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L Ron Hubbard
Feature & News
Weapons, Vessels and Artifacts
Battlefield Earth Compendium
Chirk is secretary to the Psychlo security chief, Terl, at the mining installation near Denver, Colorado on Earth.
Terl acquired Chirk as a secretary because she was stupid enough not to be any menace and good-looking enough to be decorative. She got drunk with economical speed and had other advantages too.
Her utility was in blocking off callers and shuffling administration papers back for somebody else to handle.
Her dedication to Terl and willingness to assist in his underhanded schemes comes solely from a promise of a fortune and a huge house together back on their home planet, Psychlo.
Befriending Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, she provides vital information to the human rebellion.
Raised in the same desolate village in the Rocky Mountains as Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, Chrissie is a very pretty girl, about eighteen, with large black eyes in strange contrast to her corn-silk hair.
She loves Jonnie and his decision to leave their disease-ridden village in search of a better place practically crushes her.
In retaliation, Chrissie threatens to go after Jonnie if he does not return in a year-much to his dismay. She carries out her promise when almost a year later his horse, Windsplitter, wanders into the village, alone and with a fresh scar on its back—putting dread in her heart that Jonnie is injured and helpless.
Her younger sister, Pattie, follows her on her search for Jonnie, and to their relief, they find him in the big village past the valley—unaware that he is being used as a lure to entrap them.
Captured by the sadistic Psychlo alien Terl, Chrissie and Pattie are used as leverage against Jonnie to get him to follow Terl's orders.
Sir Robert the Fox
In Scotland, humans survive in small tribes, forced high into the Highlands. They are starving as there is little grazing for sheep and they do not dare plow or plant crops for fear of the demons that fly through the air.
Then a messenger comes from America with a vision to save mankind—he requests that fifty men come back with him to the Psychlo mining camp near Denver, Colorado. The messenger is Jonnie Goodboy Tyler.
The Chief of the Clan elects one man in particular for this adventure—a veteran of many raids, and very learned—Sir Robert the Fox.
Under the guise of working with a group of humans to mine for the villainous Psychlo Terl, Robert the Fox puts into action his skills in military tactics and plays a major role in executing the rebellion against the alien invaders.
With a love of guile and a thirst for adventure, Glencannon leaves the Scottish Highlands to join the small band of humans Jonnie Goodboy Tyler needs to save Chrissie and thwart the alien invaders.
Upon arrival in the Psychlo mining center near Denver, Colorado, Glencannon rapidly learns Psychlo and how to use their mining machinery and becomes an expert pilot—all under the guise of assisting the sadistic Psychlo Terl in his secret mining project.
A daredevil and fierce warrior, it is his skills in reconnaissance and aerial combat that make him a vital and dedicated part of the human resistance.
Dries Gloton
While he likes to call himself the Chief Collections Executive, Dries Gloton is actually the Branch Manager of the Selachees' Galactic Bank for the sixteenth universe, which includes Earth.
A Branch Manager has total authority for his sector, and is a bit jealous of his prerogatives.
See Lord Voraz.
Ker was born of wealthy parents on Psychlo. It was a very proud family and his mother gave birth to a litter. Usually a Psychlo litter is four, but in this case, it was six, and it often happens that when there are that many pups, one of them is a runt. And in this case, the runt happened to be Ker.
Not wanting the family disgraced, Ker was thrown out in the garbage, only to be fished out by one of the household slaves and sent underground to join a secret revolutionary organization of blue-colored Balfan slaves.
Brought up by the Balfan revolutionaries, Ker was trained to steal things for them, as he could slip in and out of places, being so small. He was caught at the age of eight and was imprisoned and sentenced to hard labor, where he learned the ins and outs of criminality.
At the age of fifteen, he escaped prison and bought false identity papers, bribed an Intergalactic Mining Company clerk and got employed as a shaft man because he could get in and out of small places. Now forty-one, Ker works on Earth and has been assigned by Terl to assist Jonnie Goodboy Tyler in learning to operate the Psychlo minesite machinery for Terl's "special project."
Termed a "geysermouth" for his incessant chattering, Ker has no friends and none of the other Psychlos at the compound bother to listen to him.
By forging a relationship with Jonnie, he puts in motion major events that will affect the future of the human rebellion.
Brown Limper Staffor
Brown Limper Staffor, son of Parson Staffor, was raised in the same village as Jonnie Goodboy Tyler. Born with a clubfoot, he should have been killed at birth, but he was saved as he was the only child the Staffors had ever had.
There has never been any affection between Jonnie and Brown Limper, and the seed of hate that Brown Limper has harbored for Jonnie over many years continues to fester-leaving him jealous and bitter.
Climbing the ranks from council member of the small village near Denver to the Council of Earth in the human rebellion, Limper has a personal agenda that poses a dire threat to the success of the human resistance.
Bittie MacLeod
Bittie MacLeod is filled with dreams of long-forgotten centuries when chivalry was the order of the day and brave knights galloped out to fight the forces of evil.
Though very young, it is this dream of adventure that compels him to join the human rebellion against the Psychlos in Scotland.
When he meets Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, he immediately idolizes the man—deeming him a knight—and so dedicates himself to assisting Jonnie as his squire.
Dunneldeen MacSwanson
Dunneldeen is a fiery Scot and one of the first members of the human rebellion. Never afraid to look death in the eye and dance with the devil's wife, he serves the resistance well with his courage and nerve as a fighter pilot.
Planetary Director of Earth, Numph is getting old.
Rumor has it that he is a discard from the Central Company Directorate—not for corruption, but just for bumbling incompetence—and has been sent as far away as they could send him. An unimportant post, a rim star in a remote galaxy, a perfect place to send someone and forget him.
Wanting to cut pay and bonuses, purportedly to increase profits for the Intergalactic Mining Company, he turns to Terl, Psychlo security chief, to help ensure that there is no outbreak of mutiny at the mining sites on Earth.
While seeming to assist the Planetary Director in preventing revolt, Terl is secretly working to increase his own personal wealth, and must somehow manage to manipulate and control the Planetary Director in order to accomplish his ends.
There was something on Numph. Terl was fervidly certain of it.
Raised in the same village as Jonnie Goodboy Tyler near Denver, Colorado, Pattie is a budding copy of her older sister, Chrissie, with corn-silk hair and large black eyes.
Following her sister out of their village in search of Jonnie, Pattie is captured with Chrissie and imprisoned in a cage by the Psychlo alien Terl. They are both merely tools to be used as leverage against Jonnie so he will obey orders.
She is subjected to conditions no eight-year-old should have to suffer through, but she survives.
Lord Schleim
Behind the glittering robes and polished pleasantries, Tolnep emissary Lord Schleim is a slithering and underhanded diplomat—a master of debate much like a swordsman is a master of his blade.
Packing enough power to flick a small planet like Earth into eternity with no more than a careless gesture of a claw or fingertip, Lord Schleim has designs of his own on Earth—making him a formidable enemy against the human rebellion.
Colonel Ivan Smolensk
As tall as Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, heavyset with slightly slanted eyes, and dressed in baggy-bottom trousers and a white tunic, he is quite imposing, his bristling black mustache standing straight out on both sides of his big nose.
His name is Ivan Smolensk of the Hindu Kush in the Himalayan Mountains. He is descended from a Red Army detachment that was cut off there and intermarried locally. There are about ten groups in the Himalayas; some speak Russian, some an Afghanistan dialect.
A loyal friend to Jonnie Goodboy Tyler and a fierce leader, Colonel Ivan and his tribes combine forces with the Americans and Scots in a strategic alliance to defend against the alien invaders.
Stormalong
Stam Stavenger, called Stormalong, is a member of a Norwegian group that had immigrated to Scotland from Norway in ages past. His people preserved their names and lineage, but not their customs, as now they look and act like Scots.
His courage and nerve as a fighter pilot serve the resistance well.
Terl
Terl is the Psychlo security chief on a planet without insecurities—Earth.
It had been a gut blow to Terl when he was ordered to Earth. He was only 39 when he was appointed and he'd just received word that his tour of duty had been extended—with no mention of relief.
Terrified at the vision of a 190-year-old Terl tottering around on this same planet, he realizes that such questionable fates require action—big action. And that is just what Terl does, devising a plan to get himself back to his home planet—a wealthy Psychlo.
To succeed, he must find and teach humans to run Psychlo mining equipment under the guise of cutting down personnel costs while preventing the head of the planet and the other Psychlos at the minesite from discovering his true motives.
Setting things in motion, Terl captures the human Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, forcing him to lead other humans in the mining project—and to keep him in check he imprisons his girlfriend, Chrissie, and her younger sister, Pattie, keeping them locked in a cage, under threat of death if Jonnie does not cooperate.
Fully versed in the arts of deception, Terl uses every means of extortion, blackmail, and villainy he needs to push forward his plans of personal wealth and power.
But unbeknownst to Terl, he has set in motion actions that will affect the entire galaxy—and made a deadly enemy of the only man who would ever really be a threat to him—Jonnie Goodboy Tyler.
Mr. Tsung
Mr. Tsung is a descendant of a family that served as chamberlains to the Ch'ing Dynasty—those who ruled China from 1644 A.D. to about 1911, close to eleven hundred years ago. They were the last dynasty before China became a People's Republic (and before the initial attack by the Psychlo aliens).
His family always kept up on its background, expecting someday a dynasty they could serve would come back into power.
Becoming an advisor to Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, Mr. Tsung instructs him in the arts of politics and diplomacy—skills which may prove more valuable to the resistance than the numbers in their ranks or the strength of their weapons.
Jonnie Goodboy Tyler
Jonnie Goodboy Tyler was raised in a small, dying village in the mountains near Denver, Colorado. Among people who were average height, Jonnie Goodboy stood half a head taller, a muscular six feet shining with the bronzed health of his twenty years.
Growing up, Jonnie was always considered a bit of a trial, always asking questions and stirring things up—refusing to believe the tales of deadly clouds wiping out great villages, and monsters lurking beyond the valley.
When Jonnie was twenty his father died, and out of frustration and guilt he defies his elders and embarks on a quest to find a better place for his people—where the food is abundant and they will not be plagued by sickness.
During his trek, Jonnie is captured, discovering a truth more terrifying than the legends of his youth as he is confronted with the most oppressive and vicious alien race in all the galaxies—the Psychlos.
Caught in the clutches of the Psychlos, Jonnie must somehow survive, using every resource he has to engineer a rebellion against the invaders or lose the last of humanity in the attempt.
Lord Voraz
Lord Voraz is the Central Director, Chief Executive Officer and Overlord of the Galactic Bank.
He is from a race called the "Selachee," indigenous to the only three habitable planets of the Gredides System. The planets are mostly water—nine surface parts of water to only two parts of land on average. And they have banking as their only industry.
The Selachee are ideal bankers. They can eat anything, drink anything, breathe almost any atmosphere, live on almost any gravity and, by tribal mores, worship total honesty and the righteousness of obligation.
Lord Voraz commands billions in the Selachee banking industry and his power spans sixteen universes—including Earth.
Bolbods
The Bolbods are plain plug-ugly creatures, larger than Psychlos, but sort of shapeless, and with what one could call their "hands" always clenched into fists.
They have a reputation for being a bit stupid and arrogant, and it is rumored that the Bolbods intend a conquest of the galaxies and will be choosing certain Psychlo stations as their next targets.
The Bolbod military does not wear insignia, a practice they consider below their dignity.
Their crafts are generally large and cylindrical and have considerable firepower. A large Bolbod ship could easily take out any defenses established from existing resources on Earth. The Bolbod military operates primarily by radio.
Boxnards
Two hundred nine thousand, four hundred sixty-two years ago, while inhabiting their seven planets somewhere in Universe 6, the Boxnards developed a form of teleportation. This event terrified the Psychlos.
It is thought that the Boxnards tried to put teleportation to military use, but the Psychlos got there first and completely obliterated them, along with all of their planets and anyone associated with them. The Boxnards were effectively driven to extinction.
Chatovarians
The Chatovarians have the reputation of being the best defense builders. It is their boast that no Psychlo attack has ever broken through in their entire seven-hundred-planet empire. They have even shot down gas drones.
Chatovarians love to work with stone: they have small beam tools, like swords, and they cut stone with splice notches so it hangs together with no mortar. They then anneal the stone and make it join molecularly so it is armor-hard. As a result, the whole grain of the stone comes out in bright, glossy colors.
Known to be nice people, they stand about five feet tall, have somewhat flat heads and big buck teeth. Physically, they are a bright orange-tan with hands that are a trifle webbed but very nimble. They are also very strong; they are fast workers and prefer to eat wood for food.
Chinkos
The Chinkos were an old race that came from Galaxy 2. Physically they were as tall as Psychlos but thread-thin and delicate.
They had considerable knowledge, and experience of the cultural arts and many members of the race were captured by the Psychlos and used for cultural posts on planets where there was air. The Psychlos found them easy to transport as they were feather-light.
Chinkos served for many years in the culture and ethnology department of the Intergalactic Mining Company's station on Earth.
The Chinkos eventually initiated a strike against the Psychlos, which resulted in their complete extermination.
During their time on Earth, they did do quite a bit of research on man as could be seen in hundreds of yards of cabinets and books.
The Chinkos also created instruction discs for their learning machine, teaching all about the languages, cultures, and sciences of Earth.
Hawvins
With an oval-shaped head, antennae for ears and a blade-gummed mouth, the Hawvin is an interesting-looking creature. When provoked they turn a light violet color.
One of the Hawvin planets is Balor, just a ring away from the planet Tolnep, and conflicts with the Hawvins have been reported by both the Tolneps and the Hockners.
Hockners
Coming from the Duraleb System, a Hockner probe ship has been sent to Earth, manned by a noseless, overly ornamented crew that is in search of a teleportation system somewhere on the planet.
Behind all the pomp, circumstance and gold braid is a sophisticated military race, posing a great danger to humanity.
Over a thousand years ago members of humanity sent a probe out that wandered aimlessly through space until it was intercepted by the Psychlos. Containing precious metals and directions to Earth, it was practically an open invitation to rape and plunder the planet, an invitation that the Intergalactic Mining Company accepted.
The Psychlos then teleported a gas drone to Earth, which circled the entire planet, gassing each city as it went along.
Psychlo battle planes and tanks were sent in as a clean-up crew, and shortly thereafter business was set up with mining staff and equipment in full operation—gutting Earth of its precious metals, no longer bothered by its previous owners.
What remained of the human race spent the next ten centuries evading the Psychlos. Finding shelter in high mountains and other places that were of little use to Psychlo miners, the human race teetered on the edge of extinction.
But, in the year 3000, new hope arises when a single man risks everything and organizes a rebellion against the tyrannical Psychlo forces—Jonnie Goodboy Tyler.
Jambitchows
The Jambitchows have an interesting appearance, with eyes where their mouths should be and glittering gold scales.
In search of the teleportation system on Earth, the Jambitchows band together with the Hawvins, Bolbods, and Hockners. Although natively hostile to these other races, the Jambitchows temporarily put aside their differences to accomplish their ends.
Psychlos
It is unclear exactly how long the Psychlos have been in existence, but records extend back several hundred thousand years.
The Psychlos are physically large—about nine feet tall, weighing somewhere near a ton—and have the strength to kill a man with just one blow, making them a force to be reckoned with.
In order to survive in Earth's atmosphere, Psychlos have to wear special breathe-masks over their faces.
They also have other physical attributes that tend to make them look a bit strange and ugly, such as different colored fur, sharp talons in place of fingers and an extra talon on their right paw.
For fear of revolt, the Psychlos refrain from creating colonies, and planet Psychlo, or "home planet" as it is called, runs all of the Psychlo operations, including those of Intergalactic Mining and other large companies.
About three hundred thousand years ago, the Psychlo economy was highly dependent upon ore and metals, with mining as its primary business. At the time, however, the Psychlos were in an economic mess, with mobs and unemployment and heavy depressions. Added to this was the fact that they bred like herrings and had a massive population to deal with.
About two thousand years later they encountered a race known as the Selachee, who have banking as their main industry. With the Psychlos' exclusive control of teleportation and shipping arrangements, it was very easy for the Selachees to help them build markets for their metals. The Psychlos became prosperous and developed more ways to mine, and the Selachees saw to it that they were economically stable.
Then suddenly, from the Psychlo point of view, an awful thing happened—another race stole or invented teleportation. It terrified them. It is unclear what happened next; however, it seems that this other race (Boxnards, Universe 6) tried to put teleportation to military use. The Psychlos got there first and the entire seven planets of the Boxnards, and every single Boxnard and races associated or allied with the Boxnards, were wiped out. It took the Psychlos years to execute it, but no one ever found any trace of the Boxnards after that.
After about half a century of reclusion following this event, the Psychlos reemerged as the cruelest, most sadistic oppressors any universe had ever seen. However, they were in deep internal trouble again and went to the Gredides System and actually begged the Selachees for help. They wanted money to hire soldiers and buy arms. Of course, the Selachee government (and every other race in sixteen universes) wanted nothing to do with them and it looked like outright war.
They were then turned over to Lord Loonger (a Selachee) of the Galactic Bank and a deal was made—the Galactic Bank would handle all economic concerns and peace conferences for the Psychlos in exchange for teleportation services and protection. It was because of this deal that the Psychlos were able to stabilize and become the strongest force across the universes.
Selachee
Affiliated with the Galactic Bank, the small, gray Selachees are ideal bankers, as they can eat anything, breathe almost any atmosphere and live on almost any gravity. They come from the three habitable planets of the Gredides System. Somewhat similar to Earth, the planets contain nine surface parts of water to only two parts of land on the average.
With about five billion inhabitants on each planet, it is quite a busy population. Although mostly devoted to banking, they have engineers and specialists and, naturally, lots of mathematicians.
About three hundred thousand years ago the Selachee ran into the Psychlos. They were not conquered; in fact, they didn't even fight a war. In those days the Psychlos were not as bad as they became about a hundred thousand years later. The Psychlos were actually under economic stress and severe unemployment due to their rocketing breeding count. The Selachees helped bring stability to the Psychlos by introducing computer technologies for handling their financial systems.
As time went on, the Psychlos got into additional troubles and begged the Galactic Bank for more help. They were brought to the bargaining table and it was negotiated that the bank would handle all economic connections they had with other races, handle all transfers of Psychlos funds, handle all peace conferences. And in return every Selachee would be held inviolate, the Selachee planets and the Gredides System were totally hands-off, and the Psychlos would furnish teleportation facilities throughout the universes for the bank. They signed, got their money, and they stabilized. As a result, the Selachees gained economic control over all known universes, galaxies and planets.
The stated purpose of the Galactic Bank is to bring economic stability to the universes and galaxies through loans and interest. However, their true intentions and ambitions, while appearing to be altruistic, are suspect.
Tolneps
Having mastered time control, so they could hold it frozen, the Tolneps send their war vessels (Vulcor class) on long piratical voyages to raid other planets and enslave them.
Known for their technically advanced weapons, the Tolneps can breathe just about anything, see in infrared only (requiring a special filter plate face mask) and have a body density comparable to iron that makes them immune to Psychlo gas. They also have a bite that is a deadly poison.
Creeth is the capital of Tolnep and is known for its distinctive architectural style with streets and sections of buildings that wind and intertwine. Also located there is the famous combined public park and slave auction center (slave trading has become a popular activity and industry among Tolneps). Tolnep is located in the Batafor System (known as Sirius in ancient man-constellation maps), which has only three inhabited planets—the seventh, eighth and ninth. The Tolnep homeland is located on the ninth.
Surrounding the ninth planet are five moons, one of which is named "Asart," which secretly holds the crews, hangars, and shops of the entire Tolnep navy. On the back of Asart is a huge diamond with a slash, done with hyperband nullifying material to act as a navigation and identification marker. It is unknown to practically everyone except a fleet officer, and the marker will not show up on standard recorders.
Asart is used for the launching of major war vessels because Tolnep vessels can't operate in a planetary atmosphere due to the great inefficiency of their star energy drives, which, being essentially reaction engines, use up too much of their power. After construction, such vessels are based on Asart and their crews and material are ferried to them from the planet's surface.
The navy base on Asart is Tolnep's dearest and most hard-kept secret.
Bash Our Way to Glory
"Bash Our Way to Glory" is the title of one of the tanks of the old Basher class used by the Psychlos. As can easily be derived from the name, the tank's primary purpose is to smash things out of one's way during a battle.
A nearly impregnable armored vehicle, equipped with guns that wreck things for miles, the "Bash Our Way to Glory" tank is a formidable ground force.
Bolbod Punchcraft
The Bolbod punchcraft is primarily used in scouting missions and for carrying demolition kits. It is a small miniature of the Bolbod war vessel.
Flying Mine Platform
Among the extensive equipment of the Psychlo mining empire is the flying mine platform, also called simply a flying platform.
With rudimentary controls, the flying platform is used by miners in difficult positions, such as near cliff tops or in ravines and valleys.
These machines also serve as low-quantity personnel and cargo carriers due to their convenient shape.
Gas Drone
An overpowered, heavily armored and remote-programmed ship, the gas drone is used by Psychlos during the primary attacks on a planet.
Requiring no pilot and able to carry tons of lethal gas canisters, it has the capacity to wipe out entire cities within minutes. Once launched, the drone is almost impossible to stop or control.
Despite the efforts of many Earth governments during that fatal attack centuries ago, the gas drone was able to withstand missiles, atomic bombs, and even suicide crashes.
Flying at an elevation of thirty thousand feet, the gas drone had crushed the human race within three days.
Hockner Probe Ship
The Hockner probe ship carries approximately five Hockners. Being little more than a jet-powered sled with a canopy, it is used for scouting and other small assignments. The ship itself carries no artillery; however, its occupants often do.
Hockner Vessel
Little is known about the star-shaped Hockner vessel that is seen during attacks by the Hockners.
It is, however, rumored that the Hockner ship is "quite nasty" and not a vessel one would want to run into unexpectedly.
Lord Voraz's Ship
Lord Voraz's ship is primarily used for transportation, as it can travel at light speed.
Shaped like a sleek sphere with a ring around its circumference, this ship is very small. However, when taking off in a curl of flame, it expands to the size of the entire sky (to someone watching on the ground) and then vanishes. When vanishing, because of the extreme speed at which it travels, it leaves its image behind, thus creating the illusion of a solid object that isn't actually there.
Mark II Ground Car
Small, not more than thirty feet long and ten feet high, it skims above the ground like a low-flying wingless bird. Cunning mathematics have contoured it so the exterior surface of the Mark II would make a hostile projectile glance off at an angle. Even the blast muzzles of its artillery are cleverly recessed.
The Mark II is equipped with teleportation motor drives and, as such, is ideal for ground transport over rough terrain, such as large rocks, streams, and loose dirt.
Mark 32 Battleplane
The Mark 32 battleplane is a Psychlo war vessel designed primarily for low-flying air-to-ground combat. Equipped with high-powered blastcannons, the Mark 32 is the ideal ground strafer.
The Mark 32 "Hit 'Em Low, Kill 'Em" is among the most heavily armed ships stationed on Earth. Lacking only in projectile range, these planes make up for it with space for extra fuel cartridges and magnetic grapnels, giving them the ability to launch long-range, highly tactical assaults.
Mark 32s are also remarkably well suited to evasive maneuvers, with teleportation motor drives as well as balance motors to facilitate quick trajectory changes and rolls. In fact, the speed at which these planes can change direction turns the primary focus in battle into determining what your opponent will do and doing it first.
Mark 32s are also sometimes adapted by Psychlo mechanics to suit special needs, such as extended-range or extra personnel transport facilities.
Tolnep War Cruiser
The bright and shiny Tolnep war vessel is marked with the diamond and slash insignia of the Tolneps. It is solar powered and has blast-tight bulkheads and a main battery of 64 Maxun blastcannons. With a crew of 524 Tolnep marines and 63 operating crew, it is commanded by a half-captain with autonomous authority over local tactical conditions but without authority over strategic decisions.
Running on the diamond-shaped bridge of every Tolnep war vessel is a hyper-nondirectional radio band, known only to the Tolneps, which cannot be picked up on any other radio except those used by flag officers and the diplomatic service. Additionally, the hyper-nondirectional transmissions are scrambled.
Button Camera
The button camera is used primarily for spying. It has an adjustable frequency, making it easy to do surveillance from a distance. It can also be connected to a recorder to allow taping of motion imagery.
Kerbango
Popular with Psychlo workers and executives, kerbango is the favored drink of their race. When "under the influence," Psychlos have been known to do such things as crash ground cars, gamble away vast sums of money and get into a variety of other troubles.
Employed by a variety of alien races, the learning machine uses a system of cross-association drills composed of symbols, sounds and words to accelerate learning speed. Subject information is stored on discs.
At an even more advanced level, it uses a piercing beam of "sunlight" to impart information directly, beneath the conscious level-cramming years of education into weeks and months.
Picto-recorder
Picto-recorders are small camera-like tools that are used to record motion pictures onto discs for easy playback.
Transshipment Rig
The transshipment platform, also known as a transshipment rig, is the single most valuable tool in the Psychlo empire.
A transshipment rig has a raised platform and a complex console for use by a trained operator to control the coordinates and settings of the rig. Using exact settings, the rig is able to transport anything on its platform to any other place in space.
One hundred thousand years ago a Psychlo physicist named En untangled the riddle of teleportation.
Prior to this, it was thought that teleportation consisted of converting energy and matter to space and then reconverting it in another place so it would assume its natural form. But this had never been proven. En apparently found that space could exist entirely independent of time, energy or mass and that all these things were actually separate items. Only when combined did they make up a universe. Space was dependent only upon three coordinates. When one dictated a set of space coordinates, one shifted space itself. Any energy or mass contained in that space thereupon shifted with that space shift. In other words, matter and energy were pinned to the space, and when it was exchanged with another space, they simply changed too. Thus matter and energy would seem to disappear in one place and appear in another. The matter didn't actually change. Only the space did.
After this discovery was made, the Psychlos began using it to run their industries, including mining. With the use of teleportation, transporting large amounts of metals and personnel to and from planets in all quarters of space became fast, feasible and economical.
Teleportation platforms are very practical. However, one of the limitations of a rig is that it must not have any other teleportation platform operating within a fifty-thousand-mile radius.
The rigs are used for transporting both ore and personnel; however, these items are shipped separately due to speed requirements. In an ordinary transshipment, dispatches and ore are transported to the home planet. However, a slow firing is designed to handle bodies without killing them.
While the above information is well known, the exact technology behind Psychlo teleportation is a closely guarded secret.
In an ancient Russian defense base, a hundred thousand well-preserved assault rifles were found, and the ammunition was retailored with and without radiation to combat the Psychlos. The radiation slugs cause Psychlo breath-gas to explode.
A special chrome-molecular-plated AK 47 with five thousand rounds of guaranteed no-misfire ammunition was made for Jonnie by the Russians.
Blastgun
Blastguns are a common Psychlo weapon used for self-defense and hunting. They come in many forms, including a handgun and a larger rifle-like version.
Blastguns generally have adjustable power settings and allow one to simply stun a victim or to vaporize him with great thoroughness.
Before the invasion of Earth, flamethrowers were kept and used in certain military installations. Salvaging whatever useful equipment they could, the human rebellion made good use of these weapons.
Although a rather unsophisticated weapon, the flamethrower is highly effective and useful in ground combat.
Kill-Club
One of Jonnie's earliest and most primitive weapons. The kill-club is a wooden cudgel and is used for a variety of different things.
The kill-club has proven effective for hunting pigs and coyotes, stunning dangerous animals (such as grizzly bears) and in ground combat.
Planet Buster
Just before the invasion of Earth, man's top scientific and military leaders had developed some very powerful weapons, including the "planet buster" nuclear missile bombs.
However, these were forbidden by international treaties because they could crack the planet's crust and spray the world with the fallout.
African Minesite
Located near what used to be called the Ituri Forest in a nation known in ancient times as Haut-Zaire, the African minesite is a small branch compared to the minesite near Denver. Its central office is situated near Lake Victoria.
For many years the African minesite has served as a resource for tungsten. Over the centuries, though, it has been completely covered by the jungle's canopy and is undetectable to recon drone photography.
Creeth, Planet Tolnep
Capital of Tolnep, Creeth is easily distinguished by its winding and entwining streets. The "House of Plunder," the Tolnep legislative center, can be found here as well as Grath, the famous combined public park and slave auction center.
U.S. Defense Base
Extending deep into the Rocky Mountains is the former U.S. defense base, which houses a vast array of weapons that are refurbished and put to good use by the human rebellion.
Jonnie's first encounter with the defense base is much earlier than his first meeting with the Psychlos. When he was twelve he had strayed up there, more trying out a pony than going someplace.
After riding for miles and miles he had been abruptly halted by giant, vertical doors, which he managed to pry open. Upon peering inside he saw the stairs strewn with the skeletons of ancient men. Misunderstood at the time and labeled "the tomb of the gods," the U.S. defense base later becomes a key operations area for the human rebellion.
With a diameter of just under eight thousand miles, Earth is dwarfed by many other planets in the galaxy, much less the universe—and other universes. However, Earth is, of course, home to the human rebellion and Jonnie Goodboy Tyler.
The Psychlos first encountered Earth (in now ancient times) from a probe sent out by man just before the invasion.
As the probe was made from some very rare and expensive metals (expensive to both humans and other races), Intergalactic Mining paid the Psychlo governors sixty trillion Galactic credits for the directions and the concession. One gas barrage and they were in business. In the year 3000, Earth's population is only thirty-five thousand, scattered throughout many mountains and other natural fortresses in hopes of defending themselves from the Psychlos.
Gredides System
Containing only three habitable planets, the Gredides System is home to the Selachee. The planets are mostly water—nine surface parts of water to only two parts of land on the average. Home of the Galactic Bank, the Gredides System has banking as its only major industry.
Each of the three planets has about five billion inhabitants, comprising a busy population. Although mostly devoted to banking, among them are also engineers, specialists and, naturally, lots of mathematicians.
Lacking a large military force, the Gredides is protected by the occupation and reputation of its inhabitants. Space flight was developed by their race nearly five hundred thousand years ago.
Planet Psychlo
The mighty planet Psychlo, "king of the galaxies," basks beneath the forceful rays of its triple suns.
Home to Intergalactic Mining's primary transshipment receipt area, planet Psychlo runs dozens of companies the size of Intergalactic, stretching across every galaxy.
The primary business of Psychlo is metal, and as the Psychlos long since mined every bit of ore from their home planet (leaving it half-hollow) their industry depends on conquest for new materials.
The Psychlo's transshipment rig makes both conquests of the sixteen universes and ore shipments possible. Planet Psychlo is approximately twenty-five thousand miles in diameter, has a circumference of almost forty-thousand miles and nearly eight trillion square miles of surface area.
Psychlo is also noted for its purple sky and landscape. However, more notable is its distinctly utilitarian look, with its streets filled with vehicles that resemble mine cars-which are filled with Psychlos. Its buildings and roads literally overflow with Psychlos and the population of just the Imperial City alone is probably in excess of a billion.
Brigantes
Formed about a thousand years ago, just prior to the invasion, the Brigantes were a thousand-man team of mercenaries hired by a large international bank.
The bank had originally issued a loan to an African country that had gotten its freedom from some people called colonialists. The loan was used to hire personnel and purchase equipment to form up a military coup, but once it had done this the country refused to repay the loan.
The bank's response was to assemble a team of mercenaries, "soldiers of fortune," to go into this nation with nerve gas, wipe out the government and seize control of the nation. Wearing gas masks and fully armed, these mercenaries were hiding in some old salt mines, just about to make their raid on this country's government, when the Psychlo invasion occurred. Their target was completely wiped out for them.
This group was comprised of soldiers of many different nationalities: Belgians, French, Senegalese, English, American—anyone the bank could hire. They were, however, a fully skilled military unit. After some time passed, lacking another name, they started calling themselves the Brigantes.
Drifting south, the Brigantes picked up women from missions and villages, white and black, and kept going. During this travel, they were masked from the Psychlos' recon drones by the thick canopy of the African forests and they managed to elude the Psychlos enough to survive.
After a couple of hundred years, they established a working relationship with the Psychlos. They set up a barter system with the Psychlos. In exchange for people captured and delivered to the Psychlos for torture, the Brigantes received scraps of material the Psychlos cared to leave. They never went close to the Psychlos, as the aliens could not operate in the swamps very well with their heavy bodies and tanks and the trees were too tall to fly into.
The Brigantes keep their numbers down to a thousand men, leave the old ones to die and don't marry. They have a high mortality rate, especially among children.
Constructing grenades is another skill they have. They know how to make crude black powder using charcoal and saltpeter from dung heaps and sulfur from a mine. They put it into a baked clay receptacle that is studded with stones, and stick a fuse in and light it with a cigar. They use grenades for hunting elephants. They have to get right up close to the elephant, light the fuse and run, and this is presumably part of the reason for the high mortality rate.
As a clue to their mentality, they are very cannibalistic and eat their dead. Their general appearance is also incredibly sloppy and dirty. Over the years their language has decayed and they now speak a strange form of English that sounds "like they have oatmeal in their mouths."
As the long-ago international bank had a firm agreement with the Brigantes that they would be pulled out and relieved at some point, and since they don't have a clue as to what has happened to the rest of the world, they have waited all this time for their relief crew, which has become a legend of sorts.
Intergalactic Mining Company
Intergalactic Mining is the primary (and probably only) mining company for the vast Psychlo empire. Casually conquering planets, exterminating their populations, setting up shop and gutting each planet of its natural resources are the routine functions of Intergalactic Mining.
With strong ties to the Psychlo government, Intergalactic Mining is one of the largest and most powerful organizations throughout the galaxies.
The company's policies revolve primarily around making money using any means possible, as summed up in the phrase "Let there be profit!" Intergalactic (and Psychlo in general) tend to have a rather corrupt staff, with bribery, extortion and even sometimes murder a common occurrence. The ascending chain of command of Intergalactic is usually dictated by who pays off whom.
The Earth invasion conducted by Intergalactic about a thousand years ago was a routine task, including the loan taken out to finance it from the Selachee's Galactic Bank.
Psychlo Government
As the managing body of the planet Psychlo and all of their intergalactic operations, the Psychlo government is probably the most powerful group in all the universes.
One of the concerns of the Psychlo government is the protection of the mathematics of teleportation. Only specific technicians are trained in this technology, and the texts on the subject are so advanced that none except the technicians themselves can derive the meaning from them to construct a teleportation device.
With the ability to easily transport ore, weapons, bombs and virtually anything else they like to any point in the universe, the Psychlo government has maintained its closely guarded secret and its yoke upon the universe for hundreds of thousands of years.
With a Psychlo mining camp located in the southwest of England, the Scots keep far away from it. They only venture out to areas where there is food, such as the fishing village in Loch Shin, and then retire further into the Highlands to escape any potential Psychlo attacks.
Although hunted, the Scots have managed to maintain a high level of literacy among their people—including many members who are able to read and write and have a strong knowledge of history—if mainly their own myths and legends.
They have retained their knowledge of weaponmaking and blacksmithing and the men are well-trained and hardened warriors. Many very intelligent and valuable members of the human rebellion originate from the Scots, including Robert the Fox, Dunneldeen MacSwanson, Doctor MacDermott, Dr. MacKendrick, Angus MacTavish and others.
Edinburgh has been established as the home of the Scots, since it is the center of the most ancient Scottish nationalism.
Located in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the villagers are the group of people with whom Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, leader of the human rebellion, grew up.
All their lives, the villagers have struggled to survive. Each year there are fewer and fewer people remaining, with the death rate and the birth rate out of balance—death easily the winner.
At a young age, Jonnie suspected that there was some problem with the village. There was plenty of food, the wide plains below the peaks were overrun with wild cattle, pigs and bands of horses and the ranges above were alive with deer and goats. Even an unskilled hunter had no trouble getting food. There was also plenty of water due to the melting snows and streams, and little patches of vegetables would thrive if anybody planted and tended them. The problem wasn't food. It was something else. Animals reproduced, but man didn't, at least not to any extent. Even when children were born, they sometimes had only one eye or one lung or one hand and had to be left out in the icy night to die.
Monsters were unwanted things. All life in the village was overpowered by a fear of monsters. Presumably extending from the harsh living conditions and lack of culture and science, many superstitious legends were established over the years by the villagers, including the following:
"And then there came a day when God was wroth. And wearied he was of the fornicating and pleasure dallying of the people. And he did cause a wondrous cloud to come and everywhere it struck; the anger of God snuffed out the breath and breathing of ninety-nine out of a hundred men. And disaster lay upon the land and plagues and epidemics rolled and smote the unholy, and when it was done the wicked were gone and only the holy and righteous, the true children of the lord, remained upon the stark and bloodied field. But God even then was not sure and so he tested them. He sent monsters upon them to drive them to the hills and secret places, and lo the monsters hunted them and made them less and less until at last all men remaining were the only holy, the only blessed, the only sure righteous upon Earth. Hey man!"
Leaving his village, Jonnie Goodboy Tyler dared to challenge these myths and legends and discover the truth of his ancestry. It was the discoveries he made that spurred him on to form the human rebellion against the alien invaders.
Led by Chief Chong-won, the largest Chinese tribe left (comprised of about 350 people) live in a valley high in the Chinese mountains. The valley was chosen because the Psychlos never went there, probably because it had already been mined out.
Their home is bitterly cold due to the high elevation and the temperature adversely affects the growth of vegetation, making it difficult to get food.
The Chinese were successful in keeping a fair amount of their university records, in spite of the invasion. They are very literate and speak Mandarin as their primary language.
Even with the vast majority of the Chinese population having been wiped out (prior to the invasion there had been almost a billion people in China), the Chinese play an important role in the human rebellion.
Psychlos Invent Teleportation
The exact date that the Psychlos invented teleportation is unclear; however, it was at least as long as 302,000 years ago—but may have been much earlier. The Psychlos employed teleportation to transport ore and run their mining business, which the Selachees helped them build through their banking network.
Boxnards Steal or Invent Teleportation
Approximately a hundred thousand years after the Psychlos established a market for the metals they mined, all was progressing along. Then, suddenly, another race stole or invented teleportation. That race was the Boxnards.
Psychlos Exterminate Boxnards
Although records regarding the matter are unclear and incomplete, it appears that about two hundred thousand years ago, immediately after the Boxnards stole or invented teleportation, they attempted to put it to military use.
Psychlo's response was swift and lethal—every single Boxnard and their seven planets were completely wiped out. The Psychlos even went so far as to slaughter other peoples and races that had been allied or associated with the Boxnards.
Selachees Sign Deal with Psychlos
In the years following the extermination of the Boxnards, the Psychlos' economy did very poorly. Their population was bursting and they were in economic chaos, with nine parts in eleven unemployed. The royal house was terrified of revolution and had experienced nine assassinations of royalty-seven princes and two queens.
The Psychlos went to the Gredides System to ask the Selachees for help. They were referred by the Selachee government to the Galactic Bank, which then gave them a large loan and took over many financial and political functions—in return for protection for the Selachees and the use of the Psychlos' teleportation network.
Psychlos Discover Universe 16 and Earth
In the fall of 1977 (Earth time) the two spacecrafts were launched—Voyager I and II—to explore some of the outer planets in the solar system. In the 1980s, after accomplishing their intended missions, they began drifting off in different directions into space.
Universe 16 (the one Earth is in) was the last of the universes to be discovered by the Psychlos. As the solar system containing Earth is what could be called a "rim star system," it might have been completely missed during the Psychlos' exploration of their new universe, if not for the probe sent from Earth. The probe, according to the Psychlo history books, contained metals that were rare in many places throughout the galaxies and had pictures of Earth and its inhabitants with the exact coordinates of the planet listed.
Psychlos Conquer Earth
As soon as the Psychlos found the probe sent by Earth, Intergalactic Mining paid the Psychlo governors sixty trillion Galactic credits for the directions and the concession.
Intergalactic Mining's next move was to teleport a huge and almost impenetrable gas drone to Earth, followed by Psychlo battle planes to help kill off the population. The gas drone toured the nations of the planet, dumping gas upon cities and killing off billions of people. The governments of Earth tried desperately to fend off the invasion and fight back-but failed.
With over 99 percent of the population of Earth wiped out, the Psychlos moved in and began mining, unbothered by the planet's former inhabitants.
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Early last week we learned that the list of actors being considered for the lead in the upcoming John Belushi biopic had been whittled down to just four names. Emile Hirsch, Adam Devine, Adam DeMamp (of Comedy Central's Workaholics) and Joaquin Phoenix were reportedly the final performers whom director Steve Conrad and the producers were considering for the part - and today they've officially made their decision. Hirsch, who was most recently seen earlier this year starring alongside Paul Rudd in David Gordon Green's Prince Avalanche, has been cast to play the Animal House and Saturday Night Live star.
Based on a script written by Conrad, whose credits include The Pursuit of Happyness, The Weather Man and the upcoming The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the biopic will tell the true story of how Belushi used his incredible comedic genius to become one of the biggest comedians in film and television, only to have it all ripped away by drugs and alcohol. The star died at the young age of 33 in Los Angeles, California due to an overdose of cocaine and heroin. Dan Aykroyd, who was one of Belushi's best friends and frequent collaborators, will be serving as executive producer on the project (and will very likely be a character in the story).
Taking on the role, of course, will be a sincere challenge for Hirsch - as it would be for any actor. Belushi was truly one of a kind performer with truly brilliant timing, and if Hirsch can really tap into it, it has the potential to be incredible. Relive some of Belushi's best moments in the clips below.
Production on the John Belushi biopic is looking to start next spring in New York. Unless it can somehow come together incredibly quickly, we can likely expect the film to come out some time in 2015.


Just as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicted, the world is becoming more social. There will be 1.43 billion social network users in 2012, a 19.2% increase over 2011, eMarketer predicts—amounting to a substantial share of the world's entire population.
In 2012, 63.2% of internet users will visit a social network at least once a month, rising to 67.6% in 2013 and 70.7% in 2014. At those user rates, one out of every five people in the world will use a social network this year, and one in every four will do so in 2014.
Facebook is a leading reason for the growth; it has rapidly expanded in markets such as Brazil, India and Indonesia, gaining new users and poaching from longstanding local favorites like Google's orkut. In 2012, 837.3 million people worldwide will use Facebook, a 27.4% increase from 2011.
Three of the five top social networking markets in 2012 are also among Facebook's largest markets—the US, India and Brazil. But the absence of China and Russia from the list means Facebook still hasn't conquered the world.
The US is still by far the leader in Facebook users with 141.2 million in 2012, although that base is growing the slowest among key countries. India will have the second largest Facebook population, with 68.1 million users this year, followed by Indonesia (49.1 million) and Brazil (45.4 million). Mexico will be the fifth largest, with 25.6 million users.


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News & eventsNewsroomPlanning application approved
Planning application approved
20 Dec 2012 2012-12-20T01:00:00+01:00
Fylde Borough Council yesterday approved our request for outline planning application for redevelopment of the former GEC land adjoining our Warton site.
The site will allow for up to 240 new homes and a new entrance to the Warton site, through a redesigned traffic controlled junction off Lytham Road, which will help to ease congestion in the local area.
Warton Site Director, Andy Leahy said: "We are delighted the Council has approved the application for outline residential planning of the former GEC Freckleton site. We know there is a shortage of land for new housing in the Warton and Freckleton area, and we hope this development will help to reduce pressure on greenfield land around Warton and in other areas of the borough."
Site preparations will begin early in the New Year.
Warton site
Warton Aerodrome,
Warton,
PR41AX,
United Kingdom+44(0)1772 633333 Directions
Multimedia Tile
Lesley Dobson Communications Manager

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Letters: Former police chiefs, warden, board member back Dale Schmidt, Dodge Co. Sheriff
These letter writers support Dale Schmidt for Dodge County Sheriff.
Letters: Former police chiefs, warden, board member back Dale Schmidt, Dodge Co. Sheriff These letter writers support Dale Schmidt for Dodge County Sheriff. Check out this story on fdlreporter.com: https://fondul.ac/2MuCOqI
Special to USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin Published 9:07 a.m. CT Aug. 8, 2018 | Updated 9:11 a.m. CT Aug. 8, 2018
Dale Schmidt for Dodge County Sheriff | Letters to the Editor(Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Editor's note: Due to a high volume of Letter to the Editor submissions supporting candidates ahead of the Tuesday primary election, we have grouped letters together by who the letter writers choose to support. Letters are printed in the order in which they were submitted.
Former Waupun police chief thanks, supports Schmidt for sheriff
I reviewed the complaints made by the Beaver Dam Police and Fire Commission about the software purchased by Dodge County.
I found that there are 33 Wisconsin counties and 180 other agencies using Spillman software. Just last week an additional nine Wisconsin counties signed contracts for this software. Everyone I spoke with agrees that Spillman offers the most professional software package with the greatest growth potential for the future.
Sheriff Schmidt researched this decision along with the county board and made the proper choice. Beaver Dam Police Department is allowed to use this software at a comparatively low cost and also have access to the county records. If Beaver Dam were to purchase a standalone system, the cost would be $300,000 to $400,000 with maintenance fees of $30,000 per year.
RELATED: In Dodge County sheriff race, candidates split: tackle issues, hire officers, save money?
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: Get Fond du Lac news in your feed
RELATED: Here's what you need to know about voting in the upcoming primary
Beaver Dam should be thanking Schmidt for including them in an excellent product. Everyone I spoke with agreed that training is key to using this software to its potential.
Both Spillman and Schmidt stated they are willing to help Beaver Dam get the training needed. Vote Dale Schmidt on Aug. 14.
Retired Waupun Chief of Police Thomas Winscher
Retired warden supports Schmidt's plan for jail
I recently read criticism of Sheriff Dale Schmidt for the plans submitted to the Dodge County Board of Supervisors for the Dodge County Jail.
This type of evaluation is exactly what we elected him to do, assess his operations and physical plant and make recommendations to the County Board. Not only did he make his recommendation, but he also presented options and what the direct impact would be.
As Warden of the Waupun Correctional Institution, it was my responsibility to make these types of assessment and recommendations on an annual basis for capital improvement to one of the oldest correctional institutions in the country.
These types of decisions are made with the safety and security of staff, offenders and the facility as the number one priority. Sheriff Schmidt realized that he was not the final decision maker on his recommendations. He also realized that whatever the final decision was, it would be his responsibility to manage a safe and secure facility.
I have known Sheriff Schmidt for most of his career and respect him for his honesty, integrity, and professionalism.
Dale Schmidt is the person Dodge County needs as our sheriff.
Retired Waupun Correctional Institution Warden Mike Thurmer
Former county board member finds Schmidt fiscally responsible
I have researched the cost of the Dodge County Sheriffs' badges and uniforms that is being used as an example of how Sheriff Dale Schmidt is overspending.
The badge purchase was made, not with tax payer funds, but with money that was donated to the sheriff's office from a private corporation. Sheriff Schmidt recognized the need to replace the badges as they were quite old and many were becoming worn and faded.
Uniforms were paid for by the officers' uniform allowance which is paid to them whether they use it for uniforms or not.
Sheriff Schmidt is fiscally responsible. Sheriff Schmidt has saved us about $1.8 million dollars over the last four years. His opponent wants us to think that he is fiscally irresponsible because of purchases that he made that don't even come close to that $1.8 million mark.
If we took away all of the things that his opponent is saying shouldn't have been spent, the Sheriff still saved us over $1.7 million.
Sheriff Schmidt is responsible and forward thinking. Vote on Aug. 14 to reelect Sheriff Dale Schmidt.
Former Dodge County Board Member Charles Swain
Former police chief sympathizes with Schmidt's difficult decisions
I fully endorse Dale Schmidt for Dodge County Sheriff. As a retired police chief, I know how hard it is for a leader to make decisions that are difficult and change culture. I know that Sheriff Schmidt has made his decisions with the best interests of not only his department in mind but also the Dodge County citizens.
These decisions are not always popular but necessary for the overall efficient operation of a law enforcement agency. I'm sure there are employees that do not agree with some of these difficult decisions but I also feel that there are many employees that do respect Sheriff Schmidt.
Many employees go about their work day and wish not to be involved with an election debate and get in the middle of the controversy, nor should they need to. Sheriff Schmidt is not afraid to make the tough decisions that are right for Dodge County. Sheriff Schmidt has the high morals and integrity to make the right decisions and standing his ground to do the right thing.
I strongly endorse Sheriff Dale Schmidt who deserves you vote.
Retired Waupun Police Chief Dale Heeringa
We want a sheriff who isn't trying to win a popularity contest
In reviewing the comments and debates between our current Dodge County Sheriff and his opponent, it is obvious that Sheriff Schmidt is the best choice.
I am sure that we want a sheriff who isn't out to win a popularity contest by always doing what the employees want, but need an honest and independent leader. Dale Schmidt has a solid plan to take the Sheriff's Department into the future. He has made progress even though one of his key supervisors has been working on a campaign against him within the department.
Schmidt opened his door and asked for input from his staff on ways to better the department and improve things in the county. Even when asked, his opponent has offered nothing in the past three years. It is always easy to stand back and be critical of the person who is in charge of the department.
Dale Schmidt has proven his ability to run the Sheriff's Department. The citizens of Dodge County need to support Dale Schmidt in the election on Aug. 14.
Retired RN/BSN with the Department of Corrections Judith Winscher
Read or Share this story: https://fondul.ac/2MuCOqI
Can you answer 10 more Fond du Lac history trivia questions?
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The Project Manager collaborates to define scope, requirements, project governance, design, testing, timeline, and budget, and adheres to company PMO standards. The role requires exceptional communication skills and an ability to build and maintain working relationships with team members, vendors, and other departments involved. The position may lead/and or direct the work of others.
Defines, leads, and manages all aspects of the project, scope, budget, financial forecasting, scheduling, resources, and quality control of work products following company's PMO standards and governance guidelines and project management best practices.
Develops and implements templates and standards for project deliverables and work products.
Documents meeting minutes and decisions, and tracks and manages project risks and issues.
Creates and presents status reports and executive dashboards on project progress and issues.
Facilitates impact analyses of current/existing technologies on the program.
May contribute and/or lead vendor relationship management for project-related vendors; supports enterprise vendor management standards and coordinates initial contracts, contract renewals, and addenda to contracts with key project vendors.
Maintains project and/or program website and database, and issue and risk tracking logs.


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Tag Archives: collapsible lifeboats
Titanic Chronology: Olympic Departure Delayed Over Lifeboats (24 April 1912)
RMS Olympic Arrives In New York on Maiden Voyage, 21 June 1911
Source: U.S. Library of Commerce/Wikimedia Commons
In the wake of the Titanic sinking, all passenger ships were equipped with lifeboats for everyone aboard. Olympic, like her sister ship, did not have enough lifeboats but they were quickly added for her upcoming departure from Southampton on 24 April 1912. 40 collapsible lifeboats (all second-hand) had come from troopships. However, there was concern amongst the crew that these lifeboats were not seaworthy. A request sent by crewman that they should be replaced by wooden lifeboats was declined by White Star which said that it was impossible to do that and they had passed as seaworthy by the Board of Trade inspector.
Not convinced of this, 284 firemen went on strike delaying the departure. Non-union crew were hired from Southampton and from Liverpool to make up the difference. On 25 April 1912, representatives of the strikers witnessed a test of four of the collapsible boats. One was found unseaworthy. The representatives said they would recommend the strikers return to work as a result. A separate objection about the non-union workers who were hired came up as an issue. White Star refused to fire them. This resulted in 54 crewmembers leaving the ship in protest causing the cancellation of the sailing. Later they would be charged and convicted of mutiny, but no punishment was awarded due to the circumstances. White Star Line hired them back in end fearing a public backlash in support of the strikers. Olympic would sail for New York on 15 May 1912.
Ocean Liners Magazine
RMS Olympic (Wikipedia)
Board of Tradecollapsible lifeboatslifeboatsOlympicOlympic MutinyOlympic strikeTitanicWhite Star Line


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Lake Lorraine State Park was a small Massachusetts state park located in the neighborhood of Indian Orchard, on the northeast side of the city of Springfield. The park was located on the southern shore of Lake Lorraine and once offered a sand beach, swimming, fishing, and restrooms. The state park has been unstaffed and closed  since 2009 due to claimed budget cuts by the Massachusetts state government. The park was later quietly turned over for use by the Environmental Police as a satellite headquarters.

The beach is now completely overgrown and all picnic facilities and State Park signage were removed sometime after 2014. Only members of the Massachusetts Environmental Police are allowed within the park property and the gates of the park are kept locked at all times. Thefts of unattended equipment left by the Environmental Police in June 2015 led to more aggressive prosecution of trespassers. Signs threatening state fines as well as an infrared trap camera were installed at the entrance to the park for some time. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation

References

Further reading

External links
Lake Lorraine State Park Department of Conservation and Recreation (archived)

State parks of Massachusetts
Parks in Hampden County, Massachusetts
Springfield, Massachusetts
Neighborhoods in Springfield, Massachusetts

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Bet You Didn't Know – The real story behind Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades!
Posted: October 22, 2009 by moifightclub in Aao guess karein, Bet You Didn't Know, bollywood, cast & crew, cinema, gossipmongers, News, Story / Plot / Synopsis, Thoughts, writing, WTF
Tags: Anand Subramanium, Ashutosh Gowariker, Babbloo Mukherjee, Bapu Kutir, Bet You Didn't Know, Kimball Ravenswood, Lage Raho Munnabhai, Naushil Mehta, Seema Kapoor, Suitable Bride, Swades, UTV, Whats Your Raashee, Yule Love Story, ZEE Tv
Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades is one of our favourite films. And among those counted few films in which we really liked Shah Rukh Khan.
What we knew was that the film is based on a tv series. What we didnt know was the long story behind this long film! A reader of our blog mailed us some interesting info about it. Its in first person account by Mr V. On Swades, Whats Your Raashee, Lage Raho Munnabhai & more! Have replaced few names with their intials. Read on.
Hi…Last afternoon I was at a brunch hosted by AL to celebrate his birthday….As the wine, mojito's and beer started doing the rounds and the guests were getting a tad reckless…..Sanjay Chhel who was seated at my table along with GB suddenly stated…Swades was V's script…..we all knew it… It had come on Zee TV's Yule Love stories as a 1.5 hour, two 45 minutes episode story in 1996!!!!!!!!! Ashutosh played SRK's role in it as an actor….i was taken aback at this sudden announcement! It was a de ja vu.
Cut Back to:-
Swades Premiere. December 2004 at Fame Malad…. During the interval inside the smoking room of the multiplex… as I was puffing away along side Abbas Mastan and a few others… Anurag Kashyap walked in saying…. V- Bhai this is your script Waapasi on Zee Tv… I will never forget it…..Abbas-Mastan turn to look at me wondering who the hell i am… and also who the hell is Anurag!!!!!!!!!
That night post the premiere….Satya the producer of the Yule love story who gets the credit for story of Swadesh, Anand Subramanium, an alumini of FTII who directed Wapasi and myself were stopped by Ashutosh wanting to know our reactions as we were the original creators of the film according to him……..All we said was he fucked up a simple love story of an NRI who comes to pick up his Kaveri amma…discovers his roots in a village, feels guilty seeing poverty and exploitation of poor and also finds his soulmate and decides to stay back.
By trying to be in Appy's words 'A shantaram' he went haywire with that electricity making incident which is incidentally a chapter in a Book titled Bapu Kutir… Bapu Kutir is a compilation of events & expereiences of some 10 people who gave up lucrative careers in the corporate world to follow Gandhian principles!!!!!!!!!!
The event in the film comes as tangent from no where… The Yule Love Story episode begins with the hero landingin Delhi looking for Kaveri amma and meeting the herione in the travel agency who gives him the wrong address and he takes a caravan bus to trace her and the story ends when his caravan leaves the village and the herione thinks he has left for good and turns to walk back and to her surprise he comes back in his caravan and honks behind her!!!!!!!!!
The character of Dayashankar Pandey of a village buffon wanting to go to USA in Swades is a character created by Naushil Mehta and myself in a play called Suitable Bride way back in 1996. Incidentally Suitable Bride is the inspiration for What's Your Raashee…Its infact a straight lift of my play…. NM and I directed the play and also adpated it for stage from the novel Kimball Ravenswood. Seema Kapoor played 12 roles and Babbloo Mukherjee played Yogesh Patel…Darshan Jariwala plays the same character he played in the play!
Incidentally the play was a musical and had 12 songs… we had to drop the songs after the first 5 shows as the running time of the play was 3.5 hours and we realised audience were getting impatient. What's Your Raashee is also 3.5 hours with 13 songs!!!!!!!!!!
There are 8 people who get the credit for screenplay in Swades and one of the guys told me that my dialogue script of Waapasi was photocopied and circulated amongst the 8 of them to change it from TV to a film script… Scene to scene, dialogue to dialogue ( i used to write dialogues in those days) were kept as in the original!
And exactly like Swades I am told I am getting a credit in What's Your Raashee too in the begining acknoweldgements………You may ask why am i talking about it NOW!!!!! ST the producer of the show on Zee wanted to file a case against Ashutosh and UTV for cheating me of my credits and compensation… I didn't want to file a case as i felt it was pointless exercise.
Ashutosh on his part had asked my permission to do the film saying he is using only the story and changing the screenplay….Well he did change the screenplay….By adding 40 minutes of NASA begining and end of film and a good 30-40 minute of the Bapu Kutir.
The reason I am talking about this today is I feel after what Amole Gupte went through…and more over… SC…whose idea Gandhi and Godfather… narrated to Mr. Dutt during the making of Khoobsoorat becomes Lage raho Munnabhai!
I feel there is no harm in giving the due people their credit or atleast let people know the real people behind these works…My name comes in the acknowledgements of Swades and Whats Your Raashee but I feel Swades is more Anand Subramanium than Ashu Gowarikar…..And Lage Raho Munnabhai is Chel rather than Hirani and Abhijat Joshi… and as for Taare Zameen Par… people in the know… know who directed the film 🙂
Wooohoo! Some revealations and it all seems so believable except the Lage Raho Munnabhai part! Whats your guess ?
BTW, according to IMDB, the writing credit of Swdes has nine names as follows.
Story – M.G. Sathya and Ashutosh Gowariker
Screeplay – Ashutosh Gowariker, Sameer Sharma, Lalit Marathe, Amin Hajee, Charlotte Whitby-Coles, Yashodeep Nigudkar & Ayan Mukherjee
Dialogue – K.P. Saxena
Sudhir Nair says:
Well here's some juicy gossip. On reading this I can almost hear Ashu shouting "Shut Up Fightclub!"
Can't believe the Lage Raho Munnabhai story though. I think Raju Hirani would have credited Sanjay Chel if it was is. Specially after Raju is giving CB credit even though he says that 3 Idiots is not completely based on FPS.
Leopard says:
V is Vinod Rangnath.
so u guys r chosing not to believe the one abt hirani and munnabhai but ready to believe ashu's one… any reason for that? And honestly I don't see the cribbing here by this V dude.. I mean he was credited in both swades and wyr. Plus ashutosh never hid that both the films were adapted from different places. i don't see the hoopla here at all. Oh also wanted to ask.. why did he bring tzp and AK in it? Aamir has duly credited amole for writing the script even in promotions. Just cos they had a fall out doesn't mean AK didn't credit. And kudos to both none has talked bitched abt each other in public. they simply said they went separate ways and amole gave him the script to direct. Amole even accepted popular awards for tzp.
Harshit Gupta says:
Link to part one:
http://www.ozee.com/shows/yule-love-stories/video/yule-love-stories-episode-49-full-episode.html
fromvit says:
Link to part one of the story:
Aftab Shivdasani turns producer & kills one of our favourite songs!
Film Reviews : Fruit and Nut


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An improved exercising device for exercising the legs of a user includes a frame member with a lever arm having one end pivotably attached thereto. The lever arm extends downwardly from the portion of the frame member to which it is pivotably connected, and a pair of foot-engaging force transfering members are mounted on the lower end of the lever arm. A cable has one end pivotably connected near the lower end of the lever arm, passes around an eccentrically mounted pulley and has its other end connected to weights. As the user lifts the lower portions of his legs, the lever arm is pivoted to pull the cable and the weights attached thereto, thereby strengthening the knee muscles of the user. The eccentrically mounted pulley varies the resistance to movement of the user's lower legs initially increasing the resistance and then decreasing the resistance in a sinusoidal manner as the lower legs are lifted to pivot the lever arm and lift the weights.
The present invention relates to an exercising device particularly a device for strengthening the muscles associated with the thigh and knee.
Due to the proliferation of contact sports such as football among large masses of the population of this and other countries, a marked increase in the damage being sustained in the knee joint have been evidenced. Physical therapists and trainers have been constantly faced with dealing with damage to the knee joint arising from excessive forces and moments of force in the vicinity of the knee joint.
To strengthen the muscles associated with the knee joint three principle exercises have been used during rehabilitation therapy and knee strengthening.
The most common type of knee strengthening exercise employs the use of a weighted boot, or shoe. The injured person sits in a chair with his injured foor or feet bent so as to be in a normal sitting position. To strengthen and exercise the muscles associated with the knee joint the injured leg would be lifted to its extended position, opposing the downward force of the weighted boot or shoe. This exercise is repeated a number of times, with increasing weight, thereby strengthening the knee joint.
A disadvantage of the use of the weighted boot or shoe involves the undesirable effect of momentum reducing the effective muscular effort required to move the weighted boot or shoe from its bent to its extended position. As the weighted shoe is initially raised from its bent position the muscular activity increases until the momentum of the weighted shoe overcomes the downward force of the weighted shoe so that the shoe actually causes the lower portion of the leg to rise without the requirement of any muscular activity, much as in a pendulum-type movement. Once the weighted boot or shoe begins to swing the "pendulum" nature of the shoe greatly reduces the muscular activity, thereby defeating its initial purpose.
A second method widely used in knee rehabilitation therapy employs the use of a pulley system. An ankle cuff is attached to the injured leg of the user and a cable is connected to the ankle cuff. The cable is passed over a pulley and connected to a weight, typically located behind the user. The user bends his leg and attempts to extend the leg to its straight position, overcoming the restrictive force of the weight.
The disadvantage of the "pulley system" results from the variation of the resistance experienced by the user as the leg travels from its bent position to its extended position. This is the result of the change of the force applied to the ankle as the leg changes its position. When the leg is in its bent position the angle formed between the lower portion of the leg and the cable is approximately 90 degrees. As the leg is raised to its fully extended position the angle between the lower portion of the leg and the cable may be reduced to as little as 20 degrees. The change in angle of this applied force results in the force exerted against the leg when fully extended being only 25% of the resistance applied to the leg when in its fully bent position.
In addition, as in the case of the weighted shoe, the "pendulum" effect further reduces the muscular effort required to oppose the resistive forces of the weights as the leg is moved. With faster movement the deceleration of the leg increases towards the end of its movement, resulting in greatly reduced muscular activity.
Other exercising machines for strengthening the muscles associated with the knee joint also have been available. The disadvantages discussed concerning the exercising devices using the pulley system also occur in the exercising machine, namely the angle between the lower portion of the leg and the restraining force changing as the lower portion of the leg is extended and the "pendulum" effect of the member. Such exercising machines normally comprise a chair-like structure having a lever arm assembly pivotable about a pivot point. The lever arm assembly is located in front of the user's ankles. The user attempts to lift the lever arm assembly by applying pressure to a cushioned projection with the user's ankle. The lever arm assembly is connected to a system of weights for opposing the movement of the lever arm.
A disadvantage of the previously available knee exercising devices was a lack of means for varying the effective resistance experienced by the muscles of the knee as the knee is moved from the bent position to its extended position in the most beneficial manner.
In addition, the previously available exercising devices did not provide for the maximization of the participation of involvement of the muscles associated with the knee joint at various positions of movement of the leg during the bending and lifting activity. As indicated above, the involvement of the muscles associated with the knee during the latter degree of movement of the knee is minimal, due at least in part to the "pendulum" effect discussed previously.
In association with the present invention it has been observed that the involvement of the muscles associated with the knee joint decreases as the lower portion of the leg is initially lifted until such involvement reaches a minimum after about 10 degrees of movement. The involvement of the muscles associated with the knee joint thereafter rises in a sinusoidal manner until a maximum involvement is reached when the angle of movement of the lower portion of the leg approaches approximately 70 degrees. Thereafter the involvement of the muscles once again begins to decrease, again in a substantially sinusoidal manner until the knee is entirely extended. Thus the degree of involvement of the muscles associated with the knee joint follows what may be described as a substantially sinusoidal curve displaced approximately 180 degrees.
In the present invention the force applied to the lower portion of the leg by the exercising machine is varied in such a manner as to provide a substantially uniform effective force to the muscles associated with the knee joint by increasing the applied force in those portions of the movement of the lower portion of the leg where the muscular involvement is less than the optimum, and to reduce the resistance where the involvement of the muscles associated with the knee joint are substantially optimum.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention an off-centered cylindrical member serves as a camming means for varying the effective force applied to the muscles associated with the knee joint. In addition, a guide means associated with a lever arm assembly is employed to maintain the angle at which force is applied to the lower portion of the leg substantially constant.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an exercising apparatus which operates more efficiently than previously available devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a means for varying the effective resistive force experienced by a pivoting lever arm to be moved by the user.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for maintaining the angle at which a resistive force is applied to a pivoting member.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a means for varying the resistive force applied to a pivoting member, such force being capable of being varied so as to optimize the involvement of the muscles associated with the knee joint in opposing the resistive force applied to such a member.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an exercising device which is particularly suited for strengthening the muscles associated with the knee joint which is simple to operate.
These and other objects of the present invention will become evident upon the reading of the following description and the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagramatic view of the exercising device of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a partially sectional side view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with the pivotal lever arm assembly at its initial position.
FIG. 4 is a partial sectional side view of the present invention with the pivotal lever arm assembly fully extended.
FIG. 5 is a front view of an alternate embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 6 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 5.
FIG. 7 is a graph displaying the involvement of the muscles associated with the knee joint and the associated resistance curves.
FIG. 1 is a diagramatic view of the operation of the exercising device of the present invention. A lever arm 2 is pivoted about one end 4 at pivot point 6. A substantially rigid cable 8 is attached proximate the opposite end of the lever arm 10. The cable 8 passes below a camming means 12 which comprises a cylindrical disc rotated about an axis 14 not on the center of the disc. The cable 8 is passed over an upper pulley 16 and connected to a series of weights 18. The amount of weight connected to the cable 8 may be varied by any number of conventional means.
Located at the lower end 10 of the lever arm assembly 2 are two cylindrical padded members 20 extending perpendicularly to the lever arm 2. The cylindrical padded members 20 are designed to comfortably engage the ankle of the user. An arcuate guide means 22 is affixed to the lever arm assembly 2 in a position so as to come into contact with the cable 8 upon rotation of the lever arm 2. The opposite end 24 of the arcuate guide means 22 serves to restrain any rotational movement of the lever arm assembly 2, in the counterclockwise direction when received as shown in FIG. 1.
In FIG. 1 the solid lines depict the apparatus at its initial position a. As the user places his ankles behind the cylindrical padded members and attempts to lift and straighten his legs the lever arm assembly 2 moves to a second position as shown by the broken lines b. The cable 8 is engaged by the arcuate guide means 22 depicted by broken lines 22 and the weights which are connected to cable 8 are raised to a position c. Upon release of force applied to the circular padded members 20 by the user's ankle the downward force of the weights 18 will return the lever arm assembly to its position a.
During the movement of the lever arm assembly 2 the camming means 12 is rotated about its axis of rotation 14 by the cable 8 resulting in the force of the weights applied to the lever arm assembly 2 being varied as the lever arm assembly 2 moves from position a to position b.
Referring to FIG. 2, the exercising apparatus of the present invention comprises a chair-like structure 26 formed by an inverted U-shaped tubular member 28 which forms the front side legs 30 and 32 and the support frame for the back of the chair-like structure 26. A single tubular member also forms the rear side legs and the support frame for the seat portion 38. The front legs 30 and 32 and the rear legs 34 and 36 are mounted to a base frame 40 for supporting the chair-like structure 26. The base frame 40 extends in front of the front side legs 30 and 32 and behind the rear legs 34 and 36 in order to provide additional stability to the chair-like structure 26 in order to prevent the overturning of the chair-like structure 26 during use. A back cushion 42 and a seat cushion 44 are provided to complete the chair-like structure 26.
A pair of support members 46 and 48 extend outwardly and upwardly from the front 50 of the seat frame 38. The seat cushion 44 has a complimentary knotch 52 for fitting around the support members 46 and 48. The opposite ends of the pair of parallel support members 46 and 48 have a pair of aligned holes 54 and 56 (not shown). A cylindrical member 48 having complimentary sized male end portions fit within the holes 54 and 56.
A lever arm assembly 2 has one end fixed to the cylindrical member 58. The length of the lever arm assembly is adjustable. The lever arm assembly 2 comprises an interior longitudinal male member 60 having a plurality of detent means 62 spaced along the longitudinal length of the male member. A complimentary longitudinal female member 64 fits over the male member 60 in sliding engagement. A spring loaded pin assembly 66 passes through a hole in one wall of the female member 64 to fit within an associated detent means 62 to hold the male member 60 and the female member 64 in non-sliding engagement. The pair of cylindrical padded member 20 are fixed to the lower end of the lever arm assembly 2 perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the lever arm assembly 2.
A camming means 12 is fixed upon a cross bar member 68 rigidly mounted between the sides of the base frame 40 on a pair of upwardly extending parallel support plates 70 and 72 (not shown) having holes 74 and 76 in the upper end of said support plate. The camming means 12 comprises a cylindrical disc mounted on an axle positioned off of the center of the disc and rotatably mounted in the holes 76 of the parallel support plates 70 and 72. The cylindrical disc has a grooved portion 78 about its circumference for receiving the cable 8.
Descending downwardly from the base of the U-shaped member 28 and forming a portion of the frame of the chair-like structure 26 are two parallel spaced support plates 80 and 82 for supporting a pulley member 84 rotatably mounted to the support plates 80. The pulley has a grooved portion 86 about its circumference for engaging the cable 8. A pair of tubular members 88 and 90 have one of their ends affixed to the base of the U-shaped member 28 and their other ends affixed to a cross bar member 92 located between the sides of the base frame 28 between the back side legs 34 and 36. A plurality of individual weights 18 having a pair of holes 94 and 96 through which the tubular members 88 and 90 pass, are fixed to the tubular members 18 and 90. A pair of shock absorbers 98 and 100 are located beneath the weights 18 to absorb any shock imparted by the weights during the use of the exercising device.
A cable 8 is attached to the lower end 10 of the lever arm assembly 2 and passed beneath the camming means 12 which is restricted in its lateral movement by engagement of the grooved portion 78 around the circumference of the camming means 12. The cable 8 then passes over the pulley 84, again being restrained in its lateral movement by the engagement of grooved portion 86, and then passes downward where the opposite end of the cable is attached to the weights 18. The amount of weight attached to the cable 8 may be selectively determined by a conventional locking arrangement, such as by a pin 102, shown in FIG. 4.
Affixed to the longitudinal female member 64 of the lever arm assembly 2 is an arcuate guide means 22. One end of the arcuate guide means 22 is connected to the lower end 10 of the lever arm assembly 2. The opposite end of the arcuate guide means 22 is connected to a support bar 104 connected to the upper portion of the longitudinal female member 64 of the lever arm assembly 2. The support bar 104 maintains all parts of the arcuate guide means 22 equi-distance from the cylindrical pivoting member 58 about which the lever arm assembly 2 rotates. As shown in greater detail in FIG. 4, in sectional view, the cable 8 is restrained by a path guide 106 on the circumference of the arcuate guide means 22.
The opposite end 24 of the arcuate guide means 22 makes contact with the bottom of the seat cushion 44 thereby restricting movement of the lever arm assembly 2 in a counterclockwise direction when viewed as shown in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 it may be observed that during operation of the apparatus as the lever arm assembly 2 is moved from position a, such as shown in FIG. 3, to the position b, such as shown in FIG. 4, the camming means 12 rotates about its axis of rotation 14. Since the axis of rotation is not at the center of the cylindrical camming means 12 the camming means 12 moves in an eccentric orbit about the axis of rotation 14. This may be clearly seen as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 1, the effect of the axis of rotation 14 of the camming means 12 being other than at the center may be seen. The initial tangental distance between the axis of rotation 14 and the portion of the cable passing over the pulley 16 is designated as "A." The tangental distance between the axis of rotation 14 and the portion of the cable 8 connected to the lower end of the lever arm 10 is designated as "B." As the camming means 12 rotates about the axis of rotation the tangental distance A and B vary constantly, thereby varying the resistive force applied to the end 10 of the lever arm assembly 2 by the weight 18. Referring to FIG. 4 as the tangental distance A decreases the amount of resistive force applied to the end 10 of the lever arm assembly 2 increases, thereby increasing the amount of force that a user need apply to the lever arm assembly 2 to overcome the weight 18. The arcuate guide means 22 maintains the distance between the cylindrical pivoting number 58 and the cable 8 constant, thereby preventing changes and variation of resistance due to the position of the lever arm assembly.
Referring to FIG. 7 the force curves associated with the preferred embodiment of the present invention are shown. The top curve is a plot of the percentage of muscular involvement along the vertical coordinate and the angle at which the knee is extended along the horizontal axis. It is assumed that the fully bent leg forms an angle of 270 degrees and the fully extended leg forms an angle of 360 degrees. As may be seen from FIG. 7 the percentage of muscular involvement as the leg initially begins to move decreases. The percentage then begins to increase until the leg is almost fully extended until, once again, the percentage of muscular involvement in the exercise decreases. The variation in muscular involvement is generally sinusoidal in nature. It is desirable that during those portions at which the muscular involvement is less than the optimum that additional resistive force be added to the lever arm assembly to increase the muscular involvement at that particular position. As the muscular involvement increases the amount of resistive force applied should be decreased since muscular involvement is already at substantially an optimum level.
The lower curves on FIG. 7 illustrate the variation in the resistive force applied to the lever arm assembly 2 due to the camming means 12 and the desired addition resistive force to muscular involvement. It may be observed from FIG. 7 that the resistive force applied to the lever arm assembly 2 is also generally sinusoidal in shape. Matching the generally sinusoidal shape of the resistive force varied by the camming means to the sinusoidal shape of the muscular involvement permits providing constant maximum values of muscular involvement. Reference to the lower horizontal coordinate reference which indicates the degrees of rotation of the camming means 12 should be made for the position of the camming means 12 to provide optimum matching.
In the preferred embodiment of the present invention the camming means 12 rotates a total of 240 degrees. The cam is positioned so that when the lever arm is in its position a, such as shown in FIG. 3, the camming means 12 is starting its rotation at an angular position of 290 degrees and at the lower arm's position B the camming means has rotated until it has reached an angular position of 170 degrees. The curves of FIG. 7 represent the muscular involvement when 75 inch pounds of force of the muscles associated with the knee joint were applied to the lever arm assembly.
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 an alternate embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The camming means 12 is mounted on a shaft 200 about its axis of rotation 14. The shaft 200 is rotatably mounted between support arms 202 and 204 which extends outwardly from a main support frame 206 which may be mounted to a base frame 208 supported by a chair-like structure, not shown.
A follower assembly 210 comprising a tubular member 212 has at its lower end a guide track 214. The guide track 214 encompasses the width of the camming means 12 and moves in a vertical direction responsive to the rotation of the camming means about its axis of rotation 14. The tubular member 212 is passed through a hole 216 in a projection extending outwardly from the support frame 206, 218 to limit its movement to the vertical direction. Above the projection 218 is a bar member 220 passing through the tubular member 212 for supporting weights. The weights (not shown) will apply a restrictive force opposing the rotation of the camming means 12. A pulley 222 is provided on shaft 200, such pulley having a grooved portion 224 for restraining the cable 226 which has one end connected to a lever arm assembly and its other end connected to the weights.
In the operation, the apparatus of the alternate embodiment would be the same as in the preferred embodiment.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention has been disclosed it should be recognized that various modifications may be made which do not defeat the scope of the present invention.
cable means having one end connected to said lever arm at a point spaced from said one end thereof and an opposite end connected to said weight means; said cable means including a central portion passing around a portion of said pulley member.
2. An improved exercising device according to claim 1, and further comprising an arcuate guide member connected to said lever arm adjacent said one end of said cable means; said arcuate guide member including an arcuate surface which engages and retains said cable means when said lever arm is pivoted.
a pulley wheel eccentrically mounted on a portion of said frame means for varying the resistance to pivotable movement of said lever arm imposed by said weights.
camming means operatively connected to said connecting means for varying the resistance to pivotable movement of said lever arm imposed by said resistance means; whereby said resistance to pivotable movement increases in a sinusoidal manner until said lever arm is moved to an angular displacement of about 10° from the vertical and decreases from about 10° to 70° of angular displacement from the vertical.
5. An improved exercising device according to claim 3, wherein said connecting means comprises a shaft rotatably connected to said frame means; and wherein said camming means comprises a cam member mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith; and further comprising follower means operatively associated with said cam member and movable thereby as said lever arm is pivoted.