Datasets:

NoahEJ
/

fineweb-sample-100BT_over-2048-tokens

Dataset card Data Studio Files Files and versions Community

Split (1)

train · 8.89M rows

text stringlengths 2.08k 666k	id stringlengths 47 47	dump stringclasses 8 values	url stringlengths 15 932	date stringdate 2013-05-18 04:54:42 2022-05-29 13:30:03	file_path stringlengths 125 141	language stringclasses 1 value	language_score float64 0.65 1	token_count int64 1.35k 147k
Newsletter - June 2004 - Advisory News - Current Events, News and Journal Articles - Meetings and Conferences - For More Information Note: The following summaries are based on articles from the press and from peer-reviewed publications, and they represent the opinions of the original authors. The views of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government. Recent Advisory News - Michigan cuts fish advisory program The The Grand Rapids Press is reporting that the fish advisory program in the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) has not been funded by the state legislature. "The legislature removed the $350,000 for that program two years ago. We borrowed from different areas to produce (the advisory) last year, but now there is no place to go," said T.J. Buchholz, the spokesperson for the MDCH. "We aren't planning to update it," said Buchholz. "We believe the fish advisory is very important for helping the public understand the health risks, but do we fund that or Medicaid? When you choose between the advisory or dental service, or going into a nursing home, the fish advisory seems less important." Bob Day, with the Michigan DEQ's Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program, said "We are finding that mercury concentrations are going down in some inland waters, places that we could exempt certain species from the mercury advisory. But at Great Lake sites, it's just the opposite, it seems to be going up." Day is the man who samples the fish for contaminants. His sends his recommendations to MDCH for consideration. But the MDCH scientist no longer works on the project, according to Buchholz. That person now works on on other issues. Source: Howard Meyerson. State cuts fish advisory program. The Grand Rapids Press, May 29, 2004 - Signs Warn Visitors About Contaminated Fish at Lake Crabtree, NC The U.S. EPA found high levels of PCBs in catfish and carp in Lake Crabtree, a popular fishing spot, and Brier Creek, North Carolina. The contamination was discovered during an investigation of Ward Transformer Sales & Service Inc., prompting the state to post warnings about eating contaminated fish from the affected waterbodies. In 1978, a contractor hired by Ward Transformer sprayed 30,000 gallons of oil contaminated with PCBs along more than 200 miles of rural roadsides in 14 counties. Robert "Buck" Ward, father of the company's current president, eventually was convicted of federal charges involving illegal dumping of toxic waste and served nine months in a federal prison. EPA officials are studying the pollution to develop a plan for cleaning up the 11-acre Ward site, which was put on the Superfund national priority list in April 2003. Lake Crabtree park rangers have posted signs and handed out flyers in English and Spanish in the area warning the public not to eat catfish or carp, and to limit meals of other fish from the lake to just one a month. Source: Signs Warn Visitors About Contaminated Fish at Lake Crabtree. The Associated Press, May 21, 2004. - Montana agency to kill 478,000 fish contaminated with PCBs Montana wildlife officials plan to destroy nearly a half-million farm-raised trout and salmon that became contaminated with PCBs, apparently from paint used at Montana's largest hatchery. The PCB-laden paint was applied more than 25 years ago to the walls of the fish tanks at the Big Springs Trout Hatchery in Lewiston, where the trout and salmon are raised to help stock lakes along the Missouri River. The fish to be destroyed are contaminated at levels ranging from .029 to 1.69 parts per million, state fisheries chief Chris Hunter said. Health guidelines indicate people can safely eat one fish meal a week at PCB levels to .10 ppm, and one a month at levels between .11 and .47. The hatchery produces about half of the fish for Montana's stocking program. For more information, visit the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks website: http://www.fwp.state.mt.us. Source: Montana agency to kill 478,000 fish contaminated with PCBs By SUSAN GALLAGHER, Associated Press, 5/14/04 - California issues new advisories for mercury Mercury from California's Gold Rush days is lingering in three waterways flowing from the coastal mountains northeast of San Francisco, prompting warnings Tuesday from state health officials. The California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) issued a draft advisory warning against consuming too much fish from Clear Lake, Cache Creek and Bear Creek in Lake, Yolo and Colusa counties, respectively. The draft advisory recommends that no one eat any fish or shellfish from Bear Creek, a 39-mile-long tributary of Cache Creek. For Clear Lake and Cache Creek, the draft advisory recommends women of childbearing age and children age 17 and younger eat bass, catfish and certain other fish no more than once a month, and men and women beyond childbearing age no more than once a week. If none of those fish are eaten, women of childbearing age and children 17 years and younger can have one meal a week of bluegill, hitch, carp, trout or crayfish, while women beyond childbearing age and adult men can have up to three meals a week of those fish. An advisory has been in place since 1987 for Clear Lake, but the new proposal includes the entire 81-mile length of Cache Creek from Clear Lake to the Yolo Bypass of the Sacramento River, as well as the North Fork of Cache Creek and all of Bear Creek. Mercury was mined in the Clear Lake area starting in the mid-1800s. State scientists planned to discuss the draft advisory at the Lake County Coordinating Resource Management Committee meeting in Clearlake. The public has until June 16 to comment. Source: Mercury, a Gold Rush legacy, haunting coastal creeks. Don Thompson, ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 11, 2004 Current Events, News and Journal Articles - Potential exposure to PCBs, DDT, and PBDEs from sport-caught fish consumption in relation to breast cancer risk in Wisconsin In Wisconsin, consumption of Great Lakes fish is an important source of exposure to PCBs, DDT, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and other halogenated hydrocarbons, all of which may act as potential risk factors for breast cancer. The authors of this study examined the association between sport-caught fish consumption and breast cancer incidence as part of an ongoing population-based case-control study. The researchers identified 1,481 breast cancer cases 20-69 years of age whowere diagnosed in 1998-2000 from the Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System. Female controls of similar age were randomly selected from population lists (n = 1,301). Information about all sport-caught (Great Lakes and other lakes) fish consumption and breast cancer risk factors was obtained through telephone interviews. After adjustment for known and suspected risk factors, the relative risk of breast cancer for women who had recently consumed sport-caught fish was similar to women who had never eaten sport-caught fish. Frequency of consumption and location of sport-caught fish were not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Recent consumption of Great Lakes fish was not associated with postmenopausal breast cancer, whereas risk associated with premenopausal breast cancer was elevated. In this study the authors found no overall association between recent consumption of sport-caught fish and breast cancer, although they suggest there may be an increased breast cancer risk for subgroups of women who are young and/or premenopausal. Source: McElroy JA, Kanarek MS, Trentham-Dietz A, Robert SA, Hampton JM, Newcomb PA, Anderson HA, Remington PL. 2004. Potential exposure to PCBs, DDT, and PBDEs from sport-caught fish consumption in relation to breast cancer risk in Wisconsin. Environ Health Perspect 2004 Feb;112(2):156-62. - Fish consumption and other environmental exposures and their associations with serum PCB concentrations among Mohawk women at Akwesasne A study was conducted with the objective of assessing how dietary, occupational, and residential exposures to PCBs contribute to body burden among pregnant Mohawk women residing near three hazardous waste sites. From 1992 to 1995, 111 pregnant women were interviewed about fish consumption and other environmental risk factors and donated a 20-mL venous blood sample for serum PCB analysis. To supplement previous fish sampling, samples of residential soil, ambient air, wild duck, and local meats and vegetables were also collected and analyzed for PCBs. The results indicated a significant decline in local fish consumption from an annual mean of 31.3 meals more than 1 year prior to pregnancy to an annualized mean of 11.7 meals during pregnancy. This change was reportedly a result of the advisories issued against consumption of local fish by pregnant and nursing women of childbearing age. The geometric mean concentration of total PCBs in the serum was 1.2 ppb, a level that is similar to that in other studies of women with no unusual exposures to PCBs. However, multiple regression analysis revealed that serum levels of total PCBs and three individual congeners were associated with local fish consumption. The PCB levels in soil, air, and local foodstuffs other than fish generally were not elevated, except for those obtained in close proximity to one of the hazardous waste sites, and no association was found between serum PCB levels and exposure through these media or through occupation. Source: Fitzgerald EF, Hwang SA, Langguth K, Cayo M, Yang BZ, Bush B, Worswick P, Lauzon T. 2004. Fish consumption and other environmental exposures and their associations with serum PCB concentrations among Mohawk women at Akwesasne. Environ Res 2004 Feb;94(2):160-70. - Wild salmon prices rise as consumers turn away from farmed fish Over the past two years, campaigns have promoted the health, taste and environmental benefits of ocean-caught salmon. Scientific studies have found higher levels of PCBs in farmed salmon. And new laws are highlighting the origin of salmon for consumers. The convergence of all those factors has pushed wild salmon prices back up to the high prices seen in the late 1980s. Higher prices have made some middlemen balky, but strong demand has brought them around, said Scott Adams, production manager for Hallmark Fisheries in Charleston, Oregon. "I call a guy up and he'll say, 'I'm not buying fish at that price.' An hour later he calls back and asks if I have any fish left," Adams said. "It's amazing. It goes to show you people want to eat certain things." Fish marketing consultant Howard Johnson of H.M. Johnson & Associates has tracked a slight increase in farmed salmon prices, but noted that wild prices are up much more. He added that the buzz was all wild salmon at this year's International Boston Seafood Show, where Legal Sea Foods, a Boston-based chain of 26 restaurants, announced a new line of wild Alaskan salmon dishes. "What we have now is an informed public that wants our product," said fisherman Daryl Bogardus. "Instead of taking a back seat to farmed fish, we're getting the price we should." Surveys in Oregon have tracked a steep rise in consumer preference for wild fish, said EcoTrust Vice President Eileen Brady. In 2002, when asked what salmon they would choose at the grocery or a restaurant, 29 percent said wild salmon, 26 percent farmed salmon, and 35 percent had no preference, according to the survey done by Riley Research Associates of Portland. This year, 58 percent preferred wild salmon, and 10 percent farmed. "You throw in the PCBs in salmon, with mad cow, with the Asian bird flu, and you have a customer base that's waking up, searching for a healthier quality alternative, and of course wanting to support the local economy," Brady said. Source: Wild salmon prices rise as consumers turn away from farmed fish. JEFF BARNARD, Associated Press, 5/5/2004. - Mercury levels in marine and estuarine fishes of Florida: 1989-2001 The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission - Florida Marine Research Institute (FWC-FMRI) recently published a technical report regarding total mercury levels in marine and estuarine fishes from Florida waters. FWC-FMRI has examined total mercury levels in muscle tissue from a variety of economically and ecologically important fish species as part of an ongoing study to better understand mercury contamination in marine fishes. The FWC-FMRI Mercury Program is one of the most comprehensive programs in the United States for monitoring mercury levels in marine and estuarine fishes. The authors examined the concentration of total mercury in 6,806 fish, representing 108 marine and estuarine species from 40 families. Species represented all major trophic groups, from primary consumers to apex predators. The majority of individuals examined contained low concentrations of mercury, but concentrations in individual fish varied greatly within and among species. Species with very low mean or median mercury concentrations tended to be planktivores, detritivores, species that feed on invertebrates, or species that feed on invertebrates and small fish prey. Apex predators typically had the highest mercury concentrations. In most species, mercury concentration increased as fish size increased. Sampling in Florida waters is continuing, and future research relating mercury levels to fish age, feeding ecology, and the trophic structure of Florida's marine and estuarine ecosystems will help us better understand concentrations of this element in marine fishes. Copies of the report can be obtained from: FWC-FMRI (Attn: Librarian) 100 8th Ave. SE St. Petersburg, FL 33701-5020 or by sending a request to: [email protected] Source: Adams, D. H., R. H. McMichael, Jr., and G. E. Henderson. 2003. Mercury levels in marine and estuarine fishes of Florida: 1989-2001. Fla. Mar. Res. Inst. Tech. Rep. TR-9. 2nd ed. rev. St. Petersburg, FL. 57 pp. - Michigan DEQ to sample for Midland dioxin contamination Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) will collect soil samples and test for the presence of unsafe levels of dioxin in the city of Midland this summer. Previous results show dioxin is likely to be in excess of the state standard of 90 parts per trillion as far as two miles from the Dow Chemical Co. plant. City officials estimate that 8,800 homes and 21,300 people - nearly half of Midland's population - could be affected by DEQ regulations and Dow cleanup requirements. The city wants a health study to determine whether dioxin exposure has affected the community. It also wants the DEQ to note in advance what remediation actions will be required and at what levels. DEQ Deputy Director Jim Sygo says Midland property owners likely will be subject to a "facility" label that will require them to disclose information about contamination to potential buyers. That is the same label applied to residents in the Tittabawassee River floodplain dealing with dioxin contamination. More than 300 plaintiffs are suing Dow over the contamination. The lawsuit seeks damages for lost property value and seeks establishment of a medical monitoring trust fund. Source: DEQ isn't backing down on Midland dioxin contamination. Associated Press. May 10, 2004 - Fish consumption, mercury exposure, and heart diseases There is increasing concern regarding methylmercury exposure in populations that consume large amounts of fish. This situation poses a dilemma for those who choose to consume fish for its beneficial effects on heart disease risk. Recent evidence suggests that high mercury content in fish may diminish the cardioprotective effect of fish intake. In this review, the authors explore the current knowledge of mercury toxicity on the heart and evaluate the epidemiologic evidence to date. Source: Chan HM, Egeland GM. 2004. Fish consumption, mercury exposure, and heart diseases. Nutr Rev 2004 Feb;62(2):68-72. - Combining food frequency and survey data to quantify long-term dietary exposure: a methyl mercury case study This article presents a probabilistic method of bridging the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) food frequency and the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII) data to estimate longitudinal (usual) intake, using a case study of seafood mercury exposures for two population subgroups (females 16 to 49 years and children 1 to 5 years). Two hundred forty-nine CSFII food codes were mapped into 28 NHANES fish/shellfish categories. FDA and state/local seafood mercury data were used. A uniform distribution with minimum and maximum blood-diet ratios of 0.66 to 1.07 was assumed. A probabilistic assessment was conducted to estimate distributions of individual 30-day average daily fish/shellfish intakes, methyl mercury exposure, and blood levels. The upper percentile estimates of fish and shellfish intakes based on the 30-day daily averages were lower than those based on two- and three-day daily averages. These results support previous findings that distributions of "usual" intakes based on a small number of consumption days provide overestimates in the upper percentiles. About 10% of the females (16 to 49 years) and children (1 to 5 years) may be exposed to mercury levels above the EPA's RfD. The predicted 75th and 90th percentile blood mercury levels for the females in the 16-to-49-year group were similar to those reported by NHANES. The predicted 90th percentile blood mercury levels for children in the 1-to-5-year subgroup was similar to NHANES and the 75th percentile estimates were slightly above the NHANES. Source: Tran NL, Barraj L, Smith K, Javier A, Burke TA. 2004. Combining food frequency and survey data to quantify long-term dietary exposure: a methyl mercury case study. Risk Anal 2004 Feb;24(1):19-30. - Exposure to persistent organochlorine compounds through fish consumption and the incidence of osteoporotic fractures The objective of this study was to assess the impact of POC-contaminated fish on the self-reported fracture incidence of Swedish fishermen and their wives. A postal questionnaire was sent to 2096 fishermen and 1602 fishermen's wives from the Swedish east (exposed) coast and 4584 fishermen and 4217 fishermen's wives from the west (unexposed) coast. Self-reported fractures, together with specified current fish consumption and information about potential confounders, were registered. The response rates varied between 50% and 59%. The age distributions of the nonrespondents and respondents were almost identical. Hip, vertebral, and wrist fractures were classified as osteoporotic. The fracture incidence rates for specific skeletal locations were based on allocated fractures and person-years under risk from the age of 25 years until the time of fracture or the end of follow-up. The authors found no differences in fracture incidence between the east and west-coast cohorts. East-coast wives with more than one meal of fatty fish from the Baltic Sea per month had, however, an increased fracture incidence as compared with that of the east-coast wives who ate, at most, one such meal per month. No such exposure-response association was found for the fishermen. The authors conclude that the present study only minimally supports an association between POC exposure through contaminated fish and an increased risk of osteoporotic fractures. Source: Wallin E, Rylander L, Hagmar L. 2004. Exposure to persistent organochlorine compounds through fish consumption and the incidence of osteoporotic fractures. Scand J Work Environ Health 2004 Feb;30(1):30-5. - Mercury in fishes and their diet items from Flathead Lake, Montana Mercury levels in lake trout, lake whitefish, and benthic invertebrates were investigated in Flathead Lake, Montana. For both fish species, mercury increased with size and age and showed a negative relationship with growth rate. No gender-based differences in mercury levels were observed for either lake trout or lake whitefish. A positive relationship between mercury concentration and depth was documented for lake trout and the pooled invertebrate sample, suggesting that individual lake trout have some long-term habitat preferences. The authors suggest that these findings underscore the need to consider biological attributes of organisms when conducting contaminant assessments and illustrate the usefulness of contaminants as food web tracers. Source: Stafford Craig P(Reprint); Hansen Barry; Stanford Jack A. 2004. Mercury in fishes and their diet items from Flathead Lake, Montana. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 133(2):349-357 - Relations between land use and organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, and semi-volatile organic compounds in streambed sediment and fish on the island of Oahu, Hawaii Bed-sediment and/or fish samples were collected from 27 sites around the island of Oahu (representing urban, agricultural, mixed, and forested land use) to determine the occurrence and distribution of hydrophobic organic compounds including organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, and semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Of the 28 organochlorine compounds analyzed in the fish, 14 were detected during this study. Nineteen of the 31 organochlorine compounds and 40 of the 65 SVOCs were detected in the sediment. Urban sites had the highest number of detections and tended to have the highest concentrations of pesticides. Chlordane compounds were the most frequently detected constituents at urban sites, followed by dieldrin, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and DDT compounds. PAHs were the most frequently detected constituents in watersheds with mixed (urban and agricultural) land use. The only pesticides detected at agricultural sites were DDT and its degradation products, DDD and DDE. No pesticides or PCBs were detected at the forested sites, but a few ubiquitous SVOCs were found in sediments at some forested sites. In general, concentrations of the most frequently detected pesticides were higher in fish than in sediment. Source: Brasher A M D; Wolff R H. 2004. Relations between land use and organochlorine pesticides, PCBs, and semi-volatile organic compounds in streambed sediment and fish on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 46(3):385-398 - Dietary exposure to a group of naturally produced organohalogens (halogenated dimethyl bipyrroles) via consumption of fish and seafood Concentrations of four naturally produced halogenated dimethyl bipyrroles (HDBPs) were quantitated in 10 samples each of marine fish, freshwater fish, canned fish, and shrimp composites collected from 1992 to 2002 for the Canadian Total Diet Study. Canned fish composites composed of epipelagic higher trophic level species contained the highest concentration of HDBPs, which was significantly higher than that found in the other three composites. The estimated daily intake of HDBPs via consumption of fish and seafood was determined to be 53 pg/kg of body mass/day and 0.10 pg of TEQ/kg of body mass/day when transformed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin equivalents (TEQs). In the canned fish and shrimp composites collected in 1998, HDBPs accounted for approximately 98 and 19%, respectively, of the total quantitated TEQ (which included PCBs, dioxins, and furans). The authors state that the results of this study provide the first estimate of human exposure to naturally produced bioaccumulating organohalogens. Source: Tittlemier SA. 2004. Dietary exposure to a group of naturally produced organohalogens (halogenated dimethyl bipyrroles) via consumption of fish and seafood. J Agric Food Chem 2004 Apr 7;52(7):2010-5. - Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration and composition determined in farmed blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) in a sea loch pre- and post-closure of an aluminium smelter Concentrations of PAHs from an actively producing commercial shellfish farm in Loch Leven, Scotland, were found in excess of 4000 ng/g wet weight tissue. These concentrations were found to be considerably greater than had been recorded from mussels sampled elsewhere around the Scottish mainland. The PAH composition of the mussels from Loch Leven was dominated by the 5-ring, parent compounds; benzo[b]fluoranthene was the dominant compound. This data was consistent with the source being a discharge from an aluminium smelter. The individual compounds benz[a]anthracene, benzo[a]pyrene and dibenz[a,h]anthracene returned values of 304 ng/g 446 ng/g and 39 ng/g respectively; these were well above the 15 ng/g pragmatic guideline limit. Over the two year monitoring period, the concentrations of these compounds in mussels from Loch Etive, a reference location, ranged between 'not detected' and 4 ng/g for benz[a]anthracene). Mussels were transferred from a clean location to Loch Leven which demonstrated that the rate of uptake of PAH was rapid. Following closure of the aluminium smelter, the PAH concentrations in mussels decreased. Differences between the two sites within Loch Leven were noted with the longer-term impact remaining greater for the mussels closer to the original point discharge. Source: McIntosh AD, Moffat CF, Packer G, Webster L. 2004. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration and composition determined in farmed blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) in a sea loch pre- and post-closure of an aluminium smelter. J Environ Monit 2004 Mar;6(3):209-18. Epub 2004 Feb 4. Meetings and Conferences - American Fisheries Society Annual Meeting The American Fisheries Society (AFS) will convene its 134th Annual Meeting at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Monona Terrace in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, from August 22nd through August 26th, 2004. The theme celebrates Wisconsin's name (which has been translated as "gathering of waters") and Wisconsin's celebrated ecologist Aldo Leopold. Your hosts invite you to gather with professionals, with colleagues, with old friends, and with new friends on the Isthmus next summer to learn how Leopold's legacy has influenced the conservation of our aquatic resources in the past and to plan how it may influence the future. For more information or to register, visit the website: www.afs2004madison.org/index.shtml. [broken link] - Midwestern States Risk Assessment Symposium August 25-27, 2004 at the Indianapolis Hyatt Regency Hotel. The 2nd Midwestern States Risk Assessment Symposium will feature some of the leading experts in the United States as speakers. The format will include oral and poster presentations, panel discussions, and meals with prominent speakers. The symposium will also feature Vendor exhibits and provide many opportunities for networking with colleagues from industry, government, academia, and consulting firms. Four states (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio) are co-chairing sessions this year. Additional information, online registration, and abstract submission for papers and posters can be found at www.spea.indiana.edu/msras. - Fourth SETAC World Congress The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) will hold the Fourth SETAC World Congress and the 25th Annual Meeting for North America concurrently in Portland, OR November 14-18, 2004. The theme for the Fourth SETAC World Congress is "SETAC: 25 Years of Interdisciplinary Science Serving Global Society 1979 - 2004" For more information visit the website: www.setac.org/portland.html. Please email the newsletter ([email protected]) if you would like to announce an upcoming meeting, conference, or to submit an article.	<urn:uuid:34e99a2c-54f4-4fee-bc82-537da1d762f3>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/news/newsjune04.cfm	2015-03-29T10:37:18Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.937725	5,953
There are numerous articles about antibiotic resistance, appropriate antibiotic use, and other related issues. However, the Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work campaign has developed an abbreviated list of recommended readings to introduce people to the topic of appropriate antibiotic use. Antibiotic Resistance Efforts - Emmer CL, Besser RE: Combating antimicrobial resistance: intervention programs to promote appropriate antibiotic use. Infect Med 19:160-173, 2002. - Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance: A public health action plan to combat antimicrobial resistance [114 KB, 46 pages] - Friedman, CR, Whitney, CG: It's time for a change in practice: Reducing antibiotic use can Alter antibiotic resistance. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 197:1082-1083, 2008. - Stephenson J: CDC campaign targets antimicrobial resistance in hospitals. JAMA 287:23512352, 2002. - Weissman J, Besser RE: Promoting appropriate antibiotic use for pediatric patients: a social ecological framework. Sem Pediat Infect Dis 15:41-51, 2004. - Whitney CG, Farley MM, Hadler J, et al: Decline in invasive Pneumococcal disease after introduction of protein-polysaccharide conjugate vaccine. New Engl J Med 348:1737-1746, 2003. Antibiotic Use and Resistance - Bronzwaer SLAM, Cars O, Buchholz U, et al: A European study on the relationships between antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance. Emerg Infect Dis 8:278-282, 2002. - Infectious Diseases Society of America: Bad bugs, no drugs: As antibiotic discovery stagnates…a public health crisis brews [4 MB, 29 pages]. Accessed July 22, 2004. - Levin BR: Minimizing potential resistance: a population dynamics view. Clin Infect Dis 33:S161S169, 2001. - Lipsitch M, Samore MH: Antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance: a population perspective. Emerg Infect Dis 8:347-354, 2002. - McGowan JE: Antimicrobial resistance in hospital organisms and its relationship to antibiotic use. Rev Infect Dis 5:1033-1048, 1983. - Reichler MR, Allphin AA, Breiman RF, et al: The spread of multiply resistant Streptococcus pneumonia at a day care center in Ohio. J Infect Dis 166:1346-1353, 1992. - Besser RE: Antimicrobial prescribing on the United States: good news, bad news. Annals Int Med 137:605-606, 2003. - Bauchner H, Besser RE: Promoting the appropriate use of oral antibiotics: there is some very good news. Pediatrics 111:668-670, 2003. - CDC: Office-related antibiotic prescribing for persons aged ≤14 years — United States, 1993—1994 to 2007—2008. MMWR 60:1153-6, 2011. - Finkelstein JA, Stille C, Nordin J, et al: Reduction in antibiotic use among US children, 1996-2000. Pediatrics 112:620-627, 2003. - Grijalva CG, Nuorti JP, Griffin M: Antibiotic prescription rates for acute respiratory tract infections in US ambulatory settings. JAMA 302:758-766, 2009. - Gonzales R, Malone DC, Maselli JH, et al: Excessive antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections in the United States. Clin Infect Dis 33:757-762, 2001. - Gonzales R, Steiner JF, Sande MA: Antibiotic prescribing for adults with colds, upper respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis by ambulatory care physicians. JAMA 278:901-904, 1997. - Linder JA, Bates DW, Lee, GM, Finkelstein JA: Antibiotic treatment of children with sore throat. JAMA 294:2315-2322, 2005. - Linder JA, Huang ES, Steinman MA, Gonzales R, Stafford RS: Fluoroquinolone prescribing in the United States: 1995-2002. Am J Med 118:259-268, 2005. - Mangione-Smith R, Wong L, Elliott MN, McDonald L, Roski J: Measuring the quality of antibiotic prescribing for upper respiratory infections and bronchitis in 5 US health plans. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 159:751-757, 2005. - McCaig LF, Besser RE, Hughes JM: Antimicrobial drug prescriptions in ambulatory care settings, United States, 1992-2000. Emerg Infect Dis 9:432-437, 2003. - McCaig LF, Besser RE, Hughes JM: Trends in antimicrobial prescribing rates for children and adolescents. JAMA 287:3096-3102, 2002. - McCaig LF, Hughes JM: Trends in antimicrobial drug prescribing among office-based physicians in the United States. JAMA 273:214-219, 1995. - Nash DR, Harman J, Wald ER et al: Antibiotic prescribing by primary care physicians for children with upper respiratory tract infections. Arch Pediat Adol Med 156: 1114-1119, 2002. - Nyquist AC, Gonzales R, Steiner JF, et al: Antibiotic prescribing for children with colds, upper respiratory tract infections, and bronchitis. JAMA 279:875-877, 1998. - Pichichero ME: Dynamics of antibiotic prescribing for children. JAMA 287:3133-3135, 2002. - Shapiro, DJ, Hicks LA, Pavia AT, et al: Antibiotic prescribing for adults in ambulatory care in the USA, 2007-09. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2013 Jul 25. [Epub ahead of print] - Steinman MA, Gonzales R, Linder JA, et al: Changing use of antibiotics in community-based outpatient practice, 1991-1999. Annals Int Med 138:525-534, 2003. - Steinman MA, Landefeld CS, Gonzales R: Predictors of broad-spectrum antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory tract infections in adult primary care. JAMA 289:719-725, 2003. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Studies - Avorn J, Solomon DH: Cultural and economic factors that (mis)shape antibiotic use: the nonpharmacologic basis of therapeutics. Annals Int Med 133:128-135, 2000. - Barden LS, Dowell SF, Schwartz B, et al: Current attitudes regarding use of antimicrobial agents: results from physicians’ and parents’ focus group discussions. Clin Pediatr37:665-672, 1998. - Bauchner H, Pelton SI, Klein JO: Parents, physicians, and antibiotic use. Pediatrics 103:395-401, 1999. - Belongia EA, Naimi TS, Gale GM, et al: Antibiotic use and upper respiratory infections: a survey of knowledge, attitudes, and experience in Wisconsin and Minnesota. Prev Med 34:346-352, 2002. - Friedman JF, Lee GM, Kleinman KP, Finkelstein JA: Child care center policies and practice for management of ill children. Ambul Pediatr 4:455-460, 2004. - Larson E, Lin SX, Gomez-Duarte C: Antibiotic use in Hispanic households, New York City. Emerg Infect Dis 9:1096-1102, 2003. - Mangione-Smith R, Elliott MN, Stivers T, et al: Racial/ethnic variation in parent expectations for antibiotics: implications for public health campaign. Pediatrics 113:e385-e394, 2004. - Mangione-Smith R, McGlynn EA, Elliott MN, et al: The relationship between perceived parental expectations and pediatrician antimicrobial prescribing behavior. Pediatrics 103:711-718, 1999. - Srinivasan A, Song X, Richards A, et al: A survey of knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs of house staff physicians from various specialties concerning antimicrobial use and resistance. Arch Int Med 164:1451-1456, 2004. - Stivers T, Mangione-Smith R, Elliott MN, et al: Why do physicians think parents expect antibiotics? What parents report vs what physicians believe. Fam Prac 52:140-147, 2003. - Vanden Eng J, Marcus R, Hadler JL, et al: Consumer attitudes and use of antibiotics. Emerg Infect Dis 9:1128-1135, 2003. - White D, Mori A, Zweifler J, et al: Parental satisfaction without antibiotics. The Nurse Practitioner35: 40-42, 2010. Community Level Interventions - Belongia EA, Knobloch MJ, Kieke BA, Davis JP, Janette C, Besser RE: Impact of statewide program to promote appropriate antimicrobial drug use. Emerg Infect Dis 11:912-920, 2005. - Belongia EA, Sullivan BJ, Chyou PH, et al: A community intervention trial to promote judicious antibiotic use and reduce penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneuimoniae carriage in children. Pediatrics 108:575-583, 2001. - Finkelstein JA, Davis RL, Dowell SF, et al: Reducing antibiotic use in children: a randomized trial in 12 practices. Pediatrics 108:1-7, 2001. - Finkelstein JA, Huang SS, Kleinman K, et al: Impact of a 16-community trial to promote judicious antibiotic use in Massachusetts. Pediatrics 121:e15-23, 2008. - Gonzales R, Steiner JF, Lum A, et al: Decreasing antibiotic use in ambulatory practice: impact of a multidimensional intervention on the treatment of uncomplicated acute bronchitis in adults. JAMA 281:1512-1519, 1999. - Hennessy TW, Petersen KM, Bruden D, et al: Changes in antibiotic-prescribing practices and carriage of penicillin-resistant Steptococcus pneumoniae: a controlled intervention trial in rural Alaska. Clin Infect Dis 34:1543-1550, 2002. - Kiang KM, Kieke BA, Como-Sabetti K, Lynfield E, Besser RE, Belongia EA: Clinician knowledge and beliefs after statewide program to promote appropriate antimicrobial drug use. Emerg Infect Dis 11:904-911, 2005. - Metlay JP, Camargo Jr CA, MacKenzie TD,et al: Randomized trial of a multidimensional educational intervention to improve antibiotic use for adults with acute respiratory infections managed in the emergency department. Annals of Emergency Medicine, 50:221-30, 2007. - Perz JF, Craig AS, Coffey CS, et al: Changes in antibiotic prescribing for children after a community-wide campaign. JAMA 287:3103-3109, 2002. - Taylor JA, Kwan-Gett TSC, McMahon EM: Effectiveness of an educational intervention in modifying parental attitudes about antibiotic usage in children. Pediatrics 111:e548-e555, 2003. - American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and American Academy of Pediatrics Subcommittee on Otitis Media With Effusion: Otitis media with effusion. Pediatrics 113:1412-1429, 2004. - Cooper RJ, Hoffman JR, Bartlett JG, et al: Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for acute pharyngitis in adults: background. Annals Int Med 134:509-517, 2001. - Dowell SF, Marcy SM, Phillips WR, et al: Otitis media—principles of judicious use of antimicrobial agents. Pediatrics 101:165-171, 1998. - Dowell SF, Marcy SM, Phillips WR, et al: Principles of judicious use of antimicrobial agents for pediatric upper respiratory tract infections. Pediatrics 101:163-165, 1998. - Gonzales R, Bartlett JG, Besser RE, et al: Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for treatment of acute respiratory tract infections in adults: background, specific aims, and methods. Annals Int Med 134:479-486, 2001. - Gonzales R, Bartlett JG, Besser RE, et al: Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for treatment of nonspecific upper respiratory tract infections in adults: background. Annals Int Med 34:490-494, 2001. - Gonzales R, Bartlett JG, Besser RE, et al: Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for treatment of uncomplicated acute bronchitis: background. Annals Int Med 134:521-529, 2001. - Hickner JM, Bartlett JG, Besser RE, et al: Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for acute rhinosinusitis in adults: background. Annals Int Med 134:498-505, 2001. - Irwin RS, Baumann MH, Bolser DC, et al: Diagnosis and management of cough: ACCP evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Chest 1S-292S, 2006. - O'Brien KL, Dowell SF, Schwartz B, et al: Acute sinusitis--principles of judicious use of antimicrobial agents. Pediatrics 101:174-177, 1998. - O'Brien KL, Dowell SF, Schwartz B, et al: Cough illness/bronchitis--principles of judicious use of antimicrobial agents. Pediatrics 101:178-181, 1998. - Rosenstein N, Phillips WR, Gerber MA, et al: The common cold--principles of judicious use of antimicrobial agents. Pediatrics 101:181-184, 1998. - Schwartz B, Marcy SM, Phillips WR, et al: Pharyngitis--principles of judicious use of antimicrobial agents. Pediatrics 101:171-174, 1998. - Sinus and Allergy Health Partnership: Antimicrobial treatment guidelines for acute bacterial rhinosinusitis: Executive summary. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 130:1-45, 2004. - Subcommittee on Management of Acute Otitis Media: Diagnosis and management of acute otitis media.Pediatrics 113:1451-1465, 2004. Adverse Drug Events - Budnitz DS, Pollock DA; Weidenbach, KN et al: National surveillance of emergency department visits for outpatient adverse drug events. JAMA 296:1858-1866, 2006. - Shehab N, Patel PR , Srinivasan A, Budnitz DS: Emergency department visits for anitbiotic-associated adverse events. Clin Infect Dis 47, 2008. Images and logos on this website which are trademarked/copyrighted or used with permission of the trademark/copyright or logo holder are not in the public domain. These images and logos have been licensed for or used with permission in the materials provided on this website. The materials in the form presented on this website may be used without seeking further permission. Any other use of trademarked/copyrighted images or logos requires permission from the trademark/copyright holder...more This graphic notice means that you are leaving an HHS Web site. For more information, please see the Exit Notification and Disclaimer policy.	<urn:uuid:976b5c59-12bb-44f1-91dc-cb80a28d16a6>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.cdc.gov/GetSmart/program-planner/Rec-Readings.html	2015-03-29T11:16:19Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.677569	3,273
The Moffat County High School varsity football team is making a strong postseason push, and tonight’s game could make the difference. The Bulldogs play rival Steamboat Springs in the final game of the regular season. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at MCHS, 900 Finley Lane. Traditionally known as the Yampa Valley Showdown, tonight’s game is a highly-anticipated one, with the Bulldogs looking for their first victory against the Sailors since 2004. Through Diana Allen Kouris’ words, she has been able to capture what life was like in the days of Old West cattle ranching in Browns Park, she said. “I have had many people tell me that they felt like they were right there, riding beside us, living that life and eating the meals with us, and all,” said Kouris, a Kinnear, Wyo., resident. “That is a tremendous compliment to me, for my writing, because that was my dream.” It was for her vivid depiction of Wild West life that Kouris thinks her book, “Riding the Edge of an Era: Growing Up Cowboy on the Outlaw Trail,” was recently honored with two awards. A baby crying at 3 a.m. is normal. A baby crying at 3 a.m. because he’s being dangled in midair by an invisible spirit is something else entirely. Such is the conundrum in “Paranormal Activity 2.” The Reys are a typical San Diego clan consisting of Kristi (Sprague Grayden), Dan (Brian Boland) and Dan’s daughter from a previous marriage, Ali (Molly Ephraim). With the arrival of baby Hunter (Jackson Xenia and William Juan Prieto), the family is complete. On the Record for Nov. 5, 2010 Foul play ruled out in death of local 37-year-old Foul play was ruled out in the death of a local 37-year-old. Routt County Search and Rescue also was sent to search for a lost hunter south of Hayden. The hunter was found in good condition. Republican’s departure eliminates Western Slope representation State Sen. Al White a Hayden Republican, essentially was ousted from the powerful House-Senate committee by his own party after serving on it for four years. He said one negative impact for Northwest Colorado residents would be the lack of Western Slope representation on the committee. Regular unleaded and diesel prices as of Thursday afternoon. The Certifying Commission in Medical Management recently designated Dr. J. Scott Ellis, chief of obstetrics at The Memorial Hospital in Craig, as a Certified Physician Executive, according to a news release from the hospital. Ellis also completed his MBA in 2009, and was recently named as the hospital’s next chief of staff, beginning in January 2011. “We are very proud of Dr. Ellis’s accomplishment,” said George Rohrich, TMH chief executive officer, in the hospital’s release. “It further demonstrates his commitment to excellence. We are excited about Dr. Ellis’s impending leadership role with the other medical staff, as he brings a great deal of knowledge and experience to the organization.” Luke Schafer, Colorado Environmental Coalition northwest campaign coordinator, said the message of the video “One in a Vermillion” is basic. “Vermillion Basin is a phenomenal place, and we in America need wild places like (it),” he said. “One of our purposes should be to make sure that our kids have a little bit of what we have had. “If nothing else, surely we can save this one place for posterity’s sake.” Craig Mayor Don Jones needed just a few words to describe his response to a letter from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals regarding the city’s discussion on deer removal. “Very politically correct,” he said with a laugh. Jones said the city received a letter from PETA on Oct. 28, and he responded Tuesday. When CJ Walt saw the football schedule for this year, he liked that the last regular season game of his senior year was against Steamboat Springs. “I circled that game,” Walt said. “It’s a big one for us.” The Western Slope League athletic directors did what they could to set up rivalry games this year in the last week of the season. The Maybell Seniors group is hosting a chili and pie dinner at 5 p.m. today at the Maybell Community Center. The all-you-can-eat dinner costs $6 per person. For more information, call 272-3226. Coffee House slated for today in Craig The Friday Night Coffee House is scheduled for tonight at Serendipity Coffee Shop, 578 Yampa Ave. To the editor: I have been reading the letters in the Craig paper about the deer in town. I am appalled. I lived in Craig from 1959 until 1974 and managed the Montgomery Ward stores. I felt Craig was fortunate to have deer in town. We moved to Dixon, Wyo., and deer go down my street all the time and my dog barks at them and the deer run the other way. To the editor: We agree with Kathy Harkner about the deer problem. The proposal should include a part about people who think deer are “pets,” who do not see them as a threat and to the people who refuse to go along with the proposals of the Craig City Council. These people can establish and maintain a fund to assist victims of deer attacks with vet bills, compensation for pets that are injured or killed, and for human victims and their families. 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Senior swimnastics takes place at the American Legion Post 62 pool, 1055 Moffat County Road 7. Call 824-3625. 9 to 11 a.m. Playgroup for toddler/preschool-age children takes place at the Early Childhood Development Preschool at the Moffat County School District administrative building, 775 Yampa Ave. Call Kevin at 824-1703 or Ann Anderson at 826-2717. To the editor: Knowing about your family’s health history goes a long way toward preventing serious diseases like diabetes. Many people who develop type 2 diabetes have one or more family members with the disease, so it’s important to know your family’s diabetes health history. The good news is that people with a family history of diabetes can take steps now to prevent or delay the onset of the disease. As a kid, the land of politics and all that came with it was about as interesting as pulling weeds in one of Grandma’s gardens. My two brothers, myself and the occasional worthless cousin would wander all over the place dragging any tool that might pull a weed out of the dirt by itself. Of course, this would end with Uncle Blaine herding us all back to the tool shed with his simple — yet direct to our bottoms — speech about the joys of a short-handled hoe and the many reasons we had opposable thumbs and sheep didn’t. One morning while brushing my teeth, I glimpsed myself in the mirror and saw an undeniable truth: I’m old. The approach of my birthday next week had nothing to do with my realization. I’ve looked forward to birthdays since my sister and I decreed them free-eating days: food without guilt. How could such a grand occasion not be happy? Seeing myself every day, I usually don’t notice gradual changes: wrinkles turning into crevices, gray hairs multiplying like rabbits, dry skin taking on the texture of a turtle’s sh Oak Creek neighbor, bartender respond to woman's involvement On a thin slice of dirt road is 424 Bell Ave., a small house with plastic across several windows and a deteriorating exterior. Part-time Steamboat Springs resident Brooks Kellogg, 72, owns that house. It’s the former home of a woman who has told the FBI she used to be Kellogg’s mistress. Kellogg was arrested Oct. 19 on suspicion of trying to pay for the killing of a Florida man. Tigers hope to slow run-1st Pirates The Hayden High School football team is back in the playoffs, and it’s to make it more than a one-game stay, Tigers’ coach Shawn Baumgartner said the team would have to be at its best for a 1 p.m. Saturday game. The Tigers, the 16-team tournament’s No. 9 seed, will open the playoffs on the road against 7-2 foe Monte Vista, No. 8. Dear Annie: I’ve known my 26-year-old stepdaughter, “Monica,” since she was 5. She never spent much time with her father, but when the first grandchild was born, she came by more often because she wanted a babysitter. Her dad and I were together 21 years before he passed away six months ago. SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 22) — You couldn’t find a better day to disengage yourself from an unproductive involvement. Once you cut loose, you’ll free yourself up and be able to work on a more profitable endeavor. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23-Dec. 21) — Something you’ve been viewing only from an intellectual level can be advanced even further by following a powerful hunch that you can’t ignore.	<urn:uuid:d9729f2c-6318-4b39-8e16-7d9b7acfd233>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2010/nov/05/	2015-03-29T10:54:30Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.96723	2,013
Having listened to Josh, it was plain to George that in addition to his grief, the young man was blaming himself for Lee’s accident. ‘Have you thought about having a word with your doctor?’ ‘Why? I am not ill,’ Josh replied. ‘But you are depressed, it occurs to me that you feel that you are to blame for the fatal crash and that is why you feel as low as you do,’ George suggested. ‘Why else should he have gone up in that wretched glider and ended his life, it has to be because of the way I went on at him over that fuck fest he was having when I walked in on him.’ By now Josh was near to tears and George sought to comfort him. ‘Surely there was some investigation following the accident; was it determined that he had committed suicide?’ George asked. ‘They found a fault in the glider’s controls; it should never have been taken up there was no question of suicide.’ Josh said. ‘He was still in a bad mood when he went out that morning.’ ‘But he could not have launched the glider alone, he had to have help – a tow plane with a pilot?’ George replied. ‘Yes, of course.’ ‘There you are then, he did not just walk out on you with the intent to kill himself. He must have pre-arranged the flight. For your own sanity you must accept that what happened was a very unfortunate unplanned accident. From what you have told me, I am sure that Lee loved you and although he was not always as faithful as you would have him be, he did love you and would never do anything that would hurt you. You have the rest of your life in front of you, cheer up and start to enjoy it again. Tell you what; Patrick is lonely make friends with him. I’m not suggesting that he should be a surrogate for Lee or anything like that but you are two young men in need of companionship.’ George sat back in his chair to see how Josh would react. His words seemed to have a good effect and instinctively both men stood and approached one another. George felt Josh’s arms go round him in a hug. They stood hugging for some moments and Josh kissed George lightly on the cheek. ‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Go and find Patrick, thank him personally for his story, see how you get on with him,’ George said softly as they broke apart. Josh smiled and nodded and made his way from the room. As he walked along the corridor to go back downstairs he met Patrick who was on his way to his room. ‘Hi!’ Patrick said. ‘I hoped to see you,’ Josh replied. ‘I wanted to thank you for the story, it quite moved me and has helped me to bury some of my own ghosts.’ ‘Why don’t you come in and join me for a night cap. I’ve got a bottle of single malt whisky that is crying out for some attention,’ Patrick said with a welcoming smile. *** * * * *** Several tots of whisky later the two young men lay back on the bed upon which they had been sitting as they chatted into the wee small hours of the night. Comfortable in each other’s alcoholic haze they fell asleep. Part way through the night Patrick woke and pulled a comforter over Josh and himself, for although they had not undressed the air in the room was quite chilly. Josh gave a little whimper as the bedding closed over him but did not wake. It was early morning when Josh did wake and he was aware of a weight upon his chest. Opening his eyes he looked down and saw that Patrick had turned on his side and it was his right arm that lay across him. Feeling an urgent need to urinate, Josh gently lifted the arm up and moved it away. He got up from the bed and made his way the adjoining bathroom. As he relieved himself he wondered whether he should rejoin Patrick on the bed or make his way quietly to his own room. Before he could make a decision Patrick walked into the bathroom rubbing the sleep from his eyes. ‘Sorry,’ Patrick said, ‘I didn’t realize you were in here.’ ‘No problem,’ Josh replied as he pushed the flush lever. ‘Did you sleep OK?’ ‘Yes, thanks, like a babe. The single malt helps but it has left me with a slightly thick head. I guess a nice hot shower will help clear it.’ ‘Yeah, I find a shower does help after I’ve had a few too many,’ Josh replied. ‘’I guess I will go and take one.’ ‘Why go, share mine it’s a double shower stall – shame to not use it,’ Patrick said as he stood at the lavatory pan and pulled out his cock to pee. ‘I think that sounds like a good idea,’ Josh said with a grin. Patrick finished his business and they both went back into the bedroom to shed their crumpled clothes. Naked they returned to the bathroom and Patrick turned on the shower to let the water run warm. ‘You’ve got a fine body,’ he remarked as he cast an appreciative eye over Josh’s frame. The two men were of similar height and build but Patrick’s body was pale through lack of exposure to the sun whereas Josh had a fine tan that covered all but the outline of a Speedo around his butt and lower abdomen. T was then that Josh did something that he had wanted to do from the moment he first set eyes on Patrick, he closed in on him and kissed him on the mouth. ‘Wow! Where did that come from?’ Patrick exclaimed. ‘I’m sorry if I have offended you,’ Josh replied, feeling embarrassed by his action. ‘No not at all, on e of us had to make the first move and I am happy you made it,’ Patrick replied putting his arms around Josh and holding him in a close hug. ‘So what now, shower or bed?’ ‘Let’s have that shower, it will wash away the effects of last night’s drinking and we can take up the bed option to follow,’ Josh laughed. By now the shower was running warm and they stepped into the cubicle. They soaped one another and explored their bodies with their hands growing every more horny and eager for what was to follow. Cleansed and refreshed they grabbed towels and dried off and walked back into the bedroom. Patrick draped his towel around his waist and carefully opened the door to the hallway in order to hang a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the door. He then dropped the towel and climbed onto the bed where Josh was laying in wait for him. Patrick knelt between Josh’s legs and took a gentle grip on his flaccid penis. Josh smiled in anticipation as Patrick brought his lips to the tip he exposed as he had drawn back the foreskin to reveal it in all its glory. It took seconds for Josh’s cock to respond and start to grow hard. Using his left hand to guide Josh’s cock as he sucked on it and teased it with his lips, he reached up his right hand and Josh took it and put the thumb in his own mouth, sucking on it and then sucking each finger in turn. With his fingers lubricated by Josh’s saliva, Patrick explored the crack below the penis and balls that were enjoying the attention of his mouth. Josh shifted his hips so that Patrick could place a finger on his rose bud pucker. Josh moaned with pleasure as he felt the finger exploring his secret place. Then Patrick lifted Josh’s legs so that he could get a clear view of the butt hole his finger had been working. The light covering of hair was no deterrent to his desire to rim Josh. Where his finger had probed Patrick’s tongue was playing and pressing, licking and savouring Josh’s man pussy. With Josh’s hole slick with saliva Patrick eased a finger in to find his prostate, rubbing it softly to enhance Josh’s sensual pleasure. ‘God that feels so good,’ Josh said. ‘Fuck me, I want you deep inside me,’ he pleaded. Patrick’s cock was hard and dripping pre-cum that acted as a further lubricant as he pressed the pulsating mushroom head into Josh’s anus. His hands pressed Josh’s legs back on to his abdomen and Josh jerked on his cock in time with the thrusts of Patrick’s deep invasion of his rectum. Using his muscles, Josh clenched tightly on Patrick’s cock as it was shoved piston like in and out of his hole. He could feel and hear Patrick’s balls as they slapped against his ass. They continued like this for some time but Patrick’s knees were beginning to feel sore from their pressure on the bedding. A quick change of position and with Patrick now flat on his back, Josh sat astride him looking down at Patricks smiling face as he reached behind himself to guide Patrick’s cock back into his hungry hole. It was Josh that was doing the work now as he rode Patrick’s ever harder cock, feeling it pulsating inside him as he began to climax. Josh jerked hard on his own cock and with a cry of ‘Oh fuck! I’m cuming!’ he shot a hot wad over Patrick’s chest. Patrick scooped it up with his fingers and licked it off. Josh leaned forward and kissed Patrick sharing the taste of his cum that Patrick was swilling around in his mouth. Josh then lifted himself free of Patrick’s cock and scooted down the bed so that he could suck up Patrick’s juices as he finally ejaculated in three or four hot jets of cum. They lay spooned, Josh behind Patrick for some twenty minutes or so when Josh’s cock that had gone soft after he had cum was slowly erect again. Patrick felt the knob probing his ass and he lifted his leg so that Josh could penetrate him with comparative ease. Josh used a slow and regular rhythm giving Patrick as much pleasure as he was enjoying himself until he came again filling Patrick’s hole with hot jism. All that was necessary from that point was to bring Patrick to another climax which Josh achieved by giving him a blow job that resulted on a mouthful of salty man juice. It was Josh’s turn to share the spoils with Patrick and they worked their tongues over and over in the sticky white cum until they had swallowed it in its entirety. When they arrived some time later in the dining room looking for a late breakfast George smiled to see their faces both looking like the cat that got the cream. ‘Good morning guys,’ George said greeting them. ‘The best of mornings,’ Patrick replied and Josh smiled in happy agreement. George went off to tell Scott that a little bit of magic had been worked and they had two more truly satisfied guests.	<urn:uuid:19b3f621-1f82-40e6-8d8e-22b72f622e10>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.justusboys.com/forum/threads/382046-Tales-from-Gledhill-House/page2?p=8325109&viewfull=1	2015-03-29T11:20:56Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.991522	2,405
Thursday July 12 2012 The swine flu vaccine is far safer than many common medications “H1N1 vaccine linked to potentially fatal nervous system condition,” is the frightening headline in the Daily Telegraph. The story is based on research looking at whether the H1N1 ‘swine flu’ vaccine could increase the chances of people developing a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome (an uncommon condition that in a small proportion of cases can cause paralysis). The study was an attempt to calculate whether using the H1N1 vaccine would lead to an increase in cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. The researchers found evidence of a ‘statistically significant’ increase in cases of the disease (ie it was not likely to be due to chance). However, the increase was small. The researchers estimated that for every 500,000 people vaccinated against swine flu, there would be approximately one additional case of Guillain-Barré syndrome diagnosed in the province. In addition, while Guillain-Barré syndrome can be fatal, this only occurs in around one in 20 cases. Most people with the condition make a full recovery within six to 12 months. The Telegraph’s story is accurate but its headline is arguably needlessly alarmist. Vaccine scare stories may help to sell newspapers, but by putting people off getting vaccines they could indirectly contribute to otherwise avoidable deaths. Most experts would argue that the potential benefits of vaccination far outweigh any potential risk. Where did the story come from? The study was carried out by researchers from Laval University, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services and other Canadian institutions. The research was funded by the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services and the Public Health Agency of Canada. The study was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association. Generally, the story was reported appropriately, but the Telegraph headline over-emphasised the 'potentially fatal' nature of the disorder. However, its main story did report the wide range of risk increases found and the fact that there were only a small number of cases of Guillain-Barré syndrome. What kind of research was this? This was a cohort study that examined the association between the H1N1 vaccine and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). GBS is a rare nervous system disorder, where the body’s own immune system attacks the nerves in the body (in other words, it is an 'autoimmune' condition, which rheumatoid arthritis is too). People with the disorder experience muscle weakness and altered sensation in the limbs and body. In serious cases it can lead to paralysis, including paralysis of the muscles involved in breathing. If this happens, it can be life-threatening and require the patient to be placed on a ventilator. The exact cause of the disorder is not known, but the condition is thought to result from a bacterial or viral infection that causes the patient’s immune system to attack the nerves that control sensation and movement. Approximately 80% of people with GBS recover fully. Others may experience long or life-threatening complications. A version of the H1N1 vaccine developed during the 1970s was linked to an increase of GBS cases in the US. During the 2009 H1N1 swine flu pandemic, a mass immunisation campaign was carried out in Quebec, Canada. Due to the previous links between the vaccine and GBS, the chief medical officer of Quebec ordered a study to monitor cases of GBS in the months following the vaccination campaign. This allowed the researchers to compare the risk of developing GBS among people who were vaccinated with the expected risk to the unvaccinated population. Conducting a cohort study such as this allows for the identification of unexpected clusters of GBS cases above what would normally be expected. This has advantages over other methods of cluster investigations, which often rely on the initial reporting of cases before defining the populations, exposures or outcomes of interest. Defining these factors first, and then designing a study to investigate them, helps to remove bias and confounding factors from the research. What did the research involve? The researchers collected data during the H1N1 immunisation campaign, which targeted all residents of Quebec over six months old (approximately 7.8 million people). During the campaign, 57% of this population (4.4 million people) received the H1N1 jab. The researchers then monitored new cases of GBS diagnosed in Quebec during the six months following the immunisation campaign. They collected data on the date that symptoms began and determined whether or not the individual with GBS had received the H1N1 jab. The researchers then compared new cases of GBS between people who had received the jab and those who had not, and calculated the relative risk of developing GBS if given the H1N1 vaccination. They calculated this risk at four, six and eight weeks after immunisation in different patient subgroups using several different statistical methods. The researchers also determined the 'attributable risk' over a million vaccine doses, estimating the number of GBS cases that would be likely to arise for every million H1N1 jabs. What were the basic results? A total of 83 cases of GBS were identified during the six months after the immunisation campaign, equating to an overall GBS incidence rate of 2.3 cases per 100,000 person-years (a measure that accounts for both the number of the people in the population and their time at risk of developing the condition). Approximately 69% of individuals with GBS were men, and the median age of those affected was 49. Of these 83 cases, 25 had been vaccinated up to eight weeks before experiencing GBS symptoms. A higher percentage of elderly people with GBS was seen in the vaccinated group than in the unvaccinated group. When comparing new cases of GBS between the two groups, the researchers found: - A significant increase in risk of developing GBS among vaccinated individuals compared with unvaccinated individuals during the first four weeks after vaccination (relative risk 2.75, 95% confidence interval 1.63 to 4.62). This represented a small absolute difference in the rate of new GBS cases between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups, with 5.60 cases per 100,000 person-years in the vaccinated group during the four weeks following vaccination, compared to 1.97 per 100,000 person-years in the unvaccinated group (rate difference of 3.63 per 100,000 person-years). - Approximately 2.7 cases of GBS per 1 million vaccine doses were possibly attributable to the H1N1 jab (95% confidence interval 1.7 to 3.4); another way to think of this would be if 1 million fewer vaccines were given during the immunisation campaign, there would possibly be 2.7 fewer cases of GBS diagnosed in Quebec during the follow-up period. This excess risk was only significant for GBS cases diagnosed within the first four weeks following vaccination. The risk became non-significant when examining cases diagnosed six and eight weeks after receiving the jab. During subgroup analysis based on age, the researchers found that the excess risk was significant only in people over the age of 60 (relative risk 2.69, 95% confidence interval 1.51 to 4.80). How did the researchers interpret the results? The researchers concluded that a cluster of GBS cases occurred shortly after the Quebec H1N1 immunisation campaign, but that the “benefits of immunisation outweigh the risks”. A study has indicated that people who received a version of the H1N1 influenza vaccine were at significantly increased risk of developing Guillain-Barré syndrome in the four weeks following vaccination. GBS is a rare but serious nervous system disorder that can sometimes be life-threatening, particularly in older people. This study found an increase in risk of developing GBS in the four weeks following the H1N1 swine flu vaccination, and the excess risk was observed only among older people. This is important to note, as people over the age of 65 are considered to be at high risk of complications if they have the flu. The causes of GBS are not known, but the condition has been observed to follow bacterial or viral infection. Given this, it is entirely plausible that there could be a small risk following a vaccination, which administers a small quantity of the infection to build up immunity. It is worth noting that the WHO has declared that the H1N1 influenza pandemic has ended. However, people in high-risk groups are advised to be vaccinated against the strain, as it is still in circulation. The WHO has also recommended that the 2012 to 2013 flu vaccines include protection against the H1N1 strain. Weighing up the benefits and risks is important when considering any medical procedure, including vaccinations. The researchers reported that during the 2009 flu season, the risk of being hospitalised with H1N1 swine flu was 1 in 2,500, and the risk of death was 1 in 73,000. When compared with the risk of developing GBS during this period, they concluded that the benefits of immunisations outweigh the risks. However, this comparison does not appear to consider the effectiveness of the H1N1 jab at preventing individuals from developing the flu. Analysis by NHS Choices. Follow Behind the Headlines on twitter.	<urn:uuid:b1fc1168-08ed-4068-aaa7-c5ba655a727a>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.nhs.uk/news/2012/07July/Pages/Swine-flu-deadly-condition-claim.aspx	2015-03-29T10:34:50Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.969795	1,952
I guess I've been lucky in that I haven't had any face to face interaction with assface since he left, even though we have two young children. Kid drop offs are done at school for the most part or he'll drop them off in the front yard and the'll come in. We don't go to the same sporting events/school events/etc. Well, my good luck is coming to an end. Next Friday is school orientaton/meet and greet the teacher and he is insisting on coming. This is a new school for the kids so it is important that they go as they are a little weary of the whole thing. And I really want to meet their teachers as well. I seriously want to barf. I have had such anxiety since getting the text this morning that he is coming. Am I going crazy? I mean, it's been three years already. He's also insisting that he come to drop them off at school the first day. Why? Why? Why????? Any tips on not barfing, crying, shaking, or otherwise dying during these two experiences? If you are custodial parent, offer to get all the paper work and volunteer to fill out all those forms.... Then you will have all the information packets needed for start of school. First day of school, our school specifically requested not walking in the younger kids as it made separating harder. Drop off in the drop off line. But if you have to on the first day, it is a short short time. Focus on the kid. Take a picture. Hug and bolt. I want to ask him what time he is going to meet and greet but I don't want him to know how much it is bothering me to have to see him. Maybe you are right about the first day. I was planning on walking them to class but maybe I won't. It is their first day at new school so I thought it would be a good idea. You think it would make it harder for them? If he is talking to the teacher, you and child could investigate the room. Then when he is done, you could speak briefly, get contact information and set up a time later to chat if needed. As for the first day, you know your kids. What will they do best with? Ask the teachers on open house what most parents do. Then you won't single your kids out as new kid and different!! It is possible to survive being around him especially since you have a focus that is not him. But it does suck, I know! We do the sporting events together, but I draw the line at his boyfriend coming (he is gay). Again, I'm not friendly, but he insists on looking like a great dad, so I put up with his presence but spend my time talking to my friends while he sits there alone. You just get used to being detached. For instance, it's his habit to arrive late at anything. So I would arrive early and bring something to read, so I could be in place and chance no meeting face to face. If it's in a classroom, I would ask the teacher when his sign up time was and make one far away from it. I am SAHM currently so go during the day and he at night. I think people at the schools want to be helpful, genuinely and will work with people when they have information that something isn't usual. It's also in the interest of the kids involved, to let a teacher or principal know things are up, without giving a ton of details. I find for most things now, I make a habit of inquiring at the company or "authority" or source, rather than with Nearly ExH, because he continues to lie or not match actions with words. I suspect that he would never let on, but his actions show that he might have even more "discomfort" than I do at those places like school, because he has to live with his lies and betrayal, while we live completely authentically. There is a reward in such a lifestyle, isn't there? In closing, I've had so much anxiety at the school functions that the panic literally causes me to flee. I didn't even know I was running until a friend caught me one day at the end of last year to ask if I was okay. She said people were worried because I turned green and white and simply...fled. You gave me nothing and now it's all I've got - Bono A person is a person, no matter how small. -Dr. Suess Perserverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages. I also muster up my inner bitch when I'm feeling upset about having to deal with him (especially since the OW is now Owife and might be a part of things... hasn't happened yet). I think to myself, "I did NOTHING wrong. I DESERVE to be here with my kids. I OWN this room. Let them come in here and deal with me because I'm NOT going to run and hide." Seriously, give yourself an angry (or uplifting, or calming, whatever works for you) mantra that you say to yourself either aloud or in your head. There is NO way that I'm going to let him screw up my life further by making every school event painful and awkward. Your ex did this, not you, so you walk in with your head held high, and treat him dismissively. A brief "Hi," then let your kids run to him, and you walk away like you don't have two seconds to contemplate his presence (because you don't... he's not fit to lick your shoe). It might take practice, but you'll get it. You've just got to get through that first time. You can do it! ETA: What Ashland said-- I fully informed the teachers of the dynamic and what XWH was up to. They have been incredibly supportive of not only the kids but also of me. Plus, as a teacher, we really appreciate it when you keep us in the loop. You'd be surprised at what we're not told about our students that would certainly be helpful to us in helping them. [This message edited by tryingagain74 at 9:13 PM, August 5th (Monday)] Focus on your child, smile politely if he speaks, then do your own thing. You don't have to act like a couple. WH says marriage is over: May 15, 2009. EA#2 July 20, 2009. Legally sep: Aug 16, 2009. DIVORCED!!!! Signed Nov 23, final Dec 24, 2010, adultery listed. And my brother has a theory I like, where he will say, no one enjoys conflict. But if we have kids, we have things in common we have to remember. We all want what's best for our kids and have different ways of reaching that for them. It's the core of why we are here or at a place, to begin with. We didn't have a bitter ending though and he was never a liar -- had a ONS not a full-blown affair -- so I do think that makes it easier on me. (I was also the one who chose to leave after a 3 year attempt at R - I was over it by the time I came to that decision, largely.) I truly don't feel any animosity, but am very much at indifference. He is like any other parent I might know and sit with at a school function and make chitchat with. (Which in itself is kind of weird after 18 years, but it makes it easier!) Only way to get used to it is to hold your head high and do it until it doesn't matter any more. You both have the right to be there, so just go as you would have done anyway and let him do his own thing too. Eventually it will become routine -- the anxiety is just because its unfamiliar. I know it sucks in the meantime, but its a good step towards indifference. And really, its a GOOD THING he wants to go and meet the teachers and stuff, you know? .....suck it up. You've been here long enough to know about "taking the high road". It can be THE most difficult thing you have to do. God knows I had to have some serious "..pull your shit together" talks with myself over the years. But...7 years out from the divorce ---- the kids were 12, 9 and 7 at the time and having been through more parent/teacher conferences, sporting events, plays, chorus, orchestra, band, etc events than I can count --- I can tell you that, in the end, you WILL feel better about yourself for taking the high road. As much as we think this aspect is about us....it's not. Always...always...ALWAYS....put the kids first (and how they will view events). You simply can't go wrong with this philosophy. Peace to you, ruined. You can do this. "At some point in life, everyone has gambled on a fart and lost." -- Tad...from Craig's List Always...always...ALWAYS....put the kids first (and how they will view events). You simply can't go wrong with this philosophy. My parents were completely selfish after their divorce and my siblings and I suffered this bullshit at every turn. STBXH and I went to meet the teacher together today. He went to get the car rider number while I met the teacher and filled out paperwork. He then met her and we were all together for a few moments around her desk. I didn't involve the teacher at all. She has enough to worry about with a new class and meeting parents. We are setting the tone for the future...school plays, school dances, sporting events, etc. One day it will be their weddings. Those important life events WILL NOT be ruined on my account. My grandmother used to always say, "Smile, even if it kills you". I never knew how true that was until now. "Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie" Dumbass was wearing a wedding ring. He and the OW weren't married and we were divorced. I guess the teacher didn't notice I wasn't wearing one. She referred to him as my husband. I said, "Oh, we're not married". She said she was sorry. He didn't bother going with me to the office to submit all the usual paper work. He also never attended another school function for whatever reason. It is what it is. We went to the middle-school back-to-school together and went from classroom to classroom and sat next to each other. We also go to parent-teacher conferences together and back each other up. I do it for the kids. He does it for the kids. I dreaded the first parent-teacher conference when the teacher talked about what assignments will be due on which days, etc... and I realized I wouldn't have them for certain days, etc.. I started crying and ran out as soon as it was over. But that was just months after separation. Now it's old news. We just do it. If you speak with the new school/teachers, you can set this up from the start so it isn't 'weird' going forward. You don't need to give details. ETA: IEPs are hard to schedule for each parent individually since it involves school psych, counselors, etc. I generally suck it up for these meetings, but in all truth, XWH is the one who is uncomfortable, not me. Most of the teachers and counselors speak directly to me, ask MY input...then glance at XWH as an afterthought. I say go and make the kids your focus. Talk to the teachers as if your XH isn't there. If he has questions, he can ask his own. Otherwise, get the info YOU need and press on! [This message edited by GabyBaby at 12:17 AM, August 6th (Tuesday)] STBX WH#2 - 47. DDay 7/12/14 Together 7, married 4yrs Since DDay, he's drunk by 5pm. Status - F that guy. XWH #1 - legally married 18yrs. 12+ OW (that I know of). I edit often for clarity/typos. So. Awkward. On so. many. counts. I also just found out (as in, yesterday) that now the OW has volunteered for the "fellowship" committee which means she will be at the school even MORE, as a parent volunteer coordinating the social events. So, all this to say, I have a lot of experience with this. Here is my advice: 1. It gets easier. I promise. The hardest part is the anxiety over how it will go the first few times, and then you get used to it. 2. As a pp said, just because you are both there, does not mean you have to interact. I do not make eye contact with them, or acknowledge them. I pretend they are strangers I don't know. Yes, we are often within 6-8 feet of each other. It doesn't matter. I pretend they are strangers. 3. If there are trusted teachers or other parents who are "on your side", try to enlist support. Obviously you don't want to go around trash talking or dragging innocent bystanders into it, but (in my case), most of my colleagues, administrators, and many other parents know exactly who my children's stepmother is, and what she did. They are polite to her face, but don't hesitate to rush up to create a buffer or just stand next to me if they see her in the vicinity of me. Enlist help, as appropriate. 4. Above all else, remember, this is about your kids. Don't make a scene, try to stay present, stay focused on your kids. You're not bothered or distracted by Susie Smith's parent that is standing next to you, right? Adopt the same attitude about ex. I know this is easier said than done, trust me, but PRACTICE THIS. You can do it. It sucks, but you can do it. Other than that, just be cordial and focus on the kids. I try to treat DD's dad like he's someone I work with. I don't have to be friendly- just be polite, and focus on DD. Over the years, it has gotten a lot easier. "What did you expect? I am a scorpion." I just wanted to state that I have no intention of making a scene or making things about anything but the kids. I didn't plan on talking to him or anything like that. This is about the kids. I was merely looking for support for me and my emotional state, because a mom that is in a bad emotional state is not good for anyone. My ex and I do not have a cordial relationship and we never will and that is not because I am not putting my kids first. Everyone's experience is not the same. And I had to come to the realization that continually trying to create peace with him was a losing battle and not good for my emotional well being. So I don't talk to him unless absolutely necessary. At.all.period. But there is so much hurt and pain there, I am afraid that seeing him is going to bring it all back up. I've been working hard at trying to put what I can behind me. I don't want a set back because it doesn't take much to set me back. I knew a lot of you have lots of experience with this and I was hoping for some words of encouragement. That's all. :( We're behind you. You've got this!	<urn:uuid:862eadb5-a98d-4abb-ae00-5457c69266a3>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.survivinginfidelity.com/archives.asp?tid=503927	2015-03-29T10:44:24Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.987764	3,307
Ruggs Ranch: A Fertile Base for the Touring Motorcyclist Traveling East-Central Oregon via Motorcycle Sitting on the patio sipping a quality cup of hot coffee, we await the morning sunrise that is about 20 minutes away. The yellow-orange hue of the coming morning light is the backdrop for the picturesque valley before us. It stretches away to the east and has a deep golden color, as it had been planted months ago with several different grain crops. On this trip, our travels are based out of Ruggs Ranch, located in a relatively remote area of Morrow County in east-central Oregon. Primarily a hunting ranch, Ruggs Ranch caters to the sportsman. Herd-managed big game hunts include elk and deer, taken by bow or rifle. Wild birds, including Hungarian and Chukar partridge, pheasant, and quail, are hunted by horseback or horse-drawn wagon, with Ruggs’ specialty – side-by-side and over-and-under shotguns. Sporting clays are also available. At over 2500 feet in elevation, Ruggs Ranch affords a pleasing view in most any direction one chooses to look. As more light enters the valley, dark shapes move slowly or stand to test the morning air with a sharp sense of smell and sharper hearing. Their long ears first cocked this way, then that, alert for any possible danger. Some 30 deer are counted that include a mixture of mule and whitetail deer. As the first rays of sunlight strike the valley floor, one big muley buck ushers his harem of does to the edge of the field and towards the gullies that reach down into the valley from the ridges above. Breakfast and coffee are finished, and we move out towards our motorcycles. We pause a moment before the engines are fired. One rider points out the distant crow of a pheasant, then the cackles from a flock of Chukars, possibly disturbed by some wandering coyote. It is time to go. Wasco-Heppner Highway leads visitors up the valley to the ranch from the nearest town of Heppner, some 20 minutes away. Beautiful distant mountains and high plains are noted by those who make their way to this sprawling 86,000-acre ranch. During the off-season for hunting, Ruggs Ranch is a fertile destination for motorcyclists enjoying the region’s appealing weather. Whichever direction is chosen, the freedom to ride these open roads allows the rider to see great expanses of this part of The Beaver State. The roads lay paths that run between the wheat fields, and then rise, fall, twist and turn, crossing large areas of farmland. One small valley after another is traversed, taking you to the treed valleys and thicker forests at the higher elevations. Starting out from Heppner after fueling up, there are a few sightseeing stops made before leaving town, including the court house, the one room school house, the U.S. Forest Service building, and an old horse barn complete with a variety of horse tack hanging on a large sliding door set right up against Oregon Route 207. There is more to see, but the summer morning is warm and the riding gear is crying out for ventilation. Within a few minutes, a nice set of S-curves are encountered while climbing up out of the valley. The Triumph Scrambler and Harley-Davidson Dyna Wide Glide demand we kick it up to top gear once we are on Route 206 as the road straightens out. Visibility is unencumbered passing between wheat fields that stretch way off into the distance. Riders need to stay alert as these straight shots can abruptly end, when the road may turn sharply then traverse back and forth down the side of a valley, giving time only for a short flat run before heading up the opposite side of the cut. This is repeated time and time again, with each mile traveled revealing a change in the view. Farmhouses that are passed share no common architectural style, causing the eyes to be drawn to them for a brief moment to try to spot some item of interest. Usually there is some old vehicle, a weather worn building, or animals wandering about; that is the reward for the moment taken for the glance. After about 45 minutes we pull over at the crest of a ridge for a stretch and see in the distance, miles away, dozens of gigantic electricity-generating wind towers, with their massive blades spinning against a deep blue sky backdrop. There is just something alien about their presence here on Sixmile Canyon Highway, leading to the town of Condon. That image is washed from memory a short while later, as a great set of turns – seven to be exact – has the boot toe-and-heel twitching the shifter as the road drops over 900 feet within a mile. Arriving in Condon we are greeted by Rob Turrie, proprietor at the Hotel Condon, which offers exquisite accommodations set in the theme of vintage Las Vegas, complete with The Rat Pack. Dean, Sammy, and Frank are represented, along with a host of other period jetsetters, with photographs, paintings and statues a-plenty. The hotel has all of the modern conveniences and is a definite must-see stop. Other towns encountered along the way are simply named Mayville, Fossil (check out the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument), Service Creek, and Spray. Every town on this route has the welcome mat out for motorcycle riders. Pictures pinned to the walls of the businesses attest to the variety of motorcycles and riders that have passed through these parts. Our group was treated quite nicely, and locals were a wealth of information regarding sites to be seen around their community. Just outside of Service Creek we join John Day Highway and, within a few minutes past the town of Spray, the Heppner-Spray Highway (still Route 207) gains elevation and enters another forest of evergreen trees with their wonderful fragrance filling the air. Highway 207 takes more than a few good turns and bends, with several posted as low as 15 mph. Taking a break, the motors are shut down for a short time at Bull Prairie Lake. As the lake is located over a mile from the highway, it is very quiet here with the low voices of other visitors across the lake carrying to our location. Back on the main road, we continue on at a faster pace as we are still climbing higher. It is getting noticeably cooler as we rumble on towards the comfort and warmth of the lodge at Ruggs Ranch. Hardman is the last community we visit, about 15 minutes shy of Ruggs. A cluster of homes is located here, with some much older homes that were built for large families in a farming community. The more children in a family, the more helpful hands there would be to run the farm. It is nearly possible to hear the laughter of the children that must have run here and there about this small community of pioneer-spirited families. Some children are seen as we pass by and give a small wave. Of course, we return the wave and reward them with a beep from the horn. Locals suggested that towns farther east, towards Pendleton, also hold the interest of many who visit there. One fellow said a good place to dine is Hamley Steakhouse in Pendleton; just ask for Par, the owner. The town of Joseph was also mentioned as a destination for motorcyclists who favor two-lane roads that wind through evergreen forests. Located just a few miles north of pristine Wallowa Lake, it is a good day’s ride from Ruggs Ranch, but well worth it to experience the Wallowa Mountains. I remember my Boy Scout summer camps at Wallowa Lake, and a local once telling me I should take notice of how they stand their mountains on end rather than lay them down like most other areas may do. Steep mountains, as this area has, result in highway designs that favor motorcycle enthusiasts as the roads usually follow some winding stream that cuts through the narrow valleys. We arrive back at Ruggs Ranch right at sunset and are greeted at the lodge by the wonderful smells of dinner being prepared by resident chef and part-time photographer John Kulon. The handmade dinner table accommodates but a dozen people, making the dining experience uniquely personal and intimate, and the chef can customize the menu for any dietary requirements you may have. Rather than a sprawling and overwhelming place to spend the week, Ruggs Ranch’s lodge is just six bedrooms and seven baths. There is also a pro shop, which has a pair of deluxe rooms. There is a rustic, though not aged, feel. General Manager Dave Ford is serious when he says, “If our staff does not do everything within their ability to make your experience at our ranch as good as it should have been, you don’t owe us a dime!” Set on a bluff, the lodge has a 360-degree view of the Rhea Creek Valley. Glancing out the huge windows facing east across the patio the small herds of deer are seen returning to the valley to spend the night. I retire to my room, with its custom Pendleton bedding – a great way to end a fantastic day. It is decided on the final day we would head north out of the area, catch Interstate 84 and travel west to the town of Hood River a good two and a half hours ride following the Columbia River as it heads towards the Pacific Ocean. Folks had told us of some great wineries there and they were proven right. Stopping off at Cathedral Ridge Winery, there were many varieties of wine offered with many wearing the awards they had gained in numerous tasting competitions. There is no shortage of wine selections here, and an attentive staff as well. Before everyone parts ways, we gather around the map we used to highlight the routes traveled since our arrival. As much fun as had been packed into the short time we were here, we realize that we had only ridden a small portion of the numerous intriguing two-lane routes throughout the area. Eastern Oregon offers a playground for motorcyclists, and Ruggs Ranch is the perfect centralized home base to explore the area. The Umatilla, Malheur, and Ochoco National Forests are all within easy reach to the south and east. To the west is Mount Hood and to the north the Hood River and the state of Washington. We will return. Photography by Jim Chun and John Kulon This story is featured in the Mar/Apr 2013 issue of Ultimate MotorCycling magazine—available on newsstands and good bookstores everywhere. The issue is also available free to readers on Apple Newsstand (for iOS devices) and Google Play (Android). To subscribe to the print edition, please visit our Subscriber Services page.	<urn:uuid:f9b7202c-432a-46de-bbf4-2b1b2d3fa1ca>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/2013/04/02/ruggs-ranch-a-fertile-base-for-the-touring-motorcyclist/	2015-03-29T10:41:53Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.962624	2,265
CONTINENTAL TIE & LUMBER CO. v. UNITED STATES. 286 U.S. 290 (52 S.Ct. 529, 76 L.Ed. 1111) CONTINENTAL TIE & LUMBER CO. v. UNITED STATES. Argued: April 14, 1932. Decided: May 16, 1932. - opinion, ROBERTS [HTML] Mr. George E. H. Goodner, of Washington, D. C., for petitioner. The Attorney General and Mr. Charles B. Rugg, Asst. Atty. Gen., for the United States. Argument of Counsel from page 291 intentionally omitted Mr. Justice ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court. For the year 1920 the petitioner filed a consolidated income tax return for itself and the Cimarron and Northwestern Railway Company and paid the tax shown as due. Subsequently a claim for refund was prosecuted, whereupon the Commissioner made a reaudit and added to the railway's income some $27,000. The refund granted was diminished by the amount of the additional tax resulting from the increase in income so determined. The petitioner objected to this reduction and brought suit in the Court of Claims to recover the full amount claimed to be refundable. The railway company is a short-line carrier whose road was in possession and control of the United States and operated by the Director General of Railroads from December 28, 1917, to June 3, 1918, when it was relinquished, and thereafter throughout the remainder of the period of federal control operated by its owner. Approximately $25,000 of the additional income determined by the Commissioner consisted of a payment to the railway pursuant to an award of the Interstate Commerce Commission under the terms of section 204 of the Transportation Act 1920. 1 This section provided for such an award and payment to a railroad which during any part of the period of federal control competed for traffic, or connected, with one under federal control, and sustained a deficit in operating income for that portion of the period during which it operated its own railroad. The act directed the Commission to compare the results of such operation with those of the test period, defined as the three years ending June 30, 1917; and, if less favorable during the period of federal control than during the test period, to award an amount calculated as prescribed by the section. The Commission made an award and the Secretary of the Treasury paid the railway. The petitioner asserted (1) that the sum received was not income within the intent of the Sixteenth Amendment or section 213 of the Revenue Act of 1918, 40 Stat. 451; (2) that, if income, it was not taxable for 1920, as held by the Commissioner, but for 1923, the year in which the amount was determined and paid. The Court of Claims denied recovery. What we have said in Texas & Pacific Railway Co. v. United States (No. 634), 286 U. S. 285, 52 S. Ct. 528, 76 L. Ed. , decided this day, is determinative of the first contention. Section 209 of the Transportation Act 1920 (49 USCA § 77) guaranteed the payment of any deficiency below a fixed minimum of operating income for the six months ensuing the termination of federal control to railroads which had been taken over by the United States. By the terms of section 204 payment was to be made to railroads not under federal control of a proportion of any operating deficit suffered in the period of such control. The underlying purpose of Congress was the same in both cases. Railroads falling within section 204 were principally short lines. They were known to have suffered serious losses in income due to routing arrangements and other administrative measures made necessary by government operation of the larger railroad systems. The Transportation Act did not contemplate that the payments to be made pursuant to section 204 were in any sense just compensation for the taking of property. There was no room for such reimbursement, as the short lines were during the time to which the section applied in the possession and management of their owners. Congress, nevertheless, realized that federal operation had caused them consequential losses, at least partial redress for which was the purpose of the section where actual deficits in income had resulted. For the reasons set forth in No. 634, we hold that these payments were not subsidies or bonuses, but were income within the intent of the amendment and the statute. The petitioner kept its accounts upon the accrual basis. The government insists, and the Court of Claims held, that the right to payment having ripened in 1920, the taxpayer should have returned the estimated award under section 204 as income for that year. The petitioner replies that a determination whether it would receive any award under the section and, if so, the amount of it, depended on so many contingencies that no reasonable estimate could have been made in 1920, and that the sum ultimately ascertained should be deemed income for 1923, the year of the award and payment. The Transportation Act took effect on February 28, 1920. On June 10 the Interstate Commerce Commission issued general instructions governing the compilation and submission of data by carriers entitled to awards under section 204. The petitioner correctly states that at the date of the act's adoption no railroad had a vested right in any amount; until the Commission made an award nothing could be paid, no proceeding was available to compel an allowance, or to determine the elements which should enter into the calculation. In short, says the petitioner, the carrier had no rights, but was dependent solely upon the Commission's exercise of an unrestrained discretion, and until an award was made nothing accrued. But we think that the function of the Commission under the act was ministerial, to ascertain the facts with respect to the carrier's operating income by a comparison of the experience during the test period with that during the term of federal control. The right to the award was fixed by the passage of the Transportation Act. What remained was mere administrative procedure to ascertain the amount to be paid. Petitioner's right to payment ripened when the act became law. What sum of money that right represented is, of course, a different matter. The petitioner says that at the date of the passage of the act it was impossible to predict that any award would be made to the railway, and, assuming one would eventuate, its amount could not be estimated, for the reason that the principles upon which awards were to be made had to be settled by the Commission and were not finally formulated until 1923. The government insists that, while adjustments or settlement of principles by the Commission might vary the amount to be awarded, the petitioner's case presented problems not differing from those confronting many business concerns which keep accounts on an accrual basis and have to estimate for the tax year the amount to be received on transactions undoubtedly allocable to such year. Admitting there might be differences and discrepancies between the railway's estimate and the amount awarded by the Commission, these, says the government, could, as in similar cases, have been adjusted by an additional assessment or a claim for refund after final determination of the amount due. The case does not fall within the principle that, where the liability is undetermined in the tax year, the taxpayer is not called upon to accrue any sum (Lucas v. American Code Co., 280 U. S. 445, 50 S. Ct. 202, 74 L. Ed. 538), but presents the problem whether the taxpayer had in its own books and accounts data to which it could apply the calculations required by the statute and ascertain the quantum of the award within reasonable limits. The carriers kept their accounts according to standards prescribed by the Commission; and these necessarily were the source of information requisite for ascertainment of the results of operation in the two periods to be compared. In the calculation for two such brief periods allowance had to be made for the fact that certain operating charges entered in the books would not accurately reflect true income. Such, for instance, were maintenance charges and those to reserve accounts. The enormous increase in labor and material costs after the expiration of the test period had also to be considered in comparing charges for costs of repairs and renewals in the two periods. Section 204 incorporated by reference the terms of section 209 applicable to the method of treating such items, and the latter in turn referred to the relevant provisions of section 5(a) of the standard operating contract between the Director General and the various railroads. As might have been expected, the general principles thus formulated did not cover in detail questions of fact, the solution of which required is some degree the exercise of opinion and judgment. Thus difference might fairly arise as to when reserve accounts ought to be closed out, as to how much of the sum actually expended for maintenance within a given time was properly allocable to that period, and how much to later years; at what price renewals and replacements should be charged in view of the rapidly mounting cost of material; what factor of difference should be allowed for the efficiency of labor in the pre-war and postwar periods. The petitioner points to the fact that these questions were raised by the railroads under section 209, that the Commission gave extended consideration to them, and that, as respects sundry of them, the applicable principles were not settled until 1921, 1922, and 1923. Petitioner might have added that the Commission, while attempting as far as possible to formulate general principles applicable to large groups of carriers, found it necessary in addition to consider the peculiar conditions and special circumstances affecting individual carriers in order in each case to do justice to the carrier and to the United States. 2 But in spite of these inherent difficulties we think it was possible for a carrier to ascertain with reasonable accuracy the amount of the award to be paid by the Government. Subsequent to its order of June 10, 1920, the Commission made no amendment or alteration of the rules with respect to the information to be furnished under section 204. Obviously the data had to be obtained from the railway's books and accounts and from entries therein all made prior to March 1, 1920. These accounts contained all the information that could ever be available touching relevant expenditures. Compare United States v. Anderson, 269 U. S. 422, 46 S. Ct. 131, 70 L. Ed. 347. The petitioner was promptly informed by the terms of section 209 is supplemented by the instructions issued by the Commission of the method to be followed in allocating charges to operation during periods under inquiry. It does not appear that a proper effort would not have obtained a result approximately in accord with that the Commission ultimately found. Much is made by the petitioner of the fact that, as a result of representations by the carriers, the Commission from time to time during 1921, 1922, and 1923 promulgated rulings respecting the method of adjusting book charges to actual experience, and it is asserted that petitioner could not in 1920 have known what these rulings were to be. But it is not clear that, if the taxpayer had acted promptly, an award could not have been made during 1920, or at least the principles upon which the Commission would adjust the railway's accounts to reflect true income have been settled during that year sufficiently to enable the railway to ascertain with reasonable accuracy the amount of the probable award. The reports of the Interstate Commerce Commission show that it was possible for a carrier whose claim arose under section 209 to obtain a final award early in 1921, prior to the time for preparing its income tax return. 3 From the record it would seem that, in spite of the fact that its teturn was not made until November, 1922, the petitioner made up its claim by taking maintenance charges as appearing in its books without attempt at allocation as between the limited periods in which they were entered and the probable useful life of the installations. Petitioner must have known that the entire amounts charged to maintenance during the respective periods would not be properly allowable in ascertaining true income for each period. The books and accounts fixed the maximum amount of any probable award, and, if petitioner had endeavored to make reasonable adjustments of book figures, it could have arrived at a figure to be accrued for the year 1920. Any necessary adjustment of its tax could readily have been accomplished by an amended return, claim for refund, or additional assessment, as the final award of the Commission might warrant. For these reasons the Court of Claims correctly held that the amount awarded was taxable income for the year 1920. CC∅ \| Transformed by Public.Resource.Org Chapter 91, 41 Stat. 456, 460 (49 USCA § 73). Maintenance Expenses under Section 209, 70 I. C. C. 115. Norfolk Southern R. R. Co., 65 I. C. C. 798.	<urn:uuid:5e8bf12a-50d7-4399-a85a-ff8be472a7e9>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/286/290	2015-03-29T10:57:59Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.976268	2,577
Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet at Kirtland, Ohio, December 27 and 28, 1832, and January 3, 1833. The Prophet designated it as the “‘olive leaf’ … plucked from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord’s message of peace to us.” The revelation was given after high priests at a conference prayed “separately and vocally to the Lord to reveal his will unto us concerning the upbuilding of Zion.” 1 Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you who have assembled yourselves together to receive his will concerning you: 2 Behold, this is pleasing unto your Lord, and the angels a over you; the b of your prayers have come up into the ears of the Lord of c, and are recorded in the d of the names of the sanctified, even them of the celestial world. 3 Wherefore, I now send upon you another a, even upon you my friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of b; which other Comforter is the same that I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of John. 4 This Comforter is the a which I give unto you of b, even the c of the celestial kingdom; 5 Which glory is that of the church of the a, even of God, the holiest of all, through Jesus Christ his Son— 6 He that a up on high, as also he b below all things, in that he c all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the d of truth; 7 Which truth shineth. This is the a. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was b. 8 As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; 9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; 10 And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you a. 11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your a; 12 Which a proceedeth forth from the presence of God to b the immensity of space— 13 The a which is in all things, which giveth b to all things, which is the c by which all things are governed, even the d of God who e upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things. 14 Now, verily I say unto you, that through the a which is made for you is brought to pass the resurrection from the dead. 15 And the a and the b are the c of man. 16 And the a from the dead is the redemption of the soul. 17 And the redemption of the soul is through him that a all things, in whose bosom it is decreed that the b and the c of the d shall inherit it. 18 Therefore, it must needs be a from all b, that it may be prepared for the c glory; 19 For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with a, even with the presence of God the Father; 20 That bodies who are of the a kingdom may b it forever and ever; for, for this c was it made and created, and for this intent are they d. 21 And they who are not a through the b which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit c kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom. 22 For he who is not able to abide the a of a celestial kingdom cannot b a c glory. 23 And he who cannot abide the law of a a kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory. 24 And he who cannot abide the law of a a b cannot abide a telestial c; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. 25 And again, verily I say unto you, the a abideth the law of a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the b of its creation, and transgresseth not the law— 26 Wherefore, it shall be a; yea, notwithstanding it shall b, it shall be c again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the d shall e it. 27 For notwithstanding they die, they also shall a again, a b. 28 They who are of a celestial a shall receive the same b which was a natural body; even ye shall receive your bodies, and your c shall be that glory by which your bodies are d. 29 Ye who are a by a portion of the b glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness. 30 And they who are quickened by a portion of the a glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness. 31 And also they who are quickened by a portion of the a glory shall then receive of the same, even a fulness. 32 And they who remain shall also be a; nevertheless, they shall return again to their own place, to enjoy that which they are b to receive, because they were not willing to enjoy that which they might have received. 33 For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift. 34 And again, verily I say unto you, that which is a by law is also preserved by law and perfected and b by the same. 35 That which a a law, and b by c, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, d, nor e. Therefore, they must remain f still. 36 All kingdoms have a law given; 37 And there are many a; for there is no b in the which there is no c; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom. 38 And unto every kingdom is given a a; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions. 39 All beings who abide not in those a are not b. 40 For a cleaveth unto intelligence; b receiveth wisdom; c embraceth truth; d loveth virtue; e cleaveth unto light; f hath g on mercy and claimeth her own; h continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things. 41 He a all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever. 42 And again, verily I say unto you, he hath given a a unto all things, by which they move in their b and their seasons; 43 And their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets. 44 And they give a to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years—all these are b year with God, but not with man. 45 The earth a upon her wings, and the b giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the c of God. 46 Unto what shall I liken these kingdoms, that ye may understand? 47 Behold, all these are a, and any man who hath b any or the least of these hath c God d in his majesty and power. 48 I say unto you, he hath seen him; nevertheless, he who came unto his a was not comprehended. 49 The a shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless, the day shall come when you shall b even God, being quickened in him and by him. 50 Then shall ye know that ye have a me, that I am, and that I am the true b that is in you, and that you are in me; otherwise ye could not abound. 51 Behold, I will liken these kingdoms unto a man having a field, and he sent forth his servants into the field to dig in the field. 52 And he said unto the first: Go ye and labor in the field, and in the first hour I will come unto you, and ye shall behold the joy of my countenance. 53 And he said unto the second: Go ye also into the field, and in the second hour I will visit you with the joy of my countenance. 54 And also unto the third, saying: I will visit you; 55 And unto the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth. 56 And the lord of the field went unto the first in the first hour, and tarried with him all that hour, and he was made glad with the light of the countenance of his lord. 57 And then he withdrew from the first that he might visit the second also, and the third, and the fourth, and so on unto the twelfth. 58 And thus they all received the light of the countenance of their lord, every man in his hour, and in his time, and in his season— 59 Beginning at the first, and so on unto the a, and from the last unto the first, and from the first unto the last; 60 Every man in his own a, until his hour was finished, even according as his lord had commanded him, that his lord might be glorified in him, and he in his lord, that they all might be glorified. 61 Therefore, unto this parable I will liken all these a, and the b thereof—every kingdom in its hour, and in its time, and in its season, even according to the decree which God hath made. 62 And again, verily I say unto you, my a, I leave these b with you to c in your hearts, with this commandment which I give unto you, that ye shall d upon me while I am near— 63 a b unto me and I will draw near unto you; c me diligently and ye shall d me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 64 Whatsoever ye a the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is b for you; 65 And if ye ask anything that is not a for you, it shall turn unto your b. 66 Behold, that which you hear is as the a of one crying in the wilderness—in the wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is b; my Spirit is truth; c abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound. 67 And if your eye be a to my b, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light c all things. 68 Therefore, a yourselves that your b become c to God, and the days will come that you shall d him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will. 69 Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto you; cast away your a thoughts and your b of c far from you. 70 Tarry ye, tarry ye in this place, and call a a, even of those who are the first b in this last kingdom. 71 And let those whom they have warned in their traveling call on the Lord, and a the b in their hearts which they have received, for a little season. 72 Behold, and lo, I will take care of your a, and will raise up elders and send unto them. 73 Behold, I will a my work in its time. 74 And I give unto you, who are the first a in this last kingdom, a commandment that you assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and b yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and c your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you d; 75 That I may testify unto your a, and your God, and my b, that you are clean from the c of this wicked generation; that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last d, which I have made unto you, when I will. 76 Also, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall continue in a and fasting from this time forth. 77 And I give unto you a commandment that you shall a one another the b of the kingdom. 78 Teach ye diligently and my a shall attend you, that you may be b more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; 79 Of things both in a and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must b come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the c, and the judgments which are on the land; and a d also of countries and of kingdoms— 80 That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to a the calling whereunto I have called you, and the b with which I have commissioned you. 81 Behold, I sent you out to a and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to b his neighbor. 82 Therefore, they are left a excuse, and their sins are upon their b. 83 He that a me b shall find me, and shall not be forsaken. 84 Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry to go forth among the a for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to b up the law and c up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come; 85 That their souls may escape the wrath of God, the a which awaits the wicked, both in this world and in the world to come. Verily, I say unto you, let those who are not the b elders continue in the vineyard until the mouth of the Lord shall c them, for their time is not yet come; their garments are not d from the blood of this generation. 86 Abide ye in the a wherewith ye are made b; c not yourselves in d, but let your hands be e, until the Lord comes. 87 For not many days hence and the a shall b and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the c shall d his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in e; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall f themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree. 88 And after your a cometh wrath and indignation upon the people. 89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of a, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand. 90 And also cometh the testimony of the a of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. 91 And all things shall be in a; and surely, men’s b shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people. 92 And a shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the b of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the c cometh; go ye out to meet him. 93 And immediately there shall appear a a in heaven, and all people shall see it together. 94 And another angel shall sound his trump, saying: That a b, the c of abominations, that made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her d, that e the saints of God, that shed their blood—she who sitteth upon many waters, and upon the islands of the sea—behold, she is the f of the earth; she is bound in bundles; her bands are made strong, no man can loose them; therefore, she is ready to be burned. And he shall sound his trump both long and loud, and all nations shall hear it. 95 And there shall be a in b for the space of half an hour; and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a c is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the d of the Lord shall be unveiled; 96 And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be a to meet him. 97 And they who have slept in their graves shall a forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the b of heaven— 98 They are Christ’s, the a, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God. 99 And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ’s at his a; who have received their part in that b which is prepared for them, that they might receive the gospel, and be c according to men in the flesh. 100 And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then come the a of men who are to be judged, and are found under b; 101 And these are the rest of the a; and they live not again until the b years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth. 102 And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying: There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even the end, who shall a b still. 103 And another trump shall sound, which is the fifth trump, which is the fifth angel who committeth the a—flying through the midst of heaven, unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people; 104 And this shall be the sound of his trump, saying to all people, both in heaven and in earth, and that are under the earth—for a ear shall hear it, and every knee shall b, and every tongue shall confess, while they hear the sound of the trump, saying: c God, and give glory to him who sitteth upon the throne, d and ever; for the hour of his judgment is come. 105 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the sixth angel, saying: She is a who made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; she is fallen, is fallen! 106 And again, another angel shall sound his trump, which is the seventh angel, saying: It is finished; it is finished! The a of God hath b and c the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. 107 And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his might, and the a shall be filled with his b, and receive their c and be made d with him. 108 And then shall the first angel again sound his trump in the ears of all living, and a the secret acts of men, and the mighty works of God in the b years. 109 And then shall the second angel sound his trump, and reveal the secret acts of men, and the thoughts and intents of their hearts, and the mighty a of God in the second thousand years— 110 And so on, until the seventh angel shall sound his trump; and he shall a forth upon the land and upon the sea, and b in the name of him who sitteth upon the throne, that there shall be c no longer; and d shall be bound, that old serpent, who is called the devil, and shall not be loosed for the space of a e years. 111 And then he shall be a for a little season, that he may gather together his armies. 112 And a, the seventh angel, even the archangel, shall gather together his armies, even the hosts of heaven. 113 And the devil shall gather together his a; even the hosts of hell, and shall come up to battle against Michael and his armies. 114 And then cometh the a of the great God; and the devil and his armies shall be b into their own place, that they shall not have power over the saints any more at all. 115 For Michael shall fight their battles, and shall overcome him who a the throne of him who sitteth upon the throne, even the Lamb. 116 This is the glory of God, and the a; and they shall not any more see b. 117 Therefore, verily I say unto you, my a, call your solemn assembly, as I have b you. 118 And as all have not a, seek ye diligently and b one another words of c; yea, seek ye out of the best d words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith. 119 a yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a b, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; 120 That your a may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with b hands unto the Most High. 121 Therefore, a from all your light speeches, from all b, from all your c desires, from all your d and light-mindedness, and from all your wicked doings. 122 Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let a all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be b of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege. 123 See that ye a one another; cease to be b; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires. 124 Cease to be a; cease to be b; cease to c one with another; cease to d longer than is needful; retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary; arise early, that your bodies and your minds may be e. 125 And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of a, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and b. 126 a always, that ye may not faint, until I b. Behold, and lo, I will come quickly, and receive you unto myself. Amen. 127 And again, the order of the house prepared for the a of the b of the c, established for their instruction in all things that are expedient for them, even for all the d of the church, or in other words, those who are called to the ministry in the church, beginning at the high priests, even down to the deacons— 128 And this shall be the order of the house of the presidency of the school: He that is appointed to be president, or teacher, shall be found standing in his place, in the house which shall be prepared for him. 129 Therefore, he shall be first in the house of God, in a place that the congregation in the house may hear his words carefully and distinctly, not with loud speech. 130 And when he cometh into the house of God, for he should be first in the house—behold, this is a, that he may be an b— 131 Let him offer himself in prayer upon his knees before God, in a or remembrance of the everlasting covenant. 132 And when any shall come in after him, let the teacher arise, and, with a hands to heaven, yea, even directly, salute his brother or brethren with these words: 133 Art thou a brother or brethren? I salute you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, in token or remembrance of the everlasting covenant, in which covenant I receive you to a, in a determination that is fixed, immovable, and unchangeable, to be your b and c through the grace of God in the bonds of love, to walk in all the commandments of God blameless, in thanksgiving, forever and ever. Amen. 134 And he that is found a of this salutation shall not have place among you; for ye shall not suffer that mine house shall be b by him. 135 And he that cometh in and is faithful before me, and is a brother, or if they be brethren, they shall salute the president or teacher with uplifted hands to heaven, with this same prayer and covenant, or by saying Amen, in token of the same. 136 Behold, verily, I say unto you, this is an ensample unto you for a salutation to one another in the house of God, in the school of the prophets. 137 And ye are called to do this by prayer and thanksgiving, as the Spirit shall give utterance in all your doings in the house of the Lord, in the school of the prophets, that it may become a sanctuary, a tabernacle of the Holy Spirit to your a. 138 And ye shall not receive any among you into this school save he is clean from the a of this generation; 139 And he shall be received by the ordinance of the a of feet, for unto this end was the ordinance of the washing of feet instituted. 140 And again, the ordinance of washing feet is to be administered by the president, or presiding elder of the church. 141 It is to be commenced with prayer; and after partaking of a, he is to gird himself according to the b given in the thirteenth chapter of John’s testimony concerning me. Amen.	<urn:uuid:40b9c5bf-875c-4cc4-bfdc-1526e4a2d07f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/88.77,80?lang=eng	2015-03-29T11:14:53Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298464.94/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00196-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.973042	5,659
Main Street is the metonym for a generic street name (and often the official name) of the primary retail street of a village, town or small city in many parts of the world. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in the central business district, and is most often used in reference to retailing and socializing. The street running parallel to a town's numbered streets, before First Street, may be Main Street. The term is commonly used in Ireland, Scotland and the United States, and less often in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In most of the United Kingdom the common description is High Street. However, the term "Main Street" is sometimes used in the UK, for instance, in the village of Sutton Cheney. In Jamaica the term is Front Street. In some parts of the south west of England the equivalent used is Fore Street. In some larger cities, there may be several Main Streets, each relating to a specific neighborhood or formerly separate city, rather than the city as a whole. In many larger U.S. cities "Main Street" is a U.S. Highway; "Main Street of America" branding was used to promote U.S. Route 66 in its heyday. American cultural usage In the general sense, the term "Main Street" refers to a place of traditional values. In the 1949 movie adaptation of On The Town, the song "When You Walk Down Main Street With Me" refers to small-town values and social life. In the North American media, "Main Street" represents the interests of everyday people and small business owners, in contrast with "Wall Street" (in the United States) or "Bay Street" (in Canada), symbolizing the interests of large national corporations. Main Street was a popular term during the economic crises in 2008 and 2009: the proposed bailout of U.S. financial system, the 2008 US presidential campaign, and debates. One widely reviewed book was Bailout: An Inside Account of How Washington Abandoned Main Street While Rescuing Wall Street (2012) by Neil Barofsky. "Main Street" is part of the iconography of American life. For example, the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the outfit that operates the PX and BX stores on military bases, chose the name "Main Street USA" for its food courts. In small towns across the United States, Main Street is not only the major road running through town but the site of all street life, a place where townspeople hang out and watch the annual parades go by. A slang term popularized in the early 20th century, "main drag", is also used to refer to a town's main street. Main Street, or small town life generally, was a symbol of stifling conformity drawn by the social realists from 1870 to 1930. Sherwood Anderson, for example, wrote Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life in 1919. The best-selling 1920 novel Main Street was a critique of small town life, by the American writer Sinclair Lewis. The locale was "Gopher Prairie," presented as an 'ideal type' of the Midwestern town, while the heroine, Carol Kennicott, as the 'ideal-typical' Progressive. Two Walt Disney Company theme parks, Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and the Magic Kingdom in the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, both have "Main Street, U.S.A." sections immediately at their front. These areas, which are designed to look like the main street of a small town, house gift shops, restaurants and various services, along with park offices on the second floors. While the architecture of these "streets" appears to be turn-of-the-20th-century, in fact these are decorative false-fronts on industrial-style buildings. Main Street, U.S.A. is also present at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland. At Tokyo Disneyland the area is named "World Bazaar," but has the same look as Main Street, albeit housed under a decorative glass roof for protection from Japan's unpredictable weather. Disney's design copied visual elements of small-town America seen in films by Frank Capra and others, in a deliberate attempt to capture the iconic symbolism of small-town America. Disney wanted to embed the values and memories associated with life in small towns into an entertainment experience for tourists. Preservation and Main Street Main Street Inc. is the name of a community revitalization program begun by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the late 1970s. The core of the Main Street philosophy is the preservation of the historic built environment by engaging in historic preservation. Main Street focuses on a holistic approach to revitalization based on the 4-point approach of design, promotion, economic restructuring, and organization. Originally targeted at small, traditional downtowns, the program has expanded to include towns of various sizes, including neighborhood districts in several large urban centers. In many communities, a merchants' association or business improvement district serves a promotional role on behalf of the merchants of a downtown Main Street. Individual city governments also may engage in revitalisation or historic preservation efforts to support a downtown core, either to make a community appear more unique for tourism or to stem a flow of commerce out of the city into suburbs with shopping malls and cookie-cutter big box stores. In the United States federal funds are allocated specifically for restoration of historic properties on the former U.S. Route 66, the main street of many roadside towns; this funding is administered by the US National Park Service. International use and equivalents - Many small Canadian cities and towns also have Main Streets (en français, « la rue Principale ») although in most cases the street itself will have a name particular to that town, rather than being officially known as "Main Street." The phrase "a town where the main street is still called Main Street" is occasionally used as being synonymous with small-town values. - In Ottawa, main streets of various individual villages which had been annexed to the larger urban municipality bear names like "Manotick Main" or "Osgoode Main" to distinguish them from Smyth Road (which becomes "Main Street" in one small area southeast of downtown Ottawa) and from each other. The actual main street of centretown Ottawa is Bank Street. - In Toronto, however, Main Street is a mostly residential avenue in the city's east end. (At one time it was the main street of the hamlet of East Toronto, which was annexed by the city of Toronto in 1908. It has kept its historic name, and evidence of its commercial origins can be seen in the stores at the corner of Main and Gerrard Streets.) Toronto's main street is Yonge Street. - Saint Laurent Boulevard, which divides Montreal between east and west, is unofficially known as "the Main." Main Street in Vancouver is a neighbourhood shopping street, near the dividing line between east and west side of town. However, the city's main city centre shopping street is Robson Street. - In Australia and New Zealand, smaller urban centres often have a main street. In some towns this street is officially designated Main Street or High Street; rarer variants include Main Road, Commercial Road, and Commerce Street. Often, though, the street is given a name peculiar to the town. For many small towns, the main street forms part of the principal road into, or through, the town. Large centres often have a central business district in which no one street is a clear focus for commercial activity, though for historical or cultural reasons there is often one street regarded as the city's "main street". Examples include Melbourne's Collins Street, Sydney's George Street, Adelaide's King William Street, Auckland's Queen Street, and Christchurch's Colombo Street. - In Ireland most towns have a "main street", and this is usually the term given colloquially (for example, in offering road directions), though the primary thoroughfare of cities are often named after an historical figure, e.g. O'Connell Street. A more recent phenomenon in the media and with younger people is the misapplication of the term "high street" to describe typical or average street level fashion—likely due to advertising by various British retail multiples which began operating in Ireland during the "Celtic Tiger" years. - In England, the terms "Market Street" or "Market Place" are often used to designate the heart of a town or city, as is the more common High Street (particularly in newer urban developments, or towns or cities which were not original market towns). High Street is often the name of a fairly busy street with small shops on either side, often in towns and villages. - In Germany, the Hauptstraße (literally "Main Street") is a highly trafficked street. Hauptstraßen even have formal recognition in road construction guidelines, which specify the width of lanes, for example. The term chiefly refers to motorized traffic, whereas "Einkaufsstraße" (shopping street) or "Fußgängerzone" (pedestrian district) refer to retail in the sense of Engl. "Main Street". - In Sweden and Norway, almost all towns and cities have their own main street, a street called Storgatan/Storgaten (literally, "The big street"). They are typically surrounded by stores and restaurants, and increasingly open for pedestrians only. Likewise, in both Sweden and Norway this type of street is called gågata/gågate (literally, "walkingstreet"). - In most Italian municipalities, the highway or at another major route is called Via Roma. This was done at the behest of Benito Mussolini, who gave the order in 1939 to commemorate the March on Rome. - Jalan Besar (roughly translated from Malay as "Main Road") is a common street name used in Malaysia (and to a more limited extent, Singapore) when referring to main streets of older urban centres in the country. Such main streets were originally constructed during British colonisation of territories in present day Malaysia and Singapore, and were named in English as "Main Street" or "Main Road", depending on the size and nature of the urban centre, and often are laid out as parts of major thoroughfares between larger towns and cities. - The independence of states that would form Malaysia and the introduction of the Malay language as the country's national language in 1967 led to extensive renaming of certain Main Streets or Main Roads to "Jalan Besar" in Malaysia the following decades. Large cities (such as state capitals) tend to forgo the use of "Main Street" or "Main Road" altogether as commercial or transport activity may be concentrated along more than one street. - In South Africa, Main Road is the term used for the same concept as Main Street in the U.S. and High Street in the UK. - In Cambodia, the Main Road is between the Rice fields and settlements. - Ruth Ann Alexander, "Midwest Main Street in Literature: Symbol of Conformity," Rocky Mountain Social Science Journal (1968) 5#2 pp 1-12 - Hans-Jürgen Grabbe, "The Ideal Type of the Small Town: 'Main Street' in a Social Science Context," Amerikastudien (1987) 32#2 pp 181-190. - Robert Neuman, "Disneyland's Main Street, USA, and its Sources in Hollywood, USA," Journal of American Culture (2008) 31#1 pp 83-97, online - "Home Page". Main Street. National Main Street Center. 2009-04-09. - "Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary: Route 66". US National Park Service. - Edward Relph (2014). Toronto: Transformations in A City and its Region. University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 2014-02-20. The names of many of the old municipalities have been preserved in business improvement areas, and, for example, Main Street subway station refers to the main street of East Toronto. - Ron Brown (2013). Rails Across Ontario: Exploring Ontario's Railway Heritage. Dundurn Press. p. 19. ISBN 9781459707542. Retrieved 2014-02. Many wonder why there is a "Main Street" in Toronto's east end. This too came about when the GT selected a tract of land to create another sea of railway sidings. While it named its yard "York," the town that grew nearby was incorporated as "East Toronto" and the commercial main street became "Main Street."Check date values in: - MikeFiley (2008). Toronto: The Way We Were. Dundurn Press. p. 209. ISBN 9781550028423. Retrieved 2014-02-20. One remnant of the ancient hamlet was the retention of the name of one of its original thoroughfares. That's why there's still a Main Street several miles east of Yonge, Toronto's original main street. - Orvell, Miles. The Death and Life of Main Street: Small Towns in American Memory, Space, and Community (University of North Carolina Press; 2012) - Poll, Ryan. "Main Street and Empire: The Fictional Small Town in the Age of Globalization." New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2012. - Davies, Richard et al., eds. A Place Called Home: Writings on the Midwestern Small Town (2003) 34 selections of cultural history, fiction, and poetry, both classic and contemporary \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Main Street.\| - Mapping Main Street - a collaborative documentary media project that creates a new map of the country through stories, photos and videos recorded on actual Main Streets - Schneider-Cowan, Joy. "A Case Study of the San Marcos Main Street Program" (2007). Applied Research Projects. Texas State University. Paper 268.	<urn:uuid:c614b021-dd23-471e-b50a-6179c07ed535>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_street	2015-03-31T05:37:25Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300313.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00020-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.944991	2,885
Walkthrough written by Icy Comet & Slanted Fish The ancient city of Poptropolis rises from the depths of the ocean once every 100 years. Each tribe in Poptropica sends a representative to compete in the Poptropolis Games. Can you bring glory and honor to your tribe in this brutal competition, or will you have to live with shame forever? Happy Poptropolis Games… Select Your Tribe Go to Poptropolis Games, if you’re not already there. You will be brought to a screen where you can choose which tribe you will represent. The eight tribes that you can represent are Flying Squid, Wildfire, Yellowjackets, Pathfinders, Black Flags, Nightcrawlers, Seraphim, and Nanobots. Choose the tribe that you want to represent, and press the “Start” button. You will receive a Jersey with your tribe’s colors on it. You don’t have to wear it, but you can use it to show some spirit! You are on Main Street. Walk to the right and talk to the guy with a microphone in his hand. He will tell you that you’re late for the games. You’ll ask what the games are, and he’ll tell you that the games are where each tribe in Poptropica sends a representative to compete in sporting games. Whoever wins will be a hero for all time. When you ask what happens when you lose, the guy will tell you that you have to live with “eternal shame and dishonor.” The man will ask you if you’re ready. Tell him that you are ready. He will tell you to go to the Coliseum. The man will walk off in the direction of the Coliseum, and you’ll follow him. When you get to the Coliseum, the man will walk to the right and begin talking into his microphone. He will ask the representatives to come forward. The Poptropolis flame will be lit, and the games will begin! Go over to the man and talk to him when you want to compete in an event. If you want to see what place you’re in, there’s a scoreboard above the man. Just click on it to see which tribes are in what place. You don’t have to get first in all of the events to win the Poptropolis Games. You do have to be consistent, though. Try not to keep going up and down with your scores. It’s a good idea to practice each event until you are at least decent at it before doing the actual event. That doesn’t mean that you are going to win the event if you do that, but it might help you get a better score than you would have if you hadn’t practiced. May the odds be ever in your favor! This guide will tell you about all the different events and give you tips on finishing first: You aim your bow with the mouse. When you aim, make sure you pay attention to the wind speed and direction. There’s an arrow that indicates which way the wind is blowing. If the wind is blowing to the left, you move your mouse to the right. If it’s blowing to the right, you move your mouse to the left. How much you move it depends on the wind speed. The higher the speed, the more you should move your aim off-center. There’s a power meter on the right side of the screen. There are two bars in the power meter, one that moves and another that stays still in the center. Try and shoot your arrow when the moving bar is close to the one in the middle. To shoot your arrow, just click your mouse. You have ten arrows, so try to get as many bull’s-eyes as possible. In the diving event you have three routines that you have to do. The routines are made up of different spins that your Poptropican has to do. There are arrows on the bottom left hand corner of the screen that show you which direction your Poptropican needs to spin. Your Poptropican will spin in the direction of your cursor, so put your cursor to the right of your Poptropican to make it spin to the right. Put your cursor to the left of your Poptropican to make it spin to the left. The instructions say that you have to click right before you hit the water to perform a perfect dive, but don’t worry if you can’t do it. It shouldn’t affect your score. In the hurdles event you race against two other representatives. You have to click to jump over the hurdles. If you don’t time your jump just right, though, your Poptropican will trip over the hurdle and you’ll get a little bit behind the others. It’s best to jump when your character is almost at the hurdle; about a pace or two away – don’t wait until you’re right there because it’ll be too late. If you haven’t practiced before the other events, I definitely suggest practicing a couple of times before this one. That way you get a better hang of the timing of the jumps. It’s okay if you trip over a couple of hurdles, don’t get freaked out and start doing horribly. The others will trip every now and then, too, so you still have a chance if you do trip. Just try not to be distracted by the other two representatives and just try your best. In the javelin event, you have to set the angle and power of your javelin so that it flies far. To set the angle, click when your javelin is in the green zone. To set the power, click when the bar reaches the green zone. When you’re setting the power, the bar doesn’t go back and forth like your javelin does when you’re setting the angle. If the bar goes into the red zone, your Poptropican will run off and fall down onto the ground. So, make sure that you click before the bar reaches the red zone. In the long jump, the goal is to jump farther than any of the other representatives. Click your mouse and hold it when you are ready to start running. You’ll notice that the tiles on the ground are labeled with their own number, going from 10 to 1. Try and jump when you reach 1. Don’t jump too late, though, otherwise you’ll fall into the mud. When you’re in the highest that you can go in the air, click to thrust yourself forward. That will add a little extra distance to your jump. Try not to click too soon, though. In the pole vault event, there will be a countdown and your Poptropican will begin running. You will reach and part of the ground where the word “Launch” is written. Click to start the vault. A little bar will appear to the left of your Poptropican. Click again when the arrow is pointing to the part of the green part that’s the greenest. Your Poptropican will soar into the air, over the bar, and down on the other side. If you do that right, then you should get in first. In Octopus Volleyball, you play volleyball against an octopus – bet you didn’t see that coming – and the goal is to get six points before it does. The game begins when the octopus serves to you from across the net, and you have to volley it back and forth, being careful not to drop it on your side (a point is awarded whenever the ball drops on the other side). To get the ball high enough so it goes over the net, hit it with your the front tip of your head (not your face) and aim for the back side of the octopus where he can’t reach with his tentacles fast enough. The angle the ball bounces off of you is based entirely on where it hits you. If it hits the front of you, it’ll bounce forward. If it lands on top of your head, it will bounce straight into the air. And if it hits the back of you, it’ll bounce backward. The key is to try to position yourself in such a way that you’ll bounce the ball at a angle that is hard for the octopus to defend. In the power lifting event, you have to click on a moving button. Each time you click on the button your Poptropican will lift the bar a little bit higher. But, if you click when your mouse isn’t on the button, your bar will go down a little bit. Make sure that you are on the button when you click. There are four rounds, with a short break in between each to give your fingers time to rest. After each round you’ll pick up a bigger weight: 100kg, 200kg, 300kg, 400kg. The number in the middle counts down the seconds left to go (in total, not for each round). For the Shot Put event, there are two things that you have to do. The first thing you have to do is choose your angle. There are three arrows. Try to get each arrow in the green zone. The second thing that you have to do is to click when all the arrows that are going around in the circle are in the green zone. Do those two things right, and you’ll get a good throw. In this Volcano Race event, the idea is to get to the bottom of the lava slope as fast as you can. Every time you slide through the torch slalom gates, it subtracts a second from your time count, so go through them as much as you can! What you do want to avoid are the stones and statues that can get in the way of your path and will add to your total time. Also, look for the little slopes that help you sail over obstacles and land you in front of torch gates. The best way to make sure that you hit gates and avoid obstacles is actually to go off jumps! Make sure you watch where you’re going (slow down if need be), but don’t be too slow either. If you find that all the movement hurts your eyes, try to not sit so close to your computer screen so you’ll be able to see better. Triple Jump is the last event in the Poptropolis Games. Here’s how it works: click and hold your mouse to start running, release your mouse to jump before you cross the white line, and click for the next two times that you land to jump again. You have to time the jumps right, though, because if you don’t jump before the white line, you’ll fall down. Once you make it past the first two blocks, the last jump should determine your score, so land well. And the winner is… As mentioned earlier, you don’t have to place first in all of the events to get first place, but you should definitely practice before you actually do each event. If you mess up during an event, don’t get all upset, because then you’ll just do even worse on the next round. Remember, you can always restart the island if you want to. Anyway, once you have completed all of the events, the announcer dude will announce the winner of the Games. Hopefully it’s you! But, if it isn’t, you will have the option of starting over and trying again. If you win, you will receive the island medallion and some credits to spend in the Poptropica Store. Congratulations! You have now completed Poptropolis Games Island! Bonus Quest (members only) Once you beat the Poptropolis Games, the ground will begin to shake. An ancient warrior, a past winner of the Games, will come in. He will call you a fraud and challenge you to a wrestling match. You can either accept or decline. If you accept, here’s what to do: There are three different tiles. Each tile is a different shape. The tiles will change from one to another on the Ancient Warrior’s side until it randomly pics a certain tile. All you have to do is pick the tile that matches the shape of the one on the Ancient Warrior’s side. If you pick the right one, you’ll counter the Ancient Warrior’s move and win the round. Win more rounds than the Ancient Warrior to beat him. Once you beat him, he will tell you that you are truly the champion of Poptropica, and you’ll receive the Ancient Warrior Outfit as your prize. Congratulations! You’ve now beaten the Bonus Quest! Looking for more walkthroughs? Check out our Island Help page! :)	<urn:uuid:50904eb2-102c-4303-8868-aef15b3cdfd2>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://poptropicahelp.net/island-help/poptropolis-games-island/poptropolis-games-guide/	2015-03-31T05:22:16Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300313.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00020-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.933483	2,712
May be I just can't figure out where the link is, I went to "My Profile" and I couldn't find any such link. May be I will just leave if there is no "Close account" link. I have a reason for deciding to go: I think the moderators have become too strict and self centered. They just can't take good criticism or appreciate debates. They remind me of my old school teachers who punish kids or not let them go the bathroom. I have been observing this for a long time and I have had too much of this in the Windows vs other Operating Systems thread. To one of my arguments in the same thread, the moderator replied this: If your friend's developers "struggle to find out where things have gone in Linux" then I might humbly suggest that they're undeserving of the moniker. In any event, at this point I am just so annoyed by this thread that I'm going to close it so I don't have to listen to the nonsense anymore. And he did close the thread. I don't want to debate any further, and I don't care if the moderator is right or wrong. I'm moving just out to a better community (for me). If you message a staff member, we will close your account. With respect to that thread: Firstly it was posted to MD and not General Computing. There is a difference, and MD can't be taken too seriously. That said, the thread (in my opinion) had little to do conversation and contained too many opinions stated as fact. There was no intelligent discourse and as such it became annoying to those trying to discuss the topic. EFH was prepared to put up his hand and be the bad guy. I asked him about his choice in the way he ended the conversation, but I do not disagree with closing it. You would end out looking better if you copped this one on the chin and stood up ready for the next battle, or you can send me a PM and I'll close your account. Threads get closed. Moderators are human. Life goes on. [ June 09, 2008: Message edited by: David O'Meara ] There is nothing to prevent you from just not posting here any more, if that is what you want. But if you want to complain about the closing of that thread, why not simply complain about it? There's nothing wrong with that either and it's not an unreasonable thing for you to do. I think the moderators tend to pendulate(why does firefox dictionary refuse to recognize this word man.!!) between being tooo liberal with some topics and being too sensitive with some. I think they are generally great people(with the exception of one or two) and trying to do their best. I dont think this is something to leave the whole ranch over and I think may be in some way it keeps us focussed on what this site is mainly about and confrontational situations may lead to us not wanting to help one another when we meet in other forums in case we happen to step on each other's toes. Originally posted by Joanne Neal: Does any dictionary recognise it ? Yes, it's in the Oxford English Dictionary. I just checked in their online version. I wasn't familiar with the word, but the OED has this definition: 2. intr. fig. To fluctuate or oscillate between two opposite conditions, opinions, etc.; to waver, vacillate. [ June 09, 2008: Message edited by: Paul Clapham ] Joined: Jul 14, 2007 There are lots and lots of often used words not detected as accurate by firefox unfortunately. Does your firefox have this problem too? I'm wondering if I got this bundled with FF or I downloaded it as an extension. That's a core feature of Firefox, not of any extension. I would guess that it uses some kind of dictionary file to determine what is or is not a valid word. If that's the case, one could add to that file to keep the browser from flagging valid words. According to me EFH was wrong in closing the thread. I know that this is a private forum but this also goes against the "Be Nice" thing. Secondly EFH could have chosen to simply ignore the thread rather than delete it. People who are so against MS are also a cause why other OSs don't spread. Rather than proving their point how to get things right they would simply close the discussion. In my opinion if you want to get the best out of Javaranch avoid posting in MD and Jobs forum. You and moderators will not fight. Most of the time it happens that a new comer comes to JR for technical discussions and then slowly moves to MD and then ... Originally posted by Anupam Sinha: According to me EFH was wrong in closing the thread. And according to me, EFH was right. I wonder which one of us will get our way? (ahhhh ... it's good to be king) Anupam, I would like to suggest that you take the time to consider why I choose to run things the way I do. As you learn this and think about a way to persuade me to change my mind, I suspect that you will learn why things function this way - and then you will most likely drop this. Of course, if you cannot find the words to persuade me, and you still think I am wrong, you are, of course, always welcome to start your own site and run things the way you see fit. OK, kids. I was going to keep my mouth shut and stay out of this, but if we're going to get into name calling and such, it's not fair for me to let other folks deal with the fallout from something I did. And make no mistake, it was me. Thanks for the backup, guys, but I worked alone on this one. What I saw in that thread was some good folks wasting their breath talking past each other in one of the oldest Internet flame wars there is (and the most virulent, with the possible exception of "Emacs vs. vi".) It doesn't really matter that people were being civil up to that point. The thread had gone on for three pages already, and no one on either side had learned anything -- because of course, nobody ever learns anything in those discussions. Here's an actual drawing of one of the participants in that thread. Part of the problem -- just like the problem with Emacs vs. vi -- is that most people in the discussion really only know one side of the story well. They know about X, and X is good enough for them, and once they tried Y, and they didn't really know how to use it, and so now they dislike it. People with enough experience to do really thoughtful comparisons are rare, and the other people in the discussion often don't recognize who those actually knowledgeable people are -- so nobody listens to them. Some people don't even know one side of the story well -- they just believe what they've been told, even if it's not true, and then they present it as fact. And you can't really argue with them over the Internet, because, well, they don't know you or trust you the way they trust their cousin Hiroshi. They'd rather believe Hiroshi, because he's the one who taught them about computers in the first place. So I closed it because I didn't want to see folks wasting their breath any longer, and frankly, because I was starting to feel the pull. I find it almost impossible to stay out of those pointless discussions, even though I know it's counterproductive. Kinda like it's impossible not to slow down and look at an accident on the highway. Now, if y'all really like bashing your head against a brick wall, then there are plenty of forum sites that encourage that kind of behavior. There's Slashdot, for example, and plenty others besides. But as long as I'm working here, by the Trailboss' good graces, the Saloon isn't going to play host to those kinds of discussions. I've closed 'em before, and I'll close 'em agin. One more thing: right there on the wall as you walk into "Meaningless Drivel", it says in bold type: Please note that posts that have meaning or are not drivel stand a good chance of getting deleted. Why Paul you are you always in such a mood. I know it's your site. I just posted what I felt. The thread could had been simply closed if it was felt it was going nowhere. "In any event, at this point I am just so annoyed by this thread that I'm going to close it so I don't have to listen to the nonsense anymore" This sentence makes me feel like that EFH didn't wanted to have this thread around because he didn't like it rather than it was not going anywhere, to which I said he could simply ignore it. I have seen many closed threads in MD. In them it's generally "This thread is going nowhere and it is being closed". But in this case this was not the case. Does this comes anywhere close to BEING NICE. I guess you would not be persuaded with my point. Just trying. Joined: Mar 22, 2005 It wasn't a question of someone not liking the thread or the thread going nowhere. If I may interpret Ernest's intentions, he didn't like the thread because it was going nowhere. His words were: The thread had gone on for three pages already, and no one on either side had learned anything. I think that sums it up nicely. The thread did contain a fair number of counter-factual statements; I think one may validly choose to call such statements nonsense. It's quite possible that not everybody considers that to be nice. This is a big community; people are going to disagree with one another every so often. Your point is noted. And now, as David said: Life goes on. Please. [ June 11, 2008: Message edited by: Ulf Dittmer ] Joined: Apr 13, 2003 [UD]: His words were: The thread had gone on for three pages already, and no one on either side had learned anything. I think that sums it up nicely It sure does. But it would had been great if these words were used on that thread as well. [ June 11, 2008: Message edited by: Anupam Sinha ] personally, i almost closed that thread several times myself. In retrospect, I probably should have. that kind of debate never goes anywhere, and for many participants, has WAY TOO MUCH MEANING. Therefore, by definition, it didn't belong there, and should have been moved to the trash on day 1. EFH was really just picking up the slack where others (like myself) dropped the ball. There are only two hard things in computer science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors Originally posted by fred rosenberger: personally, i almost closed that thread several times myself. In retrospect, I probably should have. that kind of debate never goes anywhere, and for many participants, has WAY TOO MUCH MEANING. Therefore, by definition, it didn't belong there, and should have been moved to the trash on day 1. EFH was really just picking up the slack where others (like myself) dropped the ball. Then how come the thread ran into pages if it had too much meaning ? We were certainly not discussing Stephen Hawking's priciples on the Cosmos to categorize it as "TOO MUCH MEANING" . And wasn't anything with that kind of meaning ever discussed on MD before ? [ June 11, 2008: Message edited by: shan Iyer ] Warm Regards, S.Iyer Joined: Apr 13, 2003 My main point was not why the thread was closed but the fact that it could had been done in a better fashion. I guess this thread is going nowhere. Again I feel in the be nice thing. Let's just try to be nice. I'm not going to debate specifics with you. We have a policy that basically says ANY thread in MD can be deleted or closed at any time, for any reason, by any moderator. When the thread got to a point where a mod felt it needed to be closed, it was. If you want to discuss that policy, that's one thing. But i have nothing further to say about this specific thread. Joined: Mar 22, 2005 And to elaborate on what Fred said: It isn't just that any thread in MD can be closed by any moderator, in fact any thread in any forum can be closed or deleted by any moderator who feels like that is the right thing to do. There are guidelines on how to moderate, but there is also a lot of leeway. So yes, it's amazing that this particular thread wasn't closed way earlier. But we're all volunteers - we're not standing by and waiting for something to apply our moderator powers to. So sometimes a thread runs longer than it should have. In this case, I'm grateful that it did, because I personally was still participating, hoping to make an impact. In retrospect, it should have been obvious that that was futile. So I, for one, am thankful to Ernest that he ended what had run for too long; it kept me from spending more time on this. And to get back on a more general level: there should not be an expectation of moderator's decisions being explained. Some may be, but some won't - it's up to the moderator to do what he or she thinks is best for the site. At this point, I'll be presumptuous (some no doubt will think this arrogant) and declare that in my opinion everything that can usefully be said about this subject has been said. This thread won't be closed -so if someone wants to take part, they can-, but I'd ask anyone who feels the urge to do so to read -and think through!- all the above posts first. Thank you. I think the fact that this thread exists and somebody has their knickers in a twist over a thread in MD, PROVES that that thread should have been closed or deleted. THEREFORE - Damn good job Ernest! You always make the right call. <h1>Thank You Ernest!</h1> Apparently, your idea of nice is different from mine. Oh well. In fact, as I reread your posts in this thread, I find the way you present your opinion to be rather disrespectful of the opinions of others. I think that that, specifically, is not nice. So once again, it would seem that your idea of nice is different from mine. I rather like my idea of what nice means. And I rather like Ernest's interpretation of nice. I find that I don't fancy your idea of nice at all. I find that damn near everybody here, and certainly all of the staff, appear to have their idea of nice aligned with my idea of nice. So we all get along rather well. I see that a lot of people have taken a rather large slice of their life to help you understand this. Oh sure, they could have watched a movie. Or a tv show. Or they could have talked to somebody about java. Instead, they were patiently taking their unpaid time to help you understand something that the rest of us seem to easily grasp. And rather than understand, you simply push that we must all change to your way of thinking. So, allow me to express that I completely understand what you are suggesting. It is a different way of managing things. For a long list of reasons, I choose to not operate that way. It's my site, so I get to do that. I understand that you don't understand my way of doing things. That's unfortunate. I feel that many important aspects have been explained to you. I suppose there are many things that you might do now, but here are a few that come to mind: 1) re-read this thread and attempt to understand why we do things the way we do. After that you will: 1a) understand and, thus, everybody is happy! 1b) not understand, but decide to go along with our "wackiness" so that everybody can be happy. 1c) not understand and (go to "2") 2) not care. Then choose a path to: 2a) leave and everybody is happy. 2b) hang around and be angry a lot until we ban you. 2c) hang around and be secretly angry and ignore our "wackiness": you'll develop an ulcer but the rest of us will be happy. There are lots of other places to visit on the mighty internet. I suspect that there are quite a few that are aligned with what you think of as good management. Perhaps you will be happier there. Or ... perhaps ... something will click and you will understand that there are excellent reasons why we do things the way that we do. And maybe something else will click so that the next time you wish to make a suggestion, it will sound like you are being respectful to the people that donate their time to make this place possible instead of sounding like everybody is your personal servant and too stupid to understand the way you want them to shine your shoes. Oh yes ... there is one more thing you might find worth considering .... do you think it is possible that not only has this issue been discussed before, but it has been discussed a thousand times more than what you see in this one paltry thread? This topic might have an amazingly rich history that has led to a really fantastic way of running things. A way of running things that makes one person out of millions slightly peeved, instead thousands rioting in the streets. A pretty fair trade in my opinion. And now, to all of those people that have taken the time to patiently try to help folks find a smooth path, thank you very, very much. I think your efforts really help. Despite this small bit of evidence to the contrary. Joined: Apr 13, 2003 It's your site and you decide what you want and it's my mind and I decide what's correct according to me. I still hold by my opinion and you hold onto yours. [ June 12, 2008: Message edited by: Anupam Sinha ] I didn't even read the MD thread. I just read the fallout of a moderator talking about why he deleted it. To that he talked about being fair and nice and having wholesome butterflies whenever you talk to people on a thread, and then told the community how nice it is to be king. We get to do whatever we want...mmmmmmm feeeeelllzzz good. So Yes, preach about people talking past each other and then say I'm teh moderator RAWR!! There's about a million sites with forums out there...give or take a million, and the most interesting threads are the ones where people(myself included) must defend their actions for world changing events like deleting threads and moving topics (human behavior at its finest). Furthermore, it is so important to get the point across that completely contradictory reasons can be given. DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO. After all once it's done you can just say well, I made a mistake...I'm human. I <3 behavioral psychology. [ June 12, 2008: Message edited by: paul yule ]	<urn:uuid:a5c3c96d-0c77-4dea-9d29-e59e07048a1b>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.coderanch.com/t/3449/Ranch-Office/close-Javaranch-account	2015-03-31T05:48:59Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300313.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00020-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.98158	4,075
Real-World Aero: Wind Tunnel Testing For the Weekend RacerWritten by on October 7, 2006 Ever wonder how information gleaned from wind tunnel tests performed on Nextel Cup cars actually applies to you? Wonder no moreYou hear the advice all the time from the "know-it-alls" in racing (yes, that applies to us, too): No matter how small your track or how slow your car, good aerodynamic practices can help improve your lap times. Yes, that advice is true. As a general rule, if you have to apply the brakes anywhere on the racetrack, you need more downforce. When that downforce is achieved aerodynamically (as opposed to achieving it by weight), it is doubly beneficial because it is gained without the disadvantage of inertia trying to push you into the wall as the car turns. The problem is that wind tunnel testing is expensive, so the information provided to Saturday night racers is too often based on tests done on Nextel Cup cars or theory with no real-world numbers to back it up-until now, that is. Noted aerodynamicist Gary Eaker has been operating his own private wind tunnel, AeroDyn, in Mooresville, North Carolina, for a few years now. AeroDyn has been quite successful with its Nextel Cup clientele because it is one of the most affordable wind tunnels in the country. That all changed with Eaker's newest innovation, affectionately known as A2. A2 is the little brother to the AeroDyn wind tunnel, and was designed for the express purpose of making wind tunnel testing accessible to race teams that may not have the support of big-money sponsorships. A2 doesn't have all the bells and whistles that AeroDyn offers, such as a simulated rolling road and yaw control, but it does offer solid, repeatable aero testing that can be greatly beneficial to a race team. We've always wanted to get a real-world short-track car into a wind tunnel to see how it performed, but as experienced by most race teams, the cost was too prohibitive. When Eaker opened the A2 facility, we finally had our opportunity. We joined drivers Freddie Query and Preston Peltier at A2 as they ran Query's Super Late Model asphalt car through a series of tests. Query and Peltier are both savvy veterans and came prepared to make the most of their time in the tunnel with a complete list of all the tests they wanted to perform and all the hardware they needed to get it done quickly. We followed along to see what worked and what didn't. Over the course of approximately five hours, Query, Peltier, and a handful of volunteers were about to pull off 33 tests. The following are some of the most interesting tests we witnessed. After making a few baseline runs, the first test with the car fully taped in qualifying trim and sitting at inspection ride height involved raising the spoiler angle from 50 to 70 degrees. This was done to see how it affected front versus rear downforce balance, but the surprise was how little it actually helped downforce at all. Downforce improved by 11 counts in the front and only 8 in the rear, while drag increased dramatically. Normally, a team testing a downforce car in a wind tunnel cares very little about drag numbers. In this instance, it shows that the spoiler was already approaching its stall angle closer to 50 degrees and wasn't helping appreciably at 70. Because the spoiler is behind the rear axle, downforce here has a mechanical cantilever effect on the car, which reduces load at the front. Raising the spoiler angle (as long as it isn't stalled) will increase rear downforce and mechanically decrease load on the front tires. Lowering the spoiler will have the opposit effect. For reference, one count in a wind tunnel is equal to 1 pound of downforce on the track at 135 mph. It does not change with the weight of the car, only speed. The second interesting thing to note from this test is that by moving the spoiler, the downforce improved more over the front wheels than the rear. Aero, it should be noted, is as much about creating pressure differentials above and below the body sheetmetal as it is about air actually hitting a surface and pushing it down. The spoiler actually causes air to dam up in front of it, and the high-pressure zone created by the spoiler can reach all the way to the hood. The car responded as much as it did at the front because the chassis is remarkably open. There is no front or rear firewall to speak of. The Super Late Model has an offset chassis, and the only area boxed off with sheetmetal is the driver's compartment. Because the area underneath the body is so open, the front and rear wheels are easily able to "talk" to each other, so a change at the rear of the car will affect front downforce much more than a car with a full firewall. As you might expect, taping up the grille and brake ducts is one of the most effective things you can do when it comes to legally adding downforce. On our ARP-bodied car, taping up the nose was worth over 100 points of front downforce. At 135 mph, that's 100 pounds of extra pressure adding grip to the front tires. Peltier took things a little farther to see if taping all the body seams to seal them off would further improve the aero. This, as you might expect, had no noticeable effect. Finally, we experimented to see how a partially taped grille opening affected the car. Adding two strips of tape over the bottom portion of the 28.5x5.75-inch grille added approximately 25 counts of downforce over an untaped grille, while two strips across the top of the opening added approximately 31 counts. This is probably because the tape at the top of the grille created a solid surface for the air to move across that was unbroken all the way to the windshield. Inspection Height versus Actual Height It is common knowledge that your race car is rarely at inspection height when it's at speed on the racetrack. Of course, that's fine on the setup plate because you can set such things as camber gain to account for suspension movement. Conversely, testing a car's aerodynamics at ride height or inspection height is a little more problematic. The car's attitude can significantly affect its aerodynamic performance. If the front end drops because of aerodynamic downforce or simply because the driver applied the brakes, that increases the car's rake, or body height from front to back, which will increase downforce. If the car rolls over on its right side through the turns and lifts the left-front fender, that will allow more air underneath the car, raising the pressure and reducing downforce. Before testing in a wind tunnel, you need to track your car's attitude through a turn and try to mimic that in the tunnel. The easiest way to do this is simply to record your bump stop locations on the shocks after a set of hot laps. In the wind tunnel, the car needs to be off of its springs and locked at the height you choose. You can do this by fabricating a set of solid struts out of metal tubing that will replace the shocks and springs. If the body moves once the air hits it, it will throw off your findings. Query and Peltier brought two sets of struts to set the car both at ride height and at the attitude the car will normally be in through the turns. We won't give away those heights because they have worked really hard to develop their shock and spring packages, but we'll say the effect was dramatic. It also changed many of the things we had already tested. As you can imagine, the nose was significantly lower than ride height when the car was set at racing attitude. This not only dropped the front valence closer to the ground, reducing pressure under the car and raising downforce, but it also raised the rear spoiler angle. If you remember, the spoiler was already reaching stall above 50 degrees on this particular car, so a taller spoiler did no good. Query and Peltier were forced to deviate from the planned test schedule slightly to find the best spoiler angle when the car was raked forward. Another example is a false radiator box floor the team had tested. The bottom of the radiator box on this car is flush with the bottom of the grille opening. In an effort to build-in a deep gurney lip of sorts (racers may also know it as a belly pan), the team fabricated a piece of sheetmetal that ran from the bottom of the radiator forward to the bottom of the valence. When the car was at ride height, the sheetmetal actually ran downhill from the valence to the radiator. The difference in height was minimal-less than half an inch-but it was enough to hurt downforce. However, when the car was reset at racing attitude, the increased rake indicated that the false floor was closer to the ground at the valence than it was at the radiator, and it helped downforce. If you are still trying to understand the difference between kingpin angle and caster, then you might not be ready to test in a wind tunnel. On the other hand, if you are confident in your setup skills and are looking to take your team to the next level, starting an aero program may be just what you need to do. The A2 wind tunnel was designed to be affordable for touring and even serious Saturday night teams. First-time customers can get two hours of testing for $690, and the price stays reasonable for longer test sessions. Gary Eaker, the owner of A2, understands most teams using his wind tunnel won't have an engineer on staff, much less a trained aerodynamicist, and may need a little help making the most of their time. Because his staff is adamant about not sharing secrets learned by another team, they cannot coach you on what to do. Fortunately, he has written a workbook that can help a team prepare for and make the most of a test. He says there are also local engineers who can be hired to help a team if they prefer that option. Here are some tips Eaker says should help a team make the most of its time under the fan:-When you are at the wind tunnel, you aren't learning anything unless the fan is blowing. Do all the prep work you can at your shop beforehand. Plan in advance all the changes you wish to make and prefabricate anything necessary to minimize time between "blows." -Aero is notorious for interactions between seemingly "independent" mods. This means that virtually everything in aerodynamics affects something else. Be prepared to be surprised by something you didn't expect. Build time into your testing plan to deviate and test an idea that may have popped up from the previous test. -You should have a goal for your test. Do you want to try a bunch of different things just to see how they affect the car? Are you trying to correct specific handling problems? Maybe you are looking at different aero packages for different applications or tracks. -A2 has anemometers to measure airflow through ducting. Don't concentrate only on downforce. You can also test to see which duct routing method gets you the most airflow to your brakes, or which radiator box design allows the smallest grille opening while still maximizing flow to the radiator. -If you are testing things such as fender shape, begin with the minimum volume (a convex fender versus flat). This will allow you to build up the area or surface with panels or filler materials. -During a test in the A2 tunnel, the wind speed is 85 mph. This is enough to blow things off the car. The leading edges of applied pieces should fit well and be securely fastened to the car (pop rivets work well). Don't depend on tape to hold everything in place.	<urn:uuid:f0ca1fc6-9583-4a83-9767-7ea381c9df60>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/additional-how-to/ctrp-0610-real-world-aero/	2015-03-31T05:27:45Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300313.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00020-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.969708	2,469
The RuPaul fan cruise had everything - including a marriage proposal by Shaun Kelly - Special to the SGN So what do we all know about cruises in general? There will be pools, spas bars, and casinos. There will be tons of food and booze, a hairy chest competition, and maybe a few dance revues. But what made the Carnival Glory stand out from the crowd in the first week of December? For a ship that can hold 2,974 passengers, if you fill it with 34 drag queens from RuPaul's Drag Race (Logo TV) and then add about 1,300 of their fans you are in for a boatload of fun! Of course that sort of fun could all come to a screaming, hair-pulling, bitch-slapping halt if you roll Vicky Rey, vice president of guest services for Carnival cruises, into the mix, though. The cruise had been announced for about a year and many people had been booked on it from the start. Who wouldn't want to mingle with their favorite drag queens and the gorgeous Michelle Visage? There was a lot more interest than was originally anticipated, and so we quickly got moved to a larger capacity ship and took off full force - the Gays were going to sea! We were to have use of a huge theater with three private drag shows as well as Q&A panels, cocktail parties, a luncheon, and theme party evenings. THE INFAMOUS LETTER For anyone who missed out on all the drama, everything was going along nice and smooth until Rey sent out her letter, directed initially just at the guests booked into the Drag Race grouping. This letter came less than a week before the cruise was about to set sail, and boy, did she not read her intended audience before she penned her missive. It started off friendly enough, welcoming us all onto the ship and hoping that we would have a great time. It went on to state that the cruise line strives to present a family-friendly atmosphere and that everyone should 'refrain from engaging in inappropriate conduct in public areas.' Anyone who breaks the rules, she said, will be 'disembarked at their own expense and no refund will be given.' That in itself didn't seem too unreasonable - OK, no sex on the Lido deck, no drugs in the pool, no orgies or fraternizing with the crew - in other words, don't turn the ship into a floating bathhouse. We could handle that. But then she got down to the real point of the letter. The performers, she said, are booked into the main theater and that is it as far as drag is concerned. 'Guests are not allowed to dress in drag for the performances or in public areas at any time during the cruise.' Oh no you didn't, bitch - you try to stop a queen being a queen and you are going to have all sorts of problems. This wonderful little message finished with this great closing comment: 'Thank you for your cooperation. Now that we've taken care of business ... let the FUN begin!' Vicky, honey, you don't even know the meaning of the word 'fun' until you have cruised with a group of drag queens and their followers. You're fortunate that your only appearance onboard was in the form of a bloke in a dress with a big red wig and a beard, or else you would have been strung up with stockings and G-strings. The drag Vicky made a huge splash, though - even taking photos with the ship and cruise-line bigwigs. A CHANGE OF HEART The cruise line, to its credit, did a complete 360 on the decision. Gerry Cahill, the president and CEO, allowed anyone who wished to dress in drag to do so. Hell, yeah! As you can imagine, the call went out for everyone to toss a dress and a wig in their case and bring some solidarity fierceness. Cahill also made a very gracious offer to let anyone cancel and 'receive a full refund of their cruise fare, as well as reimbursement for any non-refundable travel related expenses.' All social media was blasted with this news, and the story even went global with cruise promoter Al and Chuck Travel being bombarded by media interview requests. I for one didn't even get to talk with my partner for the week before the cruise, as he was the Norma Rae of Facebook, defending the Gays and then the cruise line after they changed their mind. He got into some pretty heated debates and made a mental scrapbook of who he had sparred with - and then started to pick them out in the embarkation lounge! So, move forward to departure day and there we are in the lounge where the lines are huge, the information is sparse, and the crowd is getting restless, thirsty, and hungry. There is a strange energy as one side of the room seems like it could burst into a flash-mob dance and the other side is sitting kinda nervous with a touch of pearl clutching. Hide your children - the Gays are here! So what was the first step? Mark all the Gays and Gay-adjacent fans with a white wristband so that we stand out (not necessary for some) and then let the fun begin. It could have been a scene from West Side Story with Gays versus straights instead of Sharks versus Jets, but fortunately it didn't come to that - I think there would have been too much infighting on our side over who would choreograph. The shows were out of this world - the queens brought their A-game and knocked the socks off everyone. It is so hard to select a favorite, but Stacey Lane Matthews made a hit when some shady queen scratched her CD and her performance was cut short. She offered to eat a bucket of chicken on stage (which would probably have been fun) but ended up singing an out-of-this-world a-cappella version of Diamonds by Rihanna. Morgan McMichaels stunned us with her Pink medley, which got the energy level way up after a low-key start by season-two winner Tyra Sanchez. The body beautiful Carmen Carrera came out with just a few pasties and gave us realness that was second to none. I have to also mention Pandora Boxx - who else would have thought to do a drag routine to Pippi Longstocking? - and one of the most fabulous queens as both a boy and a girl was Rebecca Glasscock, who performed like a star and mingled like the sweet guy he really is. The wonderful host for the shows was Michelle Visage, who was stunningly beautiful and incredibly quick-witted and funny. As the head judge (although with the tightness of the tux there isn't much 'head' to see) on the Logo TV show since Season Two, she was very well-suited for this hosting gig. She is also not afraid to make fun of herself, especially when people started to tell her how much better-looking she was in real life. The consensus was that her TV makeup artist was making her look too much like a drag queen herself - and apparently she now has a new makeup person! They also showed their personal side by actually spending time with fans and chatting, making friends, and just generally hanging out with everybody. Cameras went crazy and drag queens were seen out of their natural habitat in full makeup during the daylight hours. I think that the best time was when they were in boy drag and just being themselves - new fan favorites were made. HARD TO STARBOARD! For anyone who has been on a cruise before you are probably aware of the 'Friends of Dorothy' meetings that will be held most evenings in a bar on board. Very discreet, but a way to meet like-minded guests. They still advertised them in the daily briefings for the ship's activities, but that hardly seemed necessary, seeing as how every night the starboard side of the ship was Gay central! Yes, there were some people who rushed through that area of the ship each night like they were making their way through a gang meeting or something, but for the most part everyone was happy to see people having fun, jealous that they couldn't join in, and taking as many pictures as they could. The whole week progressed from an 'us and them' situation to a warm and fuzzy love-fest. Hearts and minds were changed as people who had probably never spent any time with a real live Gay person got up close and personal and made new friends. I did a karaoke duet with a total redneck dude who was the best straight guy I could have wished to meet. There were also a pair of nightclub bouncer types who were seen watching karaoke without cracking a smile until two boys did a dance routine behind a woman singing 'Gloria,' and at that point they melted and had the time of their lives. Was the food great? Not really, but there was a lot of it. Was the booze cheap? No, but again there was a lot of it. Did we all have a great time? Hell yes, and hell yes again. After talking with the bar staff, hotel manager, and guest services manager, it was pretty clear that Carnival made the right decision to let this go ahead in the way it did. The liquor sales were up and the trouble level was down - they even had to restock the bar at one of the ports. BRAVO, AL AND CHUCK And now for the shameless plug portion of the review: The drag part of the cruise was billed as the 'Drag Race at Sea Cruise - Revenge of the Wench,' and was organized by the fantastic Al and Chuck Travel Company. As sponsors of the RuPaul show they are billed as the No. 1 Gay travel agency and I have to say that they will get my business from now on. I may not always want to go on a Gay vacation, but being surrounded by like-minded folks on a cruise is pretty sweet, as it created a safe zone where many friends were made. The whole team from Al and Chuck worked so hard to make sure that everyone had a great time - can you imagine herding drag queens and a gaggle of Gays around a boat for a week?! Always available and always very gracious and accommodating, they made everything run very smoothly and were so sweet to be around. The last show of the week started off with a video thank-you message from Al to Chuck (they have been partners for 25 years), which ended with Al proposing to Chuck. There wasn't a dry eye in the house! Share on Facebook Share on Delicious Share on StumbleUpon!	<urn:uuid:c24abe9c-3957-4cb5-b84b-b43fc8cf4858>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews40_50/page24.cfm	2015-03-31T05:25:19Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300313.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00020-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.986164	2,209
Of all the state's regions, the South Texas Plains stands out as one of the most colorful and richly documented during early Historic times. Spanish explorers, officials, missionaries, soldiers, and others traveled across the grassy plains and brush country in the early 1500s and 1600s. Their journals and reports give us tantalizing glimpses of the region’s native peoples. These accounts, though inconsistent and often frustratingly brief, are peppered with mentions of sparsely clothed people, odd-sounding languages, primitive shelters, wild foods, and curious cooking techniques. Some writings, such as those of the explorer Cabeza de Vaca—who actually lived and worked among south Texas native groups —provide rare insights into the traditions, worldview, and thinking of some of the native peoples. The earliest Europeans in south Texas encountered peoples whose basic way of life seems to have changed very little over the centuries, what anthropologist W. W. Newcomb termed "fossil cultures." Said differently, when the first Spanish arrived, the native peoples of the South Texas Plains followed a very long cultural tradition, a quintessential example of what anthropologists call a successful adaptation to a challenging setting. Because of this, these early historic encounters are of prime significance to archeologists and others hoping to understand and interpret prehistoric lifeways. They are, in effect, our most direct connection from the relatively recent to the distant prehistoric past, providing eye-witness accounts of some of the behaviors we see represented in artifacts and archeological sites. By the time of their witness, however, cultural upheavals among these aboriginal groups had already begun, although the effects may not have been recognized by the Spanish observers. As early as the 16th century, perhaps even before Cabeza de Vaca's shipwreck, the impact of the Spanish in other areas of New Spain was being felt indirectly by native groups in Texas. European diseases spread rapidly across the continent, unwittingly passed from group to group through trade and other interactions. The appearance of totally foreign Old World peoples in the New World set off so many far-reaching changes, through disease, new technologies, new animals and plants, new forms of transportation, new religions, and new economic patterns. Group after group, their numbers ever thinner, retreated, joined together with one another, fought losing battles with intruders, and tried to adapt to the new world order. Within a few centuries most native societies were gone forever. When first encountered, all of the native peoples of the South Texas Plains were hunters and gatherers, just like most societies in adjacent regions of Texas. Hunter-gatherer life is highly mobile and requires people to move seasonally and even daily from place to place in search of food and other resources. For the first few centuries after contact these traditional lifeways continued, even in the face of increasing influences by the Europeans. Some groups took on new trappings acquired from the intruders—horses improved their ability to move from place to place, metal and glass were adapted to make traditional tools and weapons. Over time, however, the foreign influences were devastating to the native cultures, as the European intruders sought, alternately, to enslave, convert, congregate, or eliminate them. In spite of the relatively fuller accounting we have of some of these indigenous peoples, our overall knowledge of the Indians of the South Texas Plains remains a complex puzzle with most of its pieces missing. There were hundreds of native bands living in the region at the time of contact, hundreds of different names for them, and only fleeting, spotty accounts of some of their territorial locales. Our modern understandings of the native peoples of the South Texas Plains are complicated by the fact that a single overarching, or collective, name has been applied to them all: Coahuiltecans. The name comes from Coahuila, that part of the northeastern frontier of New Spain which once included most or all of the area occupied by the modern state of Texas on one side of the Rio Grande, as well as portions of the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas on the other. As applied to native peoples, the term Coahuiltecan comes from Coahuilteco, coined by a 19th-century Mexican linguist for one of the major native languages spoke in the area. But other unrelated languages were also spoken in south Texas and northeastern Mexico and it is clear that the peoples of the region represented many different ethnic groups, tribes, and nations. The term Coahuiltecan has become entrenched in history books and other literature. Unfortunately, it is interpreted by nonspecialists as implying that the native peoples of south Texas and northeastern Mexico (Coahuila) were, in essence, one large, genetically and/or ethnically related culture, who spoke the Coahuilteco language. Researchers today see the cultural milieu on the South Texas Plains in Late Prehistoric/Early Historic times as far more complicated. We now understand that many of the native groups of the region, although practicing similar ways of life, were ethnically distinct, had different names for themselves, and spoke diverse languages, including Coahuilteco, Sanan, Comecrudo, Cotoname, and others. Today we realize the term Coahuiltecan is only valid in a geographic sense as a broad reference to the many native groups that once ranged across the Spanish province of Coahuila in northeastern Mexico and throughout the South Texas Plains. Tracing South Texas Peoples The earliest glimpse of the groups who occupied this region was given to us by Cabeza de Vaca and his three companions. Shipwrecked on the Texas Gulf Coast in 1528, these men walked from the shores near present-day Galveston to Mexico City in a journey of between 2,300 and 2,640 miles that, after they finally left south Texas in 1534, took them 14 months. Their reports of that amazing journey, written in Mexico and Spain after their return, provide fascinating information on the many native peoples they encountered, including native groups of the South Texas Plains. After 1536, Spanish authorities in Mexico were occupied with events unfolding elsewhere in New Spain. There were encounters and battles with native groups such as the Cacaxtle in the mid-1600s, but most of the South Texas Plains remained a native domain. The pace of change and encounter picked up in the late 1600s when the Spanish learned that La Salle, a French entrepreneur, had established a French colony on the Texas Gulf Coast. Spanish military and missionaries returned to south Texas in relative abundance. They crossed the South Texas Plains on their travels to and from Matagorda Bay and to and from the Caddoan areas of east Texas. During those expeditions, the Spanish identified hundreds of names for groups occupying the region. Researchers believe that some of these groups were native to the region, while others moved in during the centuries after the Spanish were well established in Texas. A list of groups thought to have spoken Coahuilteco and Sanan is shown here to illustrate another complexity in studying the native record. Based on the sheer numbers of native group names alone, it would appear the region was heavily populated. According to inventories and other records of the time, however, that appears not to have been the case. Although accounts vary, most of the groups were relatively small in number. For example, one group, the Pacuache, found by the Spanish along the middle Nueces River drainage, was estimated to have a population of about 350. Information for others, where it exists, suggests that individual groups maintained a population between 100 and 300. Looking at the region from a human ecology perspective, Texas A&M archeologist Alston Thoms believes that the south Texas native population, though relatively small, was the maximum that the environment could support at the time. The region was “packed.” Further, the presence of enemies made for even greater competition and need for ingenuity in subsistence strategies. By the mid 1700s, other native groups had began moving into the region, either pushing local groups south into Mexico or assimilating them into their own societies. These intruding native groups included the Tonkawa and Mescalero and Lipan Apache, tribes which themselves had been displaced from home territories far to the north and northwest. The availability of horses transformed many Plains groups into mounted raiders the likes of which the New World had never known. Chief among them were the war-like Comanche who forced the Apache and others, in turn, to flee and push southward, form alliances, and adopt the mounted-raider lifestyle themselves or risk annihilation. The small, indigenous south Texas cultures were crushed by the unrelenting forces all around them. Disease, intertribal conflict, and diminished access to resources left weak, displaced bands.Some willingly turned to the Spanish for protection; others were coaxed or forced into mission settings, although their confinement was usually temporary and “conversion” incomplete. Others were captured and taken into Mexico to provide labor for mining enterprises. All the while, disease continued to take its toll on the vulnerable native populations. By the 19th century before the Republic of Texas was birthed, the true native peoples of the South Texas Plains were reduced to remnant survivors who were soon absorbed into Mexican society. Even today, however, there are surviving genetic traces and there are individuals and "resurgent" groups who identify with the Native American heritage of the region. In This Exhibit In the following sections, we look at the native peoples of South Texas and those who have helped uncover their stories. How Do We know About Native Lifeways? introduces readers to the researchers who have pored over Spanish documents to tease out descriptions and bits of information. Who Were the "Coahuiltecans"? provides a look at some of the many naciones who have been grouped under this name and what we know about their traditions and ways of life. Native Intruders from the North provides a brief overview of latecomers to the region who in some cases, effectively delivered a death thrust to many of the native groups of the South Texas Plains or forced them into the Spanish missions for survival. Credits and Sources provides useful resources for learning more about the region and its peoples.	<urn:uuid:965d547b-2bca-4ca7-af25-6f0599944110>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/st-plains/peoples/index.html	2015-03-31T05:22:47Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300313.14/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00020-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.972541	2,110
Crossover dribble - a dribble in which the ball is moved from one hand to the other while the dribbler changes directions. Crossover dribbling - when a ball handler dribbles the ball across his body from one hand to the other. Cut - a quick movement by an offensive player to elude an opponent or to receive the ball. Cylinder - the imaginary area directly above the basket where goaltending or basket interference can occur. Dead ball - any ball that is not live; occurs after each successful field goal or free-throw attempt, after any official's whistle or if the ball leaves the court; it stops play, which is then resumed by a jump ball, throw-in or free throw. Dead ball - occurs whenever the whistle blows to stop play and after a field goal, but before the opponent gains possession of the ball. Defense - the act of preventing the offense from scoring; the team without the ball. The team not in possession of the ball whose objective is to keep the opponent from scoring; also a specific pattern of play used by a defending team. Defensive rebound - a rebound of an opponent's missed shot. Double dribble - a violation that occurs when a player dribbles the ball with two hands simultaneously or stops dribbling and then dribbles again. Double team - a defensive play where two defenders guard one player, and when two teammates join efforts in guarding a single opponent. Down Court or down the court - the direction a team on offense moves, from its backcourt into its frontcourt and towards its own basket. Draft - the method by which NBA teams annually select college or foreign players to their teams, designed to promote balanced competition in the NBA. Dream team - the name given by the media to the U.S. basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics; it was the first time non-amateurs were permitted to represent the country; the members of this team were Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John Stockton. In the 1996 Olympics, the U.S. team was called Dream Team 2 and in 2000, Dream Team 3. Dribble - process by which a player repeatedly bounces the ball off the floor so that it returns to his/her possession. It is the only legal means by which a player may move the ball across the court. Dribble series - a number of consecutive dribbles which end when a player allows the ball to rest in one or both hands; a player is only permitted one dribble series before he must pass or shoot. Dribbling - when a player repeatedly pushes, pats, taps or bats the ball toward the floor with one hand to cause the ball to bounce back up to either of his hands; used to advance the ball or keep control of it. Drive - a quick dribble directly to the basket in an effort to score. Drive to the basket - to move rapidly toward the basket with the ball. Dunk - when a player close to the basket jumps and strongly throws the ball down into it; an athletic, creative shot used to intimidate opponents. Elbow - also called the “junction;” a term often used to indicate the area of the court where the free-throw line and side of the key meet. Elbowing - it is a violation if a player vigorously or excessively swings his elbows, even if there is no contact; it is a foul if contact is made and an automatic ejection if that contact is above shoulder level. End line - the boundary line behind each basket; also called the baseline. Established position - when a defensive player has both feet firmly planted on the floor before an offensive player's head and shoulder get past him; the offensive player who runs into such a defender is charging. Established position - when a defensive player has both feet firmly planted on the floor before an offensive player's head and shoulder get past him; the offensive player who runs into such a defender is charging. Fake or feint - a deceptive move to throw a defender off balance and allow an offensive player to shoot or receive a pass; players use their eyes, head or any other part of the body to trick an opponent. Fast break - also called the run-and-shoot offense, it begins with a defensive rebound by a player who immediately sends an outlet pass toward midcourt to his waiting teammates; these teammates can sprint to their basket and quickly shoot before enough opponents catch up to stop them. Fast-Break Attack - an offensive strategy in which a team attempts to move the ball up court and into scoring position as quickly as possible so that the defense is outnumbered and does not have time to set up. Field goal - a basket scored on a shot, except for a free throw, worth two or three points depending on the distance of the attempt from the basket. Final four - the 4 regional champions (west, east, Midwest and southeast) remaining from the 64 college teams that compete in the annual NCAA tournament; they play one another to determine the national champion. Finals, NBA - the annual championship series of the NBA's post-season. Flagrant foul - unnecessary or excessive contact against an opponent. Floor - the area of the court within the end lines and sidelines. Floor violation - a player's action that violates the rules but does not prevent an opponent's movement or cause him harm; penalized by a change in possession. Forward - an offensive position played to the sides of the basket near the key area and out toward the sideline along the baseline. Forwards - the two players on the court for a team who are usually smaller than the center and bigger than the guards; often a team's highest scorers. Foul - a violation resulting from illegal contact with an opposing player. Foul lane - the painted area 19' x 16' (12' in college) bordered by the end line and the foul line, outside which players must stand during a free-throw; also the area an offensive player cannot spend more than 3-seconds at a time in. Foul line - the line 15' from the backboard and parallel to the end line from which players shoot free throws. Foul shot - an unguarded shot taken from behind the free-throw line after a foul. If successful, the shot counts one point. Fouls - actions by players, which break the rules but are not floor violations; penalized by a change in possession or free throw opportunities; see personal foul or technical foul. Four-point play - a three-point shot followed by a successful free throw. Franchise - a professional team. Franchise player - a star player around which a franchise is built. Free Agent, restricted - an NBA player whose contract has expired and who has received a "qualifying offer" from his current club, which provides a salary level predetermined by the collective bargaining agreement. While this player is free to negotiate an offer from a new team, his current team has a right of first refusal to match that offer, thereby obligating him to remain with his current team. Free Agent, unrestricted - a player who has completed his 3rd NBA season (or 4th season, if his current team exercised its "option" to have him play for a 4th year) and is free to negotiate a contract with other NBA teams without his current team having a right of first refusal. Free throw - an unguarded shot taken from behind the free-throw line after a foul. If successful, the shot counts one point. Free-throw lane - also called the “key” or “lane;” a 12-foot wide area extending from the baseline to the free-throw line. Players may not be in this area during a free-throw attempt. Free-throw line - a 12-foot-long line that is parallel to and 15 feet from the backboard. Free-throw line extended - an imaginary line drawn from the free-throw line to the sideline to determine the location for certain throw-ins. Frontcourt - the area between the midcourt line and the end line closest to the offense's basket.Frontcourt Fullcourt press - a defensive tactic in which a team guards the opponents closely the full length of the court. Full-Court pressing - when defenders start guarding the offense in the backcourt. Game clock - shows how much time remains in each of the four 12-minute quarters of an NBA game or two 20-minute halves of a college game. Guard - an offensive position played primarily at the perimeter, or away from the basket. Guarding - the act of following an opponent around the court to prevent him from getting close to the basket, taking an open shot or making easy an pass, while avoiding illegal contact. Guards - the two players on each team who are the smallest on the court; they usually handle setting up plays and passing to teammates closer to the basket. Half-court or set offense - when a team takes the time to develop a play in its frontcourt, such as the give-and-go or a screening play; opposite of fast break. Held ball - formerly called a “jump ball.” When two players on opposite teams are in joint control of the ball. High percentage shot - a shot that is likely to go in the basket, such as a lay-up. High post - an imaginary area outside either side of the foul lane at the free-throw line extended. In the paint - being in the foul lane area which is painted a different color. In the power zone - in the “key” area, so named because this area of the floor is painted. Inbounds - the area within the end lines and sidelines of the court; also the act of bringing the ball into this area by means of a throw-in. Incidental contact - minor contact usually overlooked by officials. Inside shooting - shots taken by a player near or under the basket. Intentional foul - a personal foul that the official judges to be premeditated. Jump ball - 2 opposing players jump for a ball an official tosses above and between them, to tap it to their teammates and gain possession; used to start the game (tip-off) and all overtime periods, and sometimes to restart play. Jump shot - a shot that is released after the shooter has jumped into the air. Jump Tip-Off - the procedure for starting play at the beginning of a game or an overtime period. The official tosses the ball into the air between the two opponents positioned at the center-court circle; the two players jump up and try to tap the ball to a teammate. Keep away game - a tactic used by the team that is leading near the end of the game to keep the ball from its opponents to prevent them from scoring while using up time off the game clock; also called freezing. Key - also called the “free-throw lane” or “lane;” the area measuring 12 feet in width and extending from the free-throw line to the end line. Also referred to as “the paint.” Key or keyhole - the area at each end of the court consisting of the foul circle, foul lane and free-throw line; named for the shape it had years ago. Lay up - a shot taken close to the basket that is usually banked off the backboard towards the basket. Lay-up or layin - a shot taken after driving to the basket by leaping up under the basket and using one hand to drop the ball directly into the basket (layin) or to bank the ball off the backboard into it (lay-up). Leading the receiver: when a passer throws the ball where he thinks a receiver is headed. Live ball - as soon as a ball is given to a free-throw shooter or a thrower on a throw-in, it is live, but the game clock does not restart until the ball is alive. Loose ball - a ball that is alive but not in the possession of either team. Low post - an imaginary area outside either side of the foul lane close to the basket. Lower percentage shot - a shot that is less likely to go in the basket, such as one thrown by a player who is off balance or outside his shooting range. Man defense - the defensive style where each defensive player is responsible for guarding one opponent. Man-to-man defense - when a defender is assigned to a specific player and defends only against that player. March madness - an annual competition between 64 college teams to crown a national champion; also called march madness because the three-week-long event is held during march; see also Final Four. Match-ups - any pairing of players on opposing teams who guard each other. MVP (Most Valuable Player) - an award recognizing the NBA player who contributed most to the regular season or to the finals. NBA (national basketball association) - a professional league created in 1949 that now has 27 teams in the U.S. and is adding 2 Canadian teams in 1995. NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) - a voluntary association of over 1,200 colleges and universities in the U.S. whose role is to establish standards and protect the integrity of amateurism for student-athletes. NCAA Tournament - an annual competition between 64 college teams to crown a national champion; also called march madness because the three-week-long event is held during march; see also Final Four. NIT (National Invitational Tournament) - the oldest college tournament, in which 32 teams not selected to the NCAA tournament compete each year. Off the Dribble - a shot taken while driving to the basket. Offense - the team that has possession of the basketball. Also, a designed play that a team uses to attempt to score. Offensive possession - the team with possession of the ball. Offensive rebound - a rebound of a team's own missed shot. Officials - the crew chief, referee and umpire who control the game, stop and start play, and impose penalties for violations and fouls. One-and-one - the “bonus” free-throw situation awarded for non-shooting fouls after the opposing team exceeds a certain number of team fouls in a half. The person fouled shoots one free throw; if successful, the shooter takes a second shot. One-and-One or One-plus-One - in college, a free-throw attempt awarded for certain violations that earns the shooter a 2nd attempt only if the first is successful. Open - when a player is unguarded by a defender. Out of bounds - the area outside of and including the end lines and sidelines. Outside shooting - shots taken from the perimeter. Over the limit - when a team commits five more team fouls per NBA period (four each overtime); eight more per WNBA half; seven or more per half in college; this team is also said to be in the penalty. Over-and-back violation - a violation that occurs when the offensive team returns the ball into the backcourt once it has positioned itself in the frontcourt. Overhead pass - a two-handed pass thrown from above the forehead. Overtime - an extra period played to break a tie score at the end of a regulation game. Overtime or OT - the extra period played after a regulation game ends tied. Palming - a violation committed by a dribbler that involves placing the dribbling hand under the ball and momentarily holding or carrying it while dribbling. Pass - an intentional throw to a teammate. Passer - the player who passes the ball to a teammate. Passing - when a passer throws the ball to a teammate; used to start plays, move the ball down-court, keep it away from defenders and get it to a shooter. Perimeter - the area beyond the foul circle away from the basket, including three-point line, from which players take long-range shots. Period - any quarter, half or overtime segment. Personal foul - contact between players that may result in injury or provide one team with an unfair advantage; players may not push, hold, trip, hack, elbow, restrain or charge into an opponent; these are also counted as team fouls. Picked off - refers to a defender who has been successfully prevented from reaching the ball handler by an offensive screen. Pick-up games - impromptu games played among players who just met. Pivot - a Center; also the foot that must remain touching the floor until a ball handler who has stopped dribbling is ready to pass or shoot. Pivot - a footwork technique in which a player keeps one foot in contact with a “spot” on the floor while moving the other foot to adjust the position of the body or to evade a defensive player. Player-to-player defense - also “man-to-man defense;” a team defense in which each player is assigned to guard a particular opponent. Playmaker - the point guard who generally sets up plays for his teammates. Point guard - an offensive position played by a guard who usually brings the ball up the court and initiates the offense. Point spread - a device established by bookmakers to equalize two teams for betting purposes; e.g., if a team is considered to be four points better than another, the spread is four points; to win a bet on the favorite, that team would need to win by more than the spread (in this case, by more than four points); the margin of victory can be more important than whether a team wins or loses. Point-shaving - an illegal practice where players intentionally win a game, but by fewer points than the point spread; led to two major college scandals (involved thirty-two of the biggest stars in the 1950s, then twenty-two colleges in 1961). Possession - to be holding or in control of the ball. Possession arrow - in college, used to determine which team's turn it is to inbounds the ball to begin a period or in a jump ball situation. Post -an offensive position played close to the basket along the key. Post position - the position of a player standing in the low post or high post. Press - an aggressive defense that attempts to force the opponents to make errors by guarding them closely from either half court, three-quarter court or full court. Quadruple double - a triple double with double-digits scored in four categories. Rebound - the act of gaining possession of the ball after a missed shot. Rebounding - when a player grabs a ball that is coming off the rim or backboard after a shot attempt; see offensive rebound and defensive rebound. Receiver - the player who receives a pass from the ball handler. Regulation game - four twelve minute quarters in the NBA or two twenty minute halves in college; a game that ends without overtime periods. Release - the moment that the ball leaves a shooter's hands. Rookie - a player in his first NBA season. Roster - the list of players on a team. Run - occurs when one team scores several field goals in quick succession while its opponents score few or none. Salary cap - an annual dollar limit that a single team may pay all its players. Scoring opportunity - when a player gets open for a shot that is likely to score. Screen or screener - the offensive player who stands between a teammate and a defender to gives his teammate the chance to take an open shot. Scrimmage - an unofficial game between two teams, or five-on-five play between team members in a practice situation. Shooter - a player who takes a shot at the basket. Shooter's roll - the ability to get even an inaccurate shot to bounce lightly off the rim and into the basket. Shooting range - the distance from which a player is likely to make his shots. Shot clock - a clock that limits the time a team with the ball has to shoot it; twenty-four seconds in the NBA; in college, thirty-five seconds for men, thirty seconds for women. Sidelines - two boundary lines that run the length of the court. Sixth man - the best substitute on a team; usually the first player to come off the bench to replace a starter. Slam dunk - when a player close to the basket jumps and strongly throws the ball down into it; an athletic, creative shot used to intimidate opponents. Squaring up - when a player's shoulders are facing the basket as he releases the ball for a shot; considered good shooting position. Starting lineup - the five starters who begin a game; usually a team's best players. Substitute - a player who comes into the game to replace a player on the court. Swing man - a player who can play both the guard and forward positions. Team fouls - each personal foul committed by a player is also counted against his team; when a team goes over the limit, its opponent is awarded free-throw opportunities. Technical foul - a foul that does not involve contact with an opponent; a foul that involves unsportsmanlike-like conduct by a player, coach or non-player; or a contact foul committed by a player while the ball is dead. Technical fouls - procedural violations and misconduct that officials believe are detrimental to the game; penalized by a single free-throw opportunity to the non-offending team (two free throws and possession in college). Ten-second line - the mid-court line over which the offensive team must advance the ball from the backcourt within ten seconds to avoid a violation. Three seconds - a violation in which an offensive player remains within the key for more than 3 seconds at a time. Three-on-Three - a game played with only three players on the court for each team. Three-on-two - a common fast-break situation in which 3 offensive players attempt to score on 2 defenders. Three-point field goal - a made basket from more than nineteen feet and nine inches during a high school or college game. Three-point play - a two-point field goal followed by a successful free throw. Three-point shot - a field goal worth three points because the shooter had both feet on the floor behind the three-point line when he released the ball; also counts if one foot is behind the line while the other is in the air. Throw-in - the method by which a team with possession inbounds the ball. Timeout - when play is suspended by an official or at the request of a team to respond to an injured player or discuss strategy; there are full timeouts (100 or 60 seconds in NBA, 120 seconds in WNBA, 75 or 60 seconds in college) and 20-second timeouts (30 seconds in college). Tip-off - the initial jump ball that starts the game. Transition - the shift from offense to defense. Traveling - a floor violation when the ball handler takes too many steps without dribbling; also called walking. Traveling violation – occurs when a player with the ball takes a step without dribbling (moving the established pivot foot). Triple double - when a player scores double-digits in three categories during one game (points, assists and rebounds are most common, but it can also be blocks or steals); a sign of great versatility. Turnover - a loss of possession of the ball by means of an error or violation. Turnovers - when the offense loses possession through its own fault by passing the ball out of bounds or committing a floor violation. Upset - when a higher-seeded team loses to a lower-seeded one. Violation - an infringement of the rules that is not a foul. The penalty for a violation is the awarding of the ball to the opponent. Weak side - the side of the court away from the ball. Zone defense - a defense where each defender is responsible for an area of the court and must guard any player who enters that area; compare with man-to-man defense. Zone defenses - a team defense in which each player is responsible for defending an area of the court and the opponents within that area. Zone offense - an offensive pattern of play designed to beat a particular zone defense.	<urn:uuid:65e64252-065c-416c-9efe-5355c520032b>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.coachlikeapro.com/glossary.html	2015-04-01T22:27:58Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131309963.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172149-00136-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.960857	5,138
To submit information for upcoming issues or to subscribe, contact Brian Spano, communications manager, at [email protected] Nov. 21: KCAI is partnering with the Parkville Chamber of Commerce, Missouri Valley Impressionists Society and the Cathy Kline Art Gallery to host the annual Parkville Chamber of Commerce Plein Air Auction from 6 to 9 p.m. at the North Campus, 1801 N.W. Platte Road, Suite 275, Riverside, Mo. Nov. 21: Ross Sawyers (‘03 photography) will speak at 7 p.m. in Epperson Auditorium in Vanderslice hall on the KCAI campus as part of the college's “Current Perspectives” lecture series. Sawyers began his career as an educator teaching photography at KCAI and then at the University of Washington in Seattle and the University of California-Riverside. Nov. 22: H&R Block Artspace at KCAI hosts T.N.T (The Noon Thing), a gallery talk with “New, Four: Kanas City Art Institute Faculty Biennial” artists at noon in the Artspace Studio. KCAI will host a Patron Preview from 6 to 10 p.m. on the eve of the public opening of the end-of-semester student exhibition and sale. Partygoers will have an opportunity to tour selected studio departments; view and purchase work before the exhibition and sale opens to the public; and enjoy a progressive evening of food and drinks. Proceeds benefit the student scholarship fund. For more information, visit www.kcai.edu/PatronPreview or call 816-802-3483. Dec. 6-8: KCAI’s “End-of-semester student exhibition and sale” showcases work by students in the departments of ceramics, digital filmmaking, fiber, graphic design, illustration, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture. Exhibition and sale hours are 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 6, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 7 and noon to 5 p.m. Dec. 8. Through Dec. 12: “New, Four: KCAI Faculty Biennial” at the H&R Block Artspace at KCAI, 16 E. 43 St. For more information, visit www.kcai.edu/artspace Sculpture students complete project at ‘sustainable living’ demonstration home Students in a class taught by sculpture professor Karen McCoy have completed a bike rack and cistern screen at Project Living Proof, a century-old house at 917 Emanuel Cleaver II Blvd. The site is less than a mile southeast of the KCAI campus. Students enrolled this fall in McCoy’s “Toward a Green Sculpture: Artists in Conversation with the World” class worked on the project. More than 20 other students previously have been involved, dating back to 2011, McCoy said. “Unplugged” is the name of the bike rack and an installation “screen” that shields newly installed cisterns, McCoy said. She noted that Advantage Metals Recycling donated all of the metal for the project.The house is a demonstration project celebrating energy efficiency and “green” building practices. Metropolitan Energy Center owns and manages the house with assistance from Kansas City Power and Light, Missouri Gas Energy and more than 40 businesses throughout the metropolitan area. For an overview of the project, visit www.kcenergy.org/pdfs/PLP.Greenability.article_2010.10.pdf . Tours of the site are offered by appointment. To schedule an appointment, email [email protected] . For additional information, visit www.kcenergy.org/ Brianna Bosworth (senior, photography) and Casey Holden (senior, photography) have been selected to show work in the exhibition “Survey of the Plains” at the University of Kansas Art and Design Gallery. The exhibition runs through Dec. 13. Pictured: (top) Photo by Casey Holden and (bottom) photo by Briana Bosworth. Kahlil Irving (senior, ceramics and art history) has been named a finalist for the 2014 NICHE Award, sponsored by NICHE Magazine, and is also one of a few chosen undergraduates for the 2014 National Student Juried Exhibition at the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference to be held in Milwaukee in March. Pictured: “Layered Depths,” Kahlil Irving. Grand Arts is hosting this year’s Charlotte Street Foundation Visual Artist Awards Exhibition featuring the 2013 Awards Fellows: Mike Erickson (’99 painting and printmaking), Erika Lynne Hanson (‘06 fiber) and Paul Anthony Smith (’10 ceramics). All three artists will be honored during an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 22 and then will participate in a gallery talk at 2 p.m. Nov. 23. The reception and gallery talk are free and open to the public. The exhibition will be on view through Feb. 1. Each of the awarded artists will exhibit works made within the past one to two years, and most of these recent works have not been seen by Kansas City audiences. (’11 sculpture and art history) and Shae Bishop (’12 ceramics and art history) are two of the six new artists-in-residence at Red Star Studios, and they will be featured in a presentation on their own artwork and projects from 5 to 6 p.m. Nov. 23 at Belger Crane Yard Studios, 2011 Tracy Ave. Attendees can learn what makes their approaches unique and how they came to Red Star. A potluck dinner follows at 6 p.m. For more information, contact studio manager Tommy Frank at [email protected] or call 816-474-7316. Pictured: (back, left) Lea Griggs, Noah Riedel, Studio Manager Tommy Frank, Shae Bishop, Emily Duke. (front, left) Jamie Bates Slone, Catie Miller. Local KCAI-related exhibitions Blue Gallery – Rich Bowman (’91 design) will show paintings as part of a group exhibition at Blue Gallery, 118 Southwest Blvd., running through Dec. 2. Pictured: “Greener Pastures,” Rich Bowman, oil on canvas, 64 inches by 56 inches. City Ice Arts – Gerry Trilling (’90 painting) has an exhibition “In Site,” running through Dec. 7 at City Ice Arts, 2015 Campbell St. The gallery is open noon to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and Sunday through Thursday by appointment. www.cityicearts.com . Pictured: “Neon Toile,” Gerry Trilling, 2012, 48 inches by 48 inches. Leedy-Voulkos Art Center – A 25-year retrospective exhibition of paintings and drawings by Richard Mattsson, who retired this spring after teaching at KCAI for 48 years, opens with a reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5 at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, 2012 Baltimore Ave. The gallery also will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 for First Friday. The exhibition continues through Dec. 28. Pictured: “Corcoran Rainbow,” Richard Mattsson, 2010, 48 inches by 72 inches. Red Star Studios at the Belger Arts Center – Work by Paul Donnelly, assistant professor of ceramics, and Rain Harris is featured in “Confluence,” running through Dec. 28 at Red Star Studios at the Belger Arts Center, 2100 Walnut St. Pictured: “Pitcher and Tumblers,” Paul Donnelly, 2013, porcelain reduction-fired, (pitcher) 9 inches by 8 ¼ inches, (tumblers) 5 ½ inches by 3 ½ inches. Calls for artists Encore Unique Boutique in Shawnee, Kan., is offering a cash prize for a photo contest. Low-resolution digital photos should be submitted by Nov. 30 to [email protected] . If accepted, the photo must be framed or matted and ready to hang by Dec. 1 . They will be displayed throughout December at the Chez LaRue studio next door to Encore. For more information, contact Encore at [email protected] P&M Artworks, which is based in Prairie Village, Kan., seeks entries within the greater metropolitan Kansas City, Mo., and Lawrence, Kan., areas for its third annual juried exhibition. Works in a range of visual art media are welcome, including painting, works on paper, photography, sculpture, glass, jewelry/metal work, furniture, textiles and digital/video responding to the theme “Divine.” A variety of interpretations centered on individual meanings and reflections on the idea of “Divine” will be selected for the exhibition. The exhibition will take place in the front gallery of Leedy-Voulkos Art Center between Jan. 3 and March 1, and the deadline for submission is Dec. 2 . For more information, visit www.pm-artworks.com The Undergrads Underground Gallery at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center and the Destination Gallery at the Student Living Center are seeking proposals for six exhibitions for March, April and May 2014. Shows are one month long, and each will have an opening reception during First Fridays. Proposals should be submitted to Erin Jones in the KCAI Student Life office no later than 5 p.m. Feb. 13 . For more information, contact foundation faculty members Misty Gamble at [email protected] or David Overholt at [email protected] A friendly black cat was found Oct. 31 at 46th and Main Streets, and the family who found the cat hopes to reunite it with its owners. If you think the cat might be yours, contact them at [email protected] KCAI’s Academic Advising and Career Services office regularly publishes a creative opportunities and career listing with employment, freelance, volunteer and RFQ listings for students and alumni. Download the current creative opportunities list here . Download the current career list here	<urn:uuid:0db028d4-ede5-4450-beff-23a312f60310>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.kcai.edu/news-blogs/artnotes/2013-11-18?page=2	2015-04-01T22:33:57Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131309963.95/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172149-00136-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.923909	2,219
\|Japanese Maple foliage= Eudicots\| Acer palmatum, called Japanese Maple or Smooth Japanese Maple (Japanese: irohamomiji, イロハモミジ, or momiji, 紅葉) is a species of woody plant native to Japan, North Korea, South Korea, eastern Mongolia, and southeast Russia. Many different cultivars of this maple have been selected and they are grown worldwide for their attractive leaf shapes and colours. Acer palmatum is a deciduous shrub or small tree reaching heights of 6 to 10 m (20 to 33 ft), rarely 16 metres (52 ft), often growing as an understory plant in shady woodlands. It may have multiple trunks joining close to the ground. In habit, it is often shaped like a hemisphere (especially when younger) or takes on a dome-like form, especially when mature. The leaves are 4–12 cm long and wide, palmately lobed with five, seven, or nine acutely pointed lobes. The flowers are produced in small cymes, the individual flowers with five red or purple sepals and five whitish petals. The fruit is a pair of winged samaras, each samara 2–3 cm long with a 6–8 mm seed. The seeds of Japanese maple and similar species require stratification in order to germinate. - Acer palmatum subsp. palmatum. Leaves small, 4–7 cm wide, with five or seven lobes and double-serrate margins; seed wings 10–15 mm. Lower altitudes throughout central and southern Japan (not Hokkaido). - Acer palmatum subsp. amoenum (Carrière) H.Hara. Leaves larger, 6–12 cm wide, with seven or nine lobes and single-serrate margins; seed wings 20–25 mm. Higher altitudes throughout Japan and South Korea. - Acer palmatum subsp. matsumurae Koidz. Leaves larger, 6–12 cm wide, with seven (rarely five or nine) lobes and double-serrate margins; seed wings 15–25 mm. Higher altitudes throughout Japan. Cultivation and uses When Swedish doctor-botanist Carl Peter Thunberg traveled in Japan late in the eighteenth century, he secreted out drawings of a small tree that would eventually become synonymous with the high art of oriental gardens. He gave it the species name palmatum after the hand-like shape of its leaves, similar to the centuries old Japanese names kaede and momiji, references to the 'hands' of frogs and babies, respectively. For centuries Japanese horticulturalists have developed cultivars from maples found in Japan and nearby Korea and China. They are a popular choice for bonsai enthusiasts and have long been a subject in art. Numerous cultivars are currently available commercially and are a popular item at garden centres and other retail stores in Europe and North America. Red-leafed cultivars are the most popular, followed by cascading green shrubs with deeply dissected leaves. Preparations from the branches and leaves are used as a treatment in traditional Chinese medicine. Acer palmatum includes hundreds of named cultivars with countless forms, colours, leaf types, sizes, and preferred growing conditions. Heights of mature specimens can range from 0.5 m to 25 m, depending on type. Some tolerate sun, and others like shade. Almost all are adaptable and blend well with companion plants. The trees are particularly suitable for borders and ornamental paths because the root systems are compact and not invasive. Well drained soil is preferred, and the trees grow strongest when they are not over-fertilized. Many varieties of Acer palmatum are successfully grown in containers. If space is not a constraint, no pruning is necessary except to remove any dead branches. Some growers prefer to shape their trees artistically or to thin out interior branches to better expose the graceful main branches, especially in winter. Over 1,000 cultivars have been chosen for particular characteristics, which are typically propagated by asexual reproduction such as cuttings, tissue culture, budding or grafting. Some of these are not in cultivation in the Western world or have been lost over the generations, but many new cultivars are developed each decade. Cultivars are chosen for phenotypical aspects such as leaf shape and size (shallowly to deeply lobed, some also palmately compound), leaf colour (ranging from chartreuse through dark green or from red to dark purple, others variegated with various patterns of white and pink), bark texture and colour, and growth pattern. Some cultivars are sturdy trees that are larger and more hardy or vigorous than is typical of the species. Many are shrubs rarely reaching over 0.5 m in height. A few very delicate cultivars are grown in pots and rarely reach heights of over 30 cm. Some of the more distorted or dwarfed cultivars are grown from witch's brooms, but more are based upon clippings taken from plants that are mutated and/or have been artificially selected over many generations. In Japan, iromomiji is used as an accent tree in Japanese gardens, providing gentle shade next to the house in the summer and beautiful colours in autumn. Many cultivars have characteristics that come into prominence during different seasons, including the colour of new or mature leaves, extraordinary autumn colour, colour and shape of samaras, or even bark that becomes more brightly coloured during the winter. Some cultivars can scarcely be distinguished from others unless labeled. In some cases, identical cultivars go by different names, while in other cases, different cultivars may be given the same name. A selection of notable or popular cultivars, with brief notes about characteristics that apply during at least one season, includes the following. agm indicates the cultivar has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. - 'Aka shigitatsu sawa'; pinkish-white leaves with green veins - 'Ao ba jo'; a dwarf with bronze-green summer foliage - Atropurpureum; wine-red, including new branches - 'Bloodgood'agm; an improved cultivar of 'Atropurpureum' - 'Burgundy Lace'agm - 'Butterfly'; small leaves with white borders - 'Crimson Queen' (see under 'Dissectum') - 'Dissectum'; lace-like leaves, drooping habit - 'Dissectum Atropurpureum' - var. dissectum 'Garnet'agm - var. dissectum 'Inaba-shidare'agm - var. dissectum 'Crimson Queen'agm - var. dissectum 'Seiryu';agm a green, tree-like shrub with finely dissected leaves - 'Emperor 1' - 'Garnet' (see under 'Dissectum atropurpureum') - 'Golden Pond'; greenish-yellow summer foliage - 'Goshiki koto hime'; a delicate, variegated dwarf - 'Higasa yama'; crinkled leaves variegated with yellow - 'Hogyuko'; rich green leaves, turning orange in autumn - 'Hupp's Dwarf'; a small, dense shrub with miniature leaves - 'Inaba-shidare' (see under 'Dissectum atropurpureum') - 'Issai nishiki kawazu'; very rough, rigid bark - 'Kagiri nishiki'; similar to 'Butterfly' but more pinkish tones - 'Karasu gawa'; slow-growing variegate with brilliant pink and white - 'Katsura'agm; yellow-green leaves tipped with orange - 'Koto no ito'; light green, thread-like leaves - 'Little Princess'; a sparsely branched dwarf with irregular habit - 'Mama'; a bushy dwarf with extremely variable foliage - 'Masu murasaki'; a shrubby tree with purple leaves - 'Mizu kuguri'; orange-tinted new growth and very wide habit - 'Nigrum';agm deep purple leaves turning to crimson - 'Nishiki gawa'; pinetree-like bark desirable for bonsai - 'Nomura nishiki'; dark purple, lace-like leaves - 'Ojishi'; tiny dwarf, grows only a few centimetres per year - 'Osakazuki';agm tree-like shrub with spectacular autumn colour - 'Peaches and Cream'; similar to 'Aka shigitatsu sawa' - 'Pink Filigree'; finely dissected, brownish-pink leaves - 'Red Filigree Lace'; delicate, finely dissected, dark purple - 'Red Pygmy'agm - 'Sango kaku';agm Coral-bark maple (formerly 'Senkaki'); with pinkish-red bark (AGM) - 'Seiryu' (see under 'Dissectum atropurpureum') - 'Shaina'; a dwarf sport from 'Bloodgood' - 'Shikage ori nishiki'; vase-shaped shrub with dull purple foliage - 'Skeeter's Broom'; derived from a 'Bloodgood' witch's broom - 'Tamukeyama'; finely dissected, dark purple, cascading habit - 'Trompenburg';agm slender, upright grower, convex lobes, purple leaves (AGM) - 'Tsuma gaki'; yellow leaves with reddish-purple borders - 'Yuba e'; upright tree with scarlet variegation In addition to the cultivars described above, a number of Cultivar Groups have been naturally selected over time to such an extent that seedlings often resemble the parent. Many of these are sold under the same name as the cultivars, or even propagated by grafting, so there is often much ambiguity in distinguishing them. In particular, a number of dark-red Japanese maples are sold with the names "Atropurpureum" and "Bloodgood." Many different cultivars with delicate lace-like foliage are sold under names such as "Dissectum", "Filigree" and "Laceleaf.". The term "Japanese Maple" is also sometimes used to describe other species within series Palmata that are similar to A. palmatum and are native to China, Korea or Japan including: - Acer duplicatoserratum (syn. A. palmatum var. pubescens Li) - Acer japonicum—Downy Japanese Maple - Acer pseudosieboldianum—Korean Maple - Acer shirasawanum—Fullmoon Maple - Acer sieboldianum—Siebold's Maple Given that these maples are phenotypically variable within each species, and may hybridise with one another, distinguishing between them may be a matter of gradient speciation. In commercial propagation, A. palmatum is often used as rootstock for these other species. - Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 [and more or less continuously updated since]. http://www.mobot.org/MOBOT/research/APweb/. - Germplasm Resources Information Network: Acer palmatum - van Gelderen, C.J. & van Gelderen, D.M. (1999). Maples for Gardens: A Colour Encyclopedia. - Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9. - Japanese Red Maple - arborday.org - (Japanese) Etymology of 楓. The word kaede derives from kaeru te "frog hand" and went through the intermediary form kaende. - D'Cruz, Mark. "Acer palmatum Bonsai Care Guide". Ma-Ke Bonsai. Retrieved 2010-11-26. - School of Chinese Medicine database - Vertrees, J.D. (1987) Japanese Maples. Timber Press, Inc. ISBN 0-88192-048-7 - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood'". - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Burgundy Lace'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Chitose-Yama'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Garnet'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Inaba-shidare'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum var. dissectum 'Crimson Queen'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Seiryu'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Katsura'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Nigrum'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Osakazuki'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Red Pygmy'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - "RHS Plant Selector - Acer palmatum 'Trompenburg'". Retrieved 10 June 2013. - Philips, Roger (1979). Trees of North America and Europe. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-394-50259-0. \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Acer palmatum.\| \|Wikispecies has information related to: Acer palmatum\|	<urn:uuid:eaf3e3a0-6f5e-4249-82a5-618219945972>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Maple	2015-03-27T17:27:23Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131296587.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172136-00204-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.845681	3,004
Between July 13 and 16, 1863, the largest riots the United States had yet seen shook New York City. In the so-called Civil War draft riots, the city’s poor white working people, many of them Irish immigrants, bloodily protested the federally-imposed draft requiring all men to enlist in the Union Army. The rioters took out their rage on their perceived enemies: the Republicans whose wealth allowed them to purchase substitutes for military service, and the poor African Americans—their rivals in the city’s labor market—for whom the war was being fought. On July 20, four days after federal troops put down the uprising, a group of Wall Street businessmen formed a committee to aid New York’s devastated black community. The Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People Suffering from the Late Riots gathered and distributed funds, and collected the following testimony. This young man who was murdered by the mob on the corner of Twenty-seventh St., and Seventh avenue, was a quiet, inoffensive man, 23 years of age, of unexceptionable character, and a member of the Zion African Church in this city. Although a cripple, he earned a living for himself and his mother by serving a gentleman in the capacity of a coachman. A short time previous to the assault upon his person he called upon his mother to see if anything could be done by him for her safety. The old lady, who is noted for her piety and her Christian deportment, said she considered herself perfectly safe; but if her time to die had come, she was ready to die. Her son then knelt down by her side, and implored the protection of Heaven in behalf of his mother. The old lady was affected to tears, and said to our informant that it seemed to her that good angels were present in the room. Scarcely had the supplicant risen from his knees, when the mob broke down the door, seized him, beat him over the head and face with fists and clubs, and then hanged him in the presence of his mother. While they were engaged, the military came and drove them away, cutting down the body of Franklin who raised his arm once slightly and gave a few signs of life. The military then moved on to quell other riots, when the mob returned and again suspended the now probably lifeless body of Franklin, cutting out pieces of flesh and otherwise mutilating it. Peter Heuston, sixty-three years of age, a Mohawk Indian, with dark complexion and straight black hair, who has for several years been a resident of this city, at the corner of Rosevelt and Oak streets, and who has obtained a livelihood as a laborer, proved a victim to the late riots. His wife died about three weeks before the riots, leaving with her husband an only child, a little girl named Lavinia, aged eight years, whom the Merchants' Committee have undertaken to adopt with a view of affording her a guardianship and an education. Heuston served with the New York Volunteers in the Mexican War, and has always been loyal to our government. He was brutally attacked on the 13th of July by a gang of ruffians who evidently thought him to be of the African race because of his dark complexion. He died within four days at Bellevue hospital from his injuries.... Wm. Henry Nichols Died July 16th, from injuries received at the hands of the rioters on the 15th of July. Mrs. Statts, his mother, tells this story:— The father of Wm. Henry died some years ago, and the boy has since, by good behavior, with persevering industry, earned his own living; he was a communicant of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in good standing. I had arrived from Philadelphia, the previous Monday evening, before any indications of the riot were known, and was temporarily stopping, on Wednesday, July 15th, at the house of my son, No.147 East 28th street. At 3 o’clock of that day the mob arrived and immediately commenced an attack with terrific yells, and a shower of stones and bricks, upon the house. In the next room to where I was sitting was a poor woman, who had been confined with a child on Sunday, three days previous. Some of the rioters broke through the front door with pick axes, and came rushing into the room where this poor woman lay, and commenced to pull the clothes from off her. Knowing that their rate was chiefly directed against men, I hid my son behind me and ran with him through the back door, down into the basement. In a little while I saw the innocent babe, of three days old, come crashing down into the yard; some of the rioters had dashed it out of the back window, killing it instantly. In a few minutes streams of water came pouring down into the basement, the mob had cut the Croton water-pipes with their axes. Fearing we should be drowned in the cellar, (there were ten of us, mostly women and children, there) I took my boy and flew past the dead body of the babe, out to the rear of the yard, hoping to escape with him through an open lot into 29th street; but here, to our horror and dismay, we met the mob again; I, with my son, had climbed the fence, but the sight of those maddened demons so affected me that I fell back, fainting, into the yard; my son jumped down from the fence to pick me up, and a dozen of the rioters came leaping over the fence after him. As they surrounded us my son exclaimed, “save my mother, gentlemen, if you kill me.” "Well, we will kill you," they answered; and with that two ruffians seized him, each taking hold of an arm, while a third, armed with a crow-bar, calling upon them to stand and hold his arms apart, deliberately struck him a heavy blow over the head, felling him, like a bullock, to the ground. (He died in the N.Y. hospital two days after.) I believe if I were to live a hundred years I would never forget that scene, or cease to hear the horrid voices of that demoniacal mob resounding in my ears. They then drove me over the fence, and as I was passing over, one of the mob seized a pocket-book, which he saw in my bosom, and in his eagerness to get it tore the dress off my shoulders. I, with several others, then ran to the 29th street Station House, but we were here refused admittance, and told by the Captain that we were frightened without cause. A gentleman who accompanied us told the Captain of the facts, but we were all turned away. I then went down to my husband’s, in Broome Street, and there I encountered another mob, who, before I could escape commenced stoning me. They beat me severely. I reached the house but found my husband had left for Rahway. Scarcely knowing what I did, I then wandered, bewildered and sick, in the direction he had taken, and towards Philadelphia, and reached Jersey City, where a kind, Christian gentleman, Mr. Arthur Lynch, found me, and took me to his house, where his good wife nursed me for over two weeks, while I was very sick. I am a member of the Baptist Church, and if it were not for my trust in Christ I do not know how I could have endured it. I am a whitewasher by trade, and have worked, boy and man, in this city for sixty-three years. On Tuesday afternoon I was standing on the corner of Thirtieth street and Second avenue, when a crowd of young men came running along shouting “Here’s a nigger, here’s a nigger.” Almost before I knew of their intention, I was knocked down, kicked here and there, badgered and battered without mercy, until a cry of “the Peelers are coming” was raised; and I was left almost senseless, with a broken arm and a face covered with blood, on the railroad track. I was helped home on a cart by the officers, who were very kind to me, and gave me some brandy before I got home. I entertain no malice and have no desire for revenge against these people. Why should they hurt me or my colored brethren? We are poor men like them; we work hard and get but little for it. I was born in this State and have lived here all my life, and it seems hard, very hard, that we should be knocked down and kept out of work just to oblige folks who won’t work themselves and don’t want others to work. We asked him if it was true that the negroes had formed any organization for self-defence, as was rumored. He said no; that, so far as he knew, “they all desire to keep out of the way, to be quiet, and do their best toward allaying the excitement in the City.” The room in which the old man was lying was small, but it was the kitchen, sitting-room, bedroom and garret of four grown persons and five children. Instances of this kind might be multiplied by the dozen, gathered from the lips of suffering men, who, though wounded and maimed by ruffians and rioters, are content to be left alone, and wish for no revenge. Burning of the Colored Orphan Asylum Our attention was early called to this outrage by a number of letters from the relatives and friends of the children, anxiously inquiring as to the whereabouts of the little ones. It is well known that as soon as the Bull’s Head Hotel had been attacked by the mob, their next destination was the Colored Orphan Asylum, on Fifth Avenue, near Forty-third street. The crowd had swelled to an immense number at this locality, and went professionally to work in order to destroy the building, and, at the same time, to make appropriation of any thing of value by which they might aggrandize themselves. About four hundred entered the house at the time, and immediately proceeded to pitch out beds, chairs, tables, and every species of furniture, which were eagerly seized by the crowd below, and carried off. When all was taken, the house was then set on fire, and shared the fate of the others. While the rioters were clamoring for admittance at the front door, the Matron and Superintendent were quietly and rapidly conducting the children out the back yard, down to the police station. They remained there until Thursday, (the burning of the Asylum occurred on Monday, July 13th, when they were all removed in safety to Blackwell’s Island, where they still remain. There were 230 children between the ages of 4 and 12 years in the home at the time of the riot. The buildings were of brick and were substantial and commodious structures. A number of fine shade trees and flowering shrubs adorned the ample play grounds and front court yard, and a well built fence surrounded the whole. The main buildings were burned. The trees were girdled by cutting with axes; the shrubs uprooted, and the fence carried away. All was destroyed except the residence of Mr. Davis [the superintendent], which was sacked. Some four or five white women, wives of colored men applied for relief. In every instance they had been severly dealt with by the mob. One Irish woman, Mrs. C. was so persecuted and shunned by every one, that when she called for aid, she was nearly insane. Source: Report of the Committee of Merchants for the Relief of Colored People, Suffering From the Late Riots in the City of New York. (New York, 1863).	<urn:uuid:ffa9fe75-e58f-48e6-8507-e42278e87f2e>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/6216/	2015-03-27T17:18:25Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131296587.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172136-00204-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.989188	2,479
Does Portland truly rock? No doubt. Of late, our city’s indie-rock contingent has grabbed more than its share of the spotlight, with accolades pouring in from as far away as Britain. A gushy feature about our mighty music scene that appeared in last April’s London Sunday Times called Portland “a concrete grove of bohemian dreaming.” Uh, thanks? It’s certainly been a momentous year. The Shins and the Decemberists dropped albums that reached respectable heights on the charts and earned critical rhapsodies, while Elliott Smith’s recent posthumous song collection, New Moon , hit Billboard’s No. 24. And in late March, Modest Mouse (at least some of whom live here) released We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank , which debuted at (drum roll, please) No. 1. And the hits just keep coming. So we decided “Rocktober” was an opportune month to take stock of our city’s rock heritage, singling out Portland’s greatest musical artists, past and present. After comparing notes with more than two dozen longtime music-industry locals (including Music Millennium’s Terry Currier, record-label owner Alex Steininger and Jackpot! Studio’s Larry Crane, among others), and occasionally debating whether a group truly qualified as a “Portland” band, we hammered out a roster of artists who deserve an encore. Without further ado, we present our 15 finest (in no particular order), spanning nearly 50 years of Rose City rock ’n’ roll history, all of whom left their marks on Portland—and their music ringing in our ears. 1987-2006 Garage Rock In 1965, when he was just 15, Fred Cole fronted a Las Vegas R&B group and was billed as “the White Stevie Wonder.” That was not, it turns out, mere teen braggadocio. After 43 years of playing, Cole has become a bona fide cult figure in the Northwest, thanks mainly to his recently disbanded garage-rock trio Dead Moon, which featured his wife, Toody, on bass and drummer Andrew Loomis. From Pearl Jam (which covers Dead Moon tunes in concert) to Cat Power (who recorded the band’s song “Johnny’s Got a Gun”), music luminaries revere the group not merely for its defiantly ragged sound, but also for its near-religious devotion to rock—which is as plain as the Dead Moon logo tattooed on Fred Cole’s face. The Limelight: The documentary Unknown Passage: The Dead Moon Story , about the life and times of the venerable group, garners a host of strong reviews on the indie film festival circuit in 2005. The Lowlight: In 1970, Fred, Toody and their kids flee to the Yukon Territory to avoid the draft, where they live in a rustic cabin and are forced to augment their diet with bear meat. Courtney Taylor-Taylor, the sassy front man for the Dandy Warhols, began his musical career in rather inauspicious fashion: as a doorman at Key Largo, an Old Town rock club so notorious that it was nicknamed “Large Kilo.” Small wonder, then, that when the Dandys started playing their own gigs a few years later, their live performances more closely resembled bacchanalia than rock shows: Onstage nudity was common, as were 20-minute trance jams that would whip audiences into a whirling tizzy. Such provocative theatricality earned the Dandys a deal with Capitol Records in 1996, a relationship that lasted for 10 years and four albums; although their domestic sales were modest at best, the Dandys went multiplatinum in Europe. Some bands might have taken the resulting loot and relocated to a rock megalopolis—like New York—but the Dandys? They chose to purchase a huge warehouse in Northwest Portland, their own Warholesque Factory christened the Odditorium, where they continue to pursue their orgiastic muse—and make a pretty fine living in the process. The Limelight: The Dandys play a lead role in the 2004 art-house documentary DiG! , the story of their musical rivalry with the San Francisco-based Brian Jonestown Massacre. The Lowlight: Capitol Records turns up its nose at the band’s first batch of recordings in 1996, citing a lack of commercial potential. Perhaps because they hail from a city where hip-hop doesn’t enjoy much visibility—or credibility—Lifesavas has cultivated a refreshingly anti-bling point of view. On their 2003 debut album, Spirit in Stone , Marlon “Vursatyl” Irving, Solomon “Jumbo the Garbageman” David and DJ Ryan “Rev. Shines” Shortell point and laugh at thug-life clichés while doing their utmost to maintain a positive musical vibe. “We thought we needed to come with a sound people wouldn’t necessarily expect,” Jumbo explains. “The opportunity was there for us to say something really human.” Lifesavas’ recent sophomore release, a slamming concept album called Gutterfly , provides additional evidence of the band’s more cerebral nature, drawing lyrical inspiration from the blaxploitation films of the ’70s and the groove-heavy musical cues from the same rich era. And with guest spots from George Clinton, Dead Prez and Vernon Reid, it’s clear that Lifesavas are right at home in distinguished company. The Limelight: This year Rolling Stone magazine taps Lifesavas as one of its “10 Artists to Watch.” The Lowlight: The group’s plans to record with legendary hip-hop producer J Dilla fail to materialize after Dilla’s untimely death from a rare blood disorder early last year. Johnny & the Distractions In his 1982 song “Complicated Now,” Johnny & the Distractions singer Jon Koonce howls, “Put on a leather jacket and scream about your broken heart,” which pretty much sums up what he’s done better than anyone else in Portland for almost three decades. His dramatic, weather-beaten voice and jeans-and-boots wardrobe earned him endless comparisons to Bruce Springsteen, as did his lyrics about fast cars, hard women and a hankering for freedom. Johnny & the Distractions put out two albums with A&M Records in the ’80s and even made the stadium rounds opening for the likes of Tom Petty, the J. Geils Band and Joan Jett. Today, the indefatigable Koonce continues to ply his trade with weekly gigs at smaller venues around town and at various McMenamins establishments. The Limelight: The Distractions’ 1982 album, Let It Rock , sells nearly 100,000 copies, mostly in the Northwest. The Lowlight: Their follow-up album, Totally Distracted , tanks—and then “the phone stopped ringing,” Koonce recalls. 2001-present Indie Rock The Decemberists’ Capitol Records debut, The Crane Wife , may have scaled to No. 35 on the Billboard charts late last year, but lead man Colin Meloy got his start some six years ago on the Portland open-mike circuit. Back then Meloy, a recent transplant from Montana, attempted to win over audiences at smoky bars like the LaurelThirst Pub with middling, earnest alt-country tunes—an effort that failed to impress. So he junked the country set list and tapped into his “whims and fascinations” with historical literature—and the revamped repertoire proved irresistibly offbeat. “I honestly thought I would get fewer audience members,” he recalls, “but it had the opposite effect, which is a happy accident.” Today Meloy’s morose but charming pop songs about chimney sweeps, consumptive wretches, shanghaied sailors and fallen women (who else would have two songs referencing “petticoats” on the same album?) occupy a permanent place on the playlists of indie fans everywhere, while the band’s name usually sits close to the top of the bill at major rockfests from Bonnaroo in Tennessee to nearby Sasquatch in the Gorge. The Limelight: Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk appears on The Colbert Report late last year for a six-string showdown with the comic pundit. The Lowlight: At the last minute, Stephen Colbert invites Peter Frampton to play in his stead. Funk loses in a controversial judges’ decision. It’s an easy jab to call Poison Idea the biggest band Portland has ever seen: Singer Jerry A weighs in at 300-plus pounds, and deceased guitarist Tom Roberts (aka Pig Champion) tipped the scales at a stout 450. But the beer-fueled and physically imposing PI was responsible for some of the most cathartic punk ever hatched: Jerry A was prone to cracking his noggin by flinging himself off the stage and could blow fire like a circus pro (a talent that resulted in bans from several local clubs). On one occasion he swallowed coins thrown at him from the crowd, and on another he carved the band’s name into his bountiful belly (the resulting carnage appears on the cover of the band’s 1986 album Kings of Punk ). That record, along with the incendiary Feel the Darkness (1990), showcases the band’s blazingly nihilistic stance and its antiauthoritarian bluster. Though album sales have never been huge, PI’s notorious legacy continues to expand. The Limelight: Pantera covers PI’s “The Badge” on the platinum-selling soundtrack album for the Brandon Lee flick The Crow . The Lowlight: Pig Champion dies of liver failure on January 30, 2006. When life hands you lemons—you form a punk band. Everclear’s peroxide blond singer-songwriter Art Alexakis has bashed out a peaks-and-valleys career in rock by channeling a dismal upbringing—including an absentee father, a brother’s death by drug overdose and his girlfriend’s suicide—into wrenching rock songs like “Father of Mine” and “Heroin Girl.” Alexakis formed Everclear soon after moving to Portland in 1991 with a pregnant girlfriend in tow, and the band would log three platinum-selling albums between 1995 and 2000. Everclear’s star power has cooled since its salad days, but Alexakis remains a visible figure around town: He campaigned vigorously in Portland for John Edwards and went to the Democratic National Convention as a delegate in 2004, perhaps signaling that the angry young man has found a more purposeful outlet for his rage. The Limelight: Everclear tops Pearl Jam and Green Day as Billboard ‘s Modern Rock Artist of the Year in 1998. The Lowlight: Alexakis files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2005. Before they were new-wave chart-toppers on MTV in the early ’80s, guitarist Marv Ross and his sax-playing wife, Rindy, worked the I-5 circuit in a swing and country band, playing five nights a week, sometimes five sets a night. The workload, says Ross, left him “fried,” so he borrowed $4,000 from his dad, bought an eight-track recorder and got serious about songwriting—a wise move, it turns out. A few months after its release in 1981, Quarterflash’s self-titled debut album on Geffen Records went platinum, and from 1980 to 1985, the band recorded seven songs that cracked the top 100. Between gigs by their current outfit, the Trail Band, Marv and Rindy reconvene Quarterflash about three times a year, most recently in June at Jacksonville’s Britt Festival. (They opened for Toto.) The Limelight: On February 13, 1982, Quarterflash’s breakout single “Harden My Heart” rests at No. 3 on the Billboard charts, one notch above Journey’s “Open Arms.” The Lowlight: Sandwiched between sets by Motörhead and the Scorpions, the band dodges batteries thrown from an unappreciative crowd at a 1983 heavy metal fest in Chicago. “Portland was the best place to be in the ’80s,” recalls Wipers bandleader Greg Sage. “It was considered a loggers’ town, overlooked by the rest of the world, but that’s why so many unique bands came out of here.” That feeling of isolation ripples through Sage’s music, and today he is still considered a patron saint of the lonely and disenfranchised—in fact, the Wipers received more votes in our informal poll than any other band. Despite Sage’s legacy of alienation, his most revered song is the 10-minute anthem “Youth of America,” a song of punk solidarity from 1981. Nearly a decade after the band’s first recordings, grunge notables such as Mudhoney, the Melvins and, most notably, Nirvana praised the Wipers as having been a huge influence. Kurt Cobain even asked Sage and his group to go on tour with Nirvana, but it never came to pass. The Limelight: Nirvana records the Wipers’ “Return of the Rat” for the tribute album 14 Songs for Greg Sage and the Wipers in 1993. The Lowlight: The Wipers’ 1999 comeback album, Power in One , goes largely unnoticed, revealing that angst is a dish best served by the young. Paul Revere & the Raiders Matching suits were de rigueur in the early ’60s. So when you’re a bandleader with a name like Paul Revere, and you’re looking to develop an image, the solution is pretty obvious: colonial army uniforms and three-corner hats. So eye-catching was the Raiders’ sartorial trademark that it spawned regional imitators (the Redcoats, the Coachmen and George Washington & the Cherry Bombs, to name three). Eventually, their costume gimmickry and reputation for rowdy live shows pricked up the ears of a young Dick Clark, who in 1965 made the band regulars on his weekday teen-beat TV show, Where the Action Is. As a result, the Raiders racked up 24 charting singles, and singer Mark Lindsay enjoyed a stint as a pinup boy for 16 and Tiger Beat magazines. The Limelight: The Raiders’ version of John D. Loudermilk’s protest tune “Indian Reservation” hits No. 1 in 1971. The Lowlight: The band mimes and lip-syncs the novelty hit “Alley Oop”—while dressed as cavemen—on national television in 1966. For anyone who was not fortunate enough to catch Hazel at La Luna or the X-Ray Café during its ’90s heyday, a “typical” show went something like this: Chatty drummer Jody Bleyle might dash across the stage chasing the drumsticks that had flown out of her hands. Bassist Brady Smith inevitably would deliver a monologue about the Baltimore Orioles, while guitarist Pete Krebs tried to maintain order and get the next song started. But most of the attention was captured by “ballerino” Fred Nemo, a bearded dervish who stood on chairs, balanced water pitchers on his head or convulsed wildly—often decked out in a flowery frock. The buzz over Hazel’s off-kilter concerts made it a must-see band, and subsequently a must-hear band: In 1993 the indie rockers became one of four local groups (Pond, the Spinanes and Sprinkler being the others) signed by Seattle’s prestigious Sub Pop Records, for whom they recorded two albums of vigorous pop-punk. The Limelight: In 1995, Hazel’s video for “Comet” plays on MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head . The Lowlight: On a tour of the South in 1993, Hazel gets its entire bankroll pilfered from the van during a gig in Athens, Ga. The same night, a club owner pays the band with several cases of “green” Budweiser, causing Bleyle to be violently ill at every rest stop between Athens and Mobile. 1959-present Garage Rock Though it’s been covered by everyone from the Kinks to Iggy Pop (there are more than 1,000 recorded versions), no one had a bigger hit with “Louie Louie” than the Kingsmen, a group of Portland teenagers who in 1963 recorded the song—for a whopping $36—at Northwest Recorders (on SW 13th Ave), the same studio where local rivals Paul Revere & the Raiders would cut the song a few days later. The Raiders ended up with a more lucrative career, but the Kingsmen hit the jackpot on this particular tune: Their take on the oft-performed Richard Berry classic was No. 2 in the nation for six weeks. “‘Louie Louie’ is the whole history of rock ’n’ roll in three minutes and 40 years,” summarizes Rolling Stone writer Dave Marsh. With a few original members (now in their 60s), the band endures to this day, still cranking out the most ubiquitous frat-rock anthem of all time. The Limelight: In 1985, the State of Washington attempts to make the Kingsmen’s version of “Louie Louie” the state’s official song, but the campaign falls short. The Lowlight: Lawsuits in the mid-’60s over rights to the band name between two rival factions of the Kingsmen (featuring feuding ex-members) cause confusion among fans and permanent rifts in the group. When Gus Van Sant was asked to comment following the tragic death of his friend Elliott Smith, who contributed the Oscar-nominated song “Miss Misery” to his film Good Will Hunting , he said simply, “His songs sound like Portland.” Four years after Smith’s demise, local coffee shops are still peopled by his acolytes—somber-looking chaps filling notebooks and sporting the ever-present watch cap favored by their fallen hero. Smith’s darkly whispered tunes such as “Rose Parade” and “Alameda,” about life on the margins of Portland, not only provided a stark counterpoint to the last gasp of grunge, but also helped lay the groundwork for a host of confessional singer-songwriters (a term that Smith, in fact, detested). Whether recurring depression and/or drug use led to his suicide by knife to the heart in 2003 remains a question mark (the case is unresolved), but there’s no debating the abiding influence of his work on our gritty little city. The limelight: A rather shaky Smith sings "Miss Misery" at the 1997 Academy Awards. He’s beaten out by Celine Dion’s glutinous "My Heart Will Go On" from Titanic, but his star is officially at its apex. The lowlight: Smith’s two-year lapse into heroin addiction after the release of his Figure 8 album in 2000 includes a dust-up with the cops at a Flaming Lips show in 2002. 1985-present Country Rock The British have had a long, well-documented fascination with the savagery of the American West, which is about as good an explanation as any for why Richmond Fontaine’s epic, gritty music has generated such a rabid following across the pond—after nearly 10 years of slogging away at home. The band’s conversion from hardworking alt-country boys to Continental critical darlings came about thanks to a barrage of high praise from English magazines like Mojo and Uncut , the latter of which practically adopted the group and dubbed lead singer and songwriter Willy Vlautin “the laureate of the lost, the lonely and the rootless.” All the attention has enabled Vlautin to embark on a promising second career as a novelist—his debut, The Motel Life , was an Editors’ Choice of the New York Times Book Review this summer. The limelight: In 2004, Uncut magazine names RF’s album Post to Wire the fourth-best album of the ear, behind releases from Brian Wilson, Wilco and Loretta Lynn. The Lowlight: A bad review in a 1997 issue pf indie-rock magazine Magnet nearly convinces Vlautin to abandon music and return to school. 1994-2006 Punk/Indie Rock Despite Sleater-Kinney’s identification with the Olympia, Wash., rock scene (they’re named after a nearby freeway off-ramp and recorded for an Olympia label), Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss have called Portland home for several years and played enough local shows to warrant inclusion in this company. Residence quibbles aside, the trio’s chops, creative drive and incalculable empowering influence on their fan base have made them one of the most talked-about and critically lauded indie groups of the last decade. From their brash and ragged early days as riot-grrrl champions to their highly polished and bombastic final album, The Woods , Sleater-Kinney never stopped pushing forward creatively, in the end even choosing to go on “indefinite hiatus” last year rather than risking a rehash of musical ideas. And despite overtures from major labels, Sleater-Kinney chose freedom and control over lucre, remaining with the fiercely independent labels Chainsaw and Kill Rock Stars until moving to Seattle’s Sub Pop to record its last album in 2005. The Limelight: In 2001 Time magazine calls Sleater-Kinney “America’s best rock band.” The Lowlight: Sleater-Kinney reaches a sufficient level of success to inspire a local backlash: Portland band the Punk Group releases its cheeky anthem, “Sleater-Kinney Sucks,” in 2004.	<urn:uuid:66ce4356-550e-4171-b38c-f0b162040f1a>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/articles/1007-rosecityrock/print	2015-03-27T17:20:35Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131296587.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172136-00204-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.943678	4,734
- Travel Home - Travel News Personal shoppers -- are they worth it? Three personal shoppers defend their profession -- and fees. Here's the inside scoop on a luxury service some business travelers consider a necessity Personal shoppers: time savers and miracle makers. These people can replace your broken belt buckle, find a matching bracelet and pick up your bagel all before breakfast. Wait, isn't that what Google and a (far cheaper) PA does? Why are pricey personal shoppers steadily becoming part of the upscale traveler’s lifestyle? We challenged three experts shoppers -- Gabrielle Teare, London-based fashion blogger and personal shopper; Angela Stone, author of “How to Become a Personal Shopper" and Fiona Foxon, lifestyle managing director of concierge service Quintessentially -- to convince us that a personal shopper isn't just a needy human doing the Internet's work. Personal shopping 101 Personal shoppers work one of two ways. They can function like a concierge service -- you tell them what you want, they find it and bring it to you. Or, they escort you on a bespoke shopping tour. When you touch down in a city, local personal shoppers can act as personal guides to the best boutiques and stores, helping you find anything from art deco antiques in Shanghai to a Parisian wardrobe overhaul. CNN: I’ve just arrived in Hong Kong and have forgotten my shoes. I’m off to a party two hours after landing. Can you help? Fiona Foxon: "Yes! Let us know what you want. We have members’ personal details and preferences on file and we can meet you at the airport or your hotel with some new shoes in your size. "Members often come to us if they’re away on a business trip and have forgotten things like cuff links or phone chargers. "We have 63 offices around the world and if we don’t have a physical presence in a specific location we organize fixers and use our local contacts on the ground.” CNN: What weird things have you shopped for? Foxon: “The most bizarre thing recently was finding a replica of the Pope’s house slippers. "But we get all sorts of requests. We have a number of Japanese clients in Hong Kong who can’t find specific ingredients like fish flakes for sushi. "We have also tracked down sheep’s placenta in Switzerland for a Hong Kong client. Apparently, it’s revolutionary in facial care. Makes my stomach churn! "We never source anything illegal or immoral. We won’t find drugs, women or organize adoptions." CNN: Why should I choose you over a guidebook? Angela Stone: "Knowledge is power. I’m shopping on a regular basis. I know the brands and what’s good for your shape, size and age. "Plus, I’ll assess your existing wardrobe and see what’s not right for you and what’s missing. I’ll take photos of you in new outfits consisting of garments you may not have considered yourself." Gabrielle Teare: "People fly in from around the world to (see) me because they want to know where to find the best shopping in London. I’m an expert -- I’m in the shops all the time. I’ll also go through what colors suit you and look at your body shape, then we shop.” How much is this gonna cost? Not surprisingly, the personal shopper service doesn’t come cheap. Excluding the cost of whatever you buy, Quintessentially charges US$65 per hour on top of an US$5,160-$39,000 annual membership fee. Angela Stone charges NZ$200 (US$165) per hour. A personal shopping session can last for several hours. She recommends seeing a professional shopper for a consultation every three to six months. Teare doesn't reveal her prices, citing competitive reasons and the fact that she offers a bespoke service to her clients. But she says she works by the half day or full day. In a nutshell, hiring a personal shopper is more expensive than buying from Net-a-porter. CNN: Personal shoppers claim to save their clients a lot of time, but they cost a lot of money. What do we really get for our cash? Foxon: "We can jump queues. That Birkin bag might take you six months to get from ordering in the shop. Through our contacts we can get it for you quicker. "Personal shopping is not a lazy option, it’s giving time back to our clients so they can do more. We’re not being paid to Google. We always vet our suppliers and make sure they can be trusted." Teare: "I help people buy less but buy better. Most of us only wear 20 percent of what we buy -- look at the rubbish in our wardrobes." "People get stuck wearing the same thing, be it rugby shirts, the wrong colors or shapes. Because I buy so much some shops give me discounts." Stone: "I call myself a fresh pair of eyes. I see where I can take my client on a journey -– a transformation from the inside out. "We fritter too much money away on emotional purchases. You don’t need a lot of pieces, just pieces that work for you." Call the fashion police No-nonsense fashion and lifestyle blogger and international marketing director, Jacqueline Raposo, has her own take. “I think pinpointing personal style is quite difficult and as someone who travels I wouldn't expect a personal shopper to get me," she says. "I'm from New York, I like black, but I also hate capped sleeves and any sort of ruffle -- can you figure out my style from that? I wouldn’t expect anyone to.” The lady has a point. CNN: How do you avoid clashes of opinion? Isn’t style subjective after all? Teare: "You have to style people in their style, not yours. However, if the client is out shopping with me I always say 'try things on.' "Some people say to me 'I’m not wearing that,' but then they come out of the changing room and start flirting with themselves, running their hands through their hair saying, 'Look, it’s me!' "Also, I always tell clients: only buy things you love." Stone: "Styling someone is definitely a process. You need to find out who your clients are, their needs and lifestyle. However, they quickly start to realize if someone is going to be their best friend and have them looking fantastic." CNN: I hate what you bought for me -- what happens now? Foxon: "If a member doesn’t like an item, we’ll rush back to the shop." Teare: "People I shop for keep about 98 percent of what I buy for them. If it’s not right, I’ll take it back." CNN: Will hiring a personal shopper for an image overhaul get me a promotion? Foxon: "Image, unfortunately, or fortunately, is so important. A personal shopper-cum-stylist can revamp a person. It’s important for your career that you look and act the part." Teare: "Men often have amazingly sparse wardrobes, those who consistently wear black, navy and gray could really benefit from seeing a personal shopper. "Women, if you’re competing with a guy at work then they may be spending at least US$1,000 on a suit. You’re wearing a cheap suit from the high street, but you’re doing the same job and asking for the same money. "I tell my clients, use all the assets you have. Be effective and be professional." CNN: TV makeovers often consist of getting naked and ridiculed. Is this what will happen? Teare: "A lot of TV humiliates people. Why do you need to grab bosoms to make someone look stylish? It makes for good television, but it’s unreal. "Personal shopping is a relationship of respect and we’re here to make people look good. I see people in their underwear every day of the week so clients never need to feel embarrassed." Finding the right personal shopper CNN: How do I avoid hiring a shoddy shopper? Stone: "You must be comfortable with your stylist and make sure you know what they’ll do for you. Most reputable personal shoppers will have a website. "Do your homework and ask around. I recommend talking to boutiques and department stores and seeing if they suggest anyone." Teare: "Look at the person and look at their website. You want them to know about fashion. If their blog or website isn’t creative then they can’t style." Don’t have the time to hunt around, or can’t be bothered? Check out our list of top fixers for the super-rich traveler	<urn:uuid:56759ae5-8ddd-43e7-8e0c-5d82b18f66f2>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://travel.cnn.com/personal-shoppers-worth-it-469636?hpt=hp_mid	2015-03-29T17:16:56Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298660.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00028-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.942965	1,949
Can't decide ...(9 Posts) Hi, I'm posting here because, although going from 2 to 3 children isn't exactly what I'd call a 'larger' family, it certainy is a medium-sized family and I'm hoping I'll receive useful advice from people on this forum. I'm 30yo: we have 2 DDs aged 4.1yo and almost 1yo. Both desperately wanted and who took a while to conceive (DD1 naturally after 9 months of TTC; DD2 after six cycles of Clomid and 2y TTC). Now, DD2 is 1yo next month and DH has told me a couple of times recently that he is broody and would like another DC. I'm hesitating and I'm going to list my reasons (in no particular order): ? I can't ever 'actively' TTC again. I'm scarred after our experience trying for DD2. If I did get pg again, it really would be a case of nature having just taken it's course. (That is, if I was lucky enough to ever conceive again. I don't think making babies is instant with DH and I.) ? I had a long and traumatic labour with DD1. I had an ELCS with DD2. Another baby would likely be another ELCS delivery. Whilst I much preferred my ELCS, I can't deny that it did knock me about for a couple of weeks. I wasn't 'back to normal' for about 8 weeks and didn't feel completely myself until about 12 weeks after. I think about how I'd manage taking DD1 to school and looking after DD2. I've said this is DH but I dot think he really understands what I'm talking about (prob because I just got on with it after DD2's birth, and had the luxury of DD1 not being school-age then). ? Age gaps: I love the 3.2yr age gap between our girls. I'd prefer at least a 2yr, preferably 2-and-a-half year gap ... But then I think of how difficult it was to get pg last time, and I'm back to square one. ? We are lucky to have a baby and a child with good temperaments. However, when they both need me, it's tiring. I wonder how is stretch myself to look after 3 and give them equal and adequate attention (it's basically just me during the day). I'm also concerned how I'd manage in late pregnancy and early post-partum, not being able to hop, skip, dash and jump after them, IYSWIM. ? Our 2 feel like 'partners' already. How would a third child likely affect this relationship? Would a third child feel left out? What if we had a boy; would he feel on his own with 2 big sisters? But then, I adore our daughters, loved my pregnancies, love babies and watching them grow. And I keep returning to thinking about how lucky I'd be if I just got pg, you know? Sorry forth long ramble, but any advice to stop me thinking in circles would be greatly appreciated. Oh nuts, the question marks were supposed to be bullet points. Sorry about that! We've got 3 girls: DD1 8yrs, DD2 5yrs, DD3 5 weeks. we thought long and hard about number 3 and we're so glad we went with it! She has slotted right in and the older two love her to bits. However, I wish that we had a smaller age gap between DD2 & 3 as i feel that she is a bit tagged on at the end. So much so that i'm trying to convince DH to ttc DC4 ideally in a years time so we have a 2-3 yr gap. I have no experience of CS or difficulty ttc but I do agree when others say that you never regret the children you have, only the ones you didnt. DD1 & 2 are both at school and actually this forces me to be super organised to get up and out in the morning. DH only took 4 days off for paternity leave so when DD3 was 5 days old I was doing the school run myself! After the first day it was fine. Attention wise its just the same as when you have two children and have to split yourself between them. I'm one of 3 and never felt I received any less attention than friends from smaller families. Early days with us, but if I was able to do anything differently it would be to have had DD3 earlier and therefore have a smaller age gap, although I appreciate that this is something that can't always be planned! Instead of actively trying to concieve (which I can understand must be stressfull for you), could you just stop using contraception for the next year before taking things up a level (maybe then use clomid and ovulation predictors). I think you would manage just fine with three and will find you always have enough love to go around and somehow make enough time. Although you are worried how you will manage the school run, on the up side it does mean you will still only have two at home to care for all day (and you managed that last time). You don't say if you have to drive to school or how far away it is. Do you have any family or friends who could help if you had another CS? I have 5 DCs and it is true that all pregnancies, labours and recoveries are different. You might find you bounce back really quickly if you have another, so don't let the long recovery last time put you off. Now you know what to expect from a CS you can plan and make arrangements that will help you. Even though you would like a 2.5yr age gap, would you rule out having another if it took longer? This might take the pressure off and hopefully things will eventually happen by themselves. You are only 30, so have time to let nature take its course, if this is your preferred route. If you decide you don't want any more DCs then you need to let your DH know and the reasons why. I'm sure he would understand. Thanks for your replies. Buttons, congrats on your new baby and for sharing your experiences NAR4, lots of useful things to think about there, thank-you. DH understands how stressful TTC was last time (it was hard on him, too). I think he would prefer to stop using contraception and just see what happens. School is a 15 minute walk or 5 min drive. We are looking to move though, as our house is currently too small for our needs with 2 DCs, so if a third DC came along, we would definitely needed to have moved already. We're taking our time as we'd like to stay in the area (house size shouldn't be an issue as we've decided to make a move before the end of this year). Yes, family and friends are on-hand after another CS. After re-reading my OP, I wasn't clear about the age-gap, sorry. I'd like at least a 2 or 2.6 year age gap and I don't mind a larger one up to 4 years or so. Have to consider the age gap between DD1 and a third DC and after reading Buttons post, I wouldn't want the 'tagged on' feeling as I'm pretty sure that 3 would be our limit (finances, age and not keen on having a few CSs!) Maybe I just need more time? DD2 is still so young and I am really, really enjoying her being a baby (and almost a toddler!) Very exciting - and trying to decide is not a 'problem' as such, in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure it will be easier for you to decide as your youngest DD gets older. She is only a baby still, like you say. Yes, thanks I just remember wanting another baby when DD1 was about 6mo, and ttc from then. I definitely, absolutely knew I wanted another. I'd hear friends saying 'oh, I'm not ready just yet' or 'there's no way I'd cope with another just yet' and not being able to relate to them. Of course, the longer it took, the more desperate for her I became. I just can't go through that again. It made me depressed, I think; too preoccupied to be the best Mom I could be. DD1's toddler stage kind of passed me by because of my, sadness, I suppose, over how long DD2 was taking to show her shiney face. So, anyway, I digress. I can now relate to what friends had said about not being ready but I'm caught between feeling like that, then deciding I'd actually quite like another baby, and then it taking ages again, or not happening at all. You never know, it might not be that difficult to get pregnant again! It took me clomid and 18mths to get pregnant with DD1, clomid and 6 months to get pregnant with DD2 and DS was my surprise boy (I'd assumed I always needed drugs to get pregnant ) I think sometimes your body gets "better" at getting pregnant the more you have! I'd always planned on having 3 but not so close together (2yr gap between 2 and 3). His babyhood was manic but very happy and I love the dynamics of 3. Best of luck with whatever you choose. nico thanks for that lovely post I'd like to think that's how it would happen for us x Join the discussion Registering is free, easy, and means you can join in the discussion, get discounts, win prizes and lots more.Register now Already registered with Mumsnet? Log in to leave your comment or alternatively, sign in with Facebook or Google. Please login first.	<urn:uuid:64dc0f7e-8dfb-4cd2-a3b6-76a3d23a672a>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/larger_families/1711809-Cant-decide	2015-03-29T17:48:26Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298660.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00028-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.98226	2,059
Copyrights and Trademarks This entire site (hereinafter the "Site"), including, but not limited to, all text and images presented here on, as well as their arrangement and assembly (collectively, the "Content"), is the property of CYCLING SPORTS GROUP, INC. (hereinafter "CSG") and is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. While CSG makes the Content available to all users of this site, CSG retains all copyright and related proprietary rights therein. Accordingly, you may not, without the express written permission of CSG: copy or distribute the Content or any portion thereof; mirror or include the Content or any portion thereof on your own server or documents; or modify or re-use any portion of the Content. You may: make a single copy of the Content for your own personal use. CSG reserves all other rights in the Content. All Content bearing the marks TM, SM, or ® are trademarks or registered trademarks. Except as indicated, all such trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of or used with permission by CSG. All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owner and are used herein by permission. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any license or right under any patent, trademark or proprietary rights of CSG or of any third party, whether expressly or by implication, estoppels, or otherwise. Except as expressly provided above, nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any license or right under any CSG copyright. CYCLING SPORTS GROUP INC. MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY OF THE CONTENT FOR ANY PURPOSE. ALL CONTENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. CSG HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THE CONTENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. CSG DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCESSIBILITY OF THE SITE OR THE AVAILABILITY OF ANY PRODUCTS DESCRIBED THEREIN. IN NO EVENT SHALL CSG BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE, COPYING, OR DISPLAY OF THE CONTENT OR THIS SITE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES RELATING TO LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS, WITHOUT REGARD TO THE FORM OF ANY ACTION, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTIOUS ACTIONS. ALTHOUGH CSG HAS TRIED TO BE AS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, AND CURRENT AS POSSIBLE, CSG DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE CONTENT IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE OR CURRENT. THE CONTENT MAY INCLUDE TECHNICAL INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO VERIFY ANY INFORMATION BEFORE RELYING ON IT. CSG reserves the right to withdraw access to the Site and reserves the right to change, hold or remove the products, prices, software, materials, and services described in this Web site, at any time without notifying the users. Certain links provided on this site will take the user to Internet sites that are not under the control of CYCLING SPORTS GROUP INC. Accordingly; CSG makes no representations whatsoever concerning the content, including sublinks found in, or availability of, those sites. *CSG provides these outside links solely as a convenience to its users and the provision of such a link is not an endorsement by CSG of those sites or of any of the products or services offered therein. CSG is not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those other sites. This Site was created and is located and controlled by CYCLING SPORTS GROUP INC. in the State of Connecticut. The laws of the State of Connecticut will govern the content of this site, without giving effect to any of the conflict of law principles thereof. CYCLING SPORTS GROUP INC. is sensitive to privacy issues on the Internet. We believe that it is important you know how we treat the information about you that we receive via the Site. In general, you may visit the Site without telling us who you are or revealing any personally identifiable information about you. Our servers capture, but do not collect, the IP addresses, domain names and network identifiers of our users. This information is aggregated to measure the number of visits, average time spent on the Site, pages viewed, etc. CSG uses this information to measure the use of our Site and to improve the content of our Site. E-mail addresses and other personally identifiable information such as first and last name, home or other physical address, telephone number and other similar information are known only when voluntarily provided by a visitor for registration for sweepstakes, contests or other participation of visitors in any available online interactive activities. Unless otherwise disclosed during the collection, personally identifiable information that may be collected in connection with visitors to this Site is retained by CSG or subsidiary corporations ("Affiliates"). CSG and our Affiliates do not sell, transfer or otherwise disclose this personally identifiable information outside those companies, except where disclosure is required by law. We may use the personal information you provide for any of the following purposes: (1) to understand the use of our Site and make improvements; (2) to fulfill prizes; (3) to respond to specific requests from visitors; (4) to obtain parental consent from visitors under 18 years of age, where necessary; (5) to provide any necessary notices to our visitors or their parent or guardians, where necessary; (6) to protect the security or integrity of our Site when necessary; (7) to send you notices and solicitations regarding Site and our businesses; and (8) in general to promote and market our products to you. These solicitations may take the form of mailings via U.S. mail or other couriers, telephone calls, e-mail solicitations and other methods of contact. If you do not want to receive these solicitations from us using your personally identifiable information, you may specify this during registration, or you may notify us by contacting CYCLING SPORTS GROUP INC., C/O Webmaster, 16 Trowbridge Drive, Bethel, Connecticut 06801. It is our policy that visitors to our Site who are under the age of 18 should not post on or provide information to our site without the consent of their parents. You should supervise the online activities of your children, and consider the use of parental control tools available from online services and software providers that help provide a kid-friendly Internet environment. A technology called "cookies" may be used to provide you with tailored information. A "cookie" is a tiny element of data that a Web site can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your hard drive so we can recognize you when you return. You may be able to set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie. Our cookies collect the operating system and browser that a visitor is using. This Site has security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. When credit card information is transmitted we use industry standard, SSL (secure socket layer) encryption. California Transparency in Supply Chains Act Disclosure Cycling Sports Group Inc. and its affiliated companies ("CSG") support the goals of the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010, to prevent human trafficking and slavery. Ethical behavior and compliance with local law are non-negotiable elements of CSG's culture and are expected of every employee. CSG strives to select and maintain suppliers with the same values. - Suppliers: CSG's supplier agreement requires that its suppliers meet or exceed local fair labor laws and environmental regulations and prohibits the use of child, forced, or other labor practices that violate local wage, hour, environmental, health, or safety regulations. - Supplier Verifications & Audits: CSG requires that its major suppliers routinely disclose their hiring and labor practices. CSG regularly audits it supply chain to ensure compliance. CSG will continue its efforts to ensure the CSG related products are produced in a manner that helps promote individual workers' rights and which further helps to eradicate slavery and human trafficking.	<urn:uuid:c11557b0-33da-49d1-aa70-da9ff00854bf>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.schwinnbikes.com/usa/privacy-policy/	2015-03-29T17:17:05Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298660.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00028-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.884875	1,774
Swamps to Camp Fires. Rockets to Origami. Fireworks to Hometown Parades. Hieroglyphics to Bridges… These are just a few of the learning highlights we’re featuring this week! Peruse our list below and make plans to get out into your community and learn while you play! HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY 4th of July Highlights! From the state where the American Revolution began, families can take part in the multitude of 4th of July celebrations happening in Western MA. Check our 4th of July preview of events, parades & fireworks happening to celebrate in Western MA: 2013 Fourth of July Celebrations & Fireworks Independence Day ♦ Plants, Nature & Animal Studies ♦ STEM ♦ Archaeology ♦ Local History ♦ Arts & Crafts ♦ Lawn Concerts & Family Dinners ♦ Movies Explore Whately’s Great Swamp with the Pioneer Valley Institute on Saturday morning, June 29th, and learn about the swamp’s many different tree species, including Black Gum, Pin Oak, and Swamp White Oak. Time will also be spent discussing the swamp’s ecology, geology, and history. The swamp is what is known as a perched swamp, meaning it is not directly connected to the water table, rather it is perched atop layers that prevent drainage as a result of the region’s glacial history. This is a great way to improve your tree identification skills while learning & exploring a truly unique geological area. The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation is hosting a Firefly Hike and Campfire for the whole family on Saturday evening at Sheep Hill in Williamstown. Bring blankets and curl up with family & friends near the fire while eating s’mores and listening to stories told by the three-generational Leamon boys. There will also be nature crafts for children and a hike to search for fireflies. Bats are the only flying mammals and among the most misunderstood animals. On Friday evening, July 5th, join Rene Laubach to learn about bats found in our region at Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in Lenox. The program will begin indoors for an overview of the ecology and diversity of bats, and will conclude outdoors with a search for bats, weather permitting. A bat detector will be used to eavesdrop on the bats as they hunt for food. Check out these links too: - Amazing Butterflies in Springfield All Summer! - State Forests & Parks in Western MA - Firefly Watch! Citizen Science Project Be a mad scientist at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield on Saturday morning, June 29th at their monthly chemistry based event, Kitchen Kaboom! Along with the help of the museum’s very own crazy chemist, kids can learn how to do exciting and surprising (and safe!) experiments with regular household materials. Build LEGOs with friends at the Sunderland Public Library on Monday morning, July 1st! Kids 6 and up can exercise creativity and practice their engineering skills by making their own LEGO creations or by following one of the library’s themes. Origami is a fun way for kids to engage with an activity that supports their discovery of geometry. Learn the art of origami and other paper arts at the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield on Tuesday afternoon, July 2nd. This event is held in conjunction with the museum’s PaperWorks exhibit, which focused on the many different things that can be created with paper. Do your kids want to know more about rockets? What better way to learn about them than designing and testing their own! The Boston Museum of Science is helping to host this hands-on physics program at the Wheeler Memorial Library in Orange on Tuesday afternoon. Not only is this event super fun (and free), but kids will also engage in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)! Join Odyssey Bookshop for Camp Odyssey in South Hadley on Wednesday afternoon, July 3rd! This once-a-week camp features a weekly book and activities to go along with it. This week’s book/activity is Pop Bottle Science. Come learn about hands-on science experiments you can reproduce with large plastic soda bottles, the perfect mini science lab! Check out these links too: - Young Scientist Challenge: Encouraging Students to Share Their Passion for Science - Art & Science of Paper at the Berkshire Museum this Summer - 8 Ways to Create Engaging Engineering Activities at Home Are your kids interested in learning about archaeology this summer? Most Western MA libraries are participating in the Dig into Reading summer program, and many are offering supplemental programs, including the Mason Library in Great Barrington. Kids ages 5yo+ are invited to stop in on Saturday morning, June 29th to learn about mummies, write in hieroglyphics, make cave painting, and discover treasures. This event connects nicely with the “Dig Into Reading” summer reading program! Join storyteller and scientist Paulette Morin at the Hatfield Public Library for a special free storytime all about fossils and dinosaurs on Tuesday morning, July 2nd. Youth participants will get to do some hands-on exploring with real fossils too! Paulette will also be at the Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield on Wednesday afternoon, July 3rd, this time learning about the earth’s exciting prehistoric past! What was it like crossing the Connecticut River before the construction of our modern bridges? Learn about the history of local bridges and the difficulties associated with building them while riding around Turners Falls and Montague City on a leisurely bike tour with the Great Falls Discovery Center on Saturday afternoon, June 29th. This is a free and engaging way to learn local history by exploring our towns and villages. Bring a bike and helmet! Join the Kemp-McCarthy Museum in Rowe for a special free celebration as they celebrate their 50th anniversary on Sunday afternoon, June 30! Visitors can view the “Childhood Memories” exhibit, which includes antique games and children’s clothing, see the historic hat display, learn about a research project cataloging Rowe’s houses, see the newly refurbished Music Room, study rare documents from the 18th and 19th centuries, and see “The Way We Were,” an exhibit of clothing and artifacts from 1963, the year the Museum opened. There will also be a buffet, treats, and live music. Immerse yourself in local history by experiencing and learning about what life in the Hilltowns was like many years ago. Check out these links too: - Irish Legacy Exhibit Blends Local Immigration History with Artifacts at Springfield Museums - Plainfield Historical Society Offers Online Resource, Rich Hilltown History! - Historic Northampton Museum & Education Center Highlights the History of Silk Thread and the Pioneer Valley Here are four free events happening this week at local libraries or museums that support creativity: - Saturday morning, June 29th: Kids can exercise their creativity and art skills at the Ramsdell Library in Housatonic during a story cube activity. Draw illustrations on the cubes, roll them like dice, and create stories as you go! - Tuesday afternoon, July 2nd: Children ages 5-12 are invited to a craft activity all about worms! The Berkshire Athenaeum in Pittsfield is hosting this activity as part of the “Dig Into Reading” summer reading program. It offers a chance for kids to do a craft related to the greater theme of the program. - Tuesday afternoon, July 2nd: Teens participating in the summer reading program can come make gummy worms in “dirt” desserts at the Sixteen Acres Library in Springfield. This event is purely fun and teens will enjoy getting their hands dirty while making a tasty dessert together! - Tuesday afternoon, July 2nd: 2pm-6pm: Stop by the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown for an all-ages watercolor workshop. Open to people with all skill levels, this workshop helps you learn the art of watercolor painting while translating the natural beauty of the Clark onto paper. Check out these links too: - Let’s Play: Books and Creative Free Play - Language Play: Supporting the Creativity of Writing - ZooBean: Handpicked Books for Kids There’s a lawn concert happening nearly every evening this week! A great solution to finding time for your family to dine together, pack up a picnic dinner, BYO blanket & chairs, and lounge on the lawn listening to music with your family while enjoying dinner together: - Saturday, June 29th in Longmeadow: Pack a picnic dinner and bring the whole family to join the Longmeadow Parks and Recreation Department at the Longmeadow Green for an outdoor concert. Mandeville and Raianne Richards, a folk duo from Massachusetts, will perform country and classic Americana-inspired tunes. - Sunday, June 30th in Greenfield: Coop Concerts Summer Concert Series takes place weekly at Greenfield Energy Park. This week’s show features Jennie McAvoy and Michael Nix, Katie Clarke, and Devlin Miles. - Monday, July 1st in South Deerfield: Monday Night Concerts at the Tilton Library are a great chance to have an exciting family dinner – bring chairs, a blanket, pack a picnic, and bring the whole family! This week’s performers are Bruce King and Doctor Dan. - Tuesday, July 2nd in Williamstown: The Clark Art Institute is hosting concerts on their South Lawn every Tuesday in July! This week’s performer is Red June. Pack a picnic dinner – or purchase barbecue food at the Clark – and enjoy the show while spending time with family. - Thursday, July 4th in Wilbraham: The Wilbraham Nature and Cultural Center’s summer concert series at Fountain Park presents John Brandoli. Brandoli’s repertoire includes rock, folk, and pop, so bring the whole family and sit on the lawn while enjoying entertaining live music. - Friday, July 5th in Easthampton: Arts in the Park Summer Concert Series happens at Millside Park. Pack a picnic dinner, bring the family, and enjoy an evening of live music outdoors on a Friday evening! If the heat or rain makes you want to head indoors this summer, there are often times screenings of family movies happening at area libraries or at a special rate at a local theater house. This week the Westfield Atheaneum, Sunderland Library and Cinemark in Hadley are screening family films for a dollar or less! If you’re in the mood for an outdoor evening film, the town of Adams will be hosting a summer film series beginning this week (among several others in July!) and Northfield Drive-In is always a family favorite destination for outdoor viewing. Find out about these events and over 100 other events & activities happening all next week in our List of Weekly Suggested Events. All of our listed events are “suggested.” Please take a moment to confirm that these events are happening as scheduled, along with time, place, age appropriateness and costs before heading out.	<urn:uuid:76dc8eb9-59b1-4d25-9781-3815b061c8d5>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	https://hilltownfamilies.wordpress.com/2013/06/28/community-highlights-15/	2015-03-29T17:21:48Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298660.78/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00028-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.935235	2,299
- Major Exploration Center - Scholastic Standards - Advising Topics - Transfer Center - Return to the U - Preprofessional Advising - Mandatory Advising Program - Plan to Finish - Have a Registration Hold? Sharon joined University College as the Associate Dean in 2002. She was born and raised on a small family farm in the green mountains of Vermont. Her educational experiences include a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Maine, a M.S. in International Relations from Troy State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Utah. From her life experiences and education emerged a broad skill set for various career paths. Before identifying her niche in higher education, she was a career counselor, high school teacher, and librarian at the U.S. Embassy in Germany. She has lived in Vermont, Maine, Utah, Arizona, the United Kingdom, and Germany. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking in the western mountains as well as cooking and traveling. She is proud of her 15 years of service to students in higher education as a practitioner-scholar. John has been an academic advisor since 2001, when he was a graduate student in history at the University of Washington. In 2003, he started working in University College. John received his BA in history from Brigham Young University and his MA in history from the University of Utah. He enjoys helping students discover their strengths and create plans for their future success. When not at work, he loves exploring new trails and appreciating the beauty of all four of Utah’s seasons. Martina has been an advisor in University College for over 15 years. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Masters in Career and College Counseling from San Francisco State University. Before settling in Utah, she worked in a variety of advising positions in higher education in California. She is committed to helping students identify their strengths and interests and design an academic program that utilizes the many opportunities at the University of Utah. She is married and has two daughters. She enjoys walking in nature, skiing with her family, tennis, reading and traveling. Jason joined the University College team in March, 2015. He was born and raised in Southern California and attended Saddleback Community College. After transferring and graduating from Humboldt State University with a BA in Communication, he worked in advertising and sales until he found his true passion serving college students. Jason earned a MA degree in Educational Leadership from Western Michigan University. Before coming to the U, Jason has held various roles in academic advising and residence life in California, Michigan, and Florida. He understands that attending a university can bring unique challenges and is excited to provide tools that students can utilize to overcome barriers to their success. As a new transplant to Utah, Jason is eager to explore the outdoor opportunities that surround the campus. Becki joined the staff in January 2011 as the Director of Student Technology Initiatives which was a new position for University College. This position was a perfect fit with her advising experience and education. She completed a BS in Public Relations from Utah State University, and, in 2012, she completed a Masters of Education in Instructional Design & Technology from Western Governor’s University. While an undergraduate student, she knew she wanted to work in higher education as a university representative while helping students transition. After graduation, she fell into advising and hasn’t left. Advising matched what she was looking for and has been a very rewarding career. In addition to working at the University of Utah, Becki advised undecided & academically at-risk students at Utah State University and Salt Lake Community College for eight years. She recommends students use the three A’s to be successful in college: 1) Attend class, 2) Ask Questions, 3) Advocate for yourself. Jency has been an advisor in University College for over 18 years and prior to that was the departmental advisor for the Medical Laboratory Science program. He also taught business and math courses, primarily at community colleges, for nearly 15 years. He has a bachelor's degree in Biology from Ohio State University and an MBA from the University of Dayton as well as a Certificate in Higher Ed Leadership from the University of Utah. Jency enjoys running, biking, and other outdoor activities. He has completed over 40 marathons, as well as the Wasatch 100 trail run and the LOTAJA 200 mile bike race. Anna has lived in Salt Lake City, Utah for most of her life. She is currently a senior at the University of Utah and is triple majoring in Political Science, Economics, and Spanish. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in Political Science and is interested in working for a non-profit in the future. In her free time she enjoys biking, running, and walking when the sun is shining. She also loves going to Chile to visit her family, eat empanadas, and swim at the beach. Prior to joining University College, Sean taught writing at Oregon State University in Corvallis. During this time, he developed a deep interest in assisting students find and pursue their true academic, artistic, and intellectual passions. This interest most recently brought him to the University of Utah as an advisor for the Major Exploration Program. He holds a B.A. in Writing from Boise State University and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Oregon State University. When not advising students, he toils before the keys of an old typewriter, inching his way toward the completion of his first novel. Heather has been advising students in University College since 1998. She graduated from the University of Utah with a B.S. degree in Human Development and a M. Ed degree in School Counseling. Heather enjoys advising students and helping them reach their academic goals. She loves animals, traveling, reading, the arts, and spending time with friends and family. Angie joined University College as the Mathematics Advisor in 2012. Prior to that she was the Director of Undergraduate Services in the Mathematics Department for fourteen years, where she found that she truly enjoys working with students. Angie graduated from the University of Utah in 1997 with a BA in Mathematics and a minor in French. Outside of work she enjoys music, gardening, reading, and spending time with family. Riley J. Greenwood was raised in Ogden, Utah and is currently pursuing Bachelor of Arts degrees in International Studies and Economics. Riley spent two valuable years living in various cities surrounding Concepción, Chile, where his eyes were opened to different cultures and people and a love to help and serve others was developed. Riley brings experience that relates to other students and carries with him a positive attitude and cheerfully fun personality. Riley loves the NBA (especially the one-and-only Utah Jazz) and playing a variety of different things such as sports, music, and videogames. Riley also loves spending time with his family, especially with his adorable golden retriever Obo. Steve was born many years ago when lefthanders like himself were still ridiculed for the use of the "awkward appendage." The Nation was just starting to recover from the oil embargo of the early 1970's. The urban to rural migration was in full swing only to be halted shortly thereafter by the farm crisis of the 1980's. Steve learned at an early age to cook pizza, burritos, nachos, and Pop Tarts. These staples of life have fueled his efforts as he progressed to where he is today. Steve now directs the University College Advising Major Exploration Center. As part of this endeavor to assist students in choosing a major students can attend the Major Exploration EXPO which is held annually each September. Students can also work closely with Steve on choosing a major by taking the course UC 1050: Major Exploration. Steve received his B.S. and M.S. in Sociology from Utah State University. Seeing as though blood runs both red and blue depending on its level of oxygenation (Aggie blue, not that blue from the south) the University of Utah was a perfect fit. Steve also loves his wife and son, his chickens, and cycling. He rides road, mountain, and cyclocross bikes. Steve has raced his bike at the 2001 Collegiate National Championships, LOTOJA, Tour de Park City, Mt. Evans, and many others. Steve's advice: "Eat your greens, don't do drugs, get 8 hours of sleep, ride your bike, and go to class." Steve’s Advising Philosophy: My role as an advisor is to master knowledge so that I can analyze information and ask probing questions. In doing so, I hope to help others to know, grow, and change for the betterment of self and humanity. I am committed to helping students achieve their goals by helping them explore their options and design a degree that is unique to their interests, abilities, and values. Students ultimately have the responsibility for their education. My responsibility is to teach so that students can make decisions that are well informed. Marilyn has been an Academic Advisor at the U for over 25 years, and during this time has advised a wide variety of students. She currently specializes in international student advising, non-traditional student advising, and also assists with prelaw advising. She is originally from Ohio and has a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre from The Ohio State University. She enjoys working with students and helping them to achieve their academic and career goals. Some of her favorite things are travelling in the U.S. and internationally, hiking in the Wasatch mountains and Southern Utah, skiing, bird watching, photography, theatre, movies, and dinners and laughter with good friends. Copeland Johnston was born and reared in Southern California and is an alumnus of the University of Utah where he completed a BA in History. After completing his degree he moved to Illinois and enrolled in Seabury Western Theological Seminary where he earned a Masters of Divinity. His passion for theology and liturgy made him well-suited for ordained ministry, but his zeal for learning redirected him to higher education and ultimately to his current position at the University of Utah. He is presently a Bridge Advisor for the College of Humanities and the University College. Within the College of Humanities he is responsible for two burgeoning programs: Religious Studies and Peace & Conflict Studies. Other responsibilities of his include helping students complete the BA language requirement. Due to his theological background and training, Copeland has represented the University of Utah and the College of Humanities in print and television as an expert in Western Christianity. He has been interviewed on topics spanning from the election of Pope Francis to Christian customs. Copeland is also working in conjunction with the Program Director of Peace & Conflict Studies on future lectures involving legislative conflict and the LGBT community. Outside of work he spends most of his spare time with his family. He has performed in the Utah Opera Chorus for several seasons and is involved in local charities. Kira has over four years experience teaching, advising, and counseling students. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from the University of Utah in 2005. During her time on campus she worked with the Housing and Residential Education, University Tutoring Services, the CLEAR Program: Center for Engineering Leadership and the Utah Daily Chronicle. Since graduating from the University of Utah, Kira obtained a Master’s Degree in Communication Studies from the University of Montana, where she was also an instructor. Throughout her career, she has worked with a variety of women’s health non-profit organizations across the country. Kira brings a vast skill-set and knowledge of student services and advocacy work to her advising to keep quality student experiences as the focus of what the College of Fine Arts and the University College does best. Kira also sits on the board of directors for the National Women’s Health Network. In her free time, she frequently sets aside time to draw or paint and can often be found with a camera in hand. Mayumi is an advisor in the Preprofessional Advising office. She has a Bachelor's degree in International Studies and a Master’s degree in Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Utah. She is from Japan but has lived in Utah since 2004. She has two dogs and enjoys baking and traveling. I have lived in Hawaii on the island of Oahu for my entire life and decided to attend the University of Utah after high school. I have three older sisters, one older brother, and a mom and dad, all of whom inspire me to do my best. I am majoring in Accounting, hope to attain a Master's Degree, and hope to become a CPA. I enjoy sports, games, books, cooking, hanging out with friends, and watching TV and movies. I love the rain and mountains, which remind me of home Originally from Montana, Lena received her BS and MS in Psychological Science from Montana State University. She has served most recently as a general academic advisor at Montana State University in the Academic Advising Center and specialized in pre-medicine advising. She has coordinated an introductory psychology course, supervised graduate teaching assistants, and taught the first-year seminar for incoming students. Lena has also served as an academic counselor for TRiO – Student Support Services and coordinated a student retention initiative for the Office of the Provost. She currently coordinates the College of Fine Arts Sponsored Student Program and serves as a departmental advisor for Ballet, Film & Media Arts, and Modern Dance. She is grateful for the opportunity to continue working with students in higher education and is excited to collaborate with and assist students as they navigate the University of Utah. In her free time, Lena likes to be outdoors doing activities like running, hiking, and camping. She enjoys traveling, learning, and trying new things. Tammy joined the University College in 2014. She graduated from the University of Utah with a BS in Behavioral Science and Health as well as a BS in Psychology. She then went on to graduate with a Master in Public Administration. Tammy has held several positions throughout the University of Utah and has also been employed at the University of Utah Hospital and Clinics where she worked in the Pulmonary Lab as a Blood Gas Technician. When she is not working, Tammy enjoys rock climbing, camping, traveling, cheering on her favorite football teams (both college and professional),and learning new things every day. Before moving to Utah from Northern California, I had been involved in higher education since joined the Orientation Program at Humboldt State University in 2003 as an undergrad. I graduated from HSU in 2007, and after I graduated, I worked for a couple of years both in Admissions & Records and academic advising at College of the Redwoods. I then moved to Utah in 2009 to pursue graduate school in the Educational Leadership & Policy department at the U. I worked in the Office of Admissions for a few years as a Transfer Admissions Counselor before becoming an academic advisor in University College. I really like advising students because when I was in school, I struggled big-time academically. I enjoy helping students not make the same mistakes I did. Now that I know the tools to be a successful student, I can help students make it through school as smoothly as possible. I enjoy exploring Salt Lake City and all of the cool stuff it has to offer with my partner and puppy - things like the Clark Planetarium, the Natural History Museum of Utah, U of U football, and the local breweries, restaurants, farmer’s markets, and beautiful scenery. Shelley is from California, and has been involved with student and academic affairs since her freshman year on the north coast at Humboldt State University. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Geography and minored in both Communication and Leadership Studies. She eventually landed at the University of Utah to earn her M.Ed in Educational Leadership & Policy. Not being a native Utahan, she enjoys exploring the state with her wife and their dog to find out just what Utah has to offer. As of now, some of her favorites: Red Iguana, Sapa, X96’s Radio from Hell, U of U football games, downtown SLC Farmer’s Market, the Uintas, Bear Lake, the summer concerts at Red Butte Gardens, local museums and libraries, and the yummy local microbrews. Leslie is privileged to have worked as an Academic Advisor at University College since 1999. For years she has worked hard on behalf of her students to help ease their transition to college, understand how to navigate the University’s systems, and aid in the major exploration process while co-creating students unique plan to complete their degree. Through programs she has enacted and guided, she has also had the opportunity to work with wonderful colleagues across campus. Because of her passion for education, Leslie herself has sought out her own educational excellence. After obtaining her bachelor degrees in Political Science and Family Studies, she continued on to earn her M.Ed in Educational Leadership and Policy. From her undergraduate experiences in several student groups and her work as a Peer Advisor at University College she was intrigued by how universities function and sought to research questions regarding student preparation, transition and involvement in her post graduate work. These questions broadened as she pursued her Ph.D in Political Science. She is currently completing her dissertation which explores how higher education benefits societies as well as the individuals. Leslie, a New Jersey native, loves living in the Salt Lake Valley where she enjoys spending time exploring the beauty of Utah with her husband, kids, and dog. Julia joined the University College staff in August 2012. She graduated in August 2013 from the University of Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication and a minor in Leadership Studies. She loved working with students during her undergrad and is excited about working with students in her advising role. She is passionate especially about helping exploring students find opportunities and experiences to make their time at the U memorable. Julia was born and raised in Utah. She has adored her time at the University of Utah and loves sharing that passion with students. Julia is often seen at University of Utah athletic events cheering on her Utes. She loves baking, photography, spending time with family and friends, good books, travel and most of all her dog, Rosie. Terese has enjoyed working with students in academic advising and orientation at the University of Utah for over 15 years. As Director of the Transfer Center, she is committed to helping transfer students become successful members of the University of Utah community. Terese is an alumna of the U of U, receiving a BA in English and MA in Linguistics. She is married with two children and enjoys the arts, outdoor activities, travel and gardening. Quynh is an international student from Vietnam. She came to Utah in 2011. She got her Associate of Science in General studies at Salt Lake Community College in May 2013 and transferred to the University of Utah in August 2013. Quynh is passionate about helping other people. She likes to inspire and support others, provide information, connect people with critical resources and contacts. She is pursuing a bachelor degree in Health Promotion and Education and hopes to go to Occupational Therapy school in the future. Quynh hopes that her experience as an international student and a transfer student can help other scholars in their academic journey at the U. Sarah joined University College in 2009 and has enjoyed her time advising students here at the U. Sarah oversees the Curriculum for courses taught through University College. Sarah loves working with all different types of student but she really empathizes with undecided student since she herself struggled to choose a major. After switching from business information systems to interior design to liberal arts she finally acknowledged her passion for literature and earned a BA in English and Literary Studies from Utah State University in 2005. After feeling very deprived of the intellectual stimulation that one can only achieve while engaged in scholarly pursuits she returned to Utah State University and completed an MS in Literature and Writing in 2008. Sarah has taught academic writing and literature courses at USU, SLCC, and Westminster College before settling here at the U. Outside of her work with students she enjoys writing creative non-fiction, reading poetry, traveling, appreciating the arts, cooking and baking, and spending time with family. Brett grew up on a ranch in a small town in Montana before going on to graduate from Montana State University – Bozeman in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He later earned his Master of Science degree in Applied Psychology from MSU - Bozeman in 2009. Following his graduation, he taught Psychology and Mathematics at a tribal college on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation in central Montana for several years. During his time there he worked passionately with many non-traditional and first generation students to ensure that they would successfully graduate. With the goal of increasing native students’ access to science and mathematical careers, he ran an annual 6-week math program that was designed to move students from a pre-algebra skillset up to a level where they could successfully complete college calculus. In the fall of 2014, Brett joined the University College staff at the University of Utah as a bridge advisor in the College of Fine Arts. He looks forward every day, to helping students understand the intricacies and unwritten rules of attending higher education. He enjoys reading, watching movies, playing games, snowboarding, and spending time with his dog Captain. Richelle grew up in Midvale, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah with a BA in Classics, and later a MEd in Educational Leadership and Policy. Richelle held various positions at the University of Utah before joining University College in 2009. In her spare time, Richelle indulges her passion for comparative mythology, dabbles in various needle arts, and in the summer enjoys the outdoors. Jennifer joined University College in 2012 and has enjoyed her time advising students here at the U. She earned her Master’s in Educational Leadership & Policy from the University of Utah, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from Weber State University. Jennifer enjoys working with all different types of students but she really emphasizes the undecided, first year student. She herself had an amazing undergraduate experience and wants to assist students in designing an undergraduate experience that is as unique as they are. Jennifer attended Dixie State College, where she earned her associates degree before transferring to Weber State University. She took advantage of many extracurricular activities including community engagement, student government, and undergraduate research. Jennifer also enjoys yoga, swimming, photography, reading, and hiking in the beautiful Utah mountains. The rumors that Tamara is a rocket scientist are greatly exaggerated. However, as Tamara did her graduate research in planet formation, she can understand your confusion. Tamara has always had a fascination with how the world works. Her interest in physics began in highschool. As an undergraduate at Utah State University, Tamara's studies focused on nuclear and particle physics. Her senior thesis was about the solar neutrino problem. This problem was solved between 2001 and 2003 when SNO observed, and Super-K confirmed that the mixing angle of neutrinos was much greater than previous measurements indicated. This was about the time that Tamara began grad school at the University of Utah. In grad school, Tamara took an interest in fluid dynamics, which led to her graduate research in planet formation. Tamara earned a Master's of Science in physics, but did not complete her Ph.D. After her Bachelor's degree, but before grad school, Tamara taught science and math for several years in the public education system. After grad school, Tamara again taught science and math in the public education system. For the last year, Tamara has taught astronomy at SLCC. With Tamara's background in physics and education, academic advising for physics is a natural career change. Tamara loves being able to join her two passions, working with students and talking about physics. Tamara is also a bit of a gardener, a foodie, and a quilter. She has also recently picked up the unfortunate habit of doing yoga. Be careful about bringing up any of these topics. Jeff joined University College in January 2012. He has been tinkering with computers and related technology since he was a young child. His first computer was an Apple IIc, and although he got dysentery several times while trying to get to Oregon, he somehow survived into adulthood. When he was a teenager, the joy he got working with computers and technology turned into a full-blown passion. This might have something to do with his dial-up modem and computer crashing. He could only stare as his computer was blue-screened to death, and 28.8 kilobits of online social life were lost every second. Rather than give up, Jeff started tearing computers apart, until he had the components to make a new computer and get back into the game. Since that fateful day, Jeff has been hooked on all things tech. David has been with University College since March 1996. He supports the administrative and advising staff (and the University Academic Advising Committee) by monitoring budget resources, as well as generally helping to keep things running smoothly (which ranges from ensuring that everyone gets paid, to keeping enough colored paper in the supply closet). He also fills in at the front desk and occasionally assists students with specific inquiries. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in French (plus a Secretarial Certificate) from the University of Utah, and attended the University of Washington for one year. He also holds the Certified Administrative Professional rating conferred by the International Association of Administrative Professionals. Among the things he likes best are animals, french fries, languages, Vancouver Island, collecting stamps, and being with friends. Ginger was born and raised in Colorado, but she and her husband have lived in Utah since 2006. For nearly 15 years, Ginger has worked full-time in various industries, including medical billing, health insurance and banking. However, she has dreams of becoming a Wildlife Biologist and is now working towards an undergraduate degree in Biology from the U of U. Ginger is a nature enthusiast and enjoys studying birds, trees, and animals. Some of her hobbies include hiking, bird watching, stargazing, knitting, and sketching. She also loves traveling and spending time with family and friends. Ginger joined the staff of University College in October 2014. Josh joined University College in the fall of 2013. Because of the wide variety of majors to choose from on campus, he is currently an undeclared student - which means he is working in the perfect place! Besides University College, Josh works in a gym, is very physically active and teaches a Zumba Fitness Class there once a week. He also teaches at the U of U Student Life Center. Outside of work, he enjoys reading good books, singing, dancing, and long walks on the beach. Tammy joined University College on Friday the 13th of January, 2012. She loves working in this environment, especially to rub shoulders and to work with such great people at the University of Utah. Tammy is a Hoosier, hailing from Indiana originally but has lived in Utah for the last 24 years. She worked previously as a computer teacher in the Davis County School District and in the computer field for many years. She enjoys spending time with her family and loved ones, creating new things, learning, watching documentaries, exercising, meeting new people, and chocolate. She has 4 great kids and a German Shepherd named Scooby. Sheryl McCallister is the Executive Secretary for the PreProfessional Advising Office. She graduated from the U in 1988 with bachelor’s degrees in Theatre and English and her secondary teaching certificate. She taught high school, until one day she realized that she was fast depleting her two sizes too small lifetime supply of patience on all the nonsense high school teachers have to put up with outside their classroom and fled education for the much less misanthropy-causing world of corporate administrative assisting. In 2009, she returned home to the U and found herself working in the PPA Office, where she has found that her very small store of patience is rarely tried. She thinks she will stay awhile. Joy is new to the University College, but she has been an active part of the University's Parent Association for 5 years. She has two children attending the U. She currently lives in Sandy with her husband and this is her families' second time living in Utah. She was raised in California and has also lived in Illinois and Nebraska. The family returned to ski, hike and enjoy all Utah has to offer. Joy received her Degree from The University of California, Berkeley. She loves working with all people and hopes to help as many as possible navigate through the University. Grant was born in Utah, but grew up in Boston, MA. He joined our faculty in September of 2014, and is a current student at the University of Utah as well. Grant enjoys surfing, skiing, reading, fixing computers and walking his dog Pickles. Hoping to graduate with a CS degree in the next few year Grant aspires to live a long life involved with the creation of cutting edge technology. Student Services Building, Room 450 [MAP]	<urn:uuid:e181a99a-7d3f-4132-890a-2ff21ae1b904>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://advising.utah.edu/staff/	2015-03-31T09:39:35Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.981608	5,981
Los Angeles wants to bring fiber-based broadband to all of its residents and businesses and build a citywide Wi-Fi network at the same time. The best part for LA is that the buildout won't cost the city a dime. That's because LA is going to issue an RFP (request for proposal) asking vendors to build out the network themselves at an estimated cost of $3 billion to $5 billion. Despite the vendor bearing that cost, it would also be required to make the network open to any other service provider on a wholesale basis. Longtime watchers of the broadband industry say Los Angeles seems to be asking for the impossible. "My first reaction is 'I look forward to their RFP for a unicorn supplier, because I think it's about as likely under these terms,'" Harold Feld, senior VP of the technology-focused consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge, told Ars. There would be benefits to a winning bidder in LA's fiber bonanza, though. While the vendor would have to provide free Internet to everyone at the network's slowest speeds (potentially with ads to support the service), it could also charge a premium for everything up to gigabit lines and could sell TV and phone service to everyone in LA. Moreover, the winning bidder could get contracts to provide the city government with data center hosting and perhaps other IT services like e-mail. "I like to think of it as limited at this point only by your imagination," Los Angeles City Council member Bob Blumenfield, who came up with the idea, told Ars. Blumenfield wants city residents to have completely portable Internet connections, available both at home and on Wi-Fi hotspots wherever they go in Los Angeles. "While I may be getting five megabits as Joe on the street wanting to connect, if I'm a customer of the vendor then I have portability. I can get the same high speed access I would get in my home anywhere in Los Angeles," he said. The Wi-Fi component of the project would cost less than $100 million, he said. "When completed, Los Angeles would be the largest city in the United States with free universal access to wireless broadband," Blumenfield's office said in a press release. The problem is that the city needs to bring something to the table to make the construction costs worthwhile to the vendor, Feld said. "If there were a lot of municipal fiber in the ground already so you didn't have to pay to deploy the asset, and the issue was 'we're looking for a manager to take over management of existing urban fiber and turn that into an open system,' that would be one thing," Feld said. Los Angeles Information Technology Agency GM Steve Reneker told Ars, "The city is going into it and writing the agreement, basically saying, 'we have no additional funding for this effort.' We're requiring the vendors that respond to pay for the city resources needed to expedite any permitting and inspection associated with laying their fiber." Reneker further said the winning bidder would hopefully be able to provide not just fiber Internet but also cellular service and data center hosting. That potentially limits the field to AT&T and Verizon. "There are only two companies that could do that for both wireless and fiber, and neither one of them is going to take those terms," Feld said. We've asked AT&T and Verizon if they would bid on the project, but we didn't get an answer. The city previously considered a citywide Wi-Fi initiative in 2007, but a report completed by 2009 determined that it would be too expensive. “It’s kind of a mystery to me” Feld's views were echoed by Christopher Mitchell, director of the Telecommunications as Commons Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. "I was looking back over the LA thing to make sure I didn't miss anything. It's kind of a mystery to me," he said. "As I understand California law at this point, LA would be asking someone to do something that they could do now. LA doesn't appear to be giving them any specific inducement to do so. And a lot of providers, if they were going to do this they would just pick a part of LA and do it there. There's no reason they would choose to do it everywhere." The offer of a contract to provide data center hosting and other services to LA isn't enough to lure a vendor to build out the whole fiber network, Mitchell said. One more realistic, albeit slower, approach LA could take is to install fiber or conduit (essentially a placeholder that makes it easier to install fiber in the future) each time the city rips up the road for another project. "If you're already digging up the streets to fix the road or put in water pipes, the cost of adding conduit and/or fiber can be about 1 percent of that project cost, so it's incredibly affordable," Mitchell said. "Santa Monica has done this over a period of more than 10 years, and they've built a substantial network." Just how much fiber does Los Angeles have already? Blumenfield said it's not clear. "DWP [LA's Department of Water and Power] has a fair amount of fiber in the ground, some of the research institutions have fiber in the ground, the movie studios have some fiber. I don't know, frankly, if anybody has done a complete catalog of what's out there." Feld and Mitchell wondered if more details on LA's current fiber would be available once the RFP is issued, but it doesn't appear that this will be the case. "The opening RFP is going to be pretty broad; it's going to come out in the next couple of weeks," Blumenfield said. The initiative unanimously approved by the City Council this week instructed the tech department to "[d]evelop a City of Los Angeles Broadband Request for Proposal with a list of available assets and services that would entice a vendor to provide a build out of some level of free broadband service to all City residents while respecting the commercial carrier's basic levels of service and to not significantly influence carrier competition." "It's potentially a huge value proposition for them to be able to leverage the city's assets," Blumenfield said. Those assets include "light posts on every street that have power," providing a place to put Wi-Fi access points. The city would also make it easy for the vendor to get all the required permits, he said. Which companies does Blumenfield expect to place bids? "I would certainly expect AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner, some of the big tech companies. Maybe Google, maybe Microsoft. There would be partnerships between these different companies," he said. LA wouldn’t be the first, but it might be the biggest Citywide fiber rollouts have been achieved elsewhere in the US, if not in metro areas the size of LA. EPB, the community-owned electric utility in Chattanooga, Tennessee, started building a fiber network in 2008, served its first fiber Internet customers in 2009, and had the whole network done by 2011. Installing 8,000 miles of fiber optics cost about $97 million, EPB communications VP Danna Bailey told Ars. The Internet service, which has 60,000 customers out of a potential 170,000 homes and businesses, offers 100Mbps connections for $57.99 a month and gigabit connections for $69.99 a month. TV and phone service are offered as well. The network spans Chattanooga and the surrounding rural areas. It's already turning a profit. "It absolutely has paid for itself and is putting money back into our electric system as well," EPB Chief Operating Officer David Wade said. "This year our fiber communications portion of the company will probably put about $20 million back into our electric system." EPB modernized its electric system with 170,000 smart meters at the same time that it installed fiber. "I think we would have welcomed the incumbents to come into town and to have done some of this work, but frankly no one was interested in doing it," Bailey said. After the network launched, incumbents Comcast and AT&T finally started upgrading their services, EPB officials said. The project thus benefited nearly everyone, not just people who signed up for EPB Internet service. It would be easy to conclude that LA should follow a Chattanooga model, building out the network itself. Mitchell said that this would provide the city the advantage of having greater control over the quality of service for one of its most important assets. With 3.5 million residents, LA is very different from Chattanooga, however. The huge city may well be able to entice vendors to build something, if not something as ambitious as what the planned RFP proposes. For EPB's part, Bailey said, "we are very excited that LA is looking into building a fiber-to-the-home system." An “opening gambit?” We'll find out soon enough whether broadband companies will submit bids to LA. Mitchell speculated that LA's RFP is "an opening gambit to see how the industry responds." "I understand, big cities simply don't want to do something if they don't have to, and I think some big cities haven't understood they have to get involved to a greater extent," Mitchell said. Feld said the proposal seems more like LA is "laying out their priorities and agenda rather than a serious RFP." "The cities that have fiber have funded it themselves," he said. "The typical city experience, when they want to do a commercial fiber network and can't attract FiOS or something like that, is they put together a municipal corporation and fund it themselves through a bond offering or something. So the city becomes the ISP." A city could also contract with a vendor, but in those cases the vendor often gets exclusivity provisions that would be at odds with LA's desire for an open network available to any vendor that wants to provide services over the fiber. Blumenfield acknowledged that the city could ultimately opt for a compromise if it can't get everything it wants. "We could end up with some sort of hybrid, where you've got fiber in major sections, and then you've got coverage with Wi-Fi in other sections, and you could even have 4G coverage on some of the harder-to-capture sections," he said. "You could have some sort of a deal there where you cover everything." But as for details, there just aren't many yet. When asked to be more specific about what assets and incentives the city could offer a vendor, Blumenfield replied, "You're asking me to define these things and at this point I'm hesitating to define them, because at this point we're just really at the early phases. It's what you imagine it to be. We're issuing these RFPs to get people to think big and to bring forth proposals to the city of how they would partner with the city."	<urn:uuid:643ee3ae-1233-4ef1-beda-8db1f34af01e>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/11/skeptics-say-las-free-fiber-plan-as-plausible-as-finding-a-unicorn/?comments=1&post=25651527	2015-03-31T10:20:52Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.976584	2,274
Not Completely Worthless Reviewed by Barry R. Bickmore When Stephen Robinson and Craig Blomberg wrote How Wide the Divide? A Mormon and an Evangelical in Conversation, they covered a lot of ground and were obviously limited by space constraints. They didn't intend their book to be the end of fruitful discussion between evangelicals and Latter-day Saints but rather a beginning. Therefore, I do not have any particular problem with the idea of a group of evangelicals writing what they see as a more complete exposition of their point of view, in opposition to that of the Latter-day Saints. This is ostensibly the purpose of The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism—to respond to How Wide the Divide? by providing evidence for their faith and against the Latter-day Saint faith, in the process showing more clearly that Mormonism is really "another Gospel," not fit to be called Christian. If this is the goal of The Counterfeit Gospel of Mormonism, the chapter "Christ" by Ron Rhodes1 fails on a number of counts. For instance, Rhodes does not respond to Robinson's central argument, that behind mainstream Christianity's creedal formulations lie extrabiblical assumptions and definitions that appear to have been adopted from the Greek philosophical schools. More important, Rhodes seems to have uncritically accepted some of the worst anti-Mormon caricatures of Latter-day Saint doctrine and spends a good deal of his chapter knocking down these straw men. This is not to say Rhodes's argumentation is completely without merit. He does in fact bring up a few legitimate points that Blomberg does not. These deserve a response, no matter what his failings. In this review I intend to rebut Rhodes's most important arguments against the Latter-day Saint view of Christ and the Trinity and in the process clarify some aspects of the debate that he has not dealt with. A Framework for Interpretation It is a fundamental truth that nobody can interpret the Bible, or any other document, without supplying some set of assumptions and definitions external to the text. It just isn't possible. Consider this example from the New Testament: "Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven" (Acts 2:5 NIV). At Pentecost, were there really Jews visiting from every nation or just the ones in that part of the world? Even in our own language, these same terms can be ambiguous. If I were to say, "Everyone is here," would I necessarily mean everyone in the universe? One makes sense of such statements within an interpretive framework that lies outside the particular words used. Craig Blomberg appears to have recognized and readily admitted this in How Wide the Divide? (see p. 142). Stephen Robinson made some limited attempts to show that many of the assumptions and definitions that mainstream Christians use to arrive at their doctrines about Christ and the Trinity were adopted from the pagan Greek philosophical schools and could not have been part of the original Christian message. In turn, Craig Blomberg made an attempt to neutralize this charge. Space considerations did not allow for a complete discussion, but if Rhodes had bothered to look up the footnoted references in How Wide the Divide? he would have been able to gain a more complete understanding of this most important issue. That mainstream Christianity's doctrines are based on pagan philosophy is not a charge that can be passed by in silence because the Hellenization of Christian doctrine is a topic too well attested in the scholarly literature.2 Consider, for example, the following recent admission by a group of evangelical scholars: The view of God worked out in the early church, the "biblical-classical synthesis," has become so commonplace that even today most conservative theologians simply assume that it is the correct scriptural concept of God and thus that any other alleged biblical understanding of God . . . must be rejected. The classical view is so taken for granted that it functions as a preunderstanding that rules out certain interpretations of Scripture that do not "fit" with the conception of what is "appropriate" for God to be like, as derived from Greek metaphysics.3 I am not suggesting that these evangelicals are advocating a concept of God in all respects identical to ours. While they believe that "the early Fathers did not sell out to Hellenism, but they did, on certain key points, use it to both defend and explain the Christian concept of God to their contemporaries,"4 some evangelical scholars are beginning to realize the extent to which Greek metaphysics governs the boundaries of "acceptable" Christian theology and are attempting to unshackle themselves from its influence. Furthermore, they point out that people like Rhodes largely do not even recognize this influence at all—it is completely taken for granted. In order to expand the discussion begun by Blomberg and Robinson, I intend to supply a few concrete examples where Latter-day Saints believe mainstream Christians have adopted Greek philosophical tenets in place of Hebrew thought forms.5 These examples will provide a framework for the discussion of how Latter-day Saints and evangelicals come to widely different conclusions about the very same biblical passages. My first example is perhaps the most important: the kind of being God is. Is he a person with a body in human form, as the Latter-day Saints believe, or "a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, immutable, immense, eternally incomprehensible," as the Westminster Confession of Faith states?6 The Vatican Council further explains that God's being is "a unique spiritual substance by nature, absolutely simple and unchangeable, [and] must be declared distinct from the world in fact and by essence."7 These definitions of God go beyond anything in the Bible, but they happen to coincide nearly exactly with those taught by the ancient Greek philosophers. For instance, Xenophanes (570-475 B.C.) conceived of "God as thought, as presence, as all powerful efficacy." He is one God—incorporeal, "unborn, eternal, infinite, . . . not moving at all [and] beyond human imagination."8 Empedocles (ca. 444 B.C.) claimed that God "does not possess a head and limbs similar to those of humans. . . . [He is] a spirit, a holy and inexpressible one."9 This concept of God was adopted by Christians, starting in the mid-second century, in an attempt to make sense of their faith in light of the assumptions they inherited from their Hellenistic culture.10 Thus the Christian theologian Tertullian (ca. A.D. 200) could say, "The Father . . . is invisible and unapproachable, and placid, and (so to speak) the God of the philosophers."11 How did the Jews and Jewish Christians conceive of God before they moved out into the Hellenistic world? Christopher Stead, Ely Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Cambridge, writes that "The Hebrews . . . pictured the God whom they worshipped as having a body and mind like our own, though transcending humanity in the splendour of his appearance, in his power, his wisdom, and the constancy of his care for his creatures."12 In the early third century, the Christian theologian Origen argued against the Jewish and Jewish Christian belief in an anthropomorphic God, not by appealing to unanimous Christian tradition, but to the philosophers: "The Jews indeed, but also some of our people, supposed that God should be understood as a man, that is, adorned with human members and human appearance. But the philosophers despise these stories as fabulous and formed in the likeness of poetic fictions."13 Our evangelical friends interpret the anthropomorphic passages in the Bible allegorically, but Latter-day Saints see no compelling reason (apart from the assumptions of Greek philosophy) not to take Ezekiel quite literally when he says he saw "upon the throne, a form in human likeness" (Ezekiel 1:26 NEB). True, some passages describe God's "wings" or "feathers" (e.g., Psalm 91:4), and the like, but these are always given in a clearly metaphorical context. What, then, was Ezekiel's metaphor when he simply described what he saw? Our neighbors might object that the biblical God cannot have a body, for that would contradict John 4:24. This verse can be translated "God is a spirit" but in modern translations is usually rendered "God is Spirit." This passage is parallel to two others from John's writings, where it is said that "God is light" (1 John 1:5) and "God is love" (1 John 4:8). Read in context, these passages are not metaphysical statements about God's "being" but rather descriptions of God's activity with respect to men. Stead explains how the ancient Hebrews would have interpreted God's "spiritual" nature. "By saying that God is spiritual, we do not mean that he has no body . . . but rather that he is the source of a mysterious life-giving power and energy that animates the human body, and himself possesses this energy in the fullest measure."14 In fact, some of the ancients, like the Latter-day Saints, considered spirit itself to be material. Origen complained that some of these actually used John 4:24 to prove that God is material! "Fire and spirit, according to them, are to be regarded as nothing else than a body."15 In contrast, historian J. W. C. Wand (formerly the Anglican bishop of London) writes that the Hellenized Christians learned what it meant for God to be "a spirit" from the Neoplatonists: It is easy to see what influence this school of thought [i.e., Neoplatonism] must have had upon Christian leaders. It was from it that they learnt what was involved in a metaphysical sense by calling God a Spirit. They were also helped to free themselves from their primitive eschatology and to get rid of that crude anthropomorphism which made even Tertullian [A.D. 160-220] believe that God had a material body.16 Rhodes also objects that since God is said to be "omnipresent," the divine nature cannot be limited to a body (see pp. 104-5). Apparently Jesus' body is thought to be attached to the omnipresent divine nature as some sort of appendage. Again, Latter-day Saints do not take such passages as metaphysical statements about God's "being" but as indications that God's power and knowledge simultaneously extend to the farthest reaches of the universe (see D&C 88:6-13, 41). Apparently the ancient Jews and Jewish Christians agreed that God's body was not a limitation.17 The Greeks had a strong tendency to take statements about God in an extreme metaphysical—even mathematical—sense, whereas the Hebrews spoke in more relative terms. Consider Christopher Stead's statement about how the biblical authors spoke of God's immutability. The Old Testament writers sometimes speak of God as unchanging. . . . In Christian writers influenced by Greek philosophy this doctrine is developed in an absolute metaphysical sense. Hebrew writers are more concrete, and their thinking includes two main points: (1) God has the dignity appropriate to old age, but without its disabilities . . . ; and (2) God is faithful to his covenant promises, even though men break theirs.18 (cf. Isaiah 40:28; Exodus 34:9-10) What about all those statements about God's "eternity"? While mainstream Christian theologians, influenced by Greek philosophy, take this in an absolute sense, the biblical writers once again spoke in a more relative sense. For example, God is described as "from everlasting to everlasting" (Psalm 41:13 NEB), but the Hebrew word for "everlasting" is cÃ´lam, which literally means "(practically) eternity," "time out of mind," or "forever," expressing the concept of a really, really long time.19 In any number of examples from the Bible, such superlative terms are obviously used in a limited, relative sense. For instance, Exodus 31:16 says, "The Israelites shall keep the sabbath, they shall keep it in every generation as a covenant for ever" (NEB). Perhaps recognizing the ambiguity in the Hebrew terms used, the evangelical translators of the New International Version (NIV) render the passage, "The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant" (Exodus 31:16-17). So is it "every generation" or "the generations to come"? Were the Israelites to keep this covenant "for ever," or was it just a "lasting covenant"? Incidentally, the salient Hebrew word in this verse is the familiar cÃ´lam, the very word the Bible uses to describe God's eternity. If it weren't for such linguistic ambiguities, Leviticus 16:34 might be especially troubling. "This shall become a rule binding on you for all time, to make for the Israelites once a year the expiation required by all their sins" (NEB). Of course, the NIV translates cÃ´lam here so as to make it a "lasting rule" rather than a "rule . . . for all time" or an "everlasting statute" (KJV). As we can see, the philosophical framework within which Latter-day Saints interpret the scriptural passages describing the attributes of God is widely different from the one used by most mainstream theologians. In addition, a good case can be made to show that the LDS framework is very much like that of the ancient Hebrews and Jewish Christians. And yet, time and time again we will see that Rhodes, like most anti-Mormon writers, seeks to establish some contradiction between the scriptures and LDS doctrine by interpreting scriptural passages within his framework of ideas without taking into account that of the Latter-day Saints or even the biblical writers. In the following responses to his specific criticisms, I will expose this faulty methodology. "The Only Begotten Son" Rhodes's first target is the LDS view of the virgin birth, and here he shows not only a lack of understanding with respect to the LDS interpretive backdrop but also a willingness to twist the words of his LDS sources to make them sound offensive to evangelical ears. In order to justify his assertion that Latter-day Saints believe Jesus "was begotten through sexual relations between a flesh-and-bone Heavenly Father and Mary" (p. 121), he quotes several unofficial statements of LDS leaders, justifying himself by showing that Latter-day Saints consider the words of the living prophets as scripture—despite the distinctly antifundamentalist view of scripture held by the Latter-day Saints.20 In any case, even while expanding the field of sources for "official" LDS doctrine, Rhodes can't seem to provide any compelling evidence to make his case. What he does provide is a long series of statements by LDS leaders to the effect that Jesus is the literal, biological Son of the Father in the flesh. But this is simply a by-product of our understanding of God the Father as an anthropomorphic being with a flesh-and-bone body (the Father was the source of Jesus' Y chromosome) and says nothing about the mechanics of conception. For instance, Rhodes quotes Bruce R. McConkie and James E. Talmage to this effect, but what did they actually say about the mechanics of Jesus' conception? Talmage says he was begotten "not in violation of natural law but in accordance with a higher manifestation thereof."21 McConkie says: How and by what means and through whose instrumentality does such a conception come? . . . . . . When God is involved, he uses his minister, the Holy Ghost, to overshadow the future mother and to carry her away in the Spirit. She shall conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and God himself shall be the sire. . . . A son is begotten by a father: whether on earth or in heaven it is the same.22 These descriptions do not go beyond what the scriptures affirm, no matter what seamy innuendos Rhodes wants to pull out of them.23 He seems puzzled (see pp. 122-23) by McConkie's statement that "Our Lord is the only mortal person ever born to a virgin, because he is the only person who ever had an immortal Father."24 But then, if a resurrected, exalted man can transport himself through solid walls and leave them intact (see Luke 24:36-40), I see no reason why Jesus' conception could not have left Mary truly still a "virgin." Thus, President Ezra Taft Benson could say both that "Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense"25 and that "his mortal mother, Mary, was called a virgin, both before and after she gave birth. (See 1 Nephi 11:20.)"26 I do not pretend to know (as Rhodes does) what anyone's private speculations about the particular mode of conception might have been. However, Latter-day Saints have generally been content not to publicly speculate about such unimportant topics, and we see attempts like Rhodes's to "fill in the blanks" for us as rather silly. (Incidentally, we would also see attempts to definitively explain how Jesus transported himself through a solid wall without specific revelation on the subject as silly.) This discussion of Jesus' conception brings up the important question of how Jesus is uniquely the "Son of God." Mormons equate Jesus' unique Sonship with his incarnation. That is, he is the only son of God with respect to the flesh (see Mosiah 15:3), but one of many children of God with respect to his spirit (see Abraham 3:22-25). In addition, he was uniquely the Son of God even before his incarnation because he "was foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Peter 1:20; cf. Ether 3:14; How Wide the Divide? 136) to his calling. Thus, while Latter-day Saints connect Jesus' unique Sonship with the incarnation, we believe it is proper to refer to him as the "Only Begotten" even in the premortal existence. Mainstream Christians, on the other hand, believe that Jesus has always existed as the Son within the Trinity, "eternally generated" from the Father,27 and they do not specifically connect Jesus' unique Sonship to the incarnation. Rhodes uses several scriptures (Hebrews 1:2; Colossians 1:13-14, 17; and John 8:54-58) to conclude that Jesus existed as "the Son of God" before the incarnation (p. 125). As we have seen, he is missing the point. Likewise, when he trots out passages from the Book of Mormon (such as 2 Nephi 27:23; 29:7, 9; Mosiah 3:5, 8) in support of the eternal nature of Jesus Christ as God, he simply ignores the LDS (and ancient Hebrew) usage of words like eternity. He also expends a great deal of effort showing that Greek terms such as firstborn and Only-Begotten don't necessarily require the interpretation the Latter-day Saints give them (see pp. 124–27), but he does not acknowledge Stephen Robinson's demonstration (see How Wide the Divide? 138-39) that the LDS view reflects a legitimate interpretation of such words. One argument Rhodes uses is the following: Many Mormons, including Stephen Robinson, appeal to Psalm 2:7 in an attempt to prove that Jesus was begotten of the Father. However, Acts 13:33, 34 makes such a view impossible, for this passage teaches that Jesus' resurrection from the dead by the Father is a fulfillment of the statement in Psalm 2:7, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." (p. 124) This is a legitimate point if the object is to establish that begotten was sometimes used in a more symbolic sense. However, I fail to grasp why this passage would be any more troubling for Latter-day Saints than for evangelicals, who believe Jesus is "eternally begotten." The resurrection of Jesus represents the complete fulfillment of his incarnation, so this passage fits very well with the LDS understanding indeed. In fact, the LDS interpretation receives significant historical support. For example, J. N. D. Kelly, commenting on a passage from Ignatius of Antioch (ca. A.D. 110, reputed to have been a disciple of John), says this: "His divine Sonship dates from the incarnation. . . . In tracing His divine Sonship to His conception in Mary's womb, he was simply reproducing a commonplace of pre-Origenist theology; the idea did not convey, and was not intended to convey, any denial of His pre-existence."28 Jesus as Creator Rhodes's strongest argument against the LDS view that Jesus is one of a number of spirit children of God is his use of Colossians 1:16-17: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist." Rhodes comments, "The words 'thrones,' 'dominions,' 'principalities,' and 'powers' were words used by rabbinical Jews in biblical times to describe different orders of angels (see Romans 8:38; Ephesians 1:21; 3:10; 6:12; Colossians 2:10, 15)" (p. 127). Thus if Jesus created the angels, he couldn't possibly be their "spirit brother." I can certainly see how one might read the passage in this way, but in fact its meaning is not so cut-and-dried. For instance, Romans 8:38 actually separates "angels" from "principalities and powers," and thus seems to militate against Rhodes's argument for the rabbinical interpretation: "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come . . ." Other passages are ambiguous in meaning (see Colossians 2:10, 15; Ephesians 1:21), while some Rhodes fails to mention specifically speak of the "principalities and powers" of this world (see Luke 12:11; Romans 13:1; Ephesians 6:12; and Titus 3:1). Furthermore, the very passage in question seems not to include spirits among Christ's creations. Paul goes on in Colossians 1:20-21, "And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled." Does Paul here include Satan and his angels when he says Christ has reconciled "all things" in heaven and earth to himself? I think not. Again, Paul does not even seem to include the spirits of men among the "all things" Christ created, since he sets them apart by saying, "And you . . .," referring of course to believing Christians. He couldn't have included unbelievers in the "reconciliation"; otherwise, he wouldn't have qualified the prospects of reconciliation for his audience: "If ye continue in the faith . . ." (Colossians 1:23). Let us also consider our interpretation and Rhodes's argument within the broader context: the nature of creation. According to the earliest Jewish and Christian belief, God doesn't "create" out of nothing. In his 1990 presidential address to the British Association for Jewish Studies, Peter Hayman asserted the following: Nearly all recent studies on the origin of the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo have come to the conclusion that this doctrine is not native to Judaism, is nowhere attested in the Hebrew Bible, and probably arose in Christianity in the second century C.E. in the course of its fierce battle with Gnosticism. The one scholar who continues to maintain that the doctrine is native to Judaism, namely Jonathan Goldstein, thinks that it first appears at the end of the first century C.E., but has recently conceded the weakness of his position in the course of debate with David Winston.29 Gerhard May has convincingly shown that where these early texts say God created out of "nothing" or "non-being," etc., they were using a common ancient idiom to say that "something new, something that was not there before, comes into being; whether this something new comes through a change in something that was already there, or whether it is something absolutely new, is beside the question."30 For instance, the Greek writer Xenophon wrote that parents "bring forth their children out of non-being."31 Philo of Alexandria wrote that Moses and Plato were in agreement in accepting a preexistent material, but also that God brings things "out of nothing into being" or "out of non-being."32 Therefore, in view of this common usage and the many explicit statements by ancient authors regarding preexistent matter, we must rule out a belief in creatio ex nihilo unless such a belief is explicitly stated. We do not find such explicit statements anywhere until the mid-second century with the Gnostic teacher Basilides and later the Christian apologists Tatian and Theophilus of Antioch.33 Clearly, when Paul said that Christ created "all things," the apostle did so in a sense limited by his underlying interpretive framework. Likewise, the Latter-day Saints often say Christ created "all things" but limit this statement to the material universe. The Divine Names Four names or titles are commonly used to denote God in the Old Testament: El ("God"), Elohim ("God" or "gods"), Elyon ("Most High"), and Yahweh (equivalent to "Jehovah").34 Most mainline Christians see all these designations as referring to one divine being. However, Latter-day Saint usage is much more complicated. On one hand, the divine names can refer to specific persons; for example, El or Elohim usually refers to the Father, and Yahweh usually refers to the Son. On the other hand, they have also been used as titles in reference to more than one divine person. Both the Father and the Son have been called "Jehovah" (D&C 109:34, 42, 68; 110:3). For instance, Joseph Smith said, "Let us plead the justice of our cause; trusting in the arm of Jehovah, the Eloheim, who sits enthroned in the heavens."35 The Latter-day Saints believe that the Bible passages that link Yahweh with Elohim or Elyon (see, for example, Isaiah 43:12-13; 45:21-22) refer to a "divine investiture of authority"; there the Son is allowed to speak in the first person as the Father.36 Thus where Moses says, "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4), Latter-day Saints see the phrase as an expression of the perfect unity of the Godhead. Rhodes apparently does not understand the nuances of LDS use of these terms and lists a series of Bible passages in which Jehovah and Elohim are equated. "The Mormon doctrine can easily be debunked by verses in the Bible which demonstrate that Elohim and Jehovah are one and the same God" (p. 129). But consider the following passage found in both the Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint versions of Deuteronomy: "When the Most High parcelled out the nations, when he dispersed all mankind, he laid down the boundaries of every people according to the number of the sons of God; but the Lord's [Yahweh's] share was his own people, Jacob was his allotted portion" (Deuteronomy 32:8-9 NEB).37 Based on this and other passages, some Bible scholars now conclude that the Israelites originally believed El to be the high God and Yahweh to be the chief among the "sons of El"—the second God and chief archangel who had special responsibility for Israel.38 Certainly belief in two Gods is a debated point and beyond the scope of this review, but it is beyond debate that this was a standard early Christian interpretation of the passage. As late as the fourth century, the great historian and bishop Eusebius of Caesarea could write, "In these words [Deuteronomy 32:8] surely he names first the Most High God, the Supreme God of the Universe, and then as Lord His Word, Whom we call Lord in the second degree after the God of the Universe."39 A similar interpretation of these verses is found in the Jewish Christian Clementine Recognitions, in which Peter says, "But to the one among the archangels who is greatest, was committed the government of those who, before all others, received the worship and knowledge of the Most High God. . . . Thus the princes of the several nations are called gods. But Christ is God of princes, who is Judge of all."40 Indeed, according to Margaret Barker, in a number of Jewish Apocalyptic texts there are actually two Yahwehs. Both the High God and principal angel are so designated.41 Clearly the LDS use of the divine names is complicated, so it is perhaps comprehensible that Ron Rhodes would misunderstand. However, it is equally clear that the LDS use has unambiguous precedents in ancient Jewish and Christian writings. The Oneness of the Godhead One feature of the New Testament all Christians must come to terms with is that in some passages the Father is represented as "the only true God" (John 17:3), while in others the Son and Holy Spirit are also called "God" (John 1:1; 14:26; Acts 13:2). How can this apparent contradiction be resolved? We can readily see that two disparate definitions of God must lead to different conclusions regarding this question. In harmony with their definition of God as an indivisible, eternal, unchanging spiritual "essence," mainstream Christians like Rhodes say that the members of the Trinity are separate "persons" who share a single "Divine Being." All three persons have always existed in the same relationship to one another, and no hierarchy exists within the Trinity. That is, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit do not differ in rank or glory. On the other hand, Latter-day Saints believe the members of the Godhead are separate beings, and so in a sense we believe in more than one God. However, Latter-day Saints also speak of "one God" in two senses. First, the Godhead is "one" in will, purpose, love, and covenant. Second, the Father is the absolute monarch of the known Universe, and all others are subject to him. Rhodes disputes the LDS view of the divine unity in two ways. First, he disputes the subordinationist interpretation we apply to John 14:28, where Jesus says, "My Father is greater than I." Rhodes comments, In response, we must point out that Jesus in John 14:28 is not speaking about His nature or His essential being (Christ had earlier said "I and the Father are one" in this regard—John 10:30), but is rather speaking of His lowly position in the incarnation. Simply put, Christ is "equal" to the Father in regard to His Godhood but "inferior" to the Father in regard to His manhood. . . . During the time of the incarnation, Jesus functioned in the world of humanity, and this of necessity involved Jesus being positionally lower than the Father. (pp. 130-31) Furthermore, he adds that while the Father is said to be "greater" than Jesus, Jesus is said to be "better" than the angels (Hebrews 1:4), underscoring the idea that Jesus is "positionally" subordinate to the Father, but "by nature" above the angels (p. 131). Certainly Rhodes reads quite a lot into the terms greater and better, but, more important, he again appears to misunderstand, or at least misapply, the nuances of LDS theology. In our system, to say that Jesus is subordinate to the Father in rank and glory implies absolutely nothing about his "essential nature." Mormons see gods, angels, and men as having the same "essential nature," as Rhodes appears to realize (p. 120). Since we do not equate "God" with some indivisible, eternally unchanging spirit essence, it makes perfect sense to call more than one person "God" and consider them to differ in rank and glory. And in fact, the pre-Nicene church (excluding the Modalist heretics) universally held this view, even after the Greek concept of God was adopted. Kelly of Oxford University notes that even at the Council of Nicea, the majority party believed "that there are three divine hypostases [or persons], separate in rank and glory but united in harmony of will."42 Richard Hansen writes, "Indeed, until Athanasius began writing, every single theologian, East and West, had postulated some form of Subordinationism. It could, about the year 300, have been described as a fixed part of catholic theology."43 Henry Bettenson writes that "'Subordinationism' . . . was pre-Nicene orthodoxy."44 This doctrine took various forms, depending on the particular concept of God involved. Within Jewish Christianity, where God was often conceived of as having a body in human form, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were described both as gods, worthy of worship, and the chief among the archangels.45 (For instance, see the passage from the Clementine Recognitions quoted above.) While Latter-day Saints generally do not refer to the Son and Spirit as "angels," such a designation is consistent with our belief that Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and all angels and men are "sons of God" (Job 38:7), differing in degree and power, but not in essential nature. An early second-century Jewish Christian document, the Shepherd of Hermas, speaks of "the angel of the prophetic Spirit"46 and of Jesus as the "'glorious . . . angel' or 'most venerable . . . angel.'"47 Justin Martyr (ca. A.D. 150) wrote that Jesus is "another God [Gk deuteros theos = 'second God'] subject to the Maker of all things . . . who is . . . distinct from Him who made all things—numerically, I mean, not [distinct] in will."48 He designated the Son as "this power which the prophetic word calls God . . . and Angel"49 and followed in the same vein: "We reverence and worship Him and the Son who came forth from Him and taught us these things, and the host of other good angels who are about Him and are made quite like Him, and the Prophetic Spirit."50 Justin Martyr also maintained that the Son is "in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third."51 Many other examples could be cited, but it is important to note that this "angel Christology" was not some aberration but was derived from various Bible passages that refer to "the Angel of Yahweh," who is in fact Yahweh himself.52 For example, in Judges 13 the "angel of Yahweh" appears to Manoah and his wife. When he disappears, Manoah says, "We are doomed to die, we have seen God" (Judges 13:22 NEB). Even more interesting is the frequency with which Yahweh and the two angels who appeared to Abraham (see Genesis 18–19) are called "men."53 Rhodes also objects to the LDS understanding of the divine unity on the basis of his idiosyncratic interpretation of the "oneness" passages in John's Gospel (see pp. 132-33). He asserts that John's claim that Jesus and the Father are "one" (John 10:30-33; 17:21-24) clearly means a oneness of nature: the Jews were prepared to stone Jesus for saying this because he was "claiming to be God" (p. 132). "But the context of John 17:21—where Jesus prayed that the disciples may be one 'just as you [Father] are in me and I am in you'—is entirely different. In this context, the Greek word for 'one' refers to unity among people in the midst of their diversity" (p. 133, emphasis and brackets in original). On the contrary, Jesus' statement that the oneness of his disciples was ideally to be "just as you [Father] are in me and I am in you" is the only clear comparison of anything in the Bible with the divine unity. The "context" in which we are supposed to understand the ideal unity of Jesus' disciples is directly supplied by Jesus. It is the divine unity itself! Rhodes's discussion of Matthew 28:19 is equally mistaken. Is it really so significant that Jesus is said to baptize in "the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit" (NEB)? Does the fact that the Godhead is referred to as having a single "name" really mean they are a single being? Equating oneness of name with oneness of being overlooks the common ancient and modern usage where someone's "name" is equated with his or her "authority." Someone could say, "I come in the name of the King," just as Jesus said, "I am come in my Father's name" (John 5:43). So also, Christ's ministers baptize by the authority of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which is a single authority and power. If nothing else, it should be clear that the LDS interpretation of the divine unity is quite possible, given the information in the Bible, and in fact this interpretation receives significantly more historical support from the earliest Christian documents than does the alternative Rhodes supports. The "Two Natures" of Christ The foregoing discussion of the "nature" of Christ relative to God, angels, and men brings up another of Rhodes's objections. He complains: Stephen Robinson in the book How Wide the Divide? [p. 83] makes reference to the "unbiblical doctrine of the two natures in Christ, which was added to historic Christianity by the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451." While the Chalcedon Creed does teach the doctrine of the two natures of Christ, this creed does not constitute the origin of the doctrine. Contrary to Mormons, this doctrine is not something that is foreign to Scripture; it is derived directly from its pages. (p. 134, emphasis in original) He goes on to argue that "Throughout Scripture we find constant witness to the fact that the incarnate Christ possessed both a human and a divine nature" (p. 134). Here he apparently misunderstands what Robinson was asserting and uses this distorted interpretation to perpetuate the falsehood that Mormons do not think of Christ as truly divine. Of course, the Council of Chalcedon wasn't the origin of the doctrine of two natures—the councils did not bring doctrines into existence ex nihilo. The doctrine of two natures was that Jesus' divine nature is the omnipresent "spirit essence" the Hellenized Christians defined as God, and since this essence is "without body, parts, or passions," it cannot have been the part of Jesus that underwent suffering, emotion, and death. Thus Jesus must have possessed a human body and soul in addition to his divine nature. The original doctrine, on the other hand, was what Kelly discusses as a spirit Christology.54 That is, the Word entered a human body, just as other men's spirits do. As Ignatius of Antioch (ca. A.D. 110) put it, "God the Word did dwell in a human body, being within it as the Word, even as the soul also is in the body."55 Clearly the original formulation could not last once the Hellenistic view of God was universally adopted. Evangelical scholar John Sanders explains how the change was accomplished: In the East the Cappadocian fathers (Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus) [late fourth century] helped to shape the orthodox belief on the incarnation. They agreed with the Arians that the divine nature was impassible, immutable, illimitable and transcended all characteristics. However, using the newly developed doctrine of the two natures of Christ (human and divine), they were able to rebut the charge that the suffering of Christ implied that the Son was not of the same substance as the Father. The Son, sharing the divine substance, was incapable of change. Since Jesus is both the Son of God and human, and since only the human nature of Christ underwent change, it could be argued that the Son was fully God. This became the orthodox answer to the Arian challenge.56 The Atonement of Jesus Christ Rhodes's final significant attack on LDS doctrine is a travesty. He actually contends that Latter-day Saints believe Jesus atoned only for the effects of Adam's transgression but not for our personal sins (see pp. 135-36). An exchange of several e-mails with Ron Rhodes57 did not clarify matters, and he still claims, "Having read many Mormon resources, I believe that what is in our book is an accurate representation and summary of Mormon belief on the atonement." He supports his contention by appealing to a few passages from LDS literature which say that because of Christ's atonement, we are only responsible for our own sins and not Adam's. For instance, Rhodes quotes (see p. 135) LeGrand Richards, who says that Jesus "atoned for Adam's sin, leaving us responsible only for our own sins."58 But doesn't Rhodes believe we are responsible for our personal sins? Otherwise, why do countercultists such as Rhodes spend so much of their time and effort announcing that everyone else is going to hell? In addition, mainstream Christians have traditionally believed that we are all responsible for Adam's sin as well, so I fail to see how the LDS view denies the efficacy of the atonement. The truth is that both evangelicals and Mormons believe we are responsible for our personal sins but that through the atonement of Christ, we can be cleansed from sin (see 2 Nephi 25:23; Omni 1:26; Mosiah 3:11; 13:28; 16:13; Alma 22:14; 24:13; 33:22; 34:8, 10-12; 36:17; 42:15; Moroni 7:26, 38; 10:26; D&C 3:20; 18:22-23; 20:29; 29:1; and Articles of Faith 3-4). This cleansing is conditioned upon individual faith, although evangelicals and Mormons may have some disagreements over what true faith entails. How could Rhodes make such a palpably false claim? He writes, "The official Gospel Principles manual tells us that Jesus 'became our savior and he did his part to help us return to our heavenly home. It is now up to each of us to do our part and to become worthy of exaltation'" (p. 135). And yet, if Rhodes had bothered to flip through chapter 12, "The Atonement," in the same book, he might have noticed section headings like "Christ Was the Only One Who Could Atone for Our Sins" and "The Atonement Makes It Possible for Those Who Repent to Be Saved from Their Sins." Daniel Peterson recently exposed an obvious instance of plagiarism by Ron Rhodes and Marian Bodine,59 so I decided to spot-check a few of Rhodes's LDS sources that I happened to have on my bookshelf. While I found no obvious evidence of plagiarism in my check, I did find clear evidence that Rhodes lifted some of his quotations from other secondary anti-LDS writings without bothering to consult the original sources for accuracy or even to cite his secondary sources.60 For instance, he twice (supposedly) quotes Doctrine and Covenants 93:21-23 in the following manner. "Christ, the Firstborn, was the mightiest of all the spirit children of the Father" (p. 120). A few pages later, he again claims to be quoting those verses: "the mightiest of all the spirit children of the Father" (p. 125). While he has perhaps given an adequate paraphrase of those verses, he has not even come close to a direct quotation. The same phenomenon appears in his supposed quotation of a passage from page 193 of Bruce R. McConkie's Mormon Doctrine (1966 ed.). "The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind" (p. 120). Now, on page 193 of Mormon Doctrine we do indeed find part of an article on "the Devil," and Rhodes's "quotation" is actually a reasonable paraphrase of some of the information there. However, it is not a quotation of anything on that page, nor even in the same article, and in fact comes from a book by Milton R. Hunter.61 Similarly, he quotes (see p. 123) Bruce R. McConkie: "Our Lord is the only mortal person ever born to a virgin, because he is the only person who ever had an immortal Father" and cites page 745 of Mormon Doctrine (1966 ed.). While there is an article on "Sons of God" on that page, the quotation actually comes from the "Virgin Birth" article on page 822. I could add other examples,62 but what makes Rhodes's carelessness even more baffling is that in at least one instance (see p. 122) he cites a secondary, anti-Mormon book for a quotation of an obscure LDS source, a comment by Brigham Young in an 1866 edition of the Deseret News. But the above examples are taken from sources one would find in any LDS bookstore, LDS bookshelf, or even in most public libraries! Are we to believe that Rhodes, a professional critic of the church, does not even have a copy of the Doctrine and Covenants on his bookshelf? If not, he could have looked up a copy on the Internet. And yet, in an e-mail to me Rhodes adamantly claimed, "Of course I read Robinson's book and the other sources mentioned in our book." To clarify, what bothers me so much about Rhodes's research is not that he lifted quotations from secondary sources without attribution. My problem is that those secondary sources were apparently unreliable and have given Ron Rhodes a distorted view of LDS belief. And although he may have personally consulted reliable sources—for example, the Gospel Principles manual—he evidently did so only in search of quotations to support his distorted views. Otherwise, why would Rhodes have quoted Gospel Principles in his section on "The Atonement of Jesus Christ" to support a point that directly contradicts the chapter called "The Atonement" in the same book? The foregoing discussion illustrates why anti-Mormon writers like Rhodes have never gained, and will never gain, a significant audience among the Latter-day Saints. He criticizes before trying to understand and in fact makes it abundantly clear that he does not understand what he criticizes. His methods are so careless that it takes only ten minutes of flipping through readily available books to expose them. He reproduces many of the same arguments that have been answered over and over by the Latter-day Saints and acts as if there can be no counterarguments. In short, he thinks we are so amazingly dense as to believe in a system of theology that can be brought tumbling down by a few biblical proof texts and quotations lifted from other such countercult literary gems. This also serves to illustrate why Latter-day Saints have received How Wide the Divide? so well. It is not that we all agree with everything Stephen Robinson said or that we think he "won" the debate with Craig Blomberg. We have simply been starving for some resource that can serve as a catalyst for meaningful conversations with our evangelical neighbors. We are tired of having to clear up dozens of bizarre misconceptions (like Rhodes's version of the LDS atonement) at the outset of every single conversation with these people. In addition, I believe the book has done quite a bit to clear up several misconceptions Mormons typically have about evangelicals. As I stated in my introduction, Rhodes's chapter does have some redeeming features in that he produces a few cogent arguments for the evangelical position that were not stated by Craig Blomberg. Therefore, although not very useful for the Latter-day Saint, this work is not completely worthless. 1.According to his Web page, home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/RonRhodes.html, Rhodes is the president of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries and an adjunct professor of theology at Biola University, Southern Evangelical Seminary, and Golden Gate Seminary. He has a Th.D. in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and has been an associate editor of the Christian Research Journal. 2. See, for example, Edwin Hatch, The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church (1914; reprint, Gloucester, Mass.: Smith, 1970); Jean Daniélou, The Theology of Jewish Christianity, trans. John A. Baker (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1964); Jean Daniélou, Gospel Message and Hellenistic Culture, trans. John A. Baker (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1973); Adolf von Harnack, History of Dogma, trans. Neil Buchanan, 7 vols. (New York: Dover, 1961); Harry A. Wolfson, The Philosophy of the Church Fathers, vol. 1, rev. 3rd ed. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1970); James Shiel, Greek Thought and the Rise of Christianity (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1968); Christopher Stead, Philosophy in Christian Antiquity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994). 3. John Sanders, "Historical Considerations," in Clark Pinnock, Richard Rice, John Sanders, William Hasker, and David Basinger, The Openness of God: A Biblical Challenge to the Traditional Understanding of God (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 1994), 60. 5. For recent discussions of this phenomenon from an LDS perspective, see Barry R. Bickmore, Restoring the Ancient Church: Joseph Smith and Early Christianity (Ben Lomond, Calif.: Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research, 1999); Richard R. Hopkins, How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God (Bountiful, Utah: Horizon, 1998). 10. For instance, Sanders, "Historical Considerations," 72, writes, "Despite different attitudes taken by the fathers toward philosophy, the influence of Greek philosophical notions of God is universal, even among those who 'repudiate' philosophy." 17. See the following from Jewish Christian documents: Clementine Homilies 16.19 and 17.7, in ANF, 8:316, 319-20; Apocalypse of Abraham 19, in H. F. D. Sparks, The Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford: Clarendon, 1984), 382. 20. Rhodes quotes Brigham Young (see p. 119), saying that any of his sermons are as good as any scripture in the Bible. However, he fails to recognize that Latter-day Saints have an extremely broad view of "scripture." For instance, Doctrine and Covenants 68:4 says in relation to any priesthood holder, "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture." In fact, in our view even our canonized scriptures are not free from the "mistakes of men" (see the title page of the Book of Mormon). Especially relevant is the following comment by Brigham Young: "I am so far from believing that any government upon this earth has constitutions and laws that are perfect, that I do not even believe that there is a single revelation, among the many God has given to the Church, that is perfect in its fulness. The revelations of God contain correct doctrine and principle, so far as they go; but it is impossible for the poor, weak, low, grovelling, sinful inhabitants of the earth to receive a revelation from the Almighty in all its perfections." Journal of Discourses, 2:314. In fact, one of the passages Rhodes quotes is the following, excluding the last sentence: "I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men, that they may not call Scripture. Let me have the privilege of correcting a sermon, and it is as good Scripture as they deserve." Journal of Discourses, 13:95. Clearly President Young did not mean that his sermons were "inerrant" in the fundamentalist sense. Therefore, although we believe the inspired words of our prophets are "scripture," we do not believe that all "scripture" is inerrant or that everything our leaders say is perfectly inspired. This is why we have a process of canonization in place to distinguish official doctrine and practice from what is not. The church as a body recognizes what is spoken by inspiration when we are "moved upon by the Holy Ghost" ourselves, and we canonize the most important and universally applicable of these statements. For an excellent discussion of this principle, see J. Reuben Clark Jr., "When Are Church Leaders' Words Entitled to Claim of Scripture?" in Brent L. Top, Larry E. Dahl, and Walter D. Bowen, Follow the Living Prophets (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1993), 225-42. Personally, I see no problem with critics of the church critiquing unofficial statements of LDS leaders. However, they cannot expect to get away with passing them off as something that they are not and that we never claimed them to be. 23. Rhodes also quotes Orson Pratt and Brigham Young, who say that the Father must have been married to Mary at the time of Jesus' conception (pp. 121-22). Certainly these are more suggestive (and speculative) than any of the other quotations Rhodes provides, but they still do not necessarily enlighten us about how Pratt and Young thought the conception of Jesus physically occurred. Furthermore, Rhodes cites Brigham Young's statement from an 1866 edition of the Deseret News and Pratt's from The Seer. By what stretch of the imagination does he characterize these as "official" teachings? 29. Peter Hayman, "Monotheism—A Misused Word in Jewish Studies?" Journal of Jewish Studies 42 (1991): 3. See Jonathan A. Goldstein, "The Origins of the Doctrine of Creation Ex Nihilo," Journal of Jewish Studies 35 (1984): 127-35; Jonathan A. Goldstein, "Creation Ex Nihilo: Recantations and Restatements," Journal of Jewish Studies 38 (1987): 187-94; David Winston, "Creation Ex Nihilo Revisited: A Reply to Jonathan Goldstein," Journal of Jewish Studies 37 (1986): 88-91. 33. See Frances Young, "'Creatio Ex Nihilo': A Context for the Emergence of the Christian Doctrine of Creation," Scottish Journal of Theology 44 (1991): 141. Even as late as the turn of the third century, Tertullian had to take the more ancient usage into account when arguing for the new doctrine. "And even if they were made out of some (previous) matter, as some will have it, they are even thus out of nothing, because they were not what they are." Tertullian, Against Marcion 2.5, in ANF, 3:301. The only evangelical response to this work I have seen is by a graduate student at Marquette University, Paul Copan. Copan challenges May's assertion that creatio ex nihilo is a postbiblical invention, but in fact does not deal with May's primary evidence—the description by ancient authors of creation as "out of nothing" where preexistent matter is clearly presupposed. Paul Copan, "Is Creatio Ex Nihilo a Post-Biblical Invention? An Examination of Gerhard May's Proposal," Trinity Journal 17NS (1996): 77-93. 35. History of the Church, 5:94. Likewise, Brigham Young spoke the following with reference to the Father: "We obey the Lord, Him who is called Jehovah, the Great I AM, I am a man of war, Elohim, etc." Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 12:99. 38. See, for example, Otto Eissfeldt, "El and Yahweh," Journal of Semitic Studies 1 (1956): 25-30; Margaret Barker, The Great Angel: A Study of Israel's Second God (Louisville, Ky.: Westminster, 1992). For a good summary of the current scholarly debate, see Larry W. Hurtado, "What Do We Mean by 'First-Century Jewish Monotheism'?" in Society of Biblical Literature 1993 Seminar Papers, ed. E. H. Lovering Jr. (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1993), 348-68. 43. Richard Hansen, "The Achievement of Orthodoxy in the Fourth Century A.D.," in The Making of Orthodoxy: Essays in Honour of Henry Chadwick, ed. Rowan Williams (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989), 153. 50. Justin Martyr, First Apology 6, in William A. Jurgens, The Faith of the Early Fathers (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 1970), 1:51. Father Jurgens insists that this is the correct translation of Justin's statement and admits that here Justin "apparently [made] insufficient distinction between Christ and the created angels." Father Jurgens continues, "There are theological difficulties in the above passage, no doubt. But we wonder if those who make a great deal of these difficulties do not demand of Justin a theological sophistication which a man of his time and background could not rightly be expected to have." Jurgens, Faith of the Early Fathers, 1:56 n. 1. "This passage presents us with considerable difficulties. The word 'other,' used in relation to the angels, suggests that Jesus himself is an angel." Robert M. Grant, The Early Christian Doctrine of God (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1966), 81. 59. See appendix 1 in Daniel C. Peterson, "Constancy amid Change," review of Behind the Mask of Mormonism, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon, in FARMS Review of Books 8/2 (1996): 60-98. The example of plagiarism occurs in Ron Rhodes and Marian Bodine, Reasoning from the Scriptures with the Mormons (Eugene, Ore.: Harvest House, 1995). 60. An instance of this sort of thing in Rhodes and Bodine's book was exposed in Daniel C. Peterson, "Editor's Introduction: Triptych (Inspired by Hieronymus Bosch)," FARMS Review of Books 8/1 (1996): v-xlv. 61. Since the book Daniel Peterson caught Rhodes and Bodine plagiarizing was Marvin W. Cowan's Mormon Claims Answered, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City: Cowan, 1989), I decided to look through the online version of this book at Jerald and Sandra Tanner's Utah Lighthouse Ministry Web site, www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/mclaimscontents.htm. I found this exact quotation in chapter 2, in the section on Jesus Christ. However, Cowan cites Milton R. Hunter's Gospel through the Ages, 15. Indeed, I found the same quotation scattered through quite a number of anti-Mormon documents, but always attributed to Milton Hunter. We may never know the exact path this quotation took to reach Rhodes, but it seems clear that there has been some judicious "borrowing" of quotations, along with some garbling en route, among the anti-Mormon community. 62. For instance, on page 123 Rhodes quotes Orson Hyde as saying that Jesus was likely married to Mary, Martha, and "the other Mary"; he gives Journal of Discourses, 13:259, as his source. His quotation is accurate, but in fact is taken from Journal of Discourses, 4:259. Similarly, he quotes Brigham Young on page 119, citing Journal of Discourses, 13:254, but the correct reference is Journal of Discourses, 13:264. In another instance (p. 121), he cites Mosiah 4:3 as a reference for LDS beliefs about the "war in heaven," although the passage has nothing whatever to do with the subject. Rhodes likely lifted this from a secondary source and mistook an abbreviation for Moses 4:3 (Mos. 4:3) as referring to Mosiah. Either he has been lifting quotations without checking or attributing them, or he is extremely careless about copying down references.	<urn:uuid:855905a0-dd33-48b5-b3fc-dde2967ea22e>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1451&index=14	2015-03-31T09:45:22Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.956738	12,814
(Corrects to show that price of Atripla is for branded product in 19th paragraph of story published Sept. 12.) Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Michel Kazatchkine and Eric Goosby may be able to halt the spread of HIV. They just need the money. The two men control the funds that buy drugs for most of the world’s AIDS patients. Studies in July provided the strongest evidence yet that medicines used since 1994 to treat HIV can almost eliminate the chance an infected person will pass the virus to a sex partner. Given to healthy people, the treatments can also protect against infection, offering the potential to end a pandemic that has killed 30 million people in 30 years. Governments are now planning projects to assess whether those findings can be replicated in the real world, and what that might cost. Getting the drugs just to those patients who should be treated under existing guidelines would cost another $6 billion a year, according to the United Nations. Treating all those infected, in some of the world’s poorest countries, would cost tens of billions more. Finding more money will be difficult with economic growth stalling and nations including the U.S., the biggest donor to the AIDS fight worldwide, trying to curtail overall spending to rein in debt. Funding for AIDS in poorer nations fell 10 percent to $6.9 billion in 2010 from 2009 levels, according to the UN. “We may well be able to overcome AIDS,” Kazatchkine, the director of the Geneva-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said in an interview. Still, “the gap between what the science is telling us we can achieve and what we would be able to achieve is at risk of increasing.” The latest findings, presented at a conference in Rome in July, show that when treatment with antiretroviral drugs started straight after diagnosis, transmissions of the virus were reduced by 96 percent. “We all gasped at the starkness,” said Goosby, who oversees the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which pays for the drugs that treat 3.2 million people worldwide. Kazatchkine’s Global Fund also supports treatment for 3.2 million. Under current World Health Organization guidelines, however, patients don’t start treatment until their immune systems deteriorate to a certain level, postponing side effects that may include kidney damage and nausea and reducing costs. Abbott Laboratories, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Gilead Sciences Inc., Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. make antiretrovirals. More than 34 million people were living with HIV worldwide in 2010, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, or UNAIDS. Qualifying for Treatment Of those, about 15 million qualify for treatment under the WHO guidelines that recommend patients start receiving medicines when their CD4 cells -- the immune system cells that HIV infects and kills -- fall below 350 in every microliter of blood. Fewer than half those who qualify, about 6.6 million people, are receiving the drugs, UNAIDS says. At a special session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in June, world leaders agreed to expand treatment to all 15 million patients by 2015, and committed to increase funding to at least $22 billion a year from $16 billion now. The WHO plans to make guidelines available within 12 months on how to use antiretrovirals for prevention, said Gottfried Hirnschall, the director of the Geneva-based agency’s HIV/AIDS department. Condoms lower the risk of transmitting HIV by more than 90 percent when used consistently. Still, less than half of people with more than one sex partner reported using a condom the last time they had intercourse, UNAIDS said in a report last year. While the latest data may give policymakers a new weapon in the fight against AIDS, they also present them with choices about how to allocate resources, and which approach is the best investment, said Helen Rees, co-chair of the South African National AIDS Council’s Programme Implementation Committee. “In the absence of a guideline that will come in a year, we’ve got to make a decision,” Rees said in Rome. “Do we keep pouring condoms into the system, or is there a glass ceiling? Are we going to now buy 600 million condoms or a billion? It’s that level of decision-making.” The council’s first priority is to expand treatment to all patients with a CD4 count below 350 within the next five years, Rees said. Patients now start treatment with an average count of about 100, she said. The council is also supporting demonstration sites aimed at seeing whether treating people with counts higher than 350 is feasible, she said. While the latest trials support starting treatment even earlier than current guidelines recommend, Kazatchkine said the first priority must be to treat the 9 million people who need the pills now just to survive and aren’t getting them. “I cannot prioritize treatment for a patient with 800 CD4 cells when there’s still a line of patients with less than 200,” he said. Most patients in developing nations receive a three-drug combination of generic copies of Glaxo’s Epzicom, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Viramune and Bristol-Myers’ Zerit. The treatment costs about $61 per patient per year, according to Doctors Without Borders. Newer, less toxic combinations such Gilead’s Atripla, the preferred treatment in developed countries, cost as much as $1,033 a year, the Geneva-based charity said in July. The drugs reduce the virus to undetectable levels in the blood, and boost CD4 cells. That wards off the opportunistic infections that characterize AIDS, and reduce the chances an infected person can pass the virus on. Still, most people in developing nations are only diagnosed with HIV when their immune systems have already dropped well below the cutoff of a 350 CD4 count, and more than 60 percent of those infected worldwide don’t even know they have the virus, according to UNAIDS. “People are coming in for treatment far too late,” said Tim Hallett, a researcher at Imperial College London who has developed mathematical models of what effect the new findings might have and what conditions would be needed to achieve the best results. “They’ve already done most of the transmission they’re going to do by the time you see them in the clinic.” Two other studies presented in Rome showed Gilead drugs, when given to uninfected people at risk of catching HIV, can reduce their chances of infection by as much as 73 percent. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is designing projects to test the feasibility of pre-exposure use in groups hardest hit by AIDS, including black gay and bisexual men, and black women, said Kevin Fenton, director of the agency’s Center for HIV/AIDS. The CDC is planning projects in four U.S. locations involving about 300 gay and bisexual men each, though it doesn’t yet have funding, said Elizabeth-Ann Chandler, a spokeswoman. A combination of expanded treatment for the infected, pre-exposure use of the drugs, condoms and circumcision will likely be needed to halt HIV, Hallett said. It will also require a massive expansion in testing to identify patients earlier, adding to costs that neither Kazatchkine nor Goosby can meet at the moment. When Kazatchkine passed the hat around at the Global Fund’s triennial replenishment meeting in New York last year, he got $11.7 billion, less than the $13 billion he needed to keep putting patients on treatment at current rates, and a little more than half of the $20 billion he wanted to make serious inroads into the pandemic. While in Rome for the conference, Kazatchkine met with members of Silvio Berlusconi’s government to seek funds. Italy was the fifth-largest donor to his fund until 2009, and hasn’t contributed since then, he said. The nation’s Cabinet last month approved 45.5 billion euros ($62.1 billion) in spending cuts and tax increases to balance the budget and convince investors the country can tame its debt. The U.S. is now talking to European governments, along with those such as China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea that haven’t been major contributors previously, to increase their spending, Goosby said. “We are now in a position where the global community needs to share in this responsibility more aggressively and bring resources toward it,” he said in an interview. “We are so close to this goal, that now the conversation must shift to, ‘You need to do your part so we can get across the finish line.’” To contact the reporter on this story: Simeon Bennett in Rome at [email protected] To contact the editor responsible for this story: Phil Serafino at [email protected]	<urn:uuid:306dd9c4-f471-4fca-96e1-c18f1d014f71>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-09-11/aids-cure-starts-at-6b-as-donors-pull-back	2015-03-31T10:07:08Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.943378	1,970
Welcome Comrades to the 25th Edition of the ConquerClub Dispatch! Well it's been 1 year since the newsletter started and 25 editions of the newsletter have been pumped out. It's been interesting watching the newsletter evolve as it has, we started with 5 or 6 people, and now we have more than 20 people and going stronger than ever before. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to the newsletter in the past year and thanks to all who will contribute this year, the newsletter would not be where it is today without your commitment and dedication. Also i'd like to thank our readers, you are the reason we keep publishing the newsletter so thanks for your support over the past year. Tell all your friends to subscribe! Editor in Chief Welcome to the 25th edition of this newsletter and it is another jam packed edition for the mess hall. This fortnight we are providing you with have the latest hot topics with ARMY of GOD , an analysis of the assault odds calculator plugin by , more about the nuclear spoils feature by and some valentines day advice, CC style from . If that isn't enough, we also have an interview with everyones favourite off-topic poster , another tale from the elf and a story for all those who have suffered from bad dice by . Hope you enjoy it! Nagerous Hot Topics by ARMY of GOD Hot Topics: 1. Huzzah! The longest thread, thread is FINALLY the longest thread on Conquer Club! 2. Qwert is advertising for some advertising! 3. Hurry! Some people think "New Moon" is the best movie of 2009! 4. Congrats to myself for advertising the General Congratulations thread! 5. Talking about McGill University's social usergroup in the Newsletter was invented by Army of GOD on February 8th, 2010. Plug-ins and Addons: Assault Odds by Minister Masket So you've come round to the fact that you're not being cheated by the dice. Excellent. Now you want to get down to the business of winning all those games you joined. Unfortunately, the luck factor means you can't win every game, but there are things you can do to increase your chances. Take the " Assault Odds" calculator for example. Now before I start (and if you're interested), do open up the link at the bottom in a new tab or window, because - like the Dice Analyser - it's fairly visual based, so you'll understand the description better if you're looking at the thing. Done? Good. For starters, ignore everything but the top three rows. This is the "Quick Calculator" part, and it very handily calculates the odds of success against your opponent(s), as opposed to you doing a quick number-crunch in your head and then subsequentially wondering where it all went wrong. Take the example already there on the calculator. An attacking army of 5 against a defending one of 3 has a 64.2% chance of success. The calculator automatically saves your entries to save you typing them out again, and if you need more, you can click the "Add Calc" button just underneath to add more blank rows. You even get a grand total percentage of winning all the battles you add in. Now what is that comma doing seperating the 8 and the 4 in the second row? Well that's how you add armies from different territories to the calculation, and it works with defenders too. Below this we have the "Pathfinder" section. Whereas the QC works best for single battles, the Pathfinder calculates your odds of successfully attacking a sequence of territories in the same turn. So firstly you choose the territory you're attacking from from the dropdown menu, then add your army number in brackets. Then you choose the valid bordering territory and add it's defenders. This one step will calculate the odds anyway, and you can add your next moves in the rows below. When you're done, you'll be presented with a total percentage of your chance of winning the lot. Finally, at the bottom we have the "Statistics" part. This will use your calculation from the QC part to tell you how many of your attackers are likely to survive, both in "minimum" and "exactly" columns. Don't get too attached to this part though. They are just numbers after all, not real soldiers. And that's it. For tips and the option to download this, here's the link I really hope you clicked on when I told you to: http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=83451 A word of warning however. At the time of writing you can only use this if you are using either Firefox with Greasemonkey or Google Chrome. So if you use IE or another browser, you're buggered. Next time - Clickable Maps! Valentine's Day Advice CC Style by FoxMists Early last year a.sub started a thread in General Discussion to work on his pick up lines. (Don’t lie, we all know you were really just looking for tips!) I found this to be an interesting idea and delved into what I thought would be moderately amusing and at least give me a heads up for the real desperate sorts that need this sort of help. Well, I was wrong. I was so very wrong. It was not moderately amusing. It was bloody hilarious and as lame as a one legged rabbit (hey! Not that kind of leg, you pervert!). And you know, it’s that time of year! Valentine’s Day! So I now present to you some of the more memorable pickup lines I came across. ( This will also help you avoid certain… people… if you know what I mean) It turned out that some keywords (and names) were practically required usage. "Want to go back to my place and auto-assault?" AndyDufresne “Hi there, I'm KingHerpes Free.” Jpcloet (Honestly “freestyle” was probably the most common. So common that I couldn’t force myself to add them here… Seriously. Painful.) And then there were the creative sorts: “Map Edition Sweetie, I know you are wondering where our relation is headed, and I've had 8 Thoughts about it. I would like to enter your Forbidden City, but don't want to move too fast causing you to Duck and Cover. This may sound like Madness, but please let me Land, and Sea where it takes us. You have shown me a New World of romance, I used to always just Battle for a rack. We've already tried a manage a trois, so maybe we can Conquer 4 and listen to the Wales. And if you were my Spanish buddy, I would want to Rail you, ese. What? I've been too vulgar? Baby don't go! Okay, well I will CCU later...” sully800 (We are now taking donations for the “Hobbies 4 Sully” fund!) Some people were kinda cute with their lameness. This was much appreciated. “How would you like to travel world together? I was thinking maybe E2, S3 or A12, as they are all so beautiful this time of year.” Jpcloet “It'll be worth the 72 hour ban for the things I want to say and do to you.” GENERAL STONEHAM "Babe, I'm not like the other guys. I don't nuke all over myself." AndyDufresne “You're the rainbow in my spoils...” MrBenn “my cards arent the only things that are escalating right now ” a.sub And we can’t forget the ladies! Top two from the girls? “ whoops, sorry baby, was a slip of the finger on the button" clapper011 (We’re guessing she has heard this line before ) AND, “Hey big guy, if you're UP for it, come over here and show me how good you are at Escalating..” Robinette Well. You gotta love a girl that knows what she wants, huh? If y’all are into self-torture, are ridiculously bored, or just plain sadistic, jump over to the thread and share the wealth! Your lameness will be noted and appreciated by others just like you! A Newt's Tale by elfish_lad The Attack of the Clicky-Spiders A couple of months ago I wrote about wanting to expand my horizons from 1v1 Speed Crack (Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!) to team games and game variants. Some call them mutants. The game variants even. It's been an interesting couple of months. Here is an example: I am 8 unique wins away from my first freestyle medal. Which doesn't sound that hard... except that I really, really suck at freestyle and haven't gotten the hang of clickies. At all. Cause I suck. Especially on my laptop. With the small screen. And the stupid mouse pad. And the adrenaline kicks in and then I attack a neutral by mistake after deploying my troops 450 kilometers from where I intended and then I fort 3 senior citizens to their Retirement Villa on an island on the other side of the world, well away from any possible danger. At least with clickies I suck really, really quickly. The Elf's First Date But there was another interesting development recently - I was invited to join a clan. Here is how I think that transpired: I was in a late night speed dubs game with some random dude (another aspect of expanding my horizons) and we were getting smoked. Badly. You know those games. Nothing goes right. Oh, you can blame the dice or whatever, but you just know, deep down, at the back of your primordial cortex, no matter what you do, the fates are against you and soon that big dinosaur is going to be using your femur as a tooth pick. Or your primordial spouse is going to bash your head in with that special pointy rock you found. Either way. End of story. But then The Elf is smacked with the inspiration stick. It doesn't usually work that way. Usually I'm in charge of the stupid stick. That night, even after my random partner was removed from the field of battle, we hammered the other team back and won. Thrilling. Seriously. Here was the other team's response to our come-from-behind victory: "fuuuu...dge" It was brief but heart felt I'm sure. Right on suckers! Coming out of that game I think my random partner from that night figured I was good. And handed my name over to a clan leader looking for a good player. Instead they got me. The guy with the stupid stick. But since I didn't have any other invites to the prom I said sure. I hope they don't think I'm a cheap lay! 'Cause I'm not cheap. Kindergarten Zombies Now, this is no reflection on my clan-mates. At all. There are some great players in our clan, including our leader, but I would not be surprised if, in my brief tenure with them, I have recorded only a couple of wins in clan games. But as our clan has been rebuilding and adding a number of mid-ranked players like me here is what I think was happening in our first few games together: we were all reliving the first week of Kindergarten. Your mom drops you off. Another woman with those breast things is there but she doesn't even remotely smell like your mom. You cry for 25 minutes. You realize suddenly that you have just peed your pants. You punch another little boy in the head who just peed himself and won't stop crying. You take a nap. Eat some paint. And as Post My-Parents-Are-Never-Coming-Back Syndrome sets in, you sit on the carpet with 22 other traumatized youngsters, as if you are bit players in a "Dawn of the CC Dead" movie. Moaning, gnawing and drooling ensue. Then you break for lunch. I figure our clan will get better. We just need to eat more finger paint together. Not An Intergalactic Kegger?!?! And all of this leads me to my closing observation: there really are no short-cuts here at CC to being a good clan, or a good team, or a well rounded gamer. Just a lot of games and a lot of working things out. This was brought home to be by a partner in a dubs tournament recently. I made some initial moves and my partner sent me a very helpful PM afterward. In the message he/she laid out some different strategies critiquing some of my early moves. Pretty helpful stuff and in hindsight I realized that I should have seen this myself. But more importantly it was his/her closing words that really struck me: Five. Percent. When I first got here I would have figured that was nothing. After being in The Pit for six months now? Five Percent? Man. That is the world. doing it this way could increase your win % on this map by 5%. Huh. Maybe, just maybe, someday The Elf will give up the stupid stick for good! ~sees the skeptical stares~ Well. An Elf and dream can't he?!?! That's it for me. Off to eat some more finger paint! E. More Nukes by stahrgazer About those nukes... I mean, Nuclear Spoils. As players investigate the option, some find the setting disturbingly luck based, some find it requires strategy, and others are still choosing to avoid them as though they're afraid of radioactive fallout. For example, the Conqueror's Cup inter-clan tournament is disallowing nuclear spoils, the same as freestyle and speed settings have been disallowed for previous Clan Ladders. Please do not be confused; the Cup is not part of the Clan Ladder, although there exists a potential that the games will count in the ladder. But back to Nuclear Spoils and a few more facts. With this setting, it becomes more apparent that random deals cards like it does the dice: sometimes a terr comes in batches. Whatever terrs are on the map are part of the entire pool, so it is possible for one terr to show up several times in a game, and even possible for the same terr to show up in several or all players' hands; the odds are the same for any card at any time in the game, although I have yet to hear of one player getting the same card twice in one hand. Another interesting point about Nuclear Spoils is that the in-game statistics reveal more than the log will tell you immediately upon blasting an opponent (or oneself) off the map. The log will merely indicate that a territory was nuked, but the stats display immediately shows the number of territories, now reduced by one because of the nuke. The log will not indicate the terr-count change until the player takes the next turn. There are those who believe this is unfair, or untrue to the intention of the stats, which were placed, prior to the Nuclear Spoils setting, with the intention of revealing no more than the log will indicate. Now, the log may be behind the stats for as much as a full round (if you have unfortunately had to nuke yourself); but eventually the log will catch up to the stats display, indicating that the player who had 12 terrs at the start of his previous turn has 11 terrs at the start of the current turn. Is a one-round (maximum) difference enough to make you wish to change something? If so, you can visit the Nuclear Spoils thread and make your point known. I, on the other hand, believe this to be not much different than the ability to read an "owned" terr being cashed in a fog game; because of the +2 extra deploy, the log reveals information the ?? leaves in..errrr...question: which terrs does an opponent own? While the stats will display the terrcount, the stats do not indicate which terrs, but that bonus recipient lets one say, "Aha! Now I know where you are!" Granted, in that instance, the information is immediate upon the cash but.. well.. the stats info on nuclear spoils is equally immediate upon the cash. The stats were not intended to reveal more than the log; fog setting was intended to make only the number of terrs readable by the log. In both instances, cashing a card can reveal a little more information than was originally intended. And? So? To Nuke or not to Nuke, that is the question. Only you can answer it, for yourself. Bon Bombarding! The Invasion by Deathcomesrippin For those of us who have suffered through bad dice, this one's for you.... The Invasion Day 7, Dakar Blue looked out over the shoreline. For the last two days, he had been camped here, with five other blues, awaiting instructions. Africa had been secured a few days ago, and the borders set. Across the stretch of ocean, an entire army of red sat at Sao Paulo, unaware of the plans of the warlords who ran the Great Blue War Machine. On day 5, Blue had been a part of the final push to move Green out of the African mainland completely, although word was they had secured Australia, which could prove to be a thorn in their side for the rest of this damned war. His commanding officer, Blue, had mentioned something to the effect of Flaming going on in some chat between Red and Green. Blue Command was looking to capitalize on this, and hoped to be able to place small amounts of reinforcements on Dakar until the time was right. Then, if all went according to plan, there would be a large influx of six, possibly SEVEN, reinforcements, and the true assault on the bastion of Red would begin. A squawk came over the loudspeakers set up over camp, informing all of the troops that it was time to change the watch. Blue looked one last time towards the ocean, wondering what was in store for him in the next few days. Day 10, Dakar: invasion of Sao Paulo The rumble of the motor came from all around him, causing Blue to think for a moment he was in some sort of living hell. The sides of the plane reverberated with rattling of the stores of ammo, foodstuffs, and other such items, creating a cacophony of clanging and banging. Blue Sergeant stood tall, and told the men about him that this moment would be the turning point, the first of many defeats for their enemies across the water, Red. All told, there were 14 blues on board, a frightening army considering Red's defences was a paltry 6. They were caught completely off guard by this assault. Whispers ran through the ranks of Red being led by a n00b general, a Cook maybe. Blue Command, of course, would never verify those rumours, but a refusal to answer was good enough for the troops. Blue gathered his gear. The final light went off, and the rear door of the plane opened. Below them, there was a field of green, the jungles of South America flowing past. Sao Paulo was lit up like a gigantic casino, flood lights crowding the air searching for the first signs of the enemy incursion. Then, all of a sudden (or so it seemed to Blue), the city was below them, and the order was given. Without another thought, Blue leapt clear of the plane, and freefell into his glory. Combat Results (14 v 6)- RED VICTORIOUS 4, 3, 3 - 6, 4- 2 Blue losses (The screams of the dying will be a sound Blue always remembers…..) 2, 1, 1 - 4, 4- 2 Blue losses (“Dear god, more of them….WHY WON’T THEY JUST DIE?”) 5, 3, 3 - 3, 3- 1 Blue loss, 1 Red loss (“Finally, the turning point. I hope this is where it ends...”) 1, 1, 1 - 6, 2- 2 Blue losses (“Blue’s dead, and Blue, and I saw Blue go down earlier….”) 6, 6, 5 - 6, 5- 1 Blue loss, 1 Red loss (“FALL BACK!!! FALL BACK TO THE BEACH!!!”) 5, 5, 2 - 6, 6- 2 Blue losses (“Blue and Blue were killed in the retreat, sir. Final casualties are still coming in.”) Blue was covered in blue gore. All about him, the bodies of his comrades, blues he had known for his entire life, were scattered like so many dice across a game board. The few left had been lead back to the shore, where they awaited the rescue ship. The fighting had been fierce, but even with overwhelming numbers, It was a lost cause. Out of the 14 who had travelled with Blue, he saw only three and himself. Red, on the other hand, now had an equal number, having only lost two. The first thought for Blue was frustration. The frustration of knowing you had lost, and also, that it might be a loss that you might not come back from. Blue Command was compromised, their troops for the front and borders spent of this assault. Already Green had been making overtures into Europe, and Red was crawling across North America. A bullet snapped sand into Blues' face, waking him out of his daydreaming. He raised his weapon and returned fire, the small sandbar he was by providing meagre cover. The other blues all had the same forlorn look on their faces, like dogs which had lost their masters. Blue hoped his didn't look like that, too. More bullets flew past, and Blue realized Red was making a push. This was it, his final moment. Blue prepared himself, shook the cobwebs out of his head, and tensed his legs for a spring over the sandbar. As he lifted himself up, a blue grabbed his shoulder and pointed out over the ocean. The rescue ship was approaching, slowly yet surely. Day 14, Nairobi Blue stood aside four other blues, the last of his men. Blue Command had given up long ago, and there was talk from the others about going rogue, or "neutral" as it was called by some. Blue didn't think less of them for this. After the epic failure of the invasion of Sao Paulo, Red followed through with an assault that pushed aside the meagre defences left in place at Dakar. Slowly, Red pushed further into Africa, taking Cape Town and Johannesburg, then Cairo. Now, only one area stood, Nairobi. The last word heard from the Blue General was "Red’s Foed". To the east, in Dubai, a sizable army of Green camped, awaiting orders from their enigmatic leader. To the west, the deadly west, a large force of Red sat at Cairo, looking on with a bit of pity on what was left of the once great Blue Empire. Blue looked back at his men, and at the approaching horde. End game. During the last couple weeks of 2009, collected nominations for the Best Tournament of 2009 . After examining the list, 10 tournaments were chosen for a final vote. The Top 3 winners were all very close in the voting, with each officially 1 vote apart. Each winner has received a Contest Medal. The Winning Tournaments: 1.- (14 votes) Tournament: 2008 College Basketball Season Tournament Organizer: flexmaster33 Nominator: denominator Keywords for nomination: Fun, keeping players involved. 2.- (13 votes) Tournament: Around the World in 80 Days Tournament Organizer: stahrgazer Nominator: Lindax Keywords for nomination: Different concept with unknown team mates. 3.- (12 votes) Tournament: Battle for Supremacy Tournament Organizer: barterer2002 Nominator: amazzony Keywords for nomination: Huge tournament and well run. Congratulations to the winners and everyone who hosted a tournament in 2009. Hopefully there will be many exciting ones during 2010. This issue features a pop-quiz that pulled on 5 tournament organizers along with some of the tournaments currently taking sign-ups. Enjoy! Tournament Pop-Quiz by amazzony They have had their battles in numerous tournaments; now I decided to test their skill in a quiz. We have 5 participants who agreed to be part of the friendly battle: Tournament Legend [OP], unique tournament titan Optimus Prime [Bart], excellent Tournament Director barterer2002 [Lx], top tournament organizers/winners Lindax [HA] and HighlanderAttack [Blitz]. Don't take the results too seriously, it's just a fun quiz where I asked everybody to answer honestly and not use help of forums/friends. If it was done, stays on their conscience and following data is also added just for statistics (which is also considered the biggest lie by some) and not for serious conclusions. What I know is that HA answered me 3 minutes after opening his message, OP Blitzaholic maximum 10 minutes after opening it, Lx took about 25 minutes to answer, Bart maximum 30 minutes and Blitz a bit under 4 hours. These are the questions that I asked and in the brackets is the amount of points received for correct answer(s). Who is the Head Tournament Director? How many different tournament tags are currently used? Name Top 3 of Multiple Tournament Winners! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] Name Top 3 of Most Tournament Games Created! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] Name Top 3 of Most Tournaments Completed! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] Name Top 3 of Most Tournament Games Played! [max. 3 - 1 for each name] What type of tournaments have been organised the most besides Standard? What is the date (month+year) when first 2 tournaments were completed? What is the date (month+year) when most tournaments were completed? What was the number of tournament completed? [2 - 1 for date, 1 for number of tournaments] Here are the correct answers which are taken from Tournament Hall of Fame [HoF], this topic and Blitz's Tourney LOVERS - most games. Maximum points that can be collected is 18. Night Strike 11 or 3 (as I formed the question badly then there can be 2 answers to this questions: either 11 tags from HoF or 3 tags for joining games: to/tot/game) Blitzaholic, HighlanderAttack, killmanic barterer2002, JoJo123, Optimus Prime barterer2002, HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic HighlanderAttack, acores2005, amazzony Doubles March 2006 November 2009; 99 (December 2009 is also counted correct because it was mentioned in Issue 23 of the Newsletter that most likely December will beat all previous months). Now to the most interesting part - how did the participants answer! Optimus Prime [6 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) 11 (3) Blitzaholic... JOHNNYROCKET24... Godd (4) Optimus Prime... amazzony... Gilligan (5) barterer2002... Blitzaholic... (6) Gilligan... Godd... vykingsfan64 (7) 1 vs 1 (8) June 2006 (9) April 2009... 79 HighlanderAttack [9 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) I am not sure what this is asking so I will say 2 (3) Blitzaholic, HighlanderAttack and killimanic (4) Gilligan, Barterer, HighlanderAttack (5) HighlanderAttack, acores2005, Gilligan-not sure of third place (6) HighlanderAttack, acores2005, Gilligan-not sure of third place (7) Assassin (8) 12/2006 (9) 12/2009 Lindax [10 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) Not sure I understand the question, but I'll say: 6 (3) Blitzaholic, HighlanderAttack, killmanic (4) Barterer2002, HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic (5) Barterer2002, HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic (6) HighlanderAttack, Blitzaholic, JOHNNYROCKET (7) Doubles/Team (8) December, 2006 (9) January, 2010, 75 tournaments barterer2002 [13 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) 3 (game, to and tot) (3) Blitz, Killmanic, Highlanderattack (4) Bart, OP and HA (5) Bart OP and HA (6) HA, killmanic, and diminjarstef (7) doubles (8) October 06 (9) November 09 99 tournaments Blitzaholic [13 points] Code: Select all (1) Night Strike (2) Not sure, maybe 10? (3) Blitzaholic, Highlanderattack, Killmanic (4) If there was a recent update I would guess Optimus Prime, Amazzony, Barterer2002 (5) If there was a recent update I would guess Highlanderattack, Barterer2002, Blitzaholic (6) Highlanderattack, Acores2005, Amazzony (7) Not sure, I would guess doubles (8) Hmmm, maybe around May 2006 for both. (9) December 2008 and 78 completed, however, I would guess somewhere in 2009, maybe the Fall of 2009 this was broken due to an explosion of tourneys created So, here they are - results! All participants did well and I want to thank everybody so much for being my guinea pigs! Currently Taking Sign-ups by superkeener Currently Taking Sign-ups Here is a list of tournaments that still have open spots. Click on the link to sign up or to find more information on the tournament. Haiti Benefit Tournament viewtopic.php?f=90&t=106575 Coordinator: Industrial Helix This tournament aims to raise awareness for the earthquake disaster in Haiti. All games are played on the Haiti map with 8-players in each match. The 8 winners of the first round will battle for the tournament trophy. European Timeline Bracket viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107850 Coordinator: kawe85 A big Doubles tournament that that includes the maps of: Imperium Romanum, Europe 1914, and WWII Europe Darin’s 30th Tournament viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107706 Coordinator: Darin44 Darin is celebrating his 30th tournament with style - a tournament with 10 terminator games in each round on random maps. Only open to premium players. Indoor Athletics viewtopic.php?f=90&t=108132 Coordinator: Tupence Inspired by the Indoor Athletics International Match, this 125-player tournament is almost full, so go grab your spot now. The tournament will use a variety of maps. Only open to premium players. Horseshoes and Hand Grenades viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107936 Coordinator: YoursFalsey This tournament will focus on the new Nuclear Spoils, but players will be faced with 1v1 matches, Doubles, Terminator, and Assassin. This tournament has many open spots, and is only open to premium players. Family Game Night Tournament viewtopic.php?f=90&t=108780 Coordinator: ask me2 A tournament that stays true to the theme of its name. Maps featured are: Chinese Checkers, Conquer Four, Conquer Man, and Crossword. Circus Maximus Royal Rumble viewtopic.php?f=90&t=107549 Coordinator: kuma32478 Based on the WWE Royal Rumble, this tournament will feature 3-player terminator games on the Circus Maximus map. Doodle Earth Tourny viewtopic.php?f=90&t=108096 Coordinator: iamkoolerthanu This 64-player tournament on Doodle Earth will consist of 4-player games with the winner advancing to the next round. It’s filling up fast, so go and claim your spot now. During the last two weeks there has been much activity in the Foundry, the Germany revamp competition has just ended, but there's already a new competition running. The melting pot seems more active than ever and the first maps begin to advance through the new process. Talking about the process, in this issue, the second part of the Foundry special about the gameplay workshop. Then, we travel again through the History to discover the "hidden story" behind one of the maps on Conquer Club. Finally, as always, the maps currently in development. Vancouver Competition The Winter Olympics come every four years and are a showcase of athleticism. They bring out the best in athletes striving for a bit of gold. In just a few short days, the torch will arrive in Vancouver and the games will begin. From Cyprus mountain to the Pacific Coliseum, the Olympics will also showcase the best of Vancouver, a fine city, worthy of hosting such an event. In order to celebrate this event, the CC foundry is having an contest of its own. Recently, the Vancouver map was put into live play, but now it is having a bit of a revamp. While the original map is a beautiful piece of artwork, the boys in blue thought that it should be spiced up for the games. A contest is being held where mapmakers can take the original Vancouver map, and make it Olympic themed. The winning map will temporarily replace the current Vancouver map in order to coincide with the 2010 Winter Olympics. You can find more information about the contest here. You can find info about the Olympics here. Foundry Twitter feed Are you always seeking the latest news about the foundry? Don't you want to miss anything foundry related? Don't worry the solution is within reach. Start following the Foundry Twitter feed and you will get the scoop on up and coming maps! http://twitter.com/CCFoundry Beta Maps Fractured America by isaiah40 is available for Beta testing. Atlantis by NemesisChild and Premier2k is waiting to be uploaded. Quenched Maps Our dear chief editor has got his first quenched map. , due to its superb gameplay, is already one of the most popular maps on Conquer Club. WWII Poland After a few small tweaks, the map is now perfect. Congratulations to samuelc812 After a long and careful examination, the was quenched. Third Crusade Map The last update was well received by the community and the new bonuses seem well balanced. With already more than 3000 finished games, the map was finally moved into the viewing gallery. Congratulations to Kabanellas and AndrewB Foundry Special - The Gameplay Workshop by natty_dread Introduction In my last article, I went through the Melting Pot forum where maps are born. In this article we will be focusing on the next step of a map's journey from idea to live play, which is the Gameplay Workshop. Gameplay is probably the most important aspect of a map. A map with balanced and interesting gameplay, even if it is not so interesting graphically, can be a success. But a map with stunning graphics and inferior gameplay will probably be a lot less popular. Of course, the Foundry tries to focus on both aspects of every map. How to start When a map moves from the Melting pot into the Gameplay Workshop, the real development of the map begins. In this phase, most maps already have a clear idea of the direction of development the map is going to take, and a version of the map with all major gameplay features included: territories, bonus areas, legend... In the Gameplay workshop, the whole structure of the map may change several times. This is where the details are honed into perfection. For a beginner mapmaker, the concept may seem frustrating, but it is a necessary part of the Foundry process. First things to consider when designing gameplay for a map are: the number of territories, bonus values, size and amount of bonus areas... which all amount to one thing really: balanced gameplay. Balancing gameplay Balanced gameplay means that games should not be decided by the drop. For example, if you have 48 territories on a map and play a 4 player game, the first one to play his turn will have a clear advantage, as everyone starts with 12 territories, and the first to go can knock one or more players below the limit. But there is more to balancing the gameplay than just deciding the amount of territories on a map. The bonus values need to be considered, and for this several bonus calculators have been developed. Of course the bonus calculator does not give you the absolute truth, and common sense should be used. But it gives the mapmaker an idea where to start. The structure of the map also needs to be considered. Too many bottlenecks for example are not good, but neither is a too open playing field. What can I do to help When it comes to leaving feedback to maps in the Gameplay workshop, mapmakers of course appreciate when you keep your comments to the gameplay side, and ignore the graphics for now. It is not exactly wrong to give comments on the graphics, but gameplay feedback will surely be a lot more appreciated at this point. When giving feedback, think of the map as it would already be in live play. Try to imagine how the gameplay would work on the current version of the map. If you can see any flaws, the mapmaker will surely appreciate you pointing them out, as long as it is done in a polite manner. Iancanton, a moderator in charge of the Gameplay Workshop, has the following to say about leaving gameplay feedback: iancanton wrote: All foundrygoers will have noticed that the main foundry has been split into two workshops: gameplay and graphics. There hasn't been much change of policy, since most maps needed to have the gameplay approved already before the graphics evaluations took place. The split simply makes clearer the current focus of the map: if a map's in the gameplay workshop, then comments on gameplay are most helpful. What's good gameplay feedback? If you're unsure, then have a look first at the guide to giving feedback that's in the tutorials and guides section of the foundry. Early feedback is welcomed by every mapmaker, to prevent him from wasting his time developing something along the wrong lines. If something is wrong with the gameplay, then try to be helpful by suggesting a solution, if you can. The earlier this type of comment comes, the better! gameplayfeedback wrote:i live in ruritania. there are no mountains in the western part of the map gameplayfeedback wrote:48 regions is a bad number for 4-player games. can u merge this and that? gameplayfeedback wrote:let the ship bombard all of the ports, which are too powerful gameplayfeedback wrote:make the auto-deploys start neutral gameplayfeedback wrote:the bonuses are unbalanced. there are too many small bonus zones in the north Not so useful in the gameplay workshop are comments on things that don't relate so much to gameplay. It might sound obvious, but graphics adjustments are best made in the graphics workshop, after the mapmaker knows that the gameplay won't be changing much. Graphics ideas are still welcome, but be aware that the mapmaker may choose to do difficult or substantial graphics changes after he has the gameplay stamp, so that he doesn't have to redraw a fantastic work of art several times just because of gameplay fixes. notgameplay wrote:the borders are pixellated notgameplay wrote:try using a font which looks more medieval notgameplay wrote:put the legend in a wooden frame Now, with all this, you should have a pretty good idea how to help mapmakers who are working on the gameplay of their map. I'd like to urge every one of my readers to visit the Gameplay Workshop, and browse the map threads. See maps that you like? See maps that you don't like? Give them feedback! The Foundry needs your help to produce more quality maps for you to play! That's it for this issue. Stay tuned for the next episode, the Graphics Workshop. History 101 - Route 66 by dolomite13 Route 66 - by oaktown Welcome to Route 66, America's Main Street. This fun map by veteran mapmaker oaktown utilizes an alternate bonus structure of 1 army for every 2 territories held as well as the ability to score a victory by holding the eleven cities along Route 66, from L.A. to Chicago. The visual style of the map takes you back in time to the golden days of Route 66 and makes you feel like your sitting at a diner along that famous road. Be sure to check out this map and get your kicks on Route 66. ROUTE 66 - ROLLING STONES LYRICS wrote:e Well if you ever plan to motor west Just take my way that's the highway that's the best Get your kicks on Route 66 U.S. Route 66 (also known as the Will Rogers Highway, and as "Main Street of America" or the "Mother Road") was one of the original U.S. highways, Route 66, US Highway 66, was established on November 11, 1926. The famous highway originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, encompassing a total of 2,448 miles. It was recognized in popular culture by both a hit song (written by Bobby Troup and performed by the Nat King Cole Trio and The Rolling Stones, among others) and the Route 66 television show in the 1960s. More recently, the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars featured U.S. 66. Route 66 underwent many improvements and realignments over its lifetime, changing its path and overall length. Many of the realignments gave travelers faster or safer routes, or detoured around city congestion. One realignment moved the western endpoint farther west from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Monica. US 66 was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985 after it was decided the route was no longer relevant and had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System. Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66". It has begun to return to maps in this form. Some portions of the road in southern California have been re-designated "State Route 66", and others bear "Historic Route 66" signs and relevant historic information. Over the years, U.S. Route 66 received many nicknames. Right after Route 66 was commissioned, it was known as "The Great Diagonal Way" because the Chicago-to-Oklahoma City stretch ran northeast to southwest. Later, Route 66 was advertised by the U.S. Highway 66 Association as "The Main Street of America". The title had also been claimed by supporters of U.S. Route 40, but the Route 66 group was more successful. In the John Steinbeck novel The Grapes of Wrath, the highway is called "The Mother Road", its prevailing title today. Lastly, Route 66 was unofficially named "The Will Rogers Highway" by the U.S. Highway 66 Association in 1952, although a sign along the road with that name appeared in the John Ford film, The Grapes of Wrath, which was released in 1940, twelve years before the association gave the road that name. A plaque dedicating the highway to Will Rogers is still located in Santa Monica, California. Map of Route Route 66 overlaid on Google Maps Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Oklahoma The Birth and Death of Route 66 In 1857, Lt. Edward Fitzgerald Beale, a Naval officer in the service of the U.S. Army Topographical Corps, was ordered by the War Department to build a government-funded wagon road across the 35th Parallel. This road became part of U.S. Route 66. Officially, the numerical designation 66 was assigned to the Chicago-to-Los Angeles route in the summer of 1926. With that designation came its acknowledgment as one of the nation's principal east–west arteries. From the outset, public road planners intended U.S. 66 to connect the main streets of rural and urban communities along its course for the most practical of reasons: most small towns had no prior access to a major national thoroughfare. Wigwam motel #6 in Holbrook, AZ. Championed by Tulsa, Oklahoma businessman Cyrus Avery when the first talks about a national highway system began, US 66 was first signed into law in 1927 as one of the original U.S. Highways, although it was not completely paved until 1938. Avery was adamant that the highway have a round number and had proposed number 60 to identify it. A controversy erupted over the number 60. Ultimately Avery settled on "66" (which was unassigned) because he thought the double-digit number would be easy to remember as well as pleasant to say and hear. After the new federal highway system was officially created, Avery called for the establishment of the U.S. Highway 66 Association to promote the complete paving of the highway from end to end and to promote travel down the highway. Traffic grew on the highway because of the geography through which it passed. Much of the highway was essentially flat and this made the highway a popular truck route. The route passed through numerous small towns, and with the growing traffic on the highway, helped create the rise of mom-and-pop businesses, such as service stations, restaurants, and motor courts, all readily accessible to passing motorists. Due to the efforts of the US Highway 66 Association, Route 66 became the first highway to be completely paved in 1938. Several places were dangerous: more than one part of the highway was nicknamed "Bloody 66" and gradually work was done to realign these segments to remove dangerous curves. However, one section just outside Oatman, Arizona was fraught with hairpin turns and was the steepest along the entire route remained as part of Route 66 until 1953. Despite such hazards in some areas, Route 66 continued to be a popular route. During World War II, Route 66, already popular and fully paved, became one of the main routes and also served for moving military equipment. Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri was located near the highway. During its nearly 60-year existence, Route 66 was under constant change. As highway engineering became more sophisticated, engineers constantly sought more direct routes between cities and towns. Increased traffic led to a number of major and minor realignments of US 66 through the years, particularly in the years immediately following World War II when Illinois began widening US 66 to four lanes through virtually the entire state from Chicago to the Mississippi River just east of St. Louis, Missouri, and included bypasses around virtually all of the towns. By the early-to-mid 1950s, Missouri also upgraded its sections of US 66 to four lanes complete with bypasses. Most of the newer four-lane 66 paving in both states was upgraded to freeway status in later years. In 1953, the first major bypassing of US 66 occurred in Oklahoma with the opening of the Turner Turnpike between Tulsa and Oklahoma City. The new 88-mile toll road paralleled US 66 for its entire length and bypassed each of the towns along 66. In some cases the new interstate highway not only paralleled the old Route 66, it actually incorporated much of it. In New Mexico, as in most other states, rural sections of I-40 were to be constructed first with bypasses around cities to come later. However, some business and civic leaders in cities along US 66 were completely opposed to bypassing fearing loss of business and tax revenues. In 1963, the New Mexico Legislature enacted legislation that banned the construction of interstate bypasses around cities by local request. This legislation was short-lived, however, due to pressures from Washington and threat of loss of federal highway funds so it was rescinded by 1965. Originally, highway officials planned for the last section of US 66 to be bypassed by interstates in Texas, but as was the case in many places, lawsuits held up construction of the new interstates. The state of Missouri officially requesting the designation "Interstate 66" for the St. Louis to Oklahoma City section of the route, but it was denied. In 1984, Arizona also saw its final stretch of highway decommissioned with the completion of Interstate 40 just north of Williams, Arizona. Finally, with desertification of the highway by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials the following year, U.S. Route 66 officially ceased to exist. Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In Life After Death Some states have kept the 66 designation for parts of the highway, albeit as state roads. In Missouri, Routes 366, 266, and 66 are all original sections of the highway. State Highway 66 in Oklahoma remains as the alternate "free" route near its turnpikes. "Historic Route 66" runs for a significant distance in and near Flagstaff, Arizona. A surface street stretch between San Bernardino and La Verne to the east of Los Angeles retains its number as State Route 66. The First Route 66 associations were founded in Arizona in 1987 and Missouri in 1989. Other groups in the other Route 66 states soon followed. In 1990, the state of Missouri declared Route 66 in that state a "State Historic Route". The first "Historic Route 66" marker in Missouri was erected on Kearney Street at Glenstone Avenue in Springfield, Missouri. Other historic markers now line the entire 2,400 mile length of road. Many preservation groups have also tried to save and even tried to landmark the old motels and neon signs along the road in different states. In 1999 the National Route 66 Preservation Bill was signed into law by President Bill Clinton, which provided for $10 mln in matching fund grants for preserving and restoring the historic features along the route. In 2008, The World Monuments Fund added Route 66 to its World Monuments Watch list of 100 Most Endangered Sites. Sites along the route, such as gas stations, motels, cafes, trading posts, and drive-in movie theaters are threatened by development in urban areas, and by abandonment and decay in rural areas. As the popularity and mythical stature of Route 66 has continued to grow, demands have begun to mount to improve signage, return Route 66 to road atlases and revive its status as a continuous routing. Along these lines Route 66 has been established as a National Scenic Byway in Illinois, Arizona and New Mexico with National Scenic Byway status pending in Oklahoma and Missouri as of 2007. More Information Wikipedia.org Route 66 Video 4 Minute Tour of Route 66 Maps in Development To see the full sized preview of the following maps just click on the title of the map, to visit the map development thread Melting Pot Recently Design Brief Submissions: Gameplay Workshop Research & Conquer Mapmakers: OliverFA Maybe the most innovative map currently in development. The map premise revolves about adding the Research concept to "normal" CC gameplay. Some initial discussion about the gameplay, but for now is a rather quiet thread. Macedonia Mapmaker: n.n. Description: 42 regions and a standard gameplay for this representation of the small Republic of Macedonia. First Nations of South America Mapmaker: Tisha Description: After the great success of First Nations of North America, tisha is back with the same graphics to represent the southern part of Americas. The discussion is about the regions number. Graphics Workshop Flanders 1302 Mapmaker: DubWarrior Description: Set in the year 1302, when an army of Flemish peasants defeated the knights of the french army, this map has a standard gameplay and a nice graphics. Few nitpicks for the legend and the signature and the map is ready for the Final Forge CRICKET: Silly Mid On Mapmaker: cairnswk Description: A map about cricket, the first map about a sport which is going through the foundry. Recently stamped for gameplay, there's still some discussion about it. German/Italian Unification Mapmaker: Industrial Helix Description: Two maps about the wars of unification that took place int the last half of the 19th century and saw the rise of the united kingdoms of Italy and Germany. Working on mountains Final Forge Monsters! Mapmaker: dolomite13 Description: As a honored wizard you have volunteered to explore the Caverns of Power and retrieve the Powerstones. Recently stamped for graphics. Xml not yet checked. Japan Mapmaker: RedBaron0 Description: Modern Japan with an ancient graphics styleand a standard gameplay. A nice addition for ConquerClub, when quenched. It looks ready. Germany Revamp Mapmaker: WidowMakers Description: The winner map of the germany revamp competition is now in the final forge. The old Germany map with a new look. Power Rankings: Top 10 Clans by Georgerx7di (TSM) Top Clans on CC By Georgerx7di (TSM) In lieu of the up coming Conqueror’s Cup and the controversy over the ladders, I have decided to do a opinion piece on the top clans on CC and personally rank them. As I write about clan wars, I find myself spending more and more time in the “completed challenges” forum, where I have learned a good deal about our clans. In preparing my rankings, I found that the first two spots were easy to fill based on available information. Spots 3-7 seemed to meld together at first and so I had to add more criteria to help me order them. Spots 8-10 were the hardest to fill, there were at least two or three clans that I had to leave off, who perhaps should have made it. So here are the criteria I used to decide who the best clans on CC are: 1. Clan war record. This gives a good indication of how good a clan has been over the life of the clan. 2. Current CLA Season 2 record for the league. This is a good indicator of how good a clan is at the moment, albeit not a perfect indicator. Most of my top 10 list was derived from these two factors and from my own experiences playing these clans. 3. Who the clans won or lost to in clan challenges. 4. Input from experienced clan players. This is important because there are things that I will not have gotten around to looking at, for example people leaving or joining a clan. 5. Win percentage in clan wars. This becomes important when you have two clans who seem very equal. AOD for example lost a clan war to IA by a score of 11-9, that is a lot different then loosing 16-4 and so should not count so strongly against them. Now without further ado, here is (in my opinion) the top ten clans on CC. Top 10 Clans on CC: 1. THOTA THOTA has a 7-0 record in clan wars, by far the best of anyone. Three of their wins were against top ranked opponents. 32-28 over LOW, 53-47 over Imperial Dragoons and 41-19 over Generation 1. The rest are lesser known clans, but its worth noting that their victory over Death by committee was by a score of 35-5. THOTA is also the champion in the first season of the CLA League. 2. TSM The Spanking Monkeys have a 3-0 record, all against top clans. They have defeated The Legion 25-15, Immortal Assassins 22-18 and LOW 34-26. LOW has kind of been the gateway to the top spots, if one could defeat them, then that clan would be ranked in the top 2 or 3 spots. All three of these have been traditionally considered top 10 clans, although The Legion has lost some good players very recently and will not make this top 10 list. The Spanking Monkeys are also leading division 1B in CLA Season 2 at the time of printing. 3. The Odd Fellows Union TOFU has a 3-0 record over some very good clans. They have defeated The Imperial Dragoons 24-16 and Generation 1 25-15. Their third win came over Mythology by a margin of 30-10. I was hesitant to place TOFU so high on the list however because of the fact that they were placed in Division 2 in CLA League. However they have absolutely dominated division 2A (winning 83% of their games!), in a division that includes O&H, EE, and Divine Domination (more on DD below). 4. Immortal Assassins The Immortal Assassins have a 3-1 record in clan wars, including defeats over AOD and BPB. Their only loss is to TSM (above). IA is also in second place in division 1A in this season’s CLA League, ahead of THOTA who is in third place and behind KORT. 5. Legends of War Their 5 wins are pretty impressive. They won a 36-24 match over Empire (ranked 6th on this list) and a 16-8 win over The Untouchables, who would have been considered for the top 10 if the clan were still in existence. LOW also defeated G1 28-12, and crushed PE 25-5. LOW had a record of 5-2 up till recently. Their only losses had come at the hands of the top 2 clans on this list; THOTA 32-28 and TSM 34-26 and are in second place in division 1B, only a half game behind TSM. With all this they might have been 3rd or 4th out of the top 10, however they were recently defeated, and quite soundly, by O&H (see issue 24 of The CC dispatch). With this 3rd loss, many no longer consider LOW to be at the very top. However, as their defeat of Empire, and their cla performance shows, LOW is still a clan to be taken seriously and that is why they earned my number 5 spot. 6. Empire Empire has an impressive 7-1 record including wins over The Legion, The Imperial Dragoons, Nemesis, BSS and a somewhat underrated Agents of Chaos. Empire blasted Nemesis 41-23 handing them their first loss. There are a few other blowout wins, AOC 38-22, The Worlds of the Wort 15-5, however other wins were not so impressive. Empire defeated Black Sheep Squadron 21-19 and The Legion by an even smaller margin 16-15. None the less, had it not been for their loss to LOW, Empire might be ranked in the top 3. Empire has also not been that impressive in CLA League, they currently have a 34-35 record and are 4th place in division 1A. Not an embarrassment by any means, considering that the clan above them in 3rd place is THOTA. Divisions 1A and 1B are filled with most of the best clans on CC, however to be ranked in the top 5 a clan has to be able to shine against this top competition. Empire gets 6th place for me. 7. Knights of the Round Table The Knights of the Round Table seemed to be an all-star team in the making. They recruited many top players and were expected to take the clan world by storm (much in the way that TOFU has). They are leading division 1A, an impressive feat, above IA, THOTA and Empire, however their clan wars have not been as impressive. KORT has a record of 1-0-1. Their first clan war ended in a 15-15 tie against Generation 1, a 3-5-1 clan with most of its losses coming to top clans. KORT came back to win their next clan war over The Brethren of the Fat Mermaid, (see issue 23 of The CC Dispatch) with a score that is currently listed at 38-17 with 5 games still not recorded. The Brethren are a good clan, with players like BoganGod and Draq, however with an 0-3 record it is hard to gauge the value of KORT’s victory over them. For these reasons KORT gets 7th place. Cla aside, they still have not proven themselves to be top 5 quality. 8. Nemesis After jotting down my top 7 clans, it became more difficult to decide who would get the last three spots. So I made a spreadsheet with a few columns. I put a check in one column for every clan that had a winning record in clan wars. Next I put a check next to every clan that had a winning record in CLA. One thing jumped out at me. There were only two clans who were not already on my top 10 list, who had both winning clan records and winning records in the current season of CLA. One was Nemesis, the other was Agents of Chaos (more on them below). Nemesis has a 3-1 record with wins over Mythology, Imperial Britain and Left4Dead; their only loss coming to Empire (above). They also have a 36-28 record in CLA League, good for 4th place in division 1B. 9. Angels of Death Angels of Death (formerly LOD) has an 9-4 record. Their 9 wins are all over mid-level clans, The Brethren or Mythology perhaps being the best of the bunch. Their losses however are mostly to good clans. They were beaten handily 37-23 by The Imperial Dragoons, however their other losses were all nail biters. They lost 23-22 against G1 and 11-9 against IA! Not a bad showing. Their other loss was a 5-4 loss to Freemium Forces in a 9 game clan war which probably should not count. AOD clearly deserves a spot in the top 10 with this record. However their CLA League performance has been less than stellar, 31-33 in division 1A. For this reason, and the absence of any victories over top ranked clans, AOD gets a 9th place rank from me. 10. Imperial Dragoons This was the toughest clan to place on this list. The Imperial Dragoons have a 3-3 record, the only clan on this list that isn't over .500. Surely I couldn’t put ID above Empire (6-1) who defeated ID. Perhaps I could have put them above AOD, who ID had defeated. ID’s losses were all to top clans, THOTA, TOFU and Empire. Their wins were over AOD, Skyforce and a 13 game win over Murder Inc. Overall not bad, and they beat AOD by a margin of 37-23. They also lost to THOTA 53-47, a pretty good showing. However to be considered a top clan one has to win. It’s hard to put a 3-3 clan above a 9-4 clan. Also, ID has a 32-37 record in CLA division 1A, good for 5th place in that division. This tells me that perhaps ID is not as good as they have been in the past. However should they win their current challenge against IA (it's tied at 15-15), I would have to bump them up a couple of spots on the list, perhaps even above KORT. Honorable Mentions: BPB The Bullet Proof Bandits have had an impressive showing in the CLA League, currently 39-25 and in 3rd place in division 1B. On the other hand, their clan war record is a pedestrian 1-1. They have a win over BSS, nothing to sneeze at, but only by a margin of 21-19. Their loss came at the hands of IA, a clan that I think very highly of. In the end two clan challenges just weren't enough to put them above AOD or ID. O&H The Outlaws and Highwaymen officially show a record of 2-2, however their two most recent victories have not been recorded. They will be at 4-2 when their two clan wars finish, including an impressive win over LOW (see issue 24). On the other hand their CLA League performance is a poultry 16-24 in division 2B. Another problem is their two losses. They lost to BSS (a good clan, but not in my top 10) and Divine Domination, a clan playing in their first clan war. O&H would have to be ranked around 11 or 12 at the moment for me. On the other hand, should they win their next clan war against G1 (they currently lead 5-4), this could solidify them as a top 10 contender. AOC I actually consulted some experts on this one. My final two spots had come down to AOD, ID, BPB, O&H, and AOC, and I was seriously considering putting Agents of Chaos in the 9 or 10 spot on the list. They have a 3-1-1 record and are leading their division in CLA League. So why didn’t they make the top 10. For one thing, their three wins all came against very low ranked clans. They had a tie against Mythology, not bad, but Mythology didn’t make the top 10 either. The only top clan that they played was Empire, and they lost that war 38-22. Finally, although they are crushing their division in CLA League (27-13), it is division 2B. For AOC to move up to the top 10, they have to beat a top clan and/or win in division 1 CLA. So although they are a good clan, they still have not proven themselves to be at the very to of CC clan competition. A win against an AOD or Nemesis is probably what it would take to vault them up to the top 10. Rising Star Divine Domination I will end with an up and coming clan to watch for in the future. Divine domination has completed 1 clan war, defeating O&H by a score of 33-27, not bad for a clan’s first challenge. Don’t forget that O&H is the clan that just defeated LOW by a good margin. DD is also in second place in division 2A, with a loosing record albeit (19-21), but every clan in that division has a losing record. TOFU is rolling 2A with an 83% win percentage. However, to be in second place behind TOFU is not a bad spot for a new clan, and they are just a few games shy of being over .500. I suspect that this will be a clan to keep an eye on. Final comments It’s unlikely that anyone will agree on the exact ranking of every clan. Some will place more value on players they know in the clan, or how they think the clan will perform in the future. I went with a system that weighed more on the past and more on winning and loosing clan wars because I felt that one cannot guess how a clan will do in the future. A record on the other hand is something that a clan has proven. And after all, winning clan wars is what we all strive for, not winning percentage. I personally would much rather my clan win 3 wars 21-19 then win 1 war 34-16 and loose 2 wars 19-21. So this is how I graded clans, how many wars did they win and how many they lost. As Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots once said, “Stats are for losers, final scores are for winners”. Conqueror's Cup by laughingcavalier (AoD) COME SHOW WHAT YOUR CLAN IS REALLY MADE OF!! demanded Chuuuuck as he launched the first annual Conqueror's Cup, and within hours he had been joined by CC’s finest, keen to take part in the first knockout inter-clan competition. The contest is on an epic scale with 19 clans competing in a bracket competition. Each contest will constitute a clan war in itself, with 48 games played between clans in the early rounds, and 68 games in each semi and the finals – not to mention games to be played in pre-season qualifiers. Adding all that up, you see the size of Chuuuuck’s vision, and what has got so many clans excited. If all goes to plan, by December over 800 games will have been played. The winners might enjoy a similar status to those who take home the much-coveted title of winner of the only comparable competition, the Clan League. Chuuuuck wrote:One thing is constant in the clan forums, people are arguing over the rankings, who is better than who, and how "Clan A" hasn't really played anyone. Everyone seems to agree that the bigger clan wars that most clans participate in are a good way of judging who is better. So I decided a bracket style tournament where clans don't get to choose who they play, and they play each other in larger clans wars might be the best way to settle "who is the best". Chuuuuck’s own Empire were the first clan in, soon joined by all but a handful of the top clans. The Cup thread quickly made its’ way to the top of the clan forum, as CC heavyweights, notably Incandenza and Foxglove, helped out with planning, and others (you know who you are) began the all-important trash talk. Chuuuuck appreciates the enthusiasm and the help he has received from those in his own clan and beyond, especially TheSpaceCowboy who came up with the name the "Conqueror's Cup" and will be helping with the admin once the tourney gets going. Seeding was decided by vote. Clan leaders ranked the participants, with the results counted together to give each clan their position in the draw. THOTA sit at the top, followed by TOFU, Empire and Immortal Assassins. There were enough surprises to launch a heated debate on where each clan will finish ( Conqueror's Cup Predictions), but all agree they will prove their case where it counts, on the field of battle. Chuuuuck himself is quietly confident about the strengths of his own clan: Chuuuuck wrote:Obviously, I am biased. I think some players feel we are over-rated, but I feel Empire has gotten a lot better over the past year and I personally believe we are under-rated. I feel we will make a strong showing and at least make it to the semi-finals. The first round offers some great match-ups. Legends of War are looking to avenge their recent defeat at the hands of the Outlaws and Highwaymen, while Knights of the Round Table and Generation 1 will play it out for a win after their draw last time up. The pre-season qualifiers kick off on February 17th, as the lower ranked teams duke it out to make the first round proper which is scheduled to start in March. We will be covering the games here. A final comment from the tourney organiser: Chuuuuck wrote: A very big thanks to for everything they do for the clan scene, and a big thanks to the clan community as a whole. Their participation and excitement is what makes this tournament truly exciting. show: Interrogation of pimpdave Q. Hey there Pimpdave A. Hey, thanks for doing this, nagerous. You're one of the coolest people here. Also, thanks for all the work you newsletter folks do. It's a real testament to the strength of the community we've all come to value that this thing happens. Q. What's your favourite colour? A. Green Q. Is your first name Dave or Pimp? A. It is actually neither. My first name is Dr. Octavious Pimpdave McAwesomeFace Q. What does Dave think about you pimping him? A. He actually thinks I've done a really good job. Q. What is the best book you have ever read, and why? A. Catch-22. It breaks my heart and fills it back up. Human nature on parade. Q. Did you manage to get Sergei hooked up? A. Fortunately for you, I'm pretty sure Sergei is still single, so you should drop him a line. I'll tell him you are in love with him for you. Because I'm a good friend like that. You can call him at 867-5309. He'd love to hear from you. Q. How many accounts have you had on Conquer Club? A. Current estimates place the number over 9000. Q. By what was your tenure at McGill University marked? A. Inventions, primarily. Q. Why is it the most powerful Uni ever? A. Because power was invented there in 1863. Q.When did McGill University invent you? A. Immediately after inventing the concept of being completely awesome which then was transmuted to me because it had to manifest as something. Q. What is your favourite song? You can tell a suprising amount about a person with just that one question! A. Well, if that's the case, you'll have to let me throw down like, 5, if you're going to read into it so much. That sort of thing changes often, but I can list 5 songs that have resonated with me over the years and that I can sing along to flawlessly. Let Down- Radiohead Big Time- Peter Gabriel Eulogy- tool Geek U.S.A.- Smashing Pumpkins The First Time- U2 Q. What year(s) did you attend McGill? A. Yes Q. In what faculty? A. Executive Vice President of Determining Inventions Q. How many babes did you make while there? A. What does make "babes mean"? Is that illegal? How did you hear about that? I mean, I'm not at liberty to discuss any top secret synthetic babe manufacturing that may or may not have been invented at McGill University during my tenure. Q. Is Canadian beer as good as they say it is? A. It's okay. Q. Who invented hockey? A. Some dudes on Long Island. SUCKERS. Q. Did you know that everything was invented at McGill University, including McGill University? A. Except for hockey and football, you jackasses, yes. Q. Do you think the space-time continuum would be torn asunder because everything was invented at McGill University? A. No, why would it be? Q. Where's Waldo? A. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sll=5 ... 0000000024 Q. You're a GH member now, so I must ask: do you feel lucky punk? A. Not in general. Q. Do you have any diseases or physical traits that hinder you in any way? A. Yes, I suffer from the condition known as "the much too sexy". This presents many beautiful women hindering my path with their pleas for my attention. Q. What are your favorite parts of your body and personality? What are your least favorites? A. All of them. Q. If you HAD to commit suicide, how would you do it? A. If I HAD to commit suicide, it would be because I am a spy who has been captured, so I'd pop a cyanide pill to prevent my breaking under interrogation (everybody breaks). Q. Do you have any deeply disturbing memories? A. Everyone does. Q. What is the purpose/meaning of your life? A. … Q. Have you ever had any thoughts about being a woman? A. Not really. Not like I ever wanted to be one, but I've tried to put myself in their shoes on occasion. Q. What is your favorite song? Band? Singer/songwriter? A. The Roots Q.What is your favorite fast food? Favorite item? A. In N' Out Burger, but that might just be because I only have it when I go out to the West Coast, so it seems more special. As for stuff near me, I like Wendy's, if I have to have fast food, because of the (probably incorrect) perception that it's the most healthful one. I like California style burgers. Q. What is your favorite sit-in restaurant, and item? A. It's not a chain. I eat too much red meat, but my favorite is buffalo, be it burgers, steak or whatever. Buffalo meat is so good and lean. I'm also a big fan of any kind of food I've never tried before. I like trying food from all different cultures and locations. Q. What is your favorite movie? Genre? Director? Actor? A. Heat, Gone Baby Gone, Yojimbo, Three Kings, The Departed. Director: Michael Mann; Actor: They're all cattle, but I have a huge crush Christina Hendricks Q. What is your favorite TV show? Writer? Actor? A. The Wire; David Simon and Ed Burns, especially when Dennis Lehane does an episode. Q. What is your favorite book? Writer? A. Catch-22, as I said. Favorite writer right now is Dennis Lehane. Q. What is your favorite game? Format? A. Memoir '44. Q. If you could choose, what would be your last words? A. I'm going home. Q. If you have one, who is/was your favorite American president? A. Abraham Lincoln. For reasons too personal to post here. Q. What is your favorite war of all time? A. Star Wars. Q. Do you think that you enjoy answering questions more, less, or about as much as Juan_Bottom or Snorri1234? A. Caring about this question was invented at McGill University in the year shut up. Q. Would you trade a blastoise for a pikachu? A. WAT. Would this be before or after I gave you a super-mega-nuclear noogie for being such a huge dork? J/K LOL! SAX ATTAK! Q. What is the average wing-speed velocity of a swallow, either African or European? A. Depends on whether that swallow is above, below, or at the equator, but it's at least 9,000 miles per second. Q. What is your favorite past time altogether? A. Informing the world of all the glorious achievements of McGill University. Q. If you were able to choose exactly, how would you prefer to die? A. Saving someone else's life. And yes, there is someone in particular I wish I could go back and save in my place. Q. If you had to part with a piece of your body, what would it be? A. Wisdom teeth. Oops too late. Q. If you had to live out the plot of a horror movie, what would it be? A. 28 Days Later Q. What is your favorite car? Make, model, and/or year? A. '68 Mustang Boss in Bullitt Green. Since those are hard to come by, I'll settle for a BMW 5 series in black. Q. Do you think MaleAlphaThree's list of question is the list he submits to babes on dating sites? A. I don't know, but I do think it's copypasta. Q. What is your favorite map and why? A. I like New World because it's a cool concept, and I've never won on it yet. I also like Battle of Actium. I don't know why, I just think it's cool. Oh, and the Prison one is pretty cool too, but that's just because Juan_Bottom is a great teammate to have on that map, and I remember the games I've played with him there very fondly. In conclusion, DBC IS GREATEST CLAN IN ALL OF CONQUER CLUB, ALL OTHER CLANS HAVE INFERIOR FUN. Q. If you got randomly selected to go to Mars would you? A. If it meant my name went down in history as a hero like Neil Armstrong, then absolutely. Otherwise, I'd have to think about it. Q. Will you be attending a Muse show during their current North American tour? A. Not this time, but I've seen them live before, and they are awesome. Q. What level is your Blastoise? A. Seriously, I'm gonna give you a wedgie. Q. How many bitches are you pimping currently? A. None. I don't pimp bitches. That is disrespectful to women and I do not do that. (psst, bitches, get at me if you wanna make some money!) Q. What is the nature of your relationship with #1_stunna? A. He's one of my multis. Along with the other obvious ones, like Snorri, killing.44, saxitoxin, and Twill. Q. What are your complete thoughts on the #1_stunna and Beckytheblondie scandal? A. Teenage angst has paid off well, now I'm bored and old. Q. How many dogs do you own? Cats? Walruses? TVs? Microwaves? Women? J/K LOL! SAX ATTAK! A. One. One. None. One. Nine thousand. Forty two. LOL, I LOVE YOU. Q. Thanks for your time pimpdave! A. Well, I hope I've made you regret spending it reading this! Stay Tuned for the next issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch for an interrogation of . Post any questions you may have for them here --> Interrogation with thegreekdog Submitting Your Own Articles If you have a story you think the ConquerClub Community would find interesting, you can submit your articles to . If the CC Dispatch Team enjoy it than you may just see your article published in the Newsletter! Did you enjoy this Issue? Have you subscribed to the Newsletter yet? If you want each and every issue of the ConquerClub Dispatch delivered right into your Inbox, then Subscibe Here! ConquerClub Dispatch Team	<urn:uuid:49a1ab84-7cc7-4566-8890-d69f399f76d9>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.conquerclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2446122	2015-03-31T10:03:48Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.970354	17,117
Nice N Easy Grocery Shoppes has no fear of going out on a limb. In the face of dwindling cigarette sales—the chain has seen its carton sales cut in half over the past five years due to intense competition and painfully high excise taxes—the Canastota, NY-based chain dove headfirst into foodservice in 1999 as a means of ensuring its future. The company began with one subbrand that evolved into another then another, until its stores were a sea of offers with no clear direction. President John MacDougall and Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer Fran Duskiewicz knew that even though they had great programs, the programs lacked cohesion. So they hired a "food Ph.D.," Dr. Jack Cushman, as vice president of foodservice. Cushman pulled the entire offer under the Mama Mia’s Classic Pizza umbrella and fine-tuned the offerings. As a result, the company has watched food sales skyrocket to more than $20,000 a week in some stores. At about the same time, the company was looking to revamp its overall store image. Standing at the threshold of a new millennium, the chain wanted to showcase its new and improved foodservice offer, but it also wanted to update the logo and image that customers have embraced for 20 years. Nice N Easy went off on its own and tried its hand at design. The company made a bold move by tearing down and rebuilding its most profitable store. When the dust settled, the chain realized it had fallen just short of what it had intended to accomplish. Again, the company sought outside help to bring its true vision to life. At the close of what has been a five-year process, Nice N Easy readies to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a decidedly different "face" to its customers. A helping hand The decision to tear down and rebuild its most profitable store—an interstate location in Tully, NY, that had the highest gas volumes and merchandise sales in the 82-store chain—was driven by a commitment to customers. But good intentions weren’t enough to execute the project as planned. "Tully has always been our No. 1 store," says MacDougall. "It was a big deal when we went to tear it down and redesign it. [The store] was doing really well before we tore it down, but we felt we were under-serving our customers. When we finished with the store, a colleague came in and pointed out that it was a beautiful store, but it didn’t look as if it was complete—there’s a lot of good foodservice stuff in there, but there’s nothing really tying it all together. Honestly, we had to agree." The Tully store had the makings of an improved image; the design set off the coolers, the coffee bar (which is on the opposite side of the store) and the foodservice offer with different colors, and wood treatments gave the store a more "polished" look. But the colleague was right: The store simply fell short of MacDougall’s grand vision. The experience left Nice N Easy at a creative loss. In the company’s search for the "wow" factor, it sought additional help from a professional design firm, Group Red. The outside assistance has made all the difference. "We learned that we’re good at designing programs and nice-looking buildings out of quality materials, but we didn’t have that," says Duskiewicz. "Contractors will build nice, sturdy buildings, but they have finishers come in on all the final details. That’s what we needed. We were building beautiful stores, but we needed to bring a finisher in for all those little touches that would make someone go ‘Oooh, this is nice.’ Those little things mean a lot." Group Red rode Nice N Easy’s stores to get a feel for what the chain was trying to accomplish. The company quickly turned ideas into visual images that could be discussed. Group Red kept Nice N Easy focused on the minutiae— exactly what it was missing—until the team settled on a finished look for the inside of the store. In the end, the chain had a brand new reworking of its logo and fonts, and an overall foodservice identity called the Easy Street Eatery, complete with its own logo. Ideas were completed just in time to be implemented in a new ground-up store in Manlius, NY, and Nice N Easy felt that if it liked how it looked, then it would work its way backwards through the company. The Wegmans of c-stores The Manlius store represented another-bold move on Nice N Easy’s part. The company typically focused its stores in rural, middle-income communities, and Manlius was located in a highincome area. If Nice N Easy was going to invest in a whole new look for its stores, it wanted to see if it could cater to a higher-income customer. "We knew [Manlius] was an important store to do this in," says Duskiewicz. "We generally avoided high-income areas—we just never thought customers in those communities would be a good fit for us. But because it was new territory, it forced us to do a lot of research." The only competition for Nice N Easy in Manlius was a Wegmans supermarket and a few stores in the village, located at a difficult S-turn where traffic often bottlenecks. Nice N Easy chose a more remote location to give residents a new route for their morning coffee. In an effort to court the upscale Wegmans supermarket customers, the chain felt it necessary to see what they wanted in a Nice N Easy store. The company took a two-pronged approach to getting inside customers’ heads. First came an exchange of information with ACNielsen. "Since we planned on serving Wegmans customers, we actually tried to make a c-store version, so when their customers shopped here they’d feel right at home," says Duskiewicz. "We sell our scan data to ACNielsen, so they made available to us Wegmans scan data along with Home Panel Data, which showed us where the Wegmans customer shopped when they weren’t shopping in Wegmans. Lo and behold, we found these higher-income shoppers were just as interested in bargains as everyone else was: They were shopping in dollar stores. We knew they were looking for deals, so we have a dollar section in this store. But they also like things to look upscale, so we tried to incorporate all of that into this location." Then Nice N Easy went directly to the customer. It surveyed the community to see how the chain could customize the store to fit consumers’ needs. The survey consisted of 15 questions about services, products, food and car wash. About 2,500 mailers went out to the general community with the promise of a $10 gas gift certificate for those that responded. In the two-year period between when the mailers went out and when the store opened, 1,700 responses came back to Nice N Easy’s office. It was expensive, but MacDougall feels it made all the difference. "The cost of the promotion was about $17,000," he says. "But it’s not unusual to spend anywhere from $5,000 to $6,000 for regular grand opening festivities. This promotion really got the store flying from day one, because they knew this store was made with them specifically in mind." The end result The differences between the Manlius store and the Tully store are striking. In the Manlius store, colorful, captivating graphics set off the different sections with color-coded signage, featuring detailed roadmaps of the area. And each section has a phrase like "satisfy your hunger" or "brighten your day" that the company labored over with its design partner, Group Red. "[Group Red] prodded us until it was perfect," says Duskiewicz of the New York-based firm. "They made us focus on the exact message we wanted to put out there. Then they came back with 10 diffe rent combinations with a repeating arc and theme. It’s a small detail, but then again, it’s those details that we needed the most help with." The canopy of the Manlius store mirrors the peaked atrium at the front of the store—the brainchild of MacDougall and soon to be a trademark of Nice N Easy. The canopy and store also have shingled roofs, another upscale touch. Aside from integrating a dollar store concept amid its grocery offer, Nice N Easy also plucked other gems from the Wegmans data and the community input. Nice N Easy has taken its fill-in grocery offer to the next level by offering full meal solutions for customers. From frozen meats like steaks, chicken, shrimp, beef patties and pork chops and sides to accompany it, to frozen pizzas and appetizers, the store provides meal solutions for families at affordable prices. "In many communities, our stores are the only place for folks to shop," says MacDougall. "We want to give them everything they would need to make a meal for their family. And we’re competitively priced—$3.69 per pound for turkey breast, and $4.99 per pound for beef strip steaks." For the past several years, Nice N Easy has also begun concentrating on fresh produce. It recently added Produce Manager Samuel A. Magari, Jr. to its foodservice team. He will oversee the fresh produce program now being offered in several Nice N Easy locations. Open beverage cases with juice and single-serve water are another recent addition to both Tully and Manlius, and will be part of the chain’s plans going forward. According to MacDougall, sales greatly improved when they opened the cases up for easier customer access— open-faced coolers filled with low-carb products resulted in at least a 15% lift in sales. Waist-high cases for ice cream and frozen foods run through the store, too. Manlius is also the first store to offer customers Wi-Fi access in its seating area. MacDougall feels it was absolutely necessary for customers—and well worth the cost he describes as "not that expensive." The chain hopes to have six more Wi-Fi-equipped stores in 2005. The price of success Nice N Easy spent $1.25 million to tear down and rebuild the Tully store. It will cost an additional $5,000 to give it the finishing touches that are so prominent at the Manlius store, but even now the store has exceeded the company’s expectations. The store opened back up for business in December 2003. So far, it is producing foodservice sales that exceed most other store’s total inside sales, and it has maintained its gas volumes thanks to tourist traffic. "Tully was a huge risk because for years Tully had been our busiest and most profitable store," says Duskiewicz. "And to tear down your busiest and most profitable store can be a scary thing. But we did it and opened up right in time for our new fiscal year—beginning of December last year. And essentially it hasn’t been a problem. Our payroll and sales both went up dramatically, but the difference between the increase of those two more than made up for the increased cost of the building. So we essentially held our profit, which is remarkable. "Tully and Manlius were both completed-[in 2004], and that’s two huge projectsfor us to get done in a year," Duskiewicz adds. "And to take this critical image leap from one store to the next was a ton of work. But we previewed this new image to our 50 franchisees and they’re all real excited about it. So now we’re setting up a retrofit schedule to see how we can take the look and get it in place in as many stores as we can." Nice N Easy’s next generation The Manlius store isn’t just Nice N Easy’s first attempt at servicing a highincome community; it’s also going to be the chain’s first venture in real estate development. For $1.2 million, Nice N Easy President John MacDougall purchased the eight acres the store sits on, with the intention of creating a small retail site on the property as well. To date, a bank is connected to the store’s parking lot by a small access drive. For the future, the chain has a 16,000 sq. ft. space to the side and behind the store pegged for use by other retail tenants. Several companies are interested, one being a drug store that understands there are certain rules to follow. "There are a number of companies that are interested in getting on our lot," says Fran Duskiewicz, Nice N Easy’s executive vice president/CFO. "There’s a local flower shop that is slated to go in the retail site, as well as a candy shop. The site right next door to us is the other big retail site. We’ve gotten unsolicited calls from drug store chains to get on that site, and we said ‘sure’ as long as they’re willing to accept our deed restrictions. And if you get a well-known drug store next to you that’s not competing on some key items, you’ll get a lot of traffic." Because Nice N Easy can’t sell liquor or wine in its stores, the chain is also in talks with a liquor store, which could end up being the first Nice N Easy Liquors. "The fact that we opened up and have been hugely successful since day one has made this whole site more valuable to anyone who wants to get out there," says Duskiewicz. "It’s really paid off for [MacDougall]. It was a big investment for the land, but it’s going to work out with the success of the store and the development of retail." The property that will one day house the retail site is owned by Little John LLC. MacDougall sees it as "a little project" for his family; whatever earnings the retail site garners will go into an account bearing the names of his grandkids. Glass and Brass Nice N Easy delved into foodservice to make up for shrinking cigarette profits.-Beginning with a pizza program that went by the name Mama Mia’s, Nice N Easy then moved onto a breakfast program called Egg On The Go, then On The Go sandwich/sub program, then PJ Dogger Hot Dogs and finally Grand Choice Caf for coffee and bakery. Before long, the chain realized it was inundating customers with too many brand messages. In order to get foodservice under control, the chain followed Sheetz’s example and hired itself a foodservice "guru" in Jack Cushman. Cushman had his work cut out for him. While the existing programs under the Mama Mia’s Classic Pizza umbrella all showed promise, they lacked a certain "sameness," which made them a real challenge to promote. "When I started five years ago, we didn’t want to invent new programs," says Cushman. "These were good, profitable programs that customers responded to. Our stores were simply cluttered with messages along with the typical c-store fare of chips and beer. We wanted to get all the brands corralled under one name so our customers could identify with the programs as a whole. "So we worked to place the brands under the name Easy Street Eatery," he continues. "The menu hasn’t really changed, but the props have. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to just change the name, but when you look at the sales, you see that image and name actually play a big role." Whenever Nice N Easy adds foodservice to a store, its goal is to have the category represent 25% to 30% of sales. As soon as the changes were made to the Manlius store, it saw foodservice sales jump as high as 36% of in-store sales. The store has exceeded the chain’s pre-construction estimates of $10,000 a week in food sales. Manlius is the first store to feature the completely redesigned foodservice offer. One of the main design elements that gave Easy Street its edge was what Cushman calls "glass and brass." The food preparation area is separated fro But not every store will bear the Easy Street Eatery brand. The brand is reserved for stores that offer a full-blown foodservice offer, meaning it has to carry all Nice N Easy sub-brands. Most importantly, stores need to offer made-to-order sandwiches. As Nice N Easy proceeds with its retrofit schedule, Cushman would like to see at least a dozen of the chain’s 82 stores fitted with the Easy Street label. Group Red has offered an alternate plan so that the new look can be used in older stores, rather than having to knock them down and rebuild. And with each new build he hopes to improve on the operational flow. And while Cushman is the "commander" of the foodservice offer, Nice N Easy has recruited strong "foot soldiers" in each store. Each time the chain puts foodservice programs into a store, it goes out and hires restaurant managers. "They know how to run foodservice because they’ve managed restaurants in the past," says Fran Duskiewicz, executive vice president/CFO. "So [Cushman] and the people who work for him at least can speak the same language."	<urn:uuid:39b6ff9d-201d-43ab-a73d-b02685cec739>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.cstoredecisions.com/2005/02/01/nice-n-easys-new-face/	2015-03-31T09:46:54Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.97417	3,724
Well fall is definitely here or Autumn as I call it when being fancy. So many things about fall are great and as I write this blog I am eating a HoneyCrisp apple. The other great thing is sports and hoodies. I love college football and soccer so this time of year is great for my sports fandom. The other thing that is awesome is this time of the year you can cook things you don't cook in the summer. Those things mean dusting off that crockpot and getting to work fella. I know that summer time is great for grilling but as far as real BBQ goes the fall is a great time to put a piece of meat in a smoker and let it do its work. The temperature has go down a little but not cold yet and that is good with me. I love shorts and a hoodie, have for years and feel like it is really the best look that combines looking cool with comfort. Pumpkin beers also are great, shout out to the Night Owl. As a guy you are not supposed to like pumpkin patches and all that stuff but I went to one last year and had fun. I should also say I am a city boy so anything out in the country like that always seems like a fun adventure to me. Now the other key to having a blast in the pumpkin patch is to combine it with some of those pumpkin beers. Have fun out there and enjoy Autumn This weather just won't quit. Sun and 80's for months now and I hope you are still enjoying it since fall or autumn is just around the corner. I have been lacking a bit on the blog as summer gets busy and I am giving you bad excuses, my bad I will get back on it. I have also found that some of blog thoughts are easy to get out on my podcast Thee Podcast. One of the reasons I bring up Thee Podcast is because my co-host Cobb said a thing a few weeks ago we try to live by and that is "Come from a place of love, not fear." I thing today with all that is going on with the domestic violence discussion in the NFL and USA right now it is also to time to talk about violence in our society. We are a warring culture and rage war almost continuously for 15 years now. We also talk tough all the time to people and for some reason believe that violence is the answer. If you are in a bar and someone brushes by you and want to fight, then I know you are not smart. Street cred is another thing that is just a joke, you don't need it and at no point is your street cred going to get you that job. I often hear things like if I was him I would beat his ass, why? In all the fights these kind of angry upset people get in, they never win. Sure they are good street fighters and don't get beat up but within themselves is the real fight and they are losing badly. Violence in our system is OK to use sometimes but not others? Put me in the camp of non-violence movements and it should be a last resort. Sorry for the deep blog post but this last week has been a serious one. How is the summer going for you so far? I am back to asking questions to start the blog. Sorry I have been gone for a minute just got busy with summer and living. At this point in the summer I have been doing a ton of fun things and just enjoying the great Seattle weather. 80's during the day and they cool and night is just the best weather in my mind. Now I have become a Seattle person so I am looking forward to a rainy day in the fall but we will have plenty of those so for now I will take the sun and if I have to sweat a little bit then that's fine with me. I went to Hempfest on Sunday and if you like to people watch and good food options then you should go next year. It is crowded and long lines but it is fun and just have fun with the fact it is Hempfest and its going to be slow walking around. I had a tasty strawberry smoothie followed up by the best damn grill cheese sandwich ever thanks to The Grill Cheese experience. Summer is great in Seattle and I hope you are out there enjoying it. Have fun and Go Sounders, they are going to make the push into the playoff's soon so make sure to give your full 90 Everyone run for cover the jets are taking over or so it seems. Not really it is just Seafair and the Blue Angels are in town. The NAVY is here as well in numbers, Belltown was full of the sailor's. It is crazy when you see those Jets and the power they have. I also think it is fun for the Military guys and girls to have fun in the town. I would have to image it is a good time to blow off some steam and enjoy the town. I also get the argument about our Military power and show of it but the guy has to say its so cool. I could watch those jets all day long and I think it looks cool when you see everyone in the uniforms. Seafair is also just a great weekend to be in Seattle. Between the Blue Angels and the hydro races on the weekend it is overload on the senses. Summer in Seattle is awesome and I can't wait for this weekend and to see the Blues flying above the lake. Hope you get out there and have fun and if you are on the log boom, be safe and drink one for me. So summer is here and so is the great weather as well. The funny thing is in Seattle I feel like we do a good job of bitching when the weather is not good and then in time we start to bitch about the heat. Let me start by saying I love summer but I am going to do some complaining. When I got home last night around ten my house was hot. I live on the sixth floor of a building in a one bedroom condo. I am not sure if it is from being on the sixth floor or from the fact my place faces west but in the evening and night it is warm in that sucka. Now what do you do when you get home and it is just hot and sticky in your place? I myself go straight to mesh shorts and t-shirt with the sleeves cut off. I basically go home and turn into Larry the Cable guy. One thing that has changed for me in the last year though is this summer I have a portable Air-conditioning unit in my bedroom so it is nice and cool when I sleep. Shout out to STP for the hook up on that air-conditioner. I also like being outside but when it comes to eating outside in the sunlight I am not for that. I don't mind eating outside but eating in the sunlight is just not fun in my book. I will have some drinks with you sure but if you to grab some food lets go inside honey. Now he is the deal though with all that bitching I just did I still love summer in Seattle and hope it last for months. Get out there and enjoy life This weekend is the 4th of July and I am excited. I am fired up for many reasons but number one is I have some family coming into town and I can't wait to show off Seattle. I have had a couple ideas about what I want to show them but in the end it is Seattle in the summer. I sometimes take for granted how beautiful the city is. I have options and not sure what to do with them but I like the idea of showing them Discovery Park because it is a nice park and you can get down to the beach for some great views of the city. I have also thought about just hoping on a ferry and going across to one of the islands to show them the difference and maybe grab a quick bite over there. The 4th itself is also one of my favorite holidays. I think part of the reason I like it so much is just having a BBQ with friends and enjoying some cold beverages and fireworks With all the World Cup fun going the last couple of weeks I sometimes forget the bad side of sports but then someone reminds of it. Today clearly I am talking about a player for Uruguay named Luis Suarez who once again bite someone today during a World Cup match. Now I use the word again because he has a history of biting people. Just last year he was suspended for nine games for biting someone while playing for Liverpool in the English Premier League. That bite came on the heels of a bite he did in another league a couple years before that. Part of the problem with this guy is that because is such a great player and scores so many goals he stay's in the line up for club and country. I have heard and even kind of believed the arguments for the other two indecent but three times is just silly. I also have to wonder what is wrong with the guy, does he really think in the World Cup you can do anything on the field without a camera watching? I just can't get over the fact that not only did it happen again but now it happened in the World Cup. He has to get some kind of suspension in my mind and I think at this point Liverpool has to wonder if keeping him on the club is worth it. Last year there was talk he might come over to play for my favorite English Club Arsenal, now I am glad that did not happen because I don't want to cheer for someone like him So clearly a lot of people are excited about the World Cup and some are not. I was late to the party and did not become a soccer fan until my adult life but have learned to love the sport with passion. I also as a adult played on a indoor team for a couple years and learned how to play the sport and that helped in making it more fun to watch. I get that not everyone likes soccer but I never understand why people have to hate on the sport so much if they do not like it. If you don't like soccer, that's fair but the constant bashing on it from people during the match on Monday was stupid. I don't watch a ton of NASCAR and that's why you rarely see me tweet or talk about it. Now even if you do not like soccer I challenge you to look at a gallery of World Cup fans and not think the girls are hot. It is one of the best parts of the World Cup is that they put out photo's of all the girls from around the world that show up and they are beautiful. The Brazilian girls are unfair because that country has so many different types of people and skins tones you are bound to find some that are hot and to your taste. I like to watch the Netherlands as well because they have a country full of hot blonde women and great soccer. The Dutch also had some of the first rules on marijuana to make it some what legal so I respect that. The central American countries have a bunch of hotties as well. Trust me even if you hate soccer you will enjoy the ladies of the world cup. Enjoy fellas World Cup is back and man is it exciting. Rarely do you hear people around the office getting excited for teams that no one is loyal too but happy to watch. Today the Netherlands is playing Spain and I want both teams to play well. That's the fun thing about the world cup is clearly I am a USA fan but for some games I just pick a nation and cheer for them. I do enjoy the Dutch because I was a huge Robin Van Persie fan when he played at the best club in the world Arsenal. I also like the Dutch because of their way of life but on the same token there is a bunch on guys on the Spanish team I enjoy watching as well. Plus have you ever had Iberico ham, it's great and from Spain so another reason to cheer for them. I really just like cheering for goals and great saves as well. My point of this blog today I hope you are getting a chance to see the beautiful game and enjoying it on the highest level. Monday our boys open up play and I am stoked, I believe that we will win So last weekend it seemed like everyone I know was out having a great time. Now I am not sure if it is just my friends or if there was something in the water. I have friends that rarely go out and they were even out late last weekend. I do thing a part of it has to be the weather and the sunshine. When it is sunny out it seems like people are just more apt to go out. I also think it has something to do with the fact that since it does not get dark until later in the evening people start the night later. Summer time is the time for that kind of stuff too since it seems like you can have a couple drinks or beers and some good food that is not terrible for you. I like the fact that a lot of fruits and veggies are in season and sometimes you can just hang out by the fruit salad bowl and snack on veggies as well. In the winter time people don't want to be messing with that stuff, they want pizza's and wings on the side of the bowl of chips. Take chili for instance, do you really want to get down on a big bowl of chili with cheese in it on a warm sunny day? Either way last weekend was a ton of fun for a lot of people and I for one am always happy to see other people having fun too.	<urn:uuid:b01828e5-ab26-46a3-a028-caa52a31eb7f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.kisw.com/Superbowl-2-11-10/11281395	2015-03-31T09:48:58Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.985707	2,735
NC lawmakers pass coal ash legislation; adjourn very long short session 08/20/2014 11:24 AM 11/23/2014 3:03 PM The state’s Coal Ash Management Act, described by advocates as the first of its kind, passed the state legislature with a broad majority on Wednesday, about six months after a corroded pipe spilled huge volumes of the gray, sludgy industrial byproduct into the Dan River. The measure passed the House 84-13 in the afternoon, and the Senate 38-2 a few hours later. About half the opposing votes in the House came from Triangle-area Democrats. The approvals were among the legislative bodies’ final actions before they passed adjournment measures for the session, sending the proposal to Gov. Pat McCrory. Much of the debate on the House floor focused on the question of whether power customers will have to pay to clean the open-air pits and lagoons managed by Duke Energy and its subsidiary, Duke Energy Progress. The approved bill only temporarily bans Duke from trying to raise consumers’ rates in order to pay for the coal ash fallout. The utility may have to pay billions, though the current legislation only requires a total cleanup of four of 14 sites. Rep. Paul Luebke argued that state leaders needed to say, loud and clear, that Duke and its shareholders – not its customers – should at least pay to clean the highest-risk sites by removing the ash to a lined landfill, by using it in certain construction projects or by installing a liner beneath the ash. “If they’re high risk now, it means for a long time they were risky to the public. For a long time the public was hurt by contamination in groundwater,” the Durham Democrat said on the chamber floor. In response, Rep. Mike Hager, Republican majority whip, pointed out that the N.C. Utilities Commission would handle any request for a rate increase, with opportunity for the public to have its say. Rep. Chuck McGrady, a Hendersonville Republican who has played a key role in the legislation, said that future bills could address costs – and that perhaps he would work on a new bill himself next year. “If we had put the cost issue in this bill, we wouldn’t be cleaning these up, because we’d still be debating the cost issue,” he said. Earlier versions of the House’s proposal would have banned Duke from paying for the cleanup by requesting increased rates from customers before the end of 2016, but the chamber compromised with the Senate, according to McGrady, shortening the moratorium to last only until January 2015. “Those costs are not going to be incurred anytime soon,” McGrady said. For his part, McGrady thinks Duke’s shareholders should be responsible for the cleanup in cases of negligence; but in other cases, he argued, coal ash costs are related to the regular operation of power plants. Dan River backlash Earlier Wednesday, McGrady laid out some of the convoluted history that produced the legislation. Different versions of the coal ash legislation had passed the House and Senate earlier this summer, but the bill appeared all but dead before a surprising resurrection this week. The impetus for the legislation came, in part, with widespread public backlash from the Dan River spill. The incident was a dramatic reminder of a simmering issue, highlighting that about 100 million tons of the substance sits in 33 open-air pits at 14 sites in North Carolina. Speaking before the House Rules Committee, McGrady acknowledged criticism of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ response to this year’s crisis, saying that the final bill won’t allow the department to manage the commission that will hold much of the final say over the cleanup process. “There’s ongoing criminal investigations right now,” McGrady said, referring to a U.S. Department of Justice probe of the department and its relationship with Duke. “The argument that the Senate made, which we understand, is that at least when we set this thing up, we need to keep it away from things that may have occurred in the past – let it be set up in a neutral part of government.” As host of the commission, DENR would have provided “administrative” staff, according to a department spokesman. Drew Elliot, a DENR spokesman, said this about the department’s ability to manage the commission: “Credibility comes from action, not words,” he wrote in an email. “As for this administration, we have been working on the coal ash problem since our first weeks in office.” McCrory’s original proposal did not include a commission, instead leaving management of the plans largely in the hands of DENR and his appointee, Secretary John Skvarla. Overall, though, his plan suggested a process similar to the final legislation’s. Under the legislature’s timetable, it could take 15 years for Duke to close all its pits and lagoons and dispose of the ash. Some environmental advocates had pressed for immediate action because the facilities have been polluting groundwater for years and possibly more than a half-century. The legislative debate this summer also brought arguments about which coal ash ponds to fix first, according to McGrady. “We had a whole series of amendments put forward by people who wanted their coal ash pond to be high priority,” he said. That concept, of priority, has been a sticking point for critics, too. The approved bill only requires immediate removal of coal ash from four of the 14 polluting sites. ‘High priority’ sites Under the bill, the ash from the “high-priority” sites at the Asheville, Riverbend, Dan River and Sutton plants would be placed in industrial-lined landfills. However, the bill would allow ash to remain at the other sites, with various measures taken, including the controversial “cap in place” approach. Rep. Pricey Harrison, a Greensboro Democrat, said the bill wasn’t “strong enough” and urged votes of no. “All of these sites are currently leaking contaminants, and capping is not going to stop that leaking,” said Rep. Verla Insko, a Chapel Hill Democrat. “I just think this is too weak, and we can do better.” Communities whose sites aren’t “high priority” will have to “wait for a commission of political appointees to decide their fate,” wrote Amy Adams, a coordinator for Appalachian Voices, in a release by the N.C. Conservation Network. The Southern Environmental Law Center, meanwhile, argues that that the state has ignored, or even given up, its existing powers to require an immediate and full cleanup. McGrady acknowledged that the bill would overturn a Wake County judge’s recent ruling won by the nonprofit law center. The judge ruled that groundwater pollution at nearly all coal ash sites must be fixed immediately, but a clause in the new bill instead has polluters submit a “plan and proposed schedule” to the state. McGrady previously said that the ruling was likely too broad and too strict, and that by requiring removal of a contamination source it could have unexpected results. The N.C. Sierra Club knocked the bill for undercutting the ruling, but offered a moderately positive review of the final legislation. “Without this legislation, coal ash would have remained essentially unregulated, an untenable position for North Carolina residents,” said Molly Diggins, state director for the group, in a statement. “Still, today’s action does not go far enough to prevent more contamination of our treasured water resources.” As the bill neared a vote in the House, McGrady cast it as just the beginning of a long and unprecedented process, including sequel bills. “This is Coal Ash 1. There’s going to be a Coal Ash 2 and a Coal Ash 3,” he said. “We’re not going to get it right on the first time but we’ve got to get going. This bill gets us going.” House Speaker Thom Tillis described the coal ash legislation as a big accomplishment for the session, during which the House rejected an incentive bills backed by McCrory. “We still had a pretty good session,” he said. “We got a lot done. If you look at what we got done today – historic coal ash legislation unlike any in the United States. We are literally setting the direction that is hopefully going to make the other states follow suit and address problems like we did on the Dan River.” Staff writers John Murawski and John Frank contributed. Join the Discussion News & Observer is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.	<urn:uuid:b383aaca-b9fa-40b1-9859-ed20f4a18a09>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article10035944.html	2015-03-31T10:19:27Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.964147	1,939
Revolutionary History, Vol.1 No.2, Summer 1988. Used by permission. Commencing with a slander campaign the Stalinists did not hesitate to move into action for the physical destruction of the revolutionaries. We wish to tell here how they set about executing the direct orders of Moscow. Until now the arrest and murder of the best militants of the revolutionary movement has been the prerogative of fascism. Stalinism, a political tendency that calls itself anti-fascist and socialist, and recruits a large part of its supporters from the ranks of the proletariat, is today committing the same crimes as fascism. No-one knows what has become of him, what has become of one of the most passionate advocates of the proletariat of Spain. (Victor Serge, Farewell to Andrés Nin). The story of Nin is one that requires no comment. We will therefore sketch out the salient features of his life, and recall his mysterious end. As a young pioneer attached to the Socialist Party in 1919, Nin announced to the congress of the CNT that he had passed syndicalism. The dictatorship of Martinez Anido forced him underground. His comrade Cornella was slain alongside him by the gunmen of the ‘Free Trade Union’. We now reproduce the account of our comrade Victor Serge, an intimate and faithful friend of Andrés Nin. Nin was more than an old friend to me, more a sort of brother – by his ideals, the paths he trod, the trials he underwent, and all that there could be of what cannot be expressed in the contact between one man and another. I knew him, I know what he is, and what he meant to all of us. This is not the first time that I have written “For Andrés Nin” at the head of an article. It was necessary to carry on a tenacious campaign to get him out of prison in 1922 in Correspondance Internationale, L’Humanité and all the Communist papers. As a young militant of the CNT, he lived a while in Egypt, and then was a delegate to the third Congress of the Communist International. At the same time he met there Joaquin Maurin, his companion along the road, Francesco Ghezzi , and several others who since have not betrayed, who never will betray. In the meantime Edouardo Dato, the President of Alfonso XIII’s Council, was killed in the open Madrid Street by Ramon Casanellas who took refuge in Moscow. The Madrid government wished to find the hand of Moscow in this attempt, and blamed Nin – in defiance of common sense, but that wasn’t the point. He was arrested by accident in Berlin. With the support of the Soviet legation we succeeded in wrecking the extradition procedure, and he returned to Moscow. Elected by a Congress to be the second secretary of the Red International of Labour Unions, he carried out these functions for some years, working with Lozovsky, when he was becoming more and more flabby and weak. He told me about its deceit in all our meetings. The RILU, instead of becoming a living and healthy international focus, became more bureaucratic month by month, ending up by becoming no more than a vast machine for mounting intrigues and disseminating occasional aberrant slogans. In 1923 Andrés Nin joined the first Left Opposition of Preobrazhensky, Piatakov and Trotsky. But he was not as yet entirely ready for these struggles; he suffocated in the offices of the Profintern and it should be said that the very atmosphere of these offices suffocated him. He gave way. He gained all the more credit when, three years later, he took up completely the decisive struggle amongst those who, at great personal sacrifice, wanted to make one last attempt to reform the Bolshevik party, and the Stalinist bureaucracy that was confidently holding onto power. Then he gained even more credit by sending a short but categorical letter to the Central Committee, more to the point than most that the CC received: “The Opposition is right. I am with it without reservations”, declared the secretary of the RILU. I do not know what the statutes of the International made of it, but he was no longer secretary of the RILU the next day. And he continued to joke, for he was a comrade of rare good humour, while he waited for them to come to arrest him along with the others. For my part, I was waiting for the same thing, for the same reasons. We would bump into one another either at my place or his, in Leningrad or in Moscow, somewhat amazed to be still at (relative) liberty. We had to do various jobs in order to survive. Nin set about translating, Dostoyevsky first of all, and then Boris Pilnyak, into Catalan. He wrote a book defending the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat against Monsieur Cambo, the Catalan theoretician of the dictatorship. He collected texts and memoranda. A hard worker, and rather home-loving, he lived only for his work, along with his companion, Olga Kareva, and their little daughters. We lost a mutual friend, George Andreychin, from the American IWW, who “capitulated”, and told us, with his face turned away, “I am a coward”. (in which USSR prison is George Andreychin now?) While surveying the Spanish Revolution, Nin sent the CC another really extraordinary letter, with a view to forcing them to let him leave or imprisoning him – and took a great risk. There was a strong chance of his being deported to some Siberian place. But finally they decided to deport him. He found himself in a street in Riga, with his wife and kids, utterly penniless. Back in Spain, Andrés Nin threw himself into activity. Although free, he was several times imprisoned again. He edited the press of the Communist Left, the Trotskyist Opposition, translated books, wrote leaflets and gathered people together without sparing himself, refusing careers both easy and advantageous. He broke finally with Leon Davidovich Trotsky over theoretical and tactical matters, though he remained attached to him by an old and lasting friendship. He drew closer to Joaquin Maurin, and it was from the fusion of their two groupings that the Workers Party of Marxist Unification was born in 1935. In 1933, when the star of Señor Lerroux and Gil Robles was rising, the Republican police attempted a quite serious blow against Nin. Arrested in Barcelona and conducted to an unknown destination, he arrived, no one knows how, in a prison in Algeciras. Events were to save him. A minister, or rather, councillor of justice in the Taradellas cabinet that had been formed the day after the workers’ victory of 19 July 1936, Andrés Nin tried to push this government in the direction of the revolutionary gains, and for his part proceeded to the most radical conceivable reform of the apparatus of justice. He was the creator of the new Popular Tribunals. He was only 45 years old, but he had already lived more than twenty years of activist life. For six years he quietly risked his life and liberty every day, with a healthy optimism, though without any illusions, as I know well. His conversation and writings reveal an active and far-sighted revolutionary thought. His entire life was a straight path. Andrés Nin was arrested on 16 June 1937, two days before the date set for the POUM congress. It was an isolated arrest, and it was only later that we understood why the police, who had come to arrest the entire EC of the POUM, had been so little ‘demanding’. The Stalinists understood better than anyone what the loss of Nin would mean to the POUM. Nin had not only dared to tell the truth about the role of Stalinism in the Spanish Revolution and within the international revolutionary movement; he had committed the unpardonable crime of counterposing to Stalin in Spain a party, doubtless not very large, but growing more and more because of its ideological solidity. The leader of this party, Nin, the old ‘renegade’ of the Communist International, had to disappear. Olga Nin saw her husband in the police prefecture in Barcelona on the afternoon of 16 June. When she came back to bring him food and blankets an hour later he could no longer be found, and no one could inform her what had become of him. The Stalinist press was not lacking in cynicism on this subject. Let us look at the facts. Some days after his arrest the famous Agence Espagne (Spain Agency), and then all the Stalinist journals in the peninsula and in other countries, announced the discovery of a document devastating for the POUM. It was a question of a plan of Madrid found upon a fascist by the name of Golfin, and on the other side a message to Franco was written in invisible ink, in which it was a matter of a certain N, deemed to be an active agent in Republican territory. The journals in question allowed it to be understood that the initial stood for Nin. The inquiry carried out by the first International Delegation consisting of Fenner Brockway, the secretary of the ILP [Independent Labour Party], Louzon and Charles Wolff came to the conclusion that the document had been stolen (we can well imagine by whom) by a police chief and that the part written in invisible ink had been added afterwards. To become better informed about Nin’s destination, the above-named inquirers made their way to Valencia, where they were able to talk with several members of the government. M. Irujo then made the following declaration, which referred not only to Nin but also to the other members of the EC of the POUM: ‘I can assure you that none of the detainees has suffered either a scratch or bad treatment, nor any pressure other than that of their own consciences’. About 25 July it became known beyond the borders of Spain with some astonishment from a speech by Frederica Montseny, who had previously been a minister in the government of Largo Caballero, in which she represented the CNT. Word for word she said: ‘But it has ended by us being told that the corpses of Nin and two other comrades have been found in Madrid’. In the face of the indignation arising inside and outside Spain, on 29 July the minister of justice addressed a note to the newspapers listing the activists of the EC of the POUM held in official governmental prisons. The name of Andrés Nin did not figure there. Some days later, the Spain Agency recorded the disappearance of Nin ... and concluded that he had escaped! This reminds us of the shameless rumours about Joaquin Maurin, whom the Stalinists claim to have seen arm-in-arm with Queipo de Llano in Seville! A second commission of inquiry on which were represented in particular James Maxton, president of the Independent Labour Party and a member of parliament, and Andre Weil-Cariel, a member of the executive committee of the Socialist Federation of the Seine (SFIO) left for Spain on 19 August and returned on 26 August. It reported: 1. Confirmation that the N document was worthless. 2. A certain number of declarations about the fate of Andrés Nin. Indalecio Prieto, the war minister, admitted that the arrest of Nin and the POUM leaders had not been decided by the government. M. Irujo, the Minister of Justice, asserted that ‘Nin has never been in a governmental prison’. M. Zugazagoitia, the Minister of the Interior, affirmed that the disappearance of Nin had occurred against the will of the government. From a certain number of indications provided, whether by the second delegation, the Spanish anarchists, or imprisoned POUM comrades, it emerged that before the disappearance of Nin, he had been transported from one prison to another, all of them secret, and all GPU! When he had come from Barcelona he was first of all imprisoned in the building of the Special Brigade, Paseo de la Castillana in Valencia, then in the Cheka of Atocha in Madrid, and then in the Cheka of the Pardo, again in Madrid. Then he was taken to its isolated villa at Alcala de Henares, where all trace of him is lost. The names of the three policemen who arrested Nin are known (Ramallo, Valentin and Rosell). According to the comrades of the CNT the man who brought about his disappearance was a Russian commander from the General Staff of the International Brigade, Orlov. The police chief, Ortega, who was under suspicion of complicity, and who in any case could not find Nin again, was dismissed. But he was replaced by a Stalinist called Moron, who once the investigation opened, set at liberty the police who had been arrested on the order of the investigating judge. This question can only be answered by guessing. Two things, however, seem to be definite. The first is that this act of calculated terror is marked by the hand of Stalinism. The extent of the communist attacks against the POUM in the month preceding, the origin of the accusations of espionage, the transport of prisoners to the headquarters of the GPU, the assassination and disappearance of other revolutionary comrades (Berneri, Barbieri, Erwin Wolf, Marc Rhein, Kurt Landau), and finally the more or less veiled confessions of the ministers to the Second Delegation, all incriminate the gentlemen of the Third International. The second is that Nin has not been found. If he did appear, he would have far too much to say, and we know that he would not keep silent. In the period that extends from the month of August 1936 (the first Moscow Trial) to the days we live in now, a time that has witnessed the extermination of all the Old Bolsheviks, all those who had taken part in the October Revolution or the building of the Third International, a militant like Nin, who had been a witness and participant in the struggles of old, had lived through the Moscow years, and had an international reputation, could not have been spared. The ‘isolated villa’ at Alcala de Henares is close to a Soviet aerodrome. Was Nin taken to be questioned by the Russian officers who were to be found there? Was he taken off and transported to Russia? Was he killed where he was? No one knows. Andrés Nin was one of those who compel respect by the whole assemblage of their human and intellectual qualities. He is one of the greatest victims of this new tyranny which is called Stalinism. In the extent to which eyes are opened and illusions fall, the degenerate leaders of the Third International are obliged to resort to ever more violent, ever more cynical, and ever more odious practices to maintain their domination and to rid themselves of those who stand in their way. But the time will come when blood cries out for justice, and when one of those changes of opinion will happen that stays the hand of the assassins. Slowly, but surely, one such movement is in the process of happening. Coming in the middle of a series of atrocities, the disappearance of Nin and so many other revolutionaries has aroused an immense movement of indignation both in Spain and in the entire world. The death of Nin will prove unfortunate for those who perpetrated it. Kurt Landau was arrested on 23 September by two persons claiming to be policemen, accompanied by a guard. We soon understood that this time as well it was not a matter of an arrest, but of a kidnapping. On this subject the comrades of the Der Funke group in Paris wrote: Thursday 23 September 1937. Kurt Landau, known under the pseudonym of Wolf Bertram, was kidnapped from a small building in the neighbourhood of Barcelona. From the circumstances of his disappearance it is evident that it can only be a question of kidnapping by Stalinist agents. It was in this way that Nin, Marc Rhein, Wolf, and many others had disappeared. Neither the official police, nor the government, can give any information with regard to their case. For months the Stalinists had been accusing Wolf Bertram of being “the leader of a band of terrorists” and the liaison agent between the Gestapo and the POUM. With reference to his revolutionary past and his activity in the immediate present, the accusation of being an agent of the Gestapo only appears to be a delirious invention. As secretary of the Der Funke communist group, Wolf Bertram had to flee Germany before the agents of the Gestapo in March 1933. All the supporters of his group Der Funke before 1933, with the exception of Bertram, his wife, and one comrade alone, have been arrested, tortured, and thrown into solitary confinement and concentration camps. And it is against Bertram, himself pursued by the Gestapo, that the Stalinists have launched the accusation of being an agent of the Gestapo! The hatred of the Stalinists concerns the theoretician of the Communist opposition. It concerns the author of the pamphlet Spain 1936, Germany 1918, in which he had already shown that the crushing of the revolutionary workers in Spain by the Stalinists ... to which since May they had contributed ... was an inevitable consequence of their policy. Their hatred concerns a man who dedicated his life exclusively to the revolutionary movement, in the ranks of the Austrian Communist Party since 1923, a member of the Editorial Board of Rote Fahne of Vienna and of the Propaganda and Agitation Section of the Central Committee of the Austrian Communist Party and who joined with Trotsky in his struggle against Stalin since 1923. The hostility of the Stalinists took in more nourishment when he formed the Bureau of the International Left Opposition with Alfred Rosmer and Trotsky in 1930. It in no way diminished when he broke with Trotsky in 1931 on account of differences over organisational questions, nor in 1933 when he energetically opposed Trotsky on the subject of the founding of the Fourth International. The hatred of the Stalinists continually followed him, rightly on account of his international activity, which whether in Austria, in Germany, in the emigration, or in Spain, drew upon the foundation of Marxism to combat the policy of Stalinism. In the emigration he dealt with the problems of the international working class movement in numerous conferences and articles. In November 1936 he left for Spain and placed himself at the disposal of the POUM to offer his strength to the Spanish Revolution. Incapable of competing with their antagonists on the political plane, and from fear of seeing their criminal policy revealed, the present leaders of the Communist International are substituting murder and terror for discussion. On 9 October Comrade CD [Carlotta Duran] passed in front of the tribunal and made the following declaration: I had staying in my apartment in Barcelona a man called Kurt Landau, an Austrian by nationality, and a well-known Marxist writer. On 23 September about seven o’clock at night two police agents along with an Assault Guard came to arrest Kurt Landau. No search was carried out, but the prisoner was taken off rapidly. Investigations made in the General Commissariat of Public Order as well as in all the official prisons have produced no result. Since his arrest it is no longer known to where Kurt Landau has been taken nor where he is to be found now. Even the Deputy General of Public Order, Paulino Gomez, told those who took an interest in the disappearance of Kurt Landau that he had not been able to obtain any information from Valencia in response to his intervention. All these facts permit us to suppose that Kurt Landau was arrested under the very eyes of the responsible authorities without informing the Deputy General of Public Order. Were these policemen working on their own account? Were they obeying the orders of their superior, the Police Chief, M. Burillo? Where was Kurt Landau taken after his arrest? What has become of him? On the assumption that the facts as stated show the following offences: illegal kidnapping, deprivation of liberty and perhaps murder, the undersigned informs the authorities. She requested the court to take action on it and open an investigation with the object of finding out what has become of Kurt Landau, and to punish those guilty of it. Now we provide the statement of Katia Landau: When I was told that Kurt Landau had been arrested by two policemen and an Assault Guard, to begin with I thought that it was a normal arrest. But later, when I myself was taken to the seat of the GPU at 104 Paseo San Juan, I understood that the GPU had been able to proceed “legally” using the state apparatus, and into the bargain using a certain number of “especialemente elegidos” (specially chosen) guards, as they called them, from amongst the most trustworthy of the Young Communists. “No one knows where, or for whom we are working. And when our term is finished we have seen nothing and heard nothing. Yes, that’s blind obedience if you like, but that is fitting for whoever agrees to become a convinced militant”, they told me. Yes, I do know them, these young “idealists”, who go for a few hundred pesetas or more a month are willing to lend themselves to anything, and gave quite disgusted us with their “pride” at being militants of the “first rank”. There was never the slightest doubt about who arrested Landau. We know that the house had already been watched for some days before by a couple, a man and a young blonde, at first sight strangers. The description of the young woman leads us to suspect that it is a matter of SK , an agent of the GPU in Barcelona. Moreover, the time had been chosen when Kurt Landau was alone in the house. Witnesses say that he was given at the most three to five minutes to change his clothing, and then the waiting car, a grand and elegant Rolls Royce, disappeared in the direction of Barcelona. There has since been no trace, and no news. Of what did the Stalinists accuse Kurt Landau? I will only quote the main accusations, repeated in all the interrogations of the foreign comrades who were POUM members. The most serious accusation, the one to which they ascribed the most importance, was that Kurt Landau had been a member of the Executive Committee of the POUM. It goes without saying that this was an invention pure and simple, since the EC of the POUM only contained Spanish comrades. Afterwards the international Stalinist press even made him the “theoretical head” of the POUM (special number of L’Internationale for the month of September 1937). During the questioning of Comrade P , Landau was accused of setting up the POUM German group, a real terrorist organisation, to prepare for the May events. Political letters were transformed into documents proving the preparation of terrorist acts, not only against Stalin, but against all the leaders of the Third International! The Stalinist leaders really had no chance here, accusing an activist of terrorism who had always opposed individual terror with all his ability...but the truth means little to them. One of the foulest agents of the GPU, Moritz Bressler, alias von Ranke, brought the whole accusation down to rock bottom. He and his wife, Seppl Kapalanz, arrested a comrade and accused him of knowing where Kurt Landau was to be found. “If you do not give us his address”, they said, “you will never get out of prison. He is an enemy of the Popular Front and of Stalin. As soon as we know where he has gone, we are going to kill him.” The kidnapping took place on 23 September. The Spanish comrades and their foreign friends undertook all the appropriate steps and interventions as in the case of a normal arrest. None of this produced any result. And on behalf of us, who had been imprisoned for months and months without being examined and without any formal charges, our comrades asked themselves: ‘Is it possible that we can keep silent in view of the fact that yesterday they made Andrés Nin disappear, and today Kurt Landau; whose turn is it to be tomorrow? Do we have to give up in the face of such methods of political gangsterism?’ There is no other means of protest for the political prisoner than the hunger strike. I have to say that my comrades did not support me out of pity, but from political conviction, to shout at the tops of our voices that we, although being prisoners condemned to political inactivity, could not and would not keep silent. We spoke up, and we were heard where we wanted to be heard – in the factories, wherever our comrades were working, the workers understood the political message of our hunger strike. And the Minister of Justice, a ‘worthy’ Catholic, M. Irujo, also understood it; he understood that this strike was going to spread, and that by Sunday 22 November hundreds of anti-fascist prisoners were going to support it to protest vigorously against the methods of the Stalinists. M. Irujo’s sole intention was to put an end to this annoying tale at all costs, if possible in a conciliatory fashion. On 22 November the minister came in person to pay a woman prisoner a visit. For this reason he spoke of the murderers of Nin and Landau. He spoke without any proof, to put an end to the strike and to give a sharp slap to the Stalinists, who had been making themselves utterly ridiculous by accusing me formally of being implicated in the disappearance of Andrés Nin, to punish me for having talked about another disappearance. A week after the hunger strike I was set at liberty. But a week after my release the ‘Grupo de Informacion’ arrested me again. It was a classic arrest, that is to say without a warrant and by sheer brute force. Along with me Comrade EH was also arrested. Before climbing into the car I wanted to call out to someone to note down its number; but then I perceived that there was none. Some days earlier, on 2 December, the Director of the Police, M. de Juan had told me: ‘Unfortunately, you are right. There have been kidnappings, and there are motor cars without a number, but I can assure you that there will be no more of them.’ And after my arrest carried out by the ‘Grupo de Informacion’, the Minister of the Interior, M. Zugazagoitia, replying to numerous interventions in my favour, declared that he was powerless in the face of the GPU, a part of his own ministry! If I dwell upon my second arrest, it is to show on what the accusations against the revolutionaries are based, and who these ‘men’ are who came to Spain to ‘judge’ us. We finally arrived at 104 Paseo San Juan, the GPU building in Barcelona. We quickly entered an office, and the first interrogation began immediately, the first, moreover, that was carried out by a Spaniard. He asked about the May Events, and my participation in them. Afterwards, he asked me at least three times if I was Jewish. Given his insistence, I asked him why it interested him so much. He told me, ‘For us it is question of race’. I replied that for us Communists and Socialists the question of race does not come up. But it did remind me of the language of the German fascists. He wanted me to believe that we were in the Ministry of the Interior. I asked to see the Minister of the Interior who, I said, had set me at liberty only a week earlier. Then he admitted that it wasn’t the Ministry, but a ‘departamento’(a department), which amounted to the same thing according to him. The director of the ‘departamento’ arrived at six o’clock at night, accompanied by a foreigner. This foreigner was shut up in an office with me. As I complained about being arrested by force, without a warrant, he told us: ‘We are the Ministry of the Interior, we arrest whoever we wish and we absorb our arrest warrants from the prefectures’. And referring to the recent arrest of Gaston Ladmiral, he said: ‘We have arrested – and without a warrant – men who have been freed on the direct intervention of the French government. We are working independently of everyone.’ He told me that I was not being detained, but only held, because I knew a great many people. What they were waiting for was for me to supply them with some precious information. I answered firstly that I knew very little in general, and secondly that I was not disposed to supply information to the ‘Grupo de Informacion’. After this statement the atmosphere changed. He very quietly told me that I would never come out of this building alive, and that in eight days time I would be shot. I replied that it was more likely that they would allow me to starve slowly. As he spoke with an Austrian accent I asked him some questions, from which it emerged that we must have known each other from the Austrian Communist Party. Finally, I remembered having seen him at the ACP centre in Vienna 10 or 12 years ago, and at last I remembered his name, Leopold Kulcsar. After an hour of conversation with him, his secretary, a little Hungarian guttersnipe called Harry , and the director of the ‘departamento’, I went up to the first floor. I was admitted into a luxurious apartment with its own morning room, bedroom, toilet and bathroom. It was the director’s apartment. The same night I asked for information about the other comrades. I was told that everyone was alright, and that all had beds and blankets. Afterwards I found out that these brutes had left Else in a lumber room without either light or blankets for five days, and that another prisoner, a shop assistant who moreover had a weak heart, had been left for 10 days and nights on a chair, without a bed, mattress or covers. She fell gravely ill. She was taken from the Calle Vallmajor to hospital through the intervention of the Director of the Prison. She had been quietly left to die in the Paseo San Juan. I was often told: ‘If you want to start up the hunger strike again, go ahead. These Spanish idiots don’t know how to work, so we will let you quietly starve.’ In all these altercations this individual spoke of the Spaniards with great contempt, as imbeciles to whom it was necessary to give lessons. Other comrades questioned by the foreigners told me the same thing. Adventurers who had come from every corner of the world thought they were masters of Spain. When, in the course of an interrogation, I talked about the Police Chief, Paulino Romero, or of the Security Director who had received us and given us our provisional identity papers, he threatened to punish them. ‘We will drive out all these people. Now we have taken charge of everything.’ On the second day of my arrest, Thursday 9 December 1937, Leopold Kulscar dashed into my room at seven o’clock in the morning with a few scraps of paper in his hand. He pretended that these bits of paper were plans, drawn up by me, that he had found in my room. He said that he had known that I was a spy beforehand, but that he did not expect to find such striking proof of it. As I had not been present during the search of the apartment where I lived, I supposed that these papers had been introduced after that event, and were perhaps real plans. But it was not even a question of that. The room I had lived in with EH for a week belonged to a leading young designer of the time. The so-called plans were designs drawn up by him to participate in a conference. But that didn’t help me at all. When it emerged clearly that I had never seen these scraps, I was told. “So much the worse for you. There is a fresh proof. In addition you were carrying on espionage even in the women’s prison’, supported, apparently, by the Director whom he had promised to drive out, as well as by M. Tassis, the Director General of the Prisons, who, it seems, was too indulgent. ‘We know’, he told me, ‘that you wrote illegal letters to your friend M, the editor of the Journal des Nations in Geneva.’ ‘How could it be to my friend M, as I do not know him?’ The man broke out laughing. ‘That’s ludicrous; are you going to deny that for years you lived with him, in a menage à trois? Proof is not lacking’, he told me. M was known to me as a 100 per cent Stalinist. Was he no longer as faithful to the Stalinist line as formerly? I do not know. He was ill-chosen in any case, as I did not know him personally. But when I insisted that I should be shown a single illegal letter written by me to M, Leopold Kulscar very quickly subsided. He said that it was ‘not me but Kurt who had carried on this correspondence with M, a character who would be particularly suspect as he was directly maintained by the English government in the capacity of an agent of the Intelligence Service’. But as Kurt could not be found, they had to content themselves with me, and make me the principal defendant in a future trial for military espionage. I was threatened with being transferred to a military prison to effect the quickest trial possible and have me shot in eight days. Leopold Kulcsar told me word for word: I have come on a special assignment for the Landau case. My historic mission is to furnish proof that out of twenty Trotskyists, eighteen are fascists, agents of Hitler and Franco. Perhaps subjectively you are a good revolutionary, but you are convinced that the victory of Franco would be more favourable to the realisation of your Trotskyist ideas than the victory of Stalinism. He spoke about Kurt with a particular personal hatred. The phrase, ‘I can take a bloody revenge on Landau’ came up on every occasion: ‘If he falls into my hands one day, I will make him pay dearly for it’. He never told me, however, what it was he wanted to avenge. I often had the impression in this man’s presence of being in front of a pathological case. The man no longer appeared to know what he was saying. I will always remember certain phrases, for example such as: ‘I am a deeply religious man. Your blood will be on my head. I am convinced that you are a spy, but if I am mistaken, what does it matter? I will take responsibility myself.’ ‘If Kurt has escaped from Spain’, he said, ‘all has already been prepared to denounce him to the French police for espionage in the South of France in alliance with fascist elements.’ He also threatened to denounce to the French police other comrades who figured in my correspondence in order to make it impossible for them to stay in France. I was accused in the first place of having sold plans to France, whereas Kurt had been organising the transport of weapons for the FAI and the POUM. My visit to the Austrian Consulate on the night of my arrest was above all emphasised; I was charged with carrying on espionage with the Austrian Ambassador in Paris. And the proof: that my passport had been extended for five years. Occasionally Spaniards, functionaries of the ‘departamento’ like Alfonso Martinez, assisted at the interrogations. They came to see me afterwards to make fun of the foreigner who could not make me talk, or so they said. On 18 December I was transferred to Calle Vallmajor 5, a semi-secret prison directly and solely responsible to the ‘departamento’. Three weeks before my release the real head of the ‘departamento’ came to see me in prison, and asked me: ‘Tell me really, Madame Landau, why are you here? This question was being put to me by the same Señor Ordonez (a socialist who had called openly for the fusion of his party with the Communist Party) who on 9 December had signed the self-styled warrant for my arrest (arrested on strong suspicion of military espionage). I asked him who had authorised the coming of Leopold Kulcsar, as he himself said, on a special mission to take bloody revenge upon Landau. Unfortunately, Ordonez did not reply. During the night of 29-30 December 1937, at two o’clock in the morning, my cell was abruptly opened. ‘Corre, corre, en libertad’ (‘Run, run, you are free’). I was given barely two minutes to dress. As everything had been taken from me, right down to the last chemise, I had no case to pack. Some hope! I was taken along with EH to the Calle Corcega 299 (the Foreign police). Was it to be deportation, then? When I refused to accept it point blank, I was threatened with being thrown into the dirtiest and most wretched jails. ‘Are there any more wretched, then, than those of your own secret prison? No one answered this indiscreet question. Then there was a resort to moral blackmail. If I refused deportation, none of my friends would leave. After speaking with VS, the director of the building, I gave in. He assured me in the presence of other comrades on his word of honour that Kurt was still alive, that he was in a Spanish prison, and that he would shortly be deported. When I straightaway asked him not to deceive me in order to get me to go, and that I would go if he had told me the truth, he said: ‘That would be a shameful game to play with you. I would never lend myself to playing such a part.’ And to give me more confidence, he told me of his past as a militant, and ended with these words: ‘Kurt will be deported, I promise you that, and in exactly the same way as yourself. Go quietly. Perhaps happiness is already awaiting you in Paris.’ A few more words about Leopold Kulcsar (Maresch), who had come to Barcelona in the capacity of an ‘examining magistrate’ in the Landau case. I always had the impression that he did not belong to the apparatus, but that he wanted to make his career out of the Landau case. I rather think that someone in the GPU had something on him, but that he had been allowed through because he had come from high up. He and his wife, Ilse Kulcsar, had been expelled from the Austrian Communist Party in 1927 under suspicion of being police informers. Their moral reputation in the working class movement was most deplorable. Whereas she was a completely unscrupulous careerist, Leopold Kulcsar was accused of stealing money from the Social Democratic Party, a party he had joined after his expulsion from the Communist Party. Both of them, moreover, had belonged to the Neubeginnen Group in the same manner as Marc Rhein. Having left Austria after the insurrection of February 1934, they made their way to Prague. Finally, Leopold Kulcsar worked for the Spanish embassy in Prague as head, so he said, of the News Service, but in fact as a military attache. To get an idea about this Prague embassy we will quote the following case: The mother of a foreign member of the POUM who had been arrested along with us in Barcelona applied to the embassy to request an intervention on behalf of her son. ‘Your son is a brave lad,’ she was told. ‘But his friends are all agents of the Gestapo. Give us the names of two or three of them, and your son will be released. To prevent the worst happening we could even send a telegram today.’ Leopold Kulcsar died in Prague on 28 January 1938. M. Asua, the Spanish Ambassador in Prague, did not fail to render warm tributes to the deceased and to speak of the great services of LK during the Spanish Revolution. ‘Overwork’, he said, brought on the death of this brave man.’ The truth is that LK wore himself out questioning us for whole nights; he had overworked himself by continually inventing new methods of physical and moral torture. M. Asua knew better than anyone, so it seems, how to estimate such services and sacrifices. So perhaps he could tell us who authorised Leopold Kulcsar to go to Spain, who gave him absolute powers, and who opened for him the generally hermetically sealed doors of the Paseo San Juan. Leopold Kulcsar is dead. But Ilse Kulcsar is ‘happily’ still alive and continuing the good traditions of her family. We saw her twice in the Paseo San Juan, assisting in the interrogations. She is at the moment in Paris, married again to a Spanish student. Ilse Kulcsar-Barea is spreading the story here that the Spanish government committed a grave error in releasing me, since I am very deceitful and I should have been made to talk (with the methods of Santa Ursula, isn’t that so, Ilse Kulcsar?) because it appears that I know very well where Kurt is, in Rio de Janeiro! You can indeed spread the fabrications of the GPU when you are directly involved with it, but you should put a bit more spirit and intelligence into it. However, Ilse Kulcsar, like Moritz Bressler and a number of others, are showing their devotion to the cause of Republican Spain in the course of the tragic hours that they are now quietly passing taking coffee in the ‘Dome’ in Paris. We will end with the account of comrade EH, whom they wanted to make into a hostile witness against Katia Landau. I was under arrest from 17 June 1937 to 29 November 1937 and placed at the disposal of the Special Tribunal of Espionage in Madrid. Having been released following the direct intervention of the Minister of Justice, then Irujo, I was again arrested along with Katia on the 8 December 1937, when I had gone to visit some female comrades in prison. The agent gave as an explanation that Katia had had to provide some details on a document issued by her Consul; I was only to be taken as security for Katia. When we got to the building where the offices of the “departamento” were, our immediate separation was effected and I was locked up in the WC. Along with me in this strange cell was put a brutal-looking policeman, who incessantly threatened me with his revolver. It was announced that I had been arrested on the order of the Minister of the Interior. I protested immediately against an action taken without a warrant of arrest. I was led into an antechamber, where I found the same policeman who arrested us. He told me in conversation, “A fortnight ago I saw Landau in a cafe in Paris.” All the policemen left the building during the dinner hour, and for three hours, in spite of our rigorous “isolation”. I had the opportunity of exchanging impressions with Katia. When taken next up to the second floor, I recognised that apart from offices the building contained an entire prison. During the five hours that I had to spend on a chair, guarded by a policeman, I had occasion to see one prisoner in handcuffs and another shut up in a sort of cubicle with a double door. At 23 hours I was led into another building in the block, where a foreigner, Leopold Kulcsar, who was later to interrogate me, looked at me for 10 minutes. Then he took my date of birth, and asked me for my handbag which had already been searched, which, however, he handed back to me. He sent every piece of a book of cigarette papers for them to examine in the laboratory. With reference to a piece of writing paper, he pretended to be able to disclose writing in invisible ink without a quartz lamp. Then he pretended that a simple case key was that of a strong box. Then he showed the extent of his imagination by a sensational discovery; a bead necklace of wax worth a hundred francs was made of real pearls. He took no notice of my observation that no one carries treasure in a handbag, pretending that this was really an old trick to disguise the value. He maintained that five photos of my husband represented five different men. Suddenly, placing one of these photos in front of my eyes, he exclaimed: “That’s Landau!” Then his secretary called Harry” who understood Spanish appeared, whereas his chief was almost totally ignorant of the language. At dawn I was taken into a luxurious apartment to which Katia had been taken under the pretext that she had to identify me. Whilst leaving the chamber I was asked if the surroundings where Katia was staying did not lead me to think again, and when I replied “No”, I was told, “Well, she has confessed everything”. I was taken back to my cell after eight hours of questioning. This was a little room filled like a junk shop, with lamps, tables, etc. A metal bedstead without a mattress had to serve me for a bed, and a music stand for a pillow. There was no coverlet, and the shutters were hermetically sealed. There was no electricity, no air, and no light. At this time the cold was severe. Thanks only to continuous massaging was I able to prevent my legs and hands from freezing; and I was not able to get to sleep all night. The police had orders not to allow me to open the doors other than for going to the WC three times a day. All complaints on the subject of soap or towels were rebuffed. Thus I was not able to wash for 10 days. During the nights they came to look for me for short interrogations and confrontations; and one day the Commissar came. He brought me the warrant of arrest forwarded by the same department, saying that I had been arrested on suspicion of military espionage. He took advantage of this visit to certify the “perfect” state of my accommodation. Confrontations took place with comrades and also with unknown persons, among them Ilse K, the wife of LK. When after 10 days I was given back my case, I quickly noticed that a box of films and photographs had been taken from it; and immediately I protested. All the questions of the interrogation dealt with the activity of Katia and myself during our brief spell of liberty. As I took care not to give the names of comrades, I was unceasingly accused of protecting fascists. When I spoke of a visit to the Austrian Consul the Commissar ascribed a tremendous importance to this interview, and talked about arms traffic that Landau had organised with the Consul. The main point of the interrogation turned upon the following question: “With what personage did Katia Landau make an appointment after coming out of hospital?” This question was repeated in a monotonous tone for half an hour, and when the Commissar lost his voice he passed over the talking to his secretary, who went on, and then they all questioned me in turn. During this half hour in front of the desk I was made to remain upright. Even though all movement was forbidden me, in spite of the terrible cold I was forced to leave my coat. The question was always repeated in the same rhythm by tapping the measure with a comb upon the table. ‘ During the course of the questioning I was shown plans, illustrations, etc, that had been found in my room; these were designs drawn up by a young designer for an official conference, and no more than that. I was informed that I was to be judged in eight days. The Commissar, however, declared that he was prepared to save me the shame of being shot as a fascist on condition that I finally name my accomplices. Even though he was convinced of my innocence, he could not help me, because I had rendered this impossible. He pretended that all the correspondence (that reached me in the prison after being passed by the double censorship at the frontier and,the prison) had been sent by very suspect persons. He identified some English friends who owned a hotel in a little seaside resort near Barcelona (News Chronicle correspondents) as agents of the Intelligence Service. But as I had seen GPU agent — and — at their place in the March of the same year, both employed in the same “departamento”, I cited them as witnesses. The declaration of the Commissar was always repeated, that he had no interest in pursuing the POUM comrades, but only fascists and the leaders of the conspiracy, whom he wanted to call Landau and his wife. The final interrogation unfolded as follows: the Commissar was alone, and in a mysterious tone he asked me to confess everything now. He pretended that he wished to profit from the time that his secretary was absent to give me one last chance to acquit myself, to give him the possibility of saving me. He even held out the hope of an impending journey to Paris along with him. Finally, he announced to me that the following day would be the final interrogation and the presentation of the final transcript for my signature, but he produced neither the one nor the other. On 18 December l was transferred to the remand prison, Calle Vallmajor 5. I was placed in a small cell where there were already three Spanish women. There was no ventilation, as in my former cell. Three days before my release “Harry” appeared once more in my cell and gave me an unknown photo.” As I said that I did not recognise the figure, he insisted: “This is Landau”. About two o’clock in the morning on the night of the 29-30 of January I was informed that I was released. During the night of 9-10 April 1937, the journalist Marc Rhein disappeared from the Hotel Continental in Barcelona where he was staying. Marc Rhein was a member of the French Young Socialists. Politically he was not a direct antagonist of Stalinism. He had defended the Popular Front and had collaborated with the Stalinists in France. Despite the desperate efforts of his father to find him, even with the help of the Spanish authorities, he did not succeed. Marc Rhein was the son of the Russian Socialist Abramovitch, who played an important part in the emigration. He was a member of the editorial board of Courrier Socialiste the bimonthly of the Russian Socialist Party [Mensheviks], which is in touch with militants living in Russia. The interest shown by the GPU in regard to people linked with it can well be understood. Was it only because of his family connections with the leaders of the Courrier Socialiste? The visit of Marc Rhein to Barcelona was no secret to the GPU. Either its agents hoped to draw out of Marc Rhein some information that interested them, or they hoped to operate a blackmail on his father. It is not impossible that they wanted to extract the name of the ‘Old Bolshevik’ who a year ago published a long letter exposing the crimes of Stalin in the USSR. He was a tempting possibility for the GPU. Marc Rhein, no supporter of the political ideas of his father, became a victim of the manipulations of the GPU. He was kidnapped from Barcelona and many of those who know Stalinist methods believe that he was taken back to Russia, either to make him accuse his father, or as a hostage. Marc Rhein left his hotel on 9 April without either his coat or hat. Nobody has seen him since. After his disappearance only one letter arrived, coming from Madrid, addressed to his friend Nicolas Sundelevicz (since July 1937 under arrest on the scarcely original accusation of wanting to kill Stalin). The handwriting was recognised by Abramovitch as being that of his son, the date of 12 May being doubtless added by an unknown hand. We might add that Leopold Kulcsar, the individual who came to Barcelona on a ‘special mission’ for the Landau case, and who arrested comrades Katia Landau, EH and others under the accusation of military espionage, belonged not only to the Austrian Socialist Party but at the same time to the Neubeginnen (Miles) group, of which Marc Rhein was part. Can we exclude the possibility that the wife of Leopold Kulcsar, Ilse Kulcsar, who was in Spain from October 1936 onwards, could especially inform us about the disappearance of Marc Rhein? Erwin Wolf, a Czechoslovak citizen, came to Barcelona at the end of the month of May 1937 as the correspondent for an English journal supporting the Popular Front, Spanish News. Immediately after his arrival he presented himself to the Spanish authorities and joined the official organisation of foreign journalists in Barcelona. Towards evening on 27 July 1937 Erwin Wolf was arrested for the first time. He was taken to the Puerta del Angel 24 along with another journalist, and it was there that P and KTh saw him for the last time. Wolf was released the following day. It is extremely interesting to note that whereas the Spanish press published nothing about the arrest of Wolf and the other journalist, the Italian fascist journal Corriere della Serra of 29 July published the following note: ‘On the 27 July 1937 the Spanish Secret State Police proceeded to arrest journalists Erwin Wolf and RSt. They were taken to the Puerta del Angel 24, to open a preliminary investigation into their political activity.’ The arrest of these two journalists was only known to ‘insiders’ – yet another proof that the Italian fascists have placed their agents as well in the midst of the GPU. After being set at liberty, Wolf returned to his habitual domicile. Learning that his journal had ceased to appear, he decided to leave Spain. He had no difficulty in obtaining his exit visa. On the day of his departure his friend Tioli asked him on the telephone to pass by his place to pick up his letters. Wolf promised his wife that he would not be longer than an hour. An hour later he notified his wife that he would be coming a little later on. Since that day Wolf and Tioli have disappeared. Tioli’s room at the Hotel Victoria was watched by the police for several weeks, and all those who asked for him were arrested. Wolfs wife, a Norwegian, the daughter of a socialist deputy with whom Trotsky stayed in Norway, searched for her husband in all the prisons of Barcelona. Finally, she was advised to leave as quickly as possible so as not to share the fate of her husband. It was only thanks to the energetic intervention of the Norwegian Consul that she escaped arrest at the time she was due to leave. The sister of Wolf intervened in favour of her brother at the Spanish embassy in Prague. On 10 October 1937 she received the following reply: I have the honour to communicate to you that according to an official investigation of the General Management of Security, of which the Ministry of the Interior has informed us, your brother, Erwin Wolf, was in prison, arrested for subversive activity. He was set at liberty on 13 September 1937. The Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in Prague Let them dare to pretend that Wolf was arrested for ‘subversive activity’! We know only too well why Wolf was arrested, and why the GPU caused him to disappear. Wolf was Trotsky’s personal secretary, and it seems that he had to pay dearly for it. In February 1937 Le Matin published a note saying that Wolf and Antonov-Ovseyenko had been shot in the USSR. That confirms the supposition that Wolf was kidnapped and taken to the USSR. At the same time, Wolfs lawyer officially received the news that Wolf was in a state prison in Spain, at the disposal of the courts. But he was not permitted to see his client, and with good reason! Hans Freund, known under the name of Moulin , was one of the most active members of the Spanish Trotskyist group. A German emigré, he pursued his studies in Geneva. Immediately after 19 July 1936 he left for Spain to place himself at the disposal of the Spanish revolutionary movement. In August he was working politically in Madrid. He went as a journalist to the Guadarrama front, where the Stalinist Galan threatened to shoot him for his propaganda work among the militiamen. Since the month of December 1936 he was in Barcelona, working with all his strength. But the GPU did not lose sight of him in Barcelona. An agent of the GPU, a Pole called Mink, was specially ordered to watch him. After the May Days, Moulin was able to hide in a Barcelona street. It was only on 2 August 1937 that ‘unknown men’ arrested him in that town. There has been no news since. Moulin was a dedicated Trotskyist, a passionate defender of the Fourth International. In spite of the political differences that separated them, the POUM comrades always regarded him as a pure and devoted militant. The real leaders of the GPU in Spain are some old agents of the Russian GPU – Specialists. The huge number of agents are Stalinists from all the sections of the Communist International, Germans, Poles, Italians, Hungarians, Austrians, French, etc. The greater part of them came to Spain after 19 July 1936. Instead of going to the front they preferred to stow away in the apparatus of the GPU. With the exception of the names of Feldmann, Herz , Kindermann, — and Kulcsar, the other names are generally pseudonyms. The names erased are those of a GPU agent and his wife. Dedicated Stalinists, they understood that they were questioning revolutionaries and not traitors. They succeeded in escaping and reached France, where they fought in the resistance against the Nazis. 8. Francesco Ghezzi is described by Serge as ‘the only syndicalist still at liberty in Russia’ (Memoirs of a Revolutionary, Oxford, 1963, p.322). 9. When the Civil War broke out Maurin was attending a conference of the Galician federation of the POUM in Santiago de Compostella, and was caught behind the generals’ side of the lines. For a while he went unrecognised, and the POUM and its international supporters tried to help him by claiming that he had been killed. He was subsequently recognised and arrested. A plan to exchange him and other prisoners for fascists held by the Republicans was blocked by the Stalinists (R. Dazy, Fusilez ces Chiees enrages, Paris 1981, p.170; Gorkin, op. cit., n3 above, p.110). 10. Apparently not the same as the Orlov who later defected to the USA, according to Elizabeth Poretsky, Our Own People, Oxford 1969, p.259, n1 (Nikolsky/Orlov). 11. There is some evidence that Nin, like Erwin Wolf and perhaps Marc Rhein, was taken back to the Soviet Union via the port of Alicante to be finished off there (Burnett Bolloten, The Spanish Revolution, 1979, pp.457-8). 12. Seppl Kappalanz, the wife of GPU agent Moritz Bressler (Gorkin, op. cit., n3 above, p.201). 13. Perhaps POUM leader Luis Portela. 14. From the age indicated it appears that it is not impossible that this lightweight is, in fact, Laszio Rajk (1909-49), the chief victim of the postwar East European purge trials at the time Stalin completed the drive he began before the war to eliminate the agents who worked for him in Spain. If this is indeed the case, the sympathy of the Hungarian people at the time of his rehabilitation and reburial (1956) was greatly misplaced. 15. This and the following name were deleted from the original pamphlet during the Second World War, for the reason explained at the end. Thanks to the work of Pouvoir Ouvrier, French section of the MRCI, we are able to identify them with Moritz Bressler, alias von Rank, and his wife. 16. Seppl Kappalanz. 17. Victor Serge was always of the opinion that this was the reason for Rhein’s kidnapping. (Gorkin, op. cit., n3 above, p.57, n4) 18. The Letter of an Old Bolshevik was put together by the Menshevik emigré Boris Nikolayevsky on the basis of conversations with Bukharin denouncing Stalin’s crimes, and published outside the USSR under this title (S.P. Cohen, Bukharin and the Bolshevik Revolution, Oxford 1980, p.366.) 19. Nicolas Sundelevicz was the son of a famous Menshevik who had spent much of his life in Siberia, and was a Trotskyist. He was arrested carrying POUM stickers and accused of preparing an attempt on Stalin’s life (Gorkin, ibid.; R. Dazy, op. cit., p.194). 20. The newspaper for which Wolf secured his press credentials is identified by Pierre Broué with the News Chronicle (Quelques proches collaborateurs de Trotsky, in Cahiers Leon Trotsky, no.1, January 1979, p.7. 21. Some of the personnel of the Secret State police were double Stalinist/Fascist agents. This was certainly the case with the later head of the ‘Foreign Section’ of the SIM, Maxim Sheller, who later fled to France (H. Thomas, The Spanish Civil War, Harmondsworth, 3rd ed., 1977, p.809, n1). Perhaps he was the source of this information fed to the Italians. 22. On 8 February 1938, the Fournier Agency released a statement that he had been transported to the USSR and shot at the same time as Antonov-Ovseyenko (R Dazy, op. cit., n9 above, p.198). 23. Hans David Freund (1912-1937), also known as Winter, was born into a family of German Jews, and became disillusioned with Stalinism after a visit to the Soviet Union. Whilst in Spain he worked for the German language propaganda division of the POUM, and tried to unite the two Trotskyist groups there, the Voz Leninista (Munis) and El Soviet (Bartolomeo) groups. (Cahiers Leon Trotsky, no.3, July/September 1979, p.135.) 24. Nikolsky/Orlov cf. n10 above. 25. The gap here should be filled with ‘Moritz Bressler, alias von Rank’. We owe this research to Pouvoir Ouvrier (cf. note 15 above). 26. Here again the gap should be filled by ‘von Rank’. cf. the last paragraph for the reason for these deletions. 27. Franz Feldman: without doubt the sinister Stalinist hatchetman Erno Gero, placed by Stalin as one of the post-war dictators of Hungary. Born in 1898, the age would be about right. 28. Katia Landau is mistaken about the names of Feldman and Herz, both being pseudonyms. Feldman is probably Gero, Herz is another name for the Lithuanian Stalinist George Mink, called a ‘Pole’ in Katia Landau’s text (cf. Cahiers Leon Trotsky, no.3, July/September 1979, p.179). Last updated on 27.6.2003	<urn:uuid:f2692ff2-0fa6-4927-9ce3-aa5818b385cf>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/document/spain/spain09.htm	2015-03-31T10:11:55Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300464.72/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00144-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.982986	13,549
Mansion Ushers in a New Era of Debauchery BY OMAR SOMEREYNS VIP director Patrik Slettman speaking at Mansion’s staffing meeting Just past 1 AM on a Wednesday night, it’s a madcap party at Mansion. The crowd, dancing in unison, is surrounded by arcing showers of colorful light, and people appear as pixilated versions of themselves, extensions of the LED light fantasy. And then, suddenly, an odd display: An oversize creature looms over the partygoers on stilts with a long, black mane and woolly, hot-pink legs. Some sort of deranged Minotaur/rabbit hybrid? It bears a slight, yet still spooky resemblance to that ominous bunny in Donnie Darko, and people twist their necks for a few seconds to get an awed glance, not fully sure what to make of it, before resuming the dance. When Nervo, the Australian twin sisters/DJ duo and the night’s headliners, come on—fiercely manning the decks, the bass dropping unapologetically— the club explodes, confetti blasts into the air, and the crowd is enraptured, intoxicated. Inside the VIP area, semi-naked dancers in Queen’s Guard-style bearskin caps show off their bodies, female servers pop Champagne and light sparklers, and even more partially nude women are entangled in the net just a few feet overhead—no matter where you go, you’re in the show. However, this kind of nightlife crescendo doesn’t just happen on its own. It takes a full team, hustle, creativity, custom-made costumes, and sober execution. Mansion was always a mega-club, but following a $2.5 million renovation that embraces a new 360 concept (which means that from all sections in the cavernous main room, viewers are surrounded by lights, music, videos, and performers), its newest incarnation launched at the beginning of this year is more than that: It’s a tantalizing theater-slash-cabaret, a 360-degree sound and LED light-show phantasmagoria. 3 PM—Earlier that day at Mansion. Calvin Harris’s “Feel so Close” plays from the speakers. “One, two, three, four… five, six, seven, eight,” Audrey Mazens-Sanchez, the club’s lithe, 28-year-old choreographer, utters firmly. She directs a group of six lingerie-clad dancers through a sequence of pole-dance moves. “Every Wednesday afternoon, the girls learn a new choreography to perform that night,” says Mazens-Sanchez. “Then there are also the aerialists and contortionists, so overall we try to create a mix between cabaret and the circus—though some funny things can happen, like girls losing their pasties onstage because they’re moving a lot.” Wednesday nights are now home to Cirque de Mansion, a spectacular bacchanal that puts to complete use the venue’s new 360 concept, especially on the production side, with stage shows, acrobats, dancers, and in-crowd performers popping up all over the space during the course of the night. Inspiration is gleaned from the Crazy Horse in Paris, with 41-year-old Mike Lee, entertainment director at The Opium Group (the umbrella company that owns Mansion), overseeing the productions. He and the club’s general manager, Sushi Seibert, will concoct a theme, and then Lee will book the night’s talent and conceptualize the costumes. “The theme is all about coming up with a creative thread we can run with, something that differentiates us from other clubs where it’s just go-go dancers,” he says. “Almost all our dancers are professionally trained. We try to make them as naked as possible, but tastefully, so we’ll put elaborate rhinestone arrangements or interesting headpieces on them.” Through the back and upstairs, Mike Lee’s office/studio is filled with neatly organized garments and accessories: purple Mohawks, white tutus, foamy mermaid tails, metallic pleated wings, and two sewing machines. The fact that everything here is handmade—the attention to craft and detail—is a testament to the venue’s affirmed love of the spectacle. Depending on what he needs, Lee will either create the costumes himself by hand or hire outside contractors, such as seamstresses or dressmakers. Tonight’s theme is “Queen of England.” “We’ll also have performance artists and drag performers, and they’ll be dressed as theme-related as possible, although we give them more creative freedom. And Sushi works with the bar staff so that their uniforms are in line with the theme, too.” Meanwhile, Mark Lehmkuhl, 40, the creative director who led the renovation for The Opium Group, points to the theatrics and the new lighting system as a major part of the refurbishing. “Two things came about when we started the renovation,” he says. “One, since this place was originally a theater when it was built in 1936, we wanted to bring back that exuberant, theater-like atmosphere. So we moved the DJ booth, which used to be on the stage, to the front of the VIP section so it’s integrated within the VIP and juts out into the crowd itself. Two, it had to be totally different from what it looked like before—that whole sultry, velvet, and quite frankly dated design. We wanted to give it a very clean, modern look, but also emphasize the sound and lighting.” In a space near the entrance sits GM Sushi Seibert’s office, cluttered with knickknacks, paperwork, Mansion merchandise, and a printout that says, motherhood can be such a drag, a cheeky reference to her staff for calling her “Mama-san.” A nightlife vet, now 46, Seibert is highly meticulous, engaged in her role like a hard-nosed production manager on a film set. She makes sure everything is right in terms of ordering, scheduling, theme layout, who’s coming, and whether there are big spenders. She captains a 50-person staff on most nights, sometimes more, works with VIP hosts to keep high rollers happy, and with Lee to ensure there’s constant entertainment. And then there are the crazy clubgoer antics—people jumping off the mezzanine into the net above the VIP, or “a girl talking to herself in the mirror and me having to comfort her,” she says. 5:30 PM—It’s still several hours before Mansion opens, and Eric Milon is running around, tending to last-minute details before he can head home for dinner with his family. Milon, 59, his brother Francis, 46, and Roman Jones, 41, are the managing partners at The Opium Group. During the day, before their clubs open, the three sort out the business side, working from their office on Lincoln Road, while still checking in on their venues. The Milons and Jones are hands-on, closely collaborating with their production teams, researching what’s happening with house music in other markets with their talent bookers, and making sure the different nights have their own identities. Right before 6 PM, Jones arrives in the main room, sunglasses on, and immediately calls out for someone to clean the too-sticky VIP floors. He explains how Mansion is moving away from the hip-hop and urban programming it once had to focus more on house and compelling electronic music, both major and emerging acts. “We’re still going to have the bigger names, like David Guetta and Afrojack, though it’s not just about huge names, but also the pointy ones, the ones making a dent, like Art Department and Style of Eye. That’s why we’re doing a Thursday party called Kontrol, where the focus is really on the music. We’ll be honing in on deep house and more experimental stuff.” 6:30 PM–10 PM—The calm before the storm, as everyone goes home to eat, shower, and relax with family. 10:30 PM—Time for lineup. The staff—bartenders, performers, dancers, doormen, techs, security guards—are all gathered in the main room, and Sushi Seibert presides. She nitpicks their uniforms, mentions a $200 incentive to sell an anti-hangover drink called Mercy, and announces that Nervo are taking over the turntables at 1:30 AM. “Keep that time in mind,” she says. “I want to blow them up.” Seibert’s job here is to motivate her staff, boost their energies, and push the sales. It’s about music and entertainment, but of course it’s also about money. According to a 2012 survey from Nightclub.com and Technomic, Mansion raked in an estimated $10 to $15 million in total revenues in 2011. As the night progresses, Level Six, the venue’s theatrical inner sanctum, is getting busy. This used to be the projection room when the place was a theater; it’s now a small yet glamorous dressing area for dancers and performers, many with thin layers of taut body tape for the night’s theme, along with long leather boots and bedazzled football pads. Supervising it all is Mike Lee, who seems calm and composed, though he says, “It’s exciting, but once it really starts, there’s something happening every 15 minutes, so it can get stressful.” Downstairs, by the club’s back door, Najib Elmasri, 41, director of talent buying for The Opium Group, awaits Nervo’s arrival. When the cheery blonde pair walk in, exuding an enthused rock star aura, they go up to the green room for a quick chat before their set time. Elmasri gets them drinks (Diet Coke, water, vodka, and whiskey). Liv, Nervo’s long-haired half, says, “We’ve been coming here to support our DJ friends, and we also played the Dim Mak party during WMC this year. Mansion has that bougie, upscale side to it, but it hasn’t lost its dirty, warehouse vibe, which we love.” 1:15 AM—The dance floor is packed. All eyes are on the dancers onstage, looking good and fantastically absurd in their body tape and tall bearskin fur caps while they perform a short, choreographed show. “There you go,” says Lee. “Two hours of rehearsal for a three-minute performance.” Amid the multitude of people, drag queen Adora is perched on a table, in massive turquoise hair and voluptuously drawn lips, blowing kisses. There’s zaniness all around. Girls in peacock headdresses spray fiery grinders, and spunky aerialists swing, do splits, or hang upside down. Everything has come together, and now the crowd is hyped and ready for Nervo on the decks—the promised apex of the night. “We want to do something that’s more than just a discothèque,” says Eric Milon as Nervo work into their set. “We may have more performers on a Wednesday than on other nights, but every night here is a show. I mean, we’re happy to have an economy that’s rebounding, but people still remember the harder times, so what they want is real value for their money, and we give them that, whether they’re VIP or not.” Photography by World Red Eye We're behind the scenes with Marlins outfielder, who now has the largest contract in sports history.	<urn:uuid:02b0d41a-7593-40c7-b131-880974367463>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://oceandrive.com/dining/articles/mansion-ushers-in-a-debaucherous-new-era	2015-04-02T03:08:29Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131310006.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172150-00260-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.948521	2,594
This post is the latest in the “Secret History Series.” They’ll make much more sense if you read some of the earlier ones for context. See the Secret History bibliography for sources and supplemental reading. Swords Into Plowshares After the end of World War II, returning veterans were happy to beat swords into plowshares (and microwave tubes) on the Stanford campus. From 1946 until 1950, Stanford’s Electronic Research Lab conducted basic research in microwave tubes. Although this reseearch would lead to the development of the Backward Wave Oscillator and Traveling Wave Tube for military applications, Stanford was building tubes and circuits not entire systems. The labs basic research was done by graduate students or Ph.Ds doing postdoctoral internships, supervised by faculty members or hired staff (many from Fred Terman’s WWII Electronic Warfare lab.) In 1949, with the detection of the first Soviet nuclear weapons test, the Iron Curtain falling across Europe and the fall of China to the Communists, Cold War paranoia drove the U.S. military to rearm and mobilize. We’ll Do Great in the Next War Early in 1950, just months before the outbreak of the Korean War the Office of Naval Research asked Fred Terman to build an Applied electronics program for electronic warfare. All branches of the military (the Air Force and Army would fund the program as well) wanted Stanford to build prototypes of electronic intelligence and electronic warfare systems that could be put into production by partners in industry. The Navy informs Terman that, “money was not a problem but time was.” Pitching the idea to the President of Stanford, Terman enthusiastically said, “In the event of all-out war, Stanford would become one of the giant electronic research centers…” (A bit optimistic about the outcome perhaps, given that both the U.S. and the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons at this point.) Crossing the Rubicon – The Applied Electronics Lab Setting up a separate Applied Electronics Lab for military funded programs doubled the size of the electronics program at Stanford. The new Applied Electronics Laboratory was built with Navy money and a gift from Hewlett-Packard. With the memories of WWII only five years old, and the Cold War now a shooting war in Korea, there was very little discussion (or dissension) about turning a university into a center for the production of military intelligence and electronic warfare systems. The work in the applied program focused in fields in which faculty members or senior research associates specialized. Many of the other staff in the applied program were full-time employees hired to work solely on these military programs. ELINT, Jammers and OTH The Applied Electronics Lab used the ideas and discoveries (on microwave tubes and receiver circuits) from Terman’s basic research program in the Electronic Research Lab. The Applied Lab would build prototypes of complete systems such as Electronic Intelligence systems, Electronic Warfare Jammers, and Over the Horizon Radar. The Applied Electronics Lab also continued work on the Klystron, pushing the tube to produce megawatts in transmitted power. (Stanford designed Klystrons producing 2½ Megawatts were manufactured by Varian and Litton would power the radar in the BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System) built at the height of the cold war.) The close tie between the two labs was a unique aspect of the Stanford Lab. Stanford had a Customer Development loop going on inside their own lab. The discoveries in tube and circuit research suggested new electronic intelligence and countermeasure techniques and systems; in turn the needs of the Applied Lab pushed tube and circuit development. With the Applied Electronics Lab Stanford was becoming something akin to a federal or corporate lab run under university contract. The university found government contracts profitable as the government reimbursed their overhead charges (their indirect costs.) This means they could fund other non-military academic programs from this overhead. The Stanford Applied Electronics Lab built prototypes which were handed off to the military labs for their evaluation. Subsequently military labs would contract with companies to build the devices in volume. In some cases, branches of the military contracted directly with Stanford which worked with local contractors in Silicon Valley to build these components or systems for the military. The prototype ELINT receivers built by the Applied Electronics Lab used the Stanford Traveling Wave Tubes. They quickly went into production at Sylvania Electronic Defense Labs down the street in Mountain View and Hallicrafters in Chicago. Later versions would be built by numerous industry contractors and installed on the fleet of ELINT planes orbiting the Soviet Union. These traveling wave tubes would also become the heart of the panoramic receiver used on the B-52 by the electronic warfare officer to get the bomber through the Soviet Air Defense system. Jammers built by the Stanford Applied Electronics Lab used the Stanford Backward Wave Oscillators to produce high power microwaves. Unlike the simple noise jammers used in World War II, Soviet radars were becoming more sophisticated and newer designs were fairly immune to noise. Instead the jamming signal needed to be much smarter and have a deep understanding of how the targeted radar worked. Taking the information gleaned from our ELINT aircraft, Stanford built prototypes of jammers modulated with two new deception jamming techniques – angle jamming and range-gate pull-off. Some form of these deception jammers would eventually find their way into most electronic warfare defense systems used in the Cold War; first in the U-2, A-12 and SR-71. (Ironically the B-52 bomber, which would become the airborne leg of our nuclear triad, would use dumb noise jammers for two more decades – the Air Force opting to put the smart jammers on the B-58 and B-70, high altitude supersonic bombers – one soon obsolete and other never made it into production.) The last major area of research that the Applied Electronics Lab group investigated was how radio signals propagated within the earth’s ionosphere. Over the next fifteen years this Radio Science Laboratory would receive the most funding of all departments in the lab (from the CIA) to build a ground based ELINT system. They would build and deploy two Over The Horizon Radar (OTHR) systems to detect Soviet and Chinese ballistic missile tests using ground based radars. Guards at the Door – Stanford Joins the Cold War In 1953 the Office of Naval Research told Terman that all military-funded projects (basic or applied, classified or not) needed to be in their own separate physical building. As a result Stanford moved the Applied work from the Electronics Research Lab into its own building. In 1955, the pretense of keeping unclassified and classified work separate imposed too much of an administrative overhead and Stanford merged the Applied Electronics Lab and the Electronics Research Laboratory into the Systems Engineering Lab. The Applied Electronics portion of the lab was now the size of a small company. It had 100 people, 18 of them full time faculty, 33 research associates and assistants and 33 other tube technicians, draftsman, machinists, etc. Over half this lab would hold clearances for military secrets. (Top Secret: Terman, Harris, McGhie, Secret: 44 others, Confidential: 8 others. Terman, Harris and Rambo also had Atomic Energy Commission “Q” clearances.) Some students who were getting their engineering graduate degrees wrote masters and PhD thesis that were classified. Unless you had the proper clearances you couldn’t read them. Terman and Stanford had just made a major bet on the cold war, and Stanford ranked sixth among university defense contractors. A security guard was stationed at the door of the Applied Electronics Lab to ensure that only those with proper security clearance could enter. The law of unintended consequences meant that this most casual addition in front of a university building would result in the occupation and destruction of the lab (and its twin at MIT) and the end of the program 14 years later. (More on this in a later post.) Show and Tell – The Stanford ELINT and Electronic Warfare Contractors Meeting During a typical year, the Applied Electronics Lab would host classified visits from military labs and defense contractors. By early 1950’s Stanford started holding a two day meeting for contractors and the military. The 1955 attendee list gives you a feeling of the “who’s who” of the military/industrial establishment: RCA, GE, Motorola, AIL, Bendix, Convair, Mepar, Crosley, Westinghouse, McDonnell Aircraft, Douglas Aircraft, Boeing, Lockheed, Hughes Aircraft, North American, Bell Aircraft, Glen Martin, Ryan Aeronautics, Farnsworth, Sperry, Litton, Polarad, Hallicrafters, Varian, Emerson, Dumont, Maxson, Collins Radio. Other universities doing classified ELINT and Electronic Warfare work attended including University of Michigan, Georgia Institute of Technology and Cornell. Over a hundred government contractors reviewed Stanford’s work on tubes and systems. This was a classified conference at a university, the contractors not only got to hear the conference lectures, but also visited exhibits on the devices and systems the lab had built. The lab would repeat the conference the following week for government agencies doing military work. Barely noticed at the 1955 conference, a year before the first transistor company opened in Silicon Valley, one of the sessions described how to use a new device called a“transistor” to build wide-band amplifiers. (Terman had sent faculty and graduate students to the University of Illinois in 1953 to learn transistor physics.) The World Turned Upside Down The Applied Electronics Lab solidified Stanford’s lead as one of, if not the place in the U.S. military for advanced thinking in ELINT and Electronic Warfare. It would turn on its head the relationship of universities and corporations. Traditionally universities chased corporations for funding and patronage, but the military’s dependence on Stanford’s and Fred Terman’s judgment turned that relationship on its head. Now the military was listening to Terman’s advice about which military contractors should get the order for to mass produce the Stanford systems. The contractors were now dependent on Stanford. Terman the Rainmaker During the 1950’s Fred Terman was an advisor to every major branch of the U.S. military. He was on the Army Signal Corps R&D Advisory Council, the Air Force Electronic Countermeasures Scientific Advisory board, a Trustee of the Institute of Defense Analysis, the Naval Research Advisory Committee, the Defense Science Board, and a consultant to the President’s Science Advisory Committee. His commercial activities had him on the board of directors of HP, Watkins-Johnson, Ampex, and Director and Vice Chairman of SRI. It’s amazing this guy ever slept. Terman was the ultimate networking machine for Stanford and its military contracts. Stanford Industrial Park – Microwave Valley Booms By the early 1950’s many of the corporations that attended the yearly Stanford Electronic Warfare conferences would establish research labs centered around Stanford for just this reason – to learn from Stanford’s basic and applied research and get a piece of the ELINT and Electronic Warfare contracting pie. Stanford Industrial Park was the first technology office park set up to house local and out of state microwave and electronics startups. First occupied in 1953 it would include Varian, Watkins Johnson, Admiral, HP, General Electric, Kodak, Lockheed. Other east coast companies which established branches in Microwave valley in the 1950’s included IBM, Sylvania, Philco, Zenith and ITT. The Future is Clear – Microwave Valley Forever By 1956 Fred Terman had every right to be pleased with what he had helped build in the last ten years in and around Stanford. The Stanford Electronics Lab was now the center of ELINT and Electronic Warfare. Startups were sprouting all over Microwave Valley delivering microwave tubes and complete military systems, slowiy replacing the orchards and fruit trees. Granger Associates was a 1956 startup founded by Bill Ayer, a graduate student in the Applied Electronics Radioscience Lab, and John Granger, a former RRL researcher, building ELINT and Electronic Warfare systems (the Granger jammer was carried on the U-2.) Four years later Ayer and another Granger engineer would leave Granger and found one of the preeminent electronic warfare and ELINT companies: Applied Technologies. The future of the valley was clear – microwaves. 1956 – Change Everything Yet in 1956 two events would change everything. At the time neither appeared earthshaking or momentous. First, a Bell Labs researcher who had grown up in Palo Alto, had his own interesting World War II career, and recently served as a military advisor on cold war weapons systems, decided to follow Fred Terman’s advice to locate his semiconductor company near Stanford. The second was when a Southern Californian aircraft company decided to break into the missiles and space field by partnering with Stanford electronics expertise. It moved its electronics research group from Burbank to the new Stanford Industrial Park and built its manufacturing facility in Sunnyvale. Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory and Lockheed Missiles Systems Division would change everything. Read about it in Part XI of the Secret History of Silicon Valley here.	<urn:uuid:143f465d-c03a-4fb5-ab35-fa435ddf11eb>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://steveblank.com/2009/08/17/stanford-crosses-the-rubicon/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=9514d1f115	2015-04-02T03:06:06Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131310006.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172150-00260-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.949433	2,736
We are a member of the Association of Translation Agencies (VViN – Vereniging van Vertaalbureaus in Nederland) If you work with an VViN translation agency, you know you are hiring a professional company that works according to the industry’s terms and conditions and that meets the VViN’s entry requirements and code of conduct. Moreover, you know the company invests in continuing professionalisation through education. And in the unlikely event that you are dissatisfied with a product, you can fall back on the VViN’s dispute regulations. General Terms and Conditions Logo and Trademark Policy By using our services, you accept that we gain the right to use your company name and logo as part of our client database and as promotion on our website, unless agreed otherwise. Logo and trade name of Transenter used herein are trademarks of EstEnter Translations BV Amsterdam. You may not use, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, distribute, or modify Transenter trademarks in any way, including in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of materials on the site, without EstEnter Translations BV prior written consent. Quotations are not binding on Transenter and a contract will only come into being when we issue a written confirmation (by e-mail) of client’s order. Our written quotations are given on the basis that the terms quoted will remain open for the placing of orders for 30 days from the date of the quotation. Quotations are given on the basis of client’s description of the source material, the purpose of the translation and any other instructions. Such quotations may be amended at any time if, in Transenter’s opinion, the description of the source materials is materially inadequate or inaccurate. The dates and hours for delivery of the translated works are approximate only and, unless otherwise expressly agreed by both sides, time is not of the essence for delivery or performance, and no delay shall entitle the client to reject any delivery or performance or to repudiate the contract. All translation services are invoiced with payment terms of 14 days (individual clients) from date of invoice, unless stated differently. Transenter preferred method of payment is bank transfer. We also accept payment through credit cards and PayPal™ with clients with advance approval. For details concerning the payment please contact your project manager. The services shall be carried out using reasonable skill and care in accordance with the standards of the industry. Transenter shall use all reasonable skill and care in selecting translators, interpreters and other personnel used to produce the translations and perform the services. Transenter shall not be liable for any incidental, special or consequential damages or loss of any nature whatsoever, nor for any claim against the client by any other person or entity, arising from or relating to services or product rendered by Transenter, regardless of the nature of the claim or the form of the cause of action, whether in contract or in tort, or otherwise, and even if Transenter has been advised of the possibility of such damages by anything contained in related proposals and other documentation. Transenter shall not be responsible for any loss or damage to, nor the return of, any source material(s). The maximum liability to the client by Transenter shall in all cases be limited to the value of the Order. General Terms and Conditions of the Netherlands Association of Translation Agencies (VViN) In these General Terms and Conditions ‘the Translation Agency’ shall be understood to mean: Transenter, located at Keizersgracht 62, 1015 CS Amsterdam. Article 1 – General These General Terms and Conditions shall govern the legal relationship between the Translation Agency and the Client, and shall supersede any (general) terms and conditions of the Client, unless the Translation Agency approves the applicability of such terms and conditions in writing. Article 2 – Quotations, conclusion of contracts 2.1 General quotations and estimates provided by the Translation Agency shall not entail any commitment. 2.2 The Translation Agency may at any time revoke or change prices and dates of delivery quoted if it has not had the opportunity – prior to quoting such details – to view the entire text to be translated or edited. The Client’s oral or written acceptance of the quotation submitted by the Translation Agency or, if no quotation is submitted, confirmation by the Translation Agency in writing of an order placed by the Client shall constitute a contract. 2.3 The Translation Agency may consider as a Client any person or entity that has placed an order with the Translation Agency, unless said person or entity explicitly states that they are acting on the instructions, on behalf and at the expense of a third party, whose name and address shall be disclosed to the Translation Agency at the same time. 2.4 Agreements made and assurances given by representatives or personnel of the Translation Agency shall not be binding upon the Translation Agency unless explicitly confirmed by the Translation Agency in writing. 2.5 Any reasonable doubt on the part of the Translation Agency about the Client’s ability to pay shall entitle the Translation Agency to require the Client to provide sufficient security before the Translation Agency commences or continues to execute an order. Article 3 – Changes to or cancellation of orders 3.1 Any major changes made by the Client to an order after a contract has been concluded shall entitle the Translation Agency either to modify the price and/or the date of delivery agreed or to refuse to execute the order. In the latter case, the Client shall be required to pay for the work already performed, and the provisions stipulated in clause 3.3 shall apply by analogy. 3.2 Cancellation of an order by the Client shall require the Client to pay in full for the work already performed with respect to that order and, where appropriate, to pay compensation on the basis of an hourly rate for time spent on research for that part of the work not performed. The Translation Agency shall make the work performed available to the Client at the latter’s request, but shall accept no responsibility for its quality. 3.3 If the Translation Agency has earmarked time for executing an order that has been cancelled, it may charge the Client 50% of the agreed price for that part of the work not performed. Article 4 – Execution of orders and non-disclosure clause 4.1 The Translation Agency undertakes to carry out orders to the best of its ability, bringing to bear sufficient professional know-how to meet the purpose specified by the Client for the text(s) to be translated or edited by the Translation Agency. 4.2 The Translation Agency shall keep any information provided by the Client confidential in so far as this is possible in connection with the performance of the contract. The Translation Agency shall require its employees to observe this code of confidentiality. However, the Translation Agency shall not be liable for any breach of confidentiality by its employees if it can sufficiently demonstrate that it was unable to prevent the same. 4.3 Unless explicitly agreed otherwise, the Translation Agency shall be entitled to hire third parties to carry out the order (in full or in part), without prejudice to the Translation Agency’s responsibility for the confidential treatment and proper execution of the order. The Translation Agency shall require any such third party to observe this code of confidentiality. However, the Translation Agency shall not be liable for any breach of confidentiality by such third parties if it can sufficiently demonstrate that it was unable to prevent the same. 4.4 As far as possible, the Client shall honour any request for information by the Translation Agency about the content of the text to be translated, as well as requests for relevant documentation and lists of terms if such are available. Such information and documentation shall be dispatched at the Client’s expense and risk. Article 5 – Agreed date and time of delivery 5.1 The agreed date of delivery shall be provisional, unless an explicit written agreement stipulates otherwise. The Translation Agency shall notify the Client immediately if it perceives that it will be unable to meet an agreed deadline. 5.2 If a fixed delivery date is specifically agreed in writing and if the Translation Agency fails to meet it for reasons other than circumstances beyond its control, and if the Client cannot reasonably be expected to accept any further delay, the Client shall be entitled to cancel the contract unilaterally. In such cases, however, the Translation Agency shall not be required to pay any compensation whatsoever. Such cancellation shall not affect the obligation on the part of the Client to pay for the work already performed. 5.3 Delivery shall be deemed to have taken place at the moment when the text is dispatched. The moment when the text is posted, handed to a courier or – if the text is transmitted electronically (by fax, e-mail, modem, FTP etc) – the moment when the medium completes the transmission shall count as the time of dispatch. 5.4 The Client shall do whatever may reasonably be necessary for or conducive to prompt delivery by the Translation Agency of work performed under the contract. 5.5 The Client shall do everything in its power to facilitate delivery of the product by the Translation Agency under the contract. Any refusal to accept the Translation Agency’s product shall constitute default on the part of the Client, and the provisions of clause 6.5 shall apply accordingly, even if no explicit request for acceptance has been made. Article 6 – Prices and payment 6.1 Prices shall generally be based on the Translation Agency’s current rate (per hour or per word), unless agreed otherwise. In addition, the Translation Agency may charge the Client for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the execution of the order. The Translation Agency shall be free to charge a minimum rate for each combination of source and target language. 6.2 Quoted prices shall apply only to services and products conforming to agreed specifications. 6.3 The Translation Agency shall be entitled to raise the agreed price if it is forced to perform more work or incur more costs than might reasonably have been foreseen on conclusion of the contract as a result of having to work with laborious, time-consuming or unclear texts, for example, or faulty files or software supplied by the Client. This list of examples is not exhaustive. 6.4 All prices are quoted exclusive of VAT. 6.5 Payment for products supplied or services rendered under the contract shall be due 30 calendar days after the invoice date (or within such other term as the Translation Agency shall set in writing). Payment shall be net and in full – without any discount, set-off or deferral – in the currency invoiced. If payment is not made by the due date, the Client shall be in default – immediately and without notice of default being required – and shall owe the statutory interest due on the invoice amount, plus two percentage points, from the due date until settlement in full. 6.6 The rate for extrajudicial collection costs shall be 15% on the first EUR 2,500 of the principal sum plus interest, and 10% on the balance, subject to a minimum of EUR 100 per invoice. Article 7 – Complaints and disputes 7.1 The Client shall be required to notify the Translation Agency in writing of any complaints about the product supplied or service rendered by the Translation Agency as soon as possible, yet no later than ten working days after the said product is supplied or the said service is rendered. Lodging a complaint shall not release the Client from its payment obligations. 7.2 Should the Client query the accuracy of specific passages of the translation supplied by the Translation Agency and ask the Translation Agency for its comments, and should the Translation Agency subsequently be able to demonstrate that the passages in question are not incorrect, the Translation Agency shall be entitled to charge the Client in full for the additional time spent on dealing with the query and for any other expenses incurred in this connection. 7.3 If the Client does not lodge a complaint within the period specified in clause 7.1 above, the Client shall be deemed to have fully accepted the product supplied or the services rendered by the Translation Agency, and complaints shall only be considered if the Translation Agency at its sole discretion deems such to be expedient. Any changes made by the Translation Agency, at the Client’s request, to any part of the translated or edited text shall in no way constitute an acknowledgement on the part of the Translation Agency of supplying an inferior product or rendering an inferior service. 7.4 In the case of a valid complaint, the Translation Agency shall be allowed a reasonable period of time to improve or substitute the product or service. If the Translation Agency in all fairness is unable to make the required improvements or to substitute the product or service, it may grant the Client a discount. 7.5 If the Client and the Translation Agency prove unable to settle their dispute amicably within a reasonable period of time, they may refer it to the VViN Arbitration Committee within two months once it has become apparent that no settlement will be reached. The dispute shall then be settled by an arbitral tribunal in accordance with the VViN Arbitration Rules (Geschillenreglement VViN). If the Client wishes to submit a dispute for arbitration on the basis of these Arbitration Rules, the Translation Agency shall be required to concur in and assist with this procedure. The Arbitration Committee’s decision shall be binding on both parties. 7.6 The Client’s right to complain shall lapse if the Client has itself edited or has instructed others to edit the part or parts of the product forming the subject of the complaint, regardless of whether the Client has subsequently supplied the product to a third party or not. Article 8 – Liability and indemnity 8.1 The Translation Agency shall exclusively be liable to the Client for any loss or damage directly and demonstrably deriving from shortcomings attributable to the Translation Agency. The Translation Agency shall under no circumstances be liable for any other forms of loss or damage, such as indirect loss, consequential loss, trading loss, loss caused by delay in performance or loss of profit. 8.2 The Translation Agency’s liability shall never exceed the invoice value, exclusive of VAT, of the part of the product or service in question, which part has already been invoiced and/or supplied or rendered. The Translation Agency’s liability shall never exceed EUR 45,000 per event or per sequence of related events. 8.3 Ambiguities in the text to be translated shall release the Translation Agency from any liability whatsoever. 8.4 The question of whether (the use of) a text to be translated or edited or the translation or edited version of such text, produced by the Translation Agency, entails any risk of bodily injury shall be entirely at the Client’s expense and risk. 8.5 No liability whatsoever shall be incurred by the Translation Agency in respect of damage to or loss of documents, data or data carriers made available to facilitate performance of the contract. Nor shall any liability be incurred by the Translation Agency in respect of any costs incurred and/or any loss or damage sustained as a result of (i) the use of information technology and telecommunications media, (ii) the transport or dispatch of data or data carriers, or (iii) the presence of computer viruses in any files or data carriers supplied by the Translation Agency. 8.6 The Client undertakes to indemnify the Translation Agency against any claims by third parties deriving from the use of the product supplied or the services rendered. 8.7 The Client similarly undertakes to indemnify the Translation Agency against any claims by third parties on account of alleged violation or infringement of property rights, proprietary rights, patent rights, copyrights or any other intellectual property rights in connection with the performance of the contract. Article 9 – Dissolution and force majeure 9.1 If the Client fails to meet its obligations, if the Client is declared insolvent or bankrupt or if a petition is filed for the Client’s compulsory liquidation or bankruptcy, if the Client applies for or obtains a moratorium, if the Client is subject to an arrangement under the debt rescheduling regulations for natural persons or if the Client’s company or business is liquidated, the Translation Agency shall have the right, without being required to pay any compensation, to dissolve the contract in whole or in part or to suspend performance of the contract. The Translation Agency shall in that case be entitled to demand immediate payment of any outstanding amounts. 9.2 Should the Translation Agency prove unable to meet its obligations due to circumstances beyond its control and risk, it shall be entitled to dissolve the contract without being liable to pay any compensation whatsoever. Such circumstances (force majeure) include, but are not limited to: fire, accidents, illness, strikes, riots, war, terrorist attacks, transport restrictions and delays, government measures, disruption of the services of Internet providers, negligence on the part of suppliers or any other circumstances beyond the Translation Agency’s control. 9.3 If the Translation Agency is compelled by force majeure to discontinue further performance of the contract, it shall retain the right to payment for any work performed up to that moment as well as reimbursement for any costs and out-of-pocket expenses incurred. Article 10 – Copyright Barring explicit agreement in writing to the contrary, the copyright on translations produced by the Translation Agency shall devolve upon the Client at such time as the Client meets all its financial and other obligations to the Translation Agency in full with respect to the work in question. Article 11 – Governing law 11.1 The legal relationship between the Client and the Translation Agency shall be governed by Netherlands law. 11.2 Any disputes in respect of which no binding decision has been given by the VViN Arbitration Committee in accordance with clause 7.5 above shall be submitted for judgment to the competent court at the place where the Translation Agency has its office. Article 12 – Registration 12.1 These General Terms and Conditions have been lodged with the Utrecht Chamber of Commerce (file number 40482690). 12.2 The Association of Translation Agencies is listed in the Trade Register of the Utrecht Chamber of Commerce under number The original Dutch text of these General Terms and Conditions shall prevail over versions published in any other language.	<urn:uuid:ca6d97a3-ab4e-45f9-a390-7060aff2d265>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://transenter.com/terms-and-conditions/	2015-04-02T03:05:47Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131310006.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172150-00260-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.911975	3,759
June 14, 2012 Two Tech teams honored by NCAA with APR Public Recognition Awards Tennessee Tech’s softball and women’s golf teams are among those who received Public Recognition Awards Thursday from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for top academic performance. May 24, 2012 Junior Katherine Bell named MVP of women's golf squad Katherine Bell has been named the Most Valuable Player of the Tennessee Tech women's golf team, and several additional team awards were announced this week by head coach Polk Brown to wrap up the 2011-12 season. April 24, 2012 Golden Eagles finish sixth at OVC Women's Golf Championship The Tennessee Tech women's golf team wrapped up the 2012 season with a sixth place finish at the Ohio Valley Conference Championships, closing play Tuesday at the GreyStone Golf Club in Dickson. Brandy VanEtten was the team's top finisher. April 23, 2012 Golden Eagles in sixth place after two days at OVC Women's Golf Tournament Brandy VanEtten is in 14th place overall individually as Tennessee Tech broke a tie with Eastern Illinois and moved alone into sixth place with one final round remaining Tuesday at the OVC Women's Golf Championships. April 22, 2012 Tech gets early start Sunday at OVC Women's Golf Championship Tennessee Tech golfers will be the first off the tee Sunday morning at the Ohio Valley Conference championship tournament, being held at GreyStone Golf Course in Dickson. Katy Beth Glover gets the tourney underway at 8 a.m. April 22, 2012 Golden Eagles tied for sixth after first day at OVC Tournament Brandy VanEtten is in 11th place individually, but the first day of the OVC Women's Golf Tournament didn't go as Tennessee Tech had hoped as the Golden Eagles are tied for sixth place with two rounds remaining. April 10, 2012 Shepherd, Randolph represent Tech at Samford Intercollegiate Amber Shepherd and Amanda Randolph wrapped up play Tuesday as individual entries in the Samford Intercollegiate. The pair were the only Golden Eagles able to compete due to illness and injuries. April 9, 2012 Shepherd, Randolph only two playing at Samford Intercollegiate Amber Shepherd is tied for 21st place and Amanda Randolph is tied for 46th, the only two members of the Tennessee Tech women's golf team able to play this week in the Samford Intercollegiate. Injuries and illness have sidelined the remainder of the Golden Eagle squad. April 7, 2012 Golden Eagles at Samford Intercollegiate for final OVC Tourney tuneup This week's play in the Samford Intercollegiate is the final tuneup for the Tennessee Tech women's golf team before the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. April 4, 2012 Amber Shepherd shares OVC Golfer of the Week honor Tennessee Tech's Amber Shepherd earned her first all-tournament honor on Tuesday, and Wednesday was named as the Ohio Valley Conference co-Golfer of the Week, another first for the Golden Eagle sophomore. April 3, 2012 Shepherd earns first all-tournament honor, Tech places sixth at Belmont Invitational Sophomore Amber Shepherd earned her first career all-tournament honor with a fifth place individual showing and the Tennessee Tech women's golf team finished sixth in the Belmont Invitational Tuesday at Old Hickory Country Club. April 2, 2012 Old Hickory: Tech tees off Monday morning in Belmont Invitational The Tennessee Tech women's golf team is in Nashville to begin play Monday morning in the Belmont Invitational. The 36-hole event will feature seven schools at the Old Hickory Country Club. April 2, 2012 Shepherd in second place heading to final round at Old Hickory Sophomore Amber Shepherd is tied for second place with an even-par 72 in Monday's first round of the Belmont Women's Invitational at Old Hickory Country Club. Tech is in sixth place in the team standings heading into the final round Tuesday. March 26, 2012 Final-round push gives Golden Eagles strong finish The Tennessee Tech women’s golf team sliced 13 strokes off its first-round score to finish strong in Monday’s final round at the Low Country Intercollegiate at Moss Creek Plantation. March 25, 2012 Bell leads Golden Eagles at Low Country Intercollegiate Katherine Bell shot a first-round 81 to lead Tennessee Tech in the first round of the Low Country Intercollegiate on Sunday at Moss Creek Plantation. March 24, 2012 Carolina in my mind: Golden Eagles prep for Low Country Intercollegiate Less than a week after completing play at the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge, Tennessee Tech will return to the Carolinas to compete in the Low Country Intercollegiate Sunday and Monday in Hilton Head, S.C. March 20, 2012 Tech rallies, moves up two spots in final round at Pinehurst Tennessee Tech finished strong at the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge on Tuesday, moving up two slots to secure a 15th place finish against strong competition from throughout the Southeast. March 19, 2012 Bell leads Golden Eagles on first day at Pinehurst Tennessee Tech struggled against stiff competition in the first day of play at the 2012 Pinehurst Challenge on Monday, shooting a combined score of 642 through two rounds of play. March 18, 2012 After long break, Golden Eagles resume play at historic Pinehurst Tennessee Tech's women's golf team will get to play at one of the game's most storied venues this week as it takes part in the 2012 Pinehurst Spring Challenge. February 20, 2012 Golden Eagles finish runner-up, VanEtten places 10th Tennessee Tech completed a strong start to the 2012 season on Monday, maintaining Sunday’s second-place spot to finish runner-up at the BSC Ann Rhoads Invitational. February 19, 2012 Tech one stroke out of lead after first day of Ann Rhoads Invitational Amanda Randolph and Brandy VanEtten are both tied for second place, one shot off the lead, and the Tennessee Tech women's golf team is in second place among the 16 teams at the Ann Rhaods Invitational, also one stroke behind the leader. February 17, 2012 Golden Eagles open season Sunday at Ann Rhoads Invitational The Tennessee Tech women’s golf team will get the 2012 spring schedule underway this weekend when it plays in the Ann Rhoads Invitational, hosted by Birmingham Southern College. February 7, 2012 Golden Eagles announce 2012 schedule, look for strong start For Tennessee Tech women’s golf coach Polk Brown, success in 2012 begins with Day One. Brown announced the team's schedule this week, with the first meet set for Feb. 19-20 in Birmingham. February 2, 2012 Tech men, women picked fifth in OVC preseason golf poll Tennessee Tech’s men’s and women’s golf teams were both pegged for middle-of-the-pack finishes in the Ohio Valley Conference in the league's preseason poll released Thursday. December 1, 2011 Polk Brown inks five newcomers to join Golden Eagle golf teams First-year golf coach Polk Brown has announced the addition of five signees who will join the Tennessee Tech golf teams in 2012-13, with two newcomers for the women's team and three on the men's. November 1, 2011 Tech takes seventh in fall finale at UAB Fall Beach Blast Tennessee Tech’s women’s golf team moved up two spots from ninth to seventh place in the second and final round of the UAB Fall Beach Blast on Tuesday, wrapping up their fall season. October 31, 2011 VanEtten leads Tech at UAB Fall Beach Blast Tennessee Tech sat in ninth place out of 11 teams after one round at the UAB Fall Beach Blast on Monday behind a 79 from Brandy VanEtten. October 29, 2011 UAB Fall Beach Blast promises beautiful conditions for Golden Eagles Tennessee Tech’s women’s golf team will be in search of a warmer climate as it wraps up its fall season at the UAB Beach Blast beginning Monday in Gulf Shores, Ala. October 17, 2011 Getting to know Brandy VanEtten Take a look into the personality of TTU women's golfer Brandy VanEtten. The sophomore describes why she loves the game of golf, why she adores Tim Tebow, and which facial expression she can never make. October 12, 2011 Stallings Dinner sold out; Guests to bid on exciting items Guests who attend the sold out dinner Friday night in recognition of PGA Tour champion Scott Stallings will have an opportunity to bid on some outstanding items during a Silent Auction at the event. October 11, 2011 Golden Eagles finish seventh at F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate Amber Shepherd shot a second-round 75 to lead Tennessee Tech in closing out the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate Tuesday at The Links at Novadell. October 10, 2011 VanEtten, Everts shoot 75, lead Tech after one round Brandy VanEtten and Madalyn Everts both fired first-round 75s to lead Tennessee Tech Monday at the F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate at The Links at Novadell. October 8, 2011 Flat, links-style course awaits Golden Eagles at F&M Bank APSU Intercollegiate With the fall schedule winding down, the Tennessee Tech women’s golf team will head to a site at which they have enjoyed past success on Monday and Tuesday. September 20, 2011 Everts continues strong play, leads Tech in final round at Great Smokies Freshman Madalyn Everts tied her career-best round, firing a two-over 74 to lead Tennessee Tech in the final round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate Tuesday at Waynesville Inn Golf Resort & Spa. September 19, 2011 Golden Eagles hang tough in tight field at Great Smokies Intercollegiate Katherine Bell shot a one-over 73 to lead Tennessee Tech in the first round of the Great Smokies Intercollegiate at Waynesville Inn Golf Resort and Spa. September 18, 2011 Golden Eagles hope to build on past successes at Great Smokies Invitational A 23-team field awaits Tennessee Tech at the Great Smokies Invitational, the squad’s third tournament of the 2011 fall season, on Monday. September 13, 2011 Everts leads strong final-round push, Tech finishes sixth After entering the final round of the Drake Creek Invitational in a sixth-place tie with Western Kentucky, Tennessee Tech bested the Hilltoppers by nine strokes Tuesday morning to slide into sole possession of a sixth-place finish out of 10 schools at Murray State’s home event. September 12, 2011 Golden Eagles in tie for sixth after two rounds at Drake Creek Invitational Tennessee Tech teed off its second tournament of the fall season Monday under warm and sunny conditions on the banks of the Ohio River at Murray State’s Drake Creek Invitational. September 11, 2011 Tech women to tee off at Drake Creek Invitational The Tennessee Tech women’s golf team is hoping for fairer weather at the Drake Creek Invitational on Monday and Tuesday after rain canceled the final two rounds of the squad’s season-opening event last weekend. September 7, 2011 Tech golf to host "An Evening with PGA Champion Scott Stallings" PGA Tour professional and Tennessee Tech alumnus Scott Stallings is coming home to Cookeville for an evening in mid-October. Fans and supporters are invited to the event, but must reserve seats by Monday, Oct. 3. September 6, 2011 Final round rained out at Chris Banister Classic The final round of the Chris Banister Gamecock Golf Classic was rained out Tuesday, leaving Tennessee Tech with a sixth place finish out of eight teams in its first tournament of the 2011 fall season. September 5, 2011 Second day rained out, Tech in sixth heading into final round at JSU After opening play in sixth place at the Chris Banister Classic Sunday, the Tennessee Tech women's golf team spent Monday watching the second round get washed out. The final round is scheduled for Tuesday. September 2, 2011 Golden Eagles set for fall opener at Chris Banister Classic Polk Brown will make his coaching debut when the Tennessee Tech women’s golf team begins its fall season Sunday at Jacksonville State’s Chris Banister Golf Classic. August 16, 2011 Tech golf teams to play on familiar courses during 2011 fall season The Tennessee Tech women's and men's golf teams will be teeing it up on several familiar courses this fall when first-year head coach Polk Brown takes the Golden Eagles through the 2011 fall schedules. August 6, 2011 Golden Eagle golf adds one men's, one women's signee to fall rosters The Tennessee Tech men’s and women’s golf teams have each added a name to their 2011-12 rosters. July 21, 2011 Polk Brown named men's and women's golf head coach, Peni Austin new assistant Former Golden Eagle player Polk Brown has been named as the head women’s and men’s golf coach at Tennessee Tech University, while Peni (Davis) Austin has been named assistant coach for both teams.	<urn:uuid:80f1bea0-cea3-47ca-87e0-2f8eec8ea53c>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://ttusports.com/sports/wgolf/2011-12/news?dec=/printer-decorator	2015-04-02T03:25:01Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131310006.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172150-00260-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.924164	2,829
Sony 7.1 Channel Black 3D AV Receiver, Model STRDH720 Entertainment at its finest. Take full advantage of the STR-DH720's 7.1-channels of surround sound with a 3D A/V receiver capable of upscaling your media from analog to full 1080i HD via HDMI™3. Tap into a world of endless entertainment and play music, movies, games and more on your high-definition components including your Blu-ray Disc™ player or PS3™. No less than 6 HD inputs (4 HDMI™ and 2 component) with standby pass-through mean you can operate all of your HDMI connected devices without even powering on the receiver. Dolby® TrueHD, Pro logic IIz and dts® HD decoding technologies allow your audio to come through loud and clear. Operate it all with ease using the on-screen - iPod®/iPhone® video and music playback (via USB) Listen to music and watch video stored on your iPod® or iPhone® while charging - 6 HD Inputs Get versatile HD connection options with six HD inputs. Four HDMI™ inputs (up to 1080/24p capable) let you connect a Sony® PlayStation® 3 entertainment system, Blu-ray Disc™ player, and any 2 other HDMI-capable devices, for high definition video and audio.6 Two component inputs (1080/60i capable) provide added HD-capable connectivity and versatility. - 3D Pass-through Compatible with Blu-ray 3D™ movies, video games and other 3D content - Upconvert/Upscale video signal to near HD via HDMI™ Improve image quality of analog connected devices to near HD.3 Analog connected device signals are converted to digital and output via HDMI™, making one cable connection from the receiver to the HDMI-enabled TV possible. - HD Digital Cinema Sound™ Optimize your receiver to mimic the sound characteristics of Sony Pictures. - Audio Return Channel Eliminate the need for extra cables connected to your TV. This feature allows audio to be sent from your compatible TV to your receiver through the same HDMI™ cable already being used to send audio and video to your TV. - BRAVIA Widget Control Connect to select Sony 2011 Televisions and experience an integrated user interface on-screen. Enabling on-screen feedback and control function. - Digital Cinema Auto Calibration - Quick Speaker Set UpEnsure you get the best sound experience from your A/V receiver and speakers with Digital Cinema Auto Calibration. Simply place the included microphone where you will be seated and settings are automatically optimized based on the distance, delays and placement of your speakers. - BRAVIA® Sync Capable Conveniently operate and control select Sony® BRAVIA® Sync devices with one remote including: Sony Blu-ray Disc™ Players, BRAVIA® HDTVs, Sony home theater - Standby pass-through of Audio & Video Conveniently access all your HDMI™ connected devices without having to power on the receiver. - Assignable digital audio and video inputs Get the most out of each audio and video input with the ability to reassign inputs to support connected devices. - 24p True Cinema™ (pass-through) Watch Blu-ray Disc™ movies in their native frame rate (24 frames per second) when paired with a 24p HDTV and playback device like a Blu-ray Disc™ Player or PlayStation® 3 gaming console via HDMI™ cable. - (8Ohms 1kHz) THD : 1% - (8Ohms 20-20kHz) THD : 0.09% - 8Ohms 1kHz : 105W + 105W - 8Ohms 20-20kHz : 95W + 95W - Output Power (JEITA 10%)/ Rated Output Power(0.09% 20Hz-20kHz 4Ohm) : 10% - Output Power (JEITA 10%)/Rated Output Power(0.09% 20Hz-20kHz 8Ohm) : 140W - 4 Ohm/8 Ohm Switching : 8 Ohm only - Advanced Auto Volume : Yes - Analog Direct : Yes - Number of amp. channels : 7ch (Sub must be self powered) - Speaker Selector : A Speakers only - Speaker Terminal : Front(Screw)/Others(Push) - Sub Woofer X' Over : 17 points (40-200Hz) - Analog Audio Out : 0 - Headphone Out : Yes(Gold) - Pre Out (Subwoofer) : 1 - A/V In: Including Front AV : 3 - Component Video In : 2 - HDMI In (Front In) : 4 - Center : Yes - Front A (L/R) : Yes - Front High (L/R)/ Surround Back for Common Use : Yes - Surround (L/R) : Yes - Surround Back (L/R) : Yes - A/V Out (inc. Monitor Out) : 1 - Component Video Out (inc. Monitor Out) : 1 - HDMI Out : 1 - Front (Bass/Treble) : Yes/Yes - Analog Audio In (Inc TV CEC)/Out (excl. tuner)/TV (CEC) : 2/Yes - Coax. : 1 - Opt. In/Out/TV (CEC): incl Front input & TV (CEC) : 2/yes - USB : 1(Front:iPhone/WM) - 96k/24Bit PCM : Yes - DTS / DTS-ES (Matrix6.1 / Discrete6.1) : Yes/Yes - DTS 96/24/ DTS NEO:6 : Yes/Yes - DTS HD MA/ DTS HD HR : Yes/Yes - Dolby Digital EX/ Dolby Digital : Yes/Yes - Dolby Dual Mono : Yes - Dolby Prologic/II /Iix /Iiz : Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes - Dolby TruHD/Dolby Digital + : Yes/Yes - LPCM (2CH/5.1CH/7.1CH) thru HDMI : Yes(Yes/Yes/Yes) - 2ch : Yes - A.F.D. Auto : Yes - Analog Direct : Yes - Church : Yes - Concert Hall : Yes - Digital Concert Hall A/B : Yes - HD-D.C.S. : Yes - Headphone 2ch : Yes - Headphone Direct : Yes - Headphone Multi : Yes - Jass Club : Yes - Multi Stereo : Yes - Neo:6 Music : Yes - PLII Movie : Yes - PLII Music : Yes - PLIIx Movie : Yes - PLIIx Music : Yes - PLIIz Height : Yes - Portable Audio Enhancer : Yes - Sports : Yes - Stadium : Yes - Auto Tuning : Yes - Direct Tuning : Yes(RM) - FM/AM : Yes/Yes Preset Channel (Sirius/XM/FM/AM) : TTL60 (-/-/30/30) - Station Name : Yes - HDMI Pass Through : Yes - Theater Mode Selector : Yes - Video Up Converter (Analog -< Component/HDMI) : Yes/Yes - Video Up Scaler (Analog- A/V Sync Features - A/V SYNC : Yes(Fixed) - A/V Sync Sampling Freequency : 48kHz - A/V Sync Time(msec) : 60msec - A/V Sync auto mode : No - Band : 6 - D.C.A.C. EX / Advanced D.C.A.C. / D.C.A.C. : D.C.A.C. - Grade(Gold/Silver/Bronze) : Silver - Mic : MONO - Assignable Component Video IN : Yes - Assignable HDMI Video IN : Yes - Auto Standby : Yes - Digital Input Assign : Yes - GUI : Yes (Simple) - GUI Blending INPUT (from: Composite/Component/HDMI) : Yes(Yes/Yes/-) - GUI Blending OUTPUT (to: Composite/Component/HDMI) : Yes (HDMI) - GUI Language : English - Pin Jack : Nickel - Power Requirement : 120V 60Hz - Remote Commander : RM-AAU106 - Sleep Timer : Yes - iPod Browsing with System (via USB) : VIDEO/MUSIC - Height: 6.25" - Width: 17" - Depth: 12.75" - Unit: 18 lbs - Shipping: 30 lbs - Manufacturer Warranty (authorized online retailer): One Year arts - Extended Service Warranty Available: Click the warranty tab above - 3D viewing requires 3D content, 3D HDTV, a high speed HDMI™ cable (supporting at least 10.2 Gbps) connection, and other 3D accessories (including 3D glasses). - Dolby® True-HD and dts®-HD Master Audio decoding require HDMI™ cable and capable source device (both sold separately). - Requires connection via HDMI™ cable (sold separately) to equivalent HDTV. Upscaled/upconverted image and sound quality will vary depending on source. - Works with other BRAVIA® Sync or Theatre Sync™ labeled home audio/video products when connected via HDMI™ interface. - iPod® support is limited to the following players: iPod touch®, iPod classic®, iPod nano® 1st, 2nd & 3rd generation, iPod® 4th& 5th generation & iPod mini and iPhone 3G, 3Gs and 4G models. iPhone or iPod video playback is supported with an optional cable sold separately. - HDMI™ cable required, sold separately. - Requires sources connected with HDMI™ cables (sold separately). Sound Quality will vary depending on source. - Can be used only when receiver is connected to a Sony XBR-EX620, EX630, EX720, EX820, EX830, NX830, HX820, HX830, or HX930 series BRAVIA HDTV via HDMI™ cable (sold separately).	<urn:uuid:f3ed5ccf-ae6f-4a9f-96c4-f06db179db2b>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.abt.com/product/52994/Sony-STRDH720.html	2015-04-02T03:27:47Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131310006.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172150-00260-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.657368	2,251
About a year and a half ago, Savant was amazed to see the German digital restoration of Metropolis at a touring museum showing. In my city (Los Angeles) the beautifully-restored epic was presented with a live organ accompaniment and received by the audience as if it were a lost book of the Bible. Metropolis predates what we call Science Fiction in movies, and proceeds in a totally different direction from movies about the destiny of man (2001) or various depictions of futuristic dystopias. It's a strange eclectic collage about key themes of the 20th century - progress, technology, class suppression, faith. Thea von Harbou's utopian conception is a mix of futurism and mysticism, faith and fate. An expressionist film, it derives a grandiose power from its massive architectural designs, whether of futuristic buildings or huge crowds of people moving in organized groups. It is 'quite a silly film', as H.G. Wells claimed, and also 'two films glued together by their bellies', as Luis Buñuel stated, but it also has a giddy, optimistic sense of wonder, an awe at the potential of man for greatness and folly, that no other film even approaches. Its mystery is contained as much in Brigitte Helm's silvery, unblinking eyes, as it is in the machine that transforms into a primitive god demanding sacrifice, or a Tolkien-like primitive house standing in the middle of a futuristic city. It's about the future, but also about dreams and visions and poetry on a vast scale. Kino distributed a version of this restoration theatrically last fall, and this is what's been replicated on this DVD. The intertitles are in English, and the film is synchronized with a new recording of its original 1927 score. The result will stun anyone who has only seen the earlier, ragged-looking versions, on the screen or on video. Meanwhile, Joh Fredersen interprets the prayer meetings as an uprising, and conspires with an old enemy, inventor/alchemist Rotwang (Rudolf Klein-Rogge, also of Dr. Mabuse), to instigate a premature revolt that Fredersen can suppress. Rotwang shows the leader his latest creation, a Machine-Man robot in metallic feminine form. The plan will be to kidnap Maria and give the robotrix her likeness; the 'False Maria' will be sent as an agent provocateur among the workers, preaching violence instead of peace. But Fredersen doesn't know that Rotwang bears him a vicious resentment, for running away with Rotwang's wife, Hel, long ago. Mad scientist Rotwang will send the false Maria to instigate an apocalyptic revolt that will destroy everything Fredersen has made. As covered in detail in the insert liner notes written by Martin Koerber, Metropolis in this new incarnation is an integration of surviving pieces of the film found in archives the world over. Although some fans have reported that it's missing a shot or two seen in earlier versions, the virtuosity with which the Munich Filmmuseum has reconstructed the film is nigh unquestionable. 1 Since a big chunk of the story is still missing, mainly sub-plots and connective tissue, but also key scenes (like the fight between Rotwang and Fredersen), one has to read the intertitles correctly to get the big picture. The Filmmuseum has added new titles explaining the missing material, in a different typeface to make this easier. There are also titles that cues the music movements - Intermezzo, things like that. Either the restorers went way overboard being literal about the cue titles listed in the score and the censor records, or Metropolis was conceived as a symphony of several movements, like Murnau's Sunrise. It might be helpful to watch a few minutes of a previous copy, even the Giorgio Moroder version, to better appreciate the digital restoration done by Alpha-Omega of Munich. The image now has a proper grey-on-grey patina, instead of the harsh contrast of earlier prints. It's almost completely steady, instead of chattering, shifting, and warping in the gate as it always did before. In 1983, Giorgio Moroder added lots of color tints to the movie, in addition to his own funky opticals and other futzing around. It is my understanding that in 1927 the film was originally released all in b&w, as we see it here. The new material consists of longer versions of scenes, with better continuity (although some jump-cuts are still in evidence) and connecting tissue. As I stated before, the scene with Freder having a bad dream in his rooms, while the False Maria dances for the rich sons of the city, is vastly improved. It now has a smoother opening, that establishes the spy Slim (Fritz Rasp) at the foot of Freder's bed. When Maria dances, Freder has a dream of Revelations, and Slim seems to transform into the monk in the cathedral who talks about the coming of the antichrist. Through titles explaining missing material, and some now-restored montage shots, Freder, the False Maria, Slim, and the Seven Deadly Sins in the cathedral are now all linked - Death's scythe is an omen of doom for the city, and the False Maria's throne is now borne by the 'freed' Deadly Sins. The scene fuses Freder's delusions with biblical prophecy, eroticism, and visual poetry. It's uniquely cinematic, in that its impact could not be duplicated in print or on a theatrical stage. The cleaned-up, re-beautified image also lets one appreciate the superlative design of Metropolis that was impossible in the inferior earlier prints. Metropolis has complete control of the illusion of scale. As in King Kong, when things are supposed to be big, they Look Big. This won't be as apparent on a monitor as it was on a screen, where the towering canyons of the city indeed appeared to be colossal. Simple sculptural details, such as the design of the Maschine Man robot, are better appreciated here as well. The same goes for the new montage elements, and the bizarre multi-image shots where dozens of eyes watch the False Maria spread her message of destruction. Kino Video's DVD of Metropolis is a fine presentation in almost every respect. The bit rate and compression is always adequate, although complex scenes show a bit of additional grain on a large monitor. The film has been slightly windowboxed, which is a very good idea. This version has already come out in Region 2, and this Region 1 release retains all of the extras, translated through subtitles into English, French and Spanish. There are 13 cast and crew text biographies, and several photo, still, design, and poster artwork galleries. The original posters pictured are even annotated with the names of their original artists. The two featurettes are phenomenal. In 'The Digital Restoration', Martin Koerber explains the methods used by Alpha-Omega to optimize and repair the film material we see. The narration is very frank and forthright about the problems of using automatic dirt removal software. We see a demonstration where fast-moving objects, like character legs and parts of faces, are erased along with the dirt. The key to such digital tools is to use them sparingly, and concentrate on the manual removal of flaws by trained artists ... which is how thousands of bits of speckling and dirt were removed from even the best film material they had. All of this is backed up with visual clips from Alpha-Omega. For one decomposed composite effect, the restorers apparently had access to the original optical elements, and recomposited them digitally to match the original effects work. Koerber shows us the entire process. The longer making-of docu by Enno Patalas is even better, starting with The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and explaining the German studio and political contexts before, during and after the making of the movie. Patalas ends on a very interesting note, explaining the incongruities (poetic contrasts?) in the film that he thinks contributed to its lack of success on its 1927 release. As he explains, nobody then would have guessed that Metropolis would become one of, if not the, most heralded silent film ever made. The score, in 5.1 Surround, is very impressive, with some good themes and some fairly limp ones. I've read much more astute musical criticism of Gottfried Huppertz's work than I can offer. It certainly presents motifs that follow the basic drift of the story, but it makes little effort to 'ride' the emotional content of each scene, even to the extent that good silent-movie organists will 'play' the mood of the films they accompany. It's timed out well, right down to orchestrating aural blasts to complement the shift-change sirens on the rooftops of the city. But during the catacomb church scene, for instance, almost nothing at all happens to mark or underline Maria's entrance, or the two lovers coming together. I guess movie score 'Mickey Mousing' happened later with composers like Max Steiner. Huppertz veers toward kitsch when his 'revolt' theme quotes 'La Marseillaise'. But his music consistently augments and amplifies the rhythms that Fritz Lang built into the film, such as the ringing of the giant bell in the Workers' city. That was the main failing of Moroder's dynamic disco score - it too often ignored the rhythms of the movie running beneath it. This brings Savant to the issue that got him into hot water earlier with Kino. When Enno Patalas and his restorers toured the world with their digital print, they opted to screen it at 20 frames per second. I assume they determined this was the proper speed, otherwise why would they make the various screening venues go to all the trouble of changing over to varispeed motors, making sure the arclights wouldn't burn the film at the slower speed, etc.? When Kino decided to release the film theatrically at 24 frames per second, it was the only practical thing to do. Having a theater change its aspect ratio is often too much to ask for, and most modern equipment is meant to run at 24 fps and nothing else. So it is of course reasonable to expect a wide release of the picture to be at the standard speed. In this, history was on Kino's side. It's been established that at the original premiere of the film, it was projected at at least 24 frames per second, and perhaps at 25 or 26! The score was composed at that speed - indeed, the whole picture would have to be rescored and Huppertz's music adapted to 'fit', if the film were projected at the earlier 20 fps of the Museum tour. 2 Kino opted to carry through with their theatrical speed for the DVD release, and here is where Savant has differences. Metropolis is grand at any speed, but when one speeds it up so radically to 24 fps, it becomes another film experience altogether. The rhythms are faster. When they jolt jerkily with each step, the marching workers no longer look weary, shifting forward as if in a funeral procession. All of the fast action is now in a hyper-fast, Keystone Kops mode. In some shots that were originally undercranked to make the action faster than normal, the characters now zip about like fireflies. The heavy, sombre fatality of scenes is diminished when their on-screen duration is shortened. Things like water and fire move much too quickly. The dramatic scene of Maria hanging from the rope of a ringing cathedral bell is now humorous. The rocking bell now makes her bob up and down like a puppet. Finally, the extreme fast-cut montages, some with shots lasting only 2 or 3 frames, had a perfectly-judged impact at 20 fps. At 24, they chatter past like some kind of mistake, or subliminal experiment. 5 Why would UFA premiere Metropolis at this fast speed? I believe it was because they were desperate. With financial ruin closing in, they reacted the same way modern studios do, by hedging their bets. They probably felt they had a control problem with Fritz Lang, who had delivered yet another 3 & 1/2 hour behemoth instead of the efficient moneymaker they needed - the days of two-part, four hour monstrosities like Mabuse and Die Nibelungen were over. Not to mention the liklihood that 1927 audiences wouldn't understand or appreciate Lang's avant-garde artistic abstractions. Most audiences still don't. In the docu, Patalas explains that the long version (supposedly 210 minutes!) was withdrawn soon after it opened, and replaced with the first of several cutdown versions, simplifications that must have made the film incomprehensible and thus insured its lack of popularity. UFA wanted the film shorter, period. 3 The relative speed-up from 20 to 24 fps is best understood in the difference in running times. In the Museum screening, the film ran 147 minutes. At sound speed, the same film lasts only 123 minutes. This isn't the slight edge you see on TV Land, with time compression running a 24 fps Leave it to Beaver at 25 fps or so. This is faster. It's true, when Savant heard about the speed decision for DVD, he squealed like a stuck pig, and acted indignant in a way that got a lot of attention I didn't need. The web is already overflowing with Whining Weenies complaining about trivial problems in DVDs. Kino didn't need the backtalk either, and made some attempts to show me the error of my thinking. I was given the reasoning that replicating the premiere speed was authorized, authentic and historically accurate, and was chided for pre-judging a film I hadn't seen. But I had seen Metropolis at 24fps many times and knew exactly how it would play. And that's how it does play in the Kino presentations. The False Maria's erotic dance, a show-stopper in the Museum, now looks like a Betty Boop cartoon. When UFA sped the film up for their 1927 premiere, Lang must have been crushed to see his good work so severely altered. I did not read a single published review of the Kino theatrical release that complained about, or even mentioned, this speed difference that so concerns me. Did none of them see the earlier Museum run? The lack of concern is good ammunition for Kino to label me an errant nut (too late, that happened a lo-ong time ago), and dismiss my protests. But that doesn't change the facts - Audiences who tittered and laughed at the accelerated action of earlier versions, still chuckled in the theatrical run of this version. I had the opportunity to ask Mr. Patalas if he felt the 24 fps speed was 'correct', and his return email simply quoted Kino's 'authentic premiere speed' party line. Then why, when he toured his restoration around the world before Kino was involved, did he go to all the trouble to have it shown at the slower speed? Kino Video's DVD of Metropolis is delightful. I'm buying a copy to send to a relative, and might get a third as a gift. But it is a licensed, franchised & marketed product that even the Munich restorers want & need to be a big success - the restoration was an adventure in perfectionism, not economy. If it doesn't make a profit, Metropolis 2001 will go down as a failure. Big-studio marketing experts would never greenlight a costly experimental incomplete restoration for an ancient public domain movie. And we aren't hearing of any new full digital restorations happening, when there are hundreds of films begging for it. 4 The miracle is that digital imaging can restore a not just viewable, but a dazzling version of a mangled masterpiece like Metropolis. The Munich Museum, Alpha-Omega and Kino all deserve to walk on rose petals while we cheer. As I said in an earlier column, the 2001 premiere of this version was the most important film event of the year. But one last jab ... Metropolis expert Aitam Bar-Sagi reported that before the Kino deal, a European cable television outlet screened the film in a video version at the correct speed - with an inferior soundtrack, I understand, but at the correct speed. Hopefully that version, or something like it (C'mon, Kino, how about a followup disc?), perhaps with a choice of original scores, would fully restore Fritz Lang's masterpiece to the closest approximation of its original lustre. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, 1. Aitam Bar-Sagi informs me that the Australian print of the film had an additional shot in the Pleasure Garden, where the party girls react to the appearance of Maria. There also should be several more seconds of the view of the main Metropolis cityscape, where a big zeppelin moves into the space between the buildings. Either they were mistakenly omitted, or they didn't fit the original score. 2. At our screening, composer/organist Robert Israel adapted the score and made it work for the much longer screening, where he played for an almost unbroken (I believe there was an intermission) 2 and 1/2 hours. 3. That's the gist of both of Variety's 1927 reviews from New York (the Paramount Rewrite-recut) and Berlin (apparently after the cut-down) : the reviewers in both cities think the film is silly, has bad continuity and a story that makes no sense. 4. I understand Kino Video recently released a full-length Die Nibelungen, that readers tell me is an incredible epic revenge tale with huge, Two-Towers like battles. It's uncut, but hasn't been given the beauty makeover that Metropolis received. For that matter, I just remarked while reviewing the beautiful but scratched Image disc of Invaders from Mars, that it desperately needed the class-A restoration magic of Alpha-Omega. 5. Speaking of subliminal effects, running the DVD slowly through these fast-cut montages reveals images that made an impact in the Museum screening (at 20 fps), that now barely register at all. It also shows a curious cutting pattern. Many shots have a frame or two of black interpolated in between, that are difficult not to notice. Savant has no information if the black frames were intentional or not, and for all I know they were part of Lang's cutting philosophy. If all those German restoration experts weren't involved (I can't imagine them meddling like that), I'd say the black frames were added to help the film match the recorded score.	<urn:uuid:6aec0f66-8a0c-4dc4-a133-8accec4563db>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/print.php?ID=5463	2015-04-02T03:30:56Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131310006.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172150-00260-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.9625	3,938
Two new conditions -- osteoporosis and diabetes -- are hitting HIVers. Whether caused by the virus, the meds or both, these ailments have researchers alarmed about a graver syndrome -- premature aging. Jennifer Block reports on how to keep Old Man Time at bay. Treatment types love to construct neat metaphors for life with HIV. There's the old standby: train (you), ravine (opportunistic infections) and bridge (anti-HIV meds). POZ, of course, prefers the party analogue: You're throwing a glam gala. You've invited select guests from that famous family, HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy). But suddenly some crashers are making a mess of things -- there's diarrhea dancing under the disco ball and nausea sporting a lampshade hat. You expected depression and anxiety to slip in -- they're out on the balcony with a half-gallon of Absolut -- but you never thought you would see Lady Lipo and Buffalohump Bill. Call the promoters for back-up bouncers, baby, because osteoporosis and diabetes just toppled the red-velvet rope. Unfashionably late and low on the HAART side-effects list (see "Side FX," POZ September 2000), these arrivistes can still be 86'd if you act now. No Bones About It You may hear osteoporosis and think Golden Girls, but new research suggests that the condition -- marked by weaker, fracture-prone bones -- is likely increasing among HIVers. Lacking conclusive data, it's still too early to put all the blame on your combo, but the prevalence of bone-tissue loss is apparently significantly higher in people taking protease inhibitors (PIs) than in those on non-PI combos. What's not yet clear is whether it's HAART or some combination of the drugs, HIV and advancing age that's to blame. Osteoporosis is a common complaint in an aging body: 50 percent of women and 12 percent of men actually lose bone after age 50. Say what? The problem is that while pre-midlife, the body continuously loses bone cells and continuously replenishes them in equal measure, with aging the number of cells made doesn't match the number gone -- there's a gradual loss of bone tissue. The result is thinner, weaker bones that may become brittle and break easily. Pablo Tebas, MD, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is on the case. In 1999, he began looking for a link between HAART and bone-mineral density (BMD), a measure of bone strength used to diagnose osteoporosis. In a small study of HIV positive men, he found that of all HAART-takers, those on a PI were at greatest risk: Half of the protease poppers had osteopenia -- the prelude to osteoporosis. But the increase in PI-taking men was not statistically significant when compared to neggies. The trouble is, there are no symptoms of osteopenia. "Lots of people with HIV are walking around undiagnosed," says Lori Panther, MD, an HIV specialist in Boston. A full-body x-ray, called a DEXA scan, can be used to determine your baseline bone density, which is expressed as a "T score." That score -- taken before you break a bone -- will help catch deterioration. But while osteopenia has been reversed in post-menopausal women, whether or not that will be true in HIVers is still unclear. What we do know is that osteoponic bones are twice as likely to fracture or break, and osteoporotic bones are four to five times more likely to do so. Tebas has yet to absolutely establish a causal connection between HAART and BMD loss, but he hypothesizes a notably chilling scenario and synergy: HAART, HIV or both are effectively speeding aging's inevitable toll. "Several years of HAART may accelerate the typical loss of bone mineral that occurs with advancing age," he says. Unfortunately, some common collateral damage caused by HAART and HIV also increases the likelihood of bone loss, including fatigue (leading to decreased weight-bearing exercise), nausea (leading to bad nutrition) and hormone decreases (in both men and women). Of course, booze and cigarettes, those time-honored solaces, only up your risk. But don't get out that walker just yet. This doesn't mean that if you have osteopenia, you'll sneeze and break a rib. But it does mean that your bones could be more likely to break than you'd expect at your age, and so monitoring is important. And, anyway, just how serious is a fractured finger or a broken rib compared with HAART-related liver and heart damage or the consequences of HIV progression itself? "Not that serious yet," says William Powderly, MD, a professor of medicine and Tebas' colleague at Washington University. "There is no reason to stop or even change treatment based on these findings. We are convinced there is a link, but it is still not clear how severe or progressive treatment-induced osteoporosis is." That's easy for a whitecoat to say, but bone-breaking PWAs might see it differently, if their input is sought. In Boston, Sonia Nagy, MD, and others at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center are trying to nail down more specific stats through a larger study of both men and women, which they hope will uncover additional risk factors. (They're still enrolling participants in the area, so call 617.632.0769 for details.) Another unknown is how bone loss affects HIV positive men and women differently. Because women are more prone to osteoporosis in general, it's reasonable to expect that women with HIV, who often experience the premature onset of menopause, are at greater risk and need early, effective intervention. For now, garden-variety advice must suffice, but generally HIVers on HAART should start following guidelines for older neggies now: regular exercise (weight-bearing activity such as walking, running or weight-training -- not biking or swimming -- is best) and a diet rich in bone-building nutrients, along with nutrient supplementation to ensure adequate calcium (1,000 mg daily for men; 1,000 to 1,500 mg for women) and magnesium (500 to 1,000 mg per day; excess magnesium can cause loose stools) and vitamin D (400 to 800 IU a day). Good foods for this include milk, yogurt, cheese, salmon, soy or white beans and tofu made with calcium. Drugs prescribed for bone-loss prevention include Fosamax, Actonel, Raloxifene, Calcitonin and, for women, hormone-replacement therapy, but of course all these treatments come with their own party crashers, too. Sweet and Sour Feeling a little bit sensitive about lipodystrophy's humps, paunches and ballooning bosoms? Tell that to your cells. An old theory about lipo is that it is the result of cells becoming desensitized, or "resistant," to insulin. But looks aside, this is a serious condition that may put you at risk for type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. You eat. You digest. Your body extracts glucose (the simple sugar needed by cells for energy) from food and dispatches it into the bloodstream. Your pancreas produces insulin to escort the glucose into the cells, which keeps your motor purring. But the insulin receptors in an HIVer's cells -- especially those of HAART takers -- may start boycotting the insulin and, with it, the glucose. Because your body needs that glucose, it compensates by signaling the pancreas to produce more insulin. For a time, this works: The cells absorb the energy. Recent studies have shown that many HIVers with lipo overwork their pancreas because they need to make twice as much insulin as normal to sustain normal glucose levels. This worries researchers for two reasons: Either the pancreas could exhaust itself or the cells could become increasingly resistant. If either happens, then blood sugar is unabsorbed and levels skyrocket, which means that your cells are essentially starving to death. Behind both doors No. 1 and 2 lie diabetes and its fearsome risks: damage to blood vessels throughout the body, resulting in complications from top (blindness) to bottom (neuropathy and leg amputations) to in-between (heart-attacks, strokes and kidney failure). The early symptoms alone -- extreme thirst, hunger, weight loss, fatigue and itchy skin -- could make you feel worse than if you spent the night singing drunken karaoke. While such high glucose is more obviously dangerous, the effects of high insulin levels may be subtler but ultimately just as worrisome. It is believed that they directly harm the blood vessels, even when blood glucose is not high. So consider that elevated insulin level to be a red flag for cardiovascular disease. There is evidence that PIs, particularly indinavir (Crixivan), may have a direct effect on glucose transport, which would in turn affect insulin sensitivity. But researchers also suspect that insulin resistance is connected to lipo-related fat changes. "Understanding the connection between fat and insulin is extremely important for HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy," says Steven Grinspoon, MD, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "But we just don't know why insulin resistance is happening or how much it increases the risk for diabetes and heart disease." The sad truth is, if your regimen includes protease inhibitors and you have lipodystrophy, you have a 50-50 chance of also having insulin resistance. But you'll have to give blood to be sure. Then you'll undergo tests for insulin and glucose levels on an empty stomach ("fasting levels") and then retest after downing a high-glucose drink ("post-prandial levels") to determine your degree of resistance. A high post-prandial glucose level suggests that insulin receptors are becoming increasingly resistant. But the neon alarm flashes when your fasting glucose levels are elevated -- this signals that your cells are not getting the energy they need. It could mean a diagnosis of type II diabetes. That's what Dominic Hamilton-Little, an HIVer in New York City, got just one year after he failed a fasting glucose test. "I was permanently hungry and constantly thirsty, and it was gradual. I didn't realize it until the doctor said, 'Whoa, your blood sugar is way too high.'" Within a year he was diagnosed with diabetes. If you do have high insulin levels, you should exercise and eat a high-protein, high-fiber, moderate-fat diet, with a reasonable amount of carbs, as directed by your doc. As for switching to a no-protease combo, that's a delicate decision only you and your doc can make. In a few small studies, ditching their protease inhibitors for efavirenz (Sustiva), nevirapine (Viramune) or abacavir (Ziagen) helped people increase insulin sensitivity. Certain drugs aimed at reducing blood glucose, including metformin (Glucophage) and two drugs from the glitazone group, rosiglitazone (Avandia) and pioglitazone (Actos), have been used with some success. Metformin decreases the liver's glucose production; glitazones up cells' glucose absorption. Both drugs are used to treat overt diabetes, but recent studies on their lipo and insulin-resistance effectiveness show reduction not only of insulin and glucose levels but also of blood pressure as well as belly size. Some docs have started prescribing these drugs even to nondiabetic HIVers, and while it is too early to tell if the benefits of improving insulin sensitivity outweigh the drugs' potential risks -- weight loss, diarrhea and lactic acidosis -- signs point to yes. "My hunch is that we will be using insulin-sensitizing agents more routinely in the future," Grinspoon says. So don't pack up that party just yet. First treat the osteo and insulin crashers to the old kill-'em-with-kindness routine -- kindness to your body, that is.	<urn:uuid:67a37a3c-5947-4bf3-8846-2b3fcdb2750f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.poz.com/articles/193_1253.shtml	2015-04-02T03:11:16Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131310006.38/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172150-00260-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.947316	2,568
Individual differences \| Methods \| Statistics \| Clinical \| Educational \| Industrial \| Professional items \| World psychology \| Dual-coding theory, a theory of cognition and a information processing model, was hypothesized by Allan Paivio of the University of Western Ontario in 1971. Paivio used the idea that the formation of mental images aids in learning when developing this theory (Reed, 2010). According to Paivio, there are two ways a person could expand on learned material: verbal associations and visual imagery. Dual-coding theory postulates that both visual and verbal information is used to represent information (Sternberg, 2003). Visual and verbal information are processed differently and along distinct channels in the human mind, creating separate representations for information processed in each channel. The mental codes corresponding these representations are used to organize incoming information that can be acted upon, stored, and retrieved for subsequent use. Both visual and verbal codes can be used when recalling information (Sternberg, 2003). For example, say a person has stored the stimulus concept, “dog” as both the word 'dog' and as the image of a dog. When asked to recall the stimulus, the person can retrieve either the word or the image individually or both, simultaneously. If the word is recalled, the image of the dog is not lost and can still be retrieved at a later point in time. The ability to code a stimulus two different ways increases the chance of remembering that item compared to if the stimulus was only coded one way. There are limitations to the dual-coding theory. Dual-coding theory does not take into account the possibility of cognition being mediated by something other than words and images. Not enough research has been done to determine if words and images are the only way we remember items, and the theory would not hold true if another form of codes were discovered (Phylyshyn, 1973). Another limitation of the dual-coding theory is that it is only valid in for tests on which people are asked to focus on identifying how concepts are related (Reed, 2010). If associations between a word and an image cannot be formed, it is much harder to remember and recall the word at a later point in time. While this limits the effectiveness of the dual-coding theory, it is still valid over a wide range of circumstances and can be used to improve memory (Reed, 2010). Types of CodesEdit Analogue codes are used to mentally represent images. Analogue codes retain the main perceptual features of whatever is being represented, so the images we form in our minds are highly similar to the physical stimuli. They are a near-exact representation of the physical stimuli we observe in our environment, such as trees and rivers (Sternberg, 2003). Symbolic codes are used to for mental representations of words. They represent something conceptually, and sometimes, arbitrarily, as opposed to perceptually. Similar to the way a watch may represent information in the form of numbers to display the time, symbolic codes represent information in our mind in the form of arbitrary symbols, like words and combinations of words, to represent several ideas. Each symbol (x, y, 1, 2, etc.) can arbitrarily represent something other than itself. For instance, the letter x is often used to represent more than just the concept of an x, the 24th letter of the alphabet. It can be used to represent a variable x in mathematics, or a multiplication symbol in an equation. Concepts like multiplication can be represented symbolically by an "x" because we arbitrarily assign it a deeper concept. Only when we use it to represent this deeper concept does the letter "x" carry this type of meaning. Support for this theory Edit Many researchers today have agreed that only words and images are used in mental representation (Phylyshyn, 1973). Supporting evidence shows that memory for some verbal information is enhanced if a relevant visual is also presented or if the learner can imagine a visual image to go with the verbal information. Likewise, visual information can often be enhanced when paired with relevant verbal information, whether real-world or imagined (Anderson & Bower, 1973). This theory has been applied to the use of multimedia presentations. Because multimedia presentations require both spatial and verbal working memory, individuals dually code information presented and are more likely to recall the information when tested at a later date (Brunye, Taylor, & Rapp, 2008). Paivio found that participants when shown a rapid sequence of pictures as well as a rapid sequence of words and later asked to recall the words and pictures, in any order, were better at recalling images. Participants, however, more readily recalled the sequential order of the words, rather than the sequence of pictures. These results supported Paivio's hypothesis that verbal information is processed differently than visual information and that verbal information was superior to visual information when sequential order was also required for the memory task (Paivio, 1969). Lee Brooks conducted an experiment that provided additional support for two systems for memory. He had participants perform either a visual task, where they had to view a picture and answer questions about the picture, or a verbal task, where they listened to a sentence and were then asked to answer questions pertaining to the sentence. To respond to the questions, participants were asked to either respond verbally, visually, or manually. Through this experiment, Brooks found that interference occurred when a visual perception was mixed with manipulation of the visual task, and verbal responses interfere with a task involving a verbal statement to be manually manipulated. This supported the idea of two codes used to mentally represent information (Sternberg 2003). Dual-coding theories complement a dual-route theory of reading. When people read written information, dual-route theory contends that the readers access orthographic and phonological information to recognize words in the writing. Paivio’s work has implications for literacy, visual mnemonics, idea generation, HPT, human factors, interface design, as well as the development of educational materials among others. It also has implications for, and counterparts in, cognitive sciences and computational cognitive modeling (in the form of dual process cognitive models and so on; e.g., Anderson, 2005; Just et al., 2004, Sun, 2002). It also has had implications for cognitive robotics. Cognitive Neuroscience SupportEdit Two different methods have been used to identify the regions involved in visual perception and visual imagery. Cerebral blood flow allows researchers to identify the amount of blood and oxygen travelling to a specific part of the brain, with an increase in blood flow providing a measure of brain activity. An event related potential can be used to show the amount of electrical brain activity that is occurring due to a particular stimulus. Researchers have used both methods to determine which areas of the brain are active with different stimuli, and results have supported the dual-coding theory. Other research has been done with positron emission tomography (PET) scans and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to show that participants had improved memory for spoken words and sentences when paired with an image, imagined or real, and showed increased brain activation to process abstract words not easily paired with an image. The dual-coding theory is not accepted by everyone. John Anderson and Gordon Bower proposed an alternative method- the propositional theory- of how knowledge was mentally represented, the propositional theory. The propositional theory state mental representation are stored as a proposition rather than as images. Here, proposition is defined as the meaning that underlies the relationship between concepts (Sternberg, 2003). This theory states that images occur as a result of other cognitive processes because knowledge is not represented in the form of images, words, or symbols. The common coding theory has also been proposed as an alternative to the dual coding theory. The common coding theory looks at how things we see and hear are connected to our motor actions. It claims that there is a common code that is shared between perceiving something and the respective motor action. - Associative processes - Elaboration likelihood model - Elaborated code - Elaborative rehearsal - Multimedia learning - Restricted code - Unified Theory of hypermemnesia References & BibliographyEdit - Anderson, J. R. (2005). Cognitive Psychology and its implications. New York: Worth Publishers. - Anderson, J. R. & Bower, G. H. (1973). Human associative memory. Washington, DC: Winston. - Baddeley, A. D. (1986). Working memory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Paivio, A (1986). Mental representations: a dual coding approach. Oxford. England: Oxford University Press - Paivio, A (1971). Imagery and verbal processes. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. - Reed, S. K. (2010). Cognition: Theories and application (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. - Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Cognitive theory (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. - Sun, R. (2002). Duality of the Mind. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates - Brunye, T. T., Taylor, H. A., & Rapp, D. N. (2008). Repetition and dual coding in procedural multimedia presentations. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 22, 877-895. - Clark, J.M.; Paivio, A. (1991), Dual coding theory and education. Educational Psychology Review, 71, 64-73 - Denis, M. and Mellet, E. (2002). Neural bases of image and language interactions. International Journal of Psychology, 37 (4), 204-208. - Just, M. et al (2004). Imagery in sentence comprehension: an fMRI study. NeuroImage 21, 112-124. - Mayer, R. E. & Moreno, R. (2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational Psycologist, 38(1), 43-52. - Mayer, R. E ; Simms, V.K. (1994), For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? Extensions of a dual coding theory of multimedia learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86 (4), 389-401. - Mayer, R. E. & Moreno, R. (2003). Nine ways to reduce cognitive load in multimedia learning. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 43-52. - Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. E. (2000). A coherence effect in multimedia learning: the case for minimizing irrelevant sounds in the design of multimedia instructional messages. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 117-125. - Paivio, A (1969). Mental Imagery in associative learning and memory. Psychological Review, 76(3), 241-263. - Paivio, A. (1991). Dual coding theory: retrospect and current status. Canadian Journal of Psychology 45, 255-87. - Phylyshyn, Z. W. (1973). What the mind's eye tells the mind's brain: A critique of mental imagery. Psychological Bulletin, 80, 1-24. - Simpson, T.J. (1995), Message into medium: An extension of the Dual Coding Theory. In Imagery and Visual Literacy: Selected Readings from the Annual Conferenece of the International Visual Literacy Association (26th, Tempe, Arizona, October 12-16, 1994), 2-10 - Sternberg, Robert J. (2006). Cognitive psychology fourth edition, 234–36, Thomson Wadsworth. - Thomas, N. J.T., "Mental imagery", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition), Edward N Zalta (ed.). - [http://chd.gse.gmu.edu/immersion/knowledgebase/strategies/cognitivism/DualCodingTheory.htm Dual Coding Theory: A Theoretical Foundation of Learning with Graphics - Multiple Code Theory \|This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors).\|	<urn:uuid:f6de44d6-56dc-49db-b209-567431722458>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Dual-coding_theory?diff=prev&oldid=151085	2015-03-28T01:20:32Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297146.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00036-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.883631	2,515
Women represent over half (52%) of the 60 million people who live in rural and frontier areas in the United States. In recent years, the image of rural life as simple, healthy, and natural has been replaced with a more complex understanding in which distinct physiological stresses, physical hardships, and community patterns of rural life are also recognized. For example, age-adjusted death rates of rural women are a fourth (24%) higher than for their urban counterparts, and rural women make fewer doctor visits, are more likely to be seriously ill, and are more likely to be admitted to the hospital when they do seek medical attention. In addition, chronic physical illnesses (e.g., diabetes and arthritis), addiction, mental illness, and long-term sequelae of serious conditions associated with urban populations such as HIV and hepatitis are increasingly recognized for their burden among rural women. Rural women may not be able to overcome the additional barriers to optimal health services that exist in nonmetropolitan settings compared to urban areas, including limited access to care, fewer facilities, increased travel time, lack of specialized caregivers, and fewer patients having adequate insurance. Rural health care also poses special ethical problems surrounding health care that are related to overlapping personal and professional relationships, confidentiality, and stigma. For these reasons, the health care of women who reside in rural areas deserves special attention. Rural women experience diverse health concerns, encompassing accidents and injuries, addictions, mental illnesses, and reproductive health. About one third of all U.S. births take place in rural areas, and rural women have their first pregnancy earlier in life and have more children than their urban counterparts. However, appropriate, affordable obstetric care is unavailable in many rural counties. Rural women with high-risk pregnancies are more likely to receive care that does not meet national practice standards and to develop complications such as pregnancy loss, preterm labor, premature birth, and poor infant outcome. The infant mortality rate is one fifth (20%) higher in rural areas than in metro areas (7.6 vs. 6.1 deaths per 1,000 live births), and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) rates are also much higher in rural areas (90 vs. 57 deaths per 100,000). Addiction and mental illnesses affect the lives of rural women, indirectly and directly. Although fewer rural residents admit to consuming alcohol (44% rural vs. 54% urban residents), the prevalence of heavy and binge drinking among active drinkers is similar in rural and urban areas. Among heavy drinkers, two thirds (65%) of rural respondents described negative social consequences compared to only two fifths (40%) of urban people. In recent years, the use of illicit substances has increased in rural areas to the levels in urban communities, and rural states and counties have higher arrest rates for substance abuse violations (e.g., driving under the influence, liquor law violations, possession of illegal substances) than nonrural areas. Approximately one quarter of rural women have a diagnosable mental illness, and nearly one half will experience some significant mental health problem sometime during their lives. The consequences of coexisting addiction and mental disorders on physical and mental health can be especially severe among women in remote areas, where few resources and supports exist for them. Rural women, like urban women, also face issues of domestic violence. Very few empirical studies of rural battered women exist, but it appears that living in rural environments may exacerbate issues contributing to domestic violence, perhaps because of social and physical isolation. In one study, twice as many rural women (25%) as urban women (12%) were likely to be involved in an ongoing violent relationship. Poverty, lack of public transportation, shortages of health care providers, lack of health insurance or underinsurance, and decreased access to any resources may make it more difficult for rural women to escape abusive relationships. Furthermore, the closeness of rural communities may make it difficult for rural women to disclose abuse for fear of breaching their confidentiality. Geographical isolation and the increased availability of firearms and knives common in rural households also increase the potential lethality of domestic attacks upon rural women. Accidents and trauma are a major concern for rural women. For example, farming has inherent risks for women, and as more women have participated in farming, their rate of machinery-related injuries has increased. Women and children suffer almost twice as many farm-related injuries as men, most (75%) of which are severe, permanent, or fatal. High rates of automobile accidents occur in remote areas, often secondary to alcohol intoxication, and contribute to the high rates of morbidity among rural women. Beyond a heavier burden of physical disability associated with accident and trauma, rural people are nearly twice as likely as city dwellers to die of injuries they sustain, partly due to the limited emergency services and time of travel to services. Women and men in rural areas experience infections that are uncommon or rare in more urban locales. They are more likely to have jobs (e.g., farming) or avocations (e.g., hunting) that expose them to many disease-inducing organisms that are carried by animals and insects (e.g., anthrax, hantavirus, plague, tularemia, Lyme disease, brucella). Rural dwellers are more likely than urban people to be exposed to contaminated water and to improper sanitation systems, which increase risk for a number of illnesses (e.g., giardiasis, hepatitis A). Finally, migrant workers in rural areas present with infections acquired in their country of origin that are uncommon in the United States (e.g., malaria). Because physicians and other clinicians are typically trained in urban environments, when they come to practice in rural communities, they, at least initially, are often less familiar with many of the health risks that are more common in rural than urban areas. Rural residents also show higher rates of a number of chronic conditions, many of which may relate to conditions specific to rural life. Greater heart disease rates were detected in rural areas beginning in the 1970s and continued into the 1980s and 1990s. A number of studies have revealed greater rates of certain kinds of cancer in rural than urban areas, particularly those associated with exposure to herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, and other carcinogenic substances. Greater respiratory disease (e.g., asthma, organic dust syndrome, chronic bronchitis, lung function changes) rates have been found among farm than nonfarm populations. Residents of rural communities also have higher rates of activity limitations due to chronic conditions, and fewer rural residents perceive their health to be excellent. Some studies have reported that arthritis and related disability are greater in rural areas, but that rural residents are more mobile than their similarly ill counterparts. Some neurologic diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, chronic encephalopathy) associated with exposures to toxic chemicals used by farmers and miners have been found to have greater prevalence in rural than nonrural areas. Obesity and nutritional problems are also higher in rural communities with self-reported levels of obesity for rural residents (23%) being nearly one third higher than urban residents (16%), and rates of diabetes and hypertension may be higher in rural areas due to greater rates of obesity. Finally, for psychiatric illnesses, higher prevalence rates tend to be reported by numerous studies in urban compared to rural areas. However, some believe that psychiatric illness rates may actually be equivalent across geographic areas, and that the difference in regional rates merely reflects the much lower access to psychiatric services in rural areas. A variety of these rural versus urban differences have been reported in studies that are confined to certain geographic areas of the United States. Some reports have questioned whether the rural-urban disease differences may be attributable largely to differences in education level or socioeconomic differences. Others have suggested that some rural-urban illness rates may be due in part to different reporting probabilities in different locales. Other research suggests that rural people may have some advantages in lifestyle over crowded urban dwellers. Some have suggested that rural populations may be slower to adopt prevention behaviors, suggested in part by the fact that rural areas use preventive health services less frequently. Thus, it may be that intervention strategies to reduce chronic disease may need to be tailored to fit the culture and demands of rural communities. It is clear, however, that sufficient research to examine rural versus urban health differences is lacking, and research to examine such differences as a function of gender is even more sparse. Certain conditions may be highly stigmatized in small, interdependent communities and often require ongoing medical monitoring and lifestyle changes which can be harder to accomplish due to constraints in rural settings. Health care resources in rural areas and their utilization are limited. For example, more than 95% of the most urbanized counties had psychiatric inpatient services, in contrast to only 13% of rural counties. Although rural areas are home to over one fifth of the population, they contain well less than 1% of the psychiatric beds. Similarly, less than one fifth (17%) of rural general hospitals provide psychiatric emergency services compared to one third (32%) of urban hospitals. Some data suggest that the attitudes and values (e.g., self-reliance, stoicism, shame) of rural women may interfere with their willingness to seek formal, needed health care. Alternatively, care seeking may be sought informally through social networks of rural women. This tendency may change in the coming decades if differences in urban and rural communities diminish, especially if rural women continue to experience the decline in social networks, which have served as a source of support and a buffer to the stresses of rural life. Special ethical dilemmas can be encountered in rural communities, which are often derived from overlapping relationships wherein caregivers, patients, and families must operate in conflicting roles in smaller communities. Challenges in preserving patient confidentiality are greater in rural areas where people know most if not all members of the community. For example, in rural towns, the doctor, nurse, or clinic staff may attend the same church as the patient, their kids may go to the same school, they may shop at the same store, they may serve in the same community organization, and they may even be related to each other. In one study, physicians reported that more than 5% of their patients interacted with their physician in a nonmedical context, and nearly half reported that over 5% of their patients were friends or family members. Overlapping relationships have the potential to enrich the clinical experience by enmeshing the clinician in the overall activities of the community, but they also have the potential for being exploitative due to problems related to treatment boundaries. Respect for patient privacy is a fundamental element of the doctor-patient relationship, but maintaining confidentiality is especially difficult in small communities often due to this issue of overlapping relations. In fact, rural physicians, especially mental health providers, have been known to create “shadow charts” and use other adaptations in an effort to keep information confidential about a patient. Despite the considerable stresses of rural life, rural women have strengths and resources, which are often overlooked. Rural women have a history of “hardiness”— of being resilient and self-reliant in meeting their own and their family’s needs. Networks of family members, neighbors and friends, healers, and local wise-persons have been diagnosing and treating health problems in rural communities for generations. Rural women have also used self-care and alternative healing practices, at times due to preference and at other times out of necessity. Rural women have thus adapted by being creative in solving health care problems for themselves and their rural families, who represent an important but neglected underserved population in this country. See Also: Agricultural work, Alcohol use, Domestic violence, Maternal mortality, Midwifery, Reproductive technologies, Substance use - Armitage, K. B., & Sinclair, G. I. (2001). Infectious diseases. In S. Loue & B. E. Quill (Eds.), Handbook of rural health (pp. 173—187). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. - Bushy, A. (1998). Health issues of women in rural environments: An overview. Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, 53(2), 53-56. - Dennis, L. K., & Pallotta, S. L. (2001). Chronic disease in rural health. In S. Loue & B. E. Quill (Eds.), Handbook of rural health (pp. 189-207). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. - Geyman, J. P., Norris, T. E., & Hart, L. G. (2000). Textbook of rural medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill. - Hemard, J. B., Monroe, P. A., Atkinson, E. S., & Blalock, L. B. (1998). Rural women’s satisfaction and stress as family health care gatekeepers. Women and Health, 28(2), 55-77. - Pearson, T. A., & Lewis, C. (1998). Rural epidemiology: Insights from a rural population laboratory. American Journal of Epidemiology, 148(10), 949-957. - Roberts, L. W., Battaglia, J., Smithpeter, M., & Epstein, R. S. (1999). An office on Main Street: Health care dilemmas in small communities. Hastings Center Report, 29(4), 28-37. - Walker, L. O., Walker, M. L., & Walker, M. E. (1994). Health and well-being of childbearing women in rural and urban contexts. Journal of Rural Health, 10(3), 168-172. - Winstead-Fry, P., & Wheeler, E. (2001). Rural women’s health. In S. Loue & B. E. Quill (Eds.), Handbook of rural health (pp. 135-156). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum. - DISEASE SUFFER BY RURAL WOMEN - Hemard J B Pamela M S Monroe A Atkinson E S and Blalock L B 2008 Rural Women\s Satisfaction and Stress as Family Health Care Gatekeepers - raynaud s phenomenon	<urn:uuid:51f8a742-b1ae-48a4-9179-f49ffb199b33>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://womenshealthency.com/r/rural-health/	2015-03-28T00:29:31Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297146.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00036-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.952235	2,922
Dr Manolis V writes; The internet’s most opinionated (and Merry) comics column of the New Year!. This week: Amazing Spider-man #700, crazy Sif, sci-fi volleyball, gay Wolverine’s BF, and the second issues of Avengers Arena, FF and Avengers! How do they stack up? DON’T YOU FORGET [shamelessness] YOUNGBLOOD #75 is out tomorrow (on January 2nd), by McLaughlin, Malin (and Vamvounis). It’s got colorful superheroes, black and white gangsters, selective nudity and glossy magazines! Read the Bleeding Cool review here: bcool.bz/Uhm588 [/shamelessness] On the other hand: #aaaaaawwwww. It’s been 6 issues and HAWKEYE is still Marvel’s freshest, most innovative book. Taking Chris Ware’s storytelling techniques and applying them on a modern Avengers book. Madness! In this Kwanzaa tale, told in brilliant mixed-up chronological order, Hawkeye debates running away from the angry mobsters he stole his apartment building from and struggles against the nefarious gordian tangle of his DVR. And yet it’s surprisingly not at all yawn-y but visually exciting and character-revealing, with Hawkeye hardly even throwing a punch on-panel. It just goes to prove, there’s really no such thing as a bad character, just writers who are not Matt Fraction. ARACHNOCK-BLOCK (ASM #700 SPOILERS) I might start getting some death threats myself after that pun. But seriously, what is up with you people? How could you be “surprised” with the “twist” of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700 after all the fuss around ASM #698 (where the real twist takes place) and the publicity around the mystery identity of the new “Superior” Spider-man? And still, even if this was the most Unexpected Development Ever, how many readers out there seriously think that the real Peter Parker is not going to be back in 10-12 months tops? I’m being generous here, considering Captain America’s and Batman’s more “permanent” deaths lasted even less than that. Dan Slott has served a neat new concept for his new series, one I’m anxious to see him explore. It’s nature versus nurture at its worst. Examining how someone inherently “evil” (or at least foul) would handle not only Spidey’s powers but also his life experiences and memories. The issue itself is a fitting finale for the book, although Slott tends to get carried away with the sappiness and Arachnock’s grandiose monologuing, but I love the way he sort of pokes fun at his own tropes as he reexamines Peter Parker’s most fundamental bonds and values through a hipster-y new set of eyes. The real highlight for me was J.M. DeMatteis’ backup story, featuring a retired Peter (or Otto?) trying to piece together pieces of his past as he “comes out” to his great grandson and reestablishes what he has (wisely) come to consider his greatest responsibility. I miss J.M. on Spidey, I hope we get to see more of him during the next year. P.S.. I’m with Doc Arachnock, MJ’s reaction in the above panel makes absolutely no sense. OUR LADY SIF Sif the righteous, Sif the brave, Sif the beautiful, Sif… the blood-thirsty Berserker? I admit, it’s an intriguing premise for Sif’s solo residency on the JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY book with #646. Sif’s been tainted with a berserker rage of her own choosing that she already has a hard time controlling in #647, making for a grizzly yet fascinating read. The art by newcomer Valerio Schiti is nothing short of breathtaking and the editorial recap and letters pages help give this book a very distinctive identity, following from the fan-favourite Kid Loki run. Oh, Sif, you crazy crazy warrior woman, what have you gotten yourself into this time? So many books, so little time: KILL BILL 2 FOR DUMMIES Well, I honestly appreciated the added sentiment about the fundamental difference between Bats and Supes. In other news, Superman and Wonder Woman still make for the world’s most perfect(ly boring) couple and the Captain Marvel (I will NOT call him Shazam) backup feature is still the best reason to keep buying this book. MARA #1 is a sci-fi comic about an enigmatic professional Volleyball player in a war-ravage dystopian future where the masses have turned to sports as the ultimate distraction from destruction. A sci-fi volleyball comic. Hey, if anyone can pull it off, it’s Brian Wood! Surprisingly engrossing and with a bit of a punch to it. (sorry, I don’t have any good volleyball puns) GOOGLE TRANSLATE JAPANESE What makes the horrible Japanese translated “accents” of X-MEN LEGACY #3 even funnier is Si Spurrier’s clear intent to just say %#$%#$@% you all and have fun with them. Legion a.k.a. Notnormal-hair man didn’t seem like a character capable of maintaining his own series at first, but this book has been nothing but enjoyable, crazy imaginative and often-touching since its relaunch. I enjoyed the nice twist/wrench thrown in to limit Legion’s theoretically omnipotent power base, by making him actually fight (albeit in the plane of his own mind) for every single power he wants to access. SAM AND BOBBY, TOGETHER AGAIN AVENGERS #2 is all about the origin exposition and the gathering of the new team. Sure, Spider-man, Wolverine and the Hulk are still glossed over and continue to make little to no sense storywise (and are there really still people buying a book because Wolvie is in it?) but there’s no measuring the sheer geek joy of a kid growing up with X-Men comics from the 80s seeing Cannonball and Sunspot get the important call from Captain America. I think I just had an impure thought about GILES! Christos Gage is not messing about in ANGEL & FAITH #17, fleshing out a classic Buffy villain and giving us a glimpse at the what-might-have-been of the aborted teen Giles “RIPPER” TV series (another possible spin-off?). Kudos to Rebekah Isaacs for a stunning likeness of what we had no idea a teen Giles would look like! SOME LIKE IT GREEK Ah, Hercules, the Marvel Multiverse’s bicycle! Him and Howlett (a.k.a. the golden-clawed queer Wolverine) do make for a cute couple . And wait till you check out alterna-Dazzler’s disco boots and the rainbow cupcake-covered My Little Mutant Pony alternate world of X-TREME X-MEN #8, now officially the GAYEST MARVEL COMIC OF THE YEAR! Damn you, Hopeless. This girl could seriously grow on me. In a Terminator Mary Marvel kind of way. AVENGERS ARENA #2 keeps pushing on with the senseless teen slaughter, still without managing to generate any real interest in the premise. And what’s wrong with you, Braddock Academy kids? Why so bland? AND NOW HOW TO DO IT RIGHT Paul Jenkins’ DEATHMATCH #1 plays around with similar concept with a different twist, mixing Battle Royale survivalism with concepts as classic as Secret Wars. He builds a whole new superheroic pantheon here with great finesse, establishing connections and personalities without getting too exposition-y. By the end of the first issue you’re already invested in the mystery and the fate of these characters. YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS! Damn right! The newest EMPOWERED SPECIAL #3 HELL BENT OR HEAVEN SENT is all glossy and colour-y, examining one of my favourite concepts from the cheeky/raunchy mangasploitation series, the super-powered STDs! TOO MANY CAPTAIN MARVELS Sure it’s fun to see Monica Rambeau (the original female Captain Marvel) guest-star in CAPTAIN MARVEL #8, even in that disconcerting lesbian innuendo-packed manner, yet– I would prefer if Carol got a chance to do her own thing and establish her new place in the current Marvel U. No time travel, no other Captain Marvels flying in, nothing else distracting from Carol herself and how cool her new look is :) NEVER REALISED HOW MUCH I MISS YOU CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND THE MI-13 was a damn good and under-appreciated book, mainly for how cool Pete Wisdom, Black Knight and Faiza, the new yielder of Excalibur were in it. GAMBIT #7 recaptures some of the magic although Diogenes Neves’ left foot must be cramping something foul by the look of the art inside. TILL EVENT DO YOU PART Storm and Black Panther may have never really gelled as a(n editorially and sales-mandated) married couple, but they still didn’t deserve the one-panel divor- sorry, ANNULMENT (for there is no talk of the dreaded D-word in Marvel Comics) treatment they got in AVX. A+X #3 takes a look at the two characters after the event and manages to rework all that nasty business to make sense for these two without any needless drama and stale villainizing. SEE THERE IS THIS MACHINE… …and it goes “BOOP BOOP” when there’s danger! It has its own room in FF #2 and it aptly encapsulates the silver age-ish pop art meets modern irreverence crazy nature of Allred and Fraction’s magical synergy on this book. BOOP BOOP. MELTS YOUR HEART Can we make an award up to give LOCKE & KEY: OMEGA #2? Just for how special every single appearance by Rufus has been, culminating in his standalone issue from a previous volume and his return in this issue, hinting at an actual important role he will be playing in the much-awaited grand finale of the series. WTF LOST, why couldn’t you have been this good in you final season? Or ANY season. LOVE AT FIRST PANEL Capturing the dopey look of love at first sight? That’s all there &^$%ing is to it. Courtesy of BKV and Fiona Staples, SAGA #8. That’s really nothing compared to how quickly they manage to make us care about the damn meddling in-laws! PRESIDENT CAP NO CAN PUNCHY? Are all these snippets from President Cap’s term consciously leading to a profound revelation that he is a muscle-bound idiot and this was all a terrible idea with unintentional allusions to harsher military dictatorships? ULTIMATE COMICS ULTIMATES #19 still has one thing going for it, and that’s the last page reveal of… Well, scroll down past the SPOILERS barrier for that! MIND THE SPOILERS This could be something merely in-jokey, but still: ULTIMATE WHITE NICK FURY!!? After they went to SO much trouble to establish a movie-friendly Black Nick Fury in the main universe, why on any Earth would anyone change the black Ultimate Nick Fury that inspired the movie version into the original white one? My head hurts, but my curiosity is indeed piqued. ALL SORTS OF MESSED UP Just when you thought it was safe to get back on the internet, Fantomex gets resurrected in three (!) different cloned bodies to match each of his brains, as Remender wraps up his run on the book that essentially launched his Marvel career with UNCANNY X-FORCE #35, leaving no character un-dead and no plot thread unresolved. I still don’t see the point of this character other than a very ironic joke on Wolverine’s popularity – as I assume he was always intended to be. Is this Remender’s way of admitting he’s always been in on the joke? A TERRIBLE SPOT Huh. So the Spot has not magically been transformed into a remorseless drug trafficker and criminal mastermind. Daredevil is not secretly insane. They’re still both quite effed up though, as DAREDEVIL #21 attests. Mark Waid has a knack. He can give you an unexpected turn and make you fall in love with it, only to later pull a twist on the twist, negating it and still keep you as excited as you were before or more, never once compromising his devotion to these characters and the quality of his stories. LOVE IS H’EL On the one hand, it’s nice to see SUPERGIRL finally exhibiting signs of teenage girlyness, even this late in her run. Then again, isn’t the Nu-Bizarro, “H’el”, a bit too Krypton Scissorhands (translation for the youngsters: Ugly Pattinson) for her? I could totally see this working. THE THREE FAIRY TALE LAYINGS OF BUFKIN AND LILY That Willingham is nothing if not meticulous and thorough. FABLES #124 serves as an epilogue to those cute (but seemingly never-ending) three-page “Bufkin in Oz” vignettes from the past year, by examining just what Bufkin and his “girlfriend”, the miniscule Barley Bride Lily, got up to in the following, oh… 742 years (!) after the events of last issue, including all the adventures, the transformations, the resulting how-do-you-dos and of course the birthing of an empire of progeny! I’m unsure how I feel about Marvel’s strange commitment to pumping out issues of their Marvel NOW books on a bi-weekly (or weekly!!) basis. It feels like just last week we were all ranting on about AVENGERS ARENA #1 (re: it was!) and now #2 is already out, along with like the 12th issue of the new IRON MAN book. For some of them, the fastest they come out, the happiest I am (ALL-NEW X-MEN #4!!! FF#2!!!) while for others it kinda acts to kill their momentum. It’s been a month and I’m already 4 issues behind on IRON MAN? I’ll just wait for the next reboot. ASM #700 was the big highlight of the week. The ironic bit of news (and Slott might blackwall me for this) is that a tribe of readers managed to read it un-spoiled by the mass media thanks to it leaking online a week or two before publication time. Isn’t it time Marvel reconsidered it’s same day massive spoiler press release strategy? My top ten favorite books from the past two weeks: - HAWKEYE #6 - DEATHMATCH #1 - AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #700 - AVENGERS #2 - X-MEN LEGACY #3 - FF #2 - EMPOWERED SPECIAL #3 - ALL-NEW X-MEN #4 - SAGA #8 - MARA #1	<urn:uuid:afd23031-bd9c-40c9-99ff-c3fc25eee5e2>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/01/01/last-two-weeks-comics-in-twenty-five-panels/	2015-03-28T00:35:10Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297146.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00036-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.929376	3,419
Ultracapacitors: the future of electric cars or the 'cold fusion' of autovation? ZENN Motors says its electric car will cruise for 250 miles on a single five-minute charge. Skeptics cry shenanigans. Ian Clifford wants to start a global revolution by building a practical, everyday car with no gasoline engine, no batteries, and no emissions. While big Detroit automakers ponder a future plug-in car that goes 40 miles on a battery charge before its gas engine kicks in, Mr. Clifford's tiny ZENN Motor, a Toronto maker of low-speed electric cars, announced in March that it will build a new highway-speed (80 m.p.h.) model that goes 250 miles on a charge – and can recharge in just five minutes. Having no batteries, the new "cityZENN" model will use a breakthrough version of a common electrical storage device called an ultracapacitor to store power from a wall socket, the company says. Fuel costs to operate it would be about one-tenth of today's gas-powered vehicle. If that astounding claim is real (and there are many skeptics), it could revolutionize automotive travel by making all-electric cars competitive with gas-powered vehicles and easing the world's dependence on oil. "The big problem has always been the battery and its limits," says Clifford, ZENN's founder and CEO in a phone interview. "This new technology is a 180-degree shift that represents the end of fossil fuel as a transportation fuel." That's because the same ultracapacitor technology could be used across the grid to provide cheap electric storage for wind and solar power, he says. In turn, this process could power millions of ultracapacitor vehicles with no emissions at all. With the cars' fast-charge capability, recharging stations could pop up to help make even longer trips routine. Ultracapacitors – also called supercapacitors – are more powerful cousins of the basic capacitor. With activated carbon at their core to act as a sponge for electrons, ultracapacitors can absorb power – or send a charge – far faster than batteries. They are also far more durable. First used in the 1960s, ultracapacitors today are widely found in electronic devices such as computers. In cameras, they retract and expand zoom lens. Yet the power stored by today's ultracapacitors is still only about 5 percent as much as a modern lithium-ion battery, far too little to power a car by themselves. The reported breakthrough was made by ZENN's business partner EEStor, a Cedar Park, Texas, firm headed by respected computer industry veteran Richard Weir, who's named on the company's patent. The company is now nearing commercial production of its new "electrical energy storage unit" or EESU, Clifford says. But privately held EEStor has had little to say publicly or to the press – and that secretiveness has inspired incredulity among many debating the topic on Internet forums. But in a break with that tradition, Tom Weir, the company's vice president and general manager, responded to e-mailed questions. "EEStor's technology has the opportunity to touch every aspect of daily life from very big to very small devices," Mr. Weir writes. "We also see a whole new generation of products ... based around our technology." Added credibility arrived with the January announcement by Lockheed Martin, the big defense company, of an agreement to use EEStor technology for military and homeland security applications. It refers to the EEStor "ceramic battery" providing "10 times the energy density of lead-acid batteries at 1/10th the weight and volume." In 2005, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers sunk $3 million into EEStor. ZENN also invested $3 million and will get exclusive rights to retrofit vehicles with the system – and produce new mid-size cars using EESUs. According to EEStor's patent application, the breakthrough is based on a technically arduous process of purifying and fabricating units with barium titanate, a material known to retain vast amounts of power. "The main feature of the EESU is the charge and dis-charge at electric speed," Weir writes. "This is a key enabling factor for the advancement of the next generation of vehicles. Another feature is the amount of power the EESU can store. Lastly, the EESU is expected to be considered fully 'green.' " But some bloggers call the purported breakthrough pure hype, today's version of "cold fusion," the still-theoretical energy source announced in 1989. At least some analysts and researchers, though skeptical, seem reluctant to dismiss entirely the possibility that EEStor could be onto something significant. "I'm sure they do have a technology, but skepticism revolves around the fact that nobody knows much about it," says Anu Cherian, an analyst who tracks the $100 million global ultracapacitor market for Frost & Sullivan, a growth consulting company. "The ZENN car looks to be an exciting development. But there's a lot of hype in the market." Other ultracapacitor experts won't dismiss EEStor's claim despite technical challenges. "It would be unfair to make an analogy between what EEStor is doing and cold fusion," says Joel Schindall, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who is using nanotechnology to improve ultracapacitors. "I don't doubt that they have built a device on a small scale that does store the amounts of energy they are talking about. I just don't know if they can manage the process of scaling it up ... for commercial applications." Dr. Schindall and his colleagues hope soon to demonstrate a fivefold boost in ultracapacitor energy storage to up to 25 percent of the energy storage capacity of a lithium battery – and someday up to 50 percent – using a different approach to the problem. Such significant advances would make ultracapacitors viable in vehicles, though they still fall far short of Clifford's claims about EESU. Making commercial quantities of EESUs could prove challenging since even tiny impurities and defects in manufacturing could result in "a violent discharge," Schindall notes. Safety is a huge issue for energy storage in vehicles whether powered by gasoline, ethanol, hydrogen, batteries – or ultracapacitors. High-capacity lithium-ion battery research for cars, for instance, is focused on ensuring those devices don't burst into flames. EEStor has ensured that its new ultracapacitor will be safe if damaged in a crash by "instantly discharging to ground," Clifford says. Skeptics don't bother him, he says, because "we've seen this product with our own eyes." "We've had a great 100-year run with petroleum," Clifford says. "But the time has come for all of us to come to our senses now and realize that the electric-powered era for cars has finally arrived." Comments from EEStor Much of the rampant skepticism on the Internet over whether or not EEStor has had a breakthrough in automotive propulsion stems from the company's reticence to speak or to demonstrate its product publicly. Only a handful of press releases have been issued since the company was formed, and press reports have rarely included any direct quotes from company managers. Below are comments from a Monitor e-mail interview with Tom Weir, vice president and general manager, EEStor, Inc. Can you offer an idea of what your product could do for automotive transportation and a time horizon for development? "We see our Electrical Energy Storage Unit, 'EESU,' enabling the next generation of electric vehicles. The main feature of the EESU is [its ability to] charge and dis-charge at electric speed. This is a key enabling factor for the advancement of the next generation of vehicles. Another feature is the amount of power the EESU can store. Lastly, the EESU is expected to be considered fully 'green.' " Some have suggested that ultracapacitors will play more of a supporting role – others that it's a "game changer," or even world changing. How would you describe the potential? "EEStor's technology has the opportunity to touch every aspect of daily life from very big to very small devices. We also see a whole new generation of products and services that [are] based around our technology." How would you characterize EEStor's contribution to developing new systems to transmit the energy for automotive propulsion? EEStor has announced passing an evaluation on purity of its production process. Explain why this is important. "To be discussed in the near future." Why has EEStor been so quiet, some say secretive, about what it is doing? "We talk about our achievements through press releases. We talk with our current customers almost daily. We will also talk about more things when the time is right." Do you see any show stoppers, or is it just a matter of ramping up? "With any start-up you have some speed bumps that come up from time to time. We have no show stoppers." Competitors rev their engines At the North American International Auto Show in January, AFS Trinity created a stir by strutting its "extreme hybrid" plug-in concept vehicle that uses ultracapacitors to boost battery life and get 150 miles per gallon. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company sees ultracapacitors as a natural fit with new generation lithium-ion batteries that are vital to plug-in hybrids. Company chairman Edward Furia compares batteries to a long-distance runner (providing the stamina a car needs over the long haul) while ultracapacitors are akin to a weight lifter – giving cars that 0-to-60 oomph while minimizing impact on the delicate battery. As oil prices rise, new ultracapacitor research has emerged. Companies like Maxwell Technologies, Panasonic, Nippon Chemi-Con, and others are working on advanced devices with attributes of both an ultracapacitor and a battery, according to a November report from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). But the recent focus is only a continuation of a long-term fascination with ultracapacitors in automobiles. A small fleet of ultracapacitor-powered buses began running in Moscow in 1995, and some garbage trucks in the US now use ultracapacitors to efficiently absorb energy from braking – and discharge it for acceleration, the IEEE article notes. Honda's Dualnote concept car in 2002 also showed off ultracapacitors' ability to instantly absorb braking energy and then return it in acceleration. German automaker BMW is also said to be evaluating ultracapacitors in their hybrid vehicles.	<urn:uuid:c7038a8c-b2b6-4e85-af3b-805358431456>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Living-Green/2008/0415/ultracapacitors-the-future-of-electric-cars-or-the-cold-fusion-of-autovation	2015-03-28T01:14:22Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297146.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00036-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.957118	2,260
\|Burns, Antoine\|\|WR\|\|6'1"\|\|195\|\|Milwaukee, Wis. / Rochester, Minn. CC\| \|Cole, Travis\|\|QB\|\|6'3"\|\|210\|\|Lake Oswego, Ore. / Foothill, Calif. JC\| \|Dozier, Ukee\|\|DB\|\|6'1"\|\|170\|\|Bradenton, Fla. / Southeast HS\| \|Fraley, Justin\|\|DB\|\|6'1"\|\|200\|\|Cleveland, Ohio / Benedictine HS\| \|Green, Jason\|\|DL\|\|6'4"\|\|260\|\|Orange, N.J. / Orange HS\| \|Harston, Brandon\|\|DL\|\|6'3"\|\|290\|\|Fort Worth, Texas / Crowley HS\| \|Jackson, Terry\|\|RB\|\|5'10"\|\|195\|\|Saginaw, Mich. / Saginaw HS\| \|Johnson, Demetrus\|\|RB\|\|5'10"\|\|175\|\|Milwaukee, Wis. / Homestead HS\| \|Matthews, Keith\|\|WR\|\|6'3"\|\|190\|\|Akron, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban HS\| \|McElroy, Mark\|\|OL\|\|6'4"\|\|300\|\|Roseville, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall HS\| \|Melander, Rian\|\|OL\|\|6'6"\|\|240\|\|Shoreview, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall HS\| \|Pinson, Larry\|\|RB\|\|6'2"\|\|225\|\|Eagan, Minn. / Eagan HS\| \|Plisch, Josh\|\|OL\|\|6'3"\|\|290\|\|Rothschild, Wis. / D.C. Everest HS\| \|Prudden, Peter\|\|DL\|\|6'5"\|\|270\|\|Wayzata, Minn. / Breck HS\| \|Redmann, Chad\|\|TE\|\|6'3"\|\|230\|\|Burnsville, Minn. / Apple Valley HS\| \|Reid, Darrell\|\|LB\|\|6'3"\|\|245\|\|Farmingdale, N.J. / Freehold Boro HS\| \|Sanders, Marcus\|\|RB\|\|6'0"\|\|185\|\|Ravenna, Ohio / Ravenna HS\| \|Sims, Dominique\|\|DB\|\|6'2"\|\|195\|\|Minneapolis, Minn. / De La Salle HS\| \|Smith, Arthur\|\|OL\|\|6'9"\|\|323\|\|Columbus, Ohio / Brookhaven HS\| \|Stenzel, Eric\|\|LB\|\|6'3"\|\|230\|\|Mankato, Minn. / West HS\| \|Toussaint, Mackenzy\|\|DB\|\|6'0"\|\|177\|\|Miami, Fla. / North Miami HS\| \|Ward, Timothy\|\|DL\|\|6'3"\|\|255\|\|Milwaukee, Wis. / Bay View HS\| \|Watson, Steve\|\|LB\|\|6'3"\|\|215\|\|Defiance, Mo. / Francis Howell HS\| \|Wymer, Ricky\|\|OL\|\|6'9"\|\|325\|\|Westerville, Ohio / North HS\| Head Football Coach Glen Mason announced today that 24 student-athletes have signed national letters of intent to attend the University of Minnesota and play football for the Golden Gophers. "We signed 14 on offense and 10 players on defense, so we are very pleased that we were able to fill some needs on both sides of the ball, particularly along the offensive and defensive lines," Mason said. "Our main priority is always to close the borders on the state of Minnesota and keep our in-state talent at home. We are very excited about the players who have decided to stay at home and play for the Golden Gophers. Our success last season enabled us to recruit some outstanding student-athletes to the University of Minnesota. I'm very happy with this recruiting class." Antoine Burns, 6-1, 195, WR, Milwaukee, Wis. (Rochester CC) Named a junior college Gridwire All-American...listed in PrepStar's Super Juco 75 list...rated 17th in SuperPrep's Juco 100...caught 58 passes for 1,100 yards last season at Rochester...scored 23 touchdowns (17 receiving, three on punt returns, and three on kickoff returns)...his Rochester teams were a combined 22-2 with two bowl berths in his two seasons there... has three years remaining to complete his two years of eligibility...lists reading as one of his hobbies...plans to major in kinesiology at the U of M...high school coach was Adam Walker...junior college coach was Joel Swisher...son of Leon and Bernice Williams. Travis Cole, 6-3, 210, QB, Lake Oswego, Ore. (Foothill JC) In his two years as the starting quarterback at Foothill JC, he threw for 5,286 yards and 58 touchdowns...passed for 25 touchdowns this past season...should compete for the starting job at the U of M next season...arrived on campus in time for second semester and is currently in classes...played both quarterback and receiver at Lakeridge High School, many times switching from one position to another with each play...runs the 40 in 4.65 seconds...has three years remaining to complete his two years of eligibility...also an outstanding baseball player, he was a draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays...junior college coach was Marshall Sperbeck...son of Steve and Lisa Cole and Debra Cole. Ukee Dozier, 6-1, 170, DB, Bradenton, Fla. (Southeast HS) Registered 38 solo tackles, 12 assists, four pass- breakups, and three tackles for loss in his senior season...played in nine games as a senior, missing the final four with a shoulder injury...the injury has since been repaired...runs the 40 in 4.5 seconds...basketball and track and field letterwinner...named most valuable performer on the track squad...one of the top long and triple jumpers in the state of Florida...high school coach was Paul Maechtle...son of Shirley Shird. Justin Fraley, 6-1, 198, DB, Cleveland, Ohio (Benedictine HS) Two-time all-state selection...gained 922 yards in just 150 attempts as a senior (6.1 per carry)...amassed 2,450 yards during prep career and 41 touchdowns...racked up 210 tackles on the defensive side of the ball...intercepted 34 passes and forced 28 fumbles during his high school career...accumulated impressive stats while playing on a team that was 1-8 last season...played some quarterback in his freshman and junior seasons...runs the 40 in 4.45 seconds...president of his senior class and vice president of the student council...honor student with a 3.0 GPA...lists interception to seal the state championship win as a freshman as his most memorable sports thrill...also lettered in track and field...won the 100-meter state track championship as a junior with a time of 10.6...high school coach was Derek Slesh...son of Greg Fraley and Henry and Toni Curtis. Jason Green, 6-4, 260, DE, Orange, N.J. (Orange HS) SuperPrep all-Northeast team selection...ranked 22nd- best player in the state...named to the all-state team after a senior season where he collected 85 solo tackles, 20 assists, 18 tackles for loss and 12 sacks...named to all-county and all-city teams as well during final prep campaign...also letters in basketball, where he plays forward, and track and field...has an interest in studying criminal justice...high school coach was Randy Daniels...son of Janice Green. Brandon Harston, 6-3, 290, DL, Fort Worth, Texas (Crowley HS) Named to the SuperPrep all-Southwest team...one of the better defensive linemen recruits in the country according to Tom Lemming's Prep Football Report...amassed 120 career tackles, including 98 solos, despite playing just four games in his senior campaign due to a high ankle sprain...defensive career stats also include 15 sacks, 10 pass breakups, 15 forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and three interceptions...caught 50 career passes for 10 touchdowns from his tight end position on the offensive side of the ball...also lettered in basketball...member of the honor roll with a 3.00 GPA...calls his most memorable sports thrill winning the state championship in basketball...high school coach was Brad McCone...son of Mike and Georgia Harston. Terry Jackson III, 5-10, 193, RB, Saginaw, Mich. (Saginaw HS) Rushed for 1,774 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior when he helped lead his high school to its first-ever state championship...also pitched in with 18 solo tackles on defense...played defensive back as a junior...three-year letterwinner...named to the all- conference and all-state teams following his senior season...basketball (point guard) and track and field letterwinner...lists hobbies as drawing and writing poetry...high school coach was Donald Durrett...son of Terry and Linda Jackson. Demetrus Johnson, 5-10, 173, RB, Milwaukee, Wis. (Homestead HS) Named Wisconsin State Player of the Year by the Wisconsin State Coaches Association and the Wisconsin Journal Sentinal...Named a two-time all-state selection after amassing 2,229 yards, 32 touchdowns, and an average of 7.0 yards per carry in his senior season...the yardage and touchdown totals set single- season school records...rushed for school-record 315 yards and five touchdowns in a single game...also returned nine punts for an average of 24 yards per tote and two touchdowns along with 14 kickoff returns for an average of 30 yards per runback...caught 11 passes out of the backfield for 148 yards and a touchdown...has also accumulated three letters in basketball and one in track and field...named to the all-conference team in basketball and all-state squad in track and field...is an honor roll student who plans to major in business at the U of M...calls most memorable sports thrill rushing for 198 yards and two touchdowns in the state championship game...high school coach was Dave Keel...son of Nathaniel and Zara Johnson. Keith Matthews, 6-3, 188, WR, Akron, Ohio (Archbishop HS) Two-time all-state selection...outstanding player on both sides of the ball in high school...played wide receiver and safety...caught 92 career passes for a total of 1,605 yards and 19 touchdowns...averaged 17.4 yards per reception in his prep career...also rushed for 574 career yards and six touchdowns...logged 205 career tackles on defense...credited with 11 career sacks, seven fumble recoveries, and eight interceptions...returned two of the interceptions for touchdowns...prep teams were 10-2 and 9-3 in his final two seasons...also a three-year letterwinner in track and field and basketball...lists most memorable sports thrill when he scored four touchdowns in a game...plans on majoring in business at the U of M...high school coach was Ralph Orsini...son of Diane and Willie Matthews. Mark McElroy, 6-4, 300, OL, Roseville, Minn. (Cretin- Derham Hall HS) Named one of the top 10 offensive lineman prospects in the Midwest according to PrepStar...listed on the SuperPrep all-Midwest team...named to the all-state squad after helping lead Cretin-Derham Hall to the Class AAAAA State Championship as a senior...three-year starter at offensive tackle...played strong-side tackle...known for his exceptional run-blocking ability...was a big reason behind Cretin-Derham Hall's combined record of 34-2 over the last three seasons while earning three varsity letters...also letters in track, throwing the shot put and discus...recipient of the Outstanding Academic Achievement Award...honor roll student who carries a 3.2 GPA...lists winning the state football title as his most memorable sports thrill...high school coach was Rick Kallok...son of Robert and Carol McElroy. Rian Melander, 6-6, 238, OL, Shoreview, Minn. (Cretin-Derham Hall HS) Named to the all-state squad after helping lead Cretin- Derham Hall to the Class AAAAA State Championship as a senior...allowed only two sacks on his quarterback all season from his weak-side tackle position...was one of the fastest rising prospects in the entire Midwest during his senior season, climbing from a preseason rating of No. 101 to a final ranking of No. 40 on the SuperPrep list of top players in the Midwest...named honorable mention All-America by USA Today...three-year letterwinner who was a big reason for Cretin-Derham Hall's combined record of 34-2 over the last three seasons...also played basketball...honor student with a 3.0 GPA...high school coach was Rich Kallok...uncle Jon Melander was a letterwinner along the offensive line for the Golden Gophers from 1986-89 who went on to play in the NFL...lists winning the state title as his most memorable sports thrill...son of Peter and Judy Melander. Larry Pinson, Jr., 6-2, 225, FB, Eagan, Minn. (Eagan HS) All-state selection who rushed for 1,327 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior...averaged 120 yards per game and seven yards per carry as a senior...runs the 40 in 4.6 seconds and can bench press 330 pounds...honored on the All-Lake Conference team as a senior...lived in Georgia as a prep junior and did not play football...named to the SuperPrep all-Midwest team...track and field letterwinner...honored as an all-conference selection in track...lists most memorable sports thrill as beating Apple Valley in the state section semifinals...named to the academic All-State team...holds a 3.99 GPA...interested in studying communications or pre-med at the U of M...high school coach was Dave Fritze...son of Larry and Lennelle Pinson. Josh Plisch, 6-3, 290, OL, Rothschild, Wis. (D.C. Everest HS) Named the seventh-best offensive line recruit in the Midwest by PrepStar...listed as the eighth overall best line prospect (offense or defense) in the Midwest by SuperPrep...One of the most sought-after lineman in the Midwest, he led his prep team to a three-year varsity record of 30-5...high school All-America performer and two-time all-state selection...high school team was a perfect 14-0 as a junior...letterwinner in hockey (defenseman) and track and field (shotput and discus)...plans to major in elementary education at the U of M...lists his hobbies as skiing and spending time with family...high school coach was Wayne Steffenhagen...son of Sherri Plisch. Peter Prudden, 6-5, 270, OL, Wayzata, Minn. (Breck HS) Named to the SuperPrep all-Midwest team...Named to the all-state team after leading Breck to a 9-2 record as a senior...prep teams combined for a 38-9 record in his four years as a letterwinner...a two-way player, he registered 195 career tackles, 20 sacks, 10 pass breakups, 11 forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries as a defensive end...allowed no sacks by the players he blocked as a senior on the offensive line...also handled long snapping duties and kickoffs...lettered in basketball as a power forward, averaging 11.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game as a junior...member of school's student government...interested in studying business at the U of M...lists reading as one of his hobbies...high school coach was John Theil...son of John and Stephanie Prudden. Chad Redmann, 6-3, 230, TE, Burnsville, Minn. (Apple Valley HS) Played a number of positions (running back, fullback, safety, defensive end, punter) during his prep career...rushed for career totals of 1,445 and 31 touchdowns on the ground...caught 18 passes for 230 yards...ran the ball 111 times for 541 yards and 11 touchdowns as a senior...had a career average of 39.0 yards per kick as a punter with a long boot of 65 yards...also returned four kicks for 120 yards...earned four wrestling and two track letters in addition to his three letters on the gridiron...has a career record of 73-14 with 42 falls on the mat...finished second in the state individually at heavyweight as a junior while helping his squad to the team championship as a junior grappler...he is 27-0 with 20 pins thus far this season on the mat...holds team weightlifting record...Academic All-State selection...high school coach was Mike Fritze...son of John and Cheryl Redmann. Darrell Reid, 6-3, 245, LB, Farmingdale, N.J. (Freehold Boro HS) Ranked as the second-best linebacker prospect in the Northeast by SuperPrep...named one of the top linebacker prospects in the East according to PrepStar...rated the ninth-best player overall in the state...player of the year as a senior in Monmouth County...registered 99 tackles, including 36 solos, as a senior...also blocked five kicks, five pass breakups, and three forced fumbles in his final prep campaign...named to the New Jersey all-state team as well as being a three-time all- conference and all-area pick...played six games as a senior with a cast on a broken hand...rated one of the top players in the state despite his team's 0-10 mark during final prep campaign...also a four-time letterwinner in basketball as a forward...high school coach was Larry Boice...son of Jeanette Williams. Marcus Sanders, 6-0, 186, RB, Ravenna, Ohio (Ravenna HS) Rushed for 2,374 yards (11.5 per carry) and scored 34 touchdowns as a senior...rushed for 6,688 career yards and scored 81 touchdowns...only fifth back in Ohio prep history to rush for more than 6,000 yards in his career...also caught six passes out of the backfield as a senior for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns...rated the 10th-best running back in the Midwest according to PrepStar...set 14 school records including most yards rushing (career and season), most net yards (career and season), and most touchdowns scored (career and season)...a four-year all-conference selection...named honorable mention All-America...four-year starter...on defense, he was in on 108 stops and had eight sacks and four interceptions as a senior...honor student with a 3.0 GPA...basketball letterwinner as a point guard who averaged 13 points and 4.5 rebounds a game as a junior...high school coach was Cyle Feldman...son of Michael and Sharon Sanders. Dominique Sims, 6-2, 195, DB, Minneapolis, Minn. (De La Salle HS) USA Today first-team All-America...named Minnesota State Player of the Year by the Associated Press after leading the Islanders to the state championship...rated one of the top 20 recruits in the Midwest according to SuperPrep...PrepStar calls him the top player in Minnesota this season...Parade Magazine All-America selection...one of four finalists for the Franklin Watkins Award, given annually to the top African- American student-athlete in the country...as a safety, he recorded 130 tackles, 23 pass breakups, three sacks, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions as a senior...rushed for 1,409 yards and 17 touchdowns during final prep campaign...passed for 756 yards and 12 touchdowns...also caught three passes for 112 yards and a touchdown and returned three kicks for touchdowns...runs the 40 in 4.5...an outstanding student, he carries a 4.16 GPA and ranks third in his high school class of 103...father Charles played basketball for the Golden Gophers from 1971-75...older brother Jason played basketball at Northern Iowa...older brother Ty played collegiate basketball at Kansas State after two years of junior college...high school coach was Tony Johnson...son of Charles and Kim Sims. Arthur Smith, 6-9, 323, OL, Columbus, Ohio (Brookhaven HS) Helped lead his team to the state playoffs as a senior after winning the league championship his junior season...played on both sides of the ball, starting at both offensive and defensive tackle...teams combined for a record of 25-8 in his three seasons...logged 60 tackles as a senior, including three sacks, 10 tackles for loss, three pass breakups, nine forced fumbles, and four fumble recoveries...honored on the all-state, all- city, and all-conference squads...also lettered in basketball, wrestling, and track and field during his prep career...has shown an interest in majoring in pre- dentistry at the U of M...member of the high school honor roll...high school coach was Gregg Miller...son of Martie Johnston. Eric Stenzel, 6-3, 230, LB, Mankato, Minn. (West HS) An all-state selection who led the Scarlets (Mankato West) to a 10-4 record and the Class AAAA state crown...also garnered all-state honors as a junior...set state records for assisted tackles (246) and total tackles (587) during his three-year varsity career despite playing half his senior season with a cast on a broken thumb...logged 163 tackles, including 96 solos, had five fumble recoveries and an interception in his senior campaign...featured in Sports Illustrated's Faces In The Crowd...named to the SuperPrep all-Midwest team...listed on the PrepStar all-Midwest team...three- year All-Big Nine selection...behind his leadership, team improved gradually from a 0-8 record his freshman season to the state title as a senior...runs the 40 in 4.7 seconds and bench presses 305 pounds...an honor roll student with a GPA of 3.00...basketball and track and field letterwinner...high school coach was Rick Sutton...son of Linnie and Brenda Stenzel. Mackenzy Toussaint, 6-0, 177, DB, Miami, Fla. (North Miami HS) Third-team All-Dade County selection...had 11 pass breakups, five fumble recoveries, two interceptions, and three tackles for loss as a senior...led his high school to its first playoff berth in many years with an 8-3 mark...also letters in track and field, where he is a hurdler along with specializing in the long and triple jump...regional finalist in the 110 hurdles...plans to major in business at the U of M...lists pool and basketball as his hobbies...high school coach was Gil Lora...son of Manilia Bellot. Timothy Ward, 6-3, 255, DL, Milwaukee, Wis. (Bay View HS) Athletic two-way prep player who played middle linebacker and tight end in high school...collected 85 tackles, 45 of which were solos, as a senior...also logged three sacks and forced three fumbles...caught 11 passes, three of which were for touchdowns on the offensive side of the ball...also lettered in basketball and track and field...was an all-conference performer (shot put and discus champ) as a prep junior...plans to major in business at the U of M...high school coach was Craig Klumb...son of Lillie Ward. Steven Watson, 6-3, 215, LB, Defiance, Mo. (Francis Howell HS) Rated one of the top defensive end prospects in the Midlands according to SuperPrep...All-state selection who led his prep team to a combined record of 29-6 over the past three seasons...logged 115 tackles as a senior to accompany 12 sacks, six forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries...63 of his tackles were solos...played fullback on the offensive side of the ball, gathering 712 yards and eight touchdowns...registered six sacks as a junior...a four- sport athlete who also lettered in track and field, basketball, and wrestling...won the conference championship in the high jump...calls defeating the top- ranked team in the state in double overtime in his senior season Homecoming game as his most memorable sports thrill...high school coach was Larry Branson...son of Robert and Judith Watson. Ricky Wymer, 6-9, 325, OL, Westerville, Ohio (Westerville North HS) Three-time all-conference and two-time all-area selection...rated 14th-best offensive lineman in the Midwest according to PrepStar...had surgery the day before Thanksgiving to repair torn knee ligaments, but still managed to play in every game his senior season while injured...also played basketball his freshman and sophomore years in high school...considers working on computers as one of his hobbies...high school coach was Bob Cavin...son of Rick and Char Wymer. Player bios courtesy of University of Minnesota	<urn:uuid:3abc918c-a44c-4bbd-94d0-ce221e203d40>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.gopherhole.com/page/show/374846-2000-gopher-football-recruiting-class	2015-03-28T00:29:34Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297146.11/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00036-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.958841	5,335
Utopia, Limited; or, The Flowers of Progress, is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was the second-to-last of Gilbert and Sullivan's fourteen collaborations, premiering on 7 October 1893 for a run of 245 performances. It did not achieve the success of most of their earlier productions. Gilbert's libretto satirises limited liability companies, and particularly the idea that a bankrupt company could leave creditors unpaid without any liability on the part of its owners. It also lampoons the Joint Stock Company Act by imagining the absurd convergence of natural persons (or sovereign nations) with legal commercial entities under the limited companies laws. In addition, it mocks the conceits of the late 19th-century British Empire and several of the nation's beloved institutions. In mocking the adoption by a "barbaric" country of the cultural values of an "advanced" nation, it takes a tilt at the cultural aspects of imperialism. The libretto was criticised as too long and rambling by some critics and later commentators, and several subplots introduced in Act I are never resolved. Utopia is performed much less frequently than most other Gilbert and Sullivan operas. It can be expensive to produce, requiring a large principal cast and two costumes ("native" and "drawing room") for most of the performers. The subject-matter and characters, including the specific government offices, are obscure for modern audiences, although its themes of corporatisation of public institutions and scandal in the British Royal family are evergreen. And although it contains some fine music, it perhaps has less than Sullivan's usual quota of unforgettable tunes. Bernard Shaw, however, wrote in his highly favourable October 1893 review of the show in The World, "I enjoyed the score of Utopia more than that of any of the previous Savoy operas." In 1890, during the production of Gilbert and Sullivan's previous opera, The Gondoliers, Gilbert became embroiled in a legal dispute with their producer, Richard D'Oyly Carte, over the cost of a new carpet for the Savoy Theatre – and, more generally, over the accounting for expenses over the course of their long partnership. Sullivan sided with Carte and was made a defendant in the case, and the partnership disbanded. Gilbert vowed to write no more operas for the Savoy, and after The Gondoliers closed in 1891, Gilbert withdrew the performance rights to his libretti. It was not until October 1891, after conversations with their publisher Tom Chappell, that Gilbert and Sullivan reconciled. After fulfilling their respective open commitments Gilbert and Sullivan were able to plan to renew their collaboration on a new opera, Utopia, Limited. The lawsuit, however, had left Gilbert and Sullivan somewhat embittered, and their last two works together suffered from a less collegial working relationship than the two men had typically enjoyed while writing earlier operas. Genesis of the opera In November 1892, after lengthy and delicate discussions over the financial arrangements for a new opera, Gilbert, Sullivan and Carte were able to reach an agreement and set to work on the new opera. On 27 January 1893, Gilbert read the plot outline for the libretto to Sullivan, and by July, he was finished with the libretto. Gilbert suffered from bad gout throughout the summer and autumn of 1893 and had to attend rehearsals in a wheelchair. Gilbert and Sullivan disagreed on several matters, including the character of Lady Sophy, and Sullivan found some of Gilbert's lyrics difficult to set. Their lack of the cohesion during the writing and editing of Utopia was in marked contrast with what Sullivan called the "oneness" of their previous collaborations since Trial by Jury in 1875. Nonetheless, Sullivan completed the setting of Gilbert's first act within a month, and received particular congratulations from his collaborator for the finale, which Gilbert considered the best Sullivan had composed. For Utopia, the creators engaged Hawes Craven to design the sets, which were much praised. Craven was the designer for Henry Irving's spectacular Shakespeare productions at the Lyceum Theatre. Percy Anderson designed the costumes. The scenery, properties and costumes cost an unprecedented total of £7,200. In 1893, the year Utopia, Limited was produced, Princess Kaiulani of the independent monarchy of Hawaii attended a private school in England. She was the talk of the society pages, with much speculation as to the influence English "civilization" would have on the Princess and eventually her homeland. Two decades earlier, in 1870, Anna Leonowens first wrote about her six-year stint as governess to the children of the king of Siam (Thailand) in The English Governess at the Siamese Court. The two ladies and their stories are likely to have influenced the characters of Princess Zara and Lady Sophy, respectively. Another impetus for Gilbert in the genesis of the work was his disdain for England's Limited Liability Act of 1862, which he had begun to explore in the previous opera with Sullivan, The Gondoliers. By using an imaginary setting, Gilbert was emboldened to level some sharp satire at British imperialism, jingoism, the monarchy, party politics and other institutions that might have touched a more sensitive nerve if the opera had a British setting. In this work, Gilbert returns to the idea of an anti-Utopia, which he had explored, in various ways, in his early one-act operas, Happy Arcadia, Our Island Home, Topsyturveydom, and some of his other early works, especially The Happy Land. The previous Gilbert and Sullivan opera, The Gondoliers, also concerns an imaginary island kingdom where the rules of court are considerably different from those in Britain. In Utopia, the island begins as a virtual paradise, is thrown into chaos by the importation of "English" influences, and is eventually saved by an English political expedience. Gilbert's biographer Jane Stedman calls this a "Gilbertian invasion plot". The opera's satiric treatment of limited liability entities that are not required to honour their obligations and scandal in the monarchy was effective in 1893 and still resonate today. In addition, the show satirises "practically everything English – English prudery, English conversation, English company promoting, the English party system, the English War Office and Admiralty, the County Council, and the English Cabinet." Apart from satirical elements, in Utopia, Gilbert indulges in some small topical touches throughout the libretto. For instance, he was up-to-date in his technological references (as he had been in H.M.S. Pinafore with the mention of the telephone), by mentioning George Eastman's new product, the Kodak camera, and its slogan. Gilbert also throws some barbs at the Lord Chamberlain's office, as he loved to do. In addition, The Court of St. James's is mockingly confused with St James's Hall and its minstrel shows. Sullivan joins in the parody, underlining the mock praise of all things English with a repeated motif throughout the score based on the melody of "Rule Britannia!". Reception and aftermath The Savoy audiences were glad to see Gilbert and Sullivan back together, and the first-night reception was rapturous. Sullivan wrote in his diary, "Went into the orchestra at 8.15 sharp. My ovation lasted 65 seconds! Piece went wonderfully well – not a hitch of any kind, and afterwards G. and I had a double call." The critics were divided on the merits of the piece. Punch, habitually hostile to Gilbert, commented, "'Limited' it is, in more senses than one." The Standard, by contrast, said, "Mr. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan are here at their very best … The wit, humour and satire of the book have not been surpassed in any of the author's previous operas, the composer's fascinating vein of melody flows as freshly as ever, and the orchestration is full of characteristically happy fancies … A more complete success has never been achieved in comic opera, even at the Savoy." The Pall Mall Gazette also praised Sullivan's contribution, but disparaged Gilbert's: in its view the music "has not its equal in the whole Sullivan and Gilbert series", but the book had "not merely a sense of cheapness but the sense of weariness even to exhaustion." The Era commented that Gilbert's "wit was as sparkling and his satire as keen as ever," and thought the council scene "screamingly funny". The Observer judged that Gilbert had lost none of his merits, and that "wit abounds" and "is as spontaneous as ever: not forced or vulgarised, and his rhymes are always faultless." Some critics thought it a weakness that the work contained references to the earlier Gilbert and Sullivan operas, for example in the re-use of the character Captain Corcoran, and communications between King Paramount and the Mikado of Japan. The Pall Mall Gazette observed, "It is always a melancholy business when a writer is driven to imitate himself. Utopia (limited) is a mirthless travesty of the work with which his name is most generally associated. ... Mr. Gilbert has failed to make the old seem new". The Musical Times reported the theatregoing public's rejoicing that the partners were reunited, but added: [A]ll would have indulged in renewed jubilations had Utopia (Limited) proved equal in humour and general freshness to the most successful of the companion works. This, unfortunately, cannot be said, although, of course, as compared with ordinary productions of the opéra bouffe class it stands out sufficiently clear. Mr. Gilbert could not put forward a silly or inane book, and Sir Arthur Sullivan could not pen music otherwise than refined, tuneful, and characterised by musicianly touches. It is only in comparison with such masterpieces of humour and dramatic and musical satire as Patience, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard, and The Gondoliers that the libretto of Utopia (Limited) seems a trifle dull, particularly in the first Act, and the music for the most part reminiscent rather than fresh. The Daily News and The Globe both noted that Act I ran longer than any previous Savoy Opera and needed pruning. The Manchester Guardian praised the work, but commented that there was "much (sometimes too much) Gilbertian dialogue". However, Gilbert and Sullivan's choices for what to cut are suspect. The soprano's aria, "Youth is a boon avowed" got some of the most enthusiastic reviews from the press but was cut after the opening night. The Globe called it "one of Sir Arthur Sullivan's best works". Also, the pre-production cuts left subplots that were introduced in Act I unresolved. For example, Sullivan refused to set one of Gilbert's scenes for Nancy McIntosh, which left the Scaphio–Phantis–Zara subplot unresolved. Rutland Barrington, in his memoirs, felt that the "second act... was not as full of fun as usual" in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas. The show made a modest profit, despite the unusually high cost of staging it. In competition with the musical comedies' fashion pageantry, the drawing room scene was of an unprecedented opulence. The Manchester Guardian called it "one of the most magnificent ever beheld on the stage", and even Punch praised the splendour of the production, but it added thousands of pounds of expense, making Utopia the most expensive of all of the Savoy Operas. The taste of the London theatre-going public was shifting away from comic opera and towards musical comedies such as In Town (1892), A Gaiety Girl (1893) and Morocco Bound (1893), which were to dominate the London stage for the next two decades and beyond. Utopia introduced Gilbert's last protégée, Nancy McIntosh, as Princess Zara, and the role was much expanded to accommodate her. According to the scholar John Wolfson, in his book, Final Curtain, this damaged and unbalanced the script by detracting from its parody of government. Commentators agree that McIntosh was not a good actress, and during the run of Utopia, her lack of confidence and health combined to affect her performance. Utopia, Limited was to be McIntosh's only part with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, as Sullivan refused to write another piece if she was to take part in it. Discussions over her playing the role of Yum-Yum in a proposed revival of The Mikado led to another row between the two that prevented the revival, and Gilbert's insistence upon her appearing in His Excellency caused Sullivan to refuse to set the piece. Three years passed before Gilbert and Sullivan collaborated again, on their last work, The Grand Duke. Before the end of October, the title of the piece was changed from Utopia (Limited) to Utopia, Limited. Utopia, Limited ran for 245 performances, a modest success by the standards of the late Victorian theatre; although it was a shorter run than any of Gilbert and Sullivan's 1880s collaborations, it was the longest run at the Savoy in the 1890s. After the original production, four D'Oyly Carte touring companies played Utopia in the British provinces, and the piece was included in tours until 1900. There was also a D'Oyly Carte production in New York in 1894, performances in the D'Oyly Carte South African tour of 1902-03, and a J. C. Williamson production in Australia and New Zealand in 1905, managed by Henry Bracy. Rupert D'Oyly Carte considered producing a revival in 1925, but the cost of the production was found to be too great, and the proposed revival was abandoned. Utopia was not revived by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company until 4 April 1975, during the company's centenary season, directed by Michael Heyland. The performance was so oversubscribed that the company arranged to give four further performances at the Royal Festival Hall in London later that year. Various amateur companies performed the opera during the 20th century, and it has enjoyed occasional professional productions in the U.S. by professional companies such as the American Savoyards in the 1950s and 1960s, the Light Opera of Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s, Light Opera Works in Chicago in 1984 and Ohio Light Opera in 2001. The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players also gave a staged concert performance in celebration of the opera's centenary and again in 2010. The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company gave two fully staged performances at the 18th International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England in August 2011, producing a commercial video of the production. Although productions are still less frequent than those of the better-known Gilbert and Sullivan operas, and professional productions are rare, Utopia is regularly presented by some of the amateur Gilbert and Sullivan repertory companies, and an amateur production can be seen most summers at the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. - King Paramount the First, King of Utopia (baritone) - Phantis, Scaphio, Judges of the Utopian Supreme Court (comic baritones) - Tarara, The Public Exploder (comic baritone) - Calynx, The Utopian Vice-Chamberlain (speaking) - The Princess Zara, eldest daughter of King Paramount (soprano) - The Princess Nekaya (soprano) and The Princess Kalyba (mezzo-soprano), her younger sisters - The Lady Sophy, their English Gouvernante (contralto) - Salata (speaking), Melene (speaking), and Phylla (soprano), Utopian Maidens Imported Flowers of Progress - Lord Dramaleigh, a British Lord Chamberlain (high baritone) - Captain Fitzbattleaxe, First Life Guards (tenor) - Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, KCB, of the Royal Navy (bass) - Mr. Goldbury, a Company Promoter, afterwards Comptroller of the Utopian Household (baritone) - Sir Bailey Barre, Q.C., MP (tenor) - Mr. Blushington, of the County Council (baritone) On the fictional South Pacific island of Utopia, the monarch, King Paramount, has sent his eldest daughter, Princess Zara, to Girton College in England. He hopes that her training there will contribute to his plan to civilise his people. The Public Exploder, Tarara, disturbs the languor of the Utopian maidens ("In lazy languor, motionless") to remind them of his duty to blow up the King if the two "Wise Men", Scaphio and Phantis, order him to do so. The Wise Men appear, heralded by the chorus ("O make way for the Wise Men") and note that their duty is to spy upon the King to prevent "rascality" ("In every mental lore"). Phantis proclaims his love for the Princess Zara, and Scaphio promises to help him win her ("Let all your doubts take wing"). The king arrives ("A King of autocratic power we") and presents his two younger daughters, Nekaya and Kalyba, as models of English-style deportment ("Although of native maids the cream"). Their English governess, Lady Sophy, explains how young ladies should behave when approached by amorous gentlemen ("Bold-faced ranger"). The king joins the two Wise Men, commenting that life is a farce ("First you're born"). The king is quite upset about the Wise Men's power over him: he is unable to marry the Lady Sophy because of self-mocking articles that Scaphio and Phantis have forced him to write and publish in the newspaper under a pseudonym. He hopes that neither Sophy nor Zara will see the pieces, although he feels they are witty and well-written. Lady Sophy discovers the articles to her horror ("Subjected to your heavenly gaze"). Princess Zara now returns to Utopia with six British gentlemen (the "Flowers of Progress") in tow ("Oh, maiden rich in Girton lore"). She has become romantically involved with one of them, Captain Fitzbattleaxe ("Ah! gallant soldier"). Scaphio and Phantis, seeing her, are both smitten with love for the princess and argue jealously, finally agreeing to duel one another for her hand. Fitzbattleaxe comes up with a clever way to stall the Wise Men, by saying that, in England, two rivals must entrust the lady at the centre of a controversy to an officer of household cavalry "as stakeholder" until the argument is resolved ("It's understood, I think"). Thus, he and Zara can remain together. Soon, the Utopians assemble, and Zara introduces the Flowers of Progress one by one – Fitzbattleaxe (of the army), Sir Bailey Barre (Q.C. and MP), Lord Dramaleigh (a Lord Chamberlain), Mr. Blushington (of the county council), Mr. Goldbury (a company promoter) and Captain Corcoran (of the navy – a joking reference to the character from Gilbert and Sullivan's early popular opera, H.M.S. Pinafore). The Utopian people are duly impressed, and they listen as each of the Flowers of Progress gives a piece of advice about how to improve the country. Mr. Goldbury explains, at some length, the British limited liability companies law ("Some seven men form an association"). The King decides to transform his entire country into a limited liability corporation – an innovation that even England herself has not yet accepted. Everyone but Scaphio, Phantis and Tarara is enthusiastic. Fitzbattleaxe is concerned that the fervour of his love has affected his singing voice ("A tenor, all singers above"). He and Zara share a tender scene ("Words of love too loudly spoken"). Utopia has transformed itself into a "more perfect" replica of Britain – it has built an army, a navy, and courts, purified its literature and drama, and wholeheartedly adopted Mr. Goldbury's proposal, so that every person now is a limited liability entity. The king and the Flowers of Progress exult in their success ("Society has quite forsaken"), and the people, pleased with English fashions and customs, sing of the country's newfound glory ("Eagle high in cloudland soaring"). Scaphio and Phantis are furious because the change poses a threat to their power ("With fury deep we burn"). They demand that Paramount revoke the changes, and when he refuses, they remind him of their power over his life ("If you think that when banded in unity"). But the King points out that they cannot blow up a limited company. Scaphio and Phantis plot with Tarara on how to reverse the course of events and retire ("With wily brain"). The younger princesses, Nekaya and Kalyba, meet Mr. Goldbury and Lord Dramaleigh, who explain that English girls are not so demure and are instead hearty and fun-loving ("A wonderful joy our eyes to bless"). The princesses are pleased at the prospect of abandoning some of the "musty, fusty rules" that they have been living under ("Then I may sing and play?"). Meanwhile, Lady Sophy bemoans Paramount's flaw that prevents her loving him ("When but a maid of fifteen year"). The King, his dignity rediscovered, approaches Lady Sophy and tells her the truth about the articles written about him, and she now happily agrees to marry him ("Oh, rapture unrestrained"). Scaphio and Phantis, however, have succeeded in convincing the people of Utopia that the changes are for the worse ("Upon our sea-girt land"). For example, there has been an end to war, making the army and navy useless; sanitation is so good that the doctors are unemployed; and so perfect are the laws that crime has all but ended, emptying the courts and leaving lawyers jobless. The people demand that the changes be revoked. Paramount asks his daughter for a solution, and, after a little prodding from Sir Bailey Barre, she realizes that she has forgotten "the most essential element" of British civilisation: Government by Party! Under the two-party system, each party will so confound the efforts of the other that no progress will be made, leading to the happy result that everyone seeks. The crowd is overjoyed, Scaphio and Phantis are thrown in prison, and the curtain falls as the people sing their praises of "a little group of isles beyond the wave" – Great Britain. - Act I - 1. "In lazy languor motionless" (Phylla and Chorus of Girls) - 2. "O make way for the Wise Men" (Chorus) - 2a. "In every mental lore" (Scaphio and Phantis) - 3. "Let all your doubts take wing" (Scaphio and Phantis) - 4. "Quaff the nectar" (Chorus) - 4a. "A King of autocratic power we" (King with Chorus) - 4b. "Although of native maids the cream" (Nekaya and Kalyba) - 4c. "Bold-faced ranger" (Lady Sophy with Chorus) - 5. "First you're born" (King with Scaphio and Phantis) - 6. "Subjected to your heavenly gaze" (King and Lady Sophy) - 7. "Oh, maiden rich in Girton lore" (Zara, Fitz., Troopers, and Chorus) - 8. "Ah! gallant soldier" (Zara, Fitz., Troopers, and Chorus) - 9. "It's understood, I think" (Zara, Fitz., Scaphio, and Phantis) - 10. "Oh, admirable art" (Zara and Fitz.) - (11. Cut song for Zara, "Youth is a boon avowed", sung on the first night but now lost.) - 12. Act I Finale: "Although your Royal summons to appear" (Ensemble) and "When Britain sounds the trump of war" (Zara, Sir Bailey Barre, and Chorus) - 12a. "What these may be" (Zara, Dramaleigh, Blushington, and Chorus) and "A company promoter this" (Zara, Goldbury, and Chorus) - 12b. "I'm Captain Corcoran, K.C.B." (Capt. Corcoran with Chorus) and "Ye wand'rers from a mighty State" (Quartet, Chorus, and Soli) - 12c. "Some seven men form an association" (Mr. Goldbury with Chorus), "Well, at first sight it strikes us as dishonest" (Ensemble), and "Henceforward of a verity" (King Paramount and Ensemble) - Act II - 13. "Oh, Zara!" and "A tenor, all singers above" (Fitz.) - 14. "Words of love too loudly spoken" (Zara and Fitz.) - 15. "Society has quite forsaken" (King with Chorus of Six Flowers of Progress) - 16. Entrance of Court - 17. Drawing Room Music - 18. "This ceremonial", "Eagle high in cloudland soaring" (King and Ensemble) - 19. "With fury deep we burn" (Scaphio, Phantis, and King Paramount) - 20. "If you think that when banded in unity" (King, Scaphio and Phantis) - 21. "With wily brain" (Scaphio, Phantis, and Tarara) - 22. "A wonderful joy our eyes to bless" (Mr. Goldbury) - 23. "Then I may sing and play?" (Nek., Kal., Lord D., and Mr. Goldbury) - 24. "Oh, would some demon pow'r", "When but a maid of fifteen year" (Lady Sophy) - 25. "Ah, Lady Sophy, then you love me!" (King and Lady Sophy) - 25a. "Oh, rapture unrestrained" (King and Lady Sophy) - 25b. Tarantella - 26. "Upon our sea-girt land" (Chorus) - 27. Finale Act II: "There's a little group of isles beyond the wave" (Zara, King Paramount, and Ensemble) 1 On the 1976 recording, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company preceded the Introduction with Sullivan's Imperial March, which he composed around the same time. Historical cast information \|Soon after Sir Luke Fildes had been rewarded by a grateful country for his services to Art, Gilbert met him at a social gathering and congratulated him on his new honours. In the course of conversation, Sir Luke reminded Gilbert that the Dairy Maid "Patience" had been made up to exactly resemble the subject of his first successful picture, Where are you going to, my pretty maid? "Yes, I remember borrowing the idea for my milkmaid's costume from your picture," replied Gilbert, "but I have repaid that debt long ago by being the responsible cause of your new title."\| \|"Responsible for my new title, how do you make that out?" asked the puzzled Sir Luke.\| \|"Oh, it's easily explained," answered Gilbert. Didn't I write in Utopia:\| \|"Well, your prophecy is certainly a pattern of modified accuracy," exclaimed Sir Luke, "I would like to be similarly accurate in your case."\| \|-From Edith A. Browne's "Stars of the Stage: W. S. Gilbert" (1907), page 93.\| The opening night principal cast and 1975 centenary cast were as follows: \|King Paramount the First\|\|Rutland Barrington\|\|Kenneth Sandford\| \|Scaphio\|\|W. H. Denny\|\|John Reed\| \|Phantis\|\|John Le Hay\|\|John Ayldon\| \|Tarara\|\|Walter Passmore\|\|Jon Ellison\| \|Calynx\|\|Bowden Haswell\|\|Michael Buchan\| \|The Princess Zara\|\|Nancy McIntosh\|\|Pamela Field\| \|The Princess Nekaya\|\|Emmie Owen\|\|Julia Goss\| \|The Princess Kalyba\|\|Florence Perry\|\|Judi Merri\| \|The Lady Sophy\|\|Rosina Brandram\|\|Lyndsie Holland\| \|Salata\|\|Edith Johnston\|\|Beti Lloyd-Jones\| \|Melene\|\|May Bell\|\|Marjorie Williams\| \|Phylla\|\|Florence Easton\|\|Rosalind Griffiths\| \|Lord Dramaleigh\|\|Scott Russell\|\|James Conroy-Ward\| \|Captain Fitzbattleaxe\|\|Charles Kenningham\|\|Meston Reid\| \|Captain Sir Edward Corcoran, KCB\|\|Lawrence Gridley\|\|John Broad\| \|Mr. Goldbury\|\|R. Scott Fishe\|\|Michael Rayner\| \|Sir Bailey Barre\|\|Hugh Enes Blackmore\|\|Colin Wright\| \|Mr. Blushington\|\|Herbert Ralland\|\|David Porter\| The first recording was issued in 1964 featuring the amateur Lyric Theatre Company of Washington, D.C. conducted by John Landis. The first complete professional recording was made in 1976 by the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, conducted by Royston Nash, variously considered "a somewhat flat and uninspired account of the score" or to have "a sparkle and spontaneity" that are "irresistible". The critic Andrew Lamb wrote, "There is a suggestion of stodginess in the conducting … but the singing displays the dependability that is the D'Oyly Carte company's chief virtue. Kenneth Sandford is outstanding as King Paramount." Also available is a 2001 Ohio Light Opera set, of which Opera News wrote: "Conducted with verve by J. Lynn Thompson and featuring a generally strong cast, it serves the musical values of Utopia well. ... The principals sing with fine style and admirable diction." Unlike the D'Oyly Carte recording the later set has dialogue, though Opera News considered that some performers "lack dramatic variety in the spoken dialogue". - Shaw, pp. 975–80 - Shepherd, Marc. "Introduction: Historical Context", The Grand Duke, p. vii, New York: Oakapple Press, 2009. Linked at "The Grand Duke", The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 7 July 2009. - Both Gilbert and Sullivan had sworn to affidavits that turned out to be false. By the end of 1890, after reviewing matters with Carte's wife, Helen, Gilbert had admitted his mistake. Sullivan, however, refused to admit his error until October 1891. Ainger, pp. 307–28 - Ainger, p. 328 - Ainger, pp. 331–36 - Ainger, p. 337 - Ainger, pp. 338 and 342 - Ainger, p. 346 - Ainger, pp. 346–47 - Jacobs, p. 349 - Walbrook, H. M. "Utopia, Limited", Gilbert & Sullivan Opera; A History and a Comment, Chapter 15, London: F. V. White & Co. Ltd., 1922 - Rollins and Witts, p. viii - Leonowens, Anna. The English Governess at the Siamese Court - "Utopia, Limited". Off-Monroe Players, 9 February 2010, accessed 30 August 2010 - Hicks, William L. "Social Discourse in the Savoy Theatre's Productions of The Nautch Girl (1891) and Utopia Limited (1893): Exoticism and Victorian Self-Reflection", University of North Texas, August 2003 - Cellier and Bridgeman, pp. 312–13 - Stedman (p. 95): In "a Gilbertian invasion" plot, outsiders change a given society, as where the Thespians take control of Olympus in Thespis. Similarly, in The Wicked World, Broken Hearts, Princess Ida and several of Gilbert's other works, men introduce the element of mortal love into a previously content female society. See Introduction to Broken Hearts at The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, accessed 11 March 2009 - Bradley, p. 972 - Cellier and Bridgeman, pp. 326–30 - Bamberger, David. "Sullivan: The Musical Wit – The Sequel", The Palace Peeper, vol. 74, no. 1, p. 4, September 2009, The Gilbert and Sullivan Society of New York - Quoted in Jacobs, pp. 349–50 - Punch, 28 October 1893, p. 204 - The Standard, 9 October 1893, p. 3 - The Pall Mall Gazette, 9 October 1893, p. 3 - The Era, 14 October 1893, p. 11 - "Music – Savoy Theatre", The Observer, 8 October 1893, p. 6 - "Savoy Theatre", The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 34, No. 609 (November 1893), p. 663 (subscription required) - Allen, p. 378 - "'Utopia (Limited)' – The New Gilbert and Sullivan Opera at the Savoy Theatre", The Manchester Guardian, 9 October 1893, p. 4 - Allen, p. 379 - Wolfson, pp. 32 and 195–201 - Bradley, p. 1062 - Allen, p. 382 - Ainger, p. 346, and Allen, p. 380 - Ainger, p. 353 - Ainger, pp. 349–50 - Ainger, p. 352 - Wolfson, pp. 61–62 - "Savoy Theatre", The Times, 24 October 1893, p. 6. - Bradley, p. 1083, and Ainger, pp. 347 and 352–53 - Coles, Clifton. "Mirette: Introduction", Gilbert and Sullivan Archive, 28 May 1998, accessed 5 October 2014 - Rollins and Witts, pp. pp. 86–88, 90–92, 94–95, 98, 100, 104, 106, and 109 - The New York production played at the former Broadway Theatre on West 41st Street, opening on 26 March 1894 and running for 55 performances until 12 May 1894. See "Synopsis by Fredric Woodbridge Wilson", arcadia.org, 2000, accessed 21 April 2009 and Kanthor, Hal. "Gilbert and Sullivan: From London to America", University of Rochester, accessed 21 April 2009 - Bond, Ian. Foreword to libretto, The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive (2005) - Moratti, Mel. "Approaching a New Century", Down Under in the 19th century - He announced this idea on the last night of the London season in 1924 (see The Times, 28 July 1924, p. 10) and went as far as commissioning Percy Anderson to design new costumes - Baily, p. 382 - Wilson and Lloyd, p. 203 - The first of which opened Off-Broadway on 27 February 1957 - "Colourful, energetic show created Utopian euphoria". Sheffield Telegraph, 25 August 2011. See also: "G&S Opera Company – Utopia Ltd". International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival website, 21 August 2011 - No 15, "Society has quite forsaken all her wicked courses" - Rollins and Witts, p. 14 - Rollins & Witts, Third Supplement, p. 28 - Although she is listed in the opening night programme, Easton fell ill, and the understudy, Miss Howell-Hersee, took over until 7 November 1893 when Easton assumed the role. See Allen, introduction to programmes section, p. 4 - "Sullivan – Utopia Limited", The Gramophone, August 1964, p. 60 - list and assessments of recordings of the opera - March, p. 1337 - Lamb, Andrew. "Utopia Limited", The Musical Times, Vol. 117, No. 1600 (June 1976), pp. 496–497(subscription required) - Reviews of the 2001 recording at A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, accessed 22 April 2009 - Iredell, Cornelia. "Sullivan: Utopia, Limited", Opera News, 1 September 2001, accessed 21 April 2009 (free registration required) - Ainger, Michael (2002). Gilbert and Sullivan, a Dual Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195147693. - Allen, Reginald (1958). The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan. New York: The Heritage Press. OCLC 749296966. - Baily, Leslie (1966). The Gilbert and Sullivan Book (Third ed.). London: Spring Books. OCLC 3651931. - Bradley, Ian (1996). The Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019816503X. - Browne, Edith A. (1907). Stars of the Stage: W. S. Gilbert. London: John Lane, The Bodley Head. OCLC 5866733. - Cellier, François and Cunningham Bridgeman (1914). Gilbert and Sullivan and Their Operas. London: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd. OCLC 58942004. - Graham, Bruce: "From Bambouli to Utopia: Offenbach's Whittington as a possible source for Utopia, Limited" in The Gaiety, Spring 2006, pp. 23–27. Editor: Roderick Murray. - March, Ivan (ed.) (2007). The Penguin Guide to Recorded Classical Music. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780141033365. - Rollins, Cyril; R. John Witts (1962). The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in Gilbert and Sullivan Operas: A Record of Productions, 1875–1961. London: Michael Joseph. OCLC 1317843. Also, five supplements, privately printed. - Shaw, Bernard; Dan H Laurence (ed) (1898). Shaw's Music – The Complete Music Criticism of Bernard Shaw, Volume 2. London: The Bodley Head. ISBN 0370312716. - Wilson, Robin; Frederic Lloyd (1984). Gilbert and Sullivan: The Official D'Oyly Carte Picture History. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0394541138. - Wolfson, John (1976). Final curtain: The last Gilbert and Sullivan Operas. London: Chappell in association with A. Deutsch. ISBN 0903443120. \|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Utopia, Limited.\| - Utopia Limited at The Gilbert & Sullivan Archive - Utopia Limited at The Gilbert & Sullivan Discography - Utopia review - Article on Utopia and Gilbert's satire of corporation law - Article about Utopia, Limited - 1893 review of Utopia, Limited in The Musical Times - Biographies of the people listed in the cast lists - Bab illustrations of lyrics from Utopia	<urn:uuid:6ec062aa-8623-490e-86d8-4fda858144c3>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_Limited	2015-03-29T22:27:44Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298755.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00152-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.937255	8,310
Compare book prices at 110 online bookstores worldwide for the lowest price for new & used textbooks and discount books! 1 click to get great deals on cheap books, cheap textbooks & discount college textbooks on sale. White Talk, Black Talk: Inter-racial Friendship and Communication amongst Adolescents (Comparative Ethnic and Race Relations) This book studies the relations between black and white adolescents in an urban environment (South London); the processes by which racism is relayed within adolescent communities, and the strategies which subvert or encourage them. More specifically Hewitt examines the sociolinguistic impact of the 'London Jamaican' creole used by young black Londoners on the language and culture of young whites. Basing his work on extensive fieldwork amongst racially mixed groups in youth clubs, schools and 'street corner' contexts. Hewitt is able to examine the way racial attitudes and cultural allegiances are expressed in, and affected by, inter-racial friendships. White Talk Black Talk is a uniquely ethnographic account which places the use of black language forms in the speech of whites firmly in its social and political setting: integrating disciplines in a creative way, Hewitt sites a practical sociolinguistic study within a much wider and systematic sociological context of group interaction. This study will be of special interest within sociolinguistics, the sociology of race relations and of youth culture, and urban anthropology, but its rich and fascinating ethnographic detail will also make it of interest to the non-specialist. Recent Book Searches: ISBN-10/ISBN-13: 0299103803 / 978-0299103804 / The rhetoric of economics (Rhetoric of the human sciences) / Deirdre N McCloskey 0299105806 / 978-0299105808 / In Defense of Winters: The Poetry and Prose of Yvor Winters (Wisconsin Project on American Writers) / Terry Comito 0299107108 / 978-0299107109 / The Rise of the New York Intellectuals: Partisan Review and Its Circle, 1934-1945 (History of American Thought and Culture) / Terry A. Cooney 0299107302 / 978-0299107307 / Malinowski, Rivers, Benedict and Others: Essays on Culture and Personality (History of Anthropology) / 0299107809 / 978-0299107802 / The Making of English Reading Audiences, 1790-1832 / Jon P. Klancher 0299108643 / 978-0299108649 / The Ageless Self: Sources of Meaning in Late Life (Life Course Studies) / Sharon R. Kaufman 0299109143 / 978-0299109141 / Neither Black Nor White: Slavery and Race Relations in Brazil and the United States / Carl Degler 0299109348 / 978-0299109349 / Reflections on History and Historians / Theodore S. Hamerow 0299110206 / 978-0299110208 / The Rhetoric of the Human Sciences: Language and Argument in Scholarship and Public Affairs (Rhetoric of Human Sciences) / John S. Nelson, Allan Megill 0525455930 / 978-0525455936 / Ben's Christmas Carol / Toby Forward B000LZK2IY / Sweet Was the Song Ben Shahn Hardcover 1965 Old English Christmas Carol / Ben Shahn B004J4X8IE / The Good Books: The Ultimate Collection of Classic Christian Literature Including Paradise Lost, Dante, Mark Twain, Pilgrim's Progress, Dr. Faustus, Ben-Hur, ... George MacDonald, A Christmas Carol & More / Washington Irving, Christopher Marlowe, Dante Alighieri, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Lew Wallace, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, John Milton B002JQ82XK / Focus on the Family Radio Theatre: The Classics Collection - Les Miserables; Ben-Hur; A Christmas Carol; Silas Marner; Billy Budd, Sailor / Focus on the Family B0000CX439 / A Christmas Carol, composed [i. e. written] by Ben Jonson and set to music for one or more voices / Henry East Havergal B0000CUH6E / Hymn on the Nativity ... A Christmas Carol, by Ben Jonson / Henry Bird Collins B0000D0FBL / A Hymn on the Nativity of my Saviour. Christmas Carol. Words by Ben Jonson / Sydney Hugo Nicholson B0000CX256 / I sing the Birth was born Tonight. A Christmas Carol, the words by Ben Jonson,etc (The Musical Times) / Basil Harwood B009CEXQJW / World's Best Reading, 28-Book Set: (Doctor Zhivago; The innocents Abroad; Kidnapped; A Christmas Carol; David Copperfield; Moby Dick; Anne of Green Gables; The House of Seven Gables; The Sea Wolf; The Adventures of Robin Hood; The Prince and the Pauper; The Song of Hiawatha; Kim, Ben-Hur; The Celebrated Jumping Frog; Life on the Mississippi; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; A Passage to India; The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes; The Return of Sherlock Holmes; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; The Virginian; Tales of Suspense; The Old Curosity Shop; A Journey to the Center of the Earth; Twenty Leagues Under the Sea; Silas Marner) / Reader's Digest B002BUBCQI / Little Sewickley Creek Nature Trail Field Manual / N/A 1442611561 / 978-1442611566 / The Social Innovation University: How Community University Partnerships can Strengthen Local Economies & Generate Good Jobs for Canadians / Edward T. Jackson 1444431560 / 978-1444431568 / The Eve of the French Revolution / J. (Edward Jackson) Edward 1556052200 / 978-1556052200 / Images of Black Men in Black Women Writers 1950-1990 / Edward Mercia Jackson 3642641636 / 978-3642641633 / Molecular Imaging in Oncology: PET, MRI, and MRS / E. Edmund Kim, Edward F. Jackson B005GY2WRE / The fundamental words of the Greek language, adapted to the memory of the student by means of derivations and derivatives, passages from the classical writers, and other associations / Francis Edward Jackson Valpy B005H3IOJE / Whittaker's improved edition of Valpy's Gradus Ad Parnassum: Greatly amended and enl. with many thousand new articles / Francis Edward Jackson Valpy B005HIF7JE / Conduct as a fine art: The laws of daily conduct / Edward Payson, . Jackson B009KDO8M4 / Greek Exercises; Or, an Introduction to Greek Composition ...: To Which Specimens of the Greek Dialects, and the Critical Canons of Dawes and Poron Are Added / Richard Porson, Richard Dawes, Francis Edward Jackson Valpy, J M. Cainrs B009LQ9H7G / The Fundamental Words of the Greek Language: Adapted to the Memory of the Student by Means of Derivations and Derivatives, Passages from the Classical Writers, and Other Associations / Francis Edward Jackson Valpy B00A5L1QWA / A Mathematical Geography: With a Supplement Containing an Outline of Astronomy, and a Manual for the Stellar Tellurian, Designed for Common Schools / Edward Payson Jackson 0916101789 / 978-0916101787 / Andrea Pozzo and Video Art (Early Modern Catholicism and Visual Arts) / Felix Burda-Stengel The goal of this website is to help shoppers compare book prices from different vendors / sellers and find cheap books and cheap college textbooks. Many discount books and discount text books are put on sale by discounted book retailers and discount bookstores everyday. All you need to do is to search and find them. This site also provides many book links to some major bookstores for book details and book coupons. But be sure not quickly jump into any bookstore site to buy. Always click "Compare Price" button to compare prices first. You would be happy that how much you would save by doing book price comparison. Buy Used Books and Used Textbooks It's becoming more and more popular to buy used books and used textbooks among college students for saving. Different second hand books from different sellers may have different conditions. Make sure to check used book condition from the seller's description. Also many book marketplaces put books for sale from small bookstores and individual sellers. Make sure to check store review for seller's reputation if possible. If you are in a hurry to get a book or textbook for your class, you should choose buying new books for prompt shipping. Buy Books from Foreign Country Our goal is to quickly find the cheapest books and college textbooks for you, both new and used, from a large number of bookstores worldwide. Currently our book search engines fetch book prices from US, Canada, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Netherlands, France, Ireland, Germany, and Japan. More bookstores from other countries will be added soon. Before buying from a foreign book store or book shop, be sure to check the shipping options. It's not unusual that shipping could take two to three weeks and cost could be multiple of a domestic shipping charge. Please visit Help Page for Questions regarding ISBN / ISBN-10 / ISBN10, ISBN-13 / ISBN13, EAN / EAN-13, and Amazon	<urn:uuid:de273e7b-ed73-40f5-9f62-963114520db9>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.alldiscountbooks.net/_0521338247_i_.html	2015-03-29T23:29:08Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298755.8/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00152-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.805307	2,011
976-EVIL (1989) * It’s been a long time since I’ve had occasion to watch late-night broadcast television— do they even have 976 numbers anymore? I assume the phone sex industry is still going strong (in fact, I know a girl who used to work as an operator for one such enterprise), but I have a hard time imagining how the 976 prefix specifically could have survived the transition to nearly universal ten-digit dialing. In the late 80’s, though, most companies dedicated to parting you from your money at extortionate telephone billing rates used those three digits as their calling card. Nor was it just phone sex in those days. While middle-aged housewives posing as teenaged nymphets and talking dirty to lonely, horny men were naturally the primary business model, other 976 numbers offered astrological readings, live consultations with supposed psychics, and the occasional oddball service like 976-DEAD’s bizarre promise to put you in touch with actual flesh-eating zombies. There were a couple of other horror-themed phone lines, too, and I rather suspect that 976-EVIL owes its existence to screenwriters Rhet Topham and Brian Helgeland seeing a commercial for one of them, and having approximately the same “What the fuck?!” reaction as I did. I mean, just what would the Powers of Ultimate Darkness have to say to you that might be worth two dollars for the first minute, 95 cents each additional minute? Unfortunately, it turns out Topham and Helgeland have nothing to say to us that was worth $6.50 at the box office in 1989, or even $3.15 for a present-day rental fee. We start off with a guy running all over town in the dead of night, fleeing from insistently ringing telephones. Yeah, it’s about as scary as that sounds. Eventually, the man finds himself in a blind alley with a pay phone booth at the far end. Naturally, the phone starts ringing the instant he lays eyes on it, only this time we notice that the ring tone has been electronically filtered and distorted— either that, or they’ve hired Mercedes McCambridge to dub the ring tone’s dialogue. The man reluctantly picks up the handset, and the phone booth explodes into a gigantic ball of hellfire. Believe it or not, that’s far from being the dumbest thing that will happen between one set of credits and the other. Elsewhere, Leonard Wilmouth (Patrick O’Bryan, from Relentless and the 80’s TV remake of I Saw What You Did)— known to his friends as Spike— is playing poker with Marcus (J. J. Cohen), Jeff (Darren E. Burrows, from Natural Selection and Class of 1999), Rags (Jim Thiebaud), and Airhead (Gunther Jensen) in the projection room of the movie theater where Marcus apparently works. Spike is tapped out, but he can’t resist the temptation to play one more hand; Marcus (who is winning big-time) talks him into anteing up with the title to his restored 1948 Harley Davidson. Marcus wins this hand, too, and tells Spike to bring the papers for the bike with him to school tomorrow. Spike says he’ll do so only in the event that he is unable to come up with the equivalent sum in cash by then. (And with this, we ascertain that nobody involved in 976-EVIL’s creation has the faintest clue what the going rate for a restored vintage motorcycle might be.) Now it just so happens that Spike is, in a sense, a pretty well-off young man. His late mother left him a respectable amount of money in her will, but the funds are held in trust by his shallowly albeit noisily religious Aunt Lucy (Sandy Dennis, of God Told Me To and Parents), who openly regards Spike’s inheritance as hers to spend until he turns 21. The obvious solution to the boy’s present debt problem would be to swing by his aunt’s house and raid the necessary sum from his bequest (which Lucy keeps hidden in one of the kitchen cabinets, of all places), but Spike doesn’t initially think of that. Instead, it crosses his mind only after he calls the 976 number on an advertising insert that falls out of the magazine he sat down to read after returning home to the apartment he has apparently converted from his aunt’s garage. The ad insert offers “horrorscopes” from the King of All Darkness; I confess that I can’t see the appeal in such a service, nor can I see any reason why Spike would not merely call it, but also take its cryptic advice to heart as an exhortation to dip into his inheritance money. Regardless, that is exactly what he does. Aunt Lucy catches him in the act, however, but the ensuing confrontation is cut short when fish begin raining from the sky. Apparently we’re supposed to take it for a miracle just like Lucy does, and accept it uncritically when she’s too distracted by the falling fish to continue scolding her nephew. We’ll hear a great deal about the curious incident throughout the next hour or so, but it never amounts to anything beyond one of 976-EVIL’s more glaring loose ends. Marcus is not happy to see Spike handing him a wad of cash instead of the deed to an antique Harley when the latter boy catches up to the former in the bathroom at school the next morning. Spike, for his part, is not happy to see Jeff and Rags roughing up Lucy’s socially retarded son, Hoax (Fright Night’s Stephen Geoffreys, seen here on the very eve of his transformation into gay porn star Sam Ritter), when he goes to hand over the money. Spike pummels all three of Marcus’s cretinous cronies (Airhead foolishly intervenes in his friends’ defense), and drags Hoax to safety. It now becomes plainly apparent that Hoax idolizes his older, worldlier cousin, and would make himself over in Spike’s image if only Lucy would let him and if only he knew how. This desire for emulation extends even to Spike’s girlfriend, Suzie (Lezlie Deane, of Girlfriend from Hell and Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare), on whom Hoax has an enormous crush. Spike seems to think it’s more or less harmless when his cousin does things like spying on him and Suzie having sex (Hoax’s bedroom window lines up nicely with that of Spike’s garage apartment, and his telescope enables him to observe every sweaty detail), but that seems rather overly optimistic to me. Meanwhile, a private detective named Marty Palmer (Jim Metzler, from Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest and Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat) comes to town, posing as a reporter for Modern Miracle magazine— or maybe a Modern Miracle reporter named Marty Palmer comes to town posing as a private detective. Since neither of the pretexts Palmer offers makes any sense in light of his actual behavior, and since nothing he does has any impact on the story anyway, it’s sort of hard to say what his deal really is. In any event, his first stop is Lucy’s house, where he apparently interviews her on the subject of last night’s rain of fish. Then he goes looking for Spike, with whom he catches up just in time to save him from the consequences of disregarding a piece of advice from 976-EVIL. Spike, you see, has been tempted by a pair of leather gloves he can’t quite afford. He calls the number from a phone booth across the street from the shop in which he found them, and— gee, go figure— the operator at 976-EVIL recommends that he steal the gloves. Spike has known the proprietor for many years, though, and while they aren’t exactly friends, they certainly do have a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Spike overcomes his temptation, and almost immediately thereafter is nearly run over by a Camaro with windows so heavily tinted as to be almost opaque. (Like so much else in 976-EVIL, the demonic Camaro is a one-shot plot device that never goes anywhere.) Palmer sees the car coming, and manages to push the boy to safety at the last possible second. That doesn’t mean Spike wants to talk about fish falling from the sky, however. He’s late enough for his date with Suzie as it is. It’s going to be a very bad night for Suzie, as it happens. Spike, like I said, is way late in meeting her, and whatever the two of them had planned gets sidetracked when they drive by Marcus’s movie theater, and Spike gets a lucky feeling. He leaves the girl outside to wait while he goes up to the projection room to reclaim from Marcus and his boys every penny they’ve ever won from him in their periodic poker games. And of substantially greater importance, Hoax back home goes snooping around in his cousin’s room and finds both the 976-EVIL ad and the pair of panties Suzie left behind the last time she came over. Hoax, too, unaccountably calls the number, and is told that he’ll meet the “girl of his dreams” if he goes to the movies tonight. Pocketing both the ad and the underwear, Hoax heads out to the theater, where he naturally encounters an extremely pissed-off Suzie out in front of the box office. Suzie decides to ditch Spike, and go get some pizza with Hoax instead. The two kids have a great time, but things turn sour when Marcus, Airhead, Rags, and Jeff put in an appearance at the pizzeria. They’re all in an exceedingly foul mood after the fleecing Spike just gave them, and they take it out on Hoax. Worse still, one of the bullies finds Suzie’s underpants in their victim’s back pocket, leading Suzie herself to reevaluate her perception of the boy. Hoax places another call to 976-EVIL once he finally drags himself home, and this time the operator fills him in on how to place a deadly curse on Suzie. Intoxicated with this first taste of power, Hoax happily hands over his soul in exchange for more of it, eventually transforming into an extremely unimpressive wise-cracking demon— picture the vampire version of Fright Night’s Evil Ed, crossbred with the latter-day Freddy Krueger. Of course, since they’ve already killed off our only sympathetic character, Topham and Helgeland must resort to introducing a new damsel in distress in the form of high school guidance counselor Angela Martinez (Maria Rubell). Angela inexplicably becomes involved in Marty Palmer’s increasingly unfocused investigation, giving Palmer some vague excuse to be present for the finale, when Hoax abducts her after Voorheesing his way through Marcus and his gang at school. You know your script is sorely in need of tightening up when the subplot concerning your top-billed actor is so poorly thought out and so flimsily attached to the rest of the film that a fairly experienced reviewer can think of no way to mention it in a 1500-word synopsis without losing the through-line of the story. That top-billed actor is Robert Picardo (The Howling, Legend), and his character, Mark Dark, is the proprietor of 976-EVIL’s parent company. Palmer meets up with him when he leaves off looking into the falling fish to go sniffing after the Satanic horoscope line for no apparent reason, and he exists solely in order to serve as the centerpiece of one of the most purely ritualistic twist endings I’ve ever seen. Although he appears to be nothing more than a smarmy and not terribly successful businessman when Palmer comes by the office to question him, the final scene reveals Dark to be— you’ll never guess— the Devil! It’s tired, it’s hackneyed, it’s drearily obvious, and worse than any of that, it doesn’t even affect anything. Not a single one of the characters ever figures out Dark’s secret identity, nor does it make any difference in terms of the main plot who or what Mark Dark, specifically, is. He could be the Devil, a devil-worshipper, or the Devil’s unwitting dupe, and it wouldn’t change the outcome of the Wilmouth boys’ story in the slightest. Either way, 976-EVIL is an automated soul-harvesting operation for hell, and either way, none of the protagonists see fit to try to do anything about it once the immediate problem of Hoax’s demonic possession has been addressed. Maybe I’m just a stuffy old grouch, but I really do think that a movie’s main villain ought to have something to do beyond showing up in the final scene to set up an undeserved sequel in which he isn’t even going to appear anyway. Of course, both Topham and Helgeland were novice screenwriters in 1989, their only previous credits being for Trick or Treat and A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master, respectively— both of them films with more loose ends than a fringed buckskin jacket. We probably shouldn’t have expected all that much of them anyway. And while I rather doubt it, I suppose it’s possible that a capable, experienced director might have managed to salvage something from their unfinished doodle of a script. Unfortunately, 976-EVIL’s director had even less experience than its writers did. This was Robert Englund’s first stab at directing a feature film, and it was justly also his last until 2007. Englund displays no recognizable style in 976-EVIL, and with a story so devoid of substance, style was the only chance this movie had. Instead, though, it looks and feels approximately like an unusually well-funded episode of the contemporary “Freddy’s Nightmares” TV series (for which Englund also directed a couple of times), enhanced, if you want to call it that, with some extra gore and a quick flash of Lezlie Deane’s breasts. That isn’t anywhere near enhancement enough, I’m afraid.	<urn:uuid:9be14508-16da-49a0-a9c9-fbbc1d620134>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.1000misspenthours.com/reviews/reviewsn-z/976-evil.htm	2015-03-31T15:30:22Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131300735.71/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172140-00268-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.966614	3,078
Newspaper Page Text S.ip and think (1f this a itlnne. ut waii t I l use I_ l best Iuainl that yoV can It y: I we vant i I soi[ y , I the I .I I int made. The Important Thing to You Is Who Made the Paint? I itl I t \, Iloy a con ern lbt, n the w rl oi ver. with re ur·iii e, anlal 'ai il itiies Ito k .now hoIi i nai l ai 1h'-" in. e-.Ianentl I)) Ir'o t , ti h .e ii I t make iaiitls I igh it ? YOur afegMotto is the - iiIn e anlt re lutltaliion of' the ia , ker the i rale PaWilliams Co.w Glass I over 53 years ll." kIlimv1, ill over the w rlbl, i altl you 'an aunk ,n its klip vin,: holv I,, lmake i lmint thal will \\ear. he c<ause it (I'<lltaills the le-s al umbing and liseed ctril. is to give 1buyers their mn1ey's worthl in every ( a'tli'le i 'urehased here. The Home of Good Hardware Mechanics' Fine Tools Plumbing and Electrical Phone 956-221 E. Park SAY YOU SAW IT IN BULLETINi Poynter's Cash Store 1854 IARRISON AVE. Wholesale to Consumer. S Io you realize that by buying tc your supplies each day in small a; quantities that your day's pay S goes little more than half as far p as it would it you bought the si Whole week's supply at one time? Call up Poynter's N _Wholesale-to-Consumer, Phone 1 6534-R, and'order your week's 10 lbs. granulated sugar (with $10 order) .............. $1.00 .00 lbs. cane sugar........$11.0()0 ,8 lbs. Montana's best hard wheat flour ......................$6.50 49 lbs. Montana's best hard wheat flour .....................$3.35 34 lbs. Montana's best hard Wheat flour ........... ... ....$1.75 5 lbs. M. J. B. coffee ........$2.23 1 lb. School Boy peanut but er .................................. 0c Pbhree packages Lux Washing Corn flakes, per pkg......lOc Shelled walnuts or almonds, per lb. .......................... ........85c 22 large bars brown laundry soap ............................. $1.00 Creamery butter, per lb.....60c WESTERN CASH MEAT 2410 Harvard Ave. has opened up for business. We handle but the best of everything and can please the most particu lar. Prices as low as elsewhere. Give us a trial order and you will Nerve, Blood and Skin Diseases. Dr. W. H. Haviland Rooms 2, 8 and 4, Baltimore 71 W. Park St., Butte, Mont. Office hours, 10 a. nm. to 8 p. m. rw qW s t Your r nances Will Not Permit You to Help Maintain In ndependent New spapen' in Any Other Way,You Can Help by Making Your Purchases of Dtiy Bulletin Adversers CAME ENDS LIFEK WITH BULLET i Well-Known Real Estate Dealer Shoots Self in Fit of Despondency. Body Is Found in Clothes Closet. Despondent, it is believed, over the death of hi:; wife to whom he was greatly attached, John B. Caiie, a well-known local real estate and in surance man, committed suicide sometime Sunday night or early yes terday morning, by shooting himself through the head with a high power rifle. Came's dead body was found i% lying on a pile of suitcases in a clothes closet in his room, 419 West Galena street yesterday. Mir. Came spent Saturday at hi: tnl office and apparently had given none of his friends or acquaintances any hint as to his intention to take his life. Hie was absent from his room all day Sunday, but is thought to have returned late at night without the attention of the other occupants of the house being attracted. Caine presumably loaded his rifle with one shell from a full box and then, standing facing the closet, to hayve put the muzzle in his mouth 51 and fired. Death is believed to have lte is survived by one brother. Mark I. Came; a sister, Mrs. Charles S. Passiiore of Butte, and another sister, Mrs. Gail Fogg of York, Pa. An inquest will probably be held within the next few days. thi GIRL ASKS O. CHANCE TO THAYEL "STRAIGHT" f Says Main Has No Right to or Drag Woman Down When tr She Desires and Tries to not Do Right. cot "Because a girl has fallen once. cda it isn't right that a man should keep a dragging her down," stated Maxine tl D)avis in police court yesterday, cat when telling of incidents that led upem to her arrest with William Amerin on charges of disturbing the peace. the Miss Davis said she had formerly an had improper relations with Amerin, agi but had left hime with the intention of "going straight." She said Amerin had been spreading evil stor icesabout herr and that Saturday she pla went to his home to take him to 5a1s thl for his allhgcd acts. It wa I, the :hi :.aid. that he beat and choked her fat and e'.jcItd hei' from" the1( i house. I Ai\e'rinl was fine(d $10 l andli Mis:;, Davis was fiined $35. mn SUES FI $2,500 t FOR WLELM SERWlVIES James T. Fitzpatrick, a Butte an- l torncy, is suing Nellie Eiiscnbauer, as the administratrix of the John 11. Saltes estate, for $2,500, which Fitz patrick claims is due him for legal He alleges in his complaint that Nellie Eisenbauer employed him int G 1916, agreeing to pay whatever the judgeo of the probate court might de cide was a prolper fee; that the judge afterward fixed the fee at $2,500, which plaintiff contends is a reason able one; but that the administratrix has refused to pay him the amount. The plaintiff in this action is rep- i resented by Peter Breen, Joseph R. hi Jackson, N. H. Itotering and J. A. N Geagon and Canning are attot neys for Nellie Eis;enbauer. 'Taking of 01 evidence is proceeding this aftr EAGLES TO SELECT hi SITE FOR NEW HOME 2 Miembers of the BIutte aerie of ' Eagles at a largely attended imeeting g last night unanimously decided to h select a site and erect a lodge hall 8 exclusively for the use of the Eagles. n SA special committee comiprising A. t' I . Cohenl, chairman; D)on B. Kin.ig. secretary; Jerry Sullivan, E. A. Sut- a ilivan, William Malloy, J.. E. McNal- a ly, \V. H. Maloney, Jack Turner, t James O'Flynn and Gus F"itchen, was applointed to select the Site. BIids have been asked from property owners with sites suitable for a lodge -hall to be presented to the secretary by next Thursday noon. LOOKING FOR WORK HARDER THAN ARMY Asserting that looking for work was a harder job than being a sol dier, Joseph Willing. who said he de serted three weeks ago friom an arm. post near Denver, yesterday pre sented himself at police headquar ters and asked that the army an thorities be notified that he was will iitfg and anxious to get back inti service. As the result of Willing'i 1 action Chief of Detectives Ed Mor rissey will fall into a reward of $5( offered by army authorities for tht return of all deserters. Bulletin Want Ads Get Results. Phone 52. ---itlNK IN INTEREST-SAVE NEWPORT NEWS SHIPYARDS FROM AIR LG . ll t\ ent g pior.aph of the shipyards at 'wport News, Va, iken f'mi tn -i rl ii. The view shows Imn-y of the transports and supply ,bllp whi'h have carried men and munitions between this country and France. SUVbIVOR SFECULATOH I Sues for $22,000. Alleges 1 Criminal Negligency of at Company Started Fire ° and Blocked Escape. 3a The suit of John Wirta, one of th the survivors of the Speculator mine vi disaster of 1917, is in court today br trying to collect $22,000 from the th North Butte Mining company and se from Norman Braley, superintendent of the properly. ca The complaint alleges that Wirta in was confined for 40 hours in the crosscut where lie was working be- h cause the passage way to the High Oi Ore mine had been blocked by con- fr crete bulkheads. It further states that the closing of the passage had not been brought to the attention of Wirta by his employers; that to consequently Wirta was allowed to tii work down in the mine, thinking a certain way of escape in time of danger was open, when, in fact, it be had been closed. And Wirta claims b3 that by reason of the company':; 1 carelessness in not informing its or employes of the closing of the pass- bi age, lie was trapped in the mine at of the time of the fire in the shaft. 1] lnd suffered there such injuries and at agonies that he has been ever since th e physical wreck. ca In fact, the contention of the plaintiff is to the effect that not only et the fire in the shaft. was due to care- le lessness of the company, but also the nt fatalities and humani suffering, re- a1 :lilting froum such a fire. It seems to be a case which will decide how in imlnly ways of egress a mine must aiS maintain for its employes in ordier in to itnsure a reasonable standard of or Dan M. Kelly is attorney for Nor man Braley and the North Butte. b Mlackel & Tyvand arc representing the plaintiff. di FOR TEACHERS' EXAMS Grade School Instructors Required to Attend Quiz By County Superintende ent Next Week. The chcl dles for teach.,rs-' exam inations to he hell niext w tee'k havI been annonlllced biy Sulperilntendent Nellie Small. All 'rubjects; for pro- l fessioinal certificates will Ib, given Satuirday. .1 tn 7, whoetn examinations . on school I::w :, rin-ipl"es of p.i.i hol t ogy and educational Ipsyc.iclogy will First ;grall:d questions on A lierican literature and physeit;l g! ograplhy will ibe on Friday, Jun' G, and on t Saturday shot'l m. nagenientl an(' t e(leitentllla"y l:'yc'bology will ibe given n The :'r('cond gralde subjec't: will hi give\' en 'Thurisdey end Friday, with ii histior, ci \ics. gra'ullnlar. theory ton( spelling on the first day and arit!, mncti., geography, reading, agricull ture and physiology on Friday. The county superintendent will I. assisted by 'Miss Margaret tlog, and ' Min s I). Gobbons in conductin AUDITORIUM GOES TO ARMY AND NAVY MEN At last Saturday night's meeting I of the library board, it was decided to withdraw the request for the use 1 of the upper floor of the library building, recently vacated by' thfe Red Cross. The library had wanted to make use of the who), building and it was at the instigation qf tlhe board that the city council ordered the upper floor vacated by the 11t" But the army and navy men. known now as the World War Veter ans, asked for it and came to an agreenment with new library board which contains a majority of nw memnbers, whereby the library's ap, plication for the upper floor wa, withdrawn in favor of the army antl Bulletin Boosters should patronize "SLIPPERY VULCH" A There i: an entortain ment entire- be ly out of the ordinary now going on oc at the Holland rink, where the L. O. ca O. M. No. 431 is staging a unique oil frontier night dance and joy festival th each night until Sunday, June 1. m1 This fun camp i:s called "Slippery th Gulch," and is proving a fun maker $1 that causes visitors to repeat their visit the following evening and tic bring their friends, thereby letting Cl them in on the "one best bet of t.e be "Slippery Gulch" is a realistic or camp that has been used by the mov- St ing picture studlios in Hollywood. P' Calif., and the Loyal Order of Moose have gone to a great expense in se caring this attraction, and, judging J1 from reports received from Portland. Ore., where this attraction played for 10 nights, in the municipal audi torium, before coming to Butte, the fun loving folks should have the time of hecir lives. ',.,c enteriong Holland rink one ch beholds a towr square, surrounded th by various storeg, banks, alusement pa places and a mammoth dance hall-- eo one end of the town is devoted to a th big gambling "joint," where millions to of "bucks" are won and lost nightly. la This feature is sure proving nighly BR attractive to the ladies, for they are th the best patrons of this part of the it Every one upon purchasing a tick et of admission is given the equiva lent in "fun currency," and as it is Yi not redeemable, one must spend it as quickly as possible. "Calamity Jane's dance hall comes in for a goodly share of the patron age, for Sielaff's orchestra is furnish ing the jazziest of jazz music, and one is almost forced to dance wheth er one wishes to or not. The floor of the Holland rink has been put in shape so that the most exacting will find it in excellent con- Ci dition for tripping the light fantastic. of On next Friday afternoon (Deco- w ration (lay) at 3:30 o'clock the fun Ii will start and run continuously until w midnight. This will give many an J. opportunity to visit the camp that m otherwise might not have the time hb during the eight nights. tl CAPTURE OF PETROIRAOl RY IHINKS REPORTED (Specie',l 1 nierd I'ro i s \Vire.) LonTon, Mily 27.--A Vihorg dis patch reported that Chinese. Lett. and Finnish troops hold Petrograd having o\verthrotn the soviet gov ernmenll t. A heavy bombardmlent fromi the sea is reported. apparently directed at Petrograd and l'ronstadL. ce Made Sawdust Valuable. 4 Not Illlany yeari's ago the sawdust ti that nccumulated each spring albout b the local mills was - nuisallle to the mill-owners. It wais in tlihe waiy, Somei of it was dlmped ilto the strenlrs andl lish were exterminatied, and some wars -'irven awl\ y to anyone who would make p ulse of it. And about the only use that S'ulllld he made of the sawdust was that i ri' packing for ice in the ice-houses. h The explanisiou of dairy farming g 1alted for iuore ice, and more ice called f ior more sawdust. The demand note- n 'i'd the mill-owners that the by-prod. t niit o Itheir mills, which they had been giving iaway and throwing away, had a c'omnlkrclal value. Sawdust Is now$ sold by the load. Nan-I cried like a baby during the lbain-ir don't believe It. You would have been put out if you had.-Judge. I 7 Alice seems very liberal in Yes, and very i lavish of them. . .IK IN INTEEST--SA\E-- ' B." KR[MEI- AND "ILR." OBWN, NOW Loeal Politician, Red Cross Head and. Printer. Pur- t chase Business of Paxson n & Rockefeller. r J. Bruce Kremer, Raymond Ruble c ,nd Trevor Bowen, it was announced " 'esterday, have purchased the drug " $id sundries businesses operated on d forth Main and West Park streets r' inde' the 'firm name of Paxson & n lockefeller and in the future will onduct the business. Trevor Dowen vill act as general manager. Announcement was made by Mr. h tockefeller that he intends to dis- y Bose of all his business interests and s' ,roperty in Butte and travel for a h ime until he decides upon a new lo ation for his business energies. S CIVIL SE[ ri E EXAMS t FOR CLERK AND CARRIER The United States civil service 0: ommission announces that an etam nation will be held at Butte (Mont.) 'ostoffice for clerk and carrier, June h 8, -1919, to establish an eligible ; egister from which selection may h e made to fill vacancies as they may Si ccur in the positions of clerk and i arrier at the Butte (Mont.) post- ii ffice. Age limits, 18 to 45 years on ji he date of the examination. Both pen and women will be admitted to his examination. Entrance salary, T 1,000 per annum. G .Application blanks and informa- w ion may be obtained by applying to s1 Tharles F. Williams, local secretary, oard of United States civil service W xaminers, Butte (Mont.) postoffice, t` ,r to the secretary, Eleventh United tates Civil Service district. 303 'ostoffice building, Seattle, Wash. h IOHN 0. AND FRIEND CONNY VISIT MISSOULA Missoula, May 27.-John D. Ryan, F hairman of the board of directors of he Anaconda Copper Mining com bany; President C. F. Kelly of the v ompany and John Gillis, manager of ti he Butte mines, made'a brief visit v o this city yesterday and visited the A arge lumber mill of the company at lonner, which is being rebuilt after he disastrous fire which destroyed F t several months ago. Mr. Ryan - ees a bright future for Western lonta na. The party returned to 3utte late in the day and Mr. Ryan s end Mr. Kelly will return to New a fork in about a week. TACOMA MAN CHARGED WITH KILLING BANKERS t Tacoma, Wash., May 27.-Albert lonway, assistant district attorney if New York, following a conference with Acting Gov. Louis F. Hart, an- 2 nounced that in his estimation there ( will be little difficulty in extraditing t I. B. Allan. wanted in New York for t murder and robbing a Brooklyn I bank. Mr. Conway is waiting for . the extradition papers from Governor t Smith of New York, and he expects $ to return to New York with Allan in his custody. Allan still declares c he had no hand in the Brooklyn c PLUMBING SHOP IN NAVY YARD ON FIRE (Special United Press Wire.) I Norfolk, Va., May 27.-Fire, ac- I companied by many explosions, is t raging in the plumbing shop of the Norfolk navy yards. The shop is 400 feet from the water and navy tugs are throwing streams on the NEW HANK IN FALILS. Great Falls, May 27.-Application for a charter from the treasury de partment for another national bank in Great Falls, which, if granted, will give the city its ninth banking institution, lhas been made by James 11. IRyan, president of the First Mort gage Loan company of this city, and four associates whose names have not been made public. The applica tion is made in the name of the Northern National bank of Great Falls, with an authorized capital of $100,000 and a provided surplus of Charged with kidnaping his child by his former wife, Antone Papich, a local miner, was arrested yester day and is being held by the local police for action by the authorities at Bozeman. Papich was divorced by his wife two years ago, the mother securing custody of the child. Papich was granted per mission to visit the child occasion ally, but was ordered not to take it away from its mother. WI.LL STAND BY SCOUTS. Members of the Rotary club have pledged themselves and their organ ization to stand behind the drive to i raise $10,000 for the yearly budget I of the Butte Boy Scouts. Announce- 1 ment of the fact was conveyed to a meeting of the executive committee of the Scouts held yesterday atter noon at which Deputy National Field Commipsioner Charles Miller of San Francisco was present. $100 reward will be paid to any noe proving we do not put in the est main spring for $1. Mayer, 37 orth Main street.-Adv. Carl Smith, in charge Of the Mon ana Power company's Jefferson val ey station at Parrot, is visiting in lutte and Tuesday announced the eceipt of an extended furlough in ffect until such time as he is dis harged. Mr. Smith was gassed vlille fighting with the U. S. marines a France and for that reason his ischarge has been delayed. He will esume his duties the first of the nonth at Pai'rot. You have got to clean and clear he bowels thoroughly to have good enlth after months of indoor life; ou would do so now if you could ee them as you do your face or ands. Hollister's Rocky Mountain 'ea cleans and clears as nothing else Lieut. A. J. Lavelle, nephew of ity Jailer Barney Lavelle, has re urned to Butte after being dis harged from the army. Lieut. La elle was a member of the Seventy eventh division for more than a ear in France. He was in the hateau Thierry drive and was later n duty with general headquarters. Keep the little ones healthy and appy. Their tender, sensative or ans require a cooling, healing. armless remedy to prepare their tomachs for summer's heat. Hol ister's Rocky Mountain Tea is ro [able and safe, thorough but not in Funeral services will be held 'hursday for the late Richard J. Gallivan, well-known mine carpenter S rho died Sunday night following a - troke of paralysis at his home, 605 Vest Galena street. The funeral rill be directed by Daly-Shea, under Keep the little ones healthy and [appy. Their tender, sensitive or ans require a cooling, healing, armless food and blood purifier to repare their stomachs for the sum ier's heat. Goat's milk is reconm nended by leading physicians for his purpose. It has no equal for ummer complaint. Goat's milk can ie secured from the Pierce & 3rocker ranch, Box 69, R. F. D. vo. 1, Butte, Montana.-Adv. The application of the Otis Ele ator company, a foreign corporktion, o do business in Montana was filed vith Clerk and Recorder Sam L. Dr. C. M. Eddy, dentist, 204-203 3ennsylvania block. Phone 4035-W. The weekly meeting of the district chool board will be held this eve ling at the high school. Washington Market. Ground bone, ( pounds for 25c.--Adv. SUITS l!E SETTLED IN DISTRICT COURT In the suit of S. P. Wright against \lfred L. O'Brien and Monia Ducie )'Brien, the defendants withdrew heir answer and acknowledged that hey owed the sum of $1,000. Judge Jwyer awarded plaintiff $1,207, which represents the principal, in ;rest of $107 and attorney's fee of The suit of W. P. Mitchell for lamages against the Butte, Anacon la and Pacific railroad was dis- - nissed as fully settled out of court. So, also, was a similar action brought by J. P. Kill. TOTEID ORATOR WILL TALK FOR IRELAND The Rev. Dr. J. G. Mythan, an Episcopal clergyman of Norfolk, Va., will speak in the high school audi torium on Sunday night on the right of the Irish people to freedom. Dr. Mythan is noted throughout the east as an orator. The Rev. Michael Mc Cormack will preside. FRENCH AVIATOR IS OUT OF RUNNING Casa Blanca, Morocco, May 26. ieutenant Roget, a French aviator who left Paris Saturday on the first leg of a projected trans-Atlantic flight by way of Dakar to Brazil, landed last night at at IKenitra, 30 kilometers from Rabat. His machine was damaged in landing and the trans-Atlantic trip will have to be AUTO SLEUTH HERE. C. J. McAllister, special agent of the secretary of state is in Butte for the purpose of apprehending all auto drivers who have neglected to apply to the secretary of state for license numbers for their machines. He stated that persons driving cars with out 1919 license tags on both the front and rear ends of the cars will be arrested and prosecuted. BOr SUFFERS INJURY. While engaged in playing "follow my leader," Iast evening, Jack Barne coat, 8-yea;-o!d son of Mr. and Mrs. J. D. Barnecoat, 605 West Park street, fell from the-roof of a porch and sustained a compound fracture of the bones in his iight arm. The boy was taken to Murray hospital tiis morning for an X-ray examina tion of his arm. Bulletin Want Ad4 Get Results. Phone 52. Pounds of Ice S. & H. Green Trading Stamps with all cash purchases and first payment on time purchases. Shiners, the only furniture store that gives stamps with pur taken at par in exchange FOR LESS ON EASIEST OF TERIYJ8 LY YOU SAW IT IN BULLETIN. Expert Watch Repairing Watch Cleaning, $1.50 Mainsprings - -$1.00 Both Guaranteed for One People's Theater Bldg. 40 E. PARK ST. 17 S. MAIN ST. Belier aid h)igg.er than ever. A cale for the workilg class. Give us a We Have Excellent Rooms in Connection A good home for the mine A Fine Room For $3.50 Center of the City 8am . and John .. Kogffql AY YOU SAW, IT IN BULLE.IN. or a (' .C el. ti1ble lasting j)leasure catll be secured( 73 East Park 8t. Fine line of wrist watche:, signet .iiigs, cut glass, vases aind jewelry of every description. Ylour latron The Finest in Butte MAX VITT, Proprietor. 205 W. Park-1l5 8. Main	<urn:uuid:ccd4e05c-1c4c-4ab8-b22c-9e731eb7803f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045085/1919-05-27/ed-1/seq-8/	2015-04-02T10:35:26Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.899211	6,795
More than three-quarters of respondents to this week’s RBJ Daily Report Snap Poll are opposed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Tax-Free NY proposal, which is intended to be a magnet for new jobs and businesses. The legislation—released last week and resubmitted Wednesday, with some changes, as START-UP NY—would allow eligible firms to pay no taxes for a decade if they locate at or near public and private colleges. To be eligible, a company would need to be a new business or one creating additional jobs. It also must be aligned with the academic mission of the university or college. A number of types of firms—including retail and wholesale businesses, firms providing financial services, and medical or dental practices—would not be eligible. The START-UP NY plan—short for SUNY Tax-free Areas to Revitalize and Transform UPstate New York—was passed Wednesday by both houses of the legislature. Other details in the legislation released last week include a provision that in years six to 10, employee wages over $200,000 would be taxed. Cuomo and other supporters of the measure say it is needed to boost the upstate economy and counteract New York’s reputation as a high-tax state. Critics say it would unfairly give preferential treatment to a relatively small group of businesses. Seventy-eight percent of Snap Poll respondents say they oppose the tax-free plan. Eighty-eight percent say that a small, broad-based tax cut would do more to boost the upstate economy. Roughly 590 readers participated in this week’s poll, which was conducted June 17 and 18 (before the legislation was reintroduced as START-UP NY). Do you support or oppose the Tax-Free NY plan? In your view, which of the following would do the most to boost the upstate economy? A small, broad-based tax cut: 88% The Tax-Free NY plan: 12% I believe this is unfair to local businesses in the area that do pay taxes. I do not see the benefit to our economy from this. We need programs that help small business, not benefit a few in a specialized area. —Kim Pandina, Panda Wear Taxation in New York is a shell game. The money has to come from somewhere. If you give one person or business a tax break, then someone else has to pick up the slack. A broad-based tax cut and reduction in the number of duplicative offices and functions within New York State government is needed. —Frances Reese, Reese Environmental Consulting This, like most of the governor’s proposals, is simply window dressing. If cutting business taxes creates jobs, why not cut all business taxes? And, while we’re at it, perhaps the governor should talk to employers about what is driving companies to move jobs to other states. Policies that overregulate and practices that favor labor rather than employers are driving companies away. We need real structural change, not window dressing. —John Calia, CEO coach I think the plan discriminates against existing small businesses that are struggling to grow in the tax-heavy environment and furthermore discriminates against service-oriented businesses like ours. —Joe Votava, CEO, Seneca Financial Advisors LLC A large, broad-based tax cut on all businesses in New York State. Look at Ontario, Canada, and then look at us. Lower corporate taxes have been the catalyst for their growth. I really can’t believe that I am agreeing with the unions that have been advertising against this, but it’s true. Showing favorites toward certain businesses vs. trying to lower taxes for everyone is wrong on so many levels. By the way, how will all of the current faculty and administrators on these campuses feel about paying income taxes when the business employees working next to them don’t have to? This is just another example of a Cuomo knee-jerk solution that has had no real thought put behind it. “A small, broad-based tax cut” sounds good on the surface, but in order for it to be small enough to afford, it would be too small to have any effect. The Tax-Free NY plan is theoretically revenue-neutral, since the only companies that will be exempted from taxes will be ones that wouldn’t have been paying taxes to New York anyway. —Matthew D. Wilson Another Cuomo gimmick. If you are really serious, then lower taxes for the businesses that are already here and encourage them to stay and expand! And achieve this by cutting the cost of government, and eliminate state regulations that drive up the cost of doing business in New York. Things like the Triborough Amendment, prevailing wage laws, unfair workers’ compensation law “courts,” unfunded mandates, etc. And where is that “transparency” he promised? Instead, we get scandal after scandal. —George Thomas, Ogden Just some more ridiculous government interference in the marketplace. How about a large broad-based tax cut? This is just another high publicity stunt to benefit a few. Fix the system so business in general has a chance. —Ed Jackson, retired I tentatively support it only for new technologies that wouldn’t compete with local taxpayers. Better would be a broad-based tax cut for all. —Mike Hennessy, Open Door Mission A concerted effort by our Legislature to reduce workers compensation, as well as a sweeping tax reform with reductions, would be a great start to address the issues faced by Upstate New York businesses. —S. DiCiaccio, Research Financial Group This is another example of Gov. Cuomo using political gimmicks rather than presenting real solutions. We have to stop wasteful spending. Start by consolidating school districts, police/sheriff departments and other government agencies. Attack New York’s issues as a whole, not in bits and pieces. In the long run, this just justifies more government to approve and monitor private projects. Seems more fair to reduce taxes across the board rather than giving a break to select groups. Cuomo’s plan will divide, as opposed to unite. —John Stapleton, Marathon Engineering I like the concept, but the plan as it is currently defined is overly generous. If Gov. Cuomo is so concerned about the (well-earned) reputation that New York is a high-tax state then, perhaps, he should lower the taxes. A good start would be to stop wasting tax dollars to advertise to New Yorkers about how great it is do business in New York. (If it's that good to start a business here, then he should be advertising in the Carolinas or in Texas.) The proposed tax-free zones will create yet another distortion in the economy that will benefit a few, with little or no benefit to the majority. The function of the government should be to create a stable environment and a level playing field where everyone can prosper. In reference to your survey, one of the options was "a small, broad-based tax cut.” Another option should have been "a large, overall tax cut." This program is just another way for politicians to reward donors or curry favor. If it makes sense that diminishing the tax confiscation burden on businesses and employees spur economic growth, then we should be doing it statewide. The masters of smoke and mirrors are at it again—the buzzwords are "lower taxes" and "economic growth." Set up to benefit politicians (donors for dollars) at taxpayer expense. Don't misunderstand me, I'm all for this tax break. I just think it should be statewide policy and not just a program. By the time we're done paying for union wages, pensions, benefits, school taxes, property taxes and sales tax, there isn't much left. Now we have to support business that the government deems worthy with our tax dollars. The blatant proposal of such an ignorant program is telling for how stupid and complacent the constituency of New York State have become. We are the enablers of graft and corruption when there are no consequences and programs like this see the light of day. It's a sad day when the incompetent set policy for the capable. Shame on everyone who doesn't exercise their right to vote. This is about as lame-brain an idea that a politician can dream up. How about getting the fraudulent politicians out of office, get rid of the "vote-getting programs" out of the system? This will automatically improve our ability to create jobs. —J.A. DePaolis, Penfield First we had urban development zones, then economic development zones, then Empire Zones, now Tax-Free NY zones. They don't work, they are rife with the kind of corruption Albany is known for, and they ignore the rest of the state that isn't part of the program. Cuomo is turning into such a huge disappointment—he had huge popularity two years ago and could have done so much for upstate's economy, but he's squandering it on these programs which are little more than fluff public relations moves. If he wants to create jobs here, he needs to create the conditions to encourage manufacturing, agriculture and energy development (drilling). The Tax-Free NY program will do nothing for any of those three industries, but it will create endless press conferences for Cuomo, Duffy and their subordinates. Tax-Free zones are NOT the answer. We need long broad-based tax cuts to increase employment and our tax base. We have many great small businesses, who employee fewer than 200 people, that are the backbone of our Upstate economy. Let us make sure these companies stay whole, so they can continue to grow in business. We need to limited their taxes and regulation. Locally owned companies return three times to local economy over what national owner companies. Support you locally own businesses! —Harold H. Ley, Appliance Associates of Buffalo and Stoney Point Business Consulting Sounds like snake oil. What could possibly go wrong? How many politicians will we need to administer this program? The beneficiaries won't pay the tax to pay them. Instead of half-baked ideas about drawing business in, how about keeping the rest of us from leaving? Less tax for them, more tax for me. I don't think so. How about less tax for everyone? There's an idea that just might stimulate economic growth. Not big enough to make a difference with all the extra rules. Heck even the “having to be on campuses” was too much of a rule. Until such programs include follow-up and accountability, trading tax revenue for "anticipated job growth" has not been and is not a viable economic model. The proposed program is a slap in the face to all businesses currently operating in and paying taxes to New York. Where is the relief for us? —Gene Tonucci, Allen-Bailey Tag & Label Inc. People that have maintained businesses in New York would not benefit from a tax-free plan so after all these years of support—why would they even consider staying in New York. Albany should go on a fiscal diet and lose the bloat that exists. —Eric Muench, president, Genesistems Inc. What a joke, maybe I'll move so my employees won't have to pay state income tax just like Texas where Cuomo is recruiting companies to no avail. What a draw for recruiting new employees. No wonder his approval rating is 50 percent. —Daniel Mossien, architect A small, broad-based tax cut MUST be accompanied by an across-the-board spending cut at all levels of government in New York. —Lester Wilson, Syracuse Why not just cut the state corporate tax rate to zero across the board? If it is a good idea for a select group of businesses wouldn't be a good idea for all businesses? The tax revenue lost by cutting the state corporate tax rate to zero for all businesses would be made up many times over by more workers and companies paying more sales tax, property tax, personal income tax, utility tax and all the other taxes levied in our state. —Doug Lyon, Lyon Capital Management The title is totally misleading. It is a tax shift from most to a favored few. It is not the state's job to pick winners and losers. It is simply another Cuomo scheme to claim credit for tax cuts to a favored few. —Jim W. Bloomfield This entire "tax-free" plan from Cuomo stinks! Why should established companies who have been paying their "fair-share “of New York’s high taxes have to subsidize new companies, regardless of where they open or what they produce. It is amazing that this administration of Cuomo cannot grasp the big picture here: "Taxes are too damn high" for everyone! This is not the way to grow the economy in New York. Existing competing businesses would be put at a disadvantage if these new companies were given unfair tax breaks. Even if these companies were aligned with the academic mission of the university or college, they could come to Upstate New York, set up shop, make their profits—tax free, and leave within 10 years. How will that help our economically challenged state in the long-term? —Pete Deckman, president, Deckman Oil In 1973, I started selling electronics and computers across Upstate New York. My big customers were Kodak (50,000+ employees), GE / Schenectady (60,000+), GE / Syracuse, Utica, Auburn, Binghamton area (100,000+), Bethlehem Steel / Buffalo (20,000). Today Kodak has about 5,000 employees. Most all of the GE plants are gone. Bethlehem Steel is gone. Stromberg Carlson and Taylor Instruments and General Dynamics are all gone from Rochester. So Mr. Cuomo wants to continue the high-tax, overregulation policies that have done such a great job of driving out these evil large companies. He wants to continue a failed program that carves out small areas in out-of-the way college campuses to encourage small companies to replace the large companies. What a great, visionary leader! I could never understand why the union leaders in this state kept supporting the Democrat Party that so effectively destroyed all of those union jobs. More great leadership making New York State No. 1! —Dennis Ditch, Delta Square Inc. That does not sound fair to me! Everyone should pay their fair share! Meaningful across-the-board tax cuts will always stimulate growth. By leaving businesses and individuals more of their money, the result will be that they may invest, save and or spend more of their “profits” and wealth, thereby stimulating the economy. Of course by reducing taxes, governments must also curtail spending because government spending is the problem. We need to elect people into office who have as their main goal to reduce the cost of government. Targeted tax cuts only shift the burden over to others who like many private individuals cannot afford to pay more in taxes. Businesses will invest more in the long run if they are encouraged and allowed to save more of their profits—that means jobs may be created. Leave more people with more money in their pockets, and they may spend more, which drives demand, which producers (businesses) must meet and they make more profits which in the future will be used to build their businesses further. Ultimately, controlling government spending and broad across the board tax cuts will benefit everyone and thus boost not just the upstate economy but the state's economy. —Michael F. Kloppel, chairman, Ontario County Conservative Party, Canandaigua Cuomo's proposal is another built-in pork barrel. Those he wants to dole to, he will. And vice versa. He should stop micromanaging and causing further division, and get on with the job of governing a great state like it should be governed. Instead, he dreams up and even writes pet legislation himself. The SAFE Act is a farce; women's so-called Equality Act only further demeans us and ignores other oppressed. Tax-Free NY is one more misnomer crafted to sound good on future campaign literature. —Diane Harris, president, Hypotenuse Enterprises Inc. We believe that the government should not choose to give preferential treatment to any select group of businesses. This only serves to put those not included in a disadvantage. We should let the free market system choose winners and losers and not special government programs. —Ray Hutch, CEO, Synergy Global Solutions Having the tax-free businesses and employees here would by definition provide no additional state tax dollars from them. As a result, the expenses to support the new businesses and employees (to educate, provide police and fire protection, maintain roads, etc.) would be left to the localities, and there would be no state aid dollars available to help. If an employee from the new company were to be laid off, could (s)he collect New York State unemployment since none was paid in on his/her behalf? If so, then it would be funded by current businesses. In effect, supporting these businesses and their employees is similar to being another unfunded mandate. In Rochester, the UR is the largest employer. It makes sense to do whatever we can to both help universities grow and possibly provide jobs for recent graduates. The up-and-coming businesses are most likely to be technology- and medicine-based, as well as information systems. Giving businesses that are most likely to be the foundation of our future economy makes more economic sense that giving minute breaks to existing businesses. It's not perfect, but it is a step in the right direction. —Frank Orienter, Rochester The Tax-Free NY plan discriminates against existing businesses that don't get those benefits. It may very well force the competition out of the state, leaving the non taxpayers behind, a lose-lose situation. Reduced government spending and related reduced taxes is the way to go. It benefits everyone. Government attempting to micro-manage the Free Enterprise System? Sounds like a prescription for failure! —Tom Shea, Thomas P. Shea Agency Inc. Come on Albany! Taxes are just too high in New York. Address the core problem for business and individuals instead of creating yet another unenforceable tax loophole for a few. —Wayne Donner, Rush 6/21/13 (c) 2013 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or email [email protected].	<urn:uuid:d3e49447-52bf-4332-a871-a88484465725>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://mailto:%[email protected]/article.asp?aID=195255	2015-04-02T09:43:50Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.961479	3,852
HTC is getting back to basics: after starting a long One series over the past few years with One X, One S and One V, the manufacturer has presented its master smartphone at the start of 2013. With its minimalistic design and technological superiority, the flagship makes all if its predecessors look old-fashioned and teaches its competitors the meaning of fear. The HTC One ups the ante for the Android Champion league and its pros heavily outweigh its cons. When putting the challenger to the test, is this device as good in practice as we expect it to be? The naked truth will be revealed to you in today's hands-on test. - ✕No microSD slot HTC One Design & Build Quality HTC has put all hopes in one hand with its new flagship, the HTC One. It's been a losing battle for the Taiwanese company over the last little while as they experienced less than desirable sales, never really finding their way back to the road of success. This bad luck was fueled by many unfortunatly occurrences like oddly planned product politics and marketing decisions, bad support, missing and late updates, the list goes on. That's why it was crucial for HTC to finally have a bout of success. With the HTC One, the chances look good. Once you have the device in your hand, I admit it's hard to give back. Whether you are a Samsung hater or not, the thought of switching the sleek aluminum chassis for the shiny piece of plastic, the Galaxy S4, is not a pleasing thought. You can only really get a sense of how successful HTC is with its new cool device when you actually have the smartphone in your hand for the first time. It's uni-body's backside is made of luminescent aluminum, it has a display made from Gorilla Glass and is accented with white and black plastic. When combined, these give it a flattering look as it lies in the palm of my hand. Thanks to its slightly bent back, it sits perfectly in your hand. The coolness of the aluminum leaves an elegant impression; its weight gives it a stable sensation. The craftsmanship is impeccable, the pieces fit seamlessly together, free of rattling or moving pieces. The only hardware buttons are the volume control and the power button. Behind these hide infrared sensors that transform the device into a remote control. There are also very few openings. On top you have the earphone jack, underneath a microUSB slot, which doesn't flaw its otherwise sweet-looking exterior. The only feature, which bugs the HTC One's nearly perfect design, is the power button found on the top left side. This makes it impossible for left-handed people to activate the lock-screen using one hand only. Placing it on the side would have been friendlier for everyone. That being said, I don't have anything else to complain about in this category. HTC One Display The scratch-proof Gorilla Glass protects one of the best displays available on the market right now. Yet when comparing it to the Galaxy S4, it doesn't compete in terms of brightness. When placed next to the Sony Xperia Z and the LG Optimus G, the HTC One comes out a clear winner. The full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels) and the 4.7'' diagonal screen display result in a pixel density of 468ppi. This makes individual pixels disappear for the naked eye. The visual angle is also paramount; even when tilted it at the extreme horizontal perspectives, the display content is still quite recognizable. Unfortunately we couldn’t test out the readability in direct sunlight because of the constant snow and overcast state that Berlin is currently experiencing. HTC One Software HTC offers the One with Android 4.1.2 and as usually, the user interface Sense. The HTC One is the very first device, which offers the most recent version of Sense 5. It appears refreshingly cleaned up and serious compared to older versions. The company has made an effort in making its device look high-end and to offer the client not just an excellent device technology-wise, but also the attractive-looking whole package. Whether you keep Sense is a matter of taste. It's user-friendly and setting up its widgets, backgrounds and themes is can easily be carried out. The most important settings are found without any lengthy searching. Extra features like lock-screens, music, news-feed and picture gallery apps are also at your disposal. The launcher found under the display's edge is divided into four standard apps: telephone, messages, browser and camera. Changing or customizing them can be accomplished by going through another route. The advertized BlinkFeed, found on HTC One's home screen is also not quite what I had expected. It's a live-feed and an RSS-Reader in one and delivers non-stop news from Facebook, Twitter and/or your customized news sources. A few channels and categories are there by default and you're not able to add other sources. This way the user is assigned a few pre-selections chosen by HTC. BlinkFeed loses a lot of points because of this. What's more, the automatic synchronization is sometimes limited to WLAN connections, protecting your data from being completely milked. You can't actually completely suppress the BlinkFeed either, nor can you completely displace it on your phone. The help offered by HTC, which is at your service right when you purchase your first smartphone. There are several possibilities to transfer data from older devices with the HTC transfer program that is offered through Play Store. You can also configure your smartphone via web-setup to your PC, in order to open email accounts, choose backgrounds and install data. Another note-worthy feature is the audio-software BeatsAudio, an HTC standard. The manufacturer works with studio quality, which you can't actually hear using normal headphones. The sound is surprising and is produced by stereo speakers along with BoomSound software. Listening to music with HTC One is enjoyable, even with smartphone speakers. The sound comes out crisp and if you listen a little closer, you can even hear a bit of bass. The smartphone lets you enter words just like Swype, instead of typing them in. During my test, it worked quite well, only fudging up my words a few times when writing up an SMS or a WhatsApp message. I needed about five tries before it recognized the word ''joke''. After a while, you get the hang of it and then it goes smoothly. If you compare it to other devices though, the keyboards belonging to LG Optimus G or Sony Xperia P work much better. HTC One Performance HTC One is decked out with a Snapdragon 600 processor and a 2 GB memory. The quad-core chip from Qualcomm beats at 1.7 GHz, making it one of the fastest processors on the market, bestowing HTC One with a speed that lives up to expectation. The device and its navigation components run as fast as lightening, without any lag-time, freezing or other problems. Photo taking worked like a dream and my music was only paused for a second or two when snapping a few pics. With older versions, it was often the case that the music will pause when using the camera (or anything for that matter) and you need to manually start it up again. The HTC One allows you to comfortably snap pictures and listen to music uninterrupted. Normal usage will lead to a device warming up, making it the perfect hand warmer for those especially colder temperatures. However it's expected that high-end smartphones remain cool. But when it comes to performance, the HTC One is a real powerhouse as you can see in our Quadrant and AnTuTu tests. HTC One Camera At the heart of HTC One's many great features lies the camera. The company has ventured in a whole new direction with its ultra-pixel technology and has presented a one of a kind camera for its smartphone. Instead of simply stagnating with the normal 13 MP that most of the other sought-after smartphones have, it dives right into using a 4 MP sensor. What's achieved are bigger pixels that supposedly capture more light, reduce image noise and improve the overall quality. This isn't just a theoretical enhancement, it worked when put into practice too. The results were fantastic and were even more impressive on a computer screen. On the other hand, I was left with another impression when it came to the automatic mode, which was tested while comparing the camera along with other high-end devices(Galaxy S3 and Xperia Z). The colors fell flat, especially when there was little light. Perhaps the reason for this is that HTC optimized its camera software for the production of smoother pictures with less saturation and color noise. When zooming in, it looks as if the image has been flattened out. The details in zoomed-out pictures don't look very good; close-ups are more acute and detailed. Honestly, I'm being a little nit-picky since HTC One has clearly completed leaps and bounds when comparing it to other devices. I wasn't able to prove its promised 300% more light during our testing. Even the front camera can take HDR pictures, though the results are less than promising. The front lens is impressive with its wide-angle and high representational quality. Using the panorama function was a blast. In my first test, I simply turned around on one spot, which then resulted in a good quality, awesome 360º picture. HTC Zoe is yet another nice feature, whose software amalgamates multiple pictures and short videos into small clips. These can then be shared on any of your social networks. You'll have to activate the Zoe function in the camera menu in order to accompany a photo with a three second long clip with sound. HTC One Battery HTC One has a built-in, non-removable battery with 2300 mAh, which doesn't do much to set it apart from its competitors. Its capacity is more than sufficient for day-long usage, however when I tested it out for the first time, it didn't leave a very good impression. After about seven hours, the battery was almost completely milked. This also had to do with the fact that I was heavily using it to sync all of my data from my older device, listen to music, take test pictures and set up Facebook email and Twitter accounts. This tuckered the poor lil guy right out! On the other hand, when I used the device as someone would on any normal day, it was more than promising. Throughout the day I used it for music, mobile internet (emails, Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter), Google Maps with GPS, about 10 minutes of photo taking and four calls lasting from 3 to 5 minutes. Once I got home, the device was in desperate need of power. Its energy saving plan lets you scrape a few more minutes out of the remaining power reserves. All in all, its battery performance did well, but I wouldn't compliment it too much for its endurance. HTC One Technical Specifications With the ONE, HTC decked it out with all the bells ans whistles, making it one of the best available on the market. The 4.7'' display offers a impressive pixel density, the Snapdragon S600 processor with the software creates a powerful combination and the camera is one of the best android cameras of the moment. HTC has created a classy device with its new flagship, launching the manufacturer out from Samsung's shadows. Along with its first class hardware, HTC made some crucial decisions. For one, the design is distinct and sophisticated with a luxurious look and feel. The display makes for some eye-popping visuals with its 468 ppi, one of the highest resolutions at the moment. The device could even be an Apple relative; its aluminum chassis is reminiscent of the look and feel that Apple Macbook Pro exudes. In comparison to other top-notch devices, the stereo speakers' sound optimized rocking-out music. The camera is a shutter-bug's dream with stress-free picture-taking, even though the final results weren't as good as promised. The HTC Sense overview has a styled and cleaned-up look and goes well with the phone's exterior. A downside for me was the BlinkFeed, which isn't for everyone. HTC offers the whole package and leaves little room for complaints. It easily takes a stand as a worthy competitor against the Samsung Galaxy S4. Lastly, the cultivated HTC has claimed a title of underdog in that it has ventured away from the mainstream. It's the smartphone for the high-maintenance user, who wants something extra, something that not everyone has. Yes indeed, HTC One is definitely something else and has arrived just in time. Whether it remains a niche product or explodes into the mass market is yet unknown. The answer will be revealed when it finally rolls out in the coming weeks (some are luckier than others and will get the device sooner. Others like North America will have to wait.) It's more than possible that the Taiwanese company, with the HTC One, will climb its way back to the top.	<urn:uuid:67953867-983d-4414-a813-e0285f270320>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.androidpit.com/htc-one-test-the-new-android-superhero	2015-04-02T09:56:38Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.96006	2,691
By Eugene Hernandez \| Indiewire December 7, 2009 at 4:51AM December 7, 2009, New York, NY -- Film festivals are changing. To get a better sense of how they are changing, keep a close eye on three leading American events: Sundance, SXSW and Tribeca. Also, watch the moves of a new crop of filmmakers who are hitting the fest circuit in 2010. New Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper piqued my interest in the shifting role of fests during a telephone conversation last week ahead of the announcement of the 2010 Sundance lineup. He said plainly something that a lot of festivals and filmmakers have been grappling with over the past year, "Film festivals themsleves [will] become part of a distribution strategy for a film. That's what's coming. It's right around the corner." "We are going to see, in the future, a lot of films leaping into distribution right from the festival platform," Copper stated, "If not during the festival then the day after -- it's going to happen this year." Sundance is expanding its event into eight other cities for one night next month, but taking a wait and see approach on distribution initiatives. Meanwhile other festivals -- namely SXSW and Tribeca -- are aiming to blaze some new trails. Over the past fifteen years, film festivals have been an important stepping stone for filmmakers seeking distribution. Hire a rep, take your film to a festival and (hopefully) sell it to a distribution company for a release six months to a year later. That approach generally works best for bigger films with name actors or high concept loglines. But, just a few companies are acquiring movies on the festival circuit right now. So, what about striking new work from emerging directors that is discovered at a fest but may not have the obvious hooks that attract traditional buyers? 12.04.08: A Letter to Filmmakers, Whether or Not You Got Into Sundance Back in 2007, just a week after the end of the Sundance Film Festival, I was at dinner alongside the directors of a pair of the most acclaimed films at that recent fest. Two of the most talked about movies at Sundance that year. As excited as they were about the success they found with both critics and audiences alike in Park City, the duo were concerned about the distribution prospects for their films. Even then they asked me, why couldn't they just immediately take their movies to Apple's iTunes store to get them out and start capitalizing on the attenion that had been generated by their new movies? Today, even as sales reps continue to compete this week to sign a new crop of Sundance movies, filmmakers are pondering alternate solutions. Directors and producers are wondering how to immediately make the most of success at a large festval, what to do if they go there and their film doesn't become an immediate "hit" and how to strategize a film that didn't get into the festival in the first place. With 113 feature films invited to screen at the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, from more than 3,700 that were submitted, the cycle begins again but with new approaches being considered. The recent success of Lee Daniels' "Precious" from Sundance '09 and Oren Peli's "Paranormal Activity" from Slamdance '08 has raised the expectations of some going into Park City this year, while the ongoing impact of the economic crisis has caused concern among many others. "There will be sales at Sundance," a high-profile film seller assured me over breakfast last week, hours before the Sundance Film Festival lineup was announced. But, the insider predicted, big deals will mainly follow a select group of higher profile movies. Smaller films from emerging filmmakers, the movies that are often the most interesting ones to come from festivals like Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca and others, will instead have to puruse a so-called "self-publishing" approach to find an audience and monetize their movie, this person said. Filmmakers will have to drive their own distribution, the respected insider reiterated. So, with the Sundance 2010 lineup out in the open, established and emerging filmmakers alike are left to explore what happens next. This year it will be interesting to watch how festivals structure themselves as potential outlets for filmmakers who are hoping to immediately make the most of their movies in the marketplace. And how, if at all, the traditional distribution community responds. An emerging move that has industry folks buzzing is a push by Tribeca Enterprises to position itself in the role of some sort of distributor of movies. Tribeca is looking to secure a crop of new films -- as many as ten, according to some insiders -- to release them in conjunction with their Spring festival in New York City and beyond. Tribeca insiders are committed to changing the current model, but are not yet ready to talk about plans that are understood to be evolving as they talk with filmmakers and the industry. Observers will certainly be tracking how the formative plans develop. Meanwhile, a partnership earlier this year between SXSW and IFC Films brought five festival titles to IFC's VOD platform during the festival, including the day-and-date world premiere of Joe Swanberg's "Nights and Weekends" on cable television at the same time that the movie debuted at SXSW. Similarly, SnagFilms debuted "The Least of These" online concurrent with its world premiere. Given the overlapping film and Internet events that take place at SXSW, the event would seem well positioned. "Conversations are getting louder about how festivals can and should aggressively help filmmakers use new technologies to reach a broader audience," new SXSW festival producer Janet Pierson said at the time. Nearly a year later, those conversations have intensified. Yesterday, Pierson told me that she has no interest in turning her festival into a film distribution company, yet she said the festival would follow filmmakers' leads and work with them to connect their films with audiences. Talks are underway now as SXSW planners work to finalize their 2010 lineup. Longtime Sundance chief Geoff Gilmore anticipated this activity last year in a first person article for indieWIRE as the festival got underway in January, asking, "Can festivals keep their integrity and even expand their meaningfulness to a range of constituencies? As they move into the future, will cyberspace and other forms of outreach (broadcast, cable etc.) become more a part of festival events in the same way of most sporting events? Will new forms of media become a part of so-called film festivals?" And just a month later, talking with indieWIRE in the wake of his announcement that he would be leaving the Sundance Institute for Tribeca Enterprises, Gilmore said, "We have to look at what festivals are going to be and we have to look at how that is going to evolve." "What Tribeca Enterprises is going to do is be involved in setting up a new paradigm," Gilmore explained at the time, "The ways that festivals become platforms for new enterprises." In Las Vegas today and tomorrow, festival organizers from around the country are gathering for the annual Film Festival Summit. My colleague Anne Thompson will be moderating a conversation today scrutinizing current and emerging festival models. I look forward to hearing more. What do you think? PREVIOUS WEEKLY COLUMNS: 11.30.09: Paris, City of Cinema (or, In Bed with Agnes) \|11.23.09: Frederick Wiseman = The Greatest \| 11.16.09: For The Love of Movies \| 11.09.09: Building Buzz \| 11.02.09: I want it like I wrote it. \| 10.26.09: “Precious,” $1 Million or $100 Million? \| 10.12.09: Critics (still) Matter \| 10.05.09: Is There a Doctor in the House? \| 09.28.09: The Indie Summit \| 09.21.09: The Oscar Marathon \| 09.14.09: DIY v. DIWO \| 09.08.09: SPC v. IFC \| 08.30.09: Saving Cinema \| 08.23.09: Nadie Sabe Nada \| 08.16.09: Movies, Now More Than Ever \| 08.09.09: It Came From The 80s	<urn:uuid:0412deef-609c-4945-9607-7d5a6e6d6560>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.indiewire.com/article/eugene_hernandez_the_future_of_festivals	2015-04-02T09:56:20Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.965996	1,727
Why's that? I personally didn't enjoy having to fight everything everywhere in pre-BC, for me flying mounts were a natural successor to ground mounts, the only mistake is not having made interesting aerial combat for them to respect their Gryphon Rider Warcraft 2 roots. Doing Isle of Thunder dailies reminds me how much I hated ground mounts only, not to mention leveling any alts in pandaria after you've experienced the lore and environments once on your main. At least in WOTLK they had the decency to give us those tomes to learn to fly at 80. I think it was Mike Morhaime (or another high ranking Blizzard employee) who did an interview (i think for the financial press) back in Wrath where he admitted that only around 50% of Wow subsciptions login more than once per month. He went on to say its a concern for Blizzard and they want to encourage those players to login more. Thats a fukking hell of alot of inactive accounts which r paying cash to Blizzard every month. So basically at any one time around 50% of Blizzard subs r actually logging in more than once per month... the other 50% dont login but they still pay their monthly subs. This is no different to games like GW2. Sure not everyone who bought GW2 logs in regularly... but drum roll that was exactly how the game was designed to be! shock horror face! Basically Blizzard does not release how many people login every month and nor does GW2... its the same. GW2 shows how many unit sales they made and Wow shows how many monthly subscriptions is has. You know what is really sad about threads like this? The exact same people that dislike WoW and those that like WoW flock to it and regurgitate the exact same nonsense back and forth for the Nth time. OT: Overall, retail sails are down but digital sales are up. That is fairly common knowledge these days. As for WoW subs declining, there are a multitude of reasons. It's old, people have moved on, people don't have the cash for it, people dislike it.... and so on... Nothing has ruined WoW but the community itself. Not flying mounts, not RBGs, not dailies, not LFD or even LFR. The players. Tell me about server rep all you like but the fact is that it was an illusion. You were simply in a friendly guild and knew a few other people on the server. But of course, this has to be exaggerated to make a point. Flying mounts actually increase immersion (imo, it's flying on dragons in a fantasy game... immersion). World PvP? It died when Battlegrounds were introduced. Instead, it's players trying to dictate how people have fun, trying to remove content for people they deem less than themselves, trying to claim their blatant nostalgia proves the game was always better at this exact time and any other opinion is just wrong. Players are also trying to exclude others from content (hell thread asking to stagger LFR tiers by 6 months) and it's the attitude players take with each other that harms the game more than anything else. Stop beating the same old dead horses and just leave them be. Either play the game if you still enjoy it or move on from the game if you dislike it so much that you have to argue with random people on the internet. My only comment will be that WoW is an old game, and if anybody is expecting it to continue growing or maintain its peak, then you're fairly delusional. Of course its going to start dropping off, especially when "its the same old shit" every expansion. They do a FANTASTIC job, don't get me wrong, but its still the same game no matter what sword the boss is holding or what color the dungeon is, nobody is going to play forever and there are many other games now to consider playing than WoW for newcomers to the market. WoW originated as a cutting edge MMO, it is no longer and will continue to decline without serious overhaul that changes the game entirely. The veteran players get bored and move on. Game companies don't recognize the effect veterans have on the community. If you don't keep them interested you will fail. With the human population growing, games getting better and better, I refuse to believe that gaming is in a decline because some site i never heard of has some article and statistics which are probably not even accurate. Morhaime is talking about people with who are still subscribers who are paying but not logging in (there are many people like this). They count that as revenue, because its money coming in, even if the account is considered inactive. It is still income counted in a financial statement. GW2 has no subscription, so whether or not people are playing does not impact their bottom line (outside of operating costs). It certainly does not bring any revenue in. Anyone playing is a POTENTIAL source of revenue post-box-sale, but POTENTIAL doesn't mean anything in a financial statement. ArenaNet is counting its gem store revenue, Blizzard is counting the income from not only their own store and services, but also their subscriptions. And in fact, only people with active accounts. The difference is that with Blizzard, you have an active metric of people who are putting money into the game, because they report subscriber numbers, which people harp on. Since there is no such model in GW2, you only have revenue from box sales and gem sales. The 1st quarter of this year showed a substantial dip following the previous quarter, which was part of the GW2 hype and Christmas season. Second quarter financials will probably be very telling. Another drop off would infer that GW2 is actually nowhere near as sustainable as WoW. Again, since GW2 posts fewer metrics than WoW, stating how many people are playing it is pure speculation. All we know is that its hit 3 million, but not 4 million. If it had hit 4 million, they'd be crowing from the rooftops about it. But they say nothing about what their retention rate is, just the box sales. And the gem store is a major part of their financial model, otherwise they wouldn't push a new lottery box every 2-4 weeks. GW2 got the money they wanted when they sold the game... if u login after that isnt an issue. Blizzard gets their money every month from your sub regardless if players login or not. Both of these games have inactive accounts and both of them do not release how many do or dont login. basically it was pointless bringing this up in the first place... thats my point. All the rest is bla bla bla. Here, I'll add the latest one just in case anyone is in doubt. The reason is simple: people "play" social media these days instead of playing video games. Like the article said: iPads and other social media "games" replaced traditional video gaming (MMORPG play included). Of course F2P models for MMORPG's are a last straw to save the furniture ... Those thinking this is just a lull between new consoles ... yeah the new Sony portable and WII U are doing "fantastic" isn't it ... ---------- Post added 2013-06-26 at 08:51 PM ---------- Last edited by BenBos; 2013-06-26 at 08:53 PM. I disagree. The quality of pc gaming in general was slowly declining. Sure you had your hits but more and more games were coming out with stop bugs, unfinished endings or unusable multiplayer. WoW's quality forced companies to step up because it was embarrassing. Electronic Arts was one of the most guilty publishers at the time.really? Ive played all the other MMOs out there and quality isnt much different. Theyve simply invested in different parts of their MMO. Some dont have raiding, others invested in massive PvP worlds. Others invested heavily in story and questing. This idea of quality is totally subjective, afterall Wow looks the most out of date graphically than all of them yet that doesnt effect their subs much. Basically there isnt much difference in quality between F2P or B2P games to Wow or Eve, who are pretty much the only paid subs MMO games out there right now. Aside from launch day or planned maintenance you are guaranteed that you can login to WoW and do virtually anything that's advertised. That wasn't always the case in many other games. So yes the quality of WoW has pushed the industry to be better as a whole. But if you want to talk about content quality I have been through EQ, EQ2, Dark Age of Camelot, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Age of Conan, Asheron's Call, Warhammer Online, Swtor, Rift and recently dabbled in Neverwinter. The only ones worth a damn in that list was EQ, Daoc and City of Heroes. The rest were infested with bugs, unfinished content and lag. Bugs to me are stop problems that prevent me from playing the game. Stuck on an island, unable to zone, npc stuck 100 feet in the air or under the damn world, can't complete a quest. Having a NPC be missing a head, my cloak not displaying, walking animation gone, etc are cosmetic and don't limit my gameplay. WoW does not look out of date in MOP and even most of Cataclysm which is where the game is current. You need a computer capable of displaying this on Ultra but it's there. WoW has the cartoon feel to it so if compared to say Neverwinter, Rift or SWTOR it looks less realistic but overall detail is the same. So I repeat nonsense by stating (and proving) that a subscription model is by far the BEST way to collect resources (money) for having extreme polished open world play in ever lasting adventures in MMORPG ? Ok So then ... Does GW2 have mounts now to replace their loading screens ? Nope. Does GW2 have an open ended world you can cross without loading screens ? Nope. Does it have ANY other transportation to jump from one instance to another than a loading screen ? Nope. GW2 is sewed together with loading screens to jump from one instanced map to another. Someone should tell GW2 fans the wheel was invented thousands of years ago already. And 75 million dollars over 2 years (in sold boxes - deducting retail/distribution costs) is not going to change that in the future either. Bottom line : a GOOD open world MMORPG with decent polish AND state of the art background loading worlds that expand endlessly is not supported by B2P or F2P mechanics. Proof: 15 years of MMORPG history. YOUR STATS R RETAIL SALES ONLY U **** Your sources do not show any digital sales of videogames... and that market is growing massively. Dude do yourself a favour and stop posting cos everyone in this thread has told u that your data is wrong... ru actually blind? "Sales of packaged game products are sinking as more consumers download games on smartphones and tablet. And what did I write ? "iPads and other social media "games" replaced traditional video gaming (MMORPG play included)." And just above that: "The reason is simple: people "play" social media these days instead of playing video games"... It shows you simply flip when you see BenBos . The same applies to Pann. Funny how some dudes lose all pedals and NOT reading my posts ... Ough, that hurt didn't it ? Last edited by BenBos; 2013-06-26 at 09:25 PM. ... which I alluded to by stating people "play" now the social media. You are being intellectual dishonest by NOT citing the sentences I alluded to. Simple as that. BTW: Hardware and accessories can't be downloaded.... Last edited by BenBos; 2013-06-26 at 09:33 PM.	<urn:uuid:870478c6-d7df-4393-a4cb-f7d45e3f5b53>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1313683-WoW-s-sub-decline-Mirroring-the-gaming-industry-as-a-whole?p=21577794&viewfull=1	2015-04-02T09:45:31Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.968209	2,495
To be perfectly honest if you had a choice of playing from level 1-90, enduring the Cataclysm Lore that made the Alliance look like wimps, getting ganked in every leveling zone in Wow by bored level 90's abusing the AH, waiting 30 mins for a dungeon que only to find out the Tank does not no what they are doing or leaves from constant abuse mid fight, Then after all that grief find out that there is about a million dailies at level 90 you must complete, and you have to do ALL those dungeons over again on Heroic before you can be carried by your friends as well as wait 45 minutes for 3 bags of Gold after 5 wipes in an LFR raid, OR simply pay 25$ and skip the leveling/ganking process what would you do? Yeah I thought so. I thought this was just another free 90 with purchase thread then I read the part where they will be selling extra 90s...and people in the thread are still defending them. You really dont think this is a little too much...just a wee bit? Just cant admit it, can you? I just cant wait until Blizz crosses the line full blown and starts selling gear and other things just to read how people will defend them then. Someone please explain me why the hell it matters? Why do you care about someone not having to level a character? It's like people who complain that gear is to easy to get. Also, using a fallacy to support your arguments is quite idiotic... and no, blizzard will not start selling gear. Last edited by Glasse; 2014-01-18 at 02:21 AM. as far as i know (and i know very little) the lvl-90 shortcut is one of the "bigger" demands that the community has right now. i believe that there are a lot of discussions, between blizzard and wow-players, that say how boring and mindnumbing it has become to level a character to 90 and that it has become too big of a barrier for people who want to try different classes in endgame-content. so.. they are listening to the community and now the other part of the community (the one that gets their news from the mad magazine or something :> ) is now acting like blizzard is commiting some kind of unholy act. in the end, they are still not selling power for real life money, and thus they are still keeping their promise. at least now people can choose between shady china-farmers and legit blizzard, if they are looking for a shortcut to lvl 90. of course i am being too rational here so... LUIGI!!! Yeah I couldn't read past the first page. I knew right away the OP would get made fun of and attacked hardcore because he dare criticizes the mighty Blizzard overlords. It's like someone said already, MMO-C don't take kindly to that kind of thinking. Not round these parts, tell ya whut. This doesn't surprise me. They did so many things they said they'd never do. When paid transfers came in they said they'd never let people transfer from PVE to PVP which didn't last long before they did. They always said they'd never us make both factions on the same server, just as they said they wouldn't ever give out faction changes. We got all these things. I also remember when they said the Blizzard Store would be for mounts only. Then we got pets, then we got transmog gear, then Asia got buyable potions to increase experience gained, and now we're getting to buy level 90s. So yeah get prepared for the day you can buy 'catch up' gear or something similar. Sadly the community just laps it all up and accepts it. Also take a look at the last few mounts they put on the Blizzard store and think of what they've put in game recently that didn't cost money. There's a pretty gigantic difference in quality. The bat addition was such an insult to many people too who had been begging Blizzard to put a bat mount in game for years. Then they do it and say it's for $$ only. Bleh Last edited by Vormav; 2014-01-18 at 03:13 AM. If it's so bad that people are telling Blizzard they would pay to skip it, ideally Blizzard should be improving the experience so people don't feel like paying to skip it, or that there are rewards related to leveling alts that comes from reaching max level (Marvel Heroes, for example, has an account wide synergy system where you can get up to 200% permanent bonus experience from leveling additional characters, so it's definitely a doable system in games with leveling). Instead, and with a lot of unfortunate encouragement, they are simply going with the easy way out and saying "Okay, pay to skip it." Then again, and I've not noticed anyone mentioning this, the consideration to sell level 90 boosts is really just a, in my opinion, knee-jerk response to people planning on using the 1 time boost in a round about way to gain multiple near-max level characters. i suppose those boosted characters will have full set of gear once you start playing it, otherwise if the boosted characters are equipped with lvl 1 starting gear, the wow forums will be swarmed with complaints. so then it begins, let's say the player XXX gets a lvl 90 boost with included gear, then he/she levels to lvl 100 and then again demand Blizzard that they should have an item set to buy once they reach lvl 100 to get into the current content without having to run through old raids or dungeons, for example the current patch is 6.4 and the player XXX does not want to go through 6.1,6.2 and 6.3 , therefore they will most likely ask for an item set to buy once they reach lvl 100 to get into 6.4 content. so my conclusion is: if they can skip leveling, why not purchasable gear to get instant access to 6.4? leveling is content and so are the patches/gear. and i can assure that they will start selling gear sets in future. Last edited by Elian; 2014-01-18 at 03:56 AM. - - - Updated - - - What amazes me most is that everybody is complaining about Blizzard "neglecting pre-max level content" and yet nobody ever complains that Blizzard wasted resources creating a new max level raid, but has never bothered coming out with a raid for level 70 or level 80. Stupid arguments are stupid. As for your second argument, you use nothing to back up your statement. The reason Blizzard didn't do server merges (or whatever they want to call them) is because of the negative perception behind them. Also, they didn't want force people to randomly give up their names or guild names. This is probably the most effective way I've seen of merging servers. Since nobody else seems to have been able to do this, how do you know that Blizzard just didn't have the capability of doing it previously? You don't. So, while getting money for server transfers may be a reason, it may not be the only reason, and it also may not have been a reason at all. What other evidence tells you that Blizzard making more money is detrimental to the game itself? By all means, explain. Not a huge fan of the choice, but frankly if you don't have toons at 90 this late in the expansion than you aren't really playing the game anyway. For whatever reason that is, this change was aimed at you. Its to help players who want 90s but don't have time / are too incompetent to level. Unfortunately, the biggest contribution to the decline in subs isn't that people are leaving - its that people aren't joining as fast as they once were. This change will hopefully remedy this, while proving extra income for the game as a whole. More money seems fine to me, especially after coming off an expansion that has produced more content in each patch than the entirety of previous expansions. Not to mention the speed at which the content came out. I see MoP and the changes within as the next step for WoW, and despite the notion that eventually everything might have a price tag, I can't argue as long as the raids and content with patches stay as quality as they have been these last 3 tiers. With that said, please no more "Either be for it or be indifferent" comments. Ebay characters, Ebay characters as far as the eye can see. Garrosh: "LOK'TAR! HAVE A HAMBURGER." I am The Burning Legion - Play Free Online Games they have done more than research --they are program it into the ptr - - - Updated - - - - - - Updated - - - does the mounts on the store get you from point A to point B any faster than the ones obtained in game ? do they help you kill bosses or the other faction quicker ??? do they help you do anything in game better than the mounts obtainable in game ??? the answer is no to all the above Why don't they just put it down already, game is old and they are getting really desperate for money and it is making the game and the developers look bad. In hindsight, WoW should have ended in wrath, when the game was the most hyped and played and we had all the celebrity advertisements and killed the biggest lore bad guy in all of warcraft. Words to live by.	<urn:uuid:76ae223f-09d6-477c-9075-dc5c02ff39a0>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1440618-The-slippery-slope-has-finally-ended/page27?p=24836693	2015-04-02T10:04:16Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.971717	1,979
Part IV: Faster Than Light Travel--Concepts and Their "Problems" This is Part IV of the "Relativity and FTL Travel" FAQ. It discusses the various problems involved with FTL travel and how they apply to particular FTL concepts. This part of the FAQ is written under the assumption that the reader understands the concepts discussed in Part I of this FAQ which should be distributed with this document. In the event that you need more information about this FAQ (including copyright information and a table of contents for all parts of the FAQ), see the Introduction to the FAQ portion. Chapter 6: Introduction to the FTL Discussion The following discussion completes the purpose of this FAQ by considering faster than light travel with relativity in mind. After this brief introduction, I will discuss the general problems associated with FTL travel. These problems will apply differently to different FTL concepts, but I need to go over the general idea behind the problems first. After this general discussion of the problems, we will consider their applications to specific FTL concepts. We will also consider possible, conceptual "solutions" to the particular problem that seems to plague all FTL concepts. Finally, because this FAQ is written for the rec.arts.startrek.tech newsgroup, I will go over some notes and arguments for why "warp" drive should be explained in a particular way in order to get around the FTL problems and give us what is seen on the show. 6.1 A Few Notes On The Meaning of FTL Travel Before we begin the discussion, I wanted to go over the basic idea of what we mean by FTL travel. To do so, we should start by noting that most of space-time through which we would want to travel is fairly flat. For those who have not read Part III of this FAQ, that means that special relativity describes the space-time fairly well without having resorting to general relativity (which applies when a gravitational field is present). Sources of gravity are few and far between, and even if you travel "close" to one, it would have to be a significant source of gravity in order to destroy our flat space-time approximation. Now, some FTL travel concepts we consider will involve using certain areas of space-time which are not flat (and I will go over them when we get there); however, the important thing for us is that all around these non-flat areas, the space-time can be approximated fairly well as being flat. Thus, for our purposes, we can use the following to describe FTL travel. Consider some observer traveling from point A to point B. At the same time this observer leaves A, a light beam is sent out towards the destination, B. This light travels in the area of fairly flat space-time outside of any effects that might be caused by the method our observer uses to travel from A to B (by justin tforge tech). If the observer ends up at B in time to see the light beam arrive, then the observer is said to have traveled "faster than light". Notice that with this definition we don't care where the observer is when he or she does the traveling. Also, if some space-time distortion is used to drive the ship, then even if the ship itself doesn't move faster than light within that distortion, the ship still travels faster than the light which is going through the normal, flat space-time that is not effected by the ship's FTL drive. Thus, this ship still fits our definition of FTL travel. So, with this basic definition in mind, let's take a look at the problems involved with FTL Travel. Chapter 7: The First Problem: The Light Speed Barrier In this section we discuss the first thing (and in some cases the only thing) that comes to mind for most people who consider the problem of faster than light travel. I call it the light speed barrier. As we will see by considering ideas discussed in Part I , Chapter 1 of this FAQ, light speed seems to be a giant, unreachable wall standing in our way. I note that various concepts for FTL travel may deal with this problem, but here we simply want to talk about the problem in general. 7.1 Effects as One Approaches the Speed of Light To begin, consider two observers, A and B. Let A be here on Earth and be considered at rest for now. B will be speeding past A at a highly relativistic speed as he (B) heads towards some distant star. If B's speed is 80% that of light with respect to A, then for him (as defined in Section 1.4 ) is 1.6666666... = 1/0.6. So from A's frame of reference, B's clock is running slow and B's lengths in the direction of motion are shorter by a factor of 0.6. If B were traveling at 0.9 c, then this factor becomes about 0.436; and at 0.99 c, it is about 0.14. As the speed gets closer and closer to the speed of light, A will see B's clock slow down infinitesimally slow, and A will see B's lengths in the direction of motion becoming infinitesimally small. In addition, If B's speed is 0.8 c with respect to A, then A will see B's energy as a factor of larger than his rest-mass energy (Note, I use an equation for energy here defined in Section 1.5, Equation 1:8 ): where m(B) is the mass of observer B. At 0.9 c and 0.99 c this factor is about 2.3 and 7.1 respectively. As the speed gets closer and closer to the speed of light, A will see B's Energy become infinitely large. Obviously, from A's point of view, B will not be able to reach the speed of light without stopping his own time, shrinking to nothingness in the direction of motion, and taking on an infinite amount of energy. Now let's look at the situation from B's point of view, so we will now consider him to be at rest. First, notice that the sun, the other planets, the nearby stars, etc. are not moving very relativistically with respect to the Earth; so we will consider all of these to be in the same frame of reference. Remember that to A, B is traveling past the earth and toward some nearby star. However, in B's frame of reference, the earth, the sun, the other star, etc. are the ones traveling at highly relativistic velocities with respect to him. So to him the clocks on Earth are running slow, the energy of all those objects becomes greater, and the distances between the objects in the direction of motion become smaller. Let's consider the distance between the Earth and the star to which B is traveling. From B's point of view, as the speed gets closer and closer to that of light, this distance becomes infinitesimally small. So from his point of view, he can get to the star in practically no time. (This explains how A seems to think that B's clock is practically stopped during the whole trip when the velocity is almost c. B notices nothing odd about his own clock, but in his frame the distance he travels is quite small.) If (in B's frame) that distance shrinks to zero as his speed with respect to A goes to the speed of light, and he is thus able to get there instantaneously, then from B's point of view, c is the fastest possible speed. From either point of view, it seems that the speed of light cannot be reached, much less exceeded. This, then, is the "light speed barrier", but most concepts people have in mind for producing FTL travel explicitly deal with this problem (as we will see). However, the next problem isn't generally as easy to get away with, and it probably isn't as well known among the average science fiction fan. Chapter 8: The Second Problem: FTL, Causality, and Unsolvable Paradoxes In this section we will explore a problem with FTL travel that doesn't always seem to get consideration. The problem involves ones ability to violate causality in certain frames of reference with the use of FTL travel. While this in itself doesn't necessarily make FTL travel impossible, the ability to go further and produce an unsolvable paradox would make the FTL travel prospect logically self contradictory. So, I will start by discussing the meaning of causality and the problems of an unsolvable paradox. I will then try to show how any form of FTL travel will produce violation of the causality principle. Finally, I will explain how, without special provisions being in place, FTL travel can go further to produce an unsolvable paradox. 8.1 What is Meant Here by Causality and Unsolvable Paradoxes The principle of causality is fairly straight forward. According to causality, if there is some effect which is produced by some cause, then the cause must precede the effect. So, if for some observer (in some frame of reference) an effect truly happens before its cause occurs, then causality is violated for that observer. Now, recall our discussion in Section 1.1 concerning when occurrences happen in a frame of reference. There I took a moment to explain that when I talk about the order of events in some frame of reference, I mean their actual order, and not necessarily the order in which they are seen. One can imagine a situation whereby I could first receive light from the effect and later receive light from the cause. However, This might be because the effect is simply much closer to me than the cause (so that light takes less time to travel from the effect I observer, and I see it first). After I take into account the time it took the light to travel from each event, then I will find the order in which the events truly occurred, and this will determine whether or not there is a true violation of causality in my frame. This true violation of causality is what I will be talking about, not some trick concerning when observers see events, but a concept concerning the actual order of the events in some frame of reference. Now, one can argue that the idea of causality violation doesn't necessarily destroy logic. The idea seems odd--to have an effect come first, and then have the cause occur--but it doesn't have to produce a self-contradictory situation. An unsolvable paradox, however, is a self-contradictory situation. It is a situation which logically forbids itself from being. Thus, when one shows that a particular set of circumstances allows for an unsolvable paradox, then one can argue that those circumstances must logically be impossible. 8.2 How FTL Travel Implies Violation of Causality I refer you back to Diagram 2-9 (reproduced below as Diagram 8-1 ) so that I can demonstrate the causality problem involved with FTL travel. There you see two observers passing by one another. The origin marks the place and time where the two observers are right next to one another. The x' and t' axes are said to represent the frame of reference of O' (I'll use Op--for O-prime--so that I can easily indicate the possessive form of O as O's and the possessive form of O' as Op's). The x and t axes are then the reference frame of the O observer. We consider the O system to be our rest system, while the Op observer passes by O at a relativistic speed. As you can see from the two coordinate systems, the two observers measure space and time in different ways. Now, consider again the event marked "". Cover up the x and t axis and look only at the Op system. In this system, the event is above the x' axis. If the Op observer at the origin could look left and right and see all the way down his space axis instantaneously, then he would have to wait a while for the event "" to occur. Now cover up the Op system and look only at the O system. In this system, the event is below the x axis. So to O, the event has already occurred by the time the two observers are passing one another. Normally, this fact gives us no trouble. If you draw a light cone (as discussed in Section 2.8 ) through the origin, then the event will be outside of the light cone. As long as no signal can travel faster than the speed of light, then it will be impossible for either observer to know about or influence the event. So even though it is in one observer's past, he cannot know about it, and even though it is in the other observer's future, he cannot have an effect on it. This is how relativity saves its own self from violating causality. However, consider the prospect of FTL travel with this diagram in mind. As O and Op pass by one another, the event "" has not happened yet in Op's frame of reference. Thus, if he can send an FTL signal fast enough, then he should be able to send a signal (from the origin) which could effect "". However, in O's frame, "" has already occurred by the time O and Op pass by one another. This means that the event "Op sends out the signal which effects " occurs after the event which it effects, "", in O's frame. For O, The effect precedes the cause. Thus, the signal which travels FTL in Op's frame violates causality for O's frame. Similarly, since "" has already occurred in O's frame when O and Op pass one another, then in his frame an FTL signal could be sent out from "" which could reach O and tell him about the event as the two observer's past. However, for Op, the event "O learns about as O and Op pass one another" comes before * itself. Thus, the signal which is FTL in O's frame violates causality in Op's frame. In short, for any signal sent FTL in one frame of reference, another frame of reference can be found in which that signal actually traveled backwards in time, thus violating causality in that frame. Notice that in this example I never mentioned anything about how the signal gets between the origin and . I didn't even require that the signal be "in our universe" when it was "traveling" ( remember our definition of FTL travel). The only things I required were that (1) the signal's "sending" and "receiving" were events in our universe and (2) the space-time between the origin and "" is flat (i.e. it is correctly described by special relativity diagrams). Some FTL ideas may invalidate the second assumption, but we will consider them a bit later. We will find, however, that violation of causality still follows from all the FTL travel concepts. 8.3 How We Get Unsolvable Paradoxes As I mentioned before, violations of causality (as strange as they may be) do not have to truly, logically contradict themselves. However, it isn't too difficult to show (starting with the above arguments) that FTL travel can be used to produce an unsolvable paradox (a situation which contradicts its own existence). As a note, in the past I have called such situations "gross" violations of causality. I'll illustrate the point with an example (again referring to Diagram 8-1 ) Remember we said that as O and Op pass, Op can send an FTL message out (from his frame of reference) which effects "". However, rather than having him send a message out, let's say that Op sends out a bullet that travels faster than the speed of light. This bullet can go out and kill someone light-years away in only a few hours (for example) in Op's frame of reference. So, say he fires this bullet just as he passes by O. Then the death of the victim can be the event (). Now, in O's frame of reference, the victim is already dead ("" has occurred) when Op passes by. This means that another observer (stationary in O's frame) who was at the position of the victim when the victim was shot could have sent an FTL signal just after the victim's death, and that signal could reach O before Op passed by him. So O can know that Op will shoot his gun as they pass each other. To intensify the point I will make, we can let the signal which was sent to O be a picture of the victim, or even an ongoing video signal of the victim's body. Thus, O has evidence of the victim's death before Op has fired the weapon (a plain ol' violation of causality). However, at this point O can decide to stop Op from firing the gun. But if the bullet doesn't go out, and the victim never dies, then why (and how) would a video signal/picture of the victim's dead body ever be sent to O? And yet, O has that video/picture. In the end, it is the death of the victim which causes O to prevent the victim's death, and that is a self contradicting situation. Thus, if there are no special provisions (which we will discuss later ) FTL travel will not only allow violation of causality, but it can also produce unsolvable paradoxes. At this point, I want to clearly list the various events which must happen to produce an unsolvable paradox in our "FTL bullet" example. Through the rest of our FTL discussion, this will be helpful as a reference listing. Event Listing and Comments: It is important to note that the real crux of this problem does not come from the form of the FTL travel used, but from the relationship between the two, ordinary frames of reference for observers (O and Op) who never themselves travel FTL. This ordinary relationship (determined by relativity) can be demonstrated through experiments today, and as long as the exact same experiments can be performed in the future to yield the same results, then this argument must still hold. This is the power of this problem, and we will see that the special provisions we will discuss later must concern themselves with the ability of the observers to use the relationship between themselves in order to produce unsolvable paradoxes. Thus, the provisions will not be specifically concerned with the form of FTL travel used or the future theories which might suggest FTL travel, because the problem we have discussed here will be present regardless of either of these considerations. And so, we have discussed the two problems which arise with FTL travel. Our next job is to consider various, specific FTL concepts in light of these problems. If your not interested in the discussion of the various forms of FTL travel, and you want to take my word for it that they will all suffer from the problem discussed above, then you may want to skip to the " Special Provisions " section.. I'll leave that to the reader. Chapter 9: FTL Concepts with these Problems in Mind Next, we want to ask about how one might try to get around these problems. Many of you have heard of ideas which get around the light speed barrier problem. For example, if we can do our traveling in some other, parallel "space", then we won't be bothered by the light speed barrier in our own space. However, these ideas have a much harder time getting around the second problem. In fact, to get around the second problem, we will see that special provisions will have to be made. Therefore, the format of this discussion will involve the following. First, we will look at the various concepts which exist for possibly allowing FTL travel. I will show how each of them allows one to get around the light speed barrier problem, and I will explain how (without special provisions) none of them can bypass the second problem--producing unsolvable paradoxes. Finally, I will introduce some special provisions (beyond the basic assumptions made for the FTL concepts) and show how one can imagine using these provisions in conjunction with some of the FTL concepts to get around the second problem. 9.1 Tachyons (Without Special Provisions) Tachyons are hypothetical/theoretical particles which would travel FTL. The concept of the tachyon attempts to get around the infinite energy requirements which the light speed barrier problem poses on a particle as it approaches the speed of light. This was accomplished by demanding that the particle have certain characteristics which we will discuss here. First, consider the energy and momentum. Recall that we can write the energy (E) and the momentum (p) of a particle of mass m as expressed in Equation 1:8 and Equation 1:6 which are duplicated here: (Eq 9:1--Copy of Eq 1:8) (Eq 9:2--Copy of Eq 1:6) Where is defined in Equation 1:5 as . From this we find that , which is greater than 1 if v is greater than c. We can thus write But since we can also express the energy squared as defined in Equation 1:7 : (Eq 9:4--Copy of Eq 1:7) we find that the only way to get is if the mass squared is negative (because then reduces the sum in Equation 9:4 ). The mass would then be the square root of a negative number, and such an obviously unreal number is called an imaginary number (imaginary numbers may seem odd, but they have important uses in mathematics). In general we express such imaginary numbers as a product of a real number multiplied by something that symbolizes the imaginary square-root of negative one: . So, the mass of a tachyon is imaginary. Further, from the equation for , we find that it too is imaginary if v is greater than c, but it is also negative because we have the i in the denominator of , and 1/i = -i. (We can show this as follows: start with and multiply and divide the right-hand side by (which doesn't change the value): . The top of that equation is just i, and the bottom is . Thus 1/i = i/(-1) = -i.) That would mean that from Equation 9:1 , the energy would still be a real, positive number (because to get E we multiply the i in the imaginary m by the -i in to get ). The same would be true for the momentum, . I would like to note that I have read elsewhere that the energy would be negative for a tachyon, but this doesn't seem to be the case. The final interesting property of tachyons I will mention comes from noting that as their velocity increases, the value of their will become a smaller, negative, imaginary number (because when v/c > 1, is a negative, imaginary number that decreases as v gets larger). That means that the value of a tachyons energy will decrease as the speed of the tachyon increases--or in other words, as the tachyon loses energy, it gains speed. One result of this is that if a charged tachyon were to exist, then because it would travel faster than light, it would give off a radiation known as Cherenkov radiation. This would take energy away from the tachyon and cause it to go faster and faster, continually giving off more and more energy. Neutral tachyons, however, wouldn't do this. In any case, we can consider the possibility that tachyons exist and always travel faster than light. They then never have to cross the light speed barrier, and they do not have infinite energy (but their mass is imaginary and their energy decreases as their velocity increases). However, they still cause trouble because of the second problem--if you can use them for FTL communication, they can be used to create unsolvable paradoxes using the same arguments as we used in our "FTL bullet" example. To explore the question of using tachyons for FTL communication, one can apply quantum mechanics to the energy equation of the tachyon. What one finds is that either (1) the tachyons cannot be localized, or (2) the actual effects of a tachyon cannot themselves move faster than light. In either of these cases, the tachyon cannot be used to produce an FTL signal. A third idea would also allow the tachyon to exist without the possibility of using the tachyon to send FTL signals. The basic idea is that there would be no way to distinguish between the situation through which you could receive a tachyon and the situation though which you could transmit a tachyon. To show what I mean, consider Diagram 8-1 yet again. From the O frame of reference, a tachyon could be sent "from" and "to" the origin. However, as long as you cannot distinguish between the transmitter and the receiver, then the Op observer could reinterpret this as a tachyon being sent "from" the origin "to" . Neither, then, will believe that the tachyon went backwards in time. Obviously, there is no way for a message to be sent (because then you could identify the sender and decide which way the tachyon "really" went), and it wouldn't be quite right to call this FTL travel. However, it would allow tachyons to exist (though uselessly) without causing any problems. And so, we find that with tachyons, one of the following must be true: 9.2 Using a Special Field/Space/etc. (W/o Special Provisions) This next concept is often found in FTL travel methods of science fiction. The basic idea is that a ship (for example) can use a special field or travel in another space/dimension in order to "leave" the physics of our universe and thus not be limited by the speed of light. Again, we see that this concept is basically designed to get around the light speed barrier problem; however, it doesn't deal very well with the problem of producing unsolvable paradoxes. Though the FTL observer or signal which travels using this concept would leave the realm of our physics, the relationship between two observers (like O and Op) who stayed behind (within the realm of our physics) would not be effected. This means (if you recall the points made earlier about the "second problem") that the arguments for producing an unsolvable paradox must still hold (unless there are special provisions), because those arguments were based on the relationship between the two observers who themselves never traveled FTL (and thus never left the realm of our physics). Thus, we very quickly see that with any such methods (as long as no special provisions apply) one can produce an unsolvable paradox. 9.3 "Folding" Space (Without Special Provisions) Another concept which pops into the minds of science fiction lovers when considering FTL travel is that of "folding" space. Basically, the idea is to bring two points in space closer together in some way so that you can travel between them quickly without having to "actually" travel faster than light. Of course, by our definition of FTL travel in Section 6.1 (where the light you are "racing" against goes through normal space between the starting and ending points) this would still be considered FTL travel. A frequently used approach for picturing this idea is to think of two dimensions of space represented by a flat sheet of paper. Then consider yourself at some point on the paper (call this point "o"). If you want to travel to some distant point ("D"), you simply fold/bend/crumple/etc the paper and place "o" and "D" close to one another. Then its just a matter of traveling the now short distance between the points. Again, we see an FTL concept which is built in order to get around the problem of the light speed barrier. However, we will see, once again, that the second problem of FTL travel is not so easily fixed. We begin to understand this when we consider again the sheet of paper discussed above. Every object in that two dimensional space has a place on the paper. However, because objects may be moving, their position depends on the time at which you are considering them. Basically, if you are sitting at "o", you imagine every point on that sheet of paper as representing space as it is "right now" according to your frame of reference. However, as we have discussed, what is going on "right now" at a distant location truly depends on your frame of reference. Two observers at "o" in two different frames of reference will have two different ideas of what events should be represented on the paper as going on "right now". This difference in simultaneity between different frames of reference is what allowed for the "unsolvable paradox" problem to exist in the first place. Thus, even though you "fold" the paper so that you don't "actually" travel faster than light, you don't change the fact that you are connecting two events at distant points (your departure and your arrival) which in another frame of reference occur in the opposite order. (In the other frame of reference, you aren't just bending space, you're bending space-time such that you travel backwards in time.) It is that fact which allowed the unsolvable paradoxes to be produced. In the end, unless special provisions are present, one can use this form of FTL travel in our FTL bullet example (I refer you back to the listing of events in Section 8.3 ). Op will fold space in his frame of reference to connect the passing event with the event "", while the third observer will fold space from his frame of reference to connect the event "he sees the victim die" with an event "O learns of the victims death before the FTL bullet is sent". Thus, you can used this method to produce an unsolvable paradox as we discussed earlier. 9.4 Space-Time Manipulation (Without Special Provisions) The final concept we will discuss before looking at special provisions is what I call space-time manipulation. The idea is to change the relationship between space and time in a particular region so that the limitation of light speed no longer applies. This is basically confined to the realm of general relativity (though the more simplified concept of "changing the speed of light" can also be handled by the arguments in this section). We won't worry too much about the particulars of how GR can be used to produce the necessary space-time, because the arguments that will be made will apply regardless of how you manipulate space-time in the region of interest. There are two general types of space-time manipulation to consider. The first I will call "localized", because the space-time that is effected is that surrounding your ship (or whatever it is that is traveling FTL). A basic example of this is the idea for FTL travel is presented in a paper by Miguel Alcubierre of the University of Wales ( the paper is available via the world wide web ). In the paper, Alcubierre describes a way of using "exotic matter" (matter with certain properties which may or may not exist) to change the space time around a ship via general relativity. This altered space-time around the ship not only keeps the ship's clock ticking just as it would have if the ship remained "stationary" (in its original frame of reference), but it also "drives" the ship to an arbitrarily fast speed (with respect to the original frame of reference of the ship before it activated the FTL drive). The second type is thus "non-localized", and it involves the manipulation of space-time which at least effects the departure and arrival points in space-time (and perhaps effects all the space-time between). A basic example of this is the idea of a wormhole. A wormhole is another general relativity concept. Again, exotic matter is used, but here space-time is effected so that two distant locations in space are causally connected. You can enter one "mouth" of the wormhole and exit from the other very distant "mouth" so as to travel FTL (by our definition in Section 6.1 ). Both of these concepts get around the light speed barrier problem, but again we will argue the case for the problems with unsolvable paradoxes. To do this, we will first carefully describe the situation in which a couple of FTL trips will occur. Let's call the starting point of the first trip "A". B will then be the destination point of that trip. Also, consider a point (C) which is some distance to the "right" of B ("right" being defined by an observer traveling from A to B), and finally consider a corresponding point (D) which is to the right of A. Diagram 9-1 uses two dimensions of space (no time is shown in this diagram) to depict the situation (at least from some particular frame of reference). (x and y are spatial dimensions) Now, let's go back to the FTL bullet example through which we first explained the unsolvable paradox problem. In this case, the FTL bullet travels from A to B through space-time manipulation. (The event "the bullet leaves A" is event (1) in our list from Section 8.3 ). This means that all the space-time along the bullet's path between A and B might be affected by the space-time manipulation. Thus, we can no longer assume (after the bullet's trip) that a space-time diagram such as those we have drawn (which only apply to special relativity, not GR) will still apply. However, the space between D and C does not have to be effected by the FTL drive. Because of that we can make our argument by considering the following events: The above events show that even though the space-time may be changed between A and B during the bullet's trip, the O observer can still know about and use the fact that the victim was killed in order to prevent the victims death. We use the same arguments we did in the section concerning the "second problem" ( Section 9.1 ), except that the two FTL portions (the bullet and the signal from the third observer) are sent from two different locations so that neither is affected by the other's effects on space-time. Thus, as long as there are no special provisions, this form of FTL travel will still allow for unsolvable paradoxes. 9.5 Special Provisions Thus far, we have seen that the second problem is not easily gotten around using any FTL concept. However, we have also insisted during our arguments that none of these FTL concepts include "special provisions". The specific provisions we were referring to will be discussed here. Basically, these are ideas which allow one to bypass the second problem in some way, and the ideas are generally not specific to any one form of FTL travel. They don't require that you bend space-time in some way or that you travel in some other universe or that you be made of some specific form of matter when you do your FTL traveling. What they do require is for the universe itself to have some particular property(ies) which, in conjunction with whatever form of FTL travel you use, will prevent unsolvable paradoxes. There are four basic types of provisions, but we can express the general idea behind them all before we look at each one specifically. Recall that in producing the unsolvable paradox in our "FTL bullet" example, there was a series of events listed , each of which had to occur to produced the paradox. The provisions simply require that at least one of these events be prevented from occurring. With the first and second provisions we will discuss, no restrictions necessarily have to be placed on the actual FTL travel, and any of the events (even those not directly dealing with the FTL travel) can be the "disallowed" event. The other two provisions place restrictions on the actual FTL travel in certain cases in order to prevent the unsolvable paradox. 9.5.1 Parallel Universes In the first provision, one of the events in our list is not so much prevented as it is "transferred" to or from another (parallel) universe or reality. For example, say O has just received the information about the victim who dies at the "" event, and O is waiting to stop Op from firing the FTL bullet. However, before he stops Op, he could find himself transferred to a parallel universe. In this universe he is able to stop Op from firing the bullet. The unsolvable paradox is resolved because the information about the death at "" was not from the universe in which O stopped Op. Instead, O brought the information from a very similar parallel universe when he came over. As another example, the bullet which killed the victim could have appeared from a parallel universe rather than being sent from Op in "our" universe. In this case, it is the "other universe bullet" which kills the victim. This bullet could seem to come from Op in our universe, though it actually came from an Op in the parallel universe. So, O is lead to believe that the bullet came from his own Op, and O stops Op from firing the FTL bullet. However, he doesn't prevent the death of the victim because the bullet which did the killing came from the "other universe Op". Again, the paradox is resolved. Now, in that second case, the FTL bullet wasn't just performing FTL travel, but was involved with inter-dimensional travel. However, the second FTL signal in which the information is sent from the third observer to O (event number 4 in our list ) was allowed. Thus, though this provision can effect the FTL trips, it doesn't have to forbid either of them. In the end, as long as one of the events is forced to transfer to or from a parallel universe, there will be no unsolvable paradox (although why or how the inter-universe transfer would occur is left unanswered). Also, we should note that this provision could be applied with any of the FTL concepts we have discussed in order to allow them to exist without being self-inconsistent. 9.5.2 Consistency Protection The second provision is what I am calling "consistency protection". The idea is that the universe contains some sort of built-in mechanism whereby some event in our list of events would not be allowed to occur. An example of such a mechanism can be found when we look at the situation through quantum mechanics. (A theory of Steven Hawking called the "chronology protection conjecture" (CPC) attempts to do just that--the jury is still out on this theory, by the way, and will probably be out for a long time.) In quantum mechanics (QM), we do not think in certain terms of whether or not an event will occur in the future given everything we can possibly know about the present. Instead we consider the probability of an event (or string of events) occurring. One form of consistency protection would insist that QM prevents the unsolvable paradoxes because the probability of all the events occurring so as to produce an unsolvable paradox is identically zero. Under this explanation using QM, our bullet example would be resolved through arguments similar to this: It may be that the Op observer is unable to produce the FTL bullet (perhaps his FTL gun fails), thus averting the paradox. If he is able to get the FTL bullet on its way, then perhaps the bullet will end up missing its mark. If it does hit the victim, then perhaps the victim's friend will be unable to send an FTL signal back to the O observer (perhaps his FTL message sender fails). If the signal to O gets sent, it still might not be received by O. If O receives it, he may be unable to stop Op from firing the bullet. In any case, this particular QM explanation would insist that one of these events must not occur, because the quantum mechanics involved forces the probability of all of the events occurring to be zero. To sum up, this provision requires that some mechanism exists in the universe that would prevent at least one of the events from occurring so that the unsolvable paradox does not come about. This mechanism does not have to specifically target any of the FTL trips/messages which one might want to make/send, but it could disallow any of the events which must be present for the unsolvable paradox to occur. We should also note that this provision (just like the last) can be apply regardless of the FTL concept used. 9.5.3 "Producing" Restricted Space-Time Areas This provision is sort of an extension on the previous one, but its mechanism specifically targets the FTL travel so as to restrict one of the FTL trips or messages one must use to produce an unsolvable paradox. Remember that in the list of events for our FTL bullet example, there were two different FTL portions (the FTL bullet and the FTL message from the third observer to O). This provision would cause the sending or receiving of one of these "messages" to strictly prohibit the sending or receiving of the other. I will try to illustrate the basic way in which such restrictions could work to always prevent unsolvable paradoxes. I will then give an example where this provision is implemented with a particular FTL concept. For the illustration, we need to consider each of two possibilities within our FTL bullet example. In the first possibility, the Op observer is allowed to send his FTL bullet which strikes the victim, but that FTL trip must then restrict the third observer's ability to send the FTL message to O. In the second example, the third observer happens to decide to send some FTL signals to O at some point before the event "" (which is the event in our example that usually marked the victim's death). Now, we let the third observer continue to send those FTL signals until some point after "". Then, if the victim dies at "" because of the FTL bullet, then since the third observer is sending FTL signals to O at that point, he would be able to tell O about the victim's death, and the paradox would still be possible. Thus, in this second case, the FTL bullet must not be allowed to strike the victim (the FTL travel of the bullet is restricted because the third observer sends FTL signals to O). So, how would these restrictions work in these two possible cases? Well, as it turns out, if all unsolvable paradoxes are going to be averted while only placing restrictions on particular FTL trips, then there must be a very specific provision in place. To explain this, we will look at both possible situations, and consider diagrams which explain each one. (Note that these diagrams are drawn a little differently from Diagram 8-1 so as to better show the point I am trying to make here.) (Case 1--The FTL bullet is allowed to strike at the event "") In this diagram we mean to illustrate case one in which the FTL bullet leaves the "passing event" (i.e. the origin, "o") and is "received" by the victim who immediately dies at event "". Now, I have also drawn parts of two light cones (marked in yellow). One part is the "upper half light cone of the event ''," and the other is the "lower half light cone of the passing event, 'o'". The upper half light cone of "" contains all events which an observer at "" (like the third observer in our bullet example) can influence without having to travel FTL. All observers agree that all events in this area occur some time after "" (as discussed in Section 2.8 ). Also, the lower half light cone of "o" contains all the events which could effect "o" (which, remember, is the event at which the FTL bullet is sent) through non-FTL means. Thus, as long as no FTL signal/traveler can leave as an event in the upper half light cone of "" and be received as an event in the lower half light cone of "o", then all unsolvable paradoxes will be averted. There would be no way for the third observer to witness the death of the victim and afterwards get a signal to O before the bullet is fired. Now, that seems to be straight forward. We just need to make this provision: When an FTL signal is transmitted as event T, and it is received as event R, then it must be impossible for any information to be sent as an event in R's upper ("future") light cone and end up being received as an event in T's lower ("past") light cone. If the universe restricted FTL travel in this way, it would be impossible to produce unsolvable paradoxes. However, we can see that the matter can get a little complicated when we consider things from O's frame of reference (which is also the frame of the third observer). In this frame, after the third observer witnesses the victim's death at "", the event "the bullet leaves" hasn't occurred yet. He might then argue that no FTL signal has yet been sent which would keep him from sending a FTL message to O. The problem with his argument is that he has already witnessed the result of the FTL bullet being sent (even if it hasn't occurred in his frame yet). Thus, any FTL signal he tries to send to O (in the lower half light cone of the origin/passing event/bullet-being-fired event) must be prevented from being received by O. Ah, but what if he (the third observer) just happened to decide to start sending FTL signals to O (just to chat) before the bullet strikes the victim? That leads to our second case. Here, then, is a diagram we will use to describe this second case. (Case 2--The FTL bullet may not be allowed to strike at the event "") Now, there are a few extra events here. The point "s" marks the point where the third observer starts sending FTL signals to O while "T" marks the point where he finishes sending those FTL signals. The point "R" marks the point where O receives the last message which was sent at "T". Now, here we have drawn the upper and lower half light cones of interest, and according to our discussion above, it would be impossible for Op to send his bullet at the origin, "o" (which is in the upper half light cone of R) and have it "received" by the victim at "" (which is in the lower half light cone of T). So, according to that argument, the bullet doesn't strike while the third observer is sending FTL signals to O, and so the third observer never tells O about the victim's death. However, this doesn't have to be what happens, and we might just end up back at the first case. You see, either (1) the signals sent by the third observer are all successful, and the FTL bullet is restricted from striking the victim at "" (that's the second case); or (2) the FTL bullet does strike the victim at "" and any FTL signals that the third observer sends after "" are restricted from reaching the O observer before the bullet is fired (this is the first case, even though the third observer was sending signals to O just before the bullet hit). The obvious question, then, is "which one of these two cases actually occurs?" The answer happens to be, "it really doesn't matter." You see, as long as one or the other does occur, the situation remains self consistent and no self inconsistent paradoxes are produced. Roll some dice and pick one, if you like, or let some unknown force decide which happens. It really doesn't matter for our argument. Is that a bit odd? Yes. Is it self-inconsistent so as to produce unsolvable paradoxes? No. Finally, as example to show this provision in action with a particular FTL concept, let's consider a case where space-time manipulation is used via a wormhole. Recall that in our discussion of this FTL concept in , we showed that one can still produce unsolvable paradoxes. Notice, that there still must be two FTL parts (we discussed one FTL "trip"--the bullet--from A to B and another--an FTL message--from C to D). Now, to prevent the paradox, the existence of the wormhole that allows the bullet to travel from A to B could forbid the existence of the wormhole that allows the FTL message to go from C to D. This is a situation where case 1 applies, and here the way the provision is satisfied comes from the conceptual ability of one wormhole's existence to forbid the existence of another wormhole. And so, we have a provision which simply restricts (in a very particular way) certain FTL trips because of other FTL trips. We have found that there doesn't have to be a discernible answer to the question of whether trip A disallows trip B or trip B disallows trip A, but as long as it is one case or the other, this provision will keep all situations self consistent and thus avoid unsolvable paradoxes. 9.5.4 A Special Frame of Reference for the purpose of FTL Travel The fourth and final provision is (again) something of an extension to the previous one. This provision also forbids certain FTL signals, but it does so in a very specific and interesting way (there will be no question as to which trips are allowed and which are not). To explain this provision, I will start by describing a situation through which the provision could be applied. I will then explain how the provision works, given that particular situation. Now, as I describe the situation, I will use the idea of a "special field" to implement the "special frame of reference". However, it isn't necessary to have such a special field to imagine having a special frame of reference. I am simply using this to produce a clear illustration. So, join me now on a journey of the imagination. Picture, if you will, a particular area of space (a rather large area--say, a few cubic light-years if you like) which is permeated with some sort of field. Let this field have some very particular frame of reference. Now, in our imaginary future, say we discover this field, and a way is found to manipulate the very makeup (fabric, if you will) of this field. When this "warping" is done, it is found that the field has a very special property. An observer inside the warped area can travel at any speed he wishes with respect to the field, and his frame of reference will always be the same as that of the field. This means that the x and t axes in a space-time diagram for the observer will be the same as the ones for the special field, regardless of the observer's motion. In our discussion of relativity, we saw that in normal space, a traveler's frame of reference depends on his speed with respect to the things he is observing. However, for a traveler in this warped space, this is no longer the case. For example, consider two observers, A and B, who both start out stationary in the frame of reference of the field. Under normal circumstances, if A (who starts out next to B) began to travel with respect to B, then later turned around and returned to B, A would have aged less because of time dilation (this is fully explained in Section 4.1 of Part II if you are interested). However, if A uses the special property of this field we have introduced, his frame of reference will be the same as B's even while he is moving. Thus, there will be no time dilation effects, and A's clock will read the same as B's. Now, for the provision we are discussing to work using this special field, we must require that all FTL travel be done while using this field's special property. How will that prevent unsolvable paradoxes? Well, to demonstrate how, let's go back to our FTL bullet example and consider one of two cases. In case 1, we will let Op's frame of reference be the same as the frame of reference of our special field. With this in mind, let's go through the events listed in Section 8.3 once again; only this time, we will require any FTL travel to use the special property of the field we have discussed. So, here is the new list of events given that the special frame of reference of the field is the same as Op's frame. Remember, our new provision requires that any FTL trip will have to use the property of our special field, thus the object/person/message traveling FTL will be forced to take on the frame of reference of our special field (Op's frame in this example). (It may be good for you to review the original list before reading this one): But that is where the "agains" stop. You see, in the original argument event (4) was possible in which the third observer sends this information about the future to O via an FTL signal. In the frame of reference of O (and the third observer), that FTL signal could be sent after the victim's death and arrive at O before the passing event (when the bullet was fired). But now, as the FTL signal is sent, it must take on the frame of reference of the special field. That frame of reference is the frame of Op, and in that frame the victim dies after the bullet is fired. So, in the new reference frame of the message (forced on it by the provision we are making) the bullet has already been sent, and thus the FTL message cannot be received by O before the bullet is sent. From the frame of reference of the third observer, he simply cannot get the FTL signal to go fast enough (in his frame) to get to O before the bullet is sent. From Op's frame of reference (that of the special field) any FTL signal (even an instantaneous one) can theoretically be sent using our provision. However, from O's frame (and that of the third observer) some FTL signals simply can't be sent (specifically, signals that would send information back in time in Op's frame of reference--look again at Diagram 8-1 to make this clear). This prevents the unsolvable paradox. We can also consider case 2 in which the special frame of reference of the field is the same as O's frame of reference. In this case, any FTL traveler/signal/etc must take on O's frame of reference as it begins its FTL trip. Thus, as Op passes O and tries to send the FTL bullet from his frame of reference, the bullet will have to take on O's frame as it begins is FTL trip. But in O's frame of reference, the event "" has already occurred by the time O and Op pass one another. Therefore, from the FTL bullet's new frame of reference (forced on it by the provision we are making), it cannot kill the victim at the event "" since that event has already occurred in this frame. Thus, the paradox is obviously averted in this second case as well because of our provision. So, in the end, if all FTL travelers/etc are required to take on a specific frame of reference when they begin their FTL trip, then there will be no way an unsolvable paradox can be produced. This is because it takes two different FTL trips from two different frames of reference to produce the paradox. Under this provision, if you are sending tachyons, the tachyons must only travel FTL in the special frame of reference. If you are folding space, the folding must be done in the special frame of reference. If you are using the special field itself to allow FTL travel, then you must take on the field's frame of reference. Etc. If these are the cases, then there will be no way to produce an unsolvable paradox using any of the FTL concepts. As a final note about this provision, we should realize that it does seem to directly contradict the idea of relativity because one particular frame of reference is given a special place in the universe. However, we are talking about FTL travel, and many FTL concepts "get around" relativity just to allow the FTL travel in the first place. Further, the special frame doesn't necessarily have to apply to any physics we know about today. All the physics we have today could still be completely relativistic. In our example, it is a special field that actually has a special place in the physics of FTL travel, and that field just happens to have some particular frame of reference. Thus, the special frame does not have to be "embedded" in the makeup of the universe, but it can be connected to something else which just happens to make that frame "special" for the specific purpose of FTL travel. And so, we have seen the four provisions which would allow for the possibility of FTL travel without producing unsolvable paradoxes. For the case of the real world, there is no knowing which (if any) of the provisions are truly the case. For the purposes of science fiction, one may favor one of the provisions over the others, depending on the story one wishes to tell. Chapter 10: Some Comments on FTL Travel in Star Trek Since this document is meant for the rec.arts.startrek.tech newsgroup, it seems appropriate to take all we have discussed and apply it to what we see in Star Trek. Of course, it would be foolish to assume (unfortunately) that the writers for the show take the time to learn as much about these concepts as we now know, and I am certainly not implying that a conscious effort was made to incorporate what we know to be true in a consistent way on the show (after all, this is Star Trek :'). However, interestingly enough, if we apply the concepts correctly, we can explain most of what Star Trek has shown us. That is what I will try to do here. 10.1 Which Provision is Best for Explaining Warp Travel First, we might want to consider the four provisions and try to decide which one would best fit Trek so that everyday warp travel couldn't be used to produce unsolvable paradoxes. So, let's consider both the first and second provisions. In these cases, neither of the two FTL trips in our FTL bullet example will necessarily be forbidden. So, if we consider that example yet again, we can make the following argument: Let Op be the Enterprise. Then, rather than sending a bullet, the Enterprise could itself travel from the origin to "". It could then (through ordinary acceleration) change its frame of reference to match O's. Then it could travel from "" (or just after "*"--we have to give them a little time to do their acceleration) back to the O observer, and it could get to O before it ever left for its first FTL trip (i.e. we put the Enterprise in place of the FTL signal sent by the third observer). Thus, since neither the first or second provision has to forbid any of these actions, the Enterprise could use everyday warp travel via this method to easily travel back in time without having to do something as dangerous as zipping around the sun (as they have had to do on the show). In addition, if the first provision governed normal warp travel, then making different trips from different frames of reference would introduce the possibility that you would find yourself being transferred to another parallel universe to prevent unsolvable paradoxes. Also, if the second provision governed normal warp travel, it would require Star Trek ships to be careful as to which frames of reference they were in when they decided to enter warp. After all, they may not want to accidentally meet themselves from a previous trip (in which case the universe may destroy them to protect self consistency). So, there seems to be some daunting arguments against using either the first or second provision to keep ordinary warp travel from producing unsolvable paradoxes in Trek. Okay, what about the third provision? With that provision it would be impossible to use ordinary warp travel as a "time machine". However, this provision does cause certain noticeable restrictions on some FTL trips (remember, it allows certain FTL trips to prevent other FTL trips). There could be cases where the Enterprise would be prevented from completing its warp trip on time because of an FTL signal sent by someone else. We certainly don't see that on the show (not surprisingly). So, considering this provision, I can't easily point out any arguments to support using it to keep warp travel from being self inconsistent. This leaves us with the fourth provision, and I think you will see that it the provision of choice for the purposes of Trek. Of course, this fourth provision must involve some special frame of reference; therefore, we might first ask about where this special frame might come from. Thus, I will make a proposal for answering such a question in the next section, and then I will present what I believe are strong arguments for using the fourth provision to keep normal warp travel from being self inconsistent in Trek. 10.2 Subspace as a Special Frame of Reference When we discussed the fourth, "special frame of reference" provision, I introduced the idea of a field which had a particular frame of reference. For Star Trek, we can imagine subspace to be this field, and we can let it pervade all of known space. Then, subspace (or at least some property of subspace) would define a particular frame of reference at every point in space. When you entered warp, you would take on the frame of reference of subspace and keep it, regardless of your velocity with respect to subspace. This would ensure that normal, everyday warp travel would not produce unsolvable paradoxes (as we discussed in Section 9.5.4 ). So, what does this provision give us that the third provision didn't? Well, by assuming that subspace defines a special frame of reference, we can explain some interesting points on the technical side of Trek. For example, in the "Star Trek the Next Generation Technical Manual" (and in other sources) we see that the different warp numbers correspond (in some way) to different FTL speeds. But when they say that Warp 3 is 39 times the speed of light, we must ask what frame of reference this speed is measured in. With subspace as a special frame of reference, it would be understood to mean "39 times the speed of light in the frame of reference of subspace." The same idea can be applied to references made to impulse-drive-only speeds. In the Technical Manual, they mention efficiency ratings for "velocities limited to 0.5c." They also mention the need for added power for "velocities above 0.75c." But these velocities are all relative, and so we must ask why these normal, slower than light velocity of the Enterprise should matter when considering efficiencies, etc. After all, the Enterprise is always traveling above 0.5 c in some frame of reference and above 0.75c in some other frame of reference. However, since impulse is supposed to use a subspace field to "lower the mass of the ship" (so that it is easier to propel), we could argue that the speed of the ship with respect to subspace (assuming subspace defines a special frame of reference) would effect efficiencies, etc. Further, there is a much more documented example which refers to warp 10. As many of you know, warp 10 is supposed to be infinite speed in the Next Generation shows. That means that the event "you leave your departure point" would be simultaneous with the event "you arrive at your destination". But, as we have discussed, the question of whether two events are simultaneous or not truly depends on the frame of reference you are in. So, we ask, in what frame of reference is warp 10 actually infinite speed. Again, we can use the frame of reference of subspace to resolve this issue. Warp 10 would be understood to be infinite speed in the frame of reference of subspace. Finally, using this provision, there would be a standard, understood definition for measuring times, lengths, etc. Times would be measured just as it would tick on a clock in the frame of reference of subspace, and distances would be measured just as they would be by a ruler at rest in the subspace frame of reference. Basically, the feeling we have for the way things work in every day, non-relativistic life would be applicable to Trek by using the subspace frame of reference as a standard, understood reference frame. And so, I believe that the fourth provision gives us the best explanation for how normal, everyday warp travel in Trek could be self consistent. 10.3 The "Picture" this Gives Us of Warp Travel Given the previous discussion, we see that the fourth provision seems to fit Star Trek like a glove. Thus, it may be best for us to view warp travel in Star Trek like this: Subspace is a field which defines a particular frame of reference at all points in known space. When you enter warp, you are using subspace such that you keep its frame of reference regardless of your speed. Not only does this mean that normal warp travel cannot be used to produce unsolvable paradoxes, but since in warp your frame of reference would no longer depend on your speed as it does in relativity, relativistic effects in general do not apply to travelers using warp. Since relativistic effects don't apply, you also have a general explanation as to why you can exceed the speed of light in the first place. (As a note, this is similar to Alcubierre's idea for "warp" travel (mentioned earlier), but in his idea the traveler did not take on a "special" frame. Instead, he took on the frame he had before entering warp, but that allows two trips from two different frames of reference to produce an unsolvable paradox. If we add subspace as a special frame of reference to Alcubierre's idea, we could get a self consistent situation which would be very similar to what we see in Trek.) For more information on how this might conceptually work in the science fiction world of Trek (at least one way I imagine it) you may want to read my other regular post, "Subspace Physics". Here, however, we can at least use this "picture" of warp to consider how the outside universe might appear to someone traveling at warp speed. Remember, at any point the warp traveler's frame of reference it is as if he is sitting still in subspace's reference frame. We could illustrate the way such an observer would picture a particular event by using the following idea: Picture a string of cameras, each a distance (d) away from the one before it. Let these cameras all be stationary in the frame of reference of subspace, and let them all be pointed at the event of interest. Further, let each camera have a clock on it, and let all the clocks be synchronized in the subspace frame. Then, we can set each camera to go off with the time between one camera flash and the next being d/v (where v is the FTL velocity of the observer we want to illustrate). Then, each picture is taken in the subspace frame of reference, but the string of pictures (one from each camera) would form a movie in which each frame was taken from a different place in space from the previous frame. Thus, we can use this to produce a film of how an event would look to a warp traveler. Of course, in Trek they have subspace sensors which do all their seeing for them (faster than light, of course). However, the above does illustrate one's ability to use this view of warp travel to answer various technical questions. 10.4 Some Notes on Non-Warp FTL Travel and Time Travel in Trek Now, there are cases in Trek where FTL travel exists without necessarily using subspace (and thus the subspace frame of reference would not apply and would not prevent unsolvable paradoxes). For example, if the wormhole in Deep Space Nine is assumed to be the same as a wormhole we theorize about today, then it wouldn't need to deal with subspace to allow FTL travel. (Now, what they call a wormhole doesn't necessarily have to be what we call a wormhole, but for this illustration, let's assume it is). So, if the wormholes in Trek aren't bounded by the subspace frame of reference, we could imagine a situation whereby they could be used to cause unsolvable paradoxes. This is true for any form of FTL travel in Trek which might not use subspace. However, I propose that in cases where subspace isn't used (so that its special frame of reference could not prevent unsolvable paradoxes) then the first or second provision, "parallel universes" or "consistency protection", would apply. In that way, we can allow for non-warp/non-subspace-using FTL travel in Trek while still preventing unsolvable paradoxes. Further, consider time travel in Trek. Actual time travel couldn't be accomplished by using subspace alone (the subspace frame along with the fourth provision would prevent it). However, I propose again that such travels in time should not be able to produce unsolvable paradoxes because the "parallel universes" or "consistency protection" provisions would apply (since subspace alone couldn't be in use to produce the time travel). For example, consider the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Time's Arrow" (in which Data's severed head is found on 24th century Earth, and Data eventually travels back in time to (unintentionally) leave his head behind to be found). Now, after the head was found, one of the crew (let's say Riker, just to use an example) could decide to try to produce an unsolvable paradox. Riker may decide to do everything in his power so as to keep Data from going back in time. He may even try to destroy Data and his head to accomplish this task. Of course, Riker isn't the type of person to do this, but what if he was? Well, in that case, he would be trying to produce an unsolvable paradox, and the first or second provision would prevent it. For the first provision, the head found in the 24th century might have actually come from a parallel universe. For the second provision, we could imagine various ways in which Riker might fail in his task of trying to keep data from going back in time. Further, we could consider the case in which he would succeed in producing an unsolvable paradox and we could insist that such situations would destroy themselves or prevent themselves from ever happening. Such a situation is seen in a particular Voyager episode. In this episode, members of the crew are caught in a "subspace fissure", and they travel back in time. By the end of the episode their trip back in time has produced a self-inconsistent situation. That series of events then becomes impossible and ceases to exist by the closing credits. This could be seen as a result of having the "consistency protection provision" apply to a case where the subspace frame of reference is bypassed via "subspace fissures". So, even though we can be relatively sure that this was not the intention of the writers, the situations shown do seem to comply with the concepts we have developed. If you are a sci-fi writer, understanding these concepts may help you in the future. 10.5 To sum up... To sum up, we have found that by introducing a special frame of reference which would be "attached" to subspace, and by further insisting that any type of FTL/time travel done without using subspace be governed by the "parallel universe" or "consistency protection" provisions, we will not only have a self consistent universe for our Star Trek stories, but we can also (coincidentally) explain many of the "but how come...?" questions which some Star Trek episodes produce. Chapter 11: Conclusion In Part I of this FAQ, I presented some of major concepts of special relativity, and here in Part IV , we have discussed the considerable havoc they play with the possibility of faster than light travel. I have argued that the possibility of producing unsolvable paradox is a very powerful deterrent to all FTL concepts. Further, we have introduced four basic provisions, at least one of which must be in place so that FTL trips/signals (sent using any of the FTL concepts) cannot be used to produce unsolvable paradoxes. Finally, we looked at the science fiction of Star Trek while considering all that we had discussed. We concluded that warp travel could be governed by the fourth provision (via subspace defining a special frame of reference) while all other FTL travel (or time travel) could be governed by the first or second provisions. This, I believe, best explains what we see on Star Trek. If you have not read Part II or Part III of this FAQ, and you are interested in learning more about relativity (special and general), then you may want to give them a look. As the end result of producing this FAQ, I hope that I have at least informed you to some extent (or perhaps just helped to clarified your own knowledge) concerning relativity and the problems it poses for FTL travel.	<urn:uuid:9ef81656-b130-47d2-b47e-2db80496fd4f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.physicsguy.com/ftl/html/FTL_part4.html	2015-04-02T09:40:48Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.960104	15,493
Book your room at Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort And Spa Please enter your travel dates. Dubai beach resort near The Emirates Golf Club With a stay at Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort And Spa in Dubai (Jumeirah Beach Residence), you'll be minutes from Skydive Dubai and Dubai Marina. This 5-star hotel is within close proximity of Dubai Marina Mall and The Beach Mall. Make yourself at home in one of the 501 air-conditioned rooms featuring refrigerators and flat-screen televisions. Satellite programming and DVD players are provided for your entertainment, while complimentary wireless Internet access keeps you connected. Private bathrooms have designer toiletries and bidets. Conveniences include phones, as well as safes and desks. Pamper yourself with a visit to the spa, which offers massages, body treatments, and facials. After dipping into one of the 3 outdoor swimming pools, you can spend some time at the private beach. This hotel also features complimentary wireless Internet access, babysitting/childcare (surcharge), and gift shops/newsstands. Guests can get to nearby shops on the complimentary shuttle. Enjoy a meal at one of the hotel's dining establishments, which include 6 restaurants and a coffee shop/café. From your room, you can also access 24-hour room service. Relax with a refreshing drink at a beach bar, a poolside bar, or one of 2 bars/lounges. Featured amenities include a 24-hour business center, limo/town car service, and express check-out. Planning an event in Dubai? This hotel has facilities measuring 16140 square feet (1500 square meters), including a conference center. A roundtrip airport shuttle is provided for a surcharge (available on request), and free valet parking is available onsite.Information missing or incorrect? Tell us! This Dubai resort provides access to a private sand beach, tennis courts, three temperature-controlled outdoor pools, and a 24-hour fitness center. A playground, children's pool, and the complimentary children's club are available to families. Caracalla Spa offers Hammam pools, saunas, and spa tubs, as well as massages and beauty services. Business-friendly amenities include a conference center with 10 meeting rooms and catering available, and a 24-hour business center. Additional resort amenities include complimentary WiFi, a rooftop terrace, a concierge desk, and free valet parking. Roundtrip airport shuttle services can be arranged in advance for a fee. - Babysitting or childcare (surcharge) - 24-hour front desk - Total number of rooms - 501 - Shopping on site - Hair salon - Tennis on site - Number of bars/lounges - 2 - Breakfast available (surcharge) - Coffee/tea in lobby - Coffee shop or café - Free newspapers in lobby - Dry cleaning/laundry service - Express check-out - 24-hour fitness facilities - Airport transportation (surcharge) - Full-service spa - Free shopping center shuttle - Gift shops or newsstand - Number of outdoor pools - 3 - Beach/pool umbrellas - Rooftop terrace - Children's club - Designated smoking areas - Luggage storage - Laundry facilities - Limo or Town Car service available - Spa treatment room(s) - Multilingual staff - Free valet parking - Poolside bar - Beach bar - On private beach - Beach sun loungers - Pool sun loungers - Beach towels - Beach umbrellas - Free self parking - Conference center - Snack bar/deli - Number of restaurants - 6 - 24-hour business center - Conference space size (feet) - 16140 - Conference space size (meters) - 1500 - Number of meeting rooms - 10 - Number of buildings/towers - 3 - Spa tub - Steam room - Children's pool - Swim-up bar - Turkish bath/Hammam - Tours/ticket assistance - Free WiFi - Spa services on site Available in all rooms: Free WiFi Available in some public areas: Free WiFi Free self parking, Free valet parking - Air conditioning - Climate control - Coffee/tea maker - Free bottled water - DVD player - Daily housekeeping - Turndown service - Designer toiletries - Private bathroom - Hair dryer - In-room childcare (surcharge) - Satellite TV service - Iron/ironing board (on request) - In-room safe - Free newspaper - Blackout drapes/curtains - Flat-panel TV - Room service (24 hours) - Connecting/adjoining rooms available - Free cribs/infant beds - Rollaway/extra beds (surcharge) - Free WiFi Where to Eat Guests of Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort And Spa can choose from 8 restaurants and bars offering a wide range of culinary delights. Room service is also available. Al Khaima - Mezzes, Arabic grills, and sheesha pipes. Located in the gardens. Open nightly. Al Murjan - Serving light fare, afternoon tea, cakes, pastries, and snacks. Harp music plays nightly. Located in the Arcade. Brasserie - Open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Á la carte dishes and international buffets. Located in the lobby. Rhodes Twenty10 - Culinary grill with a twist. Serving dinner every night. Located in the tower building. Ossigeno - Serving Italian cuisine for dinner. Nearby Things to Do This Dubai resort features a private sand beach, a marina, and a 24-hour fitness center. Sun loungers, towels, and umbrellas are provided. The resort also offers three outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a sauna, spa tub, and facilities to entertain children. - Golfing nearby - Sailing nearby - Scuba diving nearby - Skydiving nearby - Windsurfing nearby - Fishing on site - Pilates classes on site - Playground on site - Racquetball/squash on site - Volleyball on site - Water skiing on site A sensory journey awaits visitors to the Caracalla Spa. Uniquely designed with a Roman theme and infused with an ambience of well-being and relaxation, the spa offers a holistic range of beauty treatments and unforgettable experiences for the body and mind. Situated over 3 floors, Caracalla, the hotel's spa and health club, is another retreat for the mind and body. Product lines include Elemis, Wild Earth and Ionithermie. A selection of fresh juices and water are provided, and any additional refreshments may be ordered from the Tea Lounge. Guests can enjoy 5 Hammam pools, saunas, steam rooms, Jacuzzis, a range of massage styles, aromatherapy, and 6 beauty treatment rooms. - Number of treatment rooms 6 - Body wraps - Aromatherapy treatments - Sauna in spa - Spa tub in spa - Body treatments - Facial treatments To make requests for specific accessibility needs, complete the “Special or Accessibility Requests" section of “Trip Preferences" when you book your hotel. - Accessible path of travel - Accessible parking Minimum check-in age is 18 Check-in time starts at 2 PM Check-out time is noon You need to know Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy. Government-issued photo identification and a credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges. Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed. - The name on the credit card used at check-in to pay for incidentals must be the primary name on the guestroom reservation. No pets or service animals allowed - New Year's Eve (31 December) Gala Dinner per adult: AED 2100.00 - New Year's Eve (31 December) Gala Dinner per child: AED 1050.00 (from 5 to 15 years old) - Tourism fee: AED 20 per accommodation, per night - Fee for buffet breakfast: AED 140 per person (approximately) - Airport shuttle fee: AED 380 per vehicle (one way) - Rollaway bed fee: AED 360.00 per day We should mention This property offers transfers from the airport (surcharges may apply). Guests must contact the property with arrival details 24 hours prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation. Children 11 years old and younger stay free when occupying the parent or guardian's room, using existing bedding. Only registered guests are allowed in the guestrooms. The property has connecting/adjoining rooms, which are subject to availability and can be requested by contacting the property using the number on the booking confirmation. No pets and no service animals are allowed at this property.	<urn:uuid:14dc4cc7-94f0-4b68-9c5b-17eb2264afb8>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.travelocity.com/Dubai-Emirate-Hotels-Le-Royal-Meridien-Beach-Resort-And-Spa.h190827.Hotel-Information	2015-04-02T09:43:38Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427132827069.83/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323174707-00092-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.880664	1,942
- Rape jokes seem to be more of a presence than ever - Writer and comedian Lindy West was ripped for column about rape jokes - Some say it's a free-speech issue; others point out consequences - West just wants to keep dialogue open, she says, not stifle comics Did you hear the one about the rape joke? Like the motivational-style poster of a man cradling an unconscious woman with the caption "How did you lose your virginity??" The answer: "Rohypnol." Or the governor of Maine's quip comparing a political foe's budget plan to anal rape "without Vaseline"? Or the club incident in which comedian Daniel Tosh responded to a woman's criticism by asking, "Wouldn't it be funny if that girl got raped by, like, five guys right now?" Or what about the Filipino comedian who made a gang-rape joke about a local newscaster, or the "just wait, it'll be all over soon" reference at the E3 video-game convention, or the Emma Watson "rapey" debate in "This Is the End"? Lindy West isn't so sure. In response to a series of columns and an appearance on the FX show "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell," where she debated the issue with comedian Jim Norton, she was besieged by angry commenters who insulted her looks, questioned her comic bona fides and said that, well, she should be raped. West read some of the most vituperative responses in a much-passed-around video and wrote a follow-up column for Jezebel. "How did (the commenters) try to demonstrate that comedy, in general, doesn't have issues with women? By threatening to rape and kill me," she said. West has emphasized she's not against rape jokes. In fact, she wrote a column called "How to Make a Rape Joke," which explained that context was everything. As for the angry comments, she described them as "an occupational hazard" in an interview with CNN. But, she added, she wants to keep prompting readers to think about what they're saying -- or hearing. "There are a lot of people who don't have a concept of certain things being important," she says. "It's not just a joke. It doesn't just exist on your Twitter and then go away. Things have real-life consequences." The disrespect is nothing new for female comedians, says Ever Mainard, a Chicago-based comic who was featured in the "How to Make a Rape Joke" column. Standup comedy remains a male-dominated field, and the young bucks going for laughs want to make a quick impact, she says. "Rape jokes, for a lot of newer comedians, tend to be an easier joke," says Mainard. "You can tell the newer dudes by their talking about rape or homosexuality as a punch line. I think our culture is a little desensitized to it." Comedy has always pushed limits. That's often the point -- to question authority, shatter preconceptions, tell truth to power. In the 1960s, Lenny Bruce was arrested for his use of profanity. A decade later, George Carlin was hauled in for speaking the "Seven Dirty Words." Sam Kinison ranted; Andrew Dice Clay told scatological nursery rhymes; Louis C.K. takes audiences into the darkest corners of his mind, and Anthony Jeselnik sounds calmly psychopathic. Magazines, television, movies and the Internet have followed the blazed trail. But joking about rape -- an act of violence that overwhelmingly affects women -- means walking a fine line, and too many comedians are unable to balance on the tightrope. Brett Wheeler, who's seen the issue from many sides -- he's an amateur comedian, a psychology instructor, a humor researcher and a former rape crisis center worker -- believes some of the increase in rape jokes is due to increased aggressive humor on the part of standup comedians. "There are different kinds of humor, often grouped into affiliative -- you're laughing with someone -- and aggressive. And one of the things that we have seen is more aggressive forms of standup," he says. "It doesn't mean the people themselves are aggressive -- it just means the humor has become more hostile in some ways. People feel like they're bucking authority or bucking social norms." Aggression can come with the comic territory. Comedians often talk about their performance in life-or-death terms: "I killed out there" for success, "I died" for failure. The atmosphere breeds me-or-them attitudes, says Benjy Susswein, who books comedians and manages Stand Up NY in Manhattan. "It's terrifying, it's revealing, it's brutal," says Susswein. "(Standup) comedy lives in those two extremes where you either want to kill yourself or you're the king of the world. It's one or the other." Perhaps for that reason, standup tends to draw more men. (Improv and sketch troupes, which have a group dynamic, attract far more women, says Susswein.) In fact, observes Wheeler, occasionally there will be "some old dinosaur" who'll ask if women are even funny. When he hears that trope expounded by comics, Wheeler immediately asks his friends if they can imagine someone suggesting that men aren't funny. "And the response is, of course no one can imagine that," he says. "Because that's what privilege looks like." Which is where the discussion of rape jokes gets into deeper, even more treacherous waters. There's no question that the world has changed in the decades since Henny Youngman said, "Take my wife -- please." Women now hold positions of power, and some men feel threatened by the changes in society. "My sense is that one issue is that men are feeling disempowered, and there are probably fewer venues for getting together and talking that way and getting away with it," says David Reiss, a San Diego-based psychiatrist who studies personality dynamics. "A lot of what used to be acceptable isn't, and men are feeling they're being hemmed in." Lisa Wade, a sociology professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, says that West's posts hit a raw nerve with some men unused to being questioned. "Whenever we see people pushing back and saying, 'You have to start being accountable to women in your audience, and I'm going to start making you accountable with this piece,' only then is it necessary for people to be defensive," she says. "Anytime someone is in a position of privilege and they have unearned benefits by virtue of that privilege, when you take those unearned benefits away, to them it feels like you're taking something unfairly." Sound too strong for a discussion about jokes? Comedian and psychology instructor Wheeler has a routine in his act, drawing on his academic studies, that shows just how deeply comedy -- and gender roles -- can cut, while also making a point about rape jokes. "I do a fair amount of my routine on how bad people are about communicating about sex," he says. "I talk a lot about how men in particular, not through any fault of their own, are just really pretty bad at sex because nobody really teaches them anything, we have this expectation of competence on their part, and they sort of watch porn and figure, 'OK, I know what I'm doing.' And we have lots of data that shows there are a lot of women who are in heterosexual relationships who are pretty sexually unsatisfied," he says. As he reels off some jokes about the issue, he can see the men in the audience squirm while the women cheer. At which point he will stop and address the men. "I'll say, 'I'm sorry, is a comedian saying something that's making you uncomfortable? Maybe I should tell some rape jokes so we can all relax,'" he says. Women appreciate the role reversal, he says. "I've had multiple female comedians come up to me after my set and shake my hand and say, 'I want to thank you for doing that, because when I do that, it's too easy for them to dismiss as me just being a bitch. But when you do it, there's really nowhere to hide,'" he says. "So it's not that comedy is right or wrong, it's how you're using it." Still, there are comedians concerned that essays like West's can have a chilling effect on comedy. They worry that they'll have to censor themselves, and that clubs will err on the side of caution. Roseanne Barr, while defending West's opinion, pointed out that comedians have to be allowed to fail if they're going to learn the trade -- and that includes telling rape jokes. "Comedy clubs are a testing ground for comics, and the freedom to be bad and to be offensive are part of the training process itself," she wrote in the Daily Beast. "Free speech can be messy and bloody and offensive; if you aren't prepared for the grossout, stay out of comedy clubs that birth comics like Sam Kinison and Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Bill Hicks." Barr added that telling rape jokes got her into trouble on at least one occasion. "I was not allowed to work in a popular comedy club in Denver in 1980 because I told rape jokes," she wrote. "Some women, delicate flowers that they were, took the utmost offense to my presence and my directness." But comedian Adam Christing, who runs a firm called Clean Comedians ("Laughter you can trust"), points out that to succeed, you have to know your audience. After all, the First Amendment doesn't just give you the right of free speech; it also gives your audience -- or your client -- the right to react to your speech. "You look at the words 'show business,' and business is the longer word," he says. Clean Comedians supplies a lot of talent for corporate retreats, and some clients have gone over material line-by-line, he points out. "In recent years, (it's been said) that the new prophets are comedians, and I love that. But read the Old Testament -- there are very few prophets and most of them got stoned." Even the most outrageous comedians know their audience, says Wheeler. After all, without their support, the room is as silent as a tomb when it should be rocking with laughter. It's an easy lesson to forget, especially these days, when many prospective comedians are trying their hand on the Internet -- which means the entire world is judging. After one of West's attackers was, in turn, flamed on Twitter, he asked if she could intercede. "I was just trying to make Jim Norton laugh," he said. As with any edgy comedy, context is everything. Even the most offensive material can be hilarious with the right comedian and the right audience. (Just watch "The Aristocrats" for many examples.) As West noted in her column, rape jokes can be funny -- with a certain self-awareness, attitude and intelligence. It's just that too many comedians take shortcuts straight to hostility and parrot "eighth-generation versions of Anthony Jeselnik," she says. Some comedians are reassessing. Patton Oswalt, who once defended rape jokes on censorship grounds, has now reconsidered. "I've read enough viewpoints, and spoken to enough of my female friends (comedians and noncomedians) to know it isn't some vaporous hysteria, some false meme or convenient catch-phrase," he wrote on his blog. "I'm a man. I get to be wrong. And I get to change." Which is all that West is asking. "It's a process and it's an art, and people who love the art want the art to get better, and that's where I'm at," she says. "I just want it to evolve and I want it to feel less exclusionary to people like me. And there are a lot of people like me."	<urn:uuid:dc73d1e5-7a02-41f6-9724-b96535a2e3ac>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/25/living/rape-jokes-women-comedy/index.html?hpt=li_mid	2015-03-28T05:14:30Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.97787	2,519
An eccentric from 18th century Yorkshire, animal-lover and inventor Jemmy Hirst was the greatest eccentric in English history. His bizarre exploits included riding bulls, teaching otters to fish, fixing sails to his carriage, and treating the king like an equal. James Hirst was born in 1738 in the tiny northern England town of Rawcliffe. His father was a moderately successful farmer and, by all accounts, Hirst's family was of a quiet and respectable sort. But young James - who would be known for most of his life as "Jemmy" - quickly distinguished himself from the rest of the family. Even as a toddler, he showed a unique intellect and wowed his fellow villagers with his remarkable insight, and so his parents decided to send him to a boarding school for prospective clergymen. This did not prove to be a good fit. Hirst was unremarkable academically but he proved himself a gifted prankster. He once discovered the principal's glasses lying about and carefully removed their lenses from the frames. The principal was outraged when he discovered his glasses were now entirely glass-free, and it was only the fact that all his fellow students found the scene so hilarious that Hirst escaped any blame for the incident. His pranks quickly began to overlap with his true love, which was animals. Specifically, it was training animals to do things that, in the ordinary course of things, they were exceedingly unlikely to do. For instance, the young Hirst had a great deal of fun training an old pig that belonged to the principal, as John Tomlinson recounts in his 1865 book Some Interesting Yorkshire Scenes: Jemmy's greatest enjoyment about this time was in riding on the back of an old sow belonging to the parson. He used to tie a piece of twine to the ring in her snout, and call it his bridle; and a nail stuck in his shoe heel served for a spur. But, like most of her sex, the old sow was very wayward and obstinate; and many were the falls Jemmy got from her ladyship's back, and many a tussle he had with her before he succeeded in breaking her in. He had just got her to leap over a stick about a foot high, and was practising this novel equestrian feat one night after school hours, when who should come into the yard but the principal himself, bringing a horsewhip with him, with which he gave Jemmy two or three strokes on the shoulders before that young gentleman was aware of his presence. Jemmy tried to dodge, putting the old sow between himself and the master, but it was no go, as Jemmy said himself, so be was obliged to run for it, receiving a few more strokes before he could get out of the parson's reach. For this Jemmy was confined all next day, and fed upon bread and water; yet he was in no wise deterred from mounting his swinish charger in future whenever he had an opportunity. His attempts to teach the pigs to jump hurdles ultimately led to his expulsion, and so he was sent off to be an apprentice tanner. He made a remarkable comeback in 1756 when he earned a small fortune speculating on farm produce. This allowed him to spend the rest of his long life back in Rawcliffe as a gentleman farmer, and to be generous in the most eccentric way possible. He supposedly would blow a hunting horn to invite the poor and elderly to his house for refreshments...which were served in his favorite coffin, because where else would you serve them? In any event, the real boon of his newfound wealth was the ability to take his love of animals to the next level. His two most frequent companions were apparently a fox and an otter, and he even kept a bear named Nicholas. This creature, unfortunately, resisted Hirst's efforts to tame it, resulting at least once in injury to the eccentric farmer. Equally unsuccessful but significantly less painful was Hirst's attempt to train a litter of pigs to be foxhounds, but he could never get the piglets to stop grunting, which made them spectacularly ineffective when it came time to sneak up on foxes. But his great achievement in taming animals that had no business being tamed was with his prized bull Jupiter. John Tomlinson recounts the story of how Hirst actually managed to render the fearsome bull into a lovable pet: Old Mr. Hirst had a fine young bull, called Jupiter; so, one day, Jemmy resolved to make a hackney of him. Accordingly a saddle was constructed to fit the bull's broad back, and a bridle to encircle the bull's capacious head: then Jemmy mounted his sullen charger. Jupiter stood for a moment amazed at such stupendous effrontery; then, with tail erect and head declined, set off at full gallop across the field, ever and anon throwing up his heels in a paroxysm of rage. Jemmy kept his seat, with courage deep embued, until the bull rushed at a thick-set hedge, which the rider intended Jupiter to clear, and Jupiter intended to breakdown. Neither result happened, however; the concussion sent the bud reeling backwards, and Jemmy flying over the bull's head into an adjoining field. No serious damage was done to either of them, and a few minutes afterwards Jemmy, being again mounted, gave the brute such a drilling, that he was compelled to acknowledge the dictates of a superior will, and learn his first lesson of obedience. From this time, the task became comparatively easy, and not only was Jupiter rendered sufficiently docile, carrying his master to all the surrounding villages and market towns, but learnt to take a moderate-sized fence like any thoroughbred hunter. Hirst treated Jupiter like a horse for the rest of his days, riding him in various hunts and having him pull his carriage. Remarkably, this was one of the more sensible things Hirst spent his time doing. Animals were always Hirst's first, second, and third loves, but he also had a flair for invention. He built a special windmill intended to thresh corn, but it didn't quite work for its intended purpose - Hirst ultimately put it to use cutting straw and chopping turnips. He built a special wickerwork carriage that took a full year to complete, which was said to contain an entire wine cellar and a double bed. The carriage required either his bull Jupiter or four strong mules to pull, and he built a simple mechanical odometer that would ring a bell after every mile of travel. But his greatest achievement has to be his attempt to fix sails to his carriage and create what can only be called the world's first land boat. In the book Yorkshire Oddities and Incidents, the 19th century scholar Sabine Baring-Gould recounts Hirst's disastrous first voyage...and his triumphant second attempt, all on the same day: With the assistance of the captain of his sloop, Jemmy rigged some sails to his carriage, and after a few trials of the new contrivance in the lanes about Rawcliffe, he set off one day to Pontefract with all sail set. Having a fair wind he went at a dashing speed. When he reached the town every one turned out to see the wonderful ship that sailed on dry land. But when Jemmy reached the first cross-street a puff of wind caught him sideways, upset the carriage, and flung Jemmy through the window of a draper's shop, smashing several panes. The crowd that followed speedily righted the carriage and extricated Jemmy, who paid for the damage he had done, and led the way to the nearest tavern, where he treated the whole crowd with ale. This bounty naturally elicited great enthusiasm, which exhibited itself in pro-longed cheers, to Jemmy's great delight, for he was one of the most conceited of men. The authorities having intimated to him that he would not be allowed to sail back through the streets, the crowd yoked themselves to the carriage, and drew him triumphantly out of the town, and would have dragged him halfway to Rawcliffe had not a favourable wind sprung up, when Jemmy spread his sails again, and was blown out of sight of the crowd with expedition. He reached home without any further mishap. Hirst possessed a remarkable talent for making his supreme strangeness seem endearing instead of merely obnoxious, but even he sometimes struck the wrong balance. One incident began with a dinner party, in which Hirst was showing off his unsurprisngly bizarre choice of home furnishings to his guests. Sabine Baring-Gould tells the story: Immediately over Lord Wharncliffe's head was suspended a pair of horse's blinkers. "Do you wear these?" asked a Mr. Sadler who was present. "No, sir, I do not; I keep them for donkeys of a peculiar make, who stand on their hind legs and ask impertinent questions." "What do you mean ?" asked the young man, reddening. "Is that intended as a personal remark?" "Draw your own inferences," answered Jemmy, knocking the ashes out of his pipe. Mr. Sadler felt so insulted that he demanded satisfaction, and after some brief consideration Hirst accepted, naming Lord Wharncliffe as his second. Jemmy and his second then excused themselves from the room, but not before his lordship advised another in the party to get Mr. Sadler as drunk as possible. Then it was just a matter of Hirst's mechanical know-how saving the day: Then Lord Wharncliffe and Jemmy, slipping in by another door, proceeded to dress up a dummy that was in a closet hard by in Jemmy's clothes. Mr. Sadler was then told that all was ready, and he returned into the room rather the worse for the liquor he had drunk. The pistol was put into his hand, and he was stationed opposite the dummy, which with outstretched arm pointed a pistol at him. The signal was given, and Mr. Sadler fired; then Jemmy, who was secreted in a closet hard by, pulled a string, and the dummy fell with a heavy thud upon the floor. Sadler felt immediately remorseful when he thought he had killed his opponent, and he rushed over to the "corpse" to make sure it was really dead. He then discovered that his victim had been made of wood all along, and everyone else burst out laughing. Hirst then emerged from his hiding place and profusely apologized to Sadler, and the pair parted as friends...but not before partying into the wee hours of the morning. An Audience with the King Hirst's eccentricity made him a frequent topic of conversation with the Yorkshire aristocracy, and their stories of him eventually reached King George III. The monarch, who still had a few decades left before his own faculties would abandon him, was intrigued to meet Hirst, and so had Lord Beaumont write a letter inviting the eccentric to the royal court. Hirst's response was simply incredible (emphasis mine): "My Lord,-I have received thy letter, stating his Majesty's wish to see me. What does his Majesty wish to see me for? I'm nothing related to him, and I owe him nothing that I know of; so I can't conceive what he wants with me. I suspect thou hast been telling him what queer clothes I wear and such like. Well, thou may tell his Majesty that I am very busy just now training an otter to fish, but I'll contrive to come in the course of a month or so, as I should like to see London. -I am respectfully, James Hirst. Hirst did eventually arrive in London, wearing an outfit that comprised "an otter-skin coat, patchwork breeches, red and white striped stockings, [and] yellow boots." The noble peers and assembled crowd alike found Hirst's outfit completely ridiculous, and the Duke of Devonshire is said to have collapsed in laughter. Hirst naturally assumed the Duke was suffering from a hysterical fit, and so he immediately threw a glass of water in the noble's face. When the king arrived, Hirst saw no great reason to give him special treatment - after all, as he had pointed out to Lord Beaumont, "I didn't seek the king's acquaintance, he sought mine." Hirst didn't bow before the king but instead held out a hand to shake, complimenting the sovereign on being a "plain-looking fellow" and inviting him to his Yorkshire home for a brandy. George III was by all accounts greatly entertained by Hirst's eccentricity, and after a long chat about Hirst's inventions he sent the man away with a carriage fully stocked with wine from the royal cellars. A Fitting Death Hirst had about as much reverence for religion as he did the monarchy. He quite openly made no spiritual arrangements for the next life, explaining that making a good coffin was all he required to be ready for death. When a local noblewoman asked him about the state of his soul, Hirst is said to have offered this reply: "...I don't see what provision I can make, for I once heard a parson say that we could take nothing away with us when we died; so I think the best plan would bo to do the best we can for the body while we are here, and let the soul, if we have one, look but for itself in the next shop we go to." That said, Hirst did provide for a potentially spectacular funeral. When he died in 1829 at the age of 91, his will insisted that much of his remaining money be used to provide for twelve maidens - accounts differ on whether they were meant to be old or young - to carry his coffin to the grave, accompanied by bagpipes and fiddle. Unfortunately, only two actual maidens were available in the surrounding area, and so ten widows were hired to fill out the ranks. Sadly, the raucous music Hirst had intended was forbidden by presiding priest, who insisted the bagpipe alone should play and that the piper only play sacred music. To the bitter end, Hirst was an iconoclastic inventor and an irrepressible eccentric. I said he had made a good coffin, and I wasn't kidding. John Tomlinson describes his remarkable box, and the even more remarkable trade he made out of viewing the thing: He made a coffin, most curiously contrived, with folding doors, in which were bull's eyes of glass to peep through, and a bell to ring when he wanted anything in the grave. The coffin was for years reared up against the wall of his house, and all his male visitors paid a penny for the privilege of standing inside this wooden box. I suppose it humoured the old man's whims to do so. From the womankind he exacted, not a penny, but a different kind of toll. A kiss, you will say. No; guess again. Do you give it up? Well, he exacted a garter; and each garter was tied to his old armchair, until one could scarcely see the wood for garters. Bull tamer, carriage sailer, duel puppeteer, king befriender, coffin innovator...Jemmy Hirst truly did it all, and he quite clearly lived his life for his own amusement. Considering what he managed to accomplish in the fields of animal psychology and automotive engineering, we are only left to speculate what Hirst could have done if his singular mind had been unleashed on relativity or quantum mechanics. I'm guessing he would have batted out the grand unified theory in a weekend...provided that damn otter had finally learned how to fish.	<urn:uuid:2723b0b2-57b8-46d4-95ab-fe24118ed50c>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://io9.com/5767995/the-weirdest-animal-expert-who-ever-lived?tag=eccentrics	2015-03-28T05:40:23Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.987334	3,289
SEATTLE -- Having one of the first few picks is great when it comes to Draft day, but the reason for having high selections isn't such a positive. So Mariners scouting director Tom McNamara isn't about to complain about choosing 12th in Thursday's first round of the First-Year Player Draft after Seattle had one of the top three picks in three of the previous four years. "Obviously all of us would rather have a lower pick," McNamara said, knowing that would mean a better win-loss record the previous season. "But we'll make the best of it and take advantage of picking 12." The Mariners need their recent high picks to start paying off, and they're still waiting on catcher Mike Zunino, pitcher Danny Hultzen and even 2009 first-rounder Dustin Ackley after he was sent down to Triple-A Tacoma last week to iron out his struggles at the plate. Zunino was the third overall selection last year after Hultzen (2011) and Ackley (2009) were the No. 2 picks. This time the Mariners have more uncertainty about who'll they wind up with in the first round, given the way things could play out above them. What McNamara does know is they'll wind up with an excellent young prospect. "I keep reading and hearing this is a weak Draft and I always stay away from that," McNamara said. "I think it's fine. Where we're picking, we're fine." The lower selection did affect how the organization spent its time over recent months in regard to its first-round pick, given the variables of who will be on the board when their name comes up Thursday. "There's always pressure to pick the right guy, no matter where you're at," McNamara said. "The biggest difference is when you have one of the first three picks, you identify about five guys you're considering and you'll see them play [in person] five or six times. But when you're picking 12th, you don't have that luxury because you're looking at more players. But we've still seen them plenty of times." The 2013 First-Year Player Draft will take place Thursday through Saturday, beginning with the Draft preview show on MLB.com and MLB Network on Thursday at 6 p.m. ET. Live Draft coverage from MLB Network's Studio 42 begins at 7 p.m., with the top 73 picks being streamed on MLB.com and broadcast on MLB Network. Rounds 3-10 will be streamed live on MLB.com on Friday, beginning with a preview show at 12:30 p.m., and Rounds 11-40 will be streamed live on MLB.com on Saturday, starting at 1 p.m. MLB.com's coverage includes Draft Central, the Top 100 Draft Prospects list and Draft Tracker, a live interactive application that includes a searchable database of Draft-eligible players. You can also keep up to date by following @MLBDraft on Twitter. And get into the Draft conversation by tagging your tweets with #mlbdraft. McNamara and general manager Jack Zduriencik have steadfastly stood by the policy of always picking the best player, regardless of position, and that certainly remains true this year. The club has accumulated considerable strength in pitching prospects in recent years, but this season at the Major League level has shown again that you can never have enough in that area. While rookie Brandon Maurer initially cracked the rotation coming out of camp, other more highly touted prospects like Hultzen, Taijuan Walker, Erasmo Ramirez and James Paxton have yet to become available due to either injury (Hultzen and Ramirez), age (Walker) or lack of production (Paxton) even with the Mariners needing help at the big league level. Ackley's recent demotion to Tacoma, along with a similar move with catcher Jesus Montero, also served as a sharp reminder that even the highest-regarded position players aren't slam dunks for immediate success either. So the Mariners will go about adding whatever player they feel has the best chance of being a difference-maker down the road, regardless of position or age. McNamara said the fact the Mariners took college players every time they had a top-three selection the past four years was purely coincidental. "Each year we've had high school guys ranked right next to guys we took," he said. "Last year our top three guys weren't just college guys. We've never said we have to pick a college guy this year. It's just line up the board and take the best player. That's what we do. "There are no magical potions. We keep it simple. High school, college, Northwest, Southeast, West Coast. We don't care. We just want the best guy." One of the best guys this year happens to be in the Mariners' backyard, with catcher Reese McGuire of Kentwood High School in nearby Kent, Wash., regarded as a top 12 pick by most experts. The Mariners took Zunino with their first pick last year, but McNamara wasn't giving any hints on whether McGuire was a consideration or not. "He's a good-looking kid," McNamara said. "I can't really comment otherwise, but we're quite aware of where he's playing. We've been in there plenty. That's kind of neat because he's in your backyard, so we've gotten to know him and his family pretty well. He's a good player. He represents the Northwest pretty well." It would seem surprising for Seattle to tab a catcher in the first round for a second straight year. They've been linked more with left-handed-hitting outfielder Austin Meadows out of Grayson High in Georgia or power-hitting corner infielder D.J. Peterson from New Mexico. If they opt for pitching, the top arms likely to still be available in the No. 12 range include right-handers Ryne Stanek from Arkansas, Chris Anderson from Jacksonsville, Jonathan Crawford from Florida and Phil Bickford from Oaks Christian High School in California. Here's a glance at what the Mariners have in store as the Draft approaches: In about 50 words Seattle could go any direction with the 12th selection, the main thing is getting the pick right. This is an organization with a lot of young pitching in the pipeline, but the club also continues searching for offensive help and certainly would welcome adding a promising bat to the mix. The Mariners have had to play things a little more coy this year, given the variables of the 12th pick. McNamara says the team didn't want to tip its hand on some of the players it's most interested in, so Zduriencik wasn't able to view as many of the top prospects in person as in previous years. But that's the way most organizations operate, given few teams are in a top-three spot and everyone is playing the guessing games on who is drawing interest from other clubs. The Mariners did their due diligence and McNamara and his scouting department have spent the past week setting up their Draft board. Now they'll wait to see who falls to them at 12, with fingers crossed that one of the three or four players they most covet will still be available. The Mariners feel there's good value with the 12th pick, which is one they refused to give up by pursuing one of several free agents last winter that would have cost them that selection in compensation. There are several outstanding college pitchers at the top of most team's boards, but after that it's tough to know what direction this year's Draft will take. Because of that, the Mariners will have several options among their favored picks, but there seems to be growing speculation they' try to land a position player with some pop if possible. MLB.com Draft expert Jonathan Mayo has Seattle taking New Mexico's Peterson in his second mock draft. Others have linked the Mariners to Meadows. But in reality, the Mariners are playing things close to the vest and it's hard to know exactly where they'll wind up on Thursday. Under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, each team has an allotted bonus pool equal to the sum of the values of that club's selections in the first 10 rounds of the Draft. The more picks a team has, and the earlier it picks, the larger the pool. The signing bonuses for a team's selections in the first 10 rounds, plus any bonus greater than $100,000 for a player taken after the 10th round, will apply toward the bonus-pool total. Any team going up to five percent over its allotted pool will be taxed at a 75-percent rate on the overage. A team that overspends by 5-10 percent gets a 75-percent tax plus the loss of a first-round pick. A team that goes 10-15 percent over its pool amount will be hit with a 100-percent penalty on the overage and the loss of a first- and second-round pick. Any overage of 15 percent or more gets a 100-percent tax plus the loss of first-round picks in the next two Drafts. If the Mariners choose strictly on need, the outfield would seem the best place to start. With Franklin Gutierrez's contract coming to an end this year and Michael Morse, Raul Ibanez and Jason Bay all on one-year deals, there certainly seems room for an up-and-coming youngster for a club that went out and signed Endy Chavez and Corey Patterson this year just to add organizational depth. That said, the Mariners would welcome offensive thump at any position. And while the organization has been lauded for its pitching depth in the Minors, this season has shown that cultivating young arms is a tough task as injuries have slowed Hultzen and Ramirez, while Paxton hasn't shown the consistency to warrant a promotion and Walker is still developing in Double-A at age 20. The Mariners have plucked a pitcher with their first pick in five of the past seven years, the lone exceptions being Ackley in 2009 and Zunino last year. During Zduriencik's tenure, Seattle has picked a college player with its top pick three times -- all three when they had a high first-round pick -- and opted for a high school player first only in 2010 when they didn't have a selection until the sandwich round and took Walker with the 43rd pick. • Recent Draft History • 2012 Mike Zunino, C, Triple-A Tacoma 2011 Danny Hultzen, LHP, Triple-A Tacoma 2010 Taijuan Walker, RHP, Double-A Jackson 2009 Dustin Ackley, 2B, Triple-A Tacoma 2008 Josh Fields, RHP, Houston Astros (15-day DL) Zunino has shot up through the system since being drafted with the second pick last June, playing Class A ball in Everett and Double-A with Jackson in the final months last year and then opening this season at Triple- A Tacoma. Another youngster on the move is shortstop Brad Miller, a second-round pick in 2011 out of Clemson who was impressive last year with Class A High Desert and Double-A Jackson, then opened this season again at Jackson before getting promoted to Tacoma last week. Right-handed rookie starter Maurer developed into the long-shot success story this spring as a 23rd-round pick in 2008 who leapfrogged highly touted pitching prospects Hultzen, Walker and Paxton to land a spot in the rotation. But Maurer was sent down last week, so the biggest Cinderella now surely is veteran Ibanez, a 36th-round pick by Seattle in 1992 who has gone on to play 18 years in the Majors and is on his third go-round with the Mariners. In The Show In addition to Ibanez, there are only four other Mariners Draft picks who are on the current 25-man roster. Outfielder Michael Saunders was an 11th-round selection in 2004, third baseman Kyle Seager was a third-round pick in 2009, recently promoted infielder Nick Franklin was a first-rounder in 2009, and reliever Carter Capps was a third-round pick in 2011.	<urn:uuid:3a4df0ee-054d-4645-950d-54a5685341db>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://m.mariners.mlb.com/news/article/49346204/mariners-see-plenty-of-promise-with-no-12-pick-in-first-year-player-draft	2015-03-28T05:39:03Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.973331	2,518
Brette Barrouquere (AP) reports the latest on Steven D. Green accused of being the ringleader, murderer and gang-rapist in the slaying of 14-year-old Abeer Qassim al-Janabi. The prosecution and the defense will do their opening arguments April 27th and jury selection has already concluded. Barrouquere notes that the prosecution's witnesses: "Prosecutors listed nearly a half-dozen members of the al-Janabi family as potential witnesses. They will have a court-certified interpreter who will also be available to the defense for witness interviews, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa Ford said." Meanwhile, this is from On Top Magazine's "Fresh Anti-Gay Death Threats In Iraq:" Men who adopt the more Western values of short hair and a clean-shaven face are often accused of being gay in the Middle East. “This [homosexuality] has spread because of the absence of the Mehdi Army, the spread of sexual films and satellite television and a lack of government surveillance,” the office's of Sheikh Ibrahim al-Gharawi, a Shiite cleric, told the news agency. Ali Hili, of Iraqi LGBT, gave gay weekly Gay City News a grim assessment of the situation. According to Hili, the group has confirmed more than 23 murders of gay people in Iraq since December. Openly gay Congressman Jared Polis, who recently toured Iraq, has called upon the State Department to act. “We asked the embassy and the State Department to investigate the reports of killings of gay men, and turned over to the charge d'affaires the names and phone numbers of all the gay Iraqi contacts we had and a letter detailing our concerns,” Polis said. Polis told the paper that the letter included allegations that the Iraqi government was involved in the killings. Time magazine's Mark Kukis offers "Report Shows Torture Is Widespread in Iraq" which includes this: Published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine, the report examined the causes of death for 60,481 Iraqi civilians killed violently during the first five years of the war, using statistics compiled by Iraq Body Count. The findings are surprising to anyone familiar with the regular headlines from Iraq blaring explosions around the country. Executions with firearms, not bomb blasts, have killed most civilians in Iraq. Researchers say 33% of the victims examined in the study died by execution after abduction or capture. And 29% of those victims had signs of torture on their bodies such as bruises, drill holes or burns. Suicide bombers in cars or on foot were responsible for 14% of the victims in the study, while U.S. airstrikes killed 4%. (See pictures of the aftershock in Iraq and the U.S. from torture allegations at Abu Ghraib.) And that is all I could find that C.I. did not have room for or time for in the snapshot. This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today: Friday, April 17, 2009. Chaos and violence continue, the US military announces a death, the US State Dept fudges in a new report, Matthis Chiroux prepares for a court date, and more. Starting with war resistance, Matthis Chiroux was supposed to stand before a military body last month but that changed. He explained to Digital Journal's Stephen Dohnberg why the date was changed to April 21st, "My former JAG attorney volunteered for Iraq service and was deployed a number of weeks ago. Thus, I had to get a new lawyer and a new court date. I think the Army may have been hoping I'd already bought tickets for people to be in attendance and it would have wiped out my finances. Lucky for me, I'm a last minute kinda guy. My replacement is a JAG attorney. Thomas M. Roughneen." This is "Resistance to an Abhorrent Occupation: Press Release of Matthis Chiroux" (World Can't Wait):(ST. LOUIS, MO) The U.S. Army will hear the case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an Individual Ready Reservist who last summer publicly refused activation and deployment orders to Iraq, on April 21 at 1 Reserve Way in Overland, St. Louis, MO, at 9 a.m. Chiroux, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, refused to participate in what he described as "an illegal and immoral occupation" May 15th, 2008, in Washington D.C., after nine other veterans testified to Members of the U.S. Congress about atrocities they experienced during deployments to Iraq. Chiroux also vowed to remain public in the U.S. to defend himself from any charges brought against him by the military. (see matthisresists.us for a record of that speech and others by Chiroux) "My resistance as a noncommissioned officer to this abhorrent occupation is just as legitimate now as it was last year," said Chiroux, adding, "Soldiers have a duty to adhere to the international laws of war described as supreme in Art. 6 Para. 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which we swear to abide by before the orders of any superior, including our former or current president." Following Chiroux's refusal to deploy, the military did not contact him until after he and 10 other IVAW members marched on the final presidential debate Oct. 15, 2008, in Hempstead, N.Y. demanding to question then Senators Obama and McCain regarding their war policies and plans to care for returning veterans. After the veterans were brutalized and arrested by police, (one suffered a fractured skull and is currently suing the police for damages) the Army charged Chiroux with "misconduct" for refusing to deploy, announcing their intentions to discharge him from the reserves as a result. "I go now to St. Louis to honor my promises and convictions," said Chiroux. "Obama or No-Bama, the military must cease prosecuting Soldiers of conscience, and we will demonstrate to them why." Following the hearing, Chiroux and other IVAW members will testify about their military experiences which led them all to resist in different capacities the U.S.'s Overseas Contingency Operation (formerly the Global War on Terror). For more information, see matthisresists.us and ivaw.org. Betty covered Mathis last night in "April 21st, St Louis, Matthis needs your support." June 15, 2008, Matthis explained his reasoning which includes: I believe that this nation and this military may come to know the same truth: That the rule of law has been forsaken and we must return to it or be doomed to continue disaster. I believe in the goodness of the American people and I believe that justice is not dead because we as a people believe that it is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government in our names. We know this truth to be self-evident that our nation can unite to oppose an illegal occupation which is killing and scarring and shattering the lives of our youth and the Iraqi people. On this Fathers Day, know, America, that your children need you. We need you to care for us and to care for our country which we will inherit when you are finished with her. We need you to end this occupation of Iraq which has destroyed a country and scattered its people to the wind like ashes in the tempest -- a tempest that has engulfed the nation of Iraq and scrubbed any sign of peace and prosperity from the surface of a civilization older than even history itself. Fathers, we need you to care for your children and the children of Iraq for they know not why you fight and carry no fault in the conflict. Fathers, your sons and daughters need you now to embrace peace for though we were attacked, we have dealt in retaliation that same suffering one-thousand times over to a people who never wronged us. The nation will know little healing until first we stem off the flow of blood and human life for justice and healing will never be done by a blade or a bullet or a bomb or a torture cell. By continuing to participate in the unjust occupation of Iraq, we, as service members, are contributing to that flow of human life and we cannot now -- nor could we ever -- call the Iraqi people an enemy in the fight against the use of terror. But terror is all we now know. We are terrified of the prospect that we have been lied to. We are terrified by the idea that we have killed for nothing. We are terrified to break the silence. We are terrified to do what we know is right. But never again will I allow terror to silence me. Nor will I allow it to govern my actions. I refuse terror as a tactic for uniting a people around an unjust cause. I refuse to allow terror to motivate me to do violence on my fellow man especially those who never wronged me in the first place. I refuse to be terrified to stand in defense of my Constitution. And I refuse to be terrified of doing so in great adversity. As a resister to the Iraq Occupation, I refuse to be terrified by what may come for I know those who stand against me are in terror of the truth. But I will speak my truth, and I will stand by it firmly and forever will my soul know peace. Thank you. Matthis Chiroux's entire speech is in the June 16, 2008 snapshot. Iraq Veterans Against the War notes: On Tuesday April 21st an Army administrative discharge board will hear the case of Sgt. Matthis Chiroux, an Individual Ready Reservist (IRR) who last summer publicly refused activation orders in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The board will convene at 9am at the Army Human Resources Command, 1 Reserve Way in Overland, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis. IVAW members and supporters will rally outside the hearing starting at 8:30am. Although Chiroux is voluntary attending this hearing, all other IRR members who have refused activation have not had any disciplinary actions taken against them by the military other then receiving a General or Other Than Honorable discharge from the IRR. This discharge has no effect on benefits like the GI Bill that IRR members earned through their service while on active duty. Service members who have questions about the IRR can click here or contact the GI Rights Hotline at 877-447-4487. So that's this coming Tuesday. Wednesday the 15th, the latest 'progress' report on Iraq was released. The US State Dept report is entitled [PDF format warning] "Iraq Status Report." Page 3 offers an overview of the report entitled "Highlights" which includes: * Amnesty International Calls on PM Maliki to Protect Homosexuals in Iraq (POLITICAL, page 4). * Iraqi Vice President to Meet with Executives from Total (ECONOMIC, page 10). * Prime Minister Maliki Visits Moscow for High-Level Talks (DIPLOMATIC, page 20). * High-Profile Attacks Fail to Re-Ignite Sectarian Violence (SECURITY, page 22). We'll dive into security and move to page 23 where the following appears -- see if you can catch the distortion: MNF-I COMMANDER Says U.S. on Track to Meet Withdrawal Deadlines: * General Odierno said he believes the United States is on track to withdraw from major Iraqi cities by the end of June and all combat troops to depart Iraq by the end of 2011. Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," General Odierno said "We continue to work with the Government of Iraq so they can meet that timeline so that they are able to maintain stability after we leave. . . I still believe we're on track with that." It continues but that quote had NOTHING to do with the June deadline. John King never combined the two -- the June deadline and end of 2011 one -- into one question asking Gen Ray Odierno's thoughts. Here's the section they've pulled the quote from and the quoted section above will be in italics: KING: Let me -- let me ask you -- let me move back to a more serious question, and the idea that, in the previous administration and in your service prior to this administration, you were very clear that you thought these decisions should not be based on political timelines; they should be based on conditions on the ground. I understand you're executing the orders of the commander in chief. I just want to get a sense of, are you concerned at all that the bad guys, the enemy, knows the timeline, too, and they are simply going into hiding, hoarding their resources, gathering their weapons and waiting for you to leave? ODIERNO: There is always that potential. But, again, let me remind everyone what change was in December when the United States and the government of Iraq signed an agreement, a bilateral agreement that put the timeline in place, that said we would withdraw all our forces by 31 December, 2011. In my mind, that was historic. It allowed Iraq to prove that it has its own sovereignty. It allows them, now, to move forward and take control, which was always -- it's always been our goal, is that they can control the stability in their country. So I think I feel comfortable with that timeline. I did back in December. I do now. We continue to work with the government of Iraq so they can meet that timeline, so that they are able to maintain stability once we leave. I still believe we're on track with that, as we talk about this today. First note that the State Dept did not even get the words correct ("once we leave," not "after we leave" -- and, yes, in a government report, quotes should be correct). Second, notice that entire quote is to King's question about 2011. Click here for full transcript and here for report and video option (all links are CNN). In that interview, Odierno was not stating that the June deadline was on track. He has, publicly, with other outlets, raised the possibility of remaining in Iraqi cities past June 30th and did in that interview. The paragraph as written is a deliberate distortion and including his qualifiers somewhat (as the report finally does) comes after the report has already established a contrary message and it distorts what Odierno said. That's unacceptable. It is not accurate to take comments Odierno makes about a 2011 deadline and pass them off as remarks regarding a June 30, 2009 deadline. It's also bad p.r. because the rumors already that Gen Ray Odierno is being "censored" and that he was balled out for some of his public statements two days before that CNN interview. The State Dept misrepresenting Odierno's words only appears to confirm those rumors since they indicate an urge to put words into the general's mouth. Moving on, page 7 is "Key Legislative Issues" and we'll note that in full. * Hydrocarbons Package: The Framework Law was resubmitted to the Oil and Gas Committee on October 26 and then returned to the Council of Ministers. There has been no progress on the other three laws in the package. * Budget: The Council of Representatives (COR) passed a budget on March 5. The Presidency Council approved the 2009 budget on April 2. * COR Speaker: The COR has yet to reach a consensus on appointing a new Speaker since Mahmoud Mashadani was ousted on December 23, 2008. The COR concluded spring recess and resumed on April 14. Credit to whomever wrote the report for at least getting it correct that the Speaker was ousted. Very few press reports -- including the New York Times -- get that correct. We'll note the LGBT section in full: Amnesty International issued a letter to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urging the Iraqi government to take "urgent and concerted action" against the recent rise in violence against the gay community in Iraq, including by condemning the killing of six men found dead in Sadr City in past weeks, and bringing the murderers to justice. Congressman Jared Polis also brought the issue to the attention of Iraqi officials during his delegation's recent visit to Iraq. We noted the letter earlier this week. Amnesty International has not posted it online but they have posted this: Amnesty International has written to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki expressing grave concern about a reported spate of killing of young men solely because of their sexual orientation and calling for urgent and concerted action by the government to bring those responsible to justice and to afford effective protection to the gay community in Iraq. Over the last few weeks at least 25 boys and men are reported to have been killed in Baghdad because theyw ere, or were pereceived to be, gay. The killings are said to have been carried out by armed Shi'a militamen as well as by members of the tribes and families of the victims. Certain religious leaders, especially in al-Sadr City neighbourhood, are also reported in recent weeks to have urged their followers to take action to eradicate homosexuality in Iraqi society, in terms which appear effectively to constitute at least an implicit, if not explicit, incitement to violence against members of the gay community. Three corpses of gay men are reported to have been found in al-Sadr City on 2 and 3 April 2009; two of the bodies are said to have had pieces of paper bearing the word "pervert" attached to them, suggetsting that the victims had been murdered on account of their sexual identitiy. In the letter sent to the Prime Minister Amnesty International expressed concern at the government's failure to publicly condemn the killings and ensure that they are promptly and effective investigated, and that the perpetrators are brought to justice. The letter also drew attention to reported statements by one senior police officer that appear to condone or even encourage the targeting of members of the gay community in Baghdad, in gross breach of the law and international human rights standards. Amnesty International reminded the Iraqi government that it is a fundamental principle of international human rights law, including international treaties that have been ratified by and are binding on Iraq, that "All human beings are equal in dignity and rights" and are entitled to all rights and freedom set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, without distinction of any kind, such as on grounds of race, sex, religion, political, or other status, including sexual orientation and gender identity. The organization called on Prime Minister al-Maliki [to] take immediate and concrete steps to address this sitatuion, including to publicly condemn, unreservedly and in the strongest terms, all attacks on members of the gay community or others on account of their sexual, gender, ethnic or other identity, and to commit to ensuring that those responsible for such abuses are identified and brought to justice. Further, police officers or other officials who encourage, condone or acquiesce in such attacks must also be held to account and either prosecuted or disciplined and removed from office. This morning AFP is reported that signs are going up around the Sadr City neighborhood of Baghdad threatening to kill a list of people alleged to be gay. The posters are put out by the Brigades of the Righteous and AFP translates the posters as stating, "We will punish you, perverts" and "We will get you, puppies" has been scrawled on some posters -- "puppies" being slang for gay males in Iraq. The Australian carries the AFP report here. Liz Sly and Caesar Ahmed (LAT's Babylon & Beyond) report the message on the posters included, "If you don't cease your perverted acts, you will get your fair punishment." The reporters also noted that a Sadr City resident saw a poster with approximately 15 names (of people who would be killed) written on it. These posters are going up around Sadr City. Where is the United Nations condemnation? Where is the White House, where is the US State Dept? Chris Johnson (Washington Blade) notes the only member of the US Congress to condemn the targeting of Iraq's LGBT community, US House Rep Jared Polis and reports: Noel Clay, a State Department spokesperson, said U.S. officials "condemn the persecution of LGBTs in Iraq," but he couldn't confirm whether the violence they're facing in Iraq is because of their sexual orientation. Clay noted that while homosexuality is against the law in Iraq, the death penalty is not the punishment for homosexual acts. And yet at the start of this month the State Dept's Iraqi Desk John Fleming was telling Kilian Melloy (The Edge) that, "Homosexuality not a crime in Iraq." He was also stating that same-sex relations were of no conern to Iraqis ("immaterial"). That is laughable. Noel Clay has stated that same-sex relations have been criminalized in Iraq so unless or until the State Dept issues a public clarification, we will operate under the belief that Clay is correct. Attempts by the press to figure this out has been stonewalled. Stonewalling? That brings us to yesterday's attack in Anbar Province on the Tamouz Air Base. How many died? No one can find out. Liz Sly and Usama Redha (Los Angeles Times) explain, "It is common in Iraq to receive contradictory information about casualties in the initial hours after an attack, though such a major discrepancy is unusual. A spokesman for U.S. Marines in Anbar declined to comment." Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) quotes Iraqi Maj Yassen al-Dulaimi stating, "We are shocked by the fact that a suicide bomber was able to infiltrate the guarded camp and passed through the gate to carry out this terrible attack." "Confusion often clouds accounts of attacks here, but rarely have senior officials offered such divergent reports about a death toll," observes Steven Lee Myers in this morning's New York Times. But the key note by Myers is this one: "Journalists were prohibited from entering the base and the hospital, which Iraqi and American officers visited after the wounded arrived." That's what this is, an attack on a free press. A bombing took place. A death toll is known and should not be in dispute. The puppet government (and possibly the US as well) is worried about 'embarrassment' and that apparently trumps facts and the right-to-know. This is appalling and would be similar to the US hiding an attack (example, 9-11) and barring the press from the area and from hospitals. It is an attack on the press and it is an attack on the historical record. Staying with attacks on the press, Wednesday Marc Lynch (Foreign Policy) weighed in on the efforts of the Iraqi military to close the newspaper Al-Hayat: "That's not a good sign. Reminds me of the bad old days of 2004-2005 when the Iraqi government and MNF-I were routinely attacking the Arab media for fueling the insurgency and the offices of al-Jazeera and other satellite television stations were shuttered. You would think that they would have learned form the experience of banning al-Jazeera, which didn't prevent it from covering Iraq politics but did reduce the access that officials had to its airtime." Iraq got some airtime on the second hour of The Diane Rehm Show today when guest host Susan Page (USA Today) spoke with Barbara Slavin (Washington Times), Warren Strobel (McClatchy Newspapers) and Kevin Whitelaw (US News & World Reports). Susan Page: Barbara, we saw some bombings -- some uptake in violence there. Barbara Slavin: Yeah, there've been a number of bombings there in Baghdad, in Kirkuk, in Mosul. There was a suicide bomber who went into an Iraqi army installation which was supposed to be secure in western Iraq so this is worrisome. The US is beginning to draw down, it's moving its soldiers out of the cities and the question is: Can Iraqis cope? We had a guest yesterday, we had an advisor to the president of the Kurdish Region of Iraq who said he was, frankly, very, very worried that if Iraqis could not make some important decisions in terms of political reconciliation -- I mean they still don't have an oil law, they still haven't figured out what to do about the status of Kirkuk which is a city claimed by many, you know there are still problems between Sunni and Shia -- that if they couldn't have these political reconciliations within the next years, this Kurdish leader said he didn't want the Americans to withdraw. Now I don't think there's much of a stomach frankly to stay but it is worrisome in terms of the continued violence in their country. Susan Page: Could it complicate the timetable that President Obama laid out for pulling out US troops? Warren Strobel: I think it absolutely could. You know I think there's a minset, Susan, in this country that, certainly, the American people and officialdom that "Iraq is over, it's getting better, we're getting out, problem done, let's move on to Afghanistan, Pakistan." But that's not necessarily so. And I think what you're seeing in Kirkuk and elsewhere is various ethnic groups, they're positioning themselves for post-US Iraq. And that's uh -- it could complicate Obama's withdrawal timeline. Slavin was referring to tensions between the Kurds and the central government. Ernesto Londono (Washington Post) reports that "some Iraqi and U.S. officials believe [tension over Kirkuk] could escalate into armed conflict" and that this has "prompted the U.S. military in January to increase its troop level in Kirkuk from a battalion, roughly 900 troops, to a combat brigade of about 3,200 soldiers." Today the US military announced: "AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq - A Multi National Force -West Marine died as the result of a non-combat related incident here April 16. The Marine's name is being withheld pending next-of-kin notification and release by the Department of Defense. The incident is under investigation." This brings the number of US service members killed in Iraq since the start of the illegal war to 4274. In other violence, Hussein Kadhim (McClatchy Newspapers) notes a Baghdad mortar attack which left 4 dead and either more injured. Meanwhile in the US, Jo Freeman examines the state of the peace movement at Senior Women Web and notes the March 21st march on the Pentagon staged by A.N.S.W.E.R. and others turned out "[b]etween one and two thousand people" (it was at least 10,000) while UPFJ saw "a few hundred" on April 4th (that tally is correct). Freeman's biggest contribution is in explaining that the Friday April 3rd action (which had a few thousand) was by the Bail Out the People Movement. Freeman also provides the background on several organization but is sketchy on UPFJ. Jo is incorrect that the Iraq War is ending and, for the record, during Nixon's time she was far less likely to present an assertion as a fact. But in good news for the peace movement, some realities about Barack are beginning to stick. The issue of torture was covered last night by Mike ("Barack's latest disgrace"), Marcia ("Ray McGovern"), Ruth ("Ray McGovern"), Kat ("It's called 'justice,' Barack") and Cedric ("Barack needs a Constitutional tutor") and Wally ("THIS JUST IN! HE DOESN'T KNOW JUSTICE!"). Amnesty International notes: US President Barack Obama has been accused of "condoning torture" following his announcement that CIA agents who used harsh interrogation techniques on terrorism suspects will not be prosecuted. Amnesty International has called on the US administration to initiate criminal investigations and prosecutions of those responsible for carrying out acts of torture, including waterboarding, in its "war on terror". "President Obama's statements in the last days have been very disappointing. In saying that no one will be held to account for committing acts of torture, the US administration is in effect condoning torture," said Daniel Gorevan, of Amnesty International's Counter Terror with Justice campaign. "It's saying that US personnel can commit acts of torture and the authorities will not take any action against them. Memos were released this week detailing the range of techniques the CIA was allowed to use during the Bush administration, including sleep deprivation and simulated drowning (otherwise known as waterboarding). "The memos, in effect, justified torture techniques," said Daniel Gorevan. "We want to see prompt movement on behalf of the US administration on this to prosecute those responsible for the acts of torture, as well as those who authorised and justified these acts." National Lawyers Guild member and GI Rights attorney James Branum observes, "President Obama and AG Holder are in my opinion now complicit in these crimes. Their argument that the CIA agents were relying on legal advice is a crock of ****. I'm sure Nazi lawyers said the holocaust was 'legal' too." Chris Floyd (Empire Burlesque) explains, "Barack Obama is being given great credit for releasing the memos, although as the president himself points out in his statement, their release was actually required by law. I suppose it's true that the United States government has become so degraded that we must be surprised and glad when a president actually obeys the law when it suits him, but I must say that I can't find any great cause for rejoicing -- especially as Obama's statement immediately and definitely ruled out prosecuting any of the direct perpetrators of these criminal actions." At Just Left, Michael Ratner (Center for Constituational Rights president) explains, "In making the decision not to prosecute, President Obama is acting as jury, judge and prosecutor. It is not his decision to make. Whether or not to prosecute law breakers is not a political decision. Laws were broken and crimes were committed. If we are truly a nation of laws as he is fond of saying, a prosecutor needs to be appointed and the decisions regarding the guilt of those involved in the torture program should be decided in a court of law." With Dalia Hashad, Heidi Boghosian and Michael Smith, Michael Ratner also co-hosts WBAI's Law and Disorder. The American Civil Liberties Union encourages people to "demand accountability for torture" and makes it simple to send a message to the US Attorney General's office with a form at the previous link. World Can't Wait's Debra Sweet states it clearly, "And, given that Obama is releasing these memos AT THE SAME TIME as he is officially announcing he won't prosecute those who carried all of this out means --in my view - - that nobody familiar with the release of these memos can any longer claim honest confusion about whether or not Obama represents 'change'." World Can't Wait is staging a forum on torture tomorrow in Orange, California (near Santa Ana and Anaheim): Bush's Department of Justice legalized torture. Now Obama's Department of Justice won't prosecute and will even provide free legal representation to torturers. Your government refuses to bring war criminals and torturers to account. Will you remain silent or get informed, take a stand and build a movement to stop torture and demand accountability for war crimes? WHAT: Forum on National Security, Rule of Law & Torture: The Torture Memos of John Yoo WHEN: Saturday, April 18th, 2009 10 AM - 2 PM WHERE: Chapman University Law School, Kennedy Hall, Rms. 237 A&B, 370 N. Glassell (at Sycamore), Orange, CA 92866 WHY: John Yoo, while working for the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel, drafted legal memos which, some say, influenced the U.S.'s decision to legalize torture. John Yoo is currently a visiting professor at Chapman University School of Law, where the controversy continues. "John Yoo's complicity in establishing the policy that led to the torture of prisoners constitutes a war crime under the US War Crimes Act". Cited from testimony provided to U.S. Congress on May 6, 2008 by Marjorie Cohn, National Lawyers Guild President. WHO: Concerned residents and students from the Chapman community and surrounding area came together and formed Stop Torture Coalition to voice opposition to legalization of torture, inform people about torture, and call on people to stand against this assault on human rights and civil liberties. This forum is hosted by the National Lawyers Guild, Chapman Student Chapter.CONTENT: A public forum with Question and Answer session to examine• Whether Yoo is complicit in the commission of war crimes.• Whether torture is necessary for national security.• What is the impact on our basic human and civil rights. M. Katherine B. Darmer, Professor of Law, Chapman University Law School Larry Everest, author of "Oil, Power & Empire", writer for Revolution newspaper Ann Fagan Ginger, President of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute Tim Goodrich, Iraq Veterans Against the War Ameena Qazi, staff attorney for Council on American-Islamic Relations Moderated by Michael Slate, host of KPFK's Tuesday edition of Beneath the Surface ENDORSED BY: Answer-LA, California Teachers for Academic Excellence; Code Pink- OC; David Swanson / AfterDowningStreet.org; Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute; Military Families Speak Out- OC; National Lawyers Guild Chapman Students Chapter; National Lawyers Guild –LA; Orange County Peace Coalition; Patrick Henry Democratic Club; Peace and Freedom – OC; Progressive Democrats of America; Scientists Without Borders; Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Anaheim; US Federation of Scholars and Scientists; Westside Progressives; Women For: Orange County; and World Can't Wait. TV notes. NOW on PBS begins airing Fridays on most PBS stations (check local listings) and this week:Americans are addicted to coal--it powers half of all our electricity, and is both plentiful and cheap. In fact, some call America the "Saudi Arabia of Coal." But are we paying too high an environmental price for all this cheap energy?With carbon emissions caps high on the Obama Administration's agenda, coal is in the crosshairs of the energy debate. This week, NOW Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa travels to Wyoming to take a hard look at the coal industry there and its case that it can produce "clean coal"--coal that can be burned without releasing carbon into the atmosphere. President Obama has been outspoken in his support for "clean coal" technology, but some say the whole concept is more of a public relations campaign than an energy solution.As part of the report, Hinojosa talks with Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal and Jeff Goodell, the author of "Big Coal," who says that carbon dioxide emissions generated from coal contribute to global warming.Our investigation is part of a PBS-wide series on the country's infrastructure called "Blueprint America."Washington Week also begins airing tonight on most PBS stations and sitting down with Gwen this week are Tom Gjelten (NPR), Spencer Hsu (Washington Post), Eamon Javers (publication which shall not be named) and Martha Raddatz (ABC News). Also on PBS (and begins airing tonight, check local listings) Bonnie Erbe sits down with Eleanor Holmes Norton, Genevieve Wood, Linda Chavez and Melinda Henneberger to discuss this week's news on To The Contrary. And turning to broadcast TV, Sunday CBS' 60 Minutes offers:401K RecessionNever created to be a mainstay of workers' retirement funds, 401ks became just that to millions of Americans who are now facing uncertain futures because of the devastating losses in the stock market. Steve Kroft reports. Cold Fusion Is Hot AgainPresented in 1989 as a revolutionary new source of energy, cold fusion was quickly dismissed as junk science. But today, the buzz among scientists is that these experiments produce a real physical effect that could lead to monumental breakthroughs in energy production. Scott Pelley reports. Watch Video Blood BrothersMatador Cayetano Ordonez nearly dies during this segment when he's battered by a bull in a Bob Simon report about him and his brother Francisco – Spain's remarkable bullfighting family – who these days are creating just as much drama outside the ring as in it. Watch Video 60 Minutes, Sunday, April 19, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. iraq veterans against the war the los angeles timesliz slyusama redhathe new york timessteven lee myers chris johnsonthe washington bladekilian melloydoug irelandernesto londonothe washington post nprthe diane rehm show 60 minutescbs newsnow on pbspbsto the contrarybonnie erbe law and disordermichael ratnermichael smithdalia hashadheidi boghosian mcclatchy newspapershussein kadhim	<urn:uuid:8eb5c810-5bca-4417-ba78-bed88243eac6>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://ruthsreport.blogspot.com/2009/04/iraq.html	2015-03-28T05:13:47Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.965329	7,646
DALLAS - Faced with a major dose of adversity, the Dallas Stars rallied and in the end, following a controversial call that went in their favor, pulled out a huge victory. After rallying from a 2-0 first period deficit and with two of their best players forced to leave the game due to injury, the Stars were awarded a shootout goal from Steve Ott after a lengthy video review to secure a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Red Wings Saturday afternoon at the American Airlines Center. It was just the second win for Dallas in their last eight games, after a disastrous road trip that left them 11th in the Western Conference standings. Despite the recent rough stretch, the club is now 10-2-2 in their last 14 contests on home ice. Dallas, which lost the services of captain Brenden Morrow and veteran winger Jere Lehtinen early in the contest, is now 3-7 in shootouts this year and 5-11 in games that last beyond regulation. For the Red Wings, who started the day ninth in the West, it left them 6-3-1 in their last 10 outings. In the sixth round of the shootout, Ott managed to slip a deke between Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard’s pads. Howard seemed to stop it partway over the goal line, with the referee at the net signaling no goal. Then the referee at the blueline called it a goal, so they went to the video review. Even though TV replays were not completely conclusive, following a lengthy review, the goal was upheld. “I made a fake, kind of threw it in (between his legs), and I thought he saved it, but then at the last second, you could tell by my reaction, I thought I saw it cross the goal line as well,” said Ott, who took his first shootout attempt of the season. “It was tough, his glove was kind of there, too. On the JumboTron, they showed the one angle, I forget which one, it was kind of far away, you could see at least, I don’t know what you want to call it, 15/16ths of the puck over the line and the continued motion, I thought it was in.” “No comment, because if I say anything, I’m just going to get in trouble,” was all Howard would say on the subject. Because of the odd circumstances surrounding the situation, Detroit coach Mike Babcock was understandably upset. “The video replay showed the puck didn’t go in the net,” Babcock said. “I thought that’s why we had video replay. The referee on the goal line called it (no goal), but then they determined I guess he was blocked out and the referee decided it went in the net. I don't know how a guy 20 feet away can make that decision when we have people in Toronto with video replay - that makes no sense to me whatsoever.” Dallas then clinched the win when Detroit’s Patrick Eaves’ wrist shot from the slot flew past netminder Alex Auld and wide. For a team that has been struggling any win was important, but the dramatic way this unfolded, and the way the club clawed back from the 2-0 deficit, made it even more crucial. “It’s a huge momentum boost for us,” Stars coach Marc Crawford said. “It would have been a huge momentum boost if we had beaten St. Mary’s School for the Blessed Blind Deaf and Dumb, but we beat the Detroit Red Wings tonight, we came back from a two-goal deficit, we won in a shootout. There are so many positives that we can build on.” “This can be a turning point,” Ott said. “A little over halfway through the season, you see yourselves dropping down in the standings after a tough road trip like that. The only way you get confidence is winning, especially when you beat a powerhouse like Detroit and rally the guys around. It’s not going to get any easier, but I know this team has got a lot of compete in here, and we want to make that push.” Aside from stopping all six shootout attempts he faced, Auld was outstanding during the regular portion of the game as well, making 26 saves. It was Auld’s first win since Dec. 23, a span of three consecutive defeats for him. “I like Alex’s game, his performance was great, I thought just being big in the net and he was exceptional in the shootout,” Crawford said. “I think he sensed today that this was an opportunity and he’s one of those guys that, given the opportunity, really enjoys the challenge.” “He was awesome,” Ott added. “You need a goalie to make the saves he’s counted on to make, also steal a little bit extra ones, and that’s what he did tonight. He gave us a chance to win this game and Auldie was a huge part of that.” “I thought Brad Richards was especially good tonight,” Crawford said. “I think he showed a lot of leadership when he saw the other two guys go down. He was very good on the bench, very good on the ice, very good on the face-off circle, he had terrific puck possession all night. When you possess the puck that long, the old adage, possession is 90 percent of the law. It’s true, when you’ve got the puck, good things happen. He was making lots of good things happen tonight.” Trailing 2-0 entering the second period, the Stars got one back on a power play 2:37 in, on Richards’ 14th goal of the season. On a 2-on-1 rush with Ott, Richards carried into the left face-off circle before faking a slap shot that froze Howard. Richards then fired a wrist shot past Howard’s stick that ricocheted off Red Wing defenseman Brad Stuart’s stick in the crease and bounced in. The goal was just their second on the man-advantage in their last eight games. Auld made a sparkling glove save two minutes later to keep the Dallas deficit at one, when he denied Brett Lebda’s one-timer from the right side of the crease. The Stars nearly tied it at 6:20 when Richards fed a slick between-the-legs backhand pass from behind the net out front to Neal, but Howard made a nice pad stop. On another power play late in the period, the Stars had another opportunity when Matt Niskanen bombed a one-timer from the left face-off circle, but Howard was there for the save. Heading into the final period down 2-1, Dallas went on the power play again early, but although they were unable to score, they generated significant momentum. Howard made a huge pad save on Neal’s backhander in front at 2:10. Then about a minute after the power play expired, the Stars evened it up on Eriksson’s 19th goal of the year at 3:53. Rookie Tom Wandell set it up after controlling the puck behind the Detroit net, then curling out into the right circle before firing a wrist shot that Howard stopped, even with Krys Barch in his face. But the rebound squirted out front where Eriksson quickly deposited it with a backhander inside the left post. Continuing to press over the next 10 minutes, the Stars had several other chances. At 7:17, Toby Petersen found himself all alone in front, but his backhander towards an open net was knocked aside by the diving stick of Detroit defender Brett Lebda. Howard then made a sparkling stop on Trevor Daley’s wrist shot from the right circle off the rush two minutes later. At the other end of the ice, Auld was just as sharp, making a nice glove save on Nicklas Lidstrom’s slap shot from the left point with 5:04 remaining in regulation. Dallas thought they’d taken the lead with 3:32 left, but Daley’s booming one-timer from the right point clanked off the left goalpost and stayed out, setting the stage for overtime. Neither team could muster much in the way of OT scoring opportunities, each generating just one shot on goal, sending the contest to the shootout. “I think it shows a lot of the resolve in the room and after the first, we came in here and we really believed in the way we were playing,” Auld said of the team’s comeback. “Really, they scored on probably their only two chances of that period and when that happens, I think you can take some confidence out of that and believe in what you’re doing and believe it’s going to come. That being said, it is a challenge when you haven’t been winning and you haven’t had those results, so I feel like we did a great job sticking with it, and that’s a great sign for us.” The Red Wings struck first, as Todd Bertuzzi collected his 13th goal of the season just 5:10 in. On the rush into the Dallas zone, Bertuzzi received a lead pass from Henrik Zetterberg, cut around Stars defenseman Jeff Woywitka in the right face-off circle, and chipped a backhander over Auld’s pad for the early 1-0 lead. Dallas almost got that one back at 7:49 when Lehtinen stripped Derek Meech of the puck in the neutral zone and raced in on a breakaway. Lehtinen’s lethal wrist shot from the slot beat Howard past the blocker but clanked off the crossbar. Detroit pushed its lead to two less than two minutes later, when Brian Rafalski found the back of the net on a power play. With Mike Modano in the penalty box for a questionable slashing call, Zetterberg’s pass from low on the right side of the crease deflected off Stephane Robidas’ stick in front and rolled to the other side, where a charging Rafalski popped it past the diving Auld’s stick for a 2-0 lead at 9:30. Eriksson had a good opportunity with 3:31 left in the period when he unleashed a quick wrist shot from the slot, but Howard made a nice glove save. Detroit then hit a post of their own, as Stuart blasted a slap shot from the right point that whizzed through a maze of legs before pinging off the left post with 1:33 to go. In a case of how statistics can be deceiving, the Stars actually outshot the Wings 11-7 for the period, even though Detroit seemed to outplay them and went into the first intermission up 2-0. “We didn’t feel like it was a 2-0 hockey game,” Richards said. “We’ve been through some rougher times here of late, and we knew with that crowd out there and the way we finished the first, that with one goal we would be back in it. We put our minds to it as much as we could defensively to help Auld out and keep everything on the outside. Obviously, they’re a good team, they’re going to get chances. Auldie took care of that, and we got back in the game and found a way to win.” Dallas is at home again Monday, facing off against the Minnesota Wild (7 pm start, VERSUS). After a slow start to the season, the Wild have been hot lately, working their way up to 10th in the West, two points ahead of the Stars, so it is an important battle to regain some ground in the race. “Minnesota has caught us, so that’s going to be a game that definitely has playoff implications,” Crawford said, “and we’re at the point in the season that we have to start thinking along those lines.” - With his goal, Richards now has three goals and three assists in the last six games. After his shootout attempt was stopped by Howard, Richards is now 2-for-9 this year in shootouts. - Eriksson has now tied Neal for the club lead in goals with 19 and has seven in his last 10 outings, along with three assists. In this game, Eriksson and Neal tied with Daley for the club lead with four shots on goal. - With his assist on Eriksson’s goal, Wandell snapped a 10-game point drought and a stretch of 21 games with just one assist. - Barch’s assist on Eriksson’s goal was his first point since Nov. 25, a span of 16 games played. - Lehtinen left the contest late in the first period with an upper body injury after just six shifts and 3:15 of ice time and did not return. He is currently listed as day-to-day. - Morrow also left the contest early in the second period with an upper body injury, although TV replays showed him favoring his left leg after blocking a shot late in the first. In just 6:18 of ice time, he contributed one shot on goal, one hit and the one blocked shot. He is also listed as day-to-day. “It’s not that serious,” Morrow said afterwards. - The Stars were 1-for-3 on the power play, leaving them 2-for-6 over the last two contests after going 0-for-22 in the previous six outings. - Dallas ended up winning the season series 3-1-0 against Wings this year, and have won their last five over them at home. 1 - 0 DET 2 - 0 DET 2 - 1 DET	<urn:uuid:89554470-0b96-451a-be2c-8cc9887b9bd2>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://stars.nhl.com/gamecenter/en/recap?id=2009020708	2015-03-28T05:10:54Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.973836	2,963
Best Online Wine Shops Best Online Wine Shops Last Bottle Wines Last Bottle offers just one wine each day, but it's not your average flash-sale site filled with distractions like glassware and fancy chocolates. This latest venture from online retailers Stefan Blicker, Brent Pierce and Cory Wagner boasts an appealing, minimal design and no-fuss ordering. Located in Napa Valley, Last Bottle's proximity to some of the country's greatest producers allows it to offer very deep discounts (up to 75 percent) on the carefully chosen wines it offers. Other perks include free shipping, credits for referrals and a much-loved $25 credit for purchasing the actual last bottle of the day's offering. Founded in 2012 by Mike Zima, former head sommelier at Mario Batali's flagship Del Posto in New York, SommPicks specializes in, as the name suggests, wines that sommeliers love. To Zima, this means pioneering producers, benchmark styles, hidden gems—in other words, wines that deliver serious value and maximum pleasure per ounce, only served at retail instead of in a fancy dining room. The celebrity somms doing the choosing include Caleb Ganzer from Eleven Madison Park and Raj Vaidya from Daniel. Often, the wines come straight from private cellars. Bottlerocket founder Tom Geniesse came up with his store's innovative browsing structure after becoming frustrated with traditional wine shops. "A roomful of bottles with price tags was not sufficient to help me make good, informed choices," he says. To offer a better experience, Bottlerocket attempts to answer questions: What are you cooking for dinner tonight? Who are you giving a gift to? What goes with Thai take-out? Click on "beef," to learn that Geniesse's favorite steak wine right now is Rocca di Frassinello's Le Sughere di Frassinello, a fantastic barrique-aged project from Maremma (west of Chianti) produced with the legendary Domaines Barons de Rothschild. Before she opened her New York City store, Christy Frank spent about seven years working for Moët Hennessy USA, most recently managing the company's Australia and New Zealand portfolio. Part of her job was to crisscross the country, visiting more wine shops than she cared to count—which meant when she finally opened her own, Frank knew exactly what to do. With wine descriptions that are quirky, accessible and fun to read, her website offers great browsing. Try the Smallfry Joven Barossa Valley, a Tempranillo-based blend that will surprise anyone who thinks Australian wines are all big, jammy Shirazes. Frank loves the wine for its red fruits, autumn-like spice and fresh acidity. "After visiting the beautiful, biodynamically farmed vineyard where the grapes are grown," she says, "I love it even more." Founded by globe-trotting wine expert Jon Rimmerman more than 18 years ago, Garagiste bills itself as "the original email offer wine company" and operates on a model now copied by many retailers. Daily offers are sent out to members of the mailing list, and customers order bottles to be held until one of the site's two yearly shipping dates. The site does no advertising, instead relying on word of mouth and the strength of Rimmerman's narrative descriptions to sell its wines, all of which are sourced directly from wineries and many of which are priced under $15. Garagiste is the benchmark retailer for organic and natural wines, the "indie label of the wine trade," as it's been called. Chambers Street Wines Since launching more than a decade ago, Chambers Street has become a go-to retailer for wine geeks around the country. It's loved for its large selection of esoteric organic and biodynamic wines (mostly from France), as well as an extensive collection of mature wines sourced from private cellars—especially bottles from Piedmont, Italy. Founders Jamie Wolff and David Lillie also share a love for the wines of the Loire Valley (Wolff spent years vacationing there, and Lillie visited as a musician in the late '70s). The mixed cases, 12-bottle packages chosen by the extremely knowledgeable staff and priced around $120, are a great way to experience the Chambers Street mentality. Started by a group of collectors in 1996, WineBid.com is technically an online auction house, but the site's "buy it now" option allows for straightforward shopping. The website is one of the most easily navigable in the business, and you can even sign up to receive emails when your favorite type of wine comes up for auction, whether it's cru Beaujolais or Vin Jaune. Because the wine is sourced from private collectors, selection varies. You can get an old bottle of premier cru Burgundy for a special occasion, then round out a case with sub-$20 wines, most of which will have more bottle age than you'd find at retail. After ditching a career in investment banking and earning two prestigious wine certifications, Sharon Sevrens created this store to focus on artisanal wines made with minimal intervention from winemakers. From day one she has refused to sell anything that she herself hasn't personally tasted and enjoyed. Since everything has passed her sniff test, it's safe to try something from off the beaten path, like the Skouras Moscofilero from Greece. If palates align, come back for more. California Wine Merchants Founded by Sherry-Lehmann vets Taylor Senatore and Jennifer DiDomizio, California Wine Merchants was meant to fill an obvious gap: the lack of small-production domestic wines in the Europe-centric New York market. Now the site is the place to go for eclectic and under-the-radar wines from the West Coast, and it has a great track record for discovering talent. (It stocked bottles from star winemaker Steve Matthiasson long before he became a Food & Wine Winemaker of the Year in 2012.) For a sense of the shop's palate and ethos, try the wines from Chris Brockway of Broc Cellars. His fantastic, unusual bottlings include wines made from obscure grapes like Valdiguié. If you're willing to do a bit of clicking, GetWineOnline.com can provide the same sort of thrill as finding an amazing pair of shoes at Marshall's for a price that seems like a mistake. The store might not be the sexiest or most informative, but the prices demolish any objections. If you like finding diamonds in the rough, this website is for you. Spirits are the draw to this off-the-radar shop, founded by Kamal Mukherjee to combine his professional IT experience with his love for, as he puts it, "fine libation." The unassuming brick-and-mortar location in Brooklyn is hardly worth a visit, but spirits geeks could spend hours poring over the website's selection of absinthe, shochu, Japanese whiskey and much more, including the most comprehensive and fascinating selection of tequila and mezcal anywhere on the net. Where to Buy Wine Online: More Top Picks This is the ultimate source for obscure American wines—Merlot from North Yuba, California, say, or Ohio River Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It also offers wines directly from more than 120 wineries. One to try: the appealing Bowers Harbor Vineyards Semi-Dry Riesling from Michigan's Old Mission Peninsula. Tip: A search tool parses each state's shipping laws to determine which wines shoppers can buy. Run out of a modest Corvallis, Oregon, wine shop of the same name, this is a comprehensive source of top Washington and Oregon wines from producers like Beaux Frères and Leonetti Cellar—though it sells great wines from obscure producers, too. Tip: Avalon's wine clubs, like the Northwest Big Reds Club and the Reserve Pinot Noir Club (membership costs $80 per month), are a great way to access up-and-coming stars, like Oregon's Daedalus Cellars and Washington's O-S Winery. Bounty Hunter Rare Wine & Provisions Mark Pope's Bounty Hunter is a restaurant in downtown Napa, as well as a catalog and Web site featuring top Napa and Sonoma wines. One recent find: the rare 2002 Mount Veeder Progeny Cabernet Sauvignon from Marco DiGiulio, who also made the cult Lokoya wines. Tip: Download the catalog; it's an always-enjoyable read. Brown Derby International Wine Center Great deals in Missouri on California wines? Brown Derby owner Ron Junge uses his long-standing connections to bring great California wines like Copain Syrah home to the Show-Me State. He also offers hard-to-find gems such as the Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blancs Champagne. Tip: Many, but not all, of the wines here have low markups. Low inventory numbers ("Only 6 left!!") are often a guide to bottles that are going fast. K&L Wine Merchants Serious wine lovers have been turning to this California retailer for more than 30 years. K&L's wine buyers not only hunt down the best from nearly every region in the world, but also sell hundreds of direct-import wines at great prices. The Web site shows real-time inventory of just how many bottles of a given wine are still available. Tip: Direct-import sparkling wines include terrific bargains such as Tarlant Brut Zéro Champagne. Mission Fine Wines Chang-rae Lee's Pick: Go-to site for rare Bordeaux and Burgundies, with older bottlings from Spain, too. This no-frills site isn't actually in Napa but Chino, a small city between Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Owners Tom and Kris De Grezia have access to highly allocated wines, which they offer at excellent prices. These include famous names like Ridge Monte Bello, as well as lesser-known ones like Rusack Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. Tip: Check out the "90+ Under $20" section for bargains. North Berkeley Wine Chang-rae Lee's Pick: California retailer-importer that specializes in wines from France, Italy and (uniquely) Chile. The Rare Wine Co. Chang-rae Lee's Pick: Terrific source for vintage Barolos, Burgundies and Rhône wines, as well as Madeiras. Twenty Twenty Wine Merchants Los Angeles-based owner Bob Golbahar specializes in hunting down impossible- to-find wines for impossible- to-reach clients like Jack Nicholson and Sandra Bullock. The informative and easy- to-use site includes prestige bottles like Cabernet from Harlan Estate and the 1995 Denis Mortet Clos de Vougeot, but also great deals. Tip: The site contains lists of 99- and 100-point wines for those buying bottles to fill out their collections. This California wine-storage company's recently launched Web store is packed with more than 1,500 hard-to-find wines, like Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis, along with scores and average retail prices based on online data and recent auction sales. Specialists offer to help anyone looking to build a killer collection—and buy at least $10,000 worth of wine. Tip: The site lists great older bottles, like the sought-after 1994 Dominus Estate. This is eBay for wine lovers, where frenzied bidders vie for wines like a 1979 Château Pétrus or a 1999 Screaming Eagle. Modest bidders can score bargains, too—there's a no-minimum section where lots open at just a buck. Handling charges nudge up the total but are still quite reasonable. Tip: Watch auctions in the "Closing Today" section and pounce on them, eBay-style. A Case for Wine on the Web Novelist Chang-rae Lee loves nothing more than hanging out in his local wine shop, but he finds some of his best deals on the Internet. His secret: He's befriended his e-tailer. In recent years, like a lot of people, I've been buying more of my wine online. Frankly, I feel guilty about it, for I abhor living too much in the techno-cave, with all these meager, glowing implements; I love a lively fire in the hearth, and snuggling in beside my sweet-smelling wife, and drinking wine so tasty that it makes me think I can sing. Who wants to make virtual any of this life's pleasures? Really, nobody. Yet we all do: We surf the Net for reasons of convenience, efficiency and frugality, which are mostly commendable things. And we're bypassing even the minor pleasure of buying things in personbooks, music and (most irking to me) wine. The picture I would prefer to hold of myself is the fellow who faithfully patronizes (perhaps plagues?) the local wine shops rather than browses some brightly arrayed screen. Maybe you know the type: the oeno-pest who's in the store every Friday afternoon (does he have a job?) studying the labels like a cryptologist, or chatting with the staff about a producer's vinification methods or a Piedmont vintage's weather. To be sure, I'd rather be there in person, discussing a wine's qualities with an enthusiastic merchant rather than passively scrolling through professional tasting notes. And I believe in the importance of neighborhood proprietors (whether they sell wine or house paint) to a vital, thriving community; they're the hubs of the real social network. Yet sometimes, I simply can't deal. Maybe I've been writing all day, and my head feels as though it's been pummeled, and I can't quite bear someone hovering. Or an unfamiliar salesperson will descend and push a wine because it just received "a monster Parker rating." Or, perhaps worst of all, a normally trusty staffer will excitedly suggest a bottle, and when I taste it, I'm sorely disappointed; I'll be loath to go back and have an awkward, fitful conversation, its implication being, "No offense, but I despised that wine you dearly love." Things can quickly get too personal, especially in matters of taste. I enjoy delicate, mature wines exponentially more than their youthful, exuberant versions, and online retailers tend to have a wider selection of older wine, while most brick- and-mortar shops only have enough room to carry the latest vintages. So I'll sit at my desk and search. I'll click around the Web for the best price and a clue to the quality of the retailer's storage facilities, wondering whether the real-life operations are as tech-cool or retro-dusty as their sites. I enjoy browsing the nerdier ones, like North Berkeley Wine and the Rare Wine Co., which provide their own blogs or even photos of staffers' tasting trips, essentially offering a wider experience of what it means to engage with a wine. You can see that I'm more than a bit conflicted, that my opposing urges have me wanting a connection that's substantive and helpful, yet one I can keep at a comfortably virtual distance. But unlike the online buying of other taste-dependent products (say, novels), in wine cyberspace you can, if you look, find people to query and hear their commentary, getting both knowledge and personality without the trouble of putting someone off (or being put off yourself). And so inevitably, during my searches, I find myself wondering who is working behind the screen in Florida or Missouri. It turns out that I want to peek behind the digital curtain. I want to hear a human voice. So I'll call, say, under the pretext of a question about shipping, but then I'll ask about other vintages of the wine I'm interested in, hoping that the person I'm talking to (a salesperson or maybe even the ownerI've found many of the retailers to be smallish, partner-run operations) is knowledgeable and willing to chat, just like in my local store. They're often game for conversation, so I'll ask for other recommendations, each of us sharing what we've recently enjoyed, probing the other for clues to preferred styles, tastes. I'm admittedly a difficult customer, being a slightly delusional wine lover/collector, someone without deep pockets but who favors older, mostly European wines. Not being a hedge-fund manager, I can't touch superstars from the classic regions, but sometimes the wines of slightly less-renowned producers, especially in underrated vintages, can be great values, especially when you're guided by a good adviser. Once we do begin to connect, I might ask how he or she got into the business, if there was a pivotal "wine moment" (there often is), try to see if I'll be able to rely on her for advice in the future. Once I chatted for nearly a half an hour with a nice fellow (I never got his name) at the Rare Wine Co. about the differences in style between Conterno and Borgogno Barolos, then about respective trips we'd made to Italy. And while I'm sure I've been thought a nuisance or even a bit creepy, I've almost always found the person on the other end to be more passionate about her work than she has to be, maybe even a touch messianic; someone who'd much rather drink good wine and share notions about its glories than merely sell it. My favorite online retailer is Mission Fine Wines, which is based in Staten Island, New York. Its website is defiantly old-school, just a stripped-down listing of inventory that you can sort by region, producer and vintage, featuring not a single picture or much of anything else that's descriptive, save for a few sentences on a featured wine. Essentially, you have to know what you wantat least initially. For as with all the better online retailers, there's a live opinion available, if you desire; how else can you try something new (or old and perhaps fragile) with confidence, but after a real conversation? I found the Mission website a few years ago when a friend mentioned that he ordered regularly from them, as he'd gone to college with the owner, a voluble, lovable, big-hearted oenophile named Joe Palmiotti, who named his company after the first wine (La Mission Haut-Brion) that had wholly captivated him. As it turned out, that wine ultimately repaved the course of Palmiotti's professional life. Because of multiple sclerosis, he had to quit his career as a bond trader, and he soon started selling fine wine, first via word of mouth and then through the Web. I spoke to him before confirming my first order (something I try to do with a retailer I haven't bought from before), as I wanted to hear his thoughts on the '97 Château Palmer that was then featured on his site at a great price ($65 a bottle, around half what it's going for now). Joe was, of course, hugely enthusiastic about the wine, holding forth without an atom of snobbery or pretentiousness, his comments smart and comprehensive and nuanced, convincing me that I should try this richly fragrant, silken wine despite its "poor" vintage, promising me, too, that I could return the rest for full credit if I didn't absolutely love it. I sadly have but two bottles left of the case. I've found that most of the online retailers I regularly patronize are similarly accommodating, standing by their wines by offering credit for corked bottles (counter to what the usual stipulated "conditions of purchase" read). They want you to trust them, for it's the only way someone will become a regular buyer, especially of more expensive, older wines; some even indicate on their websites, as Mission Fine Wines does, that they welcome visitors. Naturally, such an invitation is irresistible to someone like me. I couldn't help but arrange a visit to Mission's Staten Island warehouse, a windowless, gray-plastered building across from the malodorous waters of a harbor busy with work boats and loading cranes. On the way there, I passed sheet-metal fabricators, pawn shops, Guatemalan hair salons, perhaps 900 Italian delis and pizzerias, and all the stoop-shouldered row houses pinched between them, with pimped-out Dodge pickups parked askew out front. Inside, though, it's a different world. I've never seen such a collection of rare and valuable wine in so workaday a place. Multiply this warehouse by scores and you realize this is the real advantage of buying wine onlinethat you can comb the stocks of dozens of good purveyors and can get almost anything you want (and can afford), that you can click and browse and dream. But this is no automated robot-run operation: Think of your own basement, only cleaner and bigger and colder, though no less cluttered, with seemingly random stacks of wooden case boxes of cult California Cabernet and grand cru Burgundy peppered with loose bottles of Penfolds Grange. The organization is clearly a reflection of Joe's mad-wine-genius brain, the bottles and cases arrayed in an idiosyncratic house of memory: There's an open box of '79 Krug Clos du Mesnil here, some '96 Mouton there, ancient ports and Madeiras perched precariously on a narrow shelf. And though it seems impossible that one could ever locate a particular wine here, Joe can blindly reach behind roughly piled boxes of Rhônes and Rieslings and know he'll grab a zesty, minerally Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé he's been wanting me to try, which he opens for us now. Joe's partner, Alex Gelleri, and the rest of the Mission gang (all of two) take a break and come by for a taste, as does Charlie, the cheery warehouse landlord, who (blond hair aside) looks and sounds just like Leo Gorcey of the Bowery Boys and is soon waxing poetic on the mystical qualities of a 19th-century Bual he'd bought from Joe. Our talk centers on the wine in the glass but is not limited by it, as we're laughing as much as swirling, joking about politics, the pratfalls of middle age, raising kids. And I'm reminded that this is the ultimate reason you buy any wine, virtually or not: The truth is, you want to get up from your seat, venture beyond the screen, whether via telephone or in person. For you should, in fact, go there. And maybe really click. Chang-rae Lee's novel, The Surrendered, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He teaches at Princeton University. Tips for Online Wine Shops Despite years of shopping for wine on the internet, I still can't quite get used to the idea. Wine, after all, isn't like a book or CD. Holding a bottle, inspecting its label—you just can't replicate that experience inside a browser window. Yet I do most of my wine buying online. Why? For starters, the comparison shopping is unbeatable. With search engines like Wine-searcher.com and Google (which most retailers love), you no longer have to go to the Montrachet; the Montrachet will come to you. Cross-referencing the latest scores and top recommendations is blissfully easy, and especially pleasurable when you can do it at home in your bathrobe on a Saturday morning. Certain things separate the top Web sites from the also-rans. Ease of use and good customer service matter, for a start; so does price. But ultimately, what really counts is selection. - Sites that sell rare and older wines should be clear about the source and condition of the bottles and offer some guarantee about condition. Vinfolio, for instance, will issue a credit or replace a flawed bottle within 90 days. - Auction and consignment sites often charge the winning bidder fees of up to 18 percent. Be sure to check before bidding. Handling charges may be added too, even for wines picked up in person. - While shipping wine is easier than ever, it can add to the final cost—up to $15 or more per bottle. A good retailer will also warn you of shipping hazards, notably hot or cold weather; but according to NapaCabs.com’s Tom De Grezia, "people will still order when there’s a major heat wave going on." - Not every store can mail wine interstate. Pennsylvania, for instance, has a ban. - Wineries often sell their own wine online, but not always at the best price. Comparison shop. The best tool is Wine-searcher.com. Serious buyers should splurge on its Pro service ($39 per year). Jon Bonné is the wine editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. Updated Fall 2013	<urn:uuid:64e22555-ff0a-4d2d-b1e1-ad2126b17a9e>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/10-best-online-wine-shops	2015-03-28T05:50:49Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.95197	5,264
You only see what your eyes want to see How can life be what you want it to be? You’re frozen, when your heart’s not open… - Madonna (Frozen) /In other news, police are now investigating the shooting that took place on Marigold highway two weeks ago. According to reports, the only victim at the scene was Heero Yuy, only son to billionaire businessman and socialite, Odin Yuy. Two men, suspected to be his attackers, were apprehended and taken into police custody. They are both believed to be responsible for many cases of stolen vehicles around the city for the past few months. Heero Yuy has been confirmed as being in stable condition and doctors believe he will be released soon from the single gunshot wound on his left shoulder. The seventeen year-old Yuy heir…/ The remote control fell out of his hand and amongst the pillows as he lay back with a soft sigh. Long lashes fluttered closed as the boy felt the drowsiness from the drugs he had been given earlier finally take effect. He tried to fight it as he forced his eyes open again. He blinked slowly, and took notice of his surroundings with a low groan. He was still in the hospital even though he had been promised he would be sent home a day or two earlier. He didn’t like being cooped up in a single place for a long time. The feeling of claustrophobia and the sense of being held prisoner were making him feel even more paranoid than ever before. He kept having the feeling that they were keeping something from him…again. For two weeks, he had been drifting in and out of consciousness. The pain in his shoulder had been numbed the first night he had been brought in and the surgery performed just as quickly. He should have been out by now, he kept telling himself. But no, they had to keep him here for monitoring purposes. His lashes fell closed again and with a light grunt, he forced them open to glare at the vase of brightly colored flowers of which species he knew nothing about. The smell was a bit maddening and Heero could remember trying to get the nurse to take them out of the room. Everyday a fresh batch of flowers were sent to his room from well wishers, family members and even strangers he had never heard of. What a pain. His parents had, of course, spent the first night and consecutive days afterwards with him. They had naturally been worried and fussed over him like he was a child all over again. A bit aggravating, but quite thoughtful and nice of them, he thought with a small smile. But beneath all of that, Heero sensed that all was not as it seemed. They had come together, yes…but they had been apart as well. Hikari would usually sit inches away from him, talking about everything going on at the house. She had been forced to cancel the party she had planned for Milliardo, but she was going to throw an even bigger one once he got out of the hospital. This time it would be in celebration of his recovery and for Milliardo’s welcome. Just like killing two birds with one stone. Heero had smiled dutifully at his mother’s enthusiasm, but had noticed from a quick glance at his father, that the dark-haired man was quite silent and had a thoughtful expression on his features. He had seen his father look like that before, so it really shouldn’t have been a surprise to him at the time. Sighing softly, Heero forced his gaze towards the large windowpanes on his left. It gave him the breathtaking view of the ocean just a few miles away and somehow, the thought of the blue waters looking so calm and serene had him feeling a bit better. Relena and Milliardo had been there on the night of the attack. So, Heero knew he was right when he had guessed it was the girl’s scream of terror. Her brother had managed to find the highway, but that was only because of Trowa’s phone call. The Barton heir had called Relena to let her know the situation as it stood and had given them his and Duo’s whereabouts. Relena had then called the police for backup and that was how they had burst onto the scene. Everything that had happened on that night still seemed surreal to Heero and there were times when he could have sworn that it had all been one bad dream. Relena had of course, come in to visit as often as she was allowed. And although, she spent her time talking to him, Heero got the sense that she was finally beginning to realize that she had little to no chance of winning him back. “I just want to be your friend,” he had told her quietly. “Can’t we just be good friends?” Tears had welled up in her eyes and she had taken off the simple gold engagement ring and flung it in his face before running out of the room. She hadn’t come back to visit since then…but then again, that had been yesterday. Milliardo had only come by twice, not that it mattered much to Heero whether he showed his face to him again or not. But he had needed to know the whereabouts of the man he had saved and besides the enigmatic smile the blond gave him each time, Heero was beginning to get even more frustrated at Milliardo’s unwillingness to tell him anything. Duo had not visited him…yet. He felt the dull ache of misery sear through him as the thought came back to hit him with a vengeance. That’s right. He hasn’t come. He won’t come. He didn’t go to David’s funeral…why should he come to see me now? He raised a hand to scrub his eyes angrily, which had begun to burn with unshed tears before he allowed it to fall back to the bed heavily. A light knock on the door had him glancing quickly at the clock. Visiting hours were no longer in effect. So who could it possibly be? “Can I come in, Heero?” A reluctant and small smile came to his lips as he heard the softly spoken Japanese words. Keiko only spoke in Japanese whenever she was extremely angry or in a particularly good mood. According to her, it would be a shame to let their native tongue go to waste if they didn’t continue speaking it whenever chance they got. “Yeah…” he replied as he held up his hand in greeting, watching her step carefully into the room and close the door gently behind her. She was dressed in a white sweater and a long black skirt that fit her like a second skin. The bruises on her face had begun to heal nicely and in a few days they were bound to be gone completely. She was carrying a bouquet of orchids, which she dropped unceremoniously onto a table. Pulling a chair closer to his bed, she sat down with a heavy sigh escaping her lips. “What are you still doing here?” she asked with a raised brow as she eyed his hospital gown-clad form. “I thought you were supposed to be out by now.” Heero shrugged and shook his head slowly. “I don’t know. You tell them to get me out of here.” “Wish I could, brother,” she replied with a small smile that made her look so much different and even more beautiful. Their eyes met and they held each other’s gaze for a long moment each knowing that they had so much to tell the other but not knowing where to begin. “I’m glad you are okay, Keiko,” he finally said quietly. “You turned out…alright…” She had the grace to blush at the intense look in his eyes as she waved her hand in dismissal. “Stop saying that. I haven’t done anything.” She got to her feet and stood beside the window, her gaze now pinned on the deceptively calm ocean. “Has he come yet?” she asked suddenly, causing Heero to blush darkly at how direct the question had been. “No…” he mumbled. “No, he…hasn’t…” “That idiot!” Keiko barked out coldly as she spun around to face him again. “No one has seen him at the house for the past two weeks either! Where could he have gone?” Heero lowered his lashes and tried hard to squash down the growing worry. Duo couldn’t have… “I mean, his things are still there,” Keiko continued, unaware of the huge sigh of relief that escaped her cousin at that little piece of good news. “He just hasn’t been sleeping in the house, that’s all. I’m…” “Worried?” Heero finished with a teasing smile. “Like hell I am! That…that…that…he almost killed me!” Heero chuckled weakly at the memory of Duo’s horrible driving on that night. But the laughter died down as he felt the claws of loneliness bury themselves into his heart again. For one brief moment on that night, he had touched the teacher again. Had Duo had an inkling that this might happen? Was that kiss a sort of…goodbye? No…I can’t…I don’t want it to be… “Yuzuki said she might drop by again later on tonight,” Keiko said around a yawn. “She seems to be doing well again.” Heero gave a small nod. “You never did tell us why you went looking for her, Keiko,” he said with a puzzled look on his face as he noticed the dull red hue on her cheeks. And sounding a bit too defensive, she replied curtly. “Is it so wrong to look for someone now? I was just trying to help out, that’s all.” Heero didn’t buy it, but rather than worry too much about Keiko’s credibility, he focused his attention on the events that had surrounded the Japanese woman. Luckily, Yuzuki had been at home when Trowa and Quatre had arrived. They had both, naturally, wanted to know her reason for leaving, but all she had told them was something along the lines of people changing and people needing to move on with their lives. She had served the Yuy family for so long now that she thought it was time for her to depend on herself. She would still love and cherish Heero and would do her best to visit him at any and all times possible. People change. People need to move on… Keiko sat down on the chair again and stared into her cousin’s rather sad countenance. “Kami-sama, you’re both so clueless sometimes,” she muttered with irritation. “After all you have both been through, he just chooses to disappear. And you saved his life too! The ungrateful bastard!” “That’s why you love him, right?” Heero asked quietly. “Lo…Love??” came the flustered stammer from the red-faced girl. “I am so over him! So don’t worry, I have no plans to steal your precious boy-friend from you…” Heero lifted his lowered gaze to stare at the now silent girl in bemusement. “What is it?” he prodded gently. Keiko shook her head and gave a surprisingly shy smile. “It’s nothing. It’s just that…” A sudden knock on the door had both of them blinking in surprise before gaping at the head that stuck itself into the room. In a voice that was filled with complete boredom, Milliardo spoke up. “You told me you were only going to be here for ten minutes, Keiko. It’s been almost half an hour.” The flush on the girl’s cheeks did not lessen as she caught the bewildered look her cousin was giving her. Milliardo was actually talking to Keiko…normally?! The blond caught Heero’s look and stepped into the room with a light shrug. “She made me bring her here, so don’t look at me or her like that. There’s nothing going on between us.” Keiko scowled. “Like I would want anything to do with a brainless loser like you.” The Peacecraft heir tightened his jaw at the jab and gave a curt nod. “Well, you might as well find the bus to go home on. I’m out of here.” “Wait!” the girl cried out quickly as she rose to her feet to place a soft but quick kiss on her cousin’s cheek. “Sorry, Heero, but I’ve got to go with him. I can’t take the bus. I…uh…I have no money with me.” They both knew she was lying. Keiko would have rather walked the distance than use any public mode of transportation. Yes, she was that spoiled. “Whatever makes you happy, Keiko,” Heero muttered around a small smile. “Take care now. And thank you for visiting me.” Another light blush filled her cheeks as she gave a small nod. “No worries, Heero. What are cousins for?” And giving him a light wave, she made her way out of the room with a scowling Milliardo following, but Heero’s desperate cry had the blond stopping in his tracks. “What is it now?” he asked lazily, not really looking at the teen on the bed. He already had an inkling of what the question was bound to be, but an inner perverted need to torture Heero a bit longer reared its ugly head again. Heero grit his teeth at the smug look on Milliardo’s face, but forced himself to ask as politely as possible. “Have you heard anything yet?” The blond shook his head. “No. Oh, I’m sorry, looks like the boyfriend isn’t hanging around you any more, is he?” “Or maybe you should take his lead and move on, Heero. He seems to be doing that easily enough, why can’t you?” But the blond wasn’t done yet. Luckily, Keiko was out of sight and he was free to do as he pleased. Retribution was a wonderful thing. Not that there was really any reason for Milliardo to feel a need for revenge, but he guessed that the very idea of Heero falling for someone he might have had a chance with was enough to fuel his jealous streak. “What’s the matter, Heero? Where’s all that tough guy talk? Are you just going to sit there and let him go find another young man to tutor, hmm? Why don’t you…?” “Go fuck yourself,” Heero growled out with barely contained fury. He would have loved to get off the bed to wipe that smug look off the blond’s face, but he knew that his legs would fail him at this point. He hadn’t moved in two weeks and his joints were bound to take some time to get into better working condition. Instead of getting upset, the insult seemed to only tickle Milliardo’s funny bone as he gave a hearty chuckle in response. “Good one, friend. Good one.” He made a show of glancing at his watch before giving Heero a wink and a patronizing grin. “Looks like my time here in Loser’s Ward is over. Remember what I said, Heero. People change. They need to move on. Think about that, friend. See you around.” And with a light mocking bow, the heir let himself out, leaving only an empty shell of a young man in his wake. “I feel a bit weird doing this,” Quatre mumbled as he picked up the small statue of something that looked like a goat. It had been sitting among other similar looking statues on the wide mantel-piece that belonged to a certain teacher. Duo sure did have a lot of strange collectibles. “What’s so weird about it?” came the muffled question from the taller boy, who was currently rummaging through a box of books that had been sitting in the corner of the living room. “We are just looking for things that could give us a clue as to where he might have gone. I hardly think it’s fair for him to just leave with no warning or explanation.” Quatre pursed his lips in thought as he picked up a leather bound book that had been lying on one of the couches. “What if he ran away because he couldn’t face the thought of losing Heero,” he mused out loud. “Remember, Trowa? He couldn’t make himself attend David’s funeral…so maybe…” “But Heero isn’t dead, Quatre,” Trowa reasoned with a sigh as he tossed yet another book to the side. “Damn…there’s got to be someone that knows about his whereabouts.” Trowa blinked in confusion at the softly mumbled words before turning to face his blond companion. “What’s that?” Quatre pointed to the book he was holding. “It’s written in here. ‘To the coolest reject I know, love Wufei’…” “Let me see that.” Trowa walked up to pluck the book out of the Arabian’s hands, eager and excited green eyes reading the smooth calligraphy over and over again. “That’s him! Don’t you remember, Quatre? The guy we met at Duo’s pool party!” “Oh yeah! I remember now,” the blond agreed with growing excitement. Things were looking up now. “Wufei…Wufei…” he wracked his brain for the last name, but Trowa beat him to the punch. “Right. So, what do we do now? Call him? Visit him?” “Get a phone directory,” Trowa suggested as he began to make his way towards Duo’s bedroom to search for any possible address books lying around. “The sooner we speak to him, the better for us…and Heero.” Now, Wufei wasn’t one to question Fate and what it had in store for him, but in this case he had the feeling that he was about to make an exception. The morning had started innocently enough. There was nothing out of the ordinary to complain about. He always woke up at about seven in the morning, had a quick jog around the block, came back in and got himself ready for work. Much to Meiran’s chagrin, he always had the tendency to skip breakfast and settled for getting only a doughnut and a cup of coffee from the small shop a few blocks away. He really didn’t know why she should complain. It wasn’t as if he was eating himself into the ground or anything. After breakfast came work. Now that he was in the executive ranks, he didn’t really need to answer to anyone else but the big guy on the top floor, so he could come in at whatever time he liked. However, Wufei was punctual and never failed to miss his ten o’clock daily meetings with the members of his department. The accounting division was bound to be a failure without him, he figured with a smirk as he punched the buttons on the elevator that was to take him to his office. Without his knowledge and expertise, all those bumbling fools would have made a wreck of an otherwise successful company. The doors slid open and he gave absentminded nods of greeting to the ones that came his way. It was a luxurious place, if he did say so himself. Functional and tastefully furnished, the beige and tan colors muted and created a sense of professionalism that was sadly lacking in today’s business world. “Good morning, Mr. Chang,” came the lithe sing-song voice from his secretary. She was a beautiful dark-skinned girl, who had just graduated from a well-known university with honors, which was a rarity in itself. Giving her a rare smile, he nodded and accepted the folder she handed to him. “Thank you, Amy,” he responded as he made the turn towards his office, only to stop dead in his tracks as his gaze fell upon the headline that blared at him from a newspaper that had been left on a side table. ‘Billionaire’s son hospitalized…’ That shouldn’t have been enough to grab his attention, but it was the name beneath it that had Wufei snatching the paper off the table with trembling hands. “Yuy…Heero Yuy…” he mumbled thickly as dark eyes scanned the report. “Shot…eye witnesses…girl…Peacecraft…Milliardo…Relena…” Duo? Where was Duo in all of this? The report had not mentioned anything about the young man on the scene, but Wufei had the feeling that the teacher must have been there. So what had happened? Why hadn’t Duo been mentioned? /I can’t deal with it, Wufei…I can’t stand to see those I love suffering…because of me…/ Amy was startled at the vehemence of her boss’s cry but she wasn’t one to question him on matters that were on a personal level. She could clearly see that he was agitated and she wisely kept her distance. “Amy,” Wufei began briskly as he began to make his way out of the office. “I want you to call Kohae and tell him to lead the meeting this morning. I will not be around for a while, so forward all my calls, okay?” “No…don’t forward my calls,” he corrected after a few seconds of thought. “Just take down messages or tell them that I will call back later on.” “Yes, sir,” she repeated quietly as she took down the notes. “Will that be all, sir?” The Chinese man frowned in thought for a moment before shaking his head. “That will be all. Have a good day, Amy.” With a light nod, he made his way out of the office and towards a place he knew a certain teacher would be. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one looking for Duo as he had just gotten a phone call from two of the unlikeliest of people. For a second, the names had not rung any bells in his mind, but once they had mentioned Duo and Heero in the same breath, he had recognized their voices on the spot. And now, here he was in front of the apartment building that Duo had once called home, waiting for the two boys to make an appearance. They had all promised to meet here and even though Wufei was doubtful that his friend would be at home, there was no harm in trying, was there? He glanced towards the windows, wondering if perhaps the man with the braid was watching from up above. But the eerie stillness was quite unnerving and for a moment, Wufei debated on whether barging in there unannounced was really a good idea in the first place. He was sure that Duo would be upset if he found out he was being ambushed like this. He spun around quickly, surprised (and a bit upset at being caught off guard) at the presence of the two boys he had been waiting for. They must have grown a bit taller since the last time they met, but there was no denying who they were. Trowa Barton and Quatre Winner were actually standing before him. Wufei glanced at the lone black car that was parked by the curb with a wary smile. Not a good idea to park such an expensive looking car in such a neighborhood, but then again, it could end up being the safest place for it. “Trowa? Quatre, I believe?” he responded with an outstretched hand in greeting. “Nice to meet you both again.” The teens gave small sighs of relief, having wondered if they would have to reintroduce themselves all over again. They had been lucky to find one of Duo’s old address books in one of the boxes he kept in the basement. Well, actually they had found Meiran’s number and had called her first. She had been more than willing to share any and all information about her husband-to-be. That was the only way they had gotten access to his cell-phone number in the first place. But those matters were quite trivial compared with what they had to deal with at the moment. “We are really sorry for taking you away from your business,” Trowa began quietly. Wufei waved a hand in dismissal, although he had a friendly smile on his face. “It’s no problem at all. I would have taken a break anyway. I just saw the newspaper this morning.” Both boys gave small but uneasy smiles, knowing full well that the older man was going to ask them a question. However, sensing their uneasiness, Wufei gave a small nod instead and began to lead the way into the building. There would be time to find out everything and this was not it. “Watch your step,” he warned as he pushed open the door that led to the front lobby. Trowa and Quatre tried hard not to wrinkle their noses in distaste at the foul stench of rotten vegetables and wet feet that assailed their senses. A loud cry from a baby permeated the already noisy building as doors banged open and shut, added with noises from bickering neighbors or couples. The two heirs exchanged wary glances with one another, wondering just how anyone could live in such a place and retain their sanity. But, not being one to judge, they followed Wufei’s sure and steady steps, hands stuck deep into their coats as they did not want to touch the dingy staircase rails or walls. Black with soot and covered with some rather obscene graffiti, they shuddered and unconsciously huddled closer to the older man. Finally, they got to Duo’s floor and the boys were grateful that it was at least a bit quieter than the rest. Wufei’s strides took them towards Room 531, which was locked as evident from the small twist the Chinese man had given to the door knob. He pressed the doorbell and waited. “I can’t…can’t believe he lives here,” Quatre muttered thickly as he moved closer to his partner. The sound of something like glass crashing on the floor above them had them both moving even closer to their guide. “It’s okay, Quatre. It’s not as bad as it looks really,” Wufei replied softly, as he peered through the peephole. He couldn’t see a thing of course, but then again that didn’t mean anything, did it? Was Duo even home? “How long have you known Duo?” Trowa asked in genuine curiosity. “You seem to know him better than…anyone.” “And how would you know that?” Wufei asked in faint amusement. “I’ve only known him for three years. That’s hardly long enough to consider myself a ‘Duo’ expert.” “But you’ve known him…and you know more about him than we do,” Trowa insisted with a light frown. “What is Duo like, really? Please tell us.” The Chinese man’s brow creased lightly as he stepped away from the door. He eyed the two boys who had eager but serious expressions on their faces. They looked genuinely concerned for their friend and he could understand that. He felt the same way about Duo and he would be damned before he betrayed the American’s trust. “Why should I tell you anything about him?” he asked with that same look of wariness in his eyes. “If Duo chose not to reveal too much about himself, then who am I to fill in the missing pieces?” “Because those missing pieces are what we need to make Heero better, Wufei,” Quatre replied quietly. “Heero needs Duo and I am sure that Duo feels the same way. He just can’t keep running away from the truth whenever it hits him in the face.” Wufei’s jaw tightened at the comment, but he refused to say anything. “Please, Wufei…anything at all you can say to help us…” Trowa pleaded again. “We would greatly appreciate it.” You have friends now, Duo, Wufei thought ruefully. People who actually give a damn now. So, friend? What do you have to say for yourself? The nurse looked stricken as she tried desperately to get the boy back into his bed. “Please, Mr. Yuy, you’ve been going at this for an hour now. You need to get some rest!” But the Japanese boy paid her no attention. Drops of sweat rolled off his skin as he moved the crutches again. His arms were practically numb from the constant maneuvering he had been doing all afternoon. He grit his teeth and moved them forward again, biting back a cry as the pain shot up his spine. He was aggravating the wound on his shoulder, but anything was better than lying down and doing nothing. He had to walk again. If not for his sake, then for Duo’s sake. Bless me father, for I have sinned. It’s been….one year since my last confession. /What is your sin, my son?/ I have…I have killed someone again, father. Someone I love very, very much… She would have to call the doctor. This was getting too much for her to watch. It was as if the boy was punishing himself for something. “Please, Mr. Yuy. You are bleeding again. Please stop this!” One more…just one more step and my toes will move again. He moved the crutches, having to swerve a little to avoid hitting his bed, but all he succeeded in doing was pulling the muscle of his left arm a bit tighter, hence causing his already blood-soaked bandages to darken a bit more. He could feel himself getting light-headed, but he also knew that he was almost there. He could put his right foot down now. Wait for me, Duo. I’m coming! /And how did you kill him, my son?/ With my love. I think. I think it’s a sin to be in love with someone, don’t you agree? You hurt them without really wanting to. You just do and even though you tell yourself it will never happen again and you do all you can to avoid it ever happening again, it just does. It’s like a fucking avalanche…Forgive my language, father. /It’s alright. In the heat of confession, we are hardly in control of our emotions. And what did you do next, my son?/ I ran away. She left the room. She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to get some help. The boy was going to die right in front of her and she had just been recruited for only a month. My parents…are separated, Duo. Do you know that? He placed his right foot down again, forcing…willing the lax muscles to work for him. A little twitch on his big toe. Progress at last! They are getting a divorce, Duo. Do you know that? His left foot was going to be the killer. It was as if it had decided not to work for him at all. My mother is going to be on her own now, just like she wants to be. Shouldn’t I be happy for them, Duo? He groaned and forced the wave of nausea to dissipate. He could feel the blood dripping down his arm now. He figured he must have overdone it a little. The door burst open and the doctors rushed in. Voices filled with concern drifted in and out of his consciousness as he struggled not to pass out from his semi-delirious state. He forced his eyes open to stare out of the window, feeling the tears he so longed to fall continue to lock themselves away in his heart. I love you, Duo. Don’t you know that? He tightened the grocery bag against his chest as he made the turn towards his apartment. There was something always so soothing about being in a church and talking about your problems to someone who couldn’t really give a damn about you. Priests were a dime a dozen in this city. They were very good secret keepers. Everyone’s nasty business was kept behind their hollowed walls and if by any chance any of them got a conscience and reported to the police…then that was the parishioner’s problem to deal with. He stopped as he noticed the black car parked on the curbside, amethyst depths narrowed in thought as he read the license plate. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not really feeling anything much as he figured it was bound to happen sooner or later. He knew it couldn’t possibly be Heero, so it was all narrowed down to Trowa and Quatre. Damn, but those boys were pretty nosey. With another resigned sigh, he made his way into the building and towards his floor. Sure enough, standing like a group of tax-collectors were the two culprits and his best friend. He forced a warm smile on his face and waved lightly. what do I owe the pleasure of having you fine gentlemen visit my home?” He winced at the accusatory looks that were thrown at him, feeling his cheeks darken with color as he realized that neither of them were smiling much. Wufei was the first to break the thick silence as he said quietly, “You know what we are here for, Duo. We don’t need to go into details, do we?” The teacher frowned and shook his head lightly, hands reaching into his pockets to bring out his keys. “Sorry, boys but the lesson’s over,” he muttered thickly. “Now, if you don’t mind, I would like to go into my apartment now.” “How can you do this to him?” Quatre asked in a voice filled with pain and disbelief. “How could you do this to…both of you?” “It’s simple, Quatre,” came the cold retort. “We all have to grow up sometime and move on. It’s obvious that I’m not the one for Heero and never will be. I will only cause him trouble and I don’t want that in his life or mine, got it?” “Bull shit, Duo,” Trowa interrupted just as coldly. “You just can’t deal with the fact that you’re going to be responsible for him, can you? He saved your goddamn life and you can’t even go to say thank you?!” “I don’t remember asking him to do that for me, did I?” Duo asked with a cold smirk on his face. “It’s always the same fucking thing, isn’t it? Why? Why do they always feel like they have to save my goddamn life?! And what do I get in return? They die! That’s what!” “Heero’s still alive, Duo,” Wufei said softly. There was a look in his eyes that Duo knew only too well. It was the same look he’d the first time they had actually had a real conversation together. Back then, the teacher had hated it on sight but it had done wonders in the long run. He had opened up and bared his soul to the Chinese man. But now…things were different. “I can’t go back, Wufei,” he muttered thickly, as if hoping that his friend would at least be on his side. “Can’t you see? I can’t go back. I can never go back.” Resounding, sharp and loud, a shocked silence descended on the quartet as Duo’s gaze widened in surprise. For a moment, the pain didn’t register in his mind, as all that filled his vision was the teary-eyed blond standing before him. He had been slapped and by Quatre no less. What the fuck was the world coming to? “You…” he began softly, still in disbelief as a hand slowly lifted to caress his reddened cheek. The Arabian did not allow him to finish. “You can go back, Duo,” he said fervently, his voice thickened with the tears that had begun to cascade down his cheeks. “For Allah’s sake, you can! Why won’t you let him completely in, Duo? He has changed so much because of you! We have never seen Heero this happy before and it was all thanks to you! You can’t just leave him now, damn it! Give him one final lesson before you walk away at least!” Trowa held on to the trembling shoulders of his partner, the same look of determination and plea in his eyes. “Just one more, Duo,” he added quietly. “As his teacher, you owe him that much.” Duo’s eyes burned as he stared into their eyes. What are you two asking me to do? I am too… A hand on his shoulder had him staring blindly into the smiling face of his best friend. “Wu…fei…” he croaked out weakly. What do I do, friend? Tell me what to do. And as Wufei wrapped his arms around his trembling friend’s body, offering him the warmth that he needed so badly, he whispered softly into the teacher’s ear in a voice that left no room for compromise. “It’s time for one more lesson, Duo.”	<urn:uuid:bd8659a9-0ed5-421e-b335-0706b11f11c3>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.kiyasama.com/tutor/22.htm	2015-03-28T05:11:50Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.991437	8,492
WRITE A REVIEW 85% would repurchase Package Quality: 4.0 Filter by skin/hair/eye Filter by age on 11/12/2013 6:01:00 PM More reviews by SorceressOfTheDark Age: 56 & Over Skin: Dry, Fair, Cool Hair: Blond, Straight, Fine My sweet, sweet Halston. How do I love thee. Let me count the ways. This is a perfume that knows sweetness, but not sugar, that understands bitterness without a sour bite, that encompasses what the woods has to offer-in all that Mother Nature can produce, with the warmth and sweetness of the summer leaves, the cool crispness of Autumn bark with its lichen and mosses, the reverence of cold, crisp Winters still, and the dank, decrepitness of Springs thawing leaves, left-over and rotted remnants from season't past and now warmed by yet another season. Halston is a gestation of cycles, of primal urges and tempered by societal banality and its' demands, and that's exactly what 1975 was all about, its inaugural year. The Primal Scream was uttered in metropolitan cities, bell bottoms scraped the floors with Frye boots and platforms danced the night away while shiny winged-back hair did the hustle. Those years were a paradox of times and so is this perfume. One side is dark, damp and disquieting with its mosses while its counterpart of sweetness brings one back to better moments. America had come out of the war, and spirits, altho still dealing with adversity needed to get away. America needed a diversion. Disco was born. Halston's powerful sweetness overlies all of the notes in this timeless (now) classic. Perfumes address what society is feeling, what they may want or what they may need., Halston did just that and did it very successfully. Today's available versions are two. One is called an "alcohol-free spray cologne", available in a spray version, same bottle with tree moss extract and oak moss extract. This Halston has an oily base that dries quickly and is excellent as a perfumed moisturizer. Longevity is shorter because of its composition. The bottle without or without the name, still produced within the last few months, also has the tree moss and oak moss extract is a natural spray cologne. (I'd suggest checking the batch number for the actual date produced.) Sillage is wonderful as is longevity. The depths of todays' version may not be as strong as one of yesteryear but they are still very good and smell absolutely wonderful. They are all just completely different animals and need to be appreciated as such. The oil is sweeter at first, the vintage is deeper, and the new formulation is lighter. They are still Halston. If you adore a strong vetiver mingled with sweet patchouli and the woods, this one's for you.Top Notes: Mint, Melon, Green Leaves, Peach, Bergamot.Middle Notes: Carnation, Orris Root, Jasmine, Rose, Cedar, Ylang-Ylang, Marigold.Base Notes: Sandalwood, Patchouli, Amber, Musk, Oakmoss, Vetiver, Incense. 11 out of 11 people found this review helpful. on 7/11/2013 2:41:00 PM More reviews by sunshine824 Skin: Combination, Tan, Not Sure Hair: Black, Other, Other I had to write a new review for this fragrance as I've been wearing it a LOT the past few weeks and have several different variations of it - and I love all of them.Vintage: I have a vintage splash bottle of the cologne that has 'Halston' on the bottom label and on the box as well. This one is light and refreshing. Smells very chypre-ish but never heavy or stuffy at all. It's quite green, more green than the more current offerings and if I had to compare it to any other fragrance it would be Estee Lauder's Private Collection or Alliage. It's smooth and well blended. There is nothing harsh or loud about it at all. I think any complaints about Halston would be of the newer formulations by Elizabeth Arden(though they are quite good).Older Reformulation: This bottle has Elizabeth Arden as the manufacturer but does NOT have the name "Halston" written on the bottle. The juice is lighter in color than the vtg. but is MUCH stronger. It's a bit harsher and less green than the vtg. and has some sharp edges to it. The opening can be rather harsh and drydown is more patchouli heavy than the vtg, but it's nice and what I've smelled the most often and recognized as "Halston."Most Recent Reformulation: This bottle also has EA as the manufacturer, but the juice is even lighter and almost pink. It has "Halston" written on the bottle. Between this new 'pink' juice and the previous darker reformulation, I'd say this one is actually closer to the vintage bottle of Halston that I have. It is a bit greener and fresher with a little bit of sweetness to it(though I would never call it "sweet"). It mimics the green grassy drydown of the vtg cologne moreso than the older reformulation. But it's also has a little more patchouli than the vtg(probably to replace some of the oakmoss that is restricted). Both this and the other reformulation have more sillage and lasting power than the vintage. I've also read reviews that said that the reformulated version is "less pretty" than vintage. This pink version is closer to vintage and more pretty than the older reform. It still has a little more patch than the vintage, but even on my patch amplifying skin(and I don't like patchouli) it's not heavy or over bearing. I think Elizabeth Arden did a great job with this version of the reformulation. I can tell they put a lot of effort into bringing it back to the original and I can actually smell some of the notes in this better than in the vintage. I don't understand why so many reformulations end in heartbreak and Elizabeth Arden can actually bring Halston back to it's original form(for the most part). I also have a small bottle of the perfume that was manufactured by Elizabeth Arden and while I like the drydown, the opening is quite rough. It's strong and heavy on the woods. It's probably a perfume version of the earlier reformulation that is also harsh.Halston is unique and beautiful. I love that it isn't overly sweet nor is it stuffy. It could be worn as an every day casual scent or only for special occasions. It would be perfect in a black tie event or a picnic. I think it was made to be a signature scent. It's so uniqe and unforgettable that lately when I wear something else I end up wearing Halston instead of it because other fragrances are boring to me. Can I also mention how much I just LOVE the bottle? It's one of only 2 or 3 bottles that I would want to keep whether I liked the fragrance or not(the others being Mitsouko & Chanel No. 5 for their classic lines, and the Tocca bottles). But the Halston bottle is chic, naughty, and original so I like it best.I will definitely repurchase and will probably be repurchasing the new 'pink' juice. It's affordable, easy to find, and closer to the vintage with a little more 'oomph.' 8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. on 1/4/2013 9:43:00 PM More reviews by Therealslayergrrl Skin: Combination, Medium, Warm Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium I think this is where I got my love for chypre's came from. Someone in their infinite wisdom gave me a bottle of this when I was in 6th grade.. Yikes! It was super strong and WAY too strong for me then. I think I probably killed my poor classmates sense of smell with this. (sorry guys) It was so bad my Mom took it away from me and I got a lesson on how to properly wear perfume from my Grandmother. Just one whiff and I fall in love all over again. 3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. on 2/9/2012 5:28:00 PM More reviews by cjenn Skin: Normal, Other, Not Sure Hair: Brunette, Other, Other The bottle is so classic, so reminiscent of Studio 54 and the heyday of disco what with Halston himself holding court at the bar of the original New York discotheque. That said, I always remember my mom had this bottle on her dresser and it just screamed 1970s! It's very powdery on the top notes and is ultra sexy and made for the confident woman!!!! LOVE THIS classic fragrance. on 6/28/2011 9:39:00 PM More reviews by stayce Skin: Acne-prone, Other, Not Sure Hair: Blond, Other, Other Well, this is really two reviews: maybe three years ago I came across a bottle at Marshall's and tried it. At the time, it felt too adult and too heavy for Southern California, and I discarded it. Last year I was seized with curiosity and got a travel size bottle at the fancy Rite Aid. And... yikes. I don't know if the first bottle I bought was older stock or whether they rolled out a cheaper reformulation for the mini bottles, but it was an unbelievably harsh blast of artificial rose warring with Chlorox, with no base notes. I hope it was a fluke. on 2/11/2011 8:03:00 PM More reviews by Shadow_Witch Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Cool Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine I read a lot of reviews about the evils of perfume reformulation here on MUA. I too, have contributed one or two but it would appear by the reviews I am reading lately that every second review of any fragrance that has been around at least 10 years dismisses all that is not the original production year as REFORMULATED. And to perfumistas, reformulated = the devil. Just like food and wine, even if you follow the same recipe to the letter every time, there is always the occasional "not so good/bad batch" as well as the superlatively good batch, no? Sometimes when you're cooking, you may be missing an ingredient and need to substitute.... often, it comes out tasting the same, no? Back to this review: I am a self-proclaimed '70s fragrance freak. All my favourite fragrances were produced and first released within the years 1970 and 1979. I mourned the day I finished my original bottle of Halston from the late '70s. The reviews here on MUA and fragrance boards/blogs throughout the internet had me convinced that the current Halston "formulation" was nowhere near the original. So much so that I didn't bother replacing my bottle for years. Then last week, I broke down and bought a bottle at the cheapest price I could find.This brings me to my review of Halston. I received my little bottle of Halston with the Halston printed on the bottle which, according to noses who know is not worth the bother. I opened the box with mixed feelings of impending disappointment and cautious optimism, I sprayed it in the air. Oh my how wrong they were! My little bottle of Halston is pure oakmoss-y, green, incense, musky chypre goodness!!!This makes me think that perhaps we sometimes "remember" the fragrances of our past/youth... wrong? Also, our body chemistry changes too. Hormones, diet, smoking, medication, etc, these things and more all affect how a fragrance develops on our skin every time we wear it.If you have loved Halston since the seventies like I have or, if you've never even sniffed it. I recommend you do. This baby is a little powdery and very, very, sultry. This is ultra femme with a capital confidence. This is not the fragrance of a woman who needs to smell like fruity florals or dessert to feel attractive. Halston is the fragrance of women who feel good in their skin no matter how old/young they are. I'm happy to have my Halston back. Will definitely repurchase. The bottle design is legendary. continued >> 19 out of 21 people found this review helpful. on 10/25/2010 8:20:00 PM More reviews by Chamuda Skin: Other, Other, Not Sure Hair: Other, Other, Other Halston, where have you been all my life?Love the feminine softly curved bottle, and love the juice even more.It's the perfect green, mossy, oakmoss, incense musky perfumey scent. It sprays on nice but dries down even nicer. I actually find it calming when I smell it - as if it has aromatherapeutic effect.The lotion is nice too, a bit more mildly green in scent, will go well with the cologne. Both are highly recommended! on 10/15/2010 11:49:00 PM More reviews by youdroppedabalmonme2 Skin: Very Oily, Fair, Not Sure Hair: Red, Other, Other This review is for Halston before it was acquired (and reformulated, and cheapened) by EA Fragrances. I tried some of the Halston now being sold in drugstores and discount stores, and while it retains some of its original character, it falls absolutely flat in comparison to the original. My advice is to get this on eBay-- someone is always selling vintage stock.SO, to return to my point: Original 1975 formulation of Halston is a magical chypre on my skin. Warm, woodsy, and clean, it has some of the best sillage I've ever experienced in a fragrance. Elegant, yet subtly sexy... it reminds me in the drydown of more assertive chypres like Aromatics Elixir and Paloma Picasso, but where those scents can be aggressive and difficult, Halston is just plain lovely. At first spray, it does smell a bit "dated," if only because it employs real oakmoss and is not the faintest bit sweet. But give it 10 minutes, and it will steal your heart with its gorgeous unfolding. I can see why previous reviewers have equated Halston with the glamour and excitement of the disco era. Still, it is timeless. 6 out of 6 people found this review helpful. on 10/15/2010 4:20:00 PM More reviews by rsmuskie For all you sweet young naive things out there who think that anything made in the 70's or 80's is granny or old lady, have I got news for YOUZE: this fragrance is a man slayer. Period. Doesn't matter if the guy is 19 or 90. This is the fragrance that wins them all - hands down! I hadn't worn it in years, but recently wore it to the bank, and a 20 year old teller was fawning all over the scent. "I don't know what you're wearing, but you smell really great!" I hated to tell him that not only was he not even born when the fragrance was in its first heydey, but that his parents were both probably still in grade school and hadn't even met yet... And yet, the kid knows what he likes! CIndy Crawford in her Halston: enough said. If you're bold enough to try it, do so. 12 out of 12 people found this review helpful. on 2/25/2010 9:36:00 PM More reviews by crickett85 Skin: Dry, Fair, Not Sure I haven't worn this scent for years but recently got a bottle while feeling nostalgic.I think the scent has changed. While I used to think of this as a pleasant mossy-woodsy scent, it now smells chypre but with a cloyingly sweet undertone (that I don't remember it having before). Somehow I think that it is less oakmoss and more something(?) else, more of a cloyingly sweet scent.This REALLY has sillage....tremendous lasting power and a little goes a long way...so use lightly.And, while it's recommended for daytime use, I find a scent this heavy more appropriate to evening wear.Overall, I still like the scent but not as much as I did when I was in college back in the 80s. I really think that is because the scent has been reformulated. I STILL just love the bottle though. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Are you sure this product is discontinued? daasfdsad, asdadasd, addasdasdas, asdasdasdasfsdfgdfs, fgdssdgfdgfg, gfgdgdfgdhfgj Reviewer did not try the product Profanity/Vulgar language Advertising (Vendor promotion, iHerb Coupons etc.) Marketing campaign (BzzAgent, Influenster etc.)	<urn:uuid:91cd4d1a-3eee-4f50-985e-51559ecbd633>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.makeupalley.com/product/showreview.asp/ItemId=38294/Halston/Elizabeth-Arden/Fragrances	2015-03-28T05:43:50Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.963233	3,666
i7-3930k @ 4.6 \| Sabertooth X79 \| 32GB DDR3-1600 \| GTX-680 Jetstream SLI \| TX950W Explo>Black Arrow>Glaive Toss>Arcane Shot>Cobra shot. But if you have 3 free Arcane's, you obviously get to shoot 3 arcane's more before you have to shoot one cobra. All in all, dela, as said, I think Fervor may come out ahead on a pure singletarget fight, ever so slightly. But I'm also convinced that TOTH will win out over fervor in most progress-related encounters, due to the extra utility it "has" over Fervor - it really doesn't matter if the focus provided can be used on only AS or both AS and ES, as the focus you'd use on AS would just translate into focus for ES instead (if you understand what I mean, can't really think of a better way to word it). In the end, I'm convinced that the major difference between you and calebh/eiwo isn't the talent (because why would it be such a huge difference - 17K dps between you and eiwo, and nearly 30K between you and caleb), but rather, a level of skill. No offense to either of them, but Caleb/Eiwo has never been hunters I have been particularly "wow'd" by. Not saying that I'd do better, and they're obviously in the top percentile, but I'm convinced they're in the guild for other reasons than being extremely good hunters - EG, the ability to spend the neccessary time required for a top guild, being good with multiple characters, or good leading/organising skills, etc - I find that the majority of their top ranks are usually achieved when they have "all the gear", and all the other more mediocre guilds are still catching up, being multiple item levels behind. When the playing field has been levelled, and people who do the shitty jobs because they're just the only one's capable of it, they drop alot. You usually don't =P. Fervor is opportune if it's off CD at a time you're really low on Focus, for example unloading a chain of ES, BA, GT and Crows. On the other hand, Fervor can come off-CD at a high-Focus time (LnL + refreshing Sting, etc) and then you have to push to dump Focus in order to use Fervor on CD and not waste its gain. TotH is the opposite. If it pops up at a very low-Focus time it can be frustrating because you can't safely burn off the free shots without jeopardizing your ability to keep SrS up and ES/BA/GT/possibly Crows cooling. So if you get really low on Focus and TotH prox, you may need to Cobra a few times anyway to not push back your next important ability. On the other hand if TotH prox at a medium/high-Focus time, it's no real concern since you can't "cap" Thrill unless it expires and it can be consumed in little bits, weaving it with Focus-consuming stuff or Cobra shots as needed. It's true that you unavoidably overwrite TotH sometimes while following the prio, but I suspect the ability's DPS contribution is balanced around an assumption of not-perfect efficiency. I guess that's one clinical reason I like Thrill. It can be used at any point in your Focus bar if needed, but there's no penalty for using it at high Focus. As noted, both have times they shine and times they're frustrating. As for Dire Beast, I'm sorry, but I can't comment since I pretend it doesn't exist. To me it's one of the lamest, grossest, most underwhelming abilities ever implemented. "Look! Yet another giant stupid animal!" <shudder> You do know that if TOTH procs at a low focus-time, there's no reason not to fill up the bar to make sure you can cobra/BA before bleeding the arcane's out, right? Only shots that costs focus can proc TOTH, which would mean cobra/TOTH arcane's cant. TOTH should never be able to alter your rotation, apart from the obvious "fire more arcanes instead of cobras" Sure, opportunities like this exist on encounters such as Spirit Kings (if you avoid the responsibility of dispelling) and Vizier (if you avoid the responsibility of breaking MCs), why focus on getting that extra 5K DPS when playing so aggressively will increase the likelihood of you dying to a crucial mechanic on an encounter where you are minutes ahead of the enrage anyway? I feel like if the first thing you look at on a log is the damage meters you are probably going to get a distorted view of which players are actually good. But then it is as I said - they're there for their ability to play, not to top DPS as a hunter. Which is perfectly legit - most top end guilds are no different from a top 50, or top 100 guild in level of skill - the difference is amount of hours put into the game (through dedication with alts, or just hours spent smashing a seemingly impossible boss). In any case, the argument was that the talent is not far apart, as no talent will cause a 17K, let alone 30K, difference in DPS, so that was not the reason for him being ahead. If it's the added responsibility that took its toll on the other two, or skill difference, can be argued I guess. But historically, caleb has never been a reliably high ranking hunter on "farm", only when he's several gear levels ahead of people, while Eiwo's a bit better in that regard. You're wording it like it's a matter of ability, when really it is a matter of choice.But then it is as I said - they're there for their ability to play, not to top DPS as a hunter. Actually they are pretty much identical - 2486 focus (Fervor) vs 2460 focus (TOTH). If you scale for player uptime TOTH is even ahead.In any case, the argument was that the talent is not far apart, as no talent will cause a 17K, let alone 30K Clearly I am unable to distinguish anything at all about a fight before I have actually been to the last phase of it, and my raid's overall progress and performance is a direct reflection of my own, as we are all equally good - I am a clueless fool, who will shut up because a random person tells me to, as I am clearly too bad to ever accomplish whatever you have. I bow down to you, my master. Clearly, you are the superior alpha male. In any case, as I've said multiple times, my opinions will be my opinions. People don't have to agree with them. I'll be the first to admit that my performance this tier has been worse than the previous due to new responsibilities. But that doesn't take anything away from what my point has been, and I don't think anyone's disagreeing with me - TOTH and fervor are as close as can be, and the difference between the hunter's dps in that kill has nothing to do with the talent, but rather, responsibility/skill. Caleb triggered 474 ISS, Eiwo 486, and Dela 526. So a difference of 52/40 serpent sting applications - mind that multishot will trigger anywhere from 2 to however many adds+sha you get of these in the last phase, so realisticly, he can't have shot more than 10 multishots more. The big difference between dela/eiwo probably comes from Barrage, but caleb has glaive toss. And I didn't say anything about it being impressive - I said that judging my level of skill on my raid's performance is stupid . I'd have prefered shekzeer/tsulong to die before christmas, but our roster didn't allow for that. Tough luck, I guess. Do you truly not believe I could do in a top end guild? I know what the requirements are - but I can't adjust my life around them at the moment due to school. Maybe someday, I'll be impressive to you, because I get to clear content fast because I raid four times as much and skip school for a few weeks. It annoys me because it screams 'Do this now!' and I go 'But you're my lowest priority shot! What about this other stuff I have to do!?'. And then it goes 'Well maybe I'll come back later then when you're in a better mood!' and storms out. There's nothing saying you have to use ToTH procs. It's not designed to shoot all of them because it's not possible. It's awesome to weave in a free AS when you are waiting 0.5s on that ES or GT. Looks like you might have butt hurt some tweens Draco. LOL Chillax people, opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. Some of you are one. Draco gives his opinions, I don't always agree with them, but he's allowed to give them. For someone to reply that his 15/16 is unimpressive, that's pathetic. Retarded 4 year-old children would reply better than that. Basically, IMO, if you aren't top 25 in the world, you are just another guild wishing you were. My guild is just another guild wishing it was one of those guilds wishing. Thanks for the discussions Draco and Dela, informative to some of us. Don't be elitist, it's a video game for crying out loud. Cure cancer, then you can be an asshole. Last edited by Lovestar; 2013-01-14 at 04:03 PM.	<urn:uuid:771a586e-56be-4b32-be6d-79f24510e134>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1247484-SURVIVAL-Some-less-obvious-priority-rotation-questions?p=19801413&viewfull=1	2015-03-28T06:13:58Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.972476	2,079
Please, post suggestions and improvements only. "I can't understand line xxx could you improve it?" is acceptable and will be addressed if pointed out. Just don't turn this into a Q&A thread. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This guide is tailored for version 9.94+ since there have been many changes to RNG Reporter over the years and methods have become more efficient. I. [jump=intro]Introduction[/jump] II. [jump=startup]Getting started[/jump] -[jump=eonsetup]Setting up EonTimer[/jump] -[jump=eonuse]Using EonTimer[/jump] -[jump=clocksetup]Setting up DS clock/Hitting your seed using EonTimer[/jump] III. [jump=capture]Capturing [/jump] -[jump=seedsearch]Searching for a seed[/jump] -[jump=seedverify]Verifying your seed[/jump] [jump=verifyall]All games[/jump] [jump=verifydp]DPPt[/jump] [jump=verifyhg]HGSS[/jump] -[jump=frameadvance]Advancing frames[/jump] [jump=findadvance]Determining number of advances[/jump] [jump=frameverify]Verifying frames[/jump] -[jump=specialcase]Special cases [/jump] [jump=wondercard]Wondercards[/jump] [jump=roamerdp]DPPt Roamers[/jump] [jump=roamerhg]HGSS Roamers[/jump] [jump=swarm]Swarm Pokemon[/jump] [jump=gira]Distortion World Giratina[/jump] [jump=starter]Kanto/Johto/Hoenn/Sinnoh Starters[/jump] [jump=sinjoh]Sinjoh Ruins Dragon Event[/jump] [jump=egggift]Egg Gifts[/jump] [jump=honey]Honey Trees[/jump] [jump=fossil]Fossils[/jump] [jump=rocksmash] Rock Smash[/jump] [jump=safari]Safari Zone[/jump] [jump=marsh]Great Marsh[/jump] [jump=surf]Surfing/Fishing[/jump] [jump=headbutt]Headbutt Trees[/jump] [jump=redgyara]Lake of Rage Red Gyarados[/jump] [jump=trophy]Trophy Garden[/jump] [jump=manaphy]Manaphy Egg[/jump] IV. [jump=breed]Breeding[/jump] -[jump=seedfind]Finding a seed for IVs[/jump] -[jump=eggfind]Finding a seed for shiny Egg[/jump] DPPt -[jump=egggetdp]Getting your shiny Egg[/jump] -[jump=getivsdp]Getting the correct IVs[/jump] HGSS -[jump=egggethg]Getting your shiny Egg[/jump] -[jump=getivshg]Getting the correct IVs[/jump] V. [jump=id]ID/SID[/jump] -[jump=findpid]Finding a PID[/jump] -[jump=findid]Finding an ID[/jump] -[jump=getid]Getting your ID[/jump] -[jump=confirmid]Checking your Delay[/jump] VI. [jump=misc]Miscellaneous[/jump] -[jump=chain]Chained Shinies[/jump] -[jump=cc]Cute Charm[/jump] [a]intro[/a] I: Introduction So you've encountered all these people with shiny Pokemon with perfect IVs, and now you want to know how to get some for yourself? Look no further, for this guide will show you every step of getting your dream Pokemon. This guide's purpose is to walk you through the basics of RNG manipulation in the 4th Generation Pokemon games. It is written with the layman in mind and is intended to be simple and easy to follow, without overwhelming the user with complex computer lingo. At every opportunity given there will be a picture or two that spells out exactly what to do. If you're reading this, it's assumed that you are already familiar with the concept of natures and IVs and have at least unlocked a majority of the content in the Pokemon game you wish to do this in. You must also be using an actual DS and game carts if you wish to follow along. Here are a few terms you must be familiar with before beginning: Seed - A value determined based on the current date, time, and delay Delay - A value determined based on the time spent from the moment the game is booted up to the moment the game file is loaded Frame - A value that increases based on actions that happen in-game. If you don't really understand what these terms are, don't worry about it. It's enough to know that frame, delay, and seed are three things that we are trying to control for our purpose and that manipulating your seed is almost the same thing as manipulating your delay, so there are really only 2 things to keep track of. Occasionally this guide will split up into two sections: one for Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, and another for HeartGold and SoulSilver. This is because some methods differ between the games. Below are the things you'd want to get in order to prepare for this endeavor: Requirements RNG Reporter (latest version is 9.96) Two-stage timer (EonTimer recommended) DPPt Coin Flip Pokétch App HGSS (Optional) All 3 roamers released and NOT caught. Must have one of the following people registered in your Pokégear: Professor Elm: you should have his number, but you must do all three of the following: -Show him a hatched Togepi or any of its evolutions -Have a Pokemon withPokérus -Have reached Kanto *Juggler Irwin (North of Goldenrod City) Recommended for all games Chatot with Chatter (2 recommended) A Pokemon with Synchronize and the nature you're interested in getting A Pokemon with Sweet Scent, or the Honey item Pokemon to help catch other Pokemon (Spore, False Swipe, Thunder Wave, etc) A GBA non-spinoff Pokemon game (basically any game that allows use of the PalPark feature), only for those who have a DS or DS lite. Knowing your SID (Secret ID) for obtaining shiny Pokemon. The easiest way to find this is to use Pokecheck, but if you have no other options then for DPPt you'll need to have multiple Chained shinies and for HGSS you'll need to not have caught the Red Gyarados yet. To find your SID, in RNG Reporter, head to "Find SID from Chained Shinies" under 4th Gen Tools. If using HGSS and the Red Gyarados method, you'll have to capture it but not save, write down the IVs/nature/gender then restart and repeat. In the Chain to SID window, all you have to do is enter your Trainer ID and the data for your Chained Shiny/Red Gyarados then hit Calculate. Keep repeating this using different shinies/Red Gyarados until the "Possibilities" is 1. [a]startup[/a] II: Getting Started Read this first! To start off, download RNG Reporter and EonTimer Pretty much all RNG manipulation processes can be summarized by a few steps, so if you focus on perfecting each step, you should have no trouble cranking out perfect Pokemon. The steps are: -Searching for a seed -Hitting your seed -Verifying your seed -Advancing to the correct frame But first there are some setups that need to be done, starting with our timer. [a]eonsetup[/a] Setting up EonTimer Once you finish this section, you won't have to do this again. First select the button that's circled in green below. Let's take a look at the window below. You'll want to change Countdown Mode to A/V. The only other thing you'll need to change is Action Count, which is basically how many beeps you want EonTimer to make as the timer counts down to 00:00. Next go to the Application tab Select Auto-Save for "On Exit", and it's up to you whether you want the program to check for updates on startup. Once you've done that, you're done and no longer have to do this again. At this point, you'll want to determine your desired method of RNG manipulation so skip to the appropriate section. It's recommended to go to section III first because it's the easiest one to start with. [a]eonuse[/a] Using EonTimer Now we'll show you how to set up EonTimer for a 4th Generation Game. If using DPPt, set Calibrated Delay to 600 and Calibrated Sec. to 14. If using HGSS, set Calibrated Delay to 490 and Calibrated Sec. to 14. Once set, do not touch either value unless you're switching to a game that requires the change. The only thing left to worry about is Target Delay and Target Sec., which can be found in the Seed to Time window, as shown below. Here the Seconds value is 23 and the delay value is 4357, so in EonTimer Target Delay would be 4357 and Target Sec. would be 23. We'll be showing how to set up the Seed to Time window in later sections so don't worry about it for now. Just don't forget to change Target Delay and Target Sec. whenever you're attempting a different seed. [a]clocksetup[/a] Setting up your DS clock and hitting your seed For this section we will be trying to hit seed 0x11111111 using the date 7/28/12 and time 17:54:23 (See the highlighted option in the above picture) If you are attempting to hit another seed, know that you will only need the DATE and TIME for this part. On your DS, click the icon circled above and go to the blue option shown below, and select the calendar. Change the date to the desired date Now we look at EonTimer again; if you're using DPPt, it should be set up as follows: Take note of the Minutes Before Target option; see how it's 2? We'll have to take that into account when we change our time. Our target time is 17:54:23, so simply subtract 2 MINUTES from the time (remember, the format is hours:minutes:seconds) to give us a time of 17:52 and change the DS clock as follows. Do not exit from this screen at this time. Also keep in mind that the subtraction of 2 minutes does not apply all the time. If Minutes Before Target said 0 instead of 2, you should input 17:54 as the time in your DS clock. Now the moment you've been waiting for. With your DS still at the screen above, hover your mouse cursor on the Start button in EonTimer and prepare to press A on your DS at the above screen. Then simultaneously press Start on EonTimer and press A on your DS. Restart your DS and wait at the screen below. When EonTimer reaches 00:00 (And you'll know it's about to if you have it set to Audio or A/V mode since you can hear beeps), press A. The timer should be counting down to 00:00 again. Head to the screen shown below and wait there. Once the second timer reaches 00:00, press A and hope for the best. This approach applies to all 4th generation games. Once you're in-game, head to the section on Seed Verification to see what to do next. [a]capture[/a] III: Capturing a Perfect Pokemon Let's start off with the simplest form of RNG manipulation, the capture. First, we need to choose a target. Either a legendary or a wild Pokemon will work. To make life easier, bring a Pokemon with the Synchronize ability and the nature you wish to get. If you want a wild Pokemon, you'll have to find a Pokemon with Sweet Scent and bring it along as well. If you don't want to go through the trouble of finding a Pokemon with Sweet Scent, then you can use the item Honey, which gives you the same effect. General info for both games [a]seedsearch[/a] Step 1: Searching for a Seed The first thing we need to do is find an IV spread we're content with getting. To do that we need to go to the 4th Generation Time Finder as seen below. Now that we're in Time Finder, we need to fill in some information before we search. Say we want to search for a pure specially based Pokemon. Such a Pokemon would use the IVs 31/x/31/31/31/31 and is typically either Modest, Calm, Bold, or Timid. You'd fill in the Time Finder similar to what's shown in the picture below. Before rushing in, let's take a moment to explain a few entries in Time Finder. Note about the dropboxes next to IVs: == means you want an exact IV. >= means you want an IV greater than or equal to the selected IV. <= means you want an IV less than or equal to the selected IV. != means you want an IV not equal to the selected IV. E means you want an even IV. Useful if you want a certain Hidden Power but don't care too much about an imperfect Base Power. O means you want an odd IV. Useful if you want a certain Hidden Power but don't care too much about an imperfect Base Power. HP means you want an IV that keeps the Hidden Power's Base Power from being lowered. Useful if you want to search for a Hidden Power of 70 Base Power. If you're curious, the IVs that satisfy this are 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30, and 31. HP_E is the same idea as HP, but restricts the search to even IVs. It's useful if you're looking for a specific Hidden Power of 70 Base Power. HP_O is the same idea as HP, but restricts the search to odd IVs. It's useful if you're looking for a specific Hidden Power of 70 Base Power. For DPPt minimum delay should be around 650. For HGSS minimum delay should be around 550. For HGSS it's recommended to set the minimum frame around 10-15. Method Regarding method, for all 4th generation games Method 1 is used only if you're going for the following: Method 1 Pokemon Manaphy Egg Wondercards have their own method, which is just a modified Method 1 DPPt Riolu Egg from Riley Starter Pokemon (NOT recommended) Cynthia's Togepi Egg Fossils from Mining Museum Cresselia, Mesprit, and Kanto bird trio Eevee from Bebe Porygon from Veilstone HGSS Raikou, Entei, and Latios/Latias roamer; the Latios/Latias from the Enigma Stone event is NOT Method 1 Sinjoh Ruins Dragon event where you need Arceus Togepi Egg Bill's Eevee ExtremeSpeed Dratini received from Dragon's Den Kanto/Hoenn/Johto starters (Johto starters NOT recommended) Goldenrod/Celadon Game Corner prizes Tyrogue from Mt. Mortar Pewter City Museum fossils Note: Any Pokemon received from a trade or as a gift that has a fixed nickname and OT (Kenya the Spearow, Gaspar the Haunter, etc.) will have set IVs and nature so RNG manipulation techniques will never work on them. If the Pokemon you seek does not fall into the Method 1 category, select Method J if using Diamond/Pearl/Platinum and Method K if using HeartGold/SoulSilver. Please refer to the [jump=capture]special cases[/jump] section and check if your Pokemon falls under this category Encounter Type As for Encounter Type, if you're going for a Pokemon that has an overworld sprite that isn't the Red Gyarados (Sudowoodo, Snorlax, Heatran, Giratina, Azelf, etc.) select Stationary Pokemon. The rest are self-explanatory. Most of the time you'll be picking Wild Pokemon as your method unless you're only going to capture legendaries, in which case you'd pick Stationary Pokemon. Encounter Slot If you're looking for a specific Pokemon, like a wild Bronzong in Mt. Coronet, you'll need to pay attention to what's called Encounter Slots. An Encounter Slot is what determines the species of Pokemon you'll get. How do we know what's what for the Encounter Slots? On the main window of RNG Reporter, under 4th Gen tools, you'll find tables for this. If using Platinum, select Platinum Encounter Table and ctrl+F "Bronzong" in the page that opens. You'll find that Bronzong is in slot 0, so you'll have to select slot 0 for Encounter Slot. If you don't care about getting a specific Pokemon at the moment leave it as Any. Ability For a list of which abilities are 0 or 1 see here. Now that we've explained the Time Finder, let's see what comes up. Click the Generate button to start searching. If you want to capture a wild shiny, that's also possible. To search for possible wild shiny IVs in your current file, input your ID and SID and check the shiny only box. If you are willing to start a new game to get better IV spreads on your shiny captures it is NOT recommended to search for shinies now, but you can still find out what shiny spreads your current game has. Select an IV range you are satisfied with (usually >=25 in the stats that matter) and whatever natures you're interested in and hit Search. See the picture below for an example layout. Whichever path you choose, the end steps are the same. Once you've found an IV spread, nature, encounter slot, and ability you're satisfied with, right click it and select "Copy Seed to Clipboard". As an example, we'll be using the Modest 31/4/31/31/31/31 spread with seed C1070A66. Head to the 4th Gen Seed To Time window and input your seed and desired year and seconds. It does not matter what you put for year and seconds as long as seconds isn't close to 0 or 60. Once done, hit Generate. The picture below has DPPt selected so if you're playing HGSS, be sure to select that instead! In addition, change the entries next to "Delays" from 10 to 50 and the entries next to "Seconds" from 1 to 2. It's not necessary, but it's important if you actually want to find what delay you've hit. [a]timersetup[/a] Step 2: Timer and clock Setup, hitting your seed Now you can start hunting down your Pokemon! Do NOT close the Seed To Time window as you will need it open for the next 90% of this process. Go back to Section II [jump=eonuse]"Using EonTimer"[/jump] and [jump=clocksetup]"Setting up your DS clock"[/jump] and follow those instructions. Once you're in-game, see the next section on seed verification. [a]seedverify[/a] Step 3: Delay/Seed verification IMPORTANT: For both games, once you have confirmed your delay and if it is odd but your desired delay is even and vice versa, insert either a FRLG or RSE cart into your DS to change this. It's important to note this because if you hit an even delay once you will always hit even delays. Likewise with odd delays, and inserting a GBA Pokemon game in your DS is the only way to flip the delays from even to odd and vice versa. If you do not have a DS that has a second slot for GBA games, change your year in the Seed to Time window by 1. Make sure that you also change the year in your DS clock. [a]verifyall[/a]All games Chatot's Chatter will have varying pitches every time you play it. This is useful if operating in an area with random NPCs or if you have caught all roamers in HGSS. To use this, record a custom Chatter loud enough so that you can distinguish between high and low pitches. Once in-game listen to Chatot's cry and note the pitches. See if the pattern matches that of your seed's. If a match is not found, use coin flips or Elm/Irwin calls to determine what seed you did hit. You'd probably want to copy the seed you hit in the main window and see how the pitches correspond to what you perceived them to be. It may take multiple tries until you can match the pitches with their categories, and even then there's room for error, so only use this if you absolutely have no other viable options. Also keep in mind that doing this will advance your frame by 1 for every Chatter you listen to, so make sure to account for this. [a]verifydp[/a]DPPt To reliably confirm your seed, you'll need the Coin Flip Pokétch application. But first, in Seed to Time, hit the Generate button that's next to the Search Coin Flips button, and change the Delays and Seconds +/- entries to match what's shown below. Now click "Search Coin Flips" and you should see the window below. Flip the coin in the in-game app 10 times and input the coin flips in this window. The top row corresponds to the first 5 coin flips and the bottom row corresponds to flips 6-10. Once done, click OK. Say we got the following for the first 10 flips: T, T, T, T, H, T, T, H, H, T; the input should look like And we would get the following output: So in this case we have hit a delay of 2642. If your delay is 2643 or another odd number, then as mentioned earlier insert a GBA Pokemon game into slot 2 if using a DS/DS Lite or just change the year in Seed to Time by 1 and redo this process. [a]verifyhg[/a]HGSS Seed verification in HGSS is much less tedious than in DPPt, as there are many ways to do this. The easiest way to verify your seed is through roamers. As soon as you start your game open the Pokégear map and look for the roamer heads that represent what route they're currently on. In Seed To Time select HGSS and check the boxes to the right for whichever roamer is still active (R for Raikou, E for Entei, and L for Latias/Latios). Naturally if there are no active roamers you'd leave the R, E, L boxes unchecked. If you're saving at your destination, you will want to take note of where your roamers currently are and fill in their current locations next to the check box. See the note in the picture below. You don't have to do this, but very rarely some extra frames will be skipped or the roamer locations will be different, and doing that accounts for those irregularities. Click the first Generate button on top, then highlight a Date and time you're satisfied with and click the second Generate button. Take note of all your roamer locations, either through the in-game map, or this window in RNG Reporter that already has all routes marked. Once that's done, click the Search Roamers button and enter the routes your roamers are currently on. Another way to confirm your seed is to resort to either calling Elm or Juggler Irwin, who is found on Route 35. Both NPCs have 3 different responses depending on the frame, and each response from Elm will have a counterpart response from Irwin. These 3 responses are denoted in RNG Reporter by E, P, or K. In other words, if you call Elm and he is going to say his E response, if you had called Irwin instead of Elm, he will say his corresponding E response. Which responses are which are shown below. E responses K responses P responses Do note that getting all of Elm's possible calls requires some work. You need to have gotten a Pokemon with Pokérus at some point to unlock his P option, and have been to Kanto to unlock his K option. Thus, Irwin is a much better choice to call as he is accessible when you get to Goldenrod and it takes no extra effort to unlock all his possible responses. Since roamer verification is much quicker than this, you should only resort to this method if you've already caught all your roamers or have only one active roamer left. To use Elm/Irwin calls effectively, click the Search Calls button, then call Elm/Irwin in-game and take note of what their responses are. Select K, E, or P as appropriate and note the Possible Results under the output. This updates as you enter your calls, and once you get 1 for it, you can stop calling. Make sure your Seed To Time window has the correct active roamers checked off as not doing so will mess up the search. For the examples shown, both the roamer and Elm/Irwin calls method will give us a delay of 2644 which is 6 off from our target delay of 2650. Making sure that the date and time matches with the original date and time as well as getting a correct delay is only part of the equation of getting the right seed. If your delay is 2643 or another odd number, then as mentioned earlier insert a GBA Pokemon game into slot 2 if using a DS/DS Lite or just change the year in Seed to Time by 1 and redo this process. As a general rule, if your delay is around +/- 6 off from your target, you do not have to make any changes to EonTimer. If it's more than +/- 6 off, in EonTimer simply enter the delay you hit in the Delay Hit section and click update. You can still update EonTimer even if your delay is within the +/- 6 range, but it generally won't affect the results too much. Now try again and confirm your delay is consistently within the appropriate range. Once you have verified your seed, head to the next section on frame advancement. [a]frameadvance[/a] Step 4: Frame advancement All games Any NPC that randomly moves will advance frames by 1 for each random movement. This can include turning or walking. If an NPC does both at once, then the frame advances by 2. Note that NPCs who are off-screen can advance the frame still, as long as they are within the same area. Because of this, it is advisable to attempt your captures in areas with little or no NPCs. In DPPt you can stop some NPCs from randomly moving through the Vs Seeker. If this cannot be avoided you must press X to bring up the menu the moment you enter the in-game world. This freezes all NPCs in place and stops them from making any unnecessary advancements. Chatter - to do this you must have a Chatot with the move and you MUST record a custom Chatter to advance frames with this method. Once you do, accessing Chatot's summary window like the one below will advance the frame by 1. To make things quicker, you can have two Chatot next to each other in your party and just keep flipping between their summaries. You do not have to listen to the whole Chatter sound, simply accessing their summary is enough. Taking a step or turning in areas where you can encounter wild Pokemon (grass, water, or caves) advances the frame by 1 for each step/turn made. Walking at least 128 steps will advance the frames by the number of Pokemon in your party. Do know that the games have an internal step counter that starts at 0 and resets to 0 when it reaches 128 and is always saved. This means that if you load your game and the step counter is at 127, taking one step will advance your frames. As a result, don't resort to this method unless it's absolutely necessary, which it won't be a majority of the time. Having an active roamer in your game advances your initial frame by 1 for each active roamer. If you have Raikou, Entei, and Latios all roaming in your SoulSilver game, you would start off at frame 4. Exclusive to DPPt Journal flipping Whenever your Journal is on a page that displays (insert Pokemon's name) was caught (Time) like the one below, frames are advanced by 2. Flipping your Journal to another page with a similar entry will also advance it by 2. It doesn't matter how many entries there are, as long it has at least one (Pokemon) was caught (Time) entry, the frame advances by 2. Exclusive to HGSS Calling either Elm or Irwin will advance frames by 1 per call. By using this you can also tell what frame you are on. Let's say you're currently on seed 3F02A923, have 3 roamers out, and want to encounter a wild Pokemon. If you want to get to frame 12 your Elm/Irwin calls should be PEEKKEEE, then Sweet Scent/use Honey. It's important to get to the call that's on the frame before your target frame and stop there because going over means you can't get it anymore and will have to start over. Radio This method is recommended only for very high (200+) frames. To advance frames with the radio, drag the cursor in the middle to an appropriate station which will advance frames by a certain amount. To advance again, move the cursor so that there is no station currently playing, like in the picture below, then drag it back to the station. Repeat as necessary. There are only two stations of interest, the first being the bottom right one, which advances by 1 unless Buena's Password is playing, in which case it advances by 0. The other one is Oak's Pokemon Talk, in the upper right. This one advances up to 14-18 frames, and is what you should use if you want to hit very large frames. Because of the inconsistent frame advances with Oak's show, it's recommended to play it safe. If you were going for frame 210, you'd do 210/18 = 11 toggles to that station (always divide by 18). At this point we don't know what frame we're on but we're on at least frame 11x14=154. So do 5-10 Elm/Irwin calls and see if you can find a match. Once you do, do not advance through Pokemon Talk again, but instead use Chatters/the Drama station. [a]findadvance[/a] Step 4a: Determining the number of advances (both games) Now that you've seen the possible methods of advancement, the next question you might have is how many should I do? To answer this, we'll have to go to the main window of RNG Reporter. Copy your seed into Seed (Hex) and fill in your encounter type and method. Don't forget this step! Unless otherwise noted, method should be J for DPPt and K for HGSS. Encounter type should also be left at Wild Pokemon unless you're fishing or doing a legendary or a Pokemon with an overworld sprite, in which case you'd select Stationary Pokemon. See the section "Special Cases" for more details. If you're going for a specific species of Pokemon (i.e. Bronzong in Mt. Coronet in Platinum), you'll need to take the encounter slot into account. As previously mentioned, Bronzong is in slot 0, so you'll need to find the frame that's slot 0. Make sure the slots match up, otherwise you'll get a different Pokemon. See the picture below for an example. If you want Bronzong you'll have to use frame 230, not frame 224 or 226, despite those frames having the same IVs. You also need to check if you're using a Pokemon with Synchronize. If so, select the nature of your Synchronizer. Once that's done, hit Generate. Find your desired IV spread. It should be easy to spot the IVs because 30 and 31 IVs are bolded by RNG Reporter. Shown below is what a search for our Modest 31/4/31/31/31/31 spread in DPPt would look like. If you are doing this in a "quiet" area (with no NPCs that will advance your frame) then you will start on frame 1 assuming no active roamers. If you are using the roamer verification method in HGSS, then your starting frame will be 1+ (# of active roamers), meaning if all three roamers are currently roaming you start on frame 4. For this case we want to get Modest 31/4/31/31/31/31, which is on frame 145 or 147. If there are no roamers active, simply do 145-1 = 144 OR 147-1 = 146 frame advances then encounter your Pokemon (either through Sweet Scent/Honey or talking to it). Once you capture it check its nature and IVs and it should be the Modest 31/4/31/31/31/31 Pokemon we seek. If there are active roamers, you'd be doing 145-(starting frame) or 147-(starting frame) advances where starting frame is 1+(# of active roamers). The (target frame)-(starting frame)=(# of advances) formula is virtually the same for any attempt at RNG manipulation, unless there are random NPCs in the area. (NOTE TO USERS OF RNG REPORTER PRE 9.94: The frames are automatically adjusted to account for Sweet Scent/Honey in later versions. In the above example, if you were trying to get this Pokemon you DO NOT have to make any further adjustments if using the most current RNG Reporter. Simply do 144 or 146 advances before Sweet Scenting/using Honey and you should get it.) For areas with randomly moving NPCs, it's going to be a little harder. Still using the above example, as soon as you enter the game world mash X to bring up the in-game menu ASAP. If you're using HGSS, then confirm your seed first through Elm/Irwin calls or roamers. If using DPPt, then you should use Vs Seeker to stop any NPCs from moving first before even attempting this, then if you're sure that the area has no randomly moving NPCs, verify your seed with coin flips. After that, do your frame advancements as if you're on frame 1 (that means 144 or 146 advancements still) then use Sweet Scent/Honey or talk to the Pokemon to start battle. If all goes well you should get your desired Pokemon. If you didn't, and say you got Quirky with IVs of 23/20/22/13/22/12 (frame 150), if you did 144 advances, you're aiming for frame 145 and had 5 random advances, so the next attempt should be 144-5 = 139 frame advances instead. By the same logic, doing 146 advances means you were aiming for frame 147, so you had 3 random advances, and thus should advance by 146-3 = 143 frames. If using DPPt and you still have randomly moving NPCs you can't stop (due to not being able to battle them), you'll have to give up trying to verify your seed through coin flips and resort to Chatot pitches. Going back to the above picture, see how there's a column called "Chatot Pitch"? Each frame will generate a different pitch for Chatter whenever you listen to it, which also advances the frame by 1. You'll want to record a Chatter that makes it easy to identify the pitch upon listening to it. Once you've done this you should practice by first hitting a delay in an area with no NPCs but with wild Pokemon, finding the seed, copying the seed to RNG Reporter's main window, and listening to the Chatter pitches to try to get a feel for what's low, mid-low, high, etc. Once you've got the hang of it, your RNG manipulations should go a lot smoother, especially in DPPt. If this method is too hard for you, you'll have to resort to bringing up the menu ASAP, doing your advances, and catching your Pokemon while hoping your seed is correct. [a]frameverify[/a] Step 5: Verifying your frame DPPt does not have many methods to verify that you hit your correct frame. The best way to know this is after you've caught your Pokemon and check its IVs. Platinum has two useful NPCs that can help with this. One lies in Veilstone City's Game Corner exchange booth and can verify its Hidden Power type and the other lies in the Battle Tower (called "The Judge" in-game) and can tell you some nice information about your Pokemon's IVs. Using The Judge The first thing he will tell you about your Pokemon relates to the sum of its IVs. He will say one of 4 options, depending on the sum of the Pokemon's IVs (ranges from 0 to 186): Decent - 0-90 Above Average - 91-120 Relatively Superior - 121-150 Outstanding - 151-186 Obviously, you'll want Outstanding, as shown below. The next thing he'll tell you is the stat that has the highest IV. If your Pokemon has multiple highest IVs the Judge will tell you which stat is the highest at random, with a tendency to say Special Defense if that is one of the Pokemon's highest IVs. The last thing he tells you is related to the value of the highest IV. He will say one of the following, depending on the value of the highest IV: Rather Decent - 0-15 Very Good - 16-25 Fantastic - 26-30 Can't be better - 31 Unless you're going for a specific Hidden Power, you'll want 31 most of the time, which results in "Can't be better", as shown below. On Characteristics Circled in the picture below, a Pokemon's characteristic gives a hint on what one of the highest IVs is. Because you will be aiming for at least one 31 IV for virtually all your RNG manipulation time, only the characteristics that show up when your Pokemon has a 31 IV will be listed. They are as follows: Often dozes off - HP Likes to thrash about - Atk Capable of taking hits - Def Mischievous - SpAtk Somewhat vain - SpDef Alert to Sounds - Speed Because of the Judge's bias towards Special Defense in Platinum, it is not recommended to use him to confirm how many 31 IVs you have, as it can take over 30 conversations with him to confirm your Pokemon's IVs if you have a 31/31/31/31/31/31 Pokemon. To save time you'll instead want to determine this by using your Pokemon's characteristic and his overall assessment of your Pokemon's IVs. HGSS on the other hand has Elm/Irwin calls to verify your frame. If you're verifying your seed, you will either have roamers active or have to make a few Elm/Irwin calls, both of which advance frames. Your last calls should have the pattern EKKEEEEP, as shown below. To reiterate, it is important that you reach the call that's ONE FRAME BEFORE YOUR TARGET and no more. Once you've done that, acquire your Pokemon or engage it in battle. If encountering a wild Pokemon, use Sweet Scent/Honey to force an encounter. The two aforementioned NPCs are also present in HGSS, with the Hidden Power NPC located at the Celadon Game Corner and the IV NPC still residing in the Battle Tower. The IV NPC has been dramatically improved in HGSS. If you have a 31/31/31/31/31/31 Pokemon, he will now say which stat is the highest in sequence, in the order of HP, Atk, Def, Speed, SpAtk, SpDef. Therefore, it will only take at most 6 conversations with him to determine your Pokemon's IVs. [a]specialcase[/a] Other special cases To reiterate, if something does not appear here, use Method J if using DPPt or Method K if using HGSS. For all cases, the given starting frame assumes that no roamers are active. If you have roamers, your starting frame will increase by the number of currently active roamers. [a]wondercard[/a] Wondercards Fundamentally, a Wondercard is not that much different from a regular capture, but there are some key differences. The first difference is the method of generation. It isn't going to affect too much when it comes to the Time Finder, just make sure you select Wondercard IVs as your method, as shown below. All Wondercards are obtained from a delivery man wearing green in any Poké Mart. Start off by saving in front of him. For DPPt, you'll want to save in the Pastoria City Mart, as that has the least number of randomly moving NPCs. For HGSS, save in either Fuchsia or Cerulean City's Mart, as there are no randomly moving NPCs in either location. It's also important to save while no NPCs are currently moving. Once that's done, you'll have to do the usual steps of finding a date and time, delay, and advancing your frames to get to your desired Pokemon. See the section on capturing a perfect Pokemon for more details. The biggest difference is the method used is Wondercard IVs, so make sure that's what you set it to when trying to hit your frame. In addition, when doing this in DPPt make sure you bring up the menu the moment you enter your game to prevent any unnecessary advances by NPCs. The most painful part of this process is getting the correct nature. Whether you get it or not will come down to luck. Unlike other methods of RNG manipulation there is no known way to reliably control what nature you'll get without cheating, so it comes down to perseverance. [a]roamerdp[/a] DPPt Roamers Cresselia and Mesprit Cresselia and Mesprit are generated by Method 1 and have a starting frame of 5. Their data is generated once you talk to them and they fly off, so save in front of them and do your frame advances once you've confirmed your seed then talk to them to release them. If aiming for a frame of 100 you'd need to do 100-5=95 advances through either Journal flips or Chatters before talking to them to release them. Kanto Birds (Does not apply in HGSS) The birds are Method 1 Pokemon. Their data is generated after talking to Professor Oak and releasing them. Each bird has a different starting frame Moltres - 1 Zapdos - 6 Articuno- 11 Choose one bird (preferably Moltres) and do your seed verification and frame advancements before releasing it. Once that's done, capture your target bird and KO the other two. Defeat the Pokemon League and head back to Oak. The remaining two birds will be generated in the same order and will have starting frames of 1 and 6, so if Moltres was caught Zapdos would now be on frame 1 and Articuno would be on frame 6. Do the usual delay hitting and frame advancements before talking to Oak to get the next bird, catch it and KO the bird you weren't going for and do the same thing you did to revive and capture the last bird. [a]roamerhg[/a] HGSS Roamers All HGSS roamers are generated by Method 1 and have a starting frame of 1. It is recommended to release all roamers first. To get your dream roamer you need to KO the roamer you want to get, and leave the other two alive. Then you need to head to the Elite 4 and save one step before entering the battle with Lance. At this point you will need to hit your seed (verify it using the two roamers that are still alive, as you cannot call anybody here) and advance using Chatot or the radio. If you are using 2 roamers to verify delay, which you should be, and you are aiming for a frame of 100, you'd start on frame 3 and thus need to do 100-3 = 97 advances before battling Lance. Once the advances are done, defeat Lance and wait until the game saves. The KOed roamer will have respawned and all you need to do is catch it to verify it's the one you were after. As a side note, either Raikou or Entei can be easily done when you first meet them in the Burned Tower. If you manipulate their IVs upon first releasing Raikou and Entei, Raikou will have a starting frame of 1 and Entei will have a starting frame of 6. [a]swarm[/a] Swarm Pokemon Swarm Pokemon are treated as Method J or K Pokemon depending on what game you're playing. Starting frame is normally 1 but could be higher due to random NPCs. The encounter type is Wild Pokemon. Once you've confirmed what Pokemon is currently swarming and what route it's on, simply head to the Encounter Slot tables and ctrl+F the swarming Pokemon. Once you know what encounter slot it's on, the steps are the same as a wild Pokemon capture. [a]gira[/a] Distortion World Giratina (NOT Turnback Cave Giratina) Giratina is a Method J Pokemon. Every time the Distortion World is loaded the frame advances by 11. If you're doing advances through the Journal or Chatter your starting frame will be 23 (It will be 12 if you're advancing the frame through the Journal without accessing it from the menu, i.e. when it first appears when starting the game). The recommended procedure would be to start the game (loading the Distortion World map once), open the menu, and do either Chatters or Journal flips as if the starting frame is 23, then engage in battle (loading the Distortion World map a second time). [a]starter[/a] Kanto/Hoenn Starters The starters are generated by Method 1. Each starter has a different starting frame however. Kanto Bulbasaur - 1 Charmander - 5 Squirtle - 9 Hoenn starters all have a starting frame of 1. The Johto and Sinnoh starters also operate similarly, but it is NOT recommended to get perfect starters this way as you have no reliable method of confirming your seed or advancing your frames and will have to rely on luck from randomly moving NPCs. Johto Chikorita - 1 Cyndaquil - 5 Totodile - 9 Sinnoh starters all have a starting frame of 1. [a]sinjoh[/a] Sinjoh Ruins Dragon Event The dragons are generated by Method 1 and have a starting frame of 1. Simply save one step away from the center of the circle of your desired dragon, as shown below, hit your seed, and do your Elm/Irwin calls to verify/advance your frame, then step into it to begin the event once you're done. [a]egggift[/a] Egg Gifts All Egg gifts are generated by Method 1 and have a starting frame of 1. There may be NPCs that will interfere throughout this process, so it's up to you to decide whether they're worth it or not. [a]honey[/a] Honey Trees Honey tree Pokemon use Method J, use method Wild Pokemon, and have a starting frame of 1. It's recommended to do this in a route with NPCs that can all be frozen through Vs Seeker. The hardest part of this is finding the desired Pokemon in your tree, so you'll need to place Honey in as many trees as possible and wait a day for Pokemon to appear, then check if the trees have your desired Pokemon. [a]fossil[/a] Mining Museum/Pewter Museum fossils The fossils are generated by Method 1 and have a starting frame of 1. Do note there are random NPCs in both facilities which may disrupt progress so keep the menu open as much as possible. [a]rocksmash[/a] Rock Smash There are encounter slots for Rock Smash Pokemon. However, there is no implementation for the frames where you get an encounter, so avoid this method for now. [a]safari[/a] Safari Zone (HGSS) Compared to the Great Marsh, the Safari Zone is relatively tame due to the lack of NPCs. The search procedure is exactly the same as a regular wild capture in HGSS (Method K). The only tricky part is manipulating the encounter slots. All information below is courtesy of Princess of Johto. Safari Zone: Encounter slots - How to find out the slot for each frame! First thing, open up the Safari Zone encounter slot tables. Now, while it's true that the encounter slots have been mapped out, there is no way to calculate the encounter slot of a specific frame. So, the first step of using the encounter slots is to figure out the encounter slot of your target frame(s). Go to the Safari Zone encounter slots and choose "Plains" as the area. Ignore the Priority Table part for now. Notice how every encounter slot for the Plains area has a different Pokemon + Level combination. What you're going to do is change your Safari Zone so that the Plains is the first area you walk into. Bring your Synchronizer and Sweet Scent user, and save in front of the man who you pay. Hit your seed, get into the Safari Zone, go into a patch of grass, and start calling Elm to figure out what frame you're on. Advance to the frame you need to be at and then use Sweet Scent. Do your best to catch the Pokemon and verify that you hit your frame. Take note of what level and species of Pokemon you got. Now, look at the encounter slot table. What Pokemon did you get? Was it a level 16 Rattata? Then the encounter slot for your target frame is 3! Was it a level 17 Abra? Then your encounter slot for your target frame is 7! Pretty self-explanatory. As a side note, you will get Raticate instead of Rattata at night. I recommend finding the encounter slot for all of your possible target frames (some seeds have PIDs and IVs that repeat on different frames but have different encounter slots) so you have a wide variety of options. If you're not planning to catch block Pokemon, then you basically have everything you need to know. That's because once you find your slots for each frame, the slots will stay the same for every Safari Zone area. That means that if you have slot 8 on frame 13, and you go to the Savannah area at daytime and hit frame 13, you'll get a Tauros! But what if you do want block Pokemon? That's where the priority tables come in! Safari Zone: Encounter slots - How to use the priority tables! On the encounter slot tables is a list of Pokemon that appear after placing x amount of blocks. To get a certain Pokemon to appear you must place the appropriate number of blocks in that area, and if there are any that require a certain amount of days you must leave them for that many days. Changing the date on the DS apparently does not make this process faster so if you want a Gible or Bagon you'll have to wait months to get it. You have your blocks set in the right area, you've waited the required amount of days, yet you don't know how to use the priority table, right? Well let's fix that! In this example, let's say I'm using a seed that has an encounter slot of 2 on frame 23. And I want a Gible from the Rocky Beach area. Let's go to the Rocky Beach area on the encounter slot tables. Look at the priority table, and notice that Gible is listed as "3". What does this mean? There are 4 different types of blocks, and each Pokemon requires a different type and number of each. When you place the blocks for a single Pokemon, that Pokemon takes up Slot 0. But once you place blocks that yield more than one Pokemon, then priority comes into play and determines which Pokemon takes slot 0, which Pokemon takes slot 1, and so on. Here's the priority: Plains blocks -> Forest blocks -> Peak blocks -> Water blocks. Looking at the priority table for Rocky Beach, Dodrio and Electrike are listed before Gible. Both Dodrio and Electrike require Plains objects, but since Dodrio needs less, it is the first priority. So if you placed 10 Plains blocks, Dodrio would take up Slot 0 and Electrike would be Slot 1. Now if we take a look at Gible, it needs 13 Plains and 17 Peak. So how come he's listed before Mareep? It has something to do with the fact that Gible requires Plains objects, and Plains are always first. With Pokemon that require two different block types, it's kind of hard to explain their priority. For example, Bagon needs 9 Forest objects and 19 Peak objects, but it is listed after all the Pokemon that require Peak objects, even though Forest comes before Peak. So when in doubt, just look at the priority table. If we placed 13 Plains objects and 17 Peak objects, then Gible would end up on Slot 2. This is because Dodrio and Electrike will be present because of the Plains blocks that Gible requires. Dodrio takes slot 0 because it's 1st priority, Electrike takes slot 1 because it's 2nd priority, and Gible would become slot 2 because it's 3rd priority. The rest of the Pokemon that appear because of Gible's Peak objects don't really matter, because they're all on encounter slots after Gible. So then I would advance to my target frame that has the encounter slot of 2, and Gible will appear! Usually, you would be able to manipulate the slot of the block Pokemon you wanted, but with Gible that's not the case. Let's try another one so I can show you how to manipulate the slots of a block Pokemon. We'll use the same area, Rocky Beach. This time I'll have an encounter slot of 4 instead of 2. My target Pokemon will be Manectric. Manectric needs 10 Forest blocks. How will I get it all the way to slot 4?! OK, so you place the 10 Forest blocks. You end up with Mareep in slot 0 (since it needs 5 Forest blocks) and Manectric in slot 1. So, let's manipulate these slots! If you place 10 Plains objects, you get Dodrio and Electrike involved. Dodrio will always take up slot 0 because it's 1st priority. Electrike becomes slot 1, Mareep becomes slot 2, and Manectric becomes slot 3. In order to push Manectric up one more slot, you need to place Gible's objects (and wait the required amount of days). So then Dodrio would be slot 0, Electrike will be 1, Gible will be 2, Mareep will be 3, and Manectric will be 4! Then I'd just advance to my target frame and Manectric will appear. You can't push Manectric up anymore slots because you've already made all the Pokemon before Manectric on the priority table appear. But Pokemon that need Peak or Water objects are generally easier to get onto the slot you want, because there are more Pokemon before them on the priority table so you can push them up more. But those Pokemon are harder to get on lower slots because they usually cause some other Pokemon to appear when you place their required blocks. For example, Gible. When you put down Gible's required blocks, Dodrio and Electrike would appear all the time no matter what. So Gible cannot be on a slot lower than 2. Safari Zone: How to hit your seed and target frame! You should know how to hit your seed and advance your frame, but the Safari Zone is a bit different. You still hit your delay and advance your frame the same way, but since you can't save inside the Safari Zone, you have to save before you enter the Safari Zone. So make sure you have your areas all set up where you want them and all your blocks laid out. Also bring a Synchronizer if you need it. Then go up to the man you pay to get inside, and save. Next, just keep attempting to hit your seed and verify with Elm calls. Once you hit your seed and verified it talk to the man and pay him. The beautiful thing about the Safari Zone is that there are no NPCs, so you won't experience any erratic frame advancements! The only frame advancements that won't happen on purpose is if you trigger the 128 step counter. That will advance the frame by however many Pokemon you have in your party. Anyways, once you're in the Safari Zone walk over to the grass patch or tiny pond and advance your frame like usual. To reduce your odds of hitting the wrong frame due to the 128 step advancement, you should resort to using Elm/Irwin calls. Once you get to the correct frame, Sweet Scent and you should have hit your frame! And that's it! Very easy, really. The hardest part is catching the Pokemon or waiting the amount of days. [a]marsh[/a] Great Marsh (DPPt) In order to successfully get perfect Pokemon from the Great Marsh we will need to introduce the occidentary. After encountering a Pokemon, your frame will advance to the frame of "occidentary +6". Searching for Great Marsh encounters is the same as a capture in DPPt (Use Method J). Be sure to search for frames around 200-300 for this method. "Swarm" Pokemon such as Skorupi will replace encounter slots 6 or 7 so make sure you include that information in your search. To begin a Great Marsh capture, you'll first need to hit your seed and confirm it using coin flips before entering the Marsh. You'll also need to make sure you have at least 2 empty spaces in your party. Then enter the Marsh and go to the area where your desired Pokemon resides and head to a grass spot. Use Sweet Scent/Honey and capture the resulting Pokemon. After this, quickly open the menu and note the IVs/nature and try to find the resulting frame. Once you do, note the occidentary and add 6 to that number. This should be the frame you are now on. From this point you should do whatever frame advances are necessary to get to your target frame, then use Sweet Scent/Honey. Hopefully no NPCs will have made any unnecessary advances. [a]surf[/a] Surfing/Fishing Surfing/Fishing Pokemon are generated through Method J/K and have a starting frame of 1. The main differences between them and a regular capture are: -Surfing/Fishing have their own encounter slots. -The encounter slots for Fishing vary based on the type of Rod you're using. In the Encounter Tables you can access the encounter slots for Fishing/Surfing methods at the bottom left. -Surfing/Fishing Pokemon have their own method. The procedure for Surfing/Fishing is exactly the same as a capture. Make sure to save while already in the water and do not move until you're done. You'd encounter a Surfing Pokemon through Sweet Scent/Honey, while for Fishing you'd naturally use the appropriate Rod. Don't forget to also select the appropriate encounter type when doing your search and when trying to hit your frame. [a]headbutt[/a] Headbutt trees Unfortunately the encounter slots vary each save file, so there is no reliable way to get your desired Pokemon from a Headbutt tree. Your best course of action would be to stick with one tree and determine what encounter slot your Pokemon resides by figuring out your seed then encountering Pokemon until you meet the one you want. You can use the main window of RNG Reporter to figure out what encounter slot the Pokemon occupies. Once that's done then do a search using the appropriate slot. From here the procedures are the same as a capture. Other than this obstacle it's the same as a capture in HGSS. Also try to do this in areas that don't have random NPCs. [a]redgyara[/a] Lake of Rage Red Gyarados The Red Gyarados is generated through the Chained Shiny method. Simply conduct a search using Chained Shiny as the method and go through the same steps you would for a regular capture. [a]trophy[/a] Trophy Garden In order to do Trophy Garden Pokemon you will need to do a search for Encounter Slots 6 or 7. Slot 6 contains today's special Pokemon while Slot 7 contains yesterday's special Pokemon. Other than being limited to those two encounter slots the procedures are exactly the same as a regular wild capture in DPPt. [a]manaphy[/a] Manaphy Egg The Manaphy Egg is received like a Wondercard Pokemon, but it uses the Method 1 generation. The Wondercard follows the usual initial frames. It has a shiny check on it that prevents the hatched Manaphy from being shiny normally, but there is a way to bypass this check and get a shiny Manaphy. You'll need to know the PID of the IV spread you're going for. Once you have it, you'll need a save file that isn't the one your Manaphy Wondercard is on, and has this PID shiny. Do the RNG manipulation and receive the Egg, and trade it to this game. Hatch it in the other game and if you did it correctly, you should now have a shiny Manaphy. Because trading requires saving, you'll want to attempt this in HGSS since there's almost no room for error there. To summarize, if you want a shiny Manaphy in game A: 1. Find out what shiny PID you have in game A. 2. Get the Egg with the same PID in game B. 3. Trade the Egg from game B to game A. 4. Hatch the Egg in game A. 5. Congratulations, you now have a shiny Manaphy! [a]breed[/a] IV: Breeding Perfect Pokemon Note: For a much easier experience, do your breeding in an HGSS cart. It also has the most exclusive Egg moves which is never a bad thing! This section assumes you've attempted capturing a Pokemon. You can still proceed if you haven't, but you may have to go back to that section to get a good understanding of some things. [a]seedfind[/a] Step 1: Setting up and finding a seed for IVs Breeding your ideal Pokemon is more involved than capturing one, especially if you want to hatch a shiny Pokemon. Hatching a shiny involves hitting two seeds instead of one, while getting a nonshiny Pokemon only requires hitting one seed. Whenever the Daycare Man has an Egg to receive, the nature, shininess, ability, and gender of the Pokemon are fixed and will not change until another Egg is generated. This is what hitting the first seed is for. The IVs of the Egg are generated upon receiving the Egg, and this is what hitting the second seed is for. The main things you need to know for this process are the IVs of your parents. Let's say we want to breed a shiny Jolly Scrappy Miltank. We'll be using a Smeargle and another Miltank as parents. The Smeargle has IVs of 31/31/31/31/31/31 and the Miltank has IVs of 31/31/31/10/31/31. Now in RNG Reporter head to the 4th Generation Time Finder. Our first step is to figure out what order to deposit our parents in. If you are using parents each with 3-6 of the desired IVs, then you won't have to worry about this step and can deposit them in any order. If not, and say you are using IVs of 4/18/31/5/16/20 on Smeargle and 25/31/6/8/31/31 on Miltank, you will want to head to the 4th Generation Time Finder and on the Egg IVs tab set it up like this for DPPt , and this for HGSS. You can stop searching once you find a delay and frame you're comfortable with. A frame of over 10 is recommended but you can go lower if you don't like doing advances. Once that's done, if you are going for a shiny Egg you should take off any held items and deposit the parents in the order listed, otherwise if the female or Ditto parent has the nature you're going for have them hold an Everstone before depositing. "Parent A" should be the first parent you deposit and "Parent B" should be the second. Save your game at this time. Do NOT bike around until an Egg is generated at this time. [a]eggfind[/a] Step 2: Finding a Seed for a Shiny Egg The next step is going to be getting that shiny Egg. If you don't care about that skip this step and simply bike around until the daycare man has an Egg, save in front of him, and take the Egg and hatch it. If it has the ability and nature you want you should reset your game and move on to the next section on getting IVs. If you don't mind hitting another delay/seed you can still use this to get a nonshiny Egg with the appropriate nature/ability/gender so read on. Still in 4th Generation Time Finder, check out the Shiny Egg tab. First input your ID and SID and check the shiny only box if you want a shiny, leave it alone if you don't. Then select the nature/gender/ability you want. If you're using International parents (both parents do not have the same country of origin) check that box as well. Still using Miltank as an example: DPPt [a]egggetdp[/a] Step 3 (DPPt): Getting your shiny Egg (DPPt) Set it up similar to the screen below and hit Generate. Now that we have our results, select one you'd like to use, preferably with the lowest number of additional flips. Then right click it and select "Copy Seed to Clipboard". And we're off to the Seed to Time window. We'll be using seed 0F0402F2 for this. Do the usual Seed to Time stuff and you should get something like this: Attempt to hit your seed (See Section II [jump=eonuse]Using EonTimer[/jump] for more details.) and do 10 coin flips to confirm your seed (see Section III [jump=verifydp]Verifying your seed (HGSS)[/jump] for more details). Once that's done, do another coin flip (or if doing another seed, flip whatever the number in the Additional Flips column is after doing your first 10 flips) and bike around until the Daycare Man has an Egg for you. You should be doing a number of "10 + Additional Flips" coin flips if you did this right. Save in front of him, pick up the Egg, hatch it, and confirm your shiny. [a]getivsdp[/a] Step 4 (DPPt): Getting the correct IVs (DPPt) Solaceon Town is infested with randomly moving NPCs and will make getting the desired IVs difficult. The best way to remedy this is to breed in HGSS, but if you have absolutely no other choice, prepare for a lot of trial and error for each breed. Attempt to hit your delay, and when the game starts, mash X to bring up the menu ASAP, then close it and immediately take the Egg. Do ten coin flips to determine what seed/delay you hit and hatch the Egg. It doesn't matter whether or not you have the correct seed right now, as we are interested in figuring out our initial frame. Once the egg is hatched, check the IVs. If you're using Diamond or Pearl you either have to use Rare Candies, or fight one high level Pokemon to level them high enough without gaining more than 4 EVs. Platinum has the IV judge in the Battle Tower who can give you a good idea of how good the Pokemon's IVs are. For example, if you're going for seed 0B000799 but you got seed 0B00079F instead, say you hatch the Pokemon, check the IVs and get 3/18/31/5/16/12. This corresponds to frame 8, which means your initial frame is probably 8. The target frame is 13, so every time you start your game up, you would have to do 5 frame advances, most likely through Chatter, before taking the Egg. After taking it, do your coin flips to verify your seed. If it isn't correct, retry until it is. Once you get it, hatch the Egg and confirm the IVs. If for some reason the IVs are not what you wanted, find the exact IVs and find out what frame you actually hit. You'll probably be 1-2 frames off, so if your frame is 15 instead of 13, compensate for this next attempt by doing 3 Chatters instead of 5. HGSS [a]egggethg[/a] Step 3 (HGSS): Getting your shiny Egg (HGSS) Set it up similar to the screen below and hit Generate. Now look at the frame column and select an entry with a frame of 1. You can pick other entries that don't have a frame of 1 but it is not recommended. It also doesn't matter whether you have roamers active in your game or not as they do not affect this frame. This frame is completely different from the usual frame you hit to get IVs, so we'll be calling this the "Egg frame". Once a suitable entry is found, right click it and select "Copy Seed to Clipboard". We'll be using seed 07050660 for this. Go to Seed to Time and do the usual stuff. Now hit the seed (see section II starting from [jump=eonuse]"Using EonTimer"[/jump] for details) and confirm your seed through either Elm/Irwin calls or roamers (See section III [jump=verifyhg]"Delay/Seed Verification"[/jump] for more details. For this scenario calls of EEEKEPEPK means you've hit your seed, as the above picture implies). Once you're certain you have the right seed, bike around until the Daycare Man has an Egg. Save in front of him, take the Egg, and hatch it to confirm your shiny. If you chose a seed that has an Egg frame greater than one you'll have to do a few extra things. Calling Joey advances the Egg frame by 2 and the Daycare Man generating an Egg will advance it by 1. So if your Egg frame is 6, you'd have to call Joey twice (moves the Egg frame to 4), reject the first Egg when the Daycare Man has one (moves it to 5) and save when the Daycare Man has another Egg (at Egg frame 6). This Egg should contain your shiny. For simplicity's sake you'll want to stick with Egg frames of 1 to avoid the extra steps. Once you've confirmed your Egg contains a shiny, you can reset your game, as long as you saved beforehand. Whenever you take that Egg, it will always contain a shiny. [a]getivshg[/a] Step 4 (HGSS): Getting the correct IVs (HGSS) Now that you've got a shiny Egg locked and loaded, it's time to get the IVs you want and hatch a perfect shiny. The biggest thing to worry about is a randomly moving NPC on the Daycare route, which is easily fixed by sticking to frames over 10. For this example we'll be using the seed 0B000799. Using the seed 0B000799, we want to hit frame 13. The corresponding Elm/Irwin calls are EPPPKPPEKPPE. As usual, attempt to hit your seed and as soon as the game world is loaded mash X to bring up the menu ASAP so the NPC doesn't make too many unwanted advancements. On RNG Reporter you can look up where your current frame is and see what Elm/Irwin calls are needed by setting up the main window similarly to the picture below. Make sure you get to the call that's on the frame before your target and stop there. This cannot be stressed enough. If using the roamer method for verifying seed you will start on frame 4, and if the NPC hasn't advanced the frames, you will get calls of PKPPEKPPE. There is a chance he might have advanced some frames so do around 3-4 Elm/Irwin calls and see if you can identify what frame you're on. Once you have that, the rest of the calls are trivial. After all the necessary calls are made, close the menu and mash A to claim your Egg. Hatch it and visit the IV judge at the Battle Tower to confirm the IVs. If your IVs do not match your target, you'll need to find the exact IVs of the offspring. If you got IVs of 10/31/21/8/16/15, then you've hit frame 11, and thus on the next attempt you'll need to do two more calls/Chatters (although if you're using Elm/Irwin calls, you should never be under your target frame, this is just an example so you can see how to use the picture above to find out what frame you really hit).	<urn:uuid:5da24bbd-4333-4da8-9a02-92efbb5dc25e>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/revised-4th-generation-rng-manipulation-guide-gp-2-2.3467154/	2015-03-28T05:24:23Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.933646	15,497
PEEK INSIDE THE HAPPY FAMILIES ISSUE OF YES! MAGAZINE When family members do not work or live well together we sometimes call the family dysfunctional. We prescribe professional help for the family or advocate for social policies that would support it—child care, parental leave, extended unemployment insurance, debt forgiveness. But the real challenge to the family is that it has lost its job. The functions of the family have been outsourced. The problem is not dysfunction—that’s just a side effect. The problem is non-function, and this has much to do with the growth of the consumer society. The End of the Functional Family Consumer society has put an end to the functional family. We normally think of consumerism as buying stuff we want but don’t need, but it runs deeper than that. The essential promise of consumerism is that all of what is fulfilling or needed in life can be purchased—from happiness to healing, from love to laughter, from raising a child to caring for someone at the end of life. What was once the task of the family and the neighborhood is now outsourced. Aunt Martha is forgetful? Little Arthur is restless? Get them a diagnosis and a prescription. In this simple act, we stop being citizens—we become consumers. The cost of our transformation into consumers is that the family has lost its capacity to manage the necessities it traditionally provided. We expect the school, coaches, agencies, social workers, probation officers, sitters and day care to raise our children. The family, while romanticized and held as a cultural ideal, has lost its function as the primary place to raise children, sustain health, care for the vulnerable, and ensure economic security. The Rise of Neighborhood Incompetence The neighborhood has also lost its function. Our neighborhoods and communities are no longer able to support the family in its efforts. In most cases, we are disconnected from our neighbors and isolated from our communities. The community and neighborhood are no longer competent. A competent community provides a safety net for the care of a child, attention and care for the vulnerable, the means for economic survival for the household, and many of the social tools that sustain health. The community, particularly the neighborhood, has the potential to provide the extended support system to help the family in all these key functions. The usefulness that used to reside in the neighborhood is now provided by the marketplace. Outsiders Raising Children “It takes a village to raise a child” is an African saying repeated as a matter of faith by American leaders of all persuasions. Yet most of our children are not raised by a village. Instead, they are raised by teachers and counselors in school, youth workers and coaches out of school, juvenile therapists and corrections officials if they are deviant, television and computers and cell phones if they have spare time, and McDonald’s if they are hungry. What this means is that the space that the family and neighborhood once filled has been sold and is now filled with paid professionals, electronic toys, and marketing. Until the 20th century, the basic idea in rearing children was that they become effective grownups by connecting with productive adults and learning from them the community’s skills, traditions, and customs. Youth learned from the community and had jobs to do: caring for the elderly and young, doing errands for the household, working on machines, helping with food. When they became adults, they were equipped to care both for the next generation and for those who had cared for them. What we now know is that the most effective local communities are those where neighborhoods and citizens have reclaimed their traditional roles. The research on this point is decisive. Where there are “thick” community connections, there is positive child development. Health improves, the environment is sustained, and people are safer and have a better local economy. The social fabric of neighborhood and family is decisive. Awakening the Power of Families and Neighborhoods Creating a more community-based way to live and find satisfaction, even when surrounded by a consumer culture, requires only that we act as if each of us has what we need. We have the gifts, structures, and capacities to substitute for our habit of consumption. We can decide to shift our attention toward building the functions of our family and neighborhood. Freer, Messier, Happier: These days, moms, dads, kids, grandmas—even neighbors—are sharing the work of family. Here is a story of how this works, drawn from the real-life experiences of families from neighborhoods around the world that we have worked with. Naomi Alessio and Jackie Barton were walking through the neighborhood, talking about being overwhelmed with work, meals, lessons, school, and especially the kids. Except, Naomi noted, her son Theron had begun to turn around. Last summer, when Theron looked through the open door of the metalworking shop Mr. Thompson had set up in his garage, the old man invited him in. Something clicked. Theron began to stop by every day, and he started bringing home metal pieces he’d learned to make. Naomi could see Theron change. He was proud of what he made—Mr. Thompson even paid him to make a few things. Naomi said she’d finally stopped worrying about what Theron was doing after school. Jackie admitted that her son Alvin was in trouble, and she asked Naomi if there might be someone in the neighborhood whose skills would interest Alvin. They knew that Gerald Lilly was into fishing, and that Sam Wheatley was a saxophonist, but that was about it. They decided to ask all the men in the neighborhood about their interests and skills. Mr. Thompson agreed to go with them. It took three weeks to visit all the men on the block. When they were done, they were amazed at what they had found: men who knew juggling, barbecuing, bookkeeping, hunting, haircutting, bowling, investigating crimes, writing poems, fixing cars, weightlifting, choral singing, teaching dogs tricks, mathematics, praying, and how to play trumpet, drums, and sax. They found enough talent for all the kids in the neighborhood to tap into. Three of the men they met—Charles Wilt, Mark Sutter, and Sonny Reed—joined Naomi, Jackie, and Mr. Thompson in finding out what the kids on the block were interested in learning. 5 Questions to Awaken Your Functional Family The path to restoring function to the family in a citizen society, not a consumer society, is quite simple. When they got together after interviewing the kids, Mark talked about a boy he met who knew about computers. Why not ask all the kids what they knew about? Then they could match adults to the kids, just as they planned to match up the kids with the grown-ups. When they were done, they found they had 22 things the young people knew that might interest some adults on the block. The six neighbors named themselves the Matchmakers and, as they got more experience, they began to connect neighbors who shared the same interests. The gardeners’ team shared growing tips and showed four families how to create gardens—even on a flat rooftop! Several people who were worried about the bad economy created a website where neighbors who knew about available work could post job openings. To give it some flair, they found people in the neighborhood to take photos for the site and gradually opened it up for all sorts of neighborhood uses. Jolene Cass, for instance, posted one of her poems on the website and asked if there were other poets on the block. It turned out there were three. They began to have coffee, share their writing, and post their poems online. Eleven adults and kids formed the Block Band, and neighborhood singers formed a choir led by Sarah Ensley, an 80-year-old woman who’d been singing all her life. Charles Dawes, a police officer, formed a team of adults and young people to make the block a safe haven for everyone. Libby Green had lived on the block for 74 years. The Matchmakers got two neighborhood teenagers, Lenore Manse and Jim Caldwell, to write down her stories about the neighborhood and post them on the website. Then Lenore decided to write family histories for everyone on the block, and persuaded Jim and her best friend, Lannie Eaton, to help her record the histories and round up photos to go along with them. Charles Wilt suggested a way for the Matchmakers to welcome newcomers to the neighborhood and begin to connect them with their neighbors: give them a copy of the block history and get information about the new family’s history, skills, and interests. Three years later, at the annual block party, Jackie Barton summed up what the neighborhood had accomplished: “What we have done is broken all the lines. We broke the lines between the men. We broke the lines between the women. Then the lines were broken between the men and the women. And best of all, the lines were broken between the adults and the children and between all of us and our seniors. All the lines are broken; we’re all connected. We’re a real community now.” Seeing the Abundance in the Neighborhood The story has the elements of what we can call a competent neighborhood. Creating competence starts with making visible the gifts of everyone in the neighborhood—the families, the young people, the old people, the vulnerable people, the troublesome people. Everyone. We do this not out of altruism, but to create the elements of a satisfying life. All in the Ohana: How Hawaiians embrace the land, its abundance, and their responsibility to each other. This thickens the social fabric. It makes the community’s gifts more widely available in support of the family. If we do it, even in small way, we find that much of what we once purchased is at hand: carpentry, Internet knowledge, listening, driving a truck, math, auto repair, organizing ability, gardening, haircutting, wallpapering, making videos, babysitting, house painting, accounting, soccer coaching, artistic abilities, cooking, fitness knowledge, sitting with the old or the ill, health remedies, sewing. And some of those things will come from the elderly, the young, the isolated, and the unemployed. With the consciousness of our gifts and the ability to connect them and make them practical and usable, we experience the abundance of a community. These local connections can give the modern family what the extended family once provided: A place with a strong culture of kin, friends, and neighbors. Together we raise our children, manage health, support local enterprise, and care for those on the margin. When we become competent again and have families reclaim their functions, we see emerging from our community culture those essential qualities of a satisfying life: kindness, generosity, cooperation, forgiveness, and the ability to live with our common fallibilities. These will all be given a home and nurtured by families who have reclaimed their function. McKnight is a community organizer and emeritus professor of education and social policy and co-director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at Northwestern University. He is co-author of and author of Block is a citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. He is a partner in Designed Learning, and is on the board of Cincinnati Public Radio and Elementz, a local Hip Hop Center for Youth. He is the author of , , , and . - More stories from , the Winter 2011 issue of YES! Magazine. 8 personal essays on what family is today. Caught in the consumer trap? Radical Homemaker Shannon Hayes discovered that producing what she needs at home lets her live on a fraction of what she thought she needed.	<urn:uuid:bd48a3d9-b554-451d-9dfc-13430911abda>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/what-happy-families-know/the-good-life-its-close-to-home?icl=yesemail_decjan11&amp;ica=GoodLifeTitle	2015-03-28T06:07:38Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297281.13/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00160-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.975173	2,442
Time flies! Last year around now, I was moving to a completely new city, meeting strangers I would not have otherwise met, and doing lele homework until the wee hours of the morning. No matter how much the 2nd years tried to drill into our heads that jobs are more important, we just refused to buy it. Last night, I was sitting with my buddy Eric in the case rooms applying to jobs. It was dejavu to its max. As I passed by the stuffy hallways, I noticed all the “trees” drawn on the whiteboard. Of course, decision trees! In the spirit of decision trees, I just want to share some 2nd year wisdom with the 1st years. All the things that the 2nd years are telling you right now are for you to not go down that dead node in your decision tree. I understand you all are overwhelmed with information, but take a minute and chew on them. Your ultimate goal for getting an MBA degree is to get that dream job you’ve been longing for. Don’t put off the networking, career coaching until later! When you realize that you have to get back on the job wagon, it’s already too late. I will end with the title of Incubus’s newest album: “If not now, when?”. Oh man, tonight is the biggest event of the AMBAA. We have a great line-up of student performers and professional performers, each of them bringing a piece of their culture and heritage. On top of that, this entire event is MC’ed by yours truly. I haven’t really done anything like this before, so I’m extremely nervous. Nevertheless I think this is what being an MBA student is about, stepping out of your comfort zone. I see this as a great opportunity to promote the AMBAA’s presence at Smith, and also hone my public speaking skills. Practice makes perfect, I am looking forward to tonight! This event was hosted by yours truly and Karan Arora (also a 1st Year MBA). Karan put together an amazing video recollecting the two Asia trips that took place this winter. We interviewed the participants of the China Business Competition in Beijing, also the Study Abroad Trip to India and put together a short film describing their experiences. We also had a panel with Julie Mullins, Ken Chen, Eric Choi and Pradeep Suthram, they answered many questions regarding business etiquette in Asia and shared interesting tidbits of their trip. Overall the event was a success, it was both informative and entertaining. Btw, the Vietnamese sandwiches were really delicious! In every spring semester at Smith, we dedicate an entire week to celebrate the diversity of the school. We started the week with a Chinese New Year Party at Mandarin Delight. The main color theme of the night was red, which represents good luck in the Chinese culture. We taught everyone how to sing the Chinese New Years song, everyone was really into it and sang along. It was an honor to have Professor Lele and Professor Bailey each heading a team to participate in the dumpling making contest! Professor Lele’s team prevailed, but I am not sure how many dumplings can survive in the boiling water to be eaten afterwards. What a week! Two internship interviews, internship search, case write-ups, team project meetings, Graduate Assistant meeting, new markets growth fund applications…Luckily, thursday classes were canceled due to the snow. The most difficult part was adjusting my sleeping schedule from 1.5 months time off. The classes for this semester are really interesting, a lot of case based class discussions. I’m looking forward to the exciting opportunities and challenges ahead! After a much anticipated and lengthy winter break, I am finally back to school. The pre-class jitters have occupied my mind for the better part of week. With all the school work ahead and preparations for interviews, I am very overwhelmed to say the least. But I am looking forward to see my friends from MBA, I want to hear about their winter experiences, whether it’s traveling around the world or internship search etc. I am excited and nervous about my own internship interviews as well, I am trying to prepare for two on-campus interviews that are coming up this week. Wish me luck! Growing up in New Jersey, I have always been curious about what goes on in the skyscrapers in NYC. The concrete jungles were merely blocks with lights that made up the NYC skyline. My goal is to explore what’s inside of those buildings. Luckily, the Finance Association organized a Career Trek for the finance-focuses MBA students to visit some of the biggest players in the financial industry. The Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park is a 1,200 ft (366 m) skyscraper in the Midtown Manhattan district of New York City, in the United States. It is located on Sixth Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Street, opposite Bryant Park. The US$1 billion project has been designed by Cook+Fox Architects to be one of the most efficient and ecologically friendly buildings in the world. It is the second tallest building in New York City, after the Empire State Building, and the fourth tallest building in the United States. Construction was completed in 2009. JPMorgan Chase Tower at 270 Park Avenue, New York One Beacon Court (also called the Bloomberg Tower), is a skyscraper on the East Side of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It houses the headquarters of Bloomberg L.P. in the lower floors and luxury condominiums in the higher floors. It is located at 731 Lexington Avenue between East 58th and 59th streets. It is currently the 15th tallest building in New York and the 46th tallest in the United States. The building’s zip code is 10022. It was such an eye-opening experience to walk into these buildings and talk with our alumni that work at these perspective companies. Discussing current issues with Senior Bankers and Managing Directors of these big firms seemed surreal, at the same time informative. NY Trek definitely bridged the gap between my goals and reality. I look forward to the challenges that I will face during my internship search in NYC, because dreams are made in these concrete jungles. I came to business school for many reasons: advance my education and build a new network of friends to name a couple. However, there has been one benefit that I had not counted on. It never factored into the equation when I was comparing business schools. It never made it into the schedule of major events and classes that I made before attending Smith. It never even entered my mind until orientation. I can only be talking about one thing: flag football. Unless I get a scholarship from Maryland to be their punter, it’s the closest any of us will get to a meaningful sporting event for a long, long, long time. Taking the ride over to the fields, Rick Spadaro (WR, 5’9’’, 165lbs, Drexel University, Strength: Speed, Needs to work on: Humility, Most like: Wes Welker), Anthony Moniello (WR/FS, 6’0’’, 185lbs, George Washington University, Strength: Coverage, Needs to work on: Capturing the Sleeve Monster, Most like: Troy Polamalu), and I (TE, 6’5’’, 250lbs, Washington and Lee University, Strength: Soft Hands, Needs to work on: not making fun of his friends in blog posts, Most like: Antonio Gates) get pumped up for the game by blasting “All I Do Is Win” (that’s right, we haven’t lost a game yet). Once the game starts, we’re like our school: all business (only corny joke I swear). Something happens when you play under those Monday Night Lights. The air feels crisper and the turf causes more raspberries. Our defense is stalwart; our offense, relentless. As the pressure builds, we keep our composure, but still continue to joke about how we’re adding or dropping each other from our fantasy teams. After the victory, we hold our own informal team dinner, whether it is at Cal Tort, Chick-fil-a, or the case rooms doing finance homework. And after our Monday night games, what is there to look forward to the rest of the week? Oh ya, our coed games on Tuesday nights. This week has been one of my busiest weeks here at Smith. The 7-week long core courses had come to an end. We had a final exam in Managerial Economics on Monday and a final exam in Financial Accounting on Wednesday. Our Human Capital & Leadership professor also had “strategically” sandwiched a quiz in between those finals on Tuesday (Professor Chen, I still like your class!). Needless to say my sleep to study ratio was disproportionally magnified during those days. After getting over the post-exam jitters, I had some time to reflect on my first MBA class experience on my drive back to New Jersey. I was astonished on how many topics we covered in those classes. From write-offs, allowance to impairment loss and accumulated other cumulative income (AOCI), Professor Hann has covered the universal language of business. The Swahili-looking balance sheets and cash-flow statements had been translated to meaningful business transactions in my eyes. The asymmetric curves and lines that professor Sampson had drawn in economics class are now tools to describe the market’s supply and demand. Although I sighed with the feeling of relief after those exams, my curiosity has never been so heightened about the more advanced classes that Smith has to offer. Next week, spring registration is set to start. After looking at the elective schedules, I am faced with another dilemma: there are so many classes that I want to take, but there aren’t enough time in the day to take all of them! How best to relax? It was the question I kept asking myself during study breaks the weekend before our Financial Management and Data Models and Decisions tests. I wanted to do something different, and not just celebrate with the cracking of a beer. After brainstorming with a classmate, we decided to go to a Terps soccer game. Initially, I believed this would be a small event, but more and more people kept expressing interest in attending as well, and soon we had about 20 people confirmed. After the tests, we met in a case room to eat some dinner and collectively exhale after a tough day. We deserved a break and a reason to act unlike MBA students. With our brains fried from all the studying, we were in the perfect mood to cheer like hooligans at the World Cup. And to us, it might as well have been. I’m sure the other people around did not enjoy our excessive enthusiasm, but we didn’t care. It was a bunch of people who still didn’t really know each other coming together to root, yell, and (for some) go shirtless in supporting our new favorite soccer team (please don’t tell anyone I still have some allegiances to the opponent that day). As much fun as the soccer game was, I enjoyed the dinner in the case room more – twenty people in a small case room makes for a lot of intimacy. I just can’t wait for the next round of tests to come, because I know we’ll do something similar, yet completely different from the norm to collectively relax. Adam is a fellow 1st Year MBA student at the Smith School. He is in the same track as me, therefore we have every core class together. It is great to have Adam in the classroom, his witty and intelligent comments definitely lightens up the classroom. I look forward to more posts from Adam, I hope you are too.	<urn:uuid:4312f4de-25ac-4405-abc9-44303de96194>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://blogs.rhsmith.umd.edu/daspindr/	2015-03-30T01:00:39Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298871.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00276-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.968885	2,481
Vanderkitten-Focus Women’s Cycling Team has been ripping it up stateside this Summer. After top ten finishes by Jazzy Hurikino and Kate Chilcott at UCI Gatineau GP in Canada, and podiums from ruth Winder in the UK, Emily Collins went on a rampage scoring a dozen podium finishes and winning Pleasanton Fast and Furious. Vanderkitten-Focus has continued its winning season, with two squads racing simultaneously on the East and West coasts of the USA this past Memorial Day weekend- and WINNING both races. In California, Maura Kinsella was supported by teammates Starla Teddergreen, Courtney Dimpel and Vanessa Drigo in a hotly contested Memorial Day Criterium presented by San Jose Bicycle Club. After a race filled with ferocious attacking by the Vanderkitten-Focus gals, Maura put in a massive attempt in the closing laps of the race. Despite a concerted chase from the entire peloton led by the Red Racing Team, Maura managed to hold off her opponents and claim the victory. For a full report in classic MKULTR4 style, read her blog here While this was going on, Bridie O’donnell, Kathleen Billington, Jazzy Hurikino, Emily Collins and Kate Chilcott were tearing up the east coast at the USA’s longest running race, Tour of Somerville, New Jersey. Against a stacked field of 65 top shelf crit riders, Vanderkitten-Focus launched multiple attacks to soften up the opposition. In the finale, a stellar, full force lead out by all 5 VK teammies led Ruth to her biggest win to date, edging out Laura Van Gilder in the throw to the line. Emily Collins, who ran 5th, explained “Ruth has got a huge kick! Van Gilder jumped after the great leadout by Kathleen, but when Ruth went as well only 100metres out, she really surprised with her speed”. A fantastic win for Ruth as she heads to USACrits Palm Bluffs and Glencoe GP this weekend with Van Dimpel and Teddergreen, while Collins, Hurikino, Chilcott, O’Donnell and Bilington race UCI 1.1 Liberty Classic in Philadelphia on Sunday. jennifer Reither led the Vanderkitten-Focus to their 11th win of the season by taking out the final leg of the Tour de Grove MOPRO Series in Missouri. Here is Jenn’s Race report: A weekend at MoPro St. Louis MO. The kittens were in St. Louis this past weekend racing hard and successfully bringing home a WIN! LOOP de LOOP The Kittens opened up with a warm reception at Friday night’s Loop de Loop, making their presence known by launching attacks, contesting primes and ripping the legs off the field. The crowd went crazy cheering and screaming GO Vanderkitten! The litter attacks included a purrrrfect launch and time off the front from Ruth Widner. Jasmine “Jazzy” Hurikino, hit awesome counter attacks after Captain Kitten JennX was reeled back in by the pack on a few occasions. The fan’s passion and support paid off as the team delivered kitten Kate “Chilly” Chicott to a 3rd place finish. 1st Sam Schneider – Tibco 2nd Sarah Feder – Pepper Palace 3rd Kate Chilcott Saturday’s race in The Grove was another day of attacking and chasing. The pack was a bit more aggressive as this race was part of the National Criterium Calendar and the heavy hitters were out for sprint points and a prestigious win. Vanderkitten raced the windy 1.5 mile course as tactically as possible sending girls off the front and having other team’s reel them back in. The wind took a toll on team VK. Efforts being put in were taking the kick and zap out of each kitten’s legs. We did have the extra kitty power with Maura “MK Ultra” Kinsella joining us with Fresh legs, who chased down attacks and stayed close to sprinter Emily “Mooney” Collins along with her teammate Jazzy. On the last lap, Jazzy strung out the pack for the last 2 while Jr. Kitten, Ruth “1K” Widner took a nice flying and spent a few laps off the front. took teammate Emily “Mooney” Collins through the last corner for the 200 meter sprint, Emily took a chance to sprint the open lane to the right but it was Erica Allar who won from the left lane. Emily held on for 4th. 1st Erica Allar – Ride Clean 2nd Sam Schneider – Tibco 3rd Laura van Gilder – Mellow Mushroom 4th Emily Collins – Vanderkitten Without a win on the books for the weekend, Sunday’s race in Dutchtown was the last opportunity for VK to bring it home for the team. The plan stays the same… RACE the hell out of your bike. Whoever wins this race will have to put in a lot of work to do so. From the gun “MK Ultra” launches an attack, using her mad TT skill stays away for 10 minutes. Once reeled in “Chilly” hurts that pack on the climb, and then Jazzy launches with another rider on her wheel and stays away till 4 to go. When Jazzy is reeled in I launch a vicious attack getting a 11 second gap quickly, all the while, “1K Widner” and the rest of the kittens are protecting “Mooney” near the front of the pack. Quick side note, while Jazzy was off the front, Ruth railed a corner, flatted, skipped her bike across the pack and STAYED UPRIGHT!!! Mad skills, glad I saw it; no one would have believed her. From here on out the details get a bit vague as I was lacking oxygen, seeing stars and bottles Michelob Ultra (Title sponsor banners). I think people were telling me I had a gap of 20 seconds at 2 to go, but all I could hear was my mind saying, “Frack!! 2 more laps, Mooney better be ready when I get caught”. I think to myself to push just a bit harder to make them chase me and wear out the other sprinters legs. So put it to them I do and never look back. I then had the finish line in sight, thinking that the pack was on my heels I gave it every effort I could to get across the line, and I did, so exhausted that I couldn’t even fist pump my victory. I did finally looked back and wondered where the rest of the pack was, a spectator told me I had a 27 second gap, I was shocked. The plan came together and the Vanderkittens did it as a team. This win meant so much to me, because it meant so much to all of us, Emily, Jazzy, Kate, Maura, Ruth, Bridie, Courtney, Starla, Vanessa, Jono, Dave and the Fans to celebrate another victory for Vanderkitten. 1st Jennifer Reither – Vanderkitten 2nd Sarah Feder – Pepper Palace 3rd Laura Van Gilder – Mellow Mushroom Enjoy the photos, Enjoy the Ride Captain JennX Fairy Princess For more pics and story, click JennBonics Blog Yesterday, Aussie powerhouse Bridie O’Donnell rode a fast race at the Amgen Tour of California Womens Invitational TT. The 2009 Australian TT Champion clocked a 44:34 over the windswept 29km course that the Pro men contested directly afterwards. Report and more pics to come! 3 Time Oceania Champion and 2009 Australian Open Pro Time Trial Champ Bridie O’Donnell has been announced as one of the ten elite women to contest the 2nd annual Amgen Tour of California Women’s TT presented by SRAM. The event, run in conjunction with the Mens Stage 5 of the Amgen Tour of California in Bakersfield, is set to once again showcase the very top female Time Triallists in the world, with 2008 Olympic Gold Medal Winner Kristin Armstrong (USA) recieving top billing against esteemed company including Sweden’s Emilia Fahlin (Specialized Lululemon) and USA’s Alison Powers (Now and Novartis for MS). For Vanderkitten-Focus, the invite represents an important milestone in the development of the squad as a top tier team. According to Vaderkitten-Focus Sports Director Jono Coulter: “Vanderkitten has always strived to empower women through athletics, and we are thrilled that AEG and Medallist have once again created an event in which the worlds best female cyclists are showcased alongside the best male riders in the world at their event. Vanderkitten owner Dave Verrecchia has consistently built upon the success of the program every year, and we were thrilled to be a part of the inaugural Amgen Tour of California Women’s Criterium in 2008, where the kitties were among the crowd favourites! Over successive years we have built an International squad capable of competing on the world stage and now, with the inclusion of Bridie, have one of the worlds top Time Triallists on our team. To have Bridie rocking the Vanderkitten-Focus kit in one of the most prestigious specialty women’s events in the USA. We could not be more happy”. Bridie will race a 2012 Focus Izalco Chrono 1.0 at the event, with Kask K.31 Chrono Helmet giving her an aero advantage over the 29km slightly rolling course. Vanderkitten-Focus has enjoyed a #kickass first quarter of the year, with Jazzy hurikino scoring the 10th win of the season this weekend at the 39th annual Mikes Bikes Classic in Los Gatos California. Jazzy was one of the favourites heading into the prestigous event, having won the 2010 edition of the famed hilly criterium as a 19 year old. With Katheryn Curi Mattis Directing and on form Vanderkitten-Focus team behind her, however, Jazzy was unstoppable. From lap two Hurikino and Kiwi teammie Emily Collins broke away from the pack over the famed 19% power climb, and when a Stevens Pactimo rider, Marley Smith bridged on the downhill, VK’s Kate Chilcott also came across. This made it 3 VK riders in a 4 rider break! The bunch would not give in easily however, and over multiple ascents of the brutal climb, the peloton slowly reeled the breakaway to within launching distance. With 5 to go it was gruppo compatto so without hesitation VK team captain Jenn Reither launched a solid attack and cleared the field, gaining 12 seconds immediately with only 4 laps to go. The chase behind was furious and with 2 to go Jenn X was brought back into the field. no sooner had she come back that it was 3 time Oceania champion Bridie O’Donnell that made a bid for the line. The proven 2009 Time Trial Champion of Australia established a huge gap and the field was reduced to a selection of only the best as they worked to contain the damage. With half a lap to go, the last time up the climb Bridie was caught and this time Jazzy made her move. Within 300 metres she had formed a 100 metre gap to the field and put her head down with only half a mile of downhill to the finish line. To the joy of the assembled crowd and sponsors, as well as Jazzy’s parents who had stepped off an international flight from Australia and made their way straight to the race, crossed the line and threw her hands in the air with exhausted jubilation. Only 2 seconds later her friend and teammate Emily Collins crossed the line punching her fists, with another Aussie, SportVelo’s Bec Werner in 3rd. A momentous day for the Vanderkitten-Focus program and all is looking good for the next 2 months of competition that will see racing across the USA and UCI events in Canada and Philadelphia. Earlier in the month Vanderkitten-Focus had notched some top performances at the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, with Emily Collins 3rd on Stage 1 and Emily and Kate recording top ten finishes in the final Circuit Race. The 2012 Redlands Cycling Classic lived up to its hype as a spectacular kickoff to the Women’s NRC season. Vanderkitten-Focus sent a strong squad of 8 athletes, and although bad luck hit the team early on in the tour, our resilient kitties carried on in brave fashion representing VK in style!	<urn:uuid:88f015fe-06cc-4daa-8ebb-415b4c50dba3>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	https://vanderkitten.wordpress.com/	2015-03-30T01:01:16Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131298871.15/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172138-00276-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.952753	2,711
By The Playlist Staff \| The Playlist July 15, 2013 at 2:13PM Murky and repetitive fight scenes that are hard to follow. At first, the different kaiju types and jaegers are pretty thrilling, and exciting, in their size, power and unique capabilities. Then, del Toro throws them all in the ocean, at night (is it ever daytime? or not raining?) by the handful. The behemoths gnash and clash, and while there are a few notable moments, such as the much-trailered barge bat maneuver, it’s mostly a crashy mashup of gray and black against gray and black. At least Crimson Typhoon had three arms, and was, uh, crimson. But in the mid-film pile up of Crimson Typhoon, the Russian jaeger, and and the other kaiju, it was nigh impossible to discern which kaiju was doing what to whom, which jaeger was being drowned or blown up. Even when the fight made its way to land it just seemed repetitive and stretched on too long. Whatever goodwill and excitement was built up in anticipation of these clashes is quickly worn out in the smashy-smashy that just looks all the same. Charlie Day and the Other Nerd/Everyone's Accents There were at least two points in the movie where we leaned over to our seatmate and said, “What accent is that?” with Idris Elba and Charlie Hunnam, both Brits, two of the worst offenders. Elba, a master of accented disguise in “The Wire” seemed to be using his British accent, which is slightly Americanized, whilst Hunnam was definitely doing an American accent but unfortunately with a British lilt. Then the Aussies showed up, egads (Max Martini, do not pass go, do not collect $200 and proceed directly to Australian accent school again), which resulted in Rinko Kikuchi being the only actor with a believable accent (though she's not the easiest low-talking actor to understand either). With this collection of wonky accents, rapid fire delivery and nonsense future science jargon, we understood about one-third of the dialogue (but maybe that’s for the best). Then we have Charlie Day. While Day doesn’t have any accent problems and he pulls off an annoyingly shrill mad scientist/Rick Moranis in “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids,” his lightning speed patter is nearly impossible to discern and his shrieking persona is so obnoxious you want to club him to death. And don’t even get us started on Burn Gorman as the mathematician counterpart to Day’s scientist, sporting a parody bowl cut and limp and doing his best Crispin Glover. Maybe every other sentence out of their mouths is intelligible, and because they’re either talking about kaiju math or Vulcan mind-melding with a seafaring alien dinosaur at a high pitched, panicky squeal, it only complicates matters. As our seatmate said, “that might as well have been in French.” We live in probably the most advanced military age imaginable. A guy sitting at a desk in front of a computer screen can send an unmanned drone plane around the world to drop a bomb on a target; all manner of computerized imagery gives personnel unprecedented information about geography, topography and enemy troop movements; weapons are being made smaller but even more deadly. So when a monster rises from the bowels of the Earth in the future, the best plan of action are big, clunky robots that require a neural bridge to operate them? (Side note: it’s never quite clear what the advantage is in using a neural bridge, particularly when the pilots wind up shouting commands to each other anyway). In the crazy near-future of “Pacific Rim,” can we not simply send drones boasting devastating payloads to deal with these guys? Surface-to-air missiles? While there is a certain my-gun-is-bigger-than-your-gun logic to humanity building equally sized robots to deal with these monsters, the all-or-nothing, go-Jaeger-or-go-home-and-build-some-big-walls-that-won’t-work framework of the movie doesn’t make much sense. Is it a dealbreaker? Probably not, and this kind of movie requires at least some suspension of disbelief, but throughout the movie, as the jaegars fall, get blasted by plasma and/or rendered useless and ripped apart, you do wonder if this is the best plan that humans can come up with. “Pacific Rim” presents us with a bad boy jaegar pilot (Hunnam), who doesn’t follow the rules, but still is one of the best out there... until he follows orders exactly to save the day (what happened to his rule-breaking creativity to defeat the Kaiju?). The jaegers are outdated relics that can’t possibly defeat the increasingly huge and constantly-adapting Kaiju rising the depths of the ocean... until the “analog” old-timey version manages to miraculously survive a vicious beating at the bottom of the ocean, jump into a dimensional portal, and return both pilots alive. Oh no, Gipsy Danger is being flown (what?) into outer space (HUH?), but no worries, bro, it had a hidden sword the whole time! Oh no, it looks like our heros are going to run out of oxygen and die somewhere between our universe and another galaxy, but it’s cool, the jaegars (who inner geography expands and shrinks as necessary) have some high-tech escape pods (that none of the other killed pilots used). Also, it turns out that in the future, the military has some bitchin’ wifi that allows them to communicate with people at hundreds of miles at the bottom of the ocean, and even further in the Earth’s core, from even more hundreds of miles away. In short “Pacific Rim” never really has many dramatic stakes, because right around the corner, there is an 11th minute deus ex machina device introduced so our heroes can escape danger. The movie doesn’t really have a playbook... it writes it as it goes along. While Mako and Raleigh are given a bit of backstory, no one else is really given anything or any motivation beyond just a hint (Pentecost is protective of Mako, the father and son are... father and son), and this is glaringly obvious with the Chinese and Russian pilots of the jaegers in Hong Kong. The Chinese triplets who pilot Crimson Typhoon are shown playing basketball and then always holding a basketball, so apparently... they like basketball. It’s too bad they don’t have any lines! The Russian pilots are even more badass, a male-female duo who sport cheesy platinum dye-jobs and look intimidating, sexy, and weird. Apparently the extreme hair and affinity for basketball are supposed to make us like them, because they play a rather crucial role in the 4 on 2 jaeger v. kaiju battle in which Gipsy Danger, Raleigh and Mako prove themselves. But, we know nothing about them, so when a kaiju smushes them into the ocean to drown, it’s fairly anti-climactic. “D2: Mighty Ducks 2” has better characterizations of its supporting characters and villains. Then there's the main characters themselves. Raleigh is simply a blander version of Tom Cruise's Maverick character in "Top Gun" and all the other leads are mostly one-note characters. Idris Elba delivers throaty speech after speech, Mako is the ace-in-the-hole fighter with a heart of gold or whatever, Ron Perlman plays the eccentric Ron Perlman character (who ultimately has zero bearing on the plot and could have been removed entirely), Charlie Day and Burn Gorman are insufferable Twiddle Dee dummies, etc. etc. And of course, there's the Australian pilot who plays the Iceman character and rips off the "Top Gun" internecine pilot conflict once again (Beacham apparently loves that movie). None of these characters mean much to the movie. They're all silo archetypes to fulfil the movie's various plot needs, which obviously put monsters and robots before human beings. Weird & (So-So) Kaiju Post-credits sequence is exactly the same as the climax of Sharknado. Nuff said. So we didn’t watch “Sharknado,” the viral SyFy hit on Thursday night, but we did read a recap right before we went to see "Pacific Rim" and wouldn’t you know it, but someone is copying someone else’s paper. In the climax of “Sharknado,” one of the great whites gobbles up the lady friend of Ian Ziering’s character, Fin (yup, that’s his name). What else is Steve Sanders to do but launch himself, chainsaw first, into said shark and cut out his lady love Nova (yup, her name)? So, it seems a little fishy that, SPOILER ALERT, in the post-credits sequence, Ron Perlman’s Hannibal Chau character cuts himself out of the baby kaiju that gobbled him up earlier, grumbling about his shoe (what’s with the shoes?). Of course, this has sort of been a trope since Biblical times, but it at least seems telling that one low-budget, so-bad-it’s-good, made for SyFy shark movie would use the same gag as one of the contenders to the summer blockbuster throne. Let’s try to aim higher than that next time, shall we? One of the more refreshing aspects of "Pacific Rim" is that it isn't, like most big movies of this ilk, a case of America (fuck yeah!) saving the world from the threat of giant hulking beasts. “The other sort of big summer movies often feel to me like it’s about one race, one credo and one country saving the world, and I wanted to make it about the world saving the world, no matter what skin color you have, what race you have, what belief you have – everybody in the movie saves the world,” Del Toro told Salon, and it's absolutely true. Del Toro's cast has more multi-culti diversity than the crew of the starship Enterprise, but it never feels phony or forced. The world comes together to fight the monsters and it adds texture and flavor to what could have another boring Caucasians saving the world effort. The only problem with this is: see above. Diversity is great, but it's not so fun to see Asians, Australians, Russians that are poorly drawn, one-dimensional characters. During the climactic battle, the Jaegers intend to head to the underwater breach where the kaiju are keeping the clone army (or something). Striker, piloted by Idris Elba and the bad, mean Aussie son do some sort of suicide thingy. Then, because Hunnam and Kikuchi’s jaeger is a nuclear warhead, they drag a kaiju carcass to the breach in order to access it (BECAUSE DNA!) and then fall into Kaiju alt-dimension, which doesn’t make much sense because are they in the center of the earth or space? Electric purple labial folds open up and envelope the jaeger into their midst, where some kind of crazy, bug-eyed kaiju overlords ready their armies. It’s all very confusing, bad, dumb-looking, and dangerously close to the pyschic alien mummies of “Indiana Jones 4.” Thankfully, it is blessedly short and the jaeger ejaculates its two escape pods before blowing up all the kaiju. (But what happens when you set off a nuclear bomb at the center of the earth?? Nothing good, I imagine). This sequence looks very dumb, makes little sense, and they are smart to keep it as short as possible. There's a lot more to discuss with a world as rich and wonky as "Pacific Rim," including the names (Stacker Pentecost? Hercules Hanson? We want to see the futureworld's version of a baby-naming book.), the way that the movie was always referencing whatever is in del Tor's fabled mancave, and "Game of Thrones" composer Ramin Djawadi's admittedly boss score. Also the debate rages on as to whether "Pacific Rim" is riddled with tired cliches or if it was just hitting all the right beats, exceptionally well. Please, by all means, continue the discussion below. We can't wait to drift with you. - Katie Walsh, Kevin Jagernauth, Drew Taylor	<urn:uuid:63b96cba-8c96-4ee7-b591-9a42bec6ac9f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/the-bad-and-the-weird-of-guillermo-del-toros-pacific-rim-20130715?page=2	2015-03-31T20:53:46Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131301015.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172141-00100-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.954654	2,726
The Titanium Dog Tag is one of our best selling products because it is lightweight, durable, and hypoallergenic. Titanium Dog Tag Red with Oval Chain Number of Reviews: 310, Reviewer: Ron L. Thu Feb 26, 2015: Necklace is sturdy enough to withstand normal common sense use. Nice job of engraving. Reviewer: James W. Tue Feb 17, 2015: It has far outweighed my expectations - It is Extremely well-crafted and sturdy.- I especially like the professionalism in which it’s been created. I LOVE it - I also Love the bead-chain that came with it...much more stronger and more sturdy than any other necklaces I’ve purchased in the past Reviewer: Patricia S. Fri Feb 06, 2015: This was very nice. High quality Reviewer: Kathy B. Wed Feb 04, 2015: Husband liked it but the ball chain bothered him. He wears a cross and was able to attach to the dog tag to the same chain. Reviewer: Linda L. Tue Feb 03, 2015: I purchased the ID for my son he love it. Reviewer: Raymond B. Tue Jan 20, 2015: Reviewer: Jessica G. Fri Jan 16, 2015: Perfect, awesome, amazing Very prompt postage Thank you so very much Excellent service, as definitely an excellent product Reviewer: Paul W. Fri Jan 02, 2015: as advertised, very good Sat Dec 20, 2014: Perfect fit, looks great and is just what I need, thanks Reviewer: Jim K. Sat Dec 20, 2014: the writing on it is clear and can be read easily Sat Dec 20, 2014: Very nice Reviewer: Celina S. Thu Nov 13, 2014: Liked it very much . Sun Nov 09, 2014: nice looking Reviewer: Gregory A. Sun Nov 09, 2014: Very good, looks great and it is a nice key ring. Reviewer: Norm G. Sat Nov 08, 2014: Looks good, easy to wear Reviewer: Betty D. Tue Nov 04, 2014: I ordered this for my husband and it was exactly what he wanted. Very pleased Reviewer: Paul W. Wed Oct 29, 2014: Good. Need longer chain. Thu Oct 23, 2014: Overpriced. Reviewer: Shirley H. Mon Oct 20, 2014: My Grandson loves the necklace. He has special needs and this one opens and closes easily. Reviewer: Robert P. N. S. Fri Oct 17, 2014: It’s what I wanted. Thu Oct 16, 2014: Sat Oct 11, 2014: I got one for me several years ago and very satisfied. I got this one for my wife. Reviewer: Dwight L. Sat Oct 11, 2014: The chain excellent - just as I suspected. The medallion Close to excellent but if asked to improve upon it, I’d make it a little thinner, round the edges somewhat and make the engraving a bit bolder. Bottom line, I,m very satisfied with my purchase. Reviewer: Dan R. Fri Oct 10, 2014: THE TITANIUM IS AN EXCELLENT PRODUCT. IT CAME EXACTLY AS I ORDERED IT.. I DID THINK THE CHAIN WOULD BE A LITTLE LARGER AROUND AND MORE HEAVY DUTY, BUT IT SEEMS TO WORK JUST FINE. THANK YOU. Reviewer: John T H. Thu Oct 09, 2014: This should work well. I had a bracelet before, and it tore up the furniture and sometimes fell off my arm. I don’t believe this will fall off my neck. Reviewer: Sarah T. Wed Oct 08, 2014: Very pleased with the dog tag. Like the size that is the regular size of a dog tag. Thank you. Reviewer: Peter W. Mon Oct 06, 2014: like the overall product Reviewer: Geoffrey J. Fri Oct 03, 2014: very satisfied with the quality Reviewer: Patrick M. Tue Sep 30, 2014: Decently made, tad high for the end product. I would have liked a bit more ability to change font size on the name side to fill space better. I got this for a friend, and over all I was satisfied, but for the overall cost of 75 including s/h I dropped one star. Reviewer: Barbara H. Tue Sep 30, 2014: Reviewer: Zelma M. Thu Sep 18, 2014: very nice Tue Sep 09, 2014: Good prouct. Easy to order. Sun Sep 07, 2014: Its wonderful Reviewer: Raymond W. Sat Sep 06, 2014: I had this product before and it had a better quality chain. I am not pleased with this current 24 in. chain. Reviewer: David K. Sat Sep 06, 2014: adequate space for name plus medical information. Hopefully no allergic skin reaction. Reviewer: Charles B. Thu Sep 04, 2014: Mon Sep 01, 2014: Reviewer: Peggy P. Sun Aug 24, 2014: I am very impressed with the accuracy of information, quality of tag and necklace. It arrived very timely with regular US mail. Thu Aug 21, 2014: Chain too short. Dog tag was dull within first 2 days Reviewer: Thom W C. Thu Aug 21, 2014: Perfect--printing, size, comfort, life saving info AND it arrived very quickly, even ahead of the predicted arrival time. Reviewer: Jim L. Mon Aug 18, 2014: It is neat and clean. I am very satisfied and proud of it. Reviewer: Kim B. Sat Aug 16, 2014: Reviewer: Harry V. Sat Aug 16, 2014: Reviewer: Stuart W. Sat Aug 16, 2014: Ecellent Reviewer: Lloyd H. Fri Aug 15, 2014: great Reviewer: Joanne T. Wed Jul 23, 2014: Thu Jul 17, 2014: I ordered the titanium dog tag because my stainless steel dog tag seemed very heavy. I like the weight of new dog tag although I thought both tags could be made thinner like a real issue military tag. The engraving on the titanium tag is lighter and therefore a little harder to read than the steel version. Reviewer: Scott E. Tue Jul 15, 2014: Reviewer: Peter H. Sun Jul 13, 2014: Reviewer: Davi H. Sat Jul 05, 2014: No surprises exactly what I ordered. It really arrived 10 days earlier than I expected. Reviewer: William T. Tue Jul 01, 2014: Light weight, can hardly notice that I’m wearing it. Thu Jun 26, 2014: Reviewer: Mashell T. Wed Jun 25, 2014: Reviewer: Gryphon C. Tue Jun 17, 2014: Tue Jun 17, 2014: Reviewer: Nelson E. Sun Jun 08, 2014: It was what I wanted. Very pleased with my purchase . Reviewer: Sharita Y. Sun Jun 08, 2014: It looks timeless Sun Jun 08, 2014: Reviewer: Dan C. Fri Jun 06, 2014: very nice quality, extremely sturdy, will last a long time and stylish not gaudy Fri May 30, 2014: Reviewer: Tom M. Fri May 16, 2014: I like having the option to engrave the front as well as the back of the dog tag. When typing in the words, it shows you exactly how it’ll look. Reviewer: Maxine R. Wed May 07, 2014: Like the fact it was titanium. Was able to include quite a bit of information on the back. Reviewer: Dave A. Fri May 02, 2014: Very light and well done. It looks and feels indestructible (like the face of a driver in golf). It is, however, darker (in color) and less polished looking that your other alternatives that I have had. It took me a while to get used to that look. But, it’s fine ... don’t even notice that I’m wearing it because of the lightness. Fri May 02, 2014: Reviewer: Lisa D. Tue Apr 29, 2014: Very light and comfortable. My 15 yr old thinks it’s very cool. Loves how light it is compared to his stainless dog tag and that it’s a darker metal color. Fri Apr 25, 2014: Reviewer: Toni L G. Fri Apr 25, 2014: Ok. Chain too short. Reviewer: Cherie M. Tue Apr 08, 2014: Exactly what we needed for my Dad. Love it. Fri Apr 04, 2014: Tue Apr 01, 2014: Reviewer: David J. Sun Mar 23, 2014: I wasn’t sure how I would like wearing a necklace, ive never worn one before. The titanium is very light and I barely know its there. Im quite pleased with my purchase. Reviewer: Ray C. Sat Mar 22, 2014: Fri Mar 21, 2014: excellent Reviewer: Ashley R. Fri Mar 21, 2014: Met all my expectations Reviewer: Deborah S. Thu Mar 20, 2014: Awesome My husband really likes his necklace Thu Mar 20, 2014: Reviewer: Rickey B. Thu Mar 20, 2014: I m very pleased , I highly recommend products of American Medical ID. All my friends from church is ordering them. Reviewer: Thomas A E. Tue Mar 18, 2014: I am really happy with the titanium necklace. Reviewer: Don T. Tue Mar 11, 2014: Bought the longest chain and it is a bit too short Reviewer: Warren A. Sat Mar 08, 2014: I was very happy with product and it’s sturdiness. Reviewer: Wilda L. Sat Mar 01, 2014: It looks cheap and metal won’t shine. Not sure I knew what to expect with titanium. Wish I had ordered silver. Very pleased with engraving and service. Reviewer: Carolyn B. Wed Feb 26, 2014: Product looks good and tells what needs to be told about wearer. Reviewer: Robert G. Tue Feb 25, 2014: Nicely made and engraved. Will serve the purpose for which it is intended. Reviewer: Kevin M. Mon Feb 24, 2014: It looks great has a good weight to it . The info printed on it stands out well. Reviewer: Ben L. Wed Feb 19, 2014: Very good job....love it Reviewer: Daniel H. Sun Feb 16, 2014: So far have been very satisfied with the product. Reviewer: Sarah M. Sat Feb 15, 2014: need to add enough lines on the back to be able to add a emergency contact Reviewer: Bill H. Fri Feb 14, 2014: I was absolutely thrilled with the quality and appearance. Reviewer: David M. C. Tue Jan 28, 2014: Nice item and so far good quality. Engraving could contrast better then it does. Reviewer: Cynthia P. Thu Jan 23, 2014: Lightweight, sturdy, attractive. Reviewer: Terrie M. Sun Jan 19, 2014: It is neat and very readible. I haven’t seen a doctor yet to see what they say, but I think it is ok. I also want to thank you for your quick response when my chain was too short. Thank you for all you’ve done to get things done with the least amount of stress. Thank you very much... Fri Jan 17, 2014: I am very happy with my purchase. Reviewer: Carolyn H. Mon Jan 13, 2014: The medical ID was very practical and well done. We were completely satisfied with the product. Reviewer: Daniel C. Fri Jan 10, 2014: Nice quality, good weight, nicely inscribed Reviewer: Susan B. Sun Jan 05, 2014: I was very impressed at how quickly I received the necklace after I ordered it. I now feel more secure that my husband has his information close to him instead of just in his wallet. Reviewer: Jerre A. Fri Jan 03, 2014: Very good quality, and looks nice. Reviewer: Irma M. Fri Jan 03, 2014: Professinal work, legible to read Reviewer: John B. Wed Jan 01, 2014: Reviewer: Stephen S. Fri Dec 27, 2013: nicely made Reviewer: Mark R. Sat Dec 21, 2013: It is exactly as described	<urn:uuid:68a8a78d-0eb4-488e-afe8-0e263f30c13f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.americanmedical-id.com/marketplace/category.php?mastercategory=necklaces&bbscrollerpage=7&scrollcat=neck_titaniumdogtag	2015-03-31T20:46:20Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131301015.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172141-00100-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.928358	2,662
Two years ago, the city of Seattle sold off the historic Alaska Building at Second and Cherry to a developer that said it was going to turn the 1904 structure, previously full of bureaucrats' offices, into downtown housing. But those plans have changed. The developer is now looking to convert it into a Marriott hotel instead, and wants the city to allow additional floors on the structure—more than current zoning allows—for what the developer says are necessary seismic upgrades. Today (Wednesday), a somewhat peeved City Council is scheduled to hold hearings on the proposal, which has also attracted the ire of Unite Here!, a national union representing restaurant and hotel workers (among other trades). None of the three dozen Marriotts in Washington state are unionized, says Stefan Moritz, a research analyst with Unite Here! He contends that the seismic issue is something of a smokescreen for extra, revenue-producing rooms. "I think developers should be held accountable to the regulations," says Moritz. But while Moritz and some City Council members seethe over the alleged bait and switch, the less-noticed effect of the proposal is not on housing but on immigration. Thanks to a 1990 act of Congress, rich foreigners can gain an "EB-5 investor visa," jumping ahead of the huddled masses, by investing in purportedly job-creating businesses. The program buys an affluent immigrant (plus spouse and unmarried children) two years' residency on a green card and, ideally, a glide path toward full citizenship. The country's largest beneficiary of this program to date is a Seattle real-estate fund called American Life Inc., which has purchased numerous properties in SoDo with EB-5 money and is now looking to fund the $85 million conversion of the Alaska Building in concert with the developer, Kauri Investments. "It's probably the biggest EB-5 project in the country," says Henry Liebman, an immigration attorney and head of American Life. He estimates about 85 EB-5 investors would be involved. The irony is that these investors will secure their own green cards by investing in an industry known for its reliance on undocumented workers. An investment can qualify for the EB-5 program if it's at least a half-million dollars and being made in a so-called Regional Center—defined by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service as an area "that has experienced unemployment of at least 150 per cent of the national average rate." The investment also must "create full-time employment for not fewer than 10 qualified individuals." But does downtown Seattle really qualify as an area in need of additional employment, especially low-wage hotel jobs? The hospitality industry's trade group, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, says it already can't get enough people to fill the jobs it has. "The mounting labor shortage is probably one of the most troublesome problems facing the hotel industry today," said David Kong, president and CEO of Best Western International, in an AHLA press release a year ago. "We still cannot find enough Americans to fill critical positions at many of our hotels," said Loews Hotels CEO Jonathan Tisch in the release. The industry is supporting immigration reform efforts in Congress that would allow "guest workers." (See related story, p. 17.) Unite Here! doesn't track how many of its workers are properly documented. "We don't ask the question," says Moritz. "There are definitely people who don't have documents who work in the industry. There's a large group." The Alaska Building lies beyond Yesler Street anyway, and therefore out of the EB-5 territory that American Life got approval for in 1996, Moritz contends. "We are just confused about the Regional Center," says Moritz. "It's hard to find out the definition of where this Regional Center ends." Speaking by phone from an immigration lawyers' conference in Orlando, Fla., Liebman responds, "The Regional Center includes part of Pioneer Square. There's two designated zones. One is the state empowerment zone, and then there was a federal HUD-designated zone. And the Regional Center is both of them. They mostly overlap, except the federal one includes Pioneer Square." Liebman says roughly 150 people would be employed by the hotel, but they aren't the only ones who'd benefit. "There's the ancillary employment, like the parking," he says. "Half of the first floor will be rented to something like a Starbucks. You've got the shoe-shine guy....There's a ton of employment that comes out of that. Pioneer Square merchants really like the idea of the hotel. They don't have economic drivers in that area. Pioneer Square is always limping along." The 15-story Alaska Building was the tallest in Seattle, and was the city's first steel-framed skyscraper, when it was completed in 1904. The city acquired it in 1988 as part of a land swap with Aetna Life Insurance, and city staffers occupied the space until the municipal workforce was consolidated in what used to be called Key Tower. The city then sold the structure for $8.5 million in 2005 to a partnership between Kauri Investments Ltd. and Ariel Development. Liebman says Kauri and Ariel then struck the deal with Marriott. They'll join his new partnership, which will be split 50-50 between domestic and EB-5 investors, according to Liebman. Who are those investors, and where do they come from? "Western Europe, Japan, Canada, Korea, and India," he says. "From Europe, it's retired baby boomers selling out the business. Usually self-made. Generally, the profile for our investors would be late 40s and older, they made money somewhere else, and they need to diversify their portfolio. They want the cash flow to retire on." He says virtually all his foreign clients gain full citizenship after two years' residency, and estimates that about 15 percent of his investors have settled in the Northwest to spend, work, and otherwise contribute to the economy. How many and what kind of U.S. jobs are created via the EB-5 program? A 2005 report by the Government Accounting Office concluded, "We could not determine a reliable estimate of the number of jobs created by immigrant investors." Liebman says he, like other Regional Center operators, must provide an annual report to the USCIS detailing job creation and other investor data. The GAO estimates that through 2004, immigrant entrepreneurs invested about $1 billion through the EB-5 program. That's a lot of money to invest, and a lot of advantage over your average penniless immigrant. "It shows how class and wealth play such a major role in the visa process," says Matt Adams, legal director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. He's fighting an uphill battle to get the family members of documented foreign workers lawfully admitted to the U.S.; the EB-5 alien just has to write a check. "The program is obviously saying that it's in America's interest to recruit big-money investors," says Adams. For him, the EB-5 program is consistent with a policy he characterizes thusly: "The people with money and advanced degrees, the ones who already have things going their way—these are the people we want in." (Bill Gates and other local tech executives would likely agree, since they're desperate to gain new brains from abroad with an expansion of the H-1B visa program.) This wouldn't be the first time that EB-5 money was used to create lodgings for business travelers. The GAO reports: "Hotels and motels make up an estimated 19 percent of all businesses created by immigrant investors granted permanent resident status." Other EB-5 money goes into "manufacturing companies, real estate companies, domestic sales companies, farms, import/export companies, restaurants, and technology companies." But it's left to the EB-5 fund manager, such as American Life, to choose where to invest. So, couldn't the EB-5 program do better than jobs for hotel maids and bellhops that already go begging? Couldn't it be applied to help capitalize, say, our local biotech boom? "There's no reason we couldn't," Liebman answers. "I have to understand it. I'm not a scientist, and I don't know how to evaluate a biotech company. We do have an investment in a biotech, ProteoTech [formerly in SoDo, now based in Kirkland]. And we had an investment in a bank that was sold. We're open to anything." As for the Alaska Building, "If you want anything other than an office, you need an earthquake retrofit," according to Liebman. "It's another 30-odd rooms," he admits, "but the main purpose of it is earthquake. And that's the silly thing about what they're objecting to." And what if the council shoots down the plan; does the project no longer pencil out? "No, it could still work. You could leave it as an office, and it still pencils very well. Believe it or not, there's still a shortage of office space [in Seattle]."	<urn:uuid:0b0595df-b104-494e-aa6a-5a4c1cf37ae3>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-06-27/news/maids-and-millionaires/	2015-03-31T20:52:28Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131301015.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172141-00100-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.971354	1,890
Food and Drink Food and Drink - 119 Pins Pumpkin Crunch Cake Desserts, Dump Cake, Recipe, Pumpkin Crunches Cake, Food, Yummy, Pumpkin Crunch Cake, Cake I, Pumpkin Pies Pumpkin Crunch Cake - Cook'n is Fun - Food Recipes, Dessert, & Dinner Ideas Pumpkin Crunch Cake This recipe looks a lot like Dump Cake. I hadn't seen a pumpkin version before though. Pumpkin Crunch Cake - this is one of my favorite desserts to make AND to eat!!! So easy and better than pumpkin pie!! Pumpkin Crunch Cake- i made this years ago!! It was so yummy! Chees Blintzes, Sour Cream, Cinnamon Sticks, Creamcheese, Food, French Toast, Cheese Blintzes, White Breads, Cream Cheeses Creamcheese . . .gonna try Cinnamon Sticks Ingredients 1 (1 pound) loaf white bread 4 tablespoons white sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 pint sour cream Directions "Cheese blintzes" - quicky version. Made with toast, that is cut brimless and rolled thin; filled with cheese filling, dipped in butter and rolled in sugar-cinnamon and then roasted in oven... Cheese filled french toast rolls... sigh #recipe #food #cooking Cream Cheese Blintzes Cheese Blintzes Ingredients 1 (1 pound) loaf white bread 4 tablespoons white sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 pint sour cream Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a cookie sheet generously with non-stick cooking spray. Trim crusts from bread and roll the slices flat. In a small bowl combine sugar and cinnamon to make a mixture. In a large mixing bowl, mix softened cream cheese, milk and vanilla until smooth. Spread this mixture onto each slice of flattened bread. Roll each bread slice up. Dip bread/cream cheese rolls in melted butter, roll the blintzes immediately in the sugar-cinnamon mixture. Cut rolls into 1 inch pieces. Arrange the blintzes on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream. Caramel Apple Pork Chops Brown Sugar, Apples Pork Chops, Pork Recipe, Porkchops, Food, Pork Chops Recipe, Fall Recipe, Dinner Recipe, Caramel Apples Caramel Apple Porkchops - Great Fall Recipe throw the chops in a marinade overnight of 2x apple juice to soy. The sweet and salt help make the chops even juicer. Bake covered in foil at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Remove foil - sprinkle with brown sugar and chopped pecans - bake 15 mins more for carmelize and crunch. Caramel Apple Pork Chops Recipe by allrecipes: "Warm, spicy, and sweet, this wonderful Fall recipe is a guaranteed favorite for kids, and is great with smashed potatoes and buttered green beans." by Karena So we recently purchased a half a hog from a local farmer...hence all the pork recipes. This Caramel Apple Pork Chop recipe was really good! Caramel Apple Pork Chops Recipe - Cannot wait until Fall, the food is so comforting! Supreme Apple Butter Apples Cider, Brown Sugar, Butter Food, Apples Butter, Brandy Apples, Pears Butter, Butter Recipe, Drinks Pinterest, Supreme Apples Supreme Apple Butter ~ used this recipe to make pear butter. Excellent. Supreme Apple Butter - Click image to find more popular food & drink Pinterest pins Supreme Apple Butter Recipe. Doesn't require apple cider. Supreme Apple Butter; Brandied Apple butter Supreme Apple Butter: 1-12 oz can frozen apple juice concentrate, 1c apple cider 4lb Macintosh apples - peeled cored chopped 3/4c brown sugar 1t cinnamon 1t ginger 1/4t cloves / Bring apple juice, apple cider & Macintosh apples to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 1 hr until apples easily mash. Mix dark brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger & cloves into apple mix. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered 2 hr, stirring occasionally, until thick. Pour into sealed sterile containers, cool 1hr before serving. Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Recipe, Brown Sugar, Pulled Pork Recipes, Crock Pots, Cooker Bbq, Slowcooker, Pulledpork, Bbq Pulled, Pork Sandwiches This BBQ pulled pork recipe will amaze all of your guests! #bbq #pulledpork #zoomin zoominmarket.com Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork Recipe Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork - I love pulled pork but this was too spicy! I need to find a different slow cooker recipe Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork @keyingredient #pork #sandwich #slowcooker Pulled Pork Crock Pot Boneless shoulder roast (or boneless loin roast) 3 lbs pork 1 pkg McCormick® Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning 1/2 c ketchup 1/2 c packed brown sugar 1/3 c cider vinegar Place pork in slow cooker. Mix ingredients. Pour over pork. Cover. Cook 8 hrs LOW or 4 hrs HIGH. Remove pork from slow cooker. Shred pork, using 2 forks. Return pork to slow cooker. Mix and heat with sauce before serving. Serve on sandwich rolls, if desired. Caramel Peanut Fudge Desserts, Peanuts, Sweets, Fudge Recipe, Food, Peanut Fudge, Caramel Peanut, Candies, Peanut Butter Bar Caramel Peanut Fudge Recipe Caramel Peanut Fudge Allrecipes.com #food #fudge Caramel Peanut Fudge - This is a dessert that is just to die for! It will be a great hit at any bake sales, picnics, or just for you! Anyone ought to love it Caramel Peanut butter bar! Caramel Peanut Fudge Allrecipes.com use only one layer of butterscotch chips and increase one of chocolate. Put into small candy cups as caramel will ooze - use 1 7 oz jar of marshmellow cream instead of measuring marshmellows Maple Cookies;1 cup butter, softened 1 cup packed brown sugar1 egg1 cup real maple syrup1 tsp vanilla extract2 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp salt4 cups all-purpose flour1/3 cup sugar for decoration.:350 F bowl, grease cookie sheets.Cream,butter,b sugar. the egg, syrup, vanilla. Mix until well. Sift together the flour,salt,baking soda. Stir into mixture. Shape 1 inch balls, roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheets 2 inches apart and flatten slightly.Bake 8-10 min. Let cool on wire rack. Desserts, Foodanddrinks, Cookies Monsters, Cookies Allrecipescom, Maple Cookies, Food And Drinks, Cookies Recipe, Cookies Ii, Ii Recipe Maple cookies... My dad, the original Cookie Monster, will LOVE these! Maple Cookies II Recipe Maple Cookies Recipe Desserts with butter, brown sugar, eggs, maple syrup, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, all-purpose flour, granulated sugar Quinoa Recipe, Side Dishes, Style Quinoa, Spanish Quinoa, Healthy Side, Dinner Ideas, Spanish Styl Quinoa, Spanish Style, Spanishstyl Quinoa Spanish Quinoa Recipes \| Just had this for dinner, yummy!! I cut the oil in half, substituted cayenne for chili powder and added cilantro as garnish. Spanish quinoa - side dish or burrito filling Spanish-Style Quinoa, makes a great healthy side dish loaded with protein Spanish style Quinoa - my favorite quinoa recipe Tasty Recipe, Worldsbeer Margaritas, Beer Matgarita, Fun Recipe, Birthday Parties, Cincodemayo, May 5, Traditional Margaritas, World Beer Margaritas Beer Margaritas. - hurry Cinco de Mayo! 1 can of frozen limeaid (concentrate) 12 oz tequila 12 oz sprite/7 up 12 oz beer Ice Lime Beer Margaritas, everyone enjoyed them at my birthday party last night Not a fan of #tequila? Try these yummy #Beer Margaritas! #cincodemayo #cincodedrinko #fiesta #rita lemon salmon burgers Salmon Burgers Recipe, Sandwiches, Yummy Food, Salmon Patti, Yummy Lemon, Lemon Salmon, Breads Crumb, Burgers Patti, Dinner Tonight Lemon Herbed Salmon Burger Patties Yummy Lemon Salmon Burgers Recipe. This sounds amazing! Dinner tonight.. Yummy Lemon Salmon Burgers Lemon Salmon Burgers Recipe: If i sub'd the onions for chives and replaced the bread crumbs with instant rice, this would be #lowfodmap David Loftus chicken and mushroom pasta bake Baked Pasta, Pasta Recipes, Chicken Mushrooms, Mushroom Pasta, Mushrooms Pasta, White Wine, Favorite Recipe, Food Recipe, Jamie Oliver Chicken and mushroom pasta bake • 20g/a small handful of dried porcini mushrooms • olive oil • 4 chicken thighs, boned, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper • 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced • 350g/2 handfuls of mixed fresh mushrooms, cleaned and torn • 200ml white wine • 455g dried spaghetti • 500ml double cream • 200g Parmesan cheese, grated • a sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake. My FAVORITE recipe ever. Thank you Jamie Oliver! Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake. Pasta Recipes. Chicken Recipes. Jamie Oliver Recipes Chicken & mushroom pasta bake (Spaghetti tetrazzini) \| A little guilty pasta pleasure \| Jamie Oliver #food #recipe chicken mushroom pasta bake (spaghetti tetrazzini) \| Jamie Oliver \| Food \| Jamie Oliver (UK) Spicy Rapid Roast Chicken Cheap Paleo Recipe, Roast Chicken, Rapid Roasted, Roasted Chicken Recipe, Roasts, Spicy Rapid, Chicken Allrecipescom, Spicy Roasted, Dinner Recipe Spicy Roast Chicken Recipe Spicy Rapid Roast Chicken Recipe is Paleo friendly and so tender! #paleo #healthy #spicy Roast dinner recipes Garlic Croutons, Recipe Food, Caesar Salad, Cooking Garlic, Amazing Food, Food Fetish, Homemade Croutons Recipe, Breads, Food Cooking Garlic Croutons from Allrecipes.com for caesar salad. Melted the butter in the microwave then added garlic powder instead of whole garlic and sprinkled in oregano and a little parmesan cheese into the melted butter before adding the cubed bread. Used a little more bread than she suggests. Delicious and easy!! Sweet Blackberry and Brandy Sauce Sauces Recipe, Angel Food Cakes, Brandy Sauces, Sauce Recipes, Sweets Blackberries, Blackberries Seasons, Ice Cream, Blackberries Sauces, Blackberries Brandy Blackberry Brandy Sauce to top Angel Food Cake Home-made Sweet Blackberry and Brandy Sauce - This is a really easy sauce to serve over ice cream, cheesecake, or perhaps even pancakes. Serve it warm over vanilla ice cream or chill it, and serve over plain cheesecake. Sweet blackberry and brandy sauce recipe \| Allrecipes.com Blackberry sauce for my cheesecake Thanksgiving Cheese Ball Thanksgiving Cheese, Ball Awesome, Yummy Recipe, Chees Ball, Cheese Ball Recipe, Ball Food, Appetizers Recipe, Yummy Dips, Ball Allrecipescom Thanksgiving Cheese Ball awesome Thanksgiving Cheese Ball By: SARCLA: "Similar to other cheese ball recipes, yet different! Our family has this every year as a prelude to Thanksgiving dinner, along with a relish tray, to use up those last few minutes while the turkey's browning. Double it and freeze one for New Year's! Serve with an array of crackers." Art Thanksgiving Cheese Ball food Very Best Blueberry Cobbler! Desserts Recipe, Frozen Blueberries, Blueberries Cobbler Recipe, Cobbler Recipes, Cake Mixed, Cake Mixes, Cooking, Drinks Pinterest, Food Drinks Very Best Blueberry Cobbler! (recipe) Very Best Blueberry Cobbler! This works with any fruit and a cake mix :) Can't wait to try this! Very Best Blueberry Cobbler! - Click image to find more Food & Drink Pinterest pins #recipe #food #cooking Very Best Blueberry Cobbler! Very Best Blueberry Cobbler! would be great with any berries. NS modified it by increasing berries, decreasing the sugar in the bread portion and substituting buttermilk for the milk. it was a big hit with frozen blueberries from Lake Chelan. Nanaimo Bars II Christmas Baking, S'More Bar, S'Mores Bar, Coconut Walnut, Bar Ii, Coconut Bar, Food Recipe, Custards Powder, Nanaimo Bar Nanaimo Bars II - A no-bake square, that freezes well. I make these during the year, but they are a must on my Christmas baking list as family and friends look for them. My parents live just outside of Nanaimo, B.C. Canada. Read more at http://99foods.com/recipes/Nanaimo-Bars-II-105019 Nanaimo bars without the custard powder... I want to try making these at Christmas, since Mike's mom can't have tartrazine (a colourant used in custard powder)... I may also cross these with the recipe I already have, taking only the filling layer from these ones. No-Bake Coconut Walnut Bars Nanaimo Bars/Chocolate Coconut bars Grilled Zucchini and Squash Zucchini And Squashes Recipe, Fun Recipe, Grilled Squashes And Zucchini, Yellow Squashes, Summer Recipe, Grilled Zucchini And Squash, Tweets Functional D S Id Var, Grilled Vegetables In Foil, Recipe Night Grilled Zucchini and Yellow Squash Grilled Zucchini and Squash Recipe - Key Ingredient Beth's Portobello Mushroom Burgers Mushrooms Burgers, Burgers Allrecipes Com, Burgers Food And Drinks, Beth Portobello, Burger Recipes, Burgers Allrecipescom, Portobello Mushrooms, Drinks Pinterest, Burgers Reciperef Beth's Portobello Mushroom Burgers - Click image to find more popular food & drink Pinterest pins Beths Portobello Mushroom Burgers Recipe Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie Peanut Butter Bananas, Almond Milk, Soy Milk, Banana Smoothie Recipes, Bananas Smoothie Recipe, Peanut Butter Cups, Bananas Sandwiches, Peanut Butter, Frozen Bananas Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie: Blend 1 ripe frozen banana, 2 TBSP P.B., & 1 cup milk. Serves 2, Cal 224.6. Try adding 1/2 cup soy milk & 2 TBSP honey. gm Peanut butter banana smoothie. Sounds delicious with (vanilla) soy milk! peanutbutter banana smoothie Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie Recipe-I replaced soy milk with almond milk Peanut Butter and Banana Smoothie Recipe. Sub in plain yogurt for soy milk, add ice. beef and vegetable stir-fry Beef Recipes, Vegetables Stirfry, Vegetables Recipe, Beef Stir, Food, Vegetables Stir Fries, Jamieoliver, Jamie Oliver, Stir Fry Jamie Oliver Beef and vegetable stirfry Beef and vegetable stir fry #food beef stir fry - jamie oliver Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry \| Beef Recipes \| Jamie Oliver Recipes Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)	<urn:uuid:c26d11d2-b16c-427a-b4ae-2ee6fa064f4b>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	https://www.pinterest.com/kassidyvialp/food-and-drink/	2015-03-31T20:52:55Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131301015.31/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172141-00100-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.797315	3,469
Nokia is learned to be developing a 3D version of Google Street View in association with its mapping partner Navteq. According to a report, the company may be using images built with the system to be ported to gaming applications to be used as a backdrop for realistic games. The whole technology is expected to be much more sophisticated than the Google Street View application. Unlike the latter where users can only navigate linearly over a predefined path that Google displays, users on Nokia’s 3D street view application may seamlessly navigate in the environment thus offering much more realistic navigational experiences. Nokia demonstrated an early stage version of the product earlier this week at Nokia World in London. Espoo is expected to dispatch its cars to London and other major European cities starting in November this year and they are expected to be incorporated in navigational products starting next year. Nokia has been building an in-house app for the popular location-based check-in service, FourSquare. The new service will not be a part of the Nokia Ovi Maps service that has recently got its own social check-in service. Instead, this will be an independent application that has been developed by Nokia engineers in collaboration with FourSquare. The app is expected to hit the Ovi Stores next week and according to Holger Luedorf, the VP of Mobile & Partnerships at FourSquare, partnerships with mobile manufacturers to help FourSquare reach out to a wider audience is primary in their expansion strategy. Luedorf also noted that FourSquare’s growth has been completely viral so far and the new partnership will boost this viral growth. The new FourSquare app from Nokia will be compatible with Symbian^3, 5.0 and 3.2 devices. Check out a demo of the app in action in the video below. The Nokia World Expo is currently underway and the Finnish giant has just unveiled two very promising smartphones – the Nokia C6 and C7. Both the devices are pretty similar except for the fact that the C7 is pretty slimmer. Both the devices come with a 3.5-inches display screen built with “ClearBlack Display“. The display is said to be as good as the hyped retina display on the iPhone. Anssi Vanjoki, the executive Vice President of Mobile Solutions at Espoo explains, “It’s a premium touchscreen that provides a higher contrast viewing experience than anything before. the background of the ClearBlack Display is blacker than black, because we have used a polariser to remove unwanted reflections for important outdoor visibility. It has lower power consumption too. It’s not only blacker, it’s also greener.” Other features on the upcoming devices include an 8-megapixel camera, webTV, free Ovi Maps,etc. That is everything we have at present with respect to the specifications list. No word on the pricing though the launch date is touted to be in Q4 this year. Here’s hoping for a great launch. Check out our earlier article on Nokia C7 specifications here. Nokia is showcasing its new E7 smartphone at the Nokia World 2010 show. The E7 is a beautiful 4-inches ClearBlack display device and is pretty similar to the Nokia N8 except that it is slightly larger. The device comes with a 16GB mass memory with a 350MB internal memory. With an 8-megapixel camera that supports 720p HD video playback, you do have a nice alternative to the Android and iOS handsets out in the wild. The form factor includes a full capacitive touch as well as a slider keyboard design. As you should already know, the device runs on Symbian^3 and has a 1200mAh battery/ There is no word on the pricing or launch date as yet though speculations are that it will launch in Q4 this year at an estimated price of €495. The phone will come in five colors – Dark Grey, Silver White, Green, Blue, Orange. Here are a couple of pictures and a video demo of the Nokia E7. Looks like the earlier speculations about the launch date of the new Nokia N8 scheduled towards the end of September are sort of correct. Tapani Kaskinen, Senior Comms Manager at Nokia has revealed to a Finnish newspaper that the company will begin the fulfillment of Nokia N8 pre-orders starting the 30th of this month. Now, since this revelation was made to the Finnish media, it is not clear if the dates hold true for the rest of the world. But since Kaskinen is specifically talking about pre-orders , I’m assuming the news holds true for all markets where Nokia has opened its preorder counters. If you are in the USA, this would definitely mean September 30. A report in mid-August had speculated the launch to happen in the end of September at a price of $550. Also, Espoo is noted to have purchased ad spots on Google Adwords for a week-long campaign starting September 23. So that nearly explains it. Nokia N8 – the 3.7″ AMOLED touchscreen display Symbian^3 device with a 12-megapixel camera is now available for pre-orders in the United States. We had earlier written about the launch date which has so far been set tentatively at “end of September”. The phone runs on a 600MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor and contains a 256MB RAM, Xenon Flash and a storage space of up to 32GB. The device has been available for quite sometime elsewhere in Europe and the pre-orders in Germany were open as early as May of this year. In the US, Nokia N8 shall be available at a pre-order price of $549 that is not too different from the Europen price that is roughly about $587 accounting for the exchange rates. You can check out the detailed features and book your phone on the Nokia USA website here. So here’s the latest from Nokia. Espoo is launching its new Nokia 5250 device that is based on Symbian and will come at a pretty attractive price of €115 ($146). Of course, subsidies and taxes are not accounted as yet, and so expect to pay a lot lesser if you are planning to get this on contract. According to what we hear, the Nokia 5250 is the successor to the Nuron – Nokia 5230 – and will come with a 2.8-inches touchscreen with a 640×360 pixel resolution display. The phone will run on Symbian S60 5th edition and will come with 51MB internal memory, a 16GB microSD slot, FM radio, a 2-megapixel camera, social network integration and a mobile version of Guitar Hero 5 pre-installed. With a battery life that will last 18 days including 24 hours of music playback and a storage that can accomodate 4000 songs, this device is aggressively targeted at the young music lovers. How do you like it? There has been a buzz over the past few days with respect to an upcoming smartphone from Nokia, named the N9. Of course, most of these rumors are still unsubstantiated and so need to be taken with a pinch of salt. But if the device is anything like what we are hearing, this is definitely going to be one hot gizmo. First of all, the Nokia N9 could be running the all-new MeeGo operating system and that in itself should get a lot of Nokia enthusiasts interested. Besides this, the N9 is expected to come with a 4-inches OLED display along with a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, a 512MB RAM, a 1GB storage space and a huge 64GB of internal memory. I’m still trying to double-check if the storage and memory specs got mixed up. As you expect, the device should also come with 720p HD video recording, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The Nokia N9 is also rumored to offer an HSPA+ connectivity. There’s a lot more we would like to know and confirm. So stay tuned. If you are a Nokia fan, you should look at this. A few pictures of the upcoming Nokia C7 are doing the rounds in the blogosphere and they are truly going to catch your imagination. The Nokia C7 is going to feature an 8 megapixel camera – ok, it’s not as good as the 12-Megapixel camera that the N8 is going to come with. But without doubt, this one definitely has a market. The device is also known to feature a 3.5-inches capacitive touchscreen display – that’s as big as the iPhone. The phone is also reported to run on the latest Symbian^3 platform which will bring features like threaded messaging, enhanced graphics and lesser prompts. Here are a couple of pictures of this beautiful gadget below. While it is not confirmed, I hear that the launch is happening in October and Nokia C7 could be priced at close to €300. These are crucial times for Nokia – more importantly its CEO, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo. The fact that the company has not been able to launch one major product in the western market that can take on the new breed of smartphones from Apple and the OHA manufacturers has meant that the Finnish giant is bracing itself up for a decisive launch of the new Nokia N8. According to reports, this new Symbian handset could be launching in the US towards the end of September – that’s presumably after the Nokia World Event in London that concludes on September 15. If the price is anything to go by, expect for lukewarm sales. The Nokia N8 is expected to ship at $550 in USA. Do note that the N8 is no iPhone. But it’s not a dud either. The device comes with a powerful 12-megapixel camera, HD video recording capability, HDMI output and a 16GB internal memory. All this does qualify it for the $550 price point and it is now up to the consumers to make their choice.	<urn:uuid:a8adb0b1-4bfc-45e9-86e2-809e19b7e998>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://gorumors.com/category/nokia/page/3	2015-03-28T12:15:41Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297505.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00284-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.953493	2,078
EDIT November 11th 2014 YES I KNOW NARUSAKU IS NOT CANON! But this does not mean all the reasons listed below does not give NaruSaku fans reasons to believe in what we did. We had DEVELOPMENT starting from chapter 3 before any other ship was introduced. If you are going to comment about how NaruSaku did not happen in a negative fashion I am going to hide your comment and block you. EDIT: June 18th, 2012. I finished most of the journal! AND 65 FAVORITES!?! Holy shet guys! And why is it getting more pageviews than my art?! Your all jerks! JK JK! I love you guys! I seen this journal linked all over the place. On forums, websites, comments, tumblr, facebook and more. GSAFSYGKA!!! Let me love you this is a WIP Journal so if you have anything to add, send a link to the manga chapter and your personal opinion! EDIT 2: Dear NaruHina fans. I know you say Sakura is nothing like Kushina. That's fine, but you are doing the same exact thing. Take the plank out of your own eye before judging. Edit 3: August 30th, 2012: 127 favorites?! Remember, this is only a one sided view focusing only on the NarutoXSakura MinatoXKushina portion. It is created only to discuss, critique, reference and/or simply to just hold onto and encourage. It is not to discourage other pairings, it is to understand where some NaruSaku fans get their faith in their pairing and why. This is not solid proof as to NaruSaku happening in the end. Most images have links when you click on them to the chapter I took it from so you can see the chapter for yourself. You can also right click, "copy image link" and paste the URL for a full view of the image. Lets face it, Kishimoto is not making any pairing solid between team 7 (at the moment) but the main thing that I found recently are NaruHina/SasuSaku fans claiming that Kushina and Sakura are nothing alike and are two completely different characters so we shouldn't even compare them. Yes and no. They are two different characters with different backgrounds but they do have similar traits. Compare and contrast. Kishimoto is the one who started the "comparing" rampage by this one panel: "のような" = Like Used in a general term to compare two simulates. の・ようなもの No Yōna Mono = Something like it Question #1. How do you know she doesn't mean finding someone like Kushina found Minato? CONFIRMED: In the original context, Kushina IS referring to finding someone like her personality wise. I had a friend, who is Japanese, translate and tell me what he thought. He is not into the Naruto manga and even asked me afterwards where the page was from. So this is not a bias statement, it is fact. To be honest, I really believe (most would) that Kushina is talking about personality....not looks. Maybe a little bit of background because it shapes who they are but not always. Hinata was a shy and insecure person before she got the "hard times" when her father found no favor in her. Her "problems" are not what shaped her, she was shaped as a shy and insecure individual even before her father and Hanabi. I am talking about backgrounds that shaped a person personality wise. This is why I do not find Hinatas "problems" a good comparison with Kushina since she was shy and insecure before which caused her problems. We can agree that Sakura and Kushina both have a hot-tempered attitude, one that is short fused and competitive. Both lashing out on the closest victim or the target when their fuse is cut short by insulting words or an action. Note: Kushina beat up the boys who made fun of her as a kid. Sakura did not do that to the girls (Ino did for her). Though, since she gained confidence from the experiences, she does lash out on whoever makes fun of her now i.e. Naruto, Konohamaru and Sai. Road to Ninja Twice in Road to Ninja Kushina lashed out at Naruto: The first time in the Hokage office and she punches him for saying something insulting. The second is at the family residence when Naruto wouldn't eat and Kushina broke down his door and yelled at him. Question #3: "Kushina beat up the people who made fun of her but Ino did that for Sakura." Right-on but Sakuras bullies were female and Kushinas were male. Maybe that made a difference, maybe it didn't. Kushina didn't need a guy to fight off those who made fun of her. She lashed out, like what Sakura does to Naruto. We also learn that Kushina and Minato had been in some arguments during their relationship when they were both alive which would be normal for a realistic relationship. Kushina even stating that she always won the argument except this one time: I have heard time and time again about the NaruHina argument that "I don't like Sakura because she doesn't treat Naruto right, Hinata loves him and would never do or say such things to him". Minato was probably was an innocent guy in these arguments but Kushinas heated attitude probably made her hard headed and nearly impossible to win against. Kushina admits to being impatient. When Kushina and Sakura get excited, they also have a verbal tick: Dattebane' (Kishimoto states Narutos word Dattebayo (Kushinas Dattebane) has no meaning but says "That isn't really modeled on anything either. When I thought of childlike speech, "dattebayo" instantly came to mind. It's like it's become a part of Naruto, and even now it brings out his "mischievousness".) Shannaro (Loosely translated to Hell Yeah, Bastard, Fuck Yeah in English translation in the manga) Not to mention when they both got excited and encouraged Naruto, their poses replicate eachother: Minato and Naruto At one point, Kushina had not liked Minato, even looking down on him just as Sakura had done to Naruto. We know this is the opposite of what Naruto was trying to do. He was trying to get her attention not to see her struggle but to get her to see him. This is also why he is probably trying to bring Sasuke back, because he wants her to see he understands her pain and wants to fix it. Kushina explains it was because she was young and didn't know better. Unlike Kushina, Sakura learned to slowly break down those walls she had for him after Sasuke had rejected her, calling her annoying: Sakura later encourages Naruto more times than Hinata has even appeared in the manga. She even encourages (internally) for Naruto to show everyone that he is greater than what everyone thinks. She doesn't falter when it comes to faith in his ability in the preliminary exams: The Scary Mom Effect There was one thing that I found that helped me laugh about Kushina as a mother which is repeated in the series: moms are scary! And was it not Shikamaru who asked his dad what he saw in his mother? Shikaku replied saying that there are times when she is gentle, implying that she's not as tyrannical as her son perceives her to be. I have had NaruHina fans ask this A LOT about NaruSaku and what we see. Well, if you aren't looking, you wont see why. We see a gentle side of Sakura that puts Naruto above even Sasuke. The Heaven and Earth Bridge scene was a great example. Sakura ran after Naruto, knowing full well she could die but his well being was more important. Not to mention she knew the reason he got this far in his beast mode...Sasuke. She was willing to put Narutos safety above Sasuke, telling him she will get Sasuke alone FOR Naruto. Not for herself, for Naruto. (And Naruto has no idea what Sakura did and her conversation in Yamato here.) More than once has Sakura been caught admiring Naruto, enjoying his presence. She is not all "evil", "mean" and constantly hitting Naruto or abusing/putting him down like a lot of NaruHina fans tend to say. Sakura genuinely cares about Naruto. She has a different way of showing she cares. (13 and 16 year old Sakura admiring Naruto. Both times Naruto didn't see this.) So Sakura cares about Naruto. She is seen caring and supporting him far more than we see her put him down. If someone only views the negative side of Sakura, they are like Shikamaru, ignoring the good qualities and hopefully one day they would become neutral and see both sides. But I will say this: Sakura would be one scary ass mom! Question #4: Sakura and Naruto would be like two Kushinas. It doesn't work, now does it?. Look at Sakura parents. Kishimoto crated Kizashi as a light hearted, carefree man who Sakura gets annoyed of because of his lame jokes. Mebuki, her mother, is stern and strong. She was inspired by Japanese Yankees which means her mom was a troublemaker and delinquent at one point. Kishimoto even stated that he created them so they would "bicker" and Ino stated they were "intense as always". Get a carefree guy who jokes around and a stern women and you get someone simular to Naruto and Sakura (still with differences to make individuality). One thing that I noticed was that Kushina and Sakura both had a physical quality that they did not like. Kushina, it was her hair and for Sakura, it was her forehead to which the guy that they did not admire and made fun of had complimented them on it. Who was the first to compliment Sakuras forehead? Who was the first to compliment Kushinas hair? (Naruto disguised as Sasuke) The one thing I do get from the bench scene is that what Sakura is looking for in Sasuke is not who he is. Sakura searches for reassurance in a guy, verbal compliments and acceptance. I think Sakura would still be like that in a relationship throughout her life and I can never see Sasuke fulfilling that thirst Sakura has. Naruto, on the other hand, is the kind of person Sakura is wishing Sasuke was. Several times Naruto had made hints and expressed his love for Sakura. (This panel can be admiration but he's admiring Sakura wink wink) MINATO: Chapter 631 This chapter sealed the deal. Minato had mistaken Sakura as Narutos girlfriend then went on to compare Sakura to Kushina. Minato did not say this out loud so it does not effect Narutos opinion on Sakura. A couple of things to think about: 1. If MInato could see the village be destroyed by Pein and know about Jiraiyas death from being inside of Naruto, wouldn't he have known about Hinatas confession? Wouldn't Minato know about Narutos feelings? 2. Minato was a hokage. He was in a war. He knows medical ninjas on the battle field so why did he point out that Sakura is Narutos girlfriend rather than just a friend or a random medical ninjas healing Naruto? Can Minato sense something more between them than what us audience picked up? Did Kishimoto do that on purpose? 3. Minato was there when Kushina told Naruto to find a girl like her. He see's Kushina in Sakura and made a comment about Sakura being Narutos girlfriend. What is the point of that if it isn't hinting something? Question #4. How can Naruto just say "no" to Hinata after the way she confessed? He has to like her back. Just like how can Naruto say he doesn't deserve to become hokage if he can't even save a friend? He earned his right to be hokage but because Narutos emotional side would feel regret and that he doesn't deserve it, he wont take it. Remember, he doesn't feel he can confess to Sakura if he can't keep a promise. If he can't save Sasuke, he can't keep his promise which means he can't confess to Sakura which means he also wouldn't feel fit to become hokage (because of Sasuke). He has all that on his shoulder. He wont just skip over Sasuke and Sakura and hop right over to Hinata. Doesn't work that way. Which is why he never said anything to Hinata for a long while about the confession. He still hasn't. This might be taking it a bit too far but I am going to add it anyways since so many mention I should. Kushina and Sakura were both saved by the man who complimented and loved them against an enemy Uchiha who tried to kill them. Yes, I understand it was Kurama who was going to crush Kushina but he was being controlled by Tobi/Obito. (Chapter 501: kissmanga.com/Manga/Naruto/Nar… /Chapter 484: kissmanga.com/Manga/Naruto/Nar… ) when I saw that chapter where Minato saved Kushina, I thought of Naruto and Sakura, not the other way around. There are times when I see Minato and Kushina like Naruto and Sakura. And Kishimoto has editors to point out anything that he may have used before or what it reminds them of. One of his editors could have said "this reminds me of when Naruto saved Sakura" and Kishimoto simply says "yes". We don't know. I just assume with his assistants and editors that they would point these out so they are intentional when published. If its a repeat, I do not think it is an accident. Question #5. Hinata was the only one to fight Pein for Naruto. She risked her life for him. Where was Sakura? She could have easily have jumped in and try to fight Pein. Sakura couldn't see what was happening. As a medical ninja during a time of crisis, she is taught to stay back and be one of the last ones to die and heal. Sakura was probably doing just that, as she was taught. Arguments I dislike: "Sakura hits Naruto. Naruto doesn't deserve that." And Kushina hit Naruto. Kushina must be an abusive mother. eye roll* Plus, when has Naruto ever complained about Sakura? Like Minato and Shikaku, Naruto puts his tail between his legs and let the Sakura win in arguments. The only time Naruto did not tolerate Sakura was during the fake confession and in this case Sakura was not being honest with her feelings entirely. When Sakura lashes out and punches Naruto in the past, Sakura wasn't hiding any feelings and acted on them. They were 100% real emotions that she felt. She wasn't masking her feelings. The fake confession, she was. Naruto would rather have Sakura be 100% honest and true about her feelings than say what he "wants" to hear. When Sakura is honest with herself and her feelings, that is when Naruto adores her the most, even if he ends up through three walls. "Hinata is like Minato and Naruto is like Kushina. That is what Kushina was saying" NO. Kushina said to "find a girl like me" not "find a girl like Minato". End of story. "The fake confession scene was Kishimoto cutting out the possibility of NaruSaku from happening." The point....you missed it... Then the point of the fake confession was overlooked. The only reason Sakura created a team and went out to Naruto was because of Narutos safety. Sakura lied to manipulate Naruto because she felt she had no other choice. Kishimoto wouldn't have just had Sakura walk to Iron country just to give a fake confession to cut out the possibility of NaruSaku, it was because Sakura was trying to get Naruto back in the village, away from the Akatsuki and also so she could handle Sasuke on her own. It was all for Naruto and Sakura was desperate and hurt. "Hinatas boobs are bigger." God, do I hate that argument! Kushinas are small too. >:T And Naruto isn't a shallow kind of guy. If he likes a girl, it is for who she is personality wise, not boob wise. "Hinata was the first to encourage and support Naruto." Manga wise, false. Hinata doesn't show up until the chunin exam. And verbally encourage Naruto, out of all the females, it was Sakura who first verbally encouraged Naruto (that we know of) and the first female to stand up on behalf of Naruto. Not to mention Sakura was the first of the rookie 9 to state she wanted Narutos dream of becoming Hokage a reality. "Sakura doesn't love Naruto." "When she was younger, the one Sakura yeared for then loved, was Sasuke. Naruto was merely a nuisance, the loser who always came between her and Sasuke. But as she goes over various missions in the past, and Sakura comes to a realization. When times were hard, when she wanted to give up on life, it was always that nuisance, Naruto, who protected and encouraged her. How does she feel about Naruto? Sakura still has not found an answer." If Naruto was just a friend or comrade, why would Kishimoto state that Sakura doesn't know her feelings for Naruto? Why would he place that in the character data book in the first place? He couldn't have put anything else in the data book or even left out the last two sentences and said Naruto has became her best friend...but he doesn't. And yes, Kishimoto stated in an interview after this book was published in Japan that Sakura really does love Sasuke...but he doesn't say that Sakura doesn't love Naruto. He knew full well what was going to happen between Sakura and Sasuke and knew Sakuras feelings and yet he still published this as Sakuras data. And yet Kishimoto does not state that Hinata loves Naruto in the data book but that Naruto is the "embodiment of potential and confidence" for Hinata. I think Naruto is more of a goal than someone as far as relationship goes and I (an opinion of mine) think Naruto knows that and feels honored but wont lie about his feelings and return them to Hinata if he still loves Sakura. I am just going to throw in a couple of other things not related to MinaKush. Jiraiya and Tsunade I often feel like what Jiraiya failed at, Naruto will accomplish...including the girl. Obito and Rin Simular team setup. The loser of the group ends up liking the medical female of the team while the girl likes the cool genius who acts ignorant but changes due to the goofy idiot of the team who vows to change the shinobi ways. Sasuke and Sakura Honest to God, I believe Sasuke knows Naruto likes Sakura. If Sai could figure it out, I think Sasuke knows as well. So why NaruSaku? The biggest thing for me is that Naruto and Sakura have development. They have experienced and seen each other cry, laugh, hurt, be rejected and knocked down and yet they don't think of each other differently. Even when Sakura was hurt by the 4-tails, Sakura never ONCE blamed or saw Naruto any differently. She knew that was not who Naruto was and that is a lot of development in Sakuras character towards Naruto. Though, when has Sakura ever judged Naruto for being the 9-tails container? Naruto took Sakuras hits but never complained. They seen and been the victims of each others arguments, punches, stupidity and ignorance and they still stand strong. Kishimoto stated that Sakuras love for Sasuke was selfish. All she thought about was Sasuke and didn't care for Naruto or anyone else. I feel that same obsession with Hinata towards Naruto. Sakura had at least acknowledged that Hinata loves Naruto but does Hinata know that Naruto loves Sakura? Of not, she doesn't know Naruto as much as Sai does (which is saying something) or that she doesn't care about his feelings and thoughts on Sakura and wants him for herself. Thus is why I did not like the "holding hands" portion in the war. She is too obsessed and central on Naruto for herself and I feel like she doesn't think about Naruto and how he feels. If Hinata really loved Naruto, she wouldn't force anything and encourage him to do what he feels is right. Naruto was willing to bring Sasuke back to Sakura even if that would hurt him the most (at the time). He's never once forced or said he would "claim" Sakura and he is wise. He is willing to let her come to him on her own if she does. That would mean she has no obligation or sorrow or choose him out of pity. There is NO proof that Naruto is over Sakura. His attention is on the war and helping and encouraging his comrades while trying to save/fight Sasuke. Sasuke is #1 on his plate right now so Sakura takes a backseat...so does Hinata. As we know, for years Nauto liked Sakura to the point Sai noticed. If it is that obvious and is a repeated fact for Naruto, I don't think his feelings are going to sway over one small argument to which Sai say's "now I understand why Sakura couldn't tell you the truth.". Though, Sakura is not over Sasuke, it is also not confirmed that Sakura does not love Naruto. Kishimoto states that. Some great quotes "We've never seen Naruto even once go to hit Sakura back. He'd rather be beaten within an inch of his life rather than hit her." - Akano Kin "Naruto gives up all of his goals to fufill Sakura's. She sees the human side that needs to be cared for." "Why DO we like Narusaku? Simply because of their interactions and continual development throughout the series" "Naruto and Sakura are very similar. The relationship is built not just forced. The support they show for each other is just amazing." "One of the major reasons I support the Sakura/Naruto pairing is that they can be who they are around each other, no masks." "Sakura can find strength and determination in Naruto, and at the same time, Naruto can find wisdom and maturity from Sakura." "The greatest thing about Naruto & Sakura is that they have the ability to be romantic even without being overly sappy & amorous." "Hinata even smiles when Sakura hugged Naruto. When Sakura was hugging Sasuke, Naruto was torn up. It's different feelings." "Naruto has loved sakura throughout the entire series. So that ends that argument "From the whole course of the manga, he just likes Sakura more than any girls and some people tends to forget that." BEFORE YOU COMMENT! 1. Yes. I know there are differences between the characters 2. Yes I know there are similarities with Hinata 3. No I am not saying this is poof as NaruSaku being cannon 4. Don't twist my words or take it literally 5. I don't care if NaruHina happens I just want Naruto to be happy and loved in the end You may proceed to comment if you wish.	<urn:uuid:f5a6f543-300d-44d2-b641-d600d2bfd458>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://narutoxsakura-fc.deviantart.com/journal/Why-we-compare-Kushina-and-Sakura-updated-299391235	2015-03-28T12:13:15Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297505.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00284-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.981882	4,970
ICT SATELLITE ACCOUNT Information and communication technologies (ICT) play an important role in the way in which we live and do business. There is considerable interest in the role of ICT as a significant driver of socioeconomic development, for example, in the way that ICT has allowed businesses to increase productivity. For official statisticians, the measurement of these technologies provides significant conceptual and measurement challenges. A key part of the ABS response to these challenges has been the development of an ICT satellite account for Australia for 2002-03. This was preceded by the release in 2003 of a 'pilot' ICT satellite account in respect of 1998-99. The notion of a satellite account was conceived in the System of National Accounts 1993 to expand the core national accounts for selected areas of interest, while using relevant concepts and structures from the core national accounts. An ICT satellite account involves the identification of ICT products and activities within the national accounting framework so that a comprehensive and coherent set of economic data on ICT supply and use can be produced. There are few international examples of ICT satellite accounts, and the concepts and methods used here are largely based on existing international statistical standards for national accounts. Nevertheless, developments from a number of international fora are also incorporated, in particular, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Party on Indicators for the Information Society and the OECD Task Force on Software Measurement in the National Accounts. This publication represents the first official satellite account on ICT and its direct contribution to the Australian economy. In particular, it contains data on the contribution of ICT to key macro-economic variables such as gross domestic product (GDP), investment, imports and exports. As this satellite account constitutes an integrated set of statistics on ICT products and services within the internationally recognised Australian System of National Accounts, it represents a valuable policy and research tool with a wide range of applications. This satellite account is the product of development work requiring a number of assumptions and synthetic estimates for some components, and therefore at this stage the estimates should be considered experimental. The Australian Bureau of Statistics welcomes user comments. Comments should be directed to: National Accounts Research Australian Bureau of Statistics Locked Bag 10 Belconnen, ACT, 2616. For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Peter Comisari on Canberra (02) 6252 5381. BACKGROUND TO THE ICT SATELLITE ACCOUNT There has been substantial interest in recent years, both in Australia and internationally, in those products and services known as information and communication technology (ICT) products and services (hereafter referred to as ICT products), in the industries that import, produce or distribute those products and in who uses these products. ICT products are closely associated with the phenomenon of the 'new economy' and with other events such as the 'dotcom' boom and the privatisation of telecommunication service providers seen in a number of countries over the past two decades. Much of the demand for economic data on ICT products has been driven by the interest of economists and policy advisors in the uptake of new technologies and in the role ICT may have played in the productivity surge of the 1990s. Satellite accounts, as articulated in the international System of National Accounts 1993 (SNA93), allow for an expansion of the national accounts for selected areas of interest while maintaining links to the basic concepts and structures of the core national accounts. The ICT satellite account developed by the ABS uses the national accounts framework to present a picture of the value of transactions in ICT products within the Australian economy. The link with the national accounts enhances the usefulness of the data in analysis because it ensures comparability to, and consistency with, key economic aggregates such as GDP. However, the satellite account does not provide an analysis of the contribution of ICT to productivity growth, nor is it a compendium of all available ICT-related information collected by the ABS or available through other sources. The ABS provides a variety of ICT-related information from its extensive suite of ICT surveys. These surveys include the Information and Communication Technology Industries Survey (ICTIS), the Business Use of Information Technology Survey (BUIT), the Household Use of Information Technology Survey (HUIT) and the Government Technology Survey (GTS). Appendix 1 describes the framework used by the ICT satellite account in which these and other data are brought together and integrated for the whole economy. Broadly, ICT products include computer hardware and their peripherals, parts, components and consumables, computer software, telecommunication assets, computer services, telecommunication services and wholesale and retail margins on ICT products. ICT products do not include those ICT goods and services produced and consumed in-house in the process of producing other goods and services. In turn, the 'ICT Industry' is defined with reference to those same products, and includes wholesaling and retailing. Appendix 2 provides a detailed discussion of issues relating to the scope of the ICT satellite account and the classifications used. ICT products in this publication are defined within the ABS Classification of ICT Products and are presented in Appendix 3. The economic value of ICT products is already included in the Australian System of National Accounts (ASNA) in key economic aggregates such as GDP, industry gross value added, gross fixed capital formation (investment) and household final consumption expenditure (HFCE). However, the classifications and data sources used in the national accounts are generally not designed to systematically isolate ICT products, or the industries producing or distributing those products. Similarly, the national accounts do not systematically isolate the use of ICT products by businesses, government and households, although some important aggregates such as business investment in computer software are already separately available. The basic compilation framework for the ICT satellite account is the national accounts 'supply and use' system. It has been adapted to focus on ICT products and the industries producing or distributing those products. Fundamentally, the system consists of a supply table that tracks the supply of ICT products from imports and from Australian producers, and a use table that tracks the use of those products by industries, government, households and for export. It aims to be comprehensive in its coverage. Many different sources of data of varying quality are used to populate the supply and use tables. Appendix 4 provides a description of the various ABS data sources used. In order to satisfy the identity that the supply and use of products must be equal, discrepancies due to deficiencies in the source data have been identified and resolved. A great strength of the framework is that it facilitates this data confrontation and provides a basis for optimising the quality of the overall estimates in the face of deficiencies and gaps in data coverage. One role of the satellite account has been to review and, where necessary, make improvements to ICT data series used in the ASNA itself. These improvements were substantially reflected in the 'historical revision' of the national accounts published in Australian System of National Accounts 2004-05 (cat. no. 5204.0) in November 2005. Some satellite accounts use a set of recommended classifications and frameworks developed from international research and discussion over a number of years, with international agencies usually taking the lead. For example, when the ABS developed its satellite accounts for tourism and non-profit institutions there were international guidelines available to guide the work. There are no such guidelines available for an ICT satellite account, although there have been international initiatives on some aspects important to this work. International experience shows that the measurement of ICT transactions is not easy, particularly given the intangible nature of software, the licencing and leasing arrangements involved and the bundling of ICT products. It was therefore inevitable that a range of significant data and other issues required close attention in producing this publication. Appendix 5 provides detail on the substantial number of methodological issues encountered. Inevitably, a number of judgement calls were necessary to integrate the data and to take a stance on issues for which there is as yet no clear international standard. Consequently, the results contained in this publication should be considered experimental. Appendix 6 provides further comment on the quality of the estimates produced and Appendix 7 describes the relationship between these estimates and certain other ICT-related ABS data series. Because of the large developmental aspect to the ICT satellite account, this publication gives considerable attention to describing the ABS response to the various challenges encountered in producing the published tables. The ABS hopes this will encourage constructive commentary on the issues described and contribute to the development of best practice in statistical measurement internationally. This publication was preceded by a pilot ICT satellite account in respect of 1998-99, the results of which were published as a feature article 'An Information and Communication Technology Satellite Account' in the December quarter 2002 issue of Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product (cat. no. 5206.0). On the basis of knowledge gained from the pilot ICT satellite account, the ABS undertook to collect a range of additional data from businesses and government to compile the accounts contained in this publication. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS The scope of this satellite account was determined by the range of goods and services considered to be 'ICT'. Essentially, ICT products include computer hardware, computer software, telecommunication assets, computer services and telecommunication services. An ICT satellite account details the supply and use of these products and also measures the direct value that ICT products add to the economy through the key aggregates ICT GDP and ICT gross value added. ICT GDP represents the total market value of ICT products produced in Australia after deducting the cost of goods and services used up in the process of production. ICT accounted for $36.2 billion or 4.6% of total GDP in 2002-03. Industry gross value added is free of the effects of changes in taxes and subsidies on products that can vary between industries and over time and is therefore the preferred national accounts measure of industry contribution to value of production. ICT gross value added was $34.8 billion (4.9% of total gross value added) in 2002-03. The ICT share of gross value added exceeds the ICT share of GDP. Since GDP is equivalent to gross value added plus taxes less subsidies on products, this result simply reflects ICT's relative share of taxes less subsidies on products. ICT share of the Australian economy, 2002-03 ICT GROSS VALUE ADDED There is no 'ICT industry' in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC). Instead, producers of ICT products operate in a number of ANZSIC industries. Of the ICT contribution to total gross value added of 4.9%, Telecommunication services contributed 2.2 percentage points, Computer services 1.4 percentage points, ICT wholesale 0.7 percentage points, ICT manufacturing 0.1 percentage points and all other industries 0.5 percentage points. Viewed differently, the most significant industry contributors to ICT gross value added were Telecommunication services (44.3%), Computer services (28.0%) and ICT wholesale (14.8%). INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTION TO ICT GROSS VALUE ADDED - 2002-03 ICT gross value added Share of ICT gross value added \|ICT specialist industries \| \|Telecommunication services \| \|Computer services \| \|Total ICT specialist industries \| \|Other industries \| COMPARISON WITH 'NON-ICT' INDUSTRIES When compared with the seventeen conventional ANZSIC industry divisions the ICT contribution to total gross value added of 4.9% in 2002-03 ranked ninth. ICT gross value added exceeded that of Agriculture, forestry and fishing (3.3%), Government administration and defence (4.4%), Education (4.8%), and Personal and other services (2.0%). Among the industries with a contribution to total gross value added exceeding that of ICT were Mining (5.0%), Construction (6.4%) and Finance and insurance (7.4%). INCOME COMPONENTS OF ICT GROSS VALUE ADDED Gross value added corresponds to the income items compensation of employees, gross operating surplus, gross mixed income and other net taxes on production. In the ICT specialist industries, compensation of employees ($17.1 billion) and gross operating surplus and gross mixed income ($13.1 billion) combined comprised 97.5% of gross value added. Among the ICT specialist industries, Computer services contributed most to compensation of employees, and Telecommunication services had the highest gross operating surplus / gross mixed income. INCOME COMPONENTS OF ICT GROSS VALUED ADDED - 2002-03 Compensation of employees Gross operating surplus/Gross mixed income Other net taxes on production ICT gross value added \|ICT specialist industries \| \|Wholesale trade \| \|Telecommunication services \| \|Computer services \| \|Total ICT specialist industries \| \|Other industries \| \|na not available \| AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION OF ICT PRODUCTS The value of Australian production of ICT products was $65.1 billion in 2002-03. Over 90% of this production took place within ICT specialist industries. The largest single contributor to total Australian production of ICT products was Telecommunication services ($32.7 billion) followed by Computer services ($15.5 billion). Retail trade ($3.6 billion) was the largest contributor among the 'Other industries'. INVESTMENT IN ICT Business and government invested $26.7 billion in ICT products in 2002-03. Computer hardware made up 40.2% ($10.7 billion) of this investment and packaged and customised software 30.8% ($8.2 billion). The Communication services industry ($5.1 billion) contributed 19.3% to total ICT investment - the largest share of any industry. Other major industry contributors to ICT Investment were Property and business services (14.1%), Finance and insurance (12.1%), Government administration and defence (11.4%) and Manufacturing (8.6%). Industry share of ICT investment, 2002-03 Private businesses and public corporations contributed 83.4% ($22.3 billion) of total investment in ICT products in 2002-03 while general government contributed 16.6% ($4.5 billion). The Commonwealth Government accounted for 59.5% of general government sector ICT investment. The largest ICT product investment by any sector was private sector investment in software ($9.2 billion), followed closely by private sector investment in computer hardware ($8.8 billion). General government invested $2.1 billion in software, $2.0 billion in computer hardware and $0.4 billion in telecommunication equipment. ICT investment, By sector and product - 2002-03 Investment in ICT accounted for 13.8% of total investment in Australia in 2002-03. Some industries invest more intensively in ICT, which is reflected in the marked industry-to-industry variation in the proportion of ICT investment to total investment. The Communication services industry had the largest proportion of ICT investment to total investment at 80.7%. This was followed by Government administration and defence (58.2%), Finance and insurance (48.2%), Wholesale trade (30.3%), and Property and business services (27.1%). ICT investment to total investment, By selected industries - 2002-03 ICT investment as a proportion of total investment \|Wholesale trade \| \|Communication services \| \|Finance and Insurance \| \|Property and business services \| \|Government admisnistration and defence \| \|All other industries(a) \| \|(a) Excluding ownership of dwellings and ownership transfer costs. \| Annual growth in investment for computer hardware and software fluctuated between 1997-98 and 2004-05, though it remained positive throughout this period. The 18.3% peak in growth in software investment between 1998-99 and 1999-2000 reflected Y2K related software spending. Investment in computers, Annual growth - 1997-98 to 2004-05 BUSINESS USE OF SELECTED ICT TECHNOLOGIES The following table shows recent trends in business use of computers and the Internet, and web presence in businesses. Over the last five years, business use of these technologies has increased substantially, particularly business presence on the web and use of the Internet. In 2002-03, 83% of businesses indicated use of a computer, while 71% used the Internet and 23% had a web presence. BUSINESS USE OF SELECTED TECHNOLOGIES \|Businesses using a computer \| \|Businesses using the Internet \| \|Businesses with a web presence \| \|Business Use of Information Technology, 2002-03 (cat. no. 8129.0). \| Intermediate consumption is the value of goods and services used up as inputs in the process of production. In business accounting terms, intermediate consumption corresponds to 'business expenses' (as opposed to investment spending). Business and government intermediate consumption of ICT products was valued at $33.5 billion in 2002-03. The largest item of intermediate consumption of ICT products was telecommunication services valued at $18.9 billion, followed by other computer services ($11.0 billion). Following national accounts conventions, all household spending on ICT products is treated as consumption spending. Households spent $16.0 billion on ICT products in 2002-03. The largest single component was phone carrier services, which accounted for $10.8 billion (or 67.0%) of household expenditure on ICT. Households also spent $1.8 billion (11.4%) on computer hardware, $1.2 billion (7.5%) on telecommunication equipment and $1.1 billion (6.8%) on Internet services. Household spending on ICT products accounted for 3.5% of total household final consumption expenditure (HFCE) in 2002-03. This was similar to the level of household spending on education services, clothing and footwear and alcoholic beverages and tobacco. HFCE, Selected components - Relative to total HFCE: 2002-03 INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ICT Australia experienced a deficit of $9.7 billion in net trade in ICT products in 2002-03. That is, the level of ICT product imports ($14.0 billion) was $9.7 billion greater than ICT product exports ($4.2 billion). ICT imports accounted for 8.4% of all imports while ICT exports accounted for 2.8% of exports. Re-exports made up $1.2 billion of total ICT imports and exports. Re-exports are imports which are exported in the same condition or after undergoing only minor transformation which leaves them essentially unchanged. Computer hardware and telecommunication equipment together made up 73.5% of ICT imports. The largest ICT export items were computer hardware at $1.3 billion and telecommunication services at $1.1 billion. In combination, these two items comprised 55.2% of total ICT exports in 2002-03. For analytical purposes ICT employment is defined to include 'computing professionals and technicians' working in both ICT and non-ICT related industries. ICT employment excludes persons employed in ICT related industries in such activities as data entry, call centre and general management and administration. Computing professionals and technicians accounted for 2.5% (or 234,700 persons) of total employed persons in 2002-03. Computing professionals dominated this category, accounting for 74% or 174,800 persons. 'Computing professionals' covers system managers, designers, programmers and auditors, software designers, and applications and analyst programmers. The Property and business services industry employed 49.1% of all computing professionals and technicians in 2002-03. The second largest industry employer of computing professionals and technicians was Government administration and defence (9.0% or 21,100 persons) followed by Finance and insurance (8.1% or 19,100 persons). Employed persons, Computing professionals and technicians - By industry - 2002-03 This page last updated 28 January 2009	<urn:uuid:0bae7a61-f2df-4ee8-8ebb-eac48db6e61c>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/[email protected]/ProductsbyReleaseDate/52F69D385978038DCA2571290008557E?OpenDocument	2015-03-28T12:27:36Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131297505.18/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172137-00284-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.925796	4,181
Guide to the Point Lobos League records, [ca. 1927-1945] Guide to the Point Lobos League Records, [ca. 1927-1945] Collection number: BANC MSS C-A 285The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley - The Bancroft Library. - University of California, Berkeley - Berkeley, California, 94720-6000 - Phone: (510) 642-6481 - Fax: (510) 642-7589 - Email: [email protected] - URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu - Processed by: - The Bancroft Library staff - Date Completed: - ca. 1969 - Encoded by: - Xiuzhi Zhou Key to Arrangement Point Lobos Master Plan, plus various reports, notes and comments on the master plan. Vegetation map of Point Lobos, 1935, plus guide, by Edward Lee. Vertebrate Animals of Point Lobos Reserve, 1934-1935, by Joseph Grinnell and Jean M. Linsdale; and Point Lobos Reserve, by Newton B. Drury, 1938 (Reprint). Various articles on California State Park System, and on the preservation of Point Lobos. Some maps. 2 letters to Mrs. Philip Van Horne Lansdale, 1933, one including balance sheet of the Point Lobos Association, Apr., 1927-Aug. 29, 1930. Draft of volume on Point Lobos Reserve State Park for series "Landmarks and Monuments of Historical California" prepared by the State Division of Parks. Various reports from Olmsted Brothers, Landscape Architects, Brookline, Mass. Point Lobos as a Memorial. Point Lobos Book; draft with quotations from various sources, and captions apparently intended for use with photographs. Various chapter headings, captions, intended for use in reports of the Point Lobos Advisory Committee. Copy of Vertebrate Animals..., by Grinnell and Linsdale; clippings; reprint, Further Notes on California Brown Pelicans at Point Lobos, California, by Laidlaw Williams. Copies of newspaper items re sea lions, 1944. North Shore Memorial Report of the Point Lobos Advisory Committee to the California State Park Commission, Mar. 1, 1936 (copy); newspaper clippings. Various letters re Point Lobos, 1935-1938, to and from Newton 3. Drury. Point Lobos Book, notes and letters, Newton B. Drury. Design for emblem for Point Lobos Association, taken from clipping which is included. Comments on the Olmsted Report. Misc. letters, memoranda and notes re Point Lobos and surrounding land. Misc. letters of Grinnell and Linsdale Point Lobos Reserve: Highlights of Scenic Beauty, by Clark Wing (copy). Misc. letters, articles, clippings re Point Lobos, 1945- Interpretation of a Primitive Landscape, published for the Point Lobos Advisory Committee, 1946 (copy). Misc. letters of John C. Merriam, 1932-1936. Misc. letters of henry S. Pritchett, 1932-1935. Revisions by J. M. Linsdale of section of book on vertebrate animals. Letters to and from G. Frederick Schwarz and Ida T. Z. Schwarz, 1909-1933. Various maps of Point Lobos. Misc. papers, including several balance sheets for Point Lobos Association, 1930-1934. Misc. letters, reports, etc. re Point Lobos, 1929-1933. Letters of W. L. Jepson, Aubrey Drury, C. M. Goethe re Sargent Cypresees. Letters re county aid to State Parks. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, 1932? Point Lobos Advisory Committee, 1933. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1934. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1934. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1935. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1935? Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1936. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1936. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1937? Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1937. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1938. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1938. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1939. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1939. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1940. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1940. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1941. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1941. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1942. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1942. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, Jan. 1 to June 30, 1943. Point Lobos Advisory Committee, July 1 to Dec. 31, 1943. Minutes of the Point Lobos Association, Apr. 11, 1927 -Feb. 15, 1933. Point Lobos Reserve: Report of a State Park Nature Guide, by Louis C. Wheeler. Misc. letters and reports re Point Lobos (copies). Corrections by McDuffie on revised Report of the Point Lobos Advisory Committee to the State Park Commission. Reports on the History of Point Lobos, by V. A. Neasham and Waldo R. Wedel. Aubrey Drury: Notes on the History of Point Lobos. Several Copies. Reports on the Vegetation of Point Lobos, by Edward Lee and Herbert L. Mason. Misc. letters, etc. re preservation of Point Lobos, many addressed to and written by Caroline Hunter (Mrs. Robert Hunter). Sponsors - letters. Various reports (copies) on Point Lobos by Edward Lee, E. P. Meincike, F. L. Olmsted, Ralph W. Chaney. W. K. Fisher: Life between Tides. Several copies and some photographs. Report of the Point Lobos Advisory Committee to the California State Park Commission; Personal Observation of Visitors in Point Lobos reserve, by R. A. Wilson; Regulation of Tourist Travel in the Cypress Grove of Point lobos, Calif., by E. P. Meinicke. Botanical reports re Point Lobos; Reports of State Nature Guides, 1936-1937; and various other documents. General correspondence re Point Lobos, 1943-1945. Animals -- land and marine; Birds of Sea and Shore: 2 chapters of Point Lobos book (also 2 wildlife sketches). Protection of the Primitive, by John C. Merriam; also misc. papers re Point Lobos. Various photographs of the Point Lobos region. Various papers re flora and fauna of Point Lobos Reserve. Papers on esthetic value of Point Lobos. The geology of Point Lobos, 2 papers. Misc. papers re the cypresses of Monterey County. Misc papers re preservation of Point Lobos. Minutes of Board of Directors of Point Lobos Association. Various letters re Sponsors Misc. correspondence (A-Z) Misc. memoranda, including Memorandum on the Development of the Campaign of the Point Lobos Association. Misc. correspondence, 1933. Misc. correspondence and notes, 1933. Letters of Duncan McDuffie. Suggested procedure - Articles of Incorporation. Articles about Point Lobos and environs. Correspondence, Mrs. Robert Hunter, before 1931. Correspondence, Mrs. Robert Hunter, 1931-1932. Correspondence, Mrs. Robert Hunter, 1933. Correspondence, Mrs. Robert Hunter, 1943. Edward S. Harkness. Reports and Surveys. Misc. clippings re Point Lobos. Acknowledgment of contributions. A. M. Allen. Appraisal and Valuation. Booklet - layout and photographs. W. B. Bourn. Constitution and bylaws. Contribution blank and draft for contribution blank. Henry W. de Forest. Samuel P. Eastman. Mrs. Elizabeth Gerberding. D. T. MacDougal. Adolph S. Ochs. F. L. Olmsted. John D. Rockefeller. George B. Vaughan: article on esthetic features of Point Lobos. George B. Vaughan: Misc. articles and photographs. H. A. Spoehr: Scientific Work Necessary for Preservation of Point Lobos. Allyn G. Smith: Land Snails of the Point Lobos Reserve. Olmsted Bros. : Specific Recommendations for Preservation and Utilization. F. E. Clements: Summary of Ecological Suggestions. Note to accompany Grinnell reports. Corrected pages for Report and Recommendations to Park Commission. W. K. Fisher: Marine Invertebrates. Vertebrate Animals of Point Lobos Reserve - Summary (several copies); and correspondence re this report. Willis L. Jepson: The Cypresses of Monterey. Emerson Knight: Aesthetic Resources of Point Lobos Reserve; Chronicle of Comments...; Report on Motor Car Parking. James L. Leitch: Interests and Activities...; Species of Marine Invertebrates...; Report on the Nature Walks.... Thomas H. McBride: Point Lobos (1916). Herbert L. Mason, and L. R. Mason: Algae of Point Lobos Reserve. Herbert L. Mason: List of plants.... E. P. Meinecke: Comments upon Olmsted, Grinnell and Linsdale, and Lee reports; Regulation of Tourist Travel.... John C. Merriam: Protection of the Primitive...; Purposes served through the Preservation of Point Lobos; Primitive Appeal of Nature. Vernon Aubrey Neasham: Historical Background of Point Lobos Reserve. Olmsted Report on Point Lobos State Park, 1935-1936. Olmsted, F. L. : Memoranda as to Ecological Investigations; Types of plant communities...; Revision of Entrance, Plate III (copies). Charles B. Wing: Report re Width of trails and administration of Whaler's Cottage. R. A. Wilson: Personal Observation of Visitors.... Louis C. Wheeler: Lichens of Point Lobos Reserve; Plant Diseases of Point Lobos Reserve. Waldo R. Wedel: Archeological Reconnaissance of Point Lobos State Park, Calif. Raymond B. Waldo: Report of Nature Guide. Willis W. Wagener: Tree Diseases... Point Lobos State Park. A. W. Dimock: Report on 1936 Cypress Canker Control Surveys..., with comment by W. W. Wagener. Appendix to Master Plan. George B. Vaughan: Outline of Part II Olmsted Report; Report of Visit to Point Lobos...; Summary of Part III, Olmsted Report. George B. Vaughn: Part II, Olmsted Report. F. L. Olmsted: Part III (copies). Weather records of Point Lobos. John C. Merriam, misc. letters and statements. Correspondence re photographs. Photographs and pictures. Misc. reprints re Point Lobos. Photographs (in album). Rainfall and temperature records - Carmel. Suggested program for raising money. Extra copies of Grinnell-Linsdale report.	<urn:uuid:d9632f85-15a6-4479-bfc3-996765cc73ea>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt9n39p0kb/entire_text/	2015-03-30T06:10:24Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299114.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00108-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.798097	2,629
Caring for a Sick Bird / Emergency Care Emergency treatment for the ill bird at home The following instructions refer to emergency treatment to be given at home, prior to hospitalization. Veterinary attention should be sought as soon as possible to determine the cause of illness and treatment options. Other Useful Links: Identifying sick birds ... Emergency care for a sick bird ... Heavy Metal Poisoning / Caring for your Bird ... First Aid Procedures ... First Aid Kit ... Do-It-Yourself Disease Testing and DNA Sexing ... Bacterial Testing / Microbiology (Step-by-Step Instructions) Sick birds need supportive treatment, such as warmth and fluids. You also need to watch the bird carefully because if it stops eating and drinking then forcefeeding may be necessary. Optimal Set-up for a Sick Bird: - First of all, the cage needs to be kept meticulously clean -- this is especially important when it houses a sick bird that cannot deal with germs as well as a healthy one might. - UNLESS your pet is running a fever, WARMTH IS CRITICAL! Provided your pet is NOT running a fever, its environment should be kept at about 90 degrees. In cases where a pet bird does have fever, you don't want to increase the ambient (room) temperature further as it would raise your pet's temperature even more - and that alone could be lethal. A chilled bird will be fluffed up. An overheated bird will raise its wings away from its body and potentially pant. A hospital cage would be great, as it would keep the temperature at the level you want. But most people don't have that available and an acrylic bird carrier or fish tank available at pet stores can potentially be substituted. If you use one of those, you have to monitor the temperature quite carefully. This being said, putting a sick bird into a new environment may be stressful. Maybe placing the cage into a small room that can easily be heated (small bathroom, for example) might do. Drape a heavy cover on one of the sides, but make sure that the bird doesn't "sit in the dark" -- except at night. Potential heat sources can be a heating pad underneath the cage, hot bottles or heat lamps. Of course, the heat lamps shouldn't be used at night, as your pet needs to rest. Maybe a combination of heating pad at night and a heat lamp during the day might be an option. Do whatever works best for you. - Look out for dehydration (symptoms and protocol below). - Make sure that all food and water dishes are within easy reach. - Reduce stress as much as possible. This may mean minimizing handling and removing other birds from the cage. It is vital that the sick bird gets at least 12 hours of undisturbed rest per day. - Keep any perches low to reduce injury from falling. - Sick birds may benefit from live bird-specific probiotics that reduce the proliferation of infectious, pathogenic gut bacteria, and boost the immune system. Birds that have undergone an antibiotic treatment in particular need to replace beneficial bacteria that were destroyed during the treatment. The Healing Power of Natural Sunlight: It is very common for birds to have a vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency that can lead to myriad health problems. Providing a sick bird with beneficial rays can lifts its mood and potentially remedy any deficiency that could have contributed to its health problems ... The most common health problems associated with vitamin D deficiency are: weakened immune systems / susceptibility to diseases, soft bones, bent keels, splayed legs, abnormal beak development, reproductive problems (egg binding, soft-shell eggs, dying chicks) as well as seizures and, to a lesser extend, Stargazing (twisted back) ... In sick birds, the light exposure helps in remeding any immediate need for vitamin D, as well as boosting the mood of a sick bird -- another important healing factor. - In areas where access to natural sunlight is limited (such as in the northern hemisphere during the winter months), full-spectrum lamps can be used to provide UVA and UVB rays. - Natural food sources rich in Vitamin D - Potentially discuss supplementation with your vet. Supplementation needs to be carefully screen ed and supervised by a vet since an excess of vitamin D (in the form of a supplement) causes kidney damage and retards growth. Emergency Nutrition for Sick Birds / Avoid Dehydration: Birds suffering from dehydration may have crinkly skin around theirs eyes. Another way to diagnose dehydration is to pinch their skin for a second (which is possible in chicks or birds with unfeathered areas on their bodies). Dehydrated skin will remain tented for several seconds, rather than bouncing right back. The ill bird has low blood and energy levels that must be restored rapidly. - Fresh, clean water should be available at all times. - Adding a little honey to the water may encouraging drinking; however, the water needs to be changed frequently as bacteria grows easily in sweetened water - Commercial electrolyte replacement fluids (i.e., Pedialyte) will also help prevent dehydration - the biggest risk a sick bird faces. When caring for a sick bird I replace the water with Pedialyte, which will counteract any dehydration. To remedy dehydration use: - commercial electrolyte fluids, such as Pedialyte; or - mix one pint of water, one pint of Gatorade, 1 teaspoon of honey or Karo syrup, 1 level teaspoon of aluminum-free baking soda (such as "Bob's Red Mill Baking Soda"), 1 level teaspoon table salt. - Caution: Measure with care; inaccurate measurements can cause severe diarrhea. Orange or cherry juice helps in hydrating your bird. Force-feeding is necessary when the energy levels drop so low that the bird does not eat or drink and is in danger of dying. You may try getting fluids into the sick birds using a dropper. Crop needling is recommended for those who are confident with the crop needle technique. This procedure is technically difficult and should not be undertaken by those who are inexperienced, as it is potentially fatal if done incorrectly. The ill bird requires warmth (about 30-35 degrees Celsius / 86 - 95 degrees Fahrenheit). Use a thermometer to monitor the cage temperature. Especially birds with cold feet need to be in a heated environment. Options are: - hot water bottlebar heatera heating pad set on low placed beneath (not in) the cage. Make sure to place a towel or blanket on top of the pad as a physical barrier to any metal of the cage.an incandescent light bulk can also be installed overhead to provide extra warmth (avoid white bulbs because the bright light will interfere with the patient's sleep. It's best to use a 40 to 60-watt green bulb as a source of heat.Heating Options A towel, blanket or cage cover can be used to provide additional seclusion and to keep the warmth inside the cage. Keep the cage covered three-fourth during the daytime and cover the cage completely at night. - Do not use fan heaters or lights. Give sterile seed and remove all other foodstuffs. Poor quality feed has been cited as the most common cause of illness in pet birds. At the first sign of illness remove all other foodstuffs from the cage, including seed, millet sprays, grit or sand, fruit or vegetables. Grit and minerals are removed until recovery is complete because the ill bird will over-engorge on grit and become ill with an obstruction problem. If possible give the appropriate medicines by mouth. Finches, canaries, doves and some parrots drink enough water to ensure that they get the correct medicine dose each day, but other small birds - especially sick cockatiels or budgies may not drink enough of the medicated water to be fully effective. For this reason some medicines are best given by injection, crop needle, nostril or by dropper in the mouth. Administering medication to less than cooperative birds. Vet Examinations: The New Bird Exam Find a Vet / Vet Listings: Recommended Vets Complete Blood Count (CBC) / Avian Blood Panel / Hematology / Serology Info on Frequently Used Drugs: Itraconazole - RxList Monographs HEATING OPTIONS (for both Baby Birds and Convalescent Adult Birds): I feel strongly that any bird should be provided with veterinary care. For breeders or multi-bird households it is even more crucial to act upon a sick bird, to find out the cause of the sickness and if it is something that is infectious. The responsibility we breeders carry is enormous, not only over the lives and wellbeing of the many birds that we own, but also for the babies that we sell. Saying this, I am also aware of the RISKS associated with a vet visit. Like a breeder friend of mine said: "What better way to pick up a disease!" I totally agree with that. I feel a breeder would be better served to have a vet come to their premises rather than going out and potentially exposing their bird to a deadly disease. Unfortunately, it is very difficult nowadays to find a vet who offers this kind of service However, there ARE ways to minimize risks of 'catching a disease' at the vet's: 1. Express your concern of your bird getting in contact with an airborne (or otherwise) disease pathogen at the veterinary office, and ask to make an appointment very early in the morning before many (if any) sick birds have been on the premises, or -- if this is not possible -- at any other time when traffic in the office is slow. Of course, if it's an emergency and the bird is very sick, we can't be all that picky about the appointment time, but still, there are measures you can take to minimize exposure to any airborne or otherwise pathogens. 2. Keep your bird in a COVERED carrier at any times other than the actual examination by the vet. (A clean, oversized towel or a blanket serves this purpose well.) 3. Stay away from any other patients and their owners -- consider them potentially contagious. Do not allow anyone to touch your bird with the exception of the health care staff for the purpose of examining your bird. 4. Once in the treatment room, place a CLEAN towel on top of the treatment table and place your bird on it. Preferably, your bird should at no time touch the surface of the treatment table. On numerous occasions I was told, "I don't have to worry about that! My vet disinfects right in front of me!" Please note that the "Spray and Wipe" method of disinfecting does NOT work since disinfectants need up to 20 minutes of actual contact to kill disease causing pathogens. 5. Observe the vet / vet's assistant to see if they wash their hands in between patients and if not, I would strongly recommend changing vets. In an ideal situation, a vet would comply with advanced infectious control measures. A bird that was at the vet's, or any other place where there are birds of unknown health status (i.e., bird shows), should be considered potentially contagious and quarantined for a MINIMUM of 2 weeks, preferably a month up to three. How long I quarantine my birds depends on the risk they were exposed to. If they came from a pet situation prior to coming to my place and have been of good health for many years, I may only quarantine for 2 weeks. If they come from a petstore or a suspect breeder, then I may go up to 3 months. Additionally, I perform disease testing at the vet's for really suspect birds, or for healthy looking birds perform DNA testing, which only costs $55 for three diseases (i.e., Polyoma, Beak and Feather, and Psittacosis). There are several companies listed Species Research by Sibylle Johnson For updates please follow BeautyOfBirds on Google+ (google.com/+Avianweb) NEED A VET? USA: Find Your Local Avian Veterinarian Information contained on this website is provided as general reference only. For application to specific circumstances, professional advice should be sought. Please Note: The articles or images on this page are the sole property of the authors or photographers. Please contact them directly with respect to any copyright or licensing questions. Thank you. The Avianweb strives to maintain accurate and up-to-date information; however, mistakes do happen. If you would like to correct or update any of the information, please send us an e-mail. THANK YOU!	<urn:uuid:c4fafebd-f4df-490c-abf7-7a75f185e43b>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.beautyofbirds.com/sickbirdcare.html	2015-03-30T05:48:38Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299114.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00108-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.939928	2,624
\|As Featured In:\| Master the King of All Exercises Deadlifting Secrets 101 Everything you need to know about this complex exercise. Free Video Training The High Performance Handbook Is Like Nothing You've Ever Seen Before... Written on April 30, 2008 at 10:56 am, by Eric Cressey Did you ever see a caveman wear orthotics? And, did the cavewomen ever rock high heels? Written on April 29, 2008 at 8:47 am, by Eric Cressey Q: I’ve developed some issues with my right shoulder due mostly to pitching in baseball. I’ve had an MRI done recently and I’ve been working with an ART specialist as well. So here’s the email I just received from my chiropractor: I just got your MRI results in, it shows tendonitis of the supraspinatus tendon and a small “hot spot” on the anterior/superior aspect of the glenoid labrum, which might represent a small tear. The radiologist has recommended an arthrogram, which is an MRI with contrast injected directly into the joint capsule instead of intravenously. You have two options: We could try some more ART and more laser treatments. If your pain decreased after one treatment, than I think it would definitely help. Option two is referral to an orthopedist. He would in turn probably refer you for 4-6 weeks of physical therapy. In any event, the possibility of a major labral tear is slim as a large tear should have been visible on the MRI. Based on the MRI results what do you recommend as far as the options he layed out for me? The ART has helped some but it is still very painful to throw hard. I have no clue what to do and I’m afraid of getting in over my head with medical bills and still having a hurt shoulder. A: Congratulations! You have the same MRI that every pitcher I’ve ever seen has ever had! I can pretty much tell you that your labrum is frayed regardless of whether or not you get the MRI. According to the research, the main difference between those in pain and those not in pain is internal rotation ROM. Get the PT – and bring this list with you: 1. Scapular stability Tell them that you want to address each of these 10 factors (in this order) in your rehab. In particular, tell them to check internal rotation ROM, and even print this out for them, if need be: http://www.jaaos.org/cgi/content/full/14/5/265/JA0008404FIG9 Click here to purchase the most comprehensive shoulder resource available today: Optimal Shoulder Performance – From Rehabilitation to High Performance. Written on April 26, 2008 at 8:38 am, by Eric Cressey Q: There have been a few quadriceps pulls in MLB this year. Have you seen these before in baseball players? What gives? A: This is why I love baseball; it’s probably one of the most at-risk sports you’ll ever see (particularly in pitchers). Here’s a little excerpt from a slide in a recent presentation I gave on training for overhead athletes: -Very Long Competitive Season -Unilateral Dominance/Handedness Patterns -The best pitchers – with a few exceptions – are the tallest ones. The longer the spine, the tougher it is to stabilize. -Short off-season + Long in-season w/daily games = tough to build/maintain strength, power, flexibility, and optimal soft tissue quality Specific to the quad pulls, I’d add to this list that baseball guys rarely hit top speed; all of their sprint work is done in acceleration, where the quads are dominant. Factor in that they spend a lot of time sitting on airplanes/buses, and it’s no surprise that they’d get tight anteriorly. It’s why it’s so important to really hammer on hip mobility in any population that sits a lot. The stop and go nature of the sport also dictates that strains would be common, whether they are groins, hip flexors, hamstrings, or quads (likely rectus femoris, which is a hip flexor that can get overactive, particularly alongside poor psoas function). So, all that said, before anyone jumps to conclusions and tries to criticize some strength coach, it’s important to consider: a) the certain amount of happenstance that occurs with any baseball player due to the nature of the game and the season b) what that athlete does on his own in the off-season In terms of “b,” I’ve seen some pretty bad stuff, unfortunately. For many guys, it becomes a leg extensions and curls off-season if they’re on their own – or they do nothing. I’d like to think that our success in working with baseball guys is not just in the fact that we’ve made the programming good, but also in the fact that we’ve changed the culture a bit in our guys: they appreciate what lifting is doing for them and look forward to getting after it in the gym. Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw! Written on April 24, 2008 at 7:59 am, by Eric Cressey I have a confession to make: I’m an ex-Ironman. Sure, in late July, 2006, in Lake Placid, NY, I crossed the line following a 140.6 mile endurance event, but, following that race, mental weakness prevailed. This story shouldn’t take away from the accomplishments of those who have tried and missed, succeeded once, or succeeded many, it’s a lesson I learned from the heart of sport (not just triathlon). You see, training for any event takes many successfully repeated steps, over a long period of time; nothing of merit can be accomplished in short bursts of over-enthused effort. The mental divide between these two approaches is immeasurable. – Jon Boyle Is your plan structured for long-term success? LearnThe Art of The Deload Written on April 22, 2008 at 12:43 pm, by Eric Cressey Just came across this excellent article: Written on April 21, 2008 at 8:51 am, by Eric Cressey Written on April 16, 2008 at 6:50 pm, by Eric Cressey Q: Another guy from my favorite basketball team went on the injured list with plantar fasciitis this week. What can be done to prevent this? A: Welcome to professional basketball! The average NBA player has very little dorsiflexion range of motion (ankle). The only way the epidemic of plantar fasciitis, Achilles tendinosis, high ankle sprains, and patellofemoral pain is going to stop is if the players quite wearing 10-pound high top sneakers and taping their ankles. Or, at the very least, lose the tape and focus on barefoot training, low-top shoes off the court, and plenty of ankle mobility work. Just ask Shaun Livingston: Written on April 13, 2008 at 9:33 pm, by Eric Cressey Written on April 8, 2008 at 7:30 pm, by Eric Cressey Warning: this is as political as I will ever get in a blog or newsletter. Today, I read this article about Hillary Clinton advocating a partial boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by the U.S. in light of China’s “reaction to recent protests in Tibet and its lack of action in the troubling Darfur region of the Sudan.” Frankly, this gesture from Clinton made me want to puke in my mouth. You see, I interact with Olympic hopefuls on a daily basis. These are people that sacrifice everything for the sports they love – and the opportunity to compete in the single-most prestigious sporting event the world has ever seen. They often struggle to make ends meet financially as their hectic training schedules compete with real jobs and school. They leave their spouses for months at a time to travel all over creation to train and compete. Meanwhile, Bill and Hillary Clinton’s 2000-2006 tax returns report that they earned a “not-so-financially-stricken” $109 million during that time period. I have a hard time believing that the Clintons have even the slightest semblance of a clue to realize what a huge deal an Olympic appearance means to someone who is making the sacrifices to which I alluded above. Don’t get me wrong; I am all for human rights and sincerely hope that these issues are resolved quickly and peaceably – and I know that she was just recommending a partial boycott. However, Mrs. Clinton, if you need to make a political statement, stop wearing clothes that were made in China. Don’t buy cars of Chinese origin. Or, stop ordering Chinese takeout; take up your beef with General Tso. But, DO NOT even attempt to use a political spectacle to compromise anything for which all these athletes have devoted their lives. They deserve every bit of glory that comes to them. Written on April 5, 2008 at 10:34 am, by Eric Cressey This morning, my girlfriend turned on Regis and Kelly. Now, before you start giving me a hard time, I’ll make it known that a) it was her choice and b) I was checking my emails, and my computer happens to be in the neighborhood of my television. My attention shifted from emails to the TV when I saw that they were featuring a transformation contest where a bunch of ordinary weekend warriors went to different personal trainers to get “toned” (I knew I was in for it when I heard that word). In the minutes that followed, I heard the word “core” mentioned approximately 487 times as trainers put clients through all sorts of stuff: 1. interval jogging on a treadmill (nearly made me vomit in my mouth) Incidentally, this third trainer was featured with some hardcore Kelly Clarkson blaring in the background. I not only got dumber (and angry) by watching this segment; I also realized that if I ever go nuts and decide to write my suicide note, you’ll hear “SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE!!!!” blaring in the background as I sob over my pen and paper. Normally, my reaction wouldn’t have been so pronounced, but after this weekend, I was all about REAL “core stability.” You see, I got to catch up with my buddy, Jim Smith (of Diesel Crew fame), while in Pittsburgh to give a seminar. “Smitty” and Jedd Johnson gave an awesome presentation outlining their innovative and effective methods on everything from sled dragging to grip work – and most specific to the discussion at hand, they both raved about how much they love Kelly Clarkson! Plus, they’re HUGE Regis and Kelly fans. Okay, so that last little bit wasn’t entirely accurate; I’m pretty sure that these guys would have Hatebreed or some other angry, belligerent, “my-mother-didn’t love me” music blaring in the background when they finally get their moment in the spotlight on Regis and Kelly. Anyway, they DO know a ton about non-traditional means of training “core stability.” In addition to watching a great presentation, on the plane ride home, I finally got a chance to read through Smitty’s new e-book, Combat Core: Advanced Torso Training for Explosive Strength and Power. To say that I was impressed would be the understatement of the year. You see, I spend a ton of money each year on seminars, books, DVDs, etc. – and if I can take away even one little thing from each of them, I’m thrilled. In many cases, it’s “same-old, same-old.” Smitty has quickly built a reputation for overdelivering, and this resource was no exception. In the 133 pages of photos and descriptions of loads of exercises you’ve surely never seen, I found: -13 sweet modifications to exercises I’m already doing So, to put it bluntly, I think it’s an awesome read – and well worth every penny, especially when you factor in all the bonuses he’s incorporated (including lifetime updates to keep you up to speed on his latest bits of insanity). If you’re interested in some effective, fun, innovative ways to enhance TRUE core stability, definitely check it out:	<urn:uuid:e4072529-ff4a-41e7-8bce-7e32e49c8a7f>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.ericcressey.com/2008/04	2015-03-30T05:55:43Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299114.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00108-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.958179	2,717
Vaccines, Blood & Biologics Resources for You Fatalities Reported to FDA Following Blood Collection and Transfusion: Annual Summary for Fiscal Year 2011 As previously mentioned in the annual summary of fatalities reported to the FDA in Fiscal Years (FY) 2005 through FY2010, the blood supply is safer today than at any time in history. Due to advances in donor screening, improved testing, automated data systems, and changes in transfusion medicine practices, the risks associated with blood transfusion continue to decrease. Overall, the number of transfusion related fatalities reported to the FDA remains small in comparison to the total number of transfusions. In 2008, for example, there were approximately 24 million blood components transfused.1 During the proximate period of FY2008, there were 54 reported transfusion related and potentially2 transfusion related fatalities, with subsequent reports of 66 in FY2009, 64 in FY2010, and 58 in FY2011. CBER is distributing this summary of transfusion fatality reports received by the FDA to make public the data received in FY2011, to provide the combined data received over the last five fiscal years, and to compare the FY2011 report to the fatality reports received in the previous four fiscal years.3 We also include information on the infrequent reports of post-donation fatalities. Throughout this report we note changes over time, but the reader should interpret these changes cautiously, given the small numbers of reports and inherent variations in reporting accuracy. The significance of shifts in numbers derived from small populations may appear to be greater than they really are. Refer to Sections 606.170(b) and 640.73 of Title 21, Code of Federal Regulations (21 CFR 606.170(b) and 21 CFR 640.73), for fatality reporting requirements. For information regarding the notification process, see our web page, Notification Process for Transfusion Related Fatalities and Donation Related Deaths, http://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/safetyavailability/reportaproblem/transfusiondonationfatalities/default.htm. For further information, see our Guidance for Industry: Notifying FDA of Fatalities Related to Blood Collection or Transfusion, September 2003.4 A team of CBER medical officers reviews the documentation submitted by the reporting facilities and obtained by FDA investigators, to assess the relationship, if any, between the blood donation or transfusion and the reported fatality. If you have questions concerning this summary, you may contact us using any of the three following options. - Email us at [email protected], - Call us at 301-827-6220, or - Write us at: FDA/Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research Office of Compliance and Biologics Quality Division of Inspections and Surveillance (HFM-650) 1401 Rockville Pike, Suite 200 North Rockville, Maryland 20852-1448 During FY2011 (October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011), we received a total of 79 fatality reports. Of these reports, 69 were transfusion recipient fatalities and 10 were post-donation fatalities. Of the 69 transfusion recipient fatality reports, we concluded: - 30 (43%) of the fatalities were transfusion-related, - 28 (41%) of the fatalities were cases in which transfusion could not be ruled out as the cause of the fatality, - 11 (16%) of the fatalities were unrelated to the transfusion. We summarize the results of our review in the following sections. Sections A through D of this document present the transfusion-related fatalities. Sections E and F and Table 4 present the fatality reports which were unrelated to the transfusion, or in which we could not rule out the transfusion as the cause of death. Section G presents the post-donation fatality reports. - Overall Comparison of Transfusion-Related Fatalities Reported from FY2007 through FY2011 - Transfusion Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI) - Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions (HTR) - Microbial Infection - Transfusion Not Ruled Out as Cause of Fatality - Not Transfusion Related - Post-Donation Fatalities In combined Fiscal Years 2007 through 2011, Transfusion Related Acute Lung Injury (TRALI) caused the highest number of reported fatalities (43%), followed by hemolytic transfusion reactions (total of 23%) due to non-ABO (13%) and ABO (10%) incompatibilities. Complications of Transfusion Associated Circulatory Overload (TACO), microbial infection, and anaphylactic reactions each accounted for a smaller number of reported fatalities (Table 1 and Figure 1). Over the last three fiscal years, the number of fatal TACO reports has decreased, from 12 (27%) in FY2009, to 8 (20%) in FY2010, and 4 (13%) in FY2011. Recent articles provide additional information about TACO. 5,6,7 The number of reported transfusion related deaths attributable to anaphylaxis8,9 has remained small over the last five fiscal years; with the exception of one FY2010 case, in which IgA levels were not measured, patient IgA deficiency was ruled out in 11 of the 12 cumulatively reported cases. In another FY2010 case, a haptoglobin deficiency was possibly implicated in the patient’s anaphylactic reaction. Table 1: Transfusion-Related Fatalities by Complication, FY2007 through FY2011 Figure 1: Transfusion-Related Fatalities by Complication, FY2007 through FY2011 While TRALI represented 43% of confirmed transfusion related fatalities reported to CBER over the last five fiscal years, there was a decrease in TRALI fatalities, from 18 (45% of confirmed transfusion related fatalities) in FY2010, to 10 (33%) in FY2011, and an overall decrease in TRALI fatalities over the reporting period. In FY2007, TRALI accounted for 65% of confirmed transfusion related fatalities, compared to 33% in FY2011 (Table 1). In FY2011, the 10 TRALI cases were temporally associated with products from 24 donors. HLA/HNA antibody test results were available for 21 of these donors. Donor genders were identified for 22 of the donors, which included 11 males and 11 females. Our limited data do not elucidate the role of particular donor antibodies or donor gender. In five cases, reporters who included patient testing data were able to match donor antibodies with recipient cognate antigens; however, there were no antigen/antibody combinations that appeared more frequently than others. Although the transfusion community has taken voluntary measures to reduce the risk of TRALI, this complication of transfusion continues to be one of the leading causes of transfusion-related fatalities reported to the FDA. However, the number of TRALI cases associated with plasma products continues to decrease (Figure 2). Current literature describes the results of continued international efforts to reduce the use of plasma for transfusion prepared from female donors, and other strategies to reduce the incidence of TRALI.13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20 Figure 2: Reports of TRALI Cases by Implicated Blood Product, FY2007 through FY2011 In FY2011, the number of reported fatal hemolytic transfusion reactions increased from 7 (18%) in FY2010 to 9 (30%) of confirmed transfusion related fatalities. There were increases in both ABO hemolytic reactions - from 2 (5%) in FY2010, to 3 (10%) in FY2011, and non-ABO hemolytic reactions – from 5 (13%) in FY2010, to 6 (20%) in FY2011 (Figure 1 and Table 1). Despite these recently observed increases, a downward trend in the total number of reported fatalities due to hemolytic transfusion reactions has continued since FY2001 (Figure 3). Table 2: Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions by Implicated Antibody, FY2007 through FY2011 FY2008: anti-C+K+Fyb+S+N+V+Jsa+Goa+warm autoantibody. FY2009: antibody combinations included E+Jkb, S+Jka+Jkb+K+Fya+Fyb+V+C+N+HTLA FY2010: antibody combinations included D+C+K+S, Jkb+FYa+C+E+K+Lea+Leb, c+E+Jkb+K+Lea+panagglutinin+cold agglutinin FY2011: anti-Jka+c+E+M (warm reacting) FY2009: Includes one report of an unidentified warm autoantibody and one report of Hyperhemolysis Syndrome. Information about this syndrome has been published.21 FY2011: Includes one report of Hyperhemolysis Syndrome, and one report of an unidentified antibody.. Figure 3: Hemolytic Transfusion Reactions, FY2001 through FY2011 In FY2011, there were three reports of fatal hemolytic transfusion reactions due to ABO-incompatible transfusions: Two of these fatalities were attributed to errors: - In one case, correctly labeled red blood cells (RBC’s) were issued in separate coolers for two patients. Failure to properly identify one patient resulted in transfusion of an incompatible group A RBC to the group O recipient. - The second case occurred after initiation of a massive transfusion protocol for a trauma patient whose blood group was unknown. The container released to the emergency room (ER) inadvertently included both group O and group A RBC units. The patient was later determined to be group O. The remaining case illustrates the potential risk associated with ABO-incompatible plasma in plateletpheresis products, when donor ABO antibodies in the transfusion product are incompatible with the patient’s red blood cells and are present in sufficiently high titers to cause in vivo hemolysis. This case involved transfusion from a donor with a high-titer anti-A.22 Over the last five years there has been one other fatality due to transfusion of apheresis platelets with a high-titer blood group antibody, an anti-B (FY2008). In both cases, the recipients’ blood groups had recently changed following ABO-mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplants. In FY2011, there were six reports of non-ABO fatal hemolytic transfusion reactions: Two of the six cases were attributed to errors in the lab: - In one case, an anti-K was correctly identified; however, an error in pulling segments for K typing and compatibility testing resulted in the transfusion of an incompatible, K positive unit. - In a second case, a positive antibody screen misread as negative resulted in transfusion of an incompatible Fya positive unit. The immediate spin compatibility test did not detect the incompatibility. - The remaining four cases illustrate difficult compatibility issues without clear answers, including three patients with complex RBC antibody presentations which worsened following transfusion, and one case of delayed hemolytic transfusion reaction/hyperhemolysis syndrome in a sickle cell patient. In FY2011, there were four reported fatalities attributed to microbial infection, compared to two in FY2010. Babesia microti, associated with a transfusion of Red Blood Cells, was implicated in one of these fatalities, and S. aureus, K. pneumoniae, and M. morganii were implicated, one case each, in platelet transfusion fatalities. Apheresis Platelets were associated with the K. pneumoniae and M. morganii infections, and the S. aureus infection was associated with a unit of Pooled Platelets (Figure 4). Babesia accounts for 42% (10/24) of reported deaths due to microbial infection over the previous five fiscal years, followed by Staphylococcus aureus, which accounts for 21% (5/24) (Table 3). During the five-year reporting period, all of the implicated bacteria associated with fatal microbial infections were facultative anaerobes. Figure 5 shows a downward trend in the number of bacterial infections associated with Apheresis Platelets since FY2001. Table 3: Microbial Infection by Implicated Organism, FY2007 through FY2011 \|Streptococcus dysgalactiae (Group C)\|\|1\|\|17%\|\|0\|\|0%\|\|0\|\|0%\|\|0\|\|0%\|\|0\|\|0%\|\|1\|\|4%\| Nine Babesia microti and one probable Babesia MO-1 species Figure 4: Microbial Infection by Implicated Blood Product, FY2007 through FY2011 Red Blood Cells microorganisms: B. microti (9), B. MO1(1) Pooled Platelets microorganisms: S. aureus (1), E. coli (1), S. dysgalactiae (1), S. pneumoniae (1) Platelets Pheresis microorganisms: S. aureus (4), S. marcescens (1), S. epidermidis (1), M. morganii (1), K. oxytoca (1), S. viridans (1), S. warneri (1), K. pneumoniae (1) Figure 5: Bacterial Infection by Apheresis Platelets, FY2001 through FY2011 As noted above, 28 (41%) of the 69 reported fatalities in FY2011 were cases in which the transfusion could not be ruled out as the cause of the fatality. In these reported fatalities, the reporting facilities were unable to identify a specific complication of transfusion as the cause of death. Often, these patients had multiple co‑morbidities, and after review of the investigation documentation, our medical reviewers could neither confirm nor rule out the transfusion as the cause of the fatality (Table 4). Therefore, we did not include these 28 reported fatalities in the analysis in Sections II.A through II.D (transfusion-related fatalities), above. After reviewing the initial fatality reports and the investigation documentation, we categorized 11 (16%) of the 69 reported fatalities as “Not Transfusion Related.” Our medical reviewers concluded that, while there was a temporal relationship between transfusion and subsequent death of the recipient, there was no evidence to support a causal relationship (Table 4). Thus, we did not include these reported fatalities in the analysis in Sections II.A through II.D (transfusion-related fatalities), above. Table 4: Fatalities Not Related to Transfusion or Transfusion Not Ruled Out, FY2007 through FY2011 \|Transfusion Not Ruled Out\|\|11\|\|8\|\|22\|\|24\|\|28\| \|Not Transfusion Related\|\|13\|\|18\|\|8\|\|7\|\|11\| In FY2011, we received seven reports of fatalities following Source Plasma donation, and one reported fatality following a Double Red Blood Cell (apheresis) donation. For all eight cases, although the donations could not be definitively ruled out as being implicated in the donor’s death, our medical reviewers found no evidence to support a causal relationship between the donation and subsequent death of the donor. We received two FY2011 reports of fatalities following Whole Blood donation. In one case, the donation was ruled out as being implicated in the donor’s death. In the remaining case, although the donation could not be definitively ruled out as being implicated in the donor’s death, our medical reviewers found no evidence to support a causal relationship between the donation and subsequent death of the donor. Over the five-year reporting period, there was one FY2010 Source Plasma donation, in addition to the FY2011 Whole Blood donation mentioned above, in which the donation was definitively ruled out as the cause of the fatality. For the remaining cases, our medical reviewers concluded that, while there was a temporal link between the donations and the fatalities, there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between the donations and subsequent death of the donors (Table 5 and Figure 6). Table 5: Post-Donation Fatality Reports by Donated Product, FY2007 through FY2011 \|Apheresis Red Blood Cells\|\|0\|\|1\|\|0\|\|0\|\|1\| Both were autologous donations Figure 6: Post-Donation Fatality Reports, FY2007 through FY2011 *Both Whole Blood donations in FY2007 were autologous 1 Report of the US Department of Health and Human Services. The 2009 national blood collection and utilization survey report. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary of Health, 2011. 3 The FY2005/FY2006 data are not discussed in this report, but are available at: http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/ReportaProblem/TransfusionDonationFatalities 4 Guidance for Industry: Notifying FDA of Fatalities Related to Blood Collection or Transfusion, September, 2003. http://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/guidancecomplianceregulatoryinformation/guidances/blood/ucm074947.htm. 13 Middleburg RA, van Stein D, Zupanska B, et al. Female donors and transfusion-related acute lung injury. A case-referent study from the International TRALI Unisex Research Group. Transfusion 2010;50:2447-2454. 14 Wiersum-Osselton JC, Middleburg RA, Beckers EAM, et al. Male-only fresh frozen plasma for transfusion-related acute lung injury prevention: before-and-after comparative cohort study. Transfusion 2011;51:1278-1283. 17 Arinsburg SA, Skerrett DL, Karp JK, et al. (2011), Conversion to low transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI)-risk plasma significantly reduces TRALI. Transfusion. doi: 10.1111/j.1537-2995.2011.03403.x. 18 Lucas G, Win N, Calvert A, et al. (2011), Reducing the incidence of TRALI in the UK: the results of screening for donor leukocyte antibodies and the development of national guidelines. Vox Sanguinis. doi: 10.1111/j.1423-0410.2011.01570.x 20 Eder A, Herron Jr R, Strupp A, et al. Effective reduction of transfusion-related lung injury risk with male-predominant plasma strategy in the American Red Cross (2006-2008). Transfusion 2010;50:1732-1742.	<urn:uuid:22bb2f34-6003-455a-83cf-fc297d95a0ce>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/SafetyAvailability/ReportaProblem/TransfusionDonationFatalities/ucm302847.htm	2015-03-30T05:54:32Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299114.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00108-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.87327	3,979
Interview With Jontho from Ragnarok Interview By Anders Sandvall Here is an interview with Jontho, the drummer from the Norwegian black metal band Ragnarok, about their new album, Blackdoor Miracle and about their plans for 2004 - a year when they also celebrate 10 years as a band. Where in Norway do you live? Are all of you based in the same city? I live I Sarpsborg, just 50km from Strömstad in Sweden and just 85km from Oslo. I, Jerv, and Ryme live here but Hoest lives in Bergen in the west of Norway 500km from Sarpsborg. I can also inform you about that Metalion of Slayer mag lives in the same city if that help people to understand where we live. What has the response been from the crowd on your previous three albums? First of all I can tell that we have released four albums and the response has been fucking great. I can proudly say that we have never got very bad reviews on the four last albums. Some reviews have been less good than others but in general always great reviews and unbelievable good response from the fans. In 2001 you signed with the Swedish metal label Regain Records. You have released one album on that label. How was the response on that one and how is it to work with That's right. We signed a deal with Regain Records for two albums. Compared with HNF records it is 110% improvement when it comes to distribution and promotion on the first album, "In Nomine Satanas." But these days I can see that Regain have become even better than before to promote our album. I am always working hard with promotion myself also, so together with the label we manage to do a greater job for each album. Why did it only take 11 days to record the previous album? That is simply because we work very well together in studio and we have rehearsed before we enter the studio. This time we also got the chance to work with Tommy Tägtgren in Abyss and that made us work even faster and smoother together. On this album you - once again, have a new singer. Why has it been so hard to stick to one vocalist through the years? Well it is not hard to stick to a vocalist but as it happened with time he decided to leave because of personal reasons, so we couldn't do anything about it except to respect Why did your last singer Lord Arcamous quit the band? According to the info note it was because he couldnt handle the pressure of being a front man. Would you please like to tell us why he left? The reason of why he in the first place wanted to live the band was because he met a girl that didn't manage to respect that he was playing in a band. She was so fucking jealous and fucked up his brain every time he went on rehearsal or on tour. The pressure from us was then very hard... He had to choose between the band or the girl because in all of this it was a lot of problems for us also because of their relationship problems. He did not take the pressure on tour either and was always complaining...... Anyway, that is How did Hoest end up in the band? I met him at the cult festival Under The Black Sun festival in Berlin when I played there with Tsjuder. I really liked his energy on stage when I saw him with Taake and it just hit me that he would been perfect in Ragnarok. After the gig and still on the festival we got together and talked, and I just asked him if it sounded interesting to try Ragnarok. He said that he had to think about it, and when we was back in Norway I called him up and he was interested in to give it a try. At that moment we were going to record a cover song of Celtic Frost for a tribute to them and he found it very interesting participate on that song as the first involvement in the band. He then came to Sarpsborg to put on the vocals and it worked out very well and he decided to take part as a full time member in Ragnarok. Why have you chose to record your new album in the Abyss Studios once again? The reason is because we were in Abyss Studios under the recording of In Nomine Satanas and the outcome of that stay was very satisfying. We also enjoyed working with Tommy he is the best sound engineer we have ever used. When we stay in Abyss we also live there so we get all the time we need to really concentrate about the music and the recording. Besides of all this, Abyss have a very good sound and especially the drum sound is something of what makes Abyss that magnificent. What is it that makes Tommy Tägtgren so special that youve used him as a He is a great guy and is very easy to work together with him. He understand what we want and are really into our music. He is a very skilled sound engineer and at this time we have not had one single problem with him. Are you going to record the next album in the Abyss Studio as well? Or are there any plans of changing studios? At this time we would go straight to Abyss without even thinking of another studio... But anything can happen in the future...We'll see. Do you have any favorite band that you look up to in the black metal scene? We do not look up to any other bands but there are different bands that we do respect. I think that you play genuine, old school black metal without any keyboard or samplers. How come you ended up it that genre? Well I can not say that we do play completely Old school black metal because we have different sound compared to the earlier days and old school band as Darkthrone and so.... Musically it is Old school, at least the two last albums. On the three first albums we used synth but much of it was more old school than to day also. It is hard these days to explain the exact term of Old school, but we are not in the scene of new wave black metal as Dimmu Borgir, Old Man's Child, Susperia, and bands like that. Or Satyricon for that What do you think of black metal bands that use keyboards in their music, like Dimmu Borgir for example? I think it is up to the band it self to decide to use it or not. But it is not my cup of tea. I like the more brutal style that Ragnarok plays, filled with pure terror and Why has it taken you so long to follow up your previous album? Why have you chosen to call this new record, Blackdoor Miracle? Does it mean anything special to First of all we got a new vocalist and had to rehearse a lot before we could enter the studio. But we recorded the album in March last year so it has taken more than a year before the release. That was because the cover art took fucking long time and the label used a lot of time to get the albums from the print. It had just been delayed for different reasons the whole time. But in the future we will change that. The reason we have called it Blackdoor Miracle is because it is a song in the album with the same name which deals with releasing your inner demon. This is an important aspect of the Ragnarok concept and therefore representative as an album title. Who writes the music/lyrics in Ragnarok? The music is always written by Rym, but on the In Nomine Satanas album, Lord Arcamous wrote the title track. The lyrics are always written by the vocalist, but on Blackdoor Miracle, Hoest only wrote three lyrics because lack of time before we entered the studio. The other lyrics are written by a friend called Espen Dyngen and the lyrics we have used is from his archive of many lyrics and poems he have done through the last 10 years. The cover looks very brutal. Whats the story behind that? The cover in itself does show exactly what we mean by black metal. You can find all the symbols of true black metal in that cover. It is also a symbol to show what kind of music that is inside the album. The pentagram shows the satanic essence, the naked woman and the candles symbolizes black magic, me with the gun symbolizes the unleashed demon and total destruction of the weak, and the flames symbolize the chaos forces of hell. All in all the cover explains the themes of the lyrics but still it is more to find when you read and understand them. Why are there only nine tracks on the record? Of all the songs we had, we chose the best songs together to form a magnificent At this time we just needed nine songs to create a great album with a decent running time of 42 minutes. Have you done a lot of touring through the years? Have you been out as a headliner act or as a support act? We have been on some tours but not as many as we wanted to. That is something we are going to change now and we will do a lot of headline shows and also some support tours/gigs. We have toured with bands as Dark Funeral, Marduk, Macabre, Exodus, Impaled Nazarene in the past. Future gigs will always be added to the homepage www.ragnarokhorde.com when they are booked. Keep your self updated there. Have you read any reviews of the new album yet? If so what does the media think Yes, I have read about fifteen reviews so far and they have been just fine. All of them are of top points so I am satisfied. I know more will come and all of the reviews are great in the way of for example 5 out of 5, 9 out of 10, and so on. The media so far loves the new album. Check all the reviews under the media section at the homepage!! Are you going to do any touring on the album? If so, are you going to do a world Yes we have some offers but I will not tell with which bands we will tour with yet. Some gigs so far as headlining is one gig in Sweden (Karlstad) the 5th of March, Belgium (the Fronline) the 6th of March and Holland (Baroeg) the 7th of March. More will come, and again, check the homepage regularly to keep your self updated. How many albums do you think youre selling across the world? How big are I am not sure, but after this album we will sell a lot more than earlier, and we are growing stronger and bigger day by day now. It is just up to the audience to open their minds for Ragnarok. How big is hard to say, but we are not a small band anymore and it is always a lot of people at our gigs. Youre celebrating ten years as a band this year. Are there any plans of doing anything special for the fans this year? We have some plans, but it's too early to talk about. How does the black metal scene look right now in Norway? It is strong as always, but I would like more of the good old feeling that many of the bigger bands have made disappear. It is good that there are still strong bands as Ragnarok, Tsjuder, Gorgoroth, etc left to strengthen the scene. What do you think of the Swedish black metal scene? Do you have any favourite bands I have always liked the Swedish scene. Good bands are Marduk, Dark Funeral, Lord Belial, Naglfar, Setherial, Sigrblot, and Dissection What are the plans for Ragnarok during 2004-05? Play a lot of gigs and do one or two big tours. In 2005 a new album will be recorded but still unsure of which label. Is there anything you would like to say to the readers of metal-rules.com? I want to thank the people that support us and believe in us. Check out the new album and the homepage www.ragnarokhorde.com for updates everyday. Thanks to Regain Records for the promo pictures of the band. Band Website: www.ragnarokhorde.com Label Website: www.regainrecords.com	<urn:uuid:18f6ce3a-99c9-42e8-9681-08b49e1e6c9a>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/Ragnarok-March2004.htm	2015-03-30T06:07:43Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299114.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00108-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.971163	2,648
Legato is a term that you will hear a lot once you start getting into lead guitar playing, but what exactly does it mean? Well, it literally means "tied together" and it indicates that notes should be played smoothly, with no gap or silence between them, so that one note leads directly onto the next. The opposite of "staccato," whereby the notes are played abruptly and percussively, legato gives a smooth, flowing sound to the music. On every instrument this is achieved in different ways. On a woodwind instrument, for example, the notes would all be played under one breath. On a violin they would be played on a single bow stroke. On the guitar legato is achieved by minimizing (or doing away with altogether) picking. This means using "hammer-ons" and "pull-offs," and when talking about guitar technique this is precisely what is meant by legato. Legato technique can therefore be broken down into these two actions - when ascending using hammer-ons, and when descending using pull-offs. These two closely related techniques can easily be combined to produce smooth, flowing melodic lines, often played at quite impressive speeds. Let's start off then by looking at hammer-ons. Hammer-ons are used to go from one note to a higher note on the same string without picking the new note. You play the first note by picking it, then to play the second note, rather than using the pick to make it sound, you "hammer-on" with your fretting finger. So for example, suppose you are playing the note E on the fifth fret of the B string with your first finger, and the next note you want to play is an F# two frets above. What you do is bring the tip of your third finger down, fast and hard, on to the string at the seventh fret to produce the note. You need to come down on the string perpendicular to the fretboard, and with enough force to produce the same volume, more or less, that you would with a pick. That's about all you need to know about hammer-ons. When you want to descend to a lower note on the same string you need to use a pull-off. Many people think that a pull-off is simply a hammer-on in reverse, but there is slightly more to it than that, and this is where a lot of beginners go wrong. If you simply lift your finger off the string, in the opposite manner to a hammer-on, you won't produce adequate volume, or you may not get any sound at all. Your "pull-off" finger needs to really "pluck" the string, downwards towards the floor, in order to get the note to sound. So for example, if you play the note F# with your third finger on the seventh fret of the B string, and you then want to play the note E on the fifth fret of the same string, you firstly need to make sure that your first finger is already fretting that note on the fifth fret. Then you need to "pluck," or "pull-off" with your third finger in order to sound the note on the fifth fret. If you don't pluck enough you won't get enough volume, but if you pluck too much you can end up bending the note sharp, and it will sound horrible. You need to experiment a bit with this until you find the sweet spot. So that's the two main techniques involved in playing legato on the guitar, but there are a couple more worth mentioning. The first is closely related to the "hammer-ons" we looked at above but doesn't involve picking a note first. This "hammer-on from nothing" technique lets you eliminate picking altogether when changing strings. Instead of picking the first note on a new string you simply hammer on with the fretting hand. This is slightly more difficult than a regular hammer-on as it requires a lot of power, accuracy, and good muting, but will give you an even smother sound, as nothing is picked. The other technique is called "tapping." This takes the idea of hammer-ons and pull-offs and applies them to the picking hand as well. The "tapping" hand can use one or more fingers to 'tap' extra notes that the fretting hand can't reach, allowing you to play many more notes on one string for very fast scale runs, or lets you reach very wide intervals that you couldn't do with just one hand, great for playing very fast arpeggios as a smoother alternative to sweep picking. So now that you are clear on the concept of legato playing let's take a look as some basic ways to go about practicing it. If we take the idea to its most basic application then we can start by just hammering on and pulling off between two notes. Alternating rapidly between two notes like this is called a trill, however to begin with we will be doing this very slowly. Fret a note with your first finger (any note) then hammer on to the next fret with your second finger. Make sure the note sounds clean and the volume is even. Now pull off back to the first finger, again paying close attention evenness and clarity of the note. Keep alternating back and forth between the two notes slowly to begin with (like a fire engine, or the "Jaws " theme). The aim here is firstly to ensure all the notes are clear and even, with no unwanted noise, and secondly to build up your finger strength and endurance. Try to do this exercise continuously for at least five minutes without stopping, and use a metronome to keep your timing in check. Once you've done this you next need to try the same exercise with all possible finger combinations. You've done fingers one and two, so now try one and three. Play a note (any note) with the first finger, then hammer on two frets above with the third finger. Trill between these two notes for at least five minutes. Then try fingers one and four. Then two and three, two and four, and finally three and four. You'll find that some finger combinations are more difficult than others, especially the third and fourth fingers, so you should spend more time working on these. The next step after you have got to grips with two note trills is to start practicing three note patterns. Keeping one finger per fret you should experiment with finger patterns using fingers 1 2 4 , 1 3 4 , and the stretch fingering 1 2 with a fret in between each finger (for example first finger on the fifth fret, second on the seventh, and fourth on the ninth). Patterns you can try include 1-4-2-4 , and 1-2-1-4 . Do these with all three finger options mentioned above, and practice them on a single string, then on multiple strings. Try moving up and down the fretboard as you play them. Then, once you can play them comfortably like this you cans start applying them diatonically to the three note per string scale shapes. This is where they turn from unmusical exercises into usable musical ideas. By now I hope you get the idea of this. To take things further you can start trying more complex patterns, involving four, or more, notes. Mix patterns together, try skipping strings. Add right hand tapping into the mix. The possibilities are endless, so have fun with it. Before I finish this article I want to look at some of the more common technical problems that people have when they first try this. The main issue is that of finger strength and endurance. It takes a lot of stamina to play continuously using only the left hand, especially at high speeds, and this is not something that can be developed over night. It takes time. Practice regularly, and don't overdo it. In time you'll see progress, and find it becomes much less physically demanding on your hand. Legato playing can also be quite rough on your fingertips - more so than normal picking. Again, there's nothing much you can do about this, just keep practicing and your fingers will toughen up and it will no longer be an issue. When practicing legato I always recommend using a fairy clean amp setting. Distortion can hide a lot of mistakes and especially covers up inconsistencies in dynamics. Using a clean sound will help you hear how evenly and cleanly you are playing, and this should be your main goal. From time to time though it can be a good idea to crank up the gain, just to check you're not producing any unwanted string noise, so pay attention to good muting. As with all practice you should start off slowly. As your finger strength and stamina increase you can increase the speed, but always pay attention to accuracy. Don't just chase speed - speed comes as a by-product of accuracy and stamina. Try to pay the most attention to fingers that are weaker until you can play equally well with all fingers, as this will make things much easier in the long run. So that concludes this overview of legato technique. Hopefully it has given you an insight into what this playing style can offer you as a guitarist - the ability to play fast, flowing, melodic lines with a sound that you just can't get from picking every note. I also hope that I've given you some ideas about how to learn, practice, and apply this technique, so get practicing and start incorporating legato into your own playing.About the Author:This article was written by Chris Lake, a professional guitarist and guitar teacher of over 25 years. If you would like more help with all aspects of learning the guitar may I suggest you head over to Chris's website where you can get a free copy of his latest eBook about playing the guitar - The-Guitar-Guide.com.	<urn:uuid:eda8b9f7-1a8d-4a59-ba60-66f5d5a82795>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/guitar_techniques/smooth_operator_-_a_guide_to_playing_legato.html	2015-03-30T06:07:29Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131299114.73/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172139-00108-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.965375	2,033
What Will Jesus Do For Me If I Have Faith In Him -- In Confession by Bobby Bruno 3/27/2011 / Christian Apologetics Seek the Lord and He will be merciful Isaiah 55:6-7 says: "Seek the LORD while he may be found. Call on him while he is near. Let wicked people abandon their ways. Let evil people abandon their thoughts. Let them return to the LORD, and he will show compassion to them. Let them return to our God, because he will freely forgive the" (GW). Always remember that God will forgive you of every sin you have ever committed, will ever commit, and haven't yet committed. God knows everything about your life past, present, and future. He is faithful to forgive you. There is nothing you can do to upset God's plans and purposes for your life. To God you are a "Somebody." There are no "nobodies" in God's Kingdom. God created you for a special purpose, and finding that purpose begins with confessing your sins to God through Jesus Christ. As the above verse says, the Lord can still be found. A lot of people think that God isn't concerned with us or the world we live in. They believe that once God wound up the universe, He left it to its own devices. Many believe that God doesn't care about us anymore. "Why do you think the world is in such bad shape", they say. "If God really cared, He would do something about it." It's amazing: that's the same thing people said during Jesus' ministry on earth. They were looking for a military leader to overtake Rome, who was making life unbearable for the people of Jesus' day. They wanted Him to overthrow the rulers of Rome and to establish peace and right to the earth. They wanted a bold king to rule them without the constrictions that the Romans were putting upon them. Who they got was a Savior who was more concerned about their spiritual condition than their physical condition. Sure, Jesus did many physical miracles to show the people just who God is: He fed many, He healed many, even raised a few from the dead. But Jesus cared more about their souls than He did their bodies. Yes, He cares about our physical being, but if our souls don't belong to Him, then our physical bodies won't matter, if they will not be in Heaven with Him. When you think about it, Jesus is, in fact, a military leader who will lead an army of saints (those of us who put our faith in Him) to overthrow Satan at the appointed time (Revelation 20:10: "And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever" NIV.) But we must put our faith in Him before He cannot be found. There will come a time in the future, after God removes His Holy Spirit from this earth when salvation will no longer be possible for those who have waited too long to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Won't you call out to God right this very minute, and secure your place in Heaven with Him for all of eternity, while He can still be found? What is the first thing that Jesus will do for me after I accept Him into my life? I will be cleansed and forgive In Jeremiah 33:8 we read: "I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me"(NIV). This Scripture is talking about the Israelites returning to God after they rebelled against Him, yet again. When you read the Old Testament, you will find that God called out to his people through the prophets many, many times to return to Him, so He could heal them and forgive them. In all of those times God was showing them (and us) that He would not give up on them, and that He would keep on pursuing them until they made a definite decision to either obey Him, or to keep on going their own sinful ways. Until you make a definite decision, God will keep calling to you, because He does not want you to miss out on His love. For Satan has no love for you. All he wants to do is destroy you (1 Peter 5:8B: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." NIV) so that God can't get you into His kingdom. Satan hates God and anyone who sides with him. For those who walk around this earth saying, "God is dead" Satan has already destroyed them spiritually. If Satan can keep you from accepting God's Son as your Savior, then he has won a great victory. Satan wants you to keep on sinning, because the more you sin, he believes, the more guilt and condemnation you will feel about them and would never go to God, because God could never accept a sinner like you. Please do not believe that for a second. Go to God no matter how you feel. Don't trust your feelings because they will lie to you. God will forgive you. Here is an example of how much God loves you, and will forgive you: Place some sand into a bucket to represent all the sins of humanity since the beginning of time. Now think about all the sand left on every beach in the world. This represents God's love for us. If you don't think that God will forgive you, or that there is not enough forgiveness from God for everyone, just think about how many grains of sand there are in that bucket and compare them to the amount of sand left on God's beaches. For every grain of sand (sins) in that bucket there are trillions of grains of forgiveness from God for each person who has ever lived, past, present, and future. Seen in this light, we realize that God's love for us will never diminish, never run low, and never run out. We as humans can never sin enough to take away every grain of sand on God's beaches. There are enough grains of sand to cover the sins of all of God's children forever. Never say to yourself that God would never forgive someone as bad as you. There is nothing "bad" enough you go ever do to get God to stop loving you, no matter what Satan says. Satan is a liar. Please remember that. If you don't like yourself; if you don't care about your life; if you just want to give it all up and die because the world will get along just fine without you; if you believe that no one cares about you or loves you, or any one of a million thoughts like these, then you must realize that you are being lied to by the master deceiver himself, Satan. I once believed all of those lies about myself. But if it weren't for Jesus pursuing me until I realized that I needed Him, then you wouldn't be reading this article from someone who has been where you are at today. God loves you, and there is nothing that will ever change that. Believe it with all your heart. Please, today, answer the call. God is waiting to hear your voice saying His name. Tell Jesus that you want Him in your life, and that you need Him. Surrender all that you are to Him and I guarantee that He will make good on His promise to forgive you, cleanse you, love you, and change you into someone who you can be proud of. His love is everlasting -- it will never die. If your heart is being tugged and your mind has turned toward Jesus, please respond to His voice. You will know it is His voice because you will feel peaceful perhaps for the first time in your life. Jesus said in Revelation 3:20: "Look! Here I stand at the door and knock. If you hear me calling and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal as friends" (NLT). Jesus is knocking. Answer the call won't you? Scripture marked (GW) is taken from GOD'S WORD, 1995 God's Word to the Nations. Used by permission of Baker Publishing Group. "Scripture Marked (NIV) taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved." Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Bobby Bruno was saved 15 years ago in a way that left him no doubt that Jesus wanted him to reach others with His great and abounding love. He started writing at the age of 12 and hasn't stopped since. He achieved Associates Degree in Biblical Studies from Ohio Christian University in early 2014.	<urn:uuid:4ba36e36-c95e-4a61-9839-9ba2fed3044d>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://articles.faithwriters.com/reprint-article-details.php?article=17389	2015-04-01T01:09:11Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131302428.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172142-00224-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.97575	1,856
Oct 10, 2012, 12:31 PM EDT 4:42 PM: Bryce Harper flies out to second and that’s the ballgame. Cardinals win 8-0 and take a 2-1 lead. The Nats’ backs are up against the wall. Stay tuned to HBT for some postgame analysis and all kinds of other things on a busy, busy evening of playoff baseball. 4:41 PM: Jayson Werth walks. He’s the Nats first baserunner since the sixth inning. 4:24 PM: After not going down in order in any of the first six innings, the Nats have gone down 1-2-3 in both the seventh and the eighth. We’re heading to the ninth with the score still 8-0. 4:18 PM: Michael Morse with a long fly out. No oohs or ahhs from the crowd this time. They’re starting to get jaded just like the fans of every other team. Playoff frustration will do that to you. 4:15 PM: Costas and Kaat continuing on the Strasburg stuff. Believe me, I have beaten that horse as much as anyone, but the two pitchers who pooped the bed in this series so far would have pitched even if Strasburg was on the team. And the Nats offense has sucked too. Strasburg will be a fun conversation topic if the Nats lose this series, but let’s not pretend he’s the difference between victory and defeat. 4:13 PM: Mattheus just walked Allen Craig and unleashed the loudest F-bomb I’ve heard in a televised game since Greg Maddux retired. 4:07 PM: Ryan Mattheus is in for the Nats now in the top of the eighth. He gets two outs but then allows a Jon Jay single, a Carlos Beltran ground rule double and a Matt Holliday single and now it’s 8-0. 3:53 PM: It looked like multiple broken ankles would happen on the play, but Bryce Harper just grounded to first to a diving Allen Craig, Rosenthal covered first and just beat out Harper for the out. 3:45 PM: Garcia finally gets out of the inning, throwing 30 pitches to do it. The bottom of the seventh awaits. 3:40 PM: Molina works a full count off Garcia and then takes ball four. A run scores, it’s 6-0 St. Louis. 3:35 PM: The Cardinals start the seventh inning with back-to-back singles by Jon Jay and Carlos Beltran off of Christian Garcia. Then Matt Holliday grounds out to third, but the runners advance on the long throw. Davey Johnson decides to walk Allen Craig to load the bases. Yadier Molina comes up with the bases loaded and one out. 3:30 PM: And Rosenthal gets Jayson Werth to foul out. The Nats have left a ton of runners on base today. Just can’t get that key hit. 3:26 PM: It’s Trevor Rosenthal. Here comes some serious heat, folks. 3:25 PM: Suzuki pops up — the 12th flyball out of the game — but then Stephen Lombardozzi lines a single to right. Two on and two out and here comes Mike Matheny to take Carpenter out of the game. We go to the pen. MLB Network cuts away before they say who is coming in. Oh well. 3:21 PM: Chris Carpenter strikes out Espinosa on a called strike three. Joe West took approximately eight years to make that call. Because it’s the Joe West show. Meanwhile, Mike Matheny comes out to check on Carpenter. Carp says he’s OK. I guess we’ll see in this at bat to Suzuki. 3:18 PM: Ian Desmond leads off the bottom of the sixth with a single past Kozma at short. He’s 3 for 3. Chris Carpenter is approaching 100 pitches. He has pitched 17 innings all year before today. You have to figure he’s done soon. 3:13 PM: Carpenter strikes out. It’s 5-0 Cards after five and a half. At least Nats fans won’t be hitting rush hour all at once when the game ends. 3:11 PM: Kozma strikes out and the dangerous Chris Carpenter comes to the plate. Two out, runner at third. 3:06 PM: Craig Stammen is in for Edwin Jackson to start the sixth. He plunks the first hitter he faces — Yadier Molina — and then gives up a double to David Freese. Molina had to stop at third because it was a high, high hit that just glanced off the wall. Werth almost caught it. Two runners in scoring position, no one out. This could break open big here now. Nats pitching coach Steve McCatty making a slooooow walk to the mound to allow time for the pen to get going. 2:59 PM: And Morse pops up to right, leaving the bases loaded. A real missed chance there. Cards lead 4-0. 2:58 PM: Jim Kaat, in describing that walk: “it won’t show up in the box score, but …” Actually, Jim, yes, walks do show up in the box score. 2:57 PM: With runners on the corners, Carpenter gets Adam LaRoche to a full count and then … walks him. Bases loaded and the tying run to the plate. It’s Michael Morse. 2:53 PM: The Nats have a little something cooking now. Jayson Werth was at first and took third on a two-out single by Ryan Zimmerman. 2:51 PM: Carpenter retires Bryce Harper with a popup for the second out of the fifth. Costas says it’s nine popups or flyballs for Carpenter so far. Nats just getting under everything. 2:42 PM: After the sacrifice, Beltran grounds out to third, and Carpenter can’t advance. Edwin Jackson then strikes out Allen Craig. Gee, if only the Cardinals had one more out. I’m not really rooting for either team here, but I sorta want bad things to happen to Mike Matheny now for bunting with his leadoff hitter after the pitcher hits a double. 2:37 PM: And Mike Matheny has Jon Jay bunting. Carpenter gets to third so I guess it worked, but with the pitcher nailing Jackson like Carpenter did, why doesn’t Matheny five Jackson a free out? When you have a boxer on the ropes, you don’t start clinching. You smack him in the head. 2:35 PM: Chris Carpenter nails a leadoff double off Edwin Jackson. It was freakin’ cranked and almost went out. Carpenter is 2 for 2 against Jackson and is now 4 for 7 against him in his career. 2:32 PM: Meanwhile, in game action, Ian Desmond doubled, but he was stranded at second. Chris Carpenter is shutting out the Nats on four hits through four. 2:29 PM: When the Nats were stuck with the 1PM start, fans complained that MLB was not respecting the history of the moment. Glad to see the Nats themselves are properly reverent: BREAKING: George, Tom, Abe and Teddy are doing the Gangnam Style dance on the warning track. And Teddy wins the race again! #natitude — Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) October 10, 2012 2:27 PM: Why hasn’t the government cracked down on Axe Body Spray for false advertising? I’ve used their products before and not once — once! — was the opportunity to participate in a foursome with three towel-clad beauties presented to me. 2:24 PM: Edwin Jackson strikes out two in the fourth. Guess he can’t mulligan the first two innings, but it’s good to see him snap out of it. 2:22 PM: Costas just dropped a factoid Nats fans might not like: since the advent of the wild card, the team with the best record in baseball has only won three of 17 World Series. 2:15 PM: End of the third, still 4-0. Looks like everyone has settled down now. 2:13 PM: Not gonna say the Nats fans are totally out of it right now. Bryce Harper just flied out to left and, as Matt Holliday was camped out under it, the crowd was shouting “Nooonaann!” or something like it. 2:09 PM: Sometimes I say that I don’t think commercials work. Then the DQ chicken strip basket ad comes on and I’m all hungry for DQ chicken strip baskets. Hurm. 2:07 PM: Jackson strikes out Allen Craig and then induces a Yadier Molina double play. Jackson lives to give up solid hits in another inning. 2:01 PM: Matt Holliday hits a solid single to lead off the third. Jackson has nada. 1:58 PM: Meanwhile, the second inning ends with the Nats doing no damage. It’s still 4-0. 1:57 PM: I thought Bryce Harper looked weird earlier but I couldn’t figure out why. Here’s why: red contact lenses. Holy crap that’s disturbing. 1:54 PM: Jim Kaat notes that Joyce is “no stranger to controversial calls.” You don’t say. Now MLB showing replays of the Armando Galarraga play. Oy. 1:53 PM: After a leadoff single, Danny Espinosa tries to bunt his way on, but was called out by first base umpire Jim Joyce. On replay, Espinosa was safe. Imagine Jim Joyce getting a call at first base wrong. 1:51 PM: You guys think I’m a troll? Ha! @craigcalcaterra If this were a night game like it should have been, it would still be scoreless. — Zachary Levine (@zacharylevine) October 10, 2012 1:46 PM: Jon Jay hits into a double play. Jackson needed that like nobody’s business. Then Beltran grounds out. Inning over. But, dudes, 4-0 Cardinals. 1:43: PM: Next pitch, Chris Carpenter of all people hits a single to right field. We officially have Bad Edwin Jackson in the house. I wonder what Stephen Strasburg thinks about all of this. 1:42 PM: Pete Kozma hits a three run homer! It’s 4-0 Cards. And Nats Park deflates, almost immediately. 1: 41 PM: After the double, Jackson goes 3-2 to Descalso who then deposits the payoff pitch into left for a single. Runners on first and second, no one out. 1:38 PM: David Freese leads off the second with a double. Edwin Jackson floated it over the plate despite Kurt Suzuki wanting it outside. If his command is off, he can be beaten around like nobody’s business. 1:33 PM: Carpenter strikes out Morse to end the inning. Carpenter threw a lot of pitches that inning. He tends to settle down as games go on. The Nats missed a chance. 1:31 PM: Carpenter goes full count to LaRoche and he grounds to second. If it was any other runner there would have been no chance at all for a double play. LaRoche was safe at first, but because he’s slow as molasses out there, it was close. Runners on the corners, two out and Michael Morse at the plate. 1:26 PM: One out Werth on first, Ryan Zimmerman hits a slow grounder to third which David Freese muffed. Runners on first and second now and Adam LaRoche at the plate. It was too slow a ball for a double play, methinks, but there should be two out now. 1:25 PM: Bryce Harper nailed a ball to right which sounded like a homer off the bat but fell short for an out. The crowd almost exploded. When I was at Nats Park in August I noticed that, like a lot of places with relatively new fan bases, Nats fans tend to think every pop up is a potential homer. The phenomenon is enhanced, I imagine, by all the playoff Nattitude flowing through the place. 1:23 PM: Costas notes that Davey Johnson is “a forward thinking guy.” Which is totally true and always has been. One thing I’ve hated to see this year is the lazy idea that Johnson is somehow some crusty old school guy simply because he’s old. Nothing is further from the truth. 1:21 PM: Jayson Werth leads off the bottom of the first with a single to center. The crowd goes nuts. They’re really amped in Washington, you can tell. Probably all thrilled that their bosses gave them the day off. 1:20 PM: As I watch the 115th Captain Morgan commercial of the postseason, I will note that Michael Morse was impossibly slow getting to that double to left field. The ball stuck under the pad on the wall, and Morse was expecting a bounce. If he’s more spry about it, Holliday may not score. 1:15 PM: Matt Holliday singled and then Allen Craig doubled into the left field corner. Holliday scores. 1-0 Cardinals. Then Molina ground out, and the Nats are out of the top of the first. 1:13 PM: Second out of the first inning is a popup to Danny Espinosa at second. He fought the sun. It looks kinda brutal out there. Keep it in mind for later. 1:10 PM: Joe West is the home plate umpire. Not all umpires get to ump in the postseason. It’s an honor and a reward for what MLB thinks is good work. Think about that. Joe West. 1:08 PM: I know we’re supposed to hate everything on the Internet, but I’m not gonna lie, I like the Bronson Arroyo/Aroldis Chapman Red Hooded Sweatshirt commercial. Laugh every time. I don’t care what you think of me. 1:06 PM: In case you missed it earlier, here are the lineups: ST. LOUIS CARDINALS WASHINGTON NATIONALS 1. Jon Jay, CF 1. Jayson Werth, RF 2. Carlos Beltran, RF 2. Bryce Harper, CF 3. Matt Holliday, LF 3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B 4. Allen Craig, 1B 4. Adam LaRoche, 1B 5. Yadier Molina, C 5. Michael Morse, LF 6. David Freese, 3B 6. Ian Desmond, SS 7. Daniel Descalso, 2B 7. Danny Espinosa, 2B 8. Pete Kozma, SS 8. Kurt Suzuki, C 9. Chris Carpenter, RHP 9. Edwin Jackson, RHP 1:00 PM: I forgot that we get Bob Costas for this broadcast. He’s so big now — hosts the Olympics and everything else — that it’s kind of jarring to hear him in a regular old baseball game, even a playoff game. I’ll say though — and I’m not being an NBC homer here, I’ve always thought it — that Costas was the best baseball play-by-play guy outside of the Valhalla in which Scully, Harwell and the like reside. 12:57 PM: Frank Robinson is about to throw out the first pitch. He’s accompanied by several members of the military. For there is no one short of that as badass as he is. Gotta love Frank. Oh, and he threw a strike on the fly. 12:31 PM: Since Major League Baseball was so cruel and unethical to schedule the Nats first-ever home playoff game at 1PM, and since they put it on MLB Network, I realize that a lot of you guys can’t really see it. In light of that, we’re doing you a solid and live-blogging it. Seeing how much hell we’ve given the Nats this week, we promise to be equal opportunity trollers for this one. I’ll admit it will be harder to troll the Cardinals without Tony La Russa around, but I’m sure we’ll think of something. Suggestions in the comments, of course. Be sure to hang out here once the game gets underway at 1:07PM Eastern. And that’s the case even if you think I’m gonna be mean to your team. It beats workin’, right? - The average Major League Baseball salary this year will be more than $4 million — a record 6 - 2015 Preview: Tampa Bay Rays 16 - The Cubs assign Kris Bryant and Addison Russell to the minors, option Javier Baez as well 70 - 2015 Preview: Arizona Diamondbacks 8 - 2015 Preview: Toronto Blue Jays 69 - Mariners prospect Victor Sanchez has died 26 - 2015 Preview: Chicago White Sox 15 - Did David Ortiz admit to more than he realized with his Players’ Tribune editorial? 88 - Ex-Cardinals outfielder Curt Ford was assaulted in St. Louis and told to “go back to Ferguson” (122) - David Ortiz: “Nobody in MLB history has been tested for PEDs more than me” (118) - The MLBPA releases a statement on Kris Bryant, mentions possible litigation (90) - Rob Manfred says it would be hard to reinstate Pete Rose in a limited way (89) - Did David Ortiz admit to more than he realized with his Players’ Tribune editorial? (88)	<urn:uuid:a9524d21-a202-4715-bb03-eccf8e770efb>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/10/10/nlds-game-3-live-blog-cardinals-vs-nationals-baby/comment-page-2/	2015-04-01T01:21:44Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131302428.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172142-00224-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.953974	3,817
Effect of CPAP on insulin resistance and HbA1c in men with obstructive sleep apnoea and type 2 diabetes - 1Sleep Unit, Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK - 2Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK - Dr Sophie D West, Sleep Unit, Oxford Centre for Respiratory Medicine, Churchill Hospital, Old Road, Oxford OX3 7LJ, UK; - Received 2 November 2006 - Accepted 10 April 2007 - Published Online First 8 June 2007 Background: The effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) on insulin resistance are not clear. Trials have found conflicting results and no appropriate control groups have been used. Methods: Forty-two men with known type 2 diabetes and newly diagnosed OSA (>10 dips/h in oxygen saturation of >4%) were randomised to receive therapeutic (n = 20) or placebo CPAP (n = 22) for 3 months. Baseline tests were performed and repeated after 3 months. The study was double blind. Results: Results are expressed as mean (SD). CPAP improved the Epworth sleepiness score significantly more in the therapeutic group than in the placebo group (−6.6 (4.5) vs −2.6 (4.9), p = 0.01). The maintenance of wakefulness test improved significantly in the therapeutic group but not in the placebo group (+10.6 (13.9) vs −4.7 (11.8) min, p = 0.001). Glycaemic control and insulin resistance did not significantly change in either the therapeutic or placebo groups: HbA1c (−0.02 (1.5) vs +0.1 (0.7), p = 0.7, 95% CI −0.6% to +0.9%), euglycaemic clamp (M/I: +1.7 (14.1) vs −5.7 (14.8), p = 0.2, 95% CI −1.8 to +0.3 l/kg/min1000), HOMA-%S (−1.5 (2.3) vs −1.1 (1.8), p = 0.2, 95% CI −0.3% to +0.08%) and adiponectin (−1.1 (1.2) vs −1.1 (1.3), p = 0.2, 95% CI −0.7 to +0.6 μg/ml). Body mass index, bioimpedance and anthropometric measurements were unchanged. Hours of CPAP use per night were 3.6 (2.8) in the treatment group and 3.3 (3.0) in the placebo group (p = 0.8). There was no correlation between CPAP use and the measures of glycaemic control or insulin resistance. Conclusion: Therapeutic CPAP does not significantly improve measures of glycaemic control or insulin resistance in men with type 2 diabetes and OSA. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) is characterised by recurrent upper airway obstruction during sleep, recurrent apnoeas and arousals. It is associated with central obesity and affects approximately 4% of men.1 Population studies have found that OSA is associated with insulin resistance, and the more severe the OSA, the greater the insulin resistance, independent of general obesity.2 3 Insulin resistance occurs when the metabolic effect of insulin is reduced, leading to a lack of hepatic and peripheral tissue response to insulin-mediated glucose metabolism.4 This most closely correlates with central obesity, and the greater the visceral fat, the greater the insulin resistance.5 It is postulated that the insulin resistance in OSA is due, not only to visceral obesity, but also to increased sympathetic drive from the frequent arousals, hypoxia and sleep fragmentation—all of which are thought to impair glucose tolerance.6 7 Insulin resistance is frequently observed in pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes develops when normoglycaemia is no longer maintained as a result of inadequate pancreatic β cell compensation and insulin production. Insulin resistance is affected by many variables including changes in weight, body fat distribution (with visceral fat causing more insulin resistance than subcutaneous fat), exercise, drugs and smoking. Studies of longitudinal change in insulin resistance as an outcome need to include a control group to allow for such confounders. Insulin resistance is measurable by several techniques including the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) for basal assessment8 and the euglycaemic clamp for stimulated insulin assessment.9 There has been interest in whether the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for the treatment of OSA can improve the insulin resistance found in OSA. If the hypoxia, arousals and increased sympathetic drive found in OSA were adequately treated, would the insulin resistance and hence the glycaemic control improve? Several studies have tried to answer this but, so far, the available data have not led to a conclusive answer as the significance of any changes cannot be assessed without a control group.10–14 We therefore performed a randomised controlled trial using therapeutic and placebo CPAP to assess the effect of CPAP on glycaemic control (glycosylated haemoglobin, HbA1c) and insulin resistance (determined by euglycaemic clamp and HOMA) in men with established type 2 diabetes and newly diagnosed OSA. Subjects were recruited via the Oxford Sleep Clinic between June 2004 and August 2005. Eligible subjects were men aged 18–75 years with established type 2 diabetes (on diet, oral hypoglycaemic agents or insulin therapy). They had excessive daytime sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Score (ESS) ⩾9) and were due to start CPAP for OSA, established from overnight laboratory sleep studies (VisiLab, Stowood Scientific Instruments, Oxford, UK). The entry criterion for OSA was >10 oxygen saturation (Sao2) dips of >4% per hour on an overnight sleep study. Patients were excluded if they required urgent CPAP or if they had unstable diabetes (requiring an escalation in treatment). Additional details are provided in the online data supplement available at http://thorax.bmj.com/supplemental. Eligible subjects were seen for their baseline study visit 10 days before commencing CPAP. Subjects were asked not to change their diet or exercise habits for the duration of the study, and their primary care physicians were asked not to change their medications unless essential. Following baseline studies, each subject was randomised to receive either therapeutic or placebo CPAP for 3 months in a double blind fashion. Randomisation was by means of a balanced computer programme (MINIM Version 1.5, Evans S). CPAP was first used overnight at home following an afternoon training session, which is standard practice in our unit. Two weeks after CPAP initiation, all patients were seen in the nurse-led CPAP clinic. The nurses involved in the randomisation, CPAP initiation and ongoing CPAP care were separate from the study investigators. After 3 months of CPAP treatment the baseline studies were repeated. At the end of the study all subjects receiving placebo CPAP were changed to therapeutic CPAP. Subjects gave written informed consent and the study was approved by the local ethics committee. Subjects receiving therapeutic CPAP had autotitrating machines (Autoset Spirit, ResMed, UK) while those receiving placebo CPAP had the same machines set to their lowest pressure with a flow restricting connector inserted at the machine outlet and six extra 4 mm holes inserted in the collar of the main tubing to allow air to escape and to prevent rebreathing of carbon dioxide. A pressure of <1 and >0 cm H2O was delivered, insufficient to hold open the pharynx. These methods of placebo CPAP provision have been used previously.15 16 The data from the CPAP machines were downloaded at the second study visit. Measures of insulin resistance Insulin resistance was assessed by both HOMA and euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp on a single day. Studies were carried out after an overnight fast and omission of the morning oral hypoglycaemic agents or insulin. Baseline blood samples were collected for the determination of glucose and insulin for HOMA. Following the basal sampling, subjects underwent a hyperinsulinaemic euglycaemic clamp.9 They were kept awake for the duration of the clamp in order to avoid any confounding effects of sleep on glucose metabolism. Other blood tests HbA1c, lipids (cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides), adiponectin and highly sensitive C-reactive protein were measured. Measures of body composition Height and weight were recorded, body mass index (BMI) was calculated and neck, waist and hip measurements were made. Body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis (Bodystat 1500, UK). Measures of sleepiness and activity Subjective sleepiness was measured by the ESS and objective sleepiness was measured once at the same time of day using a modification of the Maintenance of Wakefulness test (MWT) (OSLER).17 The Short Sleep Apnea Quality of Life Index (Short SAQLI) was completed.18 These variables were measured to confirm patients were responding to therapeutic CPAP compared with the placebo group. Physical activity was assessed at baseline and at the end of the study using wrist worn actiwatches (electronic devices containing accelerometers which measure and record intensity, amount and duration of physical movement; Cambridge Neurotechnology Ltd, UK). Analysis of data The primary end point was the change in HbA1c measured after 3 months of therapeutic or placebo CPAP. Secondary end points were changes in insulin sensitivity measured by HOMA and euglycaemic clamp. Differences between groups (using the change from baseline as the outcome variable) were assessed with the unpaired Student t test. A χ2 test was used to compare the proportions in each group on different diabetes therapy and duration of diabetes. Non-normally distributed data were logarithmically transformed before applying parametric statistical tests and data are reported as geometric means. Activity data were analysed using non-parametric tests. A p value of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Analysis was performed with SPSS Version 12.0. The study was powered not to miss a difference of 0.8 in HbA1c (assuming a within subject SD of 0.8)19 at a significance level of 5% and with a power of 90%, which required 20 subjects in each treatment group. Figure 1 shows a flow chart of the study. Forty-eight men were considered for entry to the study: four declined and two were unsuitable, so 42 were enrolled. Twenty-one men were randomised to receive therapeutic CPAP and 21 to receive placebo CPAP. One patient randomised to receive therapeutic CPAP had a defective machine which delivered minimal pressure so his data were therefore analysed with the placebo group. The two groups were well matched at baseline with no significant difference in age (mean (range): therapeutic 58 (29–74) years, placebo 55 (24–66) years), >4% Sao2 dips/hour (therapeutic 33.1 (11.0–87.9), placebo 39.1 (10.8–82.2), BMI (therapeutic 36.6 (26.2–49.2), placebo 36.8 (29.2–47.1)) or HbA1c (therapeutic 8.5 (6.5–12.1), placebo (8.4 (6.0–13.6)). For diabetes, five subjects were treated with diet only, 23 with oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA), 23 with insulin and OHA, and four with insulin alone; the proportions of subjects receiving these treatment categories were not significantly different between the two groups (p = 0.6, χ2 test). The mean duration of diabetes was 7.3 years in the therapeutic CPAP group and 6.5 years in the placebo group (p = 0.3, χ2 test). Completion data were available for 40 men: one patient receiving therapeutic CPAP did not attend his second study visit as he was admitted to hospital for emergency cardiac surgery and one patient withdrew from the study because he was unwilling to continue using CPAP (randomised to placebo). Patients who attended and had poor or negligible CPAP usage were included and analysed on an intention to treat basis. Euglycaemic clamps were performed on 33 of the study participants; technical difficulties meant these were not performed in the first nine participants. There were no adverse events in either of the groups. Measures of daytime sleepiness and SAQLI score Subjective sleepiness measured by the ESS improved in both groups following CPAP treatment (table 1), but the change was significantly greater in the group receiving therapeutic CPAP (p<0.01). Objective sleepiness, measured by the modified MWT, improved significantly only in the group receiving therapeutic CPAP by a mean of +10.6 min (p<0.001). This change in MWT was similar to our previous randomised controlled trial in this area (+7.0 min), and the change in ESS was of an effect size (1.9) nearly as large as this previous study (2.2) in which the patients had less comorbidity.15 The mean short SAQLI score improved following CPAP treatment in both groups, but the change between the groups was significantly different in favour of therapeutic CPAP (p = 0.04). The mean (SD) blood glucose concentrations over the last 20 min of baseline euglycaemic clamp were 5.9 (0.5) mmol/l in the therapeutic CPAP group and 5.9 (0.5) mmol/l in the placebo group (p = 0.8); and in the repeat clamp the levels were 6.1 (0.8) mmol/l and 5.9 (0.5) mmol/l, respectively (p = 0.5). HbA1c and insulin sensitivity The results are shown in table 1. HbA1c did not change significantly following CPAP treatment in either of the groups. There was no significant change in insulin sensitivity in either the therapeutic or placebo CPAP groups after 3 months of treatment. The plasma insulin concentrations during the baseline and final euglycaemic clamps were not significantly different between groups. The geometric mean (SD) plasma insulin concentrations over the last 30 min of the baseline clamp were 1405 (239) pmol/l in the therapeutic CPAP group and 1436 (335) pmol/l in the placebo group (p = 0.6), and in the repeat clamp geometric mean (SD) plasma insulin concentrations were 1453 (339) pmol/l and 1481 (327) pmol/l, respectively (p = 0.8). Insulin sensitivity (M/I) is expressed as the quantity of glucose metabolised (M) per unit of plasma insulin concentration (I), data obtained from the euglycaemic clamp. At the end of the study M/I had changed by +1.7 (14.1) in the therapeutic CPAP group compared with −5.7 (14.8) in the placebo CPAP group (p = 0.2). A positive change indicates an improvement in insulin resistance. HOMA-%S changed by −1.5 (2.3) in the therapeutic group and −1.1 (1.8) in the placebo group (p = 0.2). Adiponectin did not change significantly following CPAP treatment in either of the groups (therapeutic −1.1 (1.2), placebo −1.1 (1.3), p = 0.3). The changes in HbA1c and adiponectin were found to be not normally distributed and therefore the two groups were compared again with the Mann-Whitney test, but this made no difference and the results remained non-significant (p = 0.3 and 0.4, respectively). There were no correlations between change in M/I with change in weight, BMI, waist to hip ratio, bioelectrical impedance, HbA1c, HOMA-%S, adiponectin or change in physical activity. Other blood tests There were no significant changes in any of the measures of fasting lipids or highly sensitive C-reactive protein over the 3-month period in either of the two groups. Measures of body composition There was no significant change in any of the measures of BMI, waist to hip ratio, neck size or bioelectrical impedance over the 3-month period in either of the two groups (table 1). The average activity for the most active 10 h (M10, usually representing wakefulness) and the least active 5 h (L5, usually representing sleep) per day over a 7-day period were calculated. The activity levels were found to be highly variable and changes after CPAP in those receiving therapeutic CPAP did not reach statistical significance (M10, p = 0.4; L5, p = 0.1); mean (SD) change in M10: therapeutic CPAP +13.3 (68.3), placebo CPAP +0.7 (5.9), 95% CI −43.0 to +17.7; mean (SD) change in L5: therapeutic CPAP −0.3 (0.8), placebo CPAP −0.4 (1.6), 95% CI −1.0 to +0.8 arbitrary units/1000. There was no significant difference between the two groups in the mean number of hours for which CPAP was used on the nights it was used (table 2). In the therapeutic CPAP group there was no correlation between the hours of CPAP usage per night and the change in M/I, %S-HOMA or HbA1c. Three subjects in the placebo CPAP group (14%) and five in the therapeutic CPAP group (26%) used CPAP for an average of <1 h/night over the last 1 and 3 months. The main analyses were repeated with these poor compliers excluded (ie, per protocol) and the results remained non-significant with no suggestion of an improvement in the therapeutic group. This double-blind randomised controlled trial of therapeutic and placebo CPAP for 3 months in men with type 2 diabetes and OSA has not shown any significant improvement in glycosylated haemoglobin or insulin resistance measured by euglycaemic clamp and HOMA. As anticipated, subjects receiving therapeutic CPAP experienced significant improvements in their subjective and objective sleepiness and sleep apnoea quality of life scores, similar to our previous studies, indicating that CPAP was effectively treating their OSA, but this was not accompanied by improvements in glycaemic control or insulin resistance. There were no significant changes in any of the other variables measured, despite the clinical response of improvement in OSA. Adiponectin is an adipocyte derived peptide with insulin sensitising properties. It is decreased in adiposity and increases after weight reduction, and higher levels correlate with increased insulin sensitivity.20 A previous study found large and significant changes in adiponectin, together with significant changes in M/I, following treatment with pioglitazone.21 Adiponectin is therefore another marker, along with %S and M/I, which can be used to determine if there is a change in insulin resistance but, in our study, it did not significantly change. The fact that neither the primary outcome measure of HbA1c nor any of the other variables associated with insulin resistance changed adds validity to the consistent findings of this study. The euglycaemic clamp is widely accepted as the gold standard for assessing insulin resistance; as markedly supraphysiological insulin concentrations are achieved, this method is applicable over a wide range of insulin sensitivities and glucose tolerances from normal to diabetes.22 Whatever the insulin resistance, agents that change the sensitivity tend to show effects with the euglycaemic clamp. The clamp data (Vmax effect) are concordant with the HOMA data (basal effect),8 22 so it is unlikely that a real change was observed with these two methods. For comparison, a similar double-blind randomised controlled trial was carried out in 30 subjects with diet controlled type 2 diabetes to assess the effects of pioglitazone on glycaemic control and insulin resistance.21 Following 3 months of pioglitazone compared with placebo treatment, HbA1c significantly improved (−0.6%, p = 0.003) as did HOMA-%S (+23%, p = 0.02), M/I (+12 l/kg/min1000, p = 0.009) and adiponectin (3.8 ng/ml, p = 0.00004). These results show that larger significant improvements in all these measures are achieved with pioglitazone, whereas the small improvements in HbA1c and M/I found in the CPAP group in our study are not statistically significant and are unlikely to be clinically significant. The validity characteristics of the euglycaemic clamp (mean (SD) of the measures of blood glucose concentrations over the last 20–30 min and SD of M/I) in our study were comparable to those in this pioglitazone study, as was the variation in the repeat measurements of HbA1c, HOMA-%S and M/I between the two time points. The patients studied all had well established type 2 diabetes. The development of type 2 diabetes reflects a progressive decline in pancreatic β cell function rather than increasing insulin resistance.23 The patients had a range of ages (24–74 years) and were receiving different treatments for their diabetes; neither age nor diabetes treatment was significantly different between the two groups. In a comparison depending on a change following an intervention with within-subject comparisons being made, homogeneity of groups is not of the same importance as it is in a cross-sectional comparison. Wider recruitment can therefore be seen as an advantage. Studies of drug treatment in patients with type 2 diabetes receiving different therapies have shown significant improvements in insulin resistance, typically within 3 months.24 25 The use of CPAP for 3 months would therefore seem to be long enough for any changes in insulin resistance or glycaemic control to occur. It would be difficult to justify ethically giving placebo CPAP for longer than 3 months in this symptomatic group. It is possible that CPAP might be effective in a pre-diabetic group by improving insulin resistance via an improvement in the activity of the still functioning β cells; this is an area for future research. It could be argued that the mean CPAP compliance figures of <4 h use per night in our study might account for the lack of improvement in glycaemic and insulin resistance variables. If subjects had used their CPAP for longer, decreasing the number of apnoea-related arousals and the resultant sympathetic nervous system activation, would they have improved their insulin resistance? We do not think this is the case. First, the mean CPAP compliance was clearly great enough in the therapeutic group to improve the OSA, making a significant difference to sleepiness (measured by ESS, MWT and SAQLI) whereas the placebo group experienced no significant improvement. Since the sleepiness improved, the number of apnoea-related arousals was likely to have decreased together with the associated sympathetic nervous system hormone surges. Second, there was a range of mean compliance over the preceding month from zero use to 9.1 h/night, with poor and good compliers in both the therapeutic and placebo groups. A per protocol analysis of these good compliers did not change the results, neither could we could find a correlation between any of the measures of insulin resistance or HbA1c and CPAP compliance. We would have expected positive correlations if improvements in insulin resistance were associated with compliance. Indeed, even the study by Harsch et al13 showed no correlation between CPAP use and the improvements in insulin resistance. This is surprising, given that the treatment of OSA is thought to lead to improvements in insulin resistance via decreased sympathetic nervous system activation. We are clear that the outcome of our study is not due to lack of CPAP use. The inclusion of a control group treated with placebo CPAP is particularly important in a study of insulin resistance. It is likely that glycaemic control and insulin resistance would be influenced by taking part in a study, regardless of the intervention, as people are more likely to modify their behaviour when they know they are being monitored. It would be impossible in an uncontrolled study to attribute any changes purely to the intervention concerned. There have been several studies published assessing the effect of CPAP on insulin resistance. None have used a control group, which leads to concern regarding the interpretation of the results. Harsch et al treated 40 patients with therapeutic CPAP and performed euglycaemic clamp studies prior to CPAP, after 2 days and after 3 months.13 A significant improvement in insulin sensitivity (the reciprocal of insulin resistance) was found after 2 days of CPAP treatment which was sustained at 3 months (p = 0.001). Mean BMI did not change during the study. The subgroup of patients with a BMI of >30 kg/m2 showed no significant change in insulin sensitivity at 2 days but a significant improvement at 3 months (p = 0.03). There was no correlation between improvement in insulin sensitivity and CPAP use. The investigators hypothesised that the early changes in insulin sensitivity after 2 days were due to improvements in sleep disordered breathing and associated decreases in nocturnal sympathetic drive, as well as improvements in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function due to improvements in sleep and hypoxia. The later changes in the patients with BMI >30 kg/m2 may have been due to changes in body fat distribution. It has been noted previously that the clamp procedure itself increases sympathetic nervous system activity, presumably because patients are uncomfortable and anxious and this is likely to increase insulin resistance.26 Control patients who underwent a clamp procedure, but received only saline, had increases in plasma norepinephrine similar to those found in patients undergoing a euglycaemic clamp with insulin and glucose. By the time of the second clamp, patients are likely to have acclimatised to the situation and insulin resistance is hence reduced,27 and by the third clamp this acclimatisation would be greater. This effect makes the inclusion of a control group mandatory so that changes in insulin resistance are not falsely attributed to the intervention concerned. One study which assessed the change in insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes treated with either pioglitazone or placebo showed that insulin resistance (measured by euglycaemic clamp) improved in both groups after 3 months, although the improvement was greater in the pioglitazone group (41% vs 10% in controls).21 The improvement in the control group was likely to be due, at least in part, to acclimatisation to the clamp procedure itself, as well as other factors such as better adherence to diet and medication or increased exercise. We did not see such improvements in either group in our study, possibly because the subjects were encouraged not to alter their diet or activity. It could be questioned whether the 18% and 31% improvement found in insulin resistance by Harsch et al13 after 2 days and 3 months respectively might not, in fact, be due to CPAP but to clamp acclimatisation, study effect or confounding variables. The other studies published on this subject have had small numbers of patients (n⩽10) and have also not had control groups. A study of 10 subjects by Brooks et al12 showed a non-significant improvement in insulin sensitivity following 3 months of CPAP (28%, p = 0.06). A further study in nine subjects with type 2 diabetes by Harsch et al14 showed a significant improvement in insulin sensitivity after 3 months of CPAP (42%, p = 0.04).14 Both of these results could have been due to the effect of acclimatisation on the second clamp, study effect or biological variation in insulin sensitivity, as well as the confounders which affect insulin resistance. A study by Saarelainen et al11 found no significant effect of treatment for 3 months with CPAP on euglycaemic clamp measures in 10 subjects with OSA,11 as did a study by Smurra et al10 in 10 patients with OSA treated for 2 months with CPAP. Babu et al28 looked at HbA1c and 72 h continuous glucose monitoring before and after approximately 3 months of CPAP treatment. No significant improvement in overall HbA1c was found (p = 0.06), but HbA1c significantly improved in those patients in whom it was initially above 7% (p = 0.02, likely to be due to regression to the mean) and there were some improvements in postprandial glucose levels (p = 0.05). Again, without a control group it is difficult to attribute these improvements in glycaemic control solely to CPAP and not to the effect of being monitored in a study. In conclusion, OSA, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are all increasing in prevalence as population obesity levels increase. Our randomised placebo-controlled study adds evidence that CPAP does not improve insulin resistance and glycaemic control in men with established type 2 diabetes and OSA. Routine treatment of OSA in patients with type 2 diabetes is unlikely to result in improved diabetic control or a reduction in treatment requirements through a direct effect on insulin resistance. Additional details are provided in the online data supplement available at http://thorax.bmj.com/ supplemental. The authors thank Joy Crosby who randomised all the patients and supervised their CPAP and the staff of the Oxford Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism for their help with the euglycaemic clamps. This study was funded by Diabetes UK and the Grand Charity. Competing interests: None. - body mass index - continuous positive airway pressure - Epworth sleepiness score - glycosylated haemoglobin - homeostatic model assessment - Maintenance of Wakefulness test - oral hypoglycaemic agents - obstructive sleep apnoea - Sleep Apnea Quality of Life Index	<urn:uuid:6fbdb2b8-b865-41c2-8e9a-cf12b0535f37>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://thorax.bmj.com/content/62/11/969.long	2015-04-01T01:07:59Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131302428.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172142-00224-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.953521	6,407
Dance Pop Tutorial Day 6: Arrangement, FX & Melodies [7 Day Song] Hi! I’m Dave from boyinaband.com and welcome to day 6 of the 7 day song on Dance Pop, courtesy of Propellerhead Software’s Music Making Month. Yesterday we talked about the vocal processing for the Dance Pop track, and today we’ll look into how I’ve arranged it, have a quick look at the FX I’ve used and then discuss the thinking behind my choice of progressions, rhythms and melodies. Firstly the arrangement then. Reason and Record’s “Block” mode makes it frickin’ easy to lay out and to see the sections of the track. We’ve got 8 bars of intro, verse, prechorus, chorus, then a 4 bar intro section into the verse, the prechorus and two choruses, a 16 bar bridge, a tiny 2 bar intro break, the chorus twice again and ending on an 8 bar loop of the intro. Nice and ironic. So! Join me in part 2 for- just kidding, let’s have a bit more of an in depth look and see how the FX affect the effect of the sections. I’ve just used a redrum instance to add FX sample to the track, for a more in depth look into how to add FX check out any of the previous 7 day songs where I explain that. The intro section is akin to the lady gaga style of Dance Pop – she has this awesome habit of having ridiculous hooks that end up being stuck in your head, and you’ll often find they’re quite minor sounding harmonies or just rapped. So I went for an intro section that’s not too melodic with a repetitive and suitably lyrically dodgy hook. In Record or Reason, just drawing over a section put in by a block mutes it out – this is ideal for bringing in our out elements, as you can see the first 4 bars I’ve gone for the intro without the beat, bringing it in later to begin driving the track. Building up sections is really important when making interesting pop music, even if the intro is the same thing looped, introducing new elements or dropping out existing instruments is a great way to keep your listener engaged, and since your conventional target audience for this genre is probably 13 year olds with rich parents and ADD, you really need to put every effort in to keep them engaged. So, FX wise I’ve got a nice little boom to start the track, a bit of a reverse to lead into the verse and a white noise sweep at the start there as well just so that synth isn’t all alone there and the track sounds a bit more filled out. Moving into the verse, we’ve got the same beat as the intro, notice it’s a little different to the chorus beat (I’ll discuss it in part 2), for a little bit of rhythmical difference in this instance. The bass is introduced and the gated lead drops out. It’s good to try and keep one instrument focal at a time – the pitch bend synth comes in in between the bass notes, keeping with the “one synth sound at a time” thing. However, to fill it out, once again we have FX to the rescue – I found this cool hollow reverby synth sample in the Primeloops Razor FX sample pack (which I use all the time because it’s frickin’ useful – link to grab that below) http://primeloops.com/loops-samples/product/razor-fx~79/?a_id=boyinaband Since the lyrics change in the verse, I didn’t feel the need to change any of the instrumentation. So over to the prechorus, where I’ve got another FX sample added – a little blip that I was initially wondering “Hmm, is that too cheesy?” and then realised I was making a Dance Pop song and snapped out of my moment of foolishness. If there’s ever a genre you can get away with cheesy little sounds, this is it. But make sure they’re accompanied by some sort of powerful element – be it synths, bass or beat. I drop out the drums at the end of the prechorus, so it hits harder when the chorus comes in. That first chorus is when we really start to think about building. There’s quite a few elements in the full version of the chorus, so for the first instance I’ve removed a bunch of them so the song can introduce them later to feel like it’s built up. The high synth is muted, as is the tambourine. So we just have the lead, bass and beat as well as that crash in FX sample and the reverse up to the quick intro. This time with the beat to keep it flowing. The white noise sweep stops exactly when the verse comes in, which feels like the intro is bringing the track back down again, quite a cool effect. Second verse is much the same as the first musically, there’s a little alteration to the beat to hilight a vocal stutter I added which is so frickin’ cool if I do say so myself. Hey, if you don’t like the music you make, why are you making it? Oh yeah, to make a horrendous amount of money, fair enough. But I frickin’ adore Dance Pop so I’m pretty lucky I guess. Anyway, Prechorus again, with that variation in the Ah~ vocal harmony keeping it interesting, and it’s time for the chorus! This time half way through the gloves come off and the tambourine and little backing synth come in to fill it out a bit more so it has some kind of building feel. The FX are just crashes and reverses. Now for the bridge – Just the bass pad and arp with the vocal on top, but to fill out the top end we have that white noise sweep from the intro peeking in to say hello, you’ll start to notice a ton of these effects in Pop music when you are actively aware of them, they really help filling out tracks with not much in them without taking too much focus. A really big explosive hit starts the section, then half way through we’ve got the kick drum unmuted just driving it along. I really like how my horrendous over compression of the track has given a sidechained pumping sound to the white noise when the kick hits, you might want to be less messy and do that with a side chain compressor, but that’s your call. Then we have a nice long reverse into the tiny intro section that this time is swamped by a bit-crushed effect sample, I crushed it with Scream 4 (man does that sound inappropriately metal at this time) – this just adds that tiny bit of unexpected tension before the final chorus, which is another technique you’ll see done time and again in Pop songs. Linkin Park used to do that all the time too… back in the days of Hybrid Theory and Meteora… simpler times… what? Oh yeah, song, right. Final Chorus time – introducing it with the tambourine so it hits a bit harder, then bringing in the little backing synth and the extra vocal harmony for the big finale, then crashing out into the intro. Just letting that double clap finish it off. Marvellous! So you have the choice whether or not to put in a Gaga style intro break section, and sometimes the verse and prechorus are musically the same and just the vocals will change, but this is pretty much the layout of every Dance Pop song. It’s very formulaeic – and for a reason, this maximizes the amount of catchy hooks you can fit into 3 to 3 and a half minutes, which is the ideal radio play time, apparently. Not sure if there’s any scientific or psychological reasoning behind that, but most radio stations seem to abide by it. Remember not to neglect your FX. They really tie the song together and it won’t sound as filled out and pro without them. So join me in part 2 where I’ll go through the choices of notes and rhythms in the track! Okay, so we have a few different parts, so let’s go through one at a time. This is just a really deliberately disjointed sounding melody, from the D to the A, then the semitone above A#, which gives a minor feel and down to the E. The notes don’t seem to have much relation to each other which gives that unusual and cool feel to them. The beat has the claps on every 2 and 4, with the echoey clap on the 4 and this just drives the beat along nicely, keeping the dancey feel, then the kick is on the 1 and just after the clap to give a bouncey, hip hoppy kind of syncopated feel. The kick has a double kick because it gives the inevitable metal kid doing a drum cover on youtube something to do, and also kind of mirrors the double clap at the end. Intro vocal harmony Just a minor third harmony here with the D and F, making a minor and emotional vocal harmony over the weird melody works really well in creating that cool, dark pop vibe. A very simple riff playing off the D root note and also you’ll notice every time the kick drum hits, the bass will play a note. This is a good convention to follow when making a strong and catchy bass riff. just goes up to the G, to the A# and A, playing off the semitone again, which is a little reference to the intro gated pad riff. Verse pitch bend synth In the same vein, the two notes being hit that are just long enough to bring it up to the recogniseable pitch are on those semitone notes A# and A. This is a kind of theme throughout the song, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – semitones are dark and powerful and I love them like a child. A child that actually does what you say and works hard and shuts up and takes care of themself when you’re having a rest after a hard day so you don’t have to go to court and waste money on some decent lawyers to avoid battery charges and negligence. The catchy melody just repeates from the “why why” to the “but I say why”, so in addition to the lyrical repetition, there’s also melodic repetition. Making this mega catchy – the notes are just working their way down to the root note, going G A F G D. This synth is the same as the vocal, again just working its way down to the vocal. The notes don’t change exactly when you expect them to on the beat, giving a cool kind of lazy feel to the flow of the vocal. The bass in the prechorus is similar to the verse, only less frequent and just works its way up the key. The chorus lead follows the rhythm and melody the bass has been establishing just to keep it catchy, then has the occasional jump up high to first the A and then the C, making it feel progressively more like it wants to resolve, then when you expect it to hit the note the chorus either ends or loops round. In contrast to the repeated lead riff, the bass changes the chord progression of the song, still following the kick drum rhythm from the verse to give a nice shuffle, from D to G to A# to the C at the top, which is aching to go up to that D, we take it down to the D, but this kinda works well with the lead synth which goes nice and high to strengthen the tension I mentioned. You’ll notice that in a lot of pop songs, the chorus will hit at the same time the vocalist will sing the high note of the vocal melody – this is a really powerful way to start a chorus, the high note in this melody being the A note, then it’s just playing around between the D and the A, with the final little catchy hook on the semitone between E and F, for some pretty tension before the resolution to the intro section. Chorus little synth The weedy leady synth is much the same as the prechorus for the most part, but on that last “Just an illusion” hook, it goes up to the second and then down to the root note just to be a bit darker. It’s very quiet but subtly drives the track along. We’re using bar long notes here that go D, to the pretty third F, down to the A# in an unexpected turn of events that’s pretty powerful, then to keep up the tension going to the A, but up an octave so it feels brighter so it’s not too dark and gloomy. Then the arp on top of that just starts on the D note then walks down from the A to the D skipping the second note, so the prettiness is maintained without the arp sounding too minor and dark. This in conjunction with the pad makes a really powerful and emotional sound, since it’s acting as a kind of pedal – a reference point for the root note of the track which really enforces the tension caused by the root notes. The vocal in the bridge walks up the scale to that A A# semitone, where it holds the final notes and plays between. Again, tons of gorgeous tension here, especially with the third vocal harmonies on top and that bass pad/arp combo keeping it together. Love this section. And there we have it! I mentioned about the chorus vocal harmonies in day 5, so that about covers it. Now all we have left is the mixing and mastering as well as the magical unveiling of the final finished 7 day Dance Pop song! Frickin’ Sweet. So join me tomorrow in Day 7 for that!	<urn:uuid:1e6be1c4-3bae-40fa-ba30-5f33519db133>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.boyinaband.com/tutorials/dance-pop-tutorial-day-6-arrangement-fx-melodies-7-day-song/	2015-04-01T01:04:55Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131302428.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172142-00224-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.940342	2,985
1969 Chevrolet Nova Z/28 - What If?Written by on May 30, 2007 Chevrolet Never Had An RPO Z/28 Option Package Available For The Nova-But What If It Had? That's The Question Pure Vision Tried To Answer. The frenzy of today's musclecar speculation has made clones commonplace. You know, a 318 Challenger becomes a Hemi car, or a straight-six Mustang emerges from the garage with stripes and Shelby badges. The car will never be the real thing, but it's close enough for most people, and often far cheaper. While clones are based on real cars that were offered for sale, a phantom is a never-was. Take a '37 Ford three-window. Uncle Henry never built one, but a lot of street rodders do. When it comes to musclecars, you've no doubt seen a few GTO station wagons or Buick GS-nosed El Caminos. Those are phantoms. Steve Strope of Pure Vision took the phantom approach on the Z/28 Nova built for owner Gary Gagliardi-though the project didn't start out that way. Steve says, "Gary wanted me to build him a car, and after some discussion we decided on a Nova or a Buick Apollo because they were a little different. We were going to give it the full. Pro Touring treatment and put a Kenny Duttweiler Buick Grand National motor in it. Even set on 'medium bad ass,' Kenny could make like 600 hp and it'd be different." But that's not how the project ended up. Gary has several very nice cars already, including a '70 Hemi 'Cuda and a '7011/42 Z28 that are straight restorations. That fact must have been bubbling around in Steve's head, because while driving home from the shop one night the idea for the Z/28 Nova popped in. "Gary's a little more into the original cars, but he wanted something hot-rodded, so the idea for the Z/28 Nova just came to me. I thought, 'Why not play a game of what if? What if Chevrolet had offered the Z/28 option package to the Nova as well as the Camaro? And what if we found one and restored it but with modern flair? How would that look?'" Gary loved the idea, and the result is the Nova you see here, which made its debut at the '06 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. Other than the one-off Budnik wheels, this looks like a car that Chevrolet could have built back in 1969. The Hugger Orange and white stripes are the first clue to what it's all about, but the ruse is more than just skin deep. Open the doors and you'll notice that it feels much more like a '69 Camaro than a '69 Nova. The seats, dash, and center console are all Camaro parts, and the black-and-white houndstooth upholstery is Camaro-spec stuff supplied by PUI. Open the hood and you'll find what looks just like a DZ-coded 302 small-block with the rare dual-quad cross-ram induction setup. It even has the steel cross-ram cowl-induction hood. Most of the car retains a factory look, maintaining the theme of taking an original car and upgrading it with a few modern parts. You know, a typical street machine. For example, the engine compartment isn't overdone; there are a lot of satin-black and factory parts, and even the Optima battery was disguised to look like an original Delco. Headers and aftermarket control arms are the other modern speed parts visible under the hood. Where an original Z/28 Nova (had it existed) might have had JL8 brakes, this one sports more modern Corvette brakes. The transmission is still a stick, as all Z/28s were, but has been updated to a Tremec five-speed to give Gary overdrive. There's a lot going on with this car that doesn't immediately grab your attention. There's a ton of custom work in the headlight bezels and rear spoiler, for example, which is not immediately obvious unless you know Novas and Camaros intimately. Even putting the Camaro parts in the interior, which you would think would be pretty easy, required some thought. Steve says, "The seat mount brackets are different, so to get the Camaro seats in we had to custom-make the brackets. The rear seat in a Nova is also much bigger than a Camaro's, so Eric Thorsen Custom Upholstery took the repop covers from PUI, dissected them, and then redid them to fit and work with the houndstooth pattern." The Camaro dash support wasn't that hard to adapt since the only real difference between Camaro and Nova dashes is that the Camaro's has a few more holes for trim pieces. The center console required some custom brackets, too. "Underneath it's basically a Pro Touring car," Steve told us. Detroit Speed minitubs, leaf-spring relocating shackles, and a narrowed gas tank allow 305/30ZR19 Pirelli tires under the rear. The front suspension uses a complete Global West G-Plus system and American Touring Specialties aluminum spindles with Corvette hubs mounting Z06 14-inch rotors and six-piston calipers. The rear brakes are actually a Wilwood kit with the Wilwood name milled off and the Corvette logo painted on to match the front. The final touch is a set of one-off (for now) Budnik wheels designed like '60s daisy mags. Of course Steve is quick to point out that all the sheetmetal, trim, rubber, wiring, and a thousand other parts came from both Year One and Goodmark. A well-done phantom should not be obvious. If it's good, the average person shouldn't be able to notice that there's anything hinky going on. In that regard, Pure Vision pulled it off. It's an example of a car that should have been because it just seems so right-and it's also a really bitchin' street machine. Quick Inspection: '69 Chevrolet Nova Z/28 Los Angeles, CA Engine: What looks like a 302 is actually a Tom Nelson-built 406 with World Products heads, a hydraulic roller cam, and a reproduction-original cross-ram intake with dual Holley carburetors. An MSD Ready-to-Run distributor and Blaster coil look stock and light the fire. Stainless Works headers and 3-inch pipes lead to chambered ZL1-style mufflers. Power: On Nelson Racing's dyno the engine made 504 hp and 507 lb-ft of torque, and Steve says it idles at 800 rpm. Transmission: A Keisler Engineering kit was used to put a Tremec five-speed behind the high-winding mill. It's actuated by a Keisler hydraulic clutch setup. Rearend: A Strange S60 (think Dana 60) rearend with 3.73 gears will take all the abuse Gary can give it. Steve wanted to put a Strange 12-bolt into the car to continue the factory-built theme, but Gary insisted on the S60. Frame: The rear framerails were narrowed a bit to fit the DSE deep tubs and were then tied to the stock front subframe with connectors. Suspension: It's all Pro Touring. In the front are Global West tubular upper and lower control arms, QA1 coilovers, a 1-inch sway bar, ATS aluminum spindles, and a Flaming River quick-ratio steering box. In the back are Global West leaf springs moved inboard with DSE shackles. Bilstein shocks control bounce, and the e-brake cables and all the brake system plumbing are custom. Brakes: The front brakes are 14-inchers from an '06 Z06 Corvette, and the rears are from Wilwood with the calipers modified to look like the Vette calipers in the front. Wheels: Budnik built these wheels specifically for this car to mimic the classic American Racing Daisys. They're 18s in the front and 19s in the rear for more rake. Tires: Pirelli tires are all around, with 305/30ZR19s in the back and 235/40ZR18s in the front. Body: The body was mostly left alone except for a few details. Pure Vision removed the factory bumper-to-grille filler panel and modified the headlight-bucket trim pieces to fill in the area. A Camaro rear spoiler was part of the Z/28 image, but it required new ends to fit the Nova's quarter-panels, and a peak was added in the center to match the one in the Nova's trunk lid. Paint: Gold Coast Custom sprayed the Hugger Orange and white stripes. The company also did the bodywork. Interior: A '69 Camaro dash, seats, and center console were adapted to fit. White was never an optional interior color on a '69 Nova, so this is all custom. Year One supplied the upholstery, using a PUI kit that had to be modified to fit the rear seat. Pure Vision also had PUI cover the stock Nova door panels since white vinyl Nova door panels don't exist.	<urn:uuid:f881d8cf-852e-461f-9d7d-01ea39fd9cdb>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.hotrod.com/cars/featured/hrdp-0707-1969-chevrolet-nova-z28/	2015-04-01T01:23:13Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131302428.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172142-00224-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.956387	1,980
UNI Online is a compilation of notices distributed to faculty and staff. The deadline for submission is noon, the day before publication. UNI Online is distributed on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Submitted items must be sponsored by a UNI department, program or organization. No commercial or personal announcements are allowed. Announcements must have news, not opinion content. Submit items to: http://www.uni.edu/unionline/ Thursday, February 16, 2006 CAMPUS CONVERSATION - FEB. 17: All UNI employees are invited to participate in a continuation of the Campus Conversation begun last year about making UNI an even better place to work. President Koob will host a town hall meeting and task forces will share their progress and invite feedback. Two duplicate sessions will be offered -- 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. -- in the Maucker Union Old Central Ballroom. For more information, see http://www.uni.edu/conversation/ TICKETS FOR MVC MEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT: The designated UNI seats for the men's Missouri Valley Conference tournament are sold out. Tournament tickets are still available. Call the MVC office at (314) 421-0339 or Ticketmaster St. Louis at (314) 241-1888. Fans can ask to be seated near the UNI fan block. ROD LIBRARY SERIALS REVIEW PROJECT: For additional information about the Serials Review Project announced Feb. 13, consult the project Web site accessible from the Library’s main Web page at http://www.library.uni.edu/ ATHLETIC CLUB ANNOUNCES NEW NAME: The UNI Athletic Club has changed its name to the Panther Scholarship Club to better communicate its purpose of providing scholarship dollars to student athletes. The name change coincides with the Cedar Valley kickoff of the $1 million fund drive for the Panther Scholarship Club. More information can be found at http://www.unipanthers.com/psc or call Kelly at 3-2471. PREXY'S OPEN LONGER HOURS: Avanti and grab-n-go at Prexy's in Maucker Union are extending service hours to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Beverages, Avanti hot specialties, chilled salads and fresh desserts will be available at this time. During the initial trial period, feedback about the service will be appreciated. LA COCINA DE HOMBRE MEXICANO: Wasabi at Maucker Union now features an authentic Mexican food menu designed by UNI's Roman Osuna. The entrees will be served on Mondays. The Tamale Dinner features two chicken or beef tamales, Spanish rice, beans and one chicken or beef empanada for $4.99. Dinner items also are available a la cart. LOAN SERVICE TO BEGIN: Beginning Feb. 20, the Rod Library Interlibrary Loan Service will offer electronic delivery for incoming electronic photocopy requests when available. For more information see http://www.library.uni.edu/access/ill/edelivery.shtml APPALACHIAN TRAIL BACKPACKING: The trip will be March 11 through 19. The cost is $300 for univerisity associates and $325 for guests. The pre-trip meeting will be Tuesday, Feb. 28, at 5 p.m. in WRC 174. Limited to 10 people. The trail winds more than 2,100 miles from Maine to Georgia. We will backpack for approximately 40 miles over a five-day period through the rugged Deep South, camping along the way. No experience necessary. TALLCORN JAZZ FESTIVAL: Friday and Saturday, Feb. 17 and 18, high school jazz ensembles will participate in a marathon of jazz clinics and two performances in GBPAC Great Hall at 7:30 p.m. each day. General admission charge is $10. Youth and senior citizen tickets are $5. For tickets call 3-7469(SHOW). Phi Mu Alpha and Christopher Merz, coordinators. KUNI LIVE FROM STUDIO ONE: Singer/songwriter SONiA will perform Monday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. in KUNI's third-floor studios in the CAC. Admission is $3. Children under 12 are free. ROCK THE HOUSE: UNI PRSSA, in partnership with the UNI Chapter of Habitat for Humanity and the Iowa Heartland Habitat for Humanity, is hosting a concert, Rock the House '06, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, in Lang Auditorium. The concert will feature two local bands, StableDaze and Barefoot Compadres. Speakers from UNI and the Waterloo/Cedar Falls community will also be featured throughout the performances. The concert is being held to create awareness for Habitat for Humanity throughout the UNI campus. Prizes will be given. Admission is free. GUEST RECITAL - TROMBONES OF COSTA RICA: Wednesday, Feb. 22, GBPAC Davis Hall, 8 p.m. The ensemble is directed by Alejandro Gutiérrez. OPERA COMEDIES AT STRAYER-WOOD: Theatre UNI and the School of Music will present a double bill of opera comedy, "La Serva Padrona" and "Gianni Schicchi" Feb. 23, 25 and March 3, at 7:30 p.m. and March 5, at 2 p.m., at the Strayer-Wood Theatre. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for youth and free for UNI students. For tickets, call 3-6381. For synopses of the shows, cast list and samples of the music, visit http://www.theatreuni.com THURSDAZE MOVIE NIGHT: This week's Thursdaze movie night presents "Jarhead," Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7 and 9:30 p.m. in Maucker Union Old Central Ballroom. Auditions for "Bible Beater/Bra Burner" will be Thursday, Feb. 16, at 7 p.m. and Friday, Feb. 17, at 3 p.m. in UNI Interpreters Theatre, Lang 40. The show explores the Christian and feminist identities of 15 women in eastern Iowa. Production runs April 20-22. No prior performance experience necessary. Copies of the play are on reserve at Rod Library. For more information, e-mail [email protected] Contains material not suitable for all audiences. UNI wrestling will take on both the South Dakota State Jackrabbits and the Northern Colorado Bears in the West Gym Friday, Feb. 17, at 6 p.m. UNI wrestling vs. North Dakota State Saturday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. in the West Gym. UNI men's basketball vs. Bucknell in the UNI-Dome Saturday, Feb. 18, at 11 a.m. The game is a part of BracketBusters and will be broadcast live on ESPN2. UNI men's/women's track & field will host the UNI-Dome Open in the UNI-Dome on Friday, Feb. 17. The field events start at 2 p.m. and the running events begin at 4 p.m. LEGISLATIVE PUBLIC FORUM: A Legislative Public Forum will be held at 4:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 17, at AEA 267, 3712 Cedar Heights Dr. in Cedar Falls. The public is invited to hear remarks from area legislators. UNI faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend this forum and voice support for funding public higher education. Barry Wilson, associate professor, UNI College of Education, is the forum moderator. PRICE LAB TEACHER INSITUTE: The Eighth Price Lab Teacher Institute will take place Friday, Feb. 17, with hourly sessions running from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Teacher Institute is designed for teacher education students in all areas and has served almost 2,000 teacher-education students to date. Information about sessions and registration is available at http://www.pls.uni.edu Price Lab School is located at 1901 Campus St. in Cedar Falls. SILO SUMMIT ICE CLIMBING: Silo Summit Ice Climbing Competition will be Saturday, Feb. 18, at 6 p.m., at the Budlong Farm (located five miles west of the Dome on 27th Street and one-half mile south on Butler Road). Collegiate ice climbers from up to 10 universities will compete. Admission is free. The event was rescheduled from Feb. 4. CAPOEIRA EVENT- BLACK HISTORY MONTH: "Capoeira: Afro-Brazilian Fight for Freedom." Come watch and/or participate in Capoeira worskhops from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 18 and 19, in the WRC dance room. There will be several renowned Capoeira masters visiting from across the United States. For more information, visit http://www.brazilianmartialarts.org CORRECT DATE FOR STATE OF BLACK AMERICA PANEL DISCUSSION: A panel will discuss "How has the state of Black America changed since the Civil Rights Movement?" Monday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. in Lang Hall Auditorium. Speakers include UNI professors and community leaders. http://www.uni.edu/cme UNI Museums and Project InSight Partners present "Local Resources and Support Groups" at the Waterloo Public Library, 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20. A select panel will discuss emotional issues related to vision loss and provide information about resources and opportunities available to the visually impaired. SIGMA XI SEMINAR: "How Nanomaterials will Speed up Computers, Strengthen Bridges, Cure Cancer and Reduce the Appearance of Fine Lines and Wrinkles," will be presented by Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky, of the Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Monday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m., SRL 115. Free and open to the public. GUEST CHEF AT PREXY'S: Have lunch at Wasabi from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, and enjoy the authentic Mexican creations of chef Jesus Bojorquez from the Azteca Milling Company. Azteca is one of the world's largest producers of masa corn flour, used to make tamales and corn tortillas. STATE OF HIP HOP PANEL: A panel will discuss the current state of Hip Hop Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in Maucker Union Old Central Ballroom C. Panelists will look at music, art, clothing and media influences and what the future holds for this genre. Panel members include Pierre Mvuyekure, associate professor of English, Cherie "Chillin'" Nelson, local poet and spoken-word artist, Tavis Goodson, radio personality on KBOL, and Cassandra Hart, Waterloo Schools teacher. LEADERS ON LEADERSHIP: "Leaders on Leadership" speakers give personal perspectives from their involvement in a variety of leadership roles on Thursdays from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. in SEC Room 247. President Koob will present his reflections on March 2. Check out the full list of speakers and topics at http://www.uni.edu/vpess/leadership/speakers-2006.pdf G.P.S. MENTOR APPLICATIONS: The CME is accepting applications for G.P.S. mentors. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, March 24. This program is designed to help new minority students make a successful transition to college through mentoring. View the G.P.S. Mentor Program link on http://www.uni.edu/cme for program descriptions and an application. COLLEGIATE ENTREPRENEURS' IOWA CONFERENCE: Collegiate Entrepreneurs' Iowa Conference 2006, Friday, March 3, is a day of enlightenment and inspiration for students interested in entrepreneurship. Free shuttle to Iowa State. UNI student registrations paid by UNI JPEC. For more information and to register visit http://www.jpec.org/ceic2006.htm AIFS PROMOTIONS AND SCHOLARSHIPS: For more information about these opportunities, see http://www.uni.edu/unionline/public/420.html MORE FREE COMPUTER WORKSHOPS FOR CREDIT: During the week of Feb. 20, ITS-Educational Technology is offering two additional sections of both the Creating Web Pages credit series and the Managing Microsoft Office credit series. For complete details about these workshops, visit http://fp.uni.edu/its/et/tnt/credit.html or call 3-2309. FUND DRIVE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: KHKE Classical Public Radio 89.5 FM needs volunteers for its upcoming on-air fund drive Feb. 20 through Feb. 24. Volunteering at KUNI/KHKE gives you the opportunity to meet on-air personalities, behind-the-scenes staffers and other KUNI/KHKE supporters like yourself. Contact KUNI/KHKE Membership Manager Angela Vezdos at 3-6336 to volunteer. For more information, visit http://www.kuniradio.org/volunteers.htm HABITAT FOR HUMANITY: Beginning in March, the UNI Chapter of Habitat for Humanity will commence construction on a new home to be located in the College Hill neighborhood. A groundbreaking ceremony will take place at 5 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 26, at 2423 Walnut St. in Cedar Falls. If you or any organization you are involved with would like to participate, contact Steve Moon at [email protected] or 3-6813 or visit http://www.uni.edu/studentorgs/habitat/ NAMI VOLUNTEERS WANTED: The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) is seeking volunteers to co-facilitate support groups and educational classes. Volunteers will be trained and will assist with programs both at UNI and in Waterloo. If you can be empathetic with families and persons with mental illness, visit VolunteerUNI at http://www.uni.edu/acs for more information. YWCA VOLUNTEERS NEEDED: The Waterloo YWCA is seeking volunteers for two programs: Women's Wellness and Latino Moms. Women's Wellness focuses on health education and empowerment and is held on Tuesday evenings, from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Latino Moms is a program dedicated to developing English skills and is held evenings, twice each week. For more information, visit VolunteerUNI at http://www.uni.edu/acs Find the UNI event you're looking for in the UNI Calendar of Events, a convenient, searchable database located at http://access.uni.edu/acal/ Events on the calendar this week at UNI: http://access.uni.edu/acal/bin/callist.cgi?date=this_week To submit an item to UNI Online: Can't link to the items listed? Have a question? Visit our FAQ site: The University of Northern Iowa offers a world-class university education, providing personalized experiences and creating a lifetime of opportunities. \|Maintained by Office of University Marketing and Public Relations Last Modified: February 15, 2006	<urn:uuid:3fe3edd9-3eb9-4fb8-9633-72ba3e76ae32>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.uni.edu/unionline/archive/2006/021606.shtml	2015-04-01T01:17:17Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131302428.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172142-00224-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.893881	3,361
This End User License Agreement (EULA) is a CONTRACT between you (either an individual or a single entity) and Wingware, which covers your use of "Wing IDE Personal" and related software components. All such software is referred to herein as the "Software Product." A software license and a license key or serial number ("Software Product License"), issued to a designated user only by Wingware or its authorized agents, is required for each user of the Software Product. If you do not agree to the terms of this EULA, then do not install or use the Software Product or the Software Product License. By explicitly accepting this EULA you are acknowledging and agreeing to be bound by the following terms: - EVALUATION LICENSE WARNING This Software Product can be used in conjunction with a free evaluation Software Product License. If you are using such an evaluation Software Product License, you may use the Software Product only to evaluate its suitability for purchase. Evaluation Software Product Licenses have an expiration date and most of the features of the software will be disabled after that date. WINGWARE BEARS NO LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM USE (OR ATTEMPTED USE AFTER THE EXPIRATION DATE) OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT, AND HAS NO DUTY TO PROVIDE ANY SUPPORT BEFORE OR AFTER THE EXPIRATION DATE OF AN EVALUATION LICENSE. - GRANT OF NON-EXCLUSIVE LICENSE Wingware grants the non-exclusive, non-transferable right for a single user to use this Software Product for each license purchased. Each additional user of the Software Product requires an additional Software Product License. This includes users working on operating systems where the Software Product is compiled from source code by the user or a third party. You may make copies of the Software Product as reasonably necessary for its use. Each copy must reproduce all copyright and other proprietary rights notices on or in the Software Product. You may install your Software Product License only on computer systems and user accounts that are used by you, the licensee. You may also make copies of the Software Product License as necessary for backup and/or archival purposes. No other copies or installations may be made. All rights not expressly granted to you are retained by Wingware. - INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS RESERVED BY WINGWARE The Software Product is owned by Wingware and is protected by United States and international copyright laws and treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. You must not remove or alter any copyright notices on any copies of the Software Product. This Software Product copy is licensed, not sold. You may not use, copy, or distribute the Software Product, except as granted by this EULA, without written authorization from Wingware or its designated agents. Furthermore, this EULA does not grant you any rights in connection with any trademarks or service marks of Wingware. Wingware reserves all intellectual property rights, including copyrights, and trademark rights. - NO RIGHT TO TRANSFER You may not rent, lease, lend, or in any way distribute or transfer any rights in this EULA or the Software Product to third parties. You hereby agree to indemnify Wingware against and hold harmless Wingware from any claims, lawsuits or other losses that arise out of your breach of any provision of this EULA. - THIRD PARTY RIGHTS Any software provided along with the Software Product that is associated with a separate license agreement is licensed to you under the terms of that license agreement. This license does not apply to those portions of the Software Product. Copies of these third party licenses are included in all copies of the Software Product. - SUPPORT SERVICES Wingware may provide you with support services related to the Software Product. Use of any such support services is governed by Wingware policies and programs described in online documentation and/or other Wingware-provided materials. As part of these support services, Wingware may make available bug lists, planned feature lists, and other supplemental informational materials. WINGWARE MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND FOR THESE MATERIALS AND ASSUMES NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY USE OF THESE MATERIALS. FURTHERMORE, YOU MAY NOT USE ANY MATERIALS PROVIDED IN THIS WAY TO SUPPORT ANY CLAIM MADE AGAINST WINGWARE. Any supplemental software code or related materials that Wingware provides to you as part of the support services, in periodic updates to the Software Product or otherwise, is to be considered part of the Software Product and is subject to the terms and conditions of this EULA. With respect to any technical information you provide to Wingware as part of the support services, Wingware may use such information for its business purposes without restriction, including for product support and development. Wingware will not use such technical information in a form that personally identifies you without first obtaining your permission. - TERMINATION WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO ANY OTHER RIGHTS Wingware may terminate this EULA if you fail to comply with any term or condition of this EULA. In such event, you must destroy all copies of the Software Product and Software Product Licenses. - U.S. GOVERNMENT USE If the Software Product is licensed under a U.S. Government contract, you acknowledge that the software and related documentation are "commercial items," as defined in 48 C.F.R 2.01, consisting of "commercial computer software" and "commercial computer software documentation," as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212 and 48 C.F.R. 227.7202-1. You also acknowledge that the software is "commercial computer software" as defined in 48 C.F.R. 252.227-7014(a)(1). U.S. Government agencies and entities and others acquiring under a U.S. Government contract shall have only those rights, and shall be subject to all restrictions, set forth in this EULA. Contractor/manufacturer is Wingware, P.O. Box 400527, Cambridge, MA 02140-0006, USA. - EXPORT RESTRICTIONS You will not download, export, or re-export the Software Product, any part thereof, or any software, tool, process, or service that is the direct product of the Software Product, to any country, person, or entity -- even to foreign units of your own company -- if such a transfer is in violation of U.S. export restrictions. - NO WARRANTIES YOU ACCEPT THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT AND SOFTWARE PRODUCT LICENSE "AS IS," AND WINGWARE AND ITS THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS AND LICENSORS MAKE NO WARRANTY AS TO ITS USE, PERFORMANCE, OR OTHERWISE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WINGWARE AND ITS THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS AND LICENSORS DISCLAIM ALL OTHER REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, AND CONDITIONS,EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT REMAINS WITH YOU. - LIMITATION OF LIABILITY THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IS TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. IN NO EVENT SHALL WINGWARE OR ITS THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS AND LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY COSTS OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, OR FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION) ARISING OUT OF THIS EULA OR THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT OR THE FAILURE TO PROVIDE SUPPORT SERVICES, EVEN IF WINGWARE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN ANY CASE, WINGWARE'S, AND ITS THIRD PARTY SUPPLIERS' AND LICENSORS', ENTIRE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF THIS EULA SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE LESSER OF THE AMOUNT ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU FOR THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT OR THE PRODUCT LIST PRICE; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THAT IF YOU HAVE ENTERED INTO A WINGWARE SUPPORT SERVICES AGREEMENT, WINGWARE'S ENTIRE LIABILITY REGARDING SUPPORT SERVICES SHALL BE GOVERNED BY THE TERMS OF THAT AGREEMENT. - HIGH RISK ACTIVITIES The Software Product is not fault-tolerant and is not designed, manufactured or intended for use or resale as on-line control equipment in hazardous environments requiring fail-safe performance, such as in the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication systems, air traffic control, direct life support machines, or weapons systems, in which the failure of the Software Product, or any software, tool, process, or service that was developed using the Software Product, could lead directly to death, personal injury, or severe physical or environmental damage ("High Risk Activities"). Accordingly, Wingware and its suppliers and licensors specifically disclaim any express or implied warranty of fitness for High Risk Activities. You agree that Wingware and its suppliers and licensors will not be liable for any claims or damages arising from the use of the Software Product, or any software, tool, process, or service that was developed using the Software Product, in such applications. - GOVERNING LAW; ENTIRE AGREEMENT ; DISPUTE RESOLUTION This EULA is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, U.S.A., excluding the application of any conflict of law rules. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall not apply. This EULA is the entire agreement between Wingware and you, and supersedes any other communications or advertising with respect to the Software Product; this EULA may be modified only by written agreement signed by authorized representatives of you and Wingware. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, all disputes relating to this EULA (excepting any dispute relating to intellectual property rights) shall be subject to final and binding arbitration in the State of Massachusetts, in accordance with the Licensing Agreement Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, with the losing party paying all costs of arbitration. Arbitration must be by a member of the American Arbitration Association. If any dispute arises under this EULA, the prevailing party shall be reimbursed by the other party for any and all legal fees and costs associated therewith. If any provision of this EULA is held invalid, the remainder of this EULA shall continue in full force and effect. A waiver by either party of any term or condition of this EULA or any breach thereof, in any one instance, shall not waive such term or condition or any subsequent breach thereof. - OUTSIDE THE U.S. If you are located outside the U.S., then the provisions of this Section shall apply. Les parties aux présentes confirment leur volonté que cette convention de même que tous les documents y compris tout avis qui s'y rattache, soient redigés en langue anglaise. (translation: "The parties confirm that this EULA and all related documentation is and will be in the English language.") You are responsible for complying with any local laws in your jurisdiction which might impact your right to import, export or use the Software Product, and you represent that you have complied with any regulations or registration procedures required by applicable law to make this license enforceable. The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wingware: Wingware, the feather logo, Wing IDE, Wing IDE 101, Wing IDE Personal, Wing IDE Professional, Wing IDE Enterprise, Wing Debugger, and "The Intelligent Development Environment for Python Programmers" - CONTACT INFORMATION If you have any questions about this EULA, or if you want to contact Wingware for any reason, please direct all correspondence to: Wingware, P.O. Box 400527, Cambridge, MA 02140-0006, United States of America or send email to info at wingware.com.	<urn:uuid:330ab318-15eb-4c3d-aa6a-54989668b1f8>	CC-MAIN-2015-14	http://www.wingware.com/license/wingper	2015-04-01T01:06:43Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2015-14/segments/1427131302428.75/warc/CC-MAIN-20150323172142-00224-ip-10-168-14-71.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.852218	2,643
There is a place deep in the canyonlands of western Colorado, high on a rugged plateau that stretches to the Utah border, that only the locals know about. In this place, frigid mountain streams have carved out a playground of waterfalls and pools to swim in. It's called the Potholes, for the many deep pools created over millennia by the pounding current. Only the bravest -- or most foolish -- dare to jump from the high cliffs into the water. Jumpers must clear jutting ledges to hit the deep pockets of water. There have been accidents here. And there will be more. "Three hundred days out of the year it could be the safest place in the entire world," said Aaron Ingels, now 23, who made a fateful trip with friends to the Potholes just over a year ago. "But on that very day ... it's not a safe place." Watch the full story Friday on "20/20" at 10 p.m. ET Click HERE for photos of Stevie Burns and friends at the Potholes. Ingels and his friends still have a picture, and home video, from that day -- May 31, 2008. In one image, the friends stand around a sign that warns swimmers about dangerous waters. What did the sign mean to them that day? "Nothing," Ingels said. "20/20" recently accompanied five young people from the Denver area on a return trip to the Potholes, where they marked the moment their lives changed forever ... when six good friends became five. "It's just hard being back here and telling the story again," Kristen Kroonenberg said. The fateful trip came during the height of the spring runoff. Snowmelt from the mountains poured down the canyons, ice cold and deadly fast. The friends recorded a home video of roaring, rushing water. "That hole down there was a complete boiling pot of water," said Ingels, pointing into the maelstrom. "Not a single bit of calm water in it. I had the fear of death of me when I saw that hole." But the fear isn't readily apparent on video the youths shot that day. "First day at the Potholes," one of them, Stevie Burns, 19, said. "You know, ain't no thang." "It was really, really loud," Kroonenberg, now 20, remembered. "It was rushing pretty hard. I just had a bad feeling about it." But who listens to a bad feeling when the sun's warm and your friends are calling. Burns was the first to jump. "He came up next to us," Kroonenberg said. "We thought he was just looking down like we were. And then all of a sudden he just jumps in." 'I Knew She Wasn't Going to Make It' "Stevie [Burns] jumped in that hole and got out so effortlessly that I just thought everything was fine," Ingels said. For the time being, everything was fine. Then Burns decided to jump again, this time from the highest ledge. Now the camera shows fear creeping in. "He walked up to the 65-foot ledge and he was trying to get himself to jump off," Kroonenberg said. For eight minutes, Burns stood 65 feet above the raging water, before finally backing down. But on a ledge just below him, Kroonenberg had worked up the courage to jump. She recalled "falling down there and going into the water." "I went pretty far down," she said. And that, Ingels said, is when the nightmare began. "The moment she resurfaced, I knew she wasn't going to make it out," he said. "Just the terrified look on her face." Kroonenberg said, "I didn't think anybody could see me. I didn't think anybody was watching because I couldn't hear anybody. I had a hard time. I couldn't move." Ingels was standing on a ledge yards away from where Kroonenberg was struggling, but he couldn't reach her. The fast current had formed a whirlpool, pulling her back under the falls. "Water was going over my head," Kroonenberg said. "I was swallowing water and I just started thinking, I don't know how much water I can swallow. And I was kind of hopeless at that point." From the cliffs above, Burns saw Kroonenberg in trouble. Minutes before, he had backed away from the highest ledge. Now, without hesitation, he jumped back into the whirlpool. "I really, really remember because, it's the last thing he ever said," Kroonenberg said. "He said, 'Grab onto my arm tight and don't let go. I'm gonna get you outta here.' "And I felt so safe." "He was able to fight her back through the current to me," Ingels said. "I grabbed her and pulled her out to the side of me. And then at that point I turned to go and reach for him and he had been sucked back into the back of the hole." In water so cold, every second steals your strength. Burns' friends held out a stick for him to grab, but it was just beyond his reach. River Hero: He Didn't Want Us to See "And he pushed off the wall twice, and he just didn't have enough strength," Ingels said. "His body had gotten too cold at that point. "He started facing that wall and he didn't look at us. I think he realized that he wasn't making it out of there and he didn't want us to have to see it." The current eventually washed Burns' body over a waterfall, and into the arms of his friends. "We had him in the sun," Ingels said. "And I started doing CPR on him the best I knew how." Megan Voorhorst said, "I laid on top of him to try to give him some body heat, and Kristen [Kroonenberg] was rubbing his feet. All of us were screaming at him, telling him, 'Talk to us.'" "Aaron [Ingels] asked me to look for a pulse," Kroonenberg said. "I couldn't feel one." "And I am screaming at Aaron, I was screaming at everybody," Bailey Roberts said. "I couldn't, from my position, do anything ... that's why I had to go get help." Roberts ran up out of the canyon to the nearest farmhouse to call for help. Tape of the 911 call captures the desperation of the moment. "911, what's your emergency?" "My friend is drowning. He's drowning," Roberts said. "Where's he at?" "At the Potholes." "Is he conscious?" "Is he breathing?" "[crying] Barely. And he's purple." Back at the Potholes, Burns was hardly moving. Kroonenberg remembered the moment she realized Burns was gone. "He looked really peaceful," she said. "And that's when I thought he's not gonna make it. They had done CPR for so long." By then, rescue teams had arrived, but there was little they could do except console Burns' friends, and carry his body out of the canyon. "What us five experienced that day with him, nobody else experienced that," Ingels said. "Nobody else can imagine that. And we'll forever have to stick together just because of that." In the year since Burns died, the bonds between the five friends have grown stronger, forged in grief, guilt and the love of a dear friend. Where Stevie Burns Became a Hero "He was so generous and would do anything for anybody, and was just the best friend anybody could ever ask for," Roberts said, crying. "He was one of those guys that always gave me butterflies, and that's why I was so drawn to him," she said. "Stevie showed me what kind of guy I need in my life." Ingels spoke of manhood. "Stevie was more of a man that day than I'll ever, ever be in my entire life," he said. For Kroonenberg, the memories are especially sharp. Her life was saved, but her savior was lost. She said she had learned a lesson that day. "If you have a bad feeling, don't do it," Kroonenberg said. "You're not as invincible as you think you are." So what do the Potholes mean for the friends now? "It feels like a part of me," Kroonenberg said. "A huge, huge part of my life. And it's the place where Stevie became a hero." At the Potholes, the rushing water can wash away everything but their memories. The five friends plan to continue returning here, to listen to the river, and each other. It is the place where, just for a moment, the five can be six again.	<urn:uuid:2ab78e8f-81a4-4c48-afc5-33d833a53803>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=8385628&page=2	2016-07-23T09:27:47Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257821671.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071021-00000-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.988319	1,914
Canadian Conservative MP Michael Chong today introduced Bill C-559 “An Act to amend the Canada Elections and the Parliament of Canada Act (reforms)“, otherwise known as the Reform Act. When news of what the bill would propose broke several days ago, it immediately sparked great excitement among columnists and politics fans alike. Some hailed it as the bill that would save Parliament; others were more subdued, calling it “a solution in search of a problem“. The bill proposes three reforms. First, it would remove the existing requirement that a party leader sign the nomination papers of prospective candidates for that party. Second, it would allow a caucus to implement a leadership review upon a petition of 15% of the elected members and a secret ballot vote garnering over 50% support. Lastly, it will allow caucuses to elect their chairs and admit and eject caucus members based on the 15/50% rules employed to trigger a leadership review. These are all interesting proposals, and in order to avoid an epically-long post, I will deal with them separately. This first post will focus on the second point, allowing a party caucus to implement a leadership review upon a petition of 15% of elected members and a secret ballot vote garnering over 50% support. Specifically, Chong’s bill would amend subsection 366(2) of the Elections Canada Act by adding a new sub-clause. This section of the act governs the criteria that must be met in order for a political party to become a registered political party. Chong’s proposal would amend the application for registration to include the following: (k) the extract of the party by-laws that provides that (i) a leadership review may be initiated by the submission of a written notice to the caucus chair signed by at least 15% of the members of the party’s caucus, (ii) a leadership review is to be conducted by secret ballot, with the result to be determined by a majority vote of the caucus members present at a meeting of the caucus, and (iii) if a majority of caucus members present at the meeting referred to in subparagraph (ii) vote to replace the leader of the party, a second vote of the caucus shall be conducted immediately by secret ballot to appoint a person to serve as the interim leader of the party until a new leader has been duly elected by the party. This is actually standard procedure in other countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, where such measures are incorporated not into legislation, but in political party constitutions. For example, in the UK, under Conservative Party rules, a leadership review is triggered if 15% of Conservative MPs call for a no confidence vote in the leader. The Labour Party has a slightly higher threshold. It requires that 20% of Labour MPs express that they no longer have confidence in the leader. The Liberal Democrats have set the highest bar for a leadership review. According to the Lib Dem constitution, a vote of no confidence must be passed by a majority of all Members of the Parliamentary Party in the House of Commons or the receipt by the President of the Party of a requisition submitted by at least 75 local party associations. While many commentators, even before they saw the bill, endorsed this proposed reform, others were less convinced that it was needed. Dale Smith wrote: The provision around leadership review is also something that cannot be taken as anything other than a half-measure, and one that misses the target. MPs already have the power to challenge a leader, and most especially a Prime Minister. We’ve seen several provincial examples of opposition caucuses pressuring their leaders to resign, and the removal of a Prime Minister is one of the most important built-in functions of our system of Responsible Government, and that is that if they are unhappy with the status quo, they can simply withdraw confidence. After all, Responsible Government depends entirely on the Prime Minister having the confidence of the Chamber. If enough government MPs decide that it’s time for the leader to go, they can join in a vote of non-confidence — no need for a call for a leadership review that gives the PM time to organize one and to consolidate support for the vote. I have a few problems with that statement. First, I strong object to this line from Smith’s piece: … the removal of a Prime Minister is one of the most important built-in functions of our system of Responsible Government, and that is that if they are unhappy with the status quo, they can simply withdraw confidence. After all, Responsible Government depends entirely on the Prime Minister having the confidence of the Chamber. Responsible government – or more specifically, the confidence convention, rests on the Government having the confidence of the House. While many might argue that for all intents and purposes, the Prime Minister IS the Government, that is too simplistic. There isn’t a single procedural manual which discusses the confidence convention in terms of the Prime Minister maintaining the confidence of the House – only the Government. In terms of the confidence convention, who is Prime Minister doesn’t really matter. A governing party can change its leader at any point during its mandate and this will not necessarily impact the Government’s ability to maintain the confidence of the House. In Canada, Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien was replaced by Paul Martin, and the Government continued to enjoy the confidence of the House. In the UK, Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair was replaced by Gordon Brown, and Labour continued to enjoy the confidence of the House. Granted, in both of these instances, the governing party held a majority of the seats, making it very difficult, if not impossible, for the House to withdraw confidence without a significant number of members of the governing party also withdrawing support, but it still serves to illustrate the point that it is the Government that must maintain confidence and it can do so even if the Prime Minister changes. My second issue is with Smith’s suggestion that a party wanting to change its leader could use an Opposition want of confidence motion to affect that change. I simply don’t see how that would work. First of all, it is not inconceivable that a caucus might be increasingly unhappy with their current party leader, while still being quite satisfied with their party forming, or being a part of, the Government. If members of the governing party who were unhappy with their current leader did what Smith suggests – simply remove confidence from the Government (with the support of the Opposition parties), I don’t see how this would necessarily lead to a leadership change for that party because of how the confidence convention works in Canada. When a House withdraws confidence from a Government, traditionally, the various procedural manuals will tell you that the Government has two options: it can resign, and another Government can take its place, or the Prime Minister can seek dissolution. In Canada, that first option is very rarely, if ever, considered. When a Government is defeated on a confidence vote, the Prime Minister will almost always seek to have Parliament dissolved and a new election called. A new election will take place almost immediately. For example, on 25 March 2011, the minority Conservative government was defeated on a want of confidence motion. The defeated Prime Minister met with the Governor General the next day to ask that Parliament be dissolved, and the writs were issued on the 26th. The vote took place on 2 May 2011, which resulted in the Conservatives winning a majority of the seats in the House of Commons. While no Conservative MPs voted against their party to indicate that they too had lost confidence in the Government, even if they had used it as an excuse for a leadership vote, the reality of the situation is that the party would not not have had time to have a leadership convention following the Government’s defeat. Using a want of confidence motion is simply not a viable option to ensure leadership change. The disgruntled caucus members who might attempt to use a confidence motion to rid themselves of a leader will find themselves in an election campaign with the same leader. Perhaps a leadership review might be held following the election (and most certainly would be if the party were defeated at the polls), but if the party is returned to power with an even stronger mandate, wouldn’t that simply reinforce the leader’s position, making it that much more difficult for caucus members unhappy with the leader to challenge him or her? In her piece on Chong’s bill, Alice Funke wrote: the Bill would formalize in legislation a party caucus’ ability to call for and effect a leadership review. I say formalize, because there is nothing in the law currently preventing party caucuses from doing this very thing now, and indeed they have done so frequently in our current system: Joe Clark was pushed into a leadership review, Michel Gauthier was pushed out as leader by the Bloc Québécois caucus, a good part of Stockwell Day’s caucus left him and the Canadian Alliance and joined the remainder of the Tories instead. And a significant group of Paul Martin backers were hatching plots to oust Jean Chrétien as Liberal leader and Prime Minister. So, it’s not that a caucus CAN’T call for a leadership review or push a leader out, it’s that they apparently won’t, and/or they don’t. I fail to see how enacting legislation formalizing this authority gives them any more actual power to do so, or makes them any more accountable back home for not showing some backbone. This is true – caucuses can exert enough pressure on a leader to force them to step down. However, as far as I can tell, none of our parties have specific processes in place outlining exactly how this is to be done. As stated above, the main political parties in the United Kingdom all to have very specific rules in their Constitutions allowing for the party caucus to express lack of confidence in their leader and potentially trigger a leadership change. The existence of these rules does make politics in the UK more interesting – hardly a week goes by without some report in the media that Tory MPs are edging ever closer to the magic number of 46 MPs required to challenge David Cameron’s leadership. But while perhaps generating more media attention, this doesn’t mean that caucuses in the UK regularly challenge their leaders. There were a number of attempts to oust Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party, which all failed. Despite regular rumours in the media, David Cameron’s leadership of the Conservative Party has not yet faced an actual challenge. The most recent Liberal Democrat leadership challenge occurred in 2006, when Charles Kennedy resigned once he realised he no longer had the support of most of his caucus. Australian political parties also allow the caucus to oust a party leader. Labor most famously ousted its leader and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in 2010, replacing him with Julia Gillard. Gillard herself was unsuccessfully challenged by Rudd in early 2012, again in March 2013, and again, successfully, in June 2013. As they say, third time’s the charm. What is interesting here is that after Rudd regained the leadership, he got Labor to change its rules. Virtually insurmountable barriers now exist to such overnight challenges. Under the new rules, a leadership ballot aimed at removing a Labor prime minister can only take place if 75% of caucus members sign a petition—and only on the basis that the leader has “brought the party into disrepute.” Under the new rules, even when the Labor Party is in opposition, its leader can now only be challenged after a petition signed by 60% of caucus members. Another new election procedure will, for the first time in the party’s 122-year history, let party members vote for their leader. The Labor leader will now be selected by a ballot of all caucus members combined with a ballot of the party’s members, with each ballot having a 50 percent weighting in determining the final outcome. This is another important difference to note between how party leaders are chosen in Canada, and how they are chosen in other countries. In Canada, party members as well as MPs, vote in leadership conventions. In other jurisdictions, party members either have no say at all – only the caucus – or they have very limited input. Dale Smith explains why this is problematic for Michael Chong’s proposed caucus leadership review reform: The larger problem there is that we need to re-examine the way that we elect leaders in this country, because the status quo allows them to be shielded under a rubric of “democratic legitimacy” — that the membership chose them, and because of that, the caucus cannot remove them. We need to return to the system whereby it is the caucus that chooses the leader, and it is the caucus that removes the leader. Best of all, it eliminates the months-long leadership races, no-hope candidates outside of caucus who are simply trying to make a name for themselves, and the rudderless limbo that parties find themselves in. Alice Funke points out another problem: The one bad thing formalizing this authority in law might accomplish is to exacerbate regional tensions further, given that until recently most Canadian political parties have had regional bases of support and regional wastelands. Taking control away from delegates to party conventions, or even from party members (and now party supporters), means taking authority away from nationally representative deliberative bodies, and putting it into the hands of a potentially regionally unbalanced caucus. This is a legitimate concern, but I don’t think it is insurmountable. Inevitably, all party leaders will appeal more to some parts of the country than others. The UK Conservatives, for example, are virtually shut out of certain parts of England (largely the north) and Scotland, where they have only one MP. However, this “problem” wouldn’t be a problem if some form of PR were to be adopted to replace FPTP. I think ensuring a solid chain of political accountability matters more: “citizens elect MPs, and their MPs not only influence policies but also hire and fire leaders to implement them.” There is an alternative to what Smith proposes when he writes: “We need to return to the system whereby it is the caucus that chooses the leader, and it is the caucus that removes the leader.” Parties could implement a hybrid system such as the one used by the UK Conservative Party, which limits the initial rounds of a leadership vote to the caucus, but brings in the party membership to decide between the final two candidates. Simply put, following a successful leadership challenge, members of caucus will put themselves forward for the position of party leader. If there are more than two candidates, the caucus votes. If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, the candidate with the lowest vote tally drops out. This is repeated until the choice is down to two candidates. At that point, postal ballots are sent to all registered party members to let them vote on the two remaining candidates. Chong’s proposal certainly deserves much debate, but as has been pointed out, it will create conflict with our existing means of selecting party leaders. Whether the answer is to remove party members from the process completely and leave leadership selection and deselection to caucus only, to to try to find some compromise between the two, I don’t know. That too is something which will require consideration.	<urn:uuid:abb25d68-5b43-41d8-967d-cf85eab98263>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://thoughtundermined.com/2013/12/03/the-reform-act-some-thoughts/	2016-07-23T09:09:44Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257821671.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071021-00000-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.968965	3,157
Q. David Bowers: The following narrative, with minor editing, is from my "Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia" (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., 1993) Hoard coins: The 1898 was released in large quantities by the Treasury Department through the Federal Reserve, so that by the mid-1950s Mint State coins were very common in eastern banks. However, before that time Uncirculated coins were scarce, or even rare. Additional large quantities were released in the late 1950s and early 1960s. By the mid-1970s, most such quantities had been widely dispersed, with the result that the Redfield estate holding, estimated to have been about 16 to 18 bags, was a novelty at the time. Most of these Redfield coins went to John Kamin, publisher of The Forecaster newsletter. Circulated grades: In worn grades the 1898 dollar is very common. Many are in higher circulated grades from VF to AU. Mint State grades: The 1898 is quite common in Mint State. Most are in the range of MS-60 to MS-63. MS-64 coins abound, but at the MS-65 level the issue becomes slightly scarce (relatively speaking). To be more specific: MS-60 to 62, an estimated 250,000 to 500,000 survive; MS-63, 60,000 to 100,000; MS-64, 30,000 to 60,000; and MS-65 or better, 8,000 to 15,000. Most 1898 Morgan dollars are sharply struck and have from average to excellent lustre. Prooflike coins: One-sided prooflike coins are common. Two-sided prooflike coins are scarce. Most prooflike coins have somewhat subdued mirrorlike surfaces. In 1982, Wayne Miller reported that DMPL coins are about twice as elusive as regular prooflikes, and that most prooflike coins are below the MS-65 grade level. This observation was prescient, for grading service data (compiled beginning in 1986) reveals that as of September 1992, NGC and PCGS graded 441 PL and 266 DMPL pieces, and that of the DMPLs, only about 10% were better than MS-64. The Redfield estate is said to include several thousand prooflikes. 1. Normal date: Breen-5653. Most of the 30 pairs of dies were probably used. Varieties are positional and/ or with repunching on one date numeral. It is uncertain if open and closed 9's are from the same logotype. Circulation strike mintage: 5,884,000; Delivery figures by month: January: 650,000; February: 582,000; March: 600,000; April: 184,000; May: 520,000; June: 172,000; July: 100,000; August: 948,000; September: 800,000; October: 450,000; November: 572,000; December: 306,000. Estimated quantity melted: Many over a long period of years, including worn pieces as part of the private silver melts of the late 1970s. Availability of prooflike coins: Many exist, including one-sided prooflikes. DMPL coins are about twice as scarce as prooflikes. Characteristics of striking: Usually sharply struck. Known hoards of Mint State coins: Large quantities were released by the Treasury in the 1950s and early 1960s. The 1898 Morgan dollar is readily available in various Mint State levels. The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1898, gave the following information: As of November 1, 1898 Morgan silver dollars had been coined in the amount of 466,836,587 pieces at the various mints, of which 398,753,504 coins were held against silver certificates, leaving a surplus of 4,645,838 in Treasury Department hands available for circulation. In actual circulation in the channels of commerce were 63,437,255 pieces. A shortage was discovered in the accounts at Philadelphia. A quantity amounting to 733 silver dollars disappeared during the 18908 when they were being stored. Presumably, these disappeared somewhere between 1893 and 1898. Distribution of silver dollars, per The Annual Report of the Director at the Mint, 1898, page 26: Philadelphia. In mint July 1, 1897,61,943,104; transferred from the Treasury for storage, 286,850; coinage, fiscal year, 1898, 4,158,780; total, 66,388,734; in mint July 1, 1898, 66,269,954; total, 66,269,954; distributed from mint, 118,780. The Year 1898 in History The Spanish-American War was ignited by the sinking of the battleship Maine in an explosion in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on February 15, killing 260 aboard. Although the cause of the explosion was never determined, America had an anti-Spain bias and sided with Cubans desiring independence from that country. The New York Journal, owned by William Randolph Hearst, printed a letter stolen from the mail in Havana, from the minister of Spain to the United States, calling President McKinley a spineless politician. Hearst stirred up American anger against Spain, and more than any other single individual was responsible for a conflict which probably could have been settled by negotiations. Hearst urged his readers to "Remember the Maine!" He sent artist Frederic Remington to Cuba to paint war scenes, but Remington sent a cable stating that all was quiet there and there would be no war, to which Hearst riposted, "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." On April 22, the Spanish vessel Buena Ventura was captured by the American gunboat Nashville, becoming the first prize of the conflict. (Several years later, the Nashville tied up at the Chicago docks and was a local attraction, prompting numismatist Virgil M. Brand to underwrite an issue of silver medals depicting the ship, for the Chicago Numismatic Society.) Spain declared war on the 24th, and the United States on the 25th. The hero of the 112-days-long war was Commodore George Dewey, whose flagship, the Olympia, led the victors in the Battle of Manila Bay. This naval encounter began at 5:40 a.m. on May 1st, when Dewey said to the captain of his ship, "You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." Before long, 10 Spanish ships had been destroyed. Subsequently, Dewey's portrait and/or that of his ship appeared on many consumer products, including cigars, music boxes (the Olympia), and slot machines (the Mills Novelty Co. Dewey). Else-where in the war, in Cuba the Battle of San Juan Hill brought much fame to Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders. Victor Herbert's musical, The Fortune Teller, opened on Broadway. One of the featured melodies was the long-remembered Gypsy Love Song. H.G. Wells' book, The War of the Worlds, was published. The director of the Mint was Robert E. Preston who served from November 1893 through February 1898. From February 1898 through July 1907 the director was George E. Roberts. Dr. William H. Sheldon, controversial constitutional psychologist and large cent specialist, was born October 30. He gave psychology the classification of human bodies into endomorphs, mesomorphs, and ectomorphs, with parallels in temperament; he gave numismatics Early American Cents and Penny Whimsy, using what later became familiar as the Sheldon rarity scale and numerical grading.	<urn:uuid:4afb722b-6302-453a-8e91-d16a846c1eee>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://www.pcgs.com/SetRegistry/CoinFacts.aspx?i=115443	2016-07-23T09:16:44Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257821671.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071021-00000-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.968821	1,591
CruCon Cruise Outlet Main StageKISS KISS ARMYIf you want access to the KISS presale and other great benefits, click here MAGIC HAT STAGE: Boyz Gone Wild (6:00 PM) Extra InformationParking Opens: 5:00 PM Doors Open: 6:00 PM Audio Recording: No Video Recording: No Flash Photography: No Food & Drink: No Resale Allowed: No Delivery Delay: No *Non-Professional photography / no zoom lenses larger than 2 inches / no detachable lenses < Purchase > OnSales & PreSales Want to get in earlier? Inner CircleBecome part of the Inner Circle and always be the first group to get in. Members also get their own entrance, own bar lounge and their own private restrooms! \|Reserved Seating (Covered Pavilion)-P1\|\|$89.00\|\|$10.75\|\|$99.75\| \|Reserved Seating (Covered Pavilion)-P2\|\|$69.00\|\|$9.75\|\|$78.75\| \|The Beringer Club (Covered Including Cocktail Service)\|\|$94.00\|\|$11.00\|\|$105.00\| \|Moxie Energy Lawn Seating (Uncovered-General Admission)\|\|$29.00\|\|$6.25\|\|$35.25\| \|Pavilion Access General Admission VIP (Must Be 21 or Older)\|\|$44.00\|\|$6.50\|\|$50.50\| Following the demise of Wicked Lester, KISS were formed in 1972 by Paul Stanley (b. Stanley Eisen, 20 January 1950, Queens, New York, USA; rhythm guitar, vocals) and Gene Simmons (b. Chaim Witz, 25 August 1949, Haifa, Israel; bass, vocals), who went on to recruit Peter Criss (b. Peter Crisscoula, 27 December 1947, Brooklyn, New York, USA; drums, vocals) and Ace Frehley (b. Paul Frehley, 22 April 1951, Bronx, New York, USA; lead guitar, vocals). At their second show at the Hotel Diplomat, Manhattan, in 1973, Flipside producer Bill Aucoin offered the band a management contract, and within two weeks they were signed to Neil Bogart's recently established Casablanca Records. In just over a year, KISS had released their first three albums with a modicum of success. In the summer of 1975 their fortunes changed with the release of Alive! , which spawned their first US hit single, with the reissued live version of 'Rock And Roll All Nite' climbing to number 12 in November. The appeal of KISS has always been based on their live shows: the garish greasepaint make-up, outrageous costumes and pyrotechnic stage effects, along with their hard-rocking anthems, combined to create what was billed as 'The Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Show On Earth'. Their live reputation engendered a dramatic upsurge in record sales, and Alive became their first certified platinum album in the USA. Destroyer proved just as successful, and also gave them their first US Top 10 single, earning Peter Criss a major songwriting award for the uncharacteristic ballad, 'Beth'. Subsequent releases, Rock And Roll Over , Love Gun and Alive II , each certified platinum, confirmed the arrival of KISS as major recording artists. By 1977 KISS had topped the prestigious Gallup poll as the most popular act in the USA. They had become a marketing dream: KISS merchandise included make-up kits, masks, board games, and pinball machines. Marvel Comics produced two super-hero cartoon books, and a full-length science-fiction film, KISS Meet The Phantom Of The Park, was even produced. The ranks of their fan club, the KISS Army, had swollen to a six-figure number. In September 1978 all four group members released solo albums on the same day, a feat never before envisaged, let alone matched. At the time, this represented the biggest shipment of albums from one 'unit' to record stores in the history of recorded music. The albums enjoyed varying degrees of success; Ace Frehley's record came out on top and included the US Top 20 hit single, 'New York Groove'. Gene Simmons, whose album featured an impressive line-up of guests including Cher , Donna Summer , Bob Seger and Janis Ian , had a hit single in the UK with 'Radioactive', which reached number 41 in 1978. After the release of Dynasty in 1979, which featured the worldwide hit single, 'I Was Made For Lovin' You', cracks appeared in the ranks. Peter Criss left to be replaced by session player Anton Fig, who had previously appeared on Frehley's solo album. Fig played drums on the 1980 release Unmasked until a permanent replacement was found in the form of New Yorker Eric Carr (b. 12 July 1950, d. 24 November 1991), who made his first appearance during the world tour of 1980. A fuller introduction came on Music From The Elder , an album that represented a radical departure from traditional KISS music and included several ballads, an orchestra and a choir. It was a brave attempt to break new ground but failed to capture the imagination of the record-buying public. Frehley, increasingly disenchanted with the musical direction of the band, finally left in December 1982. The two albums prior to his departure had featured outside musicians. Bruce Kulick, who had contributed to the studio side of Alive II and played on Stanley's solo album, supplied the lead work to the four previously unreleased tracks on the Killers compilation of 1982, and Vincent Cusano (later to become Vinnie Vincent ) was responsible for lead guitar on the 1982 release, Creatures Of The Night . By 1983 the popularity of the band was waning and drastic measures were called for. The legendary make-up that had concealed their true identities for almost 10 years was removed on MTV in the USA. Vinnie Vincent made his first official appearance on Lick It Up , an album that provided KISS with their first Top 10 hit in the UK. The resurgence of the band continued with Animalize . Vincent had been replaced by Mark St. John (b. Mark Norton), a seasoned session player and guitar tutor. His association with the band was short-lived, however, as he was struck down by Reiters Syndrome. Bruce Kulick was enlisted as a temporary replacement on the 1984 European Tour, and subsequently became a permanent member when it became apparent that St. John would not be able to continue as a band member. Further commercial success was achieved with Asylum and Crazy Nights , the latter featuring their biggestUK hit single, 'Crazy Crazy Nights', which peaked at number 4 in October 1987 and was soon followed by another Top 40 hit single, 'Reason To Live'. Hot In The Shade succeeded their third compilation album, Smashes, Thrashes And Hits , and included another US hit single, 'Forever', which reached number 8 in February 1990. Work on a new KISS album with producer Bob Ezrin was delayed following Eric Carr's illness due to complications from cancer. He died on 24 November 1991, in New York, at the age of 41. Despite this setback, KISS contributed a hit cover version of Argent 's classic 'God Gave Rock 'N' Roll To You II' (UK number 4, January 1992) to the soundtrack of the film Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey, and brought in replacement drummer Eric Singer (ex- Black Sabbath ; Badlands ). The album Revenge also provided them with their highest charting US album (number 4), and their first Top 10 release since Dynasty reached number 9 in 1979. The KISS My Ass tribute album was released in 1994, with contributions from Lenny Kravitz , Stevie Wonder , Garth Brooks , Lemonheads , Faith No More , Dinosaur Jr, Rage Against The Machine and others. The interest in KISS My Ass led to a historic reunion for MTV Unplugged . Simmons, Stanley, Frehley and Criss returned for a reunion tour. A year later Psycho Circus marked the return of the original line-up to the studio, and became the group's highest charting US album when it debuted at number 3 that October. The band released Monster , their 24th release including the 4 solo albums, October 9th 2012. The album's first single, "Hell or Hallelujah", was released on July 2, 2012 internationally and July 3 in North America along with the Monster Book. It received play on rock radio and climbed the onto the middle reaches of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart. The second single, "Long Way Down", was released to radio stations on October 23, 2012 and reached the Billboard Heritage Rock Charts by the end of the year, and also occupied a spot on the America's Music Rock Chart for several months. To date KISS has sold more than 100 million albums and with a history spanning more than three decades, KISS' impact on the consciousness of a generation of music fans, particularly in the USA, remains enormous. KISSí current lineup:Paul Stanley	<urn:uuid:d80ebdb5-11f7-4b5c-bcd1-2162b9d92ace>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	https://www.banknhpavilion.com/?page=event_info&show_code=080713	2016-07-23T09:08:35Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257821671.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071021-00000-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.963027	1,920
Gigabyte’s G1.Sniper has a long history of targeting toward gamers. The board is designed with features that gamers seek the most: better audio quality, better network performance, and better cooling for overclocking, Dating back to the first G1.Sniper, Gigabyte has released various models of the G1.Sniper series: 3, 5, and M5. What they all have in common is that they are all for Intel processors. The G1.Sniper A88X marks the first motherboard from Gigabyte that carries the G1.Sniper moniker for AMD APU. With Kaveri, AMD not only brings performance enhancement but also PCI Express 3.0 support along with other technologies such as TrueAudio, HSA, and hQ. As such, Gigabyte is betting that there are gamers who are looking to build a gaming PC without spending a lot of cash would be interested in pairing the AMD APU with their latest G1. Sniper A88X motherboard. Shipped in the typical black cardboard box, the G1.Sniper A88X retail box features plenty of marketing information highlighting what kind of features the board is equipped with. Inside, we find that that board does not come with lots of cables and accessories as what we usually find with high-end board. We get the driver disc, manual, an installation guide, two SATA cables, the backplate, and a case sticker. All the essentials are here to get your system up and running. We do think a couple of extra SATA cable would be nice as many of us probably have more than two drives inside our PC. The G1. Sniper A88X is an ATX motherboard that features black PCB board with green accents for the expansion slots. The military camouflage combination black and green color has been a staple of the G1.Sniper boards ever since its inception. Here we can see Gigabyte uses light green to accent the dark background for the various ports on the board. Overall, the A88X has a very clean layout with spacious area for large CPU heatsink and tall RAM sticks. Interestingly, while the board is an ATX form factor, it is actually a tad narrower compared to your typical ATX motherboard with the dimension of 30.5 cm by 22.5 cm (vs ATX 30.5 cm by 24.4 cm). Having a slightly narrow board actually may be beneficial for cable management for those with tiny cases. Over at the CPU area, the board uses a newly redesigned heatsink that is supposedly to be more efficient at cooling the PWM. The small footprint of the PWM heatsink leaves us plenty of open space for large cooler. Six power phases system is employed for the CPU and two additional phases power is used the memory. Four DDR3 DIMM slots sit just south of the CPU socket that has no clearance issue. They support memory speed all the way up to 2400 MHZ and supports AMD Memory Profile (AMP) and Intel XMP Profile. Up to 64GB of DDR3 memory can be installed if you install 4 sticks of 16GB. For expansion, the board comes with three PCI Express x1 slots, two PCI Express x16 slots, and two PCI slots. The first PCI Express x16 slot supports PCI Express 3.0 while the rest of the PCI Express slots are 2.0 revisions. Of course, to get the PCI Express 3.0 support, you would need to pair the board with a FM2+ (Kaveri) APU. The two PCIE x16 slot will support AMD CrossFire but only the first slot will operate at x16 while the second slot can only operate at x4. Not that we envision those who purchase the board would also be use a PCIE X8 or PCIE X16 SSD as they are relatively expensive, the fact that the second PCIE slot only operates at X4 is a bit unfortunate. We are much preferred to see the two PCIE slots operate at x8 configuration like Gigabyte’s GA-F2A88X-UP4 for optimal performance and the flexibility for other add-on card that need more bandwidth. Still, given to the target market of the board, we do not think it would pose much of an issue especially you are better off just have a single powerful GPU occupy the first slot to fully take advantage of the PCIE 3.0 bandwidth. The two PCI Express x16 slots are spaced apart so that they will support graphic cards that take up triple slot expansion space like the ASUS ROG MATRIX R9 280X. If you are using just a single card that takes up two expansion slot, you are left with two PCIE x1 slot and the secondary PCIE x16 slot that operates at x4 electrically and the two PCI slot for expansion. Plenty of space for a sound card or other add-on cards. If you happen to install two dual-slot GPUs, then you have two PCIE x1 and a PCI for expansion. So, unless you must have three PCI Express x16 slots for expansions, the board should leave you with plenty of expansion slots. With exception of the USB 3.0 port, all of the internal ports are neatly located on the bottom edge of the board. Here we have two 90 degree SATA ports for better cable management and installation, six more upward facing SATA ports, front panel header, two USB 2.0 headers, a TPM header, a COM header, and the front audio header. The USB 3.0 header is located next to the main 24-pin ATX power connector. All of the SATA ports are capable of 6 Gbps transfer rate courtesy of the AMD A88X chipset. The USB ports (internal and external) are all from A88X chipset as well where we have six internal ports (two USB 3.0 and four USB 2.0) and seven external ports (two USB 3.0 and five USB 2.0). The G1.Sniper A88X comes with a total of four fan headers: one CPU header and three system fan header. The CPU fan header is located just next to the memory slots. Two four pin fan headers are located next to the PCIE x1 slot and the other header (3-pin) is located next to the main 24-pin ATX power connector. On the rear, we find a PS/2 keyboard and mouse combo port, five USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 port, a dual-link DVI-D port, a VGA port, an HDMI port, audio ports, SDPIF connector, and the Gigabit Ethernet port. Noticeably missing here is the DisplayPort which we would have liked to see to be included for future proofing. AMD Kaveri APU supports up to three displays simultaneously, so you would be able to mix and match the three ports on the rear in any configuration you like. The LAN and the USB 3.0 ports on the board also features the dedicated filters to protect against electrostatic discharge. In addition, the USB 3.0 ports also has its own dedicated power fuse so that in the event one port failed, other ports would still be fully functional. Also, it comes with Gigabyte DualBIOS where two BIOS chips are located on the board so that there is a protection against bios failure due to overclocking, power failure, incorrect BIOS flash. One feature we do wish to see on the board is the LED debug code for easy troubleshooting and a onboard power/reset/clear CMOS button. Unfortunately if these are essential features that you are seeking, you would have to go with the GA-F2A88X-UP4. Unique features for G1.Sniper The G1.Sniper traditionally comes with gamer-centric features where it often boosts audio and network improvements. It may also come with other features such as enhanced cooler for oerclockers but its main goal is that gamer can enjoy the better than your average hardware. While Gigabyte uses Killer NIC for their Intel G1.Sniper boards, the A88X opts for the the Realtek RTL8111F instead for the Gigabit LAN. The Killer NIC does help to reduce latency and ping time for the network that may help with lags in online games. We have seen some slight improvement in the latency and ping time with Killer NIC network card, however, it is most likely that your ISP will contribute most with the network latency. So, the use of Realtek controller is probably not going to be a big deal. Gigabyte does provide two sets of software to help optimizing the network performance: Lan Optimizer and cFOsSpeed Internet Accelerator software, The cFOsSpeed Internet Accelerator is a third party software where it provides a network traffic data so that you can use it to prioritize network resource for application such as games that need higher bandwidth or low latency. The LAN Optimizer is actually a software from Realtek it has 3 presets and an automatic setting that allows you to adjust what programs to be optimized and its prioritized for the network traffic. It also let you set bandwidth upload and download and delay the sensitivity for each program. The audio on the A88X, on the other hand, has been improved from your typical motherboard. The audio on the board relies on the Realtek ALC898, that features ten DAC channels with support for multiple streaming for simultaneously 7.1 audio playback plus two channel of stereo sound output. It also features 110dB signal to noise ratio (SNR) DAC playback and 104 SNR recording (ADC) quality. Probably due to manufacturing cost, the A88X does not come with the Creative audio chip that is found on the Intel Z87 model of the G1.Sniper. It also is not the latest Realtek ALC1150 audio chip that features slightly higher SNR. Still, the Realtek ALC898 on the board is certainly better than most of the board on its price range despite the fact it was using last gen chip. In fact, there are features on the ALC898 that the newer ALC1150 is missing, noticeably the support for 88.2K sample rate on the DAC and ADC and the built-in headphone amplifier support for all of the analog ports whereas the ALC1150 only has three ports supporting it. To even further improve on the audio quality, Gigabyte uses Nichicon Pro Audio caps and it features technologies such as Audio Noise Guard, Gold Audio Plated hardware, upgradeable onboard OP-Amp, and Gain Boost. The AMP-UP audio technology which helps to deliver a cleaner sound. Basically. the board features user-replaceable onboard operational amplifier (OP-AMP) that we often find on more expensive dedicated sound card. Gigabyte has been the only manufacturer that actually offers such feature across many mainstream boards (G1.Sniper 5, G1.Sniper M5, and GA-H81 Amp-up). If you are looking for a cleaner and punchier audio, you would be able to swap out the included OP-AMP (model: OPA2134PA) with one of the the three OP-AMPs where each is designed for different types of sound characteristic from the GIGABYTE OP-AMP Premium Upgrade Kit. Unfortunately, the price of these “premium” OP-AMP are relatively expensive at $80, almost the price of the board. In addition to swappable OP-AMP, the board also features onboard switch through the Gain Boost where you would be able to select between 2.5x and 6x amplification modes depending on speakers or headphones being used. There are two CAP switches on the motherboard just next to the OP-AMP where if you set both of them to 1s, you would have 2.5x amplification (this is the default setting) and switched them to 2s would kick up a notch to 6x amplification. It is slightly inconvenient to have to turn the switches on the motherboard as we would prefer to have them located on the rear panel and ideally use a single switch as oppose to dual switch. The location of these switch also probably means that it will not support on-the-fly changes. The gold plate shield is used to reduce electrostatic interference. In addition, the dedicated USB DAC-up port and all of the analog output ports are also plated with gold. For those with USB headsets, the board comes with a dedicated USB DAC-UP port that reduces power fluctuation to ensure best audio quality through the USB port. This would be the port that you would want to use if you are using an USB headphone for gaming.To further reduce ESD, Gigabyte also implemented audio noise guard that separate the audio portion from other components to reduce potential ESD interference from other components. An LED trace path lightning illuminates to show the audio path. Pretty neat. In addition to the audio enhancement, the A88X will feature other proprietary technologies such as Ultra Durable 4 Plus, Ultra Cool, Ultra Performance, Ultra Safe, Humidity Protection, Power Failure Protection, and Electrostatic Protection. Collectively, they translate to higher quality components Collectively, they mean higher quality components with all solid cap design, low RDS MOSFETs, and cleaner power delivery subsystem so that the board operates at lower temperature and the components would have higher lifespan and higher overclocking potential. Gigabyte also bundles the board with the typical Gigabyte software bundle such as Easy Tune 6 for system hardware monitor and over-clocking. The software UI has not been updated for awhile and there is no major features added. It provides system information and over clocking. In addition, Smart Recovery 2 for file and system backup. A new addition is the Smart Switch lets you select to boot into Windows 8 desktop or Metro UI and brings a set of power setting to your desktop so that you can access them with a single click. The On/off charge let you charge mobile devices such as iPhone and iPads even when the computer is off or in standby mode. It also provides additional power to the USB port so that devices can be charged faster. The @BIOS helps you to flash the motherboard BIOS in Windows.	<urn:uuid:80a45c19-38d7-4a17-a9d8-9f89f7cb5473>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	https://www.bjorn3d.com/2014/04/gigabyte-g1-sniper-a88x-review/	2016-07-23T09:36:38Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257821671.5/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071021-00000-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.946378	2,930
Newspaper Page Text THE DAILY ARGUS I JOHN W. POTTER. Satcrdat. Jahcary 25, 18IK). The system of ballot reform advocated tj Got. Abbett. of New Jersey, provides for the registration of every voter; abso lute secrecy of the ballot, en exclusively official ballot with a prohibition of the use of any other the setting aside of an election In any precinct wherever the courts shall be satisfied that the electors for any reason have been deprived of a fair opportunity to express their choice at the ballot box; the right of nomination by petition: a limitation of the amount which may be legally spent In or for any election, and declaring the election void should this mount be exceeded by any candidate or any person acting for or In his behalf; the publication by every can didate of an itemized statement, under oath, of all moneys expended at such election by him or with his knowledge, and a failure to do so rendering the elec How lew was Carried. lie satin the duor at noonday, lonely and glum and sad; brooding over the price of his corn crop, and figuring how much he had. lie had worked from early spring - time early and late and hard; and now be was counting his assets and figuring ous bis reward. He figured that it took two acres to buy hi two boys new boots. and ten acres more on top or this to fit tbem out with new suits. To buy bis wife a protected dress took 100 bushels more; while five acres went in a solid lump for the carpet on the floor. His taxes and his grocery bill absorbed els crop of oats, while the Interest on his farm mortgage took all his fattened shoals The shingles for his new cow sheds, and ' the lumber for his barn, had eaten up his Deer steers and the balance of his corn. So he sat In his door at noonday, lonely, and glum, and sore; as he figures up his ' wealth a little less than It was the year before. By gum! they say I m protected. but I know tbere is something wrong; l ve been deceived, and gulled, and hood wiQxea, dt mis uua protection song. They told of rebellious traitors, and held up the bloody rag. and I followed along uae a pumpkin ana now i m Holding the nag. uut from this time on 1 11 Invest!' gate and get to the bottom of facts: and MI bet 4 to begin with that the tariff it a tax. Aledo Democrat X EC EMM IT V m. LCXl'RT. Tbe following list of articles with tar. IS duties on tbe same shows bow tbe government discriminates against tbe necessities and In favor of the luxuries: DUTIES OH ARTICLES OF 5ECE88ITIKS. Castor oil, 180 per cent. Linseed oil. 02 per cent. Common window glass. 86 per Cent. Raw wool, 45 per cent. Steel rails, 85 per cent. Horseshoe nails, 118 per cent. Cheapest mixed woolen goods, coatiog 24c. per vard abroad. 77 per cent. Spool tnread, 61 per cent. Common woolen shawls costing abroad 68c. a pound, 86 per cent. Common worsted stockings, costing 26c. a pound abroad, .73 per cent. Rice, l(Jfl percent. Corn starch, 85, per ceot. Salt, 80 per cent, DUTY OX ARTICLES OF LCXCBT. Oltar of roses, free. .Neroli. or orange nower oil, free. Diamonds, 10 per cent. naw sua, rree. Jewelry. 85 per cent. Hold studs, 25 per cent. Finest still wines, In bottles, 29 per cent. Finest thread lace, 80 per cent. Pate de foie grss. 25 per cent. Musical Instruments of all kinds. 25 per cent. Curry and curry powder free. Olives, green or pre pared, rree. Spices of all kinds, free. A thousand other items might be treated in use manner. FiSH STORicS ARE EARLY THI3 YEAfl, Irut tlie 4,non MtaritO.it with TCIiatMay He Called a (orir. rnirAro. Jan. M "That's rmo of the bact nh t- i Ilmvw rnroiiiittfred," said C E, .M'ir';'; h Uul ali'tnr on the counter l. I' 'Jm; store ut Tfiirtyfirth street an1 (I'lti'." lifuv.) ai'i:nt:. ( tiifno, "and tha U-t .nrt uf I- i Mint it U truf." Tbs lot. li r a in in I.n fth -r, F. H Marshull, in EMom. Ir mi l tvn . i i;,, n .Ian. VI. B.igl.t a Wi.ll Kveit Flic. it inn uU'iit ai in. I.. 1 "A week go last rri'iav ju.,u "i'Imt itum ami tha two Bii- I u 'hik ,.nt i" i id nrdin City, ton mile, ii'tnli of Iitj. for Kim.t spearing ti.r,-t. t!i t in t;i. I..wa riv.r Wetnter t.l k !n sfwur Info a t .h, which be inun- niTi to .mi l ontojx.f tti It after a big :niCi It prove 1 tor a wall-eyed nlke i( ordinary slrj. lint ratii-r thicker than .iul an I of. K.i.-b extraordinary weight tl.at it wa ltni rtim.'il to Investipate the ialrl f..r Hnnkliw. "Th tUti U-Imk cm fu a (jurn. wa found tmlde rnnt.tininc ;V iu gnkl c1n, llfl.fio in nfr. . , in (trp 'tiiw. t, ,iu.0t n railroad douu., an'i ..,. Mtl( aj ertifloat of upoir in a laTin,"! L of Johnntown. A np nr pHp-T, a!o f mad In tUa pant, bore r or.i won wrut -n 'Tiw l'Hjpartyof rfonn j Juno Jhi-y hvo lipait( tbs conTenm at t!. wmrt txuise in Eldora, with afflduvitu vertifring that the finding tiwk ymv ai jmcrilwl alifT. Iul a Llkaly . the Hot f lc. iTisiueiT, niM .Mr. MBrthall. "that tha nn iwnllowe thnf j,urc at Johnntown ear w.m. ........ ur, ,K.'i ti i,r M.vcrai vnr apo, and r. arlil tl. pl,,-c l.ri. 1. wax caught v rv,,,iirii.uv; .ion n in-' (.oi.,ntigti rVtr iuo Alk-Kbhiiv, don th.. AII.'thBiir and . ka. J . a . t aa . ' ..... w.u.) i,. in.. .iiiinplti ,i u,, Um jiii icaipVi to tha Iowa rivrr." JOHN PLANKINTON DYING. .nuimnairo Vuth Paahor at tha folnt MiLWACKF.it WW , Jan 'A John I'lankln vn, in tiilllioiiitim prk ptirker, and farmer partner nf fhll Aruu.ur, of Chiinpo, la lying i ma point of il.Mith ut big roaidriiM-e In tbia J tlr "" t.Hlioirt attack Thu.day anu inn in conueof i mi with the paralysis Ih.t .....I. I ... ..... - 1 J. - mm aiiiiom neipiHs iir weeks, iuuiiiuiwiy ('rooirttU-.! Inn,. Tho Iowa laai,,k. T)a Xlnraru 1. T . m.. .--, ., tfnu. wj, inera aaeua to ba a ehauea for the deadlock In the learii uiture to be brokou that Is If the Democrats will agree to a proposition tha RepubUoans um in innr inia proposition la that they will connont to hara Hotchkiaa, Demo crat, for temporary speaker aad Wllrox, Republican, for temporary clerk tf the Den o craia win KiTetliam three of the lira on sua creOuntmla committee and Eotcb- sina win afcree not. to do anything to throw ininoon contested Kupublicana. " iremw tue jjrmncrata ww consent is THE BOLD WESTERN ROBBER. Ha Gag a roatofflce Clark aud ttmf Away wim tna swag. autoqckrqce, n. M., Jan. 25 Two ouiscaci men bound and gagged 2? ijcht Clerk L, L. Roy at tna poatoOlua hara early yeater day morning, pouuded the combination knob on the stir with a sledge hammer and robbed tha vault of t.K In money, i,o 0 in stnmpa and sereral hundred dollars worth or Jewel ry. All tha register baga were cut open and tba firt-claa packages tkcii. Tbe "'""" m " in not known, but Poatmaa tar Walker think the robbers aecured from them severnl tliounnnd dollars more. Tha roliliera were iu tha offloa eeveral hours. After thy loft Roy fraad hiinaelf and nte Iluby Valley, Cel.. boasts of tnowdrifU uny teat deep. Natural Gas Adds Many tims to Its Roll. HAVOC BY A DOUBLE EXPLOSION. Horror Piled on Another at Col ambus, O. The Leaky Pipe Does Deadly Work. A Carious Multitude. Attracted by tha First Disaster, Stands on a Volcano Un knowinglyThe Eiptoslon ttesntts In Frightful Scene of Wreck end Mangled t'afortanates Horse Attached to a ladder Wagon Dash Madly Through tho Crowd Several llooses Wrecked Sis Corpses ReeoTered and Many I'oo Colcmbih, O., Jan. 'A Tliere wat a soeue of death and destruction in thin rity laet night whose borrlble f.atur and sick ening details sro not surpaiwe.1 in the hi- tory of Ohio. A few moment' after 5 o'clock an alarm of fire sounded, calling out the en tire department The stiveta were thronged with the thousands of toilers who were re turning to tlnir homes from workshop and factories, and quickly spread tbe news that a frightful calamity had happened in tho southern part of the city. Tbe streets lea Jin to that section were soon crowded with people go ing to the scene, but their preeence there heaped horror upon horror, as will ba seen Moons of tha Catastrophe. An explosion had occurred at the double residence of Messrs. Michael Bowers and John Harriot, at tbe corner ot Wall and Noble allies. The cause of the calamity was an accumulation of natural gas in the cellar of the house referred to. The city has re cently been supplied with natural gas, and lending past the house occupied by Marriot and Bowers Is one of the mains throuzh which the commodity is furnished to the public The pipes had leaked and tha explo sive fuel had found its way through fissures in the ground to the cellar which was the seat ot the horror. It became ignited in some unknown manner and exploded with terrific foroe, wrecking the building and Oiling tbe air with debris. Tha Destroyer lay In Walt. Mrs. Marriot was blown out of tbe bou and a man named Qouldlng. who was stand lug near the structure, was blown across the Street. Mrs. Marriot was carried across the street and into tbe residence of William James, a bookkeeper for the book firm ot Glock & Beck. Dr. Wlssinzer. a prominent physician, was called to attend her injuries. iru- i . . . . ium uuuse wnere me injured Jay was soon crowded with people attracted by the acci dent, and it was soon necessary to close the doors that no more might enter. Little know those scores of spectators hudJled around the sufferer that thcr were standing in a death trap, which was then on tbe verce carrying tnein into eternity. THE SECOND EXPLOSION. A r rightful Ipheaval That Creatoa Hor Suddenly the air was rent bv a tremendous explosion which made the earth quake and flUed the air with flying timbers, bricks and debris of all kinds. Darkmws ensued and then a dead-like stillness reigned for a few moments. It wss brokou bv shrieks and death groans. The house in which lav the powerless rorra or Mrs. Marriot had been blown to atoms and it occupants burled be neath the wreck. Hundreds of spectators who lined the sidewalks were knocked vio lently down by the shock and laid powerless. Then to cap tbe climax a team of soirited hones attached to one of the fire department jaaaer trucks became rrenKied by the exolo- sion ana oasnea awsy into the crowd, carry mg ueam in ineir wage, j nev ran over and Injured scores of people. A beautiful little babe was knocked from its mother arms ana teUlns beneath the men-ii wheels of the vehicle, was cmhed to death. Tho Mammons to tbe Rescue. As soon as the maddened steeds had dis appeared In the darkness many of tho spec tator ana Bremen, wuo bad been uninjured oy eiioer ot tne horrors, turned their aften lion to digging out tha persons burled be- naatn the ruins of the house. Guided by the crwe ami moan or tha mangled and dying, men gropou in tne darkness, pulling out dead body here, a mangled, yet liviug. form mere, ami couveying them to rostiug places. wroups ot men, women and children iuth a rot around tha prostrate forms, and blood curdling shrieks made the awful scene more revolting, as friends recognized frinujs, in jureu or oeau parents round tliolr luuti anu ciiiiuren, and vice vara. It rouuirml several nours to remove all the dead si.. I Injured from tbe ruins, and it is not vet Known wnn or now many are tbe victims. THE ROLL OF THE VICTIMS. lb . ... b. ETUI a w- . .-M.a.w ." " am..-u I. .1 , 11.1 II U 1 Ma Far as Known. following is the list of kill.tl and wonn.U od so far as ascertained: Killed f!hori- becht, Mrs, John Marriot. Infant son of cnaries Worry, James Uoymour tuolored boy) uuanown wuiie man, unknown uuImi. lDjnrsd-rr T. K. WisHinger. bodlv and probably fatally burned and bruised; Her man liaker, badly burned; Daniel Cherry burned painfully; Charles Woodruff, cut and brulsod seriously; Mrs. Fully, burned and injured internally, probably fatally fat rick Hui-kie, cut on bead; Aaron Be.-un, cut on race and band; benjamin Morgan, gasuee on bead and internal iniu- ... . I w . . . . rm; iimne ixiwrr. DUmeU and brni. Albert Ticklidor, bruied and cut; '. Brady, burned and cut; Edward Vienier out aud burned ; Wolff, cut and burno1 aiiss u.'iie nmiiu, batiiy hurt; Mrs. Corn, B" -.. -,.. 1 . Dauiy l.urneil; Tot" Marriott, terrihlv burned about the shoulders and neck; Tom Doyle, hands burned partially off; Emma Bowers, probably fatally burned; Marshall auiDourne, norrible injuries on the neck and hand; William Brady, probably fatally suffocated; William James, hands and face roasted and will die: Mrs, William James, badly cut and bruised, blaukiu ger, horribly burned and cut. Elmer Gates, a young man. was standi HZ opposite tha hoase when the second explo sion ocourrea, ana was struck hy a missile which broke bis leg. A young man named Mssblider. who iaa resident of Granville, n.. was aeverelv burned and shocked. Tom Doyle, a saloon porter was burned in a most horrible mauner. When tne im promptu bnndagns were removed from bis hands, the flesh dropped off in muny places, leaving the bones exposed. ineodore Whoutlng was watching tbe firs across the street, when the explosion oc curred. The blaze and falhn? debris frightened the horses ot a hose cart, which wheeled and ran on to the pavement. The gentleman was knocked down and had one leg broken In two places. Police Officer Lynsky was in tha house at tbe time it fell aud was badly injured. Many Others Badlv Bart. Many others were badly injured, but were carried away by friends aud their names cannot be Warned. The houses for several blocks around the sceua of tha einlosion have been made into hospitals, where many are being cared for. Miss Belie Smith, who was badly Injured, had gone into tbe doomed bouse just prior to the explosion. Her face wet badly In-ukwd and siie was suffering from many bruises about tbe body. She was almost completely buried in tho debris and had to lm dug out. Tbe doctors pro nounce her Injuries serious, but think she Dr. T. K. WiBsinavr Was In tha Jimv bouse when be was hurt He was attending .patient .injury at the othsrpbvje, when the second explosion occurred. Those who beard him talk say he said he suddenly saw the flames creeping along the floor of the room and immediately threw himself under a table and placed his hands over his ey.-s to shield them. Benjamin Morgan, also a ipec- tator, was badly injure.!. He was knocked down by one of tbe hoee carts in the geteral rush for safety after the first explosion, and then run over by the mad crowd. Mot gan lives at Shawnee, and wss a delegate to the miners' convention, which had been in ses sion here. He is thought to be internall in jured. Pet Marriott Is a 16 year-old girl. Wien she reached the street she was almost nal:ed, Her life was saved by turning a stream of Drove Hlni a Raving Manlao. The saddest case was that of Ed Pfef'er. He was struck by the falling timbers ind was terribly cut about the bead. Tbeshx:k of the blows rendered the man a raving maniao for the time being. It required tbe united efforts of several men to hold him on the seat of the patrol wagon as it dashed up At midnight a half-dozen persona were un accounted for, among whom were the widow Tull and her son. who occupied part of 1 be first house that exploded, PECULIAR CASE OF INSANITY. The Sufferer Has n Mad Mania for K 11 Baxoor, Me., Jan. ai Murtagh McLeod, i . , , , ... . m luiuuennan wuo nas ueen in tbe woods or some time, was brought to this city in irons Thursday night by a deputy shsrlff. The cause of his arrest was the development of insanity which led him to attack and try to kill borsoe. He was sitting on a loir landinir shsrpening a long knife some days ago.wten a spienaia team or borses was driven uo bv a teamster. At the sicht of them McLead uttered a wild cry and jumped from his m at to the borses and literally disembowe ed one of the animals before he con 1.1 he Slopped the Bloody Work. The workmen around him secured him Just aahe was about to make an attack on the other horse. He only made a slicrbt ance. The man was bound hand and fcot and kept in camp until a team was ready to start for civilisation, when he was load l aboard and given to a deputy sheriff. He seems to be particularly violent at the sig it of animal, but since he has been confined has acted in a perfectly rational mannfr. Tbe physicians regard his case as an ex ceedingly peculiar one and are watching it Bound to Have an Extended Name. Cleveland, O., Jan. 36. The convention to organize a non-partisan temperance union met again In Music hall yesterday mornin The ladies decided that National Crusade -s was not a good title, and changed the name to Non-Parti san Women's Christian Temper ance union, rretaucnt-eiect rnlnney notified the convention of her acceptance of tie fuee. Further officers were elected as fol lows: General secretary. Miss F. Jenn e Duty, of Cleveland; recording secretary, Mrs. Florence MUller, Iowa; financial secrio tary, Mrs. Shortledge, of Pennsylvania ; treasurer, Mrs. C. Cornelia Alford, Brook lyn. It wss decided to pay the presider t and general secretary salaries of 1,300 eacl.. About 12,500 were raised at tbe afternoon session to help maintain tbe expenses of thi new organisation. After the transaction cf further routine business a flual adjournment "Old Hatch" Robbed. CbicaOO, Jan. i5. Statements to tho effect tbat B. P. Hutchinson had been swin dled out of a big sum of money from $10 000 to fWO.OoO by his settling clerks, wer i circulated on the board of trade yesterda" morning. Mr. Hutchinson denied that ho bad lost a large amount, but admitted ho had lost some money, possibly $2,000 or $3,000. The thieves are said to be Harry Stoney, Hutchinson's settling clerk, ann Henry B. King, settling clerk for W. P Wanted a Tragedy and Was Accommodated BlKJnsoHAM, Ala., Jan. 25. Thursday evening John Carroll, a wealthy farmer living a few miles north of here, was shot dead by R. B. Barnes, a prominent lawyer, in the small town of Opelika. A few days ago they met in Opelika aud Carroll spat in Barnes' fare, and also applied insulting epi thets. Thursday Carroll came to town armed, and meeting Barnes advanced upon him with his revolver drawn. Barnes drew bis revolver and fired, killing Carroll In stantly. Most Mast Of His Time. New York, Jan. 25. About tbe time or tlie hanging of the Chicago Anarchists Jo- haun Most, the New York 'Red," made a sanguinary and incendiary speech. For this he was arrested, tried and sentenced to stare's prison tor a year and $000 fine. He appealed the case, and has since been out on bail Yesterday the case was decided against him. ana ne win now nave to serve bis term. Tba Man with the Clan-na-Gael-I'hobla. SaK Antonio, Tex , Jan. 'A. Chester A Baboock, the young attorney of Quincy. Ill (not Chicago), who became demented under tbe hallucination that be was pursued by tbe Clan-na-Uael, has improved very rapidlv and has been removed from the hnspital to tha hotel, where he is now under the oar of letting t'n on Coorelon in Inland. DfBLLV, Jan. !. A proclamation by tha viceroy or Ireland Is published In Tha On. setts releasing from tbe operation of tha coercion act thirteen counties, tnelndina eegai, iverry, ana Limerick. Fire nt Chicago. IMCaoo, Jan. M. Fire last niaht dam- apea tna eiotnmg stock of Austrian, Wise St K.O. to we extent of 120, WW, and the build ing, Adams street, $1,000. Kerlous Accident at Champaign. Ills. ChaMPaIun, His., Jan. Si. A very serious accident occurred yesterday aftarnoou on the Cbai'iHilgn and Urbana street railway tuecar leaving mis city at lio p. ni. Was crowded with pass!uirer. mostly woiuaii w hen it left the track and rolled down a wenty-five foot embankment. None were killed, but thirteen were iulured. the mokt serious being: Mrs. A. M. - Dawson, sboul- U-r broken; Miss Angie Ireton. arm broken: Miss Ixnn Friaon, bones of both lugs frac tured; Miss I. N. Wade, severe injuries about the head; Miss Sarah Bunuett, of Mat toon, severe cut on neck and probable inter F.a-Kenator Iliddlebarger llend. WlxcHESTgR, Va.. Jan. S5. The death of x-Henator Riddleberger was announced yesterday morning. The event, which had been imminent for aoiue days, took iiln.-n at :30 o'clock. His end was painless. Mr Biddleberger came into national prominence during tbe Readjuster period in Virginia, and was elected to the United States senate by that party and tha Republicans. His life shortened and his career ruined bv an irresistible love for intoxicants. He was born in 1844. ttown on Oleomargarine. Belvtoerk, Ilia, Jan. 23. At the session of the Illinois Dairyman's association yester reeolutious were adopted to the effect at that the laws regulating tba manufacture and saia of oleomargarine should be strictly and vigor ously enforced, that the association is opposed to tne adulteration or butter and cheese and in favor of a state dairy and food commis sion. Talmage Lunches with Gladstone. Lokdok, Jan. 85. Rev. Dr. Talmage. of Brooklyn, took lucbeon and spent tbe after noon with bladstone at Hawarden castle yesterday. To his guest Gladstone expressed himself freely on religious and political topics, and charged him with messages of rs gnrd for President Harrison and sympathy with Mr. Blaine in his recent affliction. A BensltUe Jail Keeper. Lajur, Mo., Jan. 25. Joseph Garrett. dVputy sheriff and Jailer, shot himself throngh the heart Thursday and death fol lowed in a few momenta. He left a wife and seven children. Tba only motive known that of despondency caused bv an nn. founded rnmnr that ho ho4 uu. I - i recent escape of sonis prisoners. ISLAKD ARGUS, SATURDAY JANUARY 25, 1890. FUN IX PROSPECT. Important Features of the Nev A LIVELY TIGHT A SUKE THING. Carlisle States the Changes lo a Demo cratic Caucus and Its Voice Is for War Cen. Filibuster Likely To Ba a Promi nent Figure In tbe Near Future Mill ions for a Navy Proceedings la the Washwqto City, Jan. 2i Tbe caucus of Democratic members of the house last night lasted for over two hours, but at 10:80 o'clock when an adjournment was taken, tho only resolution adopted was one enjoining secresy on tbe caucus proceeding). Tbe meeting was well attended. Holman, the permanent chairman, presided and after he had called the caucus to order recognized Carlisle, who proceeded to explain the principal features of the new code prepared by the Republican members of the committee on rules. Car lisle said that the radical and dangerous features of the new code proposed to abolish the house calendar; to revive the morning hour; to make 100 members constitute a quorum; to abolish as motions of privilege those for the taking of a reec or for the ad journment of the bouse until a fixed date. Another Important Innovation. Another and very important innovation provided tor by the new code, Carlisle ex plained, provided for tbe transaction ot busi ness during the morning hour. By this rule a committee, on making a report, could de maud immediate consideration of tbe bill on which the report is made and could continue to have it considered during the morning hour day after day until disposed of. No motion U consider another question, except that of another committee, can, under this rule, be enterJaimvl while the bill is undis ood Prospect for Filibustering. Considerable discussion followed Carlisle's explanation all the speakers favoring fight l.ig tbe new code on tbe fbxir of the house until the end. Without coming to any action on the matter the caucus proceeded to the consideration of a plan of action on the con tested election esses. Many different propo sitions were brought forward, and a lively and interesting discussion took place. All agreed, however, that any attempt on the part of tbe Ri-publicans to have any of these cases considered tfore the new code of rules are adopted should be opposed in every possible way, even by filibustering of the most radical character. HALE'S BILL FOR THE NAVY. A Proposition to Spend S349,OOO,O00 on Washington City, Jan. 25. Yesterday me senate committee on naval ansirs or dered a favorable report on Senator Hale's bill for tbe construction of 127 naval vessels ot various kin.W at the cost, including $63, 000,000 already expended, of 349,W 5,000. The decisiou, however, was not unanimous, and l handler and McPherson will submit a minority report, as they favor the construc tion or fast cruisers, torpedo boats, etc., in' stead of line of battle ships at the present time, while tbe majority of tbe committee desire the immediate construction of heavy oawe snips, senator Stanford also is un derstood to be only partly in accord with the Dlscusstof Customs Administration. Washington City, Jan. 25 The house put in yesterday considering McKinley's cus toms administration bilL The principal ngbt was over the amendment requiring gooas, against tue classification of which an appeal has been taken, to remain in govern ment custody until the appeal U decided. Mills opposed it because, be said, if the im porter got his goods and sold them he put on the higher duty: then if he won the suit be pocketed the difference, takinz money from the taxpayer with one hand, and from the government with the other. Carlisleop- posea it oecause it was a hardship on the nonest Importer only, as tbe dishonest im porter did not go into court. The laws should be made so plain as to prevait wrong ciarancaii.m. i be amendment was defeated. Some little progress was made with the bill, Sim me nouse ajjoarned. Reciprocity with Canada. Washington Cjtt, Jan. as Representa tive Bntterworth and S. J. Ritchie, of Ohio, spoke to tbe ways and nutans committee yesterday urging uurestricted reciprocity with Canada. Butterworth's plain includes me settlement of the fisheries dispute, In- World's Fair Matters. washinuton City, Jan. 23. The sub committee of the World's fair committee ot the bouse has decided against all the resolu tions presented to it and will ask permission or me run committee to proceed to frame a iu emtiraonif the entire subject, except as The Color Llna In tlie O. A. R. A rGt'HT a, Ua., Jan. . Tba aVpart tuental encampment, O. A. R., was held here yesterday. Charleston, Havannah, Maoon, A.uauu ana i aiinuoosa pools were repre- wie.i. uoiorea aeiegates from Beaufort and Savannah claimed admission as repre senting colored posts. Tho majority of the committee on credential reported against, snu me minority in ravoror admitting them. The minority rejort was adopted, 13 to 4, whereupon I. I). Crawford, commander; h! Burns, adjutant, and Philip Hiedingsfeler, representing E. 8. Jones post No. 5, of Ma xn, withdrew from the encampment under nstructlons of their poet The Dlorkade Ntill ( nbroken. San Francisco, Jan. a. The blockade n the Central Paciflu remains uubroken aid snow is still falling in the mountains. The storm is the greatest known since tbe road was built Many mvuutain aud valley 1 1 reams in northern California are swolleu nnd tbe Sacramento river is rising so rapidly tbat another flood is feared. Heveral ava Innchee are reported in the Siskiyou moun t alns, adding to the blockade tbere. One Benerlt of Cold Weathor. Mount Carmel, Pa , Jau. 25 An hn- ruvemeut iu tbe oual trade is noticed sinoe tlie weather has become colder. Tha Bell l lore and Morris Ridge colliers resumed vork yesterday, and other operators an t ounce their intention to start up Monday. Might Have Gone to Canada. New York, Jan. 29. Ueorga H. Louns t erry, who resigned as cashier of the Ifew York postofflce Thursday, shot himself dead at Hackansack, K J., last evening. It is re ported that there ia a deficiency of 125,000 in Will Demand lnoroaeed Wngos. WiLKXSBABlUE, Pa., Jan. ai At mass- n .eeting of miners last night it was unaided to demand a !U nor cent, inareaaa in wages o i April L Oyur s,isj0 luiuers are interested it tbe movement Russia Taking Care of Natalia. London, Jan. 25. It is stated that the Brvian regents have received from St Petersburg a hint that tbe exnnlsion of ss. Veen Natalie from Berria, which it ia a4- "jaa the regents had planned, would be n- it la rumored tbat this "rriandlv tin" wjl be beeded and tbat ail tba danger of ' italie's expulsion is removed. A Handsome Rest dene VuraetL SEW YORK. Jan. 35. The reddenca at Pircy R. Pyne, tho well-known Wall etraat m in, at Riverdale-on the-Hudson, was dan aged by Ore at a late hour Thursday night. Tl loss is estimated at from f 25,000 to $30. 00(. . ' La Grippe Losing It Grip. Chicago, Jan. 28. There was a deckUd de o-ease in the number of deaths westardaw. In all there were seventy-four nmorted at tb i health department, of which only six wt re due to influenza. All Quiet nt Appal nob loola. U-PALACHICOLA, Fla.. Jan. 83. Every. thing was quiet here yesterday and ttia the ught the trouble with the colored strikers is 1 1 an end. ROUND WENT NELLY With Only a Single Suit of THE LADY GLOBE-QIKDLEE'8 FEAT. Miss Nelly Biy Arrives at Chicago on s Flying Trip Across tha Continent as Wtnd-Cp ot Her Voyage Around the World Jules Verne's Phineas Fogg Knocked Ont of Time Lightning Run ning on American Railways. Chicago, Jan. 25. Miss Nellie Bly, the young lady who is making a flying tour around the world, reaoued Chicago on her way home at 6:05 yesterday morning, and left for New York at 10:30. She will make the trip iu seventy-tlir days, barring Borne two months ago Tlie Now York World coucluded that it was time for some great sensation, and castiug about for a sub ject bethought it of tha fictitious trip of Phineas Fogg arouud tbe world in eighty days, as recounted in one of Jules Verne's delightful works. A beaten record was al ways a good new s item. Why would it not do to try aud lsat the record of the famous Fogg? Especially if a woman was the trav eler. No sooner bald than dona. Miss "Nel lie Bly, which name, so far as really being the genuine all-wool and a yard wide cogno men of the lady selected, is all in yoar eye, it being her bom de plume, was willing to undertake the trip as who wouldn't f and so she started. A Rival for Honors. At tbe same time that Miss Bly took up her journey east. Miss Elizabeth Bisland was sent west by another New York paper, her purpose being to beat The World corre spondent This wasn't fair in one particular, because Miss Bly had no knowledge that she was running a race with a real live woman instead of a flctictious man. Miss Bisland would probably have put The World in a""ho le""by prod uciug a bi gger sen eation than The World's if she had not met with bad luck. She expected to take a fast Atlantic lines when she reached the Atlantic ocean, but the said liner was taken off before the lady reached port; and now she is somewhere on the Atlantic aboard ot the slow going Bothnia and undoubtedly hope Novel but Not Extraordinary. The trips these two young ladies took were novel, inasmuch as they went alone with but one suit of clothes each and that not like McGinty's, their best and carrying small handbags for baggage. To beat Phineas Foggs' time, barring accidents, is not a great feat as the facilities are undoubtedly greater now than when he made his famous voyage. The most exciting part of the trip for Miss Bly was that across the American continent, which was made in unprecedented time by the help of special trains and with tbe assistance otall the railways on the The Arrival In Chicairo. As stated in tbe first paragraph Miss Bly arrived in Chicago yesterday. To meet her a party of newspaper men left on the Atchi son, Topeka and iSanta Fe road at 4 o'clock yesterday morning for Joliet, whore the special train tbat had borne her all the way from San Francisco was due about 7 o'clock. The trip was made all right, and Miss Bly's train arrived in due time. It came on like a cannon ball, and the Chicago reporters' car was coupled on and tbe run to Chicago begun, the newspaper men meantime invad ing tbe parlor car in w hich the lady had made the trip. Miss Globe Glrdler Appear. Tbe cheer of welcome bad awakened Miss '"AT" f!W ,k Ud ?n P the door of her state-room tbe aisle stepped a young lady of medium height, her slender, willowy figure clothed in a perfect fitting nlster ot light check, but toned lrora neck to toe. A jaunty, half Jockey traveling cap sat gracefully on her neaa. ner coai-DiacK nalr was coiled in be coming fashion and her sparkling eyes and her cheeks ricbly colored with the glow of perfect health, showed bow keenly she was enjoying ner battle with time. In one of her hands, neatly gloved in Snede, she car ried a dainty whip, which proved to be the dned tad of a monkey, In tbe head of which was imbedded a bright ruby from CoUn. ice otner she extended to ber fellow news paper workers as she called tbem, giving each a cordial, hearty shake as Mr. O'Neill, Tha World's Chicago corros pendent, made Americans Scarce Abroad. Miss Bly spoke with an English accent and when this mentioned, -I did not know it," she replied. "No, I am an American." she continued, striking ber ulster with her bejeweled whip, "and never more so than since my retnm. I am not surprised, however, that I have a little Engli-b accent, for from the time 1 bade farewell to The World's London correspon-lmt in Dover, I did not see an Atnerhwu until I reached Yokohama end 1 not see tbe stars and stripes until I saw tnem waving over our consul's house at Hong Kong. I tell you the old flag looked Tho All-Pervading Rriton. -nut tnougn Americans were scarce tha English were plentiful, and from London to Ban Francisco there were always a few of tbat nation amonc my fellow-nasaenmrs Bo I suppose I got my accent from them. But I'll soon get over it -Ami tirear .o, not a bit Whv. th Journey has Iwen one gret delight If any- oouy wants a vacation trip, l can think of Do more pleasant way to take it than to fly around the world." The Inevitable Quoetton. And what do you think of Americaf queried a reporter who had been accustomed to interviewing, in New York, fresh arrivals Abt yon should have asked me that when I landed." Miss Bly replied. ' But it is not necessary for me to say it is the best coun try of all. And especially for traveling." Flying Across n Continent. Why, see," she said, glancing at a Rus sian bracelet In which was set a watch: "it ia now 8 o'clock on tba morning of the 24th. and but sixty-nine hours ago I was just start ing from San Francisco. I have (wen in tbe oar all tha way, except part of the time when on the Atlantio and Pacific road, which is pan or tne baata Ke system. I rode in the engine. How we flew! Tho soenery in the mountains was grand. I held the throt tle and pulled it out as far as it would go. Going down grade I managod the airbrake. One of tbe surprising things along the lour- nay was the crowds that gathered at the sta tions to meet me. Had to Please tho Populace. I had to appear on the platform and bow to tbem and answer lots ot questions The women seemed particularly interested in my dress and were very anxious to know if I badfr-oaUy taken only one with me. That fact Seemed more wonderful In their eyes "At one of the stations a man yelled from the crowd to know if I had ridden on an ele phant during my trip. When I told him I bad not, be looked disgusted and walked Made Some Lightning time. "Talking of fast time, though, we have made plenty cf it The 250 miles the other tide of Emporia, Kan., we covered in ex actly 850 minutes, and a spurt of sixty -nine miles near Dodga City we made in fifty-five minueA I nave been ahead of my time at every place. And now I am several hour ahead. 1 am a little sorry the Santa Fa has made such fast time, because now I tnaJJ bava only two hours and a half in Chicago, for I must take the 10:80 on tbe Pennsylvania for home. Had we arrived when wa expected I oould have scent fiva hours, and several of thorn at the Press Roeaptloa at tho Press Clob: Miss Bly did go to tha Press club, how ever j she had to. And there were a goodly number of tho members present to offer tbelr congratulations. After a stay of an hour she was taken to Kinsley's, where, attar dispatching a toothsome breakfast, tha party drove to the board of trade. Paralysed tha Board. The visit bad not bsen foreknown on tba board, bat as Miss Bly stepped to tha rail- Latest Styles and the most 1 IMPROVE t flLace Curtain Stretchers cut of us nrnn mum. Will Save you Monev, Time and Lstior. Evasv lloussasaPEa Shoh.d IIavb Onij any Isdy .uo operate them. For Sale By TKLEPHOIB NO. 10M. ing of the private pillory a broker, with mouth cpeu an.i arms uplifted preparatory to hurling a bid iuto tlie man-tossing pit. caught sight of her Iiuuitiveiy be guessed her Meuttty and in placs of the bid be "There's Nellie Bly." Instantly trading ceased. The members crowded into the middle of the floor, and after gazin? a moment at the young lady above broke forth into cheers and hurra hi Miss Bly bowed, and as she turned to go, three cheers and a tiger were given. THE MINERS' AMALGAMATION. A Plan for Pooling Their Issues Adopted Also a Name as Is a Name. Colcmbcs, O., Jan. 2. The ties that bind ihe mine workers and KnighUof Labor have at last amalgamated. Tho joint committee of both organizations made its report yestsr dsy. Tba constitution Dresented was taken Ur. LV CMOtl..ia ar,A m.lA M.i . i. amendments. It provides that the name of , the n organization shall be the "Cuited Mine Workors of National Division Assem bly 1S5, K. ot L., and the National IVores lve Union;" thus the names of Iwth old or ganizations are preserved. The National officers witl consist of a president or master workman, vice president or worthy foreman, secretary-treasurer, and an executive board somposed of seven memlters. Membership and Officer. The constitution further provides tbat any member in good standing of either tbe Pro gressive union or N. P. A. 13... K. of L., HhaU be eligible to office under the amalga mation, providing lie becomes a member of both organizations before qualifying. This provision is occasioned by the fact that th N. P. U. is an open organization aud N. D. A 135 a secret one The time of the annual conventions is fixed on the second Tuesday In February of each year, tbe place to be voted upon at each preceding convention. This practically settles the whole matter and tbe remainder of the session will be oc cupied in routine business and fixing a na tional scale of prions. On tbe board of trs.le to-day quotations ranged as follows: V huat No. t February, opened , closed tB.'jc; March, opened , closed ; May, optmU sc, closed urs-tc. Corn No. FebTuarr, opened av, closed' March, opouej . -t closed 3ui$o; May, opened ICV, closed 314c. Oats No. s Febru ary. 0ned closed SiTr; March, opened -IMk'. close.1 ; May. orviied fcisVc, closed 2."H-4sc. Pork-rehmary. opened J9.tc.t4. closed ttf.TT", March, ojiened and elsd is.WHi: May. opened flu 2 , rlowd f M.17H. Lard February. oK-ne,l .'.O.', closed 5.'J0 L.ve tt-k The fo low-inn Were tlie quota tions at iha t'nion stork yards: Hut Market active, and all parties buying with prices lower: light irrades, fcJTuia.yO; rouuh pack ing. f.S.Tiitf-l.T."); uiixe.1 lots. $..7i.,4.si; heavy DArkiiiK and shipping lots. S3.Shct.uii. Cattlo -Market null aii.t lower. Iieeves, ia.iMj.j.OO; bulk. T:'i4 -O. eows, $l.at8i(t; stockers soil feeders. Si.'iS Vi ,". Hheep - Higher; na tive muttons, t3.7;:..s : western corn-fed, S i.ill ib.HI; IhiuIm, i"..t' t 2T. 1'r.Rluee: Hutter Fancy EUfin creamery, 2d ctz.c tiueat dairy. ltjAir: parkin stock, 436-. Ege eUrlctly treau. H.iNV V doz.; ice house, lilillo. Live poultry-Hens, t'. turkeys, ;r. rtu. ks, '..3.IU; geese, (t.nUrt Potatoes -Beauty of Hebron, C5j 37c V hu. on track; couui.ou ami mixed loin, " 4l3-'c. Apples kod to faiirj , 51 CnjiV) y b'bL t-'ranunriue-Wisconsin, s-s. u iti.7.per lm. .Ns w 1 or L. -NEW Yoiik. Jan. S!4 -No. ? red winter. KHAo tash: lo January, urtc; do February. "O'jc; do .March, KTtc: do May, fr75jf. Corn -No. . iiui..i' o-sitfcj. H ,h; do January. l"lc: do F.-b- ranry, 7te; do Mar b, :jh'o. do iiay, iv" Oats Quiet but ete idy; No. S; mixed. 2Wa ixSic ciih: do January. 30V: do Minurr u An March. 2wr.; do M;ik- !!. Hl i'..n Barley-Nomiiih!. Pork-Firm: m.ws, 11. Ik 11.75 for new. Lard UuU. Fobrusrv. Sfl K March. ': May, S3 47. Live Moi k i'attle Market extremely dull iteerH. W.W?4 .Hi V l s; oxen. 3 0A8.. bull-laud cows, H.iOv.ai. Hhewj. nud Lambs -Ouiet: vheen. f tMinH. a U IM ihs: lumha. $?.(JftT.li0. U'.is - Xoinio dly steady; live hogs, yi.SM64.2l t lvKI It's. Hay rpland prairie, $7 055.8 00. , ojl-niaiuij-n yvs 00. Hsy Wild. 45 ai 5 uj. This powder never varies. A marvel of parity, rtranirth and wboiesomnees. Mors economics thsa the ordinary kinas, and cannot ba sold in competition wth tbe mnltitadeot low test, short wslght alum or pr vhosphale powders . JSoULonlw aseaas. Botal BAaixa Powdib Co., 10 Wall 8U, . T. . attractive prices combined, make A A R A A U No. 1623 Second Avenue. the Best, and 1622 SECOITD AYElsTUB, STOVES AND RANGES IMPERIAL ALADDIN RANGE for Soft Coal ALADDIN VENTILATOR for Hard Coal. ilo Jbe UUt det,igD of, ,,be ,0Dg 8eriM ot ALADDIN Stoyes. This is beautiful in its ornamentation, novel In many of its features-is bound to be a good seller Be buy " mb"m'ne 8lVe ud ,earn ,U good poinl8 for after 8ce'"g ' I - S I have of course a supply of the celebrated ROUND OAKS. This has been dnnTC1 tb,at V UKbe,Dg CSPied M fBr M the dre V unscrupulous ?X. bu" JOHN T. NOFTSKER, Cor- Third avenue and Twentieth St., Rock Island. Our establishment ia getting too small for our rapidly growing business and we have decided to give up our to gain room, and will commence on Wednesday. Nov. 20th to sell out our entire stock of BLANKETS and LAPROBES at aud I low cost. This is not a sham-sale but a bona tide sale, as we will not carry any more Blank ets in the future. For particulars see local page. The Pioneer Clothier, Hatter and Gent's Furnisher, 115 and 117 West Second St., DAVENPORT, I A. A. J. SMITH & SON, TILES and GRATES. A. J. SMITH & SON, 125 and 127 Weat Third Street, Opp. Masonic Temple, DAVENPORT. trade a great success at the ten. i rriTk,..	<urn:uuid:2bc8d36f-eb95-4d97-b01c-ea29929d0d6a>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn92053945/1890-01-25/ed-1/seq-2/	2016-07-25T09:15:03Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824217.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00152-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.899152	13,079
Tuesday, May 31, 2011. Chaos and violence continue, the Kurds talk of a sit-in if the Kirkuk issue isn't resolved, a vice president announces his resignation, the US government's desire to extend the military's stay in Iraq gets attention, and more. Monday was Memorial Day for the United States -- a time to note the sacrifices of the fallen. From Kelley B. Vlahos' "Memorial Day in Wartime" (Antiwar.com): Another Memorial Day. Of course it's been around for 103 years, but this is our ninth during wartime, which means we're simultaneously honoring dead soldiers, while were putting new ones in the ground at Arlington Cemetery. As of Friday, 4,454 American servicemen and women have been killed in Iraq; 1,595 in Afghanistan. That doesn't seem like a lot when you consider the more than 58,000 dead in Vietnam and over 415,000 killed in World War II, but we know that today's singular medical capabilities have allowed for tens of thousands of soldiers and Marines to live today who wouldn't have made it off the battlefield 40 years ago. Let's just say it's been a war of a hundred thousand casualties. Kimberly Hefling (AP) reminds that there are over "4,3000 children of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars". Yesterday on PRI's The Takeaway, Celeste Headlee spoke with Iraq War widows LaNita Herlem (her husband, Sgt 1st Class Bryant Herlem, was killed in Baghdad April 28, 2006) and Tayrn Davis (her husband Cpl Michael Davis was killed in Baghdad May 21, 2007). Davis has started the American Widow Project. Taryn Davis: I guess it all started when my husband Michael was killed in Baghdad, Iraq. I was 21-years-old and basically felt ostracized from society -- even though I had family and friends around -- due to my age and it being written off because I was 21. And I found myself on the internet looking for a way to embrace this title that I held as a military widow because I already knew it signified my husband's sacrifice and my own but I wanted to find the answers on how it could one day symbolize my survival. So I typed in "widow" and it came back with "Did you mean 'window'?" Which probably discouraged most. But it led me to doing more and more research and over half of those serving now are married so we're looking at around 3,000 military widows from Iraq and Afghanistan alone and over 83% of those are under the age of 35. So I just saw this need to bring together this new generation of military widows. Not so much find them counselors, but give them peer-to-peer support, let them see other twenty and thirty and forty-something-year-old widows that really had just started out this amazing lives with their spouses and had them torn apart. Last week, Danielle Berger (CNN -- link has text and video) reported on the American Widow Project and explained, "When a widow first makes contact with the American Widow Project, Davis sends her an introductory packet that includes her documentary film. The website provides a 24/7 hot line that allows immediate connection to another widow, information on support and services, and personal stories from women who have lost their husbands. It constantly reminds the women that they are in familiar, accepting company." And where was the president of the United States? Niles Gardiner (Telegraph of London) reports: Can you imagine David Cameron enjoying a round of golf on Remembrance Sunday? It would be inconceivable for the British Prime Minister to do so, and not just because of the usually dire weather at that time of the year. Above all, it would be viewed as an act of extremely bad taste on a day when the nation remembers and mourns her war dead. I can't imagine the PM even considering it, and I'm sure his advisers would be horrified at the idea. And if the prime minister ever did play golf on such a sacrosanct day he would be given a massive drubbing by the British press, and it would never be repeated. Contrast this with President Obama's decision to play golf yesterday, Memorial Day, for the 70th time during his 28-month long presidency. For tens of millions of Americans, Memorial Day is a time for remembrance of the huge sacrifices made by servicemen and women on the battlefield. The president did pay his respects in the morning, laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, but later in the day traveled to Fort Belvoir to play golf. The story has not been reported so far in a single US newspaper, but was made public by veteran White House correspondent Keith Koffler on his blog. So, with US troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, Barack basically tossed a wreath and then ran to the links, making clear his priorities. Today Ayas Hossam Acommok (Al Mada) quotes State of Law's Izzat Shabandar stating that it is too soon to determine a position on whether or not to extend the presence of US military on Iraqi soil beyond 2011. Dar Addustour reports that US Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey has stated in a media conference that the issue of withdrawal or remaining remains up in the air. Sunday on Weekend Edition, Liane Hansen wrapped up her strong tenure as host of the program (she will be strongly missed and hopefully will return as guest host from time to time -- she offers her goodbye to Sunday Weekend Edition here) and she examined Iraq with the US weapons inspector sent to Iraq (after the start of the war) to find WMD, David Kay. "We've taken our eye off Iraq," Kay observed and noted of telling the truth about WMD (he was sent to Iraq post-US invasion to locate WMD and there were none) that "you lose some friends by what position you take on various issues. I discovered -- although it really wasn't a new discovery -- that candor is one of the values not valued in Washington. Oh, what I miss most are the friendships that were shattered by that, just had staked too much of their career on there being weapons of mass destruction. And not only didn't we find them, we found that they didn't exist prior to the war." For any who have forgotten the lie of WMD is one of the biggest lies the US government told to start the Iraq War. The Sunday broadcast also featured a report by Kelly McEvers on Nouri's recent declaration that, if the majority of the political blocs agree, US troops can stay on the ground in Iraq beyond December 31, 2011. Kelly McEvers: Before the speech, few thought Maliki would be bold enough to take such a position in public, mainly because many Iraqis still view an American troop presence as an occupation. Now, though, Maliki's advisers, along with officials in the U.S. military, are working on changing the narrative. They're not combat troops anymore, they say. The soldiers who'd be here next year wouldn't even be advisers. [. . .] Analysts in Iraq say a new agreement between the U.S. and Iraq to authorize some 20,000 American troops beyond December is likely; there are just under 50,000 troops now. But like other political debates in this deeply divided country, analysts say, it's going to be a long and drawn-out fight. Sunday, on Weekend Edition, NPR became the first US mainstream news outlet to tell the truth about what the US government is working on. For weeks now, relying on the Arab press, we've noted the pressure that is taking place to extend the SOFA or develop a new arrangment. Day after day, the US press has ignored it. And, in the beggar media (the so-called alternative press), they've flat-out lied and told you nothing or told you it's all Robert Gates. Robert Gates is stepping down as the US Secretary of Defense. When that happens, who are these cowards going to hide behind to avoid placing the blame where it rightly goes? Monday the New York Times' Tim Arango appeared on Talk of the Nation (NPR) and discussed Iraq -- specifically the variables if US forces stay on the ground in Iraq beyond 2011 -- thereby allowing NPR to be out front on the story. Arango observed of Moqtada al-Sadr's threats of violence if the US stays beyond the end of this year, "At the same time, you know, a lot of people, you know, a lot of people believe it's a bluff, and a lot of people say that he would have no chance with the, you know, fighting the Iraqi security forces today. The last time he did so was in 2008, and they've - you know, they're much improved." And, in 2008, he lost in Baghdad and he lost in Basra. Arango then acknowledges what a minor presensce al-Sadr's bloc is in Parliament ("roughly 40" seats out of 325) but goes on to talk about how Moqtada backed Nouri for prime minister. While that is true, Nouri became prime minister. Unless there's a vote of no-confidence, it doesn't matter if Moqtada supports him or not. (In 2007 and 2008, Moqtada openly refused to support Nouri. Didn't force his government to collapse.) If Moqtada wants to push a no-confidence vote, it needs to be remembered that Moqtada would only be 40 votes and you need to be figuring who would align with Moqtada? Let's play this out. Say the majority of the blocs vote to extend the SOFA and keep the US military beyond 2011 and Moqtada is against that. Is that issue going to be the one Moqtada rides to a no-confidence vote? Not at all. He can't. If the bulk of the blocs votes that way why would they then turn against Nouri over it? It makes no sense. Moqtada vowed he would not support Nouri. He also vowed that he would hold a referendum and abide by the vote. Nouri was not the number one choice in the referendum or the number two choice. But Moqtada ran with Nouri when Iran broke down the facts and handed out the orders to Moqtada. What he did in October and November is now meaningless. He can't say, "I take back my October support!" We'll note this exchange. CONAN: Secretary Gates, who of course retires next month, but he has said if we're going to stay beyond the end of this year, we're going to have to have a request from the Iraqi government for that pretty soon. Any idea of what's the drop-dead date? Mr. ARANGO: You know, it's funny, when you talk to the military commanders, they'll say, and they'll remark, and it's been a trend throughout the war. Like, the Iraqis march to a different time than the Americans do, and there really is no drop-dead deadline. And I guess the drop-dead deadline is December 31st because I think - which is a bit of an exaggeration, but I think as they're planning the drawdown, they will always have these contingencies, the American military to leave X amount of troops should the Iraqis finally, you know, make this request. What will happen if there's no extension by December 31st is that any US troops in Iraq will switch to State Dept's oversight and that a significant number will be deployed to Kuwait where they would wait in limbo if the White House believed that an extension of the SOFA was going to take place (though it hadn't by December 31st). That is the actual plan at this point. (Not my plan. I'm for all troops out now. That's the White House's plan but they don't believe it's going to take that long. They believe they'll have an extension. And, of course, the back up plan has been -- as addressed in open hearings in Congress repeatedly -- to move the troops from the umbrella of DoD to the State Dept.) As continuing the US military presence is discussed, the US military recently ticked off a community. In Karbala, the US carried out a military operation involving a helicopter as they attempted to raid a home for a man . . . who died four days prior to the raid. And the response in Karbala? Aswat al-Iraq reports: The deputy chairman of Karbala's Provincial Council disclosed that a letter of denunciation shall be handed to the U.S. Embassy due to the U.S. Army's airborne landing north of Karbala, calling on the central government to exert pressures on the U.S. army to cease its violations. Nisayif Al-Khatabi told Aswat al-Iraq that "the U.S. forces carried out an airborne landing on house to arrest a citizen without any coordination with the local government or security forces." Wen Xian (People's Daily -- link is text and audio) reports "According to sources, the United States, still keeping 46,000 troops in Iraq, hopes to keep 10,000 to 12,000 U.S. troops in nine military bases in Iraq after 2011 for as long as more than four years. In other words, U.S. forces will remain in Iraq by the end of U.S. President Barack Obama's second presidency if he is re-elected to a second term in 2012." Aswat al-Iraq notes that Moqtada's bloc is stating they will have no conversations with any blocs about extending the US presence in Iraq. Nouri got what he wanted from Moqtada. He got what he wanted from the Kurds. He promised everything to get to be prime minister. He promised the Kurds a referendum (one that Article 140 of the Constitution mandated be held by 2007) and a December census. But then he got the post and called off the census and backed off the referendum. Aswat al-Iraq explains Kamal Karkuki, Speaker of the KRG Parliament, declared today that if there is no movement to implement Article 140, Kurds will begin staging sit-ins and, he says, "The sit-ins shall be similar to those in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen to oblige the other party to make the consensus on the fate of the province. The road map to solve this problem is Article 140. We will accept no bargaining in this regard." Nouri first became prime minister in 2006. Under his leadership, Article 140 was supposed to be implemented. It never happened. Now that he's got his second term as prime minister and things could be different but so far he's shown no indication to honor promises or to lead. Dar Addustour notes that yesterday's big meet-up between political blocs did not go well and the Erbil Agreement was not honored. A source tells Dar Addustour that Iraqiya has reached a decision to pull out of the government in protest. That may or may not be true (the source is unnamed). More curious is the back and forth between State of Law and Iraqiya, specifically members of State of Law speaking to the Arabic press to attack Ayad Allawi. Alsumaria TV also notes the failed meet-up, "Iraqiya List headed by Iyad Allawi announced the failure of talks with the State of Law Coalition. Al Iraqiya blamed the failure of talks on the State of Law and affirmed that it will convene today to announce its final stand." Al Rafidayn also reports that Allawi will be announcing that Iraqiya is withdrawing from the government and has a source who states State of Law refused to budge despite pressure from the other blocs. Yesterday, Iraqi vice president (one of three) Adel Abdul-Mahdi tendered his resignation. Most of the press (especially US) danced around the topic of Jalal Talabani, President of Iraq, accepting it. Dar Addustour at least notes that Talabani is out of the country. AFP tells you what so many won't: "Hakim said Mahdi's resignation would not be official until it was offered directly to Talabani, who is currently in the United States receiving medical treatment." For years now, we've told you about Talabani's visit to the Mayo Clinic -- and about the collapse he had in the local bookstore shortly after leaving treatment one visit. I have no idea if the press is ignorant or just being dishonest. Ponder the choices as you read the US coverage. And why did Adel Abdul-Mehdi resign? Ned Parker and Salar Jaff (Los Angeles Times ) report: Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi's decision was meant to set an example for the rest of the government, which has been bloated with state ministries and the expansion this year of the vice presidency from two to three positions, the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq said. "I hope this will start a push to slim down the government," party chief Ammar Hakim said on the group's website. The party described the move as "a reaction to the popular will." The government had not yet formally accepted his decision as of late Monday. Adel Abdul-Mehdi was the Shi'ite vice president in Nouri's first term as prime minister as Tareq al-Hashemi who also continues a second term as vice president. al-Hashemi is Sunni, Adel Abdul Mehdi is Shi'ite. Iraq added a third vice president this year, Shi'ite Khudayr al-Khuzaie. Though Abdul-Mehdi's term had expired, President Jalal Talabani asked him to hang on until after new vice presidents could be voted in. He said he would and told the press that, after that, he was done, he did not want a second term. Despite that assertion, he took a second term. Not only that but, earlier this month, Aswat al-Iraq reported, "The President of the Republic, Jalal Talabani, has issued a Presidential Decree, naming Adel Abdul-Mahdi, as 1st Vice-President." That declaration took some by surprise and they saw it as an effort to give Abdul-Mehdi more power. He certainly didn't object to it publicly. Nor did he object to the size of the Cabinet. Nouri inflated the size in an attempt to create positions for all the people he'd promised posts if they'd support him in his bid to continue as prime minister. Granted, Nouri still hasn't named a Minister of Defense, a Minister of National Security or a Minister of the Interior; however, the increase in the size of his Cabinet (deputy ministers and all) was well known before January. If indeed that's Adel Abdul-Mahdi's objection, it's a new objection or one he's not given much weight to until now. Alsumaria TV paints a different picture of Abdul-Mahdi's displeasure which includes, "The source stated that one of the major reasons for Abdul Mehdi's resignation is the fact that Vice Presidents' issue was included in the present political crisis and due to people's denunciation and religious authority's dissatisfaction over Parliament's vote on three Vice Presidents." Aswat al-Iraq offers Supreme Islamic Council's Jumaa al-Atwany offering the following: Atwani said that "the struggle for narrow-party interests, on the expense of the supreme national interests, under the current situation passing on Iraq and the Region, and non-sincerity in the activity, all those reasons, as well as the appreciation of the supreme national interest had made Abdul-Mahdi to prefer to withdraw from his post as Vice-President." "There is an important nucleus point for the resignation, being that the voting by the Parliament on the three Vice-Presidents had taken place in one consignment, that was agreed upon outside the Parliament," he said. "After the entrance to the Parliament hall and the completion of the attendance by its members, the voting began, and the Legislatures of the Supreme Islamic Council rejected it, along with the refusal of the (Shiite) Religious Authority in Najaf of the voting in 'one basket,' he said, adding that all those reasons have made Abdul-Mahdi withdraw from his post. Wildest rumor out of Iraq on this topic right now? Abdul-Mahdi, anticipating a vote of no-confidence for Nouri in the next weeks (over the corruption and services issues), is positioning himself to vie for the post of prime minister. Though it's unlikely, it is true that Abdul-Mahdi hoped to be prime minister in 2006 and again in 2010. (And he has many supporters.) Yesterday, there was an assassination attempt on Nineveh Province Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi. New Sabah reports that while al-Nujaifi was not injured in the attack on him, Ministry of Defense nominee Khalid al-Obeidi was in a Sunday attack. Mohammed Tawfeeq (CNN) explains, "Khalid al-Obaidi was heading home when the blast struck. He was transferred immediately to an area hospital and is in stable condition." al-Nujaifi had been on his way to Baghdad. He and al-Obeidi both belong to the Iraqiya slate and Ayad Allawi (Iraqiya leader) is calling for an investigation into the attacks. al-Nujaifi is the brother of Osama al-Nujaifi who is the Speaker of Parliament. Violence continued today. Reuters notes a Kirkuk roadside bombing claimed 2 lives and a Mosul armed clash resulted in three by-standers being injured. Turning to the US, Iraq War veteran Adam Kokesh hosts Adam vs the Man for RT Television (and they recently explored summer, education and books). Saturday (link goes to video of the incident), he and other people were at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial. DC Parks Police attacked several people, including Adam, for the 'crime' of dancing. Meanwhile, at CNN, Gregg Keeslin contributes a column on a very important issue: Two years ago, my son, Army Spc. Chancellor Keesling, died by suicide in Iraq. He was 25 and on his second deployment. Shortly after his death, my wife, Jannett, and I learned of a long-standing policy in which presidential letters of condolence are withheld from families of American service members who die by suicide. We wrote to President Barack Obama on August 3, 2009, asking him to reverse this policy, and since then we have tried to keep up a steady drumbeat for change. There has been a fair amount of media attention, including from CNN, and recently U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, co-chair of the Senate Military Family Caucus, and a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues sent a letter to the president on behalf of this issue, echoing a bipartisan request from House members. We learned in late 2009 that the White House would be reviewing the policy, when then-White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told then-CNN reporter Elaine Quijano that the White House had inherited this policy and was reviewing it. Yet as of this writing, we and the hundreds of other families whose children have died by suicide while at war wait for a result. I wonder: What is the White House reviewing and why it is taking so long? An action by the president would send a powerful message throughout the military ranks to take mental health issues more seriously. Suicide among those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan has become an epidemic. Last year a Pentagon report found that every 36 hours, a soldier commits suicide. While Keesling wonders why the White House won't pay the proper respects to those who have lost a loved one in the service to suicide, Iraq War veteran Miguel Valenzuela wonders what the government's problem with his mother is? Will Ripley (9news.com -- link has text and video) reports that Miquel's mother, Celia Novak, was forcibly deported to Juarez after living in the US for 25 years, with legal residency, and working as a registered nurse. Ripley notes, "Novak's family has hired an immigration lawyer, but her appeal could take months or even years. The Denver Post reports there are 7,200 pending immigration cases in Denver, with an average wait of 501 days for a hearing. Her lawyer is hoping to take the case to federal court." We'll note that Barack has set a record on deportations and has far outdone Bully Boy Bush on this issue and we'll also wonder what US Senators Mark Udall and Micahel Bennet are doing to help this military family? Yesterday Kat: published three reviews: "Kat's Korner: Give 'em the keys" on Death Cab for Cutie, "Kat's Korner: It was nothing, he insisted loudly" on Ben Harper and "Kat's Korner: The Master of the Teen Drama" on Phil Spector. In addition, Mike posted "Memorial Day" at his site.	<urn:uuid:1d6dd959-ba94-4907-aafc-5395f57f6b4d>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://thecommonills.blogspot.com/2011/05/iraq-snapshot_31.html	2016-07-25T08:08:14Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824217.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00152-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.976514	5,225
By JOHN L. SLOAN Guy called me and tipped me off to this. I thought I would share it with you. See, to me it seems like it happens just about every year. Some legislator with an axe to grind sponsors a bill or four that are just plain stupid and are for the soul purpose of self-something. By that, I mean they only serve his sense of self. Dear Ken: What can you tell us about Nolan Gould, who plays Luke on Modern Family? Gould, 13, turned pro at the ripe old age of 3 making TV commercials. His film credits include Montana, Space Buddies, Monster Heroes and Friends With Benefits. He also co-starred in the Hallmark TV movie Sweet Nothings in My Ear and will star in the upcoming TV movie Ghoul. The native of Columbus, Ga., also co-stars in the 2013 flick The To Do List. By KEN BECK The Wilson Post BOWLING GREEN, Ky.Live television has got Hayley Harmon wrapped around its fingers, or might it be the other way around? Harmon, who grew up in Lebanon and graduated from Friendship Christian School in 2006, has hit her career path at full gallop as news anchor of AM Kentucky and host-producer of Midday Live on WBKO-Channel 13 in Bowling Green, Ky.Holding down the fort on two live TV shows every weekday is no easy feat. It helps to have the gift of gab and a quick wit about you. By KAREN FRANKLIN I have no doubt that Mother Nature is not only wreaking havoc on us but also on our feathered friends who are wondering if it is winter or spring. We have several days of mild weather only to be reminded that it is officially still winter by a few really cold, yucky days. Then we go back to rather mild days and so the cycle continues. Im personally ready for spring to kick in full-time! Im also hoping to get some birding in with Ray when the weather warms up. Spring is a great time to catch migrating birds who are heading back to the breeding grounds for the summer months. Of course this will also mean the loss of our winter birds like Juncos, White-throated Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and more as they too start to migrate back to their summer territories. While the SEC basketball tournament is just around the corner as of Monday, there were four games remaining in the regular season. That is one-fourth of the 16-game SEC schedule, enough time for some fence-straddling teams to fatten their resumes. With four teams in a knot for fourth place with 6-6 SEC records, there are plenty of candidates to join the Top Three Kentucky, Florida and Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament field. By ANNE DONNELLPersonal writing you know, journals, diaries, scribbles can be raised above the ordinary, and that happens probably more commonly than expected. Anyway, thats what we have here: excerpts from an excellent recent trip log kept by my childhood friend, Laura Triebold. Laura and her husband David are Wisconsin dairy farmers. Shes also a nurse with two masters degrees. Youve heard from her before when she graciously permitted me to share some of what she wrote about one of their annual trips to Spain. This time its Australia and New Zealand, a trip began Christmas Eve, 2011. I love armchair traveling with them; Laura (Lollie to me and to her grandchildren) is very observant and checks out details. It all comes to life. The following is #12 Sticker Shock. By SAM HATCHER Congratulations to Bernie Ash on his recent appointment to the post of Wilson County Veterans Affairs Officer. Mr. Ash, a Lebanon businessman, member of the County Commission and most importantly with respect to this appointment, a Vietnam veteran, will serve this office well. Working in concert with County Mayor Randall Hutto, Mr. Ash has a full agenda ahead of him. While many times the services provided by this office go under the radar so-to-speak, it is no less a very important and vital resource for those who have so unselfishly dedicated a portion of their life to the service of our country. Our veterans deserve the recognition espoused by this office and the services provided. We look forward to what plans Mr. Ash may have and how he will move forward to fulfilling the responsibilities of the Veterans Affairs Office. To the Editor: Ten years after George W. Bush and his foreign policy advisors planned to invade the Iraqi people months before Sept. 11, 2001 and seize their oil for the powers that be, thousands have needlessly died and trillions of dollars cunningly dispersed.Yet the conspirators did this with complete impunity and now theyre in on dividing up the rest of the take 110 billion barrels of oil. Meanwhile, since many of the troops have come home the U.S. taxpayers are obliged to pay thousands of corporate mercenaries up to a thousand dollars a day or roughly $3.2 billion a year, counting the most expensive embassy in the world, to protect it for those privileged few. Lebanon City Council is to hold a special called meeting today at 5:30 p.m. to consider on second reading several measures brought up during Tuesday night's regular meeting. Items on the agenda include several amendments to lease agreements with aircraft hangar tenants at the Lebanon Municipal Airport, construction of an outdoor firing range for the Lebanon Police Department and many line item transfers. The council will meet in the Town Meeting Hall of the Lebanon Administration Building located at 200 N. Castle Heights Ave. in Lebanon. By PATRICK HALL The Wilson Post Lebanon City Council approved on first reading an ordinance to raise the local Sales and Use Tax by 0.5 percent during their regular meeting Tuesday night, taking a step toward a public referendum on the issue. Councilors voted 6-0 in favor of the ordinance to change the local sales tax from 2.25 to 2.75 percent. The current state sales tax rate is 9.25 percent and Lebanon and Wilson County equally split 2.25 percent of that total. It gives the people a chance to speak, said Ward 1 Councilor Alex Buhler. The proposed increase would give the city an extra 0.5 percent that only the city would collect, unless the county acts at a later date by passing its own ordinance. The ordinance must now be sent to the Tennessee Comptrollers Office for approval according to City Attorney Andy Wright, who said the council has to vote on the matter again before a public referendum is held. They (State Comptroller) have to give their okay on it for the ordinance to be valid, Wright told the council. This sounds like a good idea, said Ward 6 Councilor Kathy Warmath about having a public referendum. The council held little discussion on whether or not to approve the sales tax increase, but a second reading is required after the measure is returned to the council from the Comptrollers Office. A special election would have to be held for the public to vote on the ordinance and the city would have to foot the bill for the election. The next general election is held on Aug. 6 and Wilson County Administrator of Elections Phillip Warren noted the city would have to wait until July to pass the ordinance on second reading in order to attach the measure to the general election ballot. Staff Writer Patrick Hall may be contacted at [email protected]. By PATRICK HALL The Wilson Post A change in federal guidelines has the City of Lebanon and Mayor Philip Craighead rethinking ways to fund a proposed addition to the Cedar City walking trail along Bartons Creek near three local schools. The project has been on the table since Craighead was elected Mayor in 2008 when he noted the city received a grant for $500,000 and then, in 2009, received another grant for a little over $500,000. The grants required the city to pay 20 percent of the project costs, totaling $250,000. Craighead said the city planned to meet that requirement by putting up a soft match of engineering costs and land donation. We were notified that the federal interpretation of the guidelines had changed and the match had to be $250,000 in cash, Craighead said. The trail would stretch from Hickory Ridge Road near Byars Dowdy Elementary School all the way to Leeville Pike, and travel along Bartons Creek. Craighead hopes that another city park can be built across from the new Lebanon High School to complement the walking trail. Since the grants were originally awarded, the city has since spent $115,000 on engineering for the trail, but Craighead said they found out that expense wont count toward the $250,000 the city is required to pay. Over the last few years, Craighead noted the city has jumped through many hoops with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, with its engineering and project proposals due to the trails proximity to Bartons Creek. Since the changes, Craighead said they tried to avoid having to pay $250,000 in cash, considering they already spent $115,000 for engineering, intended for a soft match. We tried everything we could to be grandfathered in, to avoid the changes along with other cities that were in the same position, the mayor said. Those efforts were not successful and Craighead recently informed the City Council that they would have to now have to budget for the match to help pay for the project. He said the city would need to budget $125,000 over the next two years in order to meet deadlines for the grant. The city has to acquire the land and get the project under contract by August 2013. The project has to be completed by August 2015. Craighead hopes the trail will only enhance an area that has the potential to grow with the addition of the new LHS on Hartmann Drive and Winfree-Bryant Middle School on Leeville Pike. The importance of this trail is the proximity to two new schools and connections to residential areas, Craighead said. He added the future lighting of Hartmann Drive would also add to the areas ability to attract businesses, noting the city also had to weather a change in funding for streetlights. Originally, the Tennessee Department of Transportation was going to fully reimburse the city for the streetlights. However, due to a conflict with Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Corporation, Craighead said TDOT is not handling the lighting and MTEMC will put the lights up and charge the city a small usage fee. Craighead noted the city was able to move the estimated cost of the lighting, around $800,000 into a fund to pave streets in the city that are in desperate need of attention. The combination of all these things will hopefully be attracting new businesses to locate in this area, Craighead said. Its a good investment for our city. Craighead noted the council is concerned with the $125,000 putting a strain on the citys budget over the next two years. Just last week, Craighead reported the city did not have to utilize any of the $1.8 million allocated from the reserves in the 2010-2011 budget. The city was expected to end that budget year with a $6,000 surplus thanks to larger-than-expected sales tax revenues. The city reportedly exceeded its projected sales tax receipts by around $900,000. Craighead noted the trail would have been harder to budget for if the city had to use the $1.8 million allocated in that budget. However, since the reserves were not used, he hopes the council will favor budgeting for the walking trail. The payoff will be substantial, he said. Staff Writer Patrick Hall may be contacted at [email protected]. After 22 years of service to the Mt. Juliet Police Department and more than 45 years of total law enforcement service, Lt. Gwin King has announced that the time has come for his retirement.King, who began serving with the Mt. Juliet Police Department in 1987, has served as the Chief of Detectives since the start of his career in Mt. Juliet. However, King has close to five decades dedicated to the law enforcement profession. 2012 All-District Team - Boys MVP Caleb Chowbay - Mt. Juliet Dee Oldham Wilson Central Cameron High Lebanon Jeff Long Hendersonville Seth Brown Beech Ryne Chamberlain Beech Brandon Shephard Mt. Juliet Brad McClung Station Camp Conner Brandon Wilson Central C.J. McEwen Mt. Juliet Jacob Williams Wilson Central DaShawn McMurry Mt. Juliet Tyrone Harrison - Portland 2012 All-District Team Girls MVP Caya Williams Mt. Juliet Julia Fox Lebanon Kia Perry Station Camp Sydney Vanlandingham Wilson Central Helen Mitchner Mt. Juliet Sally McCabe Mt. Juliet Cheyenne North Station Camp Taylor Peterson Wilson Central Emily Hatfield Hendersonville Alex Banks Beech Jamasha Jackson Mt. Juliet Janasia Williams Station Camp Kayla White - Portland Kiwanis Little League will hold tryouts Saturday, February 25 at the Kiwanis baseball complex in Lebanon's Baird Park. Little leaguers age 8-12 need to register either in person on Saturday or online prior to tryouts. The first session will begin at 10 a.m. for 11 and 12 year olds who did not play in the league last year with 9-10 year old tryouts following at 12 noon. All 9-10 year olds need to tryout including returning players from last year. No tryouts are required for 8 year olds. The 57 year old league has launched a new website for registration and to record stats, photos and even video highlights of the upcoming season. The site, www.lebanonyouthlittleleague.com, is live and active for interested players and their parents to browse and to learn more about the Kiwanis Little League. A new 9-10 year old division has been added this year for advanced players to compete in player-pitch Little League baseball games. "The 9-10 year old league is new and will allow the kids that want a higher level of baseball in this age range to compete with kids with similar skill sets. We will still offer a minor league program for those who can compete in a machine-pitch setting," explained Sean Patrick Kiwanis Little League President. The minor league division will field players in age ranges from 8 to 10 years old. Those 9 and 10 years old who do not make the major league division are automatically placed on a minor league team. "We will have three divisions this year, a minor league for entry level players, and two major league divisions for more advanced players. We hope to have four or five teams in our 9-10 year old division and five or six teams in our 11-12 year old division," Patrick added. Kiwanis Little Legue will hold alast chance registration and tryout for all ages Tuesday, February 28 at the College Hills Church of Christ Witt Family Life Center located at 1401 Leeville Pike in Lebanon. Tryouts on Tuesday night will begin at 6:30 p.m. and end at 8 p.m. www.lebanonyouthlittleleague.com, For any questions concerning the Lebanon Kiwanis Little League program, call 615-878-0208. LAFAYETTE -- Maceio Gaines calmly sank two free-throws with 10 seconds left in regulation to lift No. 2-seeded Watertown to a 49-47 victory over top-seed Friendship Christian in Tuesday's District 8A championship game at Macon County High. Tournament MVP KenAndre Bates (3 pictured) and Ty Jobe led the Purple Tigers (24-5) with 13 points apiece while Jake Belcher added seven and Josiah Smith five. Allen Heaston led FCS with 14 and Dalton Patterson had 10 as the Commanders fell to 21-3 on the season. Both teams will host first round games in the Region 4A tournament Saturday, Feb. 25. WHS will host Pickett County; Friendship will entertain Clay County. Saturday's winners will advance to the regional semifinals the following week in Livingston. BOYS ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM -- MVP KeAnDre Bates, Maceio Gaines, Nick Sackman and Josiah Smith from Watertown; Mark Sandoval, Hunter Anderson, Dalton Patterson and Allen Heaston from FCS; Cody Sircy and Dylan Hurst from Trousdale County; and Tyler Bradford from Gordonsville. photo by DEREK WHITED DISTRICT 9AAA CONSOLATION -- LEBANON -- Down 46-44, Wilson Central outscored Mt. Juliet 21-9 over the final eight minutes and came away with a 65-55 victory over the top-seeded Bears in the District 9AAA consolation game Tuesday night at Wilson Central. Senior Dee Oldham scored 20 points for the Wildcats, who improved to 23-5 heading into Saturday's region 5AAA opener at Dickson County. Conner Brandon chipped in with 14 and Jacob Williams added 12 for the winners. Mt. Juliet was led by Caleb Chowbay with 20 points. The Belmont-bound senior ripped four 3-pointers. C.J. McEwen added 17, but no other MJHS player reached double figures. The Bears, now 25-6, will be on the road at the District 10AAA champ for a first round regional game Saturday. First round winners will advance to Clarksville Northeast for the regional semifinals, consolation and finals. You may not be getting all you can out of your browsing experience and may be open to security risks! Consider upgrading to the latest version of your browser or choose on below:	<urn:uuid:e42046a6-78fa-4bd1-b5c3-cb051f8a9022>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://wilsonpost.com/archive/2012/02/22	2016-07-25T08:06:52Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824217.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00152-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.95618	3,724
(Second in a four-part series) When Elizabeth Warren, Teresa A. Sullivan, and Jay Westbrook, co-authors of the 1989 book As We Forgive Our Debtors: Bankruptcy and Consumer Credit in America, were charged by Rutgers Law School Professor Philip Shuchman with scientific misconduct in 1990, they quickly asked for an investigation to clear their names. Sullivan, who resigned earlier this month as President of the University of Virginia, “immediately asked [her] employer, The University of Texas, to investigate the charge,” as she told me in a letter I received by email from her on June 5, 2012. By 1990, all three co-authors–Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook–were well established fixtures in University of Texas academic and social circles. Sullivan was the Chairman of the Sociology Department at the University of Texas, and would soon become the Dean of Graduate Studies. Westbrook was a long-tenured member of the faculty at the University of Texas Law School. Warren, who taught at the University of Texas Law School from 1981 to 1987, had by this time moved on to the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a top ten school with great prestige. Warren’s former colleagues at the University of Texas took pride in her emergence as a rising legal star of the left, a reputation she carefully cultivated. According to some who have followed her career, she was considered a master practitioner of hard-nosed academic political tactics, and her critics in the genteel world of higher education were increasingly wary of her. It was in that environment that current President of the University of California system Mark Yudof (then Dean of the University of Texas Law School) and current University of Texas Dean of Graduate Studies, ad interim Judith Langlois, wrote the April 1991 report for the investigation that Sullivan requested. It was titled University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report: Scientific Misconduct Against Teresa A. Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Westbrook. You can read the full report, provided to Breitbart News by Teresa A. Sullivan here. The document, though riddled with errors, was accepted by University of Texas President William Cunningham on April 22, 1991, as conclusive evidence exonerating Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook from charges of scientific misconduct. Mark Yudof, co-author of the 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report: Scientific Misconduct Against Teresa A. Sullivan, Elizabeth Warren, and Jay Westbrook, is now the President of the University of California system The lack of serious scrutiny of Ms. Warren’s academic research has continued for the subsequent two decades. Questions about Ms. Warren’s empirical studies have not been fully explored, and specific policies she has promoted–in particular those that led in 2010 to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act and its onerous Consumer Financial Protection Bureau–have been imposed upon the public. Breitbart News is not alleging that Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook engaged in scientific misconduct. We are, however, presenting evidence that suggests the 1991 investigation conducted by the University of Texas into the allegations brought by Philip Shuchman in his scathing sixty page review of the book Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook co-authored in 1989 was neither thorough nor exculpatory. In that review, Shuchman charged: This book contains so much exaggeration, so many questionable ploys, and so many incorrect statements that it would be well to check the accuracy of their raw data, as old as it is. But the authors arranged matters so that they could not provide access to the computer printouts by case, with the corresponding bankruptcy court file numbers, this preventing any independent check of the raw data in the files from which they took their information. The 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report fails to answer Shuchman’s charge that “the authors arranged matters…preventing any independent check of the raw data.” Though Shuchman implies this “arrangement” may have been deliberate, he has no specific basis for the suggestion, other than the suspicious nature of the facts. The effect of the decision by the co-authors was clear, however. It became virtually impossible for other scholars to check their data. In addition, the 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report fails because there are at least five specific factual errors contained in this brief three page report that purportedly “exonerates” Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook. The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a role in this investigation because it funded the research upon which Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook’s 1989 book was based with a grant in the amount of $109,999 to principal investigator Teresa A. Sullivan, and co-principal investigators Jay Westbrook and Elizabeth Warren for a study of “Consumer Choices in Bankruptcy: Statutory Intentions and Statutory Consequences.” The data in this study formed the basis for the 1989 book. Research began around September 1, 1983 and continued for about three years thereafter. The University of Texas at Austin was listed as the sponsor of the grant. Factual Error 1: “NSF has subsequently dismissed Shuchman’s complaint (see letter of March 6 from NSF Office of Inspector General) The Facts: The March 6, 1991 letter from NSF investigator Montgomery Fisher to Teresa A. Sullivan did not constitute dismissal of Shuchman’s complaint of scientific misconduct by the NSF. March 6, 1991 letter from Montgomery Fisher at NSF to Teresa A. Sullivan Instead, it focused narrowly on Shuchman’s request for “access to the original data” used in the study. NSF investigator Montgomery K. Fisher simply confirmed in this letter that he had communicated to Professor Shuchman that Elizabeth Warren and her co-authors were willing to provide a list of the cases they sampled: “Prof. Sullivan also says that the names and court file numbers are not, and have never been, part of the file. (There was apparently some misunderstanding regarding the applicability of HHS’s Human Subjects regulation; as you observed in note 249 of your article, this project was probably exempt from the regulation.) They are willing, however, to provide you a complete list of the cases they sampled, should you desire to verify each datum. In these circumstances, I believe Profs. Sullivan, Westbrook, and Warren have demonstrated sufficient willingness to comply with NSF’s policy in favor of openness of scientific communication.” [emphasis added] It was not clear, however, why the authors had not simply documented and archived their data so that others might replicate their results. Factual Error 2: “Many of the bankruptcy cases were more than ten years old.” The Facts: The data set was from 1981, which was exactly ten years prior to the 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Investigation Report. None of the data set was “more than ten years old.” The cases were not “resolved” in some instances until several years after 1981. Factual Error 3: “We conclude, along with NSF, that Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook did not violate any policy of scientific openness, nor did they engage in scientific misconduct.” The Facts: At the time the April 1991 University of Texas Preliminary Inquiry Report was written, NSF had come to no conclusions on either the matter of scientific openness or the matter of scientific misconduct. NSF did not come to any conclusions regarding the Shuchman allegations until three months later when a sole investigator wrote a closeout memo on July 2, 1991. The closeout memo, like the March 6, 1991 letter before it, did not address allegations of scientific misconduct. Instead, it focused on the narrow question of data sharing and scientific openness. Curiously, in circumstances that will be examined in more detail later in this series, the author of the memo notes that in his personal judgment Shuchman’s allegations did not meet the NSF definition of misconduct: My examination of [redacted, most likely ‘Shuchman’s’] review (which was published at [redacted] (1990)) and letters made it clear that the allegations regarding the substance in the book do not meet the NSF definition of misconduct. (As subsequent articles in this series will show, it was NSF policy at the time to undertake investigations of allegations of scientific misconduct on the basis of an investigation conducted by a team of experts rather than an examination conducted by an individual investigator.) Factual Error 4: “To have provided Shuchman with identifying information would have violated the investigators agreement with our IRB [Institutional Review Board] and with their granting agency, NSF.” The Facts: To the contrary, the NSF closeout memorandum dated July 2, 1991 stated clearly “[i]n her letters [redacted, but probably ‘Teresa A. Sullivan’] had given the impression that the identifiers for the data base against the [redacted] file it had been coded from, existed but that she could not provide the database to [redacted, but probably ‘Philip Shuchman’] with those identifiers included because of HHS’s Human Subjects Regulation (45 CFR part 46).” The NSF called Sullivan’s argument on this matter “bogus, because (A) on the cover sheet of the proposal the [Principal Investigators–Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook] had stated the proposal was exempt from the HSR under 45 CFR section 46.101 (b) (3) and (B) it was in fact exempt under 45 CFR section 46.101 (b )(5).” (Emphasis added.) Sullivan’s failure to disclose this significant change in the methodology to the funding agency, NSF, was problematic at best, and may possibly have been a violation of the original terms of the grant. Indeed, the NSF closeout memo is quite critical of the authors’ approach to verification of the data used in the study: When I talked to [redacted but most likely ‘Teresa A. Sullivan’] however, she said that the identifiers were excluded from the database from the start, because of the interpretation of the HSR by [redacted but most likely ‘The University of Texas’] Institutional Review Board. Thus, they were not refusing to provide the database with the identifiers: they couldn’t because the identifiers weren’t put in to begin with…It is unfortunate that their IRB erroneously compelled them to omit useful information from the database, rendering verification of their data exceedingly difficult.”[emphasis added] One scholar who reviewed this excerpt from the NSF closeout memo, and who spoke exclusively to Breitbart News, noted the impact Institutional Review Boards can have on academic research, suggesting that they have significant power to protect information on human subjects–even when dealing with public records. Factual Error 5: “[T]hey [the authors] had an agreement with IRB (and therefore, the National Science Foundation) to treat the information as confidential.” The Facts: Sullivan, Westbrook, and Warren may have had an agreement with the IRB (the University of Texas Institutional Review Board), but the funding agency–NSF–was not party to that agreement. NSF did not learn of it until after Shuchman’s complaint was filed and the NSF inquiry was initiated. Besides these five factual errors made in the report, this 1991 University of Texas “investigation” was also flawed for the critical and obvious question it failed to ask: Did Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook intentionally misinterpret HPP federal regulations on “protection of human subjects” in order to persuade the Institutional Review Board of the University of Texas to impose what they knew to be uncalled-for constraints on the use of primary data for the purpose of making the data set unverifiable by other researchers? A more thorough report would have interviewed the members of the University of Texas Institutional Review Board and questioned them as to why no one had apparently bothered to reconcile the University of Texas’s regulations with the conditions of the NSF grant. Here’s how Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook described their methodology, which sampled data from 1981 bankruptcy filings from the 15 federal district courts in the three states of Pennsylvania, Texas, and Illinois in their 1989 book: “Because existing data were inadequate, we had to collect data on the characteristics of bankrupt debtors, their assets, their liabilities, their jobs, their marital status, whether they were homeowners, and so forth. This decision meant we would have to gather an enormous amount of information. We coded over 200 variables for each of 1,529 debtors, generating over 300,000 pieces of information.” (page 342) Sullivan, Warren, and Westbrook went on to describe their crucial decision–a decision that was unknown to the funding organization, NSF, until after it began to investigate Professor Shuchman’s allegations of scientific misconduct: “[A]ll the data were coded by someone with at least a basic understanding of bankruptcy law and procedure. Every coder–indeed every person associated with the project–signed an agreement promising to hold confidential any information acquired about any individual. Although the files we used are public documents, the petitioners, lawyers, and judges had become, for the social scientist, human subjects, and we used normal safeguards for the protection of human subjects. These safeguards included the use of identifying numbers rather than names on all the data tapes prepared, and careful storage, under lock, of any data with identifying information. The names of all debtors and some creditors in this book are pseudonyms.” (page 350) Despite an invitation to Warren and her co-authors from officials at Rutgers University and the editors of the Rutgers Law Review to defend themselves publicly against charges of scientific misconduct Shuchman made in his 1990 Rutgers Law Review article, neither Warren nor co-authors Teresa A. Sullivan and Jay Westbrook have ever publicly defended themselves against Shuchman’s charges in an academic journal. They did, however, as subsequent articles in this series will demonstrate, use the cover provided by the University of Texas whitewash report to encourage the unsuccessful attempts by the University of Texas and the University of Pennsylvania to put pressure on Rutgers University to force Professor Shuchman to recant. June 23, 1992 letter from Rutgers Provost Samuels to Texas Provost Monti Both Teresa A. Sullivan and Jay Westbrook continue to defend their 1989 work vigorously, while Ms. Warren has failed to respond publicly in any way on this matter. In a recent email to me, Professor Westbrook stated: Concerning the Shuchman article. The allegation of scientific misconduct was false and was found to be false in two independent investigations supported in substance by two universities and the National Science Foundation. The specific claims made by Professor Shuchman about the validity of our data conclusions were obviously wrong, but were part of the usual academic debates about emerging research. Any suggestion the claims were more than typical academic disagreements would be factually false. The many positive reviews of our book in leading legal and scientific publications speak for themselves as does the fact that our work is generally regarded as part of the bedrock of contemporary study of consumer bankruptcy in America. Professor Westbrook’s claim that “the many positive reviews of our book in leading legal and scientific publications speak for themselves” doesn’t tell the entire story of the book’s reception by academic peers. It is worth noting that most of these positive reviews were written by academics with little or no expertise in bankruptcy law. One positive review in Science Magazine was only a page and a half long. The author, Ramona Heck, specializes in home based employment and the family. Another favorable review, mentioned specifically in Teresa A. Sullivan’s letter to me received by email on June 5, 2012, was written by Dr. David Caplovitz, who was described in his 1992 New York Times obituary as a “a sociologist and an authority on American spending habits and misleading sales practices.” All three nationally recognized experts on bankruptcy who reviewed the book–Shuchman of Rutgers Law School, Marjorie Girth of SUNY Buffalo Law School, and economist Michelle White of the University of Michigan–gave it negative reviews. In the final two articles in this series, we will explore the unanswered questions posed by those reviews, as well as the institutional failings of the National Science Foundation and Harvard University and the roles they played in this unfolding scandal. Michael Patrick Leahy is a Breitbart News contributor, Editor of Broadside Books’ Voices of the Tea Party e-book series, and author of Covenant of Liberty: The Ideological Origins of the Tea Party Movement.	<urn:uuid:46957477-a9dc-46c0-a6e8-e3f92df3bea6>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2012/06/25/university-texas-whitewash-elizabeth-warren-scientific-misconduct-charge-entangles-uva-uc-presidents/	2016-07-25T08:22:46Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824217.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00152-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.966977	3,489
By Silverback, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Staff Writer Los Alamitos, CA - Alright, so here's the deal: we're pretty excited about this card. Stoked, you might say. There's a fantastic combination of bad blood, fresh faces, and exciting, uniquely Pro Wrestling Guerrilla-style matches, everything we can hope to have on one of our cards. But we forgot to write the intro paragraph. Whether it was the skunk that was hanging around outside of the offices, spraying every cat, dog, person, and dust mote that came within range, or the beautiful, half-Chinese girl that's super nice but intriguingly distant that we just can't get out of our heads, something has got us distracted. So just imagine that this space was used for recapping the events of DDT4, where Super Smash Bros. defied the odds and came away with three hard fought victories to win the tournament. Or about "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen, making the first defense of his current Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Championship Title in an open challenge against Sami Callihan. Actually, that's not too bad. Take that, you raven-haired temptress! Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Death To All But Metal takes place on Friday, May 25, 2012 at American Legion Post #308 (7338 Canby Ave., Reseda, CA 91335) in Reseda, CA, and is scheduled to feature: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Championship Title Match "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen (Champion) vs. Brian Cage (Challenger) -- Immediately after the conclusion of DDT4, "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen returned to the locker room and demanded to know "Who's next?!" While most of those seated in the locker room were puzzled by Steen's Goldbergian query (Kevin is, after all, a huge Therock Lesnar fan), one man immediately put himself forward as the next challenger for the World Championship: Brian Cage. Still smarting after being bounced from the DDT4 tournament in the first round, Cage was looking a chance to prove that he belongs in the upper echelon of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, and the opportunity presented itself in the form of a battered and bruised champion still looking for a fight. Steen retorted with a verbal assault aimed at Cage's manhood, to which Cage responded with a shove and a less-than-polite offer to "go right now," but the two men were restrained and separated before the confrontation could escalate further. They then agreed to face one another on May 25th at Death To All But Metal while being escorted to opposite ends of the locker room. The following Monday, the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Board of Directors, keen to seem like a powerful matchmaking group, sent a very stern memo to both World Champion Kevin Steen and would-be challenger Brian Cage about the importance of respecting the decisions of the Championship Committee. Cage was first to respond (via text message) saying "Bro? Bro. BRO." Steen was heard from moments later (via email) with a very terse seven letter response ending with "you." The blatant insubordination by both men infuriated the Board of Directors, who handed out 30-day suspensions to both Steen and Cage. The Board then began work on determining the next challenger for "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen's World Championship, after he serves his suspension, of course. In a highly innovative and unexpected move, the Board of Directors announced that "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen would be defending the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Championship against Brian Cage on May 25th at Death To All But Metal, for reasons the Board has yet to disclose. This could have something to do with the fact that the 30-day suspension barring both Steen and Cage from competing on Pro Wrestling Guerrilla events actually ends just prior to May 25th, or that the Board is (allegedly) physically intimidated by both Mr. Cage and Mr. Steen. Whatever the reason, all hail the Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Board of Directors, the smartest governing body in all the land, and the people that sign our checks! No Disqualification Tag Team Match Super Smash Bros. (Player Uno & Stupefied) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) -- For the first time in three years The Young Bucks, were not in the DDT4 finals. This was a startling realization for Matt and Nick Jackson, who went from being the team most closely associate with DDT4 success to first round losers in a matter of seconds. How did this happen? Is this how all of the teams that The Young Bucks vanquished in previous tournaments felt? What a terrible feeling! This feeling made the Jackson brothers sad at first, but very quickly that sadness turned to anger. Intense, burning anger. Rage. Who is responsible for making The Young Bucks feel this way? Certainly not The Young Bucks! No, the answer to that question, to Matt and Nick Jackson at least, was in the ring celebrating their victory in perhaps the most competitive DDT4 to date, the Super Smash Brothers. Player Uno and Stupefied began their day with only a single victory in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, but would go to sleep knowing they defeated three of the toughest opponents imaginable, all in one night. At least, they would think that until the ultimate sore losers, The Young Bucks hit the ring to disrupt the celebration and attack all four competitors in the DDT4 final round match. After three grueling matches, the Super Smash Brothers, and their opponents 2 Husky Black Guys (El Generico & Willie Mack) were far too exhausted to mount any sort of sustained defense, and the assault only ended because World Champion Kevin Steen ran from the commentary position to confront The Young Bucks. When The Young Bucks took a moment to explain themselves, their refusal to take responsibility for their tournament loss became even more apparent. According to the Bucks, DDT4 was supposed to be about them, by virtue of their past accomplishments. How dare another team come along to not only eliminate The Young Bucks, but go on to win the tournament. That's not how things are supposed to work, and Matt and Nick Jackson are prepared to rectify that. With Super Dragon out of action until after May 25th and their Pro Wrestling Guerrilla World Tag Team Championship title shot postponed, the Super Smash Brothers have opted to give The Young Bucks a chance to back up all of their talk. But if The Young Bucks are going to attack from behind, bend the rules, and act like all-around jerks, why shouldn't Player Uno and Stupefied have the option to do so as well? That's why on May 25th at Death To All But Metal, the Super Smash Brothers and The Young Bucks will meet in a no disqualification rematch! El Generico vs. Ricochet -- When El Generico and Ricochet met for the first time in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla at The Curse of Guerrilla Island in October, 2010, fans saw something they were not at all prepared for: a frustrated El Generico that considered breaking the rules to score a victory. While he's never been thought of as one of the more articulate professional wrestlers, El Generico's unspoken moral code is obvious to anyone that has seen him compete over the years. But when he found himself standing across the ring from a man that is a few years younger, a step faster, and can jump a few inches higher, Generico thought about resorting to drastic measures. Whether it was due to second-guessing himself, or Ricochet's innate aptitude for professional wrestling, El Generico lost that day, not just in the literal sense, but in the eyes of the fans, as well. The realization that he disappointed his fans as well as himself caused El Generico to do some serious soul searching, and ultimately lead to an alliance, though not quite friendship, between himself and Ricochet. That alliance was put to the test just over a year ago when the pair began teaming together to do battle with some of the very best tag teams from around the world. Despite their natural abilities, the team of El Generico and Ricochet suffered three consecutive losses, leading to the dissolution of their team and alliance. With the bad blood between the two men having built for months, El Generico and Ricochet will have their long-awaited rematch at Death To All But Metal on Friday, May 25th. While both men have obviously aged since their first meeting, El Generico rekindled his rivalry with "Mr. Wrestling" Kevin Steen, a rivalry that took years off of his career, not to mention his life. Will the competitive gap between Ricochet and El Generico have widened further in the intervening years, or will Generico have no compunctions about using every available advantage, whether legal or otherwise, in order to defeat the younger man? "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin vs. Willie Mack -- While the fans can be quite vociferous when it comes to new talent they'd like to see in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, it's worth noting when both the fans and the locker room are asking to see the same guy. And as we've seen in the case of Future Shock (Adam Cole & Kyle O'Reilly), when you have former World Champion Davey Richards demanding that you be given an opportunity to compete, chances are that the Board of Directors will listen. Such is the case with Toronto, Ontario, Canada's "Unbreakable" Michael Elgin, who will make his Pro Wrestling Guerrilla debut on Friday, May 25th at Death To All But Metal. Nicknamed "Unbreakable" not just because of his physical durability but his seemingly unflappable drive and determination, Elgin comes to Pro Wrestling Guerrilla with not only high expectation, but an incredibly difficult opponent right off the bat. When talking about young and tough (both mentally and physically) competitors, no list is complete without Willie Mack's name on it. Much like Michael Elgin, Willie Mack has experienced a meteoric rise in recent years, calmly facing (and defeating) some of the top names in professional wrestling today. After their match at Steen Wolf in October, 2011, Davey Richards sang the praises of Willie Mack, and advised the professional wrestling world to watch their backs, because this guy is gunning for the number one spot. This opinion became fact when last month at DDT4, Willie Mack, alongside El Generico, was a heartbeat away from winning the tournament. Now that he is so close to the apex of Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Willie Mack will fight tooth and nail to make his way onto the top, something Michael Elgin will be forced to confront head on at Death To All But Metal! Six-Person Tag Team Match Candice LeRae & RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime & Johnny Yuma) vs. "Pretty" Peter Avalon, Ray Rosas, & Joey Ryan TJ Perkins vs. Ryan Taylor B-Boy vs. Famous B Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Death To All But Metal takes place on Friday, May 25, 2012, at 8:00 PM at American Legion Post #308 in Reseda, CA. American Legion Post #308 is located at 7338 Canby Ave., Reseda, CA 91335. Front Row tickets are $30, and General Admission tickets are $25. Online tickets orders are subject to the PayPal Service Charge (2.9% + $0.30). Tickets purchased in advance allow for priority admittance to the venue, along with guaranteed event seating. Online tickets sales for this event will end on May 21, 2012, at 11:59PM. Any remaining tickets will be available for purchase at the door. Tickets are not refundable. Absolutely no outside alcoholic beverages are allowed on American Legion property.	<urn:uuid:ea0d2262-4b56-4156-873f-39e48e5bce77>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	http://www.prowrestlingguerrilla.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=43761&f=1	2016-07-25T08:07:30Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257824217.36/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071024-00152-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.95797	2,450
For North Carolina's football staff, Monday's Advocare V100 Independence Bowl in Shreveport (La.) is one of those opportunities that is simply part of the job in coaching. It's their last chance to make something happen with all these UNC players they recruited to play for the Tar Heels, and that should serve as motivation for them this one last time as they prepare to move on to new jobs elsewhere. "It's been a very good experience to be here at Carolina and work as the interim coach," said Everett Withers. "I'm looking forward to taking the things I've learned here and moving forward." These situations are never easy for anyone when you're talking about outgoing coaches and the pieces they leave behind within the team they're coaching and in recruiting. There's children and families involved. There's relocation and finding new employment involved. It's real-life, emotionally-draining, highly-challenging stuff---as anyone who's been in a similar occupational situation can attest. "Every year I've been in this profession---I think this is 24 (years for me)---this time of year gets tough on a lot of people. And if you've been through it long enough you go through these. It's just part of the gig," Withers said. When it comes to bowl games and the finality that they bring to college football teams, there's always that incentive to try and send the seniors out victorious. But UNC also has a situation where many of the players are seeing an opportunity to send these coaches out with a bang and show them on the field how much they appreciate what they've done for them over the years. "That's the biggest thing---send this staff out on a good note, you know. A win would be good for team morale and it will sum up this season pretty well," said sophomore defensive end Kareem Martin. "We'll all be going our separate ways after the season, but we're playing one more game for the staff." "I definitely want to send this staff out on a good note," added sophomore quarterback Bryn Renner. "We're looking forward to sending Coach Withers and this staff out on a good note." "I think that's our main thing (to get this win for the coaches)," added redshirt freshman running back Giovani Bernard. "I know for me and Bryn especially, it's something we really want to do. We felt like we let them down a couple of times this season. We definitely want to finish them off with an 8-5 record." "There's some games in the past we could have won or whatever, but I think we definitely want to give this as a gift in a way, and finish off with a win. I'm just really excited, and hopefully we'll get this 'W,'" Bernard continued. "Right now we've got to focus on beating Missouri with Everett Withers as the head coach," said junior defensive tackle Sylvester Williams. "I've got a tremendous amount of respect for the coaching staff that's here now." Given the extreme circumstances of which he accepted his first collegiate head coaching job, the players are satisfied with the way Withers handled the 2011 season. "I think Coach Withers did a great job with us this year. And I'd love to have him as our head coach for a long time, but I don't make those decisions. And I really don't want to," said Renner. "The way this University handled it, they did a great job. But I definitely love Coach Withers and love this whole staff." "He's done an amazing job this entire year. And even stepping into a position like he's done. I think he's done a great job. Hands down to him. He's a great guy. I've had my one-on-one conversations with him, and he's a real good role model," added Bernard. "We're definitely going to miss him. He's a great guy and we're definitely going to miss him." "We just want to go out on a winning note. This year there's been a lot of adversity with the coaching change and hiring a new coaching and all, We just want to give the coaching staff one last win, and play as hard as we can on Monday," Martin added. For the Tar Heel players, Monday is not just about Coach Withers and the coaches who will be roaming the sidelines. Several of them acknowledged that the Independence Bowl is also about Butch Davis, and closing the chapter on his era at UNC with success. "I will go on record and say they turned this whole program around from where it was, starting with Coach Davis and then to Coach Withers. I think they've done a great job with us over the last five years, and given us a ton of their time," Renner said. "So I think the biggest thing we can do is play hard for them and go out on a good note." The Tar Heel seniors got together last week before leaving for Shreveport and declared that they were dedicating the Independence Bowl to Davis and Withers. "All the seniors, we kind of got together after the (last position) meeting (in Kenan Stadium) and talked about, 'Yeah, this is our last time together,' for Coach Withers, and especially for Coach Davis. He brought us here. We're trying to do it for him. It's our last game in Carolina Blue," said running back Ryan Houston. For Renner, it's also about giving offensive coordinator John Shoop one last hurrah as he prepares to ride off into the sunset. "Me and Coach Shoop talk every day. He's been critical to my development as a quarterback, and I can't thank him enough. I'm going to miss him. He's done a lot for me and the other quarterbacks," he said. Make no mistake---Withers wanted to be the long-term, permanent head coach at UNC. "Coaches are day-to-day. You're always disappointed when you don't get something, but as a coach you learn to move on fast," Withers said. He wasted little time getting his situation figured out, and he's found a pretty soft place to land in Ohio State. In Columbus, Withers will have the opportunity to rebuild the Buckeyes under Urban Meyer, who tried previously to hire him away from UNC two years ago when Meyer was still at Florida. The fact that Meyer, one of the truly great modern-day college coaches, thought enough to Withers to try to hire him twice should answer a lot of questions from those questioning Withers as a coach or as a person. "I feel very fortunate to be part of The Ohio State University. My title is assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator," Withers said. "I'm looking forward to moving forward." "We've known each other (Meyer and I) for a couple of years. A few years ago we talked when the Florida defensive coordinator job came open. So we've got a little bit of a past, and I"m looking forward to the future with Coach Meyer," Withers continued. Withers knows that he's heading into a challenging situation in Columbus with Ohio State recently hit with considerable NCAA sanctions, but he knows he's going to be able to recruit elite talent there. "I do think the sanctions are what they are. Coming on the front end gives us a chance to build a program, and I think it will be a very positive thing in the long term," he said. "I think when you're recruiting at Ohio State, kids want to go to Ohio State." The opportunity at UNC clearly provided Withers some perspective and invaluable experience as a head coach. He admitted to us that is his ultimate goal---to lead a program as the top man again as he's done this year at Carolina. And as he's done throughout the majority of his time in Chapel Hill, Withers said the right things as he talked about how UNC has prepared him for that day. "I don't know about 'quite soon' (becoming a head coach) but I'm sure this experience will help me in the future," Withers said. "It's been a very good learning experience. Just being able to be the head coach of a major college, a BCS team, has been a very positive experience for me." In a few short hours, it will all be over. UNC's players will go their separate ways for a brief Holiday break before either returning to Chapel Hill or moving on with their lives. Those graduating seniors will either start looking for regular work or begin training for a shot at the National Football League, while the returning UNC players will get going with the spring semester. And virtually everyone coaching for UNC today in the Independence Bowl with the exceptions of Allen Mogridge and possibly Ken Browning will all be leaving Chapel Hill in the coming days. The outgoing coaches' contracts were terminated effective December 27, and those coaches will begin the process of finding new work immediately in the coaching ranks. Kenan Football Center will undergo a transformation in the coming days as Fedora and his staff move in, while the last things of the prior staff move out. It's a extraordinary, bittersweet time for any college football program. Which is why sending out these coaches with a win over Missouri means so much to so many of these UNC players. "He's a great man of character. He's done a lot for this program," Renner said of Withers. "I can't even imagine what he's gone through, but I know he's done a great job. And he's been a father figure to this whole team this whole year on how to handle adversity. He's done a great job, and I wouldn't ask for a better guy to have for the season." "We want to send him out with an 8-5 record and end the season on a good note."	<urn:uuid:a34acd45-ee59-42fd-a280-c2b665a1535e>	CC-MAIN-2016-30	https://northcarolina.rivals.com/news/out-with-a-bang-16	2016-07-27T07:52:27Z	s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2016-30/segments/1469257826736.89/warc/CC-MAIN-20160723071026-00304-ip-10-185-27-174.ec2.internal.warc.gz	en	0.985516	2,104

Subsets and Splits

No community queries yet

The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.