Geralt of Rivia, the saga

The Witcher is a fantasy series of novels and short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the titular "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are beast hunters who develop supernatural abilities at a young age to battle wild beasts and monsters. The books have been adapted into a film (The Hexer), two television series (The Hexer and The Witcher), a trilogy of video games (The Witcher, Assassins of Kings and Wild Hunt), and a graphic novel series.

The series of novels is known as the Witcher Saga. The short stories and novels have been translated into numerous languages, including English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian and Chinese. The books have been described as having a cult following in Poland and in Central and Eastern European countries. the video games have been very successful; as of 28 May 2020, The Witcher series have sold over 50 million copies worldwide. The books are...

1. The Last Wish - 1993

2. Sword of Destiny - 1992

3. Blood of Elves - 1994

4. Time of Contempt - 1995

5.  Baptism of Fire - 1996

6. The Tower of the Swallow - 1997

7. The Lady of the Lake - 1999

8. Season of Storms - 2013

The Witcher short stories by the author Andrzej Sapkowski were first published in Polish science fiction and fantasy magazine Fantastyka, beginning in the mid-1980s. The first short story, "Wiedzmin" (1986), was written for a contest held by the magazine and won third place. The first four stories dealing with the witcher Geralt of Rivia were originally featured in a 1990 short story collection titled Wiedzmin (The Witcher), now out of print, with "The Road with no return", which is set before the Witcher stories and features Geralt's mother-to-be.

The second published short story collection was "Sword of Destiny" (Miecz przeznaczenia). Although "The Last Wish", was published after "Sword of Destiny", it replaced "The Witcher" as the first book since it included all the stories in "The Witcher", except "The Road with No Return" (the only story without Geralt). Although new short stories were added to "The Last Wish", they took place before those in "Sword of Destiny". 

Although "The road with no return" and "Something ends, something begins", an alternative ending of the Witcher saga about Geralt and Yennefer's wedding written as a wedding gift for Sapkowki's friends, were later published in 2000 in "Something Ends, Something Begins" and in 2012 in "Maladie and Other Stories" collections, the other stories in those books are unconnected to the Witcher series. In some Polish editions, "The road with no return" and "Something ends, Something Begins" are added to "The Last Wish" or "Sword of Destiny".

Toss a coin to your witcher

Marco Polo

Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Italian merchant, explorer, and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in «The Travels of Marco Polo» (also known 'Book of the Marvels of the World and Il Milione, c. 1300'), a book that described to Europeans the then mysterious culture and inner workings of the Eastern world, including the wealth and great size of the Mongol Empire and China in the Yuan Dynasty, giving their first comprehensive look into China, Persia, India, Japan and other Asian cities and countries.

Born in Venice, Marco learned the mercantile trade from his father and his uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, who travelled through Asia and met Kublai Khan. In 1269, they returned to Venice to meet Marco for the first time. The three of them embarked on a epic journey to Asia, exploring many places along the Silk Road until they reached Cathay (China). They were received by the royal court of Kublai Khan, who was impressed by Marco's intelligence and humility. 

Marco was appointed to serve as Khan's foreign emissary, and he was sent on many diplomatic missions throughout the empire and Southeast Asia, such as in present-day Burma, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. As part of this appointment, Marco also traveled extensively inside China, living in the emperor's lands for 17 years and seeing many things that had previously been unknown to Europeans. 

Around 1291, the Polos also offered to accompany the Mongol princess Kököchin to Persia; they arrived around 1293. After leaving the princess, they travelled overland to Constantinople and then to Venice, returning home after 24 years. At this time, Venice was at war with Genoa; Marco was imprisioned and dictated his stories to Rustichello da Pisa, a cellmate. He was released in 1299, became a wealthy merchant, married, and had three children. He died in 1324 and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Venice.

China's Education System

First of all, I have to say that China's Education System is considered one of the best in the world. The Ministry of Education is the one that manages education, which is free and compulsory for students from six to fifteen years old. After this age, students must pay fees and take entrance exams, which leads to a large drop in students at higher levels. Also, from childhood, great importance is given to teaching such as; value of hard work, daily discipline and respect for the elderly by age and hierarchy.

Regarding the value of work, mathematics is taught, for example, it is not because you do not have the talent, but because you need to work more on it. On the other hand, discipline is a fundamental element within education in China. Students study more than ten hours a day; classes last from approximately eight in the morning until three or four in the afternoon, however, after school they return home to continue with task that take several hours, often until nine or the at night. 

Also, students from big cities have additional music, arts and sports classes. Respect is also something that they are taught from a very young age. They speak to their teachers by the word teacher or theacher followeed by their last name, always with kindness and with gratitude to be offering the service of teaching, they even bow before them. Thanks to work, disciplinie and respect. China is now among the first places in educational quality in the world. 

In 2010, Shanghai ranked first on the international PISA exam (Program for International Student Assessment) in the areas of mathematics, reading and science. The most surprising thing about this event is that this was the first year that China participated in the PISA test. Similarly, promoting good behavior is an important part of education in China; Within each classroom, teachers are responsible for conducting student performance ratings, which motivates learning. 

For each correct answer or good behavior of the students or, points are added, on the contrary, if he makes mistakes or has a bad behavior, the asterisks are subtracted. The progress of each of the students is always visible on a board, which stimulates in a healthy way the sense of competence. It is worth mentioning that schools in China are divided into public and private. The level of education in private schools is much higher, which leads to a higher cost, which can reach up to one thousand dollars per month. 

It is important to point out that the foreign language has a great weight within the educational system; therefore they have 2-3 English classes a day. In elite schools, fith and sixth graders already speak English fluently. Since childhood, they have been taught that they must be the best, no matter in what category, this shows us why the Chinese have been leaders in science, culture and the arts for years. 

The Kelsen's pyramid

Hans Kelsen (1881-1973) was an Austrian jurist, legal philosopher and political philosopher. He was the author of the 1920 Austrian Constitution, which to a very large degree is still valid today. Due to the rise of totalitarism in Austria (and a 1929 constitutional change), Kelsen left to Germany in 1930 but was forced to leave this university pot after Hitler's seizure of power in 1933 because of his Jewish ancestry.

That year he left for Geneva and later moved to the United States in 1940. In 1934, Roscoe Pound lauded Kelsen as "undoubtedly the leading jurist of the time". While in Vienna, Kelsen met Sigmund Freud and his circle, and wrote on the subject o social psychology and sociology. By the 1940, Kelsen's reputation was already weel stablished in the United States for his defense of democracy and for his "Pure Theory of Law".

Kelsen's academic stature exceeded legal theory alone and extended to political philosophy and social theory as well. His influence encompassed the fields of philosophy, legal science, sociology, the theory of democracy, and international relations. Late in his career while at the University of California, Berkeley, although officially retired in 1952, Kelsen rewrote his short book of 1934, "Reine Rechtslehre" (Pure Theory of Law), into a much enlarged "second edition" published in 1960 (it appeared in an English translation in 1967). 

Kelsen throughout his active career was algo a significant contributor to the theory of judicial review, the hierarchical and dynamic theory of positive law, and the science of law. In political philosophy he was a defender of the state-law identity theory and an advocate of explicit contrast of the themes of centralization and decentralization in the theory of government. Kelsen was also and advocate of the position of separation of the concepts of state and society in their relation to the study of the science of law.

The reception and criticism of Kelsen's work and contributions has been extensive with both ardent supporters and detractors. Kelsen's contributions to legal theory of the Nuremberg trials was supported and contested by various authors including Dinstein at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Kelsen's Pure Theory of Law is widely acknowledged as his magnum opus. It aims to describe law as a hierarchy of norms which are also binding norms while at the same time refusing, itself, to evaluate those norms. That is, 'legal science' is to be separated from 'legal politics'. Central to the Pure Theory of Law is the notion of a 'basic norm (Grundnorm), a hypothetical norm, presupposed by the theory, from which in a hierarchy all 'lower' norms in a legal system, beginning with constitutional law, are understood to derive their authority or 'bindingness'. 

Getafe CF

Getafe Club de Fútbol or simply Getafe, is a Spanish professional acting football based in Getafe, a city in the south of the Community of Madrid. The team competes in La Liga, the highest tier of the Spanish football system. The club's home stadium is Coliseum Alfonso Pérez which was opened in 1998 and can hold 17393 spectators. The club was founded in 1946 and refounded in 1983.

Getafe participated in the top level of Spanish football for 12 years between 2004 and 2016. The club's main rivalry is against neighbours Leganés, who are based near the town of Getafe, and a friendly rivalry against Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid. Sociedad Getafe Deportivo was founded in 1923, only playing in lower divisions from 1928 to 1932. After the Spanish Civil War, in 1945 five Getafe locals, Enrique Condes García, Aurelio Miranda Olavaria, Antonio Corridor Lozano, Manuel Serrano Vergara and Miguel Cubero Francés, while meeting at "La Marquesina Bar", decided to form a local team. Officially founded on 24 February 1946, the club was named "Club Getafe Deportivo".

The club originally played in the "Campo del Regimiento de Artillería", which lacked goal posts. Shortly after, the club moved to San Isidro, housed in the current Municipal Sports Center of San Isidro. Here, Club Getafe was promoted to the third división follosing their victory against Villarrobledo in the 1956-57 season. Getafe was nearly promoted to the Segunda División in 1957-58, but was defeated by CD Almería. 

On 2 September 1970, the club inaugured its own stadium after being promoted back to the "Tercera División". Presided by chairman Francisco Vara, "Las Margaritas" won a 3-1 victory over "Michelín". The team survived in the third level that season, and six years later gained their first promotion to the second division in which played six seasons with little success. From 1976 to 1982, they placed below tenth level all six years.

In 1978, the club advanced to play against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey round of 16. Playing at home in the first leg, Getafe drew with a star-studded Barcelona team 3-3, before traveling away for the second leg and being thrashed 8-0 at the Camp Nou. At the conclusion of the 1981-82 season, players having not been paid, Getafe was automatically relegated and subsequently liquidated. 

Meanwhile, on 1 September 1976, a new club was founded in the National Sports Council and the Regional Federation of Castille. The club was called "Peña Madridista Getafe". This club played for four seasons in various divisions, until taking the name "Club Deportivo Peña Getafe", and played under this name for a further two seasons. On 10 July 1982, they joined forces with the much older "Club Getafe Promesas", and were registered again in the Regional Federation of Castille. 

Based on the merger the previous year, the present "Getafe Club de Fútbol" was officially founded on 8 July 1983, after passing through assembly. Starting in the regional leagues in 1983-84, Getafe was promoted for four consecutive seasons until reaching "Segunda División B". The club started a new period with its promotion into "Segunda" in 1994-95, staying only two years. Threatening absolute disappearance just a few years later in 1997, Getafe survived relegation into the fourth level "Tercera División" following a two-legged playoff victory over Huesca.

Meanwhile, Getafe's current stadium, the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez, was inaugurated on 1 January 1998. Returning to the second division for 1999-2000, Getafe lasted another two seasons. However, one year later, they would return following an amazing promotion in 2001-02 during which one of their players, Sebastián "Sebas" Gómez, was murdered, and controvery regarding unpaid payments of players following a debt of 3 million of €. Consolidating their position after one year, Getafe had a fantastic season in Segunda. 

At the top of the table for most of the year, the side travelled to the Canary Islands on the final matchday needing a win to assure a historic promotion to "La Liga", the top-flight. Amazingly, they defeated Tenerife 5-3 with five goals from Sergio Pachón, thus becoming along with Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid and Rayo Vallecano the fourth team from the Community of Madrid, and the first of them from outside of the capital, to ever play in "La Liga". With this promotion, Getafe had ascended the whole Spanish football pyramid, achieving this feat in only 20 years.

The club started 2004-05 poorly, lying at the bottom of the table. Home wins over Espanyol, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and Real Madrid, followed by a sole away win of the season over Athletic Bilbao, saw Getafe clim to finish 13th, being the only promoted side to avoid relegation. At the end of the season, the club lost head coach Quique Sánchez Flores and several players to rival clubs. In Getafe's next season, the club briefly topped the table before slipping to finish ninth. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Argentine-born Mariano Pernía became Getafe's first ever Spanish international, before moving to Atlético de Madrid.

In 2006-07, Getafe again finished ninth in the league, conceding only 33 goals in 38 matches and goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri "el pato" was awarded the Zamora Trophy, having recorded 12 clean sheets. The highlight of the club's season was reaching the 2006-07 Copa del Rey final, a competition in which Getafe had never reached the quarter-finals before. The run included a two-legged semi-final against Barcelona in which Getafe lost the first leg 5-2 at the Camp Nou before producing a 4-0 rout in the second leg at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez.

Getafe lost their first ever major final 1-0 to Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Through this, the club qualified for the following season's UEFA Cup qualification, as Sevilla had already qualified for the UEFA Champions League through their league position. The following season, coach Bernd Schuster left after two seasons to become head coach at Real Madrid, and Getafe appointed Michael Laudrup as his replacement. Under Laudrup, Getafe again finished the league mid-table. 

In the UEFA Cup, the team managed to progress to the quarter-finals after finishing top of Group G, only losing once, setting up a tie against four-time European Cup Winners Bayern Munich. Getafe drew the away leg 1-1, thanks to an injury time equaliser from Cosmin Contra. In the second leg, Rubén de la Red was sent off after six minutes. Contra put Getafe ahead just before half-time, but in the 89th minute, Franck Ribéry equalized to send the match into extra time. Two quick goals from Javier Casquero and substitute Braulio gave Getafe a 3-1 lead, but Bayern pulled a goal back from Luca Toni, before Toni again scored seconds before the end of extra time, giving Bayern an away goals win. Getafe also had successful run in the Copa del Rey, reaching the final for a second year running. 

In the final, at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Getafe were beaten 3-1 by Valencia. In the 2015-16 season, Getafe were relegated to second division after spending 12 years in first campaign. However, in 2016-17, the club immediately returned to "La Liga" after defeating Huesca and Tenerife to gain promotion via the play-offs. In the 2017-18 season Getafe finished in the 8th position, easily avoiding the relegation back to "Segunda División". In 2018-19 season they finished 5th, their highest finish in the first division, and qualified to the 2019-20 Europa League group stage. The team continued performing well in the 2019-20 season.

The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker is a 2019 American epic space-opera film produced, co-written, and directed by J.J. Abrams.  It is the third installment of the Star Wars squel trilogy, following The Force Awakens (2015) and The Last Jedi (2017), and the final episode of the nine-part "Skywalker saga". It was produced by Lucasfilm and Abrams's production company Bad Robot Productions, and was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 

The film's ensemble cast includes Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Kelly Marie Tran, Naomi Ackie, Domhnall Gleeson, Richard E. Grant, Lupita Nyong'o, Keri Russell, Joonas Suotamo, Ian Mcdiarmid, and Billy Dee Williams. It features the second posthumous film performance by Fisher, who died in 2016 and appears through the use of unused footage from The Force Awakens.

The Rise of Skywalker follows Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron as they lead the Resistance's final stand against Kylo Ren and the First Order, who are now aided by the return of the deceased galactic emperor, Palpatine. After the new trilogy was announced following Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012, it was originally reported that The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson would write the script for Episode IX. 

In August 2015, Colin Trevorrow was hired to direct and to write a script with his collaborator Derek Connolly; both ultimately retained story credit with Abrams and Chris Terrio. In September 2017, Trevorrow left the project following creative differences with producer Kathleen Kennedy, and Abrams returned as director. Principal photography began in August 2018 at Pinewood Studios in England and wrapped in February 2019. Post-production was completed on November 24, 2019.

The Rise of Skywalker had its world premiere in Los Angeles on December 16,2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on December 20, 2019. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the cast performances and visual effects but criticized the story, pacing, and perceived departures from the themes and story of The Last Jedi. it has grossed over 918 million dollars worldwide against a production budget of 275 million dollars, making it the ninth highest-grossing film of 2019.

Polaris

Polaris, designated Ursae Minoris, commonly the North Star or Pole Star, is the brighest star in the constellation of Ursa Minor. It is very close to the north celestial pole, making it the current northern pole star. The revised Hipparcos parallax gives a distance to Polaris of about 433 light-years (133 parsecs), while calculations by other methods derive distances around 30% closer. 

Polaris is a triple star system, composed of the primary star, Polaris Aa (a yellow supergiant), in orbit with a smaller companion (Polaris Ab); the pair in orbit with Polaris B (discovered in August 1779 by William Herschel). There were once thought to be two more distant component, Polaris C and Polaris D, but these have been shown not to be physically associated with the Polaris system. 

Polaris Aa is a 5.4 solar mass F7 yellow supergiant of spectral type IB. It is the first classical Cepheid to have a mass determined from its orbit. The two smaller companions are Polaris B, a 1.39 F3 main-sequence star orbiting at a distance of 2400 astronomical units (AU), and Polaris Ab (or P), a very close F6 main-sequence star with an 18.8 AU radius orbit and 1.26.

Polaris B can be seen even with a modest telescope. William Herschel discovered the star in August 1779 using a reflecting telescope of his own, one of the best telescopes of the time. By examining the spectrum of Polaris A, it was also discovered in 1929 that it was a very close binary, with the secondary being a dwarf, which had been theorized in earlier observations. In January 2006, NASA, released images, from the Hubble telescope, that showed the three members of the Polaris ternary system.

Ab, the nearby dwarf star, is in an orbit of 18.5 AU (2.8 billion km) from Polaris Aa, about the distance between the Sun and Uranus, which explains why its light is swamped by its close and much brigher companion. Polaris Aa, the supergiant primary component, is a low-amplitude Population I classical Cepheid variable, although it was once thought to be a type II Cepheid due to its high galactic latitude. Cepheids constitute an important standard candle for determining distance, so Polaris, as the closest such star, is heavily studied.