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Lord Greaves: My Lords, I rise briefly to support the observations of the noble Lord, Lord Rotherwick, in relation to Amendment No. 138. The second part of his amendment contains a great deal of good sense. I emphasise the need for comprehensive information once areas of access come on stream, particularly in relation to restrictions and the closure of land at certain times. It is vital that such information is easily available to anyone who wants it. As part of the amendment suggests, the obvious way to do that nowadays is via the Internet. As to that, there is a great deal of experience. I do not apologise for again drawing on the experience of the British Mountaineering Council. If one wants to climb on any

7 Nov 2000 : Column 1460

open crag in the British Isles one can discover what restrictions are in force, whether they relate to birds or access, or obtain information about how to reach it, where to park and so on, on the appropriate website. Not only do an increasing number of people have access to the Internet, but it is a very good way to provide details at local information points which many people will visit. It is crucial that that information is available nationally and is comprehensive and up to date. Having said that, I do not believe that that needs to be on the face of the Bill. It will be helpful if the Minister indicates whether he is thinking along those lines.

Lord Williamson of Horton: My Lords, I support Amendment No. 104. I was one of those who in the earlier stages of the Bill pressed the case for the availability of information as an essential element to ensure that when enacted the legislation could be implemented in good spirit and without contention. I am pleased that we have a new clause which builds codes of conduct into the Bill. I am also pleased with the wording of the clause which refers, in particular, to the public being,

    "informed of the situation and extent of, and means of access to, access land".

That will give rise to a better situation, and I thank the Government for it.

The question of timing is raised by another important amendment in the group. I describe it as the final fling of the noble Baroness, Lady Byford, in that Amendment No. 264B is the penultimate amendment at this stage of the Bill. To assist the implementation of this Bill, it is essential that the codes of conduct, which are well provided for in Amendment No. 104, are available as soon as possible. The amendment in the name of the noble Baroness makes a direct link between codes of conduct and the implementation of Clause 2 of the Bill, which in many ways is desirable. I do not insist on building that into the Bill, but it is important that codes of conduct are quickly available because that is what the public and all those concerned with the right to roam need.

Viscount Bledisloe: My Lords, I too welcome Amendment No. 104, which deals with the question of informing the public about the permanent situation; namely, what is access land, where it is and how to get to it. However, how do the Government intend to inform the public about more transient matters, such as exclusion periods and so on? Clearly, they cannot be included in a code of conduct which no doubt will be a permanent document like The Highway Code that is printed and in circulation. However, the public need to be informed in some way of exclusions and so on. Amendment No. 138, standing in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Rotherwick, does not begin to deal with that since Clause 31, which he seeks to amend, relates only to areas within the governance of the National Parks Authority or the Forestry Commission. These organisations are probably the best placed to deal with the situation. I should like the

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Minister to say how he sees information being promulgated with regard to temporary situations such as exclusion orders and so on.

9.45 p.m.

Lord Walpole: My Lords, I do not want to repeat what my noble friend Lord Bledisloe has just said. That would be a waste of time. I believe that Amendment No. 105, standing in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Miller, is absolutely essential. I hope that the Government accept it. The amendment makes behaviour in the countryside relevant not only to access land--in which I have no personal interest whatever--but highly relevant to lowland walks and much of the footpath network, in which I have an interest. It also helps to protect wildlife. I hope that the Government will look sympathetically on it.

Baroness Young of Old Scone: My Lords, I welcome government Amendment No. 104 which requires the Countryside Agency or the CCW to draw up a code of conduct. Perhaps I may also draw attention to another element of that amendment which refers to "other steps". I believe that it is important that the contents of that code are widely promulgated. A major exercise should start soon in order to get the public clued up about the requirements of this very different set of access provisions which will come into force when the Bill becomes law.

Amendment No. 105 standing in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, has one slight inconsistency. I understand the wish to have a code of conduct that covers all the elements of access to the countryside. But it would be rather rash to ask the Countryside Agency to have responsibility for a code under Part III, which deals primarily with nature conservation. The Countryside Agency is a wonderful organisation, but, alas, not entirely au fait with all the provisions under nature conservation. I should declare an interest and say that if such a code were to exist, English Nature would have the responsibility for drawing up Part III.

The Countess of Mar: My Lords, I, too, support Amendments Nos. 104 and 105, perhaps with the reservations given by the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone. I should like also to endorse what the noble Baroness said about the need to disperse this information as widely as possible.

Perhaps I may ask the Minister whether he would consider the possibility of leafleting households throughout the country. It is a quite simple procedure these days. We get leaflets about all kinds of matters. The leaflets could have a brief resume of the code and tell people where the code will be available. Perhaps the Minister could consider also whether the Government propose that the code should be available in bookshops and various countryside stores; for example, farm shops could have copies of the code.

Lord Glentoran: My Lords, this has been the happiest afternoon of the proceedings on the Bill. I am beginning to believe that at the end of the proceedings

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we may have an Act which is enforceable and workable. I strongly support--with one reservation to which I shall come in a minute--Amendments Nos. 104 and 105. I should like to speak also to Amendments No. 264A, 264AA and 264B, although they do not all stand in my name.

Perhaps I may turn first to Amendment No. 138, standing in the name of my noble friend Lord Rotherwick. The amendment in its present form it is not ideal. It has been good to hear the debate again around the House. It is a debate that we had quite early in Committee. Noble Lords were told that the amendment is an absolutely necessary basis for the functioning of the Bill--the spread of information, the method of getting the message across and of informing the general public of restrictions of rights and of all the matters that go within the Bill.

On the first day in Committee I made the point to the noble Baroness, Lady Farrington, that the Government needed to promote at an early stage a serious education programme. If my memory serves me right, which it very rarely does nowadays, she said that the DfEE would be working with the DETR and that we would see another example of joined-up government. I find it encouraging that that has come through.

Amendments Nos. 264A, 264AA and 264B are critical to the management of the process. As the noble Lord, Lord Williamson pointed out, they are essentially about timing. While we support Amendments Nos. 104 and 105, it is important that the structures, the codes of practice, the information systems and so on should be in place before the Bill becomes law and access is available on a nation-wide basis.

In summary, we support Amendments Nos. 104 and 105 with the proviso that codes of practice, management structures and structures for the dissemination of information are in place before the Bill becomes law.

Lord Whitty: My Lords, first, I wish to address the amendment standing in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Miller. Amendment No. 105 would extend the terms of Amendment No. 104 to Parts II and III of the Bill. At first sight, it seems a very sensible amendment and certainly the spirit of it and the intention to require the Countryside Agency to provide a comprehensive guide to all of these matters seem highly desirable. However, there are some difficulties.

Whereas Part I of the Bill is in effect the totality of law on access, Part II is only part of the law in relation to rights of way and, as my noble friend Lady Young implied, Part III is only part of the law in relation to conservation, biodiversity and AONBs. There is also the question of which is the authoritative agency in this respect. Perhaps I may say to the noble Baroness that I shall have another look at the matter to see whether there is a better way of achieving what she wishes in this context--that is, trying to combine existing duties on the Countryside Agency to provide such guidance,

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including the Country Code, and a clear statement that it must provide this code of conduct in relation to Part I and put it within a broader context of advice on the countryside. Perhaps I may speak to the noble Baroness between now and Third Reading about how best we could do that.

The noble Baroness and the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, asked about the Country Code and the national curriculum. We have already started on that in a sense. The Countryside Agency via the national forum has produced an access information plan which will produce a range of leaflets and information for use in schools. Further than that, stipulating what is in the national curriculum is probably beyond the scope of the Bill. Nevertheless, it is our clear intention to deliver that.

Perhaps I may turn now to Amendment No. 138, tabled in the name of the noble Lord, Lord Rotherwick. I accept the spirit of what he intends to achieve. Certainly, the Government are committed to the need to ensure that, as far as possible, adequate information, including some of the particular information to which the noble Lord referred, is provided to the public and to other bodies. Furthermore, it is right that the guidelines for local authorities should be as transparent as possible.

However, Amendment 138 is based on something of a misinterpretation of the scope of Clause 31. As the noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, pointed out, Clause 31 relates only to the role of national park authorities and the Forestry Commission as relevant authorities. The other issues to which the noble Lord's amendment refer do not relate to Clause 31. Guidance under this clause is likely to address such matters as the criteria for assessing applications for directions under Clauses 22 and 23 and the desirability of making such directions under paragraph 6 of Schedule 2.

The broad aim of the amendment is correct, but I do not think that it is appropriate at this point in the Bill. The greater scope of Amendment No. 104, which will require the countryside bodies to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the public are fully informed of matters relating to the new rights, is a better of way of proceeding. That is because, in a sense, it will cover not only the standing rights but also what have been described by the noble Viscount, Lord Bledisloe, as transient rights. There is an obligation to try to maximise the information in various ways. That includes all means from websites to leaflets and notices in car parks. The obligation will be all-embracing.

Again, I appreciate the intention behind the amendment to Amendment No. 104 tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Miller; namely, a requirement on the countryside body to provide information on the totality of the Bill and on other aspects of countryside law.

For the reasons I have given, and while I sympathise with the intentions that lie behind the amendment, I believe that these areas are covered largely by Amendment No. 104 or by existing legislation. I hope

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that noble Lords will accept the reassurances that I have given as regards information and that the amendment will not be pressed.

The amendments of the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran--amendments referred to earlier by the noble Lord, Lord Williamson of Horton, as "Baroness Byford's last fling", although I am sure that that was uncharitable and that the noble Baroness still has plenty of "flings" to go--relate to the question of timing and again to the requirement to produce information. They would require that the new right of access could not be brought into force until the agencies had fulfilled their duty under the "code of conduct" amendment. The requirement under Amendments Nos. 264A and 264B to produce a Countryside Code already exists under Section 86 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 and will be augmented by the adoption of Amendment No. 104.

The code of conduct will also provide information for those interested in the land about the use of discretionary closures under Clause 21 as well as restrictions and exclusions generally covered by Chapter II. The countryside bodies will need to have such systems in place before the right comes into effect. We do not anticipate any possibility of the right of access coming into effect before both the relevant regulations are in place and the code of conduct has been produced. I do not think, therefore, that it is necessary to put those restrictions on to the face of the Bill. I hope that, with those assurances, the noble Baroness or the noble Lord will not pursue the amendments.

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Exploring the deep ocean floor: Hot springs and strange creatures

The ocean floor is home to many unique communities of plants and animals. Most of these marine ecosystems are near the water surface, such as the Great Barrier Reef, a 2,000-km-long coral formation off the northeastern coast of Australia. Coral reefs, like nearly all complex living communities, depend on solar energy for growth (photosynthesis). The sun's energy, however, penetrates at most only about 300 m below the surface of the water. The relatively shallow penetration of solar energy and the sinking of cold, subpolar water combine to make most of the deep ocean floor a frigid environment with few life forms.

In 1977, scientists discovered hot springs at a depth of 2.5 km, on the Galapagos Rift (spreading ridge) off the coast of Ecuador. This exciting discovery was not really a surprise. Since the early 1970s, scientists had predicted that hot springs (geothermal vents) should be found at the active spreading centers along the mid-oceanic ridges, where magma, at temperatures over 1,000 °C, presumably was being erupted to form new oceanic crust. More exciting, because it was totally unexpected, was the discovery of abundant and unusual sea life -- giant tube worms, huge clams, and mussels -- that thrived around the hot springs.

smoker gif

View of the first high-temperature vent (380 °C) ever seen by scientists during a dive of the deep-sea submersible Alvin on the East Pacific Rise (latitude 21° north) in 1979. Such geothermal vents--called smokers because they resemble chimneys--spew dark, mineral-rich, fluids heated by contact with the newly formed, still-hot oceanic crust. This photograph shows a black smoker, but smokers can also be white, grey, or clear depending on the material being ejected. (Photograph by Dudley Foster from RISE expedition, courtesy of William R. Normark, USGS.)

Since 1977, other hot springs and associated sea life have been found at a number of sites along the mid-oceanic ridges, many on the East Pacific Rise. The waters around these deep-ocean hot springs, which can be as hot as 380 °C, are home to a unique ecosystem. Detailed studies have shown that hydrogen sulfide-oxidizing bacteria, which live symbiotically with the larger organisms, form the base of this ecosystem's food chain. The hydrogen sulfide (H2S--the gas that smells like rotten eggs) needed by these bacteria to live is contained in the volcanic gases that spew out of the hot springs. Most of the sulfur comes from the Earth's interior; a small portion (less than 15 percent) is produced by chemical reaction of the sulfate (SO4) present in the sea water. Thus, the energy source that sustains this deep-ocean ecosystem is not sunlight but rather the energy from chemical reaction (chemosynthesis).
sea life gif Bizarre sea life [45 k]
Alvin collects clam gif Alvin collects a giant clam [40 k]
giant clams gif Giant clams [50 k]

But the story about the source of life-sustaining energy in the deep sea is still unfolding. In the late 1980s, scientists documented the existence of a dim glow at some of the hot geothermal vents, which are the targets of current intensive research. The occurrence of "natural" light on the dark seafloor has great significance, because it implies that photosynthesis may be possible at deep-sea geothermal vents. Thus, the base of the deep-sea ecosystem's food chain may comprise both chemosynthetic and, probably in small proportion, photosynthetic bacteria.
Scientist in Alvin gif USGS scientist enters Alvin [70 k]
Alvin gif Alvin launch [50 k]
tube worm colony gif Tube worm colony [50 k]
spider crab gif Spider crab [55 k]

Scientists discovered the hot-springs ecosystems with the help of Alvin, the world's first deep-sea submersible. Constructed in the early 1960s for the U.S. Navy, Alvin is a three-person, self-propelling capsule-like submarine nearly eight meters long. In 1975, scientists of Project FAMOUS (French-American Mid-Ocean Undersea Study) used Alvin to dive on a segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in an attempt to make the first direct observation of seafloor spreading. No hot springs were observed on this expedition; it was during the next Alvin expedition, the one in 1977 to the Galapagos Rift, that the hot springs and strange creatures were discovered. Since the advent of Alvin, other manned submersibles have been built and used successfully to explore the deep ocean floor. Alvin has an operational maximum depth of about 4,000 m, more than four times greater than that of the deepest diving military submarine. Shinkai 6500, a Japanese research submarine built in 1989, can work at depths down to 6,400 m. The United States and Japan are developing research submersible systems that will be able to explore the ocean floor's deepest spot: the 10,920-m Challenger Deep at the southern end of the Marianas Trench off the Mariana Islands.

Shinkai gif

Sketch of the Shinkai 6500, a Japanese vessel that is currently the world's deepest-diving manned research submarine. (Courtesy of Japan Marine Science & Technology Center.)

"Developing the theory"

Last updated: 06.24.99

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The Price of Love and Other Stories

The Price of Love and Other Stories

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From the New York Times bestselling author comes a riveting collection of short fiction, marked by the piercing psychological insight and brilliant characterization that are hallmarks of his acclaimed novels Ever since the publication of his first mystery featuring Detective Inspector Alan Banks, Peter Robinson has been steadily building a reputation for compulsively readable and perceptive novels that probe the dark side of human nature. Plumbing the territory that he has so successfully staked, The Price of Love and Other Stories includes two novellas and several stories featuring the Yorkshire policeman at his finest. In the novella "Going Back, " never before published in the United States, Banks returns home for a family reunion, only to find it taking a decidedly sinister turn. In "Like a Virgin, " written especially for this volume, Banks revisits the period in his life and the terrible crime that led him to leave London for Eastvale. And in between, the disparate motives that move us to harm one another, from love and jealousy to greed and despair, are all explored with fascinating depth. Edgy and smart, thrilling and suspenseful, this remarkable collection is a must-have for Robinson fans-and any fan of compelling crime fiction.
Publisher: [United States] : Harper Collins Publishers : Made available through hoopla, 2009.
Edition: Unabridged.
ISBN: 9780061900907
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Fit2 Fat 2fit

Fit2 Fat 2fit

[the Unexpected Lessons From Gaining and Losing 75 Lbs on Purpose]

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Drew Manning, a natural fitness junkie and devoted personal trainer, had never been overweight in his life. He never craved junk food or missed an opportunity to work out. Yet despite his obsession with fitness, he failed to help his clients reach their goals. Something had to give. Manning needed to understand what it was like to be on the other side-spend a few months in his clients' shoes or, rather, size. For six months, Manning radically let himself go. He stopped exercising and ate nothing but the typical American diet of fast and processed foods. Not surprisingly, he started to gain weight. Manning made national news when he posted a blog revealing that he had gained more than 60 pounds (he ended up gaining 75). In only half a year, the out-of-shape trainer-turned-blogger had gained more than he ever expected-and not just in pounds. Manning devoted the next six months to losing the weight as quickly as he had gained it. The lessons he learned were priceless, as he had now experienced both sides of the weight-loss battle. What started as a physical challenge became an emotional and mental wake-up call. In Fit2Fat2Fit, Manning reveals the practical takeaways and profound in- sights of his yearlong journey. With startlingly honest stories, concrete easy-to-implement strategies, recipes, exercises, workout routines, meal plans, and much more, the reader is fully equipped to achieve any weight-loss goal.
Publisher: [United States] : Harper Collins Publishers : Made available through hoopla, 2012.
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The Smoothie Recipe Book

The Smoothie Recipe Book

150 Smoothie Recipes Including Smoothies for Weight Loss and Smoothies for Good Health

eBook - 2013
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The Smoothie Recipe Book will make it easy to start enjoying smoothies on a daily basis and to get an extra boost of vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants so that you can start losing weight right away!
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The Hat of Invisibility

salehBostjan Videmsek interviews Yassin al-Haj Saleh, former political prisoner and one of Syria’s foremost intellectuals, on ‘civil war’, sectarianism, and the geo-political conspiracy theories which render the people of the Middle East invisible.

Three years and three months into the conflict, Syria and its people have more or less been forgotten by international community, the media, even NGOs. How does this effect life on the ground and the conflict itself?
I do not approve of words like ‘conflict’ and ‘crisis’ in describing our struggle. The connotations of these terms cover up the responsibilities of the terrible situation in Syria, that of a regime that had been ruling the country for 41 years when the revolution started 38 months ago, and that killed perhaps 40,000 Syrians in a previous generation (between 1979 and 1982). There are many ways to forget the Syrian struggle; one of them is to refer to a vague and distant conflict. I think the sort of symptomatic forgetfulness you refer to in the question is only a continuation by different means of the coverage which speaks about ‘conflict’ and ‘crisis’.
Having said that that, life on the ground is affected by barrel bombs thrown from helicopters over civilian neighborhoods in Aleppo, by chlorine gas bombs thrown over people in Kafr Zeta near Hama, and by fighter jets bombing towns of the eastern Ghouta near Damascus. This affects life more than being forgotten by the international community, the media, and NGOs. People are not killed because they are forgotten. They were always forgotten in the past, then they revolted against their masters, and decided to remind all the world of their existence. They are being killed because they revolted, and they are being punished for their insistence on visibility by being forgotten again.

Was there a moment when you personally believed that something would change, that there would be a limited international action against the regime, or did you understand in advance the real goals behind the silence?

Yes. I thought that after the chemical massacre in the Ghouta in August 2013 the regime would be punished, not because it had been killing ‘its’ people for 29 months at that time but because it had violated an international rule and trespassed a ‘red line’ set by the powerful. But instead, the powerful arranged things so that they punished the knife the killer slaughtered his victims with while assuring the criminal that it was safe for him to kill using the other weapons in his arsenal.
Everything gives the Syrians the impression that killing them is not important, that they are the right people to kill. What is important is that weapons may be used against the wrong people to kill.

Syria right now is a destroyed country. Is there still a chance of stopping the conflict? How can the country which is full of rage, bitterness and the desire for revenge survive?

No. There is really not the slightest chance of ‘stopping the conflict’. The regime has never shown any sign that it is ready to relinquish even 2% of its absolute power. Do you know what the shabbiha’s slogan is? It is: Either Assad or Nobody! Another version says: Either Assad or We Burn the Country! A third version says: Either Assad or Let the Country be Dispensed with! The shabbiha are the political unconscious of the regime, they express better than anyone the nihilist constitution of the ruling junta. That is why we will never see a political solution to the ‘conflict’. This is a matter of logic. Is it possible for a republic to be ruled by a dynasty? Is it possible for a State of Emergency to last forever? For a sectarian regime to be the patron of national unity? Only when people are without heads. You have to cut off their heads to prevent them from thinking. And you have already killed so many that you are forced to kill more in order not to pay the price for killing those killed before. The first massacre was a crime, the following massacres are the impossible solution. To stop massacring people is to lose power. This is not a dictatorial regime as many think; it is a regime of political slavery that owns the country and the population, and that kills them when they revolt against it, the same way the slave owner does.

What I want to say is that there is no way for the country to survive while this dynasty is still in power. Even if the regime regained control – which is still impossible – it will do this through super-fascist methods. And the way they regain control determines the way they rule: massacres and ethnic cleansing. We have a historical precedent: the regime defeated its Islamist and secular opponents in the 1980s through fascist methods, and ruled with fascist methods for nearly two decades after that. I was less than 20 when I was arrested, tortured, and left in prison for 16 years. Our struggle for freedom did not begin yesterday or three years ago.

Can you describe everyday life in Damascus? How is your family? Can you communicate with your relatives and friends in the other parts of the country?

I left Damascus in the first days of April 2013 after two years of living in hiding. At that time the city was chequered with hundreds of checkpoints and one needed 2 hours to reach a place one used to reach in 15 minutes. Security men were checking the neighborhoods house by house. Receiving a warning in advance, my wife and I fled one house in May 2012. A second time we simply did not open the door, but then we were obliged to stay away for a while before coming back to our safer district.
The situation now is far worse, with longer electricity cuts and mortar shells falling randomly and killing helpless people at times.
I stayed for 100 days in the eastern Ghouta. Samira, my wife, a former political prisoner for four years in the days of Hafez al-Assad, and the only other member of my family, followed me after a month and a half. Then in July 2013, I left for Raqqa in the north, a hard and dangerous journey that took 19 days. The city in which I was born was under ISIS control when I arrived, and two of my brothers were kidnapped by this fascist organization. I found myself forced to live in hiding again for 75 days. I left for Turkey in October. One of my brothers was released, but my friend Doctor Ismael al-Hamed was kidnapped after I left. My brother Firas has been in their hands for nearly 10 months now.
Samira, our friend Razan Zeitouna, the famous human rights activist and writer, Wael Hamada, Razan’s husband and a former political prisoner, and Nazem Hammadi, the poet and lawyer, were kidnapped in Douma, eastern Ghouta, on December 9th 2013. And for five months now we have not had any information about them. But it is sure that Jabhat an-Nusra and Jaish al-Islam, two Salafist military formations, are the culprits.

I can communicate with some of my friends and relatives, but we always avoid asking the traditional questions: How are you? What is the news? My friends would feel embarrassed to ask me about Samira.

Did you ever think that something so horrible would happen in your country?

Never. Like many Syrians I’d always felt that this junta was prepared to destroy the country to stay in power. But we hoped that, in a mysterious way, this would not happen. In some of my work, I concluded that a big social explosion was coming, and that it might have a sectarian form; still I did not predict the horrible situation of today. I think what we failed to see was the collapse of the national framework of our struggle and the influx of jihadis from many countries, as well as the regime’s invitation to people from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and other countries to take part in its killing. Both sides, the regime and its allies and the Sunni jihadis, are hypersectarian, and see it as their highest duty to kill their sectarian enemies. Maybe we have to conclude from this that we have many meta-state problems that cannot be dealt with and solved within the framework of the existing states.

Do you agree that there would have been no civil war if the West had given some concrete support to the original groups of rebels?
I still do not like the expression ‘civil war’, especially when it means sectarian war. We have a thuggish regime using our national army, our national resources, the fighter jets, tanks and scud missiles we paid for in order to defend the country, to kill the people. Is this a civil war? If a ruling junta did such a thing in, say, the US, would we call it a civil war? This is mainly war by a tyrannical regime against its miserable people.

However, I think, yes, we could have avoided the worst of the ‘civil war’ if we had got some effective support to either overthrow the regime or compel it to negotiate. The fountain of our war is this Assad dynasty, and everything will become worse if they stay in power.

Was Syria ‘given away’ for geo-strategic purposes?

It has always been like this in the ‘Middle East’. Syria and the region have always been defined in geopolitical terms. This knowledge makes us invisible. We are the invisible subaltern in the most internationalized region on this planet. What is seen of our countries from the metropolitan capitals is Bashar Assad, his “rose in the desert” (his wife Asma), and their likes, the power and money elite, but not the people, not women and men struggling for a better life. This constant approach opens to a concept of politics as deals between outside big powers and local petty rulers. That is why it is of vital importance to deconstruct this approach that insists on not seeing us as individuals and collective actors.
By the way, this ‘geopolitical’ approach finds its ideological reflection in the conspiracy theory held by many in our country, a theory that ‘helps’ ordinary people not to see themselves, or to see themselves only as passive victims in a grand game played by bigger actors. It seems, however, that conspiracy theories are also greedily consumed in the “big world”, with the same function: not to see ordinary people. This is the real hat of invisibility that our folk stories spoke about more than a thousand years ago. But when you put it on, you only see the important people. All rank and file people disappear.

Where will the Shia-Sunni fight lead? To a Middle Eastern not-cold-anymore war? Who’s behind this growing conflict?

I think the sectarianization of the struggle is a strategy of elites, political and religious, to deflect the popular aspirations for freedom and justice, to make the conflict last forever, and for these elites to discipline the masses.

But it is not a matter of religions or sects; these are only tools for mobilization. It is a struggle for power, for resources and privileges. The mission of the regime is not the welfare of the Alawites. Rather its highest value is to stay in power ‘forever’, as the Assadist slogan really goes. Shiism is a tool of the foreign policy of an ambitious national state, Iran, and not a value in itself. Islam, Sunni Islam in different versions, is also a tool of power for different sides, the jihadis included. Actually the real religion of ISIS is its power, absolute power over the bodies and souls of women and men, and over public resources.

I think we in Syria and the Arab world are in dire need of new thinking about religion, politics, society, and life. Many people say so, but they usually tend to isolate themselves from the current political and social struggle for freedom, or even to side with these so-called ‘secular’ regimes. We will be in a better position to effect cultural change when we engage ourselves in this great struggle of our people.

What could happen after the possible fall of the regime?
Everything will be difficult. It is sure that the end of the regime will not be the end of violence. But it will be a better beginning for the Syrians to rebuild their shattered lives and identities, and to reappropriate their country and neighborhoods. For the last three years an unstoppable pump of violence, radicalization, sectarianization and hatred has been working. It is unimaginable that the effect of this pump be reversed without the regime being overthrown.
The first thing we will face after the regime is the fascist jihadi organizations. ISIS, Jabhat al Nusra and the likes. I think an atmosphere of moderation and tolerance will be felt when that brutal pump is deactivated.

Bashar al-Assad looks stronger than at anytime during the conflict. Was he promised something?

After the chemical weapons deal, I think he feels he is safe to do whatever he likes, even if he uses gas. And he really did in the last weeks. Iran and its satellites in Iraq and Lebanon are supporting his war with men and money, while “our friends” always did their best to prevent regional powers from helping the Syrian armed resistance. With enemies like ours, we were in terrible need of friends not like ours.
Then after Geneva II he feels he is secure in not giving up even 1% of his power to any “transitional governing body”. Now that its heinous crimes are not even reported, with the mainstream coverage of Syria in the west centered on ISIS and the jihadis, or at best speaking about two baddies, I think he feels most reassured.

How do you see the role of the media – in the context of your Hersh/Fisk essay?

The media is centered on power and powerful people. Not to be powerful is not to be visible, is not to exist indeed. Maybe the media has never been so servile before those who are powerful, to authorities, including some conceited and insensate journalists like Fisk and Hersh. Both men are putting on some very specific hats of invisibility: ones that make themselves visible everywhere in the world, but that help them not to see ordinary people.
But the media’s extreme preoccupation with power and money is the global condition of our present time. I think this global condition must be changed globally.

How do you feel, personally? How is the war effecting your writing, dreams, relationships, health? What do you need and miss most?

I used to say when asked such questions that I have no personal reasons to complain and no public reasons to be contented. I know that the personal is political, and after my brother Firas and some of my friends were kidnapped by ISIS in Raqqa, Samira and other friends were kidnapped by the Islam Army/ Jabhat an Nusra in Eastern Ghouta, this link between the personal and the political has become even stronger. So I do not have a choice but to work more for our public issue, a new free Syria. My solution of personal problems has always been doing more work. I cannot relax. I feel more ok when I work more than when I am having a break.

Living in ‘exile’ is not such a problem for me. I was in a way exiled inside the country. What I miss most now is just living the life of the people among the people.

But I have good friends here in Turkey and in many countries, indeed some of the best in the whole world. I miss Samira a lot. I miss Firas. I miss my books. They were my home; separation from my books is my real exile.

Bostjan Videmsek is foreign correspondent of the Slovenian daily DELO and author of “21st Century Conflicts: Remnants of War(s)”

3 thoughts on “The Hat of Invisibility”

  1. I would leave a reply, but i feel it has been said. Only one correction: Syria is not entirely abandoned. There are some of us who can not forget or turn away or believe we are powerless to help.

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Video: Transing of a 5 Year Old Tomboy

Magdalen Berns is really on a roll with her videos. This one is about a little girl who is being taught to believe she really is male because she likes to wear short hair and “boys'” clothes. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to any of the adults in her life that it’s okay for girls to have short hair and for them to wear clothes that make them comfortable. Also, it’s okay for a little girl to see herself in the position of a Disney prince who gets to dance with a pretty princess. This child is likely to grow up to be lesbian or bisexual, although her parents don’t seem to want to encourage that outcome.

11 thoughts on “Video: Transing of a 5 Year Old Tomboy

    • Gallus Mag’s writing is just incredible. “Driven by the transgender lobby, a cluster of extremely well-funded physician providers have for the past several years been prescribing fertility-suppressing drugs on an FDA unapproved, “off use” basis to halt the maturation of children deemed as failing to conform to social stereotypes based on sex. These physician’s rationale is that studies show a tiny percentage (around 2%) of these sex-role non-conforming children will end up seeking surgical “sex change”, and a larger minority (around 15%) will report some form of continued distress with sex-roles post puberty. Providers who pioneer this “cosmetic medicine” protocol among a pediatric population operate from the belief that the distress of those 2% of children who may go on to identify themselves as transsexual later in life will be alleviated by administering puberty-preventing drugs before the children reach sexual maturity. This protocol is followed by the administration of sterilization and lifetime cross-sex hormone medicine and reconstructive cosmetic surgeries intended to disguise their reproductive function as that of the opposite sex.

      This clinical practice is in opposition to multiple long-term studies which show that such treatments do not decrease morbidity rates for transgender people post “treatment”. Physicians administering these drugs also operate from the conclusion that the severity of the distress of those 2% of children (those who later go on to request medical cross-hormone and surgical treatments to appear socially as opposite-sex persons) is so profound that it should be prioritized above the harmful outcomes for the majority lesbian and gay children referred for these experimental treatments.”

  1. Let’s be real: the harmful outcomes for LGB children are basically the point. Having a kid who at three plays with the “wrong” toys is one thing. Allowing that kid to grow up to be a lesbian? Quelle horreur! I mean – she wants to dance with the princess, and everybody knows what comes of that…

    Liked by 5 people

  2. This is so infuriating! It’s like everyone just forgot, over the last five years or so, about the immaturity of children’s brains, how neuroplasticity makes them more vulnerable to the power of suggestion, and how frequently children change their minds. We don’t let little kids vote, buy alcohol, drive, live on their own, take out a mortgage, or get married, so why do they suddenly have so much wisdom as to know they want to live as the opposite sex?

    I’m particularly angry at this disproportionately exploding trend because so many otherwise intelligent, science-minded, skeptical people I know have obediently swilled down the Trans, Inc. Kool-Aid and are unquestioningly accepting all this nonsense. In the last few days, two Facebook friends in particular have been going on and on about “TERFs” as though they’re a real thing, and leveling false allegations at a certain page accused of being “transphobic.”

    Liked by 6 people

    • Humans are social animals, people go along with the direction of the herd. The herd is in favor of castrating and medically experimenting on gender defiant kids, so they moo right along.
      Give it 5,10 years when herd opinion changes direction and they will be mooing about how awful transing children is and how wrong it is to castrate, sterilize and medically experiment on children. And watch, they will be blaming feminists for this medical abuse that they support today, prolly still be calling them TERFs.

      Liked by 2 people

      • Yeah, it is shocking – sterilizing children is just so obviously wrong, but with the transgender cult, it is an “the end justifies the means” ideology – an ideology which, applied elsewhere, most people would rightly oppose.

        • Its not shocking, sterilizing children has happened before, see the eugenics movement. That was once the height of progressiveness till the nazis came along and it fell out of fashion. And who get blamed for it? Feminists. Same with Satanic Ritual Abuse Scare, feminists get all the blame and in both cases, yes, feminists did largely support both eugenics and SRA but so was the rest of society.

  3. This made me puddle up. My sister was a tomboy who grew up to be a heterosexual woman. Why can’t the mainstream see how completely barbaric this is? Oh yeah, money (I’m talking to you unethical psychiatrists, “gender specialists” and pharma companies) makes the world go round.

    Liked by 3 people

  4. This breaks my heart in ways I can’t really articulate. I was a tomboy who only ever played “Han Solo”, and my own girl is somewhat famous in our family for declaring that she’d rather play “King” than “Princess” – since it was obvious that’s where the real power was… Why, in 2016, is space disappearing for non-conforming women like us?

    Liked by 1 person

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Fifty Shades of…Bestselling Women’s Suffering?

21 02 2015

I write this out of the “Shake My Head” file. I have not watched and have no intention or desire to watch “Fifty Shade of Gray”.  I have never nor will I ever read the book.  So, as a disclaimer, I have no idea of all the details of the book or the movie.  I do, however, know just enough to know that some people who criticize it seem to not have a clue about it.

This is by no means a post condoning the book or the movie.  As with most of this world’s ideas, the idea of sex and relationships as portrayed in the book and movie, as with most books and movies, even Christian ones, are in contradiction to the Scriptures.  “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God because it is stupid to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually understood.” (1 Cor 2:14)   With that in mind, I can understand bringing up 50SoG in Christian culture to bring it to light.   Yet, the reasons that it is not approved make no sense.

The reasons not to watch it that I have heard about it in the pulpit or other areas of Christian culture is not because it does not portray sex outside of marriage as sin, or a wrong depiction of sexuality, or even that it’s based off of women’s porn a romance novel.  No, the reason it’s a bad movie is….it’s advocating bad things about women.  I guess, It not only demoralizes them, but the movie also advocates violence against them.

Okay…so, let me get this straight. (Mind you, I only know about 50SoG what the media, people I’ve talked to, and Wikipedia have told me.)  This WOMAN decides to write a book about this WOMAN who WILLFULLY DECIDES to get into a BDSM relationship/contract with some rich guy.  Not only that, but it is a best selling ROMANCE NOVEL among WOMEN.  So bestselling that it sold 100 million copies and has been translated into 52 languages.  Evidently, the woman who wrote it and the millions of women who bought and read it must not think it is too violent or demoralizing.  Else, why would so many women advocate violence against and dehumanize themselves?

I don’t advocate the books or movie to any Christian woman.  I would hope it’s not even a consideration.  But if you do read or watch it, I would hope you’re not so much a hypocrite to demand your boyfriend or husband not to watch and enjoy something with barely clothed women on it.  What is the difference between you and him?  What is the difference between his porn and your romance novels?  It reminds me of a time when I saw a Christian woman comment on how “Magic Mike” was “eye candy” when she had seen it.  I can see the reaction of Christian women if they caught their husbands with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Anyway, we should tell people to not read the book or watch the movie based on what Scripture says, not based on worldly mentality.  There are several other reasons to not read or watch it beside that it’s “harmful to women”.  It’s not all about women.  If you want to criticize it, speak of the spiritual and sinful issues about it.  Dealing with this kind of reminds me of how Christians are taught not to have sex before marriage because it will lead to low self-esteem, unwanted pregnancy, and sex in marriage will not be as special.  It totally disregards anything that should be said because GOD said it.  Take for instance:

“Do not let fornication, sexual impurity, all uncleanness, or covetous even be named among you, as is fitting for saints.  For you may be sure of this, that no fornicator, unclean person, or covetous man, who is an idolator, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.  Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. “

But, instead, psychology is used.  “You don’t want to feel bad for not giving all of yourself to your spouse”  Thus, keeping that Scripture fulfilled, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

If psychology and feelings-based opinions are used instead of the black-and-white truths from Scripture, people will just be left with 50 shades of gray, giving them the ability to do what is right in their own eyes.

Jesus said to follow Him!


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Overlitigious Society

2006-02-12 14:28 - Rants

Society sucks. There's a heck of a lot of things around us that are, really, quite pathetic. One of them is the generally litigious nature of the public at large. No individual ever has responsibility for their own actions, there always seems to be someone with deep pockets to sue, and a way to claim it's their fault. This makes a lot of crazy things happen.

What you see above is the wrapper for a (quite tasty!) chocolate that I got somewhere around christmas. They were small bars, around the shape and size of a single Twix candy. The blue bar in the middle sat across the top of the bar, proudly proclaiming "Luxury mini chocolate" and to each side: "hazelnut snack sticks" and "hazelnut and crisps." Oh, and then on each side is a description: "Milk Chocolate with hazelnuts, corn flaes, and rice crisps in a creme filling."

Yes, the wrapper says in four places that the thing has hazelnuts in it. But wary be the company without disclaimers, lest the litigious seek you out! They have to say in all caps, in a very high contrast color: "WARNING: MAY CONTAIN NUT TRACES.."

May contain nut traces? It's a hazelnut based candy, of course it's got nuts in it!

Too safe??
2006-02-13 10:03 - Aceofspades968
Ok so you are trying to say that this company is being to safe??? Just because it says things like "hazelnut snack stick" or "Hazelnut and crisps" doesn't mean it has the nut in it. It could just have the flavor in it. To me this rant is just something to talk about. Nothing can be too safe.
Warning: This contains warning messages!
2006-02-13 10:09 - arantius

You say "nothing can be too safe." Really? So, perhaps, on all pianos manufactured from now on, we should place a clearly visible label that says:

"Warning: harmful or fatal if swallowed."

After all, nothing can be too safe! Nobody should ever have to think for themselves, they should always be warned by someone else!

2006-02-14 10:33 - Aceofspades968
Pianos have nothing to do with this what i am saying is that the label could have ment artifical flavoring there is nothing that says that. All it is saying is that it is reall nuts. and as far as this (After all, nothing can be too safe! Nobody should ever have to think for themselves, they should always be warned by someone else!) not all people can, not all people have common sence, and people are stupid and sue companys for there problems when they don't read intructions or think, it is just a way of the companys protecting themselves. personaly i think this is a horrible rant because it is a pointless issue

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May 2012 – Read This Stuff

May! Just past the first quarter of the year and what a quarter it was. Spring is still doing it’s thing, the trees and flowers are in full bloom and the days are getting much warmer.

Reading everyday is something we do around here with vigor. There always seem to be many competing priorities in life and reading sometimes takes a back seat. For both our sakes, please don’t let it. Even simply enjoying some fiction helps to stretch your mind.

The first page had 5 books, the second, in April, had 2 books and this month it’s down to a single submission. Going forward, we have decided to focus each month on a single book. You may think we are slowing down but, on the contrary, we are just getting warmed up; just like the year.

Hey, how many books can you read and really absorb in a month anyway?

This month we are featuring Carol Dweck.

Click on the book to find out more.

Carol is a preeminent psycologist with a very human writing style. She takes us on a journey through real life experiences to demonstrate how there are two types of mindsets; that of a fixed mindset and that of a growth mindset. Discovering which you are will change your life.

Pick up a copy and don’t hesitate to let us know what you got out of this book. Even better suggest some for us to read. We are forever looking for something new to inspire us.

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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

New and Noteworthy (Tobias Buckell, Charles Stross, Fan Fiction)

In today's edition:

* Tobias Buckell, in a response to a piece over at the self-delusion-themed blog You Are Not So Smart, discusses how "survivorship bias" has contributed to a hyperabundance of worthless advice about writing and publishing - just as it has everywhere else in life.

* Charles Stross' series of "crib sheets" in which he has been discussing the road may of his books took from the first germ of an idea to publication. Thus far he has discussed Singularity Sky, The Atrocity Archive, Iron Sunrise and Accelerando.

The piece on Singularity Sky is probably the best "how I broke in" story I have ever read, offering a glimpse of the frustration and nerves and dead ends faced by those trying to get out of the slush pile and into the business (elided in the sanitized tales which we usually get about query letters happily answered).

The piece on Accelerando is likewise noteworthy for its comparison of that novel's first chapter (set circa 2013) to what we have really been living through in that time period, and what it suggests about our earlier expectations about the Singularity.

* Wired on one effort to make fan fiction a commercially viable enterprise - Amazon making a deal to distribute stories about selected Warner Bros. television shows through the Kindle.

The Best and Worst James Bond Novels, Revisited
The Politics of Continuum, Part I
Game of Thrones: Toward the End of the Game
New and Noteworthy (Warehouse 13, David Walsh, Star Trek "Pre-boots")

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WANT THAT HOUSE GONE? I buy homes. Fixer uppers are fine. Call Kris with Results Realty 683-5100.


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Kilt sighting in Safeway, Rainbow Bright is alive and well, and that dude looks better in a dress than I do…

I know, I know, it’s been a while.  I apologize.  Life got me.  Kidlet got sick, I got really busy with my new job (loving the new job by the way), it rained, it rained again, it rained some more, oh that’s right I moved to Portland where it rains, a lot.  I had a wedding anniversary, I convinced my husband we should get a cat (we’re getting a Maine coon sometime before Feb.) I made new friends here.

No excuses, I need to be here, writing about my incredibly boring life in great detail and then sharing it with you.  Oh, my life isn’t boring?  Really?  You want to read about my day?  Oh, wait, it was the catchy title wasn’t it?  Yeah, that’s right, I know how you are, you see the word kilt and it’s mind blown isn’t it?

Wait, was it the part about Rainbow Bright?  Or the dude in the dress?  Well in that case, let’s start with the dude in the dress.  There wasn’t just a dude in a dress, there was a group of them!  I went to Darcelle’s, it’s a drag show, and it was the most fun I’ve had in quite some time.  Not only that, but some of them looked ten times better than I did in a dress and heels.  Those girls know how to gussy up, damn, I need lessons 🙂  It was a great time, had a ton of fun and made more friends.  That’s where I saw Rainbow Bright, I was standing in line outside and she came out of the establishment next door.  No idea what she was doing, but I think she was working at the Rainbow Room or Lounge, so I’m guessing she was an employee.  Or someone just really excited about rainbows.

The kilt sighting?  Well, that was today, in my local Safeway which is literally down the street from my apartment.  I was cruising along picking up beer and soda and dinner for me and kidlet tonight (the Geek is out of town for a business trip and he’s the resident culinary creationist, as in he does all the cooking) and I look up and there’s a dude in a kilt.  With those rubber Nike flip flop sandals that don’t have the thing between the toe.  Yes, I was shocked at first and then once I realized what I was looking at I had to take a closer look, I mean, c’mon, he’s wearing a kilt!  I really think he should have been wearing Doc Martins though, it would have completed the look better.

About redneckmeetsgeek

I'm a Redneck Girl who met a Geek Boy, we married, we had a kidlet, we moved away from friends and family and everything we ever knew to the PNW, then we had another kidlet, and lived happily ever after.....most days, also I'm convinced that Martha Stewart secretly hates me
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Tis the season, please stop giving me food, no, really I must insist, okay fine I’ll take it…

Ah it’s the holidays!  Which means office parties and food and mall Santas and of course gifts and shopping.  For me due to my job (I work for an auto insurance company as a liability adjuster) it also means having to tell people that they’re either at fault for hitting someone else or they’re not at fault and drowning in claims involving snow and ice.  It means that as much as I try it’s hard for me to actually relax and enjoy the holidays because I’m desperately trying to call people while they’re out shopping and asking them to tell me about their wreck. Then I come home and I get to send out Christmas cards and gifts to family and friends who live in our old home state or across the country and then it’s time spent buying gifts for kidlet and keeping to her routine.

Then there’s the food, everyone is baking and eating and I’m already fat, I don’t need more to eat, no I don’t need to try your grandma’s fudge.  I’m sure she’s a lovely person and I’m sure her fudge is heavenly but have you looked at me lately?  Do I look like someone who needs to be eating fudge?  NO, I really do not and oh what’s this, you have Gingerbread cookies and you heard they were my favorite, yes, they are my favorite, but no really, I’m good, I ate one earlier.  Oh, of course I’ll buy a cake that will straight to my thighs and costs twice as much as it’s worth, it’s for a good cause what with fundraising for the school.  Oh, no, really, I don’t need to take this tin of cookies, please it’s just me, my husband, and my little one and we couldn’t possibly eat-okay, thank you I’ll take them home, please don’t get upset and teary eyed it’s Christmas and I’m sure they’re delicious.  Thank you so much for thinking of us and my ever expanding waistline.  I will of course attend the office holiday lunch, it would be so rude not to and being new in this job I need to be sure I’m making a good impression and I will take seconds yes please…

That’s why by the end of the day all I want is a glass of wine or a cold beer and to lob a hideous fruit cake at the upstairs neighbor who makes a tremendous amount of noise at 2 am or the neighbor across from us with their mean little yappy dog who scares my daughter or the driver who cuts me off in traffic with no turn signal or the lady who pushes me out of the way in the store to get the best deal on her gifts.  I keep reminding myself that it isn’t about food or gifts or cards, it’s about the memories we make with our loved ones.  It’s about the memories my husband and I will make with our daughter.  Kidlet is 2 this year and she’s starting to grasp that the boxes wrapped up under the tree are for her and for Daddy and Mommy and there’s that twinkle in her eye and her face lights up when she sees the Christmas tree or the neighbor’s Christmas lights.  I keep reminding myself that no matter what happens I have an amazing and awesome husband whom I adore and this adorable tiny human who loves me and depends on me and I will do anything for them.

Even if it means eating that fruitcake.

About redneckmeetsgeek

I'm a Redneck Girl who met a Geek Boy, we married, we had a kidlet, we moved away from friends and family and everything we ever knew to the PNW, then we had another kidlet, and lived happily ever after.....most days, also I'm convinced that Martha Stewart secretly hates me
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Social Media Marketing (SMM)

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By social media marketing, it is implied that a business gains its traffic and attention through online social media platforms.

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This blog continues conversations that began at the “Reading Publics Residential Workshop” which took place at the University of Warwick from July 9-20, 2012. It was one of a series of collaborative programs between the University of Warwick Centre for the Study of the Renaissance and the Newberry Center for Renaissance Studies. It was funded by a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and organized by Prof. Simon Gilson, Dr. Maude Vanhaelen and Dr. David Lines.

The goal of this blog is to continue sharing ideas, thoughts and our own work on Renaissance reading publics in a forum that fosters lively discussion and respectful debate. Please feel free to post new ideas, what you’re currently working on, your recent experience in an archive, or any other reflections you might want to share.

If you would like to join in the conversation please send an email to Bryan Brazeau indicating your name, institution, level of study and topic of research (bryan.brazeau AT nyu DOT edu).

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Chapter 5.47: Changes

Sasha smiled as she ate breakfast alone one morning. So much had changed in the legacy house in such a short time.

07-01-16_3-45-36 PM

“I still can’t believe all of those schemes of ours weren’t what made Aunt Lou decide to stay in the legacy house until our young adult birthday!” Lizzy exclaimed, while B tilted her head to one side in thought.

She thought about it while Lizzy rambled on and on about exciting adventures they had been having, and then interrupted Lizzy. “It really isn’t that shocking, Liz,” the words were coming out of her mouth faster than she could process it. “I mean, something bigger than either one of us could have caused to happen sort of changed everything.”

07-26-16_8-13-42 PM

Belinda stood up to clean up after herself and Lizzy feigned shock, “Bigger than anything WE could have caused? Psh…” she sighed as she leaned back on her stool, and Belinda got a stern look.

“Be careful, Beth,-”

“…I don’t want you to fa- well, yeah, uh, I guess, Beth…”

“No one has ever called me Beth before…” And Lizbeth was thinking hard as gears were spinning in her mind.

07-26-16_8-17-51 PM

Belinda, who was relieved to see her cousin sitting safely upright on the stool again continued to speak, “I mean, Beth is a perfectly good name,…”

“Yeah,” Lizbeth said, cheerfully. “I mean, we’re going to be young adults soon! I can’t go by Lizzy forever!”

Oh, no,” Belinda thought. “What have I done?

07-26-16_8-17-54 PM

And the reason Lou had decided to stay in the legacy house for a while longer is because she was far too tired, and pregnant, to worry about moving any time soon. The girls had convinced her that she would be tired for the baby’s entire infancy, and by the time she was rested enough once the baby grew into a child, they would so nearly be young adults that they may as well stay until their birthday.

Lou was too tired to argue, and agreed to that new plan.

07-26-16_8-24-36 PM

Sooner than anyone knew it, the baby was coming.

07-26-16_8-26-03 PM

Even through all of the exhaustion of work and pregnancy, Lou welcoming her precious son, Emil, into the world with exuberant joy. She beamed at him lovingly. “Hello my sweet, Emil. I know it will be weird, for a while, living apart from your father. You, your older sister and I will live with him soon though. It just has to be the right time. But now I know that it is with your father that I want to stay until I die.”

07-26-16_8-27-48 PM

She cuddled Emil closely before setting him in the bassinet. It was wonderful to be in the legacy house with an infant- even while she was at work she knew that her son was getting the highest quality care and attention from her family.

07-26-16_8-28-03 PM

Emil’s Aunt Sasha was always up to the task of caring for him.

07-26-16_8-39-17 PM07-26-16_8-39-38 PM07-26-16_8-40-10 PM

And Sasha’s youngest child, well, he was developing strong bonds with a certain redhead.

07-26-16_8-47-33 PM

Lou went on a date with Reggie one weekend, and something Reggie thought would never happen occurred.

07-26-16_9-15-09 PM07-26-16_9-15-08 PM

“Will you marry me?” Lou asked him, enthusiastically.

Reggie, stunned, responded just as enthusiastically. “YES!”

And Lou leaned in for a long kiss, just as the sun was setting over the horizon.

07-26-16_9-15-04 PM

Time was flying and young Julius was ready to twirl into his teen years.

07-26-16_9-43-12 PM07-26-16_9-43-52 PM

The first thing he did as a teen was feed his favorite baby cousin, Emil. “Us boys have to stick together in this house. The women outnumber us, which is great, and I’m going to teach you how to respect all of them.”

07-26-16_9-57-12 PM

2 thoughts on “Chapter 5.47: Changes

    • Renée Lenore says:

      It’s NO problem. LOL ha ha ha! Also, the technically still are not married yet. 😉 I’m planning a very nice wedding for them. But first I have to actually be able to PLAY THE GAME. >_< Also, sorry that this response has taken me so long. I've been away from my computer since the 5th and didn't want to respond on my phone because I reeeaally hate my phone.

      Also, JULIUS IS SO GORGEOUS. WOW. Sasha and Dex have such beautiful children… it's a shame they've only got two. 😛

      Liked by 1 person

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Sikka Kapital Grand Commercial Spaces In Sector 98 Noida

Sikka Group has soft launch commercial project in Sector 98 Noida, well known as “Sikka Kapital Grand”. The Corporate complexes and commercial office space in Noida is created with efficient hands of skilled architecture and with team of professional thus is designed to provide the state of art facilities and suffice the needs of the modern businesses. Kapital Grand Noida will provide to the discriminating consumer, mainly from the up market residential society that is just a few minutes away. The Offices at Sikka Kapital Grand are organism produced with simple and a professional conception which makes for better work life. Excellent connectivity accessible to all major malls, hospitals and metro stations from Kapital Grand Noida Sector 98.

Moreover, investments in the commercial properties have also increased because of the high returns from serviced apartments in Noida and Delhi NCR. Sikka Kapital Grand Sector 98 Noida is a lucrative investment option for the real estate investors because of the high demand for Commercial Office Spaces. Office Spaces are furnished accommodations which are generally let out to the executives visiting Delhi or Noida region for business purposes.

For More Information @

Call – + 91- 9560090027

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Falling On Our Knees

I hope you’re somewhere Praying …..I hope your soul is changing –

I hope you find your peace -falling on your knees …Praying…….

    Oh, I am loving this new song by Kesha!

I am moved to tears as I listen to it as I pray for her and hope she has found the Light of Christ to help her emerge from all the darkness of her past.

May we all be moved to keep falling on our knees to pray for souls to be changed and for others to find wholeness and healing in Christ.

            ~ XXOO Michelle Bollom

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What The Split Brain Reveals About The Nature Of Consciousness

“Conscious experience is at once the most familiar thing in the world and the most mysterious. There is nothing we know about more directly than consciousness, but it is far from clear how to reconcile it with everything else we know.”

– David J. Chalmers

WE ARE ALL intimately familiar with that voice in our heads, nagging as we reach for a second helping of chocolate eggs in the wake of Easter, and judging as we have to settle for a looser belt hole a week later. We are all also accustomed to the different masks we wear in various social situations. I would be ruthlessly mocked could my close friends see the way I behave around my girlfriend, snuggled on the couch on a Sunday night, and my parents would be hard pressed to recognize me. But this apparent discontinuity is a perfectly normal aspect of human existence – psychologists have long known that situation exerts a significant influence on personality – and I have never experienced anything which would seem to indicate that there was more than one self calling the inside of my skull home. As a matter of conscious experience, I am just as much me whilst goofing around with my girlfriend as I am typing this essay and sipping green tea. But am I really? As a result of a fascinating avenue of inquiry involving patients who have had the hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, psychologists, cognitive scientists, and philosophers have begun to argue that there is every reason to believe in the divisibility of consciousness – the existence of a separate centre of consciousness in each of the divided hemispheres – and you and I might not be as different to these patients as we think.


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Lenkerhof gourmet spa resort Lenk im Simmental

  • Please select a date to see the proper prices!
  • Meal can be requested on the spot
The price has been calculated by the best price of the next 90 days.

Best offer

Best price of the next 90 days:
164.67 € / person / night, no meal
Select date
Guaranteed best price
  • Instant confirmation
  • Wellness services
  • Own restaurant
  • 74 room
  • Spoken languages: English, German

Description of the accommodation:

Rooms, services Lenkerhof gourmet spa resort Lenk im Simmental may be an ideal location for a trip or holiday in Switzerland. Guests looking for accommodation in Lenk are welcome to book 74 nicely furnished rooms at the hotel. The hotel is happy to have you in the restaurant for a hearty lunch or a romantic dinner. Parking is availably nearby for those arriving by car. Relaxing wellness services will be available to you at the hotel, the steam room, solarium and indoor pool will also be waiting for you. If you wish to spend your leisure time actively, you may also take the nearby opportunities to play table tennis, rent a bike, play minigolf and curling. Should you want to stay in good shape during your holiday, you may also take the sports and exercise opportunities provided by the local gym. The local bar will provide an ideal location for personal meetings and nice evening chats. You may secure your valuables in the safe. In case you'd bring your laptop along, you may go online via wireless Internet connection (WiFi) available at the hotel. You can find the exact list of services provided by Lenkerhof gourmet spa resort Lenk im Simmental (including those for extra fees) and the exact equipment of the rooms on the information sheet below.

Payment Depending on the selected date, room and price, you may need to provide credit card guarantee or advance bank card payment to finalize your reservation.

Arrival, opening hours The earliest time for arrival and check-in is 15:30, the latest time for departure and check-out is 11:00. The personnel of the hotel can speak in English and German with you.

Full Description Show less
3775 Badstrasse 20 , Lenk, 3775 (Switzerland)
  • Your reservation is confirmed directly by the accommodation!
  • Reserve this accommodation now and you will instantly receive the final confirmation, you don't have to wait or call unnecessarily!

Hurry, the rooms are sold quickly!

Parking, travelling
  • Parking (25 €/night)

  • Free WiFi in shared places

Leisure, recreation
  • Relaxation: Fitness, Table-tennis, Minigolf, Bike rental at the accommodation

    Curling facility nearby

Wellness section, relaxation
  • Wellness section, relaxation
  • Indoor pool
  • Steam room
  • Jacuzzi
  • Pool (Outdoor - seasonally open)
  • Finnish sauna
  • Solarium
General services
  • Pet friendly (35 €/night), Garden, Bar, Elevator, Safe deposit box

  • Own restaurant

Child-friendly services
  • Child supervision, Playground

Services in the room
  • Bathrobe, Hairdryer, Desk in the room, Mini-bar

from 15:30 o'clock
Check out
until 11:00
Spoken languages
English, German
Accepted bank cards
MasterCard, VISA, Diners Club, Amex
Local tax
Please check the details of the selected price.
24 hour


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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

A Lesson from Kindle

 I really enjoy my Kindle. Whether you are a fellow Kindle user or a fan of the Barnes and Noble version, the Nook, e-readers have become a significant part of our technological culture. I have to confess I was one of those naysayers who felt that e-readers were an assault on the good old fashioned paperback or hard cover book. But the reality for an avid reader like myself is there is not enough room in my house to keep adding bookcases. So after consulting with a few of my friends who were already "converts" to e-readers, I decided to take the plunge. My husband bought me a Kindle for Christmas and it is one of the best gifts (after Jesus) that I have received. The marvelous thing about the Kindle is the ease and immediate download of books. No hassle, no fuss. You look at your choices whether a book, magazine, etc., choose your title, and press the "buy" button. Within seconds you have your purchase literally at your fingertips. The other beautiful thing is the cost of each book is minimal with no shipping or handling charges. Recently as I watched my latest book purchase download it struck me that while technology is a wonderful thing it has its limits. As much as I marvel at what appears to be this "magical" transfer from cyber space to my e-reading device, I know that any thing can go wrong in the process.  Some mechanical glitch could prevent the download. My sister-in-law recently had her Kindle stop working properly and had a struggle getting her problem corrected even with the help of the technical support  site. And of course in time, like my bookcases, my Kindle will run out of space to store books. How very opposite that is in our relationship with God. When we accept Christ as Savior, we marvel at how the Holy Spirit instantly comes to dwell within us. No hassle, no fuss, no shipping or handling charges. And the price has already been paid through the shed blood of Christ. There is nothing that can interfere with our receiving God's free gift. No mechanical glitches. Moreover, we don't have to worry about ever running out of room in terms of the things God teaches us. We will never be able to exhaust His grace and love. It is eternal. So unlike my Kindle that one day will become unreliable and "forsake" me, God promises, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5) The next time you find yourself enraptured by the latest and greatest technological toy, remember, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin." (Exodus 34:6-7a)  He is the only One who is constant and reliable all the time.
Many Blessings in Christ!
Pastor Sheree

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News Politics

Rep. Chris Smith: “Re-enfranchise” the Unborn Child

Robin Marty

Rep. Chris Smith, sponsor of H.R. 3, says now the unborn child can be "re-enfranchised" and protected.

H.R. 3, the misnamed “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion” bill, passed the House today in a 251-175 vote, with all House Republicans and 16 Democrats voting for it. The bill’s sponsor, New Jersey Republican Chris Smith, promoted his bill on the floor, declaring it necessary to protect the “most persecuted minority” out there…the fetus.

Now, in a bizarre “thank you” to the Susan B. Anthony List, Rep. Smith declares that anti-choice politicians have taken the first steps to “re-enfranchise” the unborn.

I didn’t know there were franchising opportunities…

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