In which year was the National Film Development Corporation Limited (NFDC) incorporated?
Which stage of the movie business includes set construction and special effects design?
What made mass communication industry more popular in India?
Which among the following cuts are required for editing a video?
encouraging executives to hire the blacklisted artists.
Which of the following activities is not performed by citizen journalists?
.....have not applied the liveblogging concept.


While Reiki is spiritual in nature, it is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in order to learn and use Reiki. In fact, Reiki is not dependent on belief at all and will work whether you believe in it or not. Because Reiki comes from God, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with the experience of their religion rather than having only an intellectual concept of it. While Reiki is not a religion, it is still important to live and act in a way that promotes harmony with others. Dr. Mikao Usui, the founder of the Reiki system of natural healing, recommended that one practice certain simple ethical ideals to promote peace and harmony, which are nearly universal across all cultures.
lotuswellnesscenter.biz © 2019, Lotus Alternative Pain Center, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


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Het Reto-Romaans (Reto-Romaans: Rumantsch, Rumauntsch of Romontsch), ook wel gespeld als Rheto-Romaans, of Alpenromaans, is een taal of variëteit in de Zwitserse Alpen die behoort tot de Reto-Romaanse talen, binnen de grotere groep van de Romaanse talen. Het is de enige in Zwitserland gesproken taal die buiten dat land nergens officieel is.

Sprekers
Het Reto-Romaans (ter plaatse meestal kortweg: Rumantsch) had in 2000 ruim 36.000 sprekers en heeft in het drietalige kanton Graubünden de status van officiële taal. Volgens artikel 70 van de Zwitserse Grondwet van 1999 heeft Zwitserland officiële talen, zijnde het Duits, het Frans en het Italiaans, en in contact met Reto-Romaanstaligen ook Reto-Romaans. De kantons kunnen zelf hun officiële talen bepalen, maar moeten rekening houden met hun taalminderheden.

Problematisch is in dit verband steeds de heterogeniteit van de taal geweest: er zijn vijf hoofddialecten, waarvan de uitersten onderling moeilijk verstaanbaar zijn en de overgangsdialecten leggen te weinig gewicht in de schaal om als compromis te kunnen dienen. De meeste sprekers telt het Surselvisch, de westelijkste variant, gevolgd door het Vallader, de oostelijkste. Sinds 1982 bestaat het Rumantsch Grischun, een kunstmatige standaardtaal die berust op de drie grootste dialecten en in het onderwijs wordt gebruikt, maar die niemands moedertaal is en die onder de Reto-Romaanstaligen weinig sympathie geniet.

Dialecten
Het Reto-Romaans omvat de volgende vijf dialecten:
 Het Surselvisch in het dal van de Voor-Rijn en elders in het Bündner Oberland, Surselva is een andere naam voor het Bündner Oberland.
 Het Sutselvisch in het Schamsertal en het Surmeirisch in Oberhalbstein en het Albulatal, samen het Mittelbündnerisch,
 Het Vallader en het Puter, respectievelijk in het Unter-Engadin en het Ober-Engadin (het dal van de Inn) die samen Engadinisch of Ladinisch worden genoemd (de laatste term niet te verwarren met het Ladinisch van de Dolomieten). Deze beide varianten lijken wat meer op het Italiaans.

Veel moedertalige Reto-Romanen wonen inmiddels buiten Graubünden, bijvoorbeeld in Zürich of Genève.

Classificatie
De taal kan als volgt geclassificeerd worden:
 Indo-Europees
 Italisch
 Romaans
 West-Italisch
 Gallo-Iberisch
 Gallo-Romaans
 Gallo-Raetisch
 Rhaetisch
 Reto-Romaans

Media
Radiotelevisiun Svizra Rumantscha is de publieke omroep voor sprekers van het Reto-Romaans, die radio- en televisie-uitzendingen maakt. Alle radio-uitzendingen worden uitgezonden op Radio Rumantsch, de televisie-uitzendingen worden uitgezonden op de televisiezenders van het Duitstalige SRF en het Italiaanstalige RSI, daar de hoeveelheid televisie-uitzendingen (90 minuten per week) geen eigen zender toelaat.

Afbeeldingen

Externe links
 Lia Rumantscha
 Das Romanische in Graubünden

Bedreigde taal
Taal in Zwitserland

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Search homes for sale False Creek here! You can easily browse through MLS listings/ properties, such as single family homes, townhomes, duplexes and condos. Below is a free MLS access with interactive map search and fastest updates.


text:
The New Gate
The New Gate Information: Alternative Names: THE NEW GATE Type: Manga Volumes: Unknown Chapters: Unknown Status: Publishing Publication date: Nov 11, 2014 to ? Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Shounen, Isekai, Overpowered MC Authors: Kazanami, Shinogi (Story), Miwa, Yoshiyuki (Art) Serialization: AlphaPolis Web Manga Synopsis: "THE NEW GATE", an online game that trapped its players and turned into a death game, was now releasing the thousands of players that had been dragged into it, thanks to the efforts of Shin, one of the most powerful players. But after having defeated the last boss and freed everyone, he was swallowed up by a strange light and found himself inside the game world 500 years in the future and unable to leave. (Source: MyAnimeList)
Update: Chapter 58 - Itadakimasu for the continued eye treat : - Schnee x Princess Lyonne + Tiera = :
Update: Chapter 59
Update: Chapter 66-73

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This week's blog takeover is hosted by Lizzie Harwood. This is the story of her publishing journey.
I've always been a scribbler, but it wasn't until I moved to Paris in 1999 that I woke up to writing groups, classes, workshops, literary salons and the like. Some expanded my writing; others got a little weird. In one class, the tutor asked us all to write a chapter of each other's novels so we could "see" our own stylistic bugs and foibles perhaps? It didn't feel great, reading a chapter of my work-in-progress through a classmate's prism, that's all I remember.
I had a literary agent, a whip-smart bubbly go-getter based in London, who enthused about my first novel and even my second, but neither sold to those starry, exotic-sounding editors at the major publishing houses. Enter a slight depression: what was I doing? I had written two novels and had an agent. Yet I was as far from publishable as I was from the moon. The novels weren't good enough and worse, I hadn't learned that you have to write and rewrite and learn how to write before throwing a couple of book babies into the publishing world.
So, after a stint of four half-novels full of loser characters, I started writing Xamnesia. It was called The Girl Fridays, then Confessions from the Palace, then Highness, and finally Xamnesia: Everything I Forgot in my Search for an Unreal Life. I put my one year old into crèche a couple of days per week and got serious about my writing. No more sending off the first or second draft. I wrote nine drafts and asked author friends to critique mercilessly. It took seven years to write!
But, there were still huge lessons ahead. When I started submitting to agents, some leapt on email and raised my heartbeat with requests for the full manuscript and exclusivity. Then I realised that what I'd written could get me (and any publisher) into hot water. The memoir was about a royal family I worked for in the Middle East. Confidentiality agreements were signed. Lawyers explained dire worst-case scenarios. Agents backed off. I sat there with a book I'd spent 1,000s of hours on – for nothing.
That's when I decided not to give up. I had twigged that even recasting the story as fiction wouldn't necessarily protect me. So I kept it as a memoir but took the focus off of my bosses and onto myself, and why I chose to jump into an insane-making job of working for oil-rich billionaires. I didn't name anyone and I made up a fictitious country: Xamnesia, as the place I worked in. I self published in June, 2015 and nobody's served me with summons (touch wood) because those VIPs actually wouldn't want to raise their hands and say that they were the people in some of the scenes. It's honest, raw and real. Nobody in any writing class could've written a chapter of it "as me".
What I learned on this journey was to go for your best, truest words, get smart about what to write, stand beside it and never give up.
Xamnesia is available on Kindle and paperback. My other books are Triumph: Collected Stories, a novella Go See the Kids and Legacy: an Anthology. I'm an editor/writing coach at www.editordeluxe.com and you can befriend me at www.lizziehbooks.com, @lizziehbooks on Twitter and Lizzie Harwood Books on Facebook and I'd absolutely love to join your book club via Skype to chat books!
Thanks Lizzie. It really is a tough world out there but I think you show how sheer determination can really help you to pull through!
Thanks for having me on, Natasha!
It was a pleasure, Lizzie!
Determination – an essential part of every published writer! Well done Lizzie, for not giving up.
I listened to Della Gallon speak last night and she said exactly the same. Writing is a rollercoaster and we need to persevere!


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/ Illegal Settlement Creates Test for Israel's New Government
Illegal Settlement Creates Test for Israel's New Government
Radio Eko Lagras 24 June 2021
JABAL SUBEIH, West Bank — When Israeli settlers took over a windswept hilltop in the West Bank last month, it became the latest of about 140 unauthorized settler outposts built there in recent decades. Aside from the Palestinian villagers who could no longer reach olive groves there, the encampment initially attracted little attention.
Since then, the rapidly expanding settlement, Evyatar, and the huge protests it has begun to attract, have become an early stress test for the fragile new Israeli government.
The settlement is illegal under Israeli law, and the Israeli Army has ordered it razed, subject to the approval of the government.
If the new right-wing prime minister, Naftali Bennett, backs the settlers, he will alienate the leftist and Arab members of his coalition. If he permits them to be evicted, he will allow the Israeli right to paint him as a turncoat. An eviction could come as soon as Sunday, but could be delayed by legal proceedings.
"This is the test of Naftali Bennett," said Yoav Kisch, a lawmaker in the opposition Likud party, as he toured the settlement on Tuesday.
"If you are truly the prime minister and you actually have right-wing ideology in you, stop this wrong, twisted and fraudulent evacuation of Evyatar," he added. "This is in your hands."
Mr. Bennett's dilemma embodies the tightrope his government is treading during its earliest days in office.
To win a parliamentary majority large enough to push his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, from power, Mr. Bennett and his centrist partner, Yair Lapid, assembled an ideologically incoherent alliance that ranges from leftists who oppose settlement expansion to hard-right politicians like Mr. Bennett who support building settlements across the occupied West Bank.
The bloc came together on a single issue — the need to remove Mr. Netanyahu — but governing has quickly proved harder work.
Before entering office, the leaders of the eight-party coalition promised to focus on policies that united them, such as infrastructure and the economy, and avoid third-rail issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
To some extent, the government has followed through on this pledge: Mr. Bennett and other government ministers presented a united front this week in their response to a sudden rise in coronavirus cases. They have moved quickly to strengthen ties with the Biden administration, filled dozens of vacant senior Civil Service positions and agreed to begin an inquiry into a disaster at a religious site that killed 45 people in April.
But the Palestinian question, and the 54-year occupation of the West Bank, have already proved impossible to sever from the day-to-day business of running an Israeli government.
Mr. Bennett's government is struggling to find a majority to extend a 2003 law that effectively bars granting citizenship to Palestinians who marry Israeli citizens. Under previous governments, the law has been extended each year without drama, but this year its extension is at risk because Arab and leftist members of the coalition oppose it.
That split has given Mr. Netanyahu's party, Likud, an opportunity: Likud has withdrawn its support for the bill, despite having always supported it. By allowing it to fail, Likud hopes to embarrass Mr. Bennett by highlighting how his government is reliant on Arabs and leftists.
Mr. Netanyahu had previously laid another trap for the Bennett government, deciding in his last week in office to allow far-right activists to schedule a provocative march on the second day of Mr. Bennett's tenure. Mr. Bennett's government allowed the march to take place, setting off a furious response from leftist members of his coalition and testing the government's unity.
Disagreements also loom over the question of improving housing rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel. And a discussion about allegations of apartheid in Israel, co-hosted by a leftist coalition member at the Israeli Parliament on Tuesday, highlighted the vast gulf in ideologies within the government bloc.
"The opposition is sniffing around to find the issues that will embarrass the government and create cleavages within it," said Tamar Hermann, a professor of political science at the Open University of Israel. "They are incessantly looking for a spoke to stick into its wheel."
One of the most pressing quandaries for the coalition is the settlement on Jabal Subeih, a hill near Nablus in the northern West Bank. Mr. Lapid, the foreign minister, wants to proceed with the eviction, while a member of Mr. Bennett's party, Nir Orbach, visited the site on Thursday to show solidarity with its residents.
Settlers pitched several tents there on May 3, naming the new hamlet for Evyatar Borovski, a settler killed by a Palestinian in 2013.
The settlement expanded unusually fast, and now includes about 50 one-story homes, several tarmac streets, each with its own street sign, as well a Wi-Fi network, a synagogue, an electricity generator and a water storage system.
The settlement leaders say they are acting only on their own initiative and received only crowdsourced funding. But the site was quickly instrumentalized by Likud, which sent representatives to Evyatar to raise its profile and sought to turn it into a wedge issue for the new government.
Understand Developments in Israeli Politics
Key Figures. The main players in the latest twist in Israeli politics have very different agendas, but one common goal. Naftali Bennett, who leads a small right-wing party, and Yair Lapid, the centrist leader of the Israeli opposition, have joined forces to form a diverse coalition to unseat Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving prime minister.
Range of Ideals. Spanning Israel's fractious political spectrum from left to right, and relying on the support of a small Arab, Islamist party, the coalition, dubbed the "change government" by supporters, will likely mark a profound shift for Israel.
A Common Goal. After grinding deadlock that led to four inconclusive elections in two years, and an even longer period of polarizing politics and government paralysis, the architects of the coalition have pledged to get Israel back on track.
An Unclear Future. Parliament still has to ratify the fragile agreement in a confidence vote in the coming days. But even if it does, it remains unclear how much change the "change government" could bring to Israel because some of the parties involved have little in common besides animosity for Mr. Netanyahu.
The West Bank was occupied by Israel in 1967, and much of the world considers all Jewish settlements there illegal under international law. Most settlers, however, live in settlements permitted under Israeli law.
But Evyatar, built without permission from the Israeli state, is illegal according to Israeli law.
Mr. Bennett said in 2012 that he would consider it unconscionable to evict any settlers in the West Bank, and that he would refuse a military order to do so. The issue could ultimately be decided by the High Court.
Government approval of the eviction would outrage Mr. Bennett's supporters, who believe that settlements in the West Bank are essential to Israel's security and, for many, that the territory was among the lands promised to Jews by God.
"It's forbidden for him to touch this memorial site," said Mr. Borovski's widow, Sofia, who now lives part of the week at the settlement. "If they remove the community," she added, "it would be like killing my husband all over again."
Mr. Bennett's office declined to comment.
The view from the other side of the valley, in the Palestinian village of Beita, was very different. Pointing at an olive grove descending from the new settlement, a retired farmer said he helped his father plant its trees in the 1960s, before Israel captured the land from Jordan.
"I can't forget my father, digging the land, sweat pouring down his face," said the farmer, Mohammed Khabeisa, 68. "That memory raises a fire inside me when I see those dogs up on that hill."
Mr. Khabeisa's family is one of 17 that say they have owned land on the site of the settlement for generations. Twenty-two other families claim adjacent land that is blocked off by soldiers protecting the settlers. None of them have the deeds to prove ownership, and Israeli military officials have said it is not clear who owns the land.
The government department that oversees civil aspects of the occupation has acknowledged that at least five families, including Mr. Khabeisa's, paid land tax on plots in the area of the hill during the 1930s, before Jordan seized control of the territory, though the exact whereabouts of those plots was unclear.
Fury over the settler takeover has led to daily protests and marches by Palestinian villagers, farmers and their supporters. They have thrown stones at the soldiers blocking access to the hill, burned tires in the surrounding valleys and pointed laser pens at the settlement at night, in an effort to harry the settlers into leaving.
Palestinian officials say that at least four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers firing live rounds during these protests, and hundreds injured. Mr. Khabeisa has a fresh scar above his left knee, after an Israeli soldier fired a tear-gas canister at him during a protest in early June, he said, hitting him at short range.
For Palestinians like Mr. Khabeisa, the question of whether Mr. Bennett will or won't support the settlement's destruction means little in the long term. They see the settlers, the soldiers, Mr. Bennett and Mr. Netanyahu as ultimately part of the same system that has gradually taken control of more and more land in the West Bank since 1967.
"Every government has the same goal," said Mr. Khabeisa. "The seizure of land."


text:
Glitch?
Error and noises elevating to an artform
A glitch is an "error" in a system. Audiofiles with a broken tune, videos with corrupted images or sounds, colorful pixels which disguise and manifest in the image. In our digital life we encounter such errors on a daily basis. Algorithms confuse themselves. Computers seem to have grabbed a hold on their own life. Almost like the spirit of the machine, emerging from the depths just to say "hello" in their own form on the surface.
"Glitch art" is consciously looking for errors and malfunctions. It celebrates the aesthetics of the error. Glitch art has enjoyed a lot more attention today but the origin of the idea is seen before the stet of the digital world. (From Dada, about futurism reaching video art - glitch artifacts are found in many genres.)
Errors are achieved by techniques like databending (programs being misused), datamoshing (data compression manipulation in video), sonification (manipulation of sound effects on images), circuit bending (Hardwaremanipulation), and much more. The output expresses the unanticipated result of the inner life of the machine.Complex processes and calculations which are invisible to us normally become visual. Every technique on its own is presented with specific glitch characteristics.
The work of the glitch artist is only a part of the process. Their technique and the file where it should appear is the impulse for the machine to start messing up and displaying the result. The output is not predictable for the artist. He has no influence on the image or the sound.
The machine is not tending towards a specific style, does not work for somebody and has no prior knowledge of any arthistorical conventions related. In fact the machine is not even aware that the program which just collapsed is a considered piece of art. The glitch is free, unbound and a random product comprised of calculations and errors, with his own aesthetics, not influenced by rules or norms.
Glitches are experienced spontaneously. The surprise and unpredictability triggers the impression that they were conceived by an unknown force. Through glitches, real, "right" structures seem enhanced. The supposed error is in focus of the reception. The destroyed images, sounds and objects are a metaphor for vulnerable systems, a world which through one tiny irregularity loses its structure, causing it to collapse.
Especially in this shifting time, the topic of "useless weapons" is so popular and eyecatching, that it resonates a symbolic idea. The works could be easily scaled to any size making it undependable upon media type. As a sculpture, as jewellery, a canvas or an animated GIF. Flexible in size and material.
Due to the weapon being in a semiotic context it is a strong, simple, archaic icon, with a clear statement. The idea in "Useless Weapons" explains itself and therefore spans along a broad spectrum of viewers.
The 3D files were scripted with additional scripts of musical plays or poetry and "glitched" on multiple programs. Through this data-mix, new 3D models were rendered.
These models were not only altered but also made compatible for printing so that a 3D printer wasn't going to decode it as an error. The series of printable models has 3 pieces so far. All were already printed in varying sizes and materials.
// Art Concept
"Useless Weapons" Video v1
Useless Weapons
Alexandra Ehrlich-Speiser
Videography & Web Concept
Hectór González
Helmut Stekl
Illegal 3D datasets are available in the dark web. Just 3D-print your favorite weapon!
An alarming fact:
the ubiquity of destructive murder weapons will increase rapidly
Based on that the concept is
to take over these data,
to glitch,
to error,
to noise them and
make them useless.
© 2017 by Ehrlich-Speiser & González


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Display All Answers
Q. I do not know how to deal with a sentence with two prepositions very close to each another: Drill pilot holes through the bottom and top panels into the side panels. Everyone at my workplace thinks I should add "and" so it reads: Drill pilot holes through the bottom and top panels and into the side panels. I have five people saying to use the "and." I'm truly torn.
Answer »
A. The fact that five people are complaining about this should tell you that it's not yet clear enough. Your own version suggests that the drill passes through the top and into the side in one motion, which is one possibility. Your colleagues' version suggests that the top holes are drilled first, and then the side holes. Try to write it so there's no doubt. For instance, Drill pilot holes through the bottom and top panels and then into the side panels. Please keep trying—everyone with a power drill will thank you.
Q. What's your current recommendation on ending a sentence with a preposition? Current example: "[Nurses bound the] wounds of the men they were taking care of."
A. Our current recommendation has been current since 1906: there is no rule against ending a sentence with a preposition. Please see CMOS 5.180: "The traditional caveat of yesteryear against ending sentences or clauses with prepositions is an unnecessary and pedantic restriction. And it is wrong."
Q. Choosing between in or at: When referring to a specific area on a slide presentation, would you say "in the top right-hand corner" or "at the top right-hand corner"? Are there rules that help one determine when to use in or at?
A. Prepositions are tricky! Even fluent English speakers can disagree on which one to use. CMOS 5.195 presents a list of words that usually go with certain prepositions, but often (as in your sentence) more than one works well. When you're stuck, look up the preposition in a dictionary and find an example phrase or sentence that's similar to the one you're puzzling over.
Q. My question regards the use of "as per." Example: "As per your request, I enclose a check." This use has always sounded redundant to me, and pretentious. Isn't it more correct to say, "As you requested" or "Per your request"?
A. I feel the way you do about "as per," but Merriam-Webster sanctions its use in such constructions (and adds an interesting historical note).
Q. Dear Sir or Madam, I'm having a disagreement with a coworker on a particular subject, and as my CMOS is at home, I can't go to it for a ruling. I'm arguing that the prohibition against ending a sentence with a preposition is an invalid injunction—one that often serves to confuse and befuddle the reader by forcing tortured and mangled word placements. She says that the "rule" must be followed. So, is it appropriate to end a sentence with a preposition? Thank you.
A. That old prohibition is what we call a grammar superstition. You will not find it in any authoritative grammar book. Please see CMOS 5.180.
Q. Hi there. I have a question regarding the use of double prepositions. Is there a rule against it? I tried to check for rules in CMOS, but I didn't see any. I also checked a dictionary, and it says that "off of" is an idiom and is therefore correct.
A. That "off of" is an idiom does not mean it's correct. In fact, it means that caution is required: many idioms are considered slang or informal. CMOS guidelines apply to formal speech and writing, and CMOS says never to use "off of" (see 5.250, under "off"). There is no rule against double prepositions, however. "I ran out of the house" and "He peered from behind the tree" are perfectly grammatical and idiomatic.
Q. My editors cannot seem to agree on whether to use in or to in the following (and similar) sentences: (1) The bill (or law) makes technical changes in the insurance statutes; (2) The bill (or law) makes technical changes to the insurance statutes. What is the difference between "changes in" and "changes to," and how does one determine which construction to use?
A. There is no difference, and there's no need for consistency. If your editors are fiddling with these, they might be overstepping. If there is some arcane legal difference in meaning, they should be able to tell you what reference book or style manual or dictionary supports their decisions. It's not Chicago style!
Q. When did The Chicago Manual of Style first state that ending a sentence with a preposition is not wrong (paragraph 5.180 in the current edition of CMOS)?
A. CMOS has never prohibited a preposition at the end of a sentence in any of its versions and editions since 1906. The first edition to state positively that a preposition may end a sentence was the 15th, in 2003, the first edition of the Manual to contain a chapter on grammar.


I have been offline for a week now, and I can't tell you how much I've missed this community! I have only just begun catching up, I feel like I've missed a gazillion great posts!
I am making this statement not just to say "hey!" to all the posts I'm late in reading, but also to bring up the point of today's post. The reason I was absent last week was because I was preparing for my son's 11th birthday. We were hosting a sit-down dinner for 15, followed by an ice cream party/sleep-over, followed by a trip to a trampoline place, followed by a lunch, I could go on for a while longer, but, suffice it to say: a busy weekend that required a lot of prep work. As a result, I was consumed with the details that involve making a weekend such as this one a success, and therefore let my usual sobriety-focused routines fall to the wayside. Nothing overly dramatic, as I'm only talking a week, but enough small "concessions" that by Sunday I was feeling the effects of a full-on emotional hangover: I was exhausted, cranky as all get-out, and reverting to behaviors in which I have not indulged in a really, really long time.
I woke up Monday, very excited to get back to a regular routine and lead my Monday meeting. And at that meeting the topic (pre-arranged) was Step 10: continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. If I were to attempt to highlight the portions of the chapter that directly applied to my life, I would, in fact, be re-typing the chapter. The focus of step 10 is to self-evaluate, at the very least daily, but, more specifically, when in any kind of turmoil. Because if I am feeling turmoil, I am the root cause, and the only way to resolve it is to look at my thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Guess what I failed to do the entire weekend?
The second part of step 10: and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. Quick side note: as I was typing that last sentence, my husband called to say hi. So I can now say that I have put into action the second part of step 10 as it relates to this past weekend. Again, there is nothing melodramatic that happened, I believe all who attended the dinner party had a great time, they ate well, and my son had a fantastic celebration. But only I am in my head, and I haven't felt this out of sorts in a long, long time, and I don't enjoy the feeling at all. When I think that this is how I used to live life daily, I shudder… how in the hell did I live like this? And I know, if I am feeling this bad, then there is no doubt that I am acting out of sorts as well, and so my husband, as usual, becomes my default punching bag. I already feel better for having promptly admitted my mistakes.
So the moral of today's story: sharing your turbulent thoughts really does calm the mind, and try to keep constant the routines that keep you serene, even when you are stressed. Because avoiding routine during stressful times is like throwing gasoline on a fire, and there is that much more to douse at the end!
Since I posted a picture of last year's birthday cake, I figured I could do it again… it was a work of art!


Veteran Barbecue Team from Overland Park, Kansas beats 1,100 Food Sport Competitors for Fortune and Food Fame.
KISSIMMEE, FLA. (Tuesday, Nov. 10) – A wife and husband barbecue competition team from Overland Park, Kansas earned $100,000 today, beating more than 1,100 competitive chefs, home cooks and food sport enthusiasts in a week-long battle for the World Food Championships title in central Florida.
Cheryl and Loren Hill, three-time qualifiers for the World Food Championships, also took home an additional $10,000 for winning the Barbeque qualifying category, as did the eight other finalists who won their qualifying category. More than $350,000 in cash and prizes was awarded through 38 competition rounds, making it one of the largest and richest food sport events in the world.
"This is so surreal. Normally I'd be a bawling mess but it hasn't sunk in," said Cheryl Hill, of "The Smoking Hills", who has traveled the country with her husband on the Kansas City Barbeque Society competition circuit since 2007. They have won 16 barbecue championships, including the prestigious 2015 American Royal Invitational in Kansas City, Mo., last month.
The World Food Championships competition drew thousands of foodies and Food Sport enthusiasts to Central Florida, elevating hotel bookings, restaurant spending and other community revenue metrics that come with such signature events.
The bulk of WFC's food fights occurred in Kenmore Kitchen Arena, the largest outdoor kitchen in the world, measuring a full city block at 7,800-square feet. The space featured $250,000 worth of Kenmore branded stoves, cooktops, countertops and cookware – enough for 50 chefs to cook simultaneously. An additional $100,000 worth of professional grills from Bull Outdoor Products afforded open-flame grilling.
World Bacon Champion – Stephen Coe, Plymouth, Massachusetts.
World Recipe Champion – Alethia Shih, San Jose, California.
World Seafood Champion – Cindy Taffel, Pompano Beach, Fla.
Tuesday's competitors were scored with WFC's unique EAT Methodology, which awards points for the Execution of a recipe, the Appearance of the presentation plate and the all-important aspect of Taste. A perfect score is 100. The scoring system levels the judging field so that dishes from different categories can be evaluated against one another, unique in the competitive Food Sport arena.
"This challenge is not for the faint of heart. It requires ambition, precision, imagination, and extreme determination – these are the ingredients of a World Food Champion," said Mike McCloud, CEO of World Food Championships.
"As we've seen from past years, World Food Championships is a game changer and we're expecting more great things from each competitor as their careers continue to unfold," he noted.
Judges for the Final Table included: Chef Justin Timineri (C.E.C.), Florida's executive chef and Culinary Ambassador; Chef Kevin Fonzo of K Restaurant and Wine Bar in Orlando, Emily Ellyn of Food Network fame; Diva Q, Danielle Bennett, the most decorated female in the competitive BBQ world; and Kari Karch, World Food Championships' co-host and Kenmore brand spokesperson.
The World Food Championships (www.worldfoodchampionships.com) features hundreds of competitors seeking food fame and fortune in Kissimmee, Fla. for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Following a tournament-style format across multiple iconic food categories, the WFC culminates with a Final Table faceoff where category champions brave potential elimination in front of a live audience and a discerning panel of culinary judges. The World Food Championships is owned and produced by Nashville-based MMA Creative.


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intelligent automation technologies-financial
The scalability of intelligent automation technologies
Scalability of intelligent automation technologies is directly linked to financial performance, finds KPMG global survey
According to KPMG's new "Easing the pressure points: The State of Intelligent Automation" global survey, enterprises are not scaling intelligent automation (IA) technologies [artificial intelligence (AI), advanced analytics and robotic process automation (RPA)] fast enough to meet desired objectives and returns. However, those organisations that are scaling IA technologies are seeing strong financial performance.
KPMG collaborated with HFS Research to explore how fast IA technologies are being adopted and what successes and challenges have surfaced. Nearly 600 business leaders including 100 top-level executives across six industries and 13 countries were surveyed about their experience with handling intelligent automation issues.
"Investment in and adoption of IA technologies are occurring at a rapid pace, but many organisations are struggling to demonstrate significant impact," said Cliff Justice, KPMG Principal and Head of Intelligent Automation. "Without a holistic digital transformation strategy that underpins IA investments across an entire organisation, these projects are stunted in pilot mode and fail to deliver the intended results. Yet, when implemented with a clear vision and integrated approach, IA is propelling businesses, not only with a competitive business edge, but financial success."
Key findings of the Intelligent Automation survey include:
Investment in IA technology is strong with 52% of companies confirming investments of more than $10 million; yet investments are imbalanced across functions (mostly on finance and accounting)
There is a distinct correlation between scale and top financial performance. While 64% of the top performing companies surveyed will be scaled by 2019, 59% of poorly performing companies need another 2 - 5 years to achieve IA scale
Overall, only 17% of companies surveyed have scaled up or industrialised IA technologies. Smart analytics was cited as the top most scaled technology, while RPA was the least scaled.
The technology that organisations are experimenting with or piloting the most is AI (36%)
Scale remains a leading challenge to achieving key goals with IA technologies. Other notable challenges pinpointed include uncertainty about the financial investment needed; lack of clarity on accountability for driving the agenda; and concerns about changes in governance and risk management
Business executives are optimistic about the impact IA will have on jobs - approximately half of respondents surveyed say automation will impact fewer than 20% of their staff.
Thomas Erwin, Head of KPMG Global Lighthouse and a partner with KPMG in Germany, said: "To ensure an effective, comprehensive IA strategy that integrates complex technologies such as AI, three key components are essential: clear business objectives, an adequate budget and an orchestrated approach. These are fundamental to successfully scaling up IA across the enterprise."
Konstantinos Botsaris, Digital Innovation Senior Manager at KPMG in Cyprus said: "The introduction of Intelligent Automation technologies including Artificial Intelligence in the organisational landscape alone, is not enough. Rather, complementing technology with a long term human-centric strategy and a clear action plan can be a real game changer in terms of getting the most value. This plan should prioritise change management and also ensure that humans have a primary role in both defining and executing it, in this way deriving real benefits for organisations."
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I'm a Web and UI designer from La Plata, Argentina. I enjoy designing beautiful and simple Websites, applications, portals, intranets, etc.
Have a look at my portfolio and don't hesitate in contacting me if you want to ask me something, or just for saying hi!
Freelance Interactive designer for BrightStarr, designing SharePoint responsive intranets and other internal branding.
Northridge was a SharePoint development company, with an in-house Design area for designing and branding Intranets and applications UI. Besides designing Intranets, I made several inner branding pieces and marketing campaigns.
Web Designer and developer, desigining portals, microsites, games and marketing pieces, and then bringing them to life with HTML and CSS development.
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What it's like to be...Stella, Hugh Hefner's flamingo
Before you ask - no, I have never been a Playboy centrefold. It's not that I don't go in for that sort of thing, I've just never been asked. Can't imagine why. Have you seen my legs? And I do stay in shape; all I eat are tiny prawns and flamingo pellets (they keep me pink), hand-fed to me by my keepers Ishmael and Leah. I'd rather Hef did it, but he's a busy man. There are about 100 of us birds - peacocks, African crowned cranes, geese and my fellow flamingo, Stilts - so Hugh couldn't possibly feed us all. Still, he seems to find enough time for those Bunnies. But at least they stick to the mansion, leaving the backyard to us. My favourite spot is by the koi pond, where I can sun myself on the rocks and watch the fish. Or, if I need to hide from the gardener and his evil leaf blower, I'll tuck myself away behind the waterfall in the grotto. But I'll tell you what - after 15 years of being an ornamental feature, I want a promotion. I've have dreams too. Big ones. I'm not settling for the centrefold - I want Playmate of the Year.
By Luciana Bellini Photo by Playboy/Jeff Minton
While Stella snacked on pink pellets, Hugh revealed his feathered friend's most intimate secrets. Playboy celebrates its 60th anniversary later this year
IF YOU LIKED THIS, YOU'LL LOVE... What's it like to be...Sunita, Dame Mary and Lord Archer's cat What's it like to be...Bert, Selina Scott's goat What's it like to be...Teddy, Hugh Bonneville's dog What's it like to be...Rasputin, Derren Brown's parrot What it's like to be... Prince Childs, Amy Childs's pug What it's like to be...Pip, Jacquetta Wheeler's puppy
What it's really like going out post-lockdown
Davina Motion heads to 5 Hertford Street for her first night out after the easing of lockdown
By Davina Motion
What it's like to train a Prime Minister, according to trainer-to-the-elite Matt Roberts
The trainer du jour offered a firsthand account of what it's like to whip a leader of the country into shape, as he did with David Cameron
By Annabel Sampson
Tatler's Education Editor on what the return to boarding school will really be like post-Covid
Essential reading for boarders returning to school this September
By Tori Cadogan
What to pack: Island escape
From Tatler's Spa Guide alongside the November issue, Chandler Tregaskes gives the lowdown on the best fashion, beauty and accessories to bring for a spa trip to the sunny island St Barths
By Chandler Tregaskes


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Happy Birthday, Vincent!
29 March 2018 | Amy Hutto
As I write this, it is a chilly rainy evening in Zundert, Netherlands and 43 degrees, although I'm sure it feels much colder. One can imagine the weather may have been similar as Anna Van Gogh prepared for the arrival of her second son to be named Vincent, only one short year after enduring the still birth of her first son bearing the same name.
On March 30, 1853 Anna and Theodorus, and the world, were given the gift of Vincent Van Gogh. And what a gift it was!
Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists and his work has made a significant impact on my own work. His brilliant use of color to convey his feelings about his subjects was ground breaking, if not welcomed and recognized as genius at the time. The frenetic energy and contrasting calm he created often within the same works through flashing brushstrokes, and dots and dashes of thick buttery paints in equally contrasting colors is reflective of the struggle in his own mind and soul. I've read that at times he was so anxious to get paint on the canvas he would often squeeze the tubes of color directly onto the canvas instead of taking time to put it on his palette first. Such energy! It's as if that enormous energy was infused into the very paint itself. It is difficult to appreciate the beauty of Vincent's paintings and drawings without giving pause to the enormity of his life; at least for me.
So much has been written about Van Gogh, and I won't attempt to delve too deeply into the details of his life here; but I will endeavor to paint a quick portrait of his life. (Did you see what I did there? ☺) Van Gogh was raised by loving and devout parents, although he grew to disagree with them on most things. Although they weren't happy with his decision to become an artist, eventually they supported him in his choice. His mother taught him and his five siblings to draw at an early age, but at the time he didn't show any signs of the greatness yet to come. To be fair, who besides Picasso really has? She also made a point to share her love of nature with her children by taking them on long walks each day and having each one tend a section of her garden, undoubtedly influencing Vincent's art later on. He struggled in school, and left for good at the age of 15 and from there he bounced from job to job not being very good at any of them. He was moody, often ill-tempered but still full of love and passion. He struggled with mental illness and epilepsy, possible lead poisoning and even sun stroke has been suggested due to his prolonged time painting outdoors. He was rejected romantically, along with his art, and in every other sense. In fact, he only sold one painting during his life. He was given money by his brother Theo, for food and living expenses but Vincent spent most of it on paints, cigarettes and alcohol not taking very good care of himself physically; no doubt contributing to his ill physical and mental health…all in all, a fairly tragic life. But, there were moments of splendor…of happiness, and sanity and love and friendship…and hope, although these feelings never lasted long.
When he died, and after only ten short years as an artist, Van Gogh left behind more than 600 letters to his brother Theo, whom he had a very close relationship with, 1000+ drawings, and over 900 paintings; the physical remnants of a man's tortured mind and his longing for peace, love and friendship. How wonderful it would have been if he could have known what he would come to mean to the world. His life and art has been the subject of songs, biographies, novels, tv, and movies. In fact, I've prepared a listing of ways you can honor Vincent on his special day.
Watch "Loving Vincent", the 2017 animated full length film. "Each of the film's 65,000 frames is an oil painting on canvas, using the same technique as Van Gogh, created by a team of 125 painters"-Wikipedia. Be aware, just because it's animated doesn't mean it's necessarily appropriate for everyone. Check the ratings and reviews to decide for your family if you're thinking about young children viewing.
Here is a link to the official trailer: Loving Vincent
I am watching it Friday night, with a nice glass of wine, my husband and a fire. Join me! (Not really I don't have room for 1,000 people on my sofa.)
Watch "Lust for Life", and go old school for a movie about his life. This one starring Kirk Douglas is still worth watching in my opinion. Here is a link to a TCM trailer: Lust for Life You can download the movie on YouTube for $2.99 also.
Buy a book! Vincent by Himself: A Selection of Van Gogh's Paintings and Drawings Together with Extracts from His Letters available from Amazon for $21.88, or from Barnes and Noble and other booksellers. While you're at it, pick up a notebook with one of his paintings on the cover. You can find those at B&N, too.
Listen to one of the most heart wrenching and beautiful songs ever: This YouTube link also shows some of his works of art that go along with the lyrics. Vincent-Starry, Starry Night by Don Mclean, video compilation by wysty67
And finally, watch the BBC show Dr. Who, "Vincent and The Dr." Here's a sneak peek: Dr.Who, Vincent and The Dr.
And so on today, Vincent's 165th birthday, I say let's celebrate him for all that he was, and all that he still is. Happy Birthday, Vincent!
"Van Gogh Selfie" me and Vincent at The Art Institute of Chicago


Episode 1 was previewed at a screening in Tokyo on September 28, 2013. Regular broadcasting began on October 4, 2013.
Kill La Kill's Toshio Ishizaki won the Tokyo Anime Award for Best Character Design in 2014. The series got another Character Design Award along with a Storyboard Award, Soundtrack Award, Theme Song Award (for Sirius), Mascot Awards (for Senketsu and Guts), Female Character Awards (for Ryuuko Matoi and Mako Mankanshoku), and Series Award for TV Broadcast in the 2014 Newtype Anime Awards.


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Center diamond has a color grading of J, and clarity grading of VVS1. Diamond weight is approximate.


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McGrath outpaces McConnell's 'record-breaking' fundraising haul in midst of pandemic
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is breaking fundraising records for the 2020 reelection, but the GOP chief continues to be surpassed by would-be Democratic challenger Amy McGrath.
McConnell's money machine didn't let a global pandemic stop it from raking in $7.4 million during the first quarter, which is his largest haul during a three-month period since coming to Washington in 1985.
"Team Mitch had a record-breaking start to 2020 with our highest fundraising quarter in history," McConnell campaign manager Kevin Golden said in a statement, "and the most-ever cash on hand for any campaign in Kentucky's history."
As of Tuesday, McConnell has scooped up approximately $25.6 million toward the 2020 reelection cycle and has a healthy $14.8 million on hand now.
But McGrath busted McConnell's bubble when her campaign told The Courier Journal the retired Marine fighter pilot raised a whopping $12.8 million during the same period.
More politics:Massie tries to keep it cozy with President Trump in new TV spot
The McGrath campaign has raked in about $29.8 million in total since she entered the race last July. She has also matched McConnell in terms of money in the bank with $14.7 million on hand, according to campaign spokesman Terry Sebastian.
"What our numbers show is that voters are fed up with Mitch McConnell continually putting corporate handouts ahead of working people," he said.
These new figures indicate Kentucky will once again be one of the nation's more expensive Senate races in 2020.
McConnell has been a prolific fundraiser since he was Jefferson County judge-executive, and part of his legacy will be redefining federal campaign finance laws that successfully argued such gifts equal free speech.
But now, as the most consequential Republican in Congress, that money machine has become even more formidable.
McConnell is outpacing fundraising benchmarks set by his last reelection bid in 2014, when he was Senate minority leader. At this same point during the last cycle, for example, he reported having $10.3 million on hand.
Top headlines:Rand Paul says he has now tested negative for the coronavirus
The GOP leader will need every dime, however, if McGrath comes out of the crowded primary as the Democratic nominee. She has created her own money juggernaut fueled by Democratic antipathy toward McConnell, who has blocked progressive legislation from getting through the Senate.
McConnell raised $4.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2019 and started 2020 with $11.5 million in the bank. But McGrath, a retired Marine fighter pilot, announced she had collected about $6.2 million in the last three months of 2019, with about $9.1 million on hand.
McGrath has boasted that her ability to keep up with McConnell dollar for dollar makes her the best candidate in the crowded Democratic primary field to win in November. Her opponents, however, maintain Democrats need a nominee who contrasts with McConnell more on the issues.
Golden used the fundraising totals reported Tuesday to also push back on the narrative that McConnell bungled the beginnings of the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S.
The GOP leader was able to get a historic $2 trillion relief package over the hill by a 96-0 vote, which is bringing valuable resources to the Bluegrass State.
"Kentuckians know that at a time of great consequence, there is no substitute for the proven leadership of Mitch McConnell," Golden said.
The unanimous vote came after major pushback from Senate Democrats, who argued McConnell's original plan cooked up with Republican committee chairs favored corporations over workers.
Analysts:Mitch McConnell's Senate majority in peril amid coronavirus crisis
McConnell was also pilloried by McGrath and others for taking a trip back to Kentucky for a special judicial swearing-in ceremony in March as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Trump administration officials were negotiating a response to the global pandemic.
Sebastian, the McGrath campaign spokesman, said Tuesday the campaign's cash haul reflects how average Americans are "outraged" about McConnell's conduct surrounding the crisis.
"Folks know he's been bought for the price of $1.6 million that Big Pharma has given him over his career," he said. "After 35 years of Mitch McConnell putting partisan politics and special interests ahead of doing what's right for the country, working Americans don't trust his leadership and are demanding new leaders like Amy McGrath who they know will have their back."
McGrath has continued to poke the senator in the eye, especially after McConnell suggested President Donald Trump's impeachment trial distracted federal officials from addressing the growing coronavirus crisis in China.
Golden, however, defended McConnell's record in securing valuable resources for small businesses, larger industries and individual Americans, "while Amy McGrath stood with Nancy Pelosi to urge further delay of relief in order to leverage left-wing priorities unrelated to the coronavirus."
The McGrath campaign shot back, saying McConnell was the one who "delayed COVID-19 relief funding for 48 hours so that his buddies in Big Pharma could price gouge us on vaccines."
For subscribers:Massie is prime example of why Republicans fret a Trump tantrum
Reach Phillip M. Bailey at pbailey@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4475. Follow him on Twitter at @phillipmbailey.


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You are here: Home / Uncategorized / Rights violated…
Rights violated…
Dec 16, 20119
Quebec's top court won't suspend province's religious symbols ban, but judges say rights being violated
How does a court agree that rights are violated without proscribing a remedy? The top Quebec court decision came in a request to suspend the application of Bill 21 until the SCC can rule on its constitutionality and was not in itself a request to rule on the constitutionality. "Justice Dominique Bélanger, who sided with the majority, said it is "apparent that their fundamental rights are being violated." She singled out Muslim women who wear the hijab." But that alone isn't enough to justify an injunction because of the notwithstanding clause, Bélanger indicated, which was included in the legislation by the provincial government to override certain sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms." https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-bill-21-secularism-court-religious-symbols-appeals-1.5394084 Related article: CBC News – Verity Stevenson 'We will keep on fighting': Hijabi women devastated by Appeal Court decision to uphold Bill 21 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/court-of-appeal-bill-21-reaction-1.5394522
CBC News – Michael Spratt
'Smarter and stronger'? New law is really a cruel gutting of access to justice for the impoverished
Michael Spratt is a lawyer and advocate for legal aid in Ontario. Spratt sees the current Ford government slashing the legal aid system to the point of ending its effectiveness, especially in the defence of the poor and vulnerable. Attorney General Doug Downey just introduced the Smarter and Stronger Justice Act while slashing $133 million from the budget, all alleging the recent report from Ontario Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk on the state of justice as justification. Contrary to Downey's strategy, Spratt says: The utter failure of the double Ds – Doug Ford and Doug Downey – on the justice front has resulted in court delays, wasted money, and decreased access to justice." Legal aid becomes critical in family law in particular as well as criminal law. https://www.cbc.ca/news/opinion/opinion-smarter-stronger-justice-act-legal-aid-1.5393810
CBC News – Rachel Aiello
PM Trudeau issues revamped mandate letters for cabinet ministers
Here is the link to the full collection of re-vamped mandate letters to the new Trudeau cabinet, also listing the Parliamentary assistant to the minister. The link also provides a number of other articles relating to the new cabinet and their direction for the immediate future. "Justice Minister David Lametti and Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett will be taking on legislation to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the end of 2020." https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/pm-trudeau-issues-revamped-mandate-letters-for-cabinet-ministers-1.4728847 Link directly to the mandate letters: https://pm.gc.ca/en/mandate-letters Related article: National Newswatch: Canadian Press Trudeau tells ministers openness, co-operation are key in minority government https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2019/12/13/trudeau-tells-ministers-openness-co-operation-are-key-in-minority-government-2/#.XfPULvx7k2x
(Editor's comment: the mandate letter for justice seems a setback from the avowed intent previously to revamp the system in a more transformative way, including greater emphasis on 'restorative justice' approaches. This letter is a "laundry list" of tasks that seems to lack any comprehensive thrust toward systemic change. One SJNC advocate assessed the mandate: "This letter marks lost ground and vision in my books." The key hope from the SJNC perspective, partially saved in one of the items, remains in the requirement that the Attorney General: "Work with the provinces and territories to establish a Community Justice Centres program to put courts alongside other critical social services. However, the community justice centres require more than system coordination for them to contribute to justice transformation. Given the reliance on criminalization and punitive responses throughout the mandate letter, there is cause for concern regarding the focus and intention of the community justice initiative as a way to really get at root causes and meaningful justice solutions. The mandate letter also asks the ministry to identify additional priorities. Perhaps the transformative vision can be brought into play as government and advocates commit to and move to establish these community centres.
The Atlantic (US) –
When Mental Illness Becomes a Jail Sentence: Arrestees who are mentally incompetent to stand trial are supposed to be sent for treatment. But thousands are being warehoused in jails for months without a conviction.
This article draws attention to the mass incarceration problem in the US justice system and one of the significant elements of the remand system when people are arrested, afflicted with mental illness but left in prison while the wheels of justice delay and grind them down further, often for minor offences for which jail is already an inappropriate resolution. "Across the U.S., people who should be placed in mental-health facilities for treatment are instead detained in jail for unconstitutionally long periods—sometimes months—before they have been convicted or even tried for any crime." https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/12/when-mental-illness-becomes-jail-sentence/603154/
The Guardian (UK) – Senay Boztas
Why are there so few prisoners in the Netherlands?
North Americans have always been puzzled by the low numbers imprisoned in Holland. "In 1988, the UK criminologist David Downes contrasted a relatively humane Dutch prison system favourably against those in England and Wales. Today plummeting prison sentences have left the Netherlands with an unusual problem: it doesn't have enough inmates to fill its prisons, even after renting out places to Norway and Belgium." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/12/why-are-there-so-few-prisoners-in-the-netherlands?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Restorative Justice Press (US) – Denise C. Breton
From Win-Lose Thinking to Being Good Relatives
How to bridge the gap between punishment and healing? This article proposes that the mind set of win/lose in relationship is the stumbling block and where people are engaged in contests with clear winners and clear loses we will find broken relationships and people once collaborative now angry and alienated. Well worth a read to confront our daily failures. Curiously, Breton sees climate change as an ally in the required change: "Climate change is teaching us how much we are in this together and why any other's loss is our loss too. Evolving our approach from win-lose to coexisting is a paradigm shift, yet a shift as deep as this can be disorienting." http://www.livingjusticepress.org/vertical/Sites/%7B4A259EDB-E3E8-47CD-8728-0553C080A1B0%7D/uploads/From_Win-Lose_Thinking_to_Being_Good_Relatives.pdf
The Guardian (UK) – Maddy Crowell and Sylvia Varnham O'Regan
Extremist cops: how US law enforcement is failing to police itself
This week's long read from the Manchester Guardian poses another question relating to the efforts of the US justice system: What to do about cops who break the law? Already there has been considerable backlash over cops perjuring themselves at trial. But this perspective traces an outright avowal of white supremacy – the League of the South – actively recruiting police officers using police themselves. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/13/how-us-law-enforcement-is-failing-to-police-itself?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX1RoZUxvbmdSZWFkLTE5MTIxNA%3D%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=longread_email&utm_campaign=TheLongRead
To unsubscribe, to reply to this e-mail, or to join the Smart Justice Network distribution list, please use info@smartjustice.ca
Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Bill 21, human rights, legal aid, mandate letters, mental illness, Netherland prisons, policing, remand, RJ, white supremacy, win/lose thinking


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Query Letters
The Query Doctor
Top 10 Books for Aspiring Authors
21 Best Plot Twist Books
15 Experimental Books
12 Literary Fiction Books
Topics > Craft
101 Character Writing Prompts
Author: Natalie Harris-SpencerUpdated: January 31, 2023
In order to sell a book and get it published, you need to create a product, which, for most of us here at Aspiring Author, is a novel. And in order to write the darn thing (while lamenting your career choices), you need to live and breathe your characters. Character writing prompts can be an excellent way to help you get inside your characters' heads and achieve that elusive narrative voice through speech, dialogue, or internal narration.
Creating real people
Creating convincing characters isn't easy. Have you ever had that feeling that your characters are slippery, not quite sounding or doing the right things, or, worse, are fake? Have you noticed them steering their own way, diverging from your carefully outlined plot? Characters are the one device that should drive your plot – not the other way around. Follow them down whichever dark paths they choose in order to access the truth. Keep them honest and as grounded in reality as possible.
When it comes to creating 3D characters, Ernest Hemingway said it best: "When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature." And to write real people, you need to ground your people in reality: real circumstances, real settings, and real thoughts and feelings. These character writing prompts have been designed to help you expose the human condition in all its imperfect glory. Humans are multi-layered (ah, the onion), with numerous internal complications, feelings, and flaws. Remember: characters have to change in order for the reader to care about them. They must go on a journey, through which your novel's plot is the vessel.
Below are 101 character writing prompts that will help you deepen your understanding of your characters and elevate them from caricatures into real people. As you work your way through these character writing prompts, consider writing how your characters think, feel, but also change. Sameness is never interesting to read.
Does your character have any moles, birth marks, or beauty spots? Where? Describe them.
Hair is not character. However, it can show something unexpected or unusual about your character. Write a scene featuring your character's hair, without relying on the usual tropes (length, color etc.).
Write what your character thinks they see when they see their reflection.
Write a scene about your character in costume. What are they wearing, and why? How do they feel about it?
What does your character's coughing, sneezing, and hiccoughing sound like?
What do they look like when they're sick?
What's in your character's wallet apart from money?
Switch the gender of your character. How does that change how they think, feel, and move through the world?
Write about your character getting their ears pierced or getting a tattoo.
Describe your characters hands and feet.
Show your character doing a workout. What are they wearing? How do they look before, during and after?
Draw a sketch of your character's passport. Does it help you understand who they are and where they come from?
Inner workings
What is your character's biggest flaw?
What is your character's biggest fear?
What or who would your character kill for?
What does your character want more than anything else in the world?
What is the one thing that is stopping them from getting it?
Write a therapy session between your character and their therapist.
Write a scene without dialogue that shows exactly what your character wants – only through their actions.
Show your character's reaction to getting a parking ticket.
Write a scene about a mental health challenge your character has faced.
Put your character on a diet. How do they feel? What mood are they in?
Write about your character being insatiable thirsty.
Write about a time when your character couldn't stop laughing.
Using just dialogue, write a scene between your character and someone they're attracted to.
Your character is being lectured by someone in a position of authority. How do they react?
Show your character making a selfish decision and the ramifications it has on their life.
What is your character's favorite book, and why? Has it always been the same book, or have their tastes evolved?
Write a scene where your character can't remember what happened the night before, and they're trying to piece it together.
Imagine your character is a nervous flyer. Document their thoughts during take-off.
Write a recollection scene about the most frightening time of your character's life.
Show your character's most embarrassing moment, either through recollection, dialogue, or action.
Write a scene where your character is struggling to show or purposefully concealing their real feelings and emotions.
Family, relationships, and home
How does your character spend their Christmas holidays, and who with?
Write a scene with your character attending a family funeral.
What are your character's earliest memories? Do they remember their first home, their parents, or something else?
Your character has a bunch of keys. What do they have as keyrings?
Write an argument between your character and their mother and/or father.
Describe a family portrait: who's in it? Where are they now?
Write your character's bedtime ritual.
Show your character having an argument with a family member at the dinner table. Do they win?
What does your character's closet and/or bedside drawer look like? What's inside? Are they hiding anything they shouldn't be?
Write a drunk argument between your character and a family member.
Imagine your character has a twin. List their similarities and differences, both physical and otherwise.
Write about your character on graduation day.
Write about your character going on a blind date.
Your character is getting married. They choose an unusual wedding cake topper. What is it, and why is it important?
Does your character want kids now or in the future? Why or why not?
Write a scene where your character moves to a new town. Are they welcome? Why or why not?
Write about a home invasion. Show your character's possessions strewn and/or missing. What's the first thing they check?
Your character opens a letter not addressed to them, only to discover a secret about the previous resident. How do they react?
Write a sex scene without mentioning anatomy (you can do it!).
Put your character in a country where they don't speak the language. How do they get by?
Show your character meeting their first love again for the first time in ten years.
Epistolary character writing prompts
Write a letter in your character's handwriting.
Write a Craigslist ad from the voice of your character.
Write an Airbnb listing for your character.
Write your character's LinkedIn profile.
Create an online dating profile for your character.
Write a letter to your character's younger self.
Create a tarot card reading for your character.
Come up with your character's regular take-out order.
Write out your character's family tree, including dates of birth, marriage, and death.
Write a postcard home from a far-flung destination.
Write a journal entry from a pivotal day in your character's life.
Write a Valentine's Day card from your character.
Write your character's weekly shopping list. Include one item that doesn't go with the rest.
Write a text conversation between your character and another person who they are trying to seduce or win over.
Write two lies and a truth for your character. The lies should be as convincing as the truth.
Write a scene with your character on the top of a Ferris wheel. What can they see? How do they feel?
Write a scene with your character in a haunted house.
Write a scene with your character falling asleep on the deck of a boat.
Write a scene with your character in a station waiting room. Where are they going and why?
Write a scene with your character in a hospital bed.
Your character has just been discovered stealing a midnight snack. How do they respond?
Write a scene with your character at a baseball game.
Write a scene with your character at a fireworks display.
Write a scene where your character is in a cemetery in the snow.
Your character is going on a camping trip. What do they pack?
Write a scene showing your character going into a church or place of worship.
Write a scene at the top of revolving skyscraper restaurant.
Your character makes a surprising discovery in a hotel room. What is it?
Your character enters an antiques store. What trinket do they come away with?
Write a scene where your character gets lost in a vineyard.
Write a scene with your character on a boardwalk or pier.
Imagine your character living in another decade. Now write about them – their clothes, their job, their desires.
What is your character's favorite season and why?
Write about your character ice skating on a frozen pond.
What does your character see when they look up at the night sky?
Is your character a cat or a dog person?
Or do they have an unusual pet? Write about it!
Write about your character accidentally hitting an animal with their car.
Write about your character's experience of dissecting a frog in a science lesson.
What's the first animal your character goes to see at the zoo?
Your character gets stung by a bee. How do they react?
Write a scene with your character sunbathing on a tropical beach.
Write a scene with your character skinny dipping in a lake.
Write a scene with your character watching the sun rise from a mountain top.
Take your character for a walk in the woods when the light is fading.
Describe the images, shapes, and patterns your character sees in passing clouds.
Write a scene where your character is caught in a thunderstorm.
Of course, there are countless more character writing prompts that you can work on. We hope these 101 character writing prompts from Aspiring Author give you just enough to spark your writerly imagination and take your characters to multi-layered, unexpected, and very real places. And trust yourself that your characters can be strange, because the truth is almost always stranger than fiction.
Here at Aspiring Author, we love recommending bestsellers and fawning over hot new releases. On this real time recommended reading list, you will find a list of top rated books on the publishing industry, craft, and other books to help you elevate your writing career.
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Natalie Harris-Spencer
Natalie Harris-Spencer is an English writer, editor, blogger, and debut novelist living in America. In her day job, she's Director of Digital Marketing for a global digital advertising technology leader, with over a decade's experience creating, project managing, and delivering world-class web content and global digital strategies. Her passion is writing. Her work has appeared in Hobart, Allegory Ridge, the Stonecoast Review, The Dark City, The Satirist, and others. She is the winner of the Stubborn Writers Contest, the Hummingbird Flash Fiction Prize, and she was selected by Oyster River Pages as one of their Emerging Fiction Voices. She earned her MFA in Creative Writing at Stonecoast, University of Southern Maine, and is currently working on preparing her debut novel for publication with her literary agent. Natalie enjoys surprise in fiction. And tea. Find her author pages on Amazon and Goodreads.
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Gilford's selectmen and representatives of each town department invited seasonal residents to Town Hall for the annual summer town forum Wednesday, Aug. 10, where they received an update from each department.
"There have been a lot of exciting changes in the Gilford Fire Department since last we met," announced Fire Chief John Beland.
These changes included the appointment of Steve Carrier, who worked for the Gilford Fire Department in the mid-'80s, to Deputy Fire Chief, and the completion of their fire training facility. Beland was pleased to report the project did not cost Gilford taxpayers anything; all funds were donated or raised by the fire department.
"We had about $30,000 in work and material into the project," said Beland. "We had about equal that in donated time from members of the fire department."
Beland also reported the success of the emergency medical services in integrating the STEMI program that allowed for victims of certain types of heart-attacks to bypass local facilities and go directly to other hospitals.
He addressed the concern of dry debris accumulating in island communities as a fire danger. He suggested that the town hire a tree service company to chip and remove the debris once a year on each island.
"They're not in a crisis state, but there were some concerned," said Beland.
Deputy Police Chief Kevin Keenan reported an increase in calls to the police department since last year.
According to Keenan, police have received about 3,500 calls so far this year, which is up from last year. Additionally, police have made 102 more arrests than last year; Keenan attributed this to the state of the economy.
Keenan reported the arrest of Kolby D. Fenner for the Gunstock Acres burglaries last winter. In collaboration with U.S. Marshals Service, police arrested Fenner in Brookline, Mass. and charged him in connection with the 15 Gilford burglaries. Fenner faces six to 12 years in the New Hampshire State Prison.
Town Administrator Scott Dunn informed everyone that a resolution to the Liberty Hill hazardous waste issue is still underway.
According to Dunn, the preliminary plan would leave 20 percent of the waste on site; however, town officials are urging the state to reevaluate the site.
Additionally, Dunn reported that plans to reconfigure the intersection at Belknap Mountain Road and Cherry Valley Road, and the intersections at each end of Cat Path, are also in the works.
An update from Katherine Dormody, librarian, revealed more visitors to the Gilford Public Library this year than last, according to their door counter.
According to Dormody, there have been about 75,000 items checked out over the past year, which is typical compared to last year.
Additionally, Dormody said they were getting rid of their collection of video and cassette tapes; the items will be for sale at their Old Home Day pie and book sale.


text:
House of Representatives Passes 2018 Waterways Bill
Corps of Engineers dredge in operation (file image)
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed its version of the 2018 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), the recurring bill for waterways policy and project funding.
In an unusual show of bipartisan support, the measure passed by a vote of 408 to 2, a margin of 99.5 percent. The bill contains funding authorizations for eight major projects across the country, including $2 billion for storm risk reduction along Texas' Gulf Coast and $700 million for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.
"We commend the House of Representatives for helping ensure that crucial water resources legislation is addressed and passed by Congress on an every-two-year basis," said AAPA President and CEO Kurt Nagle. "The House bill just passed continues the trend of streamlining maritime infrastructure improvements by expediting evaluations, enabling timely decisions and providing greater funding flexibilities, as well as authorizing new projects."
The White House has signaled the president's willingness to sign WRDA 2018 as written, and the Senate is expected to vote on its own version of the legislation within several weeks.
HMTF appropriations
The House version does not include AAPA's proposed solution for the allocation of the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF), a tax on cargo that is intended to support navigation channel maintenance. Congress has not fully allocated HMTF receipts to maintenance projects, leading to a $9 billion surplus, and AAPA has developed a plan that would distribute all collected HMTF funds to seaports around the country for their intended use. The plan would set aside a portion of the funds collected at deepwater ports for other waterside improvements, alleviating fairness concerns for busy deep-sea ports that generate HMTF taxes but do not benefit from dredging projects.
"Our long-term solution for harbor maintenance tax spending fixes the inequities in our current system while addressing the health and well-being of our seaport water highways," said Nagle. "We'll continue urging Congress to include this agreement prior to WRDA 2018 being enacted."
In a statement of policy, the White House said that it "appreciates that the bill does not include a provision that mandates spending from the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund." Instead, the administration suggested reducing the tax that supports the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund in order to provide ports with "flexibility to finance more of their capital and operating costs on their own."
Separately, the White House also urged the imposition of a new fee to support the Inland Waterways Trust Fund. "[The fee] would support economic growth, help cover the expected future construction and operating requirements of the inland waterways, and more accurately reflect actual costs incurred by the Corps on behalf of commercial users," the White House wrote in a statement. The fee proposal was widely opposed by inland waterways interests, including the leading towboat operators and their clients in the agriculture and energy sectors.


So, there we were, me and the Evil Princess in a hotel room in Montgomery, Alabama last week getting ready to teach a class.
"It isn't cruel if it's the truth," she said sweetly.
"The truth sometimes is cruel," I grumbled back.
Gotta admit, though, it's the first time I've been present at the birth of a new word.
Old is hard to fix, but ugly is just a few Rolling Rocks from "staggering". No, wait.
My Evil Princess is the same. Fun to compare notes.
Trade her in! That will change her tune.Walk off the lot with a new shiny low mileage model. How cruel to coin a word to use on you in your advanced age. Her first words should be " Sir May I". Second thoughts maybe at you age, just keep her. Kind of like old slippers. COMFORTABLE.
P.S. PLUS YOU DON'T GET MUCH ON TRADE IN'S THESE DAYS.
Hey you both look great. Of course Mas you married a babe but you are darn good looking to the eye!
I'll be 62 this month. I recently did an average of 1600 pushups a week for 10 weeks (sometimes as many as 700 in a day). Still, when I look in the mirror, I see a nearly 62 year old face. Damn,you can't win for losing.
your TRUE age is NOT about outward appearances. Nope, its about practical function. Anyone who can do that many pushups in a go is NOT old. Anyone who can hop on a road bike (the kind with two pedals that go round and rouund) and cover a hundred miles in a day is NOT old. Anyone who can spend two or three hours at a stretch splitting firewood with a maul is NOT old. And anyone with a mind sharp enough to duel with EP and/or Mas is NOT old…..
Beauty is skin deep, but ugly is to the bone, Mas!
It's a shame that Late life Eye Lens Replacement gives us us such a dramatic change in our Views of ourselves, and of Others, isn't it?
Damn, ya didn't need cataract surgery to realize that. Given yer feet are significantly further than your face in the mirror, take a look at yer feet old man. Just as old and ugly? I hope my truelty isn't taken as cruelty. If so, sue me.
NEOLOGISMS, thanks for the new word (new to me).
I'm in my early 60's and dirt poor, but claim to be very wealthy and nearly 100 years old and have been deluged with numerous marriage offers from beautiful young women.
you are not old, and you are not ugly…..you are just mature and have character…you are also a gentleman and a scholar, and there are damn few of us left…….All the Best….
I got my dose of reality back when I was working. We were required to wear picture badges. The nice young lady who made the badges told me I needed a new picture badge one morning. I looked, the picture wasn't marred and I stated I didn't need a new badge. She sweetly pointed out that my hair wasn't brown anymore.
2 weeks ago doc is putting 5 stitches in my face because I tripped, fell, and didn't land very well. Doc says he will be doing so-and-so because he doesn't want to leave a scar because it's on my face.
I told him I long ago changed priorities to pure functionality and I can live with what I see in the mirror. Thanks for the tip — no eye surgery for me!
Still remember lessons learned with my 2 sons in a class in Iowa years ago, Mas. Long drive from Florida, but well worth it. Thank you, again.
I turned 60 today. No one is more surprised by that then me. You have known me 35 of those years.
Think of all the people that you have met in this life and how many more are out there for you to meet. You have so much more knowledge to share.
Enjoy each day with the E.P. and your friends and family that love you.
You know your going to live to be 100 or so right ?
My husband and I are the same age. We share a lot of history. We were raised during the same era. We listened to the same music. We like working outside. We KNOW what presents the other really likes. There is always something to talk about…and reminisce.
So, I'd advise not trading in the Evil Princess for a younger model.
PS keep up the good advise on guns and gun laws. I love your research.


text:
Reflecting on the last, lost decade
Hunting in Assegaaiboschkloof
by Ralph Pina | Sep 11, 2019 | conservation, Featured Posts, hiking, Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve, Jonkershoek Nature Reserve | 0 comments
It's spring in the Cape and Santie decided that she wanted to hunt a wild population of blushing brides (Serurria florida) in Assegaaiboschkloof, the valley in which the Berg River rises before it drains into the Berg River Dam. So Santie, Magdel and I set off with a slight threat of rain in the air. I suspected that my role had less to do with my knowledge of indigenous flora than with providing physical security – for what it's worth – in what is a fairly remote mountain valley.
After 10.5 km and a couple of detours, partially caused by recent rock slides after the summer fires and welcome rains, we walked into a flowering community of blushing brides on the southern slopes. Now I know what they look like too. According to SANBI's website an alternate name for this member of the Proteaceae family is "pride of Franschhoek". Listed as "critically endangered", it is threatened by alien invasives of which we saw plenty of species making a comeback in the valley. The plant is known to occur naturally "on the Franschhoek side of the Hottentots Holland Nature Reserve. It grows on mountain slopes in soils derived from granite, which is found below the sandstone soils typical of the Table Mountain Group", exactly where we found them, it seems.
A satisfying hike of 22 km was rounded off with a cold beer at a Franschhoek artisanal brewery. Mission accomplished.
Some logistics: either buy a permit at the Information office in Franschhoek, or pay the guard at the gate to the dam area. Although the dam is managed by Water Affairs (I assume), the kloof is part of the Jonkershoek and Hottentot Holland Nature Reserves, so an appropriate Wild Card should give you free entrance, but there is no way of using it at the Franschhoek end. If you entered at Jonkershoek the Wild Card would work, but realise that you would have to walk over Bergriviersnek and descend into the kloof. The distances are similar, however.
Welcome to RalphPina.com
Thank you for visiting my outdoor blog. RalphPina.com documents my experiences over many years of appreciating, and adventuring in, Nature. It celebrates visual beauty, advocates minimal impact, reflects on humans' relationship with our ecosphere, spans the planet but focuses on the wild diversity of southern Africa. Photos, videos and GPS maps of hiking, cycling, kayaking, abseiling, canoeing and windsurfing..
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