F1 odds, picks, preview: Max Verstappen heads to one of his best tracks for Austrian Grand Prix – The Athletic

Max Verstappen already has a sizable lead at the top of the Formula One driver standings. Now he heads to a race that he has owned in recent years, a place where his team literally does own the track.

After a rough race for Verstappen last week at Silverstone, he is back as the favorite to win the Austrian Grand Prix. Ferrari snapped a six-race win streak for Red Bull, but both championships remain in the hands of Verstappen and Red Bull. Verstappen is -400 to win the championship on BetMGM, while Red Bull is -500. Safe to say, both remain significant favorites despite his seventh-place finish in England.

This weekends schedule features the return of the sprint race. Austria was not one of the venues to host a sprint race last year. Interlagos in Brazil, the penultimate grand Prix this season, will host the third and final sprint race of 2022.

Red Bull Ring

Spielberg, Austria, has been host to F1 races in its current configuration since 1997. Red Bull bought the circuit in 2011 and renamed it.

Verstappen has four wins in the past six races held at the Red Bull Ring, including two dominant wins last season. The high altitude seemed to help the Red Bull car last year. The thin air and potential for high temperatures can make it a taxing track for cars.

This circuit has been a familiar staple in the past two seasons as it hosted doubleheaders in 2020 and 2021 while F1 scrambled to find host tracks during the pandemic.

Its one of the shorter circuits on the F1 calendar at just under 2.7 miles (4.3 km). Its also one of the wonkier qualifying tracks, which is why the addition of the sprint race makes sense. Getting a tow from the car in front can be very powerful, which leads to traffic jams and jockeying for position as no one wants to complete a qualifying lap without the tow. That may still be an issue, but it will be Fridays problem and not be the sole factor in determining the starting order for the race.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

181

Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

147

Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

138

Carlos Sainz Jr. (Ferrari)

127

George Russell (Mercedes)

111

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

93

Lando Norris (McLaren)

58

Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

46

Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

39

Fernando Alonso (Alpine)

28

All the main contenders gained some ground on Verstappen at Silverstone, but his lead is still solid. Lower down the top 10, Fernando Alonso has now scored points in five straight races. Only Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton have longer active point streaks.

Formula One constructor standings

Red Bull

328

Ferrari

265

Mercedes

204

McLaren

73

Alpine

67

Alfa Romeo

51

AlphaTauri

27

Haas

20

Aston Martin

18

Williams

3

Ferrari chipped away at Red Bulls massive lead for the second straight race, but its still a 63-point lead for Red Bull. Things would have to change drastically for this to be a competitive championship soon.

Mercedes has six podiums in 10 races, including third-place finishes in the last three grand Prix. Mercedes also has 18 points out of 20 starts, most of the 10 teams in the field. However, the German team doesnt have a top-two finish yet.

Max Verstappen

-125

Charles Leclerc

+250

Sergio Perez

+900

Carlos Sainz Jr.

+900

Lewis Hamilton

+1000

George Russell

+1600

Lando Norris

+10000

Fernando Alonso

+10000

After winning in England, Sainz is now level with Sergio Perez in the odds for Austria. Lewis Hamilton is 10-to-1 for the second straight week, showing confidence in Mercedes improvement compared to earlier in the season.

Charles Leclerc is a co-favorite with Verstappen to take pole position (both +125), but Verstappen is a solid favorite to win the race. Unless something shifts in performance, this will likely be the case for the foreseeable future. Leclerc has six pole positions to Verstappens two, and Ferrari has seven poles to Red Bulls three.

Jordan BianchiandJeff Gluck, motorsports reporters forThe Athletic, have more on the Austrian Grand Prix with predictions and some discussion about the state of the F1 season.

Max Verstappen has won four of the last six races in Austria. If he doesnt win this weekend, does it open the window for someone to come back in the championship?

Gluck: Regardless of whatever happens this weekend, it feels like Verstappen has about an 80 percent chance of winning the title. Im completely making up that number, but the point is it feels highly likely given his speed, championship experience and the drivers hes going up against. Id say theres a 10 percent chance of Verstappen being bested by Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez (which would take a combination of Perezs consistency and some disastrous finishes by Verstappen) and a 10 percent chance of Charles Leclerc overcoming his bad breaks and Ferraris questionable decisions to reel off a bunch of wins suddenly. But this is still Verstappens championship to lose as the halfway point approaches.

Bianchi: Regardless of where Verstappen finishes in Austria, the championship is his to lose. His performance and Red Bulls reliability would need to plummet for him not to take the championship for a second consecutive year. Sure, this could potentially happen. However, the percentage is so low it feels almost inconceivable that it could materialize.

Was Carlos Sainzs win a sign of things to come for him or just a random one-off he was able to take advantage of?

Gluck: A lot of things had to happen for Sainz to win, including Verstappen running over debris that got lodged underneath his car and a poorly timed safety car for Leclerc (combined with Ferraris decision to pit Sainz instead of the race leader). But on a typical weekend, Sainz should head into each race with the fourth-best chance to win behind Verstappen, Leclerc and Perez.

Bianchi: Sainz has been close to winning before, so its hard to think this was some kind of fluke, especially considering he drives for Ferrari and the teams speed this year. But we also must acknowledge that a lot had to fall in Sainzs favor to get that win, including Ferrari again hurting Leclercs chances by employing questionable pit strategy. (Yes, very shocking.) Few would be surprised if Sainz wins again this season, but that hes also not as consistently strong as his teammate or both Red Bull drivers means he likely again need some help.

Were almost halfway through the season, and Red Bull (7) and Ferrari (3) have combined to win every race. Will another team get even one win this season?

Gluck: Even in a season that was dominated by Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton last year, you still saw the sort of out-of-nowhere victories by Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Daniel Ricciardo (McLaren). All it takes is some crazy wreck among the leaders or an oddly-timed safety car to shake things up. I dont think the whole season will go by without someone else winning, especially given Mercedes recent progress in solving their bouncing issues.

Bianchi: During some race, something will happen that opens the door for an unexpected winner to emerge. Where that happens and whos the benefactor is anyones guess. Maybe Lando Norris catches a lucky break, or Fernando Alonso turns the speed hes flashed in qualifying into sustained speed during a race? Or perhaps Mercedes continues to make performance gains, allowing Lewis Hamilton and/or George Russell to break the Red Bull-Ferrari stranglehold.

Picks for the Austrian Grand Prix

Gluck: Austria is as close to a short track as F1 gets, with lap times barely over one minute (and only 10 corners, the fewest on the circuit). That seems to suit Verstappen, who already has an all-time best four victories at the Red Bull Ring, and its pretty hard to pick against him for No. 5 (despite Leclerc being a co-favorite in the odds). Verstappen might not get a pole, but hell probably win another race at Red Bulls home track.

Bianchi: The appropriately named Red Bull Ring is Verstappens best track, having finished on the podium six times in the past eight races, a stretch that includes scoring a circuit-best four wins. A replay of what he twice did last year on this track seems likely on Sunday, where Verstappen wins the pole and then goes flag-to-flag in the race. He wins the grand prix in a route.

Friday

Practice 1 7:30 a.m. ET/12:30 p.m. GMT

Qualifying 11 a.m. ET/4 p.m. GMT

Saturday

Practice 2 6:30 a.m. ET/11:30 a.m. GMT

Sprint 10:30 a.m. ET/3:30 p.m. GMT

Sunday

Race 9 a.m. ET/2 p.m. GMT

(Top photo: David Kirouac-USA Today)

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F1 odds, picks, preview: Max Verstappen heads to one of his best tracks for Austrian Grand Prix - The Athletic

Opinion: Summertime, and the readin’ is easy – Appen Media

That was the subject line for an email I sent my newsletter subscribers, followed by the line With apologies to Ella Fitzgerald and Sam Cooke. For me, theres something special about sitting on the screened porch with a book. My preferred spot is on my glider with the cat sprawled on the bamboo rug and the birds chirping. The occasional buzz of hummingbird wings is a bonus.

Check out my latest reading selections. Perhaps youll choose to escape to England or Greece via books as I recently did. So, as we say in the South, Come sit a spell.

Thats Not English, by Erin Moore

As an American who writes cozy mysteries set in England, I picked up this book in the hopes I would find some new Britishisms to use in my books. I found that and so much more. I laughed aloud at many of the explanations of what words mean in England vs. here in the USA.

It was perfect timing that I discovered Brits call personal trainers fitness coaches, as I was using that term in the book I was writing. The oddest thing I learned was that gingers or red-heads, as Americans call them are bullied and taunted in England. A journalist once asked, "Should ginger-bashing be considered a hate crime?"

Fun facts:

In England, homely describes something thats cozy and comfortable.

In America, scrappy is a compliment "that carries the connotation of the underdog." In England, it means "untidy or poorly organized."

This book may become as vital to me as my thesaurus!!

Mykonos after Midnight, by Jeffrey Siger

I've long been a Jeffrey Siger fan, and I picked up the first in this series years ago before a visit to the Greek islands. The descriptions of the scenery are very true to life and set beside the descriptions of the politics and machinations of the government, sometimes jarring. Such is Greece.

Because I've sailed the islands twice, I always enjoy seeing scenes set on the ones I visited. Siger's descriptions of Delos, Syros and Mykonos, for example, are well done. And, he always sprinkles in bits of history which I appreciate. Siger lives on Mykonos, so he knows his stuff.

I have noticed that as the series has evolved, there are more sex scenes. I suppose that helps the books sell to a certain audience, though I read them more for the mystery and action and the familiar characters. And of course the chance to see Greece again, if only in my mind. (So, if a bit of graphic sex is a bridge too far for you, these books will not appeal.) All of that said, I will continue to read this series, especially as I've booked a Greek cruise for this year.

There are eleven books in the series, and the first one, also set on Mykonos, is Murder in Mykonos.

Now, Im leaving Greece to return to upstate New York in A Fountain Filled with Blood, book two in the eight-book Julia Spencer-Fleming mystery series.

Award-winning author Kathy Manos Penn is a Sandy Springs resident. Find her cozy mysteries locally at The Enchanted Forest and on Amazon. Contact her at inkpenn119@gmail.com, and follow her on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/KathyManosPennAuthor/.

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Opinion: Summertime, and the readin' is easy - Appen Media

Aaron Long heads in lone goal in 1-0 Red Bulls win at Sporting KC – Last Word on Soccer

Aaron Long headed in the deciding goal for the Red Bulls 1-0 win at Sporting KC. Its their league-leading sixth road win of the season. After a tough first half in which they were outplayed, Gerhard Struber changed the system. Once that happened, the Red Bulls slowly gained momentum and eventually the goal came. On the flip side, the losses pile up for Sporting KC, and Peter Vermes who has now clinched 500 career games.

Peter Vermes makes just one change to the Sporting side that lost 3-0 at Seattle. Graham Zusi is out with a quad problem, teenager Kayden Pierre replaces him at right-back. The rest of the team remains unchanged. Veterans Roger Espinoza and Ben Sweat are on the bench. Daniel Salloi, Johnny Russell and Khiry Shelton lead the attack.

For the Red Bulls, they too make a number of tweaks to the lineup that came back to beat Atlanta 2-1. Patryk Klimala has been benched, Tom Barlow leads the attack. Luquinhas returns to the starting lineup, with Lewis Morgan and Omir Fernandez on the wings. Dylan Nealis is back from yellow card accumulation suspension and is at right back, Tom Edwards is out with an ankle issue. Serge Ngoma, last weeks hero, is on the bench.

Sporting lineup (4-3-3): Tim Melia; Andreu Fontas, Nicolas Isimat-Mirin, Logan Ndembe, Kayden Pierre; Remi Walter, Felipe Hernandez, Cameron Duke; Daniel Salloi, Khiry Shelton, (C) Johnny Russell

KC subs: John Pulskamp, Ben Sweat, Kaveh Rad, Robert Vocoder, Oriol Rosell, Roger Espinoza, Marinos Tzionis, Jacob Davis

Red Bulls lineup (4-2-3-1): Carlos Coronel; John Tolkin, Aaron Long, Sean Nealis, Dylan Nealis; Frankie Amaya, Cristian Casseres Jr; Luquinhas, Omir Fernandez, Lewis Morgan; Tom Barlow

New York subs: Ryan Meara, Juan Castillo, Cameron Harper, Steven Sserwadda, Dru Yearwood, Patryk Klimala, Serge Ngoma

An early set piece chance a minute in, for Sporting just flew over the bar by Hernandez. Another shot, from a corner kick flew just above the net by Salloi. Gerhard Struber made his first sub just 26 minutes into the game, with Cameron Harper entering for Omir Fernandez.

Sporting enjoyed much of their success down the left flank. That mightve prompted Struber to change things. Shortly thereafter, the game was halted due to a weather delay. After the half-hour wait, the action resumed.

The Red Bulls looked to have taken the lead, but Aaron Long was offside before Harper put it in the net. Russell had a great chance, with time and space to put KC into the lead. But Coronel was equal to it with a low save.No added time as the first half cameto a close. The openingstanza waslargely controlled by the home team, who did everything but score. The Russell chance was a big let-off for the Red Bulls.

Seventeen fouls committed and surprisingly, there wasnt a booking in the entire half by referee Marcos de Oliveira. Taking off Omir to change to a back-five system proved to be the right decision by Struber. Its the system the team is most comfortable with. However, New York ended the half without a shot on target, KC outshot them ten-to-three. Sporting also enjoyed a 58%-42% possession advantage, and were easily the better side in the first 45 minutes.

The second half started lively. Numerous chances at either end for both teams, eventually the breakthrough came. The Red Bulls, off a short corner, grabbed the lead. Lewis Morgan whipped in a lovely cross that found the head of Aaron Long who headed at the near post. The captains third league goal of the season.

Cameron Harper is the first player to receive a yellow card for a foul. Serge Ngoma came on for Morgan. Afterwards, the Red Bulls went down a man. Sean Nealis handled a ball with his hand near the edge of the area and was given a yellow card initially. The referee looked at the VAR monitor and declared it was DOGSO, and gave Sean a red card. He will miss the game at Cincinnati.

Tolkin was booked with a yellow card for a foul on Russell. Frankie Amaya also was issued a yellow card. Marinos Tzionis entered the match for Hernandez late in the match for Sporting. The hosts nearly equalized from a set piece but the header was cleared off the line by Tolkin. After multiple stoppages, 100 minutes passed and the Red Bulls escape with a narrow 1-0 win.

Red Bulls taste away success again. Make that now the sixth road win for the Red Bulls, most in MLS. This one was arguably the toughest, after a first half where they werent at the races. Losing Sean Nealis will sting a bit in their next game at FC Cincinnati. On another day, they couldve easily lost this game. However, this team has showed grit and toughness to overcome. They did that, and remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

Its just not going right for Sporting KC. Brutal the amount that has gone against them this season. Loss after loss, Vermes only made one substitution this game, such was how depleted the team was. They showed themselves well and shouldve taken the lead, but couldnt get an equalizer after that. Who knows when the next victory will come.

Gerhard Struber went bold, and it paid off. The tactician took off Omir Fernandez early in the game, changed the system to a back-five and it reaped the rewards. A first win at Sporting KC since October 2014, when a certain Bradley Wright-Phillips scored a brace to reach 27 regular season goals, and clinch home-field advantage in the MLS playoffs. That went well. But as for this, Struber is showcasing himself as one of the leagues best managers. Hes got a really young team flying and doing things that werent expected of them.Embed from Getty Images

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FIM Hard Enduro heads to Italy for Red Bull Abestone – TMXnews.co.uk

Pizza, pasta, and Hard Enduro! Its time for round four of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship and Italys Red Bull Abestone.

Husqvarna Factory Racings Billy Bolt holds the lead in this years championship chase as we head to the halfway point in the season.

Gearing up for its second edition, Red Bull Abestone has already become a firm favourite for Hard Enduro fans thanks to its incredible landscape, tough riding, and awesome hospitality. Nestled high up in the Tuscany mountains, its a rare treat to ride these trails on dirt bikes. From deep on the forest floor to the ear-popping mountain peaks of almost 2,000 metres, Red Bull Abestone has Hard Enduro covered from all angles.

After being successfully introduced onto the Hard Enduro calendar by experienced racer Michele Bosi, the event has grown again in stature for 2022. Taking onboard rider feedback, the event will be staged across three days, offering a strong balance of riding to suit all abilities and tastes.

Friday offers the chance for competitors to stretch their legs on the Hard Enduro training loop in the mountains. Saturday will signal the start of the racing with the JUST1 qualification. An enjoyable 15-kilometre-long course will be ridden twice in the morning (Q1) and twice in the afternoon (Q2), with the combination of the fastest lap time from Q1 and Q2 counting towards Sundays racing.

The top 30 riders will advance to the LIQUI MOLY grand final on Sunday afternoon, while those outside the top 30 race the two-hour MITAS final on Sunday morning. As an added bonus, the top 16 from the JUST1 qualification will get the chance to race in the Straight Rhythm shootout on Saturday evening.

Getting down to the business end of the weekend, all eyes will turn to the LIQUI MOLY FINAL to determine the round four winner at Red Bull Abestone. Creating a spectacular backdrop, this years start line will be at 1,953 metres above sea level at the Abetone gondola. Riders will then face two laps of a track thats 31 kilometres long. With multiple signature sections to negotiate, it is set to prove quite the workout.

At the head of the standings, the points race is incredibly close as we enter the halfway point in this years championship fight. Husqvarna Factory Racings Billy Bolt holds the upper hand over his rivals with a two point lead over Sherco Factory Racings Mario Roman, with Red Bull KTM Factory Racings Manuel Lettenbichler just a further three points behind in third.

With numerous injuries to contend with so far this season, Billy has yet to show his true form despite leading. Hungry to pocket a win, hell be aiming to repeat his Red Bull Abestone victory from 2021. Roman is already a race winner in 2022 thanks to his victory at Israels Minus 400. He was a deserving runner-up last time out at Red Bull Erzbergrodeo and will look for more glory in Italy.

Despite missing the season opener in Israel due to injury, Lettenbichler has returned to the championship swinging. Victory at both Xross Hard Enduro and Red Bull Erzbergrodeo puts him as a danger man to both Roman and Bolt. Chasing his third win on the bounce at Red Bull Abestone could also earn him the championship lead too if everything goes his way.

In the Junior class its Rigo Racings Matt Green whos proven to be the rider to beat so far. The young South African has won both Junior rounds at Xross Hard Enduro and Red Bull Erzbergrodeo, while also fighting his way into the top 10 in the overall standings. Mitchell Brightmore (Rieju) and AG Racing Team 89s Suff Sella (KTM) are second and third respectively in points and will try to close Green down in Italy.

Round four of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship takes place at Italys Red Bull Abestone on July 8-10.

1. Billy Bolt (Husqvarna) 45pts; 2. Mario Roman (Sherco) 43pts; 3. Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 40pts; 4. Alfredo Gomez (GASGAS) 34pts; 5. Wade Young (Sherco) 32pts; 6. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) 30pts; 7. Michael Walkner (GASGAS) 29pts; 8. Teodor Kabakchiev (KTM) 27pts; 9. David Cyprian (KTM) 24pts; 10. Dominik Olszowy (GASGAS) 21pts

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Amy Jackson and Beau Ed Westwick Make Heads Turn as They Walk Their First Red Carpet Together – News18

Ed Westwick, who is known for playing the character of Chuck Bass in Gossip Girl, and British actress Amy Jackson, made their relationship Instagram official earlier last month. They were seen at the 2022 National Film Awards in London recently. This was their first public appearance as a couple as well as the first time they walked the red carpet together. Looks like Chuck Bass has finally found his Blair Waldorf in real life, too.

While Ed looked dapper in a classic black tuxedo, Amy stole the show in a black dress with lace detailing. Amy and Ed reportedly started dating in December of 2021. Sources have it that the duo first met at the Red Sea Festival in Saudi Arabia.

All the rumours were confirmed after Amy posted a cozy picture of the two on Instagram.

Very recently the two were also spotted enjoying at the Wimbledon. Instagram updates shared by Ed Westwick on his birthday also suggest that Amy has been warming up to his family.

Ed had shared a photo of his grand mother and Amy from his 35th birthday party last month.

Amy, who is known in India for her roles in films like I and Singh is Bling, was previously engaged to George Panayiotou, a businessman based in London.

The pair had with great joy welcomed their beautiful son Andreas to the world in 2019. But something seemed to be off as Amy started deleting Georges pictures from her Instagram account. Later, the split between the two was confirmed.

On the other hand, Ed Westwick, who featured in movies like J.Edgar , Bone in the Throat after the end of Gossip Girl, the last being Me You Madness, has dated celebs in Hollywood. The most scandalous, however, remains his infamous so-called encounter with Drew Barrymore. Drew Barrymore and Ed Westwick were spotted and snapped making out at a Kings of Leon concert in Manhattan in September 2008.

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Amy Jackson and Beau Ed Westwick Make Heads Turn as They Walk Their First Red Carpet Together - News18

Using enough mulch is more important than what type you use: Dan Gill explains – NOLA.com

Garden columnist Dan Gill answers readers' questions each week. To send a question, email Gill at gnogardening@agcenter.lsu.edu.

I need to add mulch to my landscaping. I have used crushed pine straw in the past but find it pricey. I like the look, but budgetwise, I need a cheaper mulch. Also, is it necessary to remove the old mulch before adding the new? Ive been told that is the proper way to do it. Ruth Finley

Feel free to use a less expensive option. It is more important that you apply the mulch 2 to 3 inches thick than what type you use.

Do not remove the old mulch before spreading the new mulch. Spread the fresh mulch right over the old decaying mulch so that together the old mulch and new mulch form a layer 2 to 3 inches thick.

The layer of decomposing mulch is beneficial to the soil and the plants growing in the bed. Also, it saves you money because you don't have to add as much new mulch.

I was out of town for a week and returned to see a lot of brown stems where flowers had been on my cannas. I see no evidence that more flowers will open on the stalks with brown flowers. Should I cut the stalk off, and if so, how much? Wilma Stark

In gardening, we remove unattractive, faded flowers from our blooming plants, a process called deadheading. Yes, you may deadhead the cannas. It will make the planting look much neater and attractive.

You may do this two ways. Cut off the old flower stalk with faded flowers and seed pods back just to the first leaf.

But know that every shoot that a canna grows up from the ground blooms only once. New shoots that grow up over the summer will continue the floral display, but shoots that have already bloomed will not bloom again.

So, you also have the option of cutting a shoot that has already bloomed back all the way to the ground, removing it completely. This can be done to shoots that begin to look tired and unattractive or to thin out the growth to make room for new shoots.

Recently, I fertilized my outdoor potted plants with Miracle-Gro brand fertilizer. Several hours later, it rained hard but briefly. I was wondering if the rain likely washed the nutrients out of the soil. Judi

Im sure the rain did leach out some of the fertilizer. But the last time you watered the plants did, too. Minerals provided by soluble fertilizers are leached out of the soil and lost every time you water your container plants (or they get rained on). This is unavoidable.

Soluble fertilizers provide mineral nutrients in solution, and that makes them immediately available to be absorbed by the roots of plants. Thats a good thing. But because they are water soluble, it also means that they leach easily from the soil. That is why you need to reapply a soluble fertilizer every two weeks.

To avoid the need to fertilize containers so often, you can choose to use a slow release or controlled release fertilizer such as Osmocote or other brands. These fertilizers slowly release mineral nutrients over a long period of time. You need to apply them to containers only once at the beginning of the growing season.

Our large live oak was struck by lightning. Both sides of the trunk had bark damage. I don't know if there is anything I need to do for the tree. Phil and Sandra Van

Im so sorry to hear your old oak was struck by lightning. There is not much that can be done to help a tree that has been struck. Sometimes a struck tree will die in the months after the strike, but often they survive.

Remove (cut away) any loose bark, being careful not to pull off any bark still attached. If it survives the strike, fertilize the tree or have it professionally fertilized in February.

Ajuga makes a delightful ground cover, but it may be attacked by Southern blight.

AJUGA BLIGHT:Southern blight will attack plantings of ajuga this time of year, especially if the weather is rainy. Individual plants or whole areas of a planting will suddenly wilt and die. This disease is fairly common, and that makes the extensive use of this otherwise delightful ground cover questionable here.

HEAT STRESS: Some bedding plants may look a little stressed now. Blame the heat, both day and night. Many bedding plants (especially the tender perennials we grow as annuals) can be cut back in August. They will revive as the weather cools and provide color until November or longer.

PROTECT THE DECK: Container plants should not be placed directly onto wooden decks. The moisture underneath can damage the wood (saucers do the same thing). Boost pots off the surface an inch or two with pieces of brick or special pot supports (sometimes called pot feet) available at some nurseries and garden centers and online.

WATCH THE AZALEAS: Keep an eye out for azalea caterpillars, which are showing up on the north shore. These black and white caterpillars with red heads can virtually strip azalea bushes.

North shore gardeners should monitor their azaleas for damage and the presence of azalea caterpillars regularly. Treat with BT (Dipel, Thuricide) or spinosad these two insecticides are the least toxic choices or one of the pyrethroids, such as permethrin or bifenthrin, for quicker knock down.

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Selena Gomez Turns Heads At The Only Murders Premiere In A High-Slit Silver DressShes On Fire! – SheFinds

Selena Gomez just absolutely stunned in a sparkling silver dress with an epic high-slit while gracing the Only Murders In The Buildingred carpet premiere. The Lose You To Love Me hitmaker, 29, showed off her incredible figure at the Los Angeles event last week in a one-sleeve, glistening item from Michael Kors. The curve-hugging frock featured an waist-revealing side cut-out and high slit that flaunted her toned legs.

The Wizards of Waverly Place alum dazzled up her shimmering ensemble even more with matching silver sandal heels by Jimmy Choo and white gold diamond hoop earrings from Effy Jewelry. To complete her look, Gomez tied her long black tresses into a glamorous high ponytail, styled into elegant waves. Her gorgeous makeup consisted of a shiny silver eyeshadow, voluminous lashes, a glossy nude lip, and rosy blush along her cheekbones.

On the red carpet, Gomez spoke to reporters about the second season of her hit Hulu show, Only Murders In The Building, her character Mabel, and also shared her disgust at the Supreme Court overturning of Roe vs. Wade and urged viewers watching the premiere to head to her Instagram account for reproductive rights resources. Its about voting, Gomez said at the event. Its about getting men men needing to stand up and also speak against this issue.

She added, Its also the amount of women that are hurting. Im just not happy and I hope that we can do everything in our power to do something to change that.Later that evening, Gomez joined her co-stars Martin Short, and Steve Martin, for photos and continued to draw eyes to her stunning ensemble.

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Selena Gomez Turns Heads At The Only Murders Premiere In A High-Slit Silver DressShes On Fire! - SheFinds

Aaron Judge out of Yankees’ lineup vs. Red Sox with calf ‘soreness’ – New York Post

BOSTON Aaron Judge was held out of Thursdays series-opening, 6-5 win over the Red Sox due to lower-body soreness, Aaron Boone said specifically his calves, something the slugger has dealt with in prior seasons.

Judge said hes been dealing with the discomfort was stuff Ive been feeling for a week and said his absence was just precautionary.

The Yankees exited the victory with a 15-game edge over Boston and a 14/-game lead on the second-place Rays in the AL East, but can still hardly afford to lose Judge for an extended period of time. Both Boone and general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday they expect it to be a day-to-day situation.

The last couple nights there was tightness in his lower calf, Boone said before the game at Fenway Park. The idea is for him to be back in there [Friday]. Its not something Im overly concerned about. Its more important to get out ahead of it and make sure it doesnt turn into something big. Its not something we wanted to mess around with.

Certainly not with a sizable lead in the division and with Judge in the midst of an MVP-caliber season.

Judge added playing center field has nothing to do with the soreness.

After being given a scheduled day off Sunday in Cleveland, when he was limited to a pinch-hit appearance in a loss to the Guardians, the Yankees had an off day on Monday before Judge played both games in Pittsburgh.

Hes grinding through a lot in this half [of the season], Boone said. Well make sure its not a bigger issue. You dont want to mess with it, especially where we are in the season.

On Wednesday, Judge hit a grand slam for his MLB-best 30th homer.

With the season hes having, Judge has been at the forefront of the AL MVP conversation, along with the Angels Shohei Ohtani, and Cashman said he was pulling for Judge to win it as he potentially heads towards free agency.

Obviously, no one wants him to win the MVP more than we do, Cashman said. We want our players to be the best they can possibly be and hes standing tall. I look forward to him leading us the whole way, hopefully.

Judge had been 2-for-16 before his three-hit night in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, which included a grand slam.

Hes been as integral as anyone to the Yankees improvement over last season, and Cashman said he was happy to avoid an arbitration hearing with the star by agreeing to a $19 million deal for this season, with Judge having an opportunity to earn $500,000 in bonuses as World Series MVP and, yes, AL MVP.

Its nice to get something like that behind you, Cashman said of arbitration.

And he reiterated that there would be no public discussions of any potential extension talks between the two sides during the season, per Judges wishes.

That doesnt mean a conversation will or will not take place, the GM said.

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Aaron Judge out of Yankees' lineup vs. Red Sox with calf 'soreness' - New York Post

Comey and McCabe Audits: How Likely That They Were a Coincidence? – The New York Times

The New York Times has reported that the Internal Revenue Service gave one of its most rigorous types of audits to James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and to Andrew G. McCabe, his former deputy.

This has prompted a lot of perfectly reasonable questions, most of them variants of: What are the odds? As the article noted, the chances that two high-ranking political enemies of President Donald J. Trump were audited by pure coincidence are minuscule.

But minuscule is not zero.

If we wanted to believe this was a coincidence, how improbable would we say it was? Here, we try to estimate that probability as seriously as we can.

First, the facts: Both men were chosen for audits under the National Research Program (N.R.P.), a tiny subset of all the audits the I.R.S. performs each year. These audits scrutinize a sample of returns to gather data on tax compliance.

According to the I.R.S., there were about 5,000 such audits in 2017, 4,000 in 2018, and 8,000 in 2019 chosen from about 154 million individual tax returns each year. Mr. Comeys audit was for his 2017 tax return; Mr. McCabes was for his 2019 return.

Many aspects of the N.R.P. complicate our calculations, including the sampling methodology of I.R.S. auditors and the different years of the audits themselves. We will return to these issues later. For now, well assume all taxpayers have an equal chance of being audited and that both men were audited in 2017.

If this problem were to appear in a textbook about probability, it might read like this:

If there are 154 million marbles (the approximate number of tax returns filed each year) in a giant urn, and some small number of them are red (those representing Mr. Comey and Mr. McCabe among them), what are the chances that you will draw two or more red marbles if you randomly draw a few thousand from the urn (the number of audits in that year)?

It may sound complicated, but its a relatively well-studied problem, something many math or stats majors would encounter in their college coursework. People have already derived equations to estimate these probabilities, with names like the hypergeometric distribution, which has applications like election auditing and card counting.

We can simply enter our estimates for the number of total marbles, the number of red marbles and the number of draws, and well get a probability. If we believe there are just two red marbles that is, if we limit the exercise to only Mr. McCabe and Mr. Comey this equation yields a probability of roughly one in 950 million.

Those are considerably steeper odds than your chances of winning the Powerball. Its also an almost meaningless result. At best, its the right answer to the wrong question.

To understand why requires acknowledging an absurdity inherent in our exercise: To best estimate the likelihood of an improbable event, we must set aside the fact that we know that it already happened. (The probability that it happened is 100 percent.)

Jordan Ellenberg, a professor at the University of Wisconsin who has written books about math and reasoning, described it this way: In some counterfactual universe, what is the probability that this thing, which has already happened in our universe, happens?

It might seem odd, but the same issues come up even in probabilistic exercises as basic as flipping a coin.

If you flipped a coin 20 times, your specific sequence of heads and tails is extraordinarily rare, about one in a million, but it did happen. And some sequence of flips will always happen. Its a surprising coincidence only if thats the sequence you set out to get before flipping.

In the same way, its incorrect to narrow our search only to Mr. Comey and Mr. McCabe, because its likely wed be examining these probabilities if we learned that two other notable political enemies of an administration were audited instead of these two men.

A better question is: What is the likelihood that two or more people like Mr. Comey and Mr. McCabe would be audited over this period?

Should this group of people include any two top F.B.I. officials? Any two top Department of Justice officials? Its this framing a subjective decision rather than a factual one that most drives any probability estimate, more than any choice of statistical distribution or sampling weights.

Here is a chart of the probability our equation yields at different choices for the number of red marbles, ranging from two (Mr. Comey and Mr. McCabe and no one else) to 400 (a conservative estimate of the number of Americans Mr. Trump insulted by name on Twitter since beginning his run for the presidency).

The probability increases drastically with the choice of who should be considered a red marble alongside Mr. Comey and Mr. McCabe.

The point is not to decide on a number but to recognize that our choice of group size is what drives our answer. Although some guesses are certainly better than others, many choices are defensible.

Now lets try to narrow down something a touch more realistic, and return to some of the things we ignored in our simple interpretation of this problem.

First, the two men were not audited for the same year. By widening our scope to cover the three-year span from 2017 to 2019, our resulting probabilities increase significantly. This is straightforward: If a person has a certain chance of being audited in a given year, more years means more opportunities to be audited.

Second, we are interested only in the probability that at least two people are chosen. We will not consider the probability that the same person is picked twice; it seems unlikely given that the audits can stretch out over a year, according to Mr. Comeys account. Note that we are looking at the probability of at least two people being selected, not precisely two, since it would also be significant if three or more individuals from a group were chosen.

Finally, the I.R.S. does not select people in truly random fashion. Instead, the agency tends to select some kinds of taxpayers, including high earners, more often than others. For the 2001 tax year, the N.R.P. sample included returns from people around the 90th percentile of income at about 1.7 times the rate one would expect were returns chosen independently from earnings. That rate spiked through the highest income ranks, so that people with income in the top 0.5 percent were more than 10 times as likely to be in the sample as someone closer to the median income.

We can probably assume that any group of Mr. Trumps enemies would earn more than a random sample of Americans. But we cannot realistically estimate the complete incomes of everyone in our group in every year. We also know that the I.R.S. has considered other factors in its sampling, such as the type of returns that taxpayers file, and that sampling methods can change year to year. This leaves us with little in the way of guidance for how to match the I.R.S.s methods. As such, we will leave our estimates unweighted by income. As a back-of-the-envelope exercise, if you are worried about how income affects these results, you can double the resulting probability if you think the members of a group have very high earnings, and multiply it by 10 if you think theyre extraordinarily rich.

Incorporating those choices, the table below provides some estimated probabilities depending on the group size being considered.

Alternatively, if our choices are not satisfactory, we created a simple calculator for you to make your own probabilities:

So which estimate is correct?

Most realistic outputs of this equation could accurately be described as very rare or even extraordinarily rare, yet none is proof of wrongdoing.

Its a little like the irresistible force and the immovable object, said Andrew Gelman, a professor of statistics and political science at Columbia University, when told in the abstract about this exercise. On the one hand, youre saying its completely random. On the other hand, you suspect its not.

Mr. Gelman, like every other statistician who spoke with The Times about this problem, said the biggest hurdle was not any of the details but defining the question itself.

When we try to calculate the probability of a given event because we suspect it may not be random, we end up in the complicated position of trying to imagine how we would have predicted the likelihood of the event before it happened, said David Spiegelhalter. He heads the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at the University of Cambridge, an organization dedicated to improving the way quantitative evidence is used in society.

The math is easy, he said, but formulating the question is tricky, bordering on meaningless, in large part because of how hard it is to pin down the group we care about.

Whats the chance of this happening? is an easy statement to make, he said. Its a familiar statement to make. But, actually, its a very difficult question to answer.

Math has its limits. The point of trying to estimate a probability such as this one, Mr. Gelman said, is not to put too much stock in the numbers, but to let the result push you to find out more.

In this case, the best question is not one with an answer you can look up in a statistics textbook.

Instead, Mr. Gelman said, the question to pose is: Whats going on?

Matthew Cullen contributed reporting.

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Comey and McCabe Audits: How Likely That They Were a Coincidence? - The New York Times

E3 2023 Will Return Headed by PAX Organizer With Promise of Titanic AAA Reveals – PlayStation LifeStyle

ReedPop, the production company behind PAX, will be bringing back E3 2023 in partnership with the ESA (Entertainment Software Association). The veteran event host, also in charge of New York Comic Con and Star Wars Celebration, promises that next years E3 will be a week of titanic AAA reveals and earth-shaking world premieres. This news lends more credence to the ESAs prior statement that E3 2023 would have an in-person event.

Unlike the past several E3 showcases which were either cancelled or only had a digital version of the event, ReedPop plans E3 2013 to keep the digital showcase along with in-person consumer components, according to a press release. Lance Fensterman, President of ReedPop, is excited to be able to give E3 a much-needed comeback:

Its a tremendous honor and privilege for ReedPop to take on the responsibility of bringing E3 back in 2023. With the support and endorsement of the ESA, were going to build a world-class event to serve the global gaming industry in new and broader ways than we already do at ReedPop through our portfolio of world-leading events and web sites.

Kyle Marsden-Kish, ReedPop Global VP of Gaming, will lead the team responsible for the E3 2023 and promises that it will be recognizably epic and a return to form that honors whats always worked. ESA President Stanley Pierre-Louis is looking forward to having ReedPops assistance with its world-class talent and a keen understanding of the video game industry.

While its unclear if E3 2023 will be open to the public, media registration for the event will start in late 2022. ReedPop will provide more information on the events schedules, exhibitors, and travel guides at a later date.

These past few years, numerous publishers and developers have established relationships withGeoff Keighleys Summer Game Fest, which is also planning a larger in-person event in 2023, while E3 has been absent or diminished due to the pandemic and other reasons. So it will require quite an effort from ReedPop and ESA to revitalize the former premier video gaming event in the year, but it appears that E3 2023s return is more credible than before.

In other news, Rockstar Games admits that Red Dead Online will be affected by GTA 6 development, and the November God of War release date is best for team to avoid crunch.

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E3 2023 Will Return Headed by PAX Organizer With Promise of Titanic AAA Reveals - PlayStation LifeStyle

Red Sox SP Chris Sale Expected to Return from Rib Injury for Tuesday Start vs. Rays – Bleacher Report

The wait for Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale's season debut could end soon.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters that Sale is set to pitch Tuesday "somewhere" as he makes his return from a rib injury that has kept him out for the first few months of the season.

Cora added, "Theres a good chance hell pitch with us."

Sale made a rehab start for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox on Wednesday in a 4-2 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. The 33-year-old allowed five walks, three hits and one unearned run while notching five strikeouts in 3.2 innings.

After exiting the game, Sale apparently wasn't happy with his performance as he had an angry outburst in the clubhouse tunnel. On Thursday, Sale apologized for what he called a "seven-year-old temper tantrum" and added he "acted like an idiot" during the incident.

A seven-time All-Star, Sale was once the ace of Boston's pitching staff. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020 and missed the entire pandemic-shortened season. He returned to the mound in August 2021, posting a 5-1 record with a 3.16 ERA and 52 strikeouts in nine starts.

Sale looked poised for a bounce-back season in 2022, but he suffered a stress fracture in his rib cage in March that has kept him sidelined.

The Red Sox got off to a slow start this season, but they have since righted the ship and are tied for second in the AL East with a 45-37 record. A return by Sale is sure to benefit the team as the second half of the season approaches.

Boston begins a four-game series against the rival New York Yankees on Thursday at Fenway Park and then heads to Tampa on Monday for four games against the Rays.

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Red Sox SP Chris Sale Expected to Return from Rib Injury for Tuesday Start vs. Rays - Bleacher Report

Willow Crossing Trail, Coconino National Forest: How to find it – The Arizona Republic

Mare Czinar| Special for The Republic

Tucked into a sliver of space in the canyon-addled watershed of West Clear Creek, Willow Valley is a calm oasis of green in awater-carved landscape.

Within the shallow canyon, a sketchy trail known as Willow Crossing descends from an airy plateau littered with toppled trees from past wildfires, wildflower meadows and a smattering of tall pines into a narrow canyon with a totally different character.

Bound by chalky limestone walls chiseled into layer-cake-like formations, the ecozone inside the miniMogollon Rim gorge transforms from a sunny, lightly wooded mesa into a jungle of greenery.

This tiny Eden isnt easy to find or follow, but careful explorers are rewarded with many surprises.

Near Payson: This hike is a not-too-tough way to reach the East Verde River

A series of rough dirt roads near Clints Well in Coconino National Forest northeast of West Clear Creek Wildernesslead to a barely-there trailhead. Four-wheel drive is recommended.

To pick up the historic route, follow the old barbed wire fence to a gate near the edge of the canyon. Pass the gate (close it behind you) and pick up the obvious path leading downhill.

Near Sedona: This favorite hike has flowers and iconic red-rock formations

As the short, rocky trail descends among hairy stands of common mullein that can sprout corn-like shoots to over 6 feet high, riparian vegetation closes in on the trail.

Gambel oaks, boxelder, New Mexico locust and a tangle of the eponymous willow trees clutter the slopes. Where the trail bottoms out at a drainage, look for water-loving wildflowers and shrubs like larkspur, wild roses and red-osier dogwood.

Like all crossing trails on the Rim, this one hops the drainage and heads up to the opposite lip of the canyon. In between the rims, the hikes signature attraction stands nearly obscured by tree cover and wild grapevines woven among thickets and boulders.

A delicate natural arch carved from the canyons sedimentary rock walls forms a fragile bridge over a fold in the disintegrating wall, revealing a glimpse of sky and ponderosa pines 400 feet above.

Length: 2-3miles round trip.

Rating: Moderate.

Elevation:6,400-6,800 feet.

Getting there:From Payson, go north on State Route 87 to Lake Mary Road (County Road 3). Turn left and go northto Forest Road 81 (past mile marker297). Turn left and go3.1 miles to FR81E. Set your odometer, thengo left on FR 81E for 1.14 miles to FR 9366M an easy-to-miss, unmarked dirt road on the left. Go 0.5 mileon FR 9366M to a cattle guard and gate. The trailhead is just past the gate on the left near the generic trailsign and rock cairns. A high-clearance vehicle is recommended.

Details:Coconino National Forest,https://www.fs.usda.gov/coconino.

Read more of Mare Czinar's hikes athttp://arizonahiking.blogspot.com.

Support local journalism. Subscribe to azcentral.com today.

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Willow Crossing Trail, Coconino National Forest: How to find it - The Arizona Republic

OPINION: The legislature heads home now what? – The Richmond Observer

The North Carolina General Assembly brought its 2022 short session to a close last week. Well, at least, it kinda, sorta did.

Unlike in decades gone by in which the legislature generally adjourned in early summer, not to return until the following year, the current leadership on Jones Street prefers to keep the states supposedly part-time lawmakers yo-yoing back and forth to the state capital. And so it is that the adjournment resolution approved by both houses last week calls for senators and representatives to return to Raleigh for a series of mini-sessions that will take up at least part of each of the six months remaining in the year.

As for what legislators will do during those half dozen forays back into the Legislative Building, the resolution lists a number of possibilities, including consideration of gubernatorial vetoes, so-called conference reports on bills that have been at issue between the two houses, and rather ominously, any bills relating to election laws. Those who have followed the General Assembly in recent years are well aware that resolutions like this serve more as guideposts than hard and fast restrictions.

As a practical matter, lawmakers will consider whatever Republican leaders want to consider and think they have the votes to pass. And this could be bad news, good news, or both.

Among the most worrisome possibilities is that leaders will once again renew their decade-long commitment to partisan gerrymandering and voter suppression. Buoyed by the U.S. Supreme Courts deeply disturbing announcement last week that it will consider their frightening argument that state courts should be powerless to review the election law decisions of state legislatures, it seems at least plausible that Republican leaders will try at some point to pass some new limits on voting, and perhaps, even try to rearrange the states congressional district maps to provide House Speaker Tim Moore with his long-coveted congressional district.

In the hope springs eternal department, it seems there remains at least a chance that the legislature could revisit Medicaid expansion in order to, at long last, close the states yawning health insurance coverage gap. While Senate and House Republicans remained at loggerheads at last report on the specifics of what should and should not be included in such legislation, its clear that they continue to inch, ever so slowly and painfully, in the right direction on this front. And now that the majority of lawmakers are on record as having endorsed some version of this widely popular concept, its hard to imagine that it will remain stuck in suspended animation for too much longer.

Sadly, however, on most other important fronts, the prospects for meaningful progress look distressingly slim.

Despite incremental headway in Washington in which North Carolinas GOP senators played an important role, passage of meaningful gun safety laws even a modest red flag bill of the kind specifically promoted by Sens. Tillis and Burr seems all but impossible.

And medical marijuana another issue on which many Republican lawmakers have experienced a welcome epiphany of late also appears stalled for the foreseeable future.

And then, of course, there is the overarching issue of state spending on core public services and structures. While Republican legislative leaders did, at almost the last minute, push through a new, secretly crafted budget bill, the proposal comes up woefully short in numerous ways.

First and foremost, despite the presence of a multi-billion-dollar reserve, the proposal fails yet again to comply with longstanding court directives in the Leandro case to adequately fund the states public schools. As veteran education policy analyst Kris Nordstrom detailed last week, the budget proposals much-ballyhooed teacher pay raises are actually more akin to cuts when one adjusts for inflation. The same is true for supposed pay increases for state employees.

And while its true that the measure, for once, includes no new regressive tax cuts that would further shift the responsibility for funding government away from rich individuals and large, profitable corporations, and onto low- and moderate-income households, this is only because multiple cuts of such an ilk were already scheduled by previous legislative action cuts that will reduce state revenues by $1.5 billion in 2023.

Now add to this that the budget bill is packed with pork spending on dozens of highly questionable items ($15 million for the ACC?!), and does little, if anything, to aid families struggling to recover from the pandemic recession, and the proposal looks maddeningly familiar.

The bottom line: Even with the modest check on their power thats provided by a Democratic governor whose vetoes they cannot currently override, North Carolina Republican lawmakers show few signs of backing off from the aggressive right-wing agenda thats marked their 11-plus years in power. And with a mid-term election looming that favors the party not in control of the White House, the chief policy question for the years second half appears to be whether North Carolinians will see more of the same or the prelude to something even more darkly ambitious.

Rob Schofield, director of NC Policy Watch, has three decades of experience as a lawyer, lobbyist, writer and commentator. Republished from NCPolicyWatch.org.

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OPINION: The legislature heads home now what? - The Richmond Observer

Visions of Jane Eyre: On Mothers, Labor, and the Places Children Hide – Literary Hub

Crying does not indicate that you are weak.Since birth, it has always been a sign that you are alive.Charlotte Brnte*

A friend of mine tells me she remembers the womb. The womb was a red room, and in it, only a mirror made of blood in a frame made of tissue in which my friend watched her face become her face.

I heard how a woman I work with witnessed her own birth (though shes well past forty), by participating in a ritual: Buddhist meditation, Native American peyote, Catholic transubstantiationwhatever it was in whatever combinationshe was shown an apparition of the red room turned inside out, the mirror made of blood shattering, the frame that held the mirror ripped to shreds.

She was terrified, also in awe. Trembling, weeping, she called her mom and said, Mom, thank you. Her mom replied, Honey, Im sorry you had to see that.

Jane Eyre was locked in a red room when she was naughty. It shared some architectural details with other red rooms, but it was into its drawers and secret crevices that Mrs. Reed stuffed remembrances, not of her children, but of her husband and her money. Weve all heard those legends about women who cram guns into their vaginas and are surprised when the guns go off. I might say the same of Mrs. Reed. By cordoning off her red room for punishment, she condemns Jane to a life of apprehension.

Looking back on her time at Gateshead Hall and in particular the red room, Jane says, The housemaid alone came here on Saturdays, to wipe from the mirrors and the furniture a weeks quiet dust. Where Jane might have found comfort, she finds divers parchments. Where she might have found a mothers heart, she finds a painted miniature. Isnt it rumored that Queen Elizabeth I carried with hereven unto her deathbeda miniature of her own criminal mother? When Jane is locked inside the red room, shes forced to recall what she doesnt remember. How horrible. For both my friend who remembered and my coworker who saw the insides of their mothers, their mothers hearts appeared as enormous as the Koh-i-Noor diamond, and as inelegantly cut.

Of course, a fetus wouldnt be able to see her mothers heart; this is what I mean when I say no memory and no vision can ever be absolutely trueat least not scientifically. The insides of our mothers bodies are the only places that are most certainly past.

From then on, from there on, every room is just an echo of that first, red room, and we drift through them as women drifted through the Great Exhibition of 1851, pausing to look at the Koh-i-Noor no matter what humble station they occupied, whether kitchen maids or schoolteachers, daughters of businessmen or bakers. They stopped and looked because that diamond was a prize theyd never get their fingers on, or get on their fingers. Or wear on their heads. Or sparkling at their throats. That diamond is a memento of underground transformation, unseen processes proving theres still mystery abroad, but to own it requires the luck of a good birth.

After the exhibition was over, Prince Albert hired a jeweler to recut the Koh-i-Noor into sixty-six facets, and in the process a large percentage of the diamonds caret-count was lost. He was frustrated by that fact, but he softened when he saw the Koh-i-Noor nestled inside the queens brooch, and how what it lacked in heft it gained in light refraction. A mothers heart, over time, is bowdlerized to meet the latest fashion.

The Great Exhibition of 1851 left in its wake a cache of oddities with nowhere to go. These days, call an artist after the show and shell come fetch her paintings. Naturally, the British refused to telegraph India and tell it to come get its sovereignty. So, in order to house unclaimed artifacts, new museums were built across Londona project spearheaded by Prince Albert himself, whose crowning achievement would become the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.

In Bethnal Green another building went up, first as a matter of storage and later as means of educating the neighborhoods working poor. Its black-and-white tile floors were made by women prisoners in Eppingthe fish-scale motif meant to give wayward female inmates a sense of purpose and pride, and to delight, even hypnotize, museumgoers into a state of intellectual curiosity.

But many of these criminal women were mothers and sometimes fudged the pattern, until, well into the 20th century, the Bethnal Green Museum was renamed the Museum of Childhoodnot a childrens museum in the way we understand it (STEM activities, interactive exhibits) but a museum about childhood.

Childhood to the English must be sad. There are objects in this museum that existed before childhood existed. But even before childhood existed, people must have considered how their offspring liked dolls, and how those dolls liked little houses. They must have discovered how their offspring liked to play at things like tea parties and matrimony, meanness and profiteering. They considered their offsprings affinity for daydreams, aliases, and alliances. One child, for example, made his mother wake him twice each morning. The first time he would be himself, and the second time hed be a fairy child lost in the wood. The mother grew exasperated after months of this, and so employed an automaton-mother to take over, thus saving time and psychic energy.

This mother is now on display at the Museum of Childhood, along with a picture book in which Circle, Square, and Triangle are playing hide and seek. Circle tells the others not to hide behind her waterfall, but Triangle is a rule-breaker and hides there anyway. When Circle searches for Triangle, she encounters another shape in the darkness, an unknown shape that must be conjured by her imagination, and soif were being honestthe conjuring of a shape out of perceived darkness is just another way of saying I own you.

II. I Shall Rise Again

We might say these are my children or this is my country, but in saying so were only fooling ourselves. In another heartbreaking act of foolishness, a woman in Korea, through the magic of virtual reality, was able to see her dead child again.

In the mothers VR goggles, her daughterwho died of leukemia in 2016had only been in a park, crouching behind a camphor tree. Now she materializes, leaving off her long game of hide-and-seek. Wasnt it Marianne Moore who said poetry is imaginary gardens with real toads in them? If neither the girl nor the park is real, then the camphor must bethe camphor tree behind which the imaginary girl hides. But the girl used to be a real girl, and this is the scope of her mothers poetry:

Mom, where have you been? she asks. Ive missed you a lot. Have you missed me?

I dont know whether the game is played solely in the park, or if it moves inside, into a house, maybe the very house where the mother and daughter lived together, or maybe some other housethe palace little girls dream about, filled with enough rooms for a most sumptuous game of hiding and seeking: wardrobes, attics, off-limit wings. She might hide inside a red room.

She might tiptoe barefoot down a back stair, get lost in a box of very old things, never to be heard from again, only to rise again, now in Jane Eyres Lowood School, built to accommodate perspicuous observation but, against all odds, allowing for fine, shimmering secrets like silkworms in a lacquered box. Just out of sight, around corners, hidden inside the high rhetoric of religious obedience, in the shadowy oligopticon of Lowoods communal bedroom, girls have their private visions, especially Jane Eyre herself who

wandered as usual among the forms and tables and laughing groups without a companion, yet not feeling lonely: when I passed the windows, I now and then lifted a blind, and looked out.

I remember the tumult of school. I was meant to be formed by teachers scrutiny, but really it was the diagonal looks, the trapezoids of laughing groups, notes passed surreptitiously in the shifting hierarchy children build, that gave me my shape, that and occasional glimpses out windows; through them, the scenes diegesis becomes a collection of disconsolate images, my bored, sullen reflection pasted onto snow grassstreet, whatever world it is. No wonder I turned to poetry.

And the oligopticon is poetrys friend, for unlike the panopticon it resists absolute surveillance, offering a space where not everything can be seen, but what can be seen is seen at close range: girlhood friendships, puberty, death, the mingling of social classes, democratic exchange. At Lowood, Jane Eyre sees the minute details of disease, malnutrition, abuse, hears conversations unspool themselves in doublespeak, learns to play hide-and-seek.

The oligopticon is French sociologist Bruno Latours term, coined in 2005 to describe the smaller, intimate spaces inside which larger systems are reified. The oligopticon seems to me an opportunity for both submission and resistance; if, for instance, Lowoods intention is to solidify longstanding notions about the spiritual fragility of children generally and lower-class female children specifically, its administration will look for and find that fragility.

If, instead, the girls themselves want to see spiritual bravery, then theyll see it, if only in a very small, three-inch-long mirror, for example. If they want to see a girls capacity to learn, to demonstrate complexity of thought, strength of character, then theyll see that too, and, little by little, connections, however tremulous, will be made. Little by little, the master narrative will change.

Its inside the oligopticon that Jane witnesses Helen Burnss deathnot just witnesses but absorbs it, hugging it close to her own body. This is Helen Burns who

looks as if she were thinking of something beyond her punishment beyond her situation: of something not round her nor before her. I have heard of day-dreamsis she in a day-dream now? Her eyes are fixed on the floor, but I am sure they do not see ither sight seems turned in, gone down into her heart: she is looking at what she can remember, I believe; not at what is really present.

Poor Jane. Shes only just heard of day-dreamswhat my daughter calls the thing she does at night to put herself to sleep, the seeing-and-not-seeing she engages in. But engages is not really the right wordits more passive than that, like looking out a window onto a snowy street and letting the eyes cross slightly, lose focus.

After Helen dies, after Jane is lifted, weeping and brokenhearted, from the bed they shared, she tells us,

Her grave is in Brocklebridge churchyard: for fifteen years after her death it was only covered by a grassy mound; but now a grey marble tablet marks the spot, inscribed with her name, and the word Resurgam.

The tablets inscription means resurrection in the Christian sense (as a gift bestowed), but the Latin is translated, I will rise again, giving Helen herself some agency in the matter. Maybe Helen is telling Jane shell come out of hiding someday. Maybe Helen is speaking directly to Jane the skeptic who wondered aloud while Helen was still living, What is God? to which Helen responded, My maker and yours, who will never destroy what He created.

The creator of the city of toys in Consonno, Italy, never destroyed it, only abandoned it, though he (Count Mario Bagno) razed the original medieval town in order to build it. When bulldozers began demolition in 1965, the residents had little, if any, notice. Several residents reported learning of the plans when they first heard the sounds of the bulldozer engines. The villagers gathered what they could and fled, narrowly escaping with belongings before the walls came down.

This account comes from a website called Sometimes Interesting, which attempts to uncover the history of the abandoned, forgotten, and unexplaineda triptych of words each in its own sad, little frame, hung in the sky for Consonnos refugees to point to. See, they said. See how they took our home and gave us daydreams instead?

All thats left of the first Consonno is its 13th-century church and its little graveyard filled with so many Helen Burnses, so many promises of resurrections, that the earth itself decided to show; having been leveled by dynamite, its rock pulverized, the earth let loose landslides so devastating that Bagnos second Consonno was deserted and left to rot deep in Lombardy, plans for Italys folly-rich playground permanently delayed, until they came. They came to Count Bagnos Italian Las Vegas, his fantasyland, his city of toys, to spray-paint graffiti on Doric columns. To have sex on top of cannons. To dance in empty storefronts.

As Helen Burns says, no creator would (absolutely) destroy what he created, and if we know where to look, the fountains, pagodas, the minaret-topped arcade reveal themselves, rising from the subalpine forest like the spires of a church inside which there is, as Bruno Latour tells us, no control and no all-powerful creator, eitherno more God than manbut there is care, scruple, cautiousness, attention, contemplation, hesitation and revival.

In the context of Consonno what I mean is this: graffiti, bird shit, bonfire parties in the ashram of an old hotel lobby, the ritual of discovery and revivalas if every pilgrim is the first to see and recognize the place for what it isis the gorgeous reverse of a shining city on a hill. Care, scruple, cautiousness, et cetera: these are intimacies gone unseen panoramically, gone unrewarded systematically, but revealed by delicate negotiations between whats hidden and whats found.

In 2017 the Nascondino World Championship in hide-and-seek was held at Consonno, followed by hidden concerts in the city of toys ruined buildings, though they remained structurally unsound and possibly dangerous, rendering every happened-upon musician as vulnerable as a child. The games players themselves werent children, though they had been once and wanted to be again, all four hundred of them confined to an obstacle course just beyond Consonnoa rolling lawn with hay bales, plastic rocks, barriers for hiding behind, and, of course, trees: cypress, cherry, laurel, spruce. There were food trucks, live feeds, men and women decorating their bodies with dirt and leaves, announcers giving the play-by-play in lush northern Italian accents.

And watching the footage from very far away, I can still see the specific joy in their faces; everything else falls away. I see a young woman crouching behind a pile of firewood tapped on the head by a young man sprinting past her, and sheshining in her Day-Glo shortsrises to full height and strides, disappointed surely but laughing, to center field, shaking out her long hair and shouting, Ti sono mancato? Ti sono mancato? And all of Consonnothe ancient town thats gone, the newer town only half there, and the town yet to be builtcalls back, S, mia cara! S, and she, simply by rising, raises me with her.

III. Even in Arcadia, Here I Am

The blemishes and irregularities in the floor at the Museum of Childhood are likely glossed over by the casual visitor, but if one looks closely, every line begins to move. Every tile is, in some way, wrong.

Inmate Florence Maybrick said, In the winter the prisoners get up in the dark, and breakfast in the dark, to save the expense of gas. The sense of touch becomes very acute, as so much has to be done without light. Until I had served three years of my sentence, I had not been allowed to see my own face. Then a looking-glass, three inches long, was placed in my cell.

When the mirror arrived at last, it only showed Maybrick pieces of herselfsome forehead, a slice of chindepending on the tilt of her head. The prisoners at Epping who mended clothes and made tiles were missing their own mothers, their own children, and some were tossed into solitary confinement where the only thing they saw was the days residue on the back side of an eyelid.

Looking into her mirror, Maybrick saw, instead of a nose or a mouth, a stitch, then another stitch. The women who made the tiles saw, instead of a cheek or a brow, the kiln and the fire. The fire and the kiln. No wonder the floors pattern fails at precision. No wonder they couldnt see the overall effect. They werent, in fact, allowed to.

When Jane Eyre is tossed into the red room, she sees dust on the mirror instead of herself. She sees the massive bed like a tabernacle and a white chair like a pale throne. She sees the divers parchments and jewel-casketthe whole room under the spell of the last words that kept it so lonely. She means Mrs. Reeds miniature of her dead husbandnot words at all, but an icon, though she requires words to describe it. It isnt a stretch to imagine Jane is thrown into a kind of church, made to stare at its symbols, then articulate them in the only way she can. Shes an outsider suddenly inside, trying to remember something there is, in fact, no way to remember. Like the womb. Like the mothers heart.

Only in this moment, Jane is trying to remember a god shed never met, and the red room as that gods inner sanctum. Its terrifying to her, blinding in its effect. I suppose I had a species of fit: unconsciousness closed the scene, she tells us, then a new chapter begins. Its a chapter about losing one kind of vision but gaining another.

Once, during Mass, I followed my classmates up to the altar and let the priest drop a wafer in my hand. Body of Christ, he said, and made the sign of the cross over me. I put the wafer in my mouth, letting it dissolve rather than chewing; this is how I saw the other kids do it.

It wasnt until a few days later that I learned Id committed a sin. I wasnt confirmed. I had no right to take the wafer, put it in my mouth, and let it dissolve, as the other kids had done. Id been, for all intents and purposes, an outsider suddenly inside, trying to remember something there is, in fact, no way to remember. And the effect on me was a species of fitnamely, the feeling that I was a splinter of glass under the skin, an irritant in the eye born of my own badness, a terrible girl.

After thismy foundational mistakeI felt myself irrevocably described as an outsider whod somehow wormed her way in. And if, as the priest said, Id indeed eaten the body of Christwhy, then, Christ was swimming inside a sinner, my body holding his body in a sort of prison, and when he looked in my own red rooms mirror, he saw only pieces of himself. How could he be whole now, in me, here?

Erwin Panofsky, German American art historian and refugee, wrote a monograph on Arcadia, that miraculous pastoral place, arguing that the Latin phrase Et in Arcadia ego has been wrongly translated by some poets and artists as I once lived in Arcadia too, when it was King George IIIthat madmanwho said it actually means, Even in Arcadia, here I am. Panofsky tells us that, according to Georges interpretation, in Arcadia human suffering and superhumanly perfect surroundings create a dissonance. This dissonance, once felt, had to be resolved, and it was resolved in that vespertinal mixture of sadness and tranquility.

But resolution is a forced conversion, or, at best, false speech in a lonely room. The dissonance Panofsky describes is love, and love must be allowed to spread, to seep under doorways, over dormers, to creep inside the bowdlerized heart, unconfined and unconfirmed, given access to everywhere.

But since theres no such place as everywhere, someone gave it an address, called it the Museum of Childhood, and now displays its impressions behind glass. It categorizes its holdings not necessarily by time period but by kind: all the sight gags are grouped togetherthe 19th centurys myriorama, thaumatrope, and kaleidoscope along with the 20th centurys View-Master. And all the dollsan ancient wooden figure, an 1850s Autoperipatetikos (the Walking Doll), an 1880s Johnny the Dunce that plays a sad tune on his toy violin, and a 1980s Cabbage Patch baby with a face like a prune.

It was a tranquil Christmas morning in the 1980s when I walked up the hill with my new Cabbage Patch doll to show Melanie, who answered the door holding her own Cabbage Patch doll. I was looking into a very sad mirror.

And it was in the 1980s when nurses came to elementary schools and systematically screened children for scoliosis, though theyd been doing it for nearly a century, first to catch disease-made spinal curves, then to surveil for the idiopathic version, meaning: no discernible cause. Because no one knows where idiopathic conditions come from, they are prime opportunities for moralizing. Government programs branded scoliosis a sort of slippery slope, a dangerous curve that with time and lack of intervention might become a deeper twist, a disastrous turn of events that, like drugs or sex, could lead to severe pain, maybe even death. I was never consigned to a back brace, though I heard some kids were. Looking at my X-ray was like looking into a very sad mirror.

In 2014 when an anesthesiologist felt my back before plunging the epidural needle deep in the middle of the night, I was reminded that my spine isnt right. Did anyone ever tell you, he said, that you have Because of my crooked spine, the epidural didnt take, and I spent all night vibrating in paina pain so righteous that when I closed my eyes, I saw red, red, red, red, pulsing. I thought to myself then, I really must write a book someday. Itll be about Jane Eyre and mirrors and wombs and toys and researchers in China who constructed a classroom made entirely of glass because, they hypothesized, exposure to natural light would help prevent myopia in children, and it workedsomewhat.

But the classroom was hot, sometimes uncomfortably so, and the children grew luminous, and the pages of their books far too bright to see. From the outside, their parents looked in (because they could) and saw the children put their hands over their eyes. Bet you cant see me now, the children said, and though all the parents agreed that they in fact could see their children, they lied and said (because this is a game, after all) that they couldnt, calling out, Where, oh where did my little baby go? and with that, their childrenabsolutely and without flourishvanished from view.

________________________________________

This essay was originally published in Issue 113 of Image under the title Labor.

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Visions of Jane Eyre: On Mothers, Labor, and the Places Children Hide - Literary Hub

Schools: the big problems facing heads – Tes

It has been easy, this week, to get suckered into a pre-occupation with Westminsters collapse and forget that many dont have the time, inclination or reason to watch every turn and stall.

A good example: on Tuesday, as the first resignations hit and the education secretary departed, most teachers were too busy plugging the holes in a broken system to ruminate upon Nadhim Zahawis real reasons for ditching the Department for Education (DfE)in favour of the Treasury. They were doing the same when Michelle Donelan resigned from the post after just 35 hours in the job and James Cleverly then became the third education secretary in a week. .

Of course, any event that leads to a DfE empty of ministers (barring Baroness Barran) is a disgrace. And, yes, I could spend this leader writing about that. But to do so would be of no real help to those who work in schools.As a trade publication, sometimes our role is to work within the political arena to force transparency and push for change. But right now, our role must be to highlight the desperate situation schools are in and shout about it repeatedly until people listen.

Politics so often side-steps, drowns out and dilutes these issues. Right now, we have to tell it like it is, in all its raw brutality, so they cannot be ignored.So if parts of this leader feel repetitive, I make no apology for it.

Lets start with Covid. It ravaged education - through staff and pupil absence, through the collapse of support services, through long-term illness, and through a complete change in not just the way teaching had to happen but the willingness of some to be taught. The government simply hasnt got to grips with the scale of the problem and the damage done, nor the ongoing disruption.

And thats not because school leaders havent told them. Our recent Education Insights Expert Panel webinar- with a multi-academy trust leader, a headteacher and a special school principal - lays out clearly what many have been saying for some time. Wider society needs to recognise that schools are in desperate need of help. The only reason things are not worse (as our reporter Matilda Martin pointed out in her Twitter thread on the absolute shambles of the SATs process this year) is because school staff are going above and beyond.

Then there is the funding. Schools simply dont have enough money. Even those not in the red predict that energy price rises, non-educational spend on filling social or health service gaps, building costs, extra intervention spend owing to Covid impacts and supply costs resulting from open vacancies will send them into financial trouble.

Quite simply, calling it a school budget is inaccurate: that money is now meeting health, social, community, wellbeing and outreach needs. It simply cant go on.

Recruitment and retention is a mess. There are not enough people who want to be teachers and there are not enough teachers currently doing the job who want to carry on. The early career framework and establishment of the Institute of Teaching are not likely to make enough difference to change this situation. The handling of the re-accreditation of initial teacher training providers will likely make it worse. Come September, some parents will find that their children dont have permanent teachers. The workforce experts will tell you that, in 2023, there will likely be even more parents in that situation.

And the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system? It has been abysmal for years and the SEND Review - which shows so much promise in fixing some of its worst problems - is likely now dead in the water. Children with additional needs will continue to suffer throughout school and their life chances post-school will continue to be poor, despite the best efforts of their teachers.

Each of these things alone should be a national scandal. But enough smoke has been poured out in the form of swerves and meaningless statements and distractions, that your average member of the public has no idea that things are this bad. Worse, they think its being overplayed.

The real danger now is that - with new faces and new teams coming into the DfE - once again, nothing will be done. It will take months for the complexities to be understood, months for ideas to form, months for proper consultation and, at the end of it, so many of the problems cited here will be left on the too complicated, too expensive, or I dont believe its that bad piles. And then the faces will change once more and it will all start again.

Of course politics is important. Of course it is at the root of the change needed to solve these problems. But sometimes the politics gets in the way. Sometimes we need to ignore the political distractions and keep saying the same thing, without wavering, until someone listens.

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Schools: the big problems facing heads - Tes

Inflation never far away as PM Jacinda Ardern heads to Sydney to sell New Zealand – Stuff

SUNGMI KIM/Stuff

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern

As Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern prepares to fly to Sydney on Wednesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia delivered a reminder of the Covid-induced cost of living crunch back in New Zealand, lifting Australias official cash rate target by half a basis point to 1.35%.

Ardern said on Monday that she expected the scourge of inflation to be widely discussed on this trip. Australian Treasurer Jim Chalmers greeted the news of rate rises with a warning: dont expect things to improve quickly.

While the trajectory of rising interest rates was set before the election, this rate rise is another blow to workers and families already under significant cost of living pressure, Chalmers said.

Australias inflation grew by 2.1% in the first three months of the year, higher than New Zealands growth in the past quarter of 1.8%. And Chalmers thinks the cost of living will rise further still in Australia.

READ MORE:* Reserve Bank's interest rate ratchet will be new - and worrying - to a lot of voters* Sharemarket ends week at lowest level in more than 7 months* Covid 19: Government faces cost-of-living crunch as Auckland stuck in lockdown

When it comes to inflation, we expect it to get worse before it gets better and the Reserve Bank has flagged further rate rises, Chalmers said.

In comparison, Finance Minister Grant Robertson has leaned on Treasury and other forecasts of falling inflation in New Zealand.

Luke Malpass/Stuff

Jacinda Ardern and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

Meanwhile, Ardern fielded a series of questions about both New Zealands immigration settings and Covid-19 as back in New Zealand Covid cases crept up towards the 10,000 mark.

Ardern will complete the trade-heavy part of her trip to Australia on Wednesday, giving a short speech at an unusual joint New Zealand-Australia tourism event and a New Zealand food and products launch at David Jones original flagship store in central Sydney.

For the Discover New campaign, New Zealand wares will take up a whole floor at the Sydney department store.

But inflation and Covid have never been far away on this trip whether it is shuttered shops in Australian cities, the continued fear of inflation or even of the daily Covid numbers.

Ardern was firm in her Governments view that, even with the hike in case numbers, the red traffic light setting was not required.

We have no expectation at this stage. We have recently done a review and decided to stay in the settings that we had, Ardern said while taking questions from media after meeting Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews.

The question here is, would gathering limits right now make a marked difference to the case rates that we have? There is a real question mark over that, she said.

The Government is hesitant to move back to red on public health grounds but also because it would risk driving the economy further towards a recession, further placing pressure on businesses already struggling with an uptick in Covid cases.

The NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion on Tuesday showed business confidence at its lowest level since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. ANZ bank economists warned that it was not a good sign for the economy.

For broader economic momentum, it seems the only way from here is down. That is not to say the economic fundamentals have suddenly broken; rather, the economy is running out of resource to grow, they said.

The Reserve Bank of Australias decision to push up its cash rate target still leaves the Australian rate lower than New Zealands at 2%. New Zealands rate is widely expected to be pushed up to 2.5% when the Reserve Banks monetary policy committee meets next week.

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Inflation never far away as PM Jacinda Ardern heads to Sydney to sell New Zealand - Stuff

Rangers branded packaging has Newcastle fans scratching their heads as Castore ask them to ‘Follow Follow’ – Daily Record

Castore were reportedly forced to send out Rangers kits in bags without the club logo after claims that thousands were sabotaged while out for delivery to supporters by courier company Hermes.

Hermes launched a probe into the issue while the Ibrox clubs kit manufacturer offered a refund to those who were affected. But choosing to despatch the strips in packaging without the Rangers logo looks to have created a new problem, leaving the Liverpool-based company - who signed a five-year deal with the Light Blues - with quite a few spare bags.

And Newcastle United fans reckon Castore, run by brothers Tom and Phil Beahon, might just have discovered a solution for any excess packaging. The English Premier League side agreed a deal with the Merseyside company to produce their strip and some Magpies supporters have taken to social media to post images of their new kit arriving in RANGERS-branded bags.

One, sharing a picture a bag with the Gers Follow Follow slogan and the Ibrox clubs crest on the bag wrote on Twitter: @NUFC tops arrived today. Was worried that #castore had sent out the wrong strips before opening. Another, showing the Rangers crest on the despatch note, asked: Anyone elses Newcastle shirt come from Rangers Football Club?

Castore have come in for some criticism from Rangers fans since their deal which banked the Ibrox club around 4 million in their first season but were forced to apologise early on over quality control issues.

Commercial chief James Bisgrove addressed some of the issues at the time and said: The first year of the partnership had some fantastic highs but also threw up some challenges, later adding at the clubs AGM I think it hasnt been perfect, particularly at the beginning when we came out of Covid and there were certain issues with customer service.

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Rangers branded packaging has Newcastle fans scratching their heads as Castore ask them to 'Follow Follow' - Daily Record

Gretchen Rossi Turns Heads With Four Of July Star-Spangled Bra Gretchen Rossi Turns Heads With Four Of July Star-Spangled Bra – Gretchen Rossi Turns…

Is Gretchen Rossi ready to celebrate the Fourth of July? She certainly seems so!

The Real Housewives of Orange County alum took to her Instagram page on Sunday to share a snap of her and her daughter, Skylar Gray Smiley, looking truly patriotic in red, white, and blue outfits!

On Sunday, the 43-year-old mom sported a stars-and-stripes bra with matching bottoms and topped off the look with red sneakers. She wore her blonde hair in loose waves around her shoulders and tied her hair back out of her face with a white ribbon. Her daughter, Skylar, looked equally festive in a red-and-white crop top and a denim jean skirt. She topped off the look with Western boots, star-shaped sunglasses, and blue ribbons around her pigtails.

Ready for the 4th of July Rossi captioned almost two identical shots of the two standing side by side. Love dressing up with my mini me! Her outfit is tagged in my highlight reels & my outfit is from @shopxthecloset.

Kelly Leventhal commented, Shes so cute.

Bravos Dina added, The little hand on her hip!

Lindsay Albanese wrote, Omg

Marysol Patton added, You two are so precious.

Lizzie Rovsek commented, Omg!!!! CUTENESS OVERLOAD!!!!

The cutest Happy 4th!! another follower commented.

Omg Sky is so adorable!! another wrote. You are too, of course.

So so cute! said another fan. Luv how did ur daughter hair

Could not be any cuter! another shared.

Two absolutely awesome beauties!!! another follower commented.

Plenty of fans chimed in to say, sHappy 4th weekend !

Last year, Gretchen Rossi continued to channel her patriotic vibes in an equally cute outfit! She donned a knit short-sleeve sweater stitched to look like the American flag over short white shorts. She again tied back her blonde hair with a bandana a red one this time and matching red sneakers.

Skylar traded out her Western boots for simple sneakers, along with heart-shaped sunglasses, dark slaps, and a red-and-white striped top.

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of a July! Rossi wrote in an Instagram post on July 5, 2021. We are up at the lake with our family for the week & are having such a great time Slade took a bunch of fun pics of me & Sky just chilling at the local Jones Store.

I basically look the same in each picture but her different littles expressions in each picture just make me giggle! she added. We have so much fun together She wrapped up the post, saying, She is full of so much sass & personality #sogratefultoliveinamerica#lovetheUSA.

So freakin cute!!!!!!!!! one follower commented. Many fans echoed shouts of ADORABLE! Another called her snaps Precious!!

Wow. You and your daughter are fabulous. Well done maam! another follower wrote.

I love that sweater!!! said another fan.

America was blessed by these outfits another shared.

Ok the cutest mom/ daughter outfits ever! Love Skylars sun shades. Hope you enjoyed your 4th of July holiday!!! another wrote.

With so many stylish outfits in her closet, fans cant wait to see what kind of patriotic outfit Gretchen Rossi will don next year!

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Gretchen Rossi Turns Heads With Four Of July Star-Spangled Bra Gretchen Rossi Turns Heads With Four Of July Star-Spangled Bra - Gretchen Rossi Turns...

10 Things You Probably Don’t Know About Gingers – Listverse

Gingers are naturally born redheads and are usually pale with many freckles on their bodies. You might even say they are the feisty and sexy mythical creatures of this planet. Red is the rarest hair color in the worldonly one to two percent of the worlds population is lucky enough to have been born with red hair. There have even been (false) rumors that redheads are going to be extinct soon.

Thanks to an episode of South Park, the saying about gingers having no soul has become popularized, but there are many advantages to being a redhead. Being born a ginger is no curse; if anything, its more of a superpower. Here are ten fascinating facts about gingers that you should know.

It has been said that redheads are more likely to be left-handed than those of other hair colors, but there is only limited scientific study to prove this. What we do know about gingers being left-handed has everything to do with their recessive genes. A recessive gene is one that can be masked by a dominant gene. To have a trait that is expressed by a recessive gene, you must get the gene from both of your parents.

Red hair comes from a recessive gene known as the melanocortin 1 receptor, better known as MC1R. Both parents must be a carrier of the MC1R gene to have a redheaded baby.[1] Left-handedness is also a recessive trait, and about ten to 12 percent of all people in the world are left-handed. Recessive traits tend to come in pairs, though, and that explain why many gingers are left-handed.

Eumelanin and pheomelanin are two pigments found in the hair shaft, and all hair colors have a combination of these two pigments. The more eumelanin in the hair, the darker it will be. The more pheomelanin in the hair, the redder it will be. Redheads have very little eumelanin in their hair. As you grow older, the hair follicles stop producing the pigment. The hair on your head will appear white when all of the hair follicles lose their color completely.[2]

Red hair retains its natural pigment longer than other shades, though, meaning gingers dont need to worry as much about going grey. Ginger hair just fades with age through an array of colors, from faded copper to rosy blonde to silvery white. Gingers can enjoy being ginger for an entire lifetime!

It appears that gingers are more sensitive to certain types of pain and less sensitive to others. There have been many studies conducted to show that redheads react to pain differently than people with other hair colors. They are more sensitive to cold weather, suffer more from toothaches, and are at a greater risk for developing sclerosis and endometriosis. In other ways, though, redheads are much tougher when dealing with pain, such as stinging pain in the skin.[3]

A study conducted by a Louisville University team found that redheads require 19 percent more inhaled general anesthesia than dark-haired people. They also found that the anesthetic lidocaine was less effective in redheads. A study by McGill University behavioral neuroscientist Jeffrey Mogil showed that both genders of redheads needed less opioid morphine to dull their pain, and ginger women needed less of a kappa opioid drug that is used to treat labor pain. Its just a fact: Redheads feel pain differently.

Red on the headfire in bed! This saying has been proven true. Hamburg sex researcher Dr. Werner Habermehl studied the sex lives of hundreds of German women and then compared them by their hair colors. He came to the conclusion that the sex lives of redheaded women were much more active than those of any other hair color.[4]

They say blondes have more fun, but that statement may be false. It is also reported that ginger women orgasm more than women of any other hair color. A study from Match.com showed that single women with red hair have a 41 percent orgasm rate, which is higher than blonde womens 36 percent rate. Just remember that red has always been the color of arousal, and it doesnt look like that will be changing anytime soon.

Gingers are unique in many ways, and they may even have their own scent. The author of Le Parfum de la Femme, Augustin Galopin, wrote in his book that redheads have the strongest scent, which he described as of amber and violets. Rowan Pelling, founder of The Erotic Review, once said, Redheads famously have a distinctive civet scent, which drives many an admirer wild. Stephen Douglas wrote in The Redhead Encyclopedia that redheads have a naturally sweet, musk-like scent.

Jackey Colliss Harvey, author of Red: A Natural History of the Redhead, explains that all humans have a microscopic film on their skin called the skin mantle (or acid mantle). The skin mantle of a ginger is more acidic than others because of their genes. Collins says that the scent of a cologne or perfume will smell differently on a redhead because of mixing with this natural scent.[5] Its hard to escape the intoxicating scent of a ginger.

You wouldnt know it by looking at Carrot Top or old pictures of Shaun White, but gingers have less hair on their heads than those of other hair colors. If you are counting the total number of strands of hair, redheads have fewer on their head than people of any other hair color. Redheaded women have about 90,000 strands of hair on their head, while blondes have around 110,000, and brunettes have about 140,000.[6]

Fewer strands of hair doesnt mean that gingers are going bald, though. Each strand of hair on a redhead is much thicker than other colors, and it usually appears as if gingers have more hair. Dont be jealous, but fewer strands of hair means that it is much easier to style.

Gingers are looked at as the unicorns of humansthey are pretty rare and beautiful! According to the National Institutes of Health, only about two percent of the worlds population is redheaded. The rarest of all redheads are those with blue eyes. Most gingers will either have brown, hazel, or green eyes. Both parents must possess the recessive gene in order to have a redheaded baby, and those who do have a one-in-four chance of it happening.

The highest percentage of redheads in the world reside in Ireland, according to Eupedia, a European website that explores ancestry and genetics. Gingers are almost equally found in Scotland, and a slightly lower percentage come from Cornwall in England as well as Western Switzerland.[7] Just because they are rare doesnt mean gingers will be going extinct, though. Thanks to genetics, redheads wont be joining the dinosaurs anytime soon.

Redheads with pale skin would be well-advised to avoid too much time in direct sunlight without protection. There is one advantage of being a ginger, thoughthey can produce more vitamin D, even on cloudy days.[8] Healthy levels of vitamin D enable them to fight against certain diseases more efficiently than those of other hair colors.

Having a sufficient supply of vitamin D helps prevent rickets, which is an illness that progressively weakens bone structure. It also helps prevent tuberculosis, a potentially fatal disease. Low levels of vitamin D have also been linked to diabetes, asthma, and arthritis. The pale skin of a redhead may mean that their skin will burn more easily when exposed to the Suns rays, but their paleness gives them the ability to create more vitamin D and fight off many diseases.

Not only are gingers less likely to develop rickets and tuberculosis, but theyre also less prone to developing prostate cancer as well. Researchers at Finlands National Institute for Health and Medicine found that redheads were less likely to develop prostate cancer than those with blonde, brown, or black hair. Ginger men were 54 percent less likely to develop the disease.

The National Institute of Health and Medicine in Helsinki, Finland, studied more than 20,000 men over a 30-year span. They discovered that the MC1R gene may help to control the way cancerous cells divide and grow.[9] The way genes dictate hair pigmentation also influence tumor development. The statistics may favor the redheads, but that doesnt mean they shouldnt get screened regularly for prostate cancer, however.

There are many advantages of being blessed with beautiful red hair, but there is one major disadvantage: Gingers are far more likely to develop skin cancer than people of any other hair color. The light-skinned gingers of the world have always been known to have an increased chance of developing skin cancer, but researchers have also linked the MC1R gene to the disease. A team led by Dr. David Adams of Britains Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute studied more than 400 melanoma patients. They found that people with the MC1R gene have more skin cancers with mutated tumor cells, and they arent all caused by the Suns radiation.

Those with red hair are at the highest risk of developing skin cancer, but even non-redheads who still carry one part of the MC1R gene are at a greater risk than those who do not carry the recessive gene. Gingers only make up one or two percent of the entire worlds population, but they make up 16 percent of the worlds melanoma patients. Somewhere between 26 and 40 percent of melanoma patients are carriers of at least one part of the MC1R gene.[10] Unfortunately, you cant control being born with the MC1R gene that can possibly lead to skin cancer, but if youre a redhead, its smart to take the right precautions, such as staying out of the Sun and applying sunscreen regularly.

Im just another bearded guy trying to write my way through life.www.MDavidScott.com

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10 Things You Probably Don't Know About Gingers - Listverse

Redheads really do have a stronger tolerance for pain than …

BOSTON Redheads have a reputation for being hot-tempered. They also are said to have a higher pain threshold than others. Although there may not be scientific proof of their short fuse, according to a recent study, there may be some science behind their pain tolerance. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have shed light as to why those with red hair respond differently to some types of pain than those with different colored hair.

Specialized skin cells, called melanocytes, are responsible for producing different skin pigmentations and hair colors. Those with red hair animals and humans alike have slightly different protein receptors on the surface of their melanocytes. Previous research from MGH shows that when these receptors do not function properly, as in redheads, it causes decreased pigmentation.

The research team tested a breed of red-haired mice that, like humans, have melanocytes that lack the properly functioning receptor. Additionally, these mice also showed a greater capacity for pain tolerance, making them the best candidates for this particular study.

The results indicate an association between the melanocyte receptor (melanocortin 1 receptor) and the hormone proopiomelanocortin (POMC). The absence of melanocortin 1 receptor activity in the red-haired mice prompted their melanocytes to generate less POMC. This results in the splitting of POMC into several hormones, one of which increases sensitivity to pain and another that reduces sensitivity to pain.

When these hormones are produced, they help to keep the equilibrium between opioid receptors, which decrease pain, and melanocortin 4 receptors, which heighten sensitivity to pain. Reduced concentrations of both hormones in red-haired mice (and, thus, presumably in humans) should counterbalance each other. However, the body creates other substances unrelated to melanocytes that trigger pain receptors. As a result, downregulation of melanocyte-related chemicals causes an increased number of opioid impulses, which raises the tolerance level for pain.

These findings describe the mechanistic basis behind earlier evidence suggesting varied pain thresholds in different pigmentation backgrounds, says lead researcher Dr. David E. Fisher of Massachusetts General Hospital, in a statement. Understanding this mechanism provides validation of this earlier evidence and a valuable recognition for medical personnel when caring for patients whose pain sensitivities may vary.

Scientists have found new methods to influence the bodys normal mechanisms that govern pain, such as by developing drugs that block the melanocortin 4 receptors engaged in pain perception. Our ongoing work is focused on elucidating how additional skin-derived signals regulate pain and opioid signaling, adds co-lead author Dr. Lajos V. Kemny, a research fellow in dermatology at MGH. Understanding these pathways in depth may lead to the identification of novel pain-modulating strategies.

This study is published in Science Advances.

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Redheads really do have a stronger tolerance for pain than ...