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The sources from whence most Neopagan reconstructionists adapt their beliefs and practices are usually ancient mythologies. Wicca in particular is sometimes referred to by its proponents as the “Old Religion”, a term popularised by Margaret Murray in the 1920s. Its use until the 1990s drew on a perceived underground European Paganism and supposed ancient “Goddess religions.” These models are now largely discredited, notably by Ronald Hutton, and allusions are now more cautiously made to local folk healers/small groups, and a plurality of ancient “Goddess traditions,” among others. However, while Neopagans draw from old religious traditions, they also adapt them. The mythologies of the ancient civilizations are not generally considered to be literally factual or historical in the sense that the Bible is claimed historical by fundamentalists. Nor are they considered to be scripture, as most Neopagans are resistant to the concept of scripture. (Read the article)

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Most Neopagans worship various Gods and Goddesses; some of them stick to one culture and others are not, while others believe in the deity within. The terms for worship are: animism, dualism, henotheism, monotheism, pantheism, polytheism, and autotheism. (Read the article)

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Swarm robotics is a new approach to the coordination of multi-robot systems which consist of large numbers of relatively simple physical robots. The goal of this approach is to study the design of robots (both their physical body and their controlling behaviors) such that a desired collective behavior emerges from the inter-robot interactions and the interactions of the robots with the environment, inspired but not limited by the emergent behavior observed in social insects.

The research of swarm robotics is to study the design of robots, their physical body and their controlling behaviors. It is inspired but not limited by the emergent behavior observed in social insects, called swarm intelligence. Relative simple individual rules can produce a large set of complex swarm behavior. A key-component is the communication between the members of the group that build a system of constant feedback. The swarm behavior involves constant change of individuals in cooperation with others, as well as the behavior of the whole group. (Read the article)

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Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner made and sold by iRobot. It is marketed as a Robotic Floorvac. This is a general review of Roomba.

The unit is a disc, thirteen inches (34 cm) in diameter and less than four inches (9 cm) high. A large contact-sensing bumper is mounted on the front half of the unit, with an infrared sensor at its top front center. Besides the on/off switch, there are three buttons on the unit marked ‘S’, ‘M’, and ‘L’. A carrying handle is fitted on the top of the unit. It also comes with a “virtual wall” infrared transmitter unit which can be used to prevent the Roomba from going into areas its owner wants it to avoid. The Roomba operates with internal batteries and requires being recharged regularly from a wall plug, although newer Discovery models have a self-charging base they can automatically find. (Read the article)

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The Taira and the Minamoto once again clashed in 1180 beginning the Gempei War which ended in 1185. The victorious Minamoto no Yoritomo once again established the superiority of the samurai and in 1190 visited Kyoto and in 1192 became Seii Taishogun, establishing the Kamakura Shogunate.

Over time, powerful samurai clans became warrior nobility (buke) who were only nominally under court aristocracy (kuge). When samurai begun to adopt aristocratic customs like calligraphy, poetry and music, some kuge also begun to adopt samurai skills. In spite of various machinations and brief periods of rule by various emperors, the real power was in the hands of the shogun and warriors. (Read the article)

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Originally these warriors were little else than hired soldiers in the employ of the emperor and noble clans. But slowly they gathered enough power to eventually usurp the power of the emperor and establish the first samurai dominated government.

As the regional clans allied with each other and gathered manpower and resources, they formed a hierarchy centered around a toryo, or chief. This chief was a distant relative of the emperor and lesser member of one of three noble families, the Fujiwara, Minamoto, or the Taira. Though originally sent to provincial areas for a 4 year term as a magistrate, after completion of their term, knowing that they would only be able to take only sideline roles in the government, they decided to stay and not to return to Kyoto. Their sons inherited their positions and continued to lead the clans in putting down rebellions throughout Japan during the middle and later Heian. (Read the article)

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During the Heian period, samurai came to refer especially to the guards of the imperial palace and to those who carried swords. These forerunners of what we now know as samurai had ruler-sponsored equipment and were required to hone their martial skills in all times.

The actual armies of the emperor on the other hand, were nothing but groups of conscripts assigned to provincial areas of Japan in case of war or rebellion. They were modeled after continental Chinese armies and were composed by a third of the able-bodied adult male population, however, in contrast to the imperial guards, each soldier had to supply his own weapons and support himself. (Read the article)

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Chinese origins

Sushi is made up of three simple ingredients; rice, rice vinegar, and fish. So one would think that the cultivation of rice was necessary, however, the history of sushi begins before rice. The first “sushi or 鮨” might have been a salt pickled pork.

The first use of “鮨” appeared in the oldest Chinese dictionary “爾雅” believed to be written in 3rd or 4th century BC. It is explained as “魚謂之鮨 肉謂之醢”, literally “Those made with fish (are called) 鮨, those made with meat (are called) 醢”. “醢” is a sauce made from minced pork and “鮨” is a sauce made from minced fish. The Chinese character “鮨” is believed to have a much earlier origin, but this is the earliest recorded instance of that character being associated with food. “鮨” was not associated with rice. (Read the article)

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Well I hope you have been rick rolling your dumb little friends. If not, watch the above video n00b.

The new way is to Barack roll the people that disagree with your political convictions. Why argue about politics when you can just slam a silly video in-front of them!

John McCain gets Barack roll’d in this EPIC video. 10 million people just became democrats.

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