The Big Toy Book's Biggest Day of Holiday Play Event Recap!
I love toys, and a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to take Juliet (my little sister) to The Big Toy Book's Biggest Day of Holiday Play event! Together, we both got a sneak peek at the hottest toys that are hitting the shelves.
As a 90's child I was thrilled to see the presence of a few old school toys – of course they're all re-imagined to accommodate the taste and lifestyle of the modern child. But the purpose of toys like the Spirograph and the Slinky will always remain – and it's to have fun!
Some of the awesome toys that Juliet and I got to get our hands on to try were Hex Bugs – which I featured on The NYC Talon's 2012 Holiday Gift Guide! In fact, both my little brother and sister received HexBugs for Christmas (they had an awesome sale in Target, so Santa couldn't help himself *wink, wink*). I just love HexBugs, they're just so much fun – and completely reduce me to a nine year old kid again.
Lite Brix was definitely one of the popular toys at the event. Personally, I've noticed how increasingly popular light up or glowing toys are amongst kids. Juliet loved playing with them, and was dying over their "super cool light up guitar" that Lite Brix had bought along for the event.
One of my favorite toys, which I had never heard of up until TBTB BDH event was the Boogie Board – which apparently means that I've been living under a rock or something. I've been telling everyone about this super useful, fun toy – and during Christmas break I mentioned it in passing to one of my grandmother's and she was like "Yeah, I love the Boogie Board! I've had it for a while; I use it to write down item numbers when I watch the home shopping network". So much for being "in the know" lol!
Koosh was also super popular – the kids LOVED playing with them! But I think the adults loved them even more – their one of the toys that appeals to "kids" of all ages, which I love.
Products like the Slinky, Spirograph, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were complete throw-backs for me. I loved seeing them there alongside newer lines like AppGear, Tech4Kids, ArtSee Studio, and FlyLine RC (who are one of the awesome sponsors for The Dragyn's Lair and The NYC Talon's #Tweetin13 twitter party!). Juliet spent the majority of her time though with the folks from The Bridge Direct – she now wants everything she saw in that suite especially the Waverly and the Magic Seashells line, Glo Glo Inkoos, and Looney Toons stuffed animals. Meanwhile, I absolutely loved the Annoying Orange dartboard. She loved the Hello Kitty Shoulder Buddy one of the super nice ladies from The Bridge bestowed upon her, she insisted that I instagrammed it (you can see it here)!
We had a complete blast – and I have successfully solidified my reputation as one of the coolest sisters ever!
* All opinions presented here belong to The NYC Talon and are not influenced in any way. I did not receive compensation for this post. I did receive a gift bag at the event, for more info please see my PR tab above.


Description: Hand signed, dated and numbered by the artist. Retrospect (L. p. 120-1) screenprint in colours on thick wove paper. Edition of 75 (there were also 7 artist's proofs). Published by Martin Lawrence, Greenwich, Conneticut, with his blindstamp at lower left. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of Authenticity included.


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Q: Execute Regardless of the Type of Exception I would like my program to exit regardless of the type of the exception that occurred. However, depending on the type of the exception, I want to log a different error message. How could I achieve this with less code repetitions? Following is the code I currently use:
try:

except Exception1:
    self.logger.exception('Error message 1')
    self.logger.error('Aborting')
    sys.exit()
except Exception2:
    self.logger.exception('Error message 2')
    self.logger.error('Aborting')
    sys.exit()
except Exception:
    self.logger.exception('Unexpected error')
    self.logger.error('Aborting')
    sys.exit()

A: try:

    err_msg = ""
except Exception1:
    err_msg = 'Error message 1'
except Exception2:
    err_msg = 'Error message 2'
except Exception:
    err_msg = 'Unexpected error'

if err_msg != "":
    self.logger.exception(err_msg)
    self.logger.error('Aborting')
    sys.exit()

A: How about this?
try:

except Exception as e:
  errMsg = ''
  if isinstance(e, Exception1):
    errMsg = 'Error message 1'
  elif isinstance(e, Exception2):
    errMsg = 'Error message 2'
  else:
    errMsg = 'Unexpected error'

  self.logger.exception(errMsg)
  self.logger.error('Aborting')
  sys.exit()

A: You can define a function like this:
def exit_with_message(self, message):
    self.logger.exception(message)
    self.logger.error('Aborting')
    sys.exit()

And then for each exception call the function with message you like:
except Exception1:
    self.exit_with_message('Error message 1')
except Exception2:
    self.exit_with_message('Error message 2')
except Exception:
    self.exit_with_message('Unexpected error')

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Think Africa Press
All African Issues
Emerging occupations and businesses
Drug Addiction in Africa – The State of Things in 2020
Burkina Faso: A Thousand Sankaras Come of Age
Goma's Infectious Happiness Goes Viral
Who Aids Whom? Exposing the True Story of Africa's $192 Billion Losses
Eastern DRC: Stop Fixating on Conflict Minerals
Tunisia: Uncovering Ansar al-Sharia
in Tunisia
by Think Africa October 25, 2013, 4:43 pm
View of the Kasbah in Sousse, Tunisia. Photograph by yovanson.
An original founder of the banned Salafi organisation reveals its true origins, the extent of its links with al-Nahda, and what lies "behind the curtain."
By Aaron Y. Zelin
The public rise of Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia (AST) – the radical Islamist group recently listed as a terrorist organisation by the Tunisian government – first began two and a half years ago, and online.
On 27 April, 2011, a blog titled the al-Qayrawan Media Foundation (QMF) was created, and two days later a corresponding Facebook page was established. Then, on 15 May, another Facebook page under the name Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia was launched, coinciding with the announcement that a conference would be convened in Tunis on 21 May.
This is the public story of AST's emergence, and since 2011, the group's visibility has grown significantly; the group has courted controversy through its protests against blasphemy, been accused of involvement in political violence, and been banned by the state. Yet the organisation remains poorly understood, not least with regards to its real origins, the story of which stretches several years further back than 2011, runs much deeper into Tunisian politics than has otherwise been disclosed, and has up to now stayed largely concealed.
Prison plans
In late August 2013 and early September 2013, I had the opportunity to meet one of the individuals (who will remain anonymous) present at the actual founding of AST. The event took place in 2006 in a Tunisian prison.
According to the source, when Hamadi Jebali – a senior member of the Islamist organisation al-Nahda who went on to become Prime Minister (2011-2013) – was released from jail in February 2006, some more radical Islamists believed they too could be leaving prison soon. They began planning for their mission once on the outside, and though the group did not have a name for it at the time, 20 Islamists, including AST's future leader, Abu Iyadh al-Tunisi, agreed to create a new organisation.
The group's release in fact took longer than expected, and it was only in March 2011, following the overthrow of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, that they were pardoned and set free. Once outside, the group organised, gathering in Abu Iyadh's house, and began implementing the plans they had been working on for the previous five years. AST started outreach efforts in Tunis, Sousse, Sidi Bouzid, al-Qayrawan, and Bizerte as well as making contact with the Salafi cleric Shaykh al-Khatib al-Idrissi.
Although there is more public distance between al-Idrissi and AST currently, when AST first began, al-Idrissi promoted its existence and early activities via his official Facebook page and was loosely affiliated with AST's original media outlet QMF. Al-Idrissi is one of, if not the most, influential Salafi clerics in Tunisia. In 1985, he went to Saudi Arabia and formally trained with some of the most important Salafi clerics of the modern era including 'Abd al-'Aziz bin 'Abd Allah bin Baz. AST's early outreach to al-Idrissi highlights the fact it wanted strong backing from the 'ulama – the class of Muslim legal scholars – to legitimise its cause.
Since spring 2012, al-Idrissi has been less public in his support for AST, and around a similar time, AST established a new media outlet named al-Bayyariq Media Foundation. It appears that al-Idrissi's the current relationship with AST is more as an unaffiliated outside spiritual guide and that Abu Iyadh is the main link between AST and al-Idrissi.
In addition to these early efforts, AST also had meetings and communications with al-Nahda, now Tunisia's biggest political party, including with its leader Rachid Ghannouchi. According the founding member of AST I spoke with, relations between the Salafis and al-Nahda went back to the time that members of each group were in prison together. They reportedly passed letters to one another and were in close communication, though good relations may have been kept for cynical purposes. For example, a letter from Ali Larayedh, Tunisia's current Prime Minister, to Nur al-Din Ganduz, another senior al-Nahda figure, allegedly explained that the Salafis were beneficial to al-Nahda because they make them look better and more moderate in comparison.
Following the overthrow of Ben Ali and the release of the prisoners, dialogue between factions within al-Nahda and AST continued. The individual I spoke with said that in 2011 he personally attended two meetings at Ghannouchi's home in el-Menzah, just north of Tunis. In these meetings, Ghannouchi allegedly told Abu Iyadh to encourage the youth of AST to join the national army to infiltrate it, and to get another group of youth do the same with the National Guard.
This claim is less surprising when one bears in mind the leaked video that surfaced in October 2012 in which Ghannouchi provides strategic advice to the Salafis. In one part of the video, the al-Nahda leader warns, "the Army is in their [the secularists] hands. We cannot guarantee the police and the army." It is possible Ghannouchi did not want to risk his own cadres, but saw a back door to controlling elements within the security apparatus by using the Salafis and the zeal of their youth members.
This relationship between al-Nahda and AST has since soured, and the al-Nahda-led government designated AST as a terrorist organisation on 27 August, 2013.
Brothers and arms
In the two and a half years since AST emerged in Tunisian politics, the organisation has been involved in a serious campaign for hearts and minds publicly. Yet it is also believed to have been involved in more nefarious and concealed activities, though these have been difficult to confirm. The founding member of AST, however, provided some insights these shadier aspects of the group and suggested he quit the group in AST because of "what was behind the curtain."
He confirmed that AST has a military wing, thus contradicting one of Abu Iyadh's famous statements that Tunisia is a land of da'wah (meaning preaching or invitation) and not jihad, and his claim that AST does not have or obtain weapons. The individual also noted that the relationship of AST with Ansar al-Sharia in Libya (ASL) and Ansar al-Sharia in Egypt (ASE) is like a "spider web," explaining that they all know one another – presumably referring to the groups' respective leaders. Further, the source said certain members of AST, ASL, and ASE travelled together to Gaza and northern Sinai in 2012. He did not say that they went for military training – though it should not necessarily be ruled out considering Tunisians have reportedly trained in Libya with ASL – but rather to meet Palestinian Salafis who advised them on issues related to administration, organisation, and management.
When analysing semi-clandestine Salafi organisations, one needs to bear in mind what one knows for sure and what one doesn't, especially as the latter category often overshadows the former. And there are still many questions to answer regarding AST, such as its relationship with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and its role in recent violence in Tunisia. However, as AST continues to be important in Tunisia despite its official ban, hopefully filling in some previously concealed gaps regarding its history, its relations and its strategies will help us understand the mysterious group a little better.
Previous article Why Are Political Killings Increasing in South Africa?
Next article Aiding and Abetting: UK and US Complicity in Ethiopia's Mass Displacement
Written by Think Africa
in DRC
More From: Tunisia
The Poet and Politician: Who was Chokri Belaid?
by Think Africa February 7, 2013, 12:59 pm
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by Think Africa January 31, 2013, 11:45 am
Why Are Political Killings Increasing in South Africa?
Aiding and Abetting: UK and US Complicity in Ethiopia's Mass Displacement

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Thor (2018-2019) #8
Thor (2018-2019)
THE PRISON OF ANGELS! After waging war in Hel, Thor finds himself a prisoner of the fearsome warriors of Heven. Can even the intervention of Valkyrie and Thor's deadly sister Angela help him escape the unescapable prison of angels?
Mike Del Mundo
Vol. 2: Road To War Of The Realms
Collects Thor (2018) #1-6. Thor Odinson regains his mantle — and with it, a wild new world of trouble! He may not have Mjolnir, but he has hundreds of new hammers! And he's going to need every last one of them to stop the unstoppable Juggernaut! Then, the sons of Odin ride again as Thor is reunited with his long-lost brother, Balder, to face the fire goblin armies of the Queen of Cinders! W
War Of The Realms (2019)
Collects War of the Realms #1-6. Asgard. Alfheim. Heven. Jotunheim. Muspelheim. Niffleheim. Nidavellir. Svartalfheim. Vanaheim. All of the Ten Realms have fallen to Malekith and his army, except one: Midgard. Home to Thor's beloved humans. Home to heroes and gods alike. Now, at last, Midgard burns. All hell breaks loose in New York City as Malekith and his allies begin their invasion - and our
King Thor (2019-)
Collects King Thor (2019) #1-4. One last ride with the almighty lord of Asgard! Jason Aaron reunites with Esad Ribić to conclude the epic saga they began in THOR: GOD OF THUNDER! Seven years ago, Aaron and Ribić introduced the Thor of the far future — All-Father of a broken realm and a dying universe — as he stood in battle against Gorr, the Butcher of Gods, wielder of All-Black the Necro
War Of The Realms Omega (2019)
THE WAR IS OVER – AND THE MARVEL UNIVERSE MUST PICK UP THE PIECES! Midgard is broken, and as heroes of Asgard and Earth alike start to sift through the pieces, new heroes — and villains — emerge. What's next for Jane Foster, now free of the hammer she was willing to die to hold? Thor's brother Loki faced a terrible fate in the War of the Realms — and now the god of mischief must make h
Avengers (2018-)
Collects Avengers (2018) #1-6 and Material From Free Comic Book Day 2018 (Avengers/Captain America). A new era for Earth's Mightiest Heroes! Steve Rogers. Tony Stark. Thor Odinson. The big three are reunited at last — and just in time to save the world from the 2,000-foot-tall space gods known as the Celestials! Behold the coming of the Final Host! But who will answer the call as a new team


text:
Our Catalog Mystery & Thrillers
Lifeforce (Collector's Edition) [Blu-Ray/DVD Combo]
Lifeforce (Collector's Edition) [Blu-Ray/DVD Combo] by Shout! Factory at Chocolate Movie. MPN: SFY13994BR. Hurry! Limited time offer. Offer valid only while supplies last. A mission to investigate Halley's Comet discovers an alien spacecraft. After a deadly confrontation, the aliens travel to Earth, where their seductive leader begins a terrifying campaign to drain the life force of everyone she encounters. Her victims, in turn, continue the cycle, and soon the entire planet is in mortal danger. An excessive failure in a decade known for excess at movie houses, Tobe Hooper's eccentric science fiction/horror epic Lifeforce (1985) has enjoyed in recent years a
A mission to investigate Halley's Comet discovers an alien spacecraft. After a deadly confrontation, the aliens travel to Earth, where their seductive leader begins a terrifying campaign to drain the life force of everyone she encounters. Her victims, in turn, continue the cycle, and soon the entire planet is in mortal danger. An excessive failure in a decade known for excess at movie houses, Tobe Hooper's eccentric science fiction/horror epic Lifeforce (1985) has enjoyed in recent years a reappraisal from genre fans, which undoubtedly sparked the release of this deluxe Blu-ray/DVD presentation. Despite the best efforts of an impressive array of behind-the-scenes talent, from director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre) and writers Dan O'Bannon and Don Jakoby (Alien) to special effects designer John Dykstra (Star Wars), Lifeforce never quite blossoms into the phantasmagoric spectacle its producers--Cannon Films' infamous Menachem Golan and Yoram Globus--envisioned when they optioned Colin Wilson's The Space Vampires in their mid-'80s bid for respectability. Instead, it's a curious blend of pulp outer space adventure, with American astronaut Steve Railsback discovering a trio of aliens, including the comely Mathilda May, in a ship attached to Halley's comet, and apocalypse horror, with the aliens laying waste to London by draining its occupants of their vital energies. Hooper delivers some impressive set pieces in the picture's opening and final, manic third, as Railsback and SAS colonel Peter Firth attempt to track down May's hiding place as London collapses into anarchy, but often falters in his attempt to keep the high-minded, blockbuster-focused concept on track in the face of exceptionally purple dialogue and wildly varying performances (especially Railsback, who seems very uncomfortable throughout the film, and Frank Finlay as a babble-spouting professor). The decision to depict May in the nude throughout the film, while an obvious audience draw and one of the key reasons for the film's lasting appeal, also hampers the tone, pushing it towards drive-in territory when it clearly hoped to cleave towards the Star Wars/Star Trek ticket. The result is a genuinely offbeat film (a label that can be applied to nearly all of Hooper's CV), neither camp nor underrated classic, though it's never a dull ride, thanks to its bristling energy and the (literally) eye-popping special effects. Audiences and critics dismissed Lifeforce upon its release in 1985, but years of (heavily edited) TV broadcasts and home video have provided it with a fan base that should be pleased with Scream Factory's typically impressive Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. Its chief appeal is the inclusion of both the 101-minute domestic cut by Tri-Star pictures, and the 116-minute international theatrical edit, which features more graphic material than the American version as well as composer Henry Mancini's complete score (which was replaced in part with cues by Michael Kamen). Two commentary tracks are also included: the first features Hooper with filmmaker Tim Sullivan (2001 Maniacs), whose enthusiasm occasionally overshadows the director's understated but informative contributions, while the second pairs special makeup effects supervisor Nick Maley (Star Wars, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) with DVD producer Michael Felsher. Hooper, Railsback, and May are all showcased in short interview featurettes in which they discuss their experiences on the film, as well as the effect that Lifeforce had on their subsequent careers, while an electronic press kit created to promote the theatrical release offers vintage interviews and behind-the-scenes footage. Two theatrical trailers, a TV spot, and an HD gallery of production stills round out the two-disc set. --Paul Gaita
Manufacturer: Shout! Factory
Part Number: SFY13994BR
Publisher: Shout! Factory
Studio: Shout! Factory
MPN: SFY13994BR
Brand: Shout! Factory
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Peeping Tom (The Criterion Collection)
A frank exploration of voyeurism and violence, Michael Powell's extraordinary film is the story of a psychopathic cameraman-his childhood traumas, sexual crises, and murderous revenge as an adult. Reviled by critics upon its initial release for its deeply unsettling subject matter, the film has since been hailed as a masterpiece..
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 4 (Act of Violence / Mystery Street / Crime Wave / Decoy / Illegal / The Big Steal / They Live By Night / Side Street / Where Danger Lives / Tension)
Film Noir Classics Collection, The: Volume 4 (DVD)Ex-World War II pilot Frank Enley (Van Heflin) is a respected contractor and family man. Then his troubled, gimp-legged bombardier (Robert Ryan) shows up with a gun and a score to settle. Perhaps neither man is what he seems to be as director Fred Zinnemann (The Day of the Jackal) guides a searing Act of Violence, ''the first postwar noir to take a challenging look at the ethics of men in combat'' (Eddie Muller, Dark City: The Lost World of Film
James Bond Collection Bd [Blu-ray]
By TCFHE/MGM
This impressive set contains 23 of James Bond's adventures. Spanning across six actors who have taken on the role, this collection includes every film from Dr. No (1962) to Skyfall (2012).James Bond Collection Bd [Blu-ray].
Dark Shadows: The Complete Original Series (Deluxe Edition)
By MPI Home Video
mpn: 88908449084440, ean: 0030306799193,
This deluxe edition boxed set contains every eerie episode of the original Gothic suspense series DARK SHADOWS (1966-1971) plus a wealth of bonus interviews with the stars and creative members that made the supernatural thriller a cult favorite and an enduring television classic.NOTE: This Deluxe Edition (a second printing) is not serialized and does not include a signed postcard by Jonathan Frid (Barnabas Collins). 131 DVDs with all 1,225 Complete EpisodesCommemorative large Coffin package
Charles Bronson Action Pack (Kinjite / Messenger of Death / Murphy's Law / 10 to Midnight)
By BRONSON,CHARLES
mpn: 027616883179, ean: 9780792854722, isbn: 0792854721,
Disc 1: KINJITE Disc 2: MESSENGER OF DEATH Disc 3: MURPHY'S LAW Disc 4: 10 TO MIDNITE.
Agatha Christie Collection (Dead Man's Folly / Murder in Three Acts / Thirteen at Dinner)
By WarnerBrothers
Agatha Christie Collection featuring Peter Ustinov (DVD) (3-Pack)You're in good company with Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov), Agatha Christie's impeccable Belgian sleuth who's always at his best at chic soirees where the hospitality is warm...and the corpses are cold. Match wits with the master in this full-course banquet of mystery involving a country-house game of murder turned real (Dead Man's Folly), a move star turned amateur detective (Murder in Three Acts), and a dinner part turned deadly
By Lions Gate
The life and work of Archbishop Oscar Romero who opposed, at great personal risk, the tyrannical repression in El Salvador..
Film Noir Classic Collection, Vol. 1 (The Asphalt Jungle / Gun Crazy / Murder My Sweet / Out of the Past / The Set-Up)
By WHITMORE,JAMES
mpn: WHV39812DVD, ean: 9780790797144, isbn: 0790797143,
Film Noir Classics Collection, The: Volume 1 (DVD) (5-Pack)Asphalt Jungle (1950)- You have a lot of time to think when you're locked away seven years. So criminal mastermind Doc conceives what he believes is the perfect heist. John Huston explores the feverish grab for the big score and how it unravels in The Asphalt Jungle, a renowned tale of dishonor among thieves whose cast includes. Gun Crazy (1949) - When gun fancier Bart Tare sees Annie Laurie Starr's sideshow sharpshooting act, he's a
Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II (Human Desire / The Brothers Rico / Nightfall / City of Fear / Pushover)
By Sony Pictures
mpn: CTR31964DVD, ean: 0043396319646,
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and The Film Foundation partner once again to bring five films to DVD for the first time, fully restored and remastered, in Columbia Pictures Film Noir Classics II. In this second volume, renowned directors Fritz Lang, Phil Karlson, and Irving Lerner are joined by Jacques Tourneur and Richard Quine in proving that lust, adultery, greed, and revenge all adds up to cold, calculated murder. Film Noir Classics II takes you on a dark journey among lowlifes and
DragonBall Z Double Feature: Super Android 13/Bojack Unbound (Steelbook)
By Funimation
Contains two classic Dragon Ball Z movies: Android Assault and Bojack Unbound. Android Assault: When the quiet peace of a routine day is interrupted by violent explosions it seems like the entire world is under siege! But Goku quickly realizes that he is the target of the sudden attack! Who are these strange assassins? When Goku discovers that despite their great power, the culprits are not emitting an energy signal, it can only mean one thing: Androids! With Doctor Gero dead, just who is


International Journal of Civil Engineering, Construction and Estate Management (IJCECEM) is an international, double-blind peer-reviewed journal published by the European Centre for Research Training and Development, United Kingdom. The scope of the journal includes surveying, environmental engineering, hydrology, soil mechanics, shear moments and forces etc. The Journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence. Papers will be published shortly after acceptance. All articles published in in IJCECEM are peer-reviewed. Papers submitted to this journal must be original, and are not considered in any other journals. The journal is published in both print and online versions. The online version of the journal is free access and downloads.


The purposes of the research project were to attempt to determine the employment utility of a master's degree obtained through the School of Commerce at Montana State University; to evaluate the curriculum in the School of Commerce in search of additions and improvements; and to evaluate the organization and administration of the graduate program in the School of Commerce. Data were collected by mailing questionnaires to 59 alumni who had received master's degrees between June 1966 and August 1971, and hand-delivering questionnaires to ten graduate students who were currently enrolled in the School of Commerce during March 1972. Forty three questionnaires were returned. Alumni respondents had pursued occupations in the general fields of education, general business, and technology. Fourteen respondents felt that their possession of master's degrees had aided them in obtaining employment; seven respondents felt that their master's degrees had given them difficulty in obtaining employment. Twenty two respondents felt that the knowledge they gained while studying for their master's degrees was beneficial to them during the initial adjustment periods of their employment. Twenty five respondents felt that their gained knowledge was beneficial throughout their employment. The master's degree had enhanced the advancement opportunities of twenty two respondents. Twenty four respondents believed that their master's degrees were responsible for increased salary levels. Five of the forty three respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the standards and procedures for admission to graduate school. Four of the five felt that the Graduate Record Examination should not be required. Respondents were nearly equally divided on whether certification should be a prerequisite for a master's in Business Education. Four respondents suggested that the School offer an MBA, possibly coordinated with the University of Montana. Three respondents felt that too much "red tape" was involved with the graduate program. A majority of respondents felt that individual graduate programs should emphasize business subjects rather than education subjects. Many respondents were dissatisfied with the amount of guidance they had received from their graduate committees. Twenty two respondents preferred a comprehensive exam consisting of a combination of oral and written tests. It is recommended that: guidance activities for graduate students be examined; the administration of the graduate program be reviewed for possible simplification, and; the School of Commerce examine the possible use of the combination form of comprehensive exam.


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Amplifying Science & Partnering for Health
Marking CHE's 20th year
We envision a world free from environmental risks that harm our health.
CHE cultivates a learning community based on the latest, peer-reviewed science to share knowledge and resources and to improve individual and collective health.
Hear the latest environmental health science
Generation Chemical
Explore the impact of toxics on reproductive health & development
A Story of Health
Learn about disease origins and prevention for health care providers
Toxicant and Disease Database
Explore the links between chemicals and human diseases
CHE Café: What's Next in Environmental Health?
February 10, 2023 — To mark the 20th anniversary of the Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE), we're hosting a series of informal, online conversations with leading thinkers, researchers and innovators in the . . .
Office Workers' Exposures: Hormonal Activity of Chemicals Detected with Silicone Wristbands
February 15, 2023 — People are exposed to mixtures of a wide variety of hormone-disrupting chemicals. Traditional research methods generally evaluate a small number of chemicals at a time, rather than examining mixtures. Dr. Anna . . .
Environmental Justice and the Built Environment: Protecting Children and Families
February 23, 2023 — This webinar will provide an introduction to the role of building materials in influencing chemical exposures, as well as the latest science on disproportionate chemical exposures among pregnant people, infants . . .
Tweets by CHE_healthenv
Jan 26, 2023— The public's knowledge of environmental health issues has changed tremendously over the past few decades, with CHE playing a critical role. In 2018, while I was Director of CHE, we launched Because Health, an environmental health educational campaign for the general public. . . .
Jan 12, 2023— This blog is excerpted from a blog posted today by UCSF's Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE). See the complete posting from PRHE here.
With chemical production and use on the rise, and continued evidence that many chemicals in everyday products are linked to health problems such as cancer, infertility, and neurodevelopmental conditions, an interdisciplinary group of scientific experts said changes are urgently needed to better protect people from harmful chemicals. . . .
Jan 04, 2023— This article was co-authored with Dr. Tracey Woodruff, see bios of both authors below.
Chemical pollution threatens the health of our planet and everyone who lives on it.
Despite this, the manufacture and production of chemicals has continued to increase . . .
Dec 30, 2022— In the early years of CHE, the staff of Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT) would eagerly join the monthly teleconferences and huddle together around the conference speaker phone in the early morning darkness of Alaska. . . .
We're educating new audiences about the connections between the environment and human health.
We're building demand for prevention-focused approaches to public health.


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Historian Highlights Eerie Parallels Between Reactions To Cholera And COVID-19 Outbreaks
James Felton
Dec 28 2020, 15:01 UTC
A young woman who died of cholera, drawn when healthy and four hours before death. Wellcome Collection (CC BY 4.0) / Twitter / Judith Flanders
In the mid-19th century, you could describe London as a gigantic toilet and you wouldn't be that wide of the mark.
From 1780 to 1860, the population grew from just over 750,000 people to well over three million. The sewage system didn't really keep up with that growth – mainly because there wasn't one until 1856, and it wouldn't be city-wide until 1866. The city's waste products (including the main two) were being disposed of into the Thames or sometimes cesspools near town wells, which would have been terrible even if it wasn't also their water supply.
Essentially, the city had turned their river into a toilet and then proceeded to drink from and bathe in it. You don't have to be a medical expert to guess that's what's known as "bad". The result was, as you'd expect, an intolerable stink that wouldn't be solved until it annoyed Parliament by causing frequent outbreaks of disease, the main one being cholera.
When cholera emerged, it took many years before humanity figured out and proved that it was a water-borne disease, when John Snow (not the sexy one) proved that a contaminated well was the cause of 500 cholera deaths in ten days by removing the handle from the well pump. This made drinking from the well impossible and stopped the outbreak in its tracks.
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Before then, as with many new diseases, the cause of the illness was widely speculated on by everybody from scientists to the 19th Century equivalent of YouTubers. Conspiracy theories abounded, including theories that the disease spread more rapidly through poorer areas because they were deliberately being poisoned by the rich, and that God was punishing whole communities for their sins, like a supply teacher keeping the whole class for detention.
Before you get too smug about how dumb the people of the past were, historian Judith Flanders recently posted a thread of eerie parallels with the COVID-19 pandemic of today.
"There were riots and disturbances associated with cholera in many major towns and cities throughout the spring and summer of 1832," one of the extracts from Ruth Richardson's Death, Dissection and the Destitute read. "In the early riots, poor people doubted the existence of the disease at all, believing it to be a figment of the authorities' imagination - designed to permit coercion of the poor into hospitals for use in vivisection experiments, for dissection after death, or to keep down the population."
The disease-denial wasn't just limited to the uneducated, with records of businessmen in Sunderland putting an outbreak down to "common bowel complaints" which occur every year, making an argument you're probably familiar with today – that deaths during the outbreak were less than would usually occur in that time period.
Flanders points out that the government at the time (or the Oxford Board of Health at least) were keen to push the blame onto ordinary folk rather than government actions.
"All Drunkards, Revellers, and to the thoughtless and imprudent of both sexes," the passage reads, somewhat aggressively. "You are now told for the third time, that Death and Drunkenness go hand in hand... Death smites with its surest and swiftest arrows the licentious and intemperate".
If you've spent a little too much time online lately – and let's face it, what else are you going to do – the reactions to cholera and other epidemics may be a little bit familiar.
If you'd like a little hope from history thrown your way, the cholera epidemics in England raged for decades and killed many thousands of people. They were finally ended when the stench of the Thames became so bad that it overwhelmed Parliament, which took just 18 days to provide money to construct a new sewage system to deal with the problem.
James is a published author with four pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.
More Health and Medicine Stories


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Q: Neo4j: Don't know how to map graph to Spring Data bean I'm writing an app to capture configuration properties of other applications. Config is my primary domain object. There are hierarchical relationships between Config objects (one Config [:OVERRIDES] another Config). So, given a bottommost Config, I need to go all the way up the hierarchy to the topmost Config, and gather all the properties of Config objects along the way, merging them into one final Config. But I have no idea how to do this with Spring Data.
Here is the schema for 2 Config objects:
CREATE (c1:Config {name:'ConfigParent'});
SET c2.docker_tag='1.0.0';
SET c2.mem_limit='1gb';

MATCH (c1:Config {name: 'ConfigParent'})
CREATE (c2:Config {name:'ConfigChild'})-[:OVERRIDES]->(c1)
SET c2.docker_tag='1.0.1';

The ConfigChild properties need to be merged with ConfigParent, and any duplicate properties in ConfigParent will be overridden. So my final set of properties should be:
name='ConfigMerged'  //I don't know what this name would be?
docker_tag='1.0.1'
mem_limit='1gb'

There can be ANY key/value pair in a Config, so they can't be returned by name. I've come of with this CQL that I think does what I want:
MATCH p = SHORTESTPATH((c2:Config)<-[:OVERRIDES*]-(c1:Config))
WHERE c1.name = 'ConfigChild' and not (c2)-[:OVERRIDES]->()
UNWIND NODES(p) as props return PROPERTIES(props);

The JSON response looks like so:
[
  {
    "keys": [
      "properties(props)"
    ],
    "length": 1,
    "_fields": [
      {
        "name": "ConfigParent",
        "docker_tag": "1.0.0",
        "mem_limit": "1gb"
      }
    ],
    "_fieldLookup": {
      "properties(props)": 0
    }
  },
  {
    "keys": [
      "properties(props)"
    ],
    "length": 1,
    "_fields": [
      {
        "name": "ConfigChild",
        "docker_tag": "1.0.1"
      }
    ],
    "_fieldLookup": {
      "properties(props)": 0
    }
  }
]

The problem is, I have no idea how to map this to POJOs. Do I need a Config domain object, or a Properties domain object? Is this the best CQL to achieve my goal?
UPDATE: I've come up with an annotated POJO for Config. But when I try to return it in code, properties are always empty, along with parentConfig.
@NodeEntity
public class Config {

    @Id
    @GeneratedValue
    private Long id;

    @Relationship(type = "OVERRIDES")
    private Config parentConfig;

    @Properties(allowCast=true)
    private Map<String, String> properties;

    ....
}

This is the basic query I'm testing, just to see if I can map to the POJO:
 @Query("MATCH (c1:Config) RETURN c1;")
 List<Config> findConfigAny(@Param("configName") String configName);

A: You are close to the solution but there is a technical limitation in Neo4j-OGM (the library used in Spring Data Neo4j for the object graph mapping): When using the @Properties annotation it will only persist and load prefixed (default attribute name) ones with the right delimiter (default .). So basically in your case it will only load properties that are prefixed with properties. and not all that get returned.
In Spring Data Neo4j there is also the possibility to provide a @QueryResult that can be seen as a DTO. You can mark a intermediate class with the annotation. Please make sure that this class is also part of your entity scan.
@QueryResult
public class ConfigDto {

  private String name;

  private Map<String, String> properties;

}

if you alter the return type of your SDN repository method also to this type
@Query("MATCH p = SHORTESTPATH((c2:Config)<-[:OVERRIDES*]-(c1:Config))"
 + " WHERE c1.name = 'Child' and not (c2)-[:OVERRIDES]->()"
 + " UNWIND NODES(p) as props return props.name as name, PROPERTIES(props) as properties")
List<ConfigDto> configs();

And than using this method, it will return:
ConfigDto{name='Child', properties={a.exclusive=1, name=parentConfig, a.override=parent value}}
ConfigDto{name='Child', properties={a.exclusiveChild=my value, name=Child, a.override=child value}}

Note that I wrote a test with persistence of an "original" Config object that has the properties mapped as you above and I just prefixed them with a.. You can see that also the name is in the property map returned from the query so the map holds all properties of a node.
Edit (Save part from the comments)
With the solution above it is possible to load existing data from Neo4j.
It is not possible to persist arbitrary properties besides the @Properties solution but this will create "prefixed", "delimited" properties in you graph. E.g. with your code in the question you will get properties.docker_tag.
You could write your own properties converter for a Map, for example, and orient and take some ideas from https://github.com/neo4j/neo4j-ogm/blob/master/core/src/main/java/org/neo4j/ogm/typeconversion/MapCompositeConverter.java
Here is the link to the documentation for converters and you should implement a CompositeAttributeConverter.
Neo4j-OGM is not meant to work with changing properties name all the time and it would also be complicated to decide what to save if a property with nameA exists in the domain class itself and is also defined in such a property map.


Size: 4" x 4", 5" x 5", 6" x 6", 8" x 8" and 10" x 10"
Available colors: 22 colors to choose from (default color - Pink Glossy).
Rub the sticker to be sure the transfer tape is properly attached to the sticker.
Clean and dry the chosen area. Stickers will stick best to clean flat surfaces.
Carefully place the sticker to the wanted area.
Rub the sticker from one side to the other, removing any air bubbles.
Use an object like a card to make sure the entire sticker is fully attached to the surface.
Check for air bubbles. In most cases air bubbles can be worked to the edge of the sticker.


text:
Japan's maglev corruption probe nets giants Kajima and Shimizu
An investigation into bid-rigging on contracts for Japan's $80bn maglev project has widened from the Obayashi Corporation to include Kajima and Shimizu. Police today raided the headquarters of the two companies after questioning their executives and analysing confiscated materials.
The investigation is being carried out by the special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office and the Japan Fair Trade Commission. All the companies under suspicion have said they will cooperate with it.
Obayashi, Kajima and Shimizu are the three largest contractors in Japan, and all among the world's top 20 largest construction firms.
Obayashi probably thought if they could get the Meijo emergency exit contract, JR Central would have them work on the tunnel that starts from the exit – Unnamed source quoted in the Japan Times
The original scope of the inquiries was confined to a contract won by Obayashi in 2016 to build an emergency exit at Nagoya station, the southern terminus of the project's first phase. Obayashi and Shimizu each won four of the 22 works packages awarded and Kajima won three. Police are looking for evidence that the companies decided among themselves which company would win which bid.
The Japan Times reports that police widened their investigation after questioning executives of the construction firms on a voluntary basis. This led them to suspect that they violated competition law by carrying out negotiations on future tenders.
Meanwhile, Japanese newspaper The Mainichi reports that an employee of Central Japan Railway (JR Central), the client for the project, has admitted disclosing the maximum contract value for one of the line's sub-projects to Obayashi. The Japan Times adds that Kajima may also have been in receipt of his information.
According to The Mainichi, Obayashi's bid for the emergency exit was the highest figure that would not exceed the maximum cost decided by JR Central. A senior Kajima official added: "Obayashi probably thought if they could get the Meijo emergency exit contract, JR Central would have them work on the tunnel that starts from the exit."
The Japan Times quotes an unnamed source related to Obayashi who defended the way the company had conducted the bidding. They said: "Sometimes, bidders are informed of assumed prices, and then negotiations are conducted to hold down the contract prices to those levels, so I think that this type of practice is not illegal."
Kajima shares fell 4.6% and Shimizu's were down 3.7% after news broke of the raids. Shares in Taisei Corporation, the other member of the Japan's "big four" were also down 2% although it had not been raided.
Japan's construction industry is no stranger to investigation for collusive practices. Legislation has been tightened to protect the privacy of bids over the past 10 years or so, and in 2006 Obayashi required managers to sign a pledge to abide by antitrust laws. The next year, however, the firm's top management resigned following a public works scandal.
Image: The 500km/h maglev will cut journey times between Tokyo and Nagoya by an hour (Saruno Hirobano/Creative Commons)
Japan's Obayashi probed for bid-rigging on $80bn maglev line
Japan set to greenlight 500km/h maglev line
Work gets under way on Tokyo's maglev train station
Japanese maglev train sets new world records for speed and distance


Easily attaches and removes from indoor or outdoor walls with thumbscrews. The innovative mounting bracket design allows the wall mount to tilt towards or away from the wall. Constructed of powder coated 10 gauge steel for a very robust gun mount. Dimensions: 32.00" Height X 11.5" Depth X 13.5" Width.
Upper & lower mounting plates attach to wall for a secure hold in trucks, boats, duck blinds, cabin, garage, or any room wall.


text:
Bewitched Reads
recommending children's books that inspire a life-long love of reading
12 months, 12 reads finale
Our top three books in the reading age of five upward
When I started this blog, I set myself a challenge – 12 books to read in 12 months across my maternity leave. In April 2021 this challenge was completed with success! It has been a thoroughly enjoyable task and one that has brought me to a new book-reading community.
I set out to read books that were aimed at the early years – four/five upwards – as well as the later reading age of around 10 upwards. I have attempted to link book choices to the changing of the seasons, and seasonal events, such as Halloween and Christmas, as well as offer a mix of reading options from different time periods, ranging from Victorian through to the post-war period and 21st century.
To celebrate this 12 month milestone, I have chosen six of our favourite reads across the year – three from the early years (picture books) and three from the later reading years. I hope these recommendations are useful and that you will join me in the next 12 months, where you can check-in with the book choice each month here or over on Instagram, where I also post book baskets that offer a wider range of reading alongside a particular theme. Thank you to everyone who has followed me on this journey so far!
Top Three – Early Years
There's a Tiger in the Garden by Lizzy Stewart (2017, Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
There was never any doubt that this would make our top six list of favourites this year. Lizzy Stewart cleverly recognises that a young imagination always needs a bit of help, and keen-eyed readers will have spotted that on the first page of the story, Nora's immediate surroundings inside the house she finds so boring, consists of toys that include a polar bear, a plant that out-sizes a bird ornament, a drawing of a tiger that Nora has penned, and a large ginger cat playing on the mat. Mixed with a mind that needs a little push to imagine more exciting things, these objects become the dragonflies the size of birds, the plants that eat you whole, the grumpy polar bear, and the elusive tiger in the garden. Adult readers will nod in recognition of the challenges faced by anyone caring for a young child in trying to think of new activities for them to do each day, whilst being entertaining and educational, and young readers will love spotting the clues in the pictures and the anticipation of when the tiger will finally make his appearance to Nora.
A Loud Winter's Nap by Katy Hudson (2017, Curious Fox)
Much of Katy Hudson's work focuses on team-work and socialisation for those children on the cusp of leaving the comfort of supervised home activities for the first time to start their independent school life. This is an important message for readers of A Loud Winter's Nap, as Tortoise tries his best to remain where he is most comfortable, and ignore those that try to get him to join in the larger circle, where activities are taking place that he is unfamiliar with. As the first big transition in a child's life, having books that show characters taking a leap of faith, joining in, even if they are at first afraid, and trusting in new people, is a useful tool in helping parents explain to their children that they will soon be part of a larger group of friends who will teach them new things. This is a learning curve, but one that Tortoise does not have to undergo alone, as he realises the joys of winter are best experienced with others. From this he learns to be more social, more emotionally free, and confident.
Pirate Stew by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Chris Riddell, (2020, Bloomsbury)
As is common with Neil Gaiman stories, the children are more knowledgeable, and clearly more sensible, than the adults appear to be, exercising sound judgement and caution when they meet Long John – a most unusual choice for a babysitter! They quickly work out that the stew is not to be eaten, unless they want to end their days as a pirate, and an alternative meal must be found if they are not to go hungry. The adventure, however, is something they are not able to exercise much control over and they must put their fears aside and follow as the pirates take them on an unexpected journey, opening a window into what pirate life is all about – pure fun and recklessness! Gaiman has said that the book that most inspired him to write was The Voyager of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis, and you can certainly see some of this influence here. Gaiman felt that Lewis treated his readers like 'smart friends' and this explains why the children here are sensible and the adults are silly, because we as readers share in the knowledge of the young characters and are invited to agree with their assessment of their babysitter.
Our top three books for readers aged 10 and above
Top Three later years
The Good Bear by Sarah Lean (2020, Simon & Schuster)
When Thea encounters a bear in the woods at her father's new home in Norway, he is hungry, alone, and running from a life of cruelty. It is only then does she come to untangle her emotional difficulties with her father and focus on something much bigger (figuratively and literally) than herself and in much more need of help. It is by spending time with the bear, who is under threat from hunters, does she understand that emotion will get you so far, but ultimately action is what is needed in order to solve any problem. This is not the tale of an ordinary girl who has to be the hero to save the day, however; Thea is cruel and disrespectful to her father's new family, but she is fortunate to have people around her who genuinely care for her and are willing to be patient. The bear opens her eyes to the powers of simple observation, to really see what is front of you before placing your own thoughts and values on it. If she had done this sooner, she would have realised that her 'new family' were not neglectful of her and that they had their own family traditions that were not absent, as she assumed, but simply different to hers.
Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono (1985, Fukuinkan Shoten Publishers, translated into English, Penguin Random House, 2020)
As a reader you feel Kiki's excitement and trepidation as she starts her knew life as a witch alone and far from home. Unthinkable in the modern non-magical world, but a 13 year-old finding her own home and occupation independent of a loving family home, is a novel concept that explores the idea of discovering who you are minus the pressures of family steering you in any one particular direction. For Kik's family such a life-altering event can only be possible with complete trust between a parent and a child, as well as an acceptance that fear is also part of that journey. This idea may have been rooted in Eiko's own childhood, where she was faced with losing her mother at the age of five, an age when she would have been old enough to understood that her mother was not going to be around anymore, but young enough not to appreciate why. In her novel it is not fully understood why Kiki must go away for a year, but it is understood that this must happen in order for her to learn her true magical calling in life. Being away from the family is character building in many ways, but there is always the hint of perhaps this is all just too much. It is ultimately up to Kiki whether she succeeds or fails and she has nobody to blame but herself. Kiki of course not only succeeds, but gains friendship and respect from a town that could have rejected her as an outsider, but instead chooses to embrace her differences.
The Savage by David Almond (2008, Walker Books)
The Savage is a physical manifestation of Blue's grief and anger over the death of his father, and also acts to remind readers of the power of words, as the Savage, essentially a fictional character of a story written by Blue to conquer his emotional turmoil, eventually makes the leap from Blue's notebook into real-life situations. To assume that this book is only about how children come to terms with grief, would be a mistake however, as the creation of the Savage also represents the importance for children to have a private life. This is a common theme in Almond's books; in modern life children are constantly observed and supervised, but Almond illustrates that this is not always healthy. Blue decides not to share his stories of the Savage with his teacher and only reads the more 'safe' passages to his mother and sister, but the parts of his creation that are violent and gruesome, he keeps to himself. This is, in part, because he doesn't think his teacher and mother will understand, but also because he himself has not grappled with the implications of this darkness inside him. To come out of the other side of grief, Blue has to first tackle his demons alone.
Tagged: children's books
There's a Tiger in the Garden by Lizzy Stewart


• Christopher Belt, 47, Gaylord, was traveling southbound on North Center Avenue about 70 feet south of North Street around 8:45 a.m. May 2 when his 2008 Kia collided with a 2000 Dodge driven by Nicole Pace, 21, Gaylord.
According to reports, Pace was traveling northbound on North Center and made a left turn in front of Belt.
Pace was cited for hazardous driving.
• Michael Bennett, 54, Waterford, was turning westbound from Dickerson Road onto West Main Street around 8:45 a.m. May 2 when the 2002 GMC he was driving collided with a 1998 GMC driven by Nicole Kucharek, 17, Gaylord.
Reports state Bennett was making a left turn at the intersection. Witnesses say Kucharek failed to yield to a red light and struck Bennett.
Both vehicles sustained moderate damage. No injuries were reported. No citations were issued.
• Valerie Wright, 16, Gaylord, was traveling southbound on North Center Avenue about 30 feet south of East Petoskey Street around 2:45 p.m. May 2 when the 2001 Dodge she was driving struck a 2002 Saturn driven by Joshua Suitor, 18, Gaylord.
According to reports, both vehicles were southbound on North Center, with Suitor following Wright. Wright stopped for traffic, but Suitor failed to stop in time and rear-ended Wright's vehicle.
Wright's vehicle sustained minor damage, while Suitor's sustained moderate damage. No injuries were reported.
Suitor was cited for violation of basic speed laws.
• Jerry Wingo, 18, Gaylord, was traveling eastbound on Theisen Road about a half mile west of Hallock Road in Elmira Township around 6:20 p.m. May 3 when he lost control of his 1994 Ford F-150 and ran off the roadway.
According to reports, Wingo lost control on a curve, ran off the south side of the road and struck a tree.
Wingo was issued a citation for speed too fast.
• A 21-year-old Harbor Springs man was traveling northbound on State Road about a tenth of a mile south of Trick Road in Emmet County around 4 p.m. May 5 when his 2000 Pontiac ran off the roadway and overturned.
According to reports, the man lost control on a curve, crossed the center line and ran off the roadway, rolling the vehicle. He then fled the scene on foot.
The man's vehicle sustained significant damage. He later sought his own treatment for injuries.
A report has been sent to the prosecutor for review.
• Yi-Chun Tsai, 23, Detroit, was traveling southbound on I-75 about two miles north of Marlette Road in Otsego Lake Township around 2:45 a.m. May 5 when the 2011 Infiniti pickup she was driving struck a deer.
Reports state the deer dashed onto the roadway from the east and into the path of Tsai.
The vehicle sustained moderate damage. No injuries were reported. No citations were issued.


LOS ANGELES, CA (Nov. 19, 2018) – As the Premier Lacrosse League continues its revolutionary approach to the sport, the league has announced that the nonprofit organization "Shootout for Soldiers" will be an official charity partner.
PLL Assists is seeking to change the way that sports leagues interact with their communities by building lasting relationships with meaningful programs around the country. The program will focus on three specific areas during its inaugural season in 2019: increasing access to lacrosse in underserved communities, supporting American veterans in their transition back home, and joining the fight against cancer. Additionally, the PLL will assist its players' respective charitable endeavors by investing with financial support and shared resources. Within each of these initiatives, PLL Assists will work with selected, established non-profit partners, to make a meaningful impact to people who need it.
As part of the PLL Assists' partnership, the PLL will work with Shootout for Soldiers to provide a dedicated number of tickets to each game to Veterans as well as recognize a local hero in each market. The PLL will also help connect its players to one of the dozen Shootout for Soldiers events across the country, aiming to drive awareness for the organization's signature program.
Since its inception in 2012, Shootout for Soldiers has raised over $3 million for wounded American Veterans. In a total of 40 events in fifteen different cities, over 100,000 people have played in a Shootout for Soldiers event, which uses lacrosse as a platform to connect the Veteran and civilian communities.


Brewnor says he wears the coat of his father who while asleep in the woods was hacked to death by an enemy. He has pledged to wear his father's coat until he avenges his murder. Although the venomous tongue of Kay assigned the name La Cote Male Tayle, Brewnor adopts the name when knighted by Arthur.
In Malory's account, Brewnor becomes a famed knight and eventually avenges his father's death but owns the name for the rest of his life. Malory never tells us whether he stops wearing the ill-fitting coat of his father. The story doesn't indicate whether Brewnor was wise or foolish to take his identity from his father's coat and tragic death.
The story makes the simple point that men, in one way or another, often wear the coat given by their father. Most of us know men who have worn a coat woven from their fathers' rejection—men who live their lives seeking to prove themselves to their fathers. Some wear the anger their fathers wore.
But the case of Brewnor presents a different kind of inheritance. Brewnor's love for his father locked him into an identity rooted in vengeance. Although few men need to avenge their father's murder, many men are haunted by the unfairness or hardship their fathers faced. Simply knowing that your father never achieved his dream or finished his quest can gnaw at your gut. It is easy to slip on a coat of bitterness or vow to never tolerate the kind of injustice your father endured. Many men, for instance, have been driven by a vow to escape the poverty of their parents.
I have sometimes worn my father's coat. Growing up, I watched my father faithfully pastor one small church after another without seeing much growth. At some churches, he endured heart-breaking criticism. Some attacks left his self-worth in tatters. That such faithfulness and goodness should be rewarded with such misery still seems unjust.
I have worked hard at not wearing an ill-fitting coat (La Cote Male Tayle) woven from my father's disappointments and unrealized quest. Although most of my own experiences with the Church have been positive, I can easily wear resentment at the treatment my father received. Honestly, my deepest issues have been with God himself. If God dealt disappointment and discouragement to my father (whose goodness and faithfulness exceeded my own), why should I expect more from God? It is hard not to wear his coat when I kneel to pray. How do I avenge my father when I think (yes, wrongly) his enemy was God?
The trouble with our fathers' coats is that like the armor Saul offered David, they don't fit us. Vows to achieve what our fathers didn't or be what they weren't can keep us from our own quest and our own identity. I cannot wear a coat woven from the pain and disappointments of my father. It keeps me from having my own identity before God. For me, this means entrusting my father and all my unanswered questions into the hands of God—trusting in God's character rather than my insight.
I believe we can honor our fathers and be grateful for all they have taught us while still moving forward to discover our own identity before God. We need to wear our own coats. Coats given to us by a heavenly father who knows us perfectly and will empower us for our own quest.
This entry was posted in Fathers and Sons and tagged Fathers and Sons, Knights of the Round Table. Bookmark the permalink.


I have both software and web programming experience, making me a versatile programmer.
I have a degree in Mass Communication with a specialty in Internet Publication and Socia Media, and I graduated from Nashville Software School.
I have a background in data security, and can avoid many of the security pitfalls developers make when coding.
What is Human Centric Development?
Who is the end user? That's the first question I ask. What are their biggest barriers to access? What do we need to do so that they can more easily access the website? Believe it or not, there are still areas of the United States that use dialup. Some families don't have access to a home computer. All their computing is done on a smart phone. If I'm building a site, they need consideration too. This can range from issues regarding technology, to issues regarding disabilities, access, and even life circumstances.
What is 508 compliance and why do you care? 508 compliance is disability accessibility. This can be built in as you go, with little to no additional cost or effort. Even better, it improves your site for more than just those with accessibility concerns. Proper 508 compliance improves your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and makes the site easier for everyone to use. To learn more about 508 compliance, check out my favorite reference, Accessibility Handbook by Katie Cunningham.
Once we've figured out what the barriers to access are, we need to code with those barriers in mind. If I'm going to be targeting users who don't have access to high speed internet, I need to be sure I'm not using a framework that has to make a server call every time I want to do something. I'll need to stick with a lightweight language. Likewise, if I'm building a company based site that we know will only be accessed from company offices, we can use a more robust framework that can make all the server calls we need. It's about going beyond "company policy" and considering the user first.
User Experience (UX) is the unsung hero of human centric development. Done properly, a website can be designed from the design phase to the code phase with only the user's enjoyment as the end goal. Once a site is built, you have to keep asking the users what they need, and what they want to change about the current site. The user's needs are only known by one group: The users. If you've buried an important link four pages deep in the site, they'll tell you. If the site loads too slowly, they'll let you know. Without this important information, what are you even building a site for? What do your users want? What can you do for them?
Feel free to get in touch with me via any of these sites.
All resume requests should be via email.
HealthFULL Eating is the website for a company I've worked with on and off since 2008. I built the front-end part of the site with AngularJS, and it included both a recipe input system, and a markdown-based content management system (CMS).
NSS Chess was a group project done at Nashville Software School. I worked on it with three other classmates in an Agile environment. It does not play remotely, but it does play accurately on one device. For fun, we added some additional boards in our favorite fandoms.
Knit Designer and Knit Designer Pro are in-progress. This is a software program developed for knitting pattern designers so they can resize their patterns effectively, eliminating the need to make multiple mock-ups. It also addresses the issue of each publishing house having its own size requirements that do not match anyone else's sizes. So now, you can reliably resize a pattern with the correct stitch counts, and submit it to more than one publisher quickly and easily.
BloxBot was created during Hack Tennessee 7 and was originally intended to be a software program. Instead, I managed to assemble a dream team of education professionals and other brilliant individuals who realized that most of what we needed was already developed and open source. BloxBot is a program designed to teach STEM education via Legos and Arduino. Kids start in middle school making Lego robots. By the time they're graduating high school, they're machining their own parts and automating everything. This gives them skills for both the job market, and higher education.
We've all encountered that one person online. You know the one. They're oh-so offended by everything. This is for them.
Note: I am aware this is extremely glitchy. I made it in an hour over a lunch break, and I have no plans to repair it at the moment.


The cowering lackey is an important stereotype that you can make good use of. They cower before their superiors more as things go wrong, which of course is the general progression of things in the face of a group of heroes determined to take their boss down.
We have just seen at least four explosions, coming from various scattered areas, of a jungle area.
Never mind the question of why a planet that has completely artificial sandbars would have such an enormous amount of jungle off in the distance. Never mind the question of why there is so much area on this artificial planet that is not being patrolled or anything; or even needs to be patrolled.
Clearly, four large explosions were you don't have any buildings?
One explosion, where you have stuff being stored, might just be an accident.
Four explosions, where you have nothing, should trigger a very large military response. This is after all, a major military base. It should have plenty of defenses, and we should see our PCs completely and thoroughly overwhelmed at this point.
So, I'm guessing that this Empire will only send a small squad of 5 or 6.
That is the face of a man who knows he's about to lose his job.
Are all those explosions from Pete's proximity charges? He sure spread them around quickly. Those mooks must have had Move speeds off the charts (or there were unseen speeders... but those are a little too conspicuous I think).
Krennic: During Tàrkin's visit, everything must be perfect. Security compliance must be at least 100% for the next two days.
Krennic: If anyone notices anything out of the ordinary, no matter how small, you are to report it to me immediately.
Commander Ramda: Uhhh... Happy Life... Daayy...?
Published: Thursday, 21 June, 2018; 03:11:02 PDT.


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The Pigeon River rises near Shining Rock and flows clear and pristine through mountains and valleys until it reaches Canton, where the Champion Paper Mill is located. From there downstream the character of the water changes; the water becomes brown and too warm to support much fish life. Wooten discusses balancing environmental concerns with the strong economic boost the mill gives the region.


text:
Miranda Krogstad • Stam Papadopoulos • Sean Sullivan • Curtis Wolff
Tolerate unbearable young peoplePDF files may take a moment to load
Calgary doesn't get political very often. Any opinion that diverges from conventional thought is greeted with apathy or irritation. Even university students, who are supposedly all radical leftists, don't get angry about much these days.
The opportunity to explore politics and activism in university is unique. At its best, student activism has the ability to affect public discourse. At its worst, mediocre political activism still gives students valuable skills and practical experience.
Read more about Tolerate unbearable young people
Calgary Horror Con brings gore, community together PDF files may take a moment to load
When people think of horror, it's easy to reduce the genre to blood, guts and gore. People may not know about the growing popularity of horror conventions, which are driven by love of the genre and a sense of community.
Calgary Horror Con returns this Saturday for its fourth year. Guest relations coordinator Sandi McLellan says the festival is about building community through a shared love of all things horror.
local festival
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Yamantaka // Sonic Titan: PDF files may take a moment to load
Research is one of those terms that gets thrown around in the arts, but for singer Ruby Kato Attwood of Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, research is part of what she does as a musician.
"We've all sort of been through the university rigamarole, so it's been drilled into our heads that you have to look into what you're presenting," Attwood says. "It's an enjoyable process also."
Read more about Yamantaka // Sonic Titan:
Shambhala returns for psychedelic forest rompPDF files may take a moment to load
Shambhala Music Festival has built a reputation as Western Canada's top destination for electronic music over the course of 16 summers.
Nestled on a ranch in the Kootenay mountains, Shambhala brings 10,000 people an hour's drive south of Nelson on the second weekend of August.
What started as a party thrown for friends on a ranch 17 years ago is now British Columbia's most infamous electronic music festival — and for good reason.
World-renowned DJs like Skream, Moby and Bassnectar headline this year's festival.
Read more about Shambhala returns for psychedelic forest romp
Sidney York put their <3s into latest albumPDF files may take a moment to load
With the music industry changing so rapidly, musicians have to do something innovative to stand out. Local duo Brandi Sidoryk and Krista Wodelet of Sidney York are doing just that with their unique blend of electronic and orchestral music.
Read more about Sidney York put their
PC leadership hopeful Ric McIver talks about his bid for the Premiership with the GauntletPDF files may take a moment to load
Three provincial politicians have battled for the Progressive Conservative leadership since Allison Redford resigned as Premier this spring. The Gauntlet first interviewed candidates Jim Prentice and Thomas Lukaszuk. We finish our candidate Q&A series with leadership candidate Ric McIver.
As Calgary-Hays MLA, McIver has served as minister of transportation and minister of infrastructure since assuming office in April 2012. Before provincial politics, McIver was the city councillor for ward 12 from 2001–10.
Read more about PC leadership hopeful Ric McIver talks about his bid for the Premiership with the Gauntlet
Scholars Academy Program to get new space this fallPDF files may take a moment to load
Members of the University of Calgary Scholars Academy Program will have a new space on the second floor of the MacKimmie Block this upcoming year.
The program — now entering its fourth year — is the first of its kind in Canada. It offers advising and mentorship services to high-achieving undergraduate students, as well as the opportunity to engage in a community service project.
The old scholars academy office had limited study space. The new office will feature a classroom, more space to study and a small kitchen.
club profile
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The results are in. . . PDF files may take a moment to load
Every year, the Students' Union surveys students on a range of issues, from performance and funding to favourite campus events and media (the Gauntlet scored second behind CJSW. We're content with that).
The SU uses these results to help with policy decisions, and overall, they found that students are quite happy with their performance.
Nearly 2,000 undergraduates responded to the survey.
Here's a little snippet of what they said.
Read more about The results are in. . .
Course outline website may deliver syllabi a few weeks earlyPDF files may take a moment to load
If you've ever been surprised by course requirements on the first day of class and regretted enroling in a course then a new University of Calgary website might be exactly what you're looking for.
U of C vice-provost for teaching and learning Lynn Taylor, in discussions with Students' Union vice-president academic Hana Kadri, agreed to develop a new website that will host outlines from U of C courses.
Read more about Course outline website may deliver syllabi a few weeks early
Puppy-room 2.0 coming to campusPDF files may take a moment to load
The dogs are back in town.
Students will once again get the chance to unwind with monthly pet-therapy sessions every month in That Empty Space this upcoming year.
Although this is pet-therapy, don't expect to play with animals other than dogs.
The Students' Union will partner with Pet Access League Society, a Calgary-based pet-therapy organization, to hold these sessions.
Read more about Puppy-room 2.0 coming to campus


text:
Inked Together series
Empire State of Mind series
Ellen the Harpist series
King & Queen Series
Contact/Privacy
7 Beta Heroes Who Get the Girl
By Diane_Michaels September 16, 2017 July 3, 2020 Books, Writing
Here's a list of seven short stories, novellas, and novels in which the male romantic lead character doesn't resemble the classic alpha hero [scroll down for the start of the list]. Before we meet our beta heroes, I discuss the role of the alpha hero in literature and why sometimes beta is best.
feature photo: Christiana Rivers
Fairy Tales and Alpha Males
Cinderella wore rags and labored to keep house for her bullying stepmother and stepsisters. Snow White lay in a poison-induced coma. So did Sleeping Beauty. And then handsome Prince Charming/Prince Florian/Prince Philip swooped in to save the day. It's a tale as old as time, as the song goes. When a beautiful woman is in distress, she needs a strong, handsome, and rich hero to come to her rescue. This storyline lays at the heart of each version the fairy tale we could title "Beauty and the Alpha Hero."
If you take a look at the submission guidelines for publishers of books in the Romance genre today, you will see that the tale as old as time remains a current hit. Editors still seek out manuscripts featuring sexy men who will save our embattled heroine. Some publishers even specify the hero must be an alpha male. The thing is, many of these fictional 21st century alpha males are the sorts who will stop at nothing to get what they want. They are billionaires and bad boys. Their role is not just to save the heroine from whatever fate befalls her but to pursue her ruthlessly. These alphas continue to overemphasize their dominance even after the pair enters into a romantic relationship. I, for one, find this paradigm of the romantic hero to be a tad unsettling. Does the 21st century woman really need a man to save or dominate her?
Does the 21st century fictional heroine really need a man to save or dominate her? Click To Tweet
"Betas Are the Alphas of Love"
Adam Conover, of Adam Ruins Everything (a show on truTV), set out to blow up the myth of the alpha male in the episode Adam Ruins Dating. In the episode, citing research disproving that wolf packs have an alpha male, he works to apply this theory to negate the existence of the alpha in the human population and to prove that so-called alphas don't rise to the top of the pack of every social situation. I feel he misses the mark when it comes to recognizing the existence of the human alpha male. We are all familiar with a type of man (aggressive, self-centered) who uses his perception of his own strength as a means of keeping people he perceives as weak in a powerless position. In a patriarchal society, one that sees men as being born to rule over women, it is natural for some men to abuse this power. Natasha Vargas-Cooper and Kelly Faircloth refer to such a person as an alpha hole (love this term!) in a conversation they had on Jezebel. But what of the alpha male who uses his power for good?
Faircloth puts forth a theory that a true alpha hero, recognizing the power and privilege of being male, seeks to live up to his position. In fiction, this hero comes to the aid of the heroine, nurtures her, and protects her from harm. He exhibits qualities Conover attributes to beta males: generosity and kindness. Conover concludes these qualities, along with agreeableness, "are among the strongest indicators of a long and happy relationship." In other [his] words, "betas are the alphas of love." There are plenty of swoon-worthy examples of strong, capable heroes in fiction who make the world right for the women they love. But it is the hero "making the world right for the woman" aspect of the plot many authors wish to bypass in their novels. Enter the Beta Hero.
Beta Heroes vs. Alpha Zeroes
Chick Lit, a subset of the Romance genre, features female protagonists who are comically flawed and whose relationships with friends and family are as central to their worlds as a romantic relationship is. Chick Lit heroines possess inner strength, a quality they often ignore. They match up as well with beta heroes as with alphas. Alpha holes do make appearances in Chick Lit (I'm looking at you, Daniel Cleaver!), but not in the role of the hero.
I set out to write a beta hero when I created the character of Josh in my debut novel, Ellen the Harpist. My heroine has a lot to figure out about herself. If she couldn't solve her own problems—if she instead needed to rely on a strong alpha male to save her—she wouldn't be able to mature into a heroine on equal footing with her romantic counterpart. Whether in fiction or in RL, a woman is more likely to learn from her mistakes and to develop her own point of view when she doesn't have an alpha male controlling her fate.
Below is a list of seven works of fiction in which a beta hero gets the girl. I've invited the authors of these books to share their thoughts on what makes the character a beta and why beta was the better bet. If you are inspired by our beta heroes, you can vote for our novels and find others beta heroes to love on this list on goodreads.
1. Josh: "Ellen the Harpist" by Diane Michaels
Josh is not wired for the role of romantic hero first when he meets Ellen at the beginning of the novel. He may be able to make her laugh, but when it comes to asking her out, well, his passive nature takes over. It doesn't help matters when he lets his controlling, humorless ex continue to pull his strings. While Ellen spends most of the novel facing—and often flailing against—the hurdles of adulthood, Josh learns how to take command of his life. He ultimately matures into an ideal partner for Ellen, one who will not endanger her own newfound self-confidence.
2. Matt: "Don't Mean a Thing" by Renee Conoulty
"I chose to write a beta hero for my heroine, Macie, because I wanted her to be supported, not rescued. Matt is a primary school teacher with a caring soul who treats everyone with respect. He is a fabulous swing dancer and takes control on the dance floor but doesn't feel threatened when Macie dances with other people. He can express what he want without turning it into an ultimatum. He is a modern gentleman." —Renee Conoulty
3. Arlen: "Queen of the Universe" by Geralyn Corcillo
"Arlen Black (voted 2017 Best Book Boyfriend by a group of readers who love the genre), HAD to be beta. Why? Because of the heroine and her arc, of course. Lola Scott, the kick-ass, take-charge, and somewhat zany lead in Queen is undeniably in control of her TV show, her set, her actors. But she's not quite as in control of people and the world as she thinks she is. So the story needed a real-life nice guy, a man with secret wounds, to come into her life and shake up her perception of people and relationships, which had become warped by working in Hollywood. She, in turn, ends up saving him." —Geralyn Corcillo
4. Josh: "Two Last First Dates" by Kate O'Keeffe
"Paige, a secondary character in book 1 of the Cozy Cottage Café series, has a history of being attracted to alpha males who didn't treat her well or even notice her. She didn't know she needed someone to balance her out. As she is a timid, less self-confident, yet very positive thinking and kind character, I wanted to give her a love interest who could bring out those qualities in her, not stifle them. That's where Josh came in. Although Paige was still following her old pattern of falling for the alpha male—completely overlooking the beta Josh—she had enough self awareness to realise her pattern was damaging—she just had no clue how to break it. But break it she did through a series of events that gave her greater insight into herself. And then, when she got there, Josh was waiting for her." —Kate O'Keeffe
5. Giacomo: "Pot Love" by Sylvia Ashby
Ashby finds writing alpha male characters to be pretty boring, preferring characters who "are nuanced and mild. Who have insecurities and who happen to be nervous in social situations at times. Who don't always get the girl or beat their opponents.
Giacomo, from my Pot Love series, is exactly this type of a man. He is successful in his business, but he is not pushy, arrogant, or a player. Instead, he loves Ashley (my clumsy and kind heroine) to bits. He supports her in everything she does and keeps her leveled when she loses her way, which is more often than she's willing to admit." —Sylvia Ashby
6. Aaron: "Any Way You Slice It" by Monique McDonell
"I wrote this novella, Any Way You Slice It, because I read a popular romance novel with an alpha hero and a weak heroine who was forced into a marriage of convenience, and it made me so mad.
Aaron is a beta in alpha clothing. Yes he's wealthy, handsome, and successful like the classic alpha, but he's not out to save anyone or change anyone's life. The whole premise of the story is that Piper wants to keep her life as it is. Aaron's also sweet, fun-loving, and not interested in any damsels in distress. It could be said that Piper rescues him rather than the reverse." —Monique McDonell
7. Mikey: "The Rescue" by Laurie Baxter
Laurie Baxter takes a classic alpha trope—the fireman—and turns him into a beta in this short story from the collection A Cute Pair of Shorts. "Mikey is a kind-hearted but misunderstood fireman whose squad-mates are giving him a hard time (it seems he mistakenly 'rescued' a large stuffed dog from a burning house earlier in the year). It's starting to get to him, but he's too good a guy not to endure." His star rises at the end of the story thanks to a rescue of sorts choreographed by the heroine. "I'm all about the betas, as a look at my other stories would quickly confirm." —Laurie Baxter
Are you a fan of alphas or betas? Who is your favorite book hero?
Meet your next beta hero boyfriend for free: Dan from King & Queen of the Bouncy Castle
alpha heroesbeta heroesChick LitEllen the Harpist
Working on a Cruise Ship
Ellen's Holiday Sing-Along: Nautical Edition
10 thoughts on "7 Beta Heroes Who Get the Girl"
Geralyn Corcillo says:
Diane, what a wonderful, insightful look at what authors offer and what readers want. All my heroes are either beta, or alpha's who learn to become beta because throughout the course of the story, they realize that while alpha may have been their identity, beta is their essence – and those are such wonderful characters to create. I have read and loved a bunch of books on this list, and the ones I have not read are going on my kindle ASAP 🙂 Thanks!
Diane_Michaels says:
Thanks, Geralyn! Your books totally exemplify the "betas are the alphas of love" concept.
Great article, Diane.
Beta doesn't mean second best and nice guys don't finish last.
Thanks, Renee!
My favorite H (for either MM or MF) is one who has strength, perseverance/self confidence and survival instincts grounded in good morals and honour, patience and humor/kindness – usually honed and developed through adversity and contact with a wise mentoring entity (wise father or grandmother figure maybe or great literature even). They can learn the value of and how to be vulnerable and humble, often with the help and influence of an h (for either FM or MM). Those can be real assets in survival and in being a balanced and supportive partner.
I guess I feel that alpha and beta are too 2 dimensional and limiting as constructs or for the kind of male I would want as a life partner. I guess to put it in archetypal language I like a Beauty and the Beast story the best. They save each other.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Kathryn. You site so many key qualities for both fictional heroes and life partners. Before I began writing and adopting the related vocabulary, I referred to men similar to your description as "evolved men."
Julianna Douglas says:
Great post, Diane! I ran across via the newsletter of one of the featured authors. I've always felt that beta heroes are under-appreciated. As a reader, I've always loved them, and now as a writer, I tend to write heroes who lean beta. I just happen to be the creator of the Beta Heroes list on GoodReads, so many thanks for linking to that. Now I'm off to look up all the books you've featured in your post.:-)
Thank you, Julianna! And thanks for putting together–and monitoring–the list on GoodReads! I was so happy to find it.
Holly Kerr says:
Great post Diane! My romance WIP has a beta hero and now I know there will be love for Dean even though he's not a bad boy or a billionaire!
Thanks, Holly! And here's to Dean's HEA!
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Understanding partnerships for protected area tourism: learning from the literature.
As demand grows for tourism opportunities within Australian protected areas, partnerships are increasingly seen as the way forward in dealing with the variety of interests involved and ensuring that sustainability goals are pursued. Previous tourism partnership research has not made the most of opportunities to consult related literature from a broad range of disciplines and use associated theoretical developments as a basis for analysis. This technical report addresses this gap through a multi-disciplinary review of partnerships research to reconcile the often multifarious definitions of partnership and allied concepts, such as collaboration and cooperation, and the various meanings given to success, as well as to identify factors which might impact upon partnership success or failure. Eight theoretical perspectives are explored, covering social exchange theory, adoption and diffusion of innovation, environmental dispute resolution (EDR), social representation theory, network theory, stakeholder theory, social capital theory and the institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework. Theoretical constructs offering the greatest potential for framing future research into successful tourismprotected area partnerships were social capital theory and EDR, with application of the IAD framework to cover any remaining gaps. This review suggests that it is important to consider as broad a range of factors as possible, not only those that are easy to measure. As such, factors such as administrative setting and the availability of resources, which are under-represented in the partnerships research, but intuitively seem to play a part in partnership success, should be considered. These findings provide a robust platform for further research that will be progressed as part of the broader study of which this review formed a foundational part.


text:
package org.apache.zeppelin.display.angular.paragraphscope

import org.apache.zeppelin.display.angular.{AbstractAngularModel, AbstractAngularModelTest}

/**
  * Test for AngularModel
  */
class AngularModelTest extends AbstractAngularModelTest {
  override def angularModel(name: String): AbstractAngularModel = {
    AngularModel(name)
  }

  override def angularModel(name: String, value: Any): AbstractAngularModel = {
    AngularModel(name, value)
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub