Palliative Care is a specialized medical care for people with serious illness. It is focused on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain, and stresses of a serious illness – whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve the quality of life for both the patient and the family. Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses, and other specialists who work together with a patient's other doctors to provide an extra layer of support. It is appropriate at any age and at any stage of a serious illness and can be provided along with curative treatment.
Palliative care may be right for you if you are experiencing pain, stress and other symptoms due to a serious illness. Serious illnesses include but are not limited to cancer, cardiac disease, respiratory disease, kidney failure, Alzheimer?s, AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis. Palliative care is appropriate at any stage of a serious illness, and you can get it along with treatment to cure you.
Communication and coordination: Palliative care teams are extremely good communicators. They put great importance on communication between you, your family and your doctors to ensure that your needs are fully met. These include establishing goals for your care, help with decision-making and coordination of care.
Emotional support: Palliative care focuses on the entire person, not just the illness. The team members caring for your will address any social, psychological, emotional or spiritual needs you may have.
are being met and that your treatments are in line with your goals. You can also expect relief from symptoms such as pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, constipation, nausea, loss of appetite and difficulty sleeping. Palliative care addresses the whole person. It helps you carry on with your daily life; it improves your ability to go through medical treatments, and it helps you better understand your condition and your choices for medical care. In short, you can expect the best possible quality of life.
Most insurance plans cover all or part of the palliative care treatment you receive, just as with other hospital and medical services. This is also true of Medicare and Medicaid. If costs concern you, a social worker or financial consultant from the palliative care team can help you with payment options.?
Everyone is involved! Patients ,as well as family caregivers, are the?special focus of palliative care. Your doctors and nurses benefit too, because they know they are meeting your needs by providing care and treatment that reduces your suffering and improves your?quality of life.
Usually a team of specialists, including palliative care doctors, nurses and social workers, provide this type of care.
After discharge from the hospital, you, your doctor and the palliative care team can discuss outpatient palliative care. Some hospitals also offer outpatient palliative care, even if you have not been in the hospital. Check with your doctor.
Palliative care is for anyone with a serious illness. You can have it at any age and any stage of illness, and you can have it along with curative treatment. It is not dependent on prognosis. Hospice is an important Medicare benefit that provides care for terminally ill patients who may have only months to live. People who receive hospice are also no longer receiving curative treatment for their underlying disease.


"We praise God, from whom all blessings flow"
Très chers frères et soeurs, bonsoir!
Warm and heartfelt greetings from Quebec and Canada, your northern neighbors! I am honored to have been invited to give the invocation this evening. I am also very pleased to be here with many of my brother Bishops and Archbishops from Canada, and I invite them to stand.
We Canadians owe so much to the Knights of Columbus, who throughout the years have helped us live our mission, serving the Church and the People of God, and helping us take good care of those most in need in our local communities. From the bottom of our hearts, merci beaucoup!
Let us pray and praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
God, our Loving and Merciful Father, we turn to you this evening as we gather for this annual States Dinner. We are grateful for allowing us to be together in fraternal love. May our friendships be strengthened and our lives continue to grow in service and in love.
This evening, brother Knights of Columbus and their spouses from many provinces, states and countries share this generous table. Help us grow in unity. Teach us, Father, how to be instruments of peace and justice where we live and work. May this 133rd Supreme Convention renew us as missionary disciples of Jesus Christ.
The City of Philadelphia has been the City of Brotherly Love since William Penn, the English Quaker, envisioned the area as a place where anyone of any color or background could live in peace and harmony. We continue to dream and hope for a world of Brotherly Love. "Stay with us, Lord!" (Luke 24:19). Walk with us so that we can build a New World where love reigns in every heart, and harmony and unity in every family. As this city prepares to celebrate the World Meeting of Families next month and welcome our Holy Father, Pope Francis, renew us in our commitment to support, defend, evangelize, catechize and accompany the families entrusted to us.
Through the Word of God, the sacrament of the Eucharist and the other sacraments, you nourish our hearts and our souls and give us the strength to continue our journey. We thank you for the priests who serve our parishes and communities and help us grow in holiness.
We give you thanks for this meal. All this food arrives on our table thanks to the work of so many people, farmers, grocers, people who work in transportation, cooks, servers, and many more. For all of these dedicated men and women who work year round to feed the world, we give you thanks, Lord.
Au nom du PËre, et du Fils, et du Saint-Esprit. Amen.


Moving to a new home, or a new city, can be exciting. Unfortunately, those moves do not always come off without a hitch. Many things can go wrong during a move, from the loss of irreplaceable personal items to the destruction of expensive furniture and appliances. Whether you are hiring a professional moving company or doing it yourself, it is important to prepare carefully.
That careful preparation can mean the difference between a smooth and uneventful move and one that makes you wish you'd just stayed in your old home. Just follow these steps to make your move more fun and less stressful.
Take a look around your home and try to estimate how many boxes you will need.
Contact the moving company or rental agency and talk about the size truck you think you will need. The staff will be able to help you pick the right size based on the size of your home.
Sort out the items you no longer need. Raise some extra money by having a garage sale, or simply donate those items to your favorite charity.
Order the boxes and supplies you will need for the move. Make sure you have plenty of markers, labels, packing tape and other items to pack those boxes securely.
Pack up those out of season clothes and non-essential items ahead of time. This will save you time later on.
Ask your friends and family members for help if you are doing the move yourself. You may want to offer some culinary enticements – like free pizza and snacks.
Check the boxes before you start packing the truck. Make sure each box is clearly labeled with the room it goes to and a brief list of the contents. That will make it easier to unpack when you get to your new home.
Wrap furniture in blankets and padding to prevent damage during shipment. If you are hiring a moving company, the movers should supply these items. If you are moving on your own, you will need to order those protective items.
Use non-marking tape, rope or string to secure the drawers on dressers, chests of drawers and other furniture.
Pack your essential items, including prescription drugs, eyeglasses or contacts and important papers, in a moving day kit you can carry with you. Include a torch and directions to your new home in the kit as well.
For more information or advice contact our friendly team today on (07) 5547 6544 or send us a message and will help out any way we can.


polish insomniac: Vintage Couture Part Two - Channelesque!
Vintage Couture Part Two - Channelesque!
China Glaze Channelesque is a polish that I honestly never thought I would be able to get my hands on! This polish was sent to me by my dear friend Toni. She is a real gem for tracking this baby down for me!
Channelesque came out in the China Glaze Couture Cremes collection, along with yesterday's polish, Who's Wearing What.
I wish I could say that the formula on this polish was as good as No Name Yet and Who's Wearing What. Unfortuanetly, this polish required three coats, the first two went on very uneven. It did not self level on the third coat, so for these pictures I did add a layer of SV.
Good formula or bad formula, this is still one awesome polish! The prettier the polish, the more forgiving I am. I am sure we are all that way! I don't believe any "reputable" e-tailers have this in stock any longer.
However there are a few "dupes" out there. One is Confetti Moonstruck, which can be found at CVS. But if you are interested, go NOW because the company which makes Confetti is being sued by Sally Hansen. Fun stuff! Another possibility is the new collection from China Glaze themselves, Anchor's Away. At this time I do not recall the name of the polish, but I will update this post as soon as I figure that out!
Essie Merino Cool, which is compared to Confetti Moonstruck and Catrice from Dusk til Dawn here by Jen The Polish-Aholic.
Also, Pro 10 Showtime, which is the same thing as Confetti Moonstruck, just in a bigger bottle and 2x the money. Pro 10 and Confetti are owned by the same company, Pro 10 probably won't be around much longer either. So if you don't want to pay $8 for Essie, RUN to CVS NOW!
Playing with my new Ottlite!
Because It's Fall Mini Minis Giveaway!


Stock Options Explained in Simple Terms – What are Call Options? A Call Option is a contract that gives an investor the right to buy a stock (ETF, bonds, commodities, etc…) at a specific price within a specific period of time. Think of a call option like a security deposit or down payment.
The first two articles will contrast buying puts and calls with the relatively conservative strategy of selling, or writing, puts and calls; my aim is to get trading explained easily to options investors in terms of managing risk as opposed to making a quick killing.
That said, let's take a look at vega and how you could potentially use this to your advantage when you're trading options. Vega Explained. Now, vega is considered a Greek, but it's not actually a Greek letter. Vega measures the sensitivity of an option's price in relation to changes in the implied volatility.


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Welcome to Morning Rounds. Here's what you need to know about health and medicine today.
Las Vegas hospitals rush to care for shooting victims
Las Vegas hospitals have been flooded with victims of the mass shooting that killed at least 59 people and injured more than 500 others. Civilians at the scene drove injured people in their own cars to hospitals. Police blocked off roads near University Medical Center, the city's only Level 1 trauma center, to give emergency vehicles a clear path. The hospital received 104 patients, including more than 30 in the trauma center. Las Vegas police said five hospitals were treating patients injured in the shooting. Doctors, nurses, and other hospital staffers not scheduled to work were called in to help with the rush of patients and loved ones looking for those injured or missing.
A report released yesterday highlighted the continued toll of gun violence in the U.S.. Researchers found that ER and inpatient costs alone for firearm-related injuries total $2.8 billion every year. Half of those cases were classified as assaults.
Half of people in Puerto Rico still don't have clean water
Officials in Puerto Rico are still scrambling to get medical care to individuals impacted by Hurricane Maria. Half of residents still don't have access to clean drinking water. Dozens of hospitals, dialysis centers, and pharmacies, many damaged by the storm and running on generators, have received assistance to keep their doors open. HHS says all but two hospitals on the island are at least partially functional, but some facilities have evacuated patients in critical need to hospitals in the mainland U.S.. A floating hospital from the Navy — home to a massive trauma center — is also headed to the island and is expected to arrive later this week.
Two versions of this drug have wildly different price tags
Comparing price tags for two drugs to prevent preterm birth might give you sticker shock: The generic version costs an average of $206 per pregnancy. The brand-name? $10,917. Researchers dug into data from women who received either a compounded version of the drug or a prepackaged version, sold under the brand name Makena. There wasn't any statistically significant difference in preterm birth rates between the two groups, but roughly 14 percent of women took the brand-name version.
The drug had been used for years to prevent pre-term births when the FDA granted KV Pharmaceuticals "orphan drug" status to produce a branded version. That orphan drug designation gives drug makers a seven-year exclusive right to market the drug — and a window to significantly raise prices. But the FDA also continued to allow compounding facilities to continue making the drug, creating two clinically equivalent products with dramatically different price tags.
Sponsor content by Nokia Health Solutions
Bridging the divide between pharma and tech
For years, pharmaceutical companies have tried going "beyond the pill." But what happens once you make that leap and what can you learn from companies who have tread this path before?
Join Nokia this Thursday at 1 pm EST to learn how pharma companies can harness consumer mobile tech to drive brand loyalty and bottom line revenue. Click here to register for the webinar. All registrants will receive a recording immediately after the session.
Inside STAT: Alzheimer's patient in multimillion-dollar pharma ad may soon be homeless
brian Kursonis in his apartment outside Charlotte, NC. (logan cyrus for stat)
Brian Kursonis, who was diagnosed last year with early onset Alzheimer's at age 55, starred in the drug industry's multimillion-dollar "Go Boldly" campaign. The PR push was designed to showcase the pharmaceutical industry's commitment to develop cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's. But the patient who anchored the campaign says the ground has fallen out from under his feet. Kursonis fears he will soon be homeless. He lives alone and sometimes forgets to eat. He recently got a federal notice letting him know he's eligible for government insurance but couldn't understand what to do with it, so Kursonis put it aside. His story sheds light on the complicated realities that compound the challenges of living with a disease like Alzheimer's. More from STAT's Rebecca Robbins here.
Refunds sent out for unproven addiction treatment
Federal officials are mailing out thousands of refunds to consumers who bought a product touted as a treatment for opioid addiction withdrawal. Sunrise Nutraceuticals claimed that Elimidrol — a powdered drink mix that contained herbs — could ease the symptoms of withdrawal. Of course, that claim wasn't backed up by any evidence, and the product wasn't approved by the FDA. The Federal Trade Commission is sending out refunds totaling more than $210,000.
Health providers weigh in on reused syringes
A troubling new study finds that 12 percent of doctors and 3 percent of nurses in the U.S. say that, against protocols, syringes get used on multiple patients in their workplace. We partnered with our colleagues at Figure 1, a learning platform for health professionals, to poll physicians and nurses about whether they'd seen the practice themselves. Here's what they had to say:
"Why would you ever reuse? The only reason I could think of is pressure for financial savings from the institution. At my institution everyone's hair lights on fire if you recap a syringe. I can't even imagine reusing one." —Registered nurse
"I've seen MD in ICU reuse same needle/syringe in attempting line placement or blood drawing... [despite] additional equipment immediately available and suggestions from staff to use new equipment." —Clinical nurse specialist
"This is not happening anywhere that has proper funding. I can only imagine this being done when you are desperate with no supplies. Even then I just can't imagine." —Licensed practical nurse
Hospitalizations for prescription overdoses fall as heroin rates rise
A new analysis finds that from 2008 to 2014, hospital discharges for heroin poisoning jumped more than 31 percent each year, while discharges for prescription opioid poisonings fell about 5 percent annually. The study's authors say the decline in hospitalizations for prescription opioid overdoses coincides with public health initiatives to curb misuse, but it also could be due, in part, to some patients moving to heroin and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. But they're also cautiously optimistic that public health efforts have helped to reduce the role of prescription painkillers in the epidemic.
If you were starting a medical school from scratch, what would you do differently? WBUR
Controlled chaos at Las Vegas hospital trauma center after attack. New York Times
Few U.S. hospitals can fully share electronic medical records. Reuters
More reads from STAT
In sicker communities, Trump got more votes. Is that why he won?
Texas hospitals feeling the long-term financial strains of Harvey.
The latest from STAT Plus
The big names at this startup have big plans to speed drug discovery — with 'CRISPRomics.'
The U.S. would pay an extra $10.7 billion without generic Allergan drug.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The 10th edition of Advanced Engineering UK took place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham from the 31st of October to the 1st of November.
The event is the largest of its kind, covering many UK and Irish Industries in the areas of Aeronautics, Automotive, Composites and Advanced Materials, Connected Manufacturing and even Nuclear Engineering.
In addition to the Trade Exhibition, Advanced Engineering hosts a number of talks from leading Industry and Academic professional. This year's presentations covered a wide range of challenging areas affecting the Industry, such as digital and Industry 4.0 transformation, the emerging skills gap in the sector and future proofing supply chains (and yes Brexit was mentioned too).
Among some of the leading companies presenting at Advance Engineering included Jaguar Land Rover, Siemens, Boeing, HP, Kawasaki, Nikon and Omron Electronics.
Trinity College Dublin had an outstanding presence at Advanced Engineering this year with 4 presentations in the areas of Aeroacoustics, Additive Manufacturing and Industry 4.0, Advanced Material processing, Heat Transfer & Fluid.
Transforming Aeroacoustics and NVH using additive manufacturing – Prof. Henry Rice.
Dr Chris Keely, Senior Business Development Manager, gave a talk on how Industries can engage with Trinity College Dublin to access research outputs, strategic technologies, world-class infrastructure and talent to drive their business forward. This was the second visit to Advanced Engineering by the Industry Engagement team led by Chris.
"It's a very busy couple of days at the show, not to mention the work before and after, but well worth the effort in terms of Industry leads for research, business intelligence and profile for Trinity". CK.
Trinity College's E3 institute is an ambitious plan to bring together Engineering, Environment and Emerging technologies. E3 will equip the next generation graduates with the necessary interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to tackle today's global societal challenges driven by changing demographics, climate change, urbanisation of global population and depletion of natural resources. E3 Institute initiative received this year the single largest philanthropic donation in the history of the state (€25m), to build its new Learning Foundry a 6,086 m2 facility based on the main Trinity campus that will host 1,800 new STEM students (50% increase).
The Trinity's School of Engineering is one of the oldest in Britain and Ireland, it was founded in 1841. It offers professional programmes in mechanical engineering, manufacturing biomechanical, electronic, civil environmental and computer engineering. The school supports approximately 100 PhD students and over 150 graduates from its Masters programmes.
Trinity Research & Innovation helps Industries and Businesses every day through world class knowledge, expertise and infrastructure to meet their research and innovation challenges. TR&I also provides a point of connection to Trinity's College ecosystem & network, access to intellectual property and support to leverage research funding (sharing costs & risks).


Just thought I'd let you guys in on a couple things. Firstly, I got a confirmation on the Bethesda interview. It's coming... and it's gonna be awesome. Robert and I are both really excited about it. Secondly, he's got us ANOTHER interview coming up soon. Stuff's just rolling in the right direction for us at the moment.
I wish I could say I was working on a new feature, but I'm really feeling worn out now. With work at Planet GameCube piling up and school stuff demanding more and more attention, I feel a little exhausted. I think I just need some R&R, though. Once Spring Break arises in the next four or so weeks, I'll get my medicine and I'll be ready to crank out some gangbusters. Fireworks, man! Fireworks!
So, until then, dear reader, keep doing your job (reading) and we'll keep doing ours (hopelessly delaying actually working, then eventually writing).


Titled after MLK's Speech with the same title. The Other America speaks to comment on the current political and racial climate in America by posing the question, has anything changed? What is freedom and how is it defined?
Speakers are functional. Connect via aux cord - AC adapter.


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Episode 065 – The Heart of a Giant
Posted on March 8, 2017 by owenmorton
In which Orko goes looking for drugs and finds a friendly giant.
Adam, Cringer, Man-at-Arms and Orko are out in the Eternian wilderness, looking for a bright orange weed that grows on trees. The only explanation offered as to why they want this weed is that Man-at-Arms needs it for one of his "experiments", no doubt the same type of "experiment" that a lot of liberal-leaning students set up.
Orko: "This crop should net me a fortune on Koh Samui this year."
In the course of searching for the weed, Orko encounters a giant, who he instantly assumes is a monster. Nothing could be further from the truth, however; Orko manages to knock himself out, and the giant brings him back to his friends safely, then disappears into the undergrowth. Adam decides that they need to poke their noses into the giant's business, to find out who he is. God alone knows why Adam should think this: perhaps it's time for Eternia's regular census? Pausing only to transform into He-Man and Battle-Cat, our heroes go off to look for the giant.
Hovering above the jungle in a bizarrely shark-shaped flying machine is the baddy of the week. He is a collector of strange creatures, and the episode's writer doesn't bother to give him a name, so I'll refer to him as Boring-Man. The creatures he's collected are reuses of individuals from various other rubbish episodes: there's Gorgon from The Defection, the two-headed man from Orko's Missing Magic, and a four-armed dude who might well also have featured in Orko's Missing Magic, but I can't remember and don't want to watch that episode again to make sure. Anyway, Boring-Man wants to add the giant to his collection.
Boring-Man: "Not only do I have a collection of recycled animation creatures, I wouldn't mind betting my spaceship interior is recycled from Star Trek: the Animated Series."
He-Man and co. are just in time to see the giant being captured, at which point Boring-Man decides that He-Man and Orko would also be worthy exhibits. He captures Orko, then throws a giant scorpion out of his airship to distract He-Man, Man-at-Arms and Battle-Cat while he flies away. He-Man defeats the scorpion using his favourite tactic of diverting a river at it, then sets off after Boring-Man.
On board the ship, Boring-Man explains to Orko and the giant that they are now permanent fixtures in his circus, and then announces an inexplicable intention to add Stratos to the collection as well. Once Boring-Man leaves the room, Orko strikes up a friendship with the giant, who introduces himself as Canbro and explains that he is an outcast, because people ridicule or fear him. Once these pleasantries are over, Orko and Canbro escape their cage and set about building a radio with which to contact He-Man.
Orko: "Well, I'm massively incompetent at the best of times, so I hope you're good at building radios, because I'm very unlikely to be any help."
Orko informs He-Man via radio that Stratos is next on the hit list, so our heroes head for Avion, arriving in time to rescue the ever-incompetent Stratos from Boring-Man's clutches. He-Man then boards the ship and immediately gets entangled in cords of solid titanium, from which Boring-Man claims "even he cannot escape", and all I'm going to say about that statement is that it's a classic case of misplaced confidence.
He-Man opens all the cages and takes all the creatures to see Boring-Man, who collapses on the floor shrieking "No!" Just as the creatures are about to attack Boring-Man, however, Canbro intervenes to stop them, demonstrating his peaceful and merciful nature. As the episode ends, Man-at-Arms offers Canbro a job as a lab assistant, which Canbro accepts, though I'll bet we never see him again.
Orko provides the very sane and relevant moral that judging people by their appearance – as he initially did with Canbro – is not a good way to behave. This is a perfectly sensible lesson, demonstrated nicely by the episode's story, for the first time in a while.
Canbro: "I know the entire point of this episode is to not judge by appearances, but by God, I look disturbing."
Prince Adam, Cringer, He-Man, Orko, Man-at-Arms, Stratos, Canbro and Boring-Man are our principal movers and shakers this week. Well, Stratos isn't exactly a mover or shaker, though I imagine you could have guessed that.
Adam doesn't give an excuse, and he doesn't even have a sensible reason for turning into He-Man this week. He just does it on a whim.
All the insults this week are dished out by Boring-Man, who calls his Gorgon animation reuse a "mindless brute", calls Canbro "big but dumb", and refers to his entire collection as "dumb beasts".
He-Man: "Once again, I'm going to have to make a mental note to cut down on my LSD intake."
It's not the most enthralling of episodes, but neither is it anywhere near as rubbish as some recent offerings. It's obvious from the moment Canbro shows up that he's not going to be a baddy, so it's fortunate that the episode doesn't waste much time trying to pretend he is. The real villain of the piece is genuinely nondescript – Boring-Man is an apt name for him – and his whole plot feels pretty tired, being too similar to the recent Pawns of the Game Master and Castle of Heroes. In addition, He-Man's fight with the scorpion isn't very exciting, and Stratos seems to have been dropped in just for the sheer why-not of it. All in all, I'd call this one pretty determinedly average.
Tagged Boring-Man, Canbro, He-Man, Orko, review, Stratos, The Heart of a Giant4 Comments
Episode 016 – Reign of the Monster
In which we are treated to several million Stratos clones, none of whom are any more useful than the original.
In Stratos' kingdom of Avion, He-Man, Teela, Man-at-Arms, Orko and Ram-Man have arrived for a celebration, which involves showing off the Staff of the Elders and using it to create some fireworks. Not surprisingly, it transpires that the Staff is the only thing capable of releasing a scary-looking beast called Molchrum from a block of crystal, and consequently Skeletor is quite keen to get his inexplicably blue hands on it. His Viking-helmeted minions (introduced later as Torgs) attack Avion, and succeed in kidnapping Stratos and stealing the Staff.
The Sorceress provides a bit of exposition. Not only will Molchrum destroy Castle Grayskull if he is released, but if the Staff is used for evil and then not used to undo that evil, it will explode, taking half of the planet with it. I feel that even Skeletor would want to avoid that outcome, so here's hoping this one can be resolved by simply talking things through.
He-Man and his crowd find Skeletor and the Torgs in fairly short order in a cave, but Skeletor unveils his most demented plan yet: he's made about 50 clones of Stratos, all of which are under his spell. Exactly what he hopes to achieve with this is anybody's guess. As expected, the real Stratos quickly breaks free of Skeletor's spell, which makes all the other Stratoses vanish. Forgive me for not cheering.
This pointless interlude with multiple Stratoses has at least bought Skeletor some time, which he puts to effective use by releasing Molchrum from the crystal. Molchrum traps He-Man and co. behind a wall of rock, which is precisely the sort of prison He-Man can never escape from. Skeletor then commits a second tactical error by popping off with Molchrum to Castle Grayskull, leaving the Staff of the Elders in the hands of the King of the Torgs.
Sure enough, He-Man punches the rock wall and escapes. He takes Man-at-Arms and Ram-Man to Grayskull, leaving the others to retrieve the Staff. He-Man occupies himself in tying Molchrum up, while Man-at-Arms and Ram-Man go for Skeletor. Man-at-Arms advises Skeletor to surrender because "it's two against one". Who are you kidding, Man-at-Arms? Even I wouldn't surrender to you and Ram-Man. Sure enough, it takes Skeletor only two seconds to trap these two clowns in a tree.
Teela's contingent retrieves the Staff after a lengthy and not-at-all interesting fight with the Torgs, and Stratos takes it to Grayskull as fast as he can. He passes it to He-Man, who starts trying to imprison Molchrum again. Sadly, the Staff begins to explode, so He-Man instead hurls it into orbit. I'm not sure why, but the Staff's subsequent explosion results in Molchrum being trapped in crystal again, and then the Staff returns to Eternia all in one piece, which makes no sense whatsoever.
The episode finishes with Skeletor escaping as usual, Man-at-Arms and Ram-Man being released from the tree, and all the heroes return to Avion for the festival, where Orko is molested by a bratty boy with a remote control spaceship. I don't normally like bratty children, but this one has my sympathy and support.
Orko reminds us that it's best not to eat anything if we don't know what it is. Then he salutes like he's in the US Navy, and chuckles like he's been really funny. He hasn't. I don't pretend to understand how this little adventure with Molchrum is relevant to safe eating, but equally I can't see any sensible moral lessons that can be drawn, other than if you're writing a He-Man episode, there's no point having Ram-Man included if he's not going to say or do anything.
Today it's He-Man, Teela, Man-at-Arms, Stratos, Ram-Man, Orko, the Sorceress, Skeletor, some Torgs, and Molchrum, though I'm not certain quite how far a weird centaur-with-tentacles can be considered a character.
The episode begins with He-Man already live and kicking, and Adam isn't even mentioned. Perhaps He-Man's finally realised there's absolutely no point to this double identity lark.
Perhaps because Beast-Man isn't involved, everyone is very polite. Beast-Man just brings out the worst in people.
It's a very meat and potatoes episode. Skeletor gets a monster, takes it to Castle Grayskull, and gets defeated. Stories with a plot like this need to have something a bit more to avoid being quickly forgettable, and Reign of the Monster doesn't. I enjoyed the utter pointlessness of the multiple Stratoses, and I also liked He-Man rubbing his hands as if they were sore after he'd punched the rock wall – a surprisingly subtle piece of animation which is something of a rare concession to reality. But it's not really enough. There's nothing wrong with this episode, but neither would I ever bother to watch it again.
Tagged Avion, He-Man, Molchrum, Reign of the Monster, review, Skeletor, Stratos1 Comment
Episode 007 – The Curse of the Spellstone
Posted on March 20, 2016 April 25, 2016 by owenmorton
In which He-Man leaves it to a bunch of villagers to defeat the baddies.
In a frankly scary-looking locale on Eternia, Skeletor and Evil-Lyn bust into the Temple of the Fire People, to find something called the Spellstone, which they immediately set to work causing a massive storm. Meanwhile, at the Palace, there's fun and games as Prince Adam deliberately ruins one of Orko's magic tricks, while Man-at-Arms demonstrates his new weather control system. Naturally enough, the weather control system doesn't work, but Man-at-Arms manages to cover his ineptitude by blaming the Spellstone.
Adam takes this as his cue to transform into He-Man, which he has been doing with very little provocation in the last few episodes. He collects his least useful companions – Ram-Man and Stratos – and heads off to confront Skeletor in the Temple. When they get there, He-Man is actually knocked over by one of Skeletor's robots, which I think must be a one-time-only occurrence for the series.
In the meantime, a crowd has gathered to watch Man-at-Arms and Teela occupy themselves fighting fires that have been caused by the Spellstone's lightning storm. Evil-Lyn has disguised herself as an old crone and hangs out in the crowd, spreading discontent. She persuades the villagers that King Randor and Man-at-Arms are to blame for the fires, having incurred the wrath of the Elders of Eternia.
Evil-Lyn urges the villagers to use what I assume to be a very fast-growing plant called the Creeping Horrock on the Palace. Apparently, the Horrock was used in former times to punish criminals; now its purpose appears to be chasing people through the Palace corridors. Man-at-Arms, Teela, Orko, and the King and Queen hole up in a room and spend the rest of the episode trying to get out.
Back at the Temple, He-Man and his gang spend a fair bit of screen time destroying multitudes of Skeletor's stupid robots, before getting down to the serious business of falling down a trapdoor into a pit, which Skeletor then proceeds to fill with water. It doesn't seem to occur to Stratos that he could fly out of this trap, but fortunately they are released by a contingent of Fire People. The Fire People accuse our heroes of stealing the Spellstone and won't listen to reason, prompting a bit of a barney, which is all resolved when He-Man saves the Fire People's boss from a big red monster.
And so to the final confrontation. He-Man and his crew return to the Palace, where they find Skeletor, Evil-Lyn and Trapjaw idling about insulting the villagers. Evil-Lyn uses the Spellstone to create a hurricane to send our heroes flying, at which point the villagers decide the whole thing is their fault, which it definitely isn't. At any rate, they grab the Spellstone and give it to He-Man, who uses it to stop the Creeping Horrock. As usual, the baddies hightail it back to Snake Mountain. And that puts an end to that.
In today's adventure …
Man-at-Arms talks very seriously to us about considering the possible implications of any practical jokes you may have in mind. If you're not careful, you could lose a finger, an arm, or even an eye. These are the only possibilities presented. It's another of those moral lessons which is undeniably true, but utterly irrelevant to the drivel we've just watched. But thanks, Man-at-Arms.
Excuse given for Adam's disappearance
Adam can barely wait this week to turn into He-Man, and just wanders off unobtrusively to do so. Nonetheless, I am surprised that while the King and Queen were being chased through the Palace by the Horrock, neither of them expressed the least bit of concern about Adam's whereabouts.
Lots of people put in an appearance today, including Prince Adam, He-Man, Cringer, Battle-Cat, Skeletor, Evil-Lyn, Trapjaw, Stratos, Ram-Man, Teela, Man-at-Arms, Orko, King Randor, Queen Marlena, some Fire People, and some villagers. They might have had names. I didn't bother to listen if they did.
Rather surprisingly, Evil-Lyn has the temerity to call Skeletor a "blundering skull-face" when she discovers that He-Man has escaped the trapdoor and water scenario that Skeletor set up. In fact, Evil-Lyn's got a bit of an attitude on her this week, going so far as to suggest that when their plot succeeds, she and Skeletor will rule Eternia jointly. Skeletor is oddly tolerant of her behaviour, leading me to wonder if there's a bit of romance in the air.
Yes, I suppose so. The Creeping Horrock bit is massively illogical (it used to be used to punish criminals, but the only way to stop it is with the Spellstone, which everyone thought was a myth?) and goes on far too long, but otherwise it's an entertaining romp for all concerned. He-Man gets to show off how magnanimous he is by refusing to fight the Fire People, and it's quite amusing when you consider the entire threat is ended simply by the expedient of having some nameless villager push Evil-Lyn over. In short, it's a fun trip to Eternia, but nothing particularly special.
Tagged Curse of the Spellstone, Evil-Lyn, He-Man, Man-at-Arms, review, Skeletor, Spellstone, Stratos, Teela1 Comment
Episode 005 – She-Demon of Phantos
In which Stratos appears, but doesn't say a word or contribute anything.
This week, we catch up with Prince Adam and Man-at-Arms on the moon of Phantos, where they have come to visit Queen Elmora and buy some photanium, which is used for making weapons and shields. Adam notices that Elmora seems miserable, but Man-at-Arms doesn't give a monkeys, and insists they return to Eternia. After they leave the room, a curtain pulls back to reveal Skeletor and Mer-Man, as well as some presumably evil dude with spikes on his head and a weird arm, who we later learn goes by the name of Strong Arm.
Skeletor helpfully explains that Adam's shipment of photanium is worthless metal, and that the real photanium will be coming to Snake Mountain. Elmora demands that now she has co-operated, Skeletor should release his prisoners. Skeletor being Skeletor, of course, he doesn't, instead choosing to cast a spell to make Elmora really old and bent to Skeletor's will.
Back on Eternia, Man-at-Arms has made weapons out of the worthless metal, and they keep breaking. No one is cruel enough to suggest that maybe Man-at-Arms is just rubbish at making weapons, and instead wonder if maybe Elmora has cheated them. Adam, Man-at-Arms and Cringer pop off to Castle Grayskull, where the Sorceress confirms that Skeletor has forced Elmora into an alliance. This revelation prompts a speedy He-Man transformation.
At the Palace, Man-at-Arms tells Teela she can't come to Phantos, even though there appears to be space on this jaunt for the ever-useless Stratos and some unfamiliar green lunatic who's so non-descript he only gets two lines and a rubbish name. Cut to the quick by this insult, Teela tags along anyway, undetected.
As our heroes troll across a plain on Phantos, they are cheerily greeted by a vision of the aged Elmora. He-Man helps the situation by tactfully not recognising her, though I suppose it doesn't help that she's talking in Evil-Lyn's voice. This is probably why Evil-Lyn didn't appear in this episode. Anyway, the discussion doesn't go well, and Elmora kidnaps Battle-Cat and Stratos, and might well have done more if Teela didn't intervene, earning herself a telling off from Man-at-Arms and a sleazy thank you from He-Man.
It's now time to break into Elmora's castle. He-Man decides that this must be done through the photanium refinery, and furthermore they must go in disguise. Since the refinery workers wear grey jumpsuits, He-Man and his friends decide that half a jumpsuit each will be sufficient. And thus it proves, since they only manage to move halfway across a room before discarding the disguises in favour of having a tussle with Mer-Man and Strong Arm. It transpires in this scene that Strong Arm's arm can be extended to quite surprising lengths, a la Inspector Gadget.
Rather surprisingly, Strong Arm's crazy arm ability proves to be an advantage in this fight, and he actually manages to shut He-Man inside a coffin thing. This explains why we never see Strong Arm again. Skeletor must have fired him after this episode for being dangerously competent. What is slightly odder is that after capturing He-Man, Strong Arm and Mer-Man run away from Man-at-Arms, Teela and the green dude. Fortunately, He-Man breaks out of the coffin in very little time, as I think we all knew he would.
The next scene gives us an explanation of who the green fellow is – he's called Lizard Man, and based on his characteristics, I think I could have come up with that name myself. He-Man rids himself of Lizard Man and Man-at-Arms at this juncture, telling them to go away and find Battle-Cat and Stratos, and not to disturb him while he and Teela break into Elmora's chambers.
Meanwhile, Queen Elmora amuses herself by filling up episode run time with flashbacks about how she used to chain He-Man up and he'd break out, in happy carefree days before that brazen hussy Teela came into He-Man's life and created so much tension. Though that may just be my interpretation. Anyway, thinking about these happy memories gives Elmora sufficient willpower to knock Mer-Man and Strong Arm out. This displeases Skeletor to such an extent that he casts another spell on Elmora, which has the effect that every time she sees He-Man, she will see him as Skeletor.
Now, this is a clever spell, and it does have the intended effect. When He-Man comes sauntering in, Elmora does indeed see him as Skeletor. The lapse in logic is only too apparent though – Skeletor told Elmora precisely what he was going to do, so at the very least Elmora ought to be thinking, "Now hang on, is this actually Skeletor?" Things only get more confusing when the real Skeletor appears, claiming He-Man is Skeletor, though he rather gives the game away by engaging in dialogue which immediately reveals that he's the baddy. Still Elmora doesn't grasp the obvious and opts to chain both He-Man and Skeletor up. Once He-Man breaks out, Elmora is able to conclude who the real enemy is. I feel it would have been easier if He-Man had simply punched Skeletor.
He-Man tells Skeletor to release Elmora from the spell, or he'll stay chained up for ever. Skeletor isn't fond of this proposal and complies, after which He-Man releases him. Skeletor promptly teleports away, leaving Strong Arm and Mer-Man to run off. The episode ends with Prince Adam telling Teela that he's tasted her potatoes before. And yes, that is out of context.
He-Man goes completely bat-shit this week, explaining that if viewers are driving a car, they have to consider safety. Well, yes, but since the intended viewers are 4 years old, they also have to consider other matters. If the writer had stopped to think about it for more than a nanosecond, he'd have found that the obvious moral is Teela disobeying Man-at-Arms' orders, which could have been tied in with safety if necessary. They could also have done something about not always believing your eyes, as Elmora found out in that lengthy bit with the double Skeletors. But no, it's driving cars. For God's sake.
No one thinks it's worth explaining on this occasion. Though to be honest, I think we need an excuse for Stratos' appearance. He doesn't say anything or do anything. He's useless.
Characters appearing:
This week features Prince Adam, He-Man, Skeletor, Teela, Man-at-Arms, Cringer, Battle-Cat, the Sorceress, Mer-Man, Strong Arm, Queen Elmora, as well as some factory workers and slave drivers. It also features Stratos and Lizard Man, but as I believe I've alluded to before, it doesn't really need to.
Insults:
Thanks to Beast Man being absent from the episode, we also have an absence of insults.
Yup, none of this either. Orko barely features, so there's no hilarious magic tricks.
Well, it's not the best, though it's not awful. I get the feeling someone really liked the phrase "She-Demon", and shoehorned it into a title, since it's not enormously relevant – He-Man tries to make out that Elmora is a demon, but she blatantly isn't. There's an overabundance of characters – Lizard Man and Stratos are incredibly superfluous – and Skeletor unfolds his plan, such as it is, at a glacial pace. The scene at the end with Elmora not being able to tell whether He-Man is Skeletor or not got old pretty quickly. So actually, forget what I said about it not being awful. It is.
Tagged He-Man, Man-at-Arms, Phantos, review, She-Demon of Phantos, Skeletor, Stratos1 Comment
Episode 003 – Disappearing Act
Posted on March 6, 2016 April 25, 2016 by owenmorton
In which Orko first demonstrates his ability to hash things up.
This week, we open with possibly one of Skeletor's most dastardly plans – he forces a volcano to erupt, which he expects will devastate the Eternian Plains and make everyone flee. Once everyone flees, Skeletor will make his move on Castle Grayskull. Clever, eh? A flawless plan, in fact, except for one factor – He-Man, who is immediately on hand to stop the eruption by shooting the volcano. This upsets Skeletor so much that he decides it's time to use the Invisibility Helmet he just happens to have lying around.
In the meantime, we are treated to an extended vignette in which Orko is trying to clean his room by magic. Naturally, this goes wrong and the end result is that he makes Prince Adam's magic sword vanish. This is bad news – without his sword, how will Adam ever become He-Man again? The situation becomes even more dire when Man-at-Arms arrives and says Skeletor's Doom Buster is in the woods, meaning Skeletor himself must be nearby.
And so it proves. Skeletor is nearby. He's also invisible. Despite being invisible, he's hiding behind a curtain, which is considerate of him, because it means Adam and Orko can see him when he moves. There is a very short one-sided confrontation, in which Skeletor freezes Adam and Orko, takes Adam to the Banshee Jungle, and informs Orko that if our heroes want Adam back, they'll have to send He-Man to collect him. This seems like a bad idea, since as far as Skeletor knows, the likely outcome here is that He-Man will indeed show up, punch Skeletor, rescue Adam, and that'll be the end of it. But advance planning has never really been Skeletor's strength.
Man-at-Arms, Orko and Cringer consult the Sorceress, and learn that the sword has been transported back in time. Orko and Cringer are dispatched to the past to get the sword back, and it doesn't take them long to discover that Adam's sword is now in the possession of a distinctly dangerous looking large fellow, who seems to be using it to trim his fingernails. Despite attracting the attention of a huge collection of odd creatures, Orko and Cringer surprisingly competently retrieve the sword and return to the present.
Adam, in a cage in the Banshee Jungle, uses a plot device called a "bleeper" (possibly the least imaginative name for a machine in any animation ever) to attract the attention of his mate Stratos and also – less welcome – a horde of wolfbats. Once the wolfbats are dealt with, Adam tells Stratos to go away and find Man-at-Arms, who has been set to work building a remote-control He-Man. As soon as Stratos finds Man-at-Arms, he is told to go away and find Teela. I get the impression that no one really wants Stratos around.
Man-at-Arms, Orko and Cringer take the sword to Adam's cage. Instead of passing it through the bars to him, they helpfully place it just out of reach outside the cage. Once Adam points out he can't reach it, Orko passes it through the bars like he should have done all along, and Adam congratulates him on righting his initial mistake. Yeah, well done, Orko. Anyway, once he's in possession of the sword, Adam becomes He-Man and heads off to dole out some justice.
In the meantime, the remote control He-Man has been leading Skeletor on a merry dance through the jungle, but this comes to a sorry end when the fake He-Man's face falls off. Even Skeletor is not fooled following this. The whole sorry saga comes to a satisfying end when He-Man literally huffs and puffs and blows Skeletor and Beast-Man down. Beast-Man is captured and Man-at-Arms claims he'll be taken to a prison mine, which sounds excitingly like slave labour and calls to mind the possibility of war crimes. Skeletor, on the other hand, does a perfect forward roll, but this doesn't deter He-Man, who somehow contrives to get those beastly wolfbats from earlier to chase Skeletor away. Beast-Man seems to find this rather funny, or as funny as someone who's about to be taken away to a life of hard labour can find anything.
Man-at-Arms explains that He-Man used his brain to beat Skeletor, which is better than using his muscles. It's a fair point, but one which applies to any number of stories. A more appropriate moral would be that Orko tried to take a shortcut to tidying his room, and look how that worked out. We could have learned that if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing properly. But thanks to Man-at-Arms choosing an irrelevant moral, I never learned that important lesson. And now just look at me. I might sue Man-at-Arms.
It would be bizarre if anyone offered one this week, given the whole point of the episode was that he didn't disappear.
Characters featured
A new section here, requested by the good folks of He-Man.org. This episode features, in no particular order, Prince Adam, He-Man, Skeletor, Beast-Man, Man-at-Arms, Orko, Stratos, the Sorceress, Teela, some farmers, and a selection of monsters from Eternia's dim and distant past.
Yet another rough ride for Beast-Man, who is called "Furface" and "Fool", both by Skeletor. What's more, in neither case did it seem particularly deserved.
Yes, definitely. It's a clever storyline, presenting a rather interesting dilemma – what if it's literally impossible to do what needs to be done? Admittedly, the solution offered seems to be to go back in time and get your sword back from a giant, but there's a limit to how these episodes relate to real life. Anyway, we are given three separate storylines running at the same time, giving each of our heroes something to do, and Skeletor and Beast-Man are entertainingly threatening. And when He-Man eventually does appear, it's with a sense that in this case, it's well-earned. Plus there's that great bit at the start where we learn you can stop volcanoes erupting by shooting them with big-ass lasers. What's not to like?
Tagged Beast-Man, Disappearing Act, He-Man, Man-at-Arms, review, Skeletor, Stratos, Teela5 Comments


text:
UFODigest.com » Aliens and UFOs » Alexandra Holzer: It Isn't Easy To Grow Up Haunted
Alexandra Holzer: It Isn't Easy To Grow Up Haunted
by Sean Casteel
October 24, 2010 04:38 EDT
Submitted by Sean Casteel on Sun, 10/24/2010 – 17:36
[Author's note: Sometime after this article was first written, to coincide with the publication of Alexandra Holzer's book "Growing Up Haunted," her father Hans Holzer died on April 26, 2009, at the age of 89.]
What is it like to be raised as the daughter of a world famous ghost hunter and paranormal researcher? Does the fragile barrier between the world of spirits and apparitions and the material world as we know it sometimes crack under the strain of everyday family relations?
For Alexandra Holzer, the daughter of the author and ghost expert Hans Holzer, such questions have been answered, but at a price not everyone would be willing to pay.
For those of you who don't already know, Hans Holzer has been on the trail of ghosts and related phenomena since the 1950s. He has written more than 140 books, a large percentage of which have gone into second printings, as well as appearing over the years on all the major television networks and such programs as "In Search Of," hosted by Leonard Nimoy.
"My father started out being a skeptical reporter," Alexandra said. "He always had a way about him of being inquisitive and wanting to know what happens in life and the science of life. He studied a lot of different things that kind of put him in a place where he ended up doing something that would deal with life and death and humanity."
As a young man, the elder Holzer made the acquaintance of a very well-known medium named Eileen Garrett, who had her own spiritualist foundation in Manhattan. Garrett saw potential in Holzer as a student of the spirit world and urged him to get funding to continue his work. That led to Holzer's first book, "The Ghost Hunter."
"That's the original phrase that was coined for him," Alexandra said. "It's used loosely nowadays. He had respect for people of the dead, for what happens when we go and when we get stuck. He became a father of the paranormal, you know, a father of parapsychology.
"He was very ballsy and forward," Alexandra continued, "and really didn't care if other people liked him or didn't like him. And he was a humanitarian; he helped people."
Hans Holzer is currently in retirement but continues to be sought after for media appearances and lectures.
"Anybody can Google him," Alexandra said, "and find out who he is."
Long before such high-tech possibilities existed, however, Hans Holzer was already telling ghost stories. As a five-year-old boy who was just beginning kindergarten in Vienna, Austria, in 1925, Hans took advantage of the teacher's having left the room and began to tell his classmates a ghost story.
"My father saw 'dead people' long before the adorable actor Haley Joel Osment saw them," Alexandra writes in her memoirs, "Growing Up Haunted."
As in the movie "The Sixth Sense," when Osment's character draws a violent scene during art class and his mother is called to his school to deal with it, Hans' parents were forced to explain that their child was a little bit eccentric, and agreed to have him refrain from talking about ghosts.
Fast forward to the marriage of Hans to Alexandra's mother, one Countess Catherine Buxhoeveden. Alexandra's parents met through her aunt, her mother's sister, Rosemarie, who had been dating Hans herself but felt he and her sister would be more compatible.
"My mother is twenty years younger than my father," Alexandra said. "She lost her father at a young age, and there are people who gravitate to older people to replace a parent figure. And in this case, a lot of it had to do with the idea that my father could take care of her. Of course they hit it off. He was very elegant. He was already becoming very well-known for his work and she was taken in by the paranormal and what he was doing with it."
Catherine Buxhoeveden was a believer in the supernatural and had a history of her own paranormal experiences. Her mother, Alexandra's grandmother, was a psychic.
"So it really wasn't too farfetched for my mother to date a man who chased ghosts for a living," Alexandra said, "which no one else was doing. Pretty brave of her."
Hans helped rekindle Catherine's love of art, and she began to paint images of ghosts and hauntings, quite groundbreaking at the time, the 1960s and 70s. The couple began to travel the world together, Hans doing his investigative work while Catherine helped manage the logistics and assisted the mediums who traveled with them and served to facilitate contact with the spirits.
Hans and Catherine were a working couple immersed in the day-to-day search for the truth about the Other Side, but around the time of the birth of Alexandra's older sister Nadine in 1963, the marriage was already beginning to show signs of strain.
"My mother had to kind of refigure who she was as a person," Alexandra said. "My father steamrolled through life. He would just do what he did and wouldn't pay attention to what was going on around him, to her needs and her dislikes and the issues she had with him."
According to Alexandra, her father could be very crude at times, but the years spent working with her mother had helped to polish the ghost hunter's manners. When writers from "The New York Times" or "The New Yorker" would visit the apartment to interview Hans, Catherine had seen to it that the apartment was presentable looking and that Hans was well-groomed and wearing matching clothes. But by the time Alexandra was 13, in 1984, the dysfunction finally led to divorce, in spite of which her parents remain on cordial terms.
An interesting side-note about Alexandra's mother Catherine: She is descended from Catherine the Great, the 18thcentury German-born empress of Russia. The empress' daughter Natalie married into the Buxhoeveden family, with the lineage eventually passing to Alexandra's maternal grandfather and on down through to Catherine. The Buxhoeveden family can itself be traced back to 800 A.D. in Germany and Eastern Europe. Catherine's father was Count Alexander Buxhoeveden, and thus Catherine is a countess in her own right.
"Just one family merging with another," Alexandra said, "but it just happened to be bluebloods and royal Russian ancestry. It's just one of those weird things, which is why I think my parents were brought together. They have such an incredible back-story that's so unique. I don't think you'd find it anywhere else."
In this odd mix of heredity, the paranormal and domestic tension, one can safely conclude that it wasn't easy for Alexandra to grow up between the two worlds of the mundane and the supernatural.
"I didn't have many friends," she said. "I had two very high maintenance, creative, narcissistic, self-absorbed people for parents. My sister and I were left to our own devices to figure things out."
Surprisingly, it was Alexandra's grandmother, the one who had married Count Buxhoeveden, who gave her an early education in the paranormal, explaining the spirit world and what happens when people die. When Hans' medium associates visited the apartment, they would often look at Alexandra as though they sensed some kind of dark future ahead for her, things Alexandra herself could not possibly know.
"It was creepy," she said.
Despite her parents' stretched finances, Alexandra was sent to an elite New York prep school.
"And of course children of those backgrounds and their parents," she said, "don't believe in ghosts, especially back then. It was hard for me to get play dates, though my parents really tried. I always ended up with the children that were either too tall, too fat, or just didn't fit in. But they were the ones I gravitated towards because they knew my pain. I just couldn't come out and say, 'Well, I'm not popular because my father chases ghosts for a living.' But that's the truth of it, and it was really pretty painful."
Those misfit friends, however, were often quite fascinated with Alexandra's home life.
"People loved it," she recalled. "It was a freak show, and my father was very entertaining."
As she moved through adolescence, Alexandra began to develop a sixth sense of her own, having accurate impressions of things she could not have known through normal channels of information. She and her friends also began to experiment with an Ouija board, something she now regrets.
"Every time we used it," she said, "something would happen. We couldn't explain it and we were always scared—every time. We were in my room one day and we were calling upon any spirit that would come and talk to us. We didn't care who. Anybody. The door was closed and there was no lock on the door. Just a regular doorknob. We had this board and this little oracle is moving around, spelling out 'My name is Jim, blah, blah, blah, nice to meet you.'"
Alexandra and her friends grew bored with "Jim" and his small talk, so they let go of the oracle and pushed the board away. They decided to go into the kitchen for a snack, but the unlocked door refused to open.
"It got really cold in the room," she recounted, "and all of a sudden we felt like we were not alone. We just completely freaked out, and of course when we screamed, we were able to get the door open and get out of the room."
The portal through which the spirit of Jim had passed stayed open for a couple of months, after which things in Alexandra's bedroom eventually quieted down and returned to normal. Her father's calling as a ghost hunter may have been helpful in providing the family with a kind of spiritual protection, she thinks, that kept the spirit world at a respectful distance.
On another occasion, Alexandra and one of her girlfriends took the train to the Hamptons on Long Island to visit a boy Alexandra was dating. After they checked in to a hotel, she and her girlfriend made an improvised Ouija board with a piece of paper and a cup, writing in the letters and symbols by hand. When Alexandra called out, "Is anybody here?" the makeshift oracle moved of its own accord. The room became very cold again, and Alexandra's friend was frightened enough to take her hands off the cup.
"I yelled at her and said, 'Don't do that. You've got to keep your hands here because we need the energy!' And then it just stopped."
But events began to go downhill from there.
"That whole night was a disaster," Alexandra said, "because everything we tried to do we could not do. It was like roadblocks everywhere for me. I was supposed to meet my boyfriend, but I couldn't get to him. The car that we had wouldn't work. We asked for him to come down, but he got stuck and had an accident. All these weird things happened. We went home the next day and we felt drained. We felt that something shifted and changed from that moment. But you're young and you don't think twice about it."
More recently, as an adult, Alexandra feels she has been contacted by her aunt Rosemarie Buxhoeveden, the woman who first introduced her parents to each other.
"When my aunt passed," she said, "it was the hardest moment in my life, other than giving birth. I felt her around me after she passed. She had said something to me before she crossed over. She pulled me in and said, 'I'm changing.' At that point she could barely talk. She wasn't eating. And I didn't know what that meant—'I'm changing.'"
Two and a half years after her aunt's death, Alexandra was at home folding laundry. She heard her aunt's voice calling her by her childhood nickname, Shoura, a Russian variation of the name Alexandra.
"I kind of shook my head, as if a gnat or mosquito was buzzing around and continued with the laundry. Then I got this really warm, vibrating sensation that made me feel I was not alone, but it was a warm feeling that I was not in any danger and it brought back all those childhood feelings and she said it again."
After the experience, Alexandra spent months meditating about what had happened and had several dreams that seemed related to her aunt's visit. Alexandra said that her aunt encouraged her to return to her writing. Her aunt also told Alexandra that she loved her, saying the words she had been too ill to speak as she lay dying.
"I knew it was her," Alexandra said. "I didn't need any other validation. I knew I wasn't being haunted. I didn't think something bad was around me. It was her, because it just instinctively would be what she would have done."
Since that visitation, Alexandra has begun to have psychic impressions on a regular basis, which she sometimes relays to those who would find the information helpful. She also continues to experience the presence of a warm and loving spiritual guidance as she and her husband raise their four children.
Despite her sometimes problematic relationship with her father, Alexandra is a firm believer in the ghosts and spirits that formed the focus of his life.
"The reality is we do go somewhere," she said. "It's very typical for someone to say, 'Well, we're here physically right now and then we're gone and that's it. It's done.' But we do leave traces behind, like dinosaurs. We're no different. The human race is still evolving, but to sit and think that we're it—it's just asinine.
"There is so much documentation and proof," she continued, "over the past couple of hundred years, of apparitions and ghosts. Listen, if a ghost could stick around long enough in front of the camera to please everybody, it would. I know that if I was a ghost and I could come back, and I'm stuck and trying to get out, I would certainly work really hard to stand there in front of you and say, 'Do you see me? Okay, I'm going to disappear now. But before I do, I am a ghost. I existed once. I need help.'"
The reality of ghosts is also the reality of the soul, Alexander says, and the difficulty a given soul may have in crossing over.
"A spirit and a ghost are the same," she explained. "It just depends on how you die. Do you cross freely? Knowingly? Or were you killed tragically? And stopped in that moment of your life-path that you didn't know was coming? And so therefore are reliving those moments? There are so many different ways of how one can go, but to assume that we're it because of our physical sense that we're it is just stupid."
Alexandra says she looks forward to a not-too-distant future when technology will succeed in opening up those ghostly portals with some kind of machinery, a device that can see past what the naked eye is able to take in. In the meantime, there's no substitute for a good medium, someone whose vision extends beyond the physical world.
In any case, she is satisfied that we already have sufficient proof that ghosts are real, citing things like apparitions that show up in family photos, say an image of one's late grandmother superimposed on the background. The film was processed normally and the image is not doctored in any way, a phenomenon that has happened many times. That's the kind of thing Alexandra relies on, though she acknowledges that hoaxes have happened for centuries and will continue to happen. One also has to screen percipients to ensure that they are not schizophrenic or bipolar.
"You have to go through that when you're doing a case," she said. "But like with anything, there's a checklist. We have proof. I think the influence of cable TV keeps us hearing voices on the recordings, seeing the digital photos of the orbs and apparitions, because that's so fascinating. That's why we still ask for proof. It's not because we need proof, it's because we want to see more, simply because we're fascinated by it.
"That's my message," she said. "We have proof, and we've always had it. It's just the nature of the beast."
Her memoir "Growing Up Haunted" is being shopped around for a possible movie deal, which Alexandra feels is the only way of getting the book the attention it deserves.
"That's the way it works in society," she said. "Unless you're famous, nobody cares. It's a very sad thing to say, but we're just such a quick, quick society in this microwave era, you know. It's got to be in your face or otherwise you don't want to know about it."
In any case, it is important to Alexandra that the story of her father's life is told as well as how her own growing up years were spent in the shadows of his lifelong obsession with ghosts and their attendant phenomena.
"It's a very uplifting book at times," she said, "and at times it's very sad, because divorce is sad and dysfunction is sad and not being there for your children is sad. Then there are times when it's funny because I choose to be funny, I choose to write anecdotally. So it's a blend of all those emotions because isn't that what life is? Isn't that what a memoir should be? It should be about the emotions we go through and the story we have to tell our reader that they didn't know before and that they should know, that they might benefit from.
"After reading the story," she said, "they might get up the next morning and be a better person and maybe be more open to what happens when we do go. I want to continue with my family, protecting them and giving them a better life. Just doing what I was born to do. I'm a little late on it, but I get it now. Better late than never."
[To read more by Sean Casteel, visit his website at http:www.seancasteel.com ]
For more information or to purchase this book simply click on the title: Growing Up Haunted: A Ghostly Memoir
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All posts by Sean Casteel


text:
Q: how to pre-load images from a link in php or jquery i have searched feverishly for a solution to my gallery, which doesnt apply the centering function to the image as i click it's respective thumbnail. instead i have to click the thumbnail at least twice for the large image to pop up in the center of the page. the gallery is a jquery/php. i have dynamically loaded my thumbnails using php and link them to the respective large image with the same name using php. I am wondering preloading the large image would help this problem if so how can i preload them seeing as though its an entire directory which has alot of pictures, hence why i didnt manually load them. the script is below:
<?php
   error_reporting(0);
/* function:  returns files from dir */
function get_files($images_dir,$exts = array('jpeg','gif','png','jpg')) {
$files = array();
  if($handle = opendir($images_dir)) {
while(false !== ($file = readdir($handle))) {
  $extension = strtolower(get_file_extension($file));
  if($extension && in_array($extension,$exts)) {
    $files[] = $file;
  }
}
closedir($handle);
  }
  return $files;
}

/* function:  returns a file's extension */
function get_file_extension($file_name) {
  return substr(strrchr($file_name,'.'),1);
}

$images_dir = 'hftpnyc/thumbs/';
$thumbs_dir = 'hftpnyc/thumbs/thumbnails/';
$thumbs_width = 100;
$images_per_row = 11;
$string = "";
/** generate photo gallery **/
$image_files = get_files($images_dir);
if(count($image_files)) {
$index = 0;
foreach($image_files as $index=>$file) {
$index++;
$thumbnail_image = $thumbs_dir.$file;
//if(!file_exists($thumbnail_image)) {
  //$extension = get_file_extension($thumbnail_image);
  //if($extension) {
    //make_thumb($images_dir.$file,$thumbnail_image,$thumbs_width);
  //}

//}

error_reporting(0);

echo '

';

if($index % $images_per_row == 0) { echo '

'; }
  }
}

else {
echo '
There are no images in this gallery.
';
}

 ?>

A: Don't preload the larger images. You are better off using jQuery to display a loading indicator (you can download gif loading indicators from - http://ajaxload.info/) while the image is being loaded. Once the image has been loaded, remove the indicator.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: To accelerate calculating of pi using TPL I need to calculate Pi - number via Monte-Carlo method using Task Parallel Library, but when my paralleled program is running, it calculates Pi - number much longer than it's unparallel analog.How two fix it? Paralleled calculating class and it's unparallel analog are below:
class CalcPiTPL
    {
        Object randLock = new object();
        int n;
        int N_0;
        double aPi;
        public StringBuilder Msg; // diagonstic message
        double x, y;
        Stopwatch stopWatch = new Stopwatch();

        public void Init(int aN)
        {
            stopWatch.Start();
            n = aN; // save total calculate-iterations amount
            aPi = -1; // flag, if no any calculate-iteration has been completed
            Msg = new StringBuilder("No any calculate-iteration has been completed");
        }
        public void Run()
        {
            if (n < 1)
            {
                Msg = new StringBuilder("Inbalid N-value");
                return;
            }

            Random rnd = new Random(); // to create randomizer
            Task[] tasks = new Task[4];
            tasks[0] = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => PointGenerator(n, rnd));
            tasks[1] = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => PointGenerator(n, rnd));
            tasks[2] = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => PointGenerator(n, rnd));
            tasks[3] = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => PointGenerator(n, rnd));
            Task.WaitAll(tasks[0], tasks[1], tasks[2], tasks[3]);

            aPi = 4.0 * ((double)N_0 / (double)n); // to calculate approximate Pi - value
            stopWatch.Stop();
            TimeSpan ts = stopWatch.Elapsed;
            string elapsedTime = String.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:00}",
            ts.Hours, ts.Minutes, ts.Seconds,
            ts.Milliseconds / 10);
            Console.WriteLine("RunTime " + elapsedTime);
        }
        public double Done()
        {
            if (aPi > 0)
            {
                Msg = new StringBuilder("Calculates has been completed successful");
                return aPi; // return gotten value
            }
            else
            {
                return 0; // no result
            }
        }
        public void PointGenerator(int n, Random rnd)
        {
            for (int i = 1; i <= n / 4; i++)
            {
                lock (randLock)
                {
                    x = rnd.NextDouble(); // to generate coordinates
                    y = rnd.NextDouble(); //

                    if (((x - 0.5) * (x - 0.5) + (y - 0.5) * (y - 0.5)) < 0.25)
                    {
                        //Interlocked.Increment(ref N_0);
                        N_0++; // coordinate in a circle! mark it by incrementing N_0
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }

Unparallel analog:
class TCalcPi//unparallel calculating method
    {
        int N;
        int N_0;
        double aPi;
        public StringBuilder Msg; // diagnostic message
        double x, y;
        Stopwatch stopWatch = new Stopwatch();

        public void Init(int aN)
        {
            stopWatch.Start();
            N = aN; // save total calculate-iterations amount
            aPi = -1; // flag, if no any calculate-iteration has been completed
            Msg = new StringBuilder("No any calculate-iteration has been completed");
        }
        public void Run()
        {
            if (N < 1)
            {
                Msg = new StringBuilder("Invalid N - value");
                return;
            }

            int i;
            Random rnd = new Random(); // to create randomizer
            for (i = 1; i <= N; i++)
            {
                x = rnd.NextDouble(); // to generate coordinates
                y = rnd.NextDouble(); //
                if (((x -  0.5) * (x -  0.5) + (y -  0.5) * (y -  0.5)) <  0.25)
                {
                    N_0++; // coordinate in a circle! mark it by incrementing N_0
                }
            }
            aPi = 4.0 * ((double)N_0 / (double)N); // to calculate approximate Pi - value
            stopWatch.Stop();
            TimeSpan ts = stopWatch.Elapsed;
            string elapsedTime = String.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:00}",
            ts.Hours, ts.Minutes, ts.Seconds,
            ts.Milliseconds / 10);
            Console.WriteLine("RunTime " + elapsedTime);
        }
        public double Done()
        {
            if (aPi > 0)
            {
                Msg = new StringBuilder("Calculates has been completed successful");
                return aPi; // return gotten value
            }
            else
            {
                return 0; // no result
            }
        }
    }

A: You have written the PointGenerator in a way in which it can barely benefit from being executed in parallel.

*

*the lock means it will have basically single-threaded performance with additional threading overhead

*a global state N_0 means you will have to synchronize access. Granted, since it's just an int you can use the Interlocked class for efficiently incrementing it.

What I would is to let each PointGenerator have a different Random object and a different counter. Then there won't be any shared mutable state which could cause problems. Be careful though, the default constructor of Random uses the tick count of the system. Creating several objects might result in random generators with the same seed.
Once all PointGenerator finish you combine the results.
This would be very similar to what some of the TPL overloads of Parallel.For and Parallel.ForEach do.

A: I know this post is old but it still shows up when searching for how to compute pi in parallel in C#. I have modified this to use the systems thread count for the workers. Also the lock is not needed if we use a return type for the workers, put some of the other variables in the worker function and finally let everything be put together by yet another task. This uses long for a larger count of iterations. The instances of Random are created with the thread id as the seed, which i hope makes them give different sequences of random numbers. Removed the Init-Method and put initialization in the Run-Method instead. There are two ways of using this now, blocking and non-blocking. But first here is the class:
public class CalcPiTPL
{
    private long n;
    private double pi;
    private Stopwatch stopWatch = new Stopwatch();
    private Task<int>[]? tasks = null;
    private Task? taskOrchestrator = null;
    private ManualResetEvent rst = new ManualResetEvent(false);
    private bool isDone = false;
    public string elapsedTime = string.Empty;
    public double Pi { get { return pi; } }

    public void Run(long n)
    {
        if (n < 1 || taskOrchestrator!=null) return;

        isDone = false;
        rst.Reset();
        stopWatch.Start();
        this.n = n; // save total calculate-iterations amount
        pi = -1; // flag, if no any calculate-iteration has been completed

        tasks = new Task<int>[Environment.ProcessorCount];
        for(int i = 0; i < Environment.ProcessorCount; i++)
        {
            tasks[i] = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => PointGenerator(n));
        }

        taskOrchestrator = Task.Factory.StartNew(() => Orchestrator());
    }

    private void Orchestrator()
    {
        Task.WaitAll(tasks);

        long N_0 = 0;
        foreach (var task in tasks)
        {
            N_0 += task.GetAwaiter().GetResult();
        }

        pi = 4.0 * ((double)N_0 / (double)n); // to calculate approximate Pi - value
        stopWatch.Stop();
        TimeSpan ts = stopWatch.Elapsed;
        elapsedTime = String.Format("{0:00}:{1:00}:{2:00}.{3:00}", ts.Hours, ts.Minutes, ts.Seconds, ts.Milliseconds / 10);

        tasks = null;
        taskOrchestrator = null;
        isDone = true;
        rst.Set();
    }

    public double Wait()
    {
        rst.WaitOne();
        return pi;
    }

    public bool IsDone()
    {
        return isDone;
    }

    private int PointGenerator(long n)
    {
        int N_0 = 0;
        Random rnd = new Random(Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId);
        for (int i = 1; i <= n / Environment.ProcessorCount; i++)
        {
            double x = rnd.NextDouble(); // to generate coordinates
            double y = rnd.NextDouble(); //

            if (((x - 0.5) * (x - 0.5) + (y - 0.5) * (y - 0.5)) < 0.25)
            {
                N_0++;
            }
        }

        return N_0;
    }
}

Blocking call:
CalcPiTPL pi = new CalcPiTPL();
pi.Run(1000000000);
Console.WriteLine(pi.Wait());

non-blocking call:
CalcPiTPL pi = new CalcPiTPL();
pi.Run(100000000);
while (pi.IsDone()==false)
{
    Thread.Sleep(100);
    // Do something else
}
Console.WriteLine(pi.Pi);

Adding an event would probably be nice, if someone wants to use this in a GUI application. Maybe i will do that later.
Feel free to correct, if i messed something up.

A: When your whole parallel part is inside a lock scope nothing is actually parallel. Only a single thread can be inside a lock scope in any given moment.
You can simply use different Random instances instead of a single one.


RF test equipment is used to measure the amount of RF waves emitted by a particular device. It includes traditional and modular general-purpose (GP) instruments and semiconductor automated test equipment (ATE). Traditional GP instrumentation is classified into spectrum analyzers, signal generators, electronic counters, power meters, network analyzers, one-box testers, and cable and antenna analyzers.
Technavio's analysts forecast the global RF test equipment market to grow at a CAGR of 6.05% during the period 2016-2020.
The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global RF test equipment market for 2016-2020. The report considers 2015 the base year and forecasts the market value through to 2020.
The report also presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the top vendors operating in the market.
Technavio's report, Global RF Test Equipment Market 2016-2020, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.
Advantest, Agilent Technologies, Anritsu, Rohde & Schwarz, Teradyne, Aries Electronics, Aspen Electronics, Cobham Antenna Systems, Cobham Wireless, Flann Microwave, Keysight Technologies UK, Pickering Interfaces, Tecstar Electronics.


text:
The weekend in US Politics
Applications open for special events to lift Burlington community spirit during COVID
The New York Times is reporting that President Trump considered ripping off his dress shirt to reveal a Superman T-shirt when he was released from the hospital after being treated for the coronavirus, according to a report. The president initially weighed acting frail when discharged from Walter Reed National Medical Center last Monday and then revealing the Superman shirt as a sign of strength but decided against going through with the stunt, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
Meanwhile CNN says Two of those charged in the alleged domestic terrorism plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are former Marines, according to a source within the Corps.Military records also confirm that Joseph Morrison and Daniel Harris served in the Corps.
Morrison, 42, continued to serve with the reserve forces until last week, the Marines said. His exit from the reserves is unrelated to the events in Michigan, they said."We are aware of the circumstances surrounding the two individuals and will assist the investigating authorities in any way we can," a Marine Corps statement said. "The serious allegations are not a reflection of the Marine Corps, do not reflect the oath every Marine takes to support and defend the constitution, and do not align with our core values of honor, courage, and commitment."
With polls showing Joe Biden opening leads of 10 points or more over Donald Trump, Democrats continue to ne nervous. The nervousness is largely rooted in a desire to ward off complacency in voters who might be fooled into thinking Biden has the race in the bag. But for the Democratic operatives who lived the Clinton disappointment up close, even the slightest flicker of positivity can cause them to recoil. In the run-up to the 2016 election, independent polling forecasters — unlike actual pollsters, who previewed a close race — portrayed the contest as Clinton's to lose. The ABC News/Washington Post poll released on Sunday was the latest poll to indicate Biden's strength. Biden led Trump by a 55% to 43% margin among likely voters. The poll was the third high quality national poll published this week that had Biden up by at least 10 points and above 50%. The other two being from CNN/SSRS and Fox News.
John Best October 11, 2020
It's official: Biden wins
Biden makes key appointments
Trump fired him; Biden hired him to lead COVID task force.
George W Bush congratulates Biden-Harris
Lincoln Project's morning-after ad released
American scholars weigh in on election


possible due to the very still conditions.
went back into a holding pattern.
action and getting up close and personal with a few of the stars.
DON'T THROW YOUR OLD MOBILE PHONES OR PRINTER CARTRIDGES AWAY!
7 - 11 - SEVEN CHANCES TO WIN 11 PRIZES A MONTH!


text:
Photo: Oleg_P/Shutterstock
A part of travel heterosexuals take for granted
Activism Istanbul, Turkey
Olivia Ayes
I'm not going to Turkey for work or any big social purpose. I'm going to Turkey for more self-gratifying reasons: to rendezvous with an Albanian woman I dated briefly in New York City who is now moving to Kyrgyzstan to do development work in gender-based violence; more specifically, bride kidnapping.
"I guess the possibility of being fined and jailed in Tanzania isn't enough for me. I have to go to a war zone to meet with another lesbian," I joked with her over Skype.
It's true: Acts of homosexuality are punishable by serious jail time and exorbitant fines in Tanzania. According to the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Project, 95% of Tanzanians deem homosexuality as an unacceptable way of life. Too bad, because the country is beautiful — great lakes, pristine islands on the Indian Ocean, Mount Kilimanjaro, and vast savannas like the Serengeti.
Its people are even more so: a mix of Cushitic, Bantu, Arab, German, British, and other expatriate cultures (perhaps one benefit of colonialism, although this can be contested). At least I didn't choose to live in Uganda, where "Kill the Gays" legislation will be decided soon.
Why did I — a queer, tattooed Filipina, former New York City resident, adjunct professor and editor — choose to live in a place that is so vehemently against homosexuals? That's a story for another time.
For now, I'd like to talk about me voluntarily traveling for adventure to a country that borders war-torn Syria. For romantic connection — something that strictly heterosexual people often take for granted because 90% of the world identifies as straight, hence the odds of finding someone compatible with your own quirks is pretty large.
I decided on Istanbul because this woman and I find the illogical circumstances — she's moving to the middle of Asia, and I'm in Africa — comical, beautiful, and full of stories. Despite my attempts to quell this need to connect with another soul at an intimate level, I cannot. Emotionally and physically, I'm willing to risk it all in order to not be in fear, in order to be free.
But we are not free, of course.
"Is your family Catholic at all?" she asks one day over Skype, as we are discussing the current state of our support systems.
"Yes; 90% of Filipinos are pretty devout. My family believes in the doctrines of the church."
"Why are they so accepting of your lifestyle?"
I try to explain in short length that one of my aunts is gay, and obviously so. I attribute my family's general acceptance of me to that — the first wave of resistance that broke barriers. My family, the paternal side at least, is a good mix of religiosity and personal values. We go to church regularly, as well as celebrate the saints and holidays. As long as you're not an alcoholic, a thief, a murderer, or a worthless bag of shit, you're cool with us.
Culturally, most Filipinos are generally tolerant. It's not as if you're not ridiculed or looked upon as "different," but you're valued as a human being, especially if you have a good heart. If not in your family, then there are definitely gays at your local hair salon in your barrio. It could also be that LGBTs are pretty visible in media, which pervade almost every household with relentless game shows and melodramatic telenovelas.
We're collectivist, rather than individualist, meaning the overall good matters, despite personal preferences. (I've seen an opposing example of this, in Tanzania — also collectivist but extremely misogynist and homophobic.) Perhaps the reason is this: Before the Spaniards colonized and implemented Roman Catholicism, we based our values on whether individuals contributed to the overall good. As in Native American cultures where "two-spirits" were traditionally revered, perhaps as possessing shamanic healing powers, indigenous Filipinos who were LGBTs were also valued. The etymology of the Tagalog word for gay, "bakla," was a fusion of "mababa" and "kalakasan," which meant the "foundation" and the "pinnacle," together in one body.
Even members of my family who are not Filipino (Irish Americans, Vietnamese Americans, African Americans, Mexican-African-Americans, etc.) have only ever been supportive or neutral.
I'm superbly fortunate, but she's not.
An only child in a secular Muslim household who grew up in two entirely homophobic cultures (Albania and China), she will have to courageously face the upcoming war of coming out to her parents. In Albania, there's an utter sense of denial about the existence of homosexuality, despite the tradition of Sworn Virgins, which are women who live as men after a vow of celibacy in order to achieve the civil rights only given to men.
Similarly in China, where her parents still live, homosexuals are either unacknowledged or condemned. It's a social taboo, as it is in most politically influenced landscapes. When hegemony, or dominant ideology, influences the masses with prescribed ideals that create separation and promote hate, then the battle is a "lost one" (to quote the venerable Lauryn Hill). It takes generations upon generations to eradicate this kind of destruction — to rebuild esteem, compassion, and courage to create an overall sense of unity.
This war — all of ours — will be nothing short of catastrophic or spectacular.
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