Most airlines and many hotel brands have their own shopping portals, as does Chase Ultimate Rewards, and each time you click through the portal to make a purchase at a participating store, you can earn additional loyalty points on stuff you'd be buying anyway.
You may only earn 1-3 miles for each dollar you spend, but these rewards can add up in a hurry. Plus, each point you earn resets the clock on your balance and buys you more time until you're ready to redeem your rewards.
3. Pick up a co-branded credit card.
If you want to boost your point haul in a hurry, consider signing up for a credit card that lets you earn rewards in your favorite program. There are airline credit cards, hotel credit cards, and flexible travel cards to choose from, so make sure to explore your options.
Many of the best travel credit cards offer big signup bonuses worth $500 or more after you meet a minimum spending requirement within a few months. On top of that, you'll earn points or miles for every dollar you spend.
Fortunately, these miles will serve another purpose, too: Each one you earn will start the clock over and extend the time your points remain intact.
If you do pick up a flexible travel credit card that lets you transfer points to airline and hotel programs, keep in mind that transferring points is another way to keep your stash of rewards alive.
Let's say you have United miles about to expire, and you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card. In that case, you could easily transfer the minimum of 1,000 Chase points to your United account to reset the expiration clock.
If you don't have a flexible rewards credit card that lets you transfer to hotel and airline programs, now is a great time to get one! Make sure to compare travel credit cards and look for options that let you redeem in more than one way, including point transfers.
Some rewards programs allow you to complete simple tasks to earn more points — things like tweeting a specific post on Twitter with a specific hashtag, or sharing something else on social media. These initiatives are usually a one-time thing, though, and you usually have to follow the brand on social media to find out about them.
Some programs also let you earn points or miles for completing surveys. This includes Southwest Rapid Rewards, which allows you to earn small amounts of points and miles for completing surveys through eRewards or Rewards for Opinions. You may not earn a lot of points for these surveys, but they can help you keep your balance from expiring.
Also note that you can keep your points alive simply by redeeming some of them. While cashing in a chunk of points for airfare or hotels will of course qualify as account activity, you may also be able to redeem fewer points for merchandise or gift cards.
Make sure to check with your program to see which options are available to you. Many airline programs allow you to redeem points for inexpensive merchandise, which can be a smart move if you need to prevent points from expiring in a hurry.
7. Make a charitable donation.
Also remember that some loyalty programs, including American and United, allow you to donate miles to a charity of your choice. You usually need to do so in increments of at least 1,000 miles, but this can allow you to restart your expiration countdown while helping others.
8. Buy points or miles.
As a last resort, many airline and hotel programs allow you to buy points or miles for their programs. These offers are generally a bad deal, since you'll normally pay 2-3 cents per point this way (and potentially more). However, it can be money well spent if you're otherwise about to lose a big cache of miles. You can restart your timeline for the minimum purchase, which is usually 1,000 miles.
With so many ways to keep your rewards alive, there's no reason to let them expire. Make sure to learn about your loyalty program and know the rules so you can take steps to prolong your points until you're ready to use them. If you forget and let them expire, you could live to regret it.


text:
Flow puede referirse a:
 Flow Sports, Canal líder en deportes del Caribe.
 Flow, cadencia forma en la cual mayormente un rapero, trapero o cantante fluye sobre una base música urbana.
 Flow (Mu), banda japonesa de J-Pop, J-Rock.
 Flow, película española de 2014.
 Flow, cableoperador argentino, anteriormente denominado Cablevisión.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
require File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__) + "/../spec_helper")

describe Braintree::CreditCardVerification, "search" do

  describe "self.create" do
    it "creates a new verification" do
      verification_params = {
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "05/2012",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::Visa,
        },
        :options => {
          :amount => "10.00"
        }
      }

      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(verification_params)

      result.should be_success
      result.credit_card_verification.id.should =~ /^\w{6,}$/
      result.credit_card_verification.status.should == Braintree::CreditCardVerification::Status::Verified
      result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_code.should == "1000"
      result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_text.should == "Approved"
      result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_type.should == Braintree::ProcessorResponseTypes::Approved
      expect(result.credit_card_verification.network_transaction_id).not_to be_nil
    end

    it "creates a new verification with network response code/text" do
      verification_params = {
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "05/2012",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::Visa,
        },
        :options => {
          :amount => "10.00"
        }
      }

      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(verification_params)

      expect(result).to be_success
      expect(result.credit_card_verification.status).to eq(Braintree::CreditCardVerification::Status::Verified)
      expect(result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_code).to eq("1000")
      expect(result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_text).to eq("Approved")
      expect(result.credit_card_verification.network_response_code).to eq("XX")
      expect(result.credit_card_verification.network_response_text).to eq("sample network response text")
      expect(result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_type).to eq(Braintree::ProcessorResponseTypes::Approved)
    end

    it "returns processor response code and text as well as the additional processor response if declined" do
      verification_params = {
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "05/2012",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::FailsSandboxVerification::Visa,
        },
        :options => {
          :amount => "10.00"
        }
      }

      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(verification_params)

      result.success?.should == false
      result.credit_card_verification.id.should =~ /^\w{6,}$/
      result.credit_card_verification.status.should == Braintree::CreditCardVerification::Status::ProcessorDeclined
      result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_code.should == "2000"
      result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_text.should == "Do Not Honor"
      result.credit_card_verification.processor_response_type.should == Braintree::ProcessorResponseTypes::SoftDeclined
    end

    it "returns validation errors" do
      verification_params = {
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "05/2012",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::FailsSandboxVerification::Visa,
        },
        :options => {
          :amount => "-10.00"
        }
      }

      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(verification_params)

      result.success?.should == false
      result.errors.for(:verification).for(:options).first.code.should == Braintree::ErrorCodes::Verification::Options::AmountCannotBeNegative
    end

    it "returns account type with debit" do
      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "01/2020",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::Hiper
        },
        :options => {
          :merchant_account_id => SpecHelper::HiperBRLMerchantAccountId,
          :account_type => "debit",
        },
      )

      result.success?.should == true
      result.credit_card_verification.credit_card[:account_type].should == "debit"
    end

    it "returns account type with credit" do
      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "01/2020",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::Hiper
        },
        :options => {
          :merchant_account_id => SpecHelper::HiperBRLMerchantAccountId,
          :account_type => "credit",
        },
      )

      result.success?.should == true
      result.credit_card_verification.credit_card[:account_type].should == "credit"
    end

    it "errors with unsupported account type" do
      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "01/2020",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::Visa
        },
        :options => {
          :account_type => "credit",
        },
      )

      result.success?.should == false
      result.errors.for(:verification).for(:options).on(:account_type)[0].code.should == Braintree::ErrorCodes::Verification::Options::AccountTypeNotSupported
    end

    it "errors with invalid account type" do
      result = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.create(
        :credit_card => {
          :expiration_date => "01/2020",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::Hiper
        },
        :options => {
          :merchant_account_id => SpecHelper::HiperBRLMerchantAccountId,
          :account_type => "ach",
        },
      )

      result.success?.should == false
      result.errors.for(:verification).for(:options).on(:account_type)[0].code.should == Braintree::ErrorCodes::Verification::Options::AccountTypeIsInvalid
    end
  end

  describe "self.find" do
    it "finds the verification with the given id" do
      credit_card_params = {
        :expiration_date => "05/2012",
        :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::FailsSandboxVerification::Visa,
        :options => {
          :verify_card => true
        },
      }
      credit_card_verification = Braintree::Customer.create(:credit_card => credit_card_params).credit_card_verification
      found_verification = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.find(credit_card_verification.id)

      found_verification.should == credit_card_verification
      found_verification.graphql_id.should_not be_nil
    end

    it "raises a NotFoundError exception if verification cannot be found" do
      expect do
        Braintree::CreditCardVerification.find("invalid-id")
      end.to raise_error(Braintree::NotFoundError, 'verification with id "invalid-id" not found')
    end
  end

  describe "self.search" do
    before(:each) do
      @customer_params = {
        :first_name => "Tom",
        :last_name => "Smith",
        :email => "tom.smith@example.com",
      }
      @billing_address_params = {
        :postal_code => "90210"
      }
      @credit_card_params = {
        :cardholder_name => "Tom Smith",
        :expiration_date => "05/2012",
        :options => {
          :verify_card => true
        },
        :billing_address => @billing_address_params,
      }

      customer_create_result = Braintree::Customer.create(@customer_params)
      @customer = customer_create_result.customer
    end

    it "searches and finds verification using verification fields" do
      max_seconds_between_create_and_search = 120
      result = Braintree::CreditCard.create(@credit_card_params.merge({
        :customer_id => @customer.id,
        :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::FailsSandboxVerification::Visa,
      }))
      credit_card_verification = result.credit_card_verification

      found_verifications = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.search do |search|
        search.billing_address_details_postal_code.is @billing_address_params[:postal_code]
        search.created_at >= (Time.now() - max_seconds_between_create_and_search)
        search.credit_card_card_type.in Braintree::CreditCard::CardType::Visa
        search.credit_card_cardholder_name.is @credit_card_params[:cardholder_name]
        search.credit_card_expiration_date.is @credit_card_params[:expiration_date]
        search.credit_card_number.is @credit_card_params[:number]
        search.ids.in credit_card_verification.id
        search.status.in credit_card_verification.status
      end

      found_verifications.should include(credit_card_verification)
    end

    it "searches and finds verifications using customer fields" do
      result = Braintree::CreditCard.create(@credit_card_params.merge({
        :customer_id => @customer.id,
        :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::Visa,
      }))
      credit_card = result.credit_card

      found_verifications = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.search do |search|
        search.customer_email.is @customer_params[:email]
        search.customer_id.is @customer.id
        search.payment_method_token.is credit_card.token
      end

      found_verifications.count.should eq(1)
    end

    describe "card type indicators" do
      it "returns prepaid on a prepaid card" do
        cardholder_name = "Tom #{rand(1_000_000)} Smith"

        result = Braintree::Customer.create(
          :credit_card => {
          :cardholder_name => cardholder_name,
          :expiration_date => "05/2012",
          :number => Braintree::Test::CreditCardNumbers::CardTypeIndicators::Prepaid,
          :cvv => "200",
          :options => {
            :verify_card => true
        }
        })

        search_results = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.search do |search|
          search.credit_card_cardholder_name.is cardholder_name
        end

        verification_id = search_results.first.id

        found_verification = Braintree::CreditCardVerification.find(verification_id)
        found_verification.credit_card[:prepaid].should == Braintree::CreditCard::Prepaid::Yes
      end
    end
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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text:
History, Road Trips
The Lafayette Road
10 February 2016 Jim Greyhighways, Indiana, Lafayette Road, roads, US 52 4 Comments
You might have driven on it: US 52 between Indianapolis and Lafayette. Or if you're local to the Indianapolis area, maybe you sometimes travel Lafayette Road in Marion County and Indianapolis Road in neighboring Boone County. You might not have guessed that this is one of Indiana's oldest roads, dating to the 1830s.
Lafayette Road in northwest Indianapolis
The fledgling state of Indiana went on a road-building jag in the 1820s and 1830s to connect its most important cities and towns. To pay for them and other transportation improvements, in 1821 Indiana began setting aside three percent of all federal funds it received. These "three percent fund roads," or State Roads, were all named for the towns to which they led.
The Lafayette State Road was a latecomer to this party, having been surveyed in 1831 (though some sources claim 1829). It was surveyed by George Kinnard, who also served as Marion County assessor, as a state legislator, and as a U.S. congressman.
Boone County Courthouse, Lebanon, Indiana
Kinnard placed the road's southern terminus at the White River near what is now 16th Street in Indianapolis, and ran it to the northwest out of Marion County, through a sliver of Hendricks County, and into Boone County. There it reached the town of Lebanon, which he and James Perry Drake founded in 1830 in hopes it would become the seat of justice in the newly formed county. What better way to aid in that cause than to place a major transportation route through it? From Lebanon, the Lafayette State Road made a beeline directly to Lafayette to the northwest. Its northern end is on Main Street in Lafayette, probably at the Wabash River.
The Lafayette State Road was certainly no more than a dirt trail in its early days. I wouldn't be surprised if low tree stumps were left in the road, as this was a common practice. As long as wagons could clear the stumps, it was all good! The road was probably privatized and improved to a gravel surface in the 1850s, as was the fate of so many State Roads. But with the advent of the automobile in the 20th century, Indiana founded a new numbered State Road system in 1917. The Lafayette Road became State Road 6, at first as far as Lebanon, and by 1925 all the way to Lafayette. The state immediately began to improve its highways; State Road 6's turn came in about 1925, when it was paved in concrete in at least Marion County and probably in Boone County as well. Then in 1926, with the advent of the U.S. route system, the road was made part of US 52, which stretched from Bluefield, WV, to Fowler, IN. Improvements continued. In about 1935 it was widened to four lanes in Marion County. And then at some point no later than the 1950s a four-lane divided bypass of Lebanon was built, and two additional travel lanes were built the rest of the way to Lafayette.
ca 1925 concrete segment in northwest Indianapolis
The Lafayette Road was a heavily traveled artery until I-65 opened near it in the 1960s. Today, almost all of the Indianapolis-Lafayette traffic follows that high-speed route, leaving the Lafayette Road a lightly traveled, pleasant drive through the Indiana countryside.
On an unusually warm Saturday afternoon at the end of January, Margaret and I took a spontaneous road trip along the Lafayette Road. We went primarily in search of old and abandoned alignments, several of which remain. But we also stopped to see some roadside sights along the way. I'll share photos and stories from that trip here and there over the next few weeks.
To get Down the Road in your inbox or reader six days a week, click here to subscribe!
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→ Next Post
4 thoughts on "The Lafayette Road"
J P Cavanaugh says:
Very interesting history. I have been traveling to and from Lafayette pretty frequently over the past year. My default route has become I-65 to just north of Lebanon (which is now almost all six lanes) and then US 52 the rest of the way. Some time I will have to sample the part of the old road from Lebanon on south. I look forward to more on this road.
10 February 2016 at 6:18 am	 Reply
If you do follow the old road, trace it on Google Maps first because there are a couple tricky spots. The first is at the second Whitestown exit, where the Love's Travel Center is. The original route has been ripped out next to the travel center and you have to take a short detour. The second tricky spot is getting into Lebanon, as you have to cross over I-65 to do it. Be sure to note the route within Lebanon, too: Indianapolis Rd. to Main St. to Lafayette Rd., and then out to where it merges with US 52.
Raina Regan says:
Really enjoy your series of Lafayette Road. I travel this corridor quite a bit and didn't know this history! I'll be keeping an eye out the next time I head this way.
Thanks! Stay tuned; a couple more posts about this road and the sights along it are queued up.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
CS Interview: Deadly Class Finale Postmortem with Jack Gillett & Tom Stevens
deadly class jack gillett syfy tom stevens tv news
By Kylie Hemmert
Following the epic Season 1 finale, ComingSoon.net spoke with Deadly Class cast members Jack Gillett and Tom Stevens about playing Lex and Chester, respectively, their thoughts on the finale, and a few favorite moments from this season. If you haven't seen the finale, beware of some major spoilers below!
The season finale of Deadly Class had its fair share of intense — and often hilarious — fight sequences, which proved a great time for those involved behind-the-scenes.
"That was possibly some of the most fun I've ever had in my life," says Gillett. "It was a smorgasbord of lunacy. It was absolutely brilliant. After reading the script, and of course, the comics as well, to see it all come to life in the manic way that we do it is magical."
RELATED: CS Interview: Benjamin Wadsworth Talks Deadly Class Season Finale
Of course, the finale also featured some heavy, emotional moments, with the big confrontation between Marcus and Chester, aka F*ckface, being a highlight of the hour.
"I loved watching that in the ADR session," says Steven. "I was moved. When you're playing the character, you're shooting this thing a few months ago, you know what you do on the day, and you feel good about it. Part of any character is at some point you hope that they have to drop all their walls. That's the kind of stuff that we like to do as actors. I was really in it with Ben [Wadsworth] 'cause he's like a raw, natural actor, and if you connect with him, like eye-to-eye, you automatically just have stuff coming up. So I felt really good shooting it that day. We had a couple takes off the top where we just screamed at each other the whole scene. It was just like two boys having to get that sh*t out. Even though the scene goes so many different directions, that one core moment, the one I'm talking about before sh*t hits the fan when F*ckface is totally vulnerable, that was that 8-year-old boy who just wants a friend."
The finale offered a juxtaposition of Marcus' relationships with Lex versus with his old tormentor and roommate, Chester. Lex can be a bit rough around the edges, but, as Gillett explains, the two are close: "I feel like Lex sees a bit in common with Marcus, just sort of the not caring, being true to themselves. They're just good pals, good buddies. Sort of bottom of the food chain, not really caring about the societal order at King's Dominion. They're both outcasts in a school of outcasts, so they connect through that."
Chester tells Marcus that he was his first friend, but Stevens doesn't think a real friendship would be possible: "Marcus' story to get to the boy's home was unavoidable. It was something that was pushed on him. Chester's was a choice with dropping that Trans Am on his dad. The reason why their relationship was that way was because Marcus was not brave. Chester was just trying to teach him how to be a man. But, sadly enough he had this horrible example-setting father who taught him to teach people in the worst way. So, the Chester that was in that boy's home, all he was trying to do was protect Marcus. He was trying to make him have the tools to be able to survive because he knew that Marcus wasn't strong enough. And then the event happened at the boy's home where it burned down and he got his face blown off and he became F*ckface. He transformed into the next level of himself where he was this monster. More interestingly enough, had F*ckface been in King's Dominion, that's where it gets interesting. If F*ckface had never held this vendetta against Marcus and originally at the beginning of the season got picked up by Master Lin because he was going around killing people, and Master Lin goes, 'I've got a place that can train you how to use those skills,' and then they ended up in King's Dominion together and they were able to bury the hatchet? I think F*ckface would have been a great protector of Marcus."
Marcus might never know what kind of protector Chester could have been had things gone differently, but Lex certainly stepped up to help his friends, which ultimately led to his death.
"Lex is a bit of a scaredy-cat," says Gillett, "but I think when Marcus and everyone came to ask him [to raid Chester's place] and Marcus challenged him, I think he had to stand up. At heart, I feel he is a good person even though he's a bit of a nasty bloke when it comes to it. He had to stand up and join the team and be a team player."
That decision put into motion the stunning final moments of the finale, which was subtly foreshadowed through the hour. Gillett admitted that the death of his character was "very upsetting" because he feels very connected to Lex. "I mean, it was heartwrenching to go through that. [But] if Lex was gonna go out anyway, it was going to be helping his friends. He's got a big external look that he's a nasty person, but inside he's a good person. A lot of people in King's Dominion put on a front of niceness whereas actually, they're a little bit rotten to the core."
When asked about how the events in the finale would affect the surviving characters, Gillett feels that the tragedy and trauma of this "landmark event" will definitely "shape what happens in the next part of the narrative for them."
For Stevens, the actor felt that Chester's death at the paws (and fangs) of one of his beloved dogs, Peppermint, was a fitting end and honored the source material well.
"I thought it was perfect. I thought it was all fitting. I knew that we'd gone away from the comic in so many ways. But, ultimately coming back to the comic for that event is, in my opinion really, really smart. There's certain story points that you have to stick to. We're not watching the show that's based on this graphic novel. We're watching a show that used the graphic novel to bounce off into another direction, in another stratosphere. One of the things that makes this show really interesting is that we have this Bible that we have to stick to, to some degree."
RELATED: CS Interview: Tom Stevens Talks F*ckface's Journey to the Deadly Class Finale
On top of giving their thanks to the fans for their support and the love that they have given the show (and to please stick with them), Gillett and Stevens shared their favorite parts about playing Lex and Chester in the Deadly Class world.
"There's so many good moments," says Gillett." I think the finale was great. It was a lot of fun. But I think it had to be the threesome scene. Or the almost threesome in episode eight. And being able to dive into Lex's sensitive side, sort of letting all his big walls and barriers come down and letting him be a bit vulnerable was a nice experience."
Stevens explains that the freedom he was given to play Chester was what he loved about playing the villain: "As an actor, you don't get many opportunities to go, 'Okay, go crazy.' Also, the look in the director's eyes when we'd go to shoot a F*ckface scene. Like I was the guilty pleasure of all these directors. You just get something crazy with F*ckface's character. You get to direct something that you will not direct anywhere else with F*ckface, and I thought that and the freedom to play this guy mixed with the crazy f*cking opportunities that I was given to do with this character. That was my favorite."
You can stream the first season of Deadly Class on SYFY's website, Amazon Prime Video, and YouTube.


text:
\section{Introduction}
Graphene has emerged as a highly attractive material for future electronic devices\cite{Novoselov2004,Neto2009}.
It can sustain current densities six orders of magnitude larger than copper and is foreseen to be a versatile material with numerous applications in nanoelectronics, spintronics and nanoelectromechanics\cite{geim_graphene:_2009}. In graphene nanoconstrictions (GNCs) the current is passed through a short ribbon\cite{Nakada1996,Brey2006} at the narrowest point.
Constrictions and nanoribbons provide semi-conducting interconnects in graphene nano-circuitry \cite{areshkin_building_2007,botello-mendez_quantum_2011}, and is a central building block of graphene based nano-electronics.
Related structures include graphene antidot lattices\cite{bai_graphene_2010,pedersen_graphene_2008}, which can be viewed as a periodic network of constrictions.
Current state-of-the-art experiments indicate that these may be ``sculpted'' in monolayer graphene with close to atomic precision to a width of a few benzene rings\cite{Xu_controllable_2013}.

Clearly, for GNCs of this size the current density can locally be very high, and it is important to address
their stability and performance under bias\cite{borrnert_lattice_2012}.
Experimental results for electron transport\cite{tombros_quantized_2011,darancet_coherent_2009}, local heating by Raman spectroscopy\cite{chae_hot_2009,berciaud_electron_2010,jo_low-frequency_2010}, and infrared emission\cite{freitag_thermal_2010}, have been published for GNCs.
Recently, it has been argued that several current-induced forces and excitation mechanisms driven by these, besides Joule heating, can play a role for the
stability of nano-conductors\cite{dundas_current-driven_2009,lu_current-induced_2012,bode_scattering_2011,lu_laserlike_2011}. In particular energy nonconservative "wind"/"waterwheel" forces may transfer energy to the phonons in parallel with the well-known Joule heating.
However, it is not easy to directly infer these mechanisms from experiments in most cases. On the other hand for graphene, the structural response to a high bias can be studied by {\it in situ} transmission electron microscopy, making graphene nanoconductors a good test bed for current-induced phenomena\cite{jia_controlled_2009,barreiro_graphene_2012,engelund_localized_2010}. In particular, a gate-electrode can be used to control the electronic states involved in the transport and thereby the current-induced excitation.

\begin{figure}[!htbp]
\centering
{\includegraphics[width=0.99\linewidth]{Fig1}}
\caption{(Color online) A) Transport setup illustrating the hydrogen passivated GNC. The left eigenchannel at zero bias and $E\approx -0.58$eV (colored according to phase, red-white-blue from $-\pi$ to $\pi$). B) $\Gamma$-point and the k-averaged transmission function ($E=0$ corresponds to the Dirac point). C) Bond-currents at the two peaks ($\Gamma$) marked in the transmission plot ($E\approx -0.12$eV and $E\approx -0.58$eV).}
\label{fig:TransmissionAndBondcurrent}
\end{figure}

In this Letter, we calculate the current-induced phonon excitation in a small hydrogen-passivated GNC (Fig.~\ref{fig:TransmissionAndBondcurrent}) using parameters obtained from density functional theory (DFT).
We find a highly non-linear heating of the GNC which we trace back  to the deterministic current-induced forces, as opposed to the Joule-heating by random forces. In particular, the nonequilibrium electronic friction force turns into an amplification for certain phonon modes in the GNC. These will dominate the dynamics beyond a certain voltage threshold leading to a breakdown of the harmonic approximation\cite{bode_scattering_2011,lu_laserlike_2011}. Negative friction was theoretically predicted in the tunneling transport through asymmetric molecules\cite{ryndyk_nonequilibrium_2006,lu_laserlike_2011} driven by population inversion between {\em two} molecular states. In contrast, we show here how the GNC can display negative friction due to a build-in asymmetry of phonon emission/absorption.

In Fig.~\ref{fig:TransmissionAndBondcurrent}B we see how the
electron transmission of the GNC for energies around the charge neutral Fermi energy ($E_F=0$) is dominated by two resonance peaks originating from states presenting localized current along the edges(1st peak) and through the center(2nd peak) of the GNC, respectively. Resonances occur due to the diffraction barrier at abrupt interfaces in graphene\cite{darancet_coherent_2009}. By employing a gate voltage($V_g$) we may tune $E_F$ close to a highly conducting peak and consider the phonon excitation close to the resonance.
We will focus on the constriction gated to the 2nd peak, which is mostly unaffected by the boundary conditions in the electrodes(k-point sampling)\cite{brandbyge_density-functional_2002}, and exhibits little dependence on the applied bias ($V_a$), see Fig.~\ref{fig:FiniteBias}.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
\centering
{\includegraphics[width=0.99\linewidth]{Fig2}}
\caption{(Color online) A) Real space potential drop ($V_a=0.5$eV) integrated along the out of plane direction (in the region with non-vanishing electronic density). B) $IV$-characteristics for the GNC gated to different chemical potential. Gating to a peak lowers the resistance at low $V_a$. C) Transmission curves (shifted vertically) for different applied bias ($E_F=0$).}
\label{fig:FiniteBias}
\end{figure}

To address the phonon excitation in the presence of current we employ the semi-classical generalized Langevin equation (SCLE)\cite{lu_blowing_2010,bode_scattering_2011,lu_current-induced_2012,lu_current-induced_2011}. The SCLE describe the Joule heating, current-induced forces, and coupling to electrode phonons in the same formalism. For the mass-scaled ion displacements ($Q$) the SCLE reads,
\begin{eqnarray}
\ddot Q(t)&=&-K Q(t)-\int_{}^t \Pi^r(t-t')Q(t')dt' + f_{}(t) \,.
\label{eq:langa}
\end{eqnarray}
Here $K$ is the force constant matrix. The coupling to the electron and phonon baths are described by the retarded phonon self-energies $\Pi^r=\Pi^r_e+\Pi^r_{ph}$, and the random noise force, $f_{}(t)$, accounts for the Joule heating\cite{lu_blowing_2010}.
We consider the retarded self-energy due to the interaction between the phonons and the electronic current,
\begin{eqnarray}
\Pi_e^r(\omega)  &=& i\pi{\rm Re}\Lambda(\omega) -\pi{\rm Im}\Lambda(\omega) \nonumber\\
&+&\pi\mathcal{H}\{{\rm Re}\Lambda(\omega')\}(\omega)  +i\pi\mathcal{H}\{{\rm Im}\Lambda(\omega')\}(\omega) \,,
\end{eqnarray}
which is given by the interaction-weighted electron-hole pair density of states, $\Lambda$, and its Hilbert transform($\mathcal{H}$)\cite{Hilbert_def}. The four terms in this expression yields the electronic friction, non-conservative wind, renormalization and Berry forces in nonequilibrium conditions, respectively\cite{lu_current-induced_2012}.
Especially for the nonequilibrium electron system,  $\Lambda=\sum_{\alpha,\beta}\Lambda^{\alpha \beta}$, with contributions from left/right leads ($\alpha=L,R$),
\begin{eqnarray}
\Lambda^{\alpha \beta}(\omega) &\equiv& 2 \int \frac{d\epsilon}{4\, \pi^2} {\rm Tr}\left[\mathbf{M}^k \mathbf{A}_{\alpha}(\epsilon+\omega) \mathbf{M}^l \mathbf{A}_{\beta}(\epsilon)\right]\nonumber\\ &\times&\left[n_F(\epsilon+\omega-\mu_{\alpha})-n_F(\epsilon-\mu_{\beta})\right] \,. \label{eq:ephDOS}
\end{eqnarray}
Here $\mathbf{M}^k$ is the coupling to phonon mode $k$, $\mathbf{A}_{\alpha}$ the electronic spectral density for states originating from lead $\alpha$ with chemical potential $\mu_{\alpha}$, and $n_F$ the Fermi distribution.
The spectral density for the noise, $f$, including the Joule heating, is given by,
\begin{eqnarray}
&&S_f(\omega) = -\pi \Lambda(\omega) \coth(\frac{\omega}{2 k_B T})\\
&&- \pi \sum_{\alpha,\beta} \Lambda^{\alpha \beta}(\omega) \left[\coth(\frac{\omega - (\mu_{\alpha}-\mu_{\beta})}{2 k_B T}) -
\coth(\frac{\omega}{2 k_B T}) \right]\nonumber\,.
\end{eqnarray}
Importantly, we include the full electronic and phononic structure of the graphene electrodes, and go beyond the constant/wide-band approximation(WBA) for the electronic structure. This is essential for our results of the phonon excitation when the graphene system is gated close to electronic resonance.
We determine all parameters entering the SCLE above in the presence of current using first principles DFT and nonequilibrium Green's functions (DFT-NEGF)\cite{soler_siesta_2002,brandbyge_density-functional_2002,frederiksen_inelastic_2007,FN_settings}.
We restrict the el-ph interaction to the GNC-region where the current-density is high, and evaluate the electronic spectrum at finite bias, but neglect the small voltage-dependence of $K$ and $\mathbf{M}^k$.

We note that the GNC device-region in the present calculation encompass a basis of 1336 orbitals for the electronic subsystem (matrix size in Eq.~\ref{eq:ephDOS}). Thus in order to efficiently compute $\Lambda$ in Eq.~\ref{eq:ephDOS} beyond WBA we first limited the basis. We employed an expansion of the retarded Green's function and $\mathbf{A}_{\alpha}$ in the eigenspace of ${\bf H}+{\bf \Sigma}_0(E_F)$, ${\bf H}$ being the electronic Hamiltonian and ${\bf \Sigma}_0(E_F)$ the lead self-energies, which vary slowly with energy\cite{egger_vibration-induced_2008}. We have found it sufficient to limit this basis to 200 states within the interval [-7,6]eV around $E_F$. Secondly, we computed $\Lambda$ by parallel execution over the $\omega$ and $V_a$ parameters.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
\centering
{\includegraphics[width=0.99\linewidth]{Fig3}}
\caption{(Color online) A) Dashed(full) lines show the phonon density of states (DOS) of the GNC with(without) electronic current. A unstable "runaway" mode appears for an applied bias of $V_a\approx\pm 0.5$V as a negative DOS peak.
B) Heating (change in average kinetic energy per atom due to current) of the GNC at $300\,$K.
Full line: Result incl. all current-induced forces. Dashed line: only fluctuating force (Joule heating) and zero-bias electronic friction. Dot-dashed line: The wide-band approximation(WBA) without coupling to the electrode phonon bath. Dotted line: Full calculation neglecting the wind and Berry-phase forces.}
\label{fig:Heating
\end{figure

From Eq.~\ref{eq:langa} we can obtain the nonequilibrium retarded phonon Green's function,
\begin{equation}
D^r(\omega) =  (D^a(\omega))^\dagger = \left [ (\omega+i\eta)^2 - K - \Pi^r(\omega)\right]^{-1} \,,
\end{equation}
and the excitation in terms of the average kinetic energy of the phonons,
\begin{equation}
E_{\rm{kin}}=\int_{-\infty}^{\infty}\frac{d\omega}{2\pi} \omega^2 {\rm{Tr}}\left[D^r(\omega) S_f(\omega) D^a(\omega)\right]\label{eq.Ekin}\,.
\end{equation}
The phonon density of states (DOS) is given by $-2/\pi \omega {\rm Im}\left(D^r(\omega)\right)$.
The DOS is affected both by the coupling to electrons, in particular giving rise to nonequilibrium forces, as well as coupling to the electrode phonons.
In Fig.~\ref{fig:Heating}A we show the phonon DOS at applied bias of $V_a=0$ and $V_a=0.5$V. Most importantly, the DOS becomes negative at a particular phonon frequency ($\omega\approx 170$meV), corresponding to a negatively damped mode, denoted "runaway".
From Eq.~\ref{eq.Ekin} the runaway gives rise to a divergence in the current-induced change of $E_{\rm{kin}}$(heating) of the GNC at $V_a\approx 0.4$V, see Fig.~\ref{fig:Heating}B. This signifies an instability in the harmonic approximation, where the high excitation is likely lead to dramatic effects such as contact disruption\cite{dundas_current-driven_2009}.

The instability can be traced back to the bias dependent electronic friction, and disappears when this is kept at its zero-bias value. We further note that for $V_a$ above $\sim0.3$V the deterministic current-induced forces lead to a qualitatively different heating compared to that of Joule heating only.
Figure~\ref{fig:Heating}B furthermore show how the damping due to electrode phonons is crucial: The heating increase by an order of magnitude if the electrode-phonon bath is neglected. Moreover, if we neglect the damping due to the phonon-bath we observe runaway starting already at $V_a\approx 0.15$V, increasing to more than 15 runaway modes at $V_a\approx 0.4$V, both due to the effects of negative friction and nonconservative forces\cite{dundas_current-driven_2009}. The nonconservative wind and Berry-phase forces are found to be on the same order of magnitude for the runaway mode. Even though they do not themselves lead to the first runaway condition they lower the runaway threshold.

\begin{figure}[htbp]
\centering
{\includegraphics[width=0.99\linewidth]{Fig4}}
\caption{(Color online) A) Two degenerate modes ("runaway"/"IETS") at $V_a=0.4$V with $\omega_0\approx 170$meV. The "runaway" mode break the left-right symmetry due to the coupling to the non-equilibrium electrons and becomes unstable at finite bias.
The "IETS" yields the largest inelastic signal in the current. B) Inverse $Q$-factor (loss) as a function of bias for the modes.}
\label{fig:Modes}
\end{figure

We will now in detail analyze the origin of the runaway. We focus on the modes contributing to the phonon DOS peak around the runaway, $\omega_0\approx 170$meV. They can be found as the eigenvectors of $K+{\rm Re}\Pi^r(\omega_0)$.
The two main modes are displayed in Fig.~\ref{fig:Modes}. The "IETS-mode" exhibits the largest inelastic tunnel spectroscopy signal(IETS) in the electronic current and largest noise $S_{f,ii}(\omega_i)$, while the "runaway mode" is the first mode that turns unstable with increasing $V_a$.
In Fig.~\ref{fig:Modes} we show the inverse quality factor, ${1}/{Q} = -2 \frac{{\rm Im}(\omega)}{{\rm Re}(\omega)}=1/Q_{\rm ph}+1/Q_{\rm el}(V_a)$ (energy loss/period), for the two modes as a function of $V_a$. The $Q_{\rm ph}$-factor is relatively big, especially for the runaway mode, due to low phonon DOS around $\omega_0$. The runaway corresponds to amplification, $1/Q<0$, while $1/Q>0$ remains for the IETS mode despite a strong decrease with bias.

It is instructive to view the runaway in terms of phonon absorption/emission processes in a simple master equation for the phonon number, $N$,
\begin{eqnarray}
    \dot{N} = \mathcal B (N+1) - \mathcal A N,
\end{eqnarray}
where $\mathcal A$($\mathcal B$) are the rates for absorption(emission).
From Fermi's golden rule we find the emission,
\begin{eqnarray}
  &&\mathcal B = -2\pi \sum_{\alpha\beta} n_B(\hbar\omega_0+\mu_{\alpha}-\mu_{\beta}) \Lambda^{\beta\alpha}(\omega_0)\nonumber\,,
\end{eqnarray}
and $\mathcal A$ is obtained by a replacement $\omega\rightarrow -\omega$. Only a single scattering state, $|\psi_{L/R}\rangle$, contributes to $\mathcal A$ and $\mathcal B$. Expressed in the single flux-normalized eigenchannel, and assuming $k_B T\ll\hbar\omega_0 <eV_a$, we have,
\begin{eqnarray}
&&\mathcal B\approx \int_{\mu_R+\hbar\omega_0}^{\mu_L}|\langle \psi_L(\epsilon)|\mathbf{M}|\psi_R(\epsilon-\hbar\omega_0)\rangle|^2 \frac{d\epsilon}{2\pi}\nonumber
\\&&\mathcal A\approx \int_{\mu_R-\hbar\omega_0}^{\mu_L}|\langle \psi_L(\epsilon)|\mathbf{M}|\psi_R(\epsilon+\hbar\omega_0)\rangle|^2 \frac{d\epsilon}{2\pi} \label{eqn:ABapprox}
\end{eqnarray}
Here we did not include the intra-electrode terms($\Lambda^{LL/RR}$) in $\mathcal A$ since these vary only slightly with $V_a$ for the runaway mode.
The phonon absorption rate decrease while the emission rate increase as the bias exceeds the mode frequency, see Fig.~\ref{fig:AB}A.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
\centering
{\includegraphics[width=0.99\linewidth]{Fig5A}}
{\includegraphics[width=0.99\linewidth]{Fig5B}}
\caption{(Color online) Nonequilibrium friction mechanism. A) Phonon absorption/emission ($\mathcal{A}$/$\mathcal{B}$) rates for the runaway mode. Note that $\mathcal{B}=0$ for $V_a<\omega_0$. When $V_a>\pm 0.4$V emission exceeds absorption, $\mathcal{B}>\mathcal{A}$. Insert: At resonance scattering states giving the main contribution to the interaction integrals. The radius shows the absolute value $|\psi(x,y)|$ of the eigenstate, while the color indicates the sign of the real-part. B) Runaway occurs for the mode with the largest emission and lowest phonon friction. Squares indicate modes with a significant electron friction. These modes all have $\mathcal{A}$,$\mathcal{B}$ coefficients with same behavior as the first runaway mode.
Insert: Resonance between two graphene leads at certain filling (red dashed line) and bias voltage. An incoming scattering state (left green dot) at resonance (dashed line) can either absorb ($+\omega_0$) to a state with lower DOS close to the $\pi$-$\pi^*$ crossing or change to a state with higher DOS by emission ($-\omega_0$).}
\label{fig:AB}
\end{figure}
The electronic friction is given by the difference $\mathcal A - \mathcal B = - 2\pi \sum_{\alpha\beta} \Lambda^{\alpha\beta}(\omega)$. This difference manifests itself in how the $Q$-factor vary with bias for the runaway mode.
Importantly, we note that the symmetry of the scattering state $\psi_L^*(E_F)$ is almost unchanged from going {\it up} in energy (absorption), see $\psi_R(E_F + \omega_0)$ shown in the inset in Fig.~\ref{fig:AB}A. On the other hand the symmetry of $\psi_R(E_F - \omega_0)$ differs significantly from this.
Thus we can expect in general that a given phonon will yield very different emission and absorption matrix elements due to the symmetry.
In particular, the el-ph matrix element of the runaway mode yield very low absorption and high emission due to the selective symmetry of this phonon mode. The large phonon frequencies and linear DOS of graphene strengthens this symmetry breaking.
The negative electronic friction is found for several modes and seems to be a generic phenomena in graphene nanostructures.

In Fig.~\ref{fig:AB}B we illustrate how each mode shows up in a parameter space of the phonon friction and $\mathcal{B}/\mathcal{A}$. The dominating runaway mode shows up at high $\mathcal{B}/\mathcal{A}$ and low phonon friction. The other modes with a non vanishing negative electron friction are also displayed. All these modes have $\mathcal{A}$,$\mathcal{B}$ coefficients with same generic behavior as the first runaway mode (Fig.~\ref{fig:AB}A). In the general case where one has a resonance between graphene leads, insert of Fig.~\ref{fig:AB}B, the wave incoming at resonance will absorb to an eigenstate close to the Dirac crossing. Hence it will have low DOS and a dissimilar phase. On the contrary emission leads to an eigenstate with larger DOS and similar phase. This holds true for states dominated by the inter-lead contributions. Compared to the "runaway" mode the "IETS" mode has low emission-absorption ratio due to high intra-electrode terms, $\Lambda^{LL/RR}$ and a higher phonon damping.

We conclude that negative friction can appear for certain phonons in realistic systems such as graphene nanoconstrictions in the presence of electrical current. The negative friction effect is here rooted in the high phonon energies which lead to markedly different symmetry of the electronic states involved in emission and absorption and thus different matrix elements and rates.  Two-dimensional systems like graphene, where a gate can be applied, makes an exciting test-bed for probing effects of electronic current on the atomic scale.

\emph{Acknowledgments --}
We thank the Danish Center for Scientific Computing (DCSC) for providing computer resources.
The Center for Nanostructured Graphene(CNG) is sponsored by the Danish National Research Foundation.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


Sitting at just 3km from Caesar's Palace and a 10-minute drive from the Las Vegas MacCarran Airport is this club resort. Guests will have the convenience of a free shuttle service to the Las Vegas strip, they will have some many things do to in it that they will hardly ever need to go outside. They can splish and splash in any of the 5 heated swimming pools or prepare with a game of mini-golf before hitting the nearby full-size Golf Course. There are also 2 fully-equipped fitness centres where guests will be able to not simply maintain their workout routines, but try plenty of new things for keeping up in shape. Afterwards they can relax with a hot tub before heading to the all-day restaurant for a delicious meal or to the bar for a refreshing cocktail.


Thanks to our unique expertise in distribution, monetization and marketing of music videos, we are pleased to announce the option of monetizing all video content. With the extension of our agreement with YouTube, Believe Digital has become the only European partner to provide centralized management of video content.
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text:
Q: What is the average prevalence/density of stars in space? By average density $D$, I mean that, if you look at a huge volume $V$, you would expect to see $V\cdot D$ stars in that volume.
Just a rough answer is fine. I'm sure the prevalence of stars changes depending on time and location. But I'd like an answer based on what we currently observing.

A: This is called the stellar density. And it does vary according to location. As per link:
"Stellar density is the average number of stars within a unit volume. It is similar to the stellar mass density, which is the total solar masses (MSun) found within a unit volume. Typically, the volume used by astronomers to describe the stellar density is a cubic parsec ($pc^3$).
In the solar neighborhood, this value can be determined from surveys of nearby stars, combined with estimates of the number of faint stars that may have been missed. The true stellar density near the Sun is estimated as 0.004 stars per cubic light year, or 0.14 stars $pc^{−3}$. When combined with estimates of the stellar masses, this yields a mass density estimate of $4×10^{−24}$ g/$cm^3$ or 0.059 solar masses per cubic parsec. The density estimate varies across space, with the density decreasing rapidly in the direction out of the galactic plane.
The locations within the Milky Way that have the highest stellar density are the central core and the interior of globular clusters. A typical mass density for a globular cluster is 70 MSun $pc^{−3}$, which is 500 times the mass density near the Sun. In the solar neighborhood, the stellar density of a star cluster must be greater than 0.08 MSun $pc^{−3}$ in order to avoid tidal disruption."

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text:
Publisher: William Morrow
#BookReview #GoodreadsGiveaways The Gown by Jennifer Robson @AuthorJenniferR @WmMorrowBks @goodreads
categories: 10/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction, Noteworthy Book Releases
Title: The Gown
Author: Jennifer Robson
Published by: William Morrow on Dec. 31, 2018
Genres: Historical Fiction
Source: William Morrow, Goodreads Giveaways
Book Rating: 10/10
London, 1947: Besieged by the harshest winter in living memory, burdened by onerous shortages and rationing, the people of postwar Britain are enduring lives of quiet desperation despite their nation's recent victory. Among them are Ann Hughes and Miriam Dassin, embroiderers at the famed Mayfair fashion house of Norman Hartnell. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, but their nascent hopes for a brighter future are tested when they are chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime honor: taking part in the creation of Princess Elizabeth's wedding gown.
Toronto, 2016: More than half a century later, Heather Mackenzie seeks to unravel the mystery of a set of embroidered flowers, a legacy from her late grandmother. How did her beloved Nan, a woman who never spoke of her old life in Britain, come to possess the priceless embroideries that so closely resemble the motifs on the stunning gown worn by Queen Elizabeth II at her wedding almost seventy years before? And what was her Nan's connection to the celebrated textile artist and holocaust survivor Miriam Dassin?
With The Gown, Jennifer Robson takes us inside the workrooms where one of the most famous wedding gowns in history was created. Balancing behind-the-scenes details with a sweeping portrait of a society left reeling by the calamitous costs of victory, she introduces readers to three unforgettable heroines, their points of view alternating and intersecting throughout its pages.
Evocative, enchanting, and beautifully written!
The Gown is a captivating, sentimental tale predominantly set in London post-WWII, as well as present day, that follows the lives of three main characters. Ann, a young talented embroider employed by the esteemed Norman Hartnell; Miriam, a Holocaust survivor and émigré from France who becomes Ann's coworker and close friend; and Heather, Ann's granddaughter who after discovering embroidered flowers in her grandmother's possessions after her passing embarks on a journey to determine their significance.
The prose is eloquent and well turned. The characters are flawed, multifaceted, hardworking, and brave. And the plot, along with all the seamlessly intertwined subplots, is an impressive mix of drama, familial dynamics, emotion, secrets, love, loss, duty, heartbreak, passion, and courage; as well as an insightful look at life in postwar London and the importance of female friendships.
Overall, The Gown is a wonderful blend of historical facts and compelling fiction that's mesmerizing, gripping, nostalgic and perfect for those who love anything royal.
Thank you to William Morrow and Goodreads Giveaways for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Jennifer Robson
Jennifer Robson first learned about the Great War from her father, acclaimed historian Stuart Robson, and later served as an official guide at the Canadian National War Memorial at Vimy Ridge, France. A former copy editor, she holds a doctorate in British economic and social history from the University of Oxford. She lives in Toronto, Canada, with her husband and young children.
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#BookReview The Atomic City Girls by Janet Beard @janetbeardauthor @HarperCollinsCa
categories: 8/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction
Title: The Atomic City Girls
Author: Janet Beard
Published by: William Morrow on Feb. 6, 2018
In the bestselling tradition of Hidden Figures and The Wives of Los Alamos, comes a riveting novel of the everyday women who worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II
"What you see here, what you hear here, what you do here, let it stay here."
In November 1944, eighteen-year-old June Walker boards an unmarked bus, destined for a city that doesn't officially exist. Oak Ridge, Tennessee has sprung up in a matter of months—a town of trailers and segregated houses, 24-hour cafeterias, and constant security checks. There, June joins hundreds of other young girls operating massive machines whose purpose is never explained. They know they are helping to win the war, but must ask no questions and reveal nothing to outsiders.
The girls spend their evenings socializing and flirting with soldiers, scientists, and workmen at dances and movies, bowling alleys and canteens. June longs to know more about their top-secret assignment and begins an affair with Sam Cantor, the young Jewish physicist from New York who oversees the lab where she works and understands the end goal only too well, while her beautiful roommate Cici is on her own mission: to find a wealthy husband and escape her sharecropper roots. Across town, African-American construction worker Joe Brewer knows nothing of the government's plans, only that his new job pays enough to make it worth leaving his family behind, at least for now. But a breach in security will intertwine his fate with June's search for answers.
When the bombing of Hiroshima brings the truth about Oak Ridge into devastating focus, June must confront her ideals about loyalty, patriotism, and war itself.
Atmospheric, authentic, and immersive!
The Atomic City Girls is a fascinating story that sweeps you away to Oak Ridge, Tennessee during the mid-1940s when WWII was raging on the battlefields of Europe, and back home the American government was funding a top-secret project that would triumphantly and tragically have a resounding effect on the entire world for years to come.
The prose is captivating and vividly described. The four main characters June, Sam, Cici, and Joe are unique, hardworking, and patriotic. And the plot, interspersed with real-life photos, is a compelling story about life, love, friendship, self-discovery, segregation, survival, tragedy, war, romance, uranium enrichment, nuclear weapons, and morality.
Overall, The Atomic City Girls is a well-written, exceptionally researched novel that does a remarkable job of highlighting Beard's incredible knowledge into a period and historical event that is often forgotten or overlooked.
About Janet Beard
Born and raised in East Tennessee, Janet Beard moved to New York to study screenwriting at NYU and went on to earn an MFA in creative writing from The New School. Her first novel, Beneath the Pines, was published in 2008, and her follow-up, The Atomic City Girls will be published in 2018. Janet has lived and worked in Australia, England, Boston, and Columbus, Ohio, where she is currently teaching writing, raising a daughter, and working on a new novel.
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#BookReview The Dressmaker's Dowry by Meredith Jaeger @Meredith_Jaeger @WmMorrowBks
Title: The Dressmaker's Dowry
Author: Meredith Jaeger
Format: eBook, ARC
Source: William Morrow, Edelweiss
For readers of Lucinda Riley, Sarah Jio, or Susan Meissner, this gripping historical debut novel tells the story of two women: one, an immigrant seamstress who disappears from San Francisco's gritty streets in 1876, and the other, a young woman in present day who must delve into the secrets of her husband's wealthy family only to discover that she and the missing dressmaker might be connected in unexpected ways
An exquisite ring, passed down through generations, connects two women who learn that love is a choice, and forgiveness is the key to freedom…
San Francisco: 1876
Immigrant dressmakers Hannelore Schaeffer and Margaret O'Brien struggle to provide food for their siblings, while mending delicate clothing for the city's most affluent ladies. When wealthy Lucas Havensworth enters the shop, Hanna's future is altered forever. With Margaret's encouragement and the power of a borrowed green dress, Hanna dares to see herself as worthy of him. Then Margaret disappears, and Hanna turns to Lucas. Braving the gritty streets of the Barbary Coast and daring to enter the mansions of Nob Hill, Hanna stumbles upon Margaret's fate, forcing her to make a devastating decision…one that will echo through the generations.
San Francisco: Present Day
In her elegant Marina apartment overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, Sarah Havensworth struggles to complete the novel she quit her job for. Afraid to tell her husband of her writer's block, Sarah is also hiding a darker secret—one that has haunted her for 14 years. Then a news headline from 1876 sparks inspiration: Missing Dressmakers Believed to be Murdered. Compelled to discover what happened to Hannelore and Margaret, Sarah returns to her roots as a journalist. Will her beautiful heirloom engagement ring uncover a connection to Hanna Schaeffer?
Intriguing, thought-provoking and heartwarming!
This story is told from two different perspectives. One is that of Sarah, a young woman who stumbles upon an unsolved mystery from the 1870s while working on her thesis. And the other is Hanna, a young woman struggling to survive and raise her siblings in a time when women had no rights and few options.
It is, ultimately, a story about loneliness, loss, injustice, determination, strength, tragedy, guilt, and love.
The writing is smooth. The characters are strong, multi-layered, and fascinating. And the multiple plots quickly unravel into a engrossing mystery that not only manages to intertwine all the subplots, but also ends with a little surprise.
Overall this is a wonderful debut novel and I look forward to reading more from Jaeger in the future.
This book is due to be published on February 7, 2017.
Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Indigo, Kobo, Book Depository, B&N
Thank you to Edelweiss, especially William Morrow, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Meredith Jaeger
Meredith is a USA Today Bestselling Author. She is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area, where she was raised by a Swiss father and an American mother. She is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Her own engagement ring, which is an heirloom from 1903, inspired her to write her debut novel The Dressmaker's Dowry. She wrote it on weekends while working for a San Francisco startup.
Meredith finds the immigrant experience a rich part of the fabric of American history. Her second novel, Boardwalk Summer, will be published in June 2018. Meredith lives outside San Francisco with her husband, their rambunctious toddler and spoiled English bulldog, where she now writes full time.
Photo credit: Erika Pino Photography
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#BookReview The Wicked City by Beatriz Williams @bcwilliamsbooks @WmMorrowBks
Title: The Wicked City
Author: Beatriz Williams
Published by: William Morrow on Jan. 17, 2017
New York Times bestselling author Beatriz Williams recreates the New York City of A Certain Age in this deliciously spicy adventure that mixes past and present and centers on a Jazz Age love triangle involving a rugged Prohibition agent, a saucy redheaded flapper, and a debonair Princetonian from a wealthy family.
When she discovers her husband cheating, Ella Hawthorne impulsively moves out of their SoHo loft and into a small apartment in an old Greenwich Village building. Her surprisingly attractive new neighbor, Hector, warns her to stay out of the basement at night. Tenants have reported strange noises after midnight—laughter, clinking glasses, jazz piano—even though the space has been empty for decades. Back in the Roaring Twenties, the place hid a speakeasy.
In 1924, Geneva "Gin" Kelly, a smart-mouthed flapper from the hills of western Maryland, is a regular at this Village hideaway known as the Christopher Club. Caught up in a raid, Gin becomes entangled with Prohibition enforcement agent Oliver Anson, who persuades her to help him catch her stepfather Duke Kelly, one of Appalachia's most notorious bootleggers.
Headstrong and independent, Gin is no weak-kneed fool. So how can she be falling in love with the taciturn, straight-arrow Revenue agent when she's got Princeton boy Billy Marshall, the dashing son of society doyenne Theresa Marshall, begging to make an honest woman of her? While anything goes in the Roaring Twenties, Gin's adventures will shake proper Manhattan society to its foundations, exposing secrets that shock even this free-spirited redhead—secrets that will echo from Park Avenue to the hollers of her Southern hometown.
As Ella discovers more about the basement speakeasy, she becomes inspired by the spirit of her exuberant predecessor, and decides to live with abandon in the wicked city too. . . .
Once again Beatriz Williams sweeps us away into another time and place with a storyline full of deception, lies, adultery, jealousy, love, loss, passion and murder.
The story is told from two different perspectives. Gin, a young, strong-minded woman who enjoys her independence and the love of more than one man in New York City in the Roaring Twenties when prohibition, jazz, and speakeasies are the norm. And Ella, an intelligent, inquisitive woman who is determined to move forward after discovering her husband's infidelity in the Big Apple metropolis of the late 1990s.
The prose is exquisite and vividly described. The characters are flawed, multi-faceted, and intriguing. And the plot is a fast-paced, complex, fascinating tale with lots of twists, turns, action and suspense that will keep you engaged until the very end.
What more can I say, I really enjoyed this novel and I can't help but highly recommend it.
If you haven't had a chance to check out my review of her previous novel, A Certain Age, you can find it HERE.
This novel is due to be published on January 17, 2016.
Pick up a copy of this story from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Indigo, Kobo, B&N
Beatriz Williams is the New York Times bestselling author of A Hundred Summers, The Secret Life of Violet Grant, Along the Infinite Sea, A Certain Age, and several other works of historical fiction. A graduate of Stanford University with an MBA in Finance from Columbia University, Beatriz worked as a communications and corporate strategy consultant in New York and London before she turned her attention to writing novels that combine her passion for history with an obsessive devotion to voice and characterization. Beatriz's books have won numerous awards, have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and appear regularly in bestseller lists around the world.
Born in Seattle, Washington, Beatriz now lives near the Connecticut shore with her husband and four children, where she divides her time between writing and laundry.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
#BookReview The Fire By Night by Teresa Messineo
Title: The Fire by Night
Author: Teresa Messineo
A powerful and evocative debut novel about two American military nurses during World War II that illuminates the unsung heroism of women who risked their lives in the fight—a riveting saga of friendship, valor, sacrifice, and survival combining the grit and selflessness of Band of Brothers with the emotional resonance of The Nightingale.
In war-torn France, Jo McMahon, an Italian-Irish girl from the tenements of Brooklyn, tends to six seriously wounded soldiers in a makeshift medical unit. Enemy bombs have destroyed her hospital convoy, and now Jo singlehandedly struggles to keep her patients and herself alive in a cramped and freezing tent close to German troops. There is a growing tenderness between her and one of her patients, a Scottish officer, but Jo's heart is seared by the pain of all she has lost and seen. Nearing her breaking point, she fights to hold on to joyful memories of the past, to the times she shared with her best friend, Kay, whom she met in nursing school.
Half a world away in the Pacific, Kay is trapped in a squalid Japanese POW camp in Manila, one of thousands of Allied men, women, and children whose fates rest in the hands of a sadistic enemy. Far from the familiar safety of the small Pennsylvania coal town of her childhood, Kay clings to memories of her happy days posted in Hawaii, and the handsome flyer who swept her off her feet in the weeks before Pearl Harbor. Surrounded by cruelty and death, Kay battles to maintain her sanity and save lives as best she can . . . and live to see her beloved friend Jo once more.
When the conflict at last comes to an end, Jo and Kay discover that to achieve their own peace, they must find their place—and the hope of love—in a world that's forever changed. With rich, superbly researched detail, Teresa Messineo's thrilling novel brings to life the pain and uncertainty of war and the sustaining power of love and friendship, and illuminates the lives of the women who risked everything to save others during a horrifying time.
Incredibly moving, hauntingly realistic and exceptionally captivating!
This is an impactful story that is told from two different perspectives. Jo, an American nurse whose compassion and strength are tested near the front lines of the western front. And Kay, Jo's friend and fellow nurse who must endure horrific conditions and extreme brutality after being taken as a POW by the Japanese in the Pacific.
This is story about war, strength, bravery, hope, loss, injustice, love, and survival.
The prose is poetic. The imagery is remarkably descriptive. The characters are young, dedicated, damaged and disheartened. And the plot uses alternating points-of-view, and a back-and-forth style to give depth and understanding to all the personalities, relationships, and situations within it.
Overall, I would have to say I found this story to be profound and heartbreaking and a real reminder of just how indomitable the human spirit can truly be.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following Amazon links.
#BookReview Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson @PeterSwanson3
categories: 8.5/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller
Title: Her Every Fear
Author: Peter Swanson
Book Rating: 8.5/10
Growing up, Kate Priddy was always a bit neurotic, experiencing momentary bouts of anxiety that exploded into full-blown panic attacks after an ex-boyfriend kidnapped her and nearly ended her life. When Corbin Dell, a distant cousin in Boston, suggests the two temporarily swap apartments, Kate, an art student in London, agrees, hoping that time away in a new place will help her overcome the recent wreckage of her life.
Soon after her arrival at Corbin's grand apartment on Beacon Hill, Kate makes a shocking discovery: his next-door neighbor, a young woman named Audrey Marshall, has been murdered. When the police question her about Corbin, a shaken Kate has few answers, and many questions of her own—curiosity that intensifies when she meets Alan Cherney, a handsome, quiet tenant who lives across the courtyard, in the apartment facing Audrey's. Alan saw Corbin surreptitiously come and go from Audrey's place, yet he's denied knowing her. Then, Kate runs into a tearful man claiming to be the dead woman's old boyfriend, who insists Corbin did the deed the night that he left for London.
When she reaches out to her cousin, he proclaims his innocence and calms her nerves–until she comes across disturbing objects hidden in the apartment and accidentally learns that Corbin is not where he says he is. Could Corbin be a killer? What about Alan? Kate finds herself drawn to this appealing man who seems so sincere, yet she isn't sure. Jet-lagged and emotionally unstable, her imagination full of dark images caused by the terror of her past, Kate can barely trust herself, so how could she take the chance on a stranger she's just met?
Disturbingly creepy with rich characterization!
This story is predominantly set in Boston, Massachusetts and is told from multiple perspectives, including Kate, a recent victim of kidnapping who agrees to apartment swap with her cousin in hopes of a fresh start; Corbin, the intelligent, remote, secretive cousin; and Alan, the introverted neighbour with a fondness for people watching.
The writing is smooth and precise. The characters are varied, intriguing and dark. And the plot, although not exceptionally fast-paced, does a good job of creating suspense, fear and tension through a character driven storyline and an unconventional narration style in which the same story is retold from differing points of view.
Ultimately, this is a story about secrets, lies, deception, jealousy, manipulation, obsession and murder.
Overall, I have to say I really enjoyed this novel. It is definitely a well written, fascinating thriller that reminds us that sometimes there lies a complex, deranged, horrifying mind behind the normal facade.
Pick up a copy of this story from your favourite retailer or from the following Amazon links.
Thank you to HarperCollins and Faber & Faber Ltd. for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
About Peter Swanson
Peter Swanson is the author of four novels: The Girl With a Clock For a Heart, an LA Times Book Award finalist; The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; and his most recent, All the Beautiful Lies. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine.
A graduate of Trinity College, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and Emerson College, he lives in Somerville, Massachusetts with his wife and cat.
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram
#BookReview Without Mercy by Jefferson Bass @Jefferson_Bass
Title: Without Mercy
Author: Jefferson Bass
Series: Body Farm #10
Published by: William Morrow on Oct. 4, 2016
In the most suspenseful installment of the New York Times bestselling Body Farm series to date, forensic anthropologist Dr. Bill Brockton investigates a bizarre murder—and confronts a deadly enemy he thought he'd put behind bars for good.
Forensic anthropologist Bill Brockton has spent twenty-five years solving brutal murders—but none so bizarre and merciless as his latest case: A ravaged set of skeletal remains is found chained to a tree on a remote mountainside. As Brockton and his assistant Miranda dig deeper, they uncover warning signs of a deadly eruption of hatred and violence.
But the shocking case is only the beginning of Brockton's trials. Mid-case, the unthinkable happens: The deadliest criminal Brockton has ever foiled—the sadistic serial killer Nick Satterfield—escapes from prison, bent on vengeance.
But simply killing Brockton isn't enough. Satterfield wants to make him suffer first, by destroying everything he holds dear: Brockton's son, daughter-in-law, grandsons; even Miranda, his longtime graduate assistant, now on the verge of completing her Ph.D. and launching a forensic career of her own.
The dangers from all directions force Brockton to question two things on which he's based his entire career—the justice system, and the quality of mercy—and to wonder: can the two co-exist?
If not, which will Brockton choose in his ultimate moment of truth?
Dark, disturbingly absorbing, and incredibly creepy!
This is an insightful thriller that reminds us that even though we've come so far, there's still a lot of hatred out there.
It is gripping story about cruelty, captivity, violence, revenge, murder, and ultimately, evil.
The writing is crisp and clear. The usual 'Body Farm' characters are back, led by the intelligent, witty, persistent Dr. Brockton, as well as some new, sadistic, malicious ones. And the plot, along with several subplots, will have you intrigued, mystified, surprised, and gripping the edge of your seat from start to finish.
It's hard to believe this is already the tenth novel in the 'Body Farm' series, but boy it's a good one! If you haven't read any of the previous 'Body Farm' novels I would definitely think about picking one of those up as well.
This novel is due to be published on October 4, 2016.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following links.
Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada, Chapters/Indigo
For more information on Jefferson Bass, visit their website at: jeffersonbass.com
or follow them on Twitter at: @Jefferson_Bass
#BookReview The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter @SlaughterKarin
categories: 9/10, Book Review, Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural
Title: The Kept Woman
Author: Karin Slaughter
Series: Will Trent #8
Published by: William Morrow on Jun. 14, 2016
Genres: Mystery/Thriller, Police Procedural
Husbands and wives. Mothers and daughters. The past and the future.
Secrets bind them. And secrets can destroy them.
The author of the acclaimed standalone Pretty Girls returns with this long-awaited new novel in her bestselling Will Trent series—an electrifying, emotionally complex thriller that plunges the Georgia detective into the darkest depths of a case that just might destroy him.
With the discovery of a murder at an abandoned construction site, Will Trent and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are brought in on a case that becomes much more dangerous when the dead man is identified as an ex-cop.
Studying the body, Sara Linton—the GBI's newest medical examiner and Will's lover—realizes that the extensive blood loss didn't belong to the corpse. Sure enough, bloody footprints leading away from the scene indicate there is another victim—a woman—who has vanished . . . and who will die soon if she isn't found.
Will is already compromised, because the site belongs to the city's most popular citizen: a wealthy, powerful, and politically connected athlete protected by the world's most expensive lawyers—a man who's already gotten away with rape, despite Will's exhaustive efforts to put him away.
But the worst is yet to come. Evidence soon links Will's troubled past to the case . . . and the consequences will tear through his life with the force of a tornado, wreaking havoc for Will and everyone around him, including his colleagues, family, friends—and even the suspects he pursues.
Relentlessly suspenseful and furiously paced, peopled with conflicted, fallible characters who leap from the page, The Kept Woman is a searing novel of love, loss, and redemption. A seamless blend of twisty police procedural and ingenious psychological thriller, it marks Karin Slaughter's triumphant return to her most popular series, sure to please new and diehard fans alike.
Dark, gritty, and exceptionally suspenseful.
The first half of this story has the usual cast of characters, Will, Faith and Sara, doing what they do best, investigating a gruesome crime and relentlessly searching for clues and answers.
While the second half of the story is told from Will's wife, Angie's perspective. And even though we have been given glimpses of this manipulative and selfish character in the past, in this novel, we are finally given an in-depth look into her drives, desires, and motivations.
The writing is fluid, intriguing, and completely captivating. And the plot is jam-packed with murder, mystery, deception, secrets, lies, and manipulation.
Once again, Karin Slaughter has proven why she is a bestseller in the mystery/suspense genre. And even though this is the eighth book in the Will Trent series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone novel.
This book is due to be published in the UK on July 14, 2016 and in the US/CAN on September 20, 2016.
Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada
About Karin Slaughter
Karin Slaughter is one of the world's most popular and acclaimed storytellers. Published in 120 countries with more than 35 million copies sold across the globe, her eighteen novels include the Grant County and Will Trent books, as well as the Edgar-nominated Cop Town and the instant New York Times bestselling novels Pretty Girls and The Good Daughter. Slaughter is the founder of the Save the Libraries project—a nonprofit organization established to support libraries and library programing. A native of Georgia, Karin Slaughter lives in Atlanta. Her Will Trent series, Grant County series, and standalone novel Cop Town are all in development for film and television.
#BookReview A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams @bcwilliamsbooks
categories: #20BooksofSummer, 8.5/10, Book Review, Historical Fiction
Title: A Certain Age
The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers, brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.
As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she's fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa's wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.
But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother's cavalier, presenting the family's diamond rose ring to Ox's intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue—and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.
Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams' fiction and alternating between Sophie's spirited voice and Theresa's vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss's comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby's New York.
This is a riveting tale of passion, adultery, jealousy, love, loss, war, and murder.
The story is set in New York City, in the prosperous banking days of the early 1920s, complete with lustful indulgences, free-flowing gin, and copious amounts of cigarettes.
It is told from two differing perspectives. Theresa, a wealthy middle-aged woman, who enjoys her life as a married socialite, but at the same time is obsessed with her younger lover. And Sophie, a mother-less young woman, who yearns for more independence and freedom, and yet finds herself courted and betrothed to a gentleman almost 20-years her senior.
The writing is elegant and descriptive. The characters are glamorous, multi-faceted and flawed. And the plot is fast-paced, creative, and unique, with a past/present style, that gives depth, understanding, and suspense to the story line.
This is an extremely engaging story that will captivate you from the opening extract right through to the final page, and I highly recommend it for book club enthusiasts and historical fiction lovers everywhere.
This novel is due to be published on June 28, 2016.


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"Our sons plundered for their organs"
AUTOR: Donald BOSTRÖM
You could call me a "matchmaker," said Levy Izhak Rosenbaum, from Brooklyn, USA, in a secret recording with an FBI-agent whom he believed to be a client. Ten days later, at the end of July this year, Rosenbaum was arrested and a vast, Sopranos-like, imbroglio of money-laundering and illegal organ-trade was revealed. Rosenbaum's matchmaking had nothing to do with romance. It was all about buying and selling kidneys from Israel on the black market. Rosenbaum says that he buys the kidneys for $10,000, from poor people. He then proceeds to sell the organs to desperate patients in the States for $160,000. The accusations have shaken the American transplantation business. If they are true it means that organ trafficking is documented for the first time in the US, experts tell the New Jersey Real-Time News.
Young Palestinian men throwing stones and bottles at Israeli soldiers in Northern West Bank. It was in the area that Bilal Achmed Ghanan was shot dead and cut open at a hospital. Photo: Donald Boström
Bilal Achmed Ghanan, 19, was shot and abducted by Israeli soldiers. THe body was returned with stitches running from the abdomen to the chin. Photo: Donald Boström
Levy Izhak Rosenbaum being taken away by FBI agents. Rosenbaum is suspected of acting as a human organ broker. Photo: AP
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On the question of how many organs he has sold Rosenbaum replies: "Quite a lot. And I have never failed," he boasts. The business has been running for quite some time. Francis Delmonici, professor of transplant surgery at Harvard and member of the National Kidney Foundation's Board of Directors, tells the same newspaper that organ-trafficking, similar to the one reported from Israel, is carried out in other places of the world as well. 5–6,000 operations a year, about ten per cent of the world's kidney transplants are carried out illegally, according to Delmonici.
Countries suspected of these activities are Pakistan, the Philippines and China, where the organs are allegedly taken from executed prisoners. But Palestinians also harbor strong suspicions against Israel for seizing young men and having them serve as the country's organ reserve – a very serious accusation, with enough question marks to motivate the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to start an investigation about possible war crimes.
Israel has repeatedly been under fire for its unethical ways of dealing with organs and transplants. France was among the countries that ceased organ collaboration with Israel in the nineties. Jerusalem Post wrote that "the rest of the European countries are expected to follow France's example shortly."
Half of the kidneys transplanted to Israelis since the beginning of the 2000s have been bought illegally from Turkey, Eastern Europe or Latin America. Israeli health authorities have full knowledge of this business but do nothing to stop it. At a conference in 2003 it was shown that Israel is the only western country with a medical profession that doesn't condemn the illegal organ trade. The country takes no legal measures against doctors participating in the illegal business – on the contrary, chief medical officers of Israel's big hospitals are involved in most of the illegal transplants, according to Dagens Nyheter (December 5, 2003).
In the summer of 1992, Ehud Olmert, then minister of health, tried to address the issue of organ shortage by launching a big campaign aimed at having the Israeli public register for post mortem organ donation. Half a million pamphlets were spread in local newspapers. Ehud Olmert himself was the first person to sign up. A couple of weeks later the Jerusalem Post reported that the campaign was a success. No fewer than 35,000 people had signed up. Prior to the campaign it would have been 500 in a normal month. In the same article, however, Judy Siegel, the reporter, wrote that the gap between supply and demand was still large. 500 people were in line for a kidney transplant, but only 124 transplants could be performed. Of 45 people in need of a new liver, only three could be operated on in Israel.
While the campaign was running, young Palestinian men started to disappear from villages in the West Bank and Gaza. After five days Israeli soldiers would bring them back dead, with their bodies ripped open.
Talk of the bodies terrified the population of the occupied territories. There were rumors of a dramatic increase of young men disappearing, with ensuing nightly funerals of autopsied bodies.
I was in the area at the time, working on a book. On several occasions I was approached by UN staff concerned about the developments. The persons contacting me said that organ theft definitely occurred but that they were prevented from doing anything about it. On an assignment from a broadcasting network I then travelled around interviewing a great number of Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza – meeting parents who told of how their sons had been deprived of organs before being killed. One example that I encountered on this eerie trip was the young stone-thrower Bilal Achmed Ghanan.
It was close to midnight when the motor roar from an Israeli military column sounded from the outskirts of Imatin, a small village in the northern parts of the West Bank. The two thousand inhabitants were awake. They were still, waiting, like silent shadows in the dark, some lying upon roofs, others hiding behind curtains, walls, or trees that provided protection during the curfew but still offered a full view toward what would become the grave for the first martyr of the village. The military had interrupted the electricity and the area was now a closed-off military zone – not even a cat could move outdoors without risking its life. The overpowering silence of the dark night was only interrupted by quiet sobbing. I don't remember if our shivering was due to the cold or to the tension. Five days earlier, on May 13, 1992, an Israeli special force had used the village's carpentry workshop for an ambush. The person they were assigned to put out of action was Bilal Achmed Ghanan, one of the stone-throwing Palestinian youngsters who made life difficult for the Israeli soldiers.
As one of the leading stone-throwers Bilal Ghanan had been wanted by the military for a couple of years. Together with other stone-throwing boys he hid in the Nablus mountains, with no roof over his head. Getting caught meant torture and death for these boys – they had to stay in the mountains at all costs.
On May 13 Bilal made an exception, when for some reason, he walked unprotected past the carpentry workshop. Not even Talal, his older brother, knows why he took this risk. Maybe the boys were out of food and needed to restock.
Everything went according to plan for the Israeli special force. The soldiers stubbed their cigarettes, put away their cans of Coca-Cola, and calmly aimed through the broken window. When Bilal was close enough they needed only to pull the triggers. The first shot hit him in the chest. According to villagers who witnessed the incident he was subsequently shot with one bullet in each leg. Two soldiers then ran down from the carpentry workshop and shot Bilal once in the stomach. Finally, they grabbed him by his feet and dragged him up the twenty stone steps of the workshop stair. Villagers say that people from both the UN and the Red Crescent were close by, heard the discharge and came to look for wounded people in need of care. Some arguing took place as to who should take care of the victim. Discussions ended with Israeli soldiers loading the badly wounded Bilal in a jeep and driving him to the outskirts of the village, where a military helicopter waited. The boy was flown to a destination unknown to his family. Five days later he came back, dead and wrapped in green hospital fabric.
A villager recognized Captain Yahya, the leader of the military column who had transported Bilal from the postmortem center Abu Kabir, outside of Tel Aviv, to the place for his final rest. "Captain Yahya is the worst of them all," the villager whispered in my ear. After Yahya had unloaded the body and changed the green fabric for a light cotton one, some male relatives of the victim were chosen by the soldiers to do the job of digging and mixing cement.
Together with the sharp noises from the shovels we could hear laughter from the soldiers who, as they waited to go home, exchanged some jokes. As Bilal was put in the grave his chest was uncovered. Suddenly it became clear to the few people present just what kind of abuse the boy had been exposed to. Bilal was not by far the first young Palestinian to be buried with a slit from his abdomen up to his chin.
The families in the West Bank and in Gaza felt that they knew exactly what had happened: "Our sons are used as involuntary organ donors," relatives of Khaled from Nablus told me, as did the mother of Raed from Jenin and the uncles of Machmod and Nafes from Gaza, who had all disappeared for a number of days only to return at night, dead and autopsied.
"Why are they keeping the bodies for up to five days before they let us bury them? What happened to the bodies during that time? Why are they performing autopsy, against our will, when the cause of death is obvious? Why are the bodies returned at night? Why is it done with a military escort? Why is the area closed off during the funeral? Why is the electricity interrupted?" Nafe's uncle was upset and he had a lot of questions.
The relatives of the dead Palestinians no longer harbored any doubts as to the reasons for the killings, but the spokesperson for the Israeli army claimed that the allegations of organ theft were lies. All the Palestinian victims go through autopsy on a routine basis, he said. Bilal Achmed Ghanem was one of 133 Palestinians killed in various ways that year. According to the Palestinian statistics the causes of death were: shot in the street, explosion, tear gas, deliberately run over, hanged in prison, shot in school, killed at home etcetera. The 133 people killed were between four months to 88 years old. Only half of them, 69 victims, went through postmortem examination. The routine autopsy of killed Palestinians – of which the army spokesperson was talking – has no bearing on the reality in the occupied territories. The questions remain.
We know that Israel has a great need for organs, that there is a vast and illegal trade of organs which has been running for many years now, that the authorities are aware of it and that doctors in managing positions at the big hospitals participate, as well as civil servants at various levels. We also know that young Palestinian men disappeared, that they were brought back after five days, at night, under tremendous secrecy, stitched back together after having been cut from abdomen to chin.
It's time to bring clarity to this macabre business, to shed light on what is going on and what has taken place in the territories occupied by Israel since the Intifada began.
Watch this interview of Donald Boström by Palestinian Mothers
Source: "Våra söner plundras på sina organ" (Aftonbladet Kultur)
Original article published on August 17, 2009.
Tlaxcala is the network of translators for linguistic diversity. This translation may be reprinted as long as the content remains unaltered, and the source and author are cited.
URL of this article on Tlaxcala: http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=8390&lg=en
TIERRA DE CANAÁN: 20/08/2009
ENVIAR ESTA PÁGINA
tlaxcala@tlaxcala.es HORA DE PARÍS 12:25


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