“How to Become a Financial Investigator” by the authors Ivica Simonovski Ph.D. and Kristina Evgo M.Sc. focuses on particularly current issues that in recent years have come into focus of experts and scholars alike. The financial investigation is a crucial tool for detecting money laundering, terrorist financing and other serious crimes. It enables the investigators to obtain new information regarding criminal acts, to successfully map out entire criminal networks, and to disclose essential evidence for prosecution of the perpetrators, seizure of the proceeds of crime, and confiscation of their property.
The book is prepared in a form of a textbook that is highly beneficial for both practitioners and scholars. With this book, they can get acquainted with the latest theoretical studies on financial investigations, but also how the financial investigations are practically undertaken using the appropriate tools, methods and techniques, as well as software solutions for presenting the results of financial analysis. The authors emphasize how beneficial such a work is for the investigators – practitioners, that is, the opportunity that it gives them to gain knowledge and develop skills in order to use methods and tools with respect to conducting financial investigations.
This book can be used not only in the Republic of North Macedonia; it is conceptualized to be used in any country and is intended for all practitioners dealing with the issue of financial investigations, including bank clerks, exchange offices, fast money transfer providers, lawyers, accountants, notaries, investigative journalists and other professionals and agencies dealing with the issue of financial investigations, which should promptly detect suspicious financial transactions and activities.
The first four chapters of the book explain, define and analyze the terms “illicit financial flows”, “money laundering”, “terrorist financing”, and “property and proceeds (property gain) of crimes”. The fifth chapter “What is a Financial Investigation” studies the need and goals of the financial investigation which should be conducted in parallel (together) with the criminal investigation. In this chapter, the authors give a special overview of the goals of the financial investigation that should enable: detection of the crime from which illegal proceeds are generated, as well as the perpetrators of the crime; determination of the illegal proceeds acquired from the commission of a crime; determination of the proceeds that need to be seized; provisional measures for securing the illegally acquired proceeds of crime. The authors also emphasize the need for proper management of seized or confiscated property. In the sixth chapter entitled “Prerequisites for Conducting Financial Investigations” the authors give a special overview of the legal basis for successful planning of financial investigations by the competent institutions, as a parallel process with the criminal investigation.
The seventh chapter – “Investigative Methods and Techniques for Data Collection, Structuring and Analysis” explains the methods and techniques available to the financial investigator that he or she should use to obtain evidence. According to the authors, investigative methods and techniques are generated in three basic categories, that is: standard investigative techniques; special investigative measures, and integrated financial investigation – financial analysis.
The eighth chapter “Building Networks for Cooperation and Coordination” emphasizes the essential need for cooperation between investigative bodies and their coordination in the conduct of financial investigations. Of particular importance is the cooperation with the Financial Intelligence Unit, through which the quantitative and qualitative financial data necessary to identify, locate and monitor illegally acquired property can be provided. The authors in this chapter emphasize the need for inter-institutional and international cooperation and the exchange of data and information between countries, using formal and informal channels of communication.
The last, ninth chapter, entitled “Provisional Measures and Confiscation”, explains the significance of provisional measures consisting of the temporary seizing (freezing) of property under investigation and suspected of criminal origin. The robust system of provisional measures and confiscation is an important part of an effective system for combating organized crime and money laundering. At the end of this chapter, the authors explain the types of confiscation, that is, property-based confiscation, as well as value-based confiscation.
Chris Westphal –
This book delivers a clear oversight of the international perspective on combating financial crimes – not just a regional or local view. The authors review how different definitions and categorizations for illicit financial flows are defined by organizations such as the World Bank, United Nations, Financial Action Task Forces (FATF), and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and how they can impact the scope of investigations to answer the question “What is Money Laundering?”
The book also contains a lot of helpful info-graphics to clarify and diagram many of the ML themes and concepts presented. The diagrams are colorful, easy-to-read, comprehensive, and help simplify the complex topics discussed. These graphics are a great asset to this publication.
In the first half-of-the-book, the authors cover the basic premise for money laundering (placement, layering, and integration) with some detail regarding terrorist financing and what constitutes the property and proceeds of crime. This section provides many good examples describing different concepts and techniques of how ML is conducted. Also, the authors did a great job at presenting the different roles and categories of individual-self, professional, and group/ organizations of money launderers.
Starting at Chapter 5, and the premise of the book, is where the juicier details are provided for the fundamentals of financial investigations. It continues into planning the investigation along with the key-elements (people, technical, data, and materials resources) of a financial investigation plan. The authors also address what a team should look like and their skills and expertise in related laws, economics, security, accounting IT, legislation, international standards, conventions, and expertise. Plus, and very important, interviewing skills, preparing witnesses, intelligence operations, along with written expressions and documentation. There is even a section discussing Case Management, how to coordinate the operations, and appointment of team leaders and managers.
The chapters covering investigative techniques are key to the book. Different components for the investigation include; standard interviews, procedures for detention (arrest), searching records, seizure of items/assets, inspection of assets (vehicles, persons, buildings, and businesses), and even “garbage” searches (i.e. trash/dumpsters). There are discussions about monitoring communication and electronic devices, physical surveillance, controlled deliveries, covert operations, and much more.
My favorite part (my background) was the section discussing financial analyses and the various tools. Lots of examples are provided showing tabular representations, link charts, time-flows, and visualizations. It also covers different source-collections (banks, public records, etc.) and how to apply the analytics.
The book wraps up with an important discussion about building networks for investigative cooperation; task forces, legislative bodies, international assets, police/law-enforcement, financial intelligence units, etc. Cases are often large, complex, and international in scope and therefore require the support of many different organizations and agencies. There are some good insights into how to achieve these interactions, where to ask, and what to reference or cite for support.
This is a great primer for people wanting to learn more about financial crimes and how to approach an investigation. It provides a roadmap of key concepts and factors that must be considered for anyone wanting to become a financial investigator.


Libraries in Kanpur
Central Library Kanpur
Central Library in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is a premium library which has been in existence since the inception of the institute in 1959. An interesting aspect about the Central Library in IIT is that the same was built by seeking help from over nine American universities. The library has an impressive collection of over 2 lakh books apart from a range of technical journals, reports, thesis and catalogues. The library opens on weekdays from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. In case any other outsider wants to seek any assistance from the library resources, the same can be accessed only by consulting the librarian at the Central Library.
Central library Address: IIT Kanpur, Kanpur- 208016
Phone no: 0512 597698
Municipal Library Kanpur
The government library in Kanpur is housed in the premises of Phool Bagh. A part of the historic Gandhi Bhawan which was known by the name of KEM Hall in its initial days was converted into a public library. The library is known for its exquisite collection of a range of books dealing with various subjects like general science, history, philosophy and religion. Besides the main complex of the library, one can also read through various newspapers and reports which are usually available in the reading room section of the library.
Membership of the library can be taken by completing the necessary formalities and the members are entitled to take certain number of books which can be returned in a fixed duration of time after reading. Municipal Library in Kanpur has been serving its purpose well and the literary readers in the city seek assistance from the literature available in the library, as and when required.
Municipal Library Kanpur Address: Gandhi Bhawan, Phool Bagh Complex, Civil Lines, Kanpur -208001, Uttar Pradesh
Ram Krishna Mission Library in Kanpur
Ram Krishna Mission has its presence in Kanpur also. Besides offering spiritual guidance to those in need, the mission maintains a library within its premises at Jawahar Nagar. Readers are welcome to check through various books and journals of religious and aesthetic importance. A well maintained reading room is also operational at the library premises and readers can check out the latest newspaper headlines daily. The library operates on week days and you can seek membership of the library by paying nominal charges.
Ram Krishna Mission Library Address: Ram Krishna Nagar, Jawahar Nagar, Kanpur-208012, Uttar Pradesh
The other major libraries in Kanpur are as listed below:
HBTI Library Kanpur
HBIT East Campus, Nawabganj
Kanpur-208002, Uttar Pradesh
Book Club Kanpur
Kanpur-208016, Uttar Pradesh
Dr Iqbal Library in Kanpur
Hafiz Halim Road, Kasimganj
Kanpur-208001, Uttar Pradesh


I've put an arbitrary cut off date of pre-1950 on this list, which eliminates Bob Dylan and the Beatles although they will undoubtedly appear on a "Time Tested Songs" list in the future. There are many more songs that could be included, and I might make this a regular repeating feature in the NMW blog. This info comes from the invaluable Wikipedia website (special thanks to all the researchers).
"Hard Times Come Again No More" - written by Stephen Foster in 1859. According to Robert B. Waltz, it is the most popular Foster song with folk revival singers and wasn't especially popular at the time it was written. However, Stephen Foster himself considered it his own favorite of his songs. It has been recorded by Emmy Lou Harris, Nanci Griffith, Golden Palominos (Syd Straw) and many others.
"It's All in the Game"- Carl Sigman composed the lyrics in 1951 to fit a 1911 composition entitled "Melody in A Major," written by Charles Dawes, who would later become the Vice President of the United States under Calvin Coolidge. It is thus the only #1 pop single in history to have been co-written by a U.S. Vice President.
"Man of Constant Sorrow" - a traditional American folk song written originally by Dick Burnett, a blind fiddler from Kentucky. The song was originally recorded by Dick Burnett as "Farewell Song" printed in a Richard Burnett songbook, c. 1913.
"Someone to Watch Over Me" - composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin from the musical Oh, Kay! (1926), where it was introduced by Gertrude Lawrence. It has been performed by numerous artists, such as Frank Sinatra, Linda Rondstadt, and Sting, and is a key work in the Great American Songbook.
"Frankie And Johnny" - The first published version of the music appeared in 1904, credited to and copyrighted by Hughie Cannon. The familiar "Frankie and Johnny were lovers" lyrics first appeared (as "Frankie and Albert") in On the Trail of Negro Folksongs by Dorothy Scarborough, published in 1925; a similar version with the "Frankie and Johnny" names appeared in 1927 in Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag. It has been recorded by artists as diverse as Johnny Cash, Jack Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke and none other than Elvis.
"Can the (Will The) Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)" is a well-known country/folk song reworked by A. P. Carter from a hymn by Ada R. Habershon and Charles Gabriel. It first appeared in the 1930s and has been recorded by hundreds of artists including Bill Monroe and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
"This Land Is Your Land" - The lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," which Guthrie considered unrealistic. Originally called "God Blessed America for Me", Guthrie varied the lyrics over time, sometimes including more overtly political verses than appear in recordings or publications. Guthrie lifted the melody note-for-note from "When the World's on Fire," a Baptist hymn recorded by country legends the Carter Family ten years earlier. However, some sources claim that a Carter Family original, "Little Darlin' Pal of Mine," was the source of the melody for "This Land."
"Rock Island Line" - Lead Belly (Huttie Ledbetter) and John and Alan Lomax supposedly first heard it from a prison work gang during their travels in 1934/35. Huttie finally settled on a format where he portrayed, in song, a train engineer asking the depot agent to let his train start out on the main line. While it is claimed that the song refers to the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, the song is considerably older than the first recording, and from some of the lyrics it can be interpreted that the "railroad" referred-to is actually the Underground Railroad, a slave escape route. It has been recorded by Bobby Darin, John Lennon, Johnny Cash, and Dan Zanes to name just a few.
"House Of The Rising Sun" - Like many classic folk ballads, the authorship of "The House of the Rising Sun" is uncertain. Folklorist Alan Lomax, author of the seminal 1941 songbook Our Singing Country, wrote that the melody was taken from a traditional English ballad and the lyrics written by a pair of Kentuckians named Georgia Turner and Bert Martin. Other scholars have proposed different explanations, although Lomax's is generally considered most plausible. It has ben recorded by The Animals, Frijid Pink, and Dave Van Ronk to name just a few.
"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" - a traditional Afro-American spiritual. The song dates back to the era of slavery in the United States when it was common practice to sell children of slaves away from their parents. An early performance of the song dates back into the 1870s by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Like many traditional songs, it has many variations and has been recorded widely by artists such as Richie Havens, Van Morrison, Hootie & The Blowfish and others.


Hitotsubashi University may have power outages during the following periods:
|March 25||6:20-10:00, 13:50-17:30|
|March 29||9:20-13:00, 16:50-20:30|
|March 30||6:20-10:00. 13:50-17:30|
From March 25 to 30, the Tokyo Electric Power Company is planning to have power outages. The opening hours of Hitotsubashi University Library have been changed in accordance with the planned outages.
|March 25 (Fri)||Closed*|
|March 26 (Sat)||Closed*|
|March 27 (Sun)||Closed*|
|March 28 (Mon)||9:00-12:00*|
|March 29 (Tue)||Closed*|
|March 30 (Wed)||Closed*|
*Note that the library may open if the planned outages are canceled.
After March 31, following the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s plan for power outages, the opening hours of the library will be scheduled as one of the following:
|Morning hours only:||9:00-12:00|
|Afternoon hours only:||13:00-17:00|
The opening hours will be announced as soon as they are decided on the Library’s webpage (http://www.lib.hit-u.ac.jp/index_j.html) and on the on-campus message boards.
Please note that the Library’s webpage will also be down during and around outages and whenever else it is necessary.
During this period, the library service will be restricted as below in order to save electricity and secure your safety. We apologize for the inconvenience.
- The main reading room will be closed.
- You will not be allowed to enter the stacks. Librarians will bring books for you.
- The Internet will not be available. Please use the PCs at the Information and Education Center Building.
- For the time being, only the four HERMES terminals on the first floor will be available.
- Only a few information search terminals will be available.
- Only a few photocopiers will be available.
- The library building will not be air conditioned. Please wear a warm sweater or jacket.
- Not all the lighting will be turned on.
- In principle you will not be allowed to use the elevators.
(Computer Education Building)
The Computer Education Building will be closed in accordance with the planned power outages.
The opening hours will be announced on the Computer Education Building's website (http://cc.hit-u.ac.jp).
Please note that the webpage will also be down during and around outages.
Please note that Hitotsubashi University, which is located in Naka, Kunitachi City, belongs to Group 3 of the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s power outage plan. (See http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html)
It is possible that the Library and the Building will be closed without notice due to aftershocks and/or disruption of public transportation.
Thank you very much for your understanding in advance, and we apologize again for the inconvenience.


I conduct genealogical research in the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati, Ohio area in which I am familiar with local libraries, courthouses, churches and other document repositories. I work closely with each client to develop a research plan. Upon completion of the authorized research hours, the client receives a written research report, copies of all pertinent documents and suggestions for further research, if needed. Longer research trips to other KY locations can also be arranged.
* General research at libraries, historical societies, etc., and the creation of a final report, is billed at $10.00/hr.
* Research at county courthouses, clerks’ offices, etc., due to the more difficult working environments, is $20.00/hr.
* Expenses are billed as generated and include mileage (currently at $.45/mi.), photocopies, postage, etc. (I live 25-30 miles from most repositories in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton Counties.)


The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a US law that was enacted in 1998 to address issues related to copyright in the digital age. The DMCA is a complex and far-reaching law that affects a wide range of stakeholders, including website owners, internet service providers (ISPs), and content creators. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the basics of the DMCA and what it means for different groups.
What Does the DMCA Do?
At its core, the DMCA is designed to provide copyright protection for creative works in the digital realm. It does this by establishing a framework for dealing with copyright infringement online and by creating certain “safe harbors” that limit the liability of online service providers (including websites and ISPs) for copyright infringement that occurs on their platforms.
Under the DMCA, website owners and ISPs can qualify for these safe harbor protections if they follow certain procedures, including designating a DMCA agent and promptly removing or disabling access to infringing material upon notification. If a website or ISP follows these procedures and promptly responds to notifications of claimed infringement, it may be able to limit its potential liability for copyright infringement and protect itself from costly legal action.
What Are the Key Provisions of the DMCA?
The DMCA consists of five main titles that address different aspects of copyright in the digital age. Here’s a brief overview of each title:
- Title I: WIPO Copyright and Performance and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act: This title implements two international treaties related to copyright protection (the WIPO Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty) into US law.
- Title II: Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act: This title establishes the safe harbor provisions for online service providers and sets out the procedures for designating a DMCA agent and responding to notifications of claimed infringement.
- Title III: Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act: This title creates an exception to copyright law for certain types of computer maintenance and repair activities.
- Title IV: Miscellaneous Provisions: This title includes various miscellaneous provisions related to copyright law, including provisions related to the protection of technological measures (such as digital rights management systems) and the liability of manufacturers and importers of copyright-infringing devices.
- Title V: Vessel Hull Design Protection Act: This title provides protection for vessel hull designs.
Who Is Affected by the DMCA?
The DMCA affects a wide range of stakeholders, including:
- Website owners and ISPs: As mentioned above, the DMCA establishes safe harbor provisions that limit the liability of website owners and ISPs for copyright infringement that occurs on their platforms. However, in order to qualify for these protections, website owners and ISPs must follow certain procedures, including designating a DMCA agent and promptly responding to notifications of claimed infringement.
- Content creators: The DMCA provides copyright protection for creative works in the digital realm, including music, movies, software, and other types of digital content.
- Consumers: The DMCA affects consumers in a number of ways. For example, it prohibits the circumvention of technological measures (such as digital rights management systems) that are used to protect copyrighted material. It also prohibits the distribution of devices or software that are designed to circumvent these technological measures.
- Online retailers: The DMCA affects online retailers in a number of ways, including the liability of online marketplaces for the sale of infringing products and the liability of online retailers for the sale of devices or software that are designed to circumvent technological measures.
- Legal professionals: The DMCA is a complex and constantly evolving area of law, and it requires legal professionals to stay up-to-date on the latest developments in order to effectively represent clients.
In conclusion, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a US law that provides copyright protection and limits liability for online copyright infringement for websites and internet service providers that follow certain procedures, including designating a DMCA agent and promptly removing or disabling access to infringing material upon notification. The DMCA affects a wide range of stakeholders, including website owners, ISPs, content creators, consumers, online retailers, and legal professionals. It is a complex and constantly evolving area of law, and it’s important for all stakeholders to be familiar with the provisions of the DMCA and how they apply to their specific circumstances. By understanding and complying with the DMCA, website owners and ISPs can help to protect themselves from liability for copyright infringement and ensure that they are operating in accordance with the law.


Guidance for Investigators (Handledning för utredningsmän)
Book launch, conversation and exhibition
On 21 November 2019 at 18:00, we invite Carl Johan Erikson and Björn Larsson to launch and present the book Guidance for Investigators at FG2 in Gothenburg.
In conjunction with the book launch, the video installation Interviews: Violence Against People will be shown.
About the book
Carl Johan Erikson and Björn Larsson have compiled documents concerning assessments of applications for non-combatant military service in Sweden from 1966–1989. Guidance for Investigators is part of the reasearch project Refuse to Kill: The Stories of Conscientious Objectors.
Link to the book online: Handledning för utredningsmän
Björn Larsson and Carl Johan Erikson, book presentation at FG 2 in Gothenburg.


La pagina può visualizzarsi in modo non corretto.
press Start–>Run and enter the the following command in the open line
reg export "tree" file namewhere the “tree” is the registry tree you need to export (tree should be embraced with quotes);
For example, you need to export the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control tree into the C:\result.reg fileThe command will be as follows
reg export "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control" c:\result.reg


A number of times each year I’m asked why I stopped writing children’s books. After all, I was launched with two enormously successful ones,” Edgar Allan” and “Lisa, Bright and Dark.” Both were New York Times’ Book Review Books of the Year.
The answers are not secret. As I grew older, I also grew further and further away from my own childhood, and my memories of it. Although I am firmly of the opinion that most young people today go through exactly what we did so many years before, which is why grown-ups write children’s books…their memories of the events and tribulations of childhood are vivid enough to organize into stories…what has changed so dramatically is the landscape in which today’s American children grow. The fact that it has taken me this long even to imagine writing a blog indicates that what to today’s kids are commonplace enough tasks and events, to people my age these are rareties and faced with trepidation.
Another reason for “abandoning” children’s literature is that as I matured, I was less interested in children and naturally more interested in people (and characters) of my own generation.
I told the last person who asked the question (which was yesterday, at the post office) that if I found an idea I couldn’t forget, one that grabbed at my mind as well as my heart and that I couldn’t shake, I certainly would write another children’s book.
I had a wonderful career in publishing in New York years ago and wouldn’t change that for anything. And I’m still having it, as part of a community in which not only do I keep writing new material, but I also get to take part in local events, edit other writers’ works, act as a publishing consultant, and teach what I want to very receptive classes. Recent topics have been a History of the Booker Prize books; Evelyn Waugh; Kingsley Amis; John Cheever; John Updike; a history of trade publishing; and currently the life and works of Graham Greene. Which is to say, I’m busy and content. But if you read “Treadwell,” you’ll find part of my fascination with people who are not young today, who face more difficult and often final problems. Many of these continue to fall in love, feel ever more strongly and positive about their lives and their companions, and who are devoted to becoming, in their family’s eyes, the best person they can be.
To me, this is as much a struggle as learning to share, to read, to think, to act kindly.


The Tasmanian Family History Society Inc. formerly the Genealogical Society of Tasmania was formed in Hobart in April 1980. Subsequently an open meeting of people interested in forming a Launceston Branch of the Society was held at the Kings Meadows High School on 4 November 1980, and the first Annual General Meeting of the Launceston Branch was held on the 7 April 1981.
The name of the Society was changed to Tasmanian Family History Society Inc. as from 1 April 2001. It exists to promote and support the study and research of family history, to preserve and transcribe records, to publish appropriate literature and to provide members with a high-quality reference library and learning opportunities.
Our branch has a unique and extensive library including a wide range of printed matter, micro-form and CD-ROM records and a range of research tools. Many of our records are not available online, some are rare and exclusive. The emphasis is on Australian, New Zealand and UK records. Members also have access to Ancestry.com within our library.
Members receive our quality quarterly journal, free access to our library resources where expert assistance is available and can choose to attend our regular workshops. Discounts are available to Society members on some publications.
Our research team will undertake your family history research for members or non-members at a very reasonable rate. This is of particular value to those who cannot attend the library in person or do not have online access.
This web site provides an overview of our branch and its resources and how to access them. It includes an up-to-date list of coming events and enables users to browse, and order from, the wide range of publications we offer for sale.


Jesus of Nazareth,the son of God raised by a Jewish carpenter. Based on the gospel of Luke in the New Testament,here is the life of Jesus from the miraculous virgin birth to the calling of his disciples, public miracles and ministry, ending with his death by crucifixion at the hands of the Roman empire and resurrection on the third day.
Every eight seconds, somewhere in the world, another person indicates a decision to follow Christ after watching the "JESUS" film. You can be part of the movement that brings the greatest story of all time to everyone, everywhere, in every language.
You can now watch the "JESUS" film in your language, and all of The JESUS Film Project's resources.
Shane is mentored by a pastor with rabbinical training, and teaches the context of the Scriptures from a Hebraic perspective. This perspective helps people to see God's Word in a completely new way and leads them into a more intimate relationship with the Messiah, Jesus Christ. MUST WATCH FOR ALL CHRISTIANS. If you have not seen Shane Willard before, then start with the "The Authority of the Rabbi " video.
A detailed (not complete) study concerning the meaning and of all the various parts, construction and arrangement of the Tabernacle of Moses. Great for an introduction to the Tabernacle of Moses of for a small group study. In PDF ready to download and print.


These days, apps keep kids stagnant, their minds passively occupied. What if there was an app that sparked curiosity in multiple ways?
Meet the Spectacular Sarah Hoppits!
Sarah Hoppits is a bunny who loves to read! The only thing she loves more is sharing her beloved stories with friends. Through your smart device, Sarah and her collection of STEAM stories (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math) come to life before your eyes!
Explore real-life places like the Pyramids of Giza, or take a deeper look at science with The Tale of a Light Particle. Once you've finished a book, join Sarah in her homeworld of Kurius to play mini games, unlocking items to customize Sarah's look and style!
Inside Sarah's World
The Spectacular Sarah Hoppits is an augmented reality (AR) app that encourages reading comprehension and knowledge in the areas of science, technology, engineering, the arts, and math. Choose one of Sarah's books to be delivered to your device in PDF format, and through the magic of AR, Sarah's stories are turned into animated scenes that pop up on your device!
Take a 360° look around, putting yourself in a front row seat to the action as you explore Sarah’s magical book. When you are done, Sarah keeps the book in her library where you can revisit it anytime.
Mini Games & Customization
Each of Sarah's stories comes with a brain-teaser game, which is unlocked in Sarah's homeworld of Kurius. Each region of Kurius is divided by educational avenue, housing a mini game associated with its particular subject.
Mini-games include color-matching to teach primary and secondary colors, memory tiles to work with compatible elements, or a word scramble to help teach Sarah to spell words correctly. Score accurately enough and new accessories and skins can be won for Sarah.
After all, your best friend should be your best friend.
Sarah's love for stories doesn't end with her books; she wants to hear your story, too! Tell Sarah your own story, and she'll listen and react to what you say thanks to the power of AI speech-recognition!
Current Development & Next Steps
Currently the prototype is complete. We’ve implemented basic character animation, ensured user interactions are functioning, and mapped out the game design tree. Our next steps are implementing a deeper game design tree, working on mechanics (book finding, voice recognition), and polishing the artwork. We are looking into the logistics of printing and shipping Sarah's books in physical form.
Target Audience & Goals
Though Sarah loves kids of all ages, we are aiming for kids between 6-11 years old.
Our goal is to encourage movement and play around the home with a strong dose of discovery. Ultimately, we’d like to create a generation of young adults excited about STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts, and Math) and want to use Sarah as a vehicle to discover each of those topics.
Sarah’s New Style
We’re Theory Studios, an Emmy-nominated animation and mixed-reality company based out of Orlando, Florida and Calgary, Alberta.
Our work includes collaborating with Walt Disney Imagineering on AR experiences, designing ride graphics for Universal Orlando Resort, and crafting animation for Chuck E. Cheese, Sesame Street, the TV series Silicon Valley, and many more.
The Spectacular Sarah Hoppits is led and designed by Kate Sims, a leader and manager of Theory Studio’s projects in theme parks, health care, and animation. Kate has worked in production design for theme-parks and is a playwright producer. She has an active audience of three younger siblings (ages 8-11) who act as Sarah's testers.


Welcome to nigelcooperauthor.co.uk, the official internet resource on the English author Nigel Cooper. This site aims to give visitors a real insight into Nigel's works, inluding his debut supernatural novel, Email From A Vampire, his second psychological thriller, Sophia, and his childhood memoir, Boy. You can also find details on his future novels. To buy any of the books click on the appropriate link on the right hand side.
Nigel has just finished writing his fourth feature-length novel S.U.N.D.S.
S.U.N.D.S (Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome)
If You Dance With The Devil...
A sleepy village in Cambridgeshire is about to be gripped in a reign of terror by a new resident, a strange young woman called Dayanira. The fact that the meaning of her name is: devastating, capable of great destruction, is no coincidence.
What first appear to be two unexplained nocturnal deaths soon turn out to be something far more sinister – something with an insidious agenda.
Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome (S.U.N.D.S) is a genuine unexplainable medical condition that kills hundreds of – otherwise healthy – young people every year – typically males – leaving pathologists perplexed as to the cause of death.
There is one school of thought, however – within certain circles – that SUNDS is explainable, only it’s not an explanation that most mortals would want to hear, or believe, because the explanation is just too shocking, terrifying and disturbing to comprehend.
Currently, there is no treatment or preventative cure for SUNDS – at least not medically…
Word count: 98,179
ISBN: TBC (paperback)
ASIN: TBC (kindle)
“My parents had to try for eighteen months to conceive me, but my father was adamant he wanted one last child. After eighteen months of trying, my mother eventually conceived and nine months later I was born. My birth was a difficult one. It was like I was never meant to be in this world.”
Boy is Nigel Cooper’s childhood memoir from the age of five to sixteen. It tells the shocking, brutal, disturbing, emotional story of his childhood spent in and out of various care homes and institutions during the 1970s and 1980s.
When Nigel was just seven years old, after the untimely death of his sister and father, his mother asked social services to take him away – and then his nightmare began. For the next nine years of his life, Nigel was repeatedly rejected by his mother and spent his childhood among bullies, abusers, psychopaths and criminals. He spent time in a children’s psychiatric hospital, where they carried out unimaginable tests, pumped him full of drugs and physically abused him; care homes, where he would come face to face with rough estate kids who would beat him up, force him to steal for them and threaten his life; and barbaric assessment centres for disturbed and delinquent children, where the staff were, at times, sicker than the children.
The system tried to break Nigel and it was a miracle that he survived. The British care system robbed him of his childhood. His story is truly extraordinary. Disturbing, yet touching, with an unflinching depiction of reality written up in a brilliant and unique style.
Boy is powerfully written, edgy, gripping and beautifully crafted.
“Visceral, heart-wrenching and utterly compelling” Mikey Walsh, author of the international best-selling Gypsy Boy
Published: August 2015
Publisher: Ebury, Penguin Random House
ISBN: 9781785030789 (paperback)
ASIN: B00VOOEIV8 (kindle)
A story of love, loss, and mania
Sometimes your state-of-mind has a dark side...
SOPHIA: 22-YEAR OLD CONCERT CELLIST, SOON TO BE ENGAGED, A PERFECT BOYFRIEND, A PERFECT FAMILY, A PERFECT LIFE
But Sophia’s picture-perfect life is about to take a drastic turn for the worse. After the tragic untimely death of her beloved boyfriend, Spencer, something happens to her – something dark.
After a period of post-traumatic stress, Sophia develops a dark and severe personality disorder. Gone is the gracious upper middle class girl. In her place stands a dysfunctional young woman on a frenetic path of self-destruction and mayhem.
Sophia’s world starts to fall apart. Something dark has got a grip on her mind and it refuses to let go. Her psychologist has never seen a case like quite like it and is at a total loss.
Sophia has recoiled into a dark and dangerous place in her mind, but now it’s spilling out into the real world with a vengeance. She proceeds to tear her family apart, alienate her friends and destroy her career; soon there will be nothing left.
Can her new best friend, Delphine, save her before it’s too late?
“An insanely addictive read. Sophia is a powerful and moving story that has, at its heart, one of the most compelling characters I've ever read. Sophia's journey is brilliantly written, with a host of memorable supporting characters, leading to a devastating and unpredictable conclusion. This book will stay with you long after you've finished it.” Amy Cross, international best selling author
Published: January 2014
Publisher: Generic Pool Publishing
ISBN: 9780957330733 (paperback)
ASIN: B00HSSJ4RM (kindle)
EMAIL FROM A VAMPIRE
“Gripping new dark vampire romance crime thriller that will leave you breathless!”
Love, desire and a trail of cold-blooded murders ...
Tania de Pré is an ordinary journalist looking for her next big story. But when she receives an email from the mysterious, erudite and deeply sensual Tristan Syhier Burnel - a man alleging himself to be a thousand-year old vampire who wants her to publish his life story - she is plunged into a world of murder, intrigue and overwhelming sexual desire.
Teaming up with DI Maldini and his CSI team, Tania and Tristan find themselves on the trail of a malevolent bloodsucker, who will stop at nothing to ensure that the secrets of vampirism remain underground …
Dark, stylish, romantic and sexy, Email From A Vampire will do for London what True Blood did for Louisiana.
Published: July 2012
Publisher: Generic Pool Publishing
ISBN: 9780957330702 (paperback)
ASIN: B008PIDXNA (kindle)


Déplier tous les niveaux
Elementary and grammar education in late medieval France - Lyon, 1285-1530
Identificateur de la ressource ISBN
Langue des unités documentaires
Lieu de publication, production et/ou distribution
Nom d’éditeur, producteur et/ou distributeur
AMSTERDAM UNIVERSITY PRESS
Type de présentation matérielle et importance matérielle
Dimensions et unité de dimensions
Titre propre de la collection ou de la monographie en plusieurs parties
Sources dont certaines provenant des AML à page 164, bibliogr. p. 167.
Notes sur la zone de l’identificateur de la ressource et des modalités d'acquisition
During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, Europe as a whole experienced a market increase in the availability of elementary and grammar education. Though previous studies have focused on this development in Italy and England, France too saw a rise in the provision and demand for such instruction. In many ways, the instructional sitation in France was a unique blend of trends from across Europe, ranging from Church-dominated schools to independent and communal teachers. Nowhere was this more evident than in the south-eastern city of Lyon, a crossroad of ideas from north and south as well as trade. Elementary and grammar education in late medieval France : Lyon, 1285-1530 examines the educational landscape of the city, how schoolds and teachers were organized and how they interacted with each other and with ecclesiastical and municipoal authorities. It will also look at the experiences and careers of teachers and pupils and at the mentalities surrounding going to school in the Middle Ages.


Miss out on those fantastic Banned Books Week trading cards? Well, here's your second chance!
In our latest guest post, writer and cartoonist Mike Russell tells all about how a certain Vonnegut novel impacted him. Twice.
Are you a teacher, educator, librarian, or other awesome person interested in getting banned and challenged books to underprivileged teens? Submit a request for books here!
The Uprise Books Project is a proud recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Innovations in Reading prize!
Corrupt Young Minds
The Uprise Books Project wouldn't exist without the generous contributions of people like you. Make your tax-deductible donation today!


Curating Daxi: The development of Daxidaxi festival
為了守護消逝中的百年文化，找尋當代適切的樣貌，「大溪大禧」這場因神明而生的策展，以「一場跨越當代設計與民俗信仰的城市祭典」為號召、 關公暖壽為主軸，設計出全城出動的「與神同巡」遶境、 齊聚廟埕前搖滾的「神嬉舞夜」，與各方領域的設計師共同創造， 合力打造出全臺最潮祭典！
首本設計書《大溪大禧：當代設計與民俗信仰一起策展》講述一個當從前與現在相遇，來自「大溪大禧」的故事，是一本記錄五年來於大溪實驗與實踐的設計書， 書寫的不只是策展，更是台灣地方文化的表現，與當代設計意識的整合，還有無遠弗屆的神奇祝福！藉由本書的出版，整理及分享木博館與策展團隊衍序規劃設計策畫「大溪大禧」的發展過程，看見從促進慶 典文化保存及發展的關懷切入，如何結合設計力的加入，喚醒大家對鄉土的熱愛、對慶典文化 的熱情，號召眾人一起走在慶典文化復興的路上，並成為具國際性的臺灣文化節慶。
To preserve the century-old disappearing culture and give it a contemporary touch, the "Daxidaxi" festival, which originated from a deity, was curated as "a modern religious festival where contemporary design meets folk beliefs," with Guan Shang Dijun's Birthday as the central theme. The event features the "Patrol with Gods", a condensed version of the procession that covers the old city center, and "Dancing with Gods", where people gather to dance in front of the temple. This festival is a collaborative effort among designers from various fields, creating the trendiest celebration in Taiwan!
The first design book of the festival, "Curating Daxidaxi: The development of the Daxidaxi festival", narrates the story of the encounter between the past and present through the lens of Daxidaxi. It records the experimental and practical design work that took place in Daxi over the past five years. In preparation for the publication of this book, the Wood Art Ecomuseum and BIAS Architects & Associates as the curatorial team compiled and presented the development process of Daxidaxi from the perspective of caring, promoting, preserving, and developing temple ritual celebration culture. It's time to leverage the power of design to inspire love for the homeland, passion for temple celebration culture, and motivate people to revive temple celebration culture together, fashioning it into an internationally renowned cultural festival of Taiwan.
▩ Chapter 1 策一個大溪，尋原鄉起點
Curating Daxi: The Search for "Home"
When arriving at Daxi, start from the temple on the bank of the Dahan River, and begin to explore the history behind the city. Set the time to the 24th day of the 6th month of the lunar calendar every year for the past millennium - for the birthday of Guan Sheng Dijun. The cityscape feels like it’s stepped out from another era in time for the birthday of Guan Sheng Dijun, when faith and the city's daily life are interwoven in an ancient script.
▩ Chapter 2 一座保存「生鮮文化」的博物館
A Museum That Preserves “Fresh Culture”
To know more about Daxi, one must call attention to the local " Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum." It create more community sharing and experiences, so that Daxi’s history, cultural relics, living culture and faith can be woven to resonate with people. No matter where you are in Daxi, every tree, historical building, or memory of Daxi, and the daily life that is happening here...they all serve as the vivid collection of the Wood Art Ecomuseum.
▩ Chapter 3 歡迎來到「大溪大禧」
Welcome to Daxidaxi!
無論是各個社頭的藝陣輪番登場、三國將軍的豪華陣容、精彩萬千的酬神戲、紀錄特展、連結科技數位化⋯⋯透過「大溪大禧」，讓傳承百年的「迎六月廿四」 文化不只更有力量，全城共歡、共好、共創，將帝君的正氣能量分享給每一個人 !
Whether it's a lineup of artists from various Shetou groups, a fancy formation of Holy Generals from the Three Kingdoms, performances paying homage to the gods, theme exhibitions, or the use of digitalization technology...Through "Daxidaxi," the culture of "June 24 Reception", which has been passed down for over a century, has not only become a profound show of strength, but allows the whole city to revel in joyous celebration, co-prosperity, and co- creation, thus spreading the positive energy of Guan sheng Dijun to all!
▩ Chapter 4 「大溪大禧」指揮中心
"Daxidaxi" Command Center
"Daxidaxi" is more than just a vibrant cultural exhibition: it’s a celebration of design prowess, beauty, and creativity, all of which elevate the presentation level of the cultural festival. We break down each operational procedure used at "Daxidaxi" from the planning and design perspective of the curatorial team, demonstrating how the design force promotes the value and allure of regional culture.


Cities in a Time of Global Emergencies
Cities in a time of global emergencies x
The present volume contains ten case studies produced by the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at SUTD (covering Asia and the Pacific), and the Smart City Observatory, under IMD’s World Competitiveness Center (covering other parts of the world). As was the case when we published the first volume in this series, we learned a lot as institutions about cooperating and researching jointly. We hope that readers too will gain useful insights into the future shaping of our cities.
Professor Chong Tow Chong President International Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)
Professor Jean-François Manzoni President International Institute for Management Development (IMD)
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease


Check out the Issue Explorer
Looking to fund some work? You can submit a new Funded Issue here.
The goal is to write up a comprehensive README that describes the components that make up WidgetBot:
- [ ] server
- [ ] embed
- [ ] crate
- [ ] react-embed
- [ ] html-embed
- [ ] embed-api
Much of the documentation can be pulled in from https://docs.widgetbot.io but some will require a bit more digging into the codebase to create new docs from the ground up (particularly the server).
**This issue will be funded via GitCoin**
- Make PRs to [the oss branch](https://github.com/widgetbot-io/widgetbot/tree/oss) please


Converge with Matthew N. Hammonds: A Beacon of Hope in the Fight Against Osteosarcoma
Matthew N. Hammonds, a name that symbolizes resilience, hope, and unwavering dedication in the battle against osteosarcoma, is a remarkable author who has dedicated his life to advocating for those affected by this rare bone cancer. His journey is a testament to the transformative power of courage, an innate passion for raising awareness, and a profound belief in the potential to make a difference in the lives of those touched by osteosarcoma. For those who frequent the “Because of Daniel” website, Matthew’s name embodies inspiration, expertise, and a deep affection for the world of cancer awareness and support.
Born in the United States, Matthew’s early life was marked by a sense of compassion, a deep understanding of the human spirit, and a genuine reverence for the strength displayed by individuals battling cancer. Growing up in a society that recognizes the significance of unity in facing health challenges, he developed a deep understanding of the transformative power of support and awareness.
Matthew’s academic journey was heavily influenced by his early immersion in the world of healthcare, patient advocacy, and the dynamics of coping with cancer. He recognized that his life’s calling was to advocate for individuals affected by osteosarcoma, to provide support, and to use his expertise to raise awareness about this rare and challenging form of cancer. As he pursued his education, his fascination with the complexities of cancer care deepened, and his mission to make a difference in the lives of osteosarcoma patients became clear.
Matthew’s journey as an author and advocate for osteosarcoma awareness began when he embarked on his professional career. His passion for supporting cancer patients and his commitment to raising awareness led him to explore various roles in the field. His early experiences as a healthcare worker, cancer awareness advocate, and support group facilitator laid the foundation for his profound understanding of the dynamic world of cancer care.
Over the years, Matthew’s career continued to evolve, marked by a series of accomplishments and an unwavering dedication to the osteosarcoma community. He ventured into the realms of patient advocacy, awareness campaigns, and the creation of resources and initiatives to support patients and their families.
Matthew’s most significant contributions were his tireless efforts to raise awareness about osteosarcoma and to provide support to individuals battling this rare bone cancer. He understood the power of empathy, the importance of information, and the role of a strong support network in the journey of healing. His work involved not only raising awareness but also creating platforms for individuals to share their stories, connect with others, and find solace in knowing they are not alone in their fight.
One of Matthew’s notable accomplishments was his involvement in the creation of the “Because of Daniel” website, a platform dedicated to sharing stories of hope and resilience in the battle against osteosarcoma. Recognizing his expertise and commitment, Matthew became a central contributor to the platform.
As an author and contributor to the “Because of Daniel” website, Matthew N. Hammonds has played an instrumental role in advancing discussions on osteosarcoma awareness, cancer support, and the power of unity in the face of this challenging disease. His articles, patient stories, and insights into the world of cancer care have become invaluable resources for individuals affected by osteosarcoma, their families, and anyone passionate about raising awareness and providing support. Matthew’s ability to convey the emotions and experiences of patients and their families in a relatable and empathetic manner has made him an essential author on the platform.
Matthew’s writings encompass a wide range of topics, from sharing the stories of osteosarcoma patients and their families to providing information on treatment options and coping strategies. His work is not only informative but deeply inspiring, offering readers a profound connection to the transformative power of support and hope in the face of adversity.
Beyond his contributions to the website, Matthew actively engages with his readers and fellow cancer awareness advocates, offering guidance, encouragement, and a sense of community to those passionate about making a difference in the lives of osteosarcoma patients. He understands the importance of providing support, sharing stories of hope, and fostering a sense of unity in the fight against this rare bone cancer.
Matthew’s commitment to osteosarcoma awareness goes beyond his professional life. He actively participates in cancer awareness events, support groups, and initiatives aimed at raising funds for research and providing resources for osteosarcoma patients and their families. His dedication extends to collaborations with oncologists, researchers, and cancer support organizations that share his passion for increasing awareness and support for those affected by osteosarcoma.
In addition to his work in osteosarcoma awareness, Matthew is a strong advocate for pediatric cancer research, healthcare equity, and the importance of empathy in patient care. He believes in the power of community support, awareness, and hope to create a more compassionate and understanding world for individuals battling cancer. His efforts in this realm are a testament to his unwavering commitment to improving the lives of osteosarcoma patients and their families and his belief in the transformative power of support and unity.
As Matthew N. Hammonds continues to converge with the dynamic world of osteosarcoma awareness, patient support, and the power of hope, his name remains a symbol of inspiration, expertise, and a deep love for making a difference in the lives of those affected by this rare bone cancer.
As he continues to explore the world of cancer awareness, advocate for osteosarcoma patients, and promote the importance of providing support and raising awareness, Matthew N. Hammonds remains an inspirational figure for individuals affected by osteosarcoma, their families, and anyone passionate about the transformative power of empathy, hope, and support in the face of cancer. His life story is a testament to the power of dedication, patient advocacy, and the potential to make a meaningful difference in the lives of those fighting this challenging disease.


The Great Controversy Movie Chapter 1
The Great Controversy Between Christ and His Angels, and Satan and His Angels - (original 1858 version)
On a data plan? Look at this small version (2mb) 1858 Great Controversy movie (160 * 120)
Large version (24mb) of the movie to get the full experience
All movies are in WMV format and should open easily in VLC, WMP, and most other video apps. They are free to save and use as long as no money is charged.
You can also see it here on Youtube
Original 1858 Great Controversy audio in mp3 format available for listening. Select part of book you wish to hear, and listen, save, copy - enjoy (^-^)
Entire book narrated with pics for each chapter: on Youtube
Would you like to read or download the entire book? You can read it or download it for free on the earlysda website.
The movie is based on this book, which is available free to view or download by clicking either of the above links.
Great Controversy Movie blog Comments and feedback on the movie are highly welcome :)
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Go to Earlysda home page


What is the Marguerite Hicks Project?
3. The history of the ownership of a work of art or an antique, used as a guide to authenticity or quality; a documented record of this.
Oxford English Dictionary
Provenance, or the history of ownership, determines the value of antiquities and rare books, authenticating precious objects, and dictating which are worthy of study. Provenance recalls origin stories and traces the chain of custody made legible through pedigree. When looking in the archive for women as collectors and owners, this means searching the surnames of their fathers and husbands.
This project foregrounds the intersectional subjectivity of Marguerite Hicks, a woman doubly obscured by her gender—as widowed, queer woman—and by the disability of her failing eyesight. Hicks built her collection through the assistance of her female companion, in whose care Hicks placed her correspondence. Hicks herself, therefore, is often silent, obscured. Acknowledging these women’s relationship is central to uncovering evidence of Hicks’ life and collection in the archive, from Metro Detroit to the United Kingdom.
The Marguerite Hicks Collection, started in the 1930s, is one of the first intentional American collections of writings by and about 17th-19th century British women writers, and is held at Oakland University’s Kresge Library in Rochester, Michigan. The Marguerite Hicks Project seeks to reconstruct the provenance of the Collection to understand and legitimize the intellectual endeavors of Marguerite Hicks’ collecting methods, rather than establishing authenticity of the historical objects she amassed. For Hicks, this means intentionally decoupling provenance from pedigree. Acknowledgement of Hicks’ curation reconceptualizes her as scholar and intellectual, recognizing the importance of her prescient interest in women writers.
What does the Collection Consist of?
The Marguerite Hicks Collection is likely the first intentional collection of works by and about women from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries to be gathered by an American collector. In 1971 Oakland University’s Kresge Library purchased the 900+-item collection of seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth-century books, printed materials, and manuscripts by and about British Women Writers from Marguerite Bieber Hicks. It contains unique materials featuring ballad broadsides, novels, cookbooks, political tracts, educational texts, sermons, plays, poetry, and more. It houses items by the printer/playwright/novelist Eliza Haywood, the proto-feminist Mary Wollstonecraft, intellectual and dramatist Elizabeth Inchbald, and more. It also includes a large collection of items relating to Queen Anne, and the rumors about her relationship with the Duchess of Marlborough and Abigail Masham. Dozens of the items in this collection exist in fewer than ten known copies worldwide, and a handful are uniquely existing copies.
What do We Know About Marguerite Hicks?
Marguerite Bieber Hicks was born in 1891 in Dearborn, Michigan. Hicks attended the University of Michigan for a year before returning home upon the death of her mother. In 1915, she married Roy Carl Hicks, an accountant and later executive treasurer and assistant secretary of the Dodge Corporation. After raising their two children, Hicks returned to school at Wayne State University in Detroit, earning her Bachelor's degree in English in 1935 at age 44, and her Masters degree in early modern women writers three years later. Hicks’ failing eyesight prevented her from continuing coursework toward a PhD. Hicks’ husband died in 1942, but as early as 1938, Thelma James, Wayne State professor and Marguerite's later partner, was corresponding on Hicks’ behalf. It was around this time that Hicks began purchasing books from British and American booksellers for her collection. Over the next 15 years, Hicks, through James, corresponded with rare book dealers to purchase items by and about seventeenth- and eighteenth-century women writers.
Thelma James, "great good friend" of Marguerite Hicks
Professor Thelma Grey James (1898-1988) received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Michigan in the early 1920s, and served as a folklorist in the English Department at Wayne State University for over 40 years until 1963. There she co-established the WSU Folklore Archive (now at the Reuther Library) in 1939, the largest and oldest collection of urban folklore in the United States. During her tenure, James served as president of the Michigan Folklore Society and the American Folklore Society, and as public intellectual around the city of Detroit. James never married, and she and the widowed Hicks shared a home and life for 40 years before Hicks’ death in 1978. Hicks and James were active members of the Book Club of Detroit and various women’s civic clubs around the city, and traveled internationally together. They are called by the society pages in the Detroit News “great good friends” and “inseparable off-the-campus companions.” Hicks’ obituary in the Detroit Free Press characterizes her, amid the enumeration of surviving family members, as “friend of Thelma G. James.” Hicks, one of the first scholars of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British women writers, and James, who recorded folk stories of Detroit’s urban ethnic enclaves, were singular people to be building this collection of lost and silenced voices in history.


Connecting with the Consciousness of Angels - Meditations for Co-Creators
By Dr. Antonio L. Estrada & Dr. Joan McGillicuddy
These two meditations are an awakening to the consciousness of our guardian angels, and Arch angels, assigned to help us with every waking moment of life. Angels are part of everyday life and assist us with solutions, acceptance, protection, love, communication with our divine source of unconditional love and acceptance.
The music and narration is exquisite and guides the listener to a sacred connection to the consciousness of angels expanding the meaning, purpose, and peace of life.


Understanding what are modules & pip (package manager)
Modules: Modules are file containing some code written and verified by the developers which we can import in our programs and use it according to our requirements. Importing modules in our program can save a lot of our work of rewriting the same code which someone else has already written and tested.
Modules are of 2 types: Built-in modules — These modules come preinstalled when we install python in our system. For example os,abc,datetime,dbm
External modules — We have to install these modules by ourselves by using some commands. For example Flask, Tensorflow
pip: It is the package manager for python. It means by using this command we can download the external modules, libraries, and dependencies that are not provided by the python standard library. For example pip install Flask


Library - Recent Activity (RSS Feed)
|Amelia Lafleur: What are Dana students reading?||Posted: Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 12:02 PM|
|READ IT, RATE IT!|
The library is looking for book reviews
by students like you!
Read a book, rate it on the scorecard,
give it a review, and return the scorecard to the librarian.
Send a review by email.
Your book review may be added to this blog!
|This Month in the Library...||Posted: Thursday, January 12, 2012|
WHAT’S HAPPENING FOR THE MONTH OF
February is National Blah Buster Month
Responsible Pet Owner (Continued...)


I was hanging out with a friend when she asked a tough question. I didn’t know how to answer. The thought ran through my head, “What if I’m judged based on my answer?”
I wrestled in my mind with what to say for what felt like forever. Maybe I’m thinking through this too much? I knew I had to respond. Finally, I answered: “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala”.
Who knew it could be so hard to come up with an answer to the question “What is your favorite book, besides the Bible?”
As an avid reader, I love celebrating today as National Read A Book Day. Even though reading is one of my favorite hobbies today, that wasn’t always the case.
Growing up, I was not particularly focused on my schooling. In English, I hardly ever finished the books I had to write reviews on (sorry mom!), and I found myself only doing what I had to so I could get by. I thought I just didn’t like reading and learning.
That began to change when a fellow student recommended I read Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire. I don’t remember having read a book on spiritual disciplines before then, and I loved the way it challenged me. While Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire is not necessarily my favorite book today, it does hold a nostalgic place in my mind. Reading that book was the beginning of my journey toward developing a love for reading.
Fast forward to college and I followed a similar pattern from High School when it came to my schooling. I was “getting by,” but my parents were less than impressed with my GPA. This continued until I entered the latter half of my degree when the courses went from being general education credits to courses related to my degree that focused on history, philosophy and religion. I was challenged, and I was intrigued.
As with reading Cymbala’s book, being challenged in an area I was passionate about unlocked something in me that grew my love of learning. As I found where my passion was, my desire to read increased. I now saw how reading provided an opportunity for me to grow spiritually. While reading grew my head knowledge about God, it also was then able to sink into heart transformation as well. Reading is a way we can use our minds to pursue God.
Do you like reading? If your answer is “no,” maybe you just haven’t found the right book yet! Something magical happens when we read. We can grow personally, learn other perspectives, enter new worlds, deepen our understanding of topics, find encouragement, and even feel inspired. What book can you pick up and try diving into? If you are competitive like me, you might even find it fun to see just how many books and pages you can read in a year. (I use www.goodreads.com to track my reading, and I LOVE seeing the report at the end of the year.)
Today, as a doctoral student, I love the rhythm of getting a new reading list every semester, but I also still get giddy wrapping up a semester so I can start diving into my own summer reading list! If you aren’t into reading yet, consider exploring new genres. If you are a book lover like me, I would love to hear your favorite reads! Please do share a favorite in the comments.
Meet the author!
Lauren McAfee is a PhD student in ethics and public policy from Southern Seminary. Lauren is author of Not What You Think, Only One Life, and Legacy Study. She also works at the Hobby Lobby corporate office as a project coordinator. She grew up in Oklahoma City and loves her church community at CRBC. Lauren and her high school sweetheart, Michael McAfee, have been married for over eight years. Connect with Lauren at www.laurenamcafee.com or on Instagram @laurenamcafee.


Every product here is independently selected by Mashable journalists. If you buy something featured, we may earn an affiliate commission which helps support our work.
Can one person revitalize a country while sharing its history with the world? Mokhtar Alkhanshali is trying to do just that.
In his new book, The Monk of Mokha, Dave Eggers (author of The Circle and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius) tells the true story of Alkhanshali’s journey to inspire coffee cultivation in Yemen.
It’s a thrilling work that documents an ambitious young man connecting with his ancestral country, along with his mastery of coffee production and the experience of being in Yemen during the outbreak of the Yemeni Civil War. Read more…
More about Mashreads, Mashreads Podcast, Dave Eggers, Monk Of Mokha, and Mokhtar Alkhanshali


Reference sheet on the neurostimulator "Naisi-3M
Instructions for the use of the neiti-3M medical product
Treatment of patients with shoulder plexus paralysis by stimulating spinal cord pillars with implanted electrodes
Information about medical and technical innovation, which is recommended for implementation
Extract from the minutes of the meeting of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Neurosurgery. Ui. A.P.Romadanov on the results of clinical use of implantable neurostimulists
Institute of Neurosurgery. Ui. A. P. Romodanova AMN Ukraine. Department of Restorative Neurosurgery. Installation of neusi-3M neurostimulator electrodes on the damaged spinal cord. Photos.
The use of the neurostimulator NEISI-3M in the treatment of the ischemic contracture Volkmann. Report
Personal website: Sapon Nikolai Anatolyevich – M.D., Senior Research Fellow, Neurosurgeon of the highest category of the Clinic of Restorative Neurosurgery of the Institute of Neurosurgery. Ui. A.P. Romodanov AMN of Ukraine, head of the scientific and organizational department of the Institute of Neurosurgery.


FutureForce® Careers Resource is an annual volume designed to give youth, their parents and teachers real, impartial and practical information on careers in the region. FutureForce® was developed in Waikato, New Zealand, where 13,000 copies are distributed free to senior secondary school students via their careers teachers, who use it as a classroom resource. FutureForce® profiles young staff working in key industries, career planning tools and tips, leads and information on great workplaces, work readiness information and much more.
FutureForce® Video gives employers the opportunity to profile careers and young staff on FutureForce®-branded YouTube channel and on-line video library, housed on a new, purpose-built FutureForce® website.
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Aromatherapy Blending Handbook
The Aromatherapy Handbook – A Quick Reference to Essential Oils. It is 28 pages which include proper handling of essential oils, note theory, characteristics of carrier oils, conversions, dilutions, blending tips and supplies, plus 21 recipes to get you started in the wonderful world of aromatherapy.
Dancing Souls: The Call
Begin Your Journey to Enlightenment and Transformation
Walk a Path Similar to that of the Spiritual Masters …
Jesus, Buddha, Mohammad… Feel what they must have felt …and confront the same demons that haunted them. After all, even after they became awake and aware of their mission in life – they were still mere mortals.
You’ll experience such a journey as you read Kathleen M. Flanagan’s authentic and gripping novel …
Dancing Souls: Merging Heaven and Earth – The Call.
The Ultimate Test …a Mission from the Creator
Walk side by side with, Destiny, as she awakens to her true spirit and accepts a quest from the Creator …a quest that puts her at risk of losing herself forever. During Destiny’s gut-wrenching spiritual journey, you’ll walk step by step with her as you both …
- Face down your hidden, and not-so-hidden, demons and fears
- Learn to detach from Earthly drama – and fully participate in your life
- Tap into an inner peace that comes when you learn to be still and receive
- Become aware that you are never alone – no matter how alone you may feel
Dancing Souls artfully brings awareness to the truth that there is perfection in every situation in which you find yourself.
Because within every situation, no matter how dark it may seem, there is a message, a lesson and an invitation to grow.
Dancing Souls Awards
Dancing Souls is an Award-Winner in the New Age category of the 2017 Soul-Bridge Body-Mind-Spirit Book Awards of Europe
Dancing Souls is a Finalist Winner in
- The International Excellence Body Mind Spirit Book Award in the New Age category
- The National Indie Book Excellence Award in the Body Mind Spirit category
- The 2017 Best Book Awards in the New Age: Non-Fiction category
Books that are recognized as Finalists are in every way outstanding. The difference between the Winner and Finalist books are often so minute that the call might have gone either way. The bottom line is that being recognized as a Finalist is a high honor.
Silver Medal Winner in the 2017 Global Ebook Awards in the Non-Fiction New Age and Spiritual/Metaphysical Categories
Bronze Medal Winner in the eLit Awards in the New Age/Mind-Body-Spirit category.
Will the Screamers Destroy Destiny’s Peace and Purpose?
Destiny had accepted the quest from the Creator allowing her DNA to be altered as Book One—Dancing Souls … Heaven and Earth —The Call ended. She had agreed to forfeit her life … and to be reborn as something she knew was horrible. A something that was now destroying the worlds she loved.
All Destiny knew was that her time on Earth would create a dramatic change that would alter her beyond anything she could imagine.
She didn’t know what the Creator was planning in his change design.
She knew it was coming.
She … knew … it … would … happen.
With her rebirth, Destiny suddenly lost all knowledge of who she was. All of it. She lost all knowledge of where she came from and who her friends were. All of it.
In Book Two—Dancing Souls … Dark Night of the Soul, Destiny begins a new adventure with no vision toward what the outcome would bring. Settling in, the absolute chaos of the previous year ebbs away. And finally, peace and acceptance enveloped her that is disrupted by the Screamers. Who are they? And why have they become the nightmares of Destiny’s existence?
Would she survive the Creator’s ultimate test?
Would the Creator’s Grand Plan work?
Would the Earth, Destiny came to love, be saved?
And … will the Creator bring her back, rebirth her again … to be found?


11th Annual Tapping World Summit
Discover How an Ancient Part of Your Brain is Holding You Back and Keeping You From Creating the Life You Want and How You Can Rewire Your Brain in Just Minutes with a Simple Tapping Technique…
Free eBook Download
Discover Exactly What Disempowering Beliefs Are Holding You Back From Having the Money and Success You Deserve!
Weight Loss Free eBook
Discover Exactly What Disempowering Beliefs Are Holding You Back From Having the Body and the Confidence You Deserve!
Weight Loss Webinar
The Biological Weight Loss Trap: Why Most People Struggle to Lose Weight and How You Can Use EFT Tapping Today to Finally Lose Weight Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible!
The Tapping Solution
An Easy-to-Read, Step-by-Step, both Beginner and Advanced Book that will help you eliminate the frustration, stress, and more using Tapping.
10th Annual Tapping World Summit
In this video, Nick speaks on how and why Tapping works and takes the viewer through a powerful Tapping process.
Interview with Dr. Rankin
In this video Nick speaks with Dr. Lissa Rankin on the toxic effects that stress has on our health and how to use Tapping to rebalance the body to create lasting health.


ANDREAS SKOURTIS - EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS
Examples and documentation of Scenography Workshops by Andreas Skourtis - Performing Architectures, in the UK and internationally.
CITE THIS COLLECTION
Select your citation style and then place your mouse over the citation text to select it.
Skourtis, Andreas (2018): ANDREAS SKOURTIS - EDUCATIONAL PROJECTS. The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. Collection. https://doi.org/10.25389/rcssd.c.4108493.v1


Rockschool Guitar Grade 4
by RSL Awards
Once you've purchased this Song Book, you can click on one of the pieces below to access the interactive sheet music player. Then use the controls to change the audio (either backing track or recorded performance), slow-down playback up to 50%, and loop sections you want to focus on.
*Due to the interactive nature of the MusicGurus Replay player, the visual layout of the sheet music may not precisely mirror the Rockschool book. However, the same musical information is still conveyed. Please treat your Rockschool book as the definitive official version of the pieces.
- Treasure, by Bruno Mars
- Shut Up And Dance, by Walk The Moon
- My Thang, by James Brown
- I Need You, by Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Our Generation, by John Legend and The Roots
- The Thrill Is Gone, by B.B. King
- Base Jumper (Rockschool Original)
- Crop Duster (Rockschool Original)
- Circus Experience (Rockschool Original)
- Dirt Wizard (Rockschool Original)
- Funkometer (Rockschool Original)
- Carbon Footprint (Rockschool Original)


I wrote an editorial review for Through a Forest of Stars. I loved it! Here’s my review:
Through a Forest of Stars kicks off in 2217, where Earth is in rough shape and the recently settled Mars isn’t doing any better. Unsure how to improve the situation on either planet, humanity explores the stars for resources. And after years of finding only rocks in neighboring star systems, the unexpected discovery of a planet-sized Garden of Eden triggers a race between Earth and Mars to claim the new world (dubbed Silvanus by its purported discoverers).
Representative ships from both planets reach Silvanus at around the same time, and a jaw-dropping series of events leaves planetary geologist Aiden Macallen the one-and-only human being on the surface. He and his AI companion Hutton discover a lush world inhabited only by plant life, including a strange, possibly sentient fungus that seems eager to provide Aiden with food and shelter. At length, he and Hutton make the startling discovery that the planet is in danger—that Silvanus is choked with life, like a sheep collapsing under its own weight, in desperate need of shearing. And Aidan, much to his surprise, may hold the key to the planet’s survival.
Author David C. Jeffrey shows tremendous writing chops in his debut, combining the hard science of writers like Robert L. Forward and Andy Weir with Arthur C. Clarke’s optimism, curiosity, and penchant for evolved intelligence. Suffused throughout is a style all his own, showing a downright spiritual love for nature and concern for Earth’s wellbeing. The dialogue is a joy to read, especially between Aiden and Hutton, who often discuss music, how memory works, and what it means to be self-aware. And there’s no “Chekov’s gun” here—their thoughtful conversations foreshadow and give context to their experiences on Sylvanus, making the whole novel feel carefully crafted and satisfyingly tight.
The book occasionally cuts away from Aiden’s point of view to focus on other threads, many of which I found, frankly, far less interesting. In particular, two early chapters from the point of view of Earth’s president slowed the pace to a crawl with mind-numbing historical details, conveyed with the dry prose of a legal brief’s statement of facts. Although these sections (which had little to do with the president herself) are clearly meant to enrich Jeffrey’s crafted world and comprise only a tiny portion of the book’s 441 pages, they and most of the other threads never felt salient.
Especially patient readers may have an easier time with these sporadic interruptions, while others will find themselves thumbing ahead to see when they can get back to Aiden’s story. Still—and I can’t stress this enough—Through a Forest of Stars is a fantastic book. In fact, my minor quibble aside, David C. Jeffrey’s debut is one of the most satisfying and imaginative science fiction novels of the year. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy today.


Students and Parents,
November is National Novel Writing Month, so in order to participate, beginning November 1, every student in White Oak Middle School will be writing his/her own novel in thirty days. Last week, students were given a letter to take home that explains the program, and on that letter, we asked for all students to bring a 1 inch 3-ring binder. We will be handing out a workbook, and students will need a binder in which to keep their materials. While this project will be fun and creative, it will also support and fulfill several standards for Reading and English:
(6) Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
(8) Comprehension of Literary Text/Sensory Language. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about how an author’s sensory language creates imagery in literary text and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
(14) Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text.
(15) Writing/Literary Texts. Students write literary texts to express their ideas and feelings about real or imagined people, events, and ideas.
(20) Writing/Conventions of Language/Handwriting. Students write legibly and use appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in their compositions.
(21) Oral and Written Conventions/Spelling. Students spell correctly. Students are expected to spell correctly, including using various resources to determine and check correct spellings.
Students will choose their own topics and set their own word count goals for their novels, and if they reach their goals by November 30 at 11:59 pm, they will be awarded some freebies from the NaNoWriMo Youth Writers Program. As a culminating product, students will publish their novels and facilitate an author’s chair event in December (more details later).
We are so excited to be involved in this program! Feel free to follow your child through the entire process!
A copy of the letter we sent home is linked below:
You can also visit the following link for more information:
NaNoWriMo Parent Map
How NaNoWriMo Works for Young Writers
How NaNoWriMo Works for Families
Keep calm and write on!


If you're in Wisconsin or upper Michigan and you would like to see the PS220 for yourself, give us a call, or request a consultation on our website.
Crane Engineering has a resource library full of free eBooks, checklists, and other valueable information!
We also have a library full of free videos. These include tutorials, product demos, customer success stories, and more!
Crane Engineering707 Ford StreetKimberly, Wisconsin
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Defining Sexual Misconduct traces contemporary shifts in power in relation to the increased recognition and censure of sexual misconduct and the ways in which the shifting social landscape is communicated in the coverage of sexual misconduct in media. The book also examines the contemporary dynamics of public accusations and their relationship to more formal criminal justice processes, as well as the implications for the stigmatization of alleged abusers and public response to alleged victims.
Security and Risk Technologies in Criminal Justice takes students through the evolution of risk technology devices, processes, and prevention. This seminal text unpacks technology’s influence on our understanding of governance and social order in areas of criminal justice, policing, and security.
Stigma Revisited: Implications of the Mark is a collection of qualitative, empirical studies of populations who experience stigma. Discrimination, marginality and social injustice are recognized as indelibly tied to the phenomena of stigma. This volume builds on the work of Erving Goffman and integrates a larger, structural understanding of stigma based in Michel Foucault’s governmentality writings.


I talked with Mike Treff from Soundscreen design about the amazing book he co-curated with Brian Roettinger, and Diego Hadis about US 7" record design. It goes further than just a coffee table book of reproductions of 7" sleeves, they approached the book with the idea that the modes of production should be just as important as the graphic "art" itself.
Of course I completely agree...the thing that truly makes the 7" great a lot of times has to do with the handmade nature of the object as much as the artwork on the sleeve....or the music inside for that matter. I think they are tackling a whole new angle in history of the 7", a history that's just getting started.
But they didn't just stop with the information about singles, the press runs, the designers, they made the book itself a similar handmade artifact. All of the 7"'s were sent in by collectors around the US, photographed and reproduced in full color, which let's face it you'd be crazy not to do, but there's different paper stocks and page sizes. It's like McSweeneys and 7inches came together...they created a piece of art as amazing as the singles inside they celebrate, except that they will press this for whoever wants it...which is not the case with anything pictured in this book.
If you have ever thought about starting a label and pressing a 7", or just bought your first 7" from your favorite band on tour, this book is an essential resource.
If you think you know everything about 7"'s, and your collection is complete...this book will prove you wrong...and educate you about something you can actually use in the real world.
7"'s are freaking awesome.
Download the interview here.
Now available for pre-order is Soundscreen’s latest book, Touchable Sound: A Collection of 7-inch Records from the USA.
In an era that advocates streamlined product, and music at the click of a mouse, Touchable Sound celebrates those independent-minded bands and labels that make their own records and relish the opportunity to produce labor-intensive one-off artifacts. As Henry H. Owings puts it in his introduction, the book honors “those who invest countless hours of themselves to further their art. It’s about having an attention to detail and a disinterest in the bottom line.”
Organized by region, Touchable Sound focuses on unique, exquisite examples of American 7-inch-record packaging. Spanning nearly 25 years, it lovingly documents the obscure and the hard-to-find with help from musicians, artists, and label owners. Many of these records-by bands as diverse as the Locust, Olivia Tremor Control, Angel Hair, Stereolab, Los Crudos, the Melvins, and more—have never before been seen by a wide audience, and were originally pressed in extremely limited editions.
Curated by Brian Roettinger, Mike Treff, and Diego Hadis, the book features over 300 records and 600 bands that have set the bar for record packaging and design. The official release is set for October 5th, but make sure you reserve your copy by pre-ordering.


Academic Publications and Journals
Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Gadjah Mada has three (3) journal publications, i.e:
- JIEB (Journal of Indonesian Economy and Business)
The Journal of Indonesian Economy and Business published by Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Gadjah Mada is a media of information and paper exchange between the staff, alumnus, students, readers who are interested, and for people in general. This journal is published four times in a year.
- GAMAIJB (Gadjah Mada Internasional Journal of Business)
The Gadjah Mada International Journal of Business published by Magister Management of Faculty of Economics and Business UGM. This journal is published three times in a year.
- ABIS (Accounting and Business Information System)
Accounting and Business Information Systems (ABIS) is a journal that is maintained and published by the Master of Accounting (MAKSI) FEB UGM. The journal, published per three months this includes articles on the writings of the alumni MAKSI in the field of business information systems and accounting.
Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Gadjah Mada also has a special unit as publishing, namely:
- BPFEB (Badan Penerbit Fakultas Ekonomika dan Bisnis)
Badan Penerbitan Fakultas Ekonomi (BPFE) is a publishing company under the Faculty of Economics and Business Gadjah Mada University. BPFE publishes various kinds of book, especially ones that are related to economics (Management, Accounting, and Economics).
Last Updated on Thursday, 09 June 2016 15:12


No book has influenced me more, or meant more to me, than To Kill a Mockingbird. The person of Atticus Finch significantly shaped my character, my parenting, and my sense of what it means to be a progressive, Southern man. He is my favorite fictional hero, above even Moses, Noah, and Job (all of whom I like a lot, for various reasons). I don’t say that lightly. I cherish the stories of our faith, and my call to proclaim them, but To Kill a Mockingbird is also scripture for me.
The “for me” is significant. I have read more sophisticated books, more eloquent books, and even more profound books. To Kill a Mockingbird, however, is the only book I have ever encountered that completely captures the South and the Southerners I know and love. Will Campbell’s Brother to a Dragonfly, Anne Rivers Siddons’ Downtown, and anything by Lewis Grizzard or Celestine Sibley all have special places in my heart for the different ways in which they tell parts of the story of what it means to be a Southerner. To Kill A Mockingbird, though, is the ethnography of my tribe.
If you want to know me, you have to know my family, and if you want to know them, read To Kill a Mockingbird. My Great-Grandma Lizzie Dale Sanders Travis never left the house between Memorial and Labor Day without white gloves on. She also never had fewer than twenty people around her supper table on any given night during the Depression, because she made sure that no one she met went hungry just because times were lean. If you want to know Miss Lizzie, get to know Miss Maudie Atkinson. My Grandpa, Aubrey T. Villines, Sr. earned a law degree while fighting in three wars over 26 years, and always scored expert with his rifle qualification. Having risen from Private to Lieutenant Colonel, Grandpa Al retired from the service and then traveled both the urban and the rural South working for five different Presidents. He wanted to make sure that those without means had access to Medicaid, because he remembered what it was like to grow up dirt poor in rural Tennessee. If you want to know Colonel Villines, get to know Atticus Finch. My Grandma, Sue Travis Villines could ride a horse, milk a cow, and shoot a marble (or a basketball) as well or better than any boy on the farm. She went on to be a corporate vice president in the sixties, and she stood up for her LGBT friends when the Southern Baptist Convention turned on them like a brood of vipers. Everyone was welcome at her table, and she created a home for everyone who needed one, even those whose own people had cast them out. If you want to know Grandma Sue, then get to know Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of my family.
It is also the story of my greatest fictional hero – Atticus Finch. When I was a teenager, my greatest hero – my Dad – once said to me, “Son, there are very few people in this world who – no matter what they say – you know they are always speaking the truth. Try to become that kind of man.” When I opened the covers of To Kill a Mockingbird, I met a man just like that. In a scene perfectly captured in the movie, the courtroom gallery stands as Atticus passes, and Reverend Sykes solemnly intones “Miss Jean Louise, stand up. Your father’s passin’.” It was in that moment that I finally had an iconic image of the character and integrity that I hoped would define my life. Earlier in the book, Atticus explains to his brother Jack, “When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness’ sake. But don’t make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasion simply muddles ’em.” It was there that I finally found a literary model for how I had been raised, and how I planned to raise my own child. Years later, when I stood before the judgment of a rural Southern congregation and proclaimed the good news that the gospel included LGBT people, I pictured my grandfather and Atticus standing in the great cloud of witnesses whose wreath I sought to earn. When I found myself at 3 a.m. holding a sick child, answering his questions and telling him of our love, I knew that it was also my father’s arms, my grandmother’s arms, and even the arms of Atticus Finch that held him – because I had learned how to love my son from studying their love.
There is something fetid and rotten in our culture that cannot abide virtuous icons like Atticus or my grandmother. We turn our heroes into anti-heroes. We deny their nobility and valor, claiming that we are making them more “complex” or more “real.” What we actually mean is that we have given up on the possibility of true virtue and integrity, excusing them from high standards so that we may exculpate our own lack of extraordinary moral character. Dethroning our heroes is a way to absolve ourselves of responsibility for our willingness to settle for the petty, shallow venality of choosing comfort and expedience over anachronistic concepts like idealism and honor. If heroes cannot be real, then “reality” is a place for mediocrity.
I do not want to succumb to that pessimism. Nor will I surrender my own need for real heroes because an increasingly crass and vulgar culture does not want to see their own reflection in the mirror that saints and stalwarts hold to our failed choices. To let go of those exemplars would be to tell a lie, because even if Atticus Finch never walked the Earth, I knew his touch in the hands of those who raised me. Atticus Finch is not just an archetype to me, he’s the literary incarnation of the strong, courageous, wise, honest, loving Southern men and women who have made me who I am, and who continue to challenge me to be more. I understand why amoral publishers, eager to make a quick buck off a fickle public’s need for salacious gossip, would want Atticus Finch to be less, but I want no part in it. I don’t need to know the adolescent, first-draft sketch of man who reinforces my worst fears about my own hypocrisy. I want to know the man who reminds us of what humanity can be when we are at our best. That is the “reality” whose “complexity” is worth exploring.