Party the absolute hardest you can imaginably party!

I think the next logical step is a pulled-tooth via skydiving.

~NSHA

You do realize you have a perfectly functional (?) helmet sitting right in front of you. Right?

The GAA's annual Congress in county Laois votes to make adjustments to the controversial winter training ban for intercounty teams.

Alexi Lalas and David Mosse reacted to the second United States Men's National Team roster release of the Mauricio Pochettino era, with Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, and Weston McKennie headlining the squad.

Canada women's soccer coach Bev Priestman has been fired after an independent review of a drone surveillance scandal at the Paris Olympics

With several U.S. men's national team strikers out with injuries, 21-year-old Ricardo Pepi has a golden opportunity to prove why he deserves to be Mauricio Pochettino top choice up top.

Matthew Nicholson threw down a two-handed slam to help the Northwestern Wildcats lead over the the UIC Flames going into the half.

Providence Friars' Bensley Joseph found Corey Floyd Jr. for a tough alley-oop dunk against the Hampton Pirates.

Tom Brady gave his 3 stars of Week 10 which included Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase and Kansas City Chiefs LB Leo Chenal.

Week 10 of the 2024 NFL season had a few memorable and exciting finishes as several stars showed out! Check out FOX Sports lead NFL analyst Tom Brady to name his latest 3 Stars of The Week.

John Hugley IV recodrded a NASTY block to help Xavier hold on to 40-25 lead at halftime vs. Jackson State

Dailyn Swain took it coast-to-coast for an UNREAL jam to extend the Xavier Musketeers' lead over Jackson State. 

FOX Sports' RJ Young offers up three takeaways from the second set of College Football Playoff rankings, including Colorado's path to the CFP ... and the national title game.

Hunter Dickson led No. 1 Kansas to an impressive win over Michigan State, while Mark Pope aced his first big test as Kentucky's head coach.

В Таиланд через КПП Бан Паккад (на фото) - как практически осуществить, чтобы без платы за такси тут и там? Этот вопрос меня интересовал в феврале 2024, когда я возвращался из Камбоджи в Таиланд.

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I'm in the US at the moment, where two of my nephews have recently finished (mostly now AmE in this sense) high school. That is to say, they (AmE) graduated from high school. Though their graduation ceremonies were in June, they are still in the midst of graduation party season—and we arrived in time to attend one of those parties. Invitations are extended to extended family, family friends, the graduate's classmates/friends and their nuclear families. And all family units who attend will bring a gift for the graduate. Back when I graduated, these were mostly presents you could unwrap. Dictionaries were common graduation gifts, and I recall getting a  cookbook (orig. more AmE, vs BrE cookery book) and things for my (AmE) dorm room. I also got two handmade dolls, meant to represent me as a graduate—and since I'm at my childhood home, you get to see them. They're looking pretty good at 41 years old.

These days, graduation presents mostly come in envelopes. My first stop on this US trip was at the bank, to get some crisp (AmE) bills/(BrE) banknotes to slip into cards for the two nephews as well my niece, who has a freshly minted BSc in Economics. (If you've read The Prodigal Tongue, you've met her before. She was the niece who had things to say about British bacon.) 

High school graduation parties are generally not held in England—partly because there one does not graduate from high school. Graduation is only for those who get a degree from a university. But even when people graduate with a degree, family parties like this are not common. Generally, Americans do a lot more of this kind of party-throwing and gift-giving to mark life transitions (and help out a bit). See the earlier post about showers. 

Meanwhile, my 16-year-old (aka Grover) has recently finished secondary school in England. (Her secondary school, as it happens and unusually for England, has high school in its name.) Before school finished, she took 27 exams over 6 weeks in 9 subjects—this is what's known as the GCSEs (General Certificate[s] of Secondary Education). (NB: Many of the educational issues that come up here have been described in previous blog posts—rather than clicking on each link here, you might want to save your efforts for the 'related posts' links below.) Grover won't know her results in those exams till late August, when she'll be able to enrol(l) in the sixth-form college that's accepted her. (Though she's accepted to the college, she won't know until she has her exam results whether she's met the prerequisites for the A-level subjects she's chosen.) 

Her status has been difficult to explain to her American family. Sixth-form college is not what Americans think of as college, which would be called university in BrE. In England, sixth-form (and many other diverse things!) counts as further education—after secondary school, but not degree-level study. In an effort to translate her status, she's started telling Americans that she's graduated. Her reasoning for this is that (a) they had a little ceremony in an assembly on their last day of school, (b) she's going to something called college, and (c) she's had a prom (an imitation of the American tradition for these younger students). But since she doesn't even know whether she's passed her exams,* it can't really be counted as "graduating", can it? I have suggested to her that she may be misrepresenting her situation. She doesn't mind. It might yet pay off...

What she is, in Britain, is a school leaver. Instead of getting a mortar board and gown, she got a (orig. BrE) hoodie. (Pic here from an Etsy shop. Grover's hoodie is back in Brighton.)

*Oh, I'm sure she's passed. Whether she's got the prerequisite grades is another matter, so it's all a bit stressful. 

PS: While on this holiday, I have missed the University of Sussex graduation. I usually go, but since Grover's school ended early this year, we took advantage of being able to travel before the prices go insane during the (BrE) school holidays. (As Paul in the comments section notes, GCSE students just stop going to school after their last exam—it's very anticlimatic, but it got G out of school about a month earlier than usual. We hung around for the prom in early July.)

So, I want to say: Congratulations to our BA English Language and Linguistics and BA English Language and Literature graduates of 2024! Here's the outfit you didn't get to see me wear.

Related posts:

Types of schools and school years 
(the one that's linked-to a LOT above!)

2021 UK-to-US Word of the Year: university

Academic titles and address

And lots of others with the Education label

Nothing like some good old-fashioned sports fun!

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW carbonite Han Job $14,000-$20,000

Everyone needs to read this woman's insightful Facebook post amidst the whole college admission's scandal dominating our news feeds. 

Yesterday Trump tweeted a photo of himself hard at work on his inauguration speech and the internet has been having a field day with it. 

It started on twitter with people guessing at what The Donald might be drawing. Shortly thereafter it got a small photoshop battle. 

'What's Donald Drawing' definitely has the potential to catch on.

Get More Trump Memes that are simply tremendous, people tell me how amazing these memes are all the time.

Just when we thought we'd never get anything better than Donald Trump grasping that orb, we get this dark-humored, delightfully awkward pic that just oozes cringe. Naturally, people were ready to flood Twitter with some entertaining captions. 

Slick Willy just had to go and crack a dad joke that simultaneously dug on President Trump and kept the pun game strong, didn't he? Naturally, people were highly entertained and vaguely irritated. 

New York Magazine published an excerpt from Ivana Trump's memoir Raising Trump - and it has since become a wildly entertaining meme. Thhe excerpt is actually a quote from Ivanka, reminiscing about her "punk" days. 

"During my punk phase in the nineties, I was really into Nirvana. My wardrobe consisted of ripped corduroy jeans and flannel shirts. One day after school, I dyed my hair blue. Mom wasn't a fan of this decision. She took one look at me and immediately went out to the nearest drugstore to buy a $10 box of Nice'n Easy. That night, she forced me to dye my hair back to blond. The color she picked out was actually three shades lighter than my natural color… and I have never looked back!"

The quote has left Twitter users in stitches, making Photoshop memes and mocking the wealthy businesswoman's statement. The results have been delightful. 

Meet the Shadow team in charge of developing an app meant to help tally the votes from the Iowa caucus on Monday night. The purpose of the app was to help the process run more smoothly, but in the end it proved to be a complete and utter disaster, as precinct chairs supposedly couldn't get the app to actually work, in turn causing a delay in reporting.

The delay was blamed on "inconsistencies" in reporting, but honestly, who really knows what the truth is.

The team is reportedly run by people who worked on Hilary Clinton's presidential campaign in 2016. Additionally, 2020 candidate Pete Buttigieg's campaign paid the tech firm over $40,000 in 2019 leading many to suspect foul play.

But this is America, and we can't possibly have problems with corruption, right?

As of right now, we still don't have all the results from the caucus, so while you continue to anxiously refresh the New York Times page, have some hot Twitter takes on the people (rats) behind Shadow, Inc.

Jacinda Ardern is the prime minister of New Zealand. She decided to drop in and catch up with well known Twitch streamer, Broxh. What ensues is nothing short of a magical, wholesome interaction. 

On day two of the supreme court confirmation hearings, Amy Coney Barrett held up a blank notepad to reveal that she hadn't been referencing any notes during questioning. Many republicans were impressed by this 'epic ownage' of the libs, but memelords of the internet knew exactly what was about to go down. We all know what happens when a public figure holds up a piece of paper: memes, baby. 

We've narrowed it down to some of our favorite ACB notepad memes and even included examples of other times the internet did its thing with a blank canvas. These politicians make it way too easy. 

Exclusive offer from Giveaway of the Day and ToomkyGames! No third-party advertising and browser add-ons! Dia de Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, provides a stunning backdrop for a thrilling supernatural adventure in Mexicana: Deadly Holiday! Guide a young woman as she sets off on a desperate search for her fiance amidst the annual celebration in Mexico. Moments after a spectral figure kidnaps her beloved during a card reading, she begins her journey to the afterworld, where demons will plot her demise and ancients gods will lend her a helping hand. As you travel through a stunning fiery wasteland on your way to a realm of peace and tranquillity, you'll search for cleverly hidden objects, solve skillfully designed puzzles, and crack dozens of devious mini-games. Along the way, you'll slowly unfold the astonishing truth of who the young woman really is. Set in a captivating world, and featuring visuals and music inspired by the Land of Enchantment, Mexicana: Deadly Holidays is packed with thrills unlike any you have experienced!

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the nature of work as we know it. Between flexible work arrangements, part-time contracts, and side gigs, it’s been difficult to gauge just how many people are working from home as a result. But according to Stanford’s research, 42% of the U.S. labor force was working from home full time […]

The post How employers can address increased gender inequality due to Working From Home appeared first on DiversityJobs.com.

An examination of diversity in senior leadership roles at America’s top companies Diversity is more than just a buzzword, it’s a recipe for corporate success. Multiple studies have shown that a more diverse workforce in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, as well as veteran, disability, and LGBTQIA+ status can bolster innovation.i A more diverse corporate talent pool is […]

The post We Know Diversity is Good for Business, So Why Do Corporate Leaders Remain Predominantly White and Male? appeared first on DiversityJobs.com.

In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire in London, where 79 people died or are presumed dead and many more were injured, serious concerns and questions around flammability of exterior cladding, the lack of fire sprinklers and the notion of “shelter in place,” among other subjects, have been brought to the forefront by the news media and the public at large. Jim Pauley, president and CEO of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), addressed these troubling fire safety issues in the upcoming edition of NFPA Journal, the association’s membership publication, which will be officially released next month.

"Every song is a portal into the past, a chance to connect with countless mundane moments from before: where you were, what you felt, who you were with when you happened to be listening to the same thing."

Explore tips and techniques for deep-cleaning your kitchen tools and gadgets. Learn how to sanitize your everyday cooking utensils effectively, ensuring a healthier cooking environment and longer-lasting kitchenware. Perfect for home cooks and hygiene enthusiasts.

The post How to Clean and Sanitize Kitchen Gadgets and Tools: Your Ultimate Guide appeared first on Unclutterer.

Chipotle’s new chief executive is Scott Boatwright, a familiar face and name, given that he’s served as the interim CEO since August following former CEO Brian Niccol’s surprise decision to lead a turnaround at Starbucks. And while Boatwright, 52, will get a significant pay boost in his new…

AI-powered search engine Perplexity says it’ll begin experimenting with ads on its platform starting this week. Ads will appear in the U.S. to start, formatted as “sponsored follow-up questions.” (E.g., “How can I use LinkedIn to enhance my job search?”) Paid media will be positioned to the side…

Shares of Indian food and grocery delivery firm Swiggy rose 2.5% in their trading debut on Wednesday, after its $1.4 billion IPO last week, but pared initial gains on concerns about its path to profitability. The stock listed at 420 rupees ($4.98) on India's National Stock Exchange, compared to…

Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an entity Trump indicated will operate outside the confines of government.

Shares of Indian food delivery giant Swiggy rose nearly 8% on their trading debut Wednesday after its IPO became the country's second largest this year. The company raised 113.27 billion Indian rupees ($1.34 billion) in its IPO that closed Monday, pricing its shares at 390 rupees apiece. The IPO…

Musk and ex-presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to head up Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, Donald Trump said on Tuesday. Despite the name, the…

At least 10 Ukrainian soldiers died in the Donetsk region after the Kurakhovo Reservoir dam was blown up, TASS reported, citing Russian security forces. The blast flooded nearby areas, trapping soldi...

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Kevin Buckland

In a joint statement issued Tuesday, Kadokawa and its subsidiary pledged to pay the outstanding amounts once calculations are complete.

There may not be a hotter stock on Wall Street right now than Palantir Technologies. The company's artificial intelligence (AI) software is revving its growth engine, and there is a wide-open market opportunity in both government and the private sector. The stock is up approximately 800% since the…