Atheists: how many of you take it on faith that your dad is actually your dad? and how many of you have actually gone out to get the proof/evidence for it?
I wouldn't call it faith if you don't go and test it. It is more trust. You trust a person, that means this person exists for sure. I trust my parents that they tell me the truth. I'm not completely sure though.
Sorry, but this is kind of a weak argument. I don't take it on faith. My parents know what happened, they were both presumeably present, and I look like my dad's family. That's enough for me. If we had to go out and prove every little thing before we could believe it (the Earth is round, the motor in my car works like THIS, my dorm room really is a room and not a cross-dimensional portal into Narnia) nobody would ever get anything done. But hey, maybe I'm just lazy.
My dad is my dad because he raised me. I can call him on the phone right now and he will give me advice. And, if I asked, money, although I don't do that anymore. I can introduce people to him as my father, and he will shake their hand. And when I graduated college, or when my little brother gets married, he was there and will be there - and everyone else will see him there too. That's my evidence right there. If you call your diety (on the phone, via ritual, however you do it), does he show up? Does he respond? Got any family photos? Any funny stories of that time he called you by your childhood nickname in front of your boss? Bad analogy - try again.
I haven't done either of these things. My dad is my dad because he raised me, loved me, cared for me. My dad has always been there for me. I can see my dad. He interacts with me. If I found out I don't come biologically from his sperm he'd still be my dad. Unlike god. I don't know how you are seeing even a mild correlation.
All I have to do is look at my aunts on my dad's side of the family - I look just like them.
Here's the problem with your argument. Should I wish to see if my Dad is actually my biological father, we can both take a test. It's called a paternity test. It is scientific, repeatable, and doesn't rely on anything except for solid evidence. Can you say the same about your relationship with God? The answer is rhetorical: you cannot. Don't take that to mean that I'm chastising your belief system, because I'm not; all organized religions rely heavily on faith. But your argument is malformed and, in all honestly, awful. If you want to believe there is an omnipotent Creator, that is fine. You will not find evidence for it, but you shouldn't need it. Just don't drag other peoples beliefs through the mud because they aren't the same as yours: you will only succeed in making yourself look dimwitted and foolish.
I'm not an atheist, but the implied position in your question doesn't really relate to the atheist challenges of God's existence. Among other things, it's irrelevant: nobody is asking us to have faith in our father's absolute judgment or wisdom, nobody is asking us to grant that our father created the universe, etc. When you start saying things like "you must trust your life to something you cannot see at all", common sense suggests that such a proposition is going to be met with a high burden of evidence -- there's a lot at stake. By contrast, if it turns out my father wasn't really my father, it's not that big a deal.
>>Atheists: how many of you take it on faith that your dad is actually your dad? I've never felt a need to ask the question. Do you take it on faith that your favorite soda is actually what it says on the label?
Believers in supernatural spooks and invisible ghosts: how many of you take it on faith that the god you pray to is the god you think it is?
What does being an Atheist have to do with it? Religious people cheat too you know.
If you want to call it 'faith' then let it be. My father was there through my mother's pregnancy, he was there when I was born, he loved me, he raised me, he cared for me and he's made me who I am. Even if he weren't my biological father, I wouldn't care. He proved himself, who am I to question that? He is all there is for me even if there were more!
I'm just curious..what does being an Atheist have to do with it? Seems to me that a Christian could just as easily question whether their dad is really their dad. Or is this question geared toward the ability to accept something/anything, simply upon faith? Also, seems to me that the next logical question would be..if so, then why can't you accept God on faith. That's hardly the same thing, you know.
I can touch the person who claims to be my dad. The genetic evidence is considered to be legally binding. It does, that's good enough for me. Your god cannot even show up.
I need no proof. I can see him. Touch him. And speak to him. Others can as well. Seeing as how your boogeyman can not be seen heard felt or otherwise experienced, one must ask for proof. That is not the case with something as obvious as a biological parent. And before you run off at the mouth about how you can see and feel your boogeyman, no you can't. Unless you're off your meds.
Well there are some very obvious clues each time I pass the mirror, and I'm fairly confident he didn't have a twin brother. However if I had any doubts I'm not sure I would bother with proof. The act of providing 23 chromosomes does not make one a father, it makes one a sperm donor. If I had to choose between a man who provided some genetic material, and a different man who raised us and cared for us throughout our lives, I'd go for the second one as my father.
It seems that you're intimating that atheists take it that their dads are their dads based on faith and therefore should take it that god (or at least your God) should be taken on faith too and that if we don't do so we are guilty of some type of logical double standard. Your apparent argument is full of fail. First we have lots of evidence that our dad is our dad. Second that evidence is falsifiable. Third those who have a suspicion can test their suspicion and with a great degree of certainty know if their dad is their dad. So no one who has suspicion needs take it on faith. On the other hand those who have a suspicion that there isn't a god have been given no evidence whatsoever to support existence of a god. No hypothesis for a god can be falsified and as such there are no tests for the existence of a god. In short logic and evidence suggest my dad is my dad and that god is a figment of your imagination--no double standard or specious argument applied.
I love this question! They have no more proof that their father is their father than our heavenly father is our father and yes he does show up and yes we can speak to him and call on him. And yes he was there for our birth, and stood by our mothers and us during our trials and our struggles. And he's there for them too they just fail to acknowledge it. And yes we were made in His image as well! This is perfect!
If you're not joking, I pity you, Linda-Jenny.
Lol I'm one of the religious nuts. I have faith in God through Jesus by way of the Holy Spirit. God is the one who gives faith it cannot come from us.
The bottom line is that if need be they can absolutely prove dad is dad. The existence of god cannot be proved.
That is not faith. There is no good reason to question that my parents are actually my parents. If they were not, there would be some evidence of it. II question things that have no evidence, not things that have mush evidence. Parents and gods are totally different matters. You reasoning is biased and thus flawed. My birth certificate tells who my parents are. It would give differnt names if my parents adopted me.
I don't have faith in that. My parents names are on my birth certificate. I can get another copy if I have doubts.
Atheists, how many of you have a problem with the Christmas season? I say that the majority of atheists don't care as long as it's not rammed down your throat but my friend whose a born again Christian says it's the other way, Am I right or is she?
Why is it that many people seem to beleive that Atheists are not capable of being moral people? Do you think Atheists can be moral? Why or why not?
Atheists of AB, do you get tired of religionists asking you ridiculous questions that show they have little to no understanding of what an atheist actually is? Do you think that most of these questions are honest; or are folks just screwin' with ya?
Atheists: What would it take for you to accept that there is a god? Not necessarily Christian or Islamic or anything... Just a creator of the universe who cares about everything in it including you.
Atheists : ultimately believers will think they are accountable for their behaviour to their God. How do you think you are accountable for your behaviour? And do you have a sense of an ultimate accountability? Thank you.
Why does it seem that Atheists are expected to back up their beliefs with proof that God doesn't exist? Doesn't it seem more logical that the burden of proof rest with the believers?
Atheists: If there's one stereotype you like to get rid of what is it?
How many drinks does it take for you to get drunk?


Authorities warned that the number of Muslim fundamentalists including "jihadists" living in Germany has doubled to 11,000 in just a few years.
Salafism — the radical Islamic ideology to which international terror groups such as Islamic State and al-Qaeda are usually said to subscribe — has grown rapidly in recent years, according to security statistics reported by Tagesspiegel.
The 11,000 figure, which represents the number of Salafist residents known to regional authorities in each state, has risen sharply from 5,500 in 2013, and marks a rise of almost 300 per cent from 2011, when domestic intelligence estimated around 3,800 fundamentalists to have been active in the EU nation.
Data presented by the Interior Ministry this week showed that speed of the ideology's growth varies region by region, with large cities housing a large share of extremists present in Germany.
The speed with which the extremist ideology appears to have spread in the city-states of Berlin and Hamburg was described in local media as "striking".
In June 2017, Germany's Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) classed half (365) of the 730 Salafists recorded living in Hamburg as jihadists, or potentially violent.
But the number of Islamic radicals has swelled in the past year along with the danger they pose, according to the domestic intelligence agency's latest figures, which found that Germany's second-largest city now hosts 798 Salafists including 434 classified as jihadists.
Presenting figures for Bavaria on Thursday, state interior minister Joachim Herrmann reported that the region is currently home to more than 18,000 "extremists".
While left-wing and right-wing extremists were found to number quite high in the state, with 3,470 and 2,320 respectively, Salafists made up the largest share of radicals, with 4,070 recorded to be living in Bavaria.
"We have to thank God and our security agencies that there hasn't been an attack [in Bavaria] but we can see from other countries that the threat persists," said Herrmann, confirming that radical Islamic terrorism terror remains the biggest domestic threat.


text:
'Understanding Class'
'Compass Points'
'Coupon Socialism and Socialist Values'
'Class Analysis, History and Emancipation'
'Giddens' Critique of Marxism'
'The Value Controversy and Social Research'
'Class Boundaries in Advanced Capitalist Societies'
'Marxism and Methodological Individualism'
/123 , Sept Oct 1980
Back to NLR I/123, Sept Oct 1980
Andrew Levine & Erik Olin Wright
Rationality and Class Struggle
It is commonplace for writers on Marx, whether Marxists of various tendencies or critics of varying degrees of sympathy for Marxism, to hold that among Marx's major theoretical achievements was the inauguration of a new 'theory' of history, designated 'historical materialism'. While aspects of this theory were intimated throughout Marx's writings, only rarely did it get explicit and sustained discussion, most notably in the celebrated Preface (1859) to The Critique of Political Economy. Nonetheless, for all its acknowledged importance, historical materialism has fared poorly in the Marxist literature. The schematic assertions of the 1859 Preface, while hardly transparent, seem disarmingly simple, lending themselves to easy adoption in the 'orthodox' Marxisms of the Second and Third Internationals. In consequence, what is hardly more than a sketch of a theory has been effectively frozen into dogma, immune from the often facile but sometimes trenchant criticisms levelled against it, and impervious to theoretical elaboration or even clarification. It is only with the disintegration of orthodoxy that the pressing need for an account of historical materialism, and a sustained defence or criticism of it, has come to be recognized. Despite the virtual absence of direct discussion, it is clear that the cutting edge of twentieth century Western Marxism, as it has developed in more or less overt opposition to the official Marxisms of the Communist Parties, has tended to oppose the historical materialism of the Preface: though, to be sure, Western Marxists have seldom, if ever, acknowledged doing so; and sometimes even outdo those they write against in professing allegiance to 'historical materialism'. The reasons for opposing the classical formulation of historical materialism are nonetheless readily apparent.
There is, first of all, a rigidly determinist cast to the historical materialism of the Preface that accords poorly with the general tendency of Western Marxist thought. There are also political grounds for opposition. Indisputably, the Preface accords causal primacy (of a sort it does not clearly explain) to what Marx calls 'productive forces' (Produktivkräfte) over 'relations of production' (Produktionsverhältnisse); thus suggesting precisely the kind of 'evolutionary' or 'economist' political posture Western Marxists have opposed with virtual unanimity. If it is indeed the case, as Marx contends in the Preface, that 'no social formation ever perishes before all the productive forces for which there is room in it have developed,' and if 'new, higher relations of production never appear before the material conditions of their existence have matured in the womb of the old society itself,' then it would seem that socialist transformation depends less on revolutionizing production relations directly, as Western Marxists tend to maintain, than on the development of productive forces.footnote1
This conclusion has indeed been drawn by the Communist Parties, as by many others; and has inspired a political programme in the Soviet Union and elsewhere from which virtually all Western Marxists outside the Communist Parties, and many within, in varying degrees dissent. The litany of Soviet sins, committed for the sake of developing productive forces, is all too well known: the brutal collectivization of agricultural production, the hierarchical structure and 'productivist' ideology that governs the factories, the selective and technocratic structure of education, the severe centralization of political power, the indefinite prolongation of police terror and the progressive (and apparently intractable) growth of bureaucratic despotism. Needless to say, commitment to the theoretical positions of the 1859 Preface does not entail the political programmes adopted by the leaders of the Soviet Union; and it is likely that even under the conditions the Soviet Union and other Communist states face, and without slackening the development of productive forces, a more 'human face' is an historic possibility. In any case, the best Marxist thought in the West has sought to distance itself from the Soviet experience; and so, sometimes inadvertently, sometimes deliberately, from the theoretical positions that Soviet politics seems to presuppose.
The Cultural Revolution in China (or, at least, Western perceptions of it), in proclaiming 'politics in command', in apparently aiming at the revolutionary transformation of relations of production, while neglecting or even disparaging the development of productive forces, provided, at last, a model of an official Marxism at odds with the 1859 Preface. It is not surprising, then, that the tendency in Western Marxist thought most solidly (implicitly) with the Cultural Revolution, and also most intent upon developing Marx's contributions to a theory of history—the tendency developed by Louis Althusser, Etienne Balibar and their co-thinkers—should break expressly with the evolutionary account of historical materialism dominant in the Second and Third Internationals. Even if they did not quite repudiate the 1859 Preface, they so qualified their acceptance of it, that they might as well have struck the text from the Marxist canon.footnote2 Like so many other major Western Marxists, Althusser and Balibar look with ill-disguised embarrassment on the simple declarations of the 1859 Preface, and thus on historical materialism as traditionally understood. To be sure, Althusserians remain adamant defenders of what they call 'historical materialism'. But their 'historical materialism' has little to do with what the term has traditionally meant to generations of Marxists. They retain the term at the cost of altering its meaning. 'Historical materialism', for Althusser and Balibar, has come to be synonymous with 'Marxist social science' (or, as they would prefer, with the Marxist 'science of history'). Thus it is distinguished, in their view, from rival accounts of history and society by its methodological positions (its view of causality and explanation, its concept of 'contradiction', its logic of concept formation and theory construction) and not at all by its substantive theoretical claims about the primacy of productive forces. And what the Althusserians do more or less explicitly, other Western Marxist tendencies do too, though often even less self-consciously and perspicaciously. Thus historical materialism, in the sense of the 1859 Preface, has effectively been abandoned in the most lively and penetrating Marxist currents.
However, the resurgence of interest in Marxist theory in the English-speaking world, particularly among philosophers trained in the analytic tradition, has kindled a new and generally sympathetic interest in the positions of the 1859 Preface. This emerging tendency, at odds both with earlier orthodoxies and also with the main currents of Western Marxism, has been given major theoretical expression in a new book by G. A. Cohen, Karl Marx's Theory of History: A Defence.footnote3
Mike Davis, 'Why the US Working Class Is Different'
Raimund Loew, 'The Politics of the Austrian 'Miracle''

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Carpet has been and remains the most popular type of flooring materials used in homes and businesses. There are many reasons why this type of flooring material was popular in the past and because of advancements in carpet technology, Carpet in Charlotte and everywhere else in the country, it remains a popular choice. You'll find this material used in most new homes and existing homes. All you need to do is go into a carpet store to realize just how strong the popularity is for carpeting. However, if you're in the market for new carpet, and if this is your first time buying carpet, there are some important things you need to know about choosing the right option.
The first thing you want to do is consider how much traffic your home receives. The reason for this is that carpets that have lower pile fibers may not hold up very well when it comes to higher amounts of foot traffic. The exceptions to this are carpets such as Berber or commercial grade carpeting. These have lower profiles, but because the fibers are interconnected very tightly, these carpets tend to last for an extended period of time. However, commercial carpet made not be right for your home and Berber carpet can be expensive.
A higher pile carpet is excellent in the fact that it can handle a great deal of foot traffic without looking worn down. With higher pile Carpet in Charlotte, you're going to be spending more money. The higher the quality, the higher the price tag. This may scare you away from this type of carpet, but when you consider how long the carpet lasts, especially compared to cheaper carpets, it may be worth the expense. If the expense is too much for you, then you might want to consider carpets that are in the mid range in terms of profile. These can last a long time but are easier on the wallet.


Maines Food & Party Warehouse has all of the cleaning supplies you need to keep your kitchen spotless. We carry both National and our Signature ProPower Brand of cleaning products for Bathrooms, Kitchens. Carpet and Floors, Hand Soaps and Sanitizers, and Laundry Detergents.
Our Signature Brand, ProPower Chemicals, are designed for commercial use in high volume Restaurants, Health Care Facilities, Camps, Catering Facilities, Hotels, Schools and any other high volume or public locations. Products under the ProPower Brand are of a higher concentration than most National Branded retail products, which are watered down for Household use. The higher concentration makes our ProPower Chemical Products more cost effective to use. Learn more about ProPower here.
Looking for a specific cleaning solution?
We can help you with all your cleaning needs with products in 5 gallon commercial sizes, smaller retail sizes, and anything in between. All of our ProPower branded cleaning products are 100% money-back guaranteed to do the job the first time.


text:
Home Press Dubai to get 400 more AC bus shelters
Dubai to get 400 more AC bus shelters
By Majorie van Leijen http://www.emirates247.com
If you are still among the unlucky ones departing from a bus station that comprises nothing more than the information board on the side of the road, chances are that change is coming your way.
The Road and Transport Authority (RTA) will soon develop 400 locations in its second phase of the AC bus shelter project.
Currently, there are 656 bus shelters around Dubai, aimed at sheltering travellers waiting for bus.
Be it rain during the winter months, or extreme heat during summer, sheltered bus stops do not seem a luxury in Dubai. However, a considerable number of locations lack the facility of a sheltered bus stop, and passengers have no choice but to wait in the open air.
According to the RTA, all bus stops in Dubai will eventually be provided with the facility of an air-conditioned bus shelter, an ambition requiring 1,200 additional bus shelters at this point.
Although this ambition has been expressed several times, little evidence can be seen of the plan coming to action. However, the first 400 bus shelters should materialise soon, if we go by the statements that have been made regarding the project.
"We will build 1,200 new bus shelters, and this will be done in three phases. Currently, we are looking at the installment of the first 400 bus shelters," said Mohammed Al Ali, Director of Bus, RTA. More info
AC bus shelter project
delhi buses
Director of Bus
Mohammed Al Ali
proizd
Previous articleRTA integrates Dubai's mass transit modes
Next articleRTA launches 'One Day in Dubai' initiative
Dubai Taxi starts selling water in taxicabs, in coop with Al...
Dubai's outstanding debt put at $31.4 billion


text:
Alex Bregman breaks down the Astros Game 5 win of the World Series | FOX MLB
Verlander can end it, Strasburg can extend it | MLB on FOX crew on World Series Game 6 | FOX MLB
Where does Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's death leave IS? – BBC News
Molly Russell: Did her death change social media? – BBC News
EU agrees Brexit extension to 31 January- BBC News
Mike Pompeo goes inside the mission that killed al-Baghdadi
Trump on Schiff: He's a leaker like nobody has seen before
Live: Trump speaks at a Police Chiefs conference in Chicago
Jennifer Aniston and Ellen's Picture-Perfect Kiss
Is Deshaun Watson underrated? | Pro Football Talk | NBC Sports
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo details on 'Fox & Friends' the raid that took down the ISIS leader in northern Syria's Idlib Province. #FoxNews
FOX News operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Radio, FOX News Headlines 24/7, FOXNews.com and the direct-to-consumer streaming service, FOX Nation. FOX News also produces FOX News Sunday on FOX Broadcasting Company and FOX News Edge. A top five-cable network, FNC has been the most-watched news channel in the country for 17 consecutive years. According to a 2018 Research Intelligencer study by Brand Keys, FOX News ranks as the second most trusted television brand in the country. Additionally, a Suffolk University/USA Today survey states Fox News is the most trusted source for television news or commentary in the country, while a 2017 Gallup/Knight Foundation survey found that among Americans who could name an objective news source, FOX News is the top-cited outlet. FNC is available in nearly 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape while routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.


The Raines Group serves all market specialties, including office, retail, industrial & investment properties.
As part of our property managment promise, we strive to provide everyone involved with responsive & thorough service.
"Our mission is to build lifelong relationships that are always exceeding the expectations of our clients!"
Whether you're buying or selling, it's quite an adventurous journey. The Raines Group has the experience to help guide your way.


A joyfully mad Kontakt 5 library (1GB) that enables 'freezing' and manipulation of the loaded sample using a variety of granular playback modes and other controls. The movement of grains is visualised by the Waveform and Window displays, and modulation comes in the shape of an ADSR envelope and an LFO.
On the down side, while you can import your own samples, doing so is such a faff that you won't really want to. With its 92 lengthy included samples, though, TimeDrops gives you a wealth of starting points, in a very powerful engine, for conjuring up all kinds of pads, drones, atmospheres and rhythm beds.
A 2GB library (1427 samples) of "synthetic FX" made with Goldbaby's extraordinary collection of vintage and modern gear. It's a spectacular panoply of chiptune-style runs and burbles, picturesque drones and atmospheres, threatening sirens, energetic rises and drops, explosive impacts, delicious melodics and more, produced with the exquisite attention to detail we've come to expect from the 'baby.
Suitable for use in all styles of dance and electronic music, UVP is a library you may well find yourself calling on for every project, and the value for money is simply ridiculous.
Although 1.5GB of this 2.2GB follow-up to Dark Tech House comprises 50-odd minutes of (admittedly useful) tutorial videos, the 650MB of samples, MIDI files and synth presets (Massive and Sylenth1) that make up the rest of it are more than worth the price of admission on their own anyway.
You get drum, bass and synth loops, one-shot FX, drums and bass hits, and six inspiration-sparking "Songstarter" construction kits, merging that heavy, menacing 'tech' feel with the swing and bounce of house, and produced to Cr2's usual high standard.
Niche Audio's latest Maschine/Live project pack taps an unspecified roster of analogue synths and drum machines for "over 90%" of its sounds, resulting in a supremely phat, up-front library of 17 techno/tech-house Groups/Drum Racks (plus 51 Instrument Rack and Simpler presets for melodic play in Live), and 12 genuinely release-quality full projects (two of them Live-only).
There's also a WAV version available for the same price, but we'd question its value, since the playability and convenience of the instruments and their effects chains are key.
Florian Meindl's Riemann Kollektion sample label puts out its second annual "Best of" compilation - 260 techno loops, comprising drums (separate loops for kicks, hats/rides and snares/claps), basslines, drones, percussion and more.
There's not a huge degree of sonic variation in evidence, but that's techno for you, and Meindl certainly knows his genre, capturing the requisite basement club vibe to a tee. The filtering is dark, the synths are raw and funky, the beats are relentless, and the price is very much right.
Bringing all five of production duo Dread's ISR libraries together in one package, this 3.6GB blockbuster gives you more beats, basslines, pads, strings, textures, music loops and FX than you'll know what to do with.
The loops and lines are tough, crisp, atmospheric and surprisingly broad-ranging in terms of sonics, but it might actually be the one-shots that get the most usage, providing a cornucopia of sampler fodder. Exhaustive, impressive and well worth the price.
Fusing the glitchy instrumentation of IDM with the programmatic sensibilities of soundtrack composition and production, Cinematic IDM comprises 700 loops, 100 one-shots and 416 sampler instruments.
The 400 drumloops present about as wide a range of percussive moods as you could ask for, while the rest are all about ambience, texture and FX - you won't find a 'Basses' folder here.
It's a tightly focused library that succeeds in its genre-splicing mission admirably. We do wish Zero-G used descriptive file names, though, rather than just numbering.
Delivering exactly what it says on the tin, Back to the 80s is a 789MB smorgasbord of nostalgic electro- and pop-inspired synth (bass and lead) and drum machine loops, hits and multisamples, exuding the bouncy, optimistic character of the era. As well as the period instrumentation, the requisite old-school effects are in full force, too - ie, there's a lot of reverb going on.
With plenty of very usable material to be plundered, and an impressive level of diversity, particularly in the drum loops, Back to the 80s is a retro trip worth taking.
Taking influence from the full spectrum of disco, from the 70s to 'nu', and produced using a fabulous collection of vintage gear, Neon Disco's 684 loops (at 115 and 120bpm), 410 one-shots and 209 MIDI files make for a truly knock-out library.
The four-square drum loops are phat and funky, the basses and synths are sonically simple (some might find them too simple, in fact) but effective, and the music loop construction kits (more synths!) are bright and catchy. Exceptional value for lovers of uplifting retro grooves.
The quirky house sub-genre gets its second dedicated sample library from Cr2, consisting of another 15 'drop' construction kits (including MIDI files and presets for the Sylenth1, Massive and Spire synths), ten bass multisample sets, and ten kick drums sampled at every note of an octave. Each kit is 32 bars long at 128bpm, and includes dry and wet versions of all lead elements.
Bold, brash and bursting with enthusiasm, Melbourne Bounce 2 is even more inventive and bonkers than its predecessor - a bargain for any dance music producer.


The 20th Biennial Boston Early Music Festival: Dreams & Madness Boston Early Music Festival, Inc.
Join us in Boston for eight days of award-winning opera, celebrated concerts, the world-famous Exhibition, and more—JUNE 9–16, 2019! Our 20th BIENNIAL FESTIVAL, featuring the theme of "Dreams and Madness," brings the world of Early Music together in Boston for a weeklong celebration. Tickets and subscription packages are ON SALE NOW!


text:
Penguin 4.0 Rollout Complete: Are You at Risk?
By Aaron Agius in Featured Google SE Optimization Search Engines
Google is engaged in a constant, uphill battle against those who try to game the SERPs for profit, distorting search results with spammy tactics and questionable link acquisition. In 2012, the first Penguin update was implemented to deal with sites that were using unnatural links to boost their search engine ranks.
As a result of the original Penguin, several websites were penalized, which ultimately removed them from visibility in the SERPs. It took some sites quite a bit of time to recover, and sites that made legitimate attempts to restore their rank in the search results were forced to wait for the next update of the algorithm. Now, everything has changed with Penguin 4.0.
"Historically, the list of sites affected by Penguin was periodically refreshed at the same time. Now Penguin is real-time, so changes will be visible much faster, typically taking effect shortly after we recrawl and reindex a page," wrote Gary Illyes on the Google Webmaster blog.
The Big Changes with Penguin 4.0
Like virtually every algorithm update from Google, multiple changes often occur. In the case of Penguin 4.0, there are some significant changes to the Penguin algorithm overall. These include:
1. Addition to Google's Core
There are plenty of secondary algorithms used by Google, but its "Core", as Google calls it, is the primary group of dozens of algorithms used to evaluate your site. These algorithms analyze a variety aspects of your site's design and content then weigh them against a user's search query to determine your rank.
Google is now moving Penguin into this group of core algorithms, which will make it a more significant deciding factor when it comes to search rank.
2. Constant Updates
As Gary Illyes mentioned, Penguin 4.0 is going to update in real-time, rather than updating only periodically. The constant refreshing means that sites won't have to wait as long to restore their rank if they catch and eliminate a bad link to comply with Penguin.
3. Decrease in Domain Penalties
Previously, if you built a spammy link on a site that pointed back to one of your landing pages, and that link was flagged as an unnatural one, your entire domain was likely to be flagged. This resulted in a site-wide penalty that would kick your entire domain down in the search results.
With the new Penguin update, a full domain penalty is far less likely to occur. Instead, you're more likely to see penalties on individual pages that receive spammy links.
What the Update Means for Marketers – Are You at Risk?
Updates like Penguin's latest one have a greater chance of impacting more websites, specifically because they involve the evaluation of links coming into your site and the authority and quality of the domains they come from.
While you have some control over the links you're directly building, you have far less control over the sources of links, since Google's position on a domain could change at any time – and now much faster after Penguin's inclusion as a core algorithm.
Here are some takeaways to keep in mind:
Quick Lift, Quicker Penalties
If you were recently penalized for link building, you can rectify the damage much more quickly than before. That means you'll see lift and restoration to previous search rank faster than ever before when you quickly disavow or deal with bad links.
On the other side of it, those penalties will come swiftly – faster than ever before. I'd like to think you're building links naturally and sticking to white-hat, completely legit practices. If you're edging into gray hat SEO and acquiring links through loopholes, understand that you're putting your site and your most important landing pages at risk. If these get flagged, you'll face a swift penalty from the algorithm.
A Fairer Algorithm
Nowadays, there is a big emphasis on content marketing, as businesses, influencers, and marketers rely heavily on guest blogging to build natural links and grow referral traffic. Marketers who produce really awesome content are going to see significant rewards from their efforts.
Granularity in Fixes
Since Penguin 4.0 is doing away with domain-level penalties, and instead targeting the offending link destinations (landing pages), you now have the opportunity to fix issues on a granular level. This is a good opportunity for marketers to learn from their mistakes without losing a tremendous volume of organic search traffic.
Better Evaluation
I expect this update will force marketers to spend a little more time evaluating where their links are coming from, especially when they're actively building organic links. While the impact may be less significant, it will now happen faster and you should aim to protect your search rank at all times.
Ultimately, the smartest approach is focusing on building your brand rather than building links. Creating great content will generate links naturally, especially if you're guest blogging and creating the kind of quality, 10x content that people want to share.
Aim to tell your story, and rely on your metrics to determine what content your audience is most interested in seeing. Build on that, promote it, distribute it properly, and continue to repurpose your best content. If you're not actively trying to build links, you'll never really be at risk of crossing the line with the algorithm because your links will come from natural acquisition.
Have you seen any changes in your search visibility as a result of the Penguin 4.0 rollout? Share in the comments below and tell me about how it's influencing your strategy moving forward.
Aaron Agius, CEO of worldwide digital agency Louder Online is, according to Forbes, among the world's leading digital marketers. Working with clients such as Salesforce, Coca-Cola, IBM, Intel, and scores of stellar brands, Aaron is a growth marketer - a fusion between search, content, social, and PR. Find him on Twitter, LinkedIn, or on the Louder Online blog.
Google's Panda and Penguin Updates May Raise Site Values
Beating the Google Sandbox — Ranking a New Domain in Under a Month
Local SEO More Important Than Ever Now
Google Does Away with Right-Hand Ads: How That's a Good Thing


text:
Webinar Series To Assist Small Businesses With Pandemic Recovery Now Available Online
While personal interactions were still limited and virtual meetings the norm, Region XII Council of Governments and the Small Business Development Center partnered in the production of a series of webinars. These nine presentations were distributed individually throughout early 2021 and offered subject matter to aid small businesses with planning for the future beyond COVID and recovering from the impacts of the pandemic.
IEDA Awards $100,000 in Catalyst Funding to Coon Rapids
As Coon Rapids Hardware Hank wraps up their transition into their new building at 615 Main Street, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) announced that they have awarded the City of Coon Rapids a $100,000 Community Catalyst Building Remediation grant to renovate the now vacant hardware building at 517 Mai...Continue Reading
6 Winning Mantras for First-Time Entrepreneurs
As a business mentor, marketer, writer and storyteller, along with a successful stint as an entrepreneur, I get asked this question many times: "Can you share the most important mantras for becoming a successful first-time entrepreneur?" Here are my half-dozen tips for building a successful new business: 1. Timing is everything Many people think that money and a good idea are all it take...Continue Reading
Landus Cooperative Launches Innovation Center In Ralston
On Wednesday, Landus Cooperative unveiled their newest initiative, called the Innovation Center, which creates unique strategic partnerships and collaboration opportunities between farmer-owners and leaders. According to President and CEO, Matt Carstens, the goal of the center is to drive a more sustainable and profitable future for farming. Carstens says the ide...Continue Reading


text:
Nestle, Hostess Brands to launch ice cream lines in US
Nestle and Hostess Brands are to launch a range of ice cream products under the US bakery group's brands.
Nestle and Hostess Brands are to launch a range of ice cream products under the US bakery group's brands.
When contacted by just-food, both companies replied with a statement that read: "We can confirm that Nestle is partnering with Hostess to rollout a line of Hostess ice cream products in early 2017." Neither Nestle nor Hostess would comment further.
However, CSP, a US magazine reporting on the country's convenience store market, said the companies would launch products under brands including Twinkies, CupCakes and Sno Balls.
Hostess Brands made its first foray into the frozen food sector in the US in August with the launch of frozen, ready-to-heat Twinkies.
In November, US private-equity firm Gores Group sealed its deal to buy a majority stake in Hostess Brands. The transaction, announced in July, saw a publicly-traded affiliate of Gores buy the stake for around US$725m.
Shares in Hostess Brands are listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange in the US.
In November, Hostess Brands reported higher sales and earnings for the first nine months of 2016 thanks to expanded distribution and product launches.


text:
Mark Zuckerberg And Priscilla Chan Are Funding Scientists As Part Of Their Plan To To Tackle Disease
In its quest to "cure, prevent, or manage all diseases," the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is committing more than $50 million to fund nearly 50 researchers.
by Stephanie M. Lee
Updated on February 8, 2017, 5:52 pm Posted on February 8, 2017, 5:02 am
Jeff Chiu / AP
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and wife Priscilla Chan
Six months ago, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife launched a $3 billion effort to "cure, prevent, or manage all diseases" by the end of the century, starting with a new research center in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The leaders of that center, the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, announced on Wednesday one of the first major components of that ambitious goal: It will commit more than $50 million to funding nearly 50 scientists in fields such as engineering, biology, chemistry, computer science, math, and physics.
The Biohub Investigators, as they're being called, hail from UC Berkeley, Stanford University, and UC San Francisco, and will each receive up to $1.5 million for five years of research. The nonprofit was launched with a 10-year, $600 million commitment from Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, a UCSF-trained pediatrician, and their philanthropy-oriented limited liability company, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is also investing in education and technology projects.
Zuckerberg and Chan's goal is for the scientists to use the Biohub, located near UCSF, to collaborate on interdisciplinary projects and build research tools together, on top of keeping their positions and labs at their home institutions. Joseph DeRisi, the Biohub's co-president, told BuzzFeed News that the couple regularly communicate with him, although they didn't help select the 47 Biohub Investigators. That task was left to an international panel of 60 scientists and engineers, who vetted more than 700 applicants from the three universities.
"Both Mark and Priscilla are avid consumers of science," said DeRisi, a UCSF professor of biochemistry and biophysics. "They enjoy learning new things and knowing what the cutting edge of research is all about."
Bryan Bedder / Getty Images for The New York Times
President of Science at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Cori Bargmann and Priscilla Chan
The scientists are a mix of early- and late-career faculty members. (A complete list can be found here.)
DeRisi highlighted Aaron Streets, a UC Berkeley researcher developing tools to precisely analyze single cells; Jill Banfield, also of UC Berkeley, who studies environmental microorganisms; and Alex Marson, a UCSF scientist who uses genome-editing technologies to understand the body's immune system. Others include Stanford's Manu Prakash, who has invented a folding paper telescope that costs $1 and is used by scientists and students around the world.
Meanwhile, a handful of Biohub staffers, who came on-board before the new Investigators, are already getting started on two of the hub's big projects: figuring out how to detect, respond to, treat, and prevent infectious diseases; and creating a comprehensive atlas of all the cells in the human body.
In an effort to more quickly share results with other researchers and the public, scientists will be required to publish in an open-source database the drafts of papers being submitted to peer-reviewed journals, according to Stephen Quake, Biohub co-president and Stanford professor of bioengineering and applied physics.
And faculty won't be bound to finish a certain project or publish a certain number of papers before their five years are up.
"We asked for, 'What have you done that's great in the past, and what is your bold vision of the future?'" DeRisi said. "We are leaving the door open to maximize creativity and dynamically go where the research takes them."
Document Shows How Mark Zuckerberg's New Science Charity Will Handle IP
Stephanie M. Lee is a science reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in San Francisco.
Contact Stephanie M. Lee at stephanie.lee@buzzfeed.com.
News moves fast. Keep up with the BuzzFeed News daily email!


text:
New Hygieia Titration App Helps Navigate Insulin Doses, "Like a GPS"
Written by DiabetesMine Team — Updated on March 4, 2019
Trying to calculate your insulin doses for injections, without the help of a digital "wizard" for doing the math automatically? There's an app for that! (of course).
Apps for so-called "insulin titration" have been around since roughly 2010, when the first basic dose calculators like RapidCalc hit the market. Next came the first FDA regulatory approval for a "mobile prescription therapy aid" with WellDoc's BlueStar app in 2013, followed more recently by apps from both big pharma and small startups. Some are specific to basal (long-acting) insulin, or even to specific insulin brands.
Just last week, the little known Detroit-based startup Hygieia, Inc. snagged FDA approval for a new offering: the first-ever mobile titration app cleared for all type 2 insulin regimens, including both long-acting (basal) and mealtime (bolus) insulin. It's also the first insulin titration app that can connect to any glucose meter (or in theory, continuous glucose monitor system) that shares data with the cloud.
While there have been a lot of headlines on this new app, none of the publications we've seen have really explained what Hygieia is all about, or how the technology actually works. That's where we come in.
In what they call their "d-Nav Insulin Guidance Service," users' individual blood glucose data is beamed to a cloud-based service that uses an algorithm, along with input from their clinic and healthcare provider, to send them insulin dosing recommendations through the app (available for both iOS and Android phones).
They tell us to think of it like a nav system for your car.
"Like a GPS, you tell the device where you want to go, and it creates a master plan and then adjusts the plan to your current blood sugar levels. The benefit of a GPS isn't knowing where you are, it's knowing what to do next. We don't see a value in glucose readings per se, but rather in what you do with the numbers," says Hygieia co-founder Dr. Eran Bashan.
New study results published in The Lancet medical journal late last week show a significant decrease in A1C in the group using the d-Nav system, versus those relying on their doctor's support alone. And to top it off, d-Nav is being supported by a Michigan insurer in a way that's unique in the scope of insulin titration apps.
So What Exactly is d-Nav?
You may remember from our previous coverage that the first iteration of d-Nav was a device actually modeled after a Blackberry. It looks like a cross between an insulin pump and a small Etch-a-Sketch.
In fact, it served as a glucometer that used proprietary test strips to check blood sugar but flashed the BG result for just three seconds before the number would vanish. Then, using pre-programmed settings by a physician and taking IOB (insulin on board) into account, the device would calculate a correction dose or food bolus (if needed).
For the most part, that remains the form factor. Except now, Hygieia has added in a mobile app functionality directly on a smartphone and the extra clunky device is optional. You can choose to use the d-Nav device to take your fingersticks, or BG results can simply be shared wirelessly from any cloud-connected fingerstick meter.
For someone on two shots a day, for example, the d-Nav app displays any correction bolus that might be needed based on the time of day and its pre-programmed knowledge of when their last insulin injection was taken. The IOB is calculated based on the user's set insulin regime. People on basal-bolus injections multiple times a day can plug in their carbohydrate counts and the app calculates a recommended total insulin dose.
The user can of course decide to follow or ignore the recommendation — just like any driver can rely on GPS navigation behind the wheel or choose to go another route.
The service is aimed at the growing population of type 2 PWDs (people with diabetes) who use insulin, although it is of course just as beneficial to any type 1 who isn't using an insulin pump.
To be clear, this isn't something you can just download from the iOS or Google Play Store; you must go through a doctor, and availability is currently limited to one specific clinic in Southeast Michigan, where patients can get a prescription for the d-Nav and are guided on it from there.
The big deal is that d-Nav goes much further than other insulin titration apps by analyzing glucose patterns and helping users make frequent adjustments — and if it succeeds in Michigan, we expect to see this tool popping up in clinics around the country.
Higee-what?
The company name may seem odd, but it's pronounced "hy-jee-uh" and hails from the 1st century Greek goddess of health, daughter of the God of Medicine. It also brings to mind the Bowl of Hygieia, one of the universal symbols of pharmacy.
We introduced Hygieia here at the 'Mine back in 2011 in connection with our DiabetesMine Design Challenge. But the company has mostly been under the radar in recent years, even after receiving European regulatory OK in late 2012 to launch their product overseas.
Hygieia's co-founders Dr. Eran Bashan and Dr. Israel Hodish are both Israeli natives who came to the University of Michigan's engineering school in 2004. Hodish is an endocrinologist at U-M's Medical School who serves as the startup's clinical advisor. Bashan came from a military leadership role before working in engineering management developing consumer electronics, while Hodish had an interest in both engineering and gene therapy that led him to endocrinology.
They got the idea for a "diabetes GPS" back in 2008. They apparently met for dinner one night on campus and began discussing the need for some kind of technology to help take the insulin calculation guesswork out of D-management. They fleshed out a plan, and launched their company in August of that year — just two weeks before the collapse of financial giant Lehman Brothers. Neither had a personal diabetes connection, but both say that over the years family members developed diabetes and have begun injecting insulin.
With the flawed U.S. healthcare system pushing more and more patients to general practitioners instead of more expensive specialists, the need for this type of direct patient assistance is critical, they say.
"We are seeing more people with type 2… going on insulin. You need constant adjustments, and being engaged is a lot of work. Our system allows patients to adjust their insulin immediately based on what's happening in their body, rather than wait up to 90 days to see a physician and then change their dosage," Bashan says.
The Insulin Titration App Landscape
Bashan and Hodish are certainly not the only experts who've identified this need. As noted, there's a growing field of mobile apps geared toward insulin dosing:
RapidCalc for basal-bolus regimen, with "intelligent tracking" of insulin on board and detailed tracking features
The PredictBGL insulin dose calculator app out of Australia
WellDoc's BlueStar diabetes management app that will now include the Voluntus Insulia titration app that received FDA clearance in 2017
The iSage app from AmalgamRx, which in 2017 became the first app to be FDA approved for use with all brands of basal (long-acting) insulin
Sanofi's My Dose Coach with built-in insulin dose calculator, also FDA cleared in 2017
The Accu-Chek Connect app with insulin dose calculator
Glooko's Mobile Insulin Dosing System (MIDS) for ong-acting (basal) insulin, FDA cleared early last year as the first titration app "accessible through a unified diabetes management platform"
Glytec's FDA-cleared Glucommander app that sends dose adjustment recommendations for both basal and bolus insulin to healthcare providers, who approve the changes and forward them to users (now available through the Livongo diabetes management service)
Eli Lilly's Go Dose app aimed at titrating its own Humalog brand insulin was approved in early 2017, but Lilly Diabetes tells us they opted to not launch the mobile app after deciding to instead focus on its broader connected device landscape.
The Hygieia founders emphasize that their new app is uniquely useful for any injectable insulin a PWD might take — covering both basal adjustments and bolusing for food or corrections.
And their new study data presented at the big Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD) conference in Berlin last week shows that it works; in a multi-site, randomized controlled study at three national diabetes centers over the course of 6 months, 181 study participants saw significant A1C reductions and overall fewer hypoglycemia episodes.
Does Hygieia's plan change as continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) become more widely used? Not really, Bashan says. They could develop a future business-to-business partnership allowing CGM data to be weaved into the d-Nav platform, but Bashan doesn't see it likely that CGM will become widely prescribed to T2s any time soon. That's why he doesn't expect the red d-Nav device itself to be phased out, because fingersticks will remain a mainstay for so many in the T2 insulin-using world, and lots of those patients won't have access to a cloud-connected meter.
What makes Hygieia even more interesting is their access model: they've managed to get an insurance carrier to cover all of the needed strips and d-Nav supplies for free from the clinic, on the insurer's dime.
As Always, Insurance Coverage is Key
Interestingly, Hygieia not only develops technology, but is in the business of setting up specialty clinics focused on T2 diabetes medication optimization. These clinics are staffed by primary care physicians, who work with patients to optimize their dosage of insulin, GLP-1 meds, and oral medications for lowering glucose.
Currently, they have just one local clinic up and running in the Metro Detroit area, but the company expects to open four additional clinics in Southeast Michigan before long, and expand from there.
While Hygieia's d-Nav is being employed there, these clinics are "medication and tool agnostic," Bashan tells us. "They work like Dialysis Centers, where patients go in for a very specific purpose. We're not replacing the endocrinologist or other aspects of broader diabetes care."
In mid-2018, the Michigan-based company contracted with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) to support these clinics, and employ Hygieia's d-Nav for insulin-using T2 PWDs on PPO and its Blue Care Network HMO plans. That followed a year-long pilot study by BCBSM, in which 200 PWDs using d-Nav achieved improved clinical outcomes and lower overall healthcare costs — $6,000 per patient per year, to a pharmacy savings of more than $1,700 across all patients, Hygieia tells us.
With this latest contract, they're moving through Southeast Michigan and into the west side of the state, where estimated thousands of BCBSM members will use the Hygieia service, and beyond. That's the way to get traction in the market: negotiate for pilot studies that illustrate the value of your tools or service — thereby motivating payers to cover it broadly.
As of now, Hygieia has no plans to offer diabetes coaching — nutrition, exercise or otherwise — but rather is focused solely on precise insulin dosing and injection-related support, such as optimizing injection sites and insulin pen use.
A Little Help Goes a Long Way
Clearly, insulin titration apps can add a lot of value (anything's better than blind dosing, no?), and we're excited that new algorithms will eventually pair this capability with CGMs — especially as Dexcom moves in that direction with its G6 and later products, and the mobile app updates it has planned in the next year or two.
The idea of a GPS for insulin dosing reminds us quite a bit of the original discussions around CGM when it came out (a new guidance system!), and we predict it's only a matter of time before these titration tools become a new Standard of Care for those not connected to an insulin pump or closed loop that auto-doses insulin.
I Tried It: Tandem's New Control-IQ Automated Diabetes Technology
DiabetesMine reviews Tandem Diabetes exciting new Control-IQ system that partially automates insulin delivery.
Actress Elizabeth Perkins Shares Her Type 1 Diabetes Story
DiabetesMine talks with Actress Elizabeth Perkins, about her T1D and acting career as well as how her partner has been a key factor in helping her…
New Diabetes Technology: What to Expect in 2021
DiabetesMine reports on new diabetes technology and tools expected to materialize in 2021.
'Star Trek: Discovery' Actor Talks Diabetes and Insulin Prices
DiabetesMine interviews Actor Noah Averbach-Katz about his role on "Star Trek: Discovery" and his #insulin4all advocacy.
What Should People with Diabetes Know About the COVID-19 Vaccines?
What to know about type 1 diabetes and the COVID-19 vaccines: worries, risk, and what it's like to get the shots.
Why Dr. Denise Faustman Isn't Deterred by Skeptics of Her Type 1 Diabetes Cure Research
Denise Faustman and her research on a low-cost diabetes cure are quite controversial — now she's working on COVID-19.
Trial Testing Shakes Made for People with Diabetes
DiabetesMine tries out four leading brands of meal shakes that claim to help keep blood sugar in range.
Around the Diabetes Online Community: December 2020
DiabetesMine shares its monthly list of favorite social media posts for December 2020.
Lilly and Ypsomed Developing New Automated Insulin Delivery System
Insulin maker Eli Lilly and Swiss pump company Ypsomed are creating a new automated system for people with diabetes.
Your Diabetes Insider's Guide to Health Insurance
Top things you should know about dealing with health insurance to get the diabetes coverage you need.


1038411018@deleted has no other items for sale.
Immediate payment of US $47.90 is required.
Kindly contact us with photographs if wrong or defective items are sent. We do not accept returns or exchanges for items that do not fit due to high shipment costs, we seek your understanding in the matter.


text:
14+ quotes from Atlantis On the Shores of Forever by Jennifer McKeithen
Nothing Gold Can Stay: Stories The Girl Who'll Rule the World (Saturn Returns, #1) Born of Legend My Familiar Stranger Typee: A Peep at Polynesian Life The Change Tuareg Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger Spy Ski School Mordacious
Quotes from Atlantis On the Shores of Forever
Jennifer McKeithen · 392 pages
Rating: (17 votes)
"What are your intentions toward my sister?"
Marcus was taken aback. "Intentions?"
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about," Cahan snarled. "I've seen the way you look at her."
"If you'll take a moment to observe," the Roman countered, mustering patience, "you'll notice I'm not the only man who has cast his eye upon her once or twice."
― Jennifer McKeithen, quote from Atlantis On the Shores of Forever
"Ptah held up his mug. "Do you realize, we've fought together, starved together, bled together, endured slavery, and looked into the jaws of death..."
"But we never drank together!" Marcus finished, clanking his mug to Ptah's.
"Exactly! The drink flows freely, and we must make up for lost time, ha ha ha!"
"She wore a fitted gown of gold that shimmered in the dim light. Her regal grace bedazzled him, in spite of his best attempts at feigning disinterest. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
He let his breath out in a hiss.
He realized he had stopped breathing. There she was, the woman for whom he had risked everything. Never did he dare to harbor any hope of seeing her again. Yet after five long and bloody years, their paths had crossed once more."
"Against all the odds, we built a better navy than theirs—from scratch—in two months! We now rule the waves in the Mediterranean Sea—Our Sea! The day will come—it begins today—when Rome will master the world! Alexander will roll in his grave, Atlantis will decay in her decadence, and these demons of Harappa will entertain Hades with their theatrics this very night. But Rome will live on in fame and glory. It starts with our victory today!"
"Tell you what, why don't we go ask her brothers what they think of your claim?"
"I'd rather beat you to a pulp."
"Marcus turned his back to her. He feared that if he saw her face, it might weaken his resolve. Love was indeed a madness."
"Far, far out on the open sea a platform of stone held firm against the tossing waves. At first sight, it appeared as nothing out of the ordinary, other than that it lay in the middle of nowhere.
That was the view on the surface. Beneath the water existed an entirely alien world."
"I'd say it was a pleasure rowing with you, only it wasn't."
"She ran. Deeper, deeper into the mysterious Broceliande forest..."
"Lord Tierney was furious. But when he saw how his sister had suffered, his anger shifted instead toward Rome. "If it weren't for this new menace on the horizon," he thundered, "I'd declare war on those haughty deceivers this instant!"
Marcus stepped forward. "Kyrie, I don't think—"
"Then don't!"
"Secundus might lie rotting in his grave, but his relatives and followers yet lived. They believed the lies that held Gwenwhyfar responsible for the death of their relative. For the sake of his own family's safety, Marcus had not sought to correct that error."
"A twinge of fear entered Gwenwhyfar's heart. It was the first she had heard of the sea farms lying in the path of danger. She wondered what had befallen a different Norseman of her acquaintance. Had her poor bodyguard, Finn, perished in one of those raids?"
"My legion has won many victories. And since you are my dearest friend, we will fight that much harder." His intense, dark eyes locked with hers. "I swear to you: Ker-Ys will not fall."
"Water reveals the sounds of the Otherworlds, to those who know how to listen."
Jennifer McKeithen
Born place: in The United States
"Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."
― Thomas Keneally, quote from Schindler's List
"Things happen to people by accident."
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, quote from A Little Princess
"She was looking into my eyes with that way she had of looking that made you wonder whether she really saw out of her own eyes. They would look on and on after every one else's eyes in the world would have stopped looking. She looked as though there were nothing on earth she would not look at like that, and really she was afraid of so many things."
― Ernest Hemingway, quote from The Sun Also Rises (Fiesta)
"Like a bitch in heat, I seem to attract a coterie of policemen and sanitation officials. "
― John Kennedy Toole, quote from A Confederacy of Dunces
"I'll find you. There is no place in this world you can hide from me. I'm watching.
Love, Dimitri"
― Richelle Mead, quote from Spirit Bound
by Charles Burns
The Summer of Katya
by Trevanian
First Meetings in En...
by George Carlin
The Great Fires
by Jack Gilbert
by Rebecca Serle


Feel more vibrant and refreshed every day with Team Shady! The key to improving your performance in the gym, office, and everyday life is feeling more focused, awake, and alert. Isagenix's Energy System gives your body the tools to help improve your natural energy so you can continue to live life to the fullest.
Reach out to Team Shady today to learn more about the Energy System and its products at 602-370-8241.
Steve M: "My energy is through the roof"
"What you see in my after picture is a man who is enjoying life and living it to the fullest. I have had a great 18 months after I started putting great nutrition into my body using Isagenix.
My energy is through the roof and I am able to do many things that I couldn't or wouldn't do before. I had a great year teaching and coaching. My JV football team was undefeated last year at 9-0. I was able to referee about 25-30 basketball games and this year I was able to move up to the varsity level and have 21 varsity games to referee. I was nominated for teacher of the year in my district. Life is grand and loving it. What you don't see is the man in the before picture that had no energy, was depressed, and was a concern to my healthcare providers. I was wasting oxygen and taking up too much time dwelling on my problems. I was introduced to the cellular cleansing program by a good friend and it gave me the hope and feeling of a renewed purpose in my life. I am a better father, grandfather, and husband and overall human being today. I encourage all of you to take a look at this nutritional system and change your life just by saying yes."


FabricLovers Blog: Authentic African Fabric Coming Soon!
I love the bright colors and bold designs in African fabric! They have such an earthy, honest, happy appeal to them.
Well, traveling to the shop right now are our first bolts of Authentic African fabric, and I'm really excited for a couple of reasons. These fabrics will be perfect for use in quilts, clothing, and crafts. They are 100% cotton and are made in Mali, West Africa which is known for it's fabric design--each item is guaranteed authentic! The price point is very affordable (especially considering today's cotton prices), as they will be priced at $8.49 per yard.
And I've saved the best for last--these items are Fair Trade which means you are not only getting some great prints for yourself, but you are MAKING A DIFFERENCE in the lives of these African people! The man in the picture above is our supplier. Until recently, he used to live in Mali, and it's his village that benefits from your purchase.
What ideas are running through your head on projects to use these for?
@AndreaHi Andrea, that's a REALLY cool way to use the fabric! Do you have any pics of previous work? I'm hoping the fabric will be here in about a week--I can't wait!
@AndreaThose are beautiful! Yes, I do recognize quite a few of the fabrics. Can I grab a picture or two to put in our Photo Gallery and on Facebook?
Thanks! And sure you can.


text:
YouTube Red Oct 28, 2015 16:29:35 GMT
Post by Dillon on Oct 28, 2015 16:29:35 GMT
Youtube has come out with an ads-free option for watching YouTube. They are doing this with a service called YouTube Red. YouTube Red is a monthly subscription service for $9.99/month; with it comes ads-free viewing (pre-roll ads, mid-roll ads, ad banners, sidebar ads,…all ads), offline playback via the mobile app, background audio playback, and exclusive content (which is to come in the future).
What do you guys think of YouTube Red? Do you think it's worth $9.99/month? Do you watch enough YouTube videos on a regular basis in order for this service to be of use to you?
I'm going to sign up because I'm subscribed to many channels that post daily and weekly, so I watch enough YouTube videos to the extent that the ads are annoying and waste time and that paying $10 a month will be worth it. And from what I understand, by this service, YouTube content creators could potentially make more money from the Red service than they do from ads. So if it will potentially help the people who make the videos I watch, then that's another good reason to get it.
Last Edit: Oct 28, 2015 16:30:15 GMT by Dillon
YouTube Red Oct 28, 2015 17:07:44 GMT BogoGog24 likes this
Post by sam on Oct 28, 2015 17:07:44 GMT
I'm neutral about it.
On one hand, I don't think it is a very good idea- YouTube has been free for a very very long time now, and the fact they're introducing this now doesn't sit well. The people who are making the Premium YTR content are already earning alot of money from Ad revenue, so I think it's unnecessary. And I think the perks it gives is quite underwhelming.
Having said that though I do like that it removes ads (only good perk IMO) and does support all YouTubers who monetize their videos. Ultimately though I won't be paying for it for the reasons above and anyone can support their favorite YouTuber anyway by sitting through an ad.
Last Edit: Oct 28, 2015 17:08:17 GMT by sam
YouTube Red Oct 28, 2015 17:49:31 GMT sam likes this
What' good about it is that YouTube will remain free. Whatever Red exclusive content that eventually comes out will be above and beyond what is already on YouTube for free because it will be purposely created for YouTube Red and will therefore be different and separate from what we can already get for free.
There is a big drawback from it: any YouTube creator who monetizes their videos and earns money through ad-revenue will have their videos privated if they don't agree to the new terms and conditions for YouTube Red. This won't be a big problem for creators who still actively publish videos on YouTube and who are aware of the new terms and conditions; but for those who stopped doing YouTube videos a while ago (and also monetized the videos) will get their videos privated because they won't be aware of the changes. And YouTube isn't being a bully by doing this, but they're doing it in order to be fair. Because YouTube Red is ads-free, videos from those who haven't updated their terms have to become private or else non-Red subscribers would get less content than they did before YouTube Red.
It's true that big-youtubers already make a lot of money from ads and from sponsorships, but YouTube Red seems like it will benefit the little-youtubers who don't make much money because they don't have as many subscribers/supporters even though they do comparable amounts of work.
Besides ads-free, I like that the mobile app will now support background playback. The iOS app used to support it when YouTube was still a stock app before Google purchased YouTube and made their own app for the app store. It sucks though that what used to be a free feature years ago is now a paid feature. YouTube Red has its perks, but it's not without flaws.
A man is only as sick, as his secrets
Last Online: Jul 9, 2020 9:40:35 GMT
Post by Silent Soul on Oct 28, 2015 22:36:09 GMT
I'm not going to sign up. Iv'e realized recently that YT eats up way to much time. Everybody knows this situation....you want to watch one video and you end up watching 3 hours pointless bullshit. I really try to stay away from it...
YouTube Red Oct 28, 2015 22:39:47 GMT sam, Silent Soul, and 2 more like this
Post by BogoGog24 on Oct 28, 2015 22:39:47 GMT
It sounds like bandwagoning to me, because it seems like every service now is trying to become a subscription or ad-free service. They are simply looking for a greedy way to make even more money by making people think this is something worth paying for. I watch a fair amount of YouTube videos but honestly it's not a huge deal to me to click off the ad or wait 30 seconds to view the video. I can easily just check my e-mail or something while I wait. It is annoying for sure but to me not worth paying $120 a year for. I already pay $8 per month for Hulu (that's not even the ad-free one), shelling out another $10 a month for an otherwise free service is just ridiculous to me. As blizz said, the features it claims to offer don't sound particularly amazing. Pass.
^ Same as Bogo. It's all about the money...
YouTube Red Oct 28, 2015 22:52:38 GMT BogoGog24 and Silent Soul like this
Oct 28, 2015 22:42:52 GMT Silent Soul said:
Sadly yes- I remember when YouTube was just a video sharing site (sure, it still is now- but without the corporate stuff) and to be honest I don't mind that it's monetized, it was a good move IMO as it funds the site; but also it has caused some upsets in recent years and Youtube Red is no exception to that. It's just a shame (to me at least) to see big brands and companies advertise on it and also control the content posted on there, sure, you can appeal but if they reject that then you're punished for it.
YouTube Red Oct 29, 2015 7:50:43 GMT sam, TheRaven, and 2 more like this
Post by Deleted on Oct 29, 2015 7:50:43 GMT
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RedTube
I smell a lawsuit.
Life is short, eat the donut.
YouTube Red Oct 29, 2015 8:55:07 GMT BogoGog24 likes this
Post by TheRaven on Oct 29, 2015 8:55:07 GMT
I'm not going to sign up. I can live with the ads, I watch shows on Hulu.com, with all ads there are in a 40 minute episode.
There was someone, I think it may have been a youtuber, that started a petition to get YouTube Red revoked and has nearly 16,000 signatures/supporters out of 25,000. Their petition seems to be doing well. But in terms of YouTube's massive user base, the goal of 25,000 is no way close to it and won't persuade YouTube to change their mind.
YouTube Red Nov 3, 2015 0:33:49 GMT via mobile
Post by Avengium on Nov 3, 2015 0:33:49 GMT
What do you think about a campaign to increase Avril Youtube views? "Make Avril Lavigne videos Vevo certified youtube campaign"?
I want to see more #Vevocertified videos from Avril. And will be great that most of her singles surpass 100M views, not only a few.
YouTube Red Nov 3, 2015 8:26:10 GMT sam, BogoGog24, and 1 more like this
Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2015 8:26:10 GMT
Nov 3, 2015 0:33:49 GMT Avengium said:
I think this is a whole other topic, which has nothing to do with YouTube Red.
YouTube Red Nov 3, 2015 12:45:33 GMT via mobile
Post by BogoGog24 on Nov 3, 2015 12:45:33 GMT
Not to mention that I'm pretty sure a lot of her fans on Twitter are already doing something like that, at least with the videos that are close to 100m views. All you really need to do is leave the video on a playlist to repeat itself and let it play all day. You don't really need a campaign to do that.
Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2015 17:14:05 GMT
No thanks the only thing I'm happy subscribed to is spotify and it's going to stay that way!
Srrrrr
Last Online: Nov 2, 2020 23:24:36 GMT
YouTube Red Nov 27, 2015 8:15:05 GMT
Post by Srrrrr on Nov 27, 2015 8:15:05 GMT
youtube red is pretty useless for anyone using adblock ,to be honest. they'd have to find a way to make an end to adblocks before launching this.
I know they are not the most legit tools around but as long as they fail to close them..I mean, why paying for something you can get for free..right ?


text:
WeWriWa 12
It's been another week of rain and sun. Another week of triumphs and disappointments. And I did not get my photos taken after all. But I will. At some point.
Anyway, it's time once again for Weekend Writing Warriors and eight sentences from my WIP medieval novel The DeFord Chronicles, Part II. One of these days I'll give you an excerpt from the one that came before it, but today is not that day.
Random scrolling commencing in three...two...one...and we have landed in Chapter 27, where King Phillip's council are meeting regarding the threats against the royal family. The observation that the villian must be a nobleman due to the reading and writing involved in the plot has led to a few jokes (trust me it makes sense in context)--but one man is not laughing. The very night before this meeting Stanley St. Robert's daughter Lilia died as a result of one of the attacks.
Lord St. Robert stood up and viewed his fellow nobles with disgust. "Amusing though we all find murder and treason to be, I suggest we put our efforts into finding the bastard responsible, rather than jesting about it. And I shall start by openly swearing that if I find any man in this room has been tied in any way to the plot against our king I will personally cut off his head." He stalked from the room without his majesty's leave.
Several of the others rose at the insult to their sovereign, but Phillip waved them back to their seats. "Let him go. Lord St. Robert is not himself, and we all know why. I shall add that if any of my council is involved, I shall be only too happy to write the warrants for his arrest and execution, after Lord St. Robert has accomplished the latter; for I do not think my pen as swift as his blade."
The king is right about that too. Stanley was the best swordsman in his army during the revolution. He's not a man to cross. That's all for me this week. I'll see you around as I visit some of my favorite authors for Weekend Writing Warriors.
Greetings friends, and welcome to another smashing edition of Weekend Writing Warriors, where daring and brilliant writers around the world showcase exactly eight sentences of their work.
I'd like to take this moment--not that moment, this one--to thank everyone who comes to visit me and leaves their comments each weekend. You have become dear friends and I look forward to your feedback each week.
It's the monthly SCA meeting this Sunday so my own visits may take into Monday but rest assured I will be making them. I think I even got the computer issues that were so bothersome last Sunday fixed!
And now...on with the show. Last week some of you expressed an interest in meeting the kitchen boy who is so central to the controversy of Chapter 30. I shall oblige you by backing up and giving eight sentences from Chapter 28 involving our young messenger. Our kitchen boy was found in Lord DeFord's room by Lord DeFord's good friend Sir James Quinly, who of course asked for an explanation of what the young scamp was doing there. This excerpt features editing and creative punctuation.
"I was sent by a lady, sir...to leave something for my Lord DeFord--it is to be a surprise, she said." The boy looked at him innocently.
"What lady?"
"I know not, sir--I did not see her face; she was hidden in the shadows--but she had on a dark cape."
The boy led him over to a table near the window where Chauncy kept his correspondence. Upon the surface lay an unfinished message and black sealing wax. James gripped the boy's shoulder.
"Have I done wrong sir?"
I should probably mention that this kitchen boy is quite young, illiterate, and hungry. An easy mark for a mysterious person who might offer him food or coin for a task he did not understand. Oh, and all the threats against the royal family have had black sealing wax on them. Red was the common color for sealing wax, so the black is particularly important here.
That's all for me this weekend. See you around the net.
P.S. Please consider checking out my last post
I have been given the Sunshine Award by the lovely and talented Lorraine Paton, whose new book Devin's Second Chance releases this June!
Thank you, Lorraine!
Here are the rules for the Sunshine Award:
Thank the person who gave you the award in your blog post.
Answer the questions below.
Pass the award to a bunch of deserving and inspiring bloggers, inform them and link to their blogs (The rules actually say 10-12 people, but I'm not going to choose that many this time. Why? Because I'm a rebel, that's why.)
So, here are the questions:
Favorite Color: Blue! Never met a shade I didn't like but my favorite is that deep, bright classic blue.
Favorite Animal: Well that would be a dog, or a horse, or a pig. Hard to choose really.
Favorite Number: Um...8?
Favorite Non-Alcoholic Drink: Pepsi.
Facebook or Twitter: Both. Facebook is easier for me. Twitter goes so fast it's hard to keep up, especially because I can't use my phone for it.
Your Passion: Which one? I love writing, music, design, history, etc.
Giving or Getting Presents: Yes. I love giving presents, but I like getting them too, so I could really go either way on this one.
Favorite Flower: Roses. But lilacs are a close second and the wood violet is dear to me as well. Come to think of it, I have a real fondness of apple blossoms and pansies too. Did I mention that I have an indecisive streak? But roses are my favorite.
Now to name those whom I wish to honor with an award. The following people have been chosen because they A) have blogs, B) are likely to post, C) have not been chosen by Lorraine, and most importantly D) they have brought some sunshine into my life. Please note, there is another category here: E) because I will continue to tag my sister until she starts posting again. You are brilliant and the world will know it because I said so!
Jes Langan
J.M. Blackman
Angela Quarles
Tess Quinn
Hello fellow Weekend Writing Warriors! It's good to be back. I've missed you all and am looking forward to making the rounds again. Camp NaNoWriMo's April session went well. I did not accomplish my goal of finishing the draft, but I am some 50,000 words closer to doing just that.
This week, a sample of what I wrote during my absence. Using my signature random scrolling method, I give you eight sentences from Chapter 30 of The DeFord Chronicles, Part II. Our hero, Chauncy DeFord has been framed for murder and treason. The king has just explained the circumstances under which evidence against Lord DeFord was found in said hero's chambers in the palace. It is known that the criminal must be a member of the nobility, and the innocence of our hero depends--in the eyes of most of the king's council--on the word of a young kitchen boy.
Two lords were visibly relieved, most of the others were skeptical. "Why should anyone take the word of a mere kitchen boy?"
"He could have been bribed."
"Yes, or threatened."
The king's face grew a bit red. "I examined the boy myself and detected no sign of either. As to who would take the word of a kitchen boy, why should such a child be considered less honest than a member of the nobility who commits treason? At the moment I am inclined to believe my lower subjects far more pure and honorable than a good share of the nobles."
Poor King Phillip. It's a trying situation, but there are some on his council who are in agreement about Lord DeFord's being innocent. For more from The DeFord Chronicles, Part II check out my last blog post. It contains a lengthy excerpt.
I'm looking forward to reading all the wonderful excerpts, by the wonderful authors who make up the Weekend Writing Warriors. See you around the web! :o)
April was a long month. During this early session of Camp NaNoWriMo I wrote almost every day, managed to add more than 50,000 words to my WIP, and did not finish the darn thing. But I am much, much closer to the end than I was on March 31st. NaNoWriMo events are great motivators for me.
In the last week my spring headache rush has come. They always get bad this time of year. Could be allergies, or a reaction to the warmer weather, or perhaps merely the stress of anticipating the coming summer.
I was about ready to post and do some work on sprucing up the blog when the internet went out. Obviously not the entire internet, but mine certainly went down. Apparently people in twenty states were affected. Let me tell you, I am far more dependent on my internet connection than I realized. Oh sure, most of my social life is on here. And of course, my business is run 99% online. But I was a bit surprised at how very much I missed the internet. It's certainly a good thing that I didn't have to go longer than two days without service. And I did get more housework done than usual. :o)
Anyway, I thought I should give you all a taste of what has been keeping me from you. I'd ask how you managed to bear the deprivation of my company but I suspect most of the world didn't even notice I was gone. For those of you who did...a sneak peek at the raw and unedited (and disappointingly still unfinished) The DeFord Chronicles, Part II.
Out of the many subplots in the novel I have chosen this excerpt regarding a young lady who is in love with one man, but sadly about to be betrothed to another. At her first offical court ball she determined to prove herself an unequal match for the duke of Langdon. Unfortunately her success was not well-received by her scheming uncle.
That night as Gillian was readying for bed she thought over her performance at the ball. She had made a great fool of herself and embarrassed her uncle terribly. She had gone out of her way to prove that she would be a disaster as a duchess, using her inexperience and sheltered existence as the ultimate excuses for her behavior. It was true that she had not been to court before, and that a great many things had been kept from her in terms of knowledge of the world. That worked to her advantage. Since she had not attended any other balls, or events where the entire court was present, no one could say that she was not honestly unprepared for the night. Only she and a few others knew better.
She was brushing her hair in front of the glass when she saw her uncle enter the room. Her hand froze mid-stroke. He was most certainly not pleased.
"Out, all of you." Everard commanded. "I would have words with my niece."
Gillian turned an anxious face to the retreating servants. Not one of them gave her even a glance of sympathy. They would not risk their master's displeasure and thus their own employment.
He waited until the door was shut behind the last of them, then
stalked across the carpet and struck Gillian from behind with the back of his
hand, knocking her off of her chair.
"You think you are clever, do you?" He kicked the chair away and circled her menacingly. "Playing the ignorant country lass. Get up. Get up!" He hauled her to her feet, fingers biting into the flesh of her upper arms, and backed her against the hard stone wall. "A fine performance my girl but it was all in vain. Look at me." When she failed to comply he grabbed a fistful of hair and yanked, forcing her head up until they were nose to nose, his wine-soaked breath as awful as his cruelty.
"You will wed the duke. I care not for your opinion on this or any other matter. You will wed him and you will promote me at every opportunity or I will make you suffer as you have never dreamed you could suffer. Do you understand?"
She nodded as best she could, eyes wide with fright, tears streaming down her face.
Everard released her and walked away. "Pleasant dreams, dear niece."
Gillian heard the door close and slid to the floor, crying as quietly as she could. Her arms hurt and her head too where it had felt as if he would pull her hair right out. She loosened the bodice on her gown and pushed it down to look at her arms, purple streaks were already forming in the shape of fingers.
She had never loved her uncle. Now she hated him and wanted to see him ruined and broken. She should confess these wicked thoughts, but she was enjoying them too much. The hatred would give her strength to do what she must.
First she thought of sending a note, but none of her uncle's servants could be trusted to deliver it. Gillian had no doubt he had ordered them to watch her carefully. The only reason he had not locked her in her chambers was that he knew she had nowhere to go. Who could she turn to for aid?
Duncan must not know. He would challenge her uncle, and much though she loved him, Gillian was not ready to believe him invincible, besides which Everard would not play fair. It would have to be a lady. Princess Therese might help her, but she did not wish to take advantage of their tentative alliance. And really, what could a girl of ten and seven do, even a princess?
She could not go to the queen. She tried to remember if any of the ladies at court had been companions of her mother's but her mother had died when she was very young and her father not long after. There was no one in particular she could remember as one on whose sympathy and assistance she could rely. Having been raised in the country she herself knew no one at court, and it would be dangerous to approach just anyone. It was impossible for her to know who might side with her uncle, probably all of them. They would likely think her mad to spurn the possibility of becoming a duchess. She wished desperately for Duncan, but he more than anyone must be kept in the dark, for his own safety even more than for hers.
Suddenly she saw it. The only possible solution: a lady who was known for her tender heart and goodness, who was close to the queen, and whose husband and father were powerful men. She would go at once while the marks were still fresh. The hour was not too late, and as she was still dressed no one would pay any attention to her.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
"My lady there is a maiden at the door who wishes to speak with
you urgently."
Isabelle removed her rings and sat. "Who is she, do you know?"
"No my lady but she looks as if she has had an awful fright. She said you are her only hope." The servant repeated exactly what Gillian had told her to say. The weight of the gold coin the girl had given her was a pleasure to feel in her pocket.
"Show her in." Isabelle took off her bracelets and necklace then turned to receive her unexpected guest.
"Lady St. Robert. Please help me!"
Isabelle was moved by the plea, which she took to be heartfelt, but the falling at her feet and grasping her skirt was a bit much. She recognized the petitioner at once. Carlisle's niece, who was to wed the duke of Langdon. "Calm yourself, child. Tell me, what manner of trouble are you in?" She hoped in her heart that she could help for the girl looked quite wild.
"I must escape my uncle. I cannot wed the duke and he will kill me if I do not!"
"Lady Gillian, you exaggerate. Surely your uncle only wishes what is best for you. Lady Gillian, what are you doing?" Isabelle stared as the girl pushed her bodice down. She stared still when she saw the marks, but her eyes had turned from shock to outrage. She touched one arm gingerly. "Who did this to you?"
Tears filled Gillian's eyes. "My uncle."
Isabelle looked into the girl's eyes and knew at once that it was true. Dramatic she might be, but not dishonest. "Why have you come to me?"
"I have no friend at court. I do not know who to trust." Gillian confided as a tear streaked down her left cheek. She brushed at it unhappily. "I have heard of your kindness. And I…"
"Go on." Isabelle urged.
"I heard that your family is not on friendly terms with my uncle. I could not risk seeking help from anyone who is allied with him."
Isabelle nodded. That was a very valid point. "From whom did you hear that we are not on good terms with Carlisle?"
"From your son Duncan." Gillian's eyes turned frantic. "He must not know about this, that my uncle hurt and threatened me!"
Oh dear lord! Isabelle thought. So that was the way of things. She had noticed a change in her eldest son. He was more thoughtful, seemed to have some purpose, was actually being responsible. Did the girl return his feelings? Yes, or she would not have been so adamant that he not know of what had occurred. Isabelle of all people knew her son's impulsive nature. No, it would be best if he did not know of the incident.
Isabelle latched onto the later part of Gillian's exclamation. "How did he threaten you? Come, sit over here." She guided the girl to a bench closer to the light so she could get a better look at the bruises forming. The dark purple was a stark contrast to Gillian's fair skin. These were deep bruises. Only a man intent on injuring could have made those marks. This was not the result of a rare fit of temper from a man who did not know his strength.
"He, he said…" Gillian paused to take a deep breath, fighting back the hysteria that wanted to surface. "That if I refused to wed His Grace the duke of Langdon that he would make me suffer as I have never imagined suffering before. He did not say how, yet I know he meant it. I can still see his eyes. He is evil, and he hates me. He will kill me, I know it!" She dissolved into tears and let Lady St. Robert soothe her as her own mother might have, had she lived.
"Hush dear. I will help you as much as I am able. I cannot promise anything now. But I will try." Isabelle was not certain she believed Carlisle would actually murder his niece, but it was clear that he was not above inflicting pain. The poor girl clung to her and wept her heart out. When the tears had ceased, Isabelle stroked Gillian's head and patted her hand. "Now, you must go back to your chambers. You must act as if nothing has happened. Can you do that?"
Gillian nodded. "I can do anything for Duncan." She covered her mouth with her free hand.
"You need not be alarmed," Isabelle smiled. "I had guessed it already.
You do not make things easy on yourself in choosing my son over a duke. Still, if you have the strength to fight, you shall never take for granted what you gain." Gillian made to leave. "A moment, please." Isabelle went to a large chest and rummaged through until she found a good sized brown pot filled with what seemed to be an aromatic goo. "I shall see to those marks before you go. This will take some of the pain away, and lessen the swelling." She carefully smeared the salve on Gillian's arms, talking to her all the while. She could sense a deep need for mothering in the girl. She knew that Eustace and Annora Carlisle had died when Gillian was quite young.
When the treatment was finished and Gillian's bodice back in place, she hugged Lady St. Robert fiercely and then fled the chambers. Isabelle smiled. She liked this Lady Gillian who had stolen her son's heart. It would be a delicate business untangling Everard's web, but she would try. "Oh Duncan," she sighed, "you never make things easy."
That's all for now. I look forward to getting back in touch with the world, and resuming my participation in Weekend Writing Warriors. See you around the web.


The Lee Cemetery is located in Addison County. The county seat for Addison County is located in Middlebury.
We know of 21 cemeteries that are within Less than 2 miles<2> of the Lee Cemetery. The cemeteries are listed in alphabetical order.
The following 25 communities are within 10 miles [16.1 km] of the Lee Cemetery.
Our distance measurements begin at a specific point at the Lee Cemetery. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 44.1095, Longitude: -72.9985 [Map]. In this case, the coordinates for the Lee Cemetery have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS).


text:
Astronomia
 Pallas – duża planetoida klasy B w Układzie Słonecznym

Ludzie

O imieniu Pallas
 Pallas (Marek Antoniusz Pallas) – wpływowy wyzwoleniec na dworze cesarza Klaudiusza, brat rzymskiego zarządcy Judei Antoniusza Feliksa
 Pallas – jedna z żon Heroda Wielkiego

O nazwisku Pallas
 Peter Simon Pallas – niemiecki przyrodnik i podróżnik

Mitologia grecka
 Pallas – w mitologii greckiej przydomek bogini Ateny
 Pallas – w mitologii greckiej córka Trytona
 Pallas – w mitologii greckiej jeden z gigantów, syn Uranosa
 Pallas – w mitologii greckiej syn Ewandra

 Pallas – w mitologii greckiej syn Likaona
 Pallas – w mitologii greckiej syn Pandiona
 Pallas – w mitologii greckiej jeden z tytanów, syn Kriosa

Inne
 Pallas – szkocka grupa rockowa
 "Pallas" – nazwa francuskich okrętów
 Pallas - estońskie stowarzyszenie artystyczne założone w 1918 r.

Zobacz też
 A Pallas nagy lexikona – węgierska encyklopedia
 Citroën C4 Pallas – argentyńska wersja modelu Citroën C4 Sedan przeznaczona na rynek brazylijski
 Cortes de Pallás – gmina w hiszpańskiej prowincji Walencja
 Pallas-Yllästunturi – fiński park narodowy w Laponii
 Pallas Atena i centaur – obraz autorstwa Sandra Botticellego

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Q: Variable Value as Range Thank you for the help so far!
I would like to assign +/i signs for the function and solution such as (+)(+)(-) and therefore (-).
It is working for the first evaluation, λlower, but not for the second evaluation, λupper. I cannot see the difference - has it to do with "λi /. Solve" in both definitions?
    (* Endogenous *)
    Clear[μ, ξ, β, γ, ri, si, rj, sj, λCri, λCsi , λlower, λupper, λlowereip, λip];
    (* Exogenous *)
    Clear[ ci, yp, λi, αi, ϵip, ηip, eip];
    ri = ϵip*λi + (1 - ηip)*(1 - λi);
    si = ηip*(1 - λi) + (1 - ϵip)*λi;
    λCri = (ϵip*λi)/(ϵip*λi + (1 - ηip)*(1 - λi));
    λCsi = (ηip*(1 - λi))/(ηip*(1 - λi) + (1 - ϵip)*λi);
    λlower = λi /.
    Solve[ri*(yp - eip - ci + αi*λCri) + si*(yp - eip + αi*(1 - λCsi)) == yp + αi*(1 - λi), {λi}];
    λupper = λi /.Solve[ri*(yp - eip - ci + αi*λCri) +
  si*(yp - eip + αi*(1 - λCsi)) == yp + αi*λi - ci, {λi} ];
    Simplify[D[λlower, eip]]
    Simplify[Sign[D[λlower, eip]], αi > 0 && eip > 0 && ci > 0 && 0 < ϵip < 1 && 0 < ci < 1 && 0 < ηip < 1 && αi > ci && αi > ci + eip && ϵip + ηi < 1]
    Simplify[D[λupper, eip]]
    Simplify[Sign[D[λupper, eip]], αi > 0 && eip > 0 && ci > 0 && 0 < ϵip < 1 && 0 < ci < 1 && 0 < ηip < 1 && αi > ci && αi > ci + eip && ϵip + ηi < 1]

A: exp = {Sign[a], Sign[1 - b], Sign[1 - a - b],
   Sign[a (1 - a) (1 - a - b)]};
ref = Assuming[{0 < a < 1 && Element[a, Reals] 0 < b < 1 &&
     Element[b, Reals] && a + b > 1}, Refine[exp]];
Grid[{exp, ref /. {1 -> "+", -1 -> "-"}},
 Dividers -> {{True, {None}, True, True}, {{True}}}]

A: expressions = {a, 1 - a, 1 - b, a + b, a (1 - b) (1 - a - b)};
assumptions = 0 < a < 1 && 0 < b < 1 && a + b > 1;

signF = Simplify[Sign@#, #2]  /. {1 -> "+", -1 -> "-"} &;

signF[expressions, assumptions]
(* {"+","+","+","+","-"} *)

Grid[{expressions, signF[expressions, assumptions]}, Dividers -> All]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Did a primary school math teacher in Foshan City of Guangdong Province go too far when she asked her students to count 100 million grains of rice? That's the homework she assigned to her grade four class on Wednesday, leaving some parents unimpressed.
According to thepaper.cn, some parents believed this counting assignment was too much for their children. One parent surnamed Huo said that her child won't do the homework. Other parents approved of the counting assignment. One parent surnamed Mo said she let her child count 100 grains of rice and had them weighted, before estimating how much 100 million grains of rice would weight.
The good old days when I was in standard 2 (grade 4) there was not even half of that amount of rice grains in our country.
Furthermore, if a teacher give us an assignment such as this, the authorities will send him/her to a psychiatric unit.
This is a good way to teach the students to think "out of the box". It shows there are more than one way to solve a problem..
Maybe the intention behind this homework was to build patience among his/her students. In other way smart students will find a better way to do the difficult task.


text:
Q: Is this usage of "instead" correct - 'use x to y instead'? I have seen the below mentioned sentence, where x has to be replaced by y.

use x to y instead

Is this usage of the word instead correct?
Edit: There was one post where one wrong word was written (lets assume it word1), then writer left a comment "use word1 to word2 instead", word2 is correct word. But this sentence sounds bit wrong to me.

A: Let's assume the original author wrote:

There were ten gooses in the yard.

An editor might say any of these:

*

*"Change gooses to geese.

*"Use geese instead of gooses."

*"Change gooses and use geese instead."

The version you reportedly saw:

*

*"Use gooses to geese instead."

sounds like an inadvertent blend of these, but I don't think it works.