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'Evie' now lives in fear in Jakarta slum - Obama's nanny

For Some Chinese Uighurs, Modeling Is A Path To Success

Previously:

China Bans Islam-Related Names in Xinjiang
Massive DNA Collection Campaign in Xinjiang, China

Chuwi Announces The LapBook Air: For Preorder Now

Don't sue!

Trump Says He Groped Melania in Public, Ivanka Looks Down on Him, in Newly Released Recordings

Donald Trump - The Howard Stern Interviews 1993-2015

Summer is winding down. The trees are turning yellow and are starting to release their leaves. The mornings have a distinct crispness that that foreshadow the coming winter. It's a great time of year -- possibly my favourite time of year.

The smell of fallen leaves always brings back memories. Memories of raking leaves and jumping in the pile. Memories of fall hikes in the mountains. From my desk at work, I have an amazing view of the Rocky Mountains. For most of the summer they have been hidden by smoke from forest fires, but today they are out in all their glory. It's a crystal clear day, and the peaks are glistening with the brilliant white of freshly fallen snow.

Soon the snow will be able to extend its reach to the lower elevations, where it will remain for the next 5 months or so. Cold winter nights mean warm, hearty meals. Stews and soups that warm the inside help keep the cold at bay. Blankets that have been packed away for the summer will be brought out and piled on the bed to make a heavy cocoon.

Winter is about being cozy. Without cold it's impossible to appreciate being warm, and that's what I think about when I think about winter. Not the cold, but the warmth.

-- Snow

Checked out my garden tonight: my potatoes are ready, will be harvesting on a need to eat basis until they are gone or frost is imminent.

My asparagus is coming nicely: have planted in 3 bunches, one planting per year. My first bunch should be ready next year (it takes at least 3 years for plants to get going enough (seed plantings a year or more longer)).

So in 3 years time I should have asparagus coming out my Ying Yang! Can't wait. Focused on the asparagus and potatoes due to lack of time: no cherry tomatoes this year. :(

Playing Europa universalist 4 as France currently, then watched Rocket Men with my son and wife: my son enjoyed it. Brought back memories of watching moon walks as a kid.

Keeping busy.

Maybe I'll try to submit some stories next week.
Gotta keep busy.

Browsed through my email this morning. I can't really remember when or why, but apparently, I've registered with something called academia.edu. Gave them a fake email, fake name, fake species - the works. Academia - you expect them to have some academics, right? Check this out:

Academia.edu

Dear Some Guy,

1,615 people recently read one of the papers that mentions the name "Some Guy".

A total of 819 papers on Academia mention your name.

________________________

Seriously - that is the exact text of the email. Some Guy, the "name" that I use on sites when I'm checking them out. And, apparently 819 academic papers have mentioned my personna, and 1,615 people have read at least one of those papers.

Clicking the link, I arrive at a page that states:

Mentions
818
818 papers mention the name "Some Guy" or "S. Guy"
1,615 people recently read one of them
The Mentions feature helps you find your name mentioned in papers, books, drafts, theses, and syllabi that Google Scholar can't find.

_____________________________

And, these fuckwits take themselves seriously? They hope to pass themselves off as some sub-species of academics?

Should I laugh, or should I cry?

I might be nice if I could remember why in hell I even visited their site to start with. Maybe I was researching something like 'The resurgence of troglodytes in academia'??

I think I may have figured out at last what is making the Human Race so unhappy, and it's not just to do with chasing after little green pieces of paper. It occurred to me recently, but I'm getting rather forgetful these days. Let me see if I can remember.

Prodigal K-pop composer enlists in South Korea’s Marine Corps

Move was kept quiet, with only Lee Chan-hyuk’s parents, agency and a few of his close friends in the know

K-pop duo band Akdong Musician’s composer and singer Lee Chan-hyuk, often regarded as a musical prodigy has enlisted in the country’s Marine Corps.

The star, 21, who plays with his younger sister Su-hyun, voluntarily entered a training centre in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. He kept his enlistment quiet from the public as his Christian pastor parents, a few close friends and staff from his agency YG Entertainment saw him enter the military world for two years.

Lee enlisted early compared to other K-pop celebrities, who usually postpone mandatory military service until their late 20s or 30s. He said he enlisted to train with others around his age “to build diverse experiences and improve my musical skills,” according to media reports.

KB Home Cuts CEO's Bonus 25% After Rant Against Kathy Griffin

KB Home’s board will cut Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Mezger’s annual bonus by 25 percent as punishment for his profanity-laced tirade against comedian Kathy Griffin and warned he’ll be dismissed if he does anything like that again.

Mezger’s bonus for the fiscal year ending Nov. 30 will be reduced by $375,000, based on performance targets, because of “recent behavior in his personal dealings with a neighbor,” the board said in a regulatory filing Thursday, calling his conduct “unacceptable.”

KB Home cuts CEO’s bonus as punishment for his profanity-laced rant at neighbor Kathy Griffin

In audio released by the Huffington Post, Mezger called comedian Kathy Griffin a "f---ing c---," "a b----," an "a--hole" and a "f---ing bald dyke." Security cameras caught Mezger's tirade, the culmination of a series of disputes between the neighbors in a gated community in Los Angeles' upscale Bel Air neighborhood.

[...] Through a spokesman, Mezger suggested Wednesday that Griffin's history of unjustly nitpicking about noise was partly to blame for his apoplectic rant.

"Though Mr. Mezger does not believe there is any excuse for the language he used, the incident that led to his losing his temper was the result of the culmination of a series of unneighborly actions taken by Ms. Griffin and her boyfriend," said Mezger's spokesman.

Those "actions" consist of up to 10 noise complaints that Griffin and her boyfriend, Randy Bick, have made against Mezger, leading to multiple visits by police, the spokesman said. In one of those cases in which the police showed up, the spokesman said, Mezger's niece, who "has stage 4 cancer" was renewing her marital vows with her husband at the Mezger home.