballot Nov. 2.
Four other Virginia cities — Bristol, Danville, Norfolk and Portsmouth — approved casino development in November 2020 after the passage of legislation by the General Assembly earlier that year. Those developers are submitting applications for approval by the Virginia Lottery Board this month.
Community activist Jonathan Davis will join Bally's listening tour, which is scheduled for:
April 13, 6:30 p.m. at Bryan Park (4308 Hermitage Road, Richmond).
April 14, 1 p.m. at Battery Park (2803 Dupont Circle, Richmond).
April 14, 6:30 p.m. at Chimborazo Park (3215 E. Broad St., Richmond).
The goal of the meetings is to address concerns from residents and business owners, and Bally's said in its press release it wants to connect with all nine of the city's districts.
"It is great to see that Bally's is taking steps to ensure that Richmonders' voices are heard as we move forward in the casino selection process," Davis said in the release. "I'm excited to be working with them to help Richmonders better understand this process and help them stay involved as things progress."
The Proposals
The Bally's proposal calls for development of 61 acres at Chippenham and Powhite parkways.
Urban One's $517 million project would be on 100 acres currently owned by Phillip Morris USA near Commerce Road and Walmsley Boulevard. Cordish Co.'s Live! Casino and Hotel Richmond, a $600 million project, is proposed for 1301 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd.
The city hosted public outreach meetings in person and virtually in March and earlier this month.
Six proposals were submitted to the city for consideration. It was trimmed to three finalists at the end of March.
Andi Petrini
@andipetrini
Andi Petrini is a Virginia-based freelance journalist for BetVirginia.com. She has nearly 20 years of experience in newsrooms in Virginia and North Carolina, and has been a team editor for sports, news and features. She also led the internship program at the Daily Press (Newport News, Va.), and was a member of Associated Press Sports Editors.


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text:
doi: 10.4103/ijdvl.IJDVL_205_17
Ultrasound assessment of enthesis thickness in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: A cross-sectional study
Dario Graceffa1 , Claudio Bonifati1 , Viviana Lora1 , Pier Luigi Saraceni1 , Catia De Felice1 , Maria Sole Chimenti2 , Roberto Perricone2 , Aldo Morrone1
1 Department of Clinical Dermatology, San Gallicano Dermatological Institute, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144, Rome, Italy
2 Department of "Medicina dei Sistemi", Rheumatology, Allergology and Clinical Immunology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford, 81, 00100 Rome, Italy
Pier Luigi Saraceni
Department of Clinical Dermatology, San Gallicano Dermatological Institute, Via Elio Chianesi 53, 00144, Rome
Graceffa D, Bonifati C, Lora V, Saraceni PL, De Felice C, Chimenti MS, Perricone R, Morrone A. Ultrasound assessment of enthesis thickness in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis: A cross-sectional study. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2019;85:175-181
Background: The inflammatory involvement of the enthesis in the course of psoriasis is accompanied by structural abnormalities detectable by ultrasound. The most common of these abnormalities is the thickening of the tendon at the insertion site.
Aims: The aim of the present study was to compare the thickness of entheses of patients with psoriatic arthritis, only skin psoriasis, and healthy controls.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a cohort of patients affected with either only skin psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis as well as in a control group. Eight entheses sites were scanned by ultrasound bilaterally. The following entheseal characteristics were collected and recorded in a predefined database: entheseal thickness, bone erosions, enthesis calcifications (enthesophytes), presence of blood flow, and presence of bursitis. All the detected entheseal changes were scored, and the data was statistically analyzed.
Results: The major differences in enthesis thickness between only skin psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patients were found at the following sites: (i) olecranon tuberosity, (ii) superior pole of the patella, and (iii) medial epicondyle of femur. The thickness of the medial collateral ligament at the site of the femoral origin was increased in psoriatic arthritis, but not in both only skin psoriasis and healthy controls. The score obtained by adding the thickness of all the 8 examined entheses for each patient showed significant differences among the three groups (psoriatic arthritis: 81.3; only skin psoriasis 74.4; Controls: 67.6; P < 0.0001). Interestingly, we found that in psoriatic arthritis patients, the highest enthesis thickening was seen in entheses affected by bone erosions.
Limitations: The small sample of patients studied is a limiting factor in this study.
Conclusions: Our data demonstrated that the ultrasound measurement of the enthesis thickness enables a distinction between patients with psoriatic arthritis from those with only skin psoriasis. It is a useful method to improve diagnostic accuracy, especially in patients without clear clinical signs of enthesitis.
Keywords: Enthesis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ultrasound
Enthesitis is an inflammation at the insertion of ligaments, tendons, or joint capsules to bone. It is a typical feature of spondyloarthritis (SpA), a family of inflammatory rheumatic diseases including psoriatic arthritis that share common clinical features as dactylitis, peripheral arthritis, and involvement of spine joints.[1],[2]
Enthesitis is the earliest event in the course of psoriatic arthritis and could be the only clinical manifestation of the disease.[1] Enthesitis has been hypothesized to be the result of an exaggerated innate immunity response that plays a pivotal role in directing the subsequent adaptive immune response.[3] The clinical assessment of enthesitis is predominantly performed by eliciting tenderness at the entheses' sites. Specific clinical tools have been validated to assess enthesitis such as the Leeds Enthesitis Index (LEI) and the Maastricht Ankylosing Spondylitis Enthesitis Score (MASES).[4],[5]
However, an entheseal involvement is often misdiagnosed and undertreated in many psoriasis patients.[6]
Musculoskeletal ultrasound in combination with power Doppler is a valid and reliable technique for the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with psoriatic arthritis with enthesis involvement.[7],[8],[9]
In the past decades, different ultrasound enthesitis scores have been developed. The most used are: (i) Glasgow Ultrasound Enthesitis Scoring System (GUESS) which examines posterior and inferior pole of the calcaneus, superior and inferior pole of patella; and (ii) Madrid Sonographic Enthesis Index (MASEI) which assesses posterior and inferior pole of the calcaneus, superior and inferior pole of patella, tibial tuberosity and olecranon tuberosity.[7],[9],[10]
Methodological complexity and inter-observer variability are the main factors that limit the use of the above cited scores in clinical practice. Furthermore there is no clarity on the meaning to be attributed to each elemental lesion, and which of these best discriminate between inflammatory and degenerative processes affecting the osteotendinous junction.[7],[9],[11],[12],[13]
In our experience, the ultrasound measurement of the enthesis thickness represents the best tool for the assessment of enthesitis for several reasons: (i) the thickening may be considered an early sign of inflammation compared to the presence of hypervascularization, calcifications, and erosions; (ii) it is an operator-independent method; and (iii) finally it is reliable and easy to use.[14],[15]
The aim of the present study was to compare the ultrasound measurement of the thickness of 8 enthesis sites between patients with psoriatic arthritis, only skin psoriasis, and healthy controls, to verify if it is an effective and reliable tool for improving diagnostic accuracy, especially in patients without clear clinical signs of enthesitis. Our ultrasound assessment included the evaluation of two sites never considered so far: (i) the lateral epicondyle of the elbow and (ii) the medial epicondyle of femur.
This was a cross-sectional study conducted in a cohort of patients attending our outpatient dermatology clinic for psoriasis in Rome.
The study was approved by the local ethics committee and was conducted in accordance with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.
Demographical, clinical, and treatment-related characteristics of the study population are shown in [Table - 1].
Table 1: Characteristics of the study population
Forty-five consecutive patients with only skin psoriasis and 57 with psoriatic arthritis (without clinical signs of active enthesitis) were examined between December 2014 and December 2015. The diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis was made by the consultant rheumatologists (GD and CMS) based on detailed history and physical examination. Patients were classified as affected by psoriatic arthritis in agreement with CASPAR criteria.[16] The diagnosis of skin psoriasis was confirmed by a trained dermatologist (BC).
All patients with psoriatic arthritis were under systemic therapy at the time of ultrasound examination – 40 with biologic DMARDs, 11 with conventional DMARDs, and 6 with NSAIDs.
Twenty of 45 only skin psoriasis patients were under systemic treatment, and the others were treated only with topical medications or UVB.
Patients with clinically active enthesitis (defined as tenderness and/or swelling at the site of an enthesis) were excluded to better explore subclinical entheseal involvement.
Fifty age and sex-matched individuals selected from the hospital staff served as healthy controls. All participants gave their signed informed consent before inclusion in the study.
All ultrasound examinations and entheses thickness measurements were performed by a rheumatologist, blinded to clinical diagnosis, (DG) using a MyLab70 (EsaoteSpA, Genoa, Italy) equipped with a 6–18 MHz broadband linear transducer.
The following 8 enthesis sites were scanned bilaterally: lateral epicondyle, olecranon tuberosity, superior pole of the patella, inferior pole of the patella, tibial tuberosity, medial epicondyle of femur (origin of the medial collateral ligament), superior pole of the calcaneus, and inferior pole of the calcaneus. The sonographer examined morphological and structural abnormalities in B mode, as well as the vascularization with power doppler at bony insertions in both longitudinal and transverse planes; the scan images were stored.
The following entheseal characteristics were collected and recorded in a predefined database: entheseal thickness, bone erosions, enthesis calcifications (enthesophytes), presence of blood flow, and presence of bursitis.
Entheseal thickness was measured at the point of maximal thickness, 2 mm proximal to the bone insertion, and the sum of the thickness of the 8 entheses of each patient was calculated and stored (thickness total score).
The presence of enthesophytes was assessed using a semi-quantitative score from 1 to 3 for each enthesis according to previous studies and the total obtained for each patient yielded a calcification score.[6],[9]
Bone erosion was defined as an interruption of the cortical bone assessed in both longitudinal and transverse planes.
The normal ultrasound features and thickness of the entheses examined have been previously described.[7],[9],[17],[18]
Power Doppler settings were standardized with a Doppler frequency of 8 MHz and pulse repetition frequency of 0.5 kHz.
The sample was not sized for a powerful statistical analysis so, results should be interpreted cautiously. Continuous variables were described as median (range) or mean ± SD according to the distribution. Comparisons among different groups were carried out using Kruskal Wallis analysis (KW), the Mann–Whitney U-test and Pearson's Chi-square as necessary. Pearson coefficient was used for correlations. In all statistical analyses, significance was defined as P < 0.05. Statistical analyses were performed using the GraphPad Prism 5.02 version (GraphPad software Inc, La Jolla, CA, USA).
Differences in enthesis thickness across the groups
The respective differences in enthesis thickness have been summarized in [Table - 2].
Table 2: Enthesis thickness
Elbow: Ultrasound examination of the lateral epicondyle showed a significant difference in the enthesis thickness bilaterally across the three groups (KW: P < 0.0001). In particular, we found the highest difference comparing the right lateral epicondyle of psoriatic arthritis patients with the healthy controls group [psoriatic arthritis: 5.2 mm (3.9–7.1); healthy controls: 4.1 mm (3.1-5.9); P < 0.0001]. A difference of approximately 0.7 mm at the lateral epicondyle bilaterally was found between only skin psoriasis group and healthy controls (P = 0.003). Only slight differences emerged comparing only skin psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The olecranon tuberosity enthesis thickness was bilaterally higher in psoriatic arthritis group compared to only skin psoriasis and healthy controls [psoriatic arthritis: 4.3 mm (3–5,8); only skin psoriasis: 3.8 mm (2.8–5.2); healthy controls: 3.5 mm (3–4.6). The following significances were found when comparisons among the different groups were performed: Psoriatic arthritis vs healthy controls P < 0.0001; psoriatic arthritis vs only skin psoriasis P = 0.001, only skin psoriasis vs healthy controls P = 0.0085
Knee: At the four knee entheses examined, we found relevant differences across the three groups. The highest thickness difference was between the right superior pole of the patella of psoriatic arthritis patients and healthy controls [psoriatic arthritis: 7.8 mm (5.3–10.5); healthy controls: 5.4 mm (4.6–7.6); P < 0.0001]. psoriatic arthritis group differed from only skin psoriasis at approximately 1.3 mm bilaterally (P < 0.0001). At the medial epicondyle of femur, there was bilaterally a significant difference between psoriatic arthritis and healthy controls and between psoriatic arthritis and only skin psoriasis, respectively, but not between only skin psoriasis and healthy controls [significance: Psoriatic arthritis vs healthy controls, P = 0.0003; psoriatic arthritis vs only skin psoriasis, P = 0.0022; only skin psoriasis vs healthy controls, P = 0.59]. The thickness differences detected at the origin and insertion of the patellar ligament emerged mainly by comparing the tibial tuberosity insertion of psoriatic arthritis and healthy controls [psoriatic arthritis: 5 mm (3.5–7.5); healthy controls: 4.4 (3.6–5.8); P = 0.008]
Heel: the analysis of the measurements carried out at the superior pole of the calcaneus showed only slight statistically not significant differences among the three groups (KW: P =0.4). At the inferior pole of the calcaneus, we found a slight but statistically significant difference among the three groups (KW: P < 0.0001), with the most relevant difference between patients with psoriatic arthritis and controls (0, 8 mm; P < 0.0001).
Thickness total score
The comparative analysis of the score obtained by summing the thickness of the 8 entheses for each patient showed statistically significant difference among the three groups with a median of 81.3 mm (66.7–98.5) for psoriatic arthritis patients and respectively of 74.4 mm (63.6–87.6), and 67.6 mm (60.6–80.7) for only skin psoriasis group and controls (KW: P < 0.0001).
The thickness total score correlates with the number of erosions in psoriatic arthritis group but not in the only skin psoriasis patients and with the calcification score in psoriatic arthritis, only skin psoriasis and healthy controls [Erosions: Psoriatic arthritis Spearman r = 0.44, P = 0.0006; only skin psoriasis Spearman r = 0.28, P = 0.07 (n.s.); Calcification score: Psoriatic arthritis Spearman r = 0.6, P < 0.0001; only skin psoriasis Spearman r = 0.36, P = 0.02; healthy controls Spearman r = 0.38, P = 0.01].
Interestingly, the thickness total score correlates with the BMI of the only skin psoriasis patients and controls [only skin psoriasis Spearman r = 0.42, P = 0.006; healthy controls Spearman r = 0.33, P = 0.02] but not with the BMI of the psoriatic arthritis group [Spearman r = 0.17, P = 0.18 (n.s.)]
A slight correlation was found between the thickness total score and the age of patients with only skin psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis [psoriatic arthritis Spearman r = 0.29, P = 0.03; only skin psoriasis Spearman r = 0.33, P = 0,03]. No correlation was found between the thickness total score and the age of onset of only skin psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.
Finally, the thickness total score strictly correlates with the MASEI index in the three groups [psoriatic arthritis Spearman r = 0.63, P < 0.0001; only skin psoriasis Spearman r = 0.52, P = 0.0005; healthy controls Spearman r = 0.57, P < 0.0001].
Enthesis chronic abnormalities
The comparative analysis of the calcification score across the three groups and the bone erosion count is summarized in [Table - 3].
Table 3: Enthesis chronic abnormalities
A sub-analysis conducted on psoriatic arthritis patients with erosive changes of entheses revealed that of the 8 entheses examined, erosive changes were observed mainly at the following sites: (i) medial epicondyle of femur, (ii) superior pole of the patella, and (iii) superior pole of the calcaneus.
It is important to note that the average thickness of the entheses affected by bone erosions increased compared to the normal values [Table - 4].
Table 4: Thickness of enthesis affected by bone erosion
Ultrasound has a relevant role in the diagnosis and management of psoriatic arthritis mainly owing to its capacity to diagnose clinically undetectable arthritis and enthesitis. Moreover, previous reports have indicated the usefulness of ultrasound in detecting signs of enthesitis in only skin psoriasis patients without clinical signs of inflammatory arthritis.[8],[9],[10],[13]
The purpose of our study was to clarify whether ultrasound measurement of enthesis thickness allows differentiation of patients with only skin psoriasis from psoriatic arthritis patients with asymptomatic enthesitis.
In our opinion, the thickness measurement represents the most reproducible method for assessing the inflammatory enthesitis. In fact, the power Doppler signal may not be detected even during the course of inflammation, especially in the very early stages of the disease. On the contrary, findings such as calcifications or erosions are expression of chronic inflammation and irreversible damage.[11],[12],[19]
Our analysis showed (for the first time), that the major differences in thickness between psoriasis cases with and without psoriatic arthritis were at the following enthesis sites: (i) olecranon tuberosity and (ii) superior pole of the patella [Table - 2]. Therefore, these two should be regarded as critical when scanning for enthesitis by ultrasound in psoriatic patients. Regarding the comparative analysis of the entheseal thickness between only skin psoriasis and healthy controls, we found statistically significant differences at the lateral and medial entheses of the elbow at the level of the superior pole of the patella and at the tibial insertion of the patellar tendon.
Our data is consistent with the hypothesis suggested by recent studies that a subclinical involvement of tendons and entheses is present in these patients.[10],[14]
From a histopathological viewpoint, the tendon thickening detected by ultrasound may be explained by the disorganization of the normal fibrillar architecture, which is already present in the very early stages of the disease, as reported in recent studies.[2]
Another novel finding of the present study was the measurement of the thickness of the medial collateral ligament at the site of the femoral origin. Although the clinical relevance of the above-mentioned site is emphasized by the fact that it is included in the Leeds score, it has never been investigated by ultrasound in either only skin psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. Our ultrasound data shows that the thickness of enthesis at this site is increased in psoriatic arthritis, but not in only skin psoriasis and healthy controls [Table - 2]. It may be noted that this site was the only one where there were no thickness differences between only skin psoriasis and healthy controls [Table - 2]. The significance of this last finding is at present unknown.
The fact that the enthesis thickness correlates with BMI and the age of the patients implies that there are many factors which could influence the enthesis thickness; nevertheless, interestingly we found a strong correlation between the thickness total score and the number of erosions.
In particular, in psoriatic arthritis patients the highest enthesis thickness was seen in areas where bone erosions were also present. These findings together with the data of a correlation between the enthesis thickness and the degree of calcification may indicate that thickening is an alteration closely linked to damage of the enthesis [Figure - 1].
Once again, the medial epicondyle of femur was the commonest site of involvement in psoriatic arthritis because erosive changes were seen in 50% of the patients studied [Figure - 2].
The most important limitation of our study was the small sample of patients studied. In addition, the results do not include a comparative analysis with data from patients with clinically evident signs of enthesitis. This reinforces the need of longitudinal studies aimed to validate our preliminary observations.
Our results clearly demonstrate the existence of significant differences in the enthesis thickness between psoriatic arthritis and only skin psoriasis, even in sites never considered previously.
The present study confirms that the ultrasound measurement of enthesis thickness is a reliable and accurate method to evaluate in clinical practice; the degree of enthesis involvement in psoriasis patients especially in absence of clear signs of enthesitis detectable on clinical examination.
McGonagle D, Khan MA, Marzo-Ortega H, O'Connor P, Gibbon W, Emery P. Enthesitis in spondyloarthropathy. Curr Opin Rheumatol 1999;11:244-50.
McGonagle D, Marzo-Ortega H, O'Connor P, Gibbon W, Hawkey P, Henshaw K, et al. Histological assessment of the early enthesitis lesion in spondyloarthropathy. Ann Rheum Dis 2002;61:534-7.
Ballanti E, Perricone C, di Muzio G, Kroegler B, Chimenti MS, Graceffa D, et al. Role of the complement system in rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis: Relationship with anti-TNF inhibitors. Autoimmun Rev 2011;10:617-23.
Healy PJ, Helliwell PS. Measuring clinical enthesitis in psoriatic arthritis: Assessment of existing measures and development of an instrument specific to psoriatic arthritis. Arthritis Rheum 2008;59:686-91.
Heuft-Dorenbosch L, van Tubergen A, Spoorenberg A, Landewé R, Dougados M, Mielants H, et al. The influence of peripheral arthritis on disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis patients as measured with the bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index. Arthritis Rheum 2004;51:154-9.
Gutierrez M, Zeiler M, Filippucci E, Salaffi F, Becciolini A, Bertolazzi C, et al. Sonographic subclinical entheseal involvement in dialysis patients. Clin Rheumatol 2011;30:907-13.
Balint PV, Kane D, Wilson H, McInnes IB, Sturrock RD. Ultrasonography of entheseal insertions in the lower limb in spondyloarthropathy. Ann Rheum Dis 2002;61:905-10.
Naredo E, Möller I, de Miguel E, Batlle-Gualda E, Acebes C, Brito E, et al. High prevalence of ultrasonographic synovitis and enthesopathy in patients with psoriasis without psoriatic arthritis: A prospective case-control study. Rheumatology (Oxford) 2011;50:1838-48.
de Miguel E, Cobo T, Muñoz-Fernández S, Naredo E, Usón J, Acebes JC, et al. Validity of enthesis ultrasound assessment in spondyloarthropathy. Ann Rheum Dis 2009;68:169-74.
Gisondi P, Tinazzi I, El-Dalati G, Gallo M, Biasi D, Barbara LM, et al. Lower limb enthesopathy in patients with psoriasis without clinical signs of arthropathy: A hospital-based case-control study. Ann Rheum Dis 2008;67:26-30.
Eder L, Jayakar J, Thavaneswaran A, Haddad A, Chandran V, Salonen D, et al. Is the MAdrid sonographic enthesitis index useful for differentiating psoriatic arthritis from psoriasis alone and healthy controls? J Rheumatol 2014;41:466-72.
Mandl P, Niedermayer DS, Balint PV. Ultrasound for enthesitis: Handle with care! Ann Rheum Dis 2012;71:477-9.
Gandjbakhch F, Terslev L, Joshua F, Wakefield RJ, Naredo E, D'Agostino MA, et al. Ultrasound in the evaluation of enthesitis: Status and perspectives. Arthritis Res Ther 2011;13:R188.
Bandinelli F, Prignano F, Bonciani D, Bartoli F, Collaku L, Candelieri A, et al. Ultrasound detects occult entheseal involvement in early psoriatic arthritis independently of clinical features and psoriasis severity. Clin Exp Rheumatol 2013;31:219-24.
Litinsky I, Balbir-Gurman A, Wollman J, Arad U, Paran D, Caspi D, et al. Ultrasound assessment of enthesis thickening in psoriatic arthritis patients treated with adalimumab compared to methotrexate. Clin Rheumatol 2016;35:363-70.
Taylor W, Gladman D, Helliwell P, Marchesoni A, Mease P, Mielants H, et al. Classification criteria for psoriatic arthritis: Development of new criteria from a large international study. Arthritis Rheum 2006;54:2665-73.
Lee JI, Song IS, Jung YB, Kim YG, Wang CH, Yu H, et al. Medial collateral ligament injuries of the knee: Ultrasonographic findings. J Ultrasound Med 1996;15:621-5.
Toprak U, Başkan B, Üstüner E, Öten E, Altin L, Karademir MA, et al. Common extensor tendon thickness measurements at the radiocapitellar region in diagnosis of lateral elbow tendinopathy. Diagn Interv Radiol 2012;18:566-70.
D'Agostino MA, Aegerter P, Bechara K, Salliot C, Judet O, Chimenti MS, et al. How to diagnose spondyloarthritis early? Accuracy of peripheral enthesitis detection by power Doppler ultrasonography. Ann Rheum Dis 2011;70:1433-40.
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text:
Раи́ль Са́лихович Сарба́ев (; р. 11 января 1962, Абзаново, Зианчуринский район, Башкирская АССР) — государственный и общественный деятель Башкортостана, премьер-министр Правительства Республики Башкортостан c 10 апреля 2008 года по 23 июля 2010 года.

Биография
Родился 11 января 1962 года в деревне Абзаново Зианчуринского района Башкирской АССР. Образование высшее — окончил Башкирский сельскохозяйственный институт и Башкирский государственный университет.

В 1980 году начал работать в колхозе «Дружба» Зианчуринского района. С 1980 по 1985 год учился в Башкирском сельскохозяйственном институте. В 1985 году работал старшим агрономом зианчуринского районного объединения «Сельхозхимия».

С 1985 по 1989 год — второй, затем первый секретарь Зианчуринского райкома ВЛКСМ.

С 1989 по 1992 год являлся заместителем председателя исполкома Зианчуринского райсовета. С 1992 по 1994 год — заместитель главы, с 1994 по 2000 год — глава администрации Зианчуринского района.

С 2000 по 2005 год — глава администрации Сибая.

В 2005 году руководил башкирским территориальным управлением Россельхознадзора. С марта 2005 года — министр имущественных отношений Республики Башкортостан, с мая 2007 года — министр земельных и имущественных отношений Республики Башкортостан.

10 апреля 2008 года назначен премьер-министром Башкортостана.

С 16 июля 2010 года — исполняющий обязанности премьер-министра Башкортостана в связи с досрочной отставкой М. Рахимова. 19 июля был отправлен в отставку по собственному желанию.

Также являлся председателем Совета директоров ОАО «Башинформсвязь».

С 16 января 2013 года до 4 июля 2014 года — вице-президент ОАО «СГ-транс».

Участие в выборах 2014
Раиль Сарбаев выдвинул свою кандидатуру на пост Президента Республики Башкортостан. В соответствии с новыми правилами выборов, кандидат в президенты может быть выдвинут только от партии (самовыдвижение исключено), причём каждая партия выдвигает только одного кандидата. В связи с этим Раиль Сарбаев покинул «Единую Россию», так как её представляет экс-президент Республики Башкортостан Рустэм Хамитов, и начал избирательную кампанию от партии «Гражданская сила». Однако, кандидатура Раиля Сарбаева была неожиданно отозвана «Гражданской силой» за 15 минут до конца рабочего дня, в последний день регистрации участников. После чего экс-премьер республики подал в суд на партию, отозвавшую его с выборов. Иски поданы в Верховный суд Башкортостана и Пресненский суд Москвы. По мнению самого Сарбаева, его кандидатура была отозвана под давлением властей:

Никто в партии не может назвать ясной и определённой причины этого отзыва — все прячут лицо. А это значит, что решение было принято в последний момент и под жёстким давлением.

Между тем, республиканский ЦИК потребовал уже от экс-кандиата вернуть деньги, выделенные на избирательную кампанию. Правозащитник Эдвард Мурзин следующим образом прокомментировал данную ситуацию:

Не могу сказать, кто стоит за этими грязными технологиями, но одно могу утверждать точно: появился новый метод снятия с предвыборной гонки неудобных кандидатов. Как бы я ни относился к Раилю Сарбаеву, считаю такие методы недопустимыми. Они подрывают доверие не только к выборам, но и к власти.

Уголовное дело против Сарбаева
В феврале 2011 года в отношении 49-летнего Раиля Сарбаева по факту нанесения ущерба республиканской казне на сумму более 1,6 млн рублей было возбуждено уголовное дело по ч.2 ст.285 УК РФ (злоупотребление должностными полномочиями лицом, занимающим государственную должность субъекта РФ).

В ноябре 2011 года следственные органы Следственного комитета РФ по Башкортостану предъявили Сарбаеву обвинение в совершении преступления, предусмотренного ч. 4 ст. 160 УК РФ (растрата).

27 июля 2012 года Кировский суд города Уфы оправдал Сарбаева по делу о незаконной растрате бюджетных средств. 13 ноября кассационная коллегия Верховного суда Башкирии отменила оправдательный приговор и направила уголовное дело на новое рассмотрение в тот же суд в новом составе судей. 10 июня 2013 года Кировский райсуд Уфы повторно оправдал Сарбаева. Решение суда прокуратурой РБ обжаловано, но Верховный Суд Республики Башкортостан отклонил апелляционное представление и оправдал Сарбаева в сентябре 2013 года.

Награды
 Орден Салавата Юлаева
 Заслуженный строитель Республики Башкортостан

Примечания

Ссылки

Депутаты районных советов РСФСР
Председатели правительства Башкортостана
Выпускники Башкирского государственного аграрного университета
Члены «Гражданской силы»
Главы районов России
Заслуженные строители Республики Башкортостан
Кандидаты биологических наук
Члены «Единой России»
Первые секретари районных комитетов ВЛКСМ
Главы городов Башкортостана
Члены правительства Башкортостана

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


GEORGIA–A federal District Court in Atlanta on Oct. 23 ordered the release of affidavits submitted by the FBI in connection with its investigation of Richard Jewell, the security guard who on Oct. 26 was cleared of involvement in the July bombing at Centennial Olympic Park and who has said he will sue media organizations that reported he was the suspect.
The court ruled that three media organizations that had sued for access had a common law right to review the affidavits.
Based upon the affidavits, filed with the court under seal, Magistrate Judge Gerrilyn Brill issued search warrants in July authorizing the FBI to take hair samples from Jewell and to search his home, pickup truck and storage unit.
Brill had ruled in early September that Jewell could view redacted copies of the affidavits on the condition that he and his attorneys refrain from publicly discussing them. In accordance with the court's order, the government provided Jewell with copies of the documents that deleted references to the bomb's construction and the investigation. Jewell asked the court to allow further disclosure, arguing that it had allowed too much information to be redacted.
In mid-September, The Atlanta Journal, The Atlanta Constitution and WSB-TV petitioned the court for access to the redacted documents. The government opposed the media groups' petition, arguing that there is no constitutional right of access to sealed search warrant affidavits and that the common law right does not require a compelling interest to keep the documents sealed. The government also argued that releasing the documents would damage its investigation and set a dangerous precedent that could jeopardize future investigations.
Judge J. Owen Forrester ruled on behalf of the media parties in late October. While finding no First Amendment right of access to search warrant affidavits, the judge held that the common law right to inspect judicial records applied. Forrester reasoned that the government's interest in maintaining the secrecy of its investigation would not be compromised because the investigation had ended, the media sought only "limited information," and much of the information sought had already been made public through government leaks. The court also noted that Jewell did not oppose release of the documents.
Forrester also ruled that Brill had been "overly cautious" in redacting the documents prior to delivering them to Jewell, and ordered the release of any additional information unrelated to the protection of the governmental interests articulated in her order.
However, after conducting an electronic database search, the judge determined that the witnesses' names listed in the affidavits should remain sealed, with the exception of one whose name was already in the public domain. The judge also ordered the continued sealing of the items seized from Jewell during the searches of his property.


The item Nickelodeon, Rootin' tootin' wild west, (videorecording) represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in District of Columbia Public Library System.
Yell "yee-haw" for six Wild West adventures with your Nickelodeon friends! Celebrate with a Bubble Guppies cowgirl parade. Saddle up with Team Umizoomi and Dora! Sing and dance at a Fresh Beat Band hoedown, and help western animals with Diego and the Wonder Pets! It's a rootin'-tootin' good time!
DVD, full screen format, region 1, Dolby digital.


The Trial Kickstart is based on CentOS Linux distribution and can be installed on physical or virtual machines. This Trial also gives you access to our Global Endpoint Deduplication™ as well as our VSS plugin (for MSSQL, Exchange and System State).
If you need to use other plugins, we also offer the possibility to test our solution via the Try & Buy offer; this testing method allows you to test our software and technical support during a period of 1 month, to then continue to use it for the next 11 months, all under the normal subscription umbrella. One main advantage of the Try & Buy offer is that you don't need to re-install the Bacula Enterprise Edition infrastructure after the test, hence you can continue as it is set up to use it in your production environment.
To go with the Try & Buy offer, please contact us.


My friendly attitude, hot body and alluring beauty will charm you and knock you off your feet. I will entertain you actively then you will realise what a pleasure it is to be in such presence. I am a compassionate and insightful listener who is incredibly easy and comfortable to be with. Satisfy your interest and your curiosity for something outstanding and unbelievable. I will be your perfect companion for dinner, social or business functions. I provide personal service to stimulate your body, mind and soul.


For your convenience, PalmShield Louvers provides complete specifications in addition to PDF and DWG downloadable architectural CAD drawings for our industrial aluminum louver screen systems, mechanical equipment screen and mechanical equipment enclosures. Click the button below to download an editable Microsoft Word .doc file of PalmShield Louver System Specifications. To download the Horizontal Louvers CAD drawings, click on either the PDF or DWG file icon below the image of the drawing you want. If you need additional specs or information, please don't hesitate to contact us. PalmSHIELD is the ultimate architectural equipment screening. CAD drawings are organized by category. Please let us know if you can't find the information that you need. Simply click on any of the the images below to access the CAD drawings for each category.


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text:
Theresa Altameze Manuel (ur. 7 stycznia 1926 w Tampa, zm. 21 listopada 2016 tamże) – amerykańska lekkoatletka.

Podczas igrzysk olimpijskich w Londynie (1948) odpadła w eliminacjach na 80 metrów przez płotki oraz w sztafecie 4 × 100 metrów, a w rzucie oszczepem zajęła 12. miejsce.

Halowa mistrzyni USA w biegu na 50 metrów przez płotki.

Uprawiała także koszykówkę, po zakończeniu kariery sportowej była trenerką tej dyscypliny.

Przypisy

Bibliografia

Amerykańscy oszczepnicy
Amerykańscy płotkarze
Amerykańscy sprinterzy
Amerykańscy olimpijczycy
Urodzeni w 1926
Zmarli w 2016
Uczestnicy Letnich Igrzysk Olimpijskich 1948
Ludzie urodzeni w Tampie


text:
Guy Combes
Guy Combes can teach you how to paint grass, foliage, fur, and patterns on wild animals. "I had complete immersion in African wildlife from a very young age," he says. His dad was both a wildlife artist and a game warden in Kenya. Combes's family raised orphaned wild animals and released them back into the wild.
At the SKB workshop in Dubois, he'll be teaching indoors the entire time, from reference photos. But there will still be danger–a real risk that we'll soon be taking a trip. Combes assures us that after watching his films of Africa and hearing some stories about the land and animals there, we will be on fire to go there.
Combes didn't realize just how special his upbringing was until he went to school in England, and spent some time in the United States. "As a kid I was fascinated by animals, as any kid is, but I took for granted what I was exposed to," says the artist. "I was always very aware of my dad's relationship with animals. He was steeped in conservation, and had military training. My dad always hunted as a kid, and that is what gave him his knowledge of animals. He used spears and arrows–no guns–and it was for the pot. When you go out tracking an animal, that is when you learn the most about it. My dad was someone I really looked up to."
"I grew up with a good knowledge of animals and how they behave," says Combes. "People have misconceptions about how animals behave and how people treat them and regard them. That is one of the big reasons behind why I am so involved in conservation."
Combes is fiercely protective of the magnificent wild animals he paints, but this does not mean he is opposed to hunting. The artist acknowledges that hunting organizations have funded conservation efforts more than any other group. One of his closest friends was once a professional hunter, and Combes calls him before painting some pictures to get insight into the featured animal's behavior. Combes doesn't hunt, but he wouldn't refuse to join a hunting party and take reference photos for his paintings. He says his dad acted as a guide on occasion, but he wasn't interested in trophy hunting. He once killed an elephant and "decided it wasn't the thing for him," according to Combes. Likewise, the artist appreciates how close a hunter gets to some elusive creatures.
The painter also embraces the use of game ranches and animal sanctuaries, pointing out that they are sometimes the best way to get close to big cats. The important thing is to shoot one's own reference photos. To do so, you must be in the presence of these imposing animals. "Using my own reference carries me throughout the whole painting process," says Combes. "It's important that I feel that I'm fully charged up by an experience that only I have had. That is what I communicate in the painting. What I'm trying to do is to put forward my experience of the animal so that it stirs people emotionally on the same level that I'm stirred emotionally when I have encounters in the field. And some of my paintings definitely have a narrative in them; they tell the story of the relationship of the animal with the environment, something the viewer won't expect–the unusual things that people don't expect to see. It's definitely a balance to put out an image that people relate to but are educated by, and are stirred emotionally by. It's a whole package."


text:
The 1954 Ottawa Rough Riders finished in 4th place in the IRFU with a 2–12 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Preseason

Regular season

Standings

Schedule

References

Ottawa Rough Riders seasons
1954 Canadian football season by team


If it is a high time to replace the lights then the choice that is made has to the best as good quality lights last for a long time and they give much more efficiency. The best manufacturing companies provide lights that are engineered to meet or exceed OEM specifications. Most of these lights we offer are certified to meet or exceed OE specs by CAPA; the only industry recognized organization to certify aftermarket lights. In addition to it, virtually all of our factories are ISO9002 certified; which is the top worldwide certification for quality control.
Our car & truck lights come with a 1-year Limited Warranty against defects in workmanship and materials. There are many companies that help you find the used car or truck that you are looking to purchase. One has to simply tell the service provider about the vehicle one is looking for, the price you are willing to pay for it, and we will search for it. There is a system that will distribute your request to a nationwide network of used car dealers, auto pools, car traders and individual sellers that want to sell you a car or truck. Not only lights but also the service provider can help you find new, pre-owned, classic, salvage and repairable vehicles.


Brisbane and Melbourne will host Australia's Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth stars in the annual battle of the boards with the two cities confirmed to host the 2019 Cycling Australia Track National Championships.
Australia's 2019 summer of track cycling will begin in December with a three-day pre-Christmas track cycling feast in Melbourne.
The action gets underway on Thursday 13 December at DISC Velodrome with the two-day Para-cycling Nationals, with the Omnium Nationals to cap the week off on Friday 14 December.
Track cycling will take centre stage on Saturday 15 December at Melbourne Arena with a huge night of racing to be headlined by the Madison, Team Sprint and Team Pursuit Nationals, in addition to the prestigious 121st Austral Wheelrace.
The action moves to Brisbane in March and April with three Track National events to be showcased as part of the exciting new Brisbane Cycling Festival.
The Elite/U19 Nationals return to Brisbane's Anna Meares Velodrome (3-6 April) with the Velodrome also set to host the Junior (28-31 March) and Masters (7-10 April) Nationals.


text:
Q: When should I use const& to this? I found some code like this:
class foo{
    int a;
public:
    foo(int v) : a{v} {}
    bool operator==(const foo& rhs) const&{
        return (rhs.a == a);
    }
};

It compiles and runs.
I was wondering what are the benefits (or drawbacks) of having the reference (&) to this in the operator==.

A: As T.C. has been pointing out in comments, this reason for this is NOT "to accept only lvalues".  const references bind to rvalues just fine.
The reason for it is that functions can be overloaded on value category of the implicit object parameter only if ALL overloads specify a value category.  That is, when you add an overload with && that matches only rvalues, it won't compile unless you add & to the existing overload.
In 13.1, here is the wording of the rule:

Member  function  declarations  with  the  same  name  and  the  same  parameter-type-list  as  well  as  member function template declarations with the same name, the same parameter-type-list, and the same
  template parameter lists cannot be overloaded if any of them, but not all, have a ref-qualifier.

and gives an example

class  Y
{
   void  h()  &;
   void  h()  const  &;        // OK
   void  h()  &&;              // OK, all declarations have a ref-qualifier
   void  i()  &;
   void  i()  const;           // ill-formed, prior declaration of  i
                               // has a ref-qualifier
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Everybody wants these things. And the good news is, every body has the built-in ability to achieve them.
I'm Tracy McGovern, and my passion is empowering people to understand the control and power they have over their own health. As a reflexology and Reiki practitioner, I work directly with people to help them tap into their body's innate ability to heal; as an instructor, I teach people how to become facilitators of that essential connection.
You are meant for well-being! Drop me a line to set up a free health consultation, and discover all the goodness your body has in store for you.
Yes, I want to reconnect with my health!
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text:
Home/Uudised/Estonian GRP specialist Composite Plus invests in production
Estonian GRP specialist Composite Plus invests in production
IBI Plus News writes: Composite Plus OÜ is to take delivery of a five-axis CNC milling machine next month.
Composite Plus OÜ, an Estonian producer of GRP plugs and production moulds for the boatbuilding industry, is to take delivery of a new five-axis CNC milling machine in August. The company plans to market its CNC services under the Baltic Tooling trademark.
Measuring 15.5m x 6.2m x 3m, the new milling machine can produce plugs with a surface roughness of up to 0.17-0.2mm and fine milling with a 0.01mm scallop, allowing the company to produce large, high-quality models. In also enables all tooling to be produced in-house, and controls the product quality and project time-schedules.
Composite Plus has been producing high-quality plugs and production moulds to leading boatbuilders from Germany and Scandinavia for five years. The product range varies from small components to hulls and decks of over 20m in length.
Earlier this year, the company moved to new facilities on the island of Saaremaa, where the majority of small-craft builders in Estonia are based. It has a total area of around 1,200sq m.
info@compositeplus.com
www.compositeplus.com
By A|2017-03-07T16:39:21+02:00July 15th, 2016|Uudised|Comments Off on Estonian GRP specialist Composite Plus invests in production
About the Author: A


Sillery, Thursday June 9th, 2005.
Thonnard, F.-J. Précis de philosophie, Paris, Desclée, 1950.
Thonnard, F.-J. Précis d'histoire de philosophie, Paris, Desclée, 1966.
Thonnard, F.-J. Extraits des grands philosophes, Paris, Desclée, 1937.
- an e-mail on February 5, 2004.
- an e-mail on May 5, 2004.
- a registered letter on July 7, 2004.
- an e-mail on June 9, 2005, to send this Open Letter, and to notify you of its presence on my web site.
>> Subject: Re: Demande de permission de mettre les oeuvres de F.-J.
Please note once more that personally, I don't want anybody's IP! I'd much rather have Desclée de Brouwer simply reprint Thonnard. My problem would be solved! (Especially if it was also offered in English).
Another solution would be to find a better Philosophy manual, but so far Thonnard is "the least bad" I've found (no manual is perfect, of course).
My last resort is to digitize Thonnard and to put it on the Internet, but for this I need to avoid stealing other people's IP! Hence my many efforts to contact you.
I therefore ask you again, Please (and almost on my knees!), and this time not only by e-mail but also by posting this letter on my website, if you grant me permission to digitize the works of Thonnard (listed here above), and to put them in the public domain on the Internet.
If the only thing preventing you to reprint these books is lack of time and money, I can probably find people who will digitize those books for free, as long as you promise to offer those works in bookstores fairly quickly.
Ideally, you would donate Thonnard's IP to the "OSThoPhiT" project (of course, at the condition that nobody would make any money with Thonnard! We don't want to rob you!).


text:
Senior night ensues; CMB stops 'Stangs
by Kinsey Phipps
On Oct. 11, the PCM senior volleyball players stepped on their home court for the last time. The senior night matchup game was between the Mustangs and the CMB Raiders. Hopes were high that PCM could pull out one last win at home, but the Raiders took it away, winning 3-0.
The first set was a nail-biting back and forth battle between rivals CMB and PCM. However, CMB was able to pull out the win with a score of 25-20.
Senior Kaylee Townsend lead the stampede in kills with six on the night. Townsend had the most total blocks with four.
The second set was the Raiders all the way, as they won 25-15.
Senior Abbi Hartgers was the number one passer of the night, scooping up four digs. Senior Katie Vande Wall served 13 out of 13 effectively with 100-percent efficiency.
The Mustangs fought hard in the third set, but CMB took the win with a final score of 25-21.
With no surprise, senior Kayla Jennings earned the title of most assists, setting up 12 for the night.
The seniors led the way in all aspects of the game on senior night. Good luck to all in their future endeavors.


Well, I think the pros of homeschooling your kids are that you have the opportunity to be with your kids. It's one of the main reasons I home schooled my kids, is I wanted the best of them. And the best of them was the time between 8 and 3 when they would have been in school. And that's one of the biggest pros of homeschooling your kids, for me. The other pro is that you have the opportunity to tailor an education for that child. If that child is in the 3rd grade but they're ready for 7th grade math, then you do 7th grade math. If that child is in the 6th grade and they really hate history, well you can tie history to some other thing that they like. One of my boys lived ancient weapons; didn't want to learn about history, but loved weapons. So that was the lens that we looked at history through. So you can make learning attractive to your child that you might not be able to in a traditional way.


text:
Experiment #2: Jumping through Hoops
A playful invitation with a deeper political message about how society requires us to jump through hoops to have access to basic rights, social care and security
Three performers wearing high-viz vests hold hula hoops and stand in a line in the pedestrianised shopping precinct of Cabot Circus and Broadmead in Bristol. The performers invite passing pedestrians to climb through the hoops as they go past. They either ask the question "would you like to jump through these hoops?" or gently indicate the pathway through the hoop in silence but with a smile. For those who accept the invitation they bend down and climb through each hoop, that may be lifted or lowered to make the journey harder or easier. The hoop jumper is 'assessed' by a performer dressed in medical scrubs placed at the end who gives them a 'pass' or 'fail' written on a piece of paper. Three performers are plants pretending to be everyday public and agree to participate in invited action to encourage other members of public to join in. One of the plants is disabled and walks with crutches. She asks for assistance from people passing by, seeking advice on the best way to climb through or demonstrations on the best approach. The action happens at three locations; one inside Cabot Circus Mall and two places on Broadmead; one in an open section of the path and the second where the path narrows making it more difficult to avoid the line of hoops.
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
There is a mixed response from the public. Some participate, some watch and some walk around to avoid the performers. A couple of young men walking past see the game and run over to climb through. Some curious members of public and come over and ask what is going on. Parents encourage children to run through but most will not climb through themselves. At one point a family group with 6 small children stop to play, with the children running continually through the tunnel of hoops, enjoying the game while their mother enjoys a small rest. Our disabled performer asks for help as she climbs through and receives it from passers by. "Some were kind enough to assist myself through hoops and demonstrate (with my crutches) how to get through". The physical act of navigating through the three hoops by members of public and the 'plants' becomes a spectacle for others who stop to look. A couple watching from a bench applaud the success of participants. A performer notes that "people want a distraction and to play." For most spectators the overall message is unclear, "I'm confused though, I don't understand" says one participant who has completed the task and receives an assessment. Another asks "what benefits am I getting?" the answer to which we do not have.
REFLECTIONS AFTER THE ACT
As a group, our main reflection after the act was that our message was not clear but the task was. This came down to the lack of time for the group to get on the same page with the action we were going to create. Our first proposal was to create a set of difficult or impossible tasks that we would put the disabled performer through. However as a group we felt that it would give a strong message but not one that everyone felt clear on "The subjects can be very sensitive and so I felt uncomfortable to have a voice on something I knew so little about." We decided to simplify the task and generalise the message so that the whole group felt comfortable enacting it. Our theme and message then became physical act of the idiom "jumping through hoops". This produced a paradoxical action, the fun game with a serious political commentary on passing or failing benefit assessments.
In the workshop the group explored images of circus act in order to uncover themes, idioms and political implications inherent in them. A knife thrower and his assistant inspired a conversation about gender politics. Another pair compared two images; one of acrobats flying though the air and another of militant looking tight-wire walkers high above a cityscape. The exercise fed into a brainstorming exercise and inspired lateral thinking from which we arrived at the idiom of 'jumping through hoops'. One participant noted that the exercise allowed the circus "metaphors exist as a tool, rather than a trope". The circus was also referenced by the use of hula hoops which was recognisable and had the connotation of playfulness and fun.
Time was short and half the participants noted that they would have liked more time to prepare before going onto the street. But everyone agreed much of the discoveries happened there. One participant noted that her perception of certain members of the public was challenged, "There was a woman who looked to me that she wouldn't participate and I found myself reluctant to ask her to but I challenged myself to make contact and she did go through the hoop". In terms of developing the work, the group agreed that it was useful to test the action to see what worked, what did not and what the public reception was like. Clearly the lack of a message or take home for the audience was an issue but the group came up with ideas to develop the piece including having information on the back of the assessor's sheet that she gives the public.
For me the most effective and revealing aspects of the action was its simplicity. The task was easy to read and people were happy to participate without knowing what it was about. If they did not want to participate they smiled as they went around. This task encouraged participation, addressing the idea of doing the action 'with' the audience, rather than 'at' them and it created a spectacle for others.
PART ONE - games and physical exploration to get to know each other, build trust and complicity
PART TWO - we explored source material on creative protest and shared our findings. Then we broke into three groups to look at circus images to explore the themes, metaphors and political implications of each. After lunch we quickly looked at types of street theatre and tactics used in protest. This was followed by a brainstorming session of potential 'acts of resistance', blue-sky thinking and then what would be feasible immediately. The group share ideas and collectively discussed what action we would like to do. The debate centred two similar ideas around benefits and how they affect the vulnerable in society. The negotiation took some time to ensure everyone was comfortable with the action and authentically representing the 'message'.
There were six women and one man present at the workshop. 28% were aged between 16 and 30, 58% aged between 31 and 45 and 14% were 45+. The participants were mainly connected to circus; a mix of performers teachers, students and directors. There was also a musician and an activist present.
The majority of participants had had experience of circus and street theatre. Everyone had experience of watching circus while 87% had direct experience learning skills or performing. The brainstorming exercises using circus images provided participants with new insights; different ways of exploring circus and revealing the political. One participant said they had discovered "lots of insights through looking at photos and thinking about what issues might be in a wider context". In application, another noted that you could use circus "to tell another story, away from the traditional aspect" while another said the exploration of circus metaphors highlighted how they could "exist as a tool, rather than a trope".
Everyone had seen street theatre of some form before and 57% of participants had previously performed on the street in some capacity. The biggest learning curve for participants had been directly on the street where they gained new insights about performing in public space; "play invites people of all ages to engage", "reading people is super important" and the "public are very helpful towards people with disabilities". While another noted that her own prejudices had been challenged; "I was reluctant to ask certain people to join in because I thought they would say no. But I did ask and they joined in!"
All the participants had had experience of protest in some form or another. Most had participated in public marches and demonstrations. The process and experience provided new insights about protest. A few made comments on smallness and simplicity, "Simple acts bring responses", "it can be small" and "creativity, novelty, simplicity is key". Another noted that she learned "how to engage members of the public in something that is more than entertainment" while it raised a number of other questions with regards to her practice; "how do you still 'perform' whilst protesting? At what point are you a performer or a non performing person when staging something? At what point is my character speaking as me or as the person I am playing? When is it personal?"
Every participant had found a different element inspiring and applicable for their future work. For some the brainstorming process had provided some useful tools and theory including "the chart of what kind of street 'performance' already exists" and showed another "how quickly a piece can be devised and shown." Agreeing on a common issue became a sticking point in the process. It also provided useful insights about working with issues very quickly in this way; "It can feel slightly forced and less authentic when it feels like you are fighting for someone else's cause. It's so personal!"
This raised a point shared by 70% of the participants, that the process was too quick and they would like more time. This related to having more time for discussions, for brainstorming and rehearsing as well as experimenting on the street.


text:
SUPERMAN: PRESIDENT LUTHOR NEW EDITION cover by Eric Peterson
SUPERMAN: PRESIDENT LUTHOR NEW EDITION
Lex Luthor is the most powerful man in Metropolis. So what's next on his horizon? The White House, naturally! It was only a matter of time before billionaire Lex Luthor ran for the highest office in the land. And besides bringing him victory, Luthor's campaign for the presidency is calculated to bring maximum grief to the Man of Steel. This title collects SECRET FILES: PRESIDENT LUTHOR #1, SUPERMAN #162-163, SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #110, SUPERMAN: LEX 2000 #1, LEX LUTHOR: THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY #1, plus content from ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #581 and #586, SUPERMAN #164-165 and SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #108-109.
Art by: Ed McGuinness, Doug Mahnke, Tony Harris, Dale Eaglesham, Matt Clark, Arthur Adams, Various
Cover by: Eric Peterson
Written by: Mark Schultz, Greg Rucka, Jeph Loeb, J.M. DeMatteis, Peter David, Various
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