Red Deers Adam Sandstrom lands U Sports opportunity with University of Ottawa – Red Deer Advocate

Adam Sandstrom was all set to continue his hockey career close to home in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference.

The 21-year-old Red Deer product, after finishing his final year in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, was ready to suit up with the NAIT Ooks, just up the road in Edmonton.

Until two weeks ago that was the plan when the defenceman got an unexpected call from the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, who play in the Ontario University Athletics U Sports conference.

They lost a player to the pro leagues and they needed a D-man. It piqued my interest, obviously, they have a good coaching staff. They have a good program academically and hockey wise, he said.

The chance to live in Ottawa really appealed to me. Pretty easy decision in the end.

The former Whitecourt Wolverines captain felt bad about reneging on his commitment to NAIT, but the opportunity to play at a higher level in Ottawa was too good to pass up.

Im excited, Im nervous. At NAIT I knew quite a few people and it was close to home. Out there, its a fresh start. It will be a learning experience but it will be a good one, he said.

The six-foot-three, 216-pound blueliner played four seasons in the AJHL and notched 85 points in 165 games. Last season, he put up 10 goals and 29 assists in 56 games with the Wolverines and was nominated for AJHLs most outstanding defenceman award.

He was eventually recognized for his contributions off the ice as well, earning the leagues RBC Community Ambassador honour, for his volunteer work in Whitecourt. He said its just something the organization stressed since he arrived there two years ago and he was happy to help.

In junior hockey at the end of the day, its all about the community and fan support. Because without them, you dont have the opportunity to play, he said.

I loved giving back and helping out in the community. It meant a lot to me. Its something that the owners and the coaching staff really wanted us to do. Our whole team was phenomenal with volunteering.

Of course, like most hockey teams across the country, the Wolverines season was cut short because of the COVID-19 pandemic. His club had just taken out the Fort McMurray Oil Barons in the first round of the AJHL playoffs and was set for a second-round series against the Spruce Grove Saints.

Within a couple of hours it was they were going to delay the series then suddenly, an hour later the season was cancelled. It was a shock, it went by really quick, he said.

Sandstrom knows his experience from the AJHL will be valuable next year in Ottawa, but he also understands that hell be lining up against guys that are bigger, strong faster and by in large, 3-4 years older than him.

He also reached out to fellow Red Deer Minor Hockey product Ryan Vandervlis, who suited up for the Concordia University Stingers last year, who play in the same conference was the Gee-Gees.

Even with those challenges ahead, Sandstrom cant wait to prove himself.

Its quicker. A bunch of older guys so itll be a lot of stronger players. I talked to Ryan Vandervlis who plays in the same league and he gave me a heads up about what to expect, he said.

I think Ill be ready for it.

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Red Deers Adam Sandstrom lands U Sports opportunity with University of Ottawa - Red Deer Advocate

Outdoor Trails: Mid-Summer projects berries, bears and waterfowl – The Sudbury Star

Recent rains have really been great for plumping up late-ripening blueberries, and while there are still a few wild raspberries, their season is mostly over now. The wild black raspberries or black-caps are burgeoning forth with robust building berries, and should also prove to be a great harvest in a few weeks.

We have now passed the peak of the insect season, but for sure, insect protection is still needed in bush settings and especially near water, both early and late in the day.

Right now is a good time to scout out the chokecherry crop that is now forming nicely thanks to the rain. Both berry pickers and bear hunters should know where the main patches are. They make good jam.

As the blueberries taper off mid-August, around the same time the fall bear season opens, they will be ripening nicely, and the bears go from feeding on blueberries to gorging themselves on the wild cherries, so do some trail cruising to find such patches, whether a berry picker or a bear hunter. Usually, youll find these small, shrub-like trees near relatively clear areas, not mature bush. If you are a bear hunter, especially an archery buff, this can prove a decent harvesting option. You may need to clear some shooting lanes and do consider several shooting lanes to allow for different wind directions bears have very keen olfactory abilities and you need this to give you advantage.

A major part of your bear planning must be getting your harvested animal cooling off and to a cold storage facility as soon as you can. Early season bears will be taken when the temperature is still warm and both blow flies and gut rot occur quickly.

Waterfowl permits become available at the first of August, and waterfowlers should be training and sharpening up your retriever if you use one. It is also a good idea to enhance your intended marsh right now, well in advance of opening day.

Puddle ducks, also called marsh ducks by seasoned duck shooters, like to land in fairly open stretches of water. This way, they can be sure the area they are landing in has no predators hiding, such as big pike or predacious snapping turtles. I use a scythe for such work, and like to clear an opening near an overhanging oak tree if there is one.

These trees drop acorns in the water later on and the ducks simply love them. If you prefer to shoot the divers such as scaup (bluebills), redheads, ring-necks and canvass-backs, often a larger body of water is what you need to find. I have had good shooting by building a small blind on a few rocks in the middle of large beaver ponds and small lakes for these birds

Of course, diver shooting comes much later than the marsh ducks, so in either case, do build your duck blind within good range of your enhancement in the duck marsh. In addition to the natural acorn forage already mentioned, mallards, teal and wood ducks also eat a lot of bulrushes, which abound around a healthy marsh setting, and if the periphery of the pond has cranberries, for sure youll attract ducks. If you are an ardent waterfowler do send me an email and let me know if there are enough interested, Ill do a feature on waterfowling and send it to you (for free) as a PDF file. If there isnt interest, I wont waste my time. I did the same for predator calling last early winter and had interest from right across Ontario apparently, there are more than Sudburians who read this column.

A couple more right-now projects are to get out your power ice auger and give it a run and rev it out for a short while to keep the gas in the carb fresh. By the way, its a good idea to use high-test gas in small gas engines such as ice augers, chainsaws and quads. Ditto for your snow machines, and charge up the ice fish finder battery. I will also take out all my firearms and give them a good slick-down of rust preventative. If you are a shotgunner, watch the store flyers for clay pigeons to be coming on special, as I expect they will soon.

What are you seeing on your outdoor expeditions? Do you need more info or discussion than found here? I love to chat with like-minded folk, so do email me.

John Vances column, Outdoor Trails, runs regularly in The Sudbury Star. Contact him at outdoors@execulink.com.

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Outdoor Trails: Mid-Summer projects berries, bears and waterfowl - The Sudbury Star

The night a giant stopped at Reds Night Club – The-review

In the grainy black and white photo it appears I am 8-years-old, standing in the aisle between the barstools and booths in Reds Night Club, my parents business in Malvern, wearing penny loafers, jeans cuffed at my ankles, and a white T-shirt. Im smiling nervously. Over my chest is a hand the size of a catchers mitt, my cheek cradled just above the thumb, the long fingers descending past the middle of my T-shirt.

A couple hours earlier, I had been upstairs in our apartment above the bar, settling in to watch the late movie. A knock came to the door. I opened it to Butchie Clark, one of the pin boys in Daddys bowling alley.

"Theres a giant in the bar! Come quick," stated Clark as he wheeled around and tore down the darkened stairway. I slipped on my loafers and went after him.

Friday nights were usually good business, but this was different. Daddy Red, as he was known, hustled behind the bar, pulling drafts, retrieving bottled beverages, making Coney Islands. Every barstool was taken. Customers crowded the aisle. Butchie stood on his tiptoes, poking his head into the cigarette smoke floating above the customers heads.

I couldnt see what the hubbub was about, so I swung behind the bar where Daddy worked. Now I could see seated customers, torso up. Down the line I looked until my eyes lighted on a long, weathered face.

Joe Keister, my dads best friend, got my attention. "Thats Paul Bunyan, Tommy."

I knew Paul Bunyan from the Disney cartoon. The man sitting at the bar was no axe man. But then I heard a long, frightening bellow that could have been made by Paul Bunyans blue ox, Babe. Men stepped back in the aisle. The man with the weathered face hunched over the bar, scrunching his eyes, both big hands balled into fists. He grimaced and bellowed again. Men moved farther back. A woman, a petite bleached blonde sitting beside him, vigorously rubbed the mans back.

He shuddered and unballed his fists. He breathed out in relief. Everyone in the bar seemed relieved too. Paul raised his massive head, opened his eyes. There was a far-away weariness in them.

He placed his hands on the edge of the bar and pushed back. He was so big he couldnt sit on a barstool. There was no room for his legs. So he bent one knee on the barstool and stretched the other leg into the aisle. And now he was rising, lifting that knee off the stool, backing away, standing, straightening his back, his head nearly brushing the ceiling. He swiveled and walked to the restroom, a little limp in his step. Customers in the crowded aisle parted before him. He hunched his shoulders and ducked his head, disappearing into the restroom.

Paul Bunyan was a professional wrestler. His real name was Max Palmer. He stood 8 feet 2 inches, wore size 21 shoes, weighted 421 pounds. He had wrestled that evening at Cantons Memorial Auditorium. He and his wife were driving from Canton to Pittsburgh, where he was to appear the next afternoon on a wrestling show. Daddys insistent neon sign flickering "Reds Night Club" had induced them to stop.

Paul came out of the restroom and at each step, men thrust out their hands. He took each, not in an actual shake, but a touch, left and right. As the night moved toward 1 a.m., the bar grew ever more crowded as word spread around town.

I dont think Paul bought one drink that night. Butchie later told me he drank a case of beer, surely an exaggeration. But he did drink plenty and when he was ready for another, he called to my dad in his bass drum voice, "Barkeep." Before Daddy could even uncap the bottle, someone dropped money on the bar.

Aside from the occasional bellow that customers were getting used to, Paul sometimes leaned forward, his long, black hair falling over his face to his chin. Then he tossed back his head, the hair moving like a wave. He held it in place with one hand and dragged a comb through it with the other.

Mr. and Mrs. Palmer stayed at Reds until closing time at 2:30 p.m. At one point someone from another business came in, sidling up to Paul to tell him that if he and his wife came with him, there would be free chicken dinners and all the drinks theyd like.

The wrestler recognized impropriety when he heard it. He thanked the emissary for the offer, but declined. He was settled, he said.

He looked Daddys way and raised one big hand. "Barkeep," he said.

That night at Reds in 1957 was surely memorable for anyone who stopped in. It has stuck with me over sixty years. Id never seen anyone that tall before, even though I realize now that I was surrounded by men and women of equal stature: Limp Savona, Jimmy McCort, Loreto Facchini, just to name a few. People of integrity, generosity, and good will.

Later, Id recognize those traits in classmates, too, like Danny Wackerly. Look around. Youll see giants in business, religion, politics, and education. Youll see them in the community. There are giants everywhere.

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The night a giant stopped at Reds Night Club - The-review

Hope Mars probe is headed for the red planet after picture-perfect launch – CNET

A history-making launch for the UAE.

The United Arab Emirates has taken a historic first step to interplanetary exploration, with the launch of the Arab world's first mission to Mars. The Hope, or Al Amal, spacecraft departed Earth from Tanegashima, Japan, with an assist from a Mitsubishi rocket booster on Sunday, shortly before 3 p.m PT.

As with all rocket launches, it started with a countdown. But like many aspects of the mission, the countdown was also history-making. The final 10 seconds prior to launch were broadcast in Arabic for the first time. The mission was not without its hiccups earlier in the week, when weather in Japanforced the launch to be delayed twice. And a bigger issue plagued the development of Hope: the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic hovered over the mission.

"The pandemic was not something we had in the program," Fahad Al Mehri, executive director of the space sector at the UAE space agency, said during a live broadcast. "It's not something we could engineer ourselves around."

But the pandemic became but a lingering thought and the skies cleared for launch on Sunday. At 2:58 p.m. PT/1:58 a.m. UAE time Monday, the Mitsubishi rocket booster made its picture-perfect departure from the Tanegashima Space Center.

"Just before the launch, there was pin drop silence," Faraz Javed, a reporter at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, saidduring a live broadcast. "Once the rocket took off there were cheers, there was joy -- I actually even saw people crying."

From the lab to your inbox. Get the latest science stories from CNET every week.

The rocket punched through the blue to the upper layers of the atmosphere, and the first stage boosters separated cleanly. At around 3:55 p.m. PT, the Hope probe separated from the Mitsubishi rocket booster to light applause from the launch center in Japan. The separation placed the car-sized probe into a transfer orbit that will now carry it around 500 million kilometers (310 million miles) to the red planet.

Provided the journey is a smooth one, the probe will arrive at Mars in about seven months and, shortly after, begin its first observations.

The spacecraft is destined to take up residence in Mars orbitto "study the dynamics in the Martian atmosphere on a global scale, and on both diurnal and seasonal timescales," according to the UAE Space Agency's Emirates Mars Mission website. The probe is also equipped to take high-resolution photos of the red planet.

While large agencies like NASA, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos tend to hog the limelight, the UAE Space Agency is helping show that there's room for smaller programs to make a mark on space exploration.

Hope is one of several missions aiming to launch within a window of opportunity when Earth and Mars are in optimal positions in relation to each other. NASA hopes to follow suit with its Perseverance rover at the end of July, while China is also set to send off its own orbiter and rover in the Tianwen-1 mission later this month.

If these missions move ahead as scheduled, then it will be a busy February for Mars watchers. Hope has the distinction of being the first of the three to start the epic journey.

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Hope Mars probe is headed for the red planet after picture-perfect launch - CNET

The Timeless Testimony of Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads – Redbrick

A series of dramatic style monologues written by playwright Alan Bennett have been revived via the BBC. Having originally aired in 1988, Bennetts monologues have been translated from paper to a personal viewing experience online.

The more you have to offer as a person, the better you are as an actress. Actings really just giving. I wonder, if I killed Ralph, all those death-dealing breakfasts. These unique yet equally compelling revelations exhibit a curious charm, achieved through their gradual transition from a casual chat, to you, the viewer, becoming their sole confidant in a much darker, more suppressed story.

The individual monologues are captivating; the gaze of the character, and thus their confidence, rests directly with the viewer, as if the viewer is intruding upon their internal monologue. This is especially prevalent within An Ordinary Woman featuring Sarah Lancashire. Audiences have noted this tale of unlawful lust as a particularly uncomfortable watch.

Bennetts 12 monologues, two of which have been recently written for this revival (The Shrine and An Ordinary Woman), have seen the emergence of a new cast. Amongst them are familiar faces, including Killing Eve breakout star Jodie Comer as a struggling actress in Her Big Chance, and Harriet Walter as a financially insecure woman in Soldiering On.

Speaking to the BBC, Bennett said It has been a profound and fascinating experience to work out a way of making them again, this time with a company of phenomenal actors who are the equal of those who first made them; with a group of leading theatre directors, colleagues and friends of long standing; and with a team behind the camera that represents the best of the British TV and film industries.

Given the COVID-19 pandemic, Bennetts monologues were shot following current social distancing guidelines. However, this certainly did not inhibit the intimacy of each story. Jodie Comer, star of Her Big Chance, has spoken of shooting in exceptional circumstances. She relayed how we had never met in person. Our first time in the same room was on the shoot day. In spite of this, Bennetts monologues continue to hold relevance.

A running theme throughout each story is loneliness, from Graham Whittakers (Martin Freeman) repressed identity within A Chip in the Sugar, to Majorys (Rochenda Sandall) isolated home life in The Outside Dog. With two in five UK adults feeling lonelier over lockdown, Bennetts monologues are timeless, exhibiting relevance from 1988 to the present day.

Watching Bennetts monologues is a fascinating opportunity, and this revival has given audiences unfamiliar with Bennetts work the opportunity to immerse themselves within the various monologues and the individual world of 12 characters. Moreover, the translation of the monologues to the screen enables those who are not fond of reading to experience Bennetts monologues in a different style.

Each story is around 30 minutes long, with the gradual revelation of detail keeping the viewer actively engaged. Bennetts ability to explore the dark, uncomfortable and unobserved corners of the individual mind is a unique feat like no other. All 12 episodes, or experiences more appropriately, are available to stream via iPlayer.

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The Timeless Testimony of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads - Redbrick

21% of Canadians worried about losing the roof over their heads if CERB ends: poll – Red Deer Advocate

One in five Canadians is worried about surviving without the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, a poll from Maru/Blue suggests.

The pollsters conducted an online poll of 1,420 randomly selected Canadian adults in mid-July to find out what worries respondents had about CERB and the federal deficit due to COVID-19.

The poll found that 21 per cent of people said that if they stopped receiving CERB, or any similar benefit, they literally could lose the roof over their head.

British Columbians were most likely to be worried about CERB being gone at 27 per cent, with Ontario at 22 per cent, Alberta and Atlantic Canada at 19 per cent, and Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Quebec at 18 per cent.

The poll found that 59 per cent of people were more worried about surviving through the pandemic than the size of the federal deficit, which is projected to reach $343 billion.

The $2,000-per-month emergency benefit is currently scheduled to end at the end of August, with the wage subsidy program set to run through the end of 2020, in hopes that Canadians will move from CERB to the wage subsidy.

As of the the end of June, CERB was budgeted at $80 billion and has so far paid out $53.5 billion in benefits.

Just under half of Canadians 48 per cent believe CERB should be stopped regardless of the impact. That belief was most likely to hold sway in Quebec at 57 per cent, followed by Alberta at 52 per cent, with B.C. at 51 per cent.

The poll found that 70 per cent of Canadians feel like CERB, and other federal spending, was the correct way to respond to the pandemic, regardless of the costs.

However, 74 per cent said they were deeply worried about the federal deficit and how it will affect their taxes, while 76 per cent said they were worried about future federal debt affecting young people.

Coronavirus

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David Byrne Once Tried to Kick Tina Weymouth Out of Talking Heads – Vulture

The band, so happy together. Photo: Echoes/Redferns/Getty Images

Within the pantheon of musicians memoirs, Chris Frantzs new book, Remain in Love, is a mostly warmhearted one offering a nice sheen on the debauched era of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The drummer for Talking Heads, Frantz details the bands humble beginnings at CBGB on through its ascent to Stop Making Sense virtuosity and, perhaps most important, his courtship and 43-year marriage to fellow member Tina Weymouth. When speaking about my family, my friends, and my band, I am not a person who moves on, he writes. I remain and I remain in love.

But we know youre here for the gossip. As expected, Frantz offers his perspective on Talking Heads historic trials and tribulations with frontman David Byrne, who he says dissolved the band and vowed never to reunite after years of exerting unscrupulous creative control. The more successful Talking Heads became, Frantz recalls, the more cold and dyspeptic David became. Read on for the memoirs most egregious Byrne anecdotes as well as other memorable tidbits from the bands time together.

Byrne frequently tried to pass himself off as the sole creator of numerous Talking Heads songs.The first of these instances involved Warning Sign, which appeared on 1978s More Songs About Buildings and Food. Frantz says he wrote the tune alone during his college years. I wrote the lyrics, all of them, while lying on my stomach, he writes in the memoir. David added the words in parentheses and took credit for writing the entire song. It appears that he had forgotten that I wrote these words, and when I confronted him, he said he would correct the credits on future pressings. Another credit issue cropped up around Fear of Musics hit Life During Wartime, which began as a jam session between Frantz and Weymouth, with Weymouth coming up with the vocal melody. Byrne went on to credit himself as the sole writer of the song. This happened to us all the time with David. He couldnt acknowledge where he stopped and other people began, Frantz explains. The story that there was one songwriter in Talking Heads is a myth. The great majority of our songs, particularly the early ones, were always a collaborative effort.

Prior to settling on Talking Heads, the band seriously considered naming themselves The Vogue Dots, the Billionaires, the Tunnel Tones, or the Videos.

Byrne once tried to kick Weymouth out of the band.This occurred during the lead-up to recording Talking Heads: 77, when Byrne felt her bass skills werent developing as quickly as he wouldve liked. Frantz recalls a conversation he had with a sound mixer friend after Talking Heads dispersed for good, in which the man whod helped record the bands early demos remembered how serious Byrne was about her removal at the time:

Many years later, he told me that this was the time David had said to him, So, Im thinking of kicking Tina out of the band. What do you think? He says when he heard this, My brain froze. When he asked why, David said, Shes holding me up and not progressing fast enough. Tina had been playing bass for just over one year.

Frantz says all the band members were still learning how to play their instruments well and how to mesh as a unit, including Byrne and his guitar. It is true that Tina had not played rock and roll before Talking Heads and did not have a repertoire of standard blues and rock bass licks in her musical vocabulary. Her approach was more classical, Frantz notes. To this day, Tina never ever plays the predictable thing. She invents every part anew this was one reason Talking Heads sounded so unique. Byrne tried to broach the subject with Weymouth on one occasion, but he immediately dropped the subject when Frantz entered the room.

Lou Reed advised Byrne never to go onstage in a short-sleeved shirt.The first time they met, Reed said Byrnes arms were too hairy for audiences to handle.

Byrne trashed a hotel room with literal shit. In 1978, Byrne had a bout of diva behavior at the end of one of the bands first European tours. As Frantz writes, Byrne became enraged during their stay at a ritzy London hotel after an operator disregarded his Do not disturb request and repeatedly allowed calls to come through to his room. He had yanked the phone out of the wall and then hit his head on an open cabinet door, Frantz recalls. In a fit of anger, he had smashed some furniture, too. Well, I thought, how predictably rock and roll. Years later, the bands agent told Frantz there was an even dirtier layer to Byrnes behavior that evening: He left a turd on his bed with the message FOR THE MAID. The bands management had to pay hefty fees for the damages. It disturbed us, Frantz explains, to think that one of our own might even be tempted to perform such a lowbrow, copycat stunt.

Byrne started to initiate a band breakup prior to recording Remain in Light.After their final European show on the 1979 Fear of Music tour, Frantz, Weymouth, and the guitarist and keyboardist Jerry Harrison were ambushed by an independent journalist who had just finished a private interview with Byrne, in which the singer stated his plans to leave Talking Heads, effective immediately. Tina and Jerry and I explained to the journalist that we knew nothing about it and left it at that, Frantz writes. Everyone was exhausted. We really needed a break, and none of us wanted to deal with Davids hurtful behavior. Back in New York City a few months later, some jam sessions between the band and producer extraordinaire Brian Eno opened their eyes to a new, fulfilling creative direction. They soon began working on Remain in Light.

Eno was just as bad as Byrne when it came to crediting issues.The honeymoon phase with Eno on Remain in Light was short-lived. Frantz characterizes the producers behavior as being equal parts mercurial and tyrannical, and Eno conspired with Byrne to take larger credit for the album. Eno heavily advocated for the record to be called Remain in Light by Talking Heads and Brian Eno and tried to erase some contributions from Frantz, Weymouth, and Harrison. We all agreed that writers credits on the album cover should be All Songs by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, and Tina Weymouth. The names were in alphabetical order, Frantz writes. Well, evidently David couldnt help himself and probably Brian was in on it, but when we received our advance copies of Remain in Light, the writing credits on the cover had been changed to All Songs by David Byrne, Brian Eno, Talking Heads.

On the lyric sheet inside the album, the credits had also been changed to All Songs by David Byrne and Brian Eno, except The Overload and Houses in Motion, written by David Byrne, Brian Eno, and Jerry Harrison, with no mention of Frantz or Weymouth. We had been told another untruth by David Byrne, and so had our listeners, Frantz writes. This was especially hurtful because, without our persistence, love, and musicianship, Remain in Light would never have been made.

Byrne replaced Robert Rauschenbergs cover artwork with his own.One of the greatest American artists of all time, Rauschenberg was a massive Talking Heads fan and created a limited-edition album and package design for Speaking in Tongues. A separate Rauschenberg design was meant to be the albums regular release cover, but Byrne went behind our backs, and by the time we found out, it was already a fait accompli. The resulting cover a blue-and-yellow design was Byrnes own creation. Rauschenberg told Tina and me that he felt hurt that David had worked around him, Frantz writes. Still, Bobs cover was a real thing of beauty, and his design ultimately won the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover. Only 50,000 copies of Rauschenbergs cover were printed, and if youre lucky enough to find one today, theyre worth a very pretty penny.

Byrne chose to divorce his wife during Talking Heads Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction.Frantz fondly recalls the bands 2002 induction ceremony, which doubled as their first reunion in 18 years. (The only downer? It was not our choice to be inducted by Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.) Their jubilant performances aside they selected Psycho Killer, Life During Wartime, and Burning Down the House Frantz said Byrne chose this evening to unexpectedly leave his wife, Adelle Bonnie Lutz, after more than two decades of marriage. Byrne ghosted the inductions fancy after-party, and no one could get in touch with him until the next day. When I finally reached David the following afternoon, I told him that Bonnie was terribly worried about him. Was he at home? He said he would not be going home. He said he was leaving her, Frantz writes. He had chosen the night we were inducted into the Hall of Fame to leave his wife. When I asked him why, he told me, Its time to move on.

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Mississippi kites fly with precision over all our neighborhoods – Houston Chronicle

While wistfully watching the sky, I spotted a sleek, pewter-colored flying object moving swiftly and directly like a military drone.

No drone. Instead, it was a Mississippi kite on a mission, whether to find prey, migrate south, or both. I suspect the bird was nesting in my densely wooded community because Id noticed it several times this summer.

The kite was probably hunting for such prey as grasshoppers and katydids along the edges of a nearby golf course. Or maybe it was about to barnstorm treetops to snatchcicadas.

Hundreds of Mississippi kites will soon be flying in neat squadrons over all our neighborhoods. Theyll be on a migratory journey from breeding grounds in the southern Great Plains and the southern tier of the United States as they join up with local breeding birds. Their winter destination will be the tropical and subtropical regions of South America.

The kites buoyant flight is propelled by a dark-toned three-foot wingspan and crooked back like that of a falcon. A narrow, black tail notched at the tip fans out and torques, like an aerial rudder, to guide rapid maneuvers.

With their 17-inch rocket-shaped gray bodies and pearly-white heads, the birds appear powerful yet elegant. A black face mask encircles piercing red eyes. The bird has yellow-red legs.

Mississippi Kites are social birds that breed, forage, and roost in small colonies.

Strongly monogamous breeding pairs protect their mates from sexual interlopers.

They nest in trees among forests, farming communities, and suburban or urban neighborhoods. Their once large breeding population in East Texas bottomland forests was extirpated by 1914 due to logging and hunting.

Circling flocks of Mississippi kites called kettles may number several hundred or more than a thousand.

They utter quick, high-pitched, two-syllable whistles sounding like the words pheee-phew.

When flying at treetop level, kites will barely pause as they extend their talons to snatch up tree-dwelling insects. Theyll also glide over meadows, yards and golf courses to grab rodents, toads and snakes. Their snake diet earned them the nickname blue snake hawk.

Mississippi kites migrate unhurriedly, sailing over office buildings, homes, sidewalks and walking trails. Theyll sometimes spend several days in local neighborhoods foraging for food.

Come eventide, flocks of the kites will put on an eye-popping show as they spiral down to roost in trees.

The birds were named for the state where naturalists collected the first specimen in 1803. The kite name comes from an Old English word cyta, describing the screaming call of hawks not their fluttering in mid-air.

Gary Clark is the author of Book of Texas Birds with photos by Kathy Adams Clark (Texas A&M University Press). Email him at Texasbirder@comcast.net.

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Mississippi kites fly with precision over all our neighborhoods - Houston Chronicle

Red Deer gardener says compost is the secret to growing great veggies – Red Deer Advocate

Donald Gordon Mann has been seeing some big results in his garden.

The retired police officer, who has lived in Red Deer since 2002, says the use of composting has been his secret to growing high-quality vegetables this year.

Its a matter of getting into the habit of taking things out to the compost bin after you cut them, whether that be scraps of lettuce, cabbage heads or whatever, Mann said while standing in his backyard garden Wednesday morning.

Ill mix the compost with some potting soil, earth and manure, and mix it around.

Mann says he was shocked by how big some of the vegetables in his garden are getting this year, especially the radishes.

The (radishes) kept getting bigger every time I looked. I like to try to get two or three crops every year, because they only take three or four weeks to grow from seed. This year has been phenomenal, Mann said, adding this seasons rain has helped the radishes grow as well.

Mann grows his vegetables in boxes that had previously been used to store old oilfield tools an oil company had given the boxes away to anyone who wanted them.

I thought it was an easy way to garden, he said, adding he owns about six containers.

They were all reinforced and it was something I didnt even have to build, other than a false bottom underneath, because you dont need it all dirt underneath. I built a false bottom and drilled in a few holes, because you need drainage.

I put in some dirt, but said, Why dont I start composting? I started seeing great results.

Mann, who lives with his wife in the Eastview neighbourhood, says gardening is more of a hobby than anything else.

I enjoy just giving the stuff away (to co-workers, neighbours and friends) because we cant eat it all. Its now my summer passion, he said.

When youre gardening, youre kind of in your own world and you can get lost its a good time to think. Then at the end, when everything starts to come, its rewarding.

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Continued here:

Red Deer gardener says compost is the secret to growing great veggies - Red Deer Advocate

Treatment of psoriasis with NFKBIZ siRNA using topical ionic liquid formulations – Science Advances

Abstract

Systemic antibodies targeting tumor necrosis factor (TNF-) and interleukin-17A (IL-17A) are effective in plaque psoriasis. Despite their popularity, safety concerns pose a challenge for systemic biologics. While antiTNF- and antiIL-17A antibodies effectively inhibit respective proteins, we hypothesize that an approach based on local silencing of an upstream target such as NFKBIZ can be advantageous for treating psoriasis. However, effective delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) into the skin is a substantial hurdle due to skins barrier function and poor stability of siRNA. Using ionic liquids as an enabling technology, we report on the effective delivery of NFKBIZ siRNA into the skin and its therapeutic efficacy in a psoriasis model. Treatment with IL-siRNA suppressed aberrant gene expression and resulted in down-regulation of psoriasis-related signals including TNF- and IL-17A. These results provide a framework for a topical delivery platform for siRNA.

Psoriasis is one of the most debilitating chronic skin diseases affecting more than 125 million people worldwide with an estimated economic burden of $135 billion/year in the United States (1). Its pathogenesis and the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. Nuclear factor B (NF-B), a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor, is considered as the master regulator of immune responses and is implicated in several autoimmune inflammatory diseases including psoriasis (2). Several therapeutics targeting NF-B signaling pathways are available in the clinic; however, concerns regarding the lack of specificity and side effects pose a challenge (3). This is particularly challenging since systemic inhibition of pleotropic proteins like NF-B might lead to serious side effects as they provide essential basal activity as survival factors. Network-centric approaches involving pathway-specific inhibitors have gained considerable therapeutic interests (4). In this regard, infliximab and adalimumab [both antitumor necrosis factor (TNF-) monoclonal antibodies] as well as secukinumab [an antiinterleukin-17A (IL-17A) antibody] have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and are claimed to mediate their therapeutic effects through the modulation of NF-B activity (5).

NFKBIZ, a gene encoding atypical inhibitor of nuclear factor B (IB) protein IB, has gained interests for therapeutic intervention due to its crucial role in the regulation of NF-B complexes (6, 7). It is reported to be a direct transcription activator of TNF-, IL-17A, and IL-36inducible psoriasis-related gene products that are involved in inflammatory signaling, neutrophil chemotaxis, and leukocyte activation (811). In addition, strong expression of NFKBIZ in patients with psoriasis could be correlated to elevated IL-36 and IL-17Atype responses (12). Local silencing of NFKBIZ can be advantageous since it can potentially broaden the population of patients that can benefit from the treatment compared with that by a single antibody.

Silencing of NFKBIZ through topical applications of small interfering RNA (siRNA) offers a noninvasive and self-administered treatment option with minimal side effects (13). However, the greatest challenge of this route is that only a limited number of drugs with low molecular weights (up to few hundred daltons) and high octanol-water partition coefficients are usable for successful topical delivery (14). Transdermal and topical delivery of hydrophilic molecules, particularly macromolecules such as antibodies and nucleic acids, remains challenging, owing to their high molecular weights (15). Several reports have showcased topical siRNA delivery using techniques such as spherical nucleic acids (16) and self-assembling framework nucleic acids (17). Microneedles have also been explored for topical delivery of siRNA (18). Methods such as electroporation (19) and peptide carriers have also been explored (2022). Strategies have also been developed to deliver siRNA to treat cutaneous wounds (23, 24). Recently, ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as a class of versatile materials for topical and transdermal delivery (25). ILs provide a number of potential benefits including tunability, broad applicability, and excellent safety profile (26). ILs have shown potential for delivering siRNA, but their ability to induce a therapeutic effect by silencing a target in vivo has not been demonstrated.

Here, we report a modular IL-based siRNA delivery approach for silencing various genes of interest. Specifically, we have identified a combination of ILs that simultaneously stabilizes siRNA and enhances siRNA penetration into the skin following topical application. We demonstrate the efficacy of the formulation in silencing NFKBIZ in vivo in an imiquimod-induced psoriasis mouse model.

A library of ILs was designed and synthesized to assess siRNA delivery into skin. Cholinium was used as the cation in all ILs due to its known biocompatibility and prior use in humans (27). Several different anions were used to synthesize ILs (fig. S1). Geranic acid was used as the reference anion in the IL library [that is, choline and geranic acid (CAGE) as a reference IL] due to its prior use for transdermal delivery of macromolecules (2830). Other anions were chosen for several reasons. First, anions containing shorter linear carbon chains were chosen in contrast to geranic acid to assess the impact of the chain length on siRNA stability and delivery. Anions with aromatic groups were chosen since they might interact with the stacked RNA base pairs via electrostatic, hydrophobic, and polar interactions. All ILs were prepared at a stoichiometric ratio of 1:2 (cation:anion) and were assessed for stability and siRNA delivery. Of the ILs synthesized, CAGE, choline and dimethylacrylic acid (CADA), choline and isovaleric acid (CAVA), and choline and phenylpropanoic acid (CAPA) remained as a viscous liquid at room temperature (RT), whereas choline and 4-phenolsulfonic acid (CASA), choline and phenylphosphoric acid (CAPP), and choline and biphenyl-3-carboxylic acid (CABA) solidified or formed a gel (fig. S1). Representative 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra can be found in fig. S1, confirming the successful synthesis and purity of the ILs. In addition, since both interleukin and ILs have been denoted as IL, for the purpose of clarity, all interleukins are referred by a numerical value throughout the manuscript.

We first assessed the effect of ILs on siRNA stability. Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy of siRNA incubated with aqueous solutions of individual ILs at 50% (v/v) concentration revealed notable alteration in the helix backbone (confirmed from the negative band at 210 nm) in the presence of CAGE, CADA, and CABA. On the other hand, CAVA and CAPA retained the secondary structure of siRNA (Fig. 1A). Bands obtained from the native gel electrophoresis complemented with the CD results (Fig. 1B). The improved stability of siRNA in the presence of CAPA suggested the possibility of synergistic effects between the ILs prepared from two structurally different anions. Consequently, we assessed the effect of IL mixtures on siRNA stability to determine whether the compatibility of CAPA with siRNA might offer additional protection against the adverse effects of CAGE and CABA on the siRNA structure. The combination of CAGE (25% v/v) and CAPA (25% v/v) led to a prominent band indicative of retention of siRNA structure (fig. S1).

(A) CD spectra of siRNA in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) following incubation with IL (50% v/v) for 30 min and dialysis for 72 hours. (B) Representative native gel image of siRNA following IL incubation. bp, base pair. (C) Representative confocal images of siRNA (red) in the different skin layers (a) stratum corneum (SC), (b) epidermis, and (c) dermis, in the presence of IL combination (CAGE + CAPA) mixed at a ratio 1:1 following 24 hours of incubation. Left to right: Merged, Cy5, differential interference contrast (DIC). Scale bars, 50 m. (D and E) Transport of Cy5-labeled siRNA in the presence of individual ILs with concentration of 50% (v/v) (D) and combination of ILs at 50% (v/v) (E) into the different layers of skin determined by the tape-stripping method (n = 3). Data are averages SEM and were determined to be nonparametric by normality test and statistics by Kruskal-Wallis test for (D) and (E). *P < 0.05.

The individual ILs and their combinations were then evaluated for epidermal permeation of Cy5-labeled siRNA into porcine skin in Franz diffusion cells (FDCs) (Fig. 1C). Some epidermal uptake for naked siRNA was seen in controls. CAGE exhibited the highest delivery among all tested ILs (Fig. 1D). About 0.20 nmol/cm2 of siRNA was delivered into the epidermis in the presence of CAGE (50% v/v) compared with 0.07 nmol/cm2 in case of naked siRNA. Since 50% CAGE had a potential effect on the siRNA structure, we also measured the ability of IL combinations to deliver siRNA into skin. A combination of CAPA and CAGE (25% v/v each) led to ~0.4 nmol/cm2 siRNA getting delivered into the skin (Fig. 1E). Because the CAGE + CAPA combination yielded the highest epidermal delivery as well as high stability, it was selected as the lead formulation for further studies (fig. S2).

Molecular dynamic (MD) simulations were performed to explore the mechanism by which the IL combination (CAGE + CAPA) stabilizes the RNA. It is evident from the snapshots of unit cells within 10 of RNA that geranic acid in CAGE is responsible for forming aggregated clumps, leading to separation of geranic acid from choline, water, and the RNA molecule (Fig. 2, A and B). Addition of phenylpropanoic acid to CAGE led to a more consistent distribution of the three molecular species/ions in the IL solution (Fig. 2, C and D). Furthermore, the proximity of phenylpropanoic acid molecules to the RNA molecules, possibly due to the presence of hydrophobic aromatic rings unlike its aliphatic counterpart (geranic acid), confirms its crucial role in intercalating between the stacked RNA base pairs contributing to the RNA solvation and stability.

(A and B) Snapshot of simulation unit cell for CAGE and siRNA (A) and CAGE components found within 10 of siRNA (B) under periodic boundary conditions for 500 ns. (C and D) Snapshot of simulation unit cell for the optimized IL combination (CAGE and CAPA, 1:1) and siRNA (C) and IL species found within 10 of siRNA (B) under similar conditions. (E and F) Radius of gyration (RGYR) (E) and root mean square deviation (RMSD) (F) obtained over the course of 500 ns for CAPA and the IL combination (CAGE and CAPA) in contrast to CAGE (control).

Structural properties of RNA were assessed by performing simulations over the course of 500 ns and measuring the root mean square deviation (RMSD) and radius of gyration (RGYR). The RGYR obtained for the CAGE group was consistent up to 150 ns and started decreasing toward the end of the simulation, indicating the inconsistent compactness of the system (Fig. 2E). In contrast, the increased and consistent RGYR obtained for the IL combination (CAGE + CAPA) over 500 ns aligns well with the improved IL-RNA interaction results. Such improved interactions and compactness for the optimized IL system with the RNA could also be attributed to the increase in the relative molecular mobility or reduced local viscosity upon addition of phenylpropanoic acid to CAGE. In addition, lower viscosity of the IL system may weaken the intramolecular strain placed on the RNA by the IL and is a possible explanation for the reduced RMSD observed in the case of CAGE + CAPA (Fig. 2F).

To assess the insertion and translocation of the IL into the lipid bilayers, simulations of the lipid bilayer in the presence of IL were conducted (Fig. 3, A to C). In addition to improving the stability and solvation of the RNA, the compact packing of the ionic species leading to the formation of aggregates seems to augment the ILlipid membrane interactions. The aggregates formed by the individual ionic moieties appear to enable a continuity between the IL system and the molecules, making up the lipid bilayer. It is possible that the collective mass of the ionic aggregates plays a crucial role in facilitating membrane permeation in addition to ILs, particularly geranic acids ability to extract or fluidize lipids as previously reported (26).

(A) Lipid bilayer simulation with the aggregates of choline, geranic acid, and phenylpropanoic acid highlighted with a circle. (B) Enlarged view of the ionic species from the circle depicting closed interaction of ionic species with the phospholipid heads and tails. The aggregate contains all three ionic species contributing to the interaction with the lipid membrane. (C) Representative snapshot viewing perpendicular to membrane in the plane of the lipid bilayer. (D and E) Average thickness of the lipid membrane (D) and average area per lipid (E) over the course of simulations in the presence of CAPA and the IL combination (CAGE and CAPA) in contrast to CAGE (control). All data are averages SEM and were determined to be nonparametric by normality test and statistics by Kruskal-Wallis test for (D) and (E). ****P < 0.0001.

The relative effect of the ILs including CAGE, CAPA, and CAGE + CAPA on membrane dynamics was assessed by measuring the average thickness of the lipid bilayer in the presence of ILs over a simulation time of 350 ns. The highest thickness was observed in the presence of CAGE (50% v/v), indicating greater IL intercalation within the lipid bilayer. Similar thickness was noted for the water and CAPA (50% v/v) groups, while CAGE (25% v/v) with CAPA (25% v/v) led to a higher thickness (Fig. 3D). The MD simulation snapshots highlight the dynamics of interactions of the individual ionic species in the IL with phospholipid membrane. Conclusive intercalation of the ionic species of the IL combination with the bilayer was detected (Fig. 3B). Furthermore, upon visualizing the trajectories of the individual ionic species within the CAGE + CAPA simulation, we were able to observe reduced mobility of geranic acid relative to phenylpropanoic acid (fig. S3). When focusing on an IL aggregate that consists of all three IL species (choline, geranic acid, and phenylpropanoic acid), we observed that each geranic acid molecule tends to remain in contact with the aggregate over the course of the simulation, while choline and phenylpropanoic acid are able to move between both the aggregate of heterogeneous species and the bulk solvent making up the rest of the system. This increase in mobility likely causes a change in the distribution of local viscosities across the system. When visualizing the head groups of lipids, which are in contact with the aggregate, we observe that the head groups occupy a larger area per lipid. This is demonstrated by a more spread out distribution of individual molecular trajectories within the area of the IL aggregate. This expansion of space between the lipids is caused by intercalation of the IL with the membrane and subsequent displacement of the lipid species. As the aggregation induces localization of the effects of IL on the bilayer membrane, it is likely that aggregation, with low constituent turnover with the bulk solvent, may lead to uneven membrane disruption as well as differences in the local viscosity. This heterogeneous distribution of membrane disruption may account for the wide distribution of area per lipid values seen over the course of the simulations in CAGE when compared with the other IL systems (Fig. 3E). Overall, these results signify the contribution of aggregate turnover for ILs in translocating RNA across lipid bilayers.

The optimized CAGE + CAPA IL formulation was evaluated for toxicity in vivo in mice. ILglyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) siRNA formulation (25 l) was applied topically for four consecutive days to the dorsal skin of SKH-1 elite (SKH-1E) hairless mice (Fig. 4A). No signs of inflammation, redness, and/or irritation were observed for the IL-treated animals (fig. S4). Skin tissue was further harvested, and sections were cut and stained for histopathology and toxicology markers. Groups treated with the IL formulation exhibited no signs of epidermal thickening and keratinocyte hyperproliferation and were equivalent to the untreated and/or naked siRNA-treated animals (Fig. 4B and fig. S4). We also tested TNF- gene expression levels in healthy mice. Animals treated with naked siRNA were statistically equivalent to the untreated animals. Mice treated with IL-GAPDH siRNA and ILsiCon (control siRNA used for subsequent experiments) demonstrated slightly lower TNF- mRNA transcripts compared with the untreated group (fig. S4). Such inhibition of TNF- expression might potentially arise from the inherent properties of the individual components of the ILs and need to be studied in future studies.

(A) Schematic illustration of the topical application schedule. (B) Representative histology [hematoxylin and eosin (H&E)] images of the skin tissue 5 days after topical application of IL-siRNA. Scale bars, 100 m; magnification, 10. (C) Confocal images of epidermal accumulation of Cy5-siRNA (red) with and without IL in a mouse skin tissue. Scale bars, 50 m. (D) GAPDH mRNA expression was measured by qPCR. -Actin mRNA expression was used for normalization. Data are averages SEM and were determined to be nonparametric by normality test and statistics by Kruskal-Wallis test. *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001, and ****P < 0.0001. (E) GAPDH levels in the skin samples were determined using a GAPDH enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Data are averages SEM, statistics by one-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD posttest. ****P < 0.0001 (control, n = 5; naked siRNA, n = 5; IL-siCon, n = 4; IL-siRNA, n = 8). Photo credit: N.K., Harvard University.

Cy5 fluorescence within the epidermis was measured in healthy mice following transdermal application for four consecutive days. Confocal images revealed a marked increase in Cy5 fluorescence in the epidermis for the IL-treated group compared with the naked siRNA in mice (Fig. 4C). Upon determining the GAPDH gene silencing efficiency using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the expression levels of GAPDH were found to be reduced 4.5- and 8.6-fold for the IL-siRNAtreated group in contrast to the naked siRNA and untreated mice, respectively (Fig. 4D). A slight decrease in the GAPDH mRNA expression was also observed for the naked siRNAtreated group. Consecutively, it was necessary to ascertain if the change in GAPDH mRNA expression translated into protein reduction. Consistent with the gene knockdown results, the IL-siRNAtreated group demonstrated a statistically significant decay (2-fold) in the GAPDH protein expression compared with all the other treatment groups (Fig. 4E). The reduced GAPDH mRNA expression for the naked siRNAtreated group did not down-regulate GAPDH protein expression.

The ability of NFKBIZ siRNA to treat psoriasis was tested using CAGE + CAPA as a topical formulation. Following induction of psoriasis and topical application of IL-NFKBIZ siRNA formulation (Fig. 5A), skin tissue was harvested and analyzed. Macroscopically, local knockdown of NFKBIZ in the dorsal skin markedly reduced imiquimod-induced inflammation, showing reduced erythema and scaling in the area where IL-NFKBIZ siRNA was applied compared with the untreated, IL-treated, and IL-siContreated groups (Fig. 5B and fig. S5). Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining of skin sections from the mice revealed that the knockdown of NFKBIZ by IL-siRNA reduced epidermal thickening, acanthosis, hyperkeratosis, and club-shaped rete ridges (Fig. 5C and fig. S5). Likewise, immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis revealed hyperproliferation of keratinocytes in the untreated, IL-treated, and IL-siContreated groups, whereas the group treated with IL-NFKBIZ siRNA exhibited lack of keratinocyte proliferation (Ki67 staining) (Fig. 5D and fig. S5). The common characteristic features of imiquimod-induced skin inflammation (erythema and scaling) were scored daily throughout the induction/application period. Individual scores for erythema and scaling demonstrated fair reduction starting from day 3 with topical IL-siRNA application (Fig. 5, E and F). Maximum cumulative scores were obtained for the untreated and IL-treated groups and were markedly lowered in the IL-siRNAtreated group (fig. S6). Double skin-fold thickness (DSFT) for measuring skin thickness did not yield major differences between the groups (fig. S6). In addition, the heat map and mRNA analyses indicated a substantial reduction in expression of NFKBIZ and other psoriasis-related gene products (fig. S7) in comparison with the untreated and IL-siContreated groups (Fig. 5, G to J, and fig. S8). Upon IL-siCon treatment, most genes were up-regulated, including NFKBIZ, TNF-, cytokines (IL-17C, IL-19, IL-22, IL-36A, and IL-36G), chemokines (CCL20), and antimicrobial proteins (LCN2 and DEFB4) (Fig. 5G). Some down-regulation of TNF- and IL-17A mRNA expression was observed in healthy mice upon treatment with IL alone (Fig. 5, I and J) and suggests additional inherent properties of ILs, which could be explored in future studies. Future studies should also focus on determining the dose-response curve of the therapeutic effect of siRNA-IL.

(A) Schematic illustration of the application schedule for disease induction and IL-siRNA topical administration. (B) Psoriasis-induced mice were treated topically with IL-NFKBIZ siRNA and were compared with untreated and IL-applied groups. (C) H&E staining of the psoriasis-induced skin sections from the mice with and without treatment. Scale bars, 50 m; magnification, 10. (D) Skin sections from the mice were analyzed for keratinocyte proliferation (proliferation marker, Ki67) by IHC. Scale bars, 100 m. (E and F) Erythema and scaling scores obtained by blindly scoring using the human PASI scoring system daily on a scale from 0 (no alteration) to 4 (very distinct alteration). (G) Heat map for the expression levels of various psoriasis-associated genes following treatment with IL-NFKBIZ siRNA in comparison with the untreated (control) and IL-siContreated groups. (H to J) mRNA expression levels were measured by qPCR, and -actin mRNA expression was used for normalization for NFKBIZ, TNF-, and IL-17A, respectively. Data are averages SEM, statistics by one-way ANOVA with Tukey HSD posttest. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, and ****P < 0.0001 (control, n = 4; IL, n = 4; IL-siCon, n = 4; IL-siRNA, n = 8). Photo credit: (B) A.M., Harvard University; (C and D) N.K.

Limited understanding of key inflammatory signaling pathway regulators and the chronological order of the underlying mechanisms presents a challenge in the treatment of psoriasis. Signaling pathways including NF-B, Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT), and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase have recently been found to play a major role in the pathogenesis of this complex disease (31). NFKBIZ, a gene encoding IB, is a crucial transcriptional coactivator mediating downstream effects of an array of specific inflammatory cytokines and is particularly imperative in the light of recent findings by Johansen et al. (6) and Mller et al. (12), which indicated IB to be a key modulator of IL-17A, IL-23, and IL-36 (32). Thus, targeting NFKBIZ/IB to inhibit proinflammatory signaling pathways and production of psoriasis-related gene products is a viable strategy for psoriasis treatment. Clinically, antibodies targeting TNF- and IL-17A have shown promise in meeting the primary endpoints and improving the disease condition (33). However, as biologics, these antibodies have challenges of potential systemic toxicity, generation of anti-antibodies, and high cost.

Here, we present an IL combination capable of improving epidermal accumulation and delivery of RNA through skin. We hypothesized that a combination of ILs would stabilize the siRNA and, at the same time, would improve its penetration. We validated this hypothesis in an imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation model that resembles plaque-type psoriasis in humans. Topical application of IL-siRNA for four consecutive days generated substantial reduction in the levels of inflammatory cytokines and an array of psoriasis-related gene products.

CAGE + CAPA IL formulation offers several advantages over other transdermal drug delivery systems. The components of the IL formulation, choline bicarbonate, geranic acid, and phenylpropanoic acid, have been proven safe or GRAS (generally recognized as safe) chemicals and provide a strong foundation for the safety of ILs. In addition, simple synthesis and scale-up processes, high solvating power, and tunability offer additional advantages over other volatile organic solvents. This system is particularly suitable for transdermal delivery of nucleic acids due to both its complex intercalation between the stacked RNA base pairs and aromatic rings of the IL, and enhanced interaction with the lipid bilayer.

Our results demonstrate that ILs can complex with nucleic acids without compromising the bioactivity, thus making them ideal for transdermal drug delivery. The salt metathesis or anion exchange reaction for IL synthesis is particularly advantageous because it does not require integration of harsh organic solvents for siRNA delivery. The individual IL components could be modulated to interact with nearly any nucleic acid based on the binding characteristics and molecular mechanism of interactions.

Tunable ion stoichiometry and physicochemical properties are other key features of IL-based systems. Previous work in our group has indicated the role of interionic interactions in solvation and partitioning of the active ingredient into the skin (34). In addition, Chandran et al. (35) have demonstrated the importance of electrostatic interactions and groove binding associations of ILs in DNA stability. Hitherto, the role of ILs in improving the stability and solvation of siRNA has not been comprehensively explored. We systematically varied the anionic component of the IL with structural similarity to geranic acid and/or containing an aromatic ring at a stoichiometry ratio of 1:2 and developed an in-house cholinium-based IL library. We observed that the anions of the ILs that contained aromatic rings generally solidified or formed a gel at RT except phenylpropanoic acid. Excellent siRNA stability was observed in the presence of CAVA, CAPA, and CAGE + CAPA in comparison to other ILs and combinations, possibly due to superior interactions with the siRNA. The IL combination CAGE + CAPA generated the highest epidermal accumulation of siRNA, notably higher than any individual ILs and/or combination.

The best performing IL combination that we identified in this study, CAGE + CAPA, demonstrated consistent distribution of the three ionic species through MD simulations, indicating improved molecular mobility and lower viscosity contributing to enhanced solvation effects. Furthermore, MD simulation snapshots revealed close association of phenylpropanoic acid with the RNA molecules, which could be possibly attributed to a combination of hydrophobic and polar interactions, - stacking, and/or intercalation between stacked RNA base pairs, leading to enhanced RNA stability. RGYR and RMSD measurements obtained from simulations over the course of 500 ns further confirmed improved IL-RNA interactions.

It is also important to understand the magnitude of IL-mediated lipid bilayer modulation. MD simulations revealed the crucial role of aggregation of ionic species in improving membrane permeation with the highest bilayer thickness obtained for CAGE (50% v/v) followed by CAGE + CAPA. Such observations from the simulations further establish geranic acid as the main driver in the translocation of the IL combination through the lipid bilayers, which is consistent with experimental results. While it seems that phenylpropanoic acid has a minor role in improving bilayer permeation by lowering the local viscosity of the overall IL system, we believe that it is also responsible for fluidizing the membrane with the formation of dynamic pores. It was earlier reported that deprotonated aromatic carboxylic acids, such as phenylpropanoic acid, permeate bilayers several orders of magnitude faster than that expected from the pH partition hypothesis, and their permeation is fully controlled by the anions at the physiological pH (36). On the basis of these results, we speculate that these ILs assist in crossing the cellular barriers to deliver siRNA into the cytosolic compartments.

To assess biocompatibility of CAGE + CAPA, we conducted a histological evaluation of skin on the fifth day, which coincided with the total duration of topical application. We did not observe any macroscopic changes in the skin structure, epidermal thickening, and keratinocyte proliferation in the IL-treated groups. Further investigation of inflammatory cytokine levels did not reveal any statistically significant increment in TNF- mRNA compared with the untreated groups. Some of the IL-treated groups demonstrated a decrease in the TNF- mRNA levels, which might be possibly due to the presence of IL and need to be further investigated. Marked inhibition of GAPDH mRNA and protein expression was observed in the IL-GAPDH siRNAtreated groups.

NFKBIZ has been previously demonstrated to play a crucial role in the gene transcription of several proinflammatory cytokines and antimicrobial peptides responsible for the pathogenesis of psoriasis (6, 12). Using an imiquimod-induced psoriasis model, we further demonstrated that local silencing of NFKBIZ following topical application of IL-NFKBIZ siRNA formulation impaired expression of psoriasis-related gene products under in vivo conditions. IL-siRNAtreated mice exhibited substantially reduced skin pathology including reduced erythema and scaling, less epidermal thickening, and keratinocyte proliferation. The local increase in mRNA levels of some of the inflammatory cytokines and related gene products for the IL-siCon and IL-treated groups in comparison with the untreated group could be attributed to imiquimod. Local silencing of NFKBIZ resulted in a strong inhibition of crucial proinflammatory cytokine mRNA levels including IL-17A, IL-23, and IL-36. The downstream effects of local NFKBIZ silencing were also validated and are consistent with the previously reported effects of intradermal injection of IB siRNA (6). Because mouse skin is generally much more permeable than human skin, detailed studies of quantification of skin penetration were not performed in vivo.

In summary, we have developed a transdermal IL platform capable of delivering RNA to the epidermis and have combined this framework with an array of gene screening to support NFKBIZ as a key signaling target gene in psoriasis treatment. The IL formulation retained the bioactivity of the siRNA and generated notable target gene abrogation upon topical application in an imiquimod-induced psoriasis-like skin inflammation model. The optimized IL formulation did not show toxicity and is acceptable for repeated applications. This platform is amenable to broad applications to nucleic acids and can be easily manufactured and scaled up. This platform could empower transdermal drug delivery for the treatment of dermatological conditions and help augmenting long-term therapeutic efficacy by targeting such common mediators. Upon further studies focused on assessment in large animals and comparison with clinical standard of care, the method described here opens a potential option for psoriasis treatment.

The cholinium-based IL library was synthesized as described previously (26). Briefly, the cation, choline bicarbonate, and various anions were mixed at a 1:2 ratio to prepare ILs following salt metathesis reaction. The anions were dissolved in a minimum volume of ultrapure water or ethanol/methanol based on the solubility and were reacted with choline bicarbonate at 40C for 24 hours. The resulting IL solution was dried using a rotary evaporator at 20 mbar at 60C for 2 hours. The residual water was removed in a vacuum oven at 60C for 48 hours. The ILs that were viscous at RT were characterized via NMR with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)d6 on an Agilent DD2 600-MHz spectrometer (Supplementary Materials and Methods). ILs were mixed with RNA (100 M) at a volumetric ratio of 1:1 and incubated for 30 min at RT. The RNA-IL solutions (1 ml) were dialyzed against 10 mM sodium phosphate buffer for 72 hours using Dialysis Cassettes (10,000 molecular weight cutoff, Invitrogen). The concentration of RNA was confirmed and normalized using a NanoDrop instrument (Thermo Fisher Scientific). The stability of the RNA in the IL solution was determined using CD and gel electrophoresis (Supplementary Materials and Methods).

MD simulations were performed using OpenMM MD package and the AMBER force fields ff14SB and GAFF. Three-dimensional SD files for each of the IL species were downloaded from PubChem and parameterized with Antechamber before preparing simulation input topologies with LEaP. To generate starting coordinates for the lipid membrane simulations, PACKMOL was used to build a bilayer consisting of 100 phosphatidylcholine (POPC) molecules for each of the leaflets. The remaining contents of a 60- cube consisted of ~1:1 water (TIP3P) and IL, charge balanced with Na+ and Cl. A 500-ns simulation was performed for each of the systems under periodic boundary conditions. For the simulations of siRNA, a helical starting structure for the nucleic acid was generated with Avogadro (37) before being placed in a simulation box consisting of ~1:1 water and IL for simulation under periodic boundary conditions for 350 ns. Analysis of MD trajectories was performed using the python library MDAnalysis for RGYR and RMSD of siRNA. Visual molecular dynamics (38) plugin MEMBPLUGIN (39) was used to perform analysis of membrane trajectories.

Skin penetration studies were performed using porcine skin in FDCs, as described previously (40). A total volume of 20 l of Cy5-labeled RNA (50 M) in IL solutions was applied to the porcine skin surface and was incubated at 40C for 24 hours under occlusive conditions with moderate stirring. The skin permeability of RNA was visualized and quantified using confocal microscopy and tape-stripping techniques, respectively (Supplementary Materials and Methods).

All animal studies were performed at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University. Procedures and studies conducted were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, and were consistent with all applicable regulations. ILs carrying GAPDH (custom siRNA, sense seq: 5-GUGUGAACCACGAGAAAUAUU-3, antisense seq: 5- AAUAUUUCUCGUGGUUCACAC-3; Dharmacon), siCon (catalog no. D-001810-02-50; Dharmacon), and NFKBIZ siRNAs (catalog no. J-040680-06-0050; Dharmacon) were applied topically to healthy and imiquimod-treated SKH-1E hairless mice (Charles River), respectively. A blind scoring system similar to the human Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score was used to measure the degree of severity, erythema, and scaling on the back of mice. In addition, skin thickness was monitored by the DSFT of dorsal skin of the mice with caliper measurements throughout the disease induction and treatment period (Supplementary Materials and Methods).

Flash-frozen skin tissues were pulverized to form a powder and homogenized in QIAzol Lysis Reagent to prepare the tissue lysates for qPCR. The mRNA levels were quantified and normalized following the manufacturers protocol. The relative abundance of mRNA transcripts and silencing in treated groups was normalized to the housekeeper gene (-actin). The mean normalized siRNA treatment values were then plotted with their SEM (Supplementary Materials and Methods).

One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and statistical analyses were performed using GraphPad Prism software (GraphPad Software Inc.). Results are depicted as average SEM. Two-tailed Students t test was used for comparison between two groups. Parametric data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukeys honestly significant difference (HSD) post hoc tests. Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed for nonparametric data. Statistical tests are indicated in the figures. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

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Treatment of psoriasis with NFKBIZ siRNA using topical ionic liquid formulations - Science Advances

Where Do The Texans Rank In ESPNs Future NFL Power Rankings? – Battle Red Blog

ESPNs experts smashed their heads together and came up with a future NFL Power Rankings. Jeremy Fowler, Louis Riddick, Seth Walder, and Field Yates used a scale of 0-100 to rate each teams quarterback, remaining (non-QB) roster, draft, front office, and coaching. They then proceeded to tally and weight teams by roster (30%), quarterback (20%), draft (15%), front office (15%), and coaching (20%) to create an overall score in an attempt to make a subjective task as objective as possible.

After all of this, the Texans were ranked 23rd because Deshaun Watson is really good and everything else is kind of bleak. This is what ESPN had to say:

23. Houston Texans

Overall score: 73.5

Why theyre here: The Texans have had more recent success than any team in this tier of the rankings, with a chance to remain quite competitive as we proceed ahead. Houston traded away its most productive player other than Deshaun Watson this offseason in DeAndre Hopkins and has made a long series of audacious and roundly questioned trades that are often a primary talking point when assessing how the team will fare ahead. Yates

Biggest worry: Its hard enough being a head coach in the NFL. Unless your name is Bill Belichick, its almost impossible to be both the HC and the GM and do them both at a high level in the salary cap era. Bill OBrien is going to have to answer the bell in a big way while wearing both hats if the Texans are going to make noise in the AFC. Riddick

Looking ahead: Receiver has too many durability questions for long-term comfort. The Brandin Cooks-Will Fuller V-Kenny Stills combo might just work for 2020, but Fullers knee issues and Cooks concussion history should lead the Texans to draft receiver help just in case. Tight end Darren Fells can still play but doesnt have much time left at age 34. Pairing a dynamic tight end with Watson for the next decade would be a prudent move by OBrien. Fowler

Top stat to know: In exchange for Laremy Tunsil, Stills, a fourth-round pick and a sixth-round pick, OBrien dealt two first-round picks and a second. Thats not a stat, but that trade is a year old and I still cant get over it. Nothing depicts Houstons front office problem quite like that. Walder

In the AFC South, the Texans ranked behind both the Colts (10th) and Titans (11th) but way ahead of the Jaguars, who were ranked dead last in the entire league. What do you think about Houstons ranking and the methods used to determine it?

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Where Do The Texans Rank In ESPNs Future NFL Power Rankings? - Battle Red Blog

James Earle Fraser and the Legacy of His Vanishing Indian – Governing

The American Museum of Natural Historys recent decision to remove the statue of Theodore Roosevelt from its Central Park entrance gives us all the opportunity to revisit and rethink a wide range of things we have taken for granted in American history and American memory. Although the Roosevelt debate has largely focused on the statue groups depiction of him as a cowboy or Rough Rider on horseback, leading a Native American on one side and an African gun bearer on the other to a more civilized future, it might be useful to give some attention to the distinguished American sculptor who fashioned the sculpture.

James Earle Fraser (1876-1953) was born in Winona, Minn., but he grew up near Mitchell, S.D. His father was a railroad engineer who spent the summer of Frasers birth in Montana gathering up the remains of George Armstrong Custers Seventh Cavalry members who perished at the Battle of the Little Bighorn on June 26, 1876, to return them to their homes in the East. Young Fraser discovered his artistic vocation while carving scattered chunks of limestone near his home. He was inspired by the architecture and sculpture he observed at the Chicago Worlds Fair in 1893. He studied in Paris, before returning to the United States in 1902, where he set up a studio in New York that he made his headquarters for the next 50 years.

Sculptor James Earle Fraser studied in Paris, before returning to the United States in 1902, where he set up a studio in New York that he made his headquarters for the next 50 years.

Among others, Fraser sculpted statues of Alexander Hamilton (D.C.), Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson City, Mo.), Albert Gallatin (D.C.), John Hay (Cleveland), Benjamin Franklin (Philadelphia), Abraham Lincoln (Jersey City, N.J.), Thomas Edison (Dearborn, Mich.), Harvey Firestone (Akron, Ohio), and General George Patton (West Point). His Roosevelt group for the American Museum of Natural History was dedicated in 1940. Fraser is best known, however, for two other works: the Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel in 1913 and his sculpture The End of the Trail, first exhibited at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, where it won a gold medal.

The Indian Head nickel was Americas standard five-cent coin between 1913 and 1938. It was preceded by the Liberty Head nickel (1883-1913) and was replaced by the Jefferson nickel, which (somewhat redesigned) still circulates. The Fraser Indian Head nickel was part of a general currency reform undertaken by President Theodore Roosevelt, who engaged his friend Augustus Saint-Gaudens to give our coinage a more modern and more quintessentially American look. This was the same impulse that led TR, when the White House was remodeled in 1902, to insist that the carvings on the stone fireplace mantel in the State Dining Room be changed from lions to the American bison (buffalo).

The Indian Head nickel, designed by Fraser, was introduced in 1913.

The buffalo on the reverse side of the Indian Head nickel (tails) was probably modeled after a bison bull in New Yorks Central Park Zoo named Black Diamond. Black Diamond was the offspring of a bull and cow given to the zoo by the Barnum and Bailey Circus. It is also at least possible that the nickel buffalo was modeled after one of the bulls brought back from the Montana frontier by William Hornaday, the man who did more than anyone else to save the buffalo from extinction, and the first director and one of the founders of the Bronx Zoo. Frasers accounts of the sculpting process varied over time, but he knew the artistic effect he wanted to achieve, and it was identical to the cultural philosophy of Theodore Roosevelt. When I was asked to do a nickel, I felt I wanted to do something totally Americana coin that could not be mistaken for any other countrys coin. It occurred to me that the buffalo, as part of our western background, was 100 percent American, and that our North American Indian fitted into the picture perfectly.

Frasers Indian was a composite. The depiction of the Native American on the obverse face (heads) was based on several of Frasers encounters with Plains Indians. Before the nickel was made I had done several portraits of Indians, among them Iron Tail [an Oglala who performed with Buffalo Bill], Two Moons [a Cheyenne who participated in the Battle of the Little Bighorn], and one or two others, and probably got characteristics from those men in the head on the coins, but my purpose was not to make a portrait but a type. As is often the case in cultural history, a number of different Native Americans later claimed to have been Frasers model. The result is quite beautiful, with perhaps just a touch of probably unintended caricature. Today, Fraser would probably be accused of a mild form of cultural appropriation, though the Sacagawea dollar that circulated during the bicentennial of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (2003-2009) was also partly a composite, and it was also designed by a non-Indian artist.

The End of the Trail is one of the most iconic images of American Indians in our culture. It depicts a Native American man slumped over an exhausted horse standing gingerly at the end of the trail, overlooking, Fraser said, the Pacific Ocean, because American Indians had been driven out of all of their traditional homelands farther and farther west until there was nowhere left for them to go. The Native man is holding a lance which is pointed toward the ground, not in defiant resistance but in defeat. Fraser fashioned the lance so that from a distance it appears to have transfixed the Native man.

Fraser's "The End of the Trail" is considered one of the most iconic images of American Indians in our culture.

Its a great sculpture by a distinguished American artist. I have been drawn to it all of my adult life. You can hardly go through a whole day of traveling through the American West without seeing it on a car decal, a belt buckle, a t-shirt, or a motel sign. Even though I have always loved the image, I have for a long time felt uneasy about it. Created in 1915 not long after the century of the Indian Wars ended at Wounded Knee (Dec. 29, 1890) and with the passage the Dawes Act (Feb. 8, 1887), which parceled out the reservations into small square homesteads, many of them claimed as surplus by white pioneers, The End of the Trail expresses genuine sympathy with the plight of Native Americans. Thats almost everyones first impression of the sculpture. But it represents nobility in defeat, dignity in loss, the end of Indian resistance, and the vanishing Indian, as if once Native American resistance to the white conquest of the continent was over, Indians would simply disappear over the horizon.

This, in fact, is the message of John Gasts famous 1872 painting American Progress, in which the angel Columbia floats over the landscape stringing telegraph wire while the Natives ride off once and for all into the sunset as covered wagons, steamboats, plowmen, and railroads occupy their former hunting grounds. It is also the burden of a number of state seals: white pioneers advancing, Natives receding into the past. Frasers sculpture manages at the same time to be triumphalist for white civilization the conquest of the continent is now complete and yet compassionate. He is well aware of the cost of American civilization.

John Gasts 1872 painting American Progress.

But heres what I consider to be the problem with Frasers famous sculpture. During the conquest period, from 1607 to 1900, the European-derived white Americans were so threatened by the idea of Native American sovereignty and resistance, so determined to take the continent by whatever means necessary, no matter how ruthless, that they did not have the luxury of exhibiting much respect or sympathy for the peoples they were displacing. Native Americans were denigrated and demonized, called savages, red devils, prairie n.rs, and worse.

Even in the 1880s, the most famous re-enactment in Buffalo Bills Wild West was the Indian attack on the settlers cabin, finally repelled, of course, and the virtue of Victorian wives and daughters preserved by the white cavalry. Frontier newspapers wrote front page editorials dripping with unguarded racism, some of which unapologetically called for the actual extermination of American Indians.

It is a sad but telling irony that the most popular genre of frontier encounters literature was the captivity narrative, in which a white woman is kidnapped by marauding savages and handed around to lusty warriors to suffer a fate worse than death at their hands. Rather than a narrative, say, in which Native peoples are minding their own business on their ancestral lands when an armed white militia group arrives to wipe out men, women, and children in a dawn raid.

By the time Theodore Roosevelt became the 26th president of the United States, the Indian Wars, were over many of them clearly fueled by the leftover testosterone and white male rage of the Civil War (on both sides). American Indians had been pacified, thrust onto reservations, many of which were incapable of supporting the resident population, forced to take up till agriculture on barren lands, their children carried off by force to faraway boarding schools where they were taught to be red Americans. Finally, victory in hand, it was possible for white colonialist civilization to step back and take a deep breath. The threat was over. Crazy Horse (Oglala) was dead. Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa) was dead. Red Cloud (Lakota) was disarmed (in every sense of the term). Geronimo (Apache) and Chief Joseph (Nez Perce) were sufficiently tamed to be pressed into marching in Roosevelts March 1905 Inaugural Parade, like conquered Gauls in one of Julius Caesars Roman triumphs.

Now it was possible to pull back a little on the steam juggernaut of Americas Manifest Destiny and find some sympathy, in defeat, for the Native peoples the United States had spent the previous 100-plus years dispossessing, fighting, cheating, and offering one lying promise after the next. How many times had white negotiators in the Black Hills or the Wallowa Valley in Washington said, Give us this much land and we promise we will never be back for more?

The narrative of the vanishing Indian has a long pedigree in American culture. In the 1830s, American ethnographer and artist George Catlin and the German prince Maximilian of Neuwied traveled on separate missions to the northern Great Plains to capture Native American culture before it was too late. Catlins paintings and essays, together with the magnificent watercolors of Maximilians artist Karl Bodmer, provided the world an indelible portrait of Native American life just when the fur trade was beginning to destabilize Upper Missouri cultures dramatically.

James Earle Fraser in his studio with a clay model of the "The End of the Trail" sculpture, ca. 1910. (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries, N.Y.)

Half a century later, the Seattle-based photographer Edward S. Curtis undertook a 30-year project to photograph Native Americans of the trans-Mississippi West in their native clothing and in as close to a pre-white cultural landscape as was still possible, again, to get it all down before it was too late. Frasers gorgeous The End of the Trail is perhaps the greatest certainly the most iconic rendition of the vanishing Indian genre. It spoke powerfully to the American public in 1915 and it still speaks to the world in 2020.

But its message is problematic. First, there is the hypocrisy of just starting to celebrate the American Indian when you have finished the work of vanquishing him. Fraser would not have received acclaim if he had presented the sculpture in 1870 or even 1890, while the mad conquest was still unfinished. Second, as any Native American cultural representative will tell you, Indians didnt vanish after all. They morphed, accommodated, adjusted, partially assimilated, ducked below the radar, regrouped, resisted, and above all survived. They are still among us, though you and I might not always recognize them in their 21st-century clothing, working side by side with their white and Black counterparts all across the United States and Canada.

The End of the Trail may mark the end of one phase (one trail) of the history of indigenous Americans, but it did not extinguish them biologically or culturally, in spite of the best efforts of the 18th- and 19th-century conquerors. As Mark Twain put it about newspaper reports that he had died, reports of my death are greatly exaggerated. Reports of the final vanishing of Native Americans have always proved to be more pessimistic than accurate. In fact, one of the single most remarkable, even stunning, facts of American history is the resilience and now resurgence of Native American culture language, craft work, agriculture, religious observance, and cultural pride.

What links The End of the Trail with the TR statue group at the Museum of Natural History is an understanding, even if a somewhat melancholic one in the case of the vanishing Indian, that white Europeans and Americans were the dominant race of the world, destined to bring civilization to all the benighted indigenous people of the planet, whether in South Africa, Rhodesia, New Zealand, and the American West, whether they liked it or not, and at the end of the Gatling Gun if necessary.

It was widely thought in Roosevelts era that Native Americans could not co-exist with white civilization, at least not in any recognizable form. Frasers The End of the Trail evokes sympathy not righteousness, a post-conquest respect rather than a guilty call for attempting to undo what Helen Hunt Jackson called a century of dishonor. It may have been necessary to be ruthless in bringing about the Europeanization of North America and other waste places, as Roosevelt termed them, but it was then thought to be the burden and destiny of Anglo-Europeans and Teutonic peoples to extend the blessings of civilization to the far corners of the earth. This, certainly, was Roosevelts view and he was, in his four-volume Winning of the West, entirely unapologetic about it. The most ultimately righteous of all wars is a war with savages, he wrote. American and Indian, Boer and Zulu, Cossack and Tartar, New Zealander and Maori in each caser the victor, horrible though many of his deeds are, has laid deep the foundations for the future greatness of a mighty people.

If we want to understand the current cultural moment, we must try to understand it in the troubled context of American history.

I believe it would be a crime against art and human creativity to destroy any of James Earle Frasers sculptures. All of his work is characterized by soulfulness and generosity of spirit. Even the two Natives in the Roosevelt statue group in New York are depicted with a kind of sensual dignity. Separated from TR on horseback, they would perhaps now be regarded as beautiful and non-controversial, although the fact that the African is depicted as a gun bearer signifies his subordinate status.

Frasers art should not be lumped in with a hastily rendered statue of Stonewall Jackson thrown up in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement in the deep south to intimidate African Americans and maintain the apartheid of Jim Crow America. No fair person can look at Frasers sculpture and believe he was a deliberate racist. He was not one of those whites Martin Luther King denounced in August 1963, as vicious racists . . . lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification.

In fact, the ambivalences of Fraser and the ambiguities of his sculpture are precisely what we prize in great art. Who has ever written a definitive essay on "Hamlet" or explicated Joyces Ulysses to the satisfaction of the rest of us, or figured out precisely what is going on in an Emily Dickinson or Langston Hughes poem? Our best strategy I know I write as a white male of privilege is to remove such statues as now intensely irritate, offend, or hurt, to contextualize the ones that are in any significant way problematic, and then to place at least the best of the offensive statues in obscure rooms in our museums with plenty of critical interpretation. Iconoclasm is always a gross form of art criticism and it paints our rich, nuanced, often tragic history with a very broad and sometimes unjust brush.

If James Earle Fraser were alive today, I doubt that he would fashion the TR sculpture group as he did. He would not presume to appropriate Native American iconography to form a composite Indian for the nickel, and he would find it conceptually impossible to believe that Native Americans, some of whom have been governors and U.S. Senators, presidents of universities, great athletes, internationally revered hoop dancers and flutists, and extraordinary doctors, lawyers, CEOs, and writers, were a vanishing race.

That was then.

For more of Clay Jenkinson's views on American history and the humanities, listen to his weekly nationally syndicated public radio program and podcast The Thomas Jefferson Hour. Clay's most recent book, Bring Out Your Dead: The Literature and History of Pandemics is available at Amazon.com.

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James Earle Fraser and the Legacy of His Vanishing Indian - Governing

The GOP’s rising tide of unpopularity – The Week

One of our major political parties is going to win Texas and its 38 electoral votes in November. Spoiler alert: It is not going to be the one that has not carried the Lone Star State since 1976, despite quadrennial fantasy pieces by pundits. Democrats should also not get too carried away about the state's House delegation, which is likely to remain red for the foreseeable future.

This doesn't mean the GOP has anything to celebrate going into this fall's congressional elections. The majority Republicans enjoyed at the beginning of Donald Trump's presidency disappeared two years later, leaving them with nothing to show for it except tax cuts, i.e., the only thing the party does when it controls both houses of Congress and the presidency. A net gain of 20 seats that would return them to power in the lower chamber is well-nigh impossible. A modest shift of five or so is just about imaginable, but it's far more likely to go in the other direction.

This, one suspects, is why even in Texas they are suddenly behaving like a losing party, which is to say one that cares more about fleecing the most reliable portion of its donor base than it does about trying to win a majority. Hence the recent election of Allen West, the one-term congressman from Florida, as chairman of the Texas Republican Party. When you put a carpet-bagger who was nearly court-martialed for torture in charge of boring logistical tasks like deciding what brand of seltzer you are going to serve at official GOP events because you know he is still popular with aging Tea Party types on Facebook, you know where you are.

Meanwhile Democrats are likely to have a good year in the House even if Trump is re-elected this fall. It's difficult to imagine them passing any meaningful legislation in such a scenario, especially with the Senate likely to remain under GOP control. Instead we can look forward to Impeachment 2: Electric Boogaloo. The only question is whether the pretext for this unprecedented move will be Trump's handling of the pandemic, a throwaway line from a recently published memoir, or spurious allegations of receiving foreign assistance during the election.

What if Joe Biden wins? Even then, we should not necessarily expect the kind of midterm anti-White House backlash that has delivered the House to opposition parties during the first terms of three of our last four presidents, in 2018, 2010, and 1994 respectively. This is true for a number of reasons, but the most important is that in the long run, the math in the House, as opposed to the Senate, is not favorable to Republicans. Democrats might complain about the built-in advantage for the party of rural America in the upper chamber, but the corollary in the lower one is the reality that even in the reddest of red states, cities and suburbs are getting bluer with each election cycle. In 2018, the GOP won only a quarter of districts in which a higher than average percentage of residents had at least a bachelor's degree. As Tom Davis, the former congressman and chairman of the Republican National Committee, put it recently, the suburbs were "the base of the Republican Party just a decade and a half ago. And there just aren't enough rural voters to make up for those kind [sic] of losses. It means for the Republicans that instead of picking up seats in the House, that the bleeding could continue."

This is the real blue wave that the GOP faces, not a sudden unexpected tsunami, but a rising tide of unpopularity that will sooner or later become a bore and lead. To keep their heads above water, Republicans will either have to figure out how to retake the suburbs (which would involve, among other things, disavowing Trump when he leaves office and likely abandoning the culture-war issues that keep the party's rural white working class base going to the polls) or somehow make themselves appealing to socially conservative Black and Hispanic voters.

My guess is that they are going to keep getting wet.

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The GOP's rising tide of unpopularity - The Week

Hope Mars probe is headed for the red planet after picture perfect launch – CNET

A history-making launch for the UAE.

The United Arab Emirates has taken a historic first step to interplanetary exploration, with the launch of the Arab world's first mission to Mars. The Hope, or Al Amal, spacecraft departed Earth from Tanegashima, Japan, with an assist from a Mitsubishi rocket booster on Sunday afternoon, shortly before 3 p.m PT.

As with all rocket launches, it started with a countdown. But like many aspects of the mission, the countdown was also history-making. The final 10 seconds prior to launch were broadcast in Arabic for the first time. The mission was not without its hiccups earlier in the week, when weather in Japanforced the launch to be delayed twice. And a bigger issue plagued the development of Hope: the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic hovered over the mission.

"The pandemic was not something we had in the program," Fahad Al Mehri, executive director of the space sector at the UAE space agency, said during a live broadcast. "It's not something we could engineer ourselves around."

But the pandemic became but a lingering thought and the skies cleared for launch on Sunday. At 2:58 p.m. PT/1:58 a.m. UAE time Monday, the Mitsubishi rocket booster made its picture perfect departure from the Tanegashima Space Center.

"Just before the launch, there was pin drop silence," Faraz Javed, a reporter at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, saidduring a live broadcast. "Once the rocket took off there were cheers, there was joy -- I actually even saw people crying."

From the lab to your inbox. Get the latest science stories from CNET every week.

The rocket punched through the blue to the upper layers of the atmosphere, and the first stage boosters separated cleanly. At around 3:55 p.m. PT, the Hope probe separated from the Mitsubishi rocket booster to light applause from the launch center in Japan. The separation placed the car-sized probe into a transfer orbit that will now carry it around 500 million kilometers (310 million miles) to the red planet.

Provided the journey is a smooth one, the probe will arrive at Mars in about seven months and shortly after, begin its first observations.

The spacecraft is destined to take up residence in Mars orbitto "study the dynamics in the Martian atmosphere on a global scale, and on both diurnal and seasonal timescales," according to the UAE Space Agency's Emirates Mars Mission website. The probe is also equipped to take high-resolution photos of the red planet.

While large agencies like NASA, the European Space Agency and Roscosmos tend to hog the limelight, the UAE Space Agency is helping show that there's room for smaller programs to make a mark on space exploration.

Hope is one of several missions aiming to launch within a window of opportunity when Earth and Mars are in optimal positions in relation to each other. NASA hopes to follow suit with its Perseverance rover at the end of July, while China is also set to send off its own orbiter and rover in the Tianwen-1 mission later this month.

If these missions move ahead as scheduled, then it will be a busy February for Mars watchers. Hope has earned the distinction of being the first of the three to start the epic journey.

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Hope Mars probe is headed for the red planet after picture perfect launch - CNET

Liverpool will soon have another pressing need, and Naby Keita’s replacement heads possible recruits – Liverpool.com

Jurgen Klopp famously once said that "no playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation.

Pressing has gone hand in hand with the German manager ever since he took over at German club Mainz with an evolution of how he likes his team to play at both Borussia Dortmund and now Liverpool.

While the quality of his sides has grown exponentially throughout his managerial career, Klopps teams have always delivered on the promise of intense pressing from the front.

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino have done so to great avail in recent seasons and the latters place inside the top 20 of successful pressures across Europes top five leagues in 2019/20 showcases that.

According to Statsbomb data, via FBRef, the Brazilian ranks 20th for successful pressures with a total of 209 this season. The metric measures how many times a player regains possession within five seconds of applying pressure to the opposition. This is for a side who are the fifth most successful in Europe's top five leagues in terms of percentage, as well as the best in the Premier League.

While the complexion of Klopps squad could change in terms of creativity over the coming seasons, there will always be the desire to press. Firmino is now 28 and, although there is no sign of his influence waning, any attempt to replicate that sort of quality in the future will rely upon finding those who are adept at the pressing game. That might come in the mould of a striker, or further back.

To examine efficient pressers that Liverpool could be looking at in the coming years, we run the rule over three of the best across Europes top five leagues.

Wout Weghorst (Wolfsburg)

The Wolfsburg striker leads the line for the Bundesliga side, who are one of the few clubs more successful at pressing than Liverpool across Europe.

He ranks as 15th highest for successful pressures this season with a total of 213 which is mightily impressive when you consider other players higher than him on the list tend to include midfielders.

Only a handful of strikers rank higher than Weghorst in terms of successful pressures which shows how effective he is at winning the ball back in key attacking areas. The 26-year-old ranks top in terms of pressure applied in the final third with 403 in total and he could be an interesting option for Liverpool.

What those statistics dont outline is the fact that Weghorst is a sizable figure at 6ft6 and may be viewed as an alternative option for Liverpool off the bench.

Divock Origi is currently the tallest player in the Reds attack but he isnt necessarily an aerial presence and a combination of Weghorsts pressing capabilities and extra height would be a fascinating proposition. He is 27, which works against him, but this is only his eighth campaign of senior football due to breaking through later.

Danny Ings (Southampton)

Ings goal-scoring record this season has led to some Liverpool fans opening up the question of whether or not he could be set for a return to Anfield.

However, past his impressive goal return, the 27-year-old presents an interesting option from a pressing point of view too.

Ralph Hasnehuttls intense pressing system on the south coast has seen them undertake a remarkable turnaround this season and it wouldnt be unrealistic to say that Ings ticks a number of boxes. The likelihood of him returning to Anfield remains minimal, but the fact he ranks 13th for successful pressures this season - no centre forward ranks higher than Ings.

Like Weghorst, he is 27, but has missed several years of his career due to unfortunate injuries sustained at Liverpool. He is now over those and is among the Premier League's best strikers, and though a reunion is unlikely, Liverpool will watch his continual development at St Mary's with interest - and potentially a hint of regret.

Konrad Laimer (RB Leipzig)

One flaw in looking directly at pressing statistics right at the top of the rankings is that defenders or players in less possession-based sides tend to show up more.

However, RB Leipzigs intricate system means that Laimer is able to utilise his pressing qualities on a consistent basis. The 23-year-old ranks 2nd with 276 successful pressures this season - or 11.7 per 90 minutes - and shows the adept nature of Laimer winning possession back.

As a box-to-box midfielder, the Austrian often applies pressure in key areas from midfield and being able to do so in Klopps midfield is a key responsibility. While his technical attributes may not be at the level of Georginio Wijnaldum or Jordan Henderson, continued development for Laimer may see him become a future Klopp recruit.

Liverpool's relationship with the Bundesliga club needs little explanation, likewise with the Red Bull football group in general. Moving from RB Salzburg to Leipzig in 2017, he followed the same path as Naby Keita, and even played alongside the Guinean in Germany. A right back then - another positive, given how Klopp likes versatility - he has now essentially moved into the middle as Keita's replacement.

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Liverpool will soon have another pressing need, and Naby Keita's replacement heads possible recruits - Liverpool.com

Manchester United defender Eric Bailly rushed to hospital with nasty-looking head injury suffered in FA Cup – talkSPORT.com

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has confirmed Eric Bailly will undergo routine checks at hospital after suffering a nasty-looking head injury against Chelsea on Sunday.

The 26-year-old clashed heads with teammate Harry Maguire which forced a lengthy stoppage just before half-time in Uniteds 3-1 FA Cup semi-final defeat at Wembley.

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Maguire was patched up with a bandage, while Bailly walked off the pitch, but then required a stretcher.

He was replaced by Anthony Martial in the 47th minute as he was applauded by both sets of players.

It was Baillys second head knock in quick succession after he collided with Chelsea defender Kurt Zouma.

Solskjaer said: I hope hell be fine. I havent seen him after the game. He had a cut in the back of his head, so Ill go and see the doc afterwards.

He has gone to hospital to go through all the routine checks.

To make matters worse for United, Olivier Giroud then gave Chelsea a deserved lead as the first-half eventually finished in the 58th minute.

Mason Mount doubled Uniteds advantage a minute into the second-half when David de Gea was unable to keep out his tame long-range effort.

The Red Devils fate was then sealed as Harry Maguire turned a Marcos Alonso cross into his own net with 16 minutes remaining.

Bruno Fernandes pulled one back for United from the penalty spot late on after Martial was tripped by Callum Hudson-Odoi.

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Manchester United defender Eric Bailly rushed to hospital with nasty-looking head injury suffered in FA Cup - talkSPORT.com

The MonsterVerse Has A Titan With Even MORE Heads Than Ghidorah – Screen Rant

One of the unseen Titans in Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Yamata no Orochi, has even more heads than King Ghidorah in the MonsterVerse.

One of the unseen Titans in Godzilla: King of the Monsters has even more heads than Ghidorah in Legendarys MonsterVerse. This mysterious Titan, whose name is Yamata no Orochi, hasnt been officially revealed, but it has been confirmed that he similar to Ghidorah has multiple heads.

In Godzilla: King of the Monsters, it was discovered that the MonsterVerse is the home to a large number of Titans. Godzilla, Ghidorah, and Mothra, Rodan, and Kong are all based on existing monsters, while the rest are original to the MonsterVerse. Four of them (Scylla, Behemoth, Methuselah, and a third M.U.T.O.) all appeared in King of the Monsters as temporary minions of the The False King, Ghidorah. There were 11 more Titans as well that were woken up by Ghidorahs wide-reaching call, but none appeared onscreen. However, their names were included on monitors. Their names and locations provide clues as to the nature of these Titans and what they look like.

Related: Godzilla: Why Kong Didn't Respond To Ghidorah's Call In King of the Monsters

Yamata no Orochi, the Titan that was being kept at a Monarch outpost on Mount Fuji in Japan, is based on the legendary Japanese creature of the same name. The mythical beast is said to be a red-eyed dragon with eight heads and eight tails. Of course, this description doesnt necessarily mean that the MonsterVerses Orochi shares the same physical characteristics, butKing of the Monsters director Mike Dougherty has even confirmed in response to a fan question that the MonsterVerse version of the creature is also indeed a multi-headed monster.

This confirms that Yamata no Orochi has eight heads,but exactly what he looks like in the MonsterVerse has yet to be revealed. Hes a dragon in the legends, but he could be a totally different creature in the MonsterVerse. He could have received the Yamata no Orochi name from Monarch simply because of the location and the number of heads. Or, its possible that he is a dragon, but differs from Ghidorah in a big way. He may look a bit more like the serpent-like dragons from Asian cultures. Orochi could be one of several dragons hiding in the MonsterVerse. Furthermore, his similarities to Ghidorah open up questions about his origin. Ghidorah is an alien; is the MonsterVerse's other multi-headed Titan a visitor from another planet as well?

Its interesting to note that Ghidorah himself was inspired by the legend of Yamata no Orochi back in the 1960s. Toho has also adapted Orochi to the big screen in 1959s Birth of Japan and the 1994 monster movie, Orochi, the Eight-Headed Dragon. Its worth wondering how the MonsterVerses Orochi differs from Tohos versions and King Ghidorah. Regardless, an eight-headed monster would certainly be a sight to see in a future MonsterVerse movie. Tangling with a creature with eight heads all snapping at him at once would undoubtedly create a unique challenge for Godzilla. Alternatively, Orochi could be one of the Titans now under Godzillas control. If so, he could end up serving as a powerful ally.

More: Godzilla: How Humans Communicated With The Titans BEFORE The Orca

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Why Leonardo DiCaprio Has Never Been Cast In A Superhero Movie

Nicholas Raymond is a staff features writer for Screen Rant. He has a degree in journalism from the University of Montevallo. He is the author of the psychological thriller and time travel novel, "A Man Against the World." Nicholas' love for telling stories is inspired by his love for film noir, westerns, superhero movies, classic films, foreign cinema, and wuxia. He also has interests in ancient history. His favorite actors are Tyrone Power, Charlton Heston, and Eleanor Parker. His favorite film is Casablanca, and his favorite director is Alfred Hitchcock. He can be reached by email at cnrmail@bellsouth.net and on Twitter at @cnraymond91.

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The MonsterVerse Has A Titan With Even MORE Heads Than Ghidorah - Screen Rant

YOUR SAY: Broncos heads must be axed – Daily Mercury

SPORTS writer Peter Badel (C-M, July 18) is right.

How many times does embarrassing failure on the field have to happen before pride, arrogance and self-interests (of the top guys) are identified as the primary factors needing to be removed from the performance equation?

Poor management, unqualified administrators and unsuitable decision-makers in the Broncos club are obviously combining to prove glaringly that the existing formula is badly out of whack.

The top guys have to go.

Unfortunately that presents the task of finding better-suited replacements (which may be a challenge in itself).

But what the Broncos are now is, in truth, nothing, so how could they be worse off?

Clearly successful businessmen don't necessarily make for good sports club administrators. And good footballers are effectively nothing on the field without skilled coaches and strong leadership.

Richard K. Tiainen, Holland Park West

THE Broncos have a massive injury toll with a full forward pack injured.

It just goes to show that those who are still fit and healthy are not up to standard.

A new coach? What difference will he make?

Some players are past their use-by date and yet if the coach drops them who would take their place?

Hopefully when all players are fit, maybe there will be a turnaround.

The amount of points scored against this team just goes to show that they are tackle shy, and the coach cannot tackle for them.

Maybe the number of points scored against should equal the number of times around the oval or sprints. Maybe that would wake some of them up.

Tony Miles, Chermside

DAVID Fifita trying to make a decision whether to change clubs is a difficult one.

He must decide if the Titans are in a better position to be in the top eight this year or his loyalty to the Broncos would be a chance for him to gain a good reputation and give him multiple choices in future and most likely a chance to win a premiership.

Although the Titans aren't performing any better they look more likely to achieve this at the moment.

The Broncos need a new coaching system because Anthony Seibold is failing dismally.

There is a need to bring in an experienced coach to steady the ship.

Ben Ikin has good qualifications to replace Paul White as CEO. David Fifita might then decide to remain at Red Hill.

If the Broncos are to save their reputation they need to sack the current coach.

Arthur Ellis, Ormiston

WITH the Broncos in free fall one has to question the theory that Anthony Seibold is the problem and should be sacked to remedy the situation.

My view is the situation is more complex in that there are a number of matters that have contributed to the current mess.

Firstly, the blow torch needs to be applied to both the current administration and a core of current players.

With regard to the acquisition and retention of players, the administration, and in particular the person overseeing the roster, appear to have a lot of questions that require answering for the decisions that have been implemented.

With regard to on-field personnel, there is a core of senior players who are collecting a pay cheque under false pretences by their lack of effort on the field combined with a distinct lack of mentoring for the younger players in the team.

Correct the problems highlighted and you will go a long way to solving the problems at Red Hill.

John Forrest, The Gap

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GET OVER DISMISSAL

CHRIS Blanch (Letters, July 18) is correct that the republic cause is not advanced by rehashing the 1975 dismissal of prime minister Gough Whitlam and attacking the Queen.

This is evidenced by the backlash, in particular, by republic-supporting Liberal Party federal MPs against Australian Republic Movement chair Peter FitzSimons for doing so.

In 1975, each of the key players, governor-general John Kerr, opposition leader Malcolm Fraser and prime minister Whitlam were at fault for various reasons.

Kerr for acting precipitously and in secrecy, Fraser for pushing too hard for a dismissal with an election looming in any case, and Whitlam for failing to tell the Senate, immediately after his dismissal that he was no longer PM, allowing supply to pass under caretaker PM Fraser.

Even though the Queen was in much communication with Kerr, she was too experienced and careful to be implicated in the dismissal.

So chasing imaginary rabbits down holes left by the events of 1975 is a fruitless exercise.

Instead the focus for the republic cause are the lessons learnt from the failed 1999 republic referendum.

The first lesson is to listen to Australians on what model for a republic they desire.

A plebiscite on the models before any further referendum can ensure that the next referendum presents a model that the people desire.

The Republic of Ireland is the exemplar of how direct election of a head of state might work in a Westminster system like ours.

David Muir, chair, Real Republic Australia, Indooroopilly

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People pass a COVID warning sign while exercising in Melbourne. Picture: David Crosling

DISCIPLINE NEEDED TO BEAT VIRUS

THERE would not be one person who is not sympathetic to the coronavirus situation in Victoria.

I see and hear the media conferences daily from different people in authority and frankly the messages are becoming boring, with the same passive rhetoric each day apart from the update to statistical figures of increases or reductions in the rate of infections and those who have passed away.

All leaders are singing the same song of advice and encouragement, but the one word that is missing in every dialogue is "discipline".

In many cases, on many issues in our lives, humans are their own worst enemy. That is the case right now.

People do listen to the message, but do they actually hear and understand the message?

Many apparently don't and think they are bulletproof.

Containment and eventual eradication will take significant time, with hopefully a vaccine to do the job, but in the meantime, everyone must commit to personal and collective discipline.

Our leaders really need to change their language a bit and be more demanding, requiring more discipline in our communities.

Les Bryant, Durack

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HOW TO CUT BORDER QUEUE

WHILE I confess to having no detailed knowledge of how border crossings into Queensland are managed it would seem simple enough to reduce the long lines and hours of wait time to have caravanners and visitors arrive at checkpoints between 10am and 3pm.

Outside of those hours should be reserved for local business traffic to ensure easier access to their destinations.

If you arrive before those timeframes, go to the back of the line.

Jeff Page, Woodhill

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CRUELTY LACKS DETERRENT

PRAISE be to columnist Kylie Lang (C-M, July 18) for highlighting a serious but neglected issue regarding abuse of animals.

Abuse occurs for a range of reasons none of which are acceptable in an ethically aware society.

As one who was an active animal welfare advocate for three decades, through the Queensland government's stakeholder collaboration process, I provided input into many pieces of Queensland legislation that were either under review or being newly developed, including Queensland's current Animal Care and Protection Act 2001. This act allows for a range of penalties for animal abuse in line with the expectations of the state's citizens.

Your columnist is correct in identifying the lack of action in assigning appropriate penalties allowable under this legislation as lying squarely with the magisterial legal system.

Penalties continue to be handed down based on long outdated precedents and it has been far too long since any magistrates had the guts to set new precedents.

This is why so little has changed and why so little works as a deterrent.

This must change not only for the sake of abused animals but for the sake of children who see abusive behaviour given a slap on the wrist.

Cynthia Burnett, Graceville

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Join the conversation. Send your letters to couriermail.com.au/letters or email to letters@couriermail.com.au

Originally published as Broncos heads must be axed

Continued here:

YOUR SAY: Broncos heads must be axed - Daily Mercury

Scott Aukerman & Adam Scott give up on Red Hot Chili Peppers podcast after first episode, switch to Talking Heads – Brooklyn Vegan

Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott first went through the full discography of U2 with podcast U Talkin' U2 To Me?, then they moved on to R.E.M. for a new podcast, R U Talkin R.E.M. Re: Me? Both were fun, silly, made with genuine affection for the groups, and massively, sometimes maddeningly digressive (in a fun and silly way).

For their third band discography podcast, they announced last week that they would be tacklingRed Hot Chili Peppers. A controversial choice, both Scotts noted in the first episode, and it became quickly apparent that neither of them seemed that into it. (This also didn't seem like a "bit.") Unlike on the U2 and R.E.M. podcasts, which devoted a show to every album, they tackled RHCP's (not very good) first two albums (1984's Andy Gill-produced self titled, and 1985's George Clinton-produced Freaky Styley), they skipped a lot of tracks, and by the end of the episode you could tell they were wondering if they made a mistake.

Apparently they did, as the second episode of R U Talkin RHCP RE: Me? appeared this morning, still with the Blood Sugar Sex Magic-homage podcast image, but with an odd episode title: "77". (Episodes are named after the album they're discussing.) Things start off normal as they get ready to talk about RHCP's (pretty good) 1987 album The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, when they both start talking about how they wish they'd picked Talking Heads instead.If you've listened to theirpodcasts before, you know they are prone to a ton of total digression sub-podcasts (like "I Love Films"), so when Scott and Adam suddenly switch to "U Talkin' Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head?" you wonder if it's another joke. But it stays Talking Heads for the rest of the podcast as they, clearly impromptu, discuss the band's debut album, 77. "Adam, I gotta say I'm happy we did this," Aukerman says at the end of the episode, with Adam replying "Me too...and I think we should see this one through."

UPDATE: The title has officially changed to U Talkin' Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head and the logo is now a riff on Remain in Light's album cover.

You can listen to the episode below.

See more here:

Scott Aukerman & Adam Scott give up on Red Hot Chili Peppers podcast after first episode, switch to Talking Heads - Brooklyn Vegan

Tweed Heads: Appeal to find 12-year-old Aaliyah Winnett – NEWS.com.au

Police are calling for public help to find a 12-year-old girl who went missing from a home in NSWs far north coast.

Aaliyah Winnett was last seen leaving a property on Blue Waters Cres, Tweed Heads West, on July 7.

Police say family had been in contact with her via mobile phone since then but she failed to return home and was reported missing to officers from the Tweed-Byron Police District on July 16.

Police have since launched an investigation into her whereabouts, and both authorities and family have concerns for her welfare.

Aaliyah is described as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander appearance, between 150 and 160cm tall, of thin build, with long brown hair and green eyes.

She was last seen wearing a white T-shirt, black jumper with a grey pattern, grey tracksuit pants with a red and blue stripe and black Vans sneakers.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Read more:

Tweed Heads: Appeal to find 12-year-old Aaliyah Winnett - NEWS.com.au