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A Year in Reading: Eli Gottlieb
Eli Gottlieb December 20, 2007 | 3 books mentioned 1 2 min read
Eli Gottlieb's The Boy Who Went Away won the prestigious Rome Prize and the 1998 McKitterick Prize from the British Society of Authors. It also received extraordinary notices and was a New York Times Notable book. Eli Gottlieb's latest novel, Now You See Him, will be published on January 22, 2008. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
Once every few years, usually when I'm beginning a new book, I reread one or two of Saul Bellow's novels to prime the pump. This year it was Humboldt's Gift, the last great work in the high Belovian style. It's a book which has always spoken to my "inner prompter" to use Bellow's own phrase for the mysterious faculty within us that allows us, as writers, to "speak". The novel, appropriately enough, was dictated and then transcribed, a process which accounts for the rather jaunty sprawl of its construction. It's a big, loose, episodic thing, guyed entirely by the high-wire act of its prose, which has the innovation – surely that of a late style – of running adjectives together in way that leaves a painterly blur in the reader's mind. So Lake Michigan has "limp silk fresh lilac drowning water," and a woman is "roused, florid, fragrant, large".
The book is based on Bellow's close friendship with Delmore Schwartz, the fizzled literary comet of the 1940s, who wrote a perfect book of poems at age 24, lost his mind not long thereafter, and eventually died in a Times Square flophouse hotel, convinced that his wife had left him for Nelson Rockefeller. Schwartz's longtime shrink was a friend of our family, and I once found myself sitting in the home of the shrink's widow, looking at the written results of Schwartz's Rohrschach tests. They stated he was manic depressive, implied a repressed homosexuality, adverted to a probable alcohol problem, and concluded with a chilling definition of the poetic temperament. "It is probable," read the diagnosis, "that the mania has infected his higher reason." Ouch.
Eli Gottlieb is the author of The Boy Who Went Away which won the prestigious Rome Prize and the 1998 McKitterick Prize from the British Society of Authors. It also received extraordinary notices and was a New York Times Notable book. Eli Gottlieb's latest novel, Now You See Him, will be published on January 22, 2008. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.
A Year in Reading: Michael David Lukas
Michael David Lukas December 19, 2017 | 3 books mentioned 4 min read
Given the world we live in—a world with 60 million refugees and internally displaced people; 60 million people, each one of whom was forced to leave his or her home and life behind—it's hard to think of a more important book for 2017.
Michael David Lukas | 3 books mentioned 4 min read
A Year in Reading: Mark Haskell Smith
Mark Haskell Smith December 18, 2009 | 3 books mentioned 3
I was stunned by the fearlessness of the author, the sheer total awesomeness of the writing and by the weight of the volume. It's a big book. Like seven or eight pounds.
Mark Haskell Smith | 3 books mentioned 3
A Year in Reading by Andrew Saikali
Andrew Saikali December 7, 2006 | 3 books mentioned 2
A cursory glance at my 2006 reading list and I'm one scream away from seeking therapy. I'm all over the map, really. I couldn't even begin to explain the path that led me from Jonathan Coe's epic comic/psycho-drama/mystery The Winshaw Legacy (aka What A Carve Up!) to Jonathan Lethem's hallucinatory sci-fi Amnesia Moon, to Kenneth J. Harvey's tough, stylistically ground-breaking Inside, told from the point of view of a just-released convict, freshly cleared on DNA evidence – not guilty (but far from innocent).Along the way, Philip Roth's American Pastoral made me rethink modern history, Graham Greene's The Power and The Glory introduced me to a whiskey priest in Mexico's past, and William Boyd's An Ice Cream War took me back further still, to World War I as it affected the lives of colonists in what are now Tanzania and Kenya.All great, but what lingers the most:Re-reading J.P. Donleavy's A Fairy Tale of New York which Andrew Saikali (that would be me) previously described as the story of "an educated rascal with an appetite for life, intertwined with social satire."And especially stumbling upon Gustave Flaubert's Flaubert In Egypt, his actual journey, at age 27, along the Nile, told through journal entries and letters home that are passionate and ribald, frustrated and clear-eyed. To quote, um, myself (in a previous post), "Flaubert In Egypt pulls together these various strands and stands at once as 19th century Egyptian travelogue, youthful memoir, geopolitical Middle Eastern history, and literary artifact – the nexus of Flaubert the youthful romantic and Flaubert the keen-eyed realist."
Andrew Saikali | 3 books mentioned 2
A Year in Reading: Thomas Beckwith
Thomas Beckwith December 6, 2015 | 3 books mentioned 3 4 min read
I wish I knew why the U.S. Army never tried to weaponize old photos. When you look at the government's history, which includes such episodes as the gay bomb, it's difficult not to conclude they've researched nigh-on everything, to the point where you could justify a grim variant of Rule 34. If it exists, in other words, the Army has attempted to kill with it. Yet, as far as I know, our top military minds never tried to kill people with embarrassment. I guess even the cruelest officer has a flicker of basic decency.
I read a lot this year, enough so that I'm not embarrassed about it, but I didn't read all that many books in total, which seems like a bit of a paradox. How can I call myself a reader if I read so few books in that time? The answer, I think, lies in a photo, taken when I was 15. I'm contorting my face in a dimly-lit hall in my high school. My style, generally speaking, is that of Kurt Cobain, not because I'm some kind of super fan but because I'm sad and oblivious. I have unkempt, greasy hair, my shirt is ugly and baggy, and the cargo pants I'm wearing are somewhere near 80 percent pocket. I make it clear with every gesture my patron saint is Luc of Ennui. In my arms, a pile of books, so fat my elbow is a right angle. If you look at my friends, you'll see they have around the same number of books in their arms, yet somehow I'm the only one who's struggling not to fall over. Look closer and you see the culprit — one book in my pile is a doorstop.
When I was a freshman, that book was Ulysses. When I was a sophomore, Gravity's Rainbow. At some point in ninth grade, I decided huge books were key to being smart and attractive, a thought so wrong I could write my own huge book meticulously debunking it. I was That Guy, more so than I could possibly know, and I hope I satisfy your schadenfreude when I say I barely understood what I read. I plowed through these massive tomes and got maybe two pages of meaning. What I did get, however, was a taste for the rhythm of huge books, which can be summed up as: you'll be here for months, perhaps even years, so you might as well get comfortable, like a tenant.
All this explains why, around the the time Can't and Won't came out, I felt the stirrings of a deadly, ancient urge, the warblings of my sullen Inner Teen. "Hi there, douchebag," said the teen, his posture terrible. "Why not read ALL the stories written by Lydia Davis?"
"Okay," I said. "Please learn to shave and use deodorant."
I bought a copy of Collected Stories that day. Altogether, it took me four months to read, which begs a simple question: was it worth it?
Please. Is it worth it to give money to charity and feed stray puppies in the street? Is it worth it to exercise and strive to live true to your values? To ask me if it's worth it to read Lydia Davis is a bit like asking me if it's worth it to learn new languages. Both activities are self-evidently nourishing, and no one needs guidance to see that.
For 30 years, since Break It Down was published, Lydia Davis has been churning out a singular, high-quality product, taking seemingly no detours into other, lesser breeds of stories. If Can't and Won't is any indication, she'll be keeping it up for a long time. Early works like "French Lesson No. 1" are just as inventive and sly as things like the more recent "Idea for a Sign." There is, I think, no "bad" Lydia Davis, in much the same way there is no bad Scottish tweed, or no bad bottles of new Jameson whiskey. Her stories reliably function as literary submersibles, dropping readers canyon-deep in a bracingly smart frame of mind.
The problem with reading huge books is it's hard to start a new one after you finish. By then, it feels like a sort of betrayal, a break in a hallowed routine. That's why I chose something broadly similar in the form of New American Stories. I'd read a few already, among them "Home" by George Saunders, but the contents (ably picked by Ben Marcus) supplied me with a whole new roster of writers to mainline. Chief among them were Rebecca Curtis, Said Sayrafiezadeh, and Rebecca Glaser, but I was perhaps most floored by Maureen McHugh, whose story in the book is best described as futuristic Chinese noir. The warp-speed "Going for a Beer" shows Robert Coover is still going strong, and "The Arms and Legs of the Lake" gave me a grounding in Mary Gaitskill. And, of course, there's the 78-word-long "Men," a Lydia Davis story that appears in Can't and Won't.
I therefore spent the bulk of my reading time on two pretty hefty collections. One was 0.1 percent Lydia Davis while the other was 100 percent. Did I have a good year? I don't know. Do you like Jameson?
Don't miss: A Year in Reading 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005
Thomas Beckwith | 3 books mentioned 3 4 min read
Ouch indeed. Sad, too.
I'd love to see the Rohrschach test results for a few other authors I've met, over the past several years. Wonder if the results wouldn't be similar… –TK
A Year in Reading: Gabriel Roth
Gabriel Roth December 11, 2013 | 3 books mentioned 1 2 min read
I read a bunch of Virago Modern Classics this year, for a thing. All of them were interesting in various ways, and many were great, but the one that took the top of my head off was Vera, by Elizabeth von Arnim, from 1921.
Elizabeth von Arnim had one of those lives: H. G. Wells was her lover; Katherine Mansfield was her cousin; E. M. Forster was her children's tutor; Bertrand Russell was her brother-in-law. She was successful and prolific, and when she died in 1941 her obituary in the Times said that everything she wrote "was interpenetrated by her pervasive sense of fun." I am here to tell you that this is false, and that Vera, although very funny in places, is mostly interpenetrated by the author's terrible knowledge of mental torture and cruelty.
The story will sound familiar to anyone conversant with the Virago genre: a naive girl is swept off her feet by a charming widower, only to discover that marriage to him is not what she expected. (The book is named for the late wife who shadows their household — a thread that prefigures the better-known Rebecca.) What's less familiar is the virtuosic precision of von Arnim's tone, at once satirical and tragic even as the book builds into a psychological horror story.
I should be clear about that last part: this book terrified me. And yet it packs its sinister payload into an impeccably ordinary literary-realist novel, with character development and social observation and sharp dialogue. As I read it, on an airplane flight, I was at first charmed and entertained and then increasingly aghast, and when I finished the world around me seemed like an insubstantial lie.
Gabriel Roth | 3 books mentioned 1 2 min read
A Year in Reading: Mark O'Connell
Mark O'Connell December 6, 2014 | 3 books mentioned 1 4 min read
Let me tell you, I read seven shades of shit out of Peck Peck Peck, a delightfully illustrated picaresque romp about a baby woodpecker who goes around pecking a lot of household items under the tutelage of his father, also a woodpecker, before finally settling down to sleep.
Mark O'Connell | 3 books mentioned 1 4 min read
A Year in Reading: Charles Finch
Charles Finch December 22, 2014 | 3 books mentioned 13 3 min read
I read Elena Ferrante's Neapolitan trilogy this year. I read it twice, actually. It made me want to quit writing.
That sounds like the kind of cutesy thing you could say about any book you love, but in fact the reality of it was terrible, a sensation that lasted for days, a blend of nausea, fog, and loss. How can I explain it? Reading those books — My Brilliant Friend, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of a New Name — it was as if I had spent my whole life training to be a world-class swimmer, waking up at dawn to do laps, eating the right stuff — and then, all of the sudden, swimming in the ocean one day, I had been joined briefly by a dolphin and realized, oh, of course, that's what swimming actually is.
That is: There's a difference between naturalism and naturalness. Naturalism is still a mode. Ferrante's early books are great, but they're modal, full of the effects a novelist can use, beautifully deployed, but effects. By the Neapolitan trilogy, those effects are gone. As a consequence it has less immediate line-to-line dazzle than what we're used to calling great fiction these days, The Flamethrowers, for example, or even The Days of Abandonment, but what she buys with the sacrifice is a consuming naturalness. There's not a single moment of falseness across all the thousand pages of the books. In general, even the best novelists enter their texts; the great ones do it almost imperceptibly, but still, behind Walter's love of birds in Freedom, for instance, you just sense Jonathan Franzen's love of birds, a weak but noticeable magnetic draw from character to author. Whereas Ferrante works so closely to her characters' motivations, more closely than any novelist I've ever read, that it means the books are not so much realistic as that they are a reality. The result is intoxicating, art with all the beauties of a made thing and the authenticity of a discovered one. It's like a garment without seams that fits perfectly, or like those Vija Celmins rocks. It's like the opposite of the Pompidou Center.
The last 20 years have seen the ascent of James Wood's idea that what the novel offers uniquely is an encounter with another consciousness, and now we've arrived at the cultural triumph of his particular theodicy, Karl Ove Knausgaard and Ben Lerner. Those (wonderful) authors get rid of the problem of the novel by entering it overtly, and while that allows an magical nearness to them, it's a solution that's also an impoverishment, because it foregoes plot. An acceptable loss, you might say. I wonder. Wood's pressure toward interiority almost seems to me to forget the structure of life, which is so crucially at once internal and external. Life has actions in it. In reading a novel, it's profound to experience the self-in-other in memory or contemplation, but it's sometimes just as profound to experience the self-in-other during moments of decision. In Ferrante, we have both — they're told in the first person, but they're the story of more than a single person, of many equally weighted people. The plotting of their stories is so skillful, indeed so unplotted, in the sense that life is unplotted, in the sense that we don't know the future, that as readers we suddenly exist both in other actions and in their actors' consciousness of them. Not the latter alone.
I read a lot of things in 2014, and I would like to imagine I'll look back on the year and remember rereading Patrick O'Brian, whose achievement as an author of historical fiction I consider as great as Hilary Mantel's, or Six Memos for the Next Millennium and Mythologies, which have both been rattling in my mind since winter, or the mysterious and beautiful 10:04, or the funniest book I read all year, a fantastic self-published novella that if there were justice in the world would upend pro sports, Goodell vs. Obama by PFT Commenter, or the fifth volume of Marcel Proust, finally I'm almost done.
But realistically, Ferrante is who will stay with me.
It's considered unsophisticated to be normative about authors. Leave it to Buzzfeed, leave it to the Mike Trout zealots. I get that, but at the same time I also think it's important to believe in greatness, and I don't think it's always wrong to calibrate it. I don't know if Ian McEwan is greater than Don DeLillo, or whatever. What I do know is that before 2014, I thought Philip Roth was the greatest novelist alive. Now, for me, he's second.
Charles Finch | 3 books mentioned 13 3 min read
A Year in Reading: Scott Esposito
Scott Esposito December 14, 2008 | 3 books mentioned 3 4 min read


Q: Where is Red Beam Garage C located?
A: Red Beam Garage C is conveniently located at 1960 Post Road in Warwick only steps from T. F. Green Airport.
A: Our Rhode Island Airport parking facility is a 24-hour operation. We are always open.
Q: What is the best way to get to the garage?
A: We have two different points of entry for our garage. You can enter the garage from our Post Road entrance or you can enter the airport property from Airport Connector Road and follow the signs for "Arrivals". Dropping off guests? At the light, take a right to go through the arrivals tunnel. The members of your group can walk right into the center of the terminal. After dropping off, continue straight around the circle and Red Beam Garage C will be on your right.
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A: You will walk back to the garage the same way you got to the terminal. Follow the wayfinding signs for Garages A and B. You will walk through Garages A and B. The Red Beam Garage C will immediately follow Garage B. See graphic above.
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Please use the entrance on T.F. Green Airport Connector Road.


Brian Provinciano had quite a bit to say in a recent interview.
Kyle has a discussion/unloads some rage on how Nintendo's treated the Virtual Console.
Hey, Nintendo of America's giving us stuff again!
George Lucas just got upstaged. Can a game centered around archaeology and exploration...go down in history?
La-Mulana is finally upon us.
It certainly has come a long way.
La-Mulana is coming to WiiWare after all!
After over two years in localization limbo, LA-MULANA is available in English as a PC download.


Pickled plum and perilla roll is pickled plum (Umeboshi) paste and perilla leaf as the condiment. Sometimes sesame seeds are added to the pickled plum paste. They are rolled as thinrolls and popular as handrolls as well. No wasabi is used.


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The Atlas Engine: An Indiana Engine in Texas
Harry Seidensticker's 1907 4hp Atlas engine is sure a well-traveled one, ending up in Texas by way of Indiana, while exchanging a few hands along the way.
Story by Glenn Thompson
The Krueger-Atlas factory in San Antonio, Texas, in the early 1990s.
Circa-1907 4hp Atlas
Manufacturer: Atlas engine Work, Indianapolis, IN
Horsepower: 4hp @ 425rpm
Bore & stroke: 5in x 8in
Flywheels: 36in x 2-1/4in
Ignition: Spark plug w/magneto Hit-and-miss with vertical flyball governor
Cooling: Tank, thermosiphon
The Indianapolis Car Works was established during the early 1870s. It manufactured a variety of products upon demand. In 1874 the company was reorganized as the Atlas Works, and again in 1878 as the Atlas Engine Works. The company experienced rapid growth producing stationary steam engines, and in 1880 company officials decided to limit their production to steam engines and boilers. It soon became the largest company in the world devoted exclusively to the manufacture of these products. During the 1880s, Atlas was renowned for its portable farm steam engines and its steam traction engines. In 1897 production was expanded to include gasoline engines and in 1910 Atlas started producing Hvid (thermoil) diesel engines. In 1878 the Atlas Engine Works had 600 employees; by 1902, the company employed approximately 1,500 workers.
Atlas engines
Harry Seidensticker's circa-1907 4hp Atlas. The truck is a repurposed farm wagon.
The Atlas Engine Works produced 2hp to 5hp vertical gasoline engines and 6hp to 24hp horizontal gasoline engines, as well as steam engines and diesel engines. By 1907, the 5hp gasoline engine had been replaced by a 4hp model. Atlas gasoline engines had separate fuel tanks. Gasoline engines sold as King Bee engines had the fuel tank incorporated in the base. Both lines had separate cooling tanks. Engines were numbered in sequence, regardless of whether they were steam engines, gasoline engines or diesel engines.
A close-up of the vertical flyball governor on Harry Seidensticker's 4hp Atlas.
The Atlas Engine Works experienced a number of setbacks, and it went into receivership in 1907. In 1910, the gasoline engine portion of the company was sold to Max Krueger, the owner of San Antonio Machine and Supply Co. By 1912, all assets pertaining to the production of stationary gasoline engines had been moved to San Antonio, Texas, and a new company, Krueger-Atlas, was formed. Krueger-Atlas manufactured Atlas, Krueger-Atlas and Atlas Junior gasoline engines. Atlas Junior engines were hopper-cooled.
Automobiles and tractors
The Atlas Motor Car Co. was established to produce diesel engines and gasoline automobile engines. In late 1912 this company was absorbed by the Lyons-Atlas Co. The Lyons-Atlas Co.'s diesel engines and its Knight sleeve-valve and standard poppet-valve gasoline engines were highly regarded for their quality, and sales were brisk. The company produced Lyons-Atlas automobiles from 1912 to 1914 and Lyons-Knight automobiles from 1914 to 1916. These featured 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder Knight engines. Lyons-Atlas acquired the Hume Tractor Co. in 1917 and produced those under the Atlas name until 1918. Unfortunately, the Lyons-Atlas Co. experienced the same fate as the Atlas Engine Works and it went bankrupt in 1918.
A close-up of the valve gear on the 4hp Atlas
In 1919 the Lyons-Atlas Co. merged with the Hill Pump Co. to form the Midwest Engine Co. The Lyon-Atlas Co.'s primary product was diesel engines, whereas the Hill Pump Co.'s principal products were turbine engines and pumps. In 1922, the Midwest Engine Co. was reorganized as the Midwest Engine Corp. The Midwest Engine Corp. manufactured large turbine engines for ships, as well as smaller diesel and gasoline engines. Engines produced by the Midwest Engine Corp. were recognized for their quality and were used in some Huber and Bates Steel Mule tractors as well as tractors and trucks produced by other manufacturers during the 1920s. The Midwest Engine Corp. also manufactured Utilitor walk-behind garden tractors and for a brief period the company experimented with the production of automobiles. The Midwest Engine Corp. was dissolved in the 1930s.
Harry Seidensticker's 4hp Atlas
Harry Seidensticker's Atlas gasoline engine was produced by the Atlas Engine Works in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the early 1900s. It is serial no. 29744. The engine produces 4hp at 425rpm. It has a 5-inch bore and an 8-inch stroke. It weighs approximately 1,300 pounds, not counting the truck that it rests on. The flywheels are 36 inches in diameter and 2-1/4 inches in width. The belt pulley is 12 inches in length, with a diameter of 12 inches. The engine's speed is regulated by a hit-and-miss system. When the engine begins to run too fast, the flyball governor holds the exhaust valve open, thereby preventing the piston from creating a vacuum in the cylinder, which, in turn, prevents the atmospheric intake valve from opening and admitting the fuel-air mixture.
The exhaust pushrod and igniter, which is pulled on the backstroke of the pushrod.
The momentum provided by two large and heavy flywheels enables the engine to maintain a somewhat uniform speed. Each of the flywheels is mounted on the crankshaft by a split hub with two keys. The ignition system consists of an igniter with a battery and coil, with the igniter contact points inside the combustion chamber. A somewhat unusual feature is that the contact points are opened by a latch arm on the back stroke of the exhaust pushrod. The curved exhaust pipe leading to the muffler was advertised as being specifically designed to reduce back pressure, reducing fuel consumption and increasing engine power.
The Atlas' fuel pump has a lever for hand priming.
Fuel is contained in a separate tank. Before attempting to start the engine, a lever on the left side of the engine must be pumped to suck gasoline from the tank and prime the fuel pump. As is common, the engine is started by rotating the flywheels. A nice feature is the cast iron tool rack mounted on the back of the engine to hold wrenches, an oil can, and other tools and equipment.
The Atlas' connecting rod oiler (middle) and crankshaft oilers.
Harry first learned about his Atlas engine in 1984. At the time he was an inspector for the Texas Department of Highways, and was discussing old engines with the superintendent of a company that was working on a project for the state. The superintendent mentioned that he knew of an old engine in Spicewood, Texas, a small town near Burnet in the Texas Hill Country west of Austin. Harry and his friend Ted Krueger, also a collector, located the engine in a blacksmith shop in Spicewood that had been closed for some time. Harry was able to buy the engine for $150, which was a significant amount at that time, and he and Ted moved it to Harry's ranch. This was not an insignificant feat, as the engine was resting on its base and was neither mounted on skids nor sitting on a truck. Harry was able to get the engine running by himself, which was a source of much personal satisfaction, as this was one of the first engines he acquired, and he did not regard himself as a skilled mechanic.
The cotton wick on the connecting rod oiler transfers oil to the brass cup on the connecting rod.
Ranching consists of a series of "ups-and-downs," and one of these occurred in the late 1980s when Texas experienced a severe drought and money was tight. Harry needed some ready cash, so he sold the Atlas to Tim Bolen, an acquaintance who also collected engines. This was a difficult decision and one that Harry often regretted, although at the time it was the logical thing to do. Tim maintained the engine, mounted it on a substantial truck, replaced the cooling tank and did some work on the connecting rod bearings.
The Atlas' cooling tank; tall and lean.
In early 2019, Harry came into a bit of money and called Tim and asked if by any chance the Atlas engine might be for sale. His timing couldn't have been better. Tim was getting on in years and had determined that no one in his immediate family was interested in the engine. He was pleased to sell the engine back to Harry because he wanted the engine to remain locally and he knew that it would have a good home.
Proud owner Harry Seidensticker with his 4hp Atlas.
Harry is delighted to have the Atlas engine again and he enjoys showing it to friends and relatives. He has already decided that his grandson Ryan will eventually inherit the engine, a fitting continuation of the engine's history in Texas.
Contact gas engine enthusiast Harry Seidensticker at 444 Old No. 9 Highway, Comfort, TX 78013; (830) 995-3343

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Genes reveal gender of date palms
Published online 29 May 2011
Mohammed Yahia
Dates are a staple food to millions in the Middle East and North Africa.
Date palm farmers might soon be able to increase their crop yield by up to 100%, thanks to new research from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q)1.
Unlike many flowering plants, date palms are dioecious in that they have separate male and female plants. Only the female date palm bears fruit, which is a staple food across the Middle East and North Africa. Yet there is no way for a farmer to tell the gender of a plant before it matures, which takes around five years.
The researchers at WCMC-Q managed to assemble a draft of the date palm genome and then identified gene sequences linked to gender inheritance, and publish their results in Nature Biotechnology today.
"There are many sex-determination systems in nature. Plants are among the most diverse in the different ways gender is determined, including through temperature and nutrients among others," said Joel Malek, a geneticist at WCMC-Q who led the research. "Even up until this year many people believed the date palm would employ one of these 'non-traditional' methods of gender determination."
Similar to the XY-system of chromosomes in humans, the male date palm determines the gender of the offspring. Unlike humans, however, the sex chromosomes in the date palm are homomorphic. "They are very similar in size and appearance under a microscope, resulting in us requiring comparative sequencing to identify the region. That differs from humans where the X and Y chromosomes are so different in size you can readily differentiate them using microscopy."
Breeders should now be able to determine the gender of the date palm as a seedling as DNA can be extracted from the leaves. "As soon as a method is developed to extract DNA from the embryo, while not affecting the viability of the seed, we will be able to do it from the seed stage," says Malek. "I do not imagine this is far off as it has been done in many other plants."
A breeder's dream
A draft copy of the date palm genome will immensely help our comprehension of the date palm...Really, the uses are almost endless.
"Being able to determine the gender of seedlings early on in its development would indeed be useful. It would allow a plant breeder to select only male or female plants without having to wait several years for maturity," said Abdelouahhab Zaid, director of the Date Palm Research & Development Programme in the United Arab Emirates.
This would be useful when breeding date palms for a certain trait, such as disease resistance, says Zaid, "without wasting any resources on bringing up trees which will not be used downstream in the breeding programme."
"Most breeders are interested in the date producing females so 'wasting' space, water, fertilizer and time on the males will hopefully no longer be a problem," adds Malek.
The date palm is one of the three most economically important woody palms, along with coconut and oil palms. It is historically one of the most important sources of dietary carbohydrates in the Middle East and North Africa, where millions of trees are cultivated. The researchers sequenced the genome of three of the most popular varieties of date palm: Khalas, Deglet Noor and Medjool.
The researchers might have also pinpointed genes responsible for important traits such as fruit colour, smell and ripening time. "An additional gene family with significant differences was the lignin family involved in water transport within the plant and may be important in things such as drought resistance," says Malek.
Genetic variability
The gene families responsible for fruit quality are next on Malek's agenda and are important targets for breeders to improve the varieties of date palms.
"A draft copy of the date palm genome will immensely help our comprehension of the date palm. It should provide a rich source of genetic data, from which genes of interest can be identified," says Zaid. "[It] will also allow gene-identification, which in turn could help elucidate metabolic pathways and interactions in date palm. Really, the uses are almost endless."
Date palms are usually cultivated through offshoot propagation, where buds produced in the axils of dead leaves of the palm are cut off and replanted elsewhere. This produces date palms that yield fruit of similar colour and size, which is preferred for packaging.
However, continuous offshoot cultivation has decreased genetic variability among date palms. "This is extremely detrimental when a certain disease plagues a farm — because as all trees are clones — the disease would spread very easily not encountering any genetic varieties that may be resistant," says Malek.
"Using the markers we developed will encourage the planting of females that come from normal crosses, not cloned, which hopefully will allow the return of genetic diversity to the date palm," he adds.
Malek, J., Al-Dous, E. et al. De novo genome sequencing and comparative genomics of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera). Nat Biotechnol 29 May 2011 doi: 10.1038/nbt.1860


text:
namespace blink {

// ListValue (PolicyValue)
// ----------------------
// PolicyValue is a union of types (int / double / set<int> / bool ) that can be
// used to specify the parameter of a policy.

// TODO(crbug.com/1119481): Add the following types: enum, inc/dec int, inc
// double, set.
class BLINK_COMMON_EXPORT PolicyValue {
 public:
  PolicyValue();
  PolicyValue(const PolicyValue&);
  PolicyValue& operator=(const PolicyValue&);

  static PolicyValue CreateBool(bool);
  static PolicyValue CreateDecDouble(double);
  static PolicyValue CreateEnum(int32_t);

  // A 'max' PolicyValue is the most permissive value for the policy.
  static PolicyValue CreateMaxPolicyValue(mojom::PolicyValueType type);
  // A 'min' PolicyValue is the most restrictive value for the policy.
  static PolicyValue CreateMinPolicyValue(mojom::PolicyValueType type);

  mojom::PolicyValueType Type() const { return type_; }
  void SetType(mojom::PolicyValueType type) { type_ = type; }

  // PolicyValue getters.
  // Note the getters also DCHECKs that the type is correct.
  bool BoolValue() const;
  double DoubleValue() const;
  int32_t IntValue() const;

  // PolicyValue setters.
  // Note the getters also DCHECKs that the type is correct.
  void SetBoolValue(bool bool_value);
  void SetDoubleValue(double double_value);
  void SetIntValue(int32_t int_value);

  void SetToMax();
  void SetToMin();

  // Test whether this policy value is compatible with required policy value.
  // Note: a.IsCompatibleWith(b) == true does not necessary indicate
  // b.IsCompatibleWith(a) == false, because not all policy value types support
  // strictness comparison, e.g. enum.
  bool IsCompatibleWith(const PolicyValue& required) const;

 private:
  explicit PolicyValue(bool bool_value);
  PolicyValue(int32_t int_value, mojom::PolicyValueType type);
  PolicyValue(double double_value, mojom::PolicyValueType type);

  mojom::PolicyValueType type_;
  bool bool_value_ = false;
  double double_value_ = 0.0;
  int32_t int_value_ = -1;
};

bool BLINK_COMMON_EXPORT operator==(const PolicyValue& lhs,
                                    const PolicyValue& rhs);
bool BLINK_COMMON_EXPORT operator!=(const PolicyValue& lhs,
                                    const PolicyValue& rhs);
}  // namespace blink

#endif  // THIRD_PARTY_BLINK_PUBLIC_COMMON_PERMISSIONS_POLICY_POLICY_VALUE_H_

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: How to generate a GUID string in the same format as Advantage Database Server? I have an advantage database V11 in which I currently store a unique identifier which is a GUID string generated 22 characters long using NewIDString('F').
The snippet from the ADS help is as follows :-
"F or File – A GUID encoded as a 22-byte string using File and URL Safe base64 encoding with the format of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Base64 encoded strings are case sensitive and should not be stored in case insensitive string fields."
Is it possible to generate the same format GUID string in Microsoft SQL?
If not, the ADS Help file lists other formats as follows :-
NEWIDSTRING
 Returns a GUID formatted as a string. If the format parameter is not specified, the GUID string is formatted as a hexadecimal string with the following pattern xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx. The format parameter can be the following values:
M or MIME – A GUID encoded as a 24-byte string using MIME base64 encoding with the format of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Base64 encoded strings are case sensitive and should not be stored in case insensitive string fields.
F or File – A GUID encoded as a 22-byte string using File and URL Safe base64 encoding with the format of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. Base64 encoded strings are case sensitive and should not be stored in case insensitive string fields.
N or Numbers – A GUID encoded as a 32-byte hexadecimal string value with a format of xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
D or Delimited – A GUID encoded as a 32-byte hexadecimal string with a format of xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.
B or Bracketed – A GUID encoded as a 32-byte hexadecimal string with a format of [xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx]
P or Parenthesis – A GUID encoded as a 32-byte hexadecimal string with a format of (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx)
C or Curlybraces – A GUID encoded as a 32-byte hexadecimal string with a format of {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}
Can MS-SQL generate one of these?
Regards
Mike

A: In SQL SerVer the NEWID function creates new GUIDs (the SQL Server data type is called UNIQUEIDENTIFIER). A GUID is a binary value, the various formats you mention in your question are just that, merely different string representations of the binary value. In the MSDN page for NEWID example A shows the standard string representation of a GUID as XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX.

A: Creationg BASE64 encoded strings in SQL-Server is not straight forward, but possible.
So everything you need to create a GUID in the form File format from ADS can be produced by SQL-Server.
NEWIDSTRING(M):
-- Generate a GUID in the format "1Jg/YZ7tNkG7PQr1wVe7KA=="
SELECT
    CAST(N'' AS XML).value(
          'xs:base64Binary(xs:hexBinary(sql:column("bin")))'
        , 'VARCHAR(MAX)'
    ) AS "NEWIDSTRING_M"
FROM (
    SELECT CAST(NEWID() AS VARBINARY) AS bin
) AS bin_sql_server_temp;

NEWIDSTRING(F):
-- Generate a GUID in the format "1Jg/YZ7tNkG7PQr1wVe7KA"
SELECT
    LEFT(CAST(N'' AS XML).value(
          'xs:base64Binary(xs:hexBinary(sql:column("bin")))'
        , 'VARCHAR(MAX)'
    ), 22) AS "NEWIDSTRING_F"
FROM (
    SELECT CAST(NEWID() AS VARBINARY) AS bin
) AS bin_sql_server_temp;

Where F is just M with the last two characters (which are always "==") removed.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
by Maren Emerton
The American Nicaraguan School has several clubs including Pink Club, She's The First, and Rescatando Huellas. These are clubs that help support a certain cause or educate others on their work, in order to promote helping others. Rescatando Huellas, for example, is a club at ANS that helps and supports an animal rescue shelter in Nicaragua. This club has supported the Rescatando Huellas shelter for several years since it began to operate. From bake sales to field trips, this is a very popular and likable club at ANS because at the end of the day, the end goal is to help the animals.
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Top row from left to right: Sofia Bendaña, Alvaro Caldera, Roxana Espinoza, Dannah Rodriguez, Chairs Bertoni, Emma Lugos, Adela Arias, Paula Ruiz, Rene Bequillard, and Hannah Kuhlmann.
Bottom row left to right: Maren Emerton, Vanessa Artiles, Ms. Katia Chica, and Sarahi Huang
The club of Rescatando Huellas at ANS was started by student Maria Alejandra Morales five or six years ago, says Kathia Chica, the teacher/advisor of this club. Maria Alejandra discovered this shelter and took initiative to start a club that was different from others. Most of the other clubs at school focused on helping humans or the environment. However, Maria Alejandra knew that creating a club that involved helping animals would bring a lot of joy to kids at ANS, and would be a huge success. Since she started the club , the members of the club have had a great commitment to fix/help the shelter.
Vanessa Artiles joined the club in 6th grade and became president in 8th grade, making her the president two years in a row. "I love being able to help the animals in any way I can, whether that's by buying resources for them like food, or taking field trips to help keep the environment they live in safe and liveable. I enjoy being the president and I plan on running til I graduate."
Vanessa loves being able to form a stronger connection with the people in the club, the owners of the shelter, and the animals. This shelter has over 50 dogs, over 10 cats and used to have two pigs. "The owners of this shelter are always looking for help with supplies, as well as human involvement with the dogs," mentioned Vanessa.
Every once in a while the club will take trips to the shelter located 40 minutes from the American Nicaraguan School, and take items they need, such as water, dog food, and rakes. The shelter also appreciates the clubs' involvement with the dogs and cats because it keeps the animals more energized, friendly, and happy.
All of the animals are rescues looking for homes or even just someone they can play with, something the Rescatando Huellas club is proud to say that they have accomplished.
Although they still have several dogs at the shelter, the club continues and will continue to make an involvement to improve and reduce the amount of animals in the shelter.
What's Up Fourth Grade?
Maren Emerton May 9, 2022


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text:
Edinburgh Castle and a Penannular
Posted on June 6, 2014 by Roberta Estes
This morning we awoke to a sunrise over the sea outside of Queensferry which is where the port for Edinburgh is located.
Oh yes, and Edinburgh is not pronounced Edinborough, it's pronounced Edinburg, or at least similarly with the Scottish brogue. The Scottish brogue is comforting, homey. It feels like the language of the people.
Today began with tendering into the port. That means that the ship can't get close enough to actually dock. So they took 3 or 4 lifeboats and lowered them, amongst much swearing in languages I don't understand, but it was still quite recognizable as such. When they had trouble getting the flag raised on those boats, it didn't do much to instill confidence. In any case, we did get to port, eventually, but we were an hour late for our tour to begin. Here's our Carnival cruise ship, anchored beyond the bridge and we are standing in port
We were greeted one final time in port by bagpipers. I've enjoyed those greetings so much. Music touches the soul in ways nothing else can. This ancestral music is ingrained in the lives of my ancestors, and therefore, in me.
The earliest known human habitation in the Edinburgh area is from Cramond where evidence was found of a Mesolithic camp-site dated to circa 8500 BC. Traces of later Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements have been found on Castle Rock, Arthur's Seat, Craiglockhart Hill and the Pentland Hills. People have been here for a very long time.
By the time the Romans arrived in Lothian at the end of the 1st century AD, they discovered a Celtic Britonnic tribe whose name they recorded as the Votadini. At some point before the 7th century AD, the Gododdin, who were presumably descendants of the Votadini, built the hill fort of Din Eidyn or Etin. Although its exact location has not been identified, it seems more than likely they would have chosen a commanding position.
"Edin", the root of the city's name, is most likely of Brittonic Celtic origin, from the Cumbric language or a variation of it that would have been spoken by the earliest known people of the area. It appears to derive from the place name Eidyn mentioned in the Old Welsh epic poem Y Gododdin.
In 1603, King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne, uniting the crowns of Scotland and England in a personal union known as the Union of the Crowns, though Scotland remained, in all other respects, a separate kingdom. In 1638, King Charles I's attempt to introduce Anglican church forms in Scotland encountered stiff Presbyterian opposition culminating in the conflicts of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Subsequent Scottish support for Charles Stuart's restoration to the throne of England resulted in Edinburgh's occupation by Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth of England forces – the New Model Army – in 1650.
In the 17th century, the boundaries of Edinburgh were still defined by the city's defensive town walls, which you can see, along with the castle, in the drawing from 1670 by Wenceslas Hollar, above. As a result, expansion took the form of the houses increasing in height to accommodate a growing population. Buildings of 11 stories or more were common, and have been described as forerunners of the modern-day skyscraper. Most of these old structures were later replaced by the predominantly Victorian buildings seen in today's Old Town.
By the first half of the 1700s, despite rising prosperity evidenced by its growing importance as a banking centre, Edinburgh was being described as one of the most densely populated, overcrowded and unsanitary towns in Europe. Visitors were struck by the fact that the various social classes shared the same urban space, even inhabiting the same tenement buildings; although here a form of social segregation did prevail, whereby shopkeepers and tradesmen tended to occupy the cheaper-to-rent cellars and garrets, while the more well-to-do professional classes occupied the more expensive middle storeys.
A census conducted by the Edinburgh presbytery in 1592 recorded a population of 8,003 adults spread equally north and south of the High Street which runs along the spine of the ridge sloping down from the Castle. The population rose rapidly, from 49,000 in 1751 to 136,000 in 1831, primarily due to migration from rural areas.
In the second half of the 1700s, Edinburgh was at the heart of the Scottish Enlightenment, and had become a major intellectual center, earning it the nickname "Athens of the North" because of its many classical buildings and reputation for learning, similar to Ancient Athens. The University of Edinburgh was established by royal charter in 1583 preceded by the Royal College of Physicians in 1506.
My ancestor, George McNiel and his two brothers were supposed to have studied at the University of Edinburgh for the ministry before sailing for America where they arrived about 1750. He was born about 1720, so if this is true, he would have been in Edinburgh between about 1735 and 1750, or so. Below is an engraving from about 1753, so this would have been what George McNiel would have seen, if he was in Edinburgh.
We arrived in Edinburgh about half an hour after leaving the port and drove through the city to the old town to visit the castle. Edinburgh castle was a heavily fortified castle built on a massive granite hill in the center of the city.
Surrounding the city are actually 3 volcanoes, dormant now, but giving great height and character to the city itself. One rises in the middle of the city.
In this photo of old town from above, you can see one of the volcanoes as well.
The castle itself holds, among other things, the Scottish crown jewels. I love mysteries, and there is a good one that goes along with the crown jewels. In 1707, the crown jewels were sealed in a box. I don't remember the political problem at hand, but in 1818, Scotland's sovereignty was restored and the box was opened. When it was opened, there was the crown of course, and the sword and the scepter, but there was also another scepter that they have absolutely no idea why was included. Personally, I think it was Merlin's!
The oldest part of the castle and indeed, the oldest building in Edinburgh is St. Margaret's chapel at the very top built by one of the earliest monarchs to honor his mother who died in 1097. Very old and very small but so very full of history.
This is probably where Alexander Campbell said his final prayers in this lifetime. I don't know if he was my direct ancestor, but I do know that he was my relative.
The Kings were Celtic, but some of the wives became Christian and started bestowing names like Richard, James and Alexander on the sons instead of traditional Celtic, pagan, names.
Mary Queen of Scots gave birth here to the eventual King James I of England in the room known as the Mary Room or the Birth Chamber in June of 1566, which caused me to wonder about the DNA of the royal family and royal houses.
As I've traveled throughout the British Isles and learned about the history of the monarchy, it has become apparent that while the British monarchy was considered well, British, "the monarchy" as a whole was much more. In fact, the monarchs of the various countries and regions made it a point to marry strategically so that politics and power would come and go with spouses. So, I had to wonder, has anyone actually looked at and identified the DNA of the various "houses" of European royalty? How closely related are they? I'll make it a point to do some research on this when I return home.
This castle was extremely well fortified. It had 6 different gates at different levels, draw and drop bridges, a mote of course and it sat on top of a huge granite mountain, to begin with. Here's the castle from another angle.
And a view across all of Edinburgh, from the castle compound.
All of the heads of the clans would come here to meet. I know my ancestors were here. The Campbells would assuredly have been included. They would have arrived for important meetings and walked on these very cobblestones where we step today.
It's easy to see through their eyes in a place like this as I walk in their footsteps.
We know, beyond a doubt that the Campbells were here, because the portcullis gate, the main entrance, above, is situated beneath the state prison, better known as Argyll's Tower, as the 9th Earl of Argyll, Archibald Campbell, the Marquis of Argyll, was imprisoned there prior to his execution in 1685 by "the maiden." I didn't know this until after my visit when I was doing research on the history of Edinburgh castle. Amazing that I was in the right place and literally walked where my ancestors had been, and didn't even know it.
Below, the Earl and his second wife, Lady Anne Mackenzie. His first wife was Lady Mary Stuart who was the mother of his 7 children, including son, Archibald, the 10th Earl and first Duke of Argyll. You can see the Campbell pedigree chart here.
The Earl was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, ironically, within view of the Castle (in the background, below) where he met his demise.
From the castle, we walked down High Street, the old town, now known as the "miracle mile" which is where all of the shopping is located.
Jim and I found a Starbucks and had a nice coffee and then did some shopping. I bought myself something very Scottish, a penannular. This brooch or pin is used to pin and hold wool scarves. Mine is antique and beautiful. This one is from the National Museum of Scotland.
Below, a contemporary penannular at CeltArts (which is available to purchase) shows how a penannular is used. By the way, these aren't just for women. Men wear them with the scarves slung over their shoulders.
One of my favorite things in old cities is the little alleyways between buildings that are connected above the alleyway. They weren't alleyways originally, but now they are both too narrow and too steep for anything but foot traffic. I took pictures of several. Many are just wide enough for a person.
In Edinburgh, there are several private schools for children and there is a lot of academic competition to be admitted. There are two from which it's believed that the inspiration for Hogwarts was derived.
It's a beautiful city and the ultimate in what it means to be Scottish. It's not unusual to see men walking around in kilts as a business suit, complete with kilt, coat and tie, or sometimes kilts and sweatshirts. Kilts, here, are the ultimate in manly. For those who want to see what I mean, here's a link for you. Yes, it's family friendly, but word of warning, you'll change your mind about kilts forever.
I had to laugh, because in Scotland, I'm reminded of this cartoon about restroom confusion.
On the return trip, our guide talked about history and then we were back at the docks. The bridges here are very interesting and artful. One, the suspension bridge at left below, reminds me of the bridge connecting the lower peninsula of Michigan with the upper peninsula at Mackinaw City and could be its twin.
Our towel guy tonight wears a celtic tartan scarf with the beautiful penannular I purchased in the wonderful little antique shop below Edinburgh castle as we wandered. I don't know why these penannulars enchanted me so, but they did. Probably because these reach back in time, probably to the beginning of Celts and shawls, to hold them in place. They aren't contemporary and they have character already. They are quintessentially Scottish as well, and are heirlooms. The shop had a few new ones too, and they are shinier and unscathed, but the antique ones had character. My ancestors wore penannulars, certainly, and now, so will I.
Our towel guy also has a little book from Edinburgh Castle chapel and a small contemporary watercolor painting of the castle.
British Monarchy's DNA
After I returned home, I set out to see if anyone had done any genetic work on the DNA of the British monarchy.
The answer, it turns out, is yes. In August 2013, Bradley Larkin published a paper about the Y DNA of the British Monarchy in honor of the birth of the Prince of Cambridge.
Bradley said: "A review was made of existing genetic genealogy findings that infer characteristics of the Y-DNA of members of the British Monarchy. Nine sustained Y-DNA lineages since the year 927 CE were noted as dynastic groups. Haplogroup and haplotype characteristics of three of the dynasties were presented with two more dynasties noted as testable but unpublished. Cultural and geographical origins of these dynasties were considered as context for their DNA haplogroups. Specimen candidates for further testing were identified noting that some will require Ancient DNA (aDNA) recovery and analysis."
Bradley identified the dynasties of the British monarchy beginning in the year 927 and ending in 2013, as shown below.
Mountbatten/Romanov
Knytlinga (Viking)
Bradley then researched each dynasty and lineage. If lines have been tested, he provides the results. Several lines have no male descendants, so for those, we would need ancient DNA. The connections and interconnections are fascinating.
To view the detail and summary data about each dynasty, read Bradley's paper here, especially the summary table near the end.
This entry was posted in Y DNA and tagged 2013 DNA Trip by Roberta Estes. Bookmark the permalink.
10 thoughts on "Edinburgh Castle and a Penannular"
currentdescendent on June 6, 2014 at 5:52 pm said:
What a fabulous post. Ah, you brought back my memories of our trip to Scotland. I don't believe I have any Scottish heritage, but have always felt such a kinship. I loved it there. We visited the castle in July of the year we went and it was 50 degrees. That was a wee bit cold for me! Fascinating about the monarchy DNA, too. I can't wait to read a whole study about it (if it's written in layman's terms).
robertajestes on June 6, 2014 at 5:54 pm said:
The study is written by a genetic genealogist and is most definitely understandable.
OK, I'm going to print it out then. Thank you, Roberta!
Marilyn on June 6, 2014 at 6:29 pm said:
I didn't get to Edinburgh by boat, so I enjoyed your story. I keep looking for that Scot who endowed me with a love for bagpipe music. Every time I think I've found her, the name McCoy/McCay,is it Scottish or Irish? clouds the conversation. Your pictures are great.
katej841 on June 6, 2014 at 8:32 pm said:
Thanks, very interesting! I read somewhere that there are plans to sequence Richard III's entire genome, fascinating stuff
Pam on June 7, 2014 at 12:32 am said:
I enjoy reading your blog and find it very interesting!
Tom L on June 7, 2014 at 3:19 am said:
Roberta, you said…
"So, I had to wonder, has anyone actually looked at and identified the DNA of the various "houses" of European royalty? How closely related are they? I'll make it a point to do some research on this when I return home."
I'm sure you know, that will be a monumental undertaking. But it anyone can tackle it – my money is on you. You go girl! You are amazing!
Kathy Smigun on June 7, 2014 at 4:47 pm said:
Roberta – I forwarded your story to a delightful Scottish lady who lives near me. I thought you might enjoy her comments:
Dame Kathy (I am assuming you kinow "Dame" in Britain is something really super.)
You have no idea how much I enjoyed the e-mail you sent me about Edinburgh and
surrounds.
Found a mistake or two, but then I think I know it all.
Folks in Edinburgh never call it Edinburg. Edinburgh is pronouned by Scots as
Edin-burra. And as it says never as Edinborro.
The high point they are referring to at the start where a stronghold might be built for
safety is, of course, where Edinburgh Castle is located.Back in 800 AD or earlier at the top of the
volcanic plug where Edinburgh Castle is today was a fort of some kind. Up there
huddled around the castle were huts, etc. for the locals. For safety, of course.
Now, the volcanic plug goes from the Castle downhill like a spine and ends up at
Holyrood Palace – a mile.
The early early homes were built on either side of the spine. There was no way
to expand outward so they built up sometimes to 14 or 15 floors – hence Edinburgh had the
first skyscrapers. Of course, no plumbing so you can imagine the "toilet" situation.
"Slops" were gathered in "potties" and thrown out the windows down into the street.
Because the folks doing he throwing didn't want it all to fall on a passerby they
shouted the words "Gardey loo" which was the Scottish version of the French –
regardez l'eau.
I believe Edinburgh was the worst smelling city in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Also in those many homes built down on both sides of the spine lived lords and
ladies side by side with ordinary workmen and their families.
Now, on the north side of the castle rock was a loch. Evil smelling no doubt.
They drained that loch in the 1700's and made the Gardens. Then they started
to build north of Princces St. which is north of the loch the new Town.
All terraced homes with plumbing. The rich moved there and the poor folks took
over the High St., – Royal mile.
When I lived in Edinburgh parts of of the High Street were awful and slummy.
Now, when I went home 7 years ago we learned it's all very trendy and expensive
to live on the Royal Mile. Yes, they fixed the plumbing!
You can go into a lane off the High Street and come out into courtyards with
views to the south and a drop down. Homes there, too. Some of our famous
worthy people lived there because Holyrood Palace was at the bottom of the
Royal Mile and which ever King or Queen ruled. The Palace was put together
a thousand years ago.
They mention three volcanos, extinct. I only know of one and that is Arthur's
Seat, the top of which can be seen in one of the pictures. When looked at in
a certain way Arthur Seat is shaped like a reclining lion – 800 odd feet. The Salisbury Crags
are nearby made of lava and high. We used to play there. Lots of wide open areas
for children. I don't think children will play in that huge expanse any more because
of the way the world has gone. Maybe large boy scout groups or girl guide groups.
Gorgeous place. Because Queen Elizageth II is on the throne it is called the Queen's
Park. When Charles gets on the throne it'll become the King's Park.
Those who think King Arthur was definitely not from Cornwall or Wales
think he lived on the west coast of Scotland and one day sat up on top of the
extinct volcano and it was named Arthur's Seat. The Queen's Park where Arthur's
Seat is is enormous with lakes, woodlands, etc. The city is all around it.
My High School was a a hill looking at Arthur's Seat. What a view we had of that
whole area.
Mention Edinburgh and it's history and I am off and running writing about it. Many
thanks for sending your e-mail in the first place.
And that is that. I am going to send your e-mail on to other Edinburgh folks
who live in Hemet, Riverside and Banning. Many thanks.
A DNA newsletter – sounds interesting.
Lady Ella
Marie Rundquist on June 7, 2014 at 5:48 pm said:
Thank you for this post and your beautiful photographs, Roberta. Our family has participated in the "Kirkin o' the Tartan" more than once (in Washington, D.C., and in North Carolina at MacRae meadows). My brother marched with the "Bruce" clan at at least one of these events. We had a "Bruce" grandmother a few generations ago in the New England side of our family and it is from her that we have this line of descent. My brother wore the colors (in his kilt), as did his wife (in her sash), when they were married this year. After attending the "Kirkin o' the Tartan" in MacRae meadows my ears were ringing with the sound of bagpipes –and I could hear them, playing, long after the music had ceased! I've heard this is a common experience — bagpipes seem to have an "afterlife." There are the songs, of course: Scotland the Brave, Scotts Wha Hae, and once you've heard these songs played on the bagpipes, and a group of men singing them, very loudly (as they must be heard above the bagpipes), you'll know them for life!!! Bagpipes work that way!
Thank you again for allowing this reader to experience your adventure with you.
Susan Brown on June 7, 2014 at 7:47 pm said:
I look so forward to your emails. Years ago I was in Scotland and visited
Sterling Castle too. Takes me back years. You are so wonderfully eloquent in your delivery and one can feel they are right there too with you both. A HUGE CANADIAN thank you to for sharing with others, Susan
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Fayette Teachers Receive Bright Ideas Grants from EMC
Palmetto, GA—November 20, 2015—Eleven Fayette school teachers were surprised with goodie bags, supplies and Bright Ideas checks ranging from $640 to $1,500 when a group of Operation Round Up representatives showed up Oct. 19-20 to announce winners in classrooms across the county.
Every year, Coweta-Fayette EMC's Operation Round Up initiative gives educators the opportunity to apply for grants dedicated to special teaching projects not often available in tightly budgeted school systems. Through this program, the Coweta-Fayette Trust, Inc., Board of Directors awarded $30,000 in Bright Ideas grants for 2015 to 23 deserving recipients throughout the EMC service area.
Earlier in the year, the board asked K-12 teachers to submit proposals for innovative classroom projects, and nearly 60 grant applications were received. Without knowing the names of schools or the educators involved, a group of retired teachers from Coweta, Fayette and Heard Counties rated requests according to the level of creativity, as well as potential student involvement.
Winners in Fayette County were: Permeil Dass, Sandy Creek High, $1,500 for "Connecting and Growing"; Stephanie Lemons, Kedron Elementary, $1,460 for "Lead the Way"; Guy Serapion, Huddleston Elementary, $1,500 for "You Are My Sunshine"; Meehan Murphy, Rising Starr Middle; $1,500 for "Screen Printing Fashion Fundamentals"; Adele Moore, Huddleston Elementary, $1,064.80 for "Something to Buzz About – Coding with BeeBots"; Lisa Roby, Whitewater Middle, $1,500 for "iPads for iNdependence"; Grace Cannon, McIntosh High, $642.70 for "EnteroPluri Identification"; Gina Zollo Perrotta, Peeples Elementary, $1,500 for "Interactive Writer's Workshop"; Gail Frantz, Peeples Elementary, $1,172 for "Please Lettuce Grow"; and Susan M. Boyd, Bennett's Mill Middle, $1,382.49 for "Taking Care of Myself."
The Bright Ideas program is sponsored by the Coweta-Fayette EMC Operation Round Up Trust from funds raised by EMC members who allow their bills to be "rounded up" to the nearest dollar each month. This is the 11th year the Bright Ideas grant has been available, and it will be offered to educators once again for the 2015-2016 school year. Interested teachers are encouraged to begin working now on plans for their applications.
Operation Round Up is a Coweta-Fayette EMC program that contributes more than $250,000 each year to worthy groups in the cooperative service area. These awards are made possible by voluntary contributions from EMC members and managed through a separate board of directors, the Coweta-Fayette Trust, Inc., Board of Directors.
Coweta-Fayette EMC is a consumer-owned cooperative providing electricity and related services to more than 76,000 member accounts in Coweta, Fayette, Heard, South Fulton, Clayton, Spalding, Troup and Meriwether Counties.
Huddleston Elementary School teacher Adele Moore (second from left) accepts her Bright Ideas award for "Something to Buzz About – Coding with BeeBots" from Operation Round Up Director Bob Reeves and Bright Ideas judges (from l-r) Rachel Colbert, Phyllis King and Wanda Hicks.


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New York Securities Regulator, NYDFS, Creates New Division to Oversee and Develop Fintech and Cryptocurrencies
July 24, 2019 @ 10:26 pm By Cali Haan
One year ago, former NYDFS (New York Department of Financial Services) Superintendent Maria T Vullo, issued a statement in which she said her organization, which regulate New York financial markets, "fiercely opposes the Department of Treasury's endorsement of regulatory 'sandboxes' for financial technology companies."
Vullo's strong stance was based on her belief that fintech firms were trying to wiggle out of abiding by laws that other financial firms were beholden to:
"The idea that innovation will flourish only by allowing companies to evade laws that protect consumers, and which also safeguard markets and mitigate risk for the financial services industry, is preposterous."
"Toddlers play in sandboxes. Adults play by the rules," she said.
But yesterday, the NYDFS's new superintendent, Linda A Lacewell announced the creation of a new, "Research and Innovation Division at the Department of Financial Services (DFS)…(and) leadership appointments…strengthening the mission of the Department as technology transforms the regulatory landscape."
According to the announcement, "Matthew Homer will lead…as Executive Deputy Superintendent; Matthew Siegel and Olivia Bumgardner will be Deputy Superintendents…; and Andrew Lucas will serve as Counsel…"
The new division of the NYDFS has been launched to forward the state of New York as a centre for innovation in finance, Superintendent Bracewell states:
"The financial services regulatory landscape needs to evolve and adapt as innovation in banking, insurance and regulatory technology continues to grow…This new division and these appointments position DFS as the regulator of the future, allowing the Department to better protect consumers, develop best practices, and analyze market data to strengthen New York's standing as the center of financial innovation."
Cryptocurrency firms who covet the customer base in New York financial markets have long complained about onerous regulations in the state that they claimed were there to protect incumbents' market share.
The new division, the NYDFS hopes, will "preserve New York's competitiveness" in financial innovation:
"The new Research and Innovation Division will support internal transformation and market innovation, ensuring that DFS keeps pace with the rapid changes in all sectors of the financial services industry and that New York remains the jurisdiction of choice for innovators. It will house the Department's division responsible for licensing and supervising virtual currencies, and it will assess new efforts to use technology to address financial exclusion; identify and protect consumer data rights; and encourage innovations in the financial services marketplace to preserve New York's competitiveness as a financial innovation hub."
New York State Department of Financial Services Approves Virtual Currency & Money Transmitter License for Tagomi Trading
ICYMI: New York Department of Financial Services Creates New Cybersecurity Division
New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Authorizes Paxos to Offer First Gold-Backed Virtual Currency in New York State
Paxos Now Authorized By New York's Department of Financial Services to Offer Bankchain Precious Metals Platform
A Win for Fintech? Linda Lacewell Nominated as Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services
New York Department of Financial Services Gets Go Ahead to Pursue OCC Fintech Charter Lawsuit
New York Department of Financial Services Approves Gemini & Paxos Stablecoins Pegged to US Dollar
New York Department of Financial Services is Revisiting its Controversial Virtual Currency License, BitLicense
Coinbase Approved by New York State Department of Financial Services as Custody Trust Company
Lawless, Ill-Conceived, and Destabilizing of Financial Markets: New York Department of Financial Services Sues OCC Over Fintech Charter
"Solidarity Trip" Results in Closer Fintech Ties Between Israel and State of New York
Final Judgement: OCC Loses Fintech Charter Legal Battle as Judge Rules in Favor of New York State Department of Financial Services
Series of Tweets Regarding Apple Card Brings Scrutiny of New York Department of Financial Services
Standard Chartered Reaches Settlement With New York State Department of Financial Services Regarding Foreign Exchange Conduct
Turf War! New York State Department of Financial Services Tells OCC to Back Off Fintech Charter
This entry was posted in Fintech, Politics, Legal & Regulation and tagged dfs, linda lacewell, new york. Bookmark the permalink.


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După cucerirea Hispaniei de la cartaginezi, romanii împărțeau teritoriul cucerit în două provincii: Hispania Citerior (coasta de est, de la Munții Pirinei la Cartagena) și Ulterior (aproximativ Andaluzia de astăzi). Administrația își avea sediul în orașul Tarraco (astăzi Tarragona). Pe măsură ce romanii își întindeau stăpânirea în interiorul peninsulei, Hispania Citerior se transforma în provincia romană Hispania Tarraconensis, care se întindea de la Marea Mediterană până în Galicia.
Provincii romane

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


GreatHorse-New Clubhouse | C.E. Floyd Company, Inc.
The Owners of GreatHorse created a 'Lifestyle Club' where you can come, kick your shoes off, relax and not have to worry about the rules. The 25,000 SF high-end clubhouse was modeled after two Jackson Hole resorts: The Four Seasons and The Shooting Star Resort.
The location of the new clubhouse has gorgeous 180 degree views overlooking the Pioneer Valley. Amenities include men and women's locker rooms with steam rooms and sauna, separate men's and women's lounges, spa and treatment room, exercise room, conference room, pro shop, two golf simulators, dining room with indoor and outdoor seating, bar and lounge, and club room.
"Starting with the conceptual estimate, through the value-engineering process, and throughout the whole construction phase, the C.E. Floyd Company staff showed us their hard work and professionalism. It was a pleasure to work with your team of dedicated professionals who made every effort to achieve our project goals of opening the country club on time and to the highest quality."


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De Simone v. VSL Pharm., Inc., Civil Action No. TDC-15-1356
Court United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court (Maryland)
Writing for the Court THEODORE D. CHUANG, United States District Judge
Citation 395 F.Supp.3d 617
Parties Claudio DE SIMONE, Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant, ExeGi Pharma, LLC, Plaintiff, v. VSL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff, Leadiant Biosciences, Inc., and Alfasigma USA, Inc., Defendants, v. Danisco USA, Inc., Counterclaim Defendant.
Docket Number Civil Action No. TDC-15-1356
395 F.Supp.3d 617
Claudio DE SIMONE, Plaintiff/Counterclaim Defendant,
ExeGi Pharma, LLC, Plaintiff,
VSL PHARMACEUTICALS, INC., Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff,
Leadiant Biosciences, Inc., and Alfasigma USA, Inc., Defendants,
Danisco USA, Inc., Counterclaim Defendant.
Civil Action No. TDC-15-1356
United States District Court, D. Maryland.
Signed June 20, 2019
Jeremy W. Schulman, Jeffrey Samuel Gavenman, Koushik Bhattacharya, Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC, Bethesda, MD, for Plaintiffs/Counterclaim Defendant.
Charles S. Fax, Rifkin Livingston Levitan and Silver LLC, Bethesda, MD, Liesel Johanna Schopler, Rifkin Weiner Livingston Levitan and Silver LLC, Annapolis, MD, Erinn M. Maguire, Robert Scott Brennen, Miles and Stockbridge PC, Baltimore, MD, Lydia Ferrarese, Mark A. Weissman, Brian T. Carr, Pro Hac Vice, Herzfeld and Rubin PC, New York, NY, for Defendants.
Andrew D. Mathews, Pro Hac Vice, Douglas Michael Nabhan, Pro Hac Vice, Harold E. Johnson, Pro Hac Vice, Lauren M. Wheeling, Pro Hac Vice, Venable LLP, Washington, DC, James Philip Head, Williams Mullen PC, McLean, VA, Richard Thomas Matthews, Pro Hac Vice, Williams Mullen PC, Raleigh, NC, William P. Dickinson, III, Pro Hac Vice, Kaleo Legal, Virginia Beach, VA, John Brian Cashmere, Williams Mullen, Tysons Corner, VA, for Defendant/Counterclaim Plaintiff.
Brian Lawrence Schwalb, Venable LLP, Washington, DC, Turner A. Broughton, Williams Mullen PC, Richmond, VA, for Alfasigma USA, Inc. and VSL Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Shari Ross Lahlou, Astor Heaven, Crowell and Moring LLP, Washington, DC, for Counterclaim Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION
THEODORE D. CHUANG, United States District Judge
On November 20, 2018, after a 14-day trial, the jury returned a verdict (1) in favor of Plaintiff Claudio De Simone against Defendant VSL Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("VSL") on Count II of his Complaint, a claim for breach of contract, and awarded damages in the amount of $967,435; (2) in favor of De Simone against VSL and Defendant Leadiant Biosciences, Inc. ("Leadiant") on Count III of his Complaint, a claim for unjust enrichment, and awarded damages in the amount of $1,874,602 against VSL and $172,004 against Leadiant; (3) in favor of Plaintiff ExeGi Pharma, LLC ("ExeGi") against Leadiant and Defendant Alfasigma USA, Inc. ("Alfasigma") on Count VI of its Complaint, a claim for false advertising in violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a) (2012), and awarded damages in the amount of $15,000,000 against Alfasigma; and (4) in favor of Counterclaim Defendant De Simone against Counterclaim Plaintiff VSL on Count IV of VSL's Counterclaim, alleging breach of fiduciary duty.
Before the case was submitted to the jury, VSL, Leadiant, and Alfasigma (collectively, "the VSL Parties") each made Motions for Judgment as a Matter of Law under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(a). The Court reserved its decision on these motions. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b). The VSL Parties have now each renewed their Rule 50 motions and have also filed Motions for a New Trial under Rule 59. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b), 59. De Simone and ExeGi (collectively, "the De Simone Parties") have opposed the Motions. Having reviewed the submitted materials, the Court finds no hearing necessary. See D. Md. Local R. 105.6. For the reasons set forth below, the Motions are DENIED.
I. Motions for Judgment as a Matter of Law
A. Legal Standard
A district court may overturn a jury verdict by rendering judgment as a matter of law only if there is no "legally sufficient evidentiary basis to find for the [prevailing] party on that issue." Fed R. Civ. P. 50(a). Thus, a party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law under Rule 50 only "if the nonmoving party failed to make a showing on an essential element of his case with respect to which he had the burden of proof." Price v. City of Charlotte, N.C. , 93 F. 3d 1241, 1249 (4th Cir. 1996) (citations omitted). In determining whether the non-moving party has carried its burden as a matter of law, the district court "may not substitute [its] judgment for that of the jury or make credibility determinations." Id. , see generally U.S. Const. amend. VII (guaranteeing the right to a civil trial by jury and requiring that "no fact tried by a jury ... shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States"). The court must instead "view the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and draw legitimate inferences in its favor." Anheuser-Busch, Inc. v. L & L Wings, Inc. , 962 F. 2d 316, 318 (4th Cir. 1992). Thus, if there is any evidence on which a reasonable jury could return verdicts in favor of the non-moving party, the court must deny a Rule 50 motion. Price , 93 F.3d at 1249–50. However, courts must not merely "rubber stamp"
a jury verdict, as they "have a duty to reverse the jury verdict[ ] if the evidence cannot support it." Id. at 1250.
B. False Advertising
The jury found both Alfasigma and Leadiant liable to ExeGi for false advertising, in violation of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a). Although ExeGi did not seek damages from Leadiant on this claim, it sought monetary relief from Alfasigma in the amount of $27,843,149, representing Alfasigma's profits from sales of VSL#3 from July 1, 2016 through the end of trial, as calculated by ExeGi's damages expert, Bryan Callahan. The jury awarded ExeGi $15,000,000 on its false advertising claim against Alfasigma.
Alfasigma and Leadiant seek judgment as a matter of law on the false advertising claim on the grounds that ExeGi failed to establish each of the elements of the claim. To prevail on a Lanham Act claim of false advertising, a plaintiff must establish that:
(1) The defendant made a false or misleading description of fact or representation of fact in a commercial advertisement about its product or the product of another;
(2) The misrepresentation is material, in that it is likely to influence the purchasing decision;
(3) The misrepresentation actually deceives or has the tendency to deceive a substantial segment of its audience;
(4) The defendant placed the false or misleading statement in interstate commerce; and
(5) The plaintiff has been or is likely to be injured as a result of the misrepresentation, either by direct diversion of sales or by a lessening of goodwill associated with its product.
Scotts Co. v. United Indus. Corp. , 315 F.3d 264, 272 (4th Cir. 2002). The contested statement may either be "false on its face" or "although literally true, likely to mislead and to confuse consumers given the merchandising context." Id. (quoting C.B. Fleet Co. v. SmithKline Beecham Consumer Healthcare L.P. , 131 F.3d 430, 434 (4th Cir. 1997) ). If an advertisement is literally false, a party can succeed on a false advertising claim without evidence of any consumer deception. Id. at 273. However, "if a plaintiff's theory of recovery is premised upon a claim of implied falsehood, a plaintiff must demonstrate, by extrinsic evidence, that the challenged advertisements tend to mislead or confuse consumers." Id. When a false advertising claim involves multiple statements, a plaintiff "may not mix and match statements, with some satisfying one Lanham Act element and some satisfying other"; rather, at least one challenged statement must satisfy all five elements. Verisign, Inc. v. XYZ.COM, LLC , 848 F.3d 292, 299 (4th Cir. 2017).
In arguing that ExeGi's evidence was legally insufficient to support the verdict on false advertising, Alfasigma broadly asserts that none of the challenged advertisements meets all of the requirements of a Lanham Act false advertising claim. At trial, ExeGi's false advertising claim against Alfasigma was based largely on three challenged items: a page of the VSL#3 website entitled "VSL#3: new formula dairy-free" ("the VSL#3 Webpage"), Trial Exhibit ("Tr. Ex.") 412; an August 31, 2016 press release that was then posted, in whole or in part, on the VSL#3 website entitled "VSL#3, A Leader in Probiotic Medical Foods, is Now Dairy Free," ("the VSL#3 Press Release"), Tr. Ex. 341; and statements made on the VSL#3 Facebook page ("the VSL#3 Facebook Page"), Tr. Ex. 375. The false advertising claim against Leadiant centered on the following two items: a frequently asked
questions ("FAQ") training document entitled, "Potential Future HCP Objections, Misconceptions, Questions, or Concerns ... and Answers," Tr. Ex. 1203; and a May 17, 2016 letter from Mary Ocnean, Vice President of Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Sigma-Tau"), Leadiant's predecessor company, with the salutation, "Dear Healthcare Provider" ("the Healthcare Provider Letter"), Tr. Ex. 297. In arguing that no single item satisfied all five elements of a false advertising claim, Alfasigma asserts several evidentiary deficiencies, specifically, that (1) the contested statements are not literally false; (2) the contested statements are not actionable under the Lanham Act because they are a matter of scientific debate; (3) some of the contested statements do not...
Exela Pharma Scis., LLC v. Sandoz, Inc., CIVIL CASE NO. 1:19-cv-00318-MR
United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. Western District of North Carolina
...in a manner sufficient to constitute commercial advertising placed in interstate commerce[.]" De Simone v. VSL Pharm., Inc., 395 F. Supp. 3d 617, 624 (D. Md....
Starr v. VSL Pharm., Inc., Civil Action No. TDC-19-2173
United States District Courts. 4th Circuit. United States District Court (Maryland)
...3466033 (D. Md. June 20, 2016) ; De Simone v. VSL Pharm., Inc. , 352 F. Supp. 3d 471 (D. Md. 2018) ; De Simone v. VSL Pharm., Inc. , 395 F. Supp. 3d 617 (D. Md. 2019) ; and De Simone v. VSL Pharm., Inc. , No. TDC-15-1356, 2019 WL 2569574 (D. Md. June 20, 2019). New facts or revisited facts ......
De Simone v. VSL Pharm., Inc., 20-1846
...VSL#3 and thus to withhold their trade from ExeGi." De Simone , 2020 WL 4368103, at *6 (citing De Simone v. VSL Pharms., Inc. , 395 F. Supp. 3d 617, 628–30 (D. Md. 2019) ). So even if informational harms must be apparent, the misleading information VSL and Alfasigma spread meets that requir......
Metague v. Woodbolt Distribution, LLC, Civil Action No. 8:20-cv-02186-PX
...proposition, they cannot also argue that the proposition is 'literally false.'" Id. at 515; see also De Simone v. VSL Pharms., Inc, 395 F. Supp. 3d 617, 626 (D. Md. 2019), aff'd sub nom. De Simone v. Alfasigma USA, Inc., No. 19-1731, 2021 WL 613697 (4th Cir. Feb. 17, 2021) ("In the absence ......


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Nation/WorldNews
AG vows thorough review in Trayvon Martin case
Anslem Samuel Rocque
Attorney General Eric Holder says that the Justice Department will thoroughly review the Trayvon Martin case and take action if it finds civil rights violations./ AP Photo/Susan Walsh, file
WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday that the Justice Department will take appropriate action in the killing of Trayvon Martin if it finds evidence that a federal criminal civil rights crime has been committed.
The attorney general made the comments in an appearance before a civil rights organization founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton.
Holder said the department will conduct a thorough and independent review of the evidence in the Martin matter. One of the department's top priorities, said Holder, is preventing and combating youth violence and victimization.
The Justice Department launched an investigation of the Martin killing three weeks ago.
"I know that many of you are greatly — and rightly — concerned about the recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a young man whose future has been lost to the ages," Holder told the 14th annual convention of the National Action Network.
"If we find evidence of a potential federal criminal civil rights crime, we will take appropriate action," said the attorney general. "I also can make you another promise: that at every level of today's Justice Department — preventing and combating youth violence and victimization is, and will continue to be, a top priority."
The attorney general says that Justice Department officials including Tom Perez, the assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, and U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill from Florida have traveled to Sanford to meet with the Martin family, members of the community and local authorities.
He says representatives from the department's Community Relations Service are meeting with civil rights leaders, law enforcement officers and residents to address community tensions.
Neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman says he shot Martin in self-defense after following the teenager in a Sanford, Fla. a gated community outside Orlando on Feb. 26. He said he was returning to his truck when Martin attacked him and that he shot the unarmed teen during the fight. He wasn't arrested partly because of Florida's "stand your ground" self-defense law.
The lack of an arrest has led to protests across the nation and spurred a debate about race and the laws of self-defense. Zimmerman's father is White and his mother is Hispanic. Martin was Black.
— Associated Press
TagsAGAttorney Generaleric holderGeorge ZimmermanJustice DepartmentRev. Al SharptonshootingTrayvon Martin
Trayvon Martin parents elated by Zimmerman arrest
Affidavit reveals new details of the prosecution's ...
Obama: Hugs, tears, hope with families, survivors
SCLC spotlights Trayvon Martin case