text:
Lifestyle profile of school-aged children suffering from pathological stuttering
Rahma S Bhgat1, Mohamed E Darweesh2, Mervat A Ahmed1
1 Department of Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Tanta, Egypt
2 Unit of Phoniatrics, ENT Department, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
Date of Submission 02-May-2014
Date of Acceptance 21-Nov-2014
Mohamed E Darweesh
Unit of Phoniatrics, ENT Department, Tanta University, Tanta
Stuttering is a speech disorder that involves intraphonemic disruption, part-word repetitions, monosyllabic whole-word repetitions, prolongation, and silent fixations (blocks).
The aim of the study was to investigate the lifestyle profile of children suffering from pathological stuttering and identify the factors that worsen or improve the condition of the child with pathological stuttering.
Participants and methods
The study sample consisted of 60 children suffering from pathological stuttering as well as their mothers or caregivers who attended the previous setting. Data were collected using two tools. The first tool was a structured questionnaire that included biosocial characteristics of the children and biosocial data of mothers. The second tool was an observation checklist developed by the researcher to observe children suffering from pathological stuttering as well as their mothers during speech therapy.
It was found that 63.3% of children with stuttering were of a mean age of 8.17 ± 1.66 years. Significant difference was found between the mean age of stuttering children and their socialization skills. Significant difference was found between the mean age of stuttering children and response to treatment.
From the present study it can be concluded that pathological stuttering as a disease is easy to diagnose, difficult to treat, and has many negative impacts on the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspect of the child.
Keywords: Intraphonemic disruption, monosyllabic, repetitions, stuttering
Bhgat RS, Darweesh ME, Ahmed MA. Lifestyle profile of school-aged children suffering from pathological stuttering. Egypt J Otolaryngol 2015;31:61-70
Bhgat RS, Darweesh ME, Ahmed MA. Lifestyle profile of school-aged children suffering from pathological stuttering. Egypt J Otolaryngol [serial online] 2015 [cited 2020 Jan 21];31:61-70. Available from: http://www.ejo.eg.net/text.asp?2015/31/1/61/152711
Stuttering is a speech disorder in which there is disruption in the normal flow of speech. Disfluency includes repetitions of a sound, syllable, or word, as well as silent blocks and prolongations. Certain behaviors such as eye blinks, facial twitches, and body movements may also accompany stuttering. Stuttering may become worse under stressful situations but may improve when speaking, reading aloud, or singing while alone. Stuttering is a communication disorder that begins in early childhood. When the disorder continues into later childhood and beyond, it may cause serious disturbances in both personal and professional pursuits [1].
Evidence from twin and family studies has clearly established a role for genetic factors in the development of stuttering. Seventy percent of the variance in stuttering could be attributed to additive genetic effects, and the remaining 30% to no shared environmental factors. Some examples of these factors include parental attitudes and expectations, the child's speech and language environment, and stressful life events. This does not imply wrongdoing on the part of parents. Often, these aspects are not harmful to a child who does not stutter, but can aggravate stuttering in a child who has a tendency to stutter. Finally, the child's fear and anxiety of stuttering can cause it to continue and even worsen [2],[3].
Familial history of stuttering has been extensively documented, with an increased incidence of 15% in first-degree relatives of probands, as compared with a 5% lifetime risk in the general population [4]. The onset of stuttering usually occurs in childhood, between the ages of 3 and 5 years; boys are three times more likely to suffer from stuttering than girls. Developmental stuttering most often occurs in children during the age at which they are developing their language and speech skills [5].
Acquired stuttering occurs in individuals who were previously fluent. In such cases the onset of speech disorder is not gradual; disfluency occurs rather abruptly, as it may be neurogenic or psychogenic. Neurogenic stuttering is caused by problems in signaling between the brain and the various muscles and nerves used in generating speech. Psychogenic stuttering tends to occur after a trauma or period of extreme stress, or in individuals suffering from mental illness [6].
The cause of stuttering is unknown; there are three leading theories that propose how stuttering develops. The learning theory proposes that it is a learned behavior and that most normal children are occasionally disfluent. The second theory suggests that stuttering is a psychological problem that has an underlying problem that can be treated with psychotherapy. The third theory proposes that the cause of stuttering is organic and that neurological differences exist between the brains of those who stutter and those who do not [7].
The mother plays an important role in the care of stuttering children, which helps in improving the quality of life and facilitates the child's and family's adaptation to this illness. It is very important for the mother to study the lifestyle of stuttering children for effective accomplishment of her role [8]. She should help the child live a satisfactory life and be a productive member in the society [9].
The objective of this work was to study the lifestyle profile of children suffering from pathological stuttering and identify the factors that worsen or improve the condition of the child with pathological stuttering. These data will have considerable importance when assessing the treatment strategies for this disorder.
This study was conducted in the Unit of Phoniatrics, ENT Department, Tanta University Hospital. The study sample was composed of 60 school-aged children: 30 were suffering from pathological stuttering and 30 were normal controls. Their mothers or caregivers who attended the previous setting were also included in the study. The duration of the study was 12 months. Children were of both sexes and their ages ranged from 6 to 15 years. They were free of other speech-related disorders and were undergoing speech therapy. The children with mild stuttering had been receiving therapy sessions for 2 months, and those with moderate and severe stuttering had been receiving therapy sessions for 3 months at least.
Administrative process
Children and their mothers were selected by means of a simple random method based on a review of the literature.
The consent of children and their mothers was obtained before enrolling them in this study.
Development of study tools
Two tools were designed and used in this study: a questionnaire and an observation checklist.
Tools of data collection
Tool I: A structured questionnaire was developed to obtain the following information:
(1) Biosocial data of stuttering children, such as:
age, sex, birth order, educational level.
Development history such as recognition of family members, sitting, walking, talking, bladder control, and development of language.
(2) Biosocial data of mothers, such as:
Age, educational level, occupation, family size, number of siblings.
Family history of stuttering.
Presence of parental consanguinity.
(3) The three main categories of health-promoting lifestyle profiles:
Survival skills (information on speech therapy per week and its effect, schedule for speech therapy, and data from psychological assessment of school-aged children during the speech session).
Health maintenance skills (Physical exercise such as different types of sports, social relations of the stuttering child such as developing friendly relations with classmates and neighbors and participating in activities with others, and behavior in groups, in the school or in the club.
Health promotion skills (counseling of the school-aged children suffering from pathological stuttering and their mothers so as to help them change their attitude).
Tool II: An observation checklist to observe school-aged children suffering from pathological stuttering and their mothers during speech therapy (Appendix).
The actual study
(1) Children and their mothers/caregivers were interviewed using a questionnaire in the outpatient speech therapy program to assess their knowledge. Every child and his or her mother or caregiver were interviewed for 20-30 min.
(2) The researcher observed children and their mothers/caregivers while undergoing speech therapy with regard to the following:
(a) Speech production of school-aged children, such as:
Frequency of occurrence (always, sometimes, never) and duration (stuttering less than normal speech, equal to normal speech, more than normal speech) and consistency of stuttering (always, sometimes, never).
Intraphontric disturbance as repetition of first sound of word or the word or the whole sentence (always, sometimes, never).
Presence of any other speech disorder and symptoms during therapy.
(b) Language skills:
The following information was evaluated:
(i) Syntactic skills:
The child has difficulty to remember and to use relevant terms.
The child has difficulty making word associations or comparisons.
(ii) Social pragmatic skills:
The child is cooperative and attentive.
The child uses poor eye contact.
The child has difficulty using language for communicative purposes.
The collected data were organized, tabulated, and statistically analyzed using SPSS (version 19; SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) software. Numerical variables were presented as mean and SD. The Student t-test was used for categorical variables. The number and percentage distribution was calculated and the difference was tested using the Monte Carlo exact test. Spearman's correlation was used to test the association between stuttering and total socialization score. The level of significance was fixed at P value less than 0.05.
The results of the current study are divided into three main parts as follows:
(1) Part 1: Biosocial characteristics of stuttering children and their mothers/caregivers.
(2) Part II: The three main categories of health-promoting lifestyle:
Survival skills.
Health-maintenance skills.
Health-promoting skills.
(3) Part III: Observation of the children and their mothers/caregivers during the therapy session.
[Table 1] shows the percentage distribution of stuttering children according to biosocial characteristics (age in years, sex, birth order, and educational level). Young boys constituted the highest percentage.
Table 1: Percentage distribution of stuttering children according to biosocial chara
[Table 2] presents the percentage distribution of stuttering children according to developmental milestones (recognition of family members, sitting, walking, talking, and control sphincters). It is clear that about 55% of children with stuttering suffer from delayed language development.
Table 2: Percentage distribution of stuttering children according to developmental milestones
[Table 3] shows the percentage distribution of mothers/caregivers of stuttering children according to their biosocial characteristics (age in years, educational level, occupation, family size, accommodation, and family residence). It is clear that more than half of the sample were housewives, had 3-4 family members, and lived in urban areas.
Table 3: Percentage distribution of stuttering children according to mothers' characteristics
[Table 4] shows the percentage distribution of stuttering children according to family history. A positive family history for stuttering was found in 25% of the sample.
Table 4: Percentage distribution of stuttering children according to family history
[Table 5] shows the correlation between percentage of stuttering children according to psychological state and age during speech session. It is clear that about half of the sample suffered from anxiety levels and a significant difference was observed between children's age and response to speech therapy (P = 0.017).
Table 5: Percentage distribution of stuttering children regarding psychological state, age, and education during speech therapy
[Table 6] shows the percentage distribution of study participants on the basis of frequency of stuttering and severity of stuttering (moderate, mild, or severe). Three-quarters of the sample had a very slow or very fast speech rate; any other additional behavior when speaking was recorded.
Table 6: Percentage distribution of stuttering children according to observation of stuttering
[Table 7] reveals the percentage distribution of stuttering children in terms of social relations and communication. More than half of the sample had friendly relations and participated in school activities.
Table 7: Percentage distribution of stuttering children regarding social relation and communication
[Table 8] reveals the percentage distribution of stuttering children according to communication skills, difficulty in remembering, and speech content: slightly more than half of the sample had limitations in these aspects. Half of the sample used immature vocabulary.
Table 8: Percentage distribution of stuttering children according to communication skills
[Table 9] gives the percentage distribution of children in terms of maternal support, such as facilitating environmental communication, reducing communication stress, dissuading others from taunting their children, and turning to doctors for advice.
Table 9: Percentage distribution of stuttering children according to mothers' support for their children
[Table 10] shows the correlation between stuttering children's socialization skills and mothers' age. A significant difference was observed between mothers' age and children having interaction with doctors (P = 0.017). The table illustrates no significant difference between mothers' age and the child being cooperative with others.
Table 10: Correlation between stuttering children's socialization skills and mothers' age
[Table 11] shows the correlation between stuttering children's socialization skills and mothers' education. It is clear that mothers' educational level has no significant effect on children being cooperative with others and their interaction with doctors (P = 0.983).
Table 11: Correlation between the socialization skills of stuttering children and mothers' education
Stuttering is one of the most controversial diseases. It has several definitions and several theories in terms of etiology. The line of treatment also differs greatly and produces variable degrees of improvement. The aim of treatment is not only to reduce dysfluency but also to replace stuttering with natural speech production with a normal rate. The lifestyle profile can be generally divided into survival skills, health-maintenance skills, and health-promoting skills [5].
This study aimed to investigate the lifestyle profile of children suffering from pathological stuttering and identify the factors that worsen or improve the condition of the child with pathological stuttering. The study was conducted at a speech therapy session covering a period of 5 months. A convenient sample of 60 children with pathological stuttering and their mothers/caregivers were recruited into the study. The children were aged 6-15 years and were undergoing speech therapy.
Two tools were used to collect the necessary data. The first tool was a structured questionnaire that included biosocial characteristic of the children, such as age, sex, birth order, educational level, and development history, and biosocial data of the mothers, such as age, educational level, occupation, family size, number of siblings, and family history of stuttering. This tool assessed the three main categories of health-promoting lifestyle: survival skills, health-maintenance skills, and health-promoting skills.
The second tool was an observation checklist developed by the researcher to observe children suffering from pathological stuttering as well as their mothers during speech therapy. It covered speech production of children with stuttering, communication skills, vocalization, and social pragmatics.
As regards age, the present study showed that the number of children with stuttering was inversely proportional to age. The mean age of the children was 8.17 ± 1.66 years, and of them 63.3% were between 6 and 8 years old. This finding is in agreement with that of Craig et al. [10], who found the highest prevalence rate of 1.40-1.44% in young children and the lowest rate of 0.53% in adolescents [10],[11].
The male to female ratio in this study was 65%:35%. This result is in agreement with that of Mansson [12], who found a boy to girl ratio of 1.65:1%. Boys generally have more speech disorders because girls begin to speak earlier than boys and they have better speech and language skills, especially for social purposes [12],[13].
As regards family history of stuttering, the present study revealed a positive history of stuttering among 25% of children. This explains the importance of counseling for prevention, especially in case of positive family history. This finding is in agreement with a study by Andrews and Harries [14], who found that 25-60% of stutterers had relatives who stuttered.
As regards developmental milestones in stuttering children, this study showed that 51.7% of children started recognizing family members at 6 months of age and 36.7% recognized at 8 months. This result is in agreement with the differentiation phase described by Mahler [15], who reported that the infant identifies characteristics that differentiate his mother from self and from others at age 6-10 months [15].
However, more than a quarter of the sample spoke their first sentence at 18, 20, and 24 months. This result is in agreement with Piaget's theory; he stated that the child forms his first sentence at 2 years [16].
The results of the present study revealed that 55% of stuttering children have a history of delayed language development. This is in agreement with the observation of Peters and Guitar [17] who found that stuttering children were associated with concomitant problems like delayed language development.
With regard to the psychological state of children during speech sessions, more than half of the sample had anxiety, about 30% had anger-related issues, and nearly 5% of the sample had avoidance issues. Information on speech therapy and psychological assessment (anxiety, anger, and fear) is necessary to help those children understand the nature of their problems, method of therapy, and treatment details of stuttering. This may help reduce dysfluency, replace stuttering with natural speech production having a normal rate, and improve communication and social adjustment, resulting in increased self-confidence, as much as possible [12]. There was significant difference between child age and educational level and child response to treatment (P = 0.017 and 0.05, respectively). Young children and those with primary education responded better to speech therapy because they were still unaware about their problem.
The present study showed that the majority of the sample had a speech rate that was too slow or too fast. This result is in agreement with that of Dell [11], who found that stuttering was associated with speaking very rapidly. The majority of the sample had intraphonemic disruption (pathological stuttering), which needed speech therapy, whereas repetition of syllables and words (physiological stuttering) occurred in 25% and needed counseling only. Our finding is in agreement with that of Yairi and Ambrose [18], who found frequent repetition of sounds and syllables. This is useful in distinguishing between fluent and dysfluent speech.
In the present study more than three-quarters of children preferred to communicate with others, as shown previously by Bijleved [19]. Only 51.7% of the sample was participating in different school activities; the remaining 48.3% did not like participating or they were not allowed to participate. This result may be attributed to the child's fear of occurrence of any problem that may trigger stuttering. School age and adolescence are periods of social interaction, development of relations, and development of self-identity. Stuttering negatively affects the relation of the child with family, peers, and colleagues. Participation in school activities helps develop and promote the child's physical, social, and behavioral skills [10],[12].
With respect to the mothers' support of their children, it was found that about 81.7% of mothers dealt effectively with their children, 61.7% changed the environment surrounding the child to facilitate communication, 66.7% were good listeners, 96.7% did not allow others to joke about the child's speech disorder, 58.3% reduced communication stress, and 70% allowed time for the child to speak.
There was a statistically significant correlation between mothers'/caregivers' age in years and the child's response to treatment. Also, a statistically significant correlation was found between the child's age in years, educational level, and response to treatment (speech therapy session). The rest of the parameters concerning the children and their mothers/caregivers showed no significant correlation.
On the basis of the result of this study it can be concluded that pathological stuttering as a disease can be easily diagnosed, is difficult to treat, and has many negative impacts on the physiological, psychological, social, and spiritual aspect of a child's life.
Stuttering is a controversial disease; it is unpredictable and stutterers are often interrupted. People suffering from stuttering often have financial problems, low self-esteem, and dependency. Furthermore, their stuttering decreases their social and scholar activity and leads to frustration.
This study recommends searching for the root cause of stuttering to tailor therapy to each case accordingly.
Simple booklets containing an explanation of the disorder, advice about communication with others, and methods to reduce stuttering severity are necessary for children undergoing maintenance speech therapy. It should be available at the speech therapy center.
Mothers/caregivers should make an effort to enhance the child's school achievements by cooperating with school authorities and speech centers in framing suitable schedules of speech sessions to prevent communication problems.
Mothers/caregivers should discuss with school personnel to create recreational activities and suitable hobbies for children who stutter. This can improve the psychological state of such children.
Mothers/caregivers should encourage the parents of children receiving maintenance speech therapy session to improve communication.
Adams M. Childhood stuttering under positive conditions. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 2008; 1:5-6.
Felsenfeld S, Kirk KM, Zhu G, Statham DJ, Neale MC, Martin NG. A study of the genetic and environmental etiology of stuttering in a selected twin sample. Behav Genet 2000; 30:359-366.
Cooper EB. Chronic perseverative stuttering syndrome. Am J Speech Lang Pathol 2002; 34:19-33.
Ambrose NG, Cox NJ, Yairi E. The genetic basis of persistence and recovery in stuttering. J Speech Lang Hear Res 1997; 40:567-580.
Ambrose NG, Yairi E, Cox N. Genetic aspects of early childhood stuttering. J Speech Hear Res 1993; 36:701-706.
Kidd K, Kidd J, Records M. The possible causes of the sex ratio in stuttering and its implication. J Fluency Disord 2006; 35:13-23.
Costa D. Antidepressants and the treatment of stuttering. Am J Psychiatry 1992; 149:1281.
Brin FD. Management of stuttering. Speech Lang Hearing. Res J 2003; 37:1223-1225.
Yaira E. Dysfluency characteristics of childhood stuttering. Fluency Disord J 2004; 12:20-28.
Craig A, Hancock K, Tran Y, Craig M, Peters K. Epidemiology of stuttering in the community across the entire life span. J Speech Lang Hear Res 2002; 45:1097-1105.
Dell CM. Treating the school age child who stutters. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby Elsevier Co.; 2000. 22-27.
Mansson H. Childhood stuttering incidence and development disorder. Speech Lang Pathol J 2000; 7:47-57.
Bloodstein O. A handbook on stuttering. 3rd ed. Chicago, Illinois Company, Oliver Bloodstein; 2002; 261-270.
Andrews G, Harris M. The syndrome of stuttering. Speech Hearing Disord J 2008; 21:116-126.
Mahler S. Separation individuation in an early child development theory. 5th ed. London: St Louis Co.; 2008.
Piaget JA. Comprehensive theory about the nature and development of human intelligence first development. 5th ed. London: Mosby Co.; 2010.
Peters T, Guitar B. Stuttering an integrated approach to its nature and treatment. 2nd ed. Baltimore, USA: Williams & Wilkins ; 2006; 545-565.
Yairi E, Ambrose N. A longitudinal study of stuttering in children. Speech Hearing Res J 2005; 35:755-760.
Bijleved C. Neurological complication: stroke and seizures. Periodicals J 2006; 52:246-251.
[Table 1], [Table 2], [Table 3], [Table 4], [Table 5], [Table 6], [Table 7], [Table 8], [Table 9], [Table 10], [Table 11]
Bhgat RS
Darweesh ME
Ahmed MA
Intraphonemic disruption
monosyllabic
repetitions
Participants and...
[TAG2]


Foul by Greg Halford on Luke Chambers, free kick awarded.
(Cardiff) makes a substitution, with Declan John coming on for Kadeem Harris.
Jonas Knudsen produces a cross.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Peter Whittingham by Freddie Sears.
The ball is sent over by Jordan Spence.
Freddie Sears is flagged offside by the assistant referee.
Anthony Pilkington concedes a free kick for a foul on Christophe Berra.
David Hoilett takes a shot. Save made by Bartosz Bialkowski.
Anthony Pilkington on for Kenneth Zohore.
Shot by Kenneth Zohore. Bartosz Bialkowski makes a save.
Greg Halford replaces Craig Noone.
Danny Rowe is brought on as a substitute for Toumani Diagouraga.
David McGoldrick leaves the field to be replaced by Freddie Sears.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Kadeem Harris by Jordan Spence.
Craig Noone takes a shot and goes over the bar.
Joe Bennett takes the free kick.
Craig Noone manages to make a clearance.
Grant Ward delivers the ball.
Corner taken by Tom Lawrence from the left by-line.
David McGoldrick takes a shot and went wide of the left-hand post.
Free kick taken by Allan McGregor.
Brett Pitman is cautioned by the ref for unsporting behaviour.
Aron Gunnarsson fouled by Brett Pitman, the ref awards a free kick.
Joe Bennett scores with a left foot finish. Cardiff 3-1 Ipswich.Assist by Kadeem Harris.
David Hoilett takes a shot and went wide left of the target.
Free kick taken by Luke Chambers.
Free kick awarded for a foul by David Hoilett on Christophe Berra.
Jordan Spence manages to make a clearance.
David Hoilett fouled by Christophe Berra, the ref awards a free kick.
Luke Chambers restarts play with the free kick.
Souleymane Bamba gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Brett Pitman.
Free kick taken by Sean Morrison.
Unfair challenge on Kenneth Zohore by Christophe Berra results in a free kick.
Tom Lawrence takes the free kick.
Joe Bennett challenges Grant Ward unfairly and gives away a free kick.
Header at goal by Sean Morrison goes over the frame of the goal.
Joe Bennett fouled by Toumani Diagouraga, the ref awards a free kick.
Craig Noone crosses the ball.
Brett Pitman is brought on as a substitute for Tommy Smith.
Shot by Aron Gunnarsson went wide right of the target.
Strike comes in from Peter Whittingham from the free kick which clears the crossbar.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Souleymane Bamba by Cole Skuse.
David Hoilett takes the chance to get an effort at goal and hits the post.
Kadeem Harris sends in a cross.
Unfair challenge on Christophe Berra by David Hoilett results in a free kick.
Kadeem Harris takes the chance to get an effort at goal. Blocked by Cole Skuse.
Foul by Jordan Spence on Souleymane Bamba, free kick awarded.
Jazz Richards delivers the ball.
Kenneth Zohore grabs a goal with a left foot finish. Cardiff 1-1 Ipswich.Assist on the goal came from Sean Morrison.
Foul by Jonas Knudsen on Craig Noone, free kick awarded.
Free kick taken by Peter Whittingham.
Foul by Tommy Smith on David Hoilett, free kick awarded.
Kadeem Harris gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Tom Lawrence.
Kenneth Zohore takes a shot. Bartosz Bialkowski safely holds on.
Header at goal by Souleymane Bamba to the left of the net.
Free kick awarded for a foul by Christophe Berra on Kadeem Harris.
Toumani Diagouraga concedes a free kick for a foul on Aron Gunnarsson.
Free kick taken by Jazz Richards.
Tom Lawrence crosses the ball in from the free kick. Luke Chambers scores with a header. Cardiff 0-1 Ipswich.Assist on the goal came from Tom Lawrence.
Free kick awarded for a foul by Souleymane Bamba on Jordan Spence.
David McGoldrick takes a shot and goes harmlessly over the bar.
Christophe Berra gives away a free kick for an unfair challenge on Kenneth Zohore.
Free kick taken by David McGoldrick.
Free kick awarded for an unfair challenge on Grant Ward by David Hoilett.
Foul by Kenneth Zohore on Tom Lawrence, free kick awarded.
Grant Ward takes a shot. Allan McGregor parries the effort to safety.
Toumani Diagouraga manages to make a clearance.
Foul by Jordan Spence on Kadeem Harris, free kick awarded.
Shot by Kenneth Zohore cleared the crossbar.
Joe Bennett sends in a cross.
Shot by Kadeem Harris. Cole Skuse gets a block in.
Direct strike on goal from the free kick comes in from Peter Whittingham. Bartosz Bialkowski parries the effort to safety.
Free kick awarded for a foul by Cole Skuse on David Hoilett.


a view from under the umbrella of a casahuate tree amidst a deafening cacophony of cicadas. It was a nice place for a picnic, sheltered from the 100° + heat.
Museo de las Culturas de Oaxaca.
Panamericana Trek de Kevin Dooley usando Google Street View.
Preserved Spanish Colonial City, Southern Mexico.
Details of the streets in the capital city of Oaxaca.
Quinceañera : 15th birthday is an important step for all Mexican girls!
re-post in square - I took this down originally because I thought it somewhat cliche but when I put it to square, the natural fractal effect manifested itself in the new format..


As a teenager my grandfather ran away from his boyhood home in Tennessee. We never knew why, why he ran away and never went back. He rode the rails to the Texas panhandle and married and died across the line in northwest Oklahoma. There were many things about my grandfather that were never talked about. There were many gaps that I filled in with my imagination. Little by little those things came to light, that his drinking might've been a problem and that he gambled.
I based my short story "Grandpa's Wager" on him. Yes, indeed, he bet the family farm on Truman during a presidential election that by the time people went to bed Dewey had been given the victory: I learned that from a cousin as my father lay on his death bed. The event hadn't made it into family lore. Amazing. Now I want to know more: not only the family I knew, but also their secrets, the human side that went to their graves with them.
As an adult, while my Great Uncle Lem was still alive and lived there, I would drive through the small town of Gage. I had to look around, see the old farm at the end of a dusty lane, see my great grandmother's white framed two story house at the intersection of Main and the highway, and see the house in town where my grandparents lived out their last years. In other words, I tried to get the lay of the land. These places are still important to me now, as I assess the assets I have as a writer.
My great grandfather Wright was an early pioneer. He worked at many trades…I used his machine shop and his great skill as a machinist in a one-act play of mine call ONE DEAD INDIAN (produced by The Dallas Theater Center). To give you some idea about this guy here's a list of what my great grandfather did for a living starting with his family, who owned and operated a sawmill on the present site of the town of Gage. He built east and west drift fences for large cattle companies to keep cattle from going too far south into Indian territory; he drove freight from Dodge City to Lipscomb County Texas; he raised cattle and engaged in farming; he built the first cotton gin and light plant in town; he converted the old gin into a grain elevator and feed mill; and he ran a hardware store, a gas station, a pool hall ("recreation room") and an ice-cream parlor. And he did a lot of that with a missing arm. But he didn't do all of this alone: no secret here. He was a married man. I remember my great grandmother, but my great grandfather died of a heart attack shortly before I was born. She got a big kick out of my exaggeration (it was her huge oak tree that I said I could cut down with a lawn mower I had in Texas.) And as I write this blog it occurs to me that there is enough material here for me to write a saga. But none of this gets into the nitty-gritty substance that is essential for a writer. Detail, detail, and more detail. Personal detail. And that's what I'm looking for.


text:
Terminating Father's Parental Rights In Connecticut
In regard to the failure to achieve personal rehabilitation, General Statutes (Rev. to 1997) 17a-112 (c) (3) (B) provides for the termination of parental rights when: "the parent of a child who has been found by the Superior Court to have been neglected or uncared for in a prior proceeding has failed to achieve such degree of personal rehabilitation as would encourage the belief that within a reasonable time, considering the age and needs of the child, such parent could assume a responsible position in the life of the child . . . ." "Personal rehabilitation as used in the statute refers to the restoration of a parent to his or her former constructive and useful role as a parent. . . . Section 17a-112 requires the trial court to analyze the parent's rehabilitative status as it relates to the needs of the particular child, and further, that such rehabilitation must be foreseeable within a reasonable time. . . . the statute requires the court to find, by clear and convincing evidence, that the level of rehabilitation he has achieved, if any, falls short of that which would reasonably encourage a belief that at some future date he can assume a responsible position in his child's life." In re Eden F., supra, 250 Conn. 706. "This court recently explained that in assessing rehabilitation, the critical issue is not whether the parent has improved his ability to manage his own life, but rather whether he has gained the ability to care for the particular needs of the child at issue." In re Shyliesh H., supra, 56 Conn. App. 180.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Michel Hans Lippert más néven Michael Lippert (1897. április 27. – 1969. szeptember 1.) rendőrtiszt és német katona, SS Standartenführer, harcolt az első és a második világháborúban is. A második világháborúban számos koncentrációs tábort vezetett, többek között Sachenhausent, mielőtt kinevezték az SS-Freiwilligen Legion Flandern és a 10. SS-Panzer-Division Frundsberg élére. Leginkább arról nevezetes, hogy részt vett Ernst Röhm SA-vezér meggyilkolásában 1934. július 1-jén.

Jegyzetek

1897-ben született személyek
1969-ben elhunyt személyek
A Német Birodalom katonái a második világháborúban

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls is an Australian independent and non-selective Anglican day and boarding school for girls located in Mosman Park, a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia.
Established in Claremont in 1896, the school currently caters for approximately 1,052 students from the Early Learning Centre (ELC) to Year 12, including 150 boarders in Years 7 to 12. Whilst predominantly an all-girls school, the St Hilda's ELC is co-educational.
St Hilda's is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA), the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA), the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australia (AGSA), and is a member of the Independent Girls' Schools Sports Association (IGSSA).
St Hilda's associated boys school is Christ Church Grammar School located in Claremont.


text:
Goalie nods: Surging Flyers to face red-hot Bishop
By Jason BroughMar 11, 2016, 1:50 PM EST
The Philadelphia Flyers were impressive in beating the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-2, on Monday at Wells Fargo Center.
But for the record, they didn't beat Ben Bishop, as the Bolts went with backup Andrei Vasilevskiy for that game.
Tonight, the two teams meet again, this time in Tampa, and this time with Bishop between the pipes.
Bishop has been excellent of late. The 29-year-old is 6-0-1 in his last seven starts, with a save percentage of .954. His only loss during that stretch came Tuesday, a 1-0 overtime decision versus the Bruins — a game in which he was named second star.
The Flyers, meanwhile, enter tonight's action just three points back of the Penguins for the final wild-card spot in the East.
"I think it can be a huge statement game," winger Wayne Simmonds told CSN Philly. "To beat [the Lightning] the way we played in our building and to go there and be able to do the same thing, I think that'll be a huge confidence booster for our team.
"I'm pretty positive they weren't too happy with the way they played. They can play better as a team, so we're going to be ready for their best and we're going to give our best and stay within our structure."
Steve Mason will be in goal for Philadelphia.
— Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins in Columbus, where Sergei Bobrovsky will return from his latest groin injury for the Blue Jackets.
— Frederik Andersen for the Ducks in St. Louis, where Jake Allen will start again for the Blues.
— Corey Crawford for the Blackhawks in Dallas, where Kari Lehtnonen is expected for the Stars.
— No official starter for the Coyotes in Calgary, where Joni Ortio will be in the Flames' net.
Tags: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ben Bishop, Corey Crawford, Frederik Andersen, Jake Allen, Joni Ortio, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Bobrovsky, Steve Mason, Wayne Simmonds


We work with businesses to listen, research and strategise ways in which they can get their brand out to their target market. Working with our clients harnesses the power of the Media both traditional and digital, in ways that suit their business, their budget and their needs.
With thought behind each and every campaign, we work with you to clear the confusion and manage the media, marketing and promotional opportunities for your business. From one off campaigns to our virtual PR Teams ThoughtSpot PR is your partner for achieving success in your business.
An imaginative consultancy, ThoughtSpot PR adapts quickly to the rapidly changing digital environment as well as engaging our clients in traditional marketing campaigns tailored to their specific needs.


Click here for "Meadow House"
Situated on the shores of Lake Champlain on historic Isle La Motte, this Vermont Bed and Breakfast, the Ruthcliffe Lodge, commands a panoramic view of the Green Mountains of Vermont. If you are traveling to Vermont our secluded island paradise makes the perfect summer getaway or fall side trip. Only one hour from Montreal, Canada and Burlington, Vermont, it is also the ideal stopping place en route to these destinations.
Relax in Adirondack chairs as you take in sweeping views of Lake Champlain and Mt. Mansfield. Canoe on the lake or cycle along our quiet roads. If you've spent the day exploring local attractions, you might prefer to simply curl up with a good book in the common sitting area. No matter what you choose to do, you'll savor a leisurely stay here at cozy Ruthcliffe Lodge. Check out our new packages!
The exciting city of Montreal is but one hour away. Enjoy exciting night life and special events such as the international Jazz Festival, comedy festival, and the Montreal Grand Prix to name a few.
Nearby is the the oldest reef in the world, Chazy Reef, where the dark Chazy limestone of southern Isle La Motte is from --480 million years ago--and it's teaming with fossils. Several island quarries provided this famous decorative black marble used for major projects, such as the Brooklyn Bridge, and several local buildings. Read more about Chazy Reef in this article provided by Wayside Exhibits. Fisk Quarry, also here on Isle La Motte, is an outdoor museum containing world renowned, 480,000,000 year-old fossils. More information on Fisk Quarry and Goodsell Ridge Fossil Preserve here.
Our delicious Italian-American cuisine is prepared by Mark. Enjoy splendid seafood, chicken, beef, veal, or pasta entrees accompanied by Mark's homemade soups, warm bread, seasonal greens, and garden fresh vegetables. You'll dine al fresco or in our cozy, knotty-pine dining room overlooking sparkling Lake Champlain.
"A right hand-turn here brought me to the Ruthcliffe Lodge, irrefutably the best restaurant in the Lake Champlain island region."
Lake Champlain Beauty - Click here!
now available with your stay!


text:
Love Hurts
By Josh R
Why do we always hurt the ones we love?
Anyone who's been a part of any kind of significant relationship, whether of the familial or romantic variety, has been given to ponder the paradoxical nature of those thorny, forged-in-fire entanglements. As evidenced by the brutal, bruising verbal brickbats the family members of August: Osage County lob at each other's heads like hand grenades, no one can inflict quite as much damage as one's nearest and dearest. This axiom may be most commonly applied in reference to human interaction, but it holds equally true when considering a writer and his work.
Anyone who's ever put pen to paper — or, in this modern age, spent hours staring at a blinking monitor — knows that the peculiar bond between a scribe and his prose can be as complex and as intimate as that of any of the human variety. Many playwrights and novelists have likened their labors to the birthing process, and discuss their work in the same way that parents talk about their children. By that definition, writers who do harm to their own creations can be charged — at least, on some metaphysical plane — with child abuse.
This is not to cast aspersions on the character of Tracy Letts, who has adapted his Pulitzer Prize-winning play for the screen, and whom I suspect is only minimally to blame for what has happened to it (nothing good) en route. Still and all, it begs the eternal question: Why do we hurt the ones we love? As far as selling a book or a play to the movies is concerned, nine times out of ten, the road to perdition is paved with good intentions.
Rather than veering too far off course into the realm of psychoanalytic introspection, it may be best to consider the history of the property in question. August: Osage County premiered in the summer of 2007 at The Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. The production subsequently moved to Broadway in the fall of 2008, with most of its original cast intact. It remained ensconced on The Beltway for a year and a half — a rare feat for a non-musical production not featuring a movie or TV star — picking up virtually every major award along the way. I saw the production three times over the course of its run — anyone familiar with Broadway pricing will recognize that this represents a sacrifice — and reviewed it for this site in 2009. It is not an overstatement to say that, then as now, I regard it as one of the highlights of my life's theatergoing experience. Admittedly, I am not the ideal person to review the film adaptation, since I cannot approach the material with any kind of objectivity. Nor would I want to. Even if it's a fundamental part of our nature to hurt the ones we love, it doesn't follow that we enjoy doing it.
Nevertheless, when the owner and proprietor of this blog calls me up for active duty, I do my best to answer the call. In interest of full disclosure, I must state that while I tried to approach the assignment with an open mind, personal prejudice (did I mention how much I loved the show on Broadway?) has gotten the better of me to some degree. Oddly enough, without that pre-existing prejudice, my response toward the film might have been even less felicitous than it is now.
It's bad form when reviewers reference other critics' opinions to reinforce and/or validate their own position. The mere act of doing so suggests lack of confidence in one's opinion. That said, one of the things I've been struck (and depressed) by is the manner in which many non-theatergoing critics have suggested, based solely on their reaction to the film version, that August: Osage County is not, and in fact never could have been, much of a play. The critic for The New York Times, while allowing that that the material may have been "mishandled…(in its) transition from stage to screen," pondered whether that transition may have "exposed weak spots in (Letts') dramatic architecture and bald spots in his writing." On the opposite coast, the scribe for The Los Angeles Times took it a step further in declaring that while he had not seem the stage incarnation, "nothing about this film version makes me regret that choice."
I suspect many people on the receiving end of years' worth of glowing testimonials will react in much the same fashion. Anyone experiencing director John Wells' hamfisted, ultimately rather conventional Hollywood treatment of family dysfunction without a suitable frame of reference may well be given to wonder, "Is this what all the fuss was about?" Advance reports suggested that the filmmakers made a deliberate effort to brighten things up, even going so far as to tack on a happy ending. That's not the case. While truncated, the play has not been radically revised. In a certain sense, that's good news. The bad news is that fundamental fidelity to the text doesn't bring this baby snugly into port. You could rewrite every line and still arrive at something that felt closer in spirit and purpose to what Letts created for the stage than what Wells and company have come up with. As played for cozy camp by a cast of Hollywood heavyweights, the material has not been softened as much as it has been neutered.
For a sharp-fanged predator used to trolling the wild with confidence, this has an effect of bland domestication, despite the fact that its path through the jungle remains essentially the same. What sets the plot in motion is the mysterious disappearance of Beverly Weston (Sam Shepard), the craggy, alcoholic patriarch of an extended clan that includes three daughters, one grandchild and an assortment of in-laws. A noted poet whose output didn't extend beyond one fledgling success, Beverly has a habit of going missing without so much a heads up to his nearest and dearest. This time, however, his absence has an unmistakable air of finality. No one can be quite certain whether he's alive or dead, but the likelihood of his coming back seems slim to none. One by one, the far-flung Weston children, two of whom have wisely chosen to get themselves as far away from Mom and Dad as humanly possible, descend upon the family homestead en masse to try to piece together exactly what happened to Dad, and what in hell to do about mother Violet (Meryl Streep), a chain-smoking, pill-popping, cancer-riddled gorgon who shows no signs of becoming more manageable now that her chief antagonist has vanished without a trace. Leading the charge is pragmatic, sardonic Barbara (Julia Roberts, keeping that million-dollar smile firmly under wraps), who isn't about to let Mom off the hook without answering a few questions. Of course, when you start digging for the truth, there's no telling what sort horrors you may uncover. As it turns out, there are good and plenty festering away in the crypt of family secrets, and Violet is perfectly willing to invite them out to dance.
Even as I lavished praise upon the play and the production in my original review, I did so with the caveat that August: Osage County was not a revolutionary work of theater, nor even a particularly original one. Borrowing liberally from Eugene O'Neill, Lillian Hellman and Sam Shepard, among others, the play harks back to the classic traditions of American drama while reinvigorating the tried-and-true machinery of melodrama with brazen, jolting theatricality. The chief mistake Wells has made for the purposes of the film version – besides some critically misjudged casting choices — is in his confusion of theatricality with camp. He encourages his cast members to go for the easy laughs whenever they can, and irons out the characters' idiosyncrasies to the point that their behavior seems almost quaint. When Violet and Barbara literally come to blows in the climatic dinner table scene, it's like watching Joan Collins and Linda Evans wrestling on the marble foyer at Carrington Manor. It's outrageous, to be sure, but not particularly shocking. Without the emotional resonance that original stage players Deanna Dunagan and Amy Morton brought to the proceedings, under the skillful direction of Anna D. Shapiro, what you're left with feels more along the lines of a live action cartoon.
While the sins of the director shouldn't be heaped at feet of the playwright, Letts' screenplay adaptation doesn't help matters much. The clunky efforts at opening up the piece for the screen, taking the action out of doors at select intervals, never feel like an organic extension of the action. The element of claustrophobia that contributed so much to the proceedings onstage, in the rambling Pawhuska, Okla., farmhouse with its shades drawn tight to keep out light and air, has been jettisoned in favor of woebegone glimpses of parched prairies. Certain nuances inevitably fall by the wayside when condensing a 3 hour play into a 2 hour film, and while the cuts do not fundamentally alter the dramatic structure, the action occasionally feels rushed, as if the filmmakers were working on a limited budget and needed to hit all the major plot points before running out of film stock. Some characters have been whittled down to near non-existence (the Native American housekeeper, here played by Misty Upham, has been reduced to a virtual extra), while the participation of others has been severely curtailed so as not to distract from the main event of the Streep-Roberts smackdown.
About that smackdown. Judging by the posters for the film, which flaunt a scrunch-faced, teeth-baring Ms. Roberts wrestling a very harassed-looking Ms. Streep to the ground, the battle royal between two living legends already has been designated as the chief selling point for this film. I won't argue the point. The tattered Baby Jane template still has some blood coursing through its skeletal remains, and I suspect it isn't just camp-starved audiences who will pony up the cash to see the two biggest female stars of their respective generations going at each other like a pair of fabulously plumed Japanese fighting fish. Both actresses seem to have taken their cues from that WWE poster aesthetic, and while the ham they serve up may be to many people's taste, the meal as a whole is less than nourishing.
At this point, we're really not supposed to say anything bad about Meryl Streep, since certain things are to be accepted without questioning. Remember that thing they taught us in school about Democracy being the best form of government? Well, even if a few dozen Tea Party crackpots can force a complete shutdown of the entire federal shebang, you can't fault the model, God dammit. Likewise, I've discovered that in certain quarters, if you broach any contradiction to the edict that Meryl Streep is The Greatest Actress Who Ever Was, people will react as if you said something bad about America. I've spoken this blasphemy before, and I've been unfriended on Facebook for doing it. I'm not exactly sure why certain folks seem to have so little sense of proportion when it comes to Our Lady of the Accents, but this is not to imply that their insistence upon her genius is entirely lacking in merit. Ms. Streep is unquestionably great. She has given some of the best and most memorable performances of the last 30-odd years. That her talent level is through the roof, residing somewhere in the stratosphere, is beyond reproof. I suspect she's abundantly aware of this.
It isn't that Streep has become complacent as a performer; she doesn't just coast on her abilities, though at times, she seems to be responding more to her characters as Great Acting Opportunities than as flesh-and-blood human beings. By default, she is undoubtedly the best thing in August: Osage County. Her performance is the most finely honed and easily the most convincing of the bunch, even if the favored mannerisms and inflections are starting to look so precise and polished that they might as well be kept under glass at Tiffany's. Where the performance loses credibility (and probably, this is the director's fault as much as hers) is in her rendering of Violet as a lip-smacking Diva turn. Part of the fun of watching Deanna Dunagan onstage was the slow reveal of Violet's true nature; behind the drug-induced haze and tortured insecurities lie an ineffably shrewd, twisted, Machiavellian mind, sharp as a tack and ready to do battle. By contrast, Streep takes to the screen like she's warming up to play Eleanor of Aquitaine. When it's crystal clear from the outset exactly who's pulling the strings, a vital element of suspense is lost. Frankly, given who's she up against, it isn't as though she has much in the way of competition, anyway.
Lest anyone misunderstand my intentions, I must duly assert that I am not a snob when it comes to acting pedigree. Range and/or skill set, whether acquired by classical or method training, does not necessarily place one person on a higher pedestal than anyone else. Talent is talent, and I've always had a soft spot for performers who can make assembly-line crap compulsively watchable by sheer force of personality. Julia Roberts has her limitations as an actor, and her fair share of detractors (and boy, are they emphatic), but she's also given some of the great movie star performances of her era. It's not a knock on Audrey Hepburn to say that she probably didn't have the chops for Albee, or that Barbra Streisand might have been absolutely disastrous in Pinter. Nor should it be perceived as a negative reflection on Ms. Roberts to say that what is required of her in this context is simply beyond her abilities. Unfortunately, that negative balance takes a lot of the charge out of the material, and gives the mother-daughter skirmish the appearance of a lopsided battle.
On stage, Amy Morton's cornhusk-dry delivery, powerful physicality and searing emotional transparency went a long way towards revealing the deep reserves of anger and pain which informed Barbara's metamorphosis from defeated, resentful onlooker to fully engaged combatant. While Barbara is nominally the protagonist, she's not really the hero. That she is very much her mother's daughter, as damaged and damaging as Violet and with the same capacity for unleashing icy torrents of cold, hard fury, is made abundantly clear as soon as Mama starts turning up the heat. You have to believe, as one character asserts, that in spite of surface appearances, there's "no difference" between the two. Roberts endeavors diligently to embody the complexities and contradictions of the role, but going to the dark places is not the most comfortable place to be when one has made a career out of flooding the screen with sunshine. She overcompensates by punching up her sassy, feisty Erin Brockovich shtick, but what worked like gangbusters in a miniskirt and push-up-bra does not here dimension make. It's an uncharacteristically flat, colorless performance. There's never any risk of Barbara turning into her mother, not does it ever seems as though she is willing or able to take Violet to the mats.
No one else meandering through the din makes much of an impression, although a few of the performers — notably Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale and Juliette Lewis, who brings some nice flashes of hysteria to her marginalized role as the most clueless and least functional of the three sisters — are at least better suited to the material. While Benedict Cumberbatch has carved out a nice niche for himself in recent years as the thinking girl's sex symbol, and Ewan McGregor likely will remain boyishly handsome well into his 60s, their presence here as, respectively, a sad-sack, slow-witted underachiever and an unprepossessing middle-age college professor, defies all measure of reason. Julianne Nicholson, Dermot Mulroney and Abigail Breslin are among those also caught in the cross-hairs, although everyone not named Meryl or Julia is essentially treated as window-dressing. While it's something we've come to expect of the movies, casting so many extremely photogenic performers was probably a mistake. Quiet desperation, romantic neglect and midlife crisis have never looked more red-carpet-ready.
That red carpet will doubtless unfurl in the months to come for at least one member, and possibly more, of August: Osage County's creative team. Tracy Letts may reap some of the rewards for his contribution here. Of course, nominations are nice, and so is the money…but reading between the lines of the playwright's recent comments to The New York Times, he's not entirely satisfied with the finished product. A writer's life is one of compromise when the camera comes into the picture, and based on Letts' statements, he probably realized that trying to maintain too much control over the film version would have been fighting a losing battle. At least, by doing the adaptation himself, he could still score a few points and protect some of what needed to be preserved. Why do we hurt the ones we love? If August: Osage County is any indication, the answer may be to prevent others from hurting them instead.
Labels: 10s, A. Hepburn, Albee, Chris Cooper, Ewan McGregor, Harold Pinter, Julia Roberts, O'Neill, Shepard, Streep, Streisand, Theater
# posted by Josh R @ 2:30 PM 2 comments


The College Ministry exists for collegians to discover God, to connect with others in large and small group settings, and serve their community and the world. Whether you are studying at a school in the L.A. area or elsewhere, we welcome you to come and connect with other college students; together we are on a journey to follow Jesus.
We meet each Thursday night at 7:07 p.m in The 290s on the Main Campus. Come participate in the discussion of what following Christ actually means, instead of merely believing in Him. Hear the vision of the College Ministry as we proceed together.
We have two retreats per year, summer and winter. Find out more information at The Well or by contacting us.


text:
FALNIR CLINIC – Make your visit to the doctor a pleasant experience
Home » Doctors
Dr Arul Furtado
MS, MCh, Dnb Cardiothoracic Surgery
consultant Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon currently working at Apollo Hospitals, Bangalore. He completed his basic medical training at Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore following which he specialized in General Surgery (MS) from the same institute. He gained further training in Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Surgery (CVTS, MCh) from Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (A national institute). As additional qualifications he is a Diplomate of the National Board (DNB) in both General Surgery and Cardiothoracic Surgery.
He worked as an Associate Professor in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, Bangalore before moving to USA for further specialization.
He has completed three fellowships in USA.
Adult Cardiac Surgery - Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston
Adult Cardiac Surgery - Emory University, Atlanta
Minimally Invasive Cardiothoracic Surgery - Emory University, Atlanta - training in Endovascular therapies for aneurysms of the aorta, and trancatheter therapies for structural heart disease - specifically Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) and the MitraClip procedure.
His areas of interest include:
Arterial revascularization for coronary artery disease
Minimally invasive cardiac surgery
Aortic surgery - aneurysm/ dissection
Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR and TEVAR)
Minimally Invasive Thoracic Surgery - Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS)
Heart failure surgery/ Heart transplants
Dr. Jerome Pinto
M.D. Dermatology
Dr. Jerome Pinto served as the Professor and Head of the Department of Skin and Venereal Disease, K.S. Hegde Charitable Hospital, Derlakatte, Mangalore. He had formerly served in the same capacity at Father Muller's Hospital and Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore. He is known for his service in the field of Leprosy eradication, he has been serving as the Secretary of Hind Kusht Nivaran Sangh since 2002. He has the credit of publishing numerous scientific papers, delivering lectures and presentations, moderating and participating in seminars, workshops, conferences and continuing medical education (CME) programmes. He is enrolled as a 'Fellow of the Academy' of the Academy of General Education, Manipal, and is the recipient of 'Best Medical Officer' of the District by District Leprosy Society (2004) and 'Special Achievement Award' for outstanding work in Leprosy by the Rotary Club of Mangalore. He is a past president of IMA Mangalore Branch (2004-2005).
Click here for booking an appointment
Dr Deepak Pinto
MS Orthopaedics, FRCS (Glasgow,UK)
working as Associate professor in KMC Mangalore
and working as Honorary Assistant Medical officer in Govt Wenlock District Hospital, Mangalore.
has done fellowship of Royal college of surgeons FRCS in UK and worked in various hospitals in England.
Has special interest in Arthroscopy( Key hole surgery of joints), joint replacement.
Is part of the District clubfoot correction progamme.
Click here to book an appointment
Dr. Nischith D'souza
MCh Urology
Dr Nischith D'Souza completed his Superspeciality training in MCh Urology at Bangalore Medical College, after his undergraduation from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, and MS General Surgery from St John's Medical College, Bangalore. He secured the first rank in MCh Urology final year University examination conducted by RGUHS, Bangalore. He has published articles in various Journals and also received the Best Paper Awards at the National and South Zone Urology Conferences. He was also selected for the International Travel Fellowship by the Urological Society of India to attend the British Association of Urological Surgeons Meeting at London and is a member of the American Urology Association. He is currently working as a Consultant Urologist in Mangalore.
Dr. Nameeth D'souza
M.S. Opthalmology, FVRS
Dr Nameeth D'Souza is a consultant vitreoretinal surgeon and founder of Mangalore Retina Care. He is a diabetic retinopathy specialist and specially trained in the treatment of all medical and surgical retinal diseases of the eye. He completed his MBBS and MS in ophthalmology under Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. He did a Medical Retina fellowship from Sankara Nethralaya Chennai and further went on to to do Fellowship in Vitreoretinal Surgery from the premier MM Joshi Eye Hospital in Hubli. With the increasing prevalence of retinal diseases in this region and patients having to travel to bigger cities for treatment, he started Mangalore Retina Care in 2012 with an aim to create awareness and provide quality retina care to people in and around Mangalore. Mangalore Retina Care is located at Falnir Clinic, Don Bosco Hall Cross Road, Falnir, Mangalore. He is also a visiting consultant at Vasan Eye Care, Mangalore.
Dr Ajay Bhat
MD Medicine
Dr. Ajay Bhat. MBBS,MD (medicine)
Consultant physician
He has Completed MBBS (2009) and MD (2012) at Kasturba Medical College
Mangalore.
Received gold medal in both MBBS and Md medicine.
Presently working as assistant professor at KMC Mangalore and Honarary medical officer at district govt Wenlock hospital.
Special interest in diabetes, blood pressure, cardiology, kidney diseases, migraine, respiratory diseases and other ailments.
Dr Ragavendra Nayak
MD,DM Nephrology
DR. RAGHAVENDRA NAYAK
Education Profile:
KMC Registration No:.69111
Jun 2008 – Feb 2009
Institution: Father Muller's Medical College, Mangalore, Karnataka
Designation : Assistant Professor
May 2012- July 2012
Institution: Apollo Hospitals Chennai
Designation : Sr. Registrar
August 2012- till date
Institution : A J Hospital, mangalore Karnataka
Education profile
KMC Registration No: 69111
Examination Passed
Year of Passing
Mysore Medical College, Mysore.
M.D. (General Medicine)
JSS Medical College
April – 2008
DNB Nephrology
APOLLO Hospitals. Chennai April -2012
Dr Pradeep Periera
MD,DM Cardiology
Dr.Pradeep Pereira completed his MBBS in 2007 from AIMS, B.G Nagar through Karnataka CET, after which he did his MD in Medicine in 2010 from the NSCB medical college Jabalpur after clearing the tough All India post graduate entrance examination in his first attempt. He further obtained a DM degree in Cardiology from one of the best government owned deemed super specialty institution in India, SGPGIMS, Lucknow,.
Dr Pradeep Pereira has been involved in a number of Research Projects and has been co-author of several Articles & abstracts in important Journals on various subjects related to Cardiology. He was awarded first prize for cardiology poster presentation at annual UP-CSI conference. He also has won gold medal in National cardiology quiz held at Kanpur. He is been up-to-date with the Cardiology advances & is a regular attendee of interventional cardiology conferences .He has extensive training in all interventional cardiology procedures including coronary angiograms & angioplasties specially radial route, pacemaker & ICD implantations, valvoplasties etc.
1. Coronary Artery diseases & Intervention
2. Heart Failure
3. Electrophysiology
4. Preventive Cardiology
Dr. Pradeep Pereira is available for Cardiology consultation at Falnir clinic from Monday to Saturday. He is currently working as assistant Professor of Cardiology at Father Muller's charitable institutions,
Dr Kamalaksh Shenoy
MD Oncolgy
Obtained his masters degree in Radiation Oncology from the prestigious Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai after his under graduation from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore.
Presently he is working as Professor and Head in the Department of Oncology at AJ Hospital and Research Centre, Kuntikana, Mangaluru. He was former Professor and Head of Oncology division at Kasturba Medical College Mangalore. He has a vast experience of 21 years in the specialty of oncology. He has been the Principal Investigator in several National & International Clinical Research Trials on Concurrent Chemoradiation therapy in Head and Neck Cancers, Lung Cancer, Metastatic Breast Cancer, etc
He has undergone ESTRO training for image guided brachytherapy in gynecological malignancies at Florence, Italy. He has rich experience in Modern Radiotherapy Techniques such as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, Image Guided Radiation Therapy and Biological Targeted Radiation Therapy.
Dr Rashmi Rasquinha
ENT SURGEON
Consultant ear nose throat , head and neck surgeon.
Working as a faculty in the department of ENT, A. J. Institute of health sciences, Mangalore.
Has completed her M.B.B.S. & DLO in ENT ,HEAD & NECK SURGERY from Fr. Muller medical college hospital, Mangalore.
SPECIAL INTERESTS :
Allergy and upper airway disorders
Headache & vertigo
Speech and voice pathology
Dr Arun Bhat
Basically a resident of Mangalore, after completing the MBBS from the esteemed institute, Kasturba Medical College Mangalore, did his Diploma in Psychological Medicine(DPM) from MVJ Medical College, Bangalore. Later worked for a brief period at AJ institute of Medical Sciences. Soon after completed his DNB training in Psychiatry at a famous tertiary psychiatric setup, "Masina Hospital", Mumbai. Currently he is working in the department of Psychiatry at K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, Deralakatte and practicing at Falnir clinic. He is specialized in dealing with all kinds of psychiatric illnesses like psychosis, schizophrenia, mood disorders, depression, anxiety disorders like panic attacks, phobia with special interest in sexual medicine( non organic erectile dysfunction,premature ejaculation, nocturnal emission, decreased sexual drive), de-addiction and OCD
Dr Smitha Pinto
MD Paediatrics
Dr Smitha Pinto MD
special interest in neonatal care
Dr May D'souza
MS OPTHALMOLOGY
Dr May D'souza
Mbbs,MS (Ophthalmology)
Is a general ophthalmologist and anterior segment specialist. Specializes in cataract / phacoemulsification surgery. Currently working in Fr.Muller medical college. Her areas of interest are refractive surgery.
Dr Lynsel Dsouza
MS Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Dr Lynsel D'souza consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist
Working as an Assistant Professor at KMC Mangalore and as Honorary assistant medical officer at Government Lady Goschen Hospital.
Has taken active part in motivating women's health in various campus and associations. Special interests in urogynaecology and endoscopic surgery.
Dr Sydney D'souza
MD Internal Medicine/ Diabetes
Dr Eugene Rent
Ravi Kumar
Dr Ajit Mahale MD
Maxillofacial Surgeon
Dr Arvind Karikal MDS
Dr Subash Rai MD
Mr Yogeesh
Mr Srinivas
Mr Edward MLT
Mr Ravi MLT
Mrs Sunitha MLT
Mrs Suprita MLT
Mr Clifford
Miss Mamatha
Ms Mary Monteiro
Chandrika
© 2019 Falnir Clinic – All rights reserved


Hello and welcome to The Spa Room, where skin care is passion! Creating changes to the skin is what The Spa Room is all about, whether it's through skin care treatments or makeup application. I have been in the beauty industry for over 10+, employed at high end day spas in areas like The Highlands and Cherry Creek. I'm truly passionate about being an Esthetician so much you'll find me every month busy with continued education, to keep my knowledge fresh and confident because ultimately my clients are my top priority.
I'm often asked what I enjoy most about being an Esthetician, and the truth is EVERYTHING! I love connecting with my clients in a positive way and helping them with their skin care goals most. The Spa Room is a place you can come to relax, refresh, and rejuvenate without judgement.
Rosie is very professional, knowledgeable and practices good technique. I highly recommend her!
Rosie was terrific. She checked in frequently to make sure I was comfortable, and my skin looked wonderful when she finished!
Rosie is professional and kind. My facial was both cleansing and relaxing. She is very educated and uses mostly local products. You will not be disappointed with your service!
Rosie is WONDERFUL!!! She provided such a relaxing, rejuvenating, professional environment- I'm definitely going back!
Rosie created a relaxing experience. My skin feels so much fresher!
Had a wonderful facial with Rosie, I bought the deal for myself and was so impressed took my daughter too. Thank you my skin feel wonderful!!
Loved the products Rosie used, they had a nice light scent that was not overpowering.


Inmates at two women's prisons in Texas train service dogs for veterans through Patriot Paws, a Rockwall-based nonprofit.
GATESVILLE — Lark Goode, wearing a stark white prison jumpsuit, set a prosthetic leg down on the glazed concrete floor and calmly walked to the other side of the gymnasium. At her signal, Rocky, a black lab mix with a naturally bobbed tail, retrieved the leg and brought it to Goode.
Bounding dogs and puppies are not the first thing one thinks of when picturing prison, but they are a common sight at the Dr. Lane Murray Unit and the Christina Melton Crain Unit, two women's prisons in Texas where 43 female inmates volunteer for Patriot PAWS, a nonprofit that trains service dogs for veterans with disabilities who live around the country.
Goode, 42, a former massage therapist, continued running through training exercises. On command, Rocky fetched a phone off a cabinet and went to get help when Goode pretended to faint.
Rocky will move to Bozeman, Mont., in April to live with Al Harmata, an eagle researcher at Montana State University who lost his left arm and leg when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in the central highlands of Vietnam. Goode, the daughter of a Vietnam veteran, teared up as she watched Harmata bond with Rocky.
"This is the first time I've had the opportunity to feel like I'm doing something for someone other than myself," said Goode, who was convicted of shooting a Plano man in the back of the head after a Valentine's Day date in 2002.
Harmata, 68, is thrilled to be getting a dog to help him, as his mobility has been hampered in recent years by back and knee pain. "Getting up and doing something is a lot more painful than it ever used to be, and Rocky will help relieve that," Harmata said.
Patriot PAWS was established in 2006 by Lori Stevens, a retired rural mail carrier who wanted to train dogs in order to help veterans live independently. Two years later, Christina Crain, then the chairwoman of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice, heard about the program and recommended it to the state prison system, thinking it would improve morale behind bars and cut down on recidivism.
Such alliances between prisons and dog training nonprofits date back to 1981, when Sister Pauline Quinn, a Dominican nun, founded a program in Washington State. (A dramatized version of Sister Quinn's story was told in a 2001 TV movie, "Within These Walls," starring Laura Dern and Ellen Burstyn.) Now, such programs can be found in penal institutions in more than 30 states.
Demand for service dogs, particularly among veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has far outstripped supply. Patriot PAWS has placed more than 70 dogs across the country and has 99 veterans on a waiting list. Dogs have proved particularly useful in managing post-traumatic stress disorder — they can even be trained to wake someone up from a bad dream.
Training a service dog takes from 18 months to two years and, even with inmate labor, can cost up to $20,000. Patriot PAWS, which has 10 staff members and 70 volunteers outside the prison, does not charge veterans for their dogs and relies entirely on donations. Interested inmates are screened by the warden and by Stevens, and those selected move in to one of the dorms dedicated to the program.
Breeders donate the puppies — mostly Labradors, golden retrievers and Labradoodles — and they are brought to prison after they have had their second round of immunizations, typically at 10 weeks. Behind those barbed-wire fences, inmates spend eight to 10 hours a day teaching the puppies more than 80 basic obedience commands. The dogs rotate among the inmates, staying with each for up to eight weeks, accompanying them to school and church and sleeping in wire crates beside their beds.
After four months, the dogs are taken by volunteers outside the prison, who work on more specialized commands and socialize them to interact with the larger world, including learning how to sit quietly in movie theaters and on airplanes. The dogs are then brought back to prison for final polishing.
Gatesville is home to a cluster of prisons, and three and a half miles down the road from the Lane Murray Unit's gymnasium, 33 inmates piled into a large room in their dormitory in the Crain Unit and spoke reverently about how the program has shaped their time behind bars.
"My family tells me, 'Only you could find dogs in prison,' " said Patricia Ball, 58, who left behind five dogs in San Antonio when she began her 15-year sentence for theft two years ago.
"These dogs serve a dual purpose — they're good for us, and then they help our veterans," Ball said.
Kathy Allen, 39, spent six years on the streets of Lubbock, estranged from her family, cooking methamphetamine. Now four years into her 15-year prison sentence, she recently moved into the Patriot PAWS dorm.


World | Megachurch Fusion Or Solar Encounter?
Megachurch Fusion Or Solar Encounter?
When two men meet whose predecessors turned their backs against each other a millennium ago, does it make a sound? Easy one: If it were two comets passing by the Sun in that frequency, the public anticipation would have been swelling for years at least. But the meeting of the two Christian Bishops – Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox – in a Cuban airport transit area – as secular a territorial status as one might imagine – was a surprise first of all to themselves. By the letter of the law, as activists are familiar with it, it is to be rated as a truly spontaneous demonstration.


Gerstad Builders is excited to announce a second phase of homes in our popular Williams Bay community of Bailey Estates! This new selection of homes offers an additional assortment of spacious Gerstad homes that buyers have come to love in the first phase combined with even more views of the beautiful, natural Wisconsin foliage. Each home is designed to meet the need of tranquility and privacy with wooded home sites situated on land up to one-and-one-quarter acres, all serviced by municipal water and sewer, another element that adds a city feel to this serene, rural environment.
As with other homes available by Gerstad, we provide customizable options to suit any personality and lifestyle. The single-family homes of Bailey Estates in Phase I and Phase II are priced from $242,990 to $326,990 and provide 1,744 to 3,177 square feet of living space that may be adjusted with even more popular home features such as a basement, three-car garages and finish selections from our top-notch design center. Residences range from three-to-five bedrooms and up to three bathrooms, so there's plenty of room for both relaxing and entertaining with family and friends.
The tight-knit Village of Williams Bay is situated on Lake Geneva and is home to small, high-performing schools, close access to medical facilities, recreational activities, shopping and dining districts, entertainment and other attractions. Residents of Bailey Estates also enjoy the family-friendly commodity of the beautiful, four-acre park.
We'd love for you to see our ever-growing portfolio of quality, well-designed homes built for your life. To visit Bailey Estates, take I-94 West to exit 344 for WI-50 West toward Kenosha/Lake Geneva to Williams Bay. Turn left onto WI-67 South and right at the first cross street onto Bailey Road. Go just less than one mile and turn left onto Chasefield Drive. Once you arrive at 476 Chasefield Drive, we invite you to come see our beautiful and spacious model home featuring the popular Bailey home design.
Call 815-385-4495 to speak with a sales agent for Bailey Estates, or visit www.GerstadBuilders.com to learn more.


text:
Winter Flies () is a 2018 Czech-Slovak-Polish-Slovenian co-production road movie drama by Slovenian director Olmo Omerzu. It premiered at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on 1 July 2018.

Olmo Omerzu has won a Best Director Award at  Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. It was selected as the Czech entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Plot
The film follows two boys - Mára and Heduš. Heduš runs away from home. He joins Mára who tells him that he is running away from home. They drive through countryside in a Mára's car. They meet hitchhiker Bára who joins them. Both boys dream about having sex with her but she locks herself in the car during night and boys have to sleep outside. Mára reveals to Heduš that he goes to his grandfather who is a retired military officer. Boys eventually get to Mára's grandfather who suffers a heart attack and boys get him to hospital. Mára is later arrested by 2 police officers who interrogate him. The film ends when Heduš creates an incident outside the police station which allows Mára to escape.

Cast
 Tomáš Mrvík as Mára
 Jan František Uher as Heduš
 Eliška Křenková as Bára
 Lenka Vlasáková as Policewoman
 Martin Pechlát as Policeman

Production
Petr Pýcha has written radio play inspired by a story he read on an internet. His play was refused for vulgarity and he decide to rewrite it to a film screenplay. Pýcha saw Omerzu's previous film A Night Too Young and decided to ask Omerzu to direct the film. Omerzu liked it and started preparations of the film. Casting for main roles took very long  Omerzu wanted non-actors who can find themselves in their characters. The film was mostly shot in North Bohemia.

Release
The film premiered at 2018 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The film had a journalist projection on 24 August 2018. It was followed by press conference during which filmmakers were questioned about the film. The film was distributed to Czech cinemas on 4 September 2018 and later presented at multiple International film festivals.

Reception

Accolades

See also
 List of submissions to the 91st Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
 List of Czech submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

2018 films
2010s drama road movies
Czech Film Critics' Awards winners
Czech Lion Awards winners (films)
Czech drama road movies
2010s Czech-language films


Now you don't have to worry to travel solo or push your travel plans because your travel friends are not free. Just sign up on Xoxo Tours - a travel dating app to chat, connect and meet Pooja to further go on a trip together. You never know that She might just be your perfect travel buddy to fill your trips with excitement and fun. Well, it's high time to experience solo travel (but not solo) and create a traveler's profile on Xoxo Tours, the best online travel dating site, which will let you connect with thousands of like-minded local singles or solo travelers around the world like Pooja (to further travel together). A simple traveler's dating profile will allow you to get in contact with single locals and single solo travelers from worldwide. However, if you have decided to create a travel dating profile for yourself, it is advisable to go for a social travel site which is authentic and has best rankings & ratings to get you the best chatting & meeting experience with strangers of the world. So, sign up for free, create your profile on Xoxo Tours, it's 100% free and kickstart your traveler's journey.
Hi beautiful people! This is Bithika Datta, aka Pooja Bithika, an aspiring blogger,youtuber & solo traveler. My blog is dedicated to people who love to travel solo, eat new delicacies, explore unknown places. I also love to guide & accompany travelers who wish to visit my country India and my city Kolkata- the city of joy.


How will this affect a person who doesn't get healthcare through their employer?
Fit Small Business: Get Your Business Into Shape! › Forums › Ask a Question › How will this affect a person who doesn't get healthcare through their employer?
Before Obamacare, we had health insurance through my husband's employer. When Obamacare set in the company could no longer afford it, and we had to get our own coverage. ACA would not allow us to cover our disabled daughter, and we are now paying her bills out of our pocket. Then the rates jumped 3x in a year to the point that we had to cancel our coverage. From what I just read it seems that the sick and the elderly (even if they are still actively working) are getting squeezed out. They go by your gross income for the year but don't take into consideration that we have to pay out of pocket for our daughter. It should be set up for a person to be able to choose what they can afford. What would you recommend for people in our situation? Thank you for your time and your article.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. Yes, the price of individually purchased healthcare is unbearable. I'd like to offer 2 suggestions.
and get her a subsidized policy or her own if she's not working? With no income, she would qualify for free healthcare.
2) Share this information with your husband's employer. It provides for small businesses to purchase healthcare at low prices and offer big company benefits. I'm surprised by how many small businesses don't know about benefits providers like Gusto, https://fitsmallbusiness.com/gusto-reviews/, that offer reasonably priced employee benefits. There are also professional employer organizations (PEOs) https://fitsmallbusiness.com/professional-employer-organization-peo/, that allow small employers to offer great benefits, possibly at prices lower than what they were paying before ACA. Best of luck to you.


In the cruising world, we are always looking forward. We're always counting down until the next ship or the next actual cruise booked!
But we forget to look back on our favourite memories at sea and with 178 years behind Cunard, it would be rude not to dwell on our favourite memories with them- wouldn't it?
BigMac, Stewart from Glasgow, took it way back: "Our cruising and crossing only started in 2007. Our two children announced that they were doing their own thing for holidays, so I used that as a green light to tick one off my bucket list; a trip on the QE2.
We loved the ship. Our room creaked and groaned continuously, but it just added to the mystique and character. The PG restaurant was excellent and I couldn't believe it when they changed a menu one day because I had requested something.
Some folk we met in the QG Lounge suggested that if we had paid all this money for PG, why not just pay a bit more for QG. That was our next biggest mistake, because it's been QG ever since. As soon as we came home, we started thinking about our next cruise.
Click here to have your own say on the conversation that takes you down memory lane with QE2!
Cooke, Ashby didn't sail onboard but witnessed QE2 in her beauty: "We didn't sail on QE2 but were in Svalbard at the same time as her several years ago. The previous evening Sid, our Maitre d on Ocean Majesty, spoke to every table as was his habit and said we would be tendering and QE2 was in port too.
Bradbury, Coventry has a unique story of QE2: "I made a spur of the moment decision without my newly wed husband; to accompany my mum. Now bear in mind this is 1988– 30 years ago and do you see I mentioned the price £199 for a basic inside cabin! Yes the same price as you can pick a 2 nighter up for now, so goes to show this was not cheap!
I can still to this day remember packing just a small holdall with my evening gown rolled up inside and standing at the desk for check in. We had good weather out of Southampton so made good use of the Jacuzzi on the stern of the ship and the lovely open deck spaces.
Another cruiser told us how even in times of tragedy, cruisers have come together on Cunard and become like family.
We were supposed to arrive in New York the following Sunday but due to the Port being closed we were diverted to Boston. People were taken by bus from there to New York. We were due to spend 3 nights in New York and fly back but as a great number of Cabins were not occupied we booked to return on QE again.
Betsy told us about her crossing on Cunard between New York and Southampton: "I get goosebumps now thinking about my voyage it is a 'must do ' travel experience, on the most famous crossing in history on the most amazing ocean liner and it really is a unforgettable experience which I will never forget." You can read more about Betsy here.
Abbi particularly remembers the food: "The food was fantastic on board, so much choice on the menu and delicious meals with great service. Every evening I enjoyed a delicious starter, and main and of course I always left room for my desert. The best meal I had was an amazing steak, I am a steak lover and this was cooked to perfection and so soft it melted in my mouth!" You can learn more about Abbi here.
Another one of our expert consultants Louise added that her father was one of the head chefs on the QE2 in the 70's! You can learn more about Louise and her cruise travels here.
Need a Cunard cruise next year? Here's every single option laid out on the table!
What are your memories of the QE2? Did you ever sail with her? Have you stayed onboard in Dubai yet? What do you think the big news is this Sunday? Leave us your comments below!
What Does $60,000,000 Get You These Days?


campaign for a Labour Government that he is leading."
But still no word from any senior Cabinet minsters – although Jack Straw is rumoured to be coming out to back Brown shortly.
be expected to have confidence in their leadership?"
every member to express their view in a secret ballot.
matter had been sorted out once and for all.
everyone would be bound to support the result.
is giving our political opponents an easy target.
distractions. We hope that you will support this proposal.


text:
'1Up': Ruby Rose Replaces Elliot Page in eSports Drama
Fanboys director Kyle Newman's upcoming eSports drama has experienced a late-stage roster change.
Elliot Page (Juno, The Umbrella Academy) was previously cast to play a professor and mentor figure in the movie, but Page has since stepped away from the project and the producers have hired Ruby Rose (John Wick: Chapter 2, xXx: The Return of Xander Cage) to play that role instead. Read more about the project below.
The Hollywood Reporter doesn't provide any reason for Page's departure – which is slightly odd, because when people walk away from a project, they'll at least go to the trouble to cite a "scheduling conflict" or the vague catch-all "creative differences." Nonetheless, Ruby Rose has been hired instead.
The movie follows a young woman named Valerie who "quits her college esports team, fed up with gaslighting from her male counterparts, and quickly realizes that her decision comes at the cost of her scholarship. But, she discovers a loophole to save her collegiate future: if she can find a coach and assemble a whole new varsity-caliber team capable of reaching the State Finals. Valerie turns to her professor, Parker Nesby, and together with Valerie's best friend and fellow gamer Sloane, they form and train a rag-tag women's team committed to taking down the boys that tried to shut them out of gaming in the first place."
Since the film involves an all-female team, we're wondering if Page left the project because he transitioned recently and maybe acknowledges that he's no longer the best fit for the role – but that's just speculation on our part.
Paris Berelc (Hubie Halloween, Mighty Med, Alexa & Katie) is playing Valerie, and Rose will now play the role of the professor. Actress and writer Julia Yorks wrote the screenplay, and Newman, who previously directed the 2009 geek-centric feature Fanboys and the 2015 teenage assassin movie Barely Lethal, is directing.
1Up will be the first movie released as the result of a joint partnership between Lionsgate and BuzzFeed, which has plans to "develop, produce and distribute socially relevant feature films with the aim of targeting millennial and Gen Z audiences."
eSports have become increasingly popular in recent years, so much so that major competitions are televised on cable channels and huge cash prizes are doled out to the winners. Combine that with their popularity online, and I'm frankly surprised it's taken this long for Hollywood to make a mainstream movie about eSports – especially given the insanity of GamerGate a few years ago.
1Up is now filming in Toronto. Taylor Zakhar Perez (The Kissing Booth 2), Hari Nef (Assassination Nation), and Nicholas Coombe (Dora and The Lost City of Gold) round out the supporting cast.
The post '1Up': Ruby Rose Replaces Elliot Page in eSports Drama appeared first on /Film.


When we first joined Wycliffe 17 years ago, we had no idea that we would end up in Kangaroo Ground. We thought we would be living in a remote community working alongside a marginalized people group to translate the Bible into their language. We knew God called us to join the immense task of getting God's Word into the heart languages of the thousands of language groups still waiting to hear God speak to them in their own language. We felt such a deep passion for others being able to understand God's Word and worship Him in their heart language that we resigned from perfectly good teaching jobs and committed ourselves to doing whatever we could to support the cause of Bible translation and language development work worldwide.
Seeing our brothers and sisters in Christ worship God for the first time in their own language is one of the all-time highlights of our lives.
We thought that life couldn't get much better – to have such a purpose serving such a meaningful cause in a place where God was clearly doing extraordinary things to draw people to Himself. We couldn't wait to see what God would do next!
And then God re-directed us. He asked us to do more study in Australia.
And God answered. Apart from showing us the tremendous need for scholars who love Jesus and treasure His Word, God spoke through His people.
Well, God certainly spoke truth to us! So we started down the long path towards PhDs in biblical studies.
And then things took a turn for the worse. The global financial crisis hit some of our supporters really hard – dear friends had lost jobs and homes. Although we needed to top up our financial support, we sensed God asking us to refrain from requesting the additional money we would need to live and study in Australia. So we asked God what He wanted us to do instead.
God answered by giving us part-time work both at college and in a Chinese church to sustain us while we studied. This was an incredible blessing to us and once again we saw God doing amazing things as we witnessed people growing closer to Jesus, learning from His Word and sharing His love. The church was supportive of our work with Wycliffe and allowed us to travel to Kangaroo Ground to teach at the SIL Australia summer school every year. Things seemed to be looking up and we were reminded that we can serve God in Australia too.
And then tragedy struck. An unknown virus attacked Ellie's respiratory system and she ended up in hospital struggling to breathe. So began an incredibly difficult part of our lives and ministry. The hospital became a familiar place to us. Specialists, doctors, tests, machines, a myriad of medicines – nothing effectively regained control of Ellie's asthma. We begged (and still beg) God for complete healing and have asked others to do the same. Ellie had to take medical leave from study. Graham's study was incredibly hampered as he took care of her, his family, and the church.
The Lord answered by reminding us that He saved Ellie's life.
And we are so grateful for God's grace in that. The stark reality is that if we had been on the field when Ellie became this ill, Graham would have buried her there. But instead, God used the hospital and medical system in Australia to preserve Ellie's life again and again over the last few years. Over time, through access to good medical care, the Lord has given Ellie a measure of healing. She has seen improvement, and now is averaging 3-4 good days per week. The bad days are still really difficult. Her body just can't take a long-haul flight at the moment. So God has made it clear to us that Ellie's asthma needs to be well-controlled again before she is able to travel overseas.
"Ok, Lord, right now we're 'stuck' in Australia, so what would you have us do? We're happy to keep serving you at the Chinese church and the college. But is there more you want us to do to support and further your work through Bible translation?" We'd been asking God this question, hoping that God would miraculously cure Ellie and release us to return overseas.
Instead, God did something totally unexpected. The SIL Australia board approached Graham to ask him if he'd consider becoming the Principal Executive Officer of SIL Australia (SILA).
"You're joking! Surely you have someone better than me who can do that job!" was Graham's first response. But as we prayed about this, God made us more aware of the urgent need that SIL Australia had for someone like Graham to serve in this position. And through God's incredible grace, He made it clear that this is what He has been doing all along.
God doesn't see us as 'stuck' in Australia. In fact, this is exactly where He wants us. We can still be part of the Bible translation movement by training, equipping, supporting and encouraging others!
Could it be that Ellie's illness has been God guiding us to this very place, this very moment, for this very purpose? By the grace of God, this is our conclusion.
So here we are in Kangaroo Ground, on the outskirts of Melbourne. Although we have been (and will continue to be) blessed by all that God has done in Brisbane, we have given up our part-time jobs and are living by faith. At the moment, we do need to raise additional financial support to meet our basic living costs and additional medical expenses. This new role does not come with a salary, so we are relying on the gift s of support that God provides through some of you. We trust that because this is what God is asking us to do, He will bless us and provide for our needs through the generosity of those He moves to financially support us.
We wonder if you would take a moment to ask the Lord to raise up more financial supporters for us to meet our basic living and medical expenses. And if God moves in your heart to support us in this ministry, please respond via one of the pathways provided below.
It is because of people like you standing with us in prayer that we have been able to follow God's leading. We are so grateful to witness together what God is doing to raise up more workers for His harvest.
We thank God for each one of you who is doing whatever you can to support the cause of Bible translation and language development work worldwide.
May God bless you as we partner together in this meaningful cause for God's glory! And may our Great Shepherd guide you in your journey and pursue you with His goodness and mercy.
The gentle and clear guidance of our Good Shepherd!
Continued healing for Ellie—her doctor in Melbourne has referred her to a private thoracic specialist. Ellie has an appointment to see the specialist on April 20. We don't have private health insurance, but our doctor thinks we will get better results from the private system. Please pray that God will provide for us so we can follow the doctor's advice.
God to raise up more financial supporters so that we can equip and support 100 people to impact the world for Jesus through Bible translation, literacy, cross-cultural ministry, training and consulting by February 28, 2022.


Desk is made of MDF but you wouldn't tell as the desk block is pretty solid.
The instructions were on the cardboard box (with the legs) but you probably wouldn't need it. Issue I had was the lower screw was once you wanted to tighten the screws you could only do 45-degree angle turns with the allen key that came with the contents but luckily only needed to do this sparingly. The bottom of the legs has cylinder plastic covers that are flat and screw into the bottom of the legs but you can unscrew them and have them without but leaves the legs with large holes for bugs etc to make a home so I kept it on.
Overall for the price and what I was looking for which was a computer desk in a small space this worked out very well for me.
Good size and very sturdy, what more could I ask for?