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Defense Secretary Ash Carter. DoD photo by Glenn Fawcett
The Shangri-La Dialogue 2016 And The South China Sea – Analysis
June 6, 2016 Alvin Cheng-Hin Lim 0 Comments
By Alvin Cheng-Hin Lim
In his address to the 2016 Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter outlined the US concept of a principled security network in the Asia-Pacific. This network is emergent from existing "bilateral, trilateral, and multilateral" alliances in the region, and allows all interested parties, regardless of their "capability, budget, or experience," to share in the security burden.
The US sees itself as positioned at the heart of this multi-layered Asia-Pacific security network. Secretary Carter highlighted the US' bilateral alliances with Japan, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, India, and Vietnam; trilateral arrangements with Japan and South Korea, Japan and Australia, Japan and India, and Thailand and Laos; and finally the multilateral ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting-Plus. Secretary Carter also highlighted alliances formed between the US' "like-minded partners" in the region who share the US' "vision of a principled regional order," including bilateral arrangements between Japan and Vietnam, Japan and the Philippines, and India and Vietnam; and trilateral arrangements between Japan, Australia, and India, and between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. In the US' view, while China has been included in US-led regional activities like the upcoming Rim of the Pacific naval exercise, the US sees China's activities, especially in the South China Sea, as leading it towards raising a "Great Wall of self-isolation" from the other countries of the Asia-Pacific.1
In his response to Secretary Carter's address, Chinese Rear Admiral Guan Youfei, director of the Chinese Central Military Commission's office of International Military Cooperation, noted that China has in fact "shown restraint" in response to provocations in the South China Sea, in particular from the US navy's freedom of navigation operations.2 Rear Admiral Guan also expressed his belief that Secretary Carter's statements on China's movement towards a "Great Wall of self-isolation" were instead "meant to convince other countries in the region to isolate China."3 Responding to Secretary Carter's suggestion that China recognize the upcoming ruling by the UN Arbitration Tribunal on the South China Sea case filed by the Philippines as an "opportunity … to recommit to a principled future," Rear Admiral Guan reiterated the Chinese government's position that China will not accept the ruling due to the "illegal and unjust" nature of the arbitration.4
In his address to the Shangri-La Dialogue, Chinese Admiral Sun Jianguo reiterated China's "desire for a peaceful solution" to the South China Sea dispute, but also stated that China has "no fear of trouble" instigated by the other players in the dispute, in particular the US. Admiral Sun also rejected Secretary Carter's characterization of China's activities as leading it towards a "Great Wall of self-isolation," and argued that China has not and will not be isolated. He also noted that China's critics are unfairly assessing China's actions through the outdated "Cold War mentality and prejudice."5 Indeed, the support shown for China's position on the South China Sea from non-US-led multilateral organizations like the Arab League and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization support Admiral Sun's denial of the US claim of China's isolation.6 Admiral Sun also appeared to identify the US as being behind the bold resistance of smaller nations like the Philippines to China's South China Sea claims when he stated that "some hegemonic countries have empowered small countries to make provocations against big countries."7
An editorial in China's Global Times newspaper responded to Secretary Carter's speech by arguing that "the US is becoming the biggest instigator of chaos in the South China Sea" and that "it is the US' policy to hinder China's rise by inciting other claimants of the South China Sea and ASEAN to inflame the dispute." According to this viewpoint, this escalation of tensions in the South China Sea is designed to "sustain Washington's hegemony in the Western Pacific by reinforcing military deployments and containing China's peaceful rise."8 Secretary Carter raised the big stick of US hegemony when he warned China of unspecified "actions" from the US and its allies should China attempt to reclaim land on the contested Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island).9 US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was not at the Shangri-La Dialogue but on a state visit to Mongolia, likewise warned China against declaring an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over the South China Sea as it did three years earlier over the East China Sea. China however has asserted its right to raise ADIZs over its claimed maritime zones.10
Singapore's Minister of Defence Ng Eng Hen offered a more nuanced view of the security dilemma facing the Asia-Pacific by noting that the rise of China has challenged the regional security architecture that has been led by the US over the past seven decades: "There is no question of containment. The question is, how do you accommodate the security architecture of both a resident power and a rising power?"11
Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the World Economic Forum for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, an event held just before the Shangri-La Dialogue, Singapore's former foreign minister George Yeo noted China's strong determination to hold on to its claims in the South China Sea: "China's claims are not weak … It would be a serious mistake to underestimate the legality of China's claims and therefore underestimate their will." Mr. Yeo explained that not only do China's maritime claims "date back to the Qing dynasty," other countries— including the current claimants—did not object when the Chinese government first announced its nine-dash line map marking its maritime claims in the South China Sea.12 As if to underline the resolve that Mr. Yeo spoke of, on the day of the opening of the Shangri-La Forum, the Chinese Foreign Ministry lambasted the Philippines for defining Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island) as a reef rather than an island in its UN arbitration case against China, and argued that this showed that the arbitration case was intended to "negate China's sovereignty and related rights over the Spratly Islands," an action which China sees as a "violation of international law."13 This in turn signals that China will most likely not offer concessions on its maritime claims in the South China Sea despite indications from the incoming Duterte administration in the Philippines of a possible Sino-Philippine rapprochement.14
Prior to the Shangri-La Dialogue, China had sharply criticized US ally Japan for its "hyping up of the South China Sea issue and exaggeration of tensions" at the May 2016 Group of Seven summit at Ise-Shima, Japan. At this summit, the G7 countries had declared their concerns over the maritime tensions in the East and South China Seas, and reaffirmed the "fundamental importance of peaceful management and settlement of disputes."15 China responded that these maritime tensions were not the concern of the G7, which is not a security forum but is instead a "platform for managing the economies of developed nations."16 At the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Japanese Minister of Defence Gen Nakatani stated that Japan is providing military assistance—including upgrades for surveillance and military technology, as well as joint military training—to Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines to help them meet the challenges posed by China's land reclamation and infrastructural construction activities in the South China Sea. As with Secretary Carter, Minister Nakatani, along with the defence ministers of other Asian and Western countries including Vietnam, the UK, and France, also called on China to respect the upcoming ruling of the UN arbitration tribunal.17
Even though it does not have claims to the South China Sea, the Pacific island nation of New Zealand also raised its concerns about the South China Sea dispute during the Shangri-La Dialogue. New Zealand's Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee noted that China has now reclaimed over 3,000 acres of land in its claimed islands in the South China Sea, and hence trading nations like New Zealand have legitimate concerns that China has plans to "turn more reefs into islands that could be capable of supporting communities, and then claim territorial or even exclusive economic zones around them."18 China however sees the involvement of non-claimant countries, especially the US, as potentially destabilizing factors in the South China Sea dispute. A commentary published by China's Xinhua news agency just before the opening of the Shangri-La Dialogue argues that such destabilization is intended to help the US maintain its hegemony in the Asia-Pacific region.19
However, so long as tensions remain over the South China Sea, non-claimant countries will continue to be interested in the dispute, especially in case of an escalation of tensions. In his address to the Shangri-La Dialogue, Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar called for the establishment of a regional security framework for peaceful conflict resolution. Minister Parrikar highlighted India's interest in developing its blue economy through the expansion of its maritime trading network, and he noted the importance of "freedom of navigation and over flights in accordance with international law," including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.20 He also pointed out that a rule-based order in the South China Sea would yield "sustainable prosperity," the achievement of which would be in the economic interests of China and the other claimants.21 Indeed, defence experts recently estimated that fears of conflict in the South China Sea will "drive up Asia-Pacific defence spending by nearly 25 per cent from 2015 to US$533 billion in 2020."22 While this is good news for the defence industry, such increased expenditures in the defence sector represent significant opportunity costs for the affected economies.
"Asia doesn't welcome return to Cold War." Global Times, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/986919.shtml.
Bland, Ben. "China and US trade barbs over South China Sea." Financial Times, June 5, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/385d7522-2af2-11e6-9398-152a09ac4c4d.html.
Carter, Ashton. "Meeting Asia's Complex Security Challenges." IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2016 First Plenary Session, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. https://www.iiss.org/en/events/shangri%20la%20dialogue/archive/shangri-la-dialogue-2016-4a4b/plenary1-ab09/cartmer-1610.
"China hits at US 'provocations,' says doesn't fear 'trouble.'" AFP, June 5, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-hits-at-us/2846782.html.
"China holds talks with other participants of Shangri-La Dialogue." CCTV.com, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://english.cctv.com/2016/06/04/VIDEjDFZmi9RNcc5nsx8NTcT160604.shtml.
"China says extremely dissatisfied with G7 statement on South China Sea." Reuters, May 27, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit-china-idUSKCN0YI0RV.
"China slams Philippines' definition of disputed Taiping Island as 'reef.'" Reuters, June 3, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-slams-philippines-definition-of-disputed-taiping-island-as-reef.
"Chinese military moves key issue at Shangri-La Dialogue." AFP, June 3, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/chinese-military-moves/2841208.html.
Copp, Tara. "Shangri-La Dialogue: Asian nations, US split on best approach to China." Stars and Stripes, June 3, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.stripes.com/shangri-la-dialogue-asian-nations-us-split-on-best-approach-to-china-1.413020.
"G7 leaders express 'concern' about East and South China Sea disputes in closing statement." South China Morning Post, May 27, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1956243/g7-leaders-express-concern-about-east-and-south-china-sea-disputes.
"Japan pledges support for Southeast Asia security to counter coercive China." Reuters, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. https://www.yahoo.com/news/japan-pledges-support-southeast-asia-security-counter-coercive-031325736–finance.html.
"Kerry warns Beijing over air defense zone for South China Sea." Reuters, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-usa-china-idUSKCN0YR01D.
Leong, Trinna. "Countries should not underestimate legality of Beijing's South China Sea arguments, George Yeo tells forum." Straits Times, June 2, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/countries-should-not-underestimate-legality-of-beijings-south-china-sea-arguments.
Lim, Alvin Cheng-Hin. "The New Philippine Leadership and Prospects for Sino-Philippine Relations." Eurasia Review, May 23, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. https://www.eurasiareview.com/23052016-the-new-philippine-leadership-and-prospects-for-sino-philippine-relations-analysis/.
"Resolution of conflict over South China sea will bring prosperity to China: Parrikar." AP, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/resolution-of-conflict-over-south-china-sea-will-bring-prosperity-to-china-parrikar/.
"Shangri-La Dialogue: India for regional security framework to resolve disputes." PTI, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/shangri-la-dialogue-india-for-regional-security-framework-to-resolve-disputes/articleshow/52586743.cms.
"South China Sea fares better without outside interference." Xinhua, June 3, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-06/03/c_135410292.htm.
Sun Xiaobo. "US is attempting to isolate China: military official." Global Times, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/986918.shtml.
Tan, Andrea, and Tweed, David. "China Risks 'Great Wall of Self-Isolation,' Says U.S." Bloomberg, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-04/china-risks-great-wall-of-self-isolation-says-u-s-s-carter.
Tweed, David, and Mathieson, Rosalind. "China Must Explain Sea Plans to Small Nations, New Zealand Says." Bloomberg, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-03/china-must-explain-sea-plans-to-small-nations-new-zealand-says.
"U.S. flexes muscles as Asia worries about South China Sea row." Reuters, June 4, 2016. Accessed June 5, 2016. http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/u-s–flexes-muscles-as-asia-worries-about-south-china-sea-row/42202970.
Endnotes:
1 Ashton Carter, "Meeting Asia's Complex Security Challenges," IISS Shangri-La Dialogue 2016 First Plenary Session, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, https://www.iiss.org/en/events/shangri%20la%20dialogue/archive/shangri-la-dialogue-2016-4a4b/plenary1-ab09/carter-1610.
2 Andrea Tan and David Tweed, "China Risks 'Great Wall of Self-Isolation,' Says U.S.," Bloomberg, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-04/china-risks-great-wall-of-self-isolation-says-u-s-s-carter.
3 Sun Xiaobo, "US is attempting to isolate China: military official," Global Times, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/986918.shtml.
4 Carter, "Meeting Asia's." Sun, "US is attempting."
5 "China hits at US 'provocations,' says doesn't fear 'trouble,'" AFP, June 5, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/china-hits-at-us/2846782.html.
6 "China holds talks with other participants of Shangri-La Dialogue," CCTV.com, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://english.cctv.com/2016/06/04/VIDEjDFZmi9RNcc5nsx8NTcT160604.shtml.
7 "China hits."
8 "Asia doesn't welcome return to Cold War," Global Times, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/986919.shtml.
9 "U.S. flexes muscles as Asia worries about South China Sea row," Reuters, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/u-s–flexes-muscles-as-asia-worries-about-south-china-sea-row/42202970.
10 "Kerry warns Beijing over air defense zone for South China Sea," Reuters, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-southchinasea-usa-china-idUSKCN0YR01D.
11 Tara Copp, "Shangri-La Dialogue: Asian nations, US split on best approach to China," Stars and Stripes, June 3, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.stripes.com/shangri-la-dialogue-asian-nations-us-split-on-best-approach-to-china-1.413020.
12 Trinna Leong, "Countries should not underestimate legality of Beijing's South China Sea arguments, George Yeo tells forum," Straits Times, June 2, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/countries-should-not-underestimate-legality-of-beijings-south-china-sea-arguments.
13 "China slams Philippines' definition of disputed Taiping Island as 'reef,'" Reuters, June 3, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/china-slams-philippines-definition-of-disputed-taiping-island-as-reef.
14 Alvin Cheng-Hin Lim, "The New Philippine Leadership and Prospects for Sino-Philippine Relations," Eurasia Review, May 23, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, https://www.eurasiareview.com/23052016-the-new-philippine-leadership-and-prospects-for-sino-philippine-relations-analysis/.
15 "G7 leaders express 'concern' about East and South China Sea disputes in closing statement," South China Morning Post, May 27, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1956243/g7-leaders-express-concern-about-east-and-south-china-sea-disputes.
16 "China says extremely dissatisfied with G7 statement on South China Sea," Reuters, May 27, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g7-summit-china-idUSKCN0YI0RV.
17 "Japan pledges support for Southeast Asia security to counter coercive China," Reuters, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, https://www.yahoo.com/news/japan-pledges-support-southeast-asia-security-counter-coercive-031325736–finance.html. Ben Bland, "China and US trade barbs over South China Sea," Financial Times, June 5, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/385d7522-2af2-11e6-9398-152a09ac4c4d.html.
18 David Tweed and Rosalind Mathieson, "China Must Explain Sea Plans to Small Nations, New Zealand Says," Bloomberg, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-03/china-must-explain-sea-plans-to-small-nations-new-zealand-says.
19 "South China Sea fares better without outside interference," Xinhua, June 3, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-06/03/c_135410292.htm.
20 "Shangri-La Dialogue: India for regional security framework to resolve disputes," PTI, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/shangri-la-dialogue-india-for-regional-security-framework-to-resolve-disputes/articleshow/52586743.cms.
21 "Resolution of conflict over South China sea will bring prosperity to China: Parrikar," AP, June 4, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/resolution-of-conflict-over-south-china-sea-will-bring-prosperity-to-china-parrikar/.
22 "Chinese military moves key issue at Shangri-La Dialogue," AFP, June 3, 2016, accessed June 5, 2016, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/chinese-military-moves/2841208.html.
← The Contest For International Support On The South China Sea Disputes – Analysis
The Dream Of Durable Peace – OpEd →
Alvin Cheng-Hin Lim
Alvin Cheng-Hin Lim is a research fellow with International Public Policy Pte. Ltd. (IPP), and is the author of Cambodia and the Politics of Aesthetics (Routledge 2013). He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and has taught at Pannasastra University of Cambodia and the American University of Nigeria. Prior to joining IPP, he was a research fellow with the Longus Institute for Development and Strategy. Email: Alvin Cheng-Hin Lim


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McNeil J. Kemmerly
Email: mkemmerly@leakeandersson.com
ADMITTED TO BAR
1985, Louisiana, U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Louisiana and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Civil Litigation & Business Transactions || Construction || Insurance || Labor & Employment || Professional Liability|| Transportation
J.D., 1984, LSU Law School;
B.A. English Education, 1980, University of New Orleans
McNeil "Mc" Kemmerly is a partner with the firm. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of New Orleans and his law degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He has been practicing law, with an emphasis in civil litigation, since 1985. He holds an AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell and is admitted to all Louisiana state and federal courts; and the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has tried civil jury cases to verdict as first chair in Orleans, Jefferson, East Baton Rouge, Lafayette, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, St. Bernard, Livingston and Terrebonne Parishes; and tried numerous bench trials. He has handled appellate work in in the First, Third, Fourth and Fifth Circuits of the Louisiana Courts of Appeal; the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals; and in the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Mc's practice includes an emphasis in casualty and insurance defense litigation, business litigation, professional liability defense and employment litigation.
Mc is a member of the Louisiana State Bar Association, the Louisiana Association of Defense Counsel, and the New Orleans Bar Association. He has served as an adjunct Professor of Trial Practice at Loyola University New Orleans Law School.
Mc is a Louisiana native. He and his wife, Sandy, have been married for over thirty years and are the proud parents of two children.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Forum » All Things Not School of Dragons » Stories and Fan Fiction
Shrieks From The Shadows: Once Bitten, Twice Shy- Chapter Three
Lack Lunason
Supreme Viking Champion
Welcome back to this monsterous story! Glad you decided to keep reading.
The story is coming along quite nicely and things will get deeper in this chapter.
For anyone who needs a refresher of what happened last chapter, here is a summed up version:
Arnold: There's a vampire in town!
Emily: There isn't a vampire.
Arnold's Mom: There isn't a vampire!
Mark: THERE ISN'T A VAMPIRE!
Mysterious Figure in the Shadows: .....Well.....
Now let's see what Mark and Arnold have in store for them.
(PLEASE DO NOT DIRECTLY REPLY TO THE STORY! If you do, I'll have to unleash my man-eating Panda on you, and I don't want to do that.)
A NEW STORY HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED!
To check it out, click HERE or look in the story section of my Signature.
(I figure you've probably already figured that out, but I thought I'd play it safe.)
Hi, I'm Lack Lunason. I'm called that because I lack many things, and I'm a lunatic. I just put son on the end to make it sound more like a viking name. I'm also a Christ follower.
Here are just a few things that I am:
A procrastinator.
Nice (mostly).
Kind (don't listen to those that say otherwise).
Adventurous.
Lazy.
A dreamer.
And I'm slightly crazy.
I've been around SoD for a long time. I think I was one of the first thousand to leave Berk and sail to the school. I'm happily part of the bold clan known as POTATO BROTHERS. I have over four-thousand trouphies, although, I don't like racing much. On the other hand, I'm a master farmer.
On the ranking on the forum, I've completed/on the following: Jarl, Forager, Wilderness Explore, Viking Warrior, Dragon Trainer, Drott, Dragon Master, Chief, Berk's Power Player, and......
(Respect my Authority!)
(Sorta) Current Trophy Count:
Now onto some random stuff. This part will grow over time.
WARNING: THE REST OF THIS THREAD IS GUARDED BY....
BAT-MAN THE VAST (Also known as Bat-Stoick)
(By The Dragoness)
Fan-Fiction And Short Stories:
Shrieks From The Shadows Series:
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5
The Terrifier
Things I am a Fan of
"Once I set the sea alight with a single fiery breath....
Once I was so mighty that I thought my name was death....
Sing out loud until you're eaten, song of melancholy bliss....
For the mighty and the middling all shall come to THIS...."
The Green Death, How To Train Your Dragon: book 1. Cressida Cowell.
"WE WILL FIGHT THEM ON THE BEACHES! WE WILL FIGHT THEM IN THE BRACKEN! WE WILL FIGHT THEM IN THOSE BOGGY MARSHY BITS THAT ARE SO DIFFICULT TO WALK THROUGH WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SHOES! WE WILL NEVER SURRENDER!"
Stoick The Vast. How To Train Your Dragon: Book 5. Creessida Cowell.
"I sailed so far to be a King, but the time was never right.....
I lost my way on a stormy past, got wrecked in starless night....
But let my heart be wrecked by hurricanes and my ship by stormy weather....
I know I am a Hero...and a Hero is....FOREVER!
In another time, another place, I could have been a King....
But in my castle's ruined towers the lonely seabirds sing.....
I burned up my Tomorrows, I cannot go back ever....
But I am still a Hero....and a Hero is.......FOREVER!
Up with your sword and strike at the gale......
Ride the rough seas for those waves are your home......
Winters may freeze but our hearts do not fail.....
Heroes.......Hearts......FOREVER!
You are never alone if the sea is your friend......
Riding the waves of impossible quests.....
If it doesn't end well, then it isn't the end.....
A Hero.....Fights.....FOREVER!
The hero cares not for a wild winter's storm.....
For it carries him swift on the back of the wave.....
All may be lost and our hearts may be worn.....
BUT A HERO.....FIGHTS.....FOREVER!"
Grimbeard the Ghastly's Last Song. How To Train Your Dragon: Book 11 and 12. Cressida Cowell.
"That's how we're going to win. Not by fighting what we hate, but by saving what we love."
Rose. Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
That's about it. I give full credit for.....well, everything, to GOD. Have a good day. And, in the words of a Vulcan, "Live long and prosper."
FURTHER CONTENT IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Wait, you're still here?
Once Bitten, Twice Shy- Chapter Three
Mark's eyes fluttered open the next morning. He lay there a second as the memories of the past few days came slowly back to him. He sat up and stretched his arms, looking around the room. As his eyes fell onto the history book, he suddenly remembered the incident the previous night and he jumped to his feet.
Lifting the blind up, he looked out on the street down below. He didn't know what he expected to see, but Mark still scanned the bushes and shadows. At last he was satisfied that there was nobody out there and he closed the blind.
Mark stepped out of his room a few minutes later and descended the stairs, stepping into the Living Room. He grabbed a handful of Candy Corn out of a glass bowl on a table and tossed a few into his mouth as he walked into the Dining Room. He pulled out a chair as his mom walked in with a plate heaped with food. "Good morning, dear." She said with a smile, but Mark felt like he caught a note of something else in her voice.
"Good morning." He responded as he helped himself to his food. His mom left the room and Mark was left alone to his thoughts as he ate.
He was working on his second scrambled egg as his father walked in with a newspaper in his hand. As he sat down at the table, Mark could see that there was something gloomy in the look on his father's face. He decided to find out why. "So... What's going on that's got you down?"
"Hm... You could tell, could you?" Mark's father slid the newspaper across the table as he said, "There's been another murder. It was Anna Woodstock this time."
"The old lady two blocks down?" Mark asked as he lifted the newspaper off the table and read the heading.
"The same," Mark's father agreed sadly.
Silence fell over the room as Mark read the article. It didn't give much detail, but it was enough to know that the same person was responsible. Mark placed the newspaper back on the table and stated, "I just hope something is done before long...."
Mark started back up the stairs after breakfast. He had been thinking about the murder and he wanted to hear Arnold's opinion on it, even though he knew it would probably be full of vampires, ghosts, or ghouls. He pushed his door open and walked over to his phone.
He dialed Arnold up, waited until Arnold answered, then asked, "Hey, Arnold, did you hear about Ms. Anna being murdered last night?"
"Heard about it?!" Arnold asked indignantly, "Dude, I can see the police investigating her house from my window!"
"Do you know what happened?"
"No idea. Well....that's not true. I asked an officer and they told me the following: the neighbor noticed the window was open and, knowing there was a madman around, he went over to give a warning to Anna. When nobody answered the door, he got spooked and, after a little bit, called the cops. They found Anna lying in her bed with two holes on her neck."
"That's terrifying!" Mark murmured as he sat down on his bed.
"You're telling me? I swear it's a vampire! How else do you explain the bite marks on the neck?!"
There was the vampire theory again. Mark rolled his eyes. "Umm....Psycho. Pretty sure that's still on the table."
There was a pause on the other end before Arnold continued. "Either way...I'm investigating tonight."
Mark found himself truly and completely speechless for a good thirty seconds. He finally recovered and asked, "Did I just hear you right? It sounded like you sa-"
"YES! I said 'investigate'!" Arnold yells in a whisper.
"Are you out of your mind?! Let the police deal with this!" Mark shouted back.
Arnold' response was frighteningly calm. "Afraid I can't. If it's a vampire, they aren't prepared."
"AND YOU ARE?!"
"Mark, look. As Emily said yesterday, I watch too much TV. In doing so, I've picked up a thing or two on monsters. I know all their weaknesses, all their hiding places, and all their special abilities. If anyone can solve this problem, I can. I'm sneaking out tonight around ten. You in?"
"OF COURSE NOT! I'M GONNA CALL YOUR MOM AND TELL HER YOUR CRAZY PLAN RIGHT NOW!" Mark shrieked over the phone.
Arnold responded in a chill tone. "You do and I'll call up your parents and tell them what you did in art class on the twenty-third of last month. That's sure to get you grounded until Christmas."
Mark's jaw hung open and he shook his head. He couldn't believe that they had both resorted to blackmail, but it did seem to fit in their character. Mark made up his mind and gave his answer. "I don't care! You're not going out if it's the last thing I do!" He hung up on Arnold and immediately started to dial up Arnold's mom.
Mark sat on the chair in his room. He tapped the pencil he was holding onto the table as he watched the glowing numbers on the clock across the room. It changed to 10:00 and Mark stopped tapping the pencil.
He sighed. By all rights, he should have been asleep hours ago, but he was in too bad of a mood to be tired. Arnold had gone through with his threat and spilled the beans on the incident Mark had caused at school and, just as Arnold had planned, Mark had been grounded. And it was all because he had wanted to make sure his best friend didn't get himself into danger...or worse.
Mark laid his head into the palm of his hand and continued to stew in his bad news. The silence stretched on and on and the darkness grew deeper. Mark may have been getting tired, but he was suddenly snapped back into full awareness as his phone rang. Without seeing who it was, Mark grabbed the phone, accepted the call, and put it to his ear. "What?!"
The voice that answered was instantly recognizable as Arnold's. He said one simple sentence that filled Mark's heart with terror. It was simply, "Look out your window."
Mark stood up and walked over to the window above his bed and pulled up the blind. The street looked exactly the same as it did the previous night. But, instead of a mysterious figure standing in the shadows, Arnold stood in the shadows of the tree across the road. Arnold must have found a way to go around his mother's grounding to sneak out his house.
Mark took a calming breath before shrieking into the phone. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET INSIDE NOW!" Mark noticed that Arnold had to move the phone away from his ear.
Replacing the phone, Arnold calmly responded, "I'm going vampire hunting. Are you in?"
Mark scowled out the window at his friend, wishing, not for the first time, that he could knock some sense into his empty head. "No way! I'm getting my parents and they're taking you home!"
"You can try," came Arnold's voice over the phone. "If I see any movement that's not you, I'm taking off into the night." Mark was about to throw a new threat in, but Arnold went on.
"Just me, all alone, wandering the streets in the middle of the night with some wacko on the loose." Arnold gave a sorrowful sigh. "What will the newspapers say tomorrow?" Mark was starting to feel a sudden wave of dread as he wondered if Arnold was making an actual threat or not. His decision was sealed with Arnold's final statement. "Hey! Was that someone in the shadows over there? Gosh, I hope they didn't notice me."
"FINE! FINE! FINE!" Mark caved. "I'll come with you if you promise me that, if we make it to dawn without seeing anything out of the ordinary, you'll let the police solve this and won't sneak out again."
"DONE." Arnold agreed before Mark had the chance to reconsider. "Meet you out here."
Mark was pretty much already dressed since he hadn't bothered to actually get ready to go to bed. He threw on his favorite jacket, which was a dark blue, had a long hood, and kept him quite warm. He also put on a black, wool beanie, and a pair of black, wool gloves.
Mark sneaked down the stairs, stepping over the second to last since it always creaked. Mark slowly went into the kitchen and got a pair of keys for the house before he went to the closet and opened the door. Picking up his shoes, Mark made his way over to the front door. He put his shoes on, opened the door and stepped into the cold night air.
Mark turned around and locked the door before he started towards Arnold. The leaves whipped around him as he stepped onto the street. As he walked, he left the safety of the street lamp and slowly was covered with the dark shadows that loomed before him, shrouding the twisted things within.
Mark finally came before Arnold. Arnold was wearing a camo jacket, the hood pulled up and his hands in his pockets. He wore a belt with a few pouches on it and two flashlights on his sides. Mark looked into Arnold's eyes and asked, "What's the plan?"
A thin grin slowly spread across Arnold's face. "We go find the lair of this vampire and take it out in its nest."
Mark's shoulders fell. "How are we going to do that?"
"Well, I have an idea of where to start our search. And, when we find it, we'll take down this demon with these." Arnold pulled something out of one of his pouches and held it in a strand of light.
"Is that garlic?" Mark asked, unimpressed. "Where'd you even get that?"
"My mom likes cooking with it for some reason or another. She always has some around, so I just took it."
Mark looked up from the garlic. "Please tell me you have a plan if this thing is actually just human."
Mark gave another sigh. "Great, just great. I really hope the psycho is allergic to garlic. " He regained himself and asked, "So... Where do you figure this 'vampire' is?"
The grin that contorted Arnold's face was one that shook Mark to the bone.
"The graveyard?" Mark asked in shock as he stared up at the sign above them. It hadn't been a long walk from Mark's house to the graveyard, but it was certainly full of unease. He had thought he had seen shadowy figures lurking in every alleyway and behind every tree.
"Yup. This is where the undead live in movies, so I figured we'd start here." Arnold grinned as he looked up and down the sidewalk to make sure no one was watching. Content that there were no unwanted witnesses, Arnold stepped towards the twisting gate. The gate was the only entrance to the graveyard besides the bridge on the other side, but it was difficult to get to the bridge. The entire edge of the graveyard had a twelve foot stone wall running around it.
Arnold knelt down to examine the lock on the gate. It would normally be unlocked during the day, but the grave keeper locked it at night to make sure none of the high school students got any ideas. There had been an incident once.
Arnold stood up and glanced up the top of the gate. He finally made up his mind and jumped onto it, grabbing the steel bars and hoisting himself up. The gate itself was nearly thirteen feet tall and Arnold had a hard time keeping his grip. He got to the top, transferred to the other side, and slid down. His shoes touched the grass and he peered at Mark on the other side. "You coming?"
Mark sighed, but there was no turning back. He started rationalizing with himself. Odds were that the murderer would be out on the streets in the neighborhood, not slinking through graveyards. With that in his head, Mark jumped onto the gate and hoisted himself to the top. He soon found himself next to Arnold on the inside.
Mark looked over the graveyard with unease. There were numerous tombstones sticking out of the ground in seemingly random places. There rose- like teeth out of the ground -three crypts in a row on the left side and, overlooking the whole graveyard, a small hill on the right. On the top of the hill grew a tree that was slim and twisted. Up in the sky, wisps of clouds passed before the moon, driving the graveyard into shadow before it passed and returned it to the moonlight.
Mark turned to Arnold. "Can I have a flashlight now?" Mark asked as he held out his hand.
"Sure. But only use it in emergencies. I don't fancy giving our location away."
Mark considered it for a second before nodding. "Fair enough." He took the flashlight, holding it tightly in his hand. Mark glanced over the graveyard. "Shall we begin?"
"We shall." Arnold said as he took a step deeper inside. Mark was close behind. They passed rows of gravestones as they went. A few of the stones were so worn that the names and dates couldn't be read. The moonlight shone through the branches of the tree on the hill and the leaves gave an eerie pattern to the whole landscape. Every time the wind blew, the shadows would dance back and forth giving it the appearance of something moving.
They were making their way towards the crypts when Mark spotted it. It was the silhouette of something darting behind a tombstone. "Did you see that?!" Mark yelled.
Arnold whipped around, holding his flashlight out but not powering it on. "WHAT?! WHERE?!" Both boys peered into the umbra, trying to pierce it and see what it held. Nothing but silence as the night crept on. They were both starting to calm down, to breathe regularly again.
And then a nearby bush erupted into chaos. Mark and Arnold screamed as a dark mass shot out of the bush skyward. It took them a second before realizing it was just a flock of ravens. Arnold started to break into nervous chuckles as he calmed down. "That wasn't too bad. Only a mass of dark, slightly-scary birds."
Mark joined his friend in nervous laughter. "Yeah. Nothing supernatural or killer-like about birds." They both took a calming breath, but their hearts kept racing.
And then they heard it, the sound of scratching. It sounded like chalk on the sidewalk, but it was deeply menacing. Both Arnold's and Mark's eyes widened. "Oh dang." Arnold muttered as he slowly turned around. He pressed the button on the flashlight and it fell on the closest crypt. At first they saw nothing, but then they made out the dark smear on the roof and Arnold moved the beam of light to see what it was.
And they saw the figure on the roof. It resembled a man, but he had the look of a wild animal about him. He was on all fours, leaning face down on the roof. His dark hair was so disheveled as to be believable that he hadn't taken any care of it in years. His eyes were wide and glowing with a wicked light. His pale skin shone in the flashlight's beam. His most disturbing feature, however, was his smile. It was wide with delight and a slim line of slobber hung on the left side of his mouth. And his smile showed the most frightful feature of all; his two fangs.
"Ah, Jiminy Cricket!" Arnold murmured, his eyes growing wide in terror.
The vampire, for that is the only thing it could have been, gave out a cold cry into the night, more frightening than anything Mark had ever heard before. The noise ceased and the vampire eyed them for a moment. Then it hunched slightly, like a cat about to pounce, and it sprang from the crypt's roof at them. "RUN!" Mark shrieked as he turned and bolted back towards the gate. Arnold didn't need a second opinion and he took off right behind Mark, turning the flashlight off so that they couldn't be followed as easily.
Mark glanced behind him and saw the vampire chasing after them, running on all fours like a wild dog. Mark looked back to where he was running and noticed just in time he was running right towards a tombstone as tall as he was. He made a split-second decision and jumped to his left, avoiding the collision. Too stricken with terror to notice what he was doing, he continued running straight on, away from the fence.
Mark looked back again, but the vampire was gone. There was nothing there, but Mark kept running, kept moving. He turned his head forward again and picked up his pace. He leapt over a tombstone and hit the ground. He was just starting to sprint again when something caught his ankle and he fell, his elbows hitting the wet dirt.
Mark rolled onto his back and saw the vampire's pale hand wrapped around his leg. Mark followed the arm with his eyes into the darkness of the shadows. Slowly, the vampire's head emerged, his face was twisted with a crazy grin, slobber running down his maw.
The vampire rose up into a kneel, still gripping Mark's left leg tightly. Then the vampire shot forward, its mouth open wider than a normal mouth should go, fangs protruding from his lips, his tongue lolling out. Mark raised his right leg and kicked out with his full force. His shoe made solid contact and his attacker was knocked back, losing its grip on his left leg.
Mark took advantage of the situation and pushed himself onto his feet, charging back towards the gate. Risking a look back, Mark saw the vampire had already recovered and was dodging in out of the darkness. And the eyes of the vampire had lit up in a bright yellow.
Mark focused ahead and saw Arnold at the gate, already halfway up. "GO, ARNOLD! GO!" Mark shouted.
"Wha?" Arnold looked over at Mark. In that moment, Arnold slipped on the iron fence and collapsed back down to the ground. Mark came plowing up to his friend, slowing to a stop. They both turned to see the vampire leap out of the shadows and onto a tombstone, its toes wrapped over the top. It then dove off at them.
Arnold acted on pure instinct, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the garlic. He threw it as hard as he could at the vampire. The vampire leaned back mid-flight to avoid the garlic and flew off course. It tumbled to the ground as the garlic flew harmlessly through the air.
Mark glared at Arnold. "You just threw all your garlic, didn't you?!"
"Yup." Arnold simply responded as the vampire pushed himself off the ground and charged at them yet again. Mark raised his flashlight and flicked the switch just as the vampire was about to strike. The beam of light hit directly in the vampire's eyes and it gave a shriek of agony and stumbled back, clutching its face.
Arnold turned and vaulted onto the fence pulling himself up in record time. Mark sprang up after him, going more than three-fourths of the way up the fence in that leap alone. Both boys made it to the top at the same time and scrambled to the pavement below.
They hurried across the street and ran into the shadows of an ally between two houses. Mark leaned forward slightly to see the vampire standing at the gate, watching them. A car rolled by, driving between them and the graveyard. When it had passed, the vampire was gone.
Mark looked around, breathing hard. He faced Arnold. "We need to get home, now!"
Arnold panted back, "Once I'm home, I'll call the police." With that, they both turned and ran deeper into the alley, praying they weren't being followed.
Thank you all for reading this chapter. In chapter count, you are now over halfway through the story. So, if you were considering not reading further, there's no point stopping now.
If you did read this, feel free to leave a reply. I can't know how to improve if nobody tells me how to.
If you notice any misspellings or odd paragraphs, let me know. The format that I write on and the format Forum likes are two completely different things.
(Also, I did catch the sudden size change on that one paragraph. I HAVE identified the source of the problem [I think]. Now I just need to solve the problem.)
The next chapter should be posted the 23rd, though, don't be surprised if it's a day or two late. It should be a fun chapter.
See you around, dear readers!
The next chapter can be
The next chapter can be found HERE!
permanently keeping the new tracks
Chat filter issue
Book 9 - The Mist in the Darkness - Chapter 14: Memories
Stuck TRR Loading
Favorite HTTYD Soundtracks?
Exploration!
my top favorite dragon tactics dragons
Hypnos The Night Light
Glowing NPCs in the Hidden World!
Are the Night Lights going to grow up?
Celebrate Appreciate a Dragon Day!
What will probably happen to the babies after the event
Get Cookies Before They're Gone!
I won't be able to...
Customizable Windwalker Nestlings--Art Request! :)
*Softly whispers in an aggressive tone* Don't. (Dragon Racing Peeves)
Bendy And The Ink Machine Free Roleplay: Tales From The Studios
Worlds Collided ~((Limited Spot Video Game Roleplay))~ ROLEPLAY THREAD
Guardians Of The Multiverse Free Roleplay
How To Train Your Dragon © 2019 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved. © 2019 JumpStart Games, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


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Bitdefender Internet Security 2014 Review and Features Comparison with Kaspersky Internet Security 2014
BitDefender was always there at the top in the list of high-end internet security solutions. It provides the users with the best technology to discover and eliminate all threats on their IT networks. BitDefender Internet Security 2014 is another new release from the house of BitDefender, and is the updated and revised edition of their most acclaimed internet security suite - BitDefender Internet security 2013. This new version is packed with refined and advanced tools, required to detect, isolate and remediate the most advanced and persistent threats. We can consider it as an all in one internet security solution that can protect our volatile data from the attack of hackers, cyber criminals, identity thieves and spammers, and keep the computer safe that too without affecting its performance.
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Author: Paul Carry | 29.07.2013


text:
Q: same ip can't submit more than once within an hour time I am trying to create a web survey questionaire, but I don't want same people using same ip to submit it more than once within an hour time, I am using php, I assume I need to use
$_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] to get the client ip and store in the session or database and then use it to compare the new ip, I am not sure if it is right and don't know how to exact implement this in php, can anyone help me with it, thanks in advance!

A: When survey is submitted:
 /*
   Tracking table structure:
    `id`              INT(11) unsigned NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT
    `client_ip`       VARCHAR(15) NOT NULL
    `submitted_time`  DATETIME NOT NULL
 */

 $query = "SELECT count(`id`) AS 'count'
           FROM `tracking_table`
           WHERE
             `client_ip` = '".mysqli_real_escape_string($link, $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'])."'
             AND `submitted_time` > '".date('Y-m-d H:i:s',strtotime('-1 hour'))."'
           LIMIT 1";
 $result = mysqli_fetch_assoc(mysqli_query($link, $query));

 if ($result['count'] > 0) {
   echo "You have already submitted within the last hour";
   exit;
 }

 // process survey here

 $query = "INSERT INTO `tracking_table`
             (`client_ip`, `submitted_time`)
           VALUES
             ('".mysqli_real_escape_string($link, $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'])."', ".date('Y-m-d H:i:s').")";
 mysqli_query($link, $query);

However, you may find that this is not a good requirement - there are many valid situations where multiple users may use the same IP address (such as, for example, student accomodation). You may be preventing valid submissions by imposing this limit.
EDIT
Here is a basic outline of how you might do this with cookies (taking into account the limitations discussed below).
Our cookie system works on a pair of values. ckv_1 will hold the timestamp at which the last survey was submitted. ckv_2 will hold a hash based on the timestamp and a salt, in an effort to stop people from screwing with the cookies. Obviously, if both cookies are deleted, we won't be able to  detect it, but at least this provides some sort of validation:
function get_cookie_hash ($timestamp, $salt) {
  return md5("Extra random static string; TS: $timestamp; Salt: $salt; Extra random static string.");
}

$cookieSalt = 'Th1si54rAnd0MsTr1nG!';

// If at least one of the cookies was returned, validate the request
if (!empty($_COOKIE['ckv_1']) || !empty($_COOKIE['ckv_2'])) {

  $valid = FALSE;

  do { // Wrapped in a do-while to allow us to break out easily
    // Make sure both value are set
    if (empty($_COOKIE['ckv_1']) || empty($_COOKIE['ckv_2'])) break;
    // Get old timestamp as integer
    $oldTS = hexdec($_COOKIE['ckv_1']);
    // Make sure timestamp is more than one hour old, and the hash cookie matches it
    if ($oldTS > (time() - 3600) || $_COOKIE['ckv_2'] != get_cookie_hash($oldTS, $cookieSalt)) break;
    // OK if you get here
    $valid = TRUE;
  } while (FALSE);

  if (!$valid) {
    echo "Sorry - you cannot submit a survey more than once in an hour.";
    exit;
  }

}

// process survey here

// Set the tracking cookies after processing (but before any output!)
// We'll set them as HTTP only to help prevent XSS-type attacks
$cookieTime = time();
setcookie('ckv_1', dechex($cookieTime), 7200, '', '', FALSE, TRUE);
setcookie('ckv_2', get_cookie_hash($cookieTime, $cookieSalt), 7200, '', '', FALSE, TRUE);

A: Use a database to store IPs and timestamps of votes, and then when recording the vote (or better yet; when displaying the survey so you tell the user that he already voted) check the database if user's IP ($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR']) is already in the DB and if the timestamp is younger than one hour. If it is don't allow him to vote, otherwise do.

A: You can wrap your checks in a class and then use it when your action requires the functionality:
class IPChecker
{
    public function storeIP($ip)
    {
        # save $ip with now() and context (if available)
        # in your database
        ...
    }
    public function isBlocked($ip)
    {
        # test if $ip by now() and context (if available)
        # is in your database
        ...
        # return true / false;
    }
}

$ipchecker = new IPChecker();

# on form submit:

$ip = $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'];
if ($ipchecker->isBlocked($ip))
{
    # blocked
    ...
}
else
{
    # good
    $ipchecker->storeIP($ip);
    ...
}

A: REMOTE_ADDR does indeed get you an IP address. But:

*

*At many companies (especially large ones), outgoing traffic goes through proxies or firewalls, which makes the entire company—or at least entire location—appear to come from a few IP addresses. One IP address may easily be 10,000 people.

*Some ISPs use transparent proxying to save on bandwidth. Often, its only transparent to the client, so an entire ISP (or at least region) will come from several IPs.

*Cell phones often are assigned new IP addresses more often than every hour, and being told you've already voted when you haven't would be quite annoying.

*IPv6 opens a whole new can of worms. Privacy extensions are designed to break what you're doing. They will.

So, here is a more accurate description of REMOTE_ADDR: An address that, as part of the full TCP session address (server, server port, remote address, remote port) lets you send a packet that is part of said session. It may or may not be the address of the actual client (usually isn't), may or may not match from request-to-request, and may or may not be shared by numerous other people.

A: Store the $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] in database table with the time stamp it last submitted the survey. The table may have two columns like IPAddress(varchar 100), TimeStamp(int). and in php code
<?php
     //query the $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] in database and get timestamp, if found compare it with current time stamp, difference should be greater than an hour

if($diff > 3600)
{
   print "You are not allowed to post your survey more than once in an hour"
   exit;
}

//Your page code
?>

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Pierzynski brings old fire to new role as mentor with Braves
Cory McCartney @coryjmccartney
Jan 8, 2015 at 4:03p ET
A.J. Pierzynski, who spent last season with the Red Sox and Cardinals, joined the Braves on a one-year, $2 million contract.
Charles LeClaire/Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sport
ATLANTA — Over the last 14 years, A.J. Pierzynski has played in no fewer than 102 games, the most of any catcher in that span.
Joining the Braves on a one-year, $2 million deal that was finalized Wednesday, all but cemented that will come to an end. But he knows exactly what he's getting into.
Atlanta already has its backstop of the present and the future in Christian Bethancourt, the 23-year-old defensive wunderkind. So Pierzynski, 38, will enter a season technically in a backup role for the first time since 2000. But at its core, his new position is that of mentor.
"They (said) 'Hey, come over and try and get the most out of this kid and teach him how to be a big-league catcher at an every day level," Pierzynski said Wednesday at Turner Field.
That Pierzynski believes, is where Bethancourt faces the biggest learning curve. He has 29 starts under his belt, including 15 of the last 18 games last season, but Pierzynski says a small sample size can't automatically prepare someone for the rigors of an entire season.
"I think that's different than just being a big-league catcher," he said. "To do it every day is a different animal than just showing up and doing it every couple days or being a young kid and not having much thrown on you.
To do it every day at a level and have expectations is something different — and I've done it for a long time — and hopefully I can give him some knowledge to make him a better player."
Bethancourt has long been touted for his defensive skill set — which has drawn comparisons to the Gold Glove winner Pierzynski was backing up at the end of last season in the Cardinals' Yadier Molina. But at this point in his development there have been offensive limitations.
Bethancourt hit .248/.274/.548 last season in 113 at-bats and with three extra-base hits (three doubles) and has yet to hit a major league home run. There is power potential as he hit 12 HRs in 58 at-bats in Double-A Mississippi in 2013 and eight in 343 at-bats last season before his call up.
That's a far cry from the power supplied by last year's primary catcher, Evan Gattis, who hit 22 home runs (three off the MLB lead at the position) despite getting just 401 plate appearances.
An expected move to left field following the trade of Justin Upton to the Padres paved the way for Bethancourt's ascension, but it also left the Braves without another proven option behind the plate.
Last year's third catcher, Gerald Laird, remains unsigned, and while he was a valuable piece — he hit .238 over his two seasons in Atlanta and helped in the progression of young pitchers like Julio Teheran and Alex Wood — he last played in 100-plus games in 2009. In '14 the Braves also carried Ryan Doumit, who caught in nine games. He also remains a free agent.
At a maximum, Pierzynski provides insurance that if Bethancourt struggles at the plate, they can fall back on a catcher that has hit no lower than .251 in any of his full seasons — which came in 2014 across two teams and two leagues — and has a career 11.6 strikeout rate (Bethancourt was at 22.2 last season; Gattis at 24.2). At a minimum, he's an upgrade off the bench as a backup catcher and .258/.329/.395 career pinch hitter.
Pierzynski will also provide some more fire to a clubhouse that lacked it at times last season and had manager Fredi Gonzalez calling upon his young starts to become more vocal.
That won't be a problem with Pierzynski, who has long had a reputation as an intense competitor that can get under opponents' skin.
"I'll do whatever it takes to help my team win," Pierzynski said. "If you need me to fight the guy, I'll fight the guy. I'll do whatever it takes because I want to win the game. For three hours, I don't care who is pitching [against my team]. Mark Buehrle is one of my good friends. But when we're facing him, I want to kill him. Then afterwards, we'll go out and get a beer."
That did lead to some problems last season in Boston, with which he signed a one-year, $8.25 million deal. He was released after 72 games and 274 plate appearances.
Per WEEI's Web site, players approached coaches and the front office about Pierzynski's personality, which didn't fit in with the team. He then signed with the Cardinals, hitting .265 over 21 games while Molina was out and finished the season at .251/.288/.337 in a reserve role.
From 2004 to 2014, among players that caught at least 75 percent of the time, Pierzynski leads with 1,435 games. Molina trails by 107 games for second, with the former Brave and current Yankee Brian McCann third (1,245). Switching to a full season as a backup is admittedly a new experience, but he'd at least gotten a taste of it.
"Last year when I went to St. Louis was the first time that I didn't play every day. It was eye-opening," he said. "I was like, 'This can still work,' because you still have to find a way to help people when you're not contributing on the field, and it was cool to go to St. Louis and be able to do that."
Pierzynski had an up-close view of Mike Minor and Alex Wood last season when the Red Sox came to Turner Field (he went 4 for 13 in the series with two RBI) and worked with Shelby Miller in St. Louis. Teheran he has only seen on television, but Pierzynski is impressed with the young staff, which doesn't include anyone over 26.
"They have good arms," he said. "It's one of the things that excites you with this team, not only at the big-league level, but talking to (Braves president of baseball operations) John Hart and some of the other guys, they have other guys coming in the system and it's exciting to be a veteran and want to help these guys."
That's the other side of his role as a mentor. While he'll be a resource for Bethancourt in his transition, Pierzynski also sees part of his responsibility as continuing the development of the Braves staff.
"That's the No. 1 job as a catcher is to come in here and help these guys be what they're supposed to be, and that's a dominant pitching staff," he said. "It's exciting, especially when you can get with young kids, because you can kind of learn guys when they're young and hopefully mold them and help them get the most out of their ability."
But joining the Braves was as much about what it symbolized as the opportunity itself. Pierzynski is an Orlando product and ever summer his parents would bring him to Fulton County Stadium, where he would stick around afterward in the parking lot to try and get autographs, some of which he still has.
"It's just cool to be able to come here and put this hat on and put this jersey on and say at some point 'I was an Atlanta Brave,'" he said.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney
cory-mccartney
FOX Sports South


NEW DELHI: If Delhi government has to make sure that residents don't eat pesticide-laced food, it will have to push neighboring states to reduce their pesticide usage. Most of Delhi's fruits and vegetables come from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. Agricultural experts say that while High Court-appointed panel's recommendations on monitoring pesticide residue levels are welcome, much more needs to be done.


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What do I need so as to enter Greece?
To enter Greece, you need a passport, but visas are not required for tourists and people who are visiting Greece for business purposes up to three months. However, it is advisable to have a short time of additional validity since the time of your departure can be delayed at times. If you intend to stay more than three months in this country, then you can contact the Embassy of the country you want to go to.
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VISIONS OF LONDON'S PLASTIC BOTTLE FREE FUTURE
September 19th, London – A group of designers tasked with imagining how London can become free of plastic water bottles has come up with a striking set of ideas to help ramp-up London's 'refill revolution' and eliminate bottled water. These are on show at this week's London Design Festival.
Plastic bottles are one of the most common items of marine litter, posing a major threat to marine wildlife. Londoners get through over a billion disposable water bottles a year, many of which could end up in the River Thames and make their way out to the ocean.
The young creatives, including product and graphic designers, were given a set of challenges for how to help venues, retailers, events and places in London go plastic-bottled water free.
The task involved working with expert mentors in sustainable innovation and behavioural change, to devise ways of shifting people's perceptions about tap water, of igniting a behavioural shift away from single-use plastic bottles towards refillable bottles, and of providing Londoners and visitors to the city with easy access to water refill stations. The ideas aim to help transport hubs, hotels, college campuses and pedestrian zones, as well as big events like open-air concerts and sporting events, go plastic-bottled water free.
The concepts being showcased in the Brompton District at 3 Yeoman's Row at the Design Festival until the 23rd September include eye-catching educational and awareness campaigns about the danger of plastic pollution in the ocean, the real costs of plastic water bottles from manufacture to disposal, and designs for fountains to inspire more people to ditch their reliance on 'disposable' plastic bottles. Selfie' posters also aim to shift perceptions and make plastic bottles socially unacceptable.
The exhibits include the "Water Monster" mobile fountain styled like a steam-punk octopus which can be used at events and other locations where permanent fountains are not available, a London Wave fountain design to inspire passion for protecting the ocean, and arresting sculptures resembling man-made fossils embedded with plastic waste from the River Thames, to show the lasting impact of disposable plastic bottles.
Striking posters envision the extinction of the blue whale caused by our reliance on the convenience of bottled water, and explain that it takes 162 grams of oil and seven litres of water just to manufacture a one-litre single-use plastic water bottle. 'Selfie' posters aim to make plastic bottles socially unacceptable.
The concepts are the first outputs of the #OneLess Design Fellowship, which brings together experts in design, technology and the circular economy to explore ways to end the use of single-use plastic water bottles, which are part of a huge plastic pollution problem affecting the world, and especially the ocean.
The Fellowship was launched in early 2018 by the #OneLess initiative led by the Zoological Society of London, and sustainability advisors Forum for the Future. #OneLess recently teamed up with the Mayor of London to install a network of drinking fountains across London, as part of the movement to transform London into a 'refill city'.
Londoners have one of the highest rates of bottled water consumption in the country, getting get through two million single-use plastic water bottles a day. Dr Heather Koldeway, co-director of the OneLess campaign, said "Shifting us all away from choosing to buy bottled water is not an easy fix. It's going to require a profound behavioural and value shift about the safety of tap water and the impact of single-use plastic bottles. We are thrilled to see such a variety of innovative ideas about how to achieve this and make people proud to join the refill revolution."
Corina Angheloiu of Forum for the Future said: "In July, we hosted a week-long summer school with our design fellows, with expert coaching and mentoring, to start developing these innovative ideas. Our Fellowship aims to foster lasting engagement with a new generation of thinkers and designers who will help make change happen. To solve a problem like this requires a fundamental change in people's thinking, as well as the infrastructure to support them making a different choice. It will not be a quick fix, but initiatives like ours will help it happen, I am certain."
The #OneLess team


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Karavas – Mitata – Avlemonas
Mylopotamos – Agia Moni – Diakofti
Panorama of Kythira
A Taste of Kythira
drakakis travel services
Getting to Kythira
Visit the monasteries of Kythira
Myrtidia, Kythira
Myrtidia Kythira
Monastery of Myrtidiotissa
In the western part of Kythira, through the village of Kalokerines and sheltered between the pine trees, lies the Monastery of the Virgin Myrtidiotissa, protector and patroness of Kythera.
The monastery was built during the 19th century, on the site of an older church. According to the legend, the miraculous icon of the Virgin was found here among the murtle bushes by a shepherd, giving the church its name (meaning "of the myrtle"). The icon's face was worn away with no discernible features left, thus appearing to be black. Some people believe the icon to have been painted by Luke the Evangelist himself. The monastery celebrates the 15th of August, while celebrations are held on August 15th. During Dekapentismos (1st -15th of August), the monastery opens its doors and extends hospitality to pilgrims who participate in fasting and prayers.
Agia Moni, Kythira
Monastery of Agia Moni
East of the mountain above Diakofti lies the holy monastery of Agia Moni. Legend has it that Theodoros Kolokotronis (nicknamed the "Old Man of the Morea" for his wisdom) helped renovate the monastery as a promise to the Virgin Mary for her help in the Greek Revolution.
The monastery of Agia Moni was built in 1840 after a shepherd reportedly found an icon of the Virgin in a bush scorched by lightning. The icon depicts the Virgin Mary with the inscription <<The monastery of all hope>> on one side and Agios Giorgos (Saint George) on the other. The monastery celebrates on Palm Sunday and hosts festivities on its nameday, the 6th August. Besides the breathtaking view, the building's fine construction and special candlemaking chamber are definitely an interesting attraction for any visitors.
Monastery of Agia Elessa
Located to the east of the island, near Livadi lies the monastery of Agia Elessa. Elessa was the daughter of a pagan officer from the Peloponnese. Raised as a Christian by her mother, she came to Kythira in 375 A.D. to become a nun. Her father, however, did not accept her faith and followed her to the island. Pursued by her father, Elesssa managed to escape momentarily through a split in the rocks that suddenly appeared, however she was not spared her fate and was killed by her father shortly after.
The opening in the rock face is quite impressive and can be seen in the cliffside to the west of the monastery. The monastery was built in Elessa's memory by fellow Christians from the Peloponnese, who lie buried in a tomb next to the cliffside. Nearby stands the tree from which her father hanged her. The new church was erected in 1871; overlooking the southwest coast of the island where visitors to the monastery can enjoy a beautiful sunset.
Agion Theodoron, Kythira
Agion Theodoron Kythira
Monastery of Osios Theodoros
Situated in the center of the island, near the village of Aroniadika, lies the Monastery of Osios Theodoros. A lovely courtyard with cypresses leads into the peaceful interior of the monastery. In the early 10th century, the monk Theodoros came to Kythera to devote his life to God. The monk died on May 12th in the year 922 A.D. His body was found by some passing Monemvasian sailors several years later, who buried the saint's earthly remains in 925 A.D. During the 12th century, craftsmen from Monemvasia came to the island to rebuild the monastery at its old site. The building was the seat of the diocese during the Venetian occupation. Inside the church lies the tomb of the saint.
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ARÐ - Take Up My Bones Book 2-CD
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ARÐ - Take Up My Bones CD Digipak
ARÐ are of Northumbria. The band's name is taken from an Old English word meaning "native land" in the dialect of the Anglian Kingdom of Northumbria. The concept behind the debut album "Take Up My Bones" from this insular doom metal solo project created by composer and musician Mark Deeks revolves around the legendary relics of the famous Northumbrian saint Cuthbert (634–687) and their long journey. ARÐ built their artistic quest for heritage and identity upon a solid doom foundation. The early medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria that inspired ARÐ was far larger than the historic English county Northumberland implies. Before the Germanic warriors arrived, at first as a part of the Roman armies and later as conquerors, the Romans had subjugated the local population of Brittonic Votadini, speakers of a Celtic language. The Roman Empire had left a religious legacy that firmly took root in neighbouring Ireland and soon began to affect the new Germanic rulers of these northern lands as well as ultimately inspiring the tale of "Take Up My Bones": Christianity. The early medieval coastal monasteries of Whithorn in the west and Lindisfarne to the east bear witness to this transition. It is in Lindisfarne on Holy Island in the time after the devastating Viking attack from across the sea in the year 793 where the story of the remains of St. Cuthbert begins: a 200-year journey that saw the saint's remains finally reburied in the cathedral of Durham. The legends and mystery of the translation of the saint's relics such as the refusal of his coffin to be moved or the lack of corruption upon his corpse after decades shape the core of this conceptual musical tale. With crushing glacial-paced doom, monastic sounding chants and choirs, and sorrowful yet epic melodies, ARÐ have found the perfect musical expression to tell a tale of their homelands.
Mark Deeks, who earned his PhD in Philosophy on the topic of "National Identity in Northern and Eastern European Heavy Metal", is also a member of leading UK black metal stalwarts WINTERFYLLETH and keeps himself busy as a musical director, arranger, piano coach, and conductor as well as a best selling author. On "Take Up My Bones", Mark is supported by WOLCENSMEN mastermind Dan Capp on guitars and backing vocals. He is also joined by ATAVIST drummer Callum Cox, and a spellbinding performance from cellist Jo Quail (MY DYING BRIDE et al.) delivers the coup de grace.
1. Burden Foretold
2. Take Up My Bones
3. Raise then the Incorrupt Body
4. Boughs of Trees
5. Banner of the Saint
6. Only Three Shall Know
Bonus tracks (artbook only):
1. Geonde Arð
2. Raise Then The Incorrupt Body (Hymn Version)
3. Only Three Shall Know (Hymn Version)
- CD book edition (hardcover, 18x18cm, 36 pages) with liner notes by Mark Deeks, additional photos and 3 bonus tracks (500 copies available)
Secrets Of The Moon - Black House Complete Box | Gold
Secrets Of The Moon - SUN Complete Box
Secrets Of The Moon - SUN Vinyl 2-LP Gatefold | black
The Vision Bleak - Witching Hour CD Digipak
Unreqvited - Mosaic II: la déteste et la détresse Vinyl Gatefold LP | Black
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