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The Toronto Star Gives Great Coverage to the AODA Alliances "Picture Our Barriers" Social Media Campaign – Join In the Blitz
August 11, 2016 Advocate
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities
There is a great article in the August 10, 2016 Toronto Star, set out below, by reporter Jessica Botelho-Urbanski, on troubling barriers that still face people with disabilities in Ontario in 2016. It gives great profile to the AODA Alliance's "Picture Our Barriers" campaign. In this campaign, people all over Ontario send tweets on Twitter about accessibility barriers of all kinds that they encounter, including, where possible, photos of these barriers that they take on their smart phones.
In this blitz, we encourage people to include the search term (or , in Twitter language, the hashtag) #AODAfail in their tweet. As a result, anyone can do a search on the term #AODAfail on the internet, even if they are not a Twitter user. This reveals an incredible collection of frustrating disability barriers that many people from all over Ontario have brought to the public's attention. Many find it hard to believe and inexcusable that these accessibility barriers persist in 2016.
Accessibility barriers in the design of buildings are just one of the many kinds of barriers that can be found by searching #AODAfail. The common belief, which is sadly a myth, is that newer buildings are now fully and reliably disability-accessible, even though older buildings are often not. This Toronto Star article explodes that myth. It focuses attention on three newer buildings. Each is part of the broader public sector in Ontario. Each has significant accessibility problems. Each was built, at least in part, with public money.
The first is the brand-new Womens College Hospital in the core of downtown Toronto. With much fanfare, the official ribbon-cutting for the hospital's opening was attended by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Yet this new hospital has a number of inexcusable accessibility blunders, some of which the Star article describes. There are also areas where accessibility features were commendably included. As just a few examples of #AODAfails:
* The hospital public washrooms have seriously deficient signage. For example, on the ground floor, the washrooms have Braille signs that only state the room number, but not whether it is a bathroom, and not whether it is for men, women or families. It is a blistering irony that the Wynne Government recently refused our proposal to require in the Customer Service Accessibility Standard that such public bathrooms have appropriate accessible signage.
* The hospital parking garage commendably has accessibility features for people with mobility disabilities. Yet just inside the hospital door, an electronic kiosk for paying for parking has its screen positioned clearly too high up for people using a wheelchair. This violates the Ontario Human Rights Code and the AODA's accessibility standards regarding the accessibility of electronic self-serve kiosks. This is one of many cases where the Wynne Government's lax AODA enforcement so obviously hurts people with disabilities.
* The hospital's front lobby area lacks proper way-finding to enable people with vision loss to independently walk from the front door to the elevators.
* The hospital's front doors have an automatic door-opening feature. However, one must find it, and then wave a hand in front of it. This is not useful for people with certain physical disabilities, and those with vision loss.
Second, Ryerson University's new Student Learning Centre, also in the heart of downtown Toronto, has significant accessibility problems, including, for example:
* "Hang out steps" for students to gather and socialize. These require the ability to climb steps. It is wrong to ever create a socializing area for students or others which excludes people with certain disabilities.
* Touch-screen monitors in the main foyer, for access to information for students, which have no apparent accessibility features to enable a person with vision loss or dyslexia to access that information.
* A flight of angled stairs which obviously pose a walking hazard for people with balance problems, and for people with vision loss.
Third, in recent years, York University substantially renovated its Osgoode Hall Law School. It used to present major accessibility problems for people with mobility disabilities. However, it was easy for people with vision loss to navigate. After a recent substantial renovation, it has become better for people with mobility disabilities. However, it has become a major problem for people with vision loss. For example:
* Along one side of the main floor's main corridor is a series of decorative pillars. These are angled, rather than vertical. They lean into the path of traffic, and pose a risk for people hitting their heads on them, either if they have vision loss, or if they are not looking straight ahead as they walk. They are in the very path that people with vision loss would take to navigate that hall.
* On that main hallway, there commendably is a Braille sign at the Information Technology Help Desk. However, unbelievable as this may sound, it is posted some eight feet off the ground, where Braille-readers are typically not able to reach.
Barriers like these have been tweeted and retweeted in our "picture Our Barriers" campaign that the Toronto Star article, set out below, describes. If you do a search on the internet on "#AODAfail", you will also find tweets about other kinds of barriers, and other disabilities beyond those listed above.
We and others also tweet examples of organizations that do good things on the accessibility agenda. We want to highlight those who do the right thing, as well as those who do the wrong thing.
What is especially vexing about the three organizations described above, is that they all violate Premier Wynne's 2014 election pledge, in her May 14, 2014 letter to the AODA Alliance. She there promised that public money will never be used to create or perpetuate barriers against people with disabilities.
These examples also help show how Ontario keeps falling further behind on reaching the goal of full accessibility by 2025, the deadline which the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act sets. When she was running for leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, Kathleen Wynne wrote the AODA Alliance on December 3, 2012, promising that she would ensure that Ontario is on schedule for full accessibility by 2025. It's not too late to get back on schedule, but time is running out, with less than eight and a half years left before 2025.
As well, these examples show why Ontario's laws setting specific accessibility requirements have been woefully inadequate in the past, and sadly remain woefully inadequate at the present time. Our #AODAfail campaign is meant to ramp up pressure on the Wynne Government to do a much better job of implementing and enforcing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. We and others tweet and retweet about these barriers to every member of the Ontario Legislature who is on Twitter. Some of those MPPs have retweeted our tweets to them. This adds their voices to ours.
In the Toronto Star article, Ontario's new Accessibility Minister, Tracy MacCharles, is quoted as saying:
"One thing we're looking at specifically is maybe a certification of organizations so they can hold themselves up as really progressive organizations on accessibility".
We and other voices from the disability community have told the Government in no uncertain terms that the idea of a voluntary accessibility certification process is fatally flawed. The Government needs to get back to the basics, properly implementing and enforcing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. To see a detailed description of why a private voluntary accessibility certification process is wasteful and counterproductive, visit https://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/feb12016-aoda-alliance-accessibility-certification-submission-to-deloitt-final.doc The Wynne Government has been unjustifiably stalling for months on a Freedom of Information application which AODA Alliance chair David Lepofsky filed back in February of this year, to unearth important Government documents on this proposal. To learn about these efforts to get the Government to disclose basic information we have sought about its proposal for a private voluntary accessibility certification process, visit https://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/04052016.asp
After the Toronto Star ran the story set out below, it got a great many tweets and re-tweets on Twitter and through other social media. After that, CBC Radio's Metro Morning program on August 11, 2016 included an interview with disability rights advocate Tim Rose, speaking about accessibility barriers, including a discussion of our AODAfail campaign.
We encourage you to:
* Join in our Picture Our Barriers Campaign. Tweet about barriers in your community. Include #AODAfail in your tweets. Include a photo or video of the barriers if you can.
Learn how to take part by reading the 'AODA Alliances handy Picture Our Barriers Action Kit. Check out other helpful resources on our website.
* If you don't have time to write your own tweets, just search on #AODAfail and retweet the great tweets you will find there. It is especially helpful if you take a moment to retweet the tweets we send every couple of days on these barriers to each member of the Ontario Legislature on Twitter.
* Contact your local media to cover this blitz. Send them the Toronto Star story that we set out below. This is newsworthy in every corner of Ontario.
* Spread the word about our #AODAfail campaign to friends and family members. Urge them to get involved. Whenever you are out and about with friends, if you or your friends notice a barrier, use a smart phone to photograph it and tweet it to the world. If you don't have a smart phone, ask a friend to use their smart phone to join in the cause.
You can always send your feedback to us on any AODA and accessibility issue at aodafeedback@gmail.com
To sign up for, or unsubscribe from AODA Alliance e-mail updates, write to: aodafeedback@gmail.com
We encourage you to use the Government's toll-free number for reporting AODA violations. We fought long and hard to get the Government to promise this, and later to deliver on that promise. If you encounter any accessibility problems at any large retail establishments, it will be especially important to report them to the Government via that toll-free number. Call 1-866-515-2025.
Please pass on our email Updates to your family and friends.
Why not subscribe to the AODA Alliance's YouTube channel, so you can get immediate alerts when we post new videos on our accessibility campaign. https://www.youtube.com/user/aodaalliance
Please "like" our Facebook page and share our updates: https://www.facebook.com/Accessibility-for-Ontarians-with-Disabilities-Act-Alliance-106232039438820/
Follow us on Twitter. Get others to follow us. And please re-tweet our tweets!! @AODAAlliance
Learn all about our campaign for a fully accessible Ontario by visiting https://www.aodaalliance.org
Please also join the campaign for a strong and effective Canadians with Disabilities Act, spearheaded by Barrier-Free Canada. The AODA Alliance is proud to be the Ontario affiliate of Barrier-Free Canada. Sign up for Barrier-Free Canada updates by emailing info@BarrierFreeCanada.org
Toronto Star August 10, 2016
Originally posted at: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/08/09/accessibility-advocates-tweet-their-barriers.html Greater Toronto
Disability supporters turn to social media; Accessibility advocates hope these online campaigns will spur better building plans
Graphic: David Lepofsky notes that the large "hangout steps" at Ryerson University's Student Learning Centre can't be used by people in wheelchairs. Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star
Disability advocates are hoping social-media campaigns will publicly shame organizations into taking action on accessibility. Tim Rose made headlines this month when he posted on Facebook about his harrowing back-and-forth with Air Canada, who refused to let him take a direct flight from Toronto to Cleveland because they said his wheelchair was too big to fit in the plane.
Rose started tweeting with the hashtag #wheelchairsarentluggage, in response to an Air Canada employee comparing his wheelchair to an oversized bag.
The hashtag has racked up hundreds of tags, including some by David Lepofsky, the chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Alliance.
Lepofsky started his own campaign a few months ago called #AODAfail. It asks Ontarians to point out narrow wheelchair ramps (or non-existent ones), uneven sidewalks and signs low in colour contrast – anything that creates obstacles for people with disabilities.
People post photos of the barriers to social media, sometimes tagging government officials in an effort to crush complacency.
Under the AODA Act – landmark legislation passed unanimously by the provincial government in 2005 – Ontario needs to be fully accessible by 2025. Lepofsky doesn't see the goal as realistic right now.
On a recent tour of downtown Toronto, he pointed out flawed areas in buildings constructed within the last five years, with money from the public purse.
The Women's College Hospital, Ryerson University's Student Learning Centre and York University's Osgoode Hall Law School were on his list of qualms.
Crossing the intersection at Bay and College Streets to get to the hospital, he pointed out a first problem: no audio indicators of when to cross the street.
Lepofsky, who is blind, said he relies on traffic sounds to navigate the city as a pedestrian.
He's comfortable walking with a cane on the street, but way-finding in some newer buildings is another story. Navigating the wide, curved atrium at the Women's College Hospital is like wading through the Atlantic Ocean, he said.
Before entering the atrium, there's the matter of getting through the front doors. The hospital's front entrance has poles on either side of the doors with sensors, so that when a guest waves a hand in front of the sensor, the door opens – dissimilar to most hospital doors, which open automatically.
The washrooms nearest the front entrance of the hospital have signs written in Braille, but Lepofsky points out the Braille only indicates room numbers – not whether the washrooms are meant for men, women or families.
"It's hard to be that bad. It's one thing not getting better, but it's another thing making (accessibility) substantially worse," Lepofsky said.
Tracy MacCharles, in her first interview after being appointed the provincial minister for accessibility in June, said she believes "it is attainable to have an accessible province by 2025.
"One thing we're looking at specifically is maybe a certification of organizations so they can hold themselves up as really progressive organizations on accessibility," MacCharles said.
"What's going to be really important is that we all – all the stakeholders and the businesses and the other organizations – work together to share that vision. It has to be a shared vision, it can't just be the government."
Despite an influx of design technology, Lepofsky said architects and city planners aren't always aware of the hurdles they create.
Another obstacle Lepofsky noticed is large "hangout steps" at Ryerson University's Student Learning Centre. People in wheelchairs can't use the stairs for their intended use of socializing. The wheelchair ramp leading up to the building winds to and fro through the "hangout steps," and is sometimes blocked by people's legs.
At York University's Osgoode Hall Law School, recent renovations included adding leaning pillars in the main atrium. The columns jut outward and have caused people to hit their heads, Lepofsky said. A spokesperson from York said they are looking at solutions.
Lepofsky is frustrated by Ontario's cascade of accessibility issues.
"They didn't invent people with disabilities last week," he said. "This is our world. So when you do a new building, you've really got to get it right."
Jessica Botelho-Urbanski
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The state and white supremacy: The inextricable link
In Justice, White supremacy
The state and white supremacy: The inextricable link2020-07-172020-07-13https://newcoldwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/2020-NCW-Logo-New.pngNew Cold War: Know Betterhttps://newcoldwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Baraka_845x400-2-e1594629386378.jpg200px200px
The demand for "justice" by the public had the ironic result of re-legitimizing the state as an institution that could in fact render justice – but only an empowered people can establish a just order.
By Ajamu Baraka
Published on BAR, July 8, 2020
"It is the settler state, and the corrupt colonial/capitalist system and the interests that it upholds, that must be the target."
As an ongoing phenomenon, the analysis of what is referred to as the George Floyd, or now the "Black Lives Matter" demos, must be necessarily tentative. It has been instructive to observe how the energy and passion of the spontaneous militant response to the murder of George Floyd went from a movement that saw the burning of a police station transformed into one in which, according to Martin Schoots-McAlpine , the most militant demand was to make "minor amendments to municipal budgets." I will resist the temptation of attempting to address all the components and will only focus on one central element in this short essay. That element is the nature and role of the state — an element that has almost disappeared from liberal/left discourse and analysis but is essential for understanding the current political moment.
As the article by Schools-McAlphine lays out in meticulous detail, the state was able to engage in an effective counterinsurgency strategy in response to the protests in cities and towns across the country, which achieved many of its goals and objectives. And while I will not attempt to cover those arguments, I will restate my analysis that corresponds to many of the points in the article.
"The state was able to engage in an effective counterinsurgency strategy."
The state was able to meet many of its counterinsurgency goals primarily because of the unevenness of political development that is reflected in the spontaneity and the narrow and amorphous demands for something called justice and then for ending "racism" or "white supremacy." I characterized those objectives as to 1) get people off the streets in mass numbers, 2) split the movement by empowering moderates and isolating radicals, especially white radicals, 3) flip the oppositional energy into a re-legitimization of the state and 4) drive the remaining energy into the dead-end of policy wonkism.
I wrote about this as it was unfolding in real time: The media's fixation was on property crimes and the "violence" of the protestors; the white outside agitator; the PR stunts by the police kneeling and even joining in with some of the protests; the state's attempts to colonize/co-opt with the painting of BLM slogans on the street; and state officials joining demos – that is, after they had effectively separated out the militants and created the narrative of the good, peaceful protestor.
And finally, the appropriation of the actions by the Democratic Party as a referendum on Trump since, of course, he is responsible for racism, police violence and state repression!
We Must be Clear About the Nature of the State
In contrast to the liberal conception of a state and government, V.I. Lenin asserted in the pamphlet, State and Revolution, that a state was essentially "an organ of class rule, an organ for the oppression of one class by another."
A central component of that class rule is that the state has a monopoly over the legitimate exercise of coercive force. But beyond the element of force, the state is made up of government, social institutions like educational institutions. But the modern, advanced capitalist states also have incorporated into the state all of the cultural and ideological apparatuses like the media, entertainment, and now the social media.
All states represent the interests of its dominant class. A state representing the interests of workers and all oppressed through the colonial capitalist order would be fundamentally different than the current U.S. state, which represents the interests of the white male super-minority capitalist ruling class.
The U.S. state that was established coming out of its bourgeois war of independence and consolidated in 1791, represented the interests of the white male slavocracy. The white power represented in its founding documents, and its constitution represents a continuity of white supremacist power right up to this very moment. That is why the concentration on the so-called confederacy, at the time when people are talking about removing symbols of white supremacy, is so absurd and ahistorical.
"The U.S. state represents the interests of the white male super-minority capitalist ruling class."
As an instrument of class rule, and in the context of a settler colonial-capitalist state ruling on a white supremacist ideological foundation, the state is not a neutral force that can be appealed to. It has no autonomous rational character. It does not arbitrate disputes or contradictory demands from the oppressed people. Rather, it will modify those demands so that they remain within the bounds of the existing state. The state will give the appearance of attempting to respond to certain demands as an ideological device only when open repression is not necessary or would create political problems.
For example, the call to defund and abolish the police can be viewed as a democratic or transitional strategic demand that represents an understanding of the role of the police as a protector of oppressive white colonial power. The strategic ideological and organizational objective of that demand should be to create awareness of the real role of the state and to facilitate the building of an independent organizational power based in the working class in order to create the conditions for the elimination of the police — the capture and dismantling of the oppressive bourgeois state.
With that basic understanding, there is clarity that two interconnecting errors were being made by the forces who separate the demand for abolition of the police and prisons from the state and its role as an instrument of class rule: first, operating within context of a liberal idealist framework; and secondly, normalizing the existing state by the implication that the state can make alterations in its basic institutions of class control without having to be fundamentally changed.
That is precisely why the protests and the demand for something called "justice" by the public had the ironic, or contradictory, result of re-legitimation of white supremacy by re-legitimizing the state as an institution that could in fact render justice!
Reversing the Effects of the 1970s Counterinsurgency Against the Radical Black Movement
As a consequence of the vicious counterinsurgency waged against the Black Liberation Movement, which intensified during the administration of Richard Nixon and continued throughout the 1970s, even after the revelations of the FBI's COINTELPRO, the Movement was devastated. This created opportunities for the ascendency of the Black petit-bourgeois administrative/managerial class that assumed political positions in municipal governments and even in Congress.
For our liberation forces, the disruption of organizational continuity meant that the experiential knowledge from militant struggles of the past and the moves made by the state to counter mass resistance has also been disrupted. It has meant that the last few generations have been forced to construct new knowledge — a process heavily influenced by their experiences in academia. Post modernism and Afro pessimism has produced a toxic brew of confusion which, out of the necessity of the battle being waged over the last few weeks, some are just beginning to emerge from.
That is what is hopeful.
Although the state was able to achieve its goals, these goals were/are short-term and stop-gap. The objective conditions of the collapse of the national and global economy and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic translates into a situation where the state is still facing a formidable challenge because the structural crisis of capital has produced a set of irreconcilable contradictions.
Subjectively, large numbers of the young unemployed and underemployed petit bourgeoisie have been radicalized. Disparate but increasingly connected processes are developing that are leading toward the consolidation of a "new left" that will be grounded by the leadership of Black radical organizations, networks, and coalitions.
This will be the foundation of the intellectual and organizational leadership of the more longer-term resistance in the U.S.
"The structural crisis of capital has produced a set of irreconcilable contradictions."
These Black formations will not see a dime of the massive amounts of money coming down the pipeline from the settler state and its associated institutions and the corporate sector. Why? Because these Black radical organizations, networks and coalitions are clear that it is the settler state, and the corrupt colonial/capitalist system and the interests that it upholds, that must be the target.
And while we recognize the righteous anger that our people have for the occupation forces in our communities, we also recognize that the police are one, albeit important, institution that must be brought under the control of the people if we are to have community self-determination as a collective human right.
The complete control of and democratic governance of territory where Black working-class people reside will represent a necessary qualitative development in self-reliant organization.
However, we operate under no illusions about what it will take to develop that capacity. Moreover, when it comes to the state's repressive function as the leading edge of white capitalist rule, we understand that it will not voluntarily relinquish control of that apparatus. Therefore, the task is crystal clear: If one wants peace, human rights, self-determination and social justice in societies — in harmony with the needs and rights of mother earth — we must take and dismantle the capitalist state apparatus, take power from the capitalist minority, and build socialism. Any position short of that is a liberal and reactionary distortion.
Ajamu Baraka is the national organizer of the Black Alliance for Peace and was the 2016 candidate for vice president on the Green Party ticket. Baraka serves on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Peace Council and leadership body of the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC). He is an editor and contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report and contributing columnist for Counterpunch. He was recently awarded the US Peace Memorial 2019 Peace Prize and the Serena Shirm award for uncompromised integrity in journalism.
Beware of right deviations that have emerged from the three-headed crisis of US imperialismWhite supremacy
Racism, sexism, classism – the necessary incoherence of 'mainstream' ethical debateDeath of democracy, White supremacy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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While some are calling the Hydro board resignations a crisis, the premier calls for calm and promises the board will be restored with "great people."
A key business leader fears the mass departure of Manitoba Hydro board members could have serious economic consequences.
Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce president Loren Remillard said the change could create economic uncertainty, since Hydro's finances and that of the entire province are inextricably linked.
Manitoba Liberal leader Dougald Lamont said that threatens future investment at a time Hydro is already dealing with billions of dollars of debt.
"This is a full-blown crisis," said Lamont.
Lamont also questioned Premier Brian Pallister's ability to collaborate with others after such an extreme clash with a board his own government appointed.
"This is an incredible vote of non-confidence in the leadership of this government," he said.
Manitoba NDP leader Wab Kinew agreed the threat is significant.
"(Premier Pallister is) damaging the most important asset that we Manitobans own collectively," said Kinew.
And Kinew suggested that someone other than the premier should select the replacement Hydro Board members.
"He's shown that he can't work with even people who are very close to him," said Kinew.
The premier, however, downplayed the impact of the resignations.
"Bond-rating agencies care very much about the management of Manitoba Hydro. The board is very secondary to that concern. Don't over-inflate the importance of this … There will be great people on that board within a matter of hours," he said.


The inspiration for the UK-based company Vintage Playing Cards was a beautiful art deco pack of playing cards that was missing a few cards. With the thought they were now useless for playing but too beautiful to throw away, Vintage Playing Cards founder Tracy Kemp upcycled them into handmade greeting cards. Here, an art deco vintage playing card is affixed to heavy cardstock with four black photo corners.


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Bonus Posters Galore: 'Frankenweenie', 'Looper' + 'American Scream'
Source: JoBlo, AICN
Get 'em while they're hot! A batch of new bonus posters have debuted, and since they're all worth seeing anyway, what better way to feature them than wrap up all three together? I recently stumbled across this very odd "animated", or almost painted, poster for Rian Johnson's sci-fi Looper over on JoBlo. From there I came across a few others, including the IMAX midnight poster for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, which is just a simple white sketch of the dog. Still very cute. Finally, AICN has debuted a poster for Fantastic Fest doc The American Scream, which I thought was kooky and unique enough to include, as a bonus itself.
Up first, here's the very gothic but fascinating poster for The American Scream, a doc about our love of haunted houses. For more info on the project, hit AICN or visit Fantastic Fest, where it's soon premiering.
Here's the IMAX 12:01AM exclusive poster for Tim Burton's stop-motion animated film Frankenweenie:
Frankenweenie was directed by mastermind Tim Burton, who's brought us Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Big Fish, Corpse Bride, Sweeney Todd and The Nightmare Before Christmas previously. The screenplay was written by John August (Go, Big Fish, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Corpse Bride, The Nines) from a story by Tim Burton & Leonard Ripps. Disney is bringing Frankenweenie to theaters everywhere in 3D starting October 5th coming up soon. Read Jeremy's Fantastic Fest review.
Here's the odd "animation" poster for Rian Johnson's Looper. Not sure if it's real, but here it is via JoBlo:
I don't think any of these are knock-out posters, but I like all three of them, and wanted to make sure they all were mentioned anyway. I'm really not sure what to make of that painted Looper poster, and while the Frankenweenie artwork isn't much, it's too adorable and too Tim Burton to pass up. That's all there is for now, but as always we're on the hunt for the latest, greatest (and sometimes ugliest) movie posters around.
Looper is the third film from Rian Johnson following his breakout hit Brick and The Brothers Bloom after that. Looper focuses on a mobster named Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The movie also stars Piper Perabo, Jeff Daniels and Paul Dano. Looper hits theaters everywhere starting on September 28th this fall.
Find more posts: Artwork, Hype, Posters
AMERICAN SCREAM, FRANKENWEENIE look amazing. LOOPER just ok.


When a country like France has such a famous cycling heritage and, there are so many great cycling regions and routes to potentially explore, it is possibly easy to overlook the wonderful opportunities on our metaphorical doorstep. Just a short ferry ride over the English Channel there is some of the most surprising and accessible coastal and rural cycling that France has to offer. This makes it even easier for your journey to your cycling tour to become part of the adventure itself.
Our Baie de la Somme Tour includes great beaches and fishing harbours of the Côte d'Opale, quiet gentle valleys of pollarded willow and trees draped with mistletoe, dramatic gothic architecture and, one of the prestigious Grande Site de France. All these elements are drawn together by a delightful cycling circuit which we have returned to again and again.
An opportunity to leave the car behind, bring your own bicycle and, let the adventure start from home.
So near - so France.
A gentle easy going tour through the 'Seven Valleys' and around the Baie de la Somme. Short and moderate length riding days allow ample time to explore the landscape, its flora and fauna, and the small towns and villages along your route. As well as cycling, you could be swimming in the sea, taking a small boat trip or even a ride on a steam train. There are just a few gentle hills along the way but all give access to some surprising hidden places in the landscape.
If you travel as a cyclist on the Dover to Calais ferry, we can advise on the train link between Calais and Étaples and then, an easy cycle ride to Montreuil-sur-Mer where you book into your first night's accommodation. Alternatively, you could arrive by car with your bike and, we can advise on free parking for the duration of your cycle tour.
On your first cycling day, head to the Tourist Information Office for any additional local material and, begin your tour from there. Squeeze through the ancient town wall and roll out into the very gently undulating landscape. Quiet lanes and tracks will steer you towards the coast and to Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, a chic seaside resort established as much for English in-comers as it was for the Parisian escapees. Arrive with plenty of time to explore the town and play on the beach.
From the stretching sands of Le Touquet, dedicated cycle tracks will carry you passed dunes and into the town's forest edge as you leave the valley of the Canche and cross into the Authie. Being close to the rivers' ends means a gentle landscape crossing as you begin a snaking route which mixes the rural tranquillity of the countryside tucked just behind the coast with its peaceful sleepy villages.
Today you will be cycling into the mouth of the Somme. The ride takes you behind dunes, through forest and saltwater meadows on great cycling routes. Along the way you will pass the Parc du Marquenterre, a renowned national nature reserve and a great location for cycling break. The route skirts the heart of the bay from Le Crotoy to Saint-Valéry, both charming fishing villages and great holiday destinations in their own right. Get your timing right and, whether as a treat or for a little rest, you may even be able to hop onto the steam train around the bay.
Saint-Valéry is a jewel of the Somme, authentic fishing harbour with a plethora of small independent shops, cafés and restaurants. A great easy cycling day heads inland from here to Abbeville, once the capital of feudal Ponthieu, it is dominated by the gothic splendour of the Collegiate Church of Saint Wulfran. After a short route through the heart of the town, you will be taken beyond Abbeville along a secluded Voie Verte towards Saint Riquier where further gothic architecture awaits.
The beautiful Abbaye de Saint Riquier towers above the quiet town and every July plays host to France's largest classical music festival. Though the longest ride of the tour, your easy cycling journey continues through an ever quieter landscape to Auxi-le-Chateau where you meet the River Authie once more. From here you will be roughly following the course of the Authie as it slowly flows to the sea. Linking beautiful countryside and sleepy hamlets along the valley will bring you to Argoules.
Home to the majestic Abbaye de Valloires and its picturesque gardens, Argoules is a very tranquil and serene spot from which to depart on the final cycling day of your tour. The ride today includes a little more climbing that on others, as you leave the valley of the Authie and cross back into the valley of the Canche. The climbs aren't too long nor too steep but provide some excellent views out over the 'Seven Valleys'. The River Canche then becomes your guide to the end of the tour as you pass by the walls of Chartreuse en route to your Montreuil return.
After your final night, leave Montreuil on your onward journey or homeward return. If you arrived as a cyclist on the ferry, you can retrace your ride to Étaples and return to Calais by train.
From your arrival before the cycling starts, to the day of your departure, breakfast is included at each of your accommodation venues on the tour. That means that even if you take it in a leisurely fashion, you will have enough fuel onboard to start each ride or, head out on one of the optional exploring days of the tour. If you are on the Fully Guided Tour, lunches are included on each of the cycling days, either gathered up near the beginning of the ride or planned at a local hostelry (and, there will be one day when you will just come upon a picnic laid out for you around a corner on the journey). On this tour, we leave the evening meal venues with you; on nearly every evening there is plenty of restaurant choice in the small towns where you will be staying but, for one evening, we highly recommend a quick ride to a riverside creperie just a stone's throw away.
For groups on our Fully Guided Tour most of the accommodation will be in small and specially selected hotels; welcoming staff, lovely comfortable rooms and the promise of a great night's sleep. Chambres d'hôtes are often included in the mix on this tour, particularly for couples and smaller groups on the Self-guided option. The majestic Abbaye de Valloires successfully manages to maintain its tradition as a sanctuary for those seeking shelter and rest and, may just be providing the same for you.
Maintaining both your energy and hydration levels while cycling is very important. On each day of this tour, it is easy to keep yourself supplied with water and soft drinks. We will provide all the information you need to track down supplies and, will make sure that on the one ride where they are a little more sparse, that we set you off with plenty of water onboard. A selection of liquid treasure unique to the area can be tracked down on the last day of the tour in La Maison de la Perlé in Loison-sur-Créquoise. Delobel family recipes help to produce fine fruit wines including their special Perlé de Groseilles and, an Eau de Vie de Cidre which could easily take your breath away.
We normally recommend that customers undertake this tour at Easter or in June, July, August or September but you could choose almost any time during our cycling season - just contact us to check on availability.
• Possibly the most interesting option for joining this tour is to start your adventure even closer to home; if you can travel to Dover as either a cyclist then, you can take advantage of a cheaper ferry crossing and make the link to Montreuil by train.
• A tour starting just over the Channel means that, if you are planning to join the tour by car, there are ample ferry crossings between Dover and Calais (and Dunkirk or Dieppe are not too far away either). Then it is just a short journey to the start of the tour in Montreuil-sur-Mer, where we can advise on a location to leave you vehicle for the duration.
• If travel over the water just isn't your thing then, there is a short flight option from Kent to Le Touquet with Lydd Air -http://www.lyddair.com/ - we can help advise on the travel connection options from Le Touquet to Montreuil-sur-Mer.
• We think Baie de la Somme is ideal for families, though you will be cycling on each of the tour days, none are overly long or difficult and, a significant proportion of this tour is made up of dedicated cycle routes and quiet country lanes.


First, we investigate the long-term effects of early-life iron deficiency on the function of the limbic-hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (LHPA) axis.
Iron deficiency is a major global health concern that affects conservatively 2 billion individuals worldwide, including about 30% of pregnant women and pre-school age children. It is well established that early-life iron deficiency has long lasting negative effects on cognition and socio-emotional behaviors in humans despite prompt iron treatment following diagnosis. These long-term effects constitute a significant cost to society in terms of educational attainment, job potential, and mental health. Thus, we investigate how early-life iron deficiency alters cellular, molecular and epigenetic signatures in the developing brain using animal models. Insights into these fundamental alterations may lead to adjunctive therapies that can prevent and treat at risk pregnancies and children with iron deficiency.
Second, we investigate the biological role of a neural peptide (TMEM35/NACHO).
Recently, TMEM35 has been shown to function as a chaperone for nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAchRs), which have been implicated in neuropathologies and psychopathologies (e.g., addiction, pain, Autism, Alzheimer, and schizophrenia). Consistent with this finding, our investigation has shown that loss of TMEM35 function results in learning impairment, pain hypersensitivity, and increased risk for additive behaviors. Importantly, given the role of nAchRs in ischemic brain injury, we investigate their roles in the pathophysiology of neonatal hypoxia-ischemia brain injury. Understanding the precise molecular function of this novel peptide is promising in defining new mechanisms and pathways that regulate neuropathologies associated with nAchR dysregulation. These discoveries may lead to strategy to improving quality of life and productivity.


Ada pertanyaan untuk Star Apartments - Petah Tiqwa?
Terletak strategis di Petah Tikva, Star Apartments - Petah Tiqwa adalah tempat ideal untuk memulai menjelajahi Tel Aviv. Dari sini, para tamu dapat menikmati akses mudah ke semua hal yang dapat ditemukan di sebuah kota yang aktif ini. Dengan lokasinya yang strategis, hotel ini menawarkan akses mudah ke destinasi yang wajib dikunjungi di kota ini.
Di Star Apartments - Petah Tiqwa, setiap upaya dilakukan untuk membuat tamu merasa nyaman. Dalam hal ini, hotel menyediakan pelayanan dan fasilitas yang terbaik. Hotel ini menawarkan sejumlah fasilitas di tempat untuk memuaskan segala jenis tamu.
Para tamu dapat memilih dari 8 kamar yang semuanya dilengkapi dengan suasana yang tenang dan harmonis. Disamping itu, hotel memiliki berbagai pilihan fasilitas rekreasi yang menjamin Anda melakukan bermacam hal selama menginap. Apapun tujuan kunjungan Anda, Star Apartments - Petah Tiqwa adalah pilihan istimewa untuk menginap di Tel Aviv.
This is a really nice apartment in Petah Tiqwa. The area is in a Russian jewish area of Tel Aviv. Easy to get to from the airport and plenty of buses into the city.Take the No. 5 bus from Ben Gurion airport to Elal Junction(which is a large intersection 5 mins from the airport) Cross the road to the bus stop before the intersection and catch the No. 249 to Patah Tiqwa. You'll see a bronze water fountain in the middle of the road. Get out at the bus stop after the fountain. Cross the road and go left around the corner and its in the second block. There are no stairs and don't judge the outside its ok inside and on the 4th floor apt 41 was very comfortable. Close to a large food market there are plenty of food places.
It's a very nice property. From outside it looks a little scary, and you can't tell from the google maps picture, but it does say "Star Apartments" in big letters on the outside of the building (i was worried driving there that we wouldn't be able to find it) there are lots of shops and A market nearby and a Russian grocery store literally right next door. Staff were friendly and helpful, the cleaning lady was especially kind to us during our stay. All and all I would definitely stay here again.


HG MOULD SPRAY is a powerful product which destroys mould, fungus and algae in seconds, with the minimum of effort. It is ideal for cleaning between tiles, around bathtubs and shower cubicles, silicon seals, grouting, plaster walls and ceilings, and uPVC window frames, leaving a bright finish, and preventing mould regrowth. It also effectively cleans tea and coffee-stains from worktop surfaces, as well as plant-pots.
DIRECTIONS FOR USE: Spray directly onto surface from 3-5cm away, leave for 30 minutes then rinse with a sponge and water. Repeat in badly affected areas.
CARE SHOULD ALWAYS BE TAKEN - HG MOULD SPRAY IS IRRITATING TO THE RESPIRATORY SYSTEM.


text:
Pinus patula ist eine Pflanzenart aus der Gattung der Kiefern (Pinus) innerhalb der Familie der Kieferngewächse (Pinaceae). Sie ist in Mexiko verbreitet.

Beschreibung

Vegetative Merkmale
Pinus patula wächst als immergrüner Baum und erreicht Wuchshöhen von 30 bis 35 Metern sowie Stammdurchmesser von 50 bis 90 Zentimetern oder selten Wuchshöhen von 40 Metern sowie Stammdurchmesser von 1 Meter. Der Stamm ist meist gerade und bis in 20 Meter Höhe astfrei. Die unteren Äste stehen waagrecht bis manchmal leicht abwärts gerichtet und bilden eine offene, rundliche Krone. Die Borke ist bei reifen Bäumen im unteren Kronenbereich dick mit tiefen, senkrechten Rissen. Ab 3 bis 4 Meter Höhe ist die Borke dünn, schuppig und rötlich bis gelblich-rot. An jungen Bäumen ist die Borke dünn, schuppig und gelblich rot. Die Zweige sind schlank, manchmal leicht hängend, schuppig und gelblich rot. Es sind meist fünf, selten vier Keimblätter vorhanden.

Das Holz ist weich, leicht und bleich-gelblichweiß mit leicht dunklerem Kernholz.

Die Nadelblätter stehen in Bündeln an Kurztrieben zu dritt, manchmal zu viert, selten zu fünft; die Scheiden sind fahl graubraun, 10 bis 15 Millimeter lang und ausdauernd. Die Nadelblätter sind schlank, 15 bis 25 Zentimeter lang, hängend, hellgrün bis gelbgrün. Der Rand ist fein gesägt. Es sind ein bis vier, meist drei Harzkanäle vorhanden. Es gibt zwei aneinanderliegende, aber abgegrenzte Leitbündel.

Generative Merkmale
Die männlichen Zapfen stehen in dichten Gruppen von zwei bis zehn, an schlanken Stielen nicht nur an Zweigen, sondern auch am Stamm. Ihre kleinen, dicken Zapfenschuppen tragen einen kleinen, abfallenden Dorn.

Die weiblichen Zapfen sitzen in Gruppen von vier bis acht zusammen. Die weiblichen Zapfen sind bei einer Länge von 7 bis 10 Zentimetern länglich-kegelförmig, leicht gekrümmt, hart und braun bis gelbbraun. Sie reifen im Winter, bleiben aber oft über Jahre geschlossen und öffnen sich häufig erst nach einem Feuer. Die Zapfenschuppen sind hart und steif.

Die Samen sind mit Längen etwa 5 Millimetern sehr klein, rundlang, dunkelbraun bis fast schwarz. Der Samenflügel ist etwa 17 Millimeter lang und hellbraun. Auf ein Kilogramm kommen rund 115.000 Samen.

Die Chromosomenzahl beträgt 2n = 24.

Verbreitung und Standorte

Pinus patula hat eine sehr begrenzte Verbreitung. Sie kommt in verstreuten Populationen in südöstlichen Bereich der Sierra Madre Oriental in Mexiko, etwa zwischen dem 24. und dem 17. nördlichen Breitengrad vor.

Pinus patula wächst in Höhenlagen von 1500 bis 3100 Metern in Gebieten mit 1000 bis 1500 mm Jahresniederschlag. Feuchtigkeit ist das ganze Jahr in Form von Nebel oder Regen vorhanden. In trockeneren Bereichen wird Pinus patula von Pinus teocote und Pinus leiophylla verdrängt.

Pinus patula wurde jedoch als Forstbaum u. a. 1907 ins südliche Afrika eingeführt und verwilderte dort.

Systematik
Die Erstbeschreibung von Pinus patula erfolgte 1831 Diederich Franz Leonhard von Schlechtendal und Adelbert von Chamisso in Linnaea, 6. Band, Seite 354.

Von Pinus patula gibt es zwei Varietäten:
 Pinus patula var. longipedunculata  (Syn.: Pinus longipedunculata , Pinus patula subsp. longipedunculata ): Sie kommt in den mexikanischen Bundesstaaten Oaxaca sowie zentrales Chiapas und in Hidalgo sowie Veracruz (nur zwei Fundorte) vor. Das Gesamtverbreitungsgebiet ist 1997 noch nicht vollständig bekannt.
 Pinus patula  var. patula (Syn.: Pinus subpatula , Pinus patula var. macrocarpa ): Sie kommt in den mexikanischen Bundesstaaten Tamaulipas (nur wenige Fundorte), Querétaro, Hidalgo, México, Distrito Federal, Morelos, Tlaxcala, Puebla, Veracruz, Oaxaca sowie Chiapas vor.

Belege

Literatur
 Jesse P. Perry: The Pines of Mexico and Central America. Timber Press, Portland 1991, S. 168ff. ISBN 0-88192-174-2.
 A. Farjon, B. T. Styles: Pinus (Pinaceae). In: Flora Neotropica Monograph, Volume 75, The New York Botanical Garden, New York, 1997.

Einzelnachweise

Weblinks

 Vascular Plants of the Americas:

Kiefern
Patula
Baum

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, MARCH 22ND 2012 (CUOPM) – Lawmakers in St. Kitts and Nevis meet next week.
Clerk of the St. Christopher and Nevis National Assembly, Mr. Jose Lloyd has notified parliamentarians that the National Assembly will convene on Thursday 29th March 2012.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m. in the National Assembly Chambers at Government Headquarters on Church Street in Basseterre.
Mr. Lloyd informed law makers that the Order Paper and other Papers will be circulated at a later date.
Next week's sitting will be the second for 2012.


What are some of your family's favorite Christmas books read-alouds? I'd love to find new ones to add to our list of favorites!
::If you have younger children, gather a basket-full of Christmas read-alouds and plan a daily time to read for 10-15 minutes. Let your children choose from the basket to make it more engaging for them. For additional fun, wrap up the books and let them unwrap a few each day.
::If you don't have young children, choose at least a few Christmas-related books to enjoy over the Christmas season–either reading through with friends or just yourself.
Jan Brett is a favorite. Check out her website for free coloring and activity pages!
I went to the library and took out books for the advent countdown. My kids (11, 9 and 14 months) love it. Each night we open a new one up and take turns reading it. I liked Christmas Safari the most so far. We have liked the theme so much we may do a different theme every month.
When I worked at a preschool, we loved Jan Brett's books! I also like The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado…basically anything for children by Max Lucado, The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey, The Legend of the Christmas Tree, The Parable of the Christmas Tree by Liz Curtis Higgs, The Golden Book's Nutcracker – absolutely love the artwork!
The Crippled Lamb is an awesome book!
We also have a huge stack from the library.
We've really enjoyed and . of all of our Christmas book suggestions.
I love Mortimer's Christmas Manger. I also love "The Real Reason for Christmas." It's especially nice because it's a board book. Great for the littlest ones, but also for the bigger ones!
My daughters and I love to read Christmas in the big woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. As a matter of fact I bought a few other stories by her this year for gifts. Purchased used copies from Amazon for just a couple bucks each! My girls are going to love them.
Our library will only let us check out 5 Christmas books at a time so we'll be going back often this month!
We love The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It makes me laugh and cry every year. Two silly ones we enjoy are Womat Divine and The Christmas Crocodile.
I loved the best christmas pageant book as a kid!
I'm with you. We read best Christmas Pageant Every every single year! It's our tradition. Last year, I had a college friend over for christmas and read it to him. He loved it so much, he begged me to bring it with me when I visited him this year for his wedding. Beecause of all the busyness, I never got to read it, and so I handed him the book and told him to keep it, on the condition that he read it with his wife and start a new tradition. I happen to have an extra copy in my library, so I won't be skipping this year!
We also love One Wintry night. It's the story of the salvation of man through Christ condensed into a very short story book, written by the late great Ruth bell Graham.
Watched the Best Christmas Pageant ever last week – my dear husband had never seen it. I cried watching it, he giggled like a kid. Love that story!! SHAZAAM!!!
"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" was one of my favorites as a child. My kids like it, too. We checked out the audiobook on CD from the library.
"Clopper, The Christmas Donkey" is one of our faves!
My Birthday, Jesus' Birthday by Holly Davis. The true story of Christmas is compared side by side with a child's birthday making it exceedingly easy for preschoolers to identify with Christ's birth and what it means. Sadly, it is out of print, but once in a while the price on Amazon is reasonable. Right now it's crazy!
For years, I purchase Christmas books after Christmas for 50% off. We have quite a collection now. At the beginning of the month, I wrap all of our Christmas books and we open one each day throughout the month. I used to read each day, but now my 12 year old daughter likes to read the books out loud. I should mention that my kids are 17 and 12, and they still enjoy this Christmas tradition.
I also really like 'Great Joy' and 'The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey'.
For older children (ages 6/7 and older) my absolute favorite Christmas book(s) are a 3-book series celebrating Advent. One book is read each year for Advent (giving you three years' worth of reading). They are Jotham's Journey, Bartholomew's Passage, and Tabitha's Travels by Arnold Ytreedie. The are SO exciting, my kids can barely wait each day for the next chapter. They literally BEG me to read ahead. They are a bit scary for young children and some parts of the stories can be very intense. Each chapter is followed by a short devotional.
My entire list will post on Friday, but we love the Crystal Bowman books!!
We love so many! A lesser-known favorite is "Santa Calls" by William Joyce.
I bought my mom 'God Gave Us Christmas' (by the same folks who brought us the polar bear story 'God Gave Us You') to read to my niece and nephew that she'll see this year. She said it is great! I bought it from christianbook.com for $3.50ish–it said it was damaged, but she says it is in perfect condition!
The Night Before Christmas, the edition illustrated by Niroot Puttapipat.
I pick up holiday books of any type all year long at garage sales and have quite a few nice Christmas books. (LOVE the idea of wrapping them!) One of MY favorites is Christmas Day in the Morning by Pearl S. Buck, a story describing the true simplicity and joy of gift giving. The second of our favorites is Snowmen at Christmas by Caralyn Buehner, a beautifully illustrated joyous book told in rhyming poetry form telling a tale of the lives snowmen have once everyone goes to sleep at night. Each page spead has hidden pictures to find of a mouse, santa, cat, rabbit and t-rex makinging it not just an enjoyable read but a fun, interactive eye-spy game for children and adults alike.
We love The Night Before Christmas, The Littlest Angel, What Snowmen Do At Night, and The Polar Express. I forgot about The Gingerbread Boy. I'll have to see if the library has it when I go today.
We use our books as an Advent calendar of sorts. I made 3X5 cards with stylized numbers on them, 1 to 24, which I then laminated. Every year the cards get randomly placed inside books which are then ready one by one through the month. Some of the books are new, some are older (having belonged to my own father) and some are "kids books" – Little Goldens and the like – while others are more adult. I have no problem reading portions of "A Child's Christmas in Wales" or "The Gift of the Magi" to my kids, though, so it all works out. A fun tradition!
My first grader is reading gingerbread stories in school. Her class loved the Gingerbread Pirate.
We just read "The Legend of the Christmas Tree" by Rick Osborne. Beautiful book. Highly recommend.
Oh we too LOVE "The Christmas Miracle" by Jonathan Toomey! My sister's book has a CD with it and we listen to it several times a week. The narrator does such a good job in capturing the emotion of the story.
My boys love the Jan Brett books, especially Gingerbread Baby.
We keep our Christmas book with the decorations. We are so anxious to get them out each year! It is great motivation to get the house ready early for Christmas because we pull out the books when we get out the decorations. It also makes them extra special at this time of year because they are packed away for so long! Each year it is like discovering a wonderful box of surprises.
I used to do that. In fact I still keep the books with our decorations, but my kids are way past the reading stage now. I really miss reading those children's Christmas books. I may just have to read them to myself.
Wish we could check out a bunch of books from the library. We are limited to two holiday books at a time. Guess I need to check half price books for some of these.
I can't believe this one is not up here yet because it is fantastic: "Humphrey's first Christmas" by Carol Heyer. The pictures are beautiful and the Christmas story through the eyes of Humphry the camel is both heartwarming and reverent. Love the mix of silly (the camel telling the story) and keeping the story of the Christ child first priority!
We love Christmas in the Manger, its geared for toddlers, but its a wonderful little book.
My five year old has asked me over and over to read "The Legend of the Candy Cane" the last few days.
I love "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats. I also have several Ideals Publications Christmas issues. One is from 1964 and it's a favorite!
We buy a new Christmas book every year. This year our choice was "The Snow Angel" by Glenn Beck. There is an adult and a child's version of this story. I am super excited to share this with our kids. We will pull it out the fourth Sunday of Advent as our final countdown week to Christmas begins. Thanks for the great list and to all the other readers for their wonderful suggestions!
It's not a read aloud, but my children always enjoed the Christmas I Spy book. We would sit together and do one page each evening before Christmas.
We have the Gingerbread Baby – I LOVE the illustrations! My favorite, though, is God Gave us Christmas. It's about a polar bear family and is cute, fun, and has good illustrations. While mentioning Santa Claus, it does a great job of re-focusing on Christ. Perfect for our culture when my kids get confused about WHY Christmas – Santa or Jesus.
Our favorites are 'The Miracle of Jonathan Toomey' and 'The Legend of the Candy Cane.' Both have such beautiful illustrations and a wonderful meaning.
Mortimer's Christmas Manger, The Night Before Christmas, Owl Moon, Santa's Little Helper, The Christmas Hat, Christmas I Spy. But my daughter's favorite is called 'Advent Storybook, 24 Stories to Share Before Christmas' by Antonie Schneider. There is a different one-page story each day from the perspective of a little bear who is following the star to Bethlehem.
God Gave Us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren is my #1 pick. Just found a gem at the library that I plan to add to our collection… The Legend of the Christmas Rose by William H. Hooks.
The Christmas Miracle OF Jonathan Toomey was also made into a super cute movie, by the way!
One of our favorites that hasn't been mentioned is Morris's Disappearing Bag by Rosemary Wells. I had it when I was a kid and it is frequently pulled out of the stash of books by the kids.
We have a binder with 25 Christmas stories typed in it – one for each day a song and scripture to go with it. The stories take about 5-10 minutes to read. Many are popular Christmas stories and they all have a good message. I hadn't thought of it before, but maybe it would be a good idea to scan them and make them available over the internet if people were interested.
I read the "Little House on the Prairie" series to my children several times, and we often started it at Christmas because there are so many great Christmas stories in that series.
I put our Christmas-themed books away with the Christmas decorations in early January and then they are ready to be pulled out again the day after Thanksgiving (when we decorate for Christmas) the next year. This way they are "new" each year and don't come up missing.
I just shared our favorites on my site.
We try to focus on books that center on his birth, simple living, and the real meaning of Christmas.
Christmas tapestry by Patricia Polacco. Awesome read!
We have a basket in our living filled with Christmas books. Right now my son's favorite is If You Take a Mouse to the Movies.
I would have to say as a third grade teacher, any Patricia Polacco book would become a quick favorite!
A Tree for Peter is a classic, old fashioned book about giving and not judging others.
I love the Patricia Polacco book, "Christmas Tapestry", too. She has written another Christmas book entitled, "An Orange for Frankie". "The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree" by Gloria Houston and illustrated by Barbara Cooney is sweet. Two books for upper elementary readers are "The Hundred Dresses" by Eleanor Estes and "A Penny for a Hundred" by Ethel Pochocki and illustrated by Mary Beth Owens. During the Christmas season my 15 year old daughter and I stop our homeschooling day at 2-3pm and have a Christmas Tea with a Christmas story read-aloud. Any book from the Joe Wheeler series, "Christmas in My Heart" are also very nice family read-alouds.
I read your blog all the time…and have for years…but never respond until now. My girls and I love The Last Straw bu Fredrick Thury… and Room for a Little One by Martin Waddell… . We save them just for this time of year…and both make me choke up every time. Merry Christmas to you!!
I also like Twas the Night Before Christmas and The Nutcracker…and several others that have already been mentioned.
I couldn't believe anyone didn't put "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" either. My father read it every year on Christmas eve since I was a child and I have with my kids (it will be my 40th time reading it on Christmas eve this year). As kids we would see who could get the furtherest in the book from memory. I love how it focuses on how we can be happy and enjoy Christmas without "the ribbons, the wrappings, the trimmings, the trappings…it came just the same".
I love "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," too! My mom used to read it to me.
The Crippled Lamb by Max Lucado is a wonderful one for preschoolers. For older (and parents), Mary's First Christmas by Walter Wangerin is beautifully poignant and a wonderful fresh perspective of our Lord's birth!
One Wintry Night is our favorite!!
Follow the Star by T. Jakes. A quick read that will delight!
I had a quick question for you – sorry if you answered this somewhere else. I just noticed that there were no Santa books, and I was wondering if you do tell your kids about Santa.
I am pregnant with my first and do not want Santa in my house, but I was wondering if it was possible to do without a lot of scoffing from outsiders (not that I really care). Or if it is hard when everything seems to be Santa-orientated.
LOVE collecting Christmas books and keep them out in baskets around the house for savoring together by the light of the Christmas tree. Love Usborne's "That's Not My Reindeer" & "1001 Christmas Things to Spot", Wm Joyce's "Santa Calls", C. Buehner's "Snowmen at Night", M. Waddell's "Room for a Little One", D. Wood's "Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear", M. Lucado's "One Incredible Moment", R. Sullivan's "Flight of the Reindeer", "R. Evans' "The Christmas Box", J. Newcombe's "A Christmas Treasury", and Debbie Macomber's Christmas books. Something for every age.
One of my favorites is Mary's First Christmas by Walt Wangerin. I love the story, and the illustrations are just luminous!


Home / Assignment #267: Iconic Locations / Happy New Year Sedona!
It's not often that Sedona, just two miles north of Phoenix, AZ, gets a good amount of snow, and when it does, it quite often will melt off before the end of the day. This photograph was taken from the Airport Mesa Overlook above Sedona quite a few years ago on New Year's Day. It not only brought out the photographers, but many Phoenicians traveled north to play in the snow for their very first time. The rock formations provide many hiking trails in the Red Rock Wilderness. The one on the end is well known as Coffee Pot Rock.


text:
Title: Canadian (Early Ordovician) El Paso Group, Southern Franklin Mountains, El Paso County, Texas: ABSTRACT
Author(s): David V. Lemone
The El Paso Group and at least the upper part of the underlying Bliss Sandstone at their type sections in the southeastern Franklin Mountains probably is the most complete Canadian section exposed in northern Chihuahua, New Mexico, and west Texas.
The El Paso Group represents deposits of a general, but complex, west-to-east transgression of the Cambrian and Early Ordovician seas across Arizona, New Mexico, and west Texas. The group thins to a feather-edge in central New Mexico as a result of post-Canadian erosion of the upper part of the sequence.
Flower (1964) has given 10 formational names for the El Paso Group that represent not only rock-stratigraphic units, but also distinct sequential biostratigraphic units.
Seven of these El Paso Group units are regional in extent and recognizable in the southern Franklin Mountains. They are (in order from oldest to youngest): the early Canadian Sierrite Formation; the middle Canadian Cooks, Victorio Hills, and Jose Formations; and the late Canadian McKelligon Canyon, Scenic Drive, and Florida Mountains Formations. The basal middle Canadian Big Hatchet Formation may be present and unrecognized because of facies changes in the southern Franklin Mountains area. The uppermost middle Canadian Mud Springs Mountain and Snake Hills Formations are believed to be absent because of nondeposition or erosion.
The El Paso Group overlies the Bliss Sandstone disconformably. The Late Ordovician Montoya Group overlies the El Paso Group with a regional angular unconformity in the west Texas-New Mexico area. The
Middle Ordovician Simpson equivalents are not present because of nondeposition or erosion.
The nearshore to supratidal El Paso Group section faunal zones have been correlated tentatively with the deeper water, miogeosynclinal, western standard section (Ibex and Garden City, Utah composite sections) of Hintze (1951, 1952) and Ross (1951).
Paleoecological studies of the sabkhas to nearshore sediments of the El Paso Group strata show excellent examples of digitate algae, stromatolithic algae, and cyclic reefoid mound structures. Recent sedimentation in the Khor al Bozam (Persian Gulf) and Shark's Bay (Australia) probably are modern analogues.


New York, NY – In its fourth year, SONIC Drive-In partnered again with DonorsChoose.org to launch the Limeades for Learning® campaign to donate more than half a million dollars into public school classrooms across the U.S., and ScanLife (www.scanlife.com) will play a vital role in driving awareness, social sharing and consumer voting for the program. By placing QR Codes on millions of SONIC cups at more than 3,500 drive-ins nationwide, customers can easily access a mobile-optimized version of LimeadesForLearning.com to vote for and/or donate to their favorite teacher projects.
According to DonorsChoose.org, teachers currently spend approximately $1 billion annually out of their own pockets for basic supplies and learning materials for their students. Limeades for Learning empowers SONIC customers to help direct more than half a million dollars towards projects of their choice, created by local public school teachers. ScanLife QR Codes will take SONIC customers to a mobile experience where they can vote for their favorite projects, view the most popular projects, as well as share their favorite projects with their social networks.
Since 2009, SONIC and its franchisees have donated more than $2 million to public school classrooms to help teachers and students. The 2012 campaign runs from September 24 to October 29; SONIC customers and fans are encouraged to vote every day for their favorite public school teacher's project at LimeadesForLearning.com, which is also accessible via the QR codes displayed on the SONIC cups.
ScanLife is the global leader in developing solutions that power more intelligent connections between the physical and digital world. The ScanLife suite of mobile barcode products consists of cloud-based platform used by a wide variety of industries including retail, CPG and media to create, manage, and track dynamic 2D (QR Code) barcode campaigns. The ScanLife app is used by people from around the world to discover new information and is available for all major platforms including Android and iOS.
ScanLife processes millions of 1D (UPC) and 2D scans from over 150 different countries and is headquartered in New York City with local offices throughout North America, Europe, and LATAM. Scanbuy has the largest and oldest patent portfolio of any company in the industry, with over 30 patents granted covering the entire solution. The company's investors include Motorola Solutions Ventures, Motorola Mobility Ventures, Hudson Ventures, and Masthead Venture Partners.
SONIC, America's Drive-In (NASDAQ/NM: SONC) started as a hamburger and root beer stand in 1953 in Shawnee, Okla., called Top Hat Drive-In, and then changed its name to SONIC in 1959. The first drive-in to adopt the SONIC name is still serving customers in Stillwater, Okla. As the nation's largest chain of drive-in restaurants, SONIC has more than 3,500 drive-ins in 43 states coast to coast. Approximately three million customers eat at SONIC every day; and with more drink combinations than any other quick-service restaurant – 398,929 – SONIC is Your Ultimate Drink Stop®. For more information about Sonic Corp. and its subsidiaries, visit SONIC at www.SonicDriveIn.com. Through Limeades for Learning®, SONIC and its franchise partners have donated more than $2 million to public school classrooms in local communities across the country.


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Kaltura Releases Revamped MediaWiki Extension
Jason Kincaid	@jasonkincaid / 13 years
Kaltura, the open-source video platform, has released a new version of its MediaWiki extension that allows users to embed and edit video, images, and audio on wiki pages. MediaWiki is a wiki software package that was initially developed for Wikipedia and has since been used by a number of other sites.
Kaltura says that the new release "includes a fresh look & feel for the video player, a simplified interface for the online video editor, improved administration capabilities (patrolling capabilities, detailed history and diff pages, etc.), localization to several languages, and better documentation". While none of these changes sound groundbreaking, the patrolling and history improvements help make the extension better suited to wikis – a necessity given that Wikipedia has partnered with Kaltura to bring video content to the site.
Kaltura launched at TechCrunch 40, and was the winner of the People's Choice spot.


Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw turns his back on the plate during the first inning of Thursday's game against the Padres. Kershaw improved to 11-2 with a compete game three-hitter.
LOS ANGELES – Clayton Kershaw's scoreless streak ended Thursday night at Dodger Stadium, but the left-hander's streak of dominance continues totally unblemished.
The Dodger ace struck out 11 and allowed three hits in a complete-game effort as his team secured a 2-1 win over the San Diego Padres.
In 74 innings since his Diamondbacks debacle May 17 in Arizona, Kershaw has permitted just eight runs for a sterling 0.97 ERA. He has struck out 96 hitters and walked just 10 in one of the best stretches of professional pitching in recent memory.
Before the game, Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis offered his theory as to why Kershaw has had even more success of late.
All of Kershaw's strikeouts came on breaking balls Thursday. He whiffed seven hitters on curveballs and four on sliders.
Backing Kershaw, the Dodgers produced plenty of baserunners against San Diego right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne, but struggled to convert them into runs.
They stranded runners at third base in the first and third innings. But Scott Van Slyke, starting in center field, golfed a single into right in the fourth inning to score Yasiel Puig, who had doubled.
And in the sixth inning, Adrian Gonzalez drove in Hanley Ramirez with a sacrifice fly after Ramirez singled, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error.
With the win, the Dodgers (52-42) took a one-game lead in the National League West following the San Francisco Giants' loss.
The Dodgers were supposed to give away Hello Kitty travel mugs to the first 40,000 fans in attendance Thursday.
But a truck carrying many of the mugs got into an accident en route to the stadium Thursday, leaving many mug-less. The 50,332 fans in attendance booed heartily each time the accident was announced, although many received vouchers to redeem for the mugs at a later date.


Compact and short, it'll give you a steady base for your camera, all at a really nice price point.
Works best when you're shooting objects that are close to the mounting surface. Offers compatibility with any camera that uses the common 1/4-20" tripod mount. Should give you a tight mounting in any temperature. Mounting hardware allows for tilting the attached camera.
So short that you may not be able to shoot certain types of videos and photos.
If you love your GoPro gear, you might as well stick with the company's official suction cup mount, which works well.
Made to fit numerous GoPro camera models. Very trustworthy suction cup that will attach to vehicles running at extremely high speeds. Includes a quick release base unit that'll make it easy to move the attached camera to a new location.
Doesn't work with as many other models of cameras as we'd like to see. Pricey.
When you need to be able to adjust the angle and height of the mounted camera, this hardware makes it easy.
Will be compatible with most models of cameras, as it uses a common 1/4-20" tripod mount. Contains numerous adjustable features, including a 360-degree tilt, a rotating arm, and an extendable height. Supports cameras up to 4 lbs.
Perhaps too many features for some people's needs. Needs a perfectly flat surface.
Good price point for a suction cup mount that works nicely with most models of GoPro cameras.
Has a low profile so it will reduce problems with vibrations that some taller mounts have. Mounting arm does extend to give you some versatility in the types of shots you can create. Will give you a 270-degree rotation capability. Large diameter in the suction cup.
Build quality doesn't quite stand up to the same standards as official GoPro suction cup mount.
Extremely low price for a camera suction mount that ships with five different adapters for versatility.
With five different mounting hardware clamps, you can use this unit with many different models of dash cams. Allows for a 360-degree rotation of the attached camera. Should give you a sturdy attachment in all temperatures. Very low price point.
Made primarily to work with dashboard cameras, rather than action cameras.
If you want to take steady photo or video shots while keeping your hands free then you'll need a camera mount. Suction mounts are great because they're easy to put up and take down and don't require any heavy hardware. There are camera suction mounts for DSLR cameras as well as dash cameras for driving. Just make sure whatever camera suction mount you get is compatible with your camera. If you're going to be using a suction camera mount with an action camera you'll want one that works in extreme conditions and underwater.


Please join Kelley Drye's International Trade group in Chicago for a half-day seminar covering the latest developments in trade law and policy. This event is designed to provide practical guidance and industry connections for U.S. companies and manufacturers facing an increasingly complex international trade landscape.
The program will provide timely updates on crucial issues, including developments related to the Trump Administration tariffs, U.S. sanctions law, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement other U.S. trade agreements, and the latest in trade remedy laws. We also invite you to tell us about key interests for your company when registering.
Because space is limited, this seminar is by invitation only. If you have a colleague who might be interested, please contact: htighe@kelleydrye.com.
Washington Update – Trump Administration Trade Policy and Congressional Response – What's Happened and What's Next?
With seemingly rapid-fire changes coming out of Washington, it is more important than ever to understand what's driving trade policy and how to navigate the constantly-shifting landscape. This session will help companies gain insight into the Administration's top trade priorities, including the application of punitive tariffs under various statutory authorities; the negotiation of trade agreements including the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) (and the prospects for Congressional approval), U.S.-EU, U.S.-Japan, and the potential for a U.S.-China trade agreement. We'll also look at the Congressional response to executive branch trade actions and talk about what policies and priorities might change as the 2020 elections draw closer.
The U.S. government continues to aggressively enforce U.S. laws covering international sales and services, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), economic sanctions and export controls on U.S.-origin goods. The laws are changing, the rules are increasingly complex, and criminal and civil penalties are on the rise. This session will help companies identify their top compliance issues and address the management of regulatory risks related to trade in products, software and services - particularly when dealing with global supply chains. We will also discuss the changing landscape for foreign investment in U.S. companies and how to manage the CFIUS process.
Buy American. Made in the USA. Whether in sales to the Government or in marketing to consumers, the origin of a product and the marketing claims related to a product's origin are as relevant as ever. "Made in the USA" is an advertising claim that has taken on an even greater importance as American manufacturing has captivated the political discussion. "Buy American" laws afford a preference for goods produced in the United States in certain government procurements and have been the subject of two Presidential Executive Orders in as many years. Learn how these, and other legal regimes, implicate a product's origin and about the opportunities as well as exposure they pose for manufacturers and marketers.
Almost 700 trade remedy cases have been filed by U.S. industries since 1986, and new cases are being filed every day. This session will examine the use of trade remedy laws in the U.S., including why these laws are used so frequently and across so many industries; what it takes to bring, and win, a case; and what trade remedy orders mean for domestic producers, exporters and importers.


Judging by current activity, we are in store for a busy hurricane season in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Arthur blew out roads in North Carolina, Neoguri is taking aim on Japan, and Fausto is heading towards Hawaii.
Elsewhere, heat builds in the Pacific northwest, while the midwest continues soggy.
Then there's the World Cup and Bastille Day. Let's go around the world.
The United States had its Independence Day last weekend, now it's France's turn. Commonly called Bastille Day in English-speaking countries, Le Fête Nationale (The National Celebration) commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution with the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.
The long-range weather forecast calls for showers over all of France, associated with a low pressure wave in the jet stream.
The semifinal matches today in Belo Horizonte and tomorrow in Sao Paulo, Brazil could be influenced by showers, but conditions will be better than the heat and humidity of the Amazon. The final on Sunday in Rio should be played under good conditions, with just a chance of a shower.
Hurricane Arthur was an unusually intense early-season Atlantic hurricane. It struck the Outer Banks of North Carolina a direct blow, washing out the coastal road — but that happens regularly — and causing some damage to property.
Arthur skirted the coast, sparing New York, but the interaction between Arthur and an old cold front — actually the remnants of Severe Weather Outbreak Elephant — doused parts of southeastern Massachusetts with up to eight inches of rain. Outer Cape Cod, closer to the center of Arthur, received much less rain than Plymouth and New Bedford.
The front associated with Elephant draped itself along the southern New England coast and just north of the Cape Cod Canal. When the moisture at middle levels of the atmosphere pumped northward by Arthur hit the front, the lifting was sufficient to cause the deluge.
Arthur continued on to the Maritime Provinces of Canada, transitioned to an extra-tropical cyclone, and was finally absorbed by the polar vortex over Greenland.
Typhoon Neoguri lost some strength south of Japan yesterday, as dry air was entrained (meteorologists' euphemistic way of saying sucked) into the system. Neoguri is still a dangerous storm and could regenerate a little strength before passing over colder water, interacting with land, and weakening. Japan's southern islands are sure to be hit hard with wind and heavy surf; tropical downpours could cause flooding and mudslides even on the northern islands.
Tropical Storm Fausto formed yesterday in the eastern Pacific Ocean. It is far enough south to escape the fate of several previous eastern Pacific systems, including two hurricanes, which quickly fizzled over cold water to their northwest.
Fausto is headed west-northwest and is making a beeline for Hawaii, but a storm on this trajectory will eventually encounter too much cold water to make an impact on the islands.
Strong tropical systems are not unheard of in Hawaii, but in order to get there a storm must stay well to the south over the warmer waters, then turn sharply north and accelerate towards the islands.
High temperature records have been set the past few days in all the west coast and intermountain states. Though the atmosphere is a continuous medium, so that a departure from normal in one place cannot be proven to be the cause of abnormal weather somewhere else, there is a constant factor in the recurring pattern that goes back to last fall.
The water temperature anomaly in the Gulf of Alaska (the water is several degrees above normal) has repeatedly forced a ridge (high pressure) to develop in the jet stream on and offshore of the west coast. Warm water heats the air above it, and the column of air expands. At any given height, the pressure rises because more air is now above than previously. If the high pressure cuts off from the normal jet stream flow, the movement of weather systems stops. The pattern is called an omega block because of its shape: Ω. The persistent drought and above normal temperatures in the western US are the immediate results.
Downstream, where the dominant wave pattern creates a trough (low pressure), the midwestern states have experienced a cold and stormy winter, and now a very wet and stormy summer. Cold air has driven deep into Dixie, where many cold temperature records have been set recently.
A slight cooling trend will be in evidence in the extreme northern states of the west this week, but next week the temperatures will rise to record highs in an area centered on Idaho and Nevada as the high pressure strengthens.
The persistent rain in the midwest has filled the Mississippi River to overflowing. The crest is now near St. Louis and headed downstream. More rain is in the forecast, so conditions could get worse.
Arizona actually has a monsoon, and this year's has started. Moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California works its way into the desert southwest during July and August. Tucson, Arizona gets about 40% of its yearly rainfall in those two months. Thunderstorms will be likely this week in Arizona and New Mexico.
Though the desert rain is paltry compared to what the rest of the country normally receives, flooding can occur because of poor drainage.
It is tempting to blame the heat wave in the west and the active tropics on global warming. As Decoded Science has repeatedly said: these events are consistent with, but not proof of, human-caused climate change. However, after enough 'consistent withs,' there is only one logical conclusion.


A cluster of my thoughts about things such as life, faith, culture Etc.
Random pictures of the beautiful family God has blessed me with.
The church I attend in Fort St James, BC is working toward open and honest Christ centered dialogue concerning our faith, culture, church, community, biblical interpretation, and spiritual formation. My hope is that our Sunday Morning Dialogue will benefit everyone who reads it. During our Sunday morning services, while the message is being delivered, people are texting me, emailing me, or writing me thoughts and questions during the service (and even after the service). It's kind of like open community note taking. These are the anonymous notes or ideas I receive. I want to invite you into the conversation. I only ask that you remain aimed at peace in your candor and not contentious argumentation.
Be sure to subscribe to my posts via email (see column on right).
Very nice page.You have laid it out very well. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Thank you my friend for your heart for God, for your courage to speak and teach some very valuable and necessary truths in today's world. I recall once thinking when I was a bit younger; I need to find a way to make Gods' word relevant to people, to the youth I was involved with. Silly man that I was/am.. lol! God in no short time reminded me, "My Word is and has always been relevant my son" It is I who needs to move within it, not try and make it fit my life. "Seek the truth no matter where it leads", it will always lead us home.
Take a deep breath and enjoy the energy 'you' feel – the power that created all life and the energy in your breath – exists all around you – and wonderfully – in you & me.
The Gospel and our Church.
Are you familiar with the philosophical and scientific belief of Underdetermination?
#1 The Discipline of Oneness: T.I.E.


Macbeth is the drama of ambition rising from the ash of ethics. We live today in a different age from Macbeth and the king he betrayed and assassinated.
Full of sound and fury, signifying everything.
I went to Shakespeare's burial place in Stratford when we had gone with Hamlet for a three-week tour to the UK. I said a little prayer. I don't believe in god or religion, I asked for something which is now between me and him.
He understands the personal better than a shrink and the political better than a pundit. He explains it all better than a sage.
The most imaginative reinterpretations of the Bard are being seen in Asia, says the foremost Shakespeare scholar James Shapiro.


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You are here: Home / Sports / NBA / Kevin Durant Had The Perfect Kobe Bryant Tribute
Kevin Durant Had The Perfect Kobe Bryant Tribute
(Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
It's been a big week for fans of Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Tuesday would have been Bryant's 44th birthday while Wednesday, 8/24, is known as Kobe Day or Mamba Day to many.
Bryant's place in basketball history is unquestioned and only becoming more pronounced over the years.
This led to many people, both fans and players, celebrating Bryant over the last few days through memories, videos, and photos.
This was a bucket, bean stance was too open and gave me a hook shot going middle. Miss you my boy!!! Lol https://t.co/8UIC4zodFJ
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) August 24, 2022
One person memorializing Bryant was his old opponent, Kevin Durant.
The Brooklyn Nets star commented on a photo of him facing off against Bryant.
Durant had to make a little joke at the image, saying, "This was a bucket, bean stance was too open and gave me a hook shot going middle. Miss you my boy!!! Lol."
Durant has always said that Bryant was a vital part of his upbringing and his love of the game.
Even for the league's most sarcastic smack-talker, Bryant is someone who brings out real emotion.
KD Vs KB
Durant was seen as one of the most promising young players in the league towards the end of Bryant's career.
He was helping the Oklahoma City Thunder become an exciting team in the Western Conference and the rest of the league.
Some people viewed Durant's rise during the conclusion of Bryant's career as a changing of the guards, the new taking place of the old.
The two players faced off a number of times but sadly they never met in an NBA Finals.
Bryant, always a champion of the young players taking over the NBA, had sound advice and guidance for Durant and many others in his age group.
Bryant's influence has remained with Durant for years.
Lakers Big Man Is Nearing His Return
LeBron James Dominates Latest Fan Voting
Lakers Get A Positive Update On Their Beloved Big Man
Graphic Shows A Sad List For Lakers Fans


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Latest Happenings at the Montana Learning Center
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| May 2020 |
See Big Sky Country LIVE 24/7 from Anywhere Around the World Thanks to the Montana Learning Center!
Montana Learning Center recently added an all-sky camera to the astronomy resources located at its facility on Canyon Ferry Lake, just outside Helena, the capital of Montana.
"The Montana Learning Center's all-sky camera provides a 180-degree view of the sky and can be accessed from anywhere in the world, as long as the viewer has an Internet connection," Ryan Hannahoe, the Center's Executive Director, said. "This is exciting because it allows viewers to enjoy Big Sky Country from wherever they are living."
These days, the night sky across most urban and suburban sections of the world is filled with diffuse light that shines up, versus down on the ground where it belongs. This "light pollution" makes it hard to see the stars at night. But the night sky at the Learning Center has almost no light pollution due to the Learning Center's relatively rural location, allowing the stars to dominate the night sky and even offering views of aurora borealis from time to time.
The camera's fisheye lens provides a round view of the sky with buildings and the surrounding landscape on the fringes. (Due to growing light pollution from Helena, viewers also will see a dome of light along the western edge of the camera's view at night.) Daytime views can initially give one the impression of viewing the Earth from space, but the nighttime view of the sky through the camera is dramatic. And, because the camera captures the sky in color, the glows of auroras are recorded in all their spectral beauty.
In addition to a view of the sky, the camera offers predictions for auroras based on solar storms, an overlay of the constellations, nightly time-lapse videos, nightly keograms (snapshots showing all of the night sky's activity in a single image), and images detailing the travels of the stars overhead each night.
The all-sky camera is oriented to face north and the overlay of the constellations, accessed by clicking a link to the left of the camera's view, is based on date, time and GPS coordinates, Hannahoe said, adding that the overlay uses online data to keep the constellations accurate.
"We got the idea for the all-sky camera from an online do-it-yourself project video that explains how to construct the camera," Hannahoe said. Hannahoe and his team made improvements to the original design, such as adding a heater that's turned on and off by a light sensor, so it operates only at night. The heater was added to address distortion in the camera's imaging caused by frost.
Funding for the project came from Hannahoe and the Montana Learning Center. The project was completed for about $750 plus 20 hours of staff labor. Non-do-it-yourself all-sky cameras cost $2,500 or more, Hannahoe noted. Viewers who want to build their own all-sky cameras can access the original online do-it-yourself project video that inspired Hannahoe by clicking the "Make Your Own" link in the lower righthand corner of the camera's webpage.
View the Montana Learning Center's all-sky camera at:
www.mlcallsky.org or through a link on the Center's homepage, www.montanalearning.org.
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This is not the first time that the workers are targeted by Daesh and Taliban because of working in under government or foreign troops control areas. In some cases Daesh hunts the workers because of their believes and religious affiliation. Shiite minority in Afghanistan are recognized non-Muslim by Daesh and thus legalize their annihilation by any means and any time.
Some circles in the government of Afghanistan and foreign embassies in Kabul are accused of financing and supporting Daesh in Afghanistan. Zahir Qadir an MP and also the ex governor of Paktika province of Afghanistan charged the National Security Council of Afghanistan with granting money to Daesh in Eastern and Southern provinces of Afghanistan.
The recent attempts of Russia in collaboration with China and Pakistan aim to halt Daesh advancement in Afghanistan to influence in central Asia and reach Russian territory. Now, it is clear enough that the Obama administration created Daesh in Iraq and Syria and now supporting them in Afghanistan to use them against its strategic enemies.
The people of Afghanistan are victims of the game of the US and Nato in Afghanistan within their plundering policies of surrounding Russia and China through creating and supporting Islamic extremist forces.
Since its first appearance of Daesh in 2013 in Afghanistan, nobody witness of a single assault of Daesh against US or Nato forces in the country.
It is the responsibility of the government to defend the civilians and insure protection for all workers in their working places. We call on all trade unions and pro workers forces around the world to express their solidarity with Afghan workers and ask the government of Afghanistan to take the responsibility of treatment of the injured workers and pay proper compensation to the families of the victims.
-Insure proper measures for workers protection against Daesh and any terrorist force!
-Take responsibility of fully treatment of the injured workers!
-Pay proper compensation to the families of martyred workers!