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Tag Archives: Miriam Hopkins
The Story of Temple Drake (1933): Shadow of Justice
Posted on January 25, 2015 by Nitrate Diva
Trigger warning, in every possible sense!
From its first post-establishing shot image—the figure of Justice on a courtroom wall, not a statue but a shadow—The Story of Temple Drake announces the gravity of its project.
This is no mere potboiler, no crowd-pleasing fantasy of submission. It is nothing less than a tragedy.
But we know that even during the opening credits, which overlay a derelict plantation, illuminated by flashes of lightning. After the character introduction shots appear, they dissolve back into the once-majestic columns of the ruin, as though the people were emerging from this symbol of entropy. The broken and battered classical structure evokes the themes of decline and degradation that will haunt the film and its protagonist to the last reel.
Directed by Stephen Roberts, Temple Drake sanitized and revised William Faulkner's scandalous Southern Gothic novel Sanctuary. To give you a sense of just how scandalous it was, even the lenient Hays Office initially deemed the material unfilmable. Well, Paramount didn't listen about blackballing Mae West and they certainly weren't going to let such juicy material go unused.
The film's narrative arc, one of temptation and redemption, radically departs from Faulkner's gloomy original. Still, the cleaned-up form remains an uncomfortably complex meditation on sexuality and justice.
In this prescient melodrama, the corrosive influence of privilege vyes with the power of ingrained, perverse desires and the implacable blows of Fate in brutalizing our heroine, Temple Drake. Her story serves as a warning not simply against flirtatiousness or nonconformity, but rather against the unhealthy preservation of a social system poisoned by hypocrisy and inequality.
Temple reaps the sins of her forefathers—her family's unspoken legacy of oppression—and expiates that heritage by revealing her courage and devotion to justice in the end.
In 1940, Miriam Hopkins told Modern Screen magazine that Temple Drake was "the best picture I ever made." Hopkins certainly delivered her greatest screen performance as Temple.
The Story Such as It Is
Because this pre-Code shocker is not widely available, I need to take the plunge here and offer an extended plot synopsis (as much as I loathe doing so).
The granddaughter of good ol' boy Judge Drake (albeit a good ol' boy with an incongruously British accent), local belle Temple earns a reputation as a flirt at best and a tease at worst. She engages in passionate make-out sessions with every eligible bachelor in town, all the while refusing marriage proposals from saintly lawyer Steven Benbow, the only man she genuinely respects.
Why does she turn down such a good fellow? As Temple explains it, "It's like there were two mes. One of 'em says, 'Yes, yes, quick! Don't let me get away.'"
"And the other?" Benbow asks.
"I won't tell you… what it wants, or does, or what'll happen to it," Temple replies. "I don't know myself. All I know is I hate it."
Under the influence of her wicked side, Temple goes joyriding with a drunken beau. Their car crashes and they seek shelter in the wrecked plantation that we saw during the credits. Moonshiner Lee Godwin, his wife Ruby, and some other small-time white trash criminals squat there. That night, the slick, animalistic Memphis gangster Trigger has joined the crew to haul liquor back to town—and he immediately sets his sights on Temple.
Ruby and a mentally impaired boy called Tommy (yes, yes, the inevitable Faulknerian manchild) try to protect our imperiled debutante by hiding her in the barn. At the break of dawn Trigger shoots Tommy and rapes Temple. Afterwards Trigger transports the traumatized Temple to Miss Reba's brothel and keeps her as his sex slave.
Meanwhile Lee Goodwin stands trial for the murder of Tommy. Benbow takes the case and crashes into the bordello looking for Trigger as a potential suspect. Shocked to find Temple, Benbow tries to take her home. Realizing that Trigger is about to shoot Benbow, Temple tells her ex-fiancé to get out and lies, giving Trigger an alibi and saying that she chose to live with the gangster.
No sooner does Benbow leave than Temple decides to escape the brothel. When Trigger tries to prevent her, she shoots him and returns to her hometown as if nothing had happened. However, Benbow requires her to testify to save Lee Goodwin's life. She refuses at first but ultimately sacrifices her standing in the town by recounting Tommy's murder, the subsequent events, and her own killing of Trigger.
Having exonerated the defendant, Temple faints at the witness stand. Benbow carries her out of the courtroom and tells her grandfather, "Be proud of her, Judge. I am." That's an enlightened statement for 1933, don't you think?
Points of Contention
If you're interested in pre-Code cinema, you'll probably read about The Story of Temple Drake before you actually see the elusive film itself.
That's why you need to be very careful and critical about what you read (my post included!).
A large proportion of writing about this film has focused on a rather queasy question: did Temple enjoy the assault? Admittedly, the movie does raise the issue and allows it to open some dark places in our minds. Remember, though, that the act is only suggested, and very elliptically at that, so anyone who speculates on Temple's pleasure or pain is doing exactly that—speculating.
Unfunnily enough, a number of critics have concluded that she does enjoy it, echoing Trigger's assertion: "You're crazy about me." Do these writers, I wonder, recognize the irony that their interpretation supports Trigger's account of what happened?
I mean, Gregory D. Black in Hollywood Censored actually writes, "After the rape, Temple happily follows Trigger, and together they set up a love nest in the Memphis brothel."
Pre-Code historian Thomas Doherty has gone so far as to elaborate that, "rapist-murderer Trigger is the agent of an unholy but just retribution, an avenging angel who shows this girl that she can't have her cake and eat it too. If Temple doesn't enjoy her degradation, the audience should."
A substantial critical consensus seems to run thus: Temple is attracted to Trigger, experiences a sexual awakening during the assault, and willingly remains as his moll in a brothel afterwards.
Okay, where to start… some of the summaries you might read are just plain wrong. I object especially to the word choice of "happily" in Black's synopsis. (Really? You're going with that adverb? It's an insult to adverbs, which I cherish and defend.) You could read a variety of emotions in Temple's expression after the assault (the shot above). "Happy" is not one of them. And Temple says point-blank, "I don't want to stay here" when she arrives, half-stunned, at the brothel.
Clearly, a critic can describe and analyze a misogynist or sexist film without being a misogynist or a sexist. I get that and I'm not conflating the views of the writers with their readings of the material. I am, however, contesting their interpretations and the weight that they place on this aspect of Temple Drake's moral and ethical maze.
The Story of Temple Drake shrouds itself in gauzy ambiguity by eliding a central plot point. Given the haziness of what the film portrays, I find it odd that so many blog posts, articles, and book extracts I've read about the movie have taken a similar position on Temple's assault.
In other words, why does the dominant interpretation of the events (and their inferred impact on the audience) align so uncomfortably in favor of the rapist and not the survivor? I'll let you ponder that as I get on with my own interpretation.
To understand The Story of Temple Drake, we need to look beyond its sleaziest, most attention-grabbing scenes of perversion to discern a broad yet pertinent social critique.
As the movie opens, idealistic young lawyer Steven Benbow is losing a case in the Dixon County Courthouse. The presiding judge, not Judge Drake, but an actor with a visage like that of a tardily-interred corpse, apologizes to the jury on behalf of Benbow, explaining that he had no choice but to take the case.
It seems like a strange spiel. Then a cut to the lawyer reveals the judge's meaning. Behind Benbow, on the right of the screen, sits his client, an African American man in rough work clothes.
Benbow leaps to his feet and protests that the judge's comments are "prejudicial to the interests of his client." Although he explains that he wanted to take the case, the judge strikes his remarks from the court record.
The lawyer's associate concedes defeat: "You fixed it. We haven't got a chance now." Benbow grabs his hat and prepares to storm out, replying, "We never had a chance after that charge."
The decision to begin with an oblique but unavoidable indictment of racial injustice in the South provides the key to understanding the film.
After all, when Temple Drake went in production, Alabama was prosecuting one of the most notorious rape cases in American history. The trial of 9 falsely-accused African American teenagers known as the Scottsboro boys attracted nationwide attention. By late 1933, those fearful for the boys' lives even begged President Roosevelt to intervene, The New York Times reported.
As anyone who's studied To Kill a Mockingbird will know, specious accusations of rape committed against white women by black men in the South perpetuated entrenched structures of power. For the victims of such accusations, there was little or no recourse. (By contrast, rapes of black women by white men were committed with virtual impunity in the Jim Crow South.)
Given this social climate, I think it's reasonable to assume that Benbow is defending his doomed client on a similar charge to the one faced by the Scottsboro boys—and that a 1933 audience would've picked up on that coded message.
After the trial, Benbow walks into the office of Judge Drake and complains about the legal discrimination and general backwardness he sees in Dixon. Drake shrugs it off. That's the way things have been, that's the way things are, and, if Drake has his way, that's how they'll stay.
The Story of Temple Drake is so tricky to analyze because it involves several overlapping layers of privilege: white privilege, upper-class privilege, male privilege. But only one character, Judge Drake, has the trifecta of privilege on his side and embraces it. He is the guiltiest of all because he endorses systemic exploitation.
So, what does the opening courtroom scene have to do with the rape of a white woman (Temple) by a white man (Trigger)?
Well, Temple's ordeal gives her sympathy for the exploited; she endures what her patrician family perpetrated, directly or indirectly, for generations. More important, Temple's experience compels her to break the cycle of injustice and abuse of privilege portrayed at the beginning of the film.
Courtroom scenes bookend the movie. In the first, discrimination prevails and justice is merely a shadow upon the wall. In the last, justice wins a small but powerful victory. Temple abandons her class privilege—her grandfather was perfectly content to let an innocent man die to protect Temple's reputation—and speaks out on behalf of an outcast and his family.
Obviously, saving Lee Goodwin from hanging fails to bring back the unfairly-tried black man of the beginning. Nevertheless, Temple's testimony does mark a break with tradition.
Ironically, Benbow tries to convince Temple to tell the truth by harkening back to her family's heritage of honor; she sits apparently unmoved. Benbow mentions honor being worth self-destruction—and Temple's eyes light up feverishly—but then Benbow backs down, prepared to let his client die rather than question Temple further. But something stirs inside her and she recounts the traumatic events.
Karl Struss's brilliant cinematography and some darn fine cutting by an uncredited editor imbue the scene with an almost spiritual quality. In protracted, probing medium close-ups, Hopkins doesn't simper or cover her face like a standard "fallen woman." There's no glamour, no tear-jerking, no Oscar-baiting theatrics, no shred of self-pity. Hopkins conveys pain and fear and shame without Hollywood-izing them.
Through her halting, trembling delivery, she communicates the way in which tracing the narrative of her trauma, publicly telling her story in her own words, helps Temple stitch her life together. By saving Goodwin, Temple both symbolically destroys herself—that is, the privileged but limiting identity and reputation assigned to her by accident of birth—and begins to heal. The "two mes" that she mentioned earlier can finally fuse, as her urge for annihilation is exorcised in the service of justice.
In between her shocking revelations, lightning-quick reaction shots of Benbow, Ruby Godwin, Judge Drake, and others in the courtroom convey that Temple is bearing witness in a manner that will forever redefine her status and relationships.
We're watching a new person emerge. The Temple Drake who sits on the witness stand, her eyes shining with tears and resolution, is a very different woman from the frivolous socialite we first see as an arm curled around the edge of a door, an incomplete person cooing at a heavy-breathing beau. It's not the ordeal that made her complete; it's her ability to confront it on the day of reckoning.
Temple Drake is erotic in much the same way Dracula is. That is, both films cater to the deepest, most sadomasochistic fantasies of viewers while ultimately chastising those fantasies and eroding their romanticism.
As played by dead-eyed Jack LaRue, Trigger comes across as a ghoul, a menacing beast conjured up from the unconscious. The extremes of sex and violence converge in one repellent yet fascinating individual.
Leading up to the assault, Trigger frequently appears as a silhouette or a shadow: lurking on the plantation porch, smoking in a doorway, looming over Temple from a barn loft. Up until the attack, he represents a dark emblem of forbidden experience rather than a fully-fledged character.
Does Temple harbor violent sexual fantasies about a man like that? Possibly. Her conversation about the streak of wickedness that prevents her from settling down would suggest so.
Regardless of what thoughts Temple privately nurtures, she recoils from the bleak scene of domestic violence as she watches Lee smack his wife Ruby around. The thought of violence linked to a sexual relationship might tempt her, but the daily reality disgusts her.
In other words, upper-class ladies might dream of tough thugs, but lower-class women have to live with them. And it's not much of a life.
Sin and Cinematography
The last time I watched The Story of Temple Drake it occurred to me how much it foreshadows Kurosawa's Rashomon. On the most basic level, the two movies draw audiences in with their lurid subject matter; Kurosawa, asked to explain the popularity of Rashomon, famously answered, "Well, you see… it's about this rape."
Both films also force us to grapple with moral and ethical tangles while they bamboozle us with extravagantly beautiful cinematography. The mind and the flesh, the philosophical and the carnal compete for our attention.
At the wrecked plantation, especially, the grime of the walls, the abrupt barrages of lightning, the dirty glow of old lamps, and the tactile silkiness of a gown illuminated by flashlights combine to elicit a weird intoxication.
Karl Struss's proto-noir cinematography reaches its hallucinatory pinnacle as Trigger discovers Temple in the barn. The criss-crossing stripes of shadow and light and the mesmerizing, drawn-out close-ups create a horrifyingly seductive ambiance.
Again, the question palpitates in the air: how does Temple feel about what's happening to her? Hopkins gives us at least one cue that she feels excited despite herself: she bites her lip suggestively.
For me, the deep-seated perversity of the scene, beautiful in its ugliness, reflects the milieu that produced our heroine. Her wild streak, the gravitational pull that draws her to pain and degradation, signifies a return of the repressed—the repressed cruelty of her family both in the past and the present.
Interestingly, at the beginning of the film, when Benbow and Judge Drake discuss Temple, the Judge insists that Benbow not accept Temple's refusal of his proposal. In a way, his lack of respect for Temple's "no," mild though it is, can be situated on the same continuum of misogyny as Trigger's. Judge Drake sees Temple as his property… as does Trigger. Judge Drake has little respect for human life… like Trigger.
What is Trigger, then, but Judge Drake without the refinement and restraint facilitated by money and respectability? Racial injustice, violence against women, discrimination against the poor—they're all various forms of a cracked social structure and an outmoded way of thinking that condones a multitude of evils.
Is it any wonder that the corruption and hypocrisy of the Drakes and their world should have seeped into Temple and shaped her fantasies and desires? Trigger is practically one of her clan. Sins of the fathers indeed.
Then, just as the screen fades to black, Temple screams. A vehement, bloodcurdling shriek. It lingers in the air like a reproach for anyone enjoying what they're seeing—or what they're about to not see.
However you interpret the scene, the movie never looks as luminous and alluring after Temple's assault as it did beforehand. She emerges from the experience disillusioned, gaping into a sullied world.
Examining the Aftermath
In classic Hollywood movies, rape is threatened but hardly ever consummated. These near-misses imply, of course, that a virtuous lady, especially a heroine, will never be raped in the end. Some savior will prevent the Fate Worse Than Death from befalling her.
Many critics have inferred that, because Temple Drake is raped, the movie inflicts the experience as a punishment for her teasing behavior. Virtuous leading ladies cannot be raped; ergo Temple Drake is not virtuous, their reasoning follows.
I have a different take on this. Does The Story of Temple Drake hedge its bets, capitalizing on the frisson of violent fantasies while warning against too much libido? To a certain extent, yes.
Nevertheless, by showing the aftermath of a rape, by acknowledging the sense of confusion and shame felt by Temple, and by dwelling on her abusive subsequent relationship with her attacker, the movie throws our sympathy towards the survivor—no matter what she felt, thought, or did before the assault. One look at Temple's stupefied face, framed by a dirty car windshield, and the viewer has to recognize her suffering.
Temple lingers in a sort of trance state after the assault, cowering before her attacker. In the first brothel scene, the camera takes Trigger's place, advancing predatorily towards her.
Only seeing Benbow jolts her out of her near-catatonia. And it's here that she pretends to embody all of what we'd expect from a lady of sin, kissing her abuser in a tight shot, pulling the cigarette from his mouth, and taking a deep drag on it. She lowers herself to save the man she loves from certain death. One can't help but cringe, feeling the disgust she cannot express.
The scene only works (or makes sense) if we believe that Temple is lying, if we know that she doesn't want to live with Trigger and that she doesn't prefer him to Benbow. The piercing dramatic irony here derives from the worst assumptions commonly held about women in abusive relationships: "Oh, they really like it that way, right? They wouldn't leave even if they could."
Well, in the very next scene, she does try to make a run for it."You can't stop me!" She yells in a tight close-up, finally strong enough to escape. There's so much justified fury and hatred in that shot that it could almost melt celluloid! At this moment, Temple becomes her own avenging angel.
"I've got your number…" Trigger says. As he stubs out his cigarette on a racy ashtray, two shots ring out and the hand goes limp.
Whether or not the movie punishes Temple for flirtation, it never punishes her for killing Trigger. And, you know what? I'm damn fine with that.
I hope that you will watch The Story of Temple Drake and contemplate its moral bramble for yourself. This notorious pre-Code drama challenges you to navigate a swampy, shifting universe in which nobody is innocent, least of all the spectator.
After a 1972 screening of The Story of Temple Drake at MoMa, elegant 69-year-old Miriam Hopkins made a detour to the ladies' room. Finding, to her dismay, a long queue, she breezed to the front of the line. "Y'all suffered through this, but I think I suffered most; I think I should be allowed to go in first."
Oh, Miriam, I only wish I'd been there.
For more posts about the fabulous Ms. Hopkins, I invite you to explore the other entries in The Miriam Hopkins Blogathon, hosted by Silver Screenings and Font and Frock. Enjoy!
Posted in 1930s, pre-code	| Tagged 1930s, justice, karl struss, Miriam Hopkins, paramount, pre-code, sanctuary, story of temple drake, the story of temple drake, william faulkner	| 9 Replies
Pardon My French: Foreign Languages and Wit in the Movies
If they ever make a movie about the Tower of Babel, it ought to be a romantic comedy.
After living in a France for two months, I learned just how funny linguistic confusion can be. Notice I said after, because those kinds of problems are only humorous in retrospect, or when they're happening to someone else. Which brings us to movies and the mildly sadistic pleasure we derive from the befuddlement of others, so long as they're fictional.
Language versus Body in Design for Living
Some of the most innovative comedy scenes I can think of involve the unexpected interjection of a foreign language—and would fall completely flat without that language, unlikely to be spoken by the majority of viewers. Consider this sublime opener to Lubitsch's 1933 Design for Living, in which two male friends, George and Tom, (Gary Cooper and Fredric March) meet Gilda (Miriam Hopkins) who'll become the focus of the love triangle that fuels the movie.
(If, for some reason, you can't play the video here, I direct you to the unlisted video on my YouTube page and ask that you please not share the link for commercial purposes.)
Look, there's a lot that's funny about this, but I'm going to stick to the French. So—apart from how hilarious it is to consider that anyone would ever mistake Gary Cooper for a Frenchman—what's remarkable about the clip is that the first lines spoken by the main characters wouldn't have been understood by most audience members. Hollywood isn't exactly known for giving viewers a lot of credit in the brains department. In fact, Darryl Zanuck actually hired a man he knew to be an idiot because, "I know if a situation is clear to him, it'll be clear to anybody." Thus is the importance of clarity to the studio system and, I'd argue, to cinema in general!
This opener harkens back to silent aesthetics, since it relies so heavily on gestures and facial expressions to carry across its meaning. The sound tells you nothing for most of the clip. The image shows you everything. It's all very physical: from Gilda's, and our, deduction of Tom and George's personalities from their sleeping faces to the subjective blurred image of her dainty foot as seen by George. Am I dreaming or is there a fetish object in my lap?
Then again, imagine the scene after everybody wakes up with English instead of French chatter and what have you got? Well, basically an exaggerated argument between quibbling artists. Goofy, yes, but not truly funny and definitely not witty. The foreign language completes the alchemy of the opening. To a certain extent the misunderstanding that Gary thinks Miriam is French and vice-versa is funny, but even without the great "Aw, nuts!" reveal, the scene would be droll for an American audience.
In my opinion, the humor resides foremost in the fact that we may possibly understand others just as well without speaking their language. It's just a funny thought: I don't know what you're saying, but I know exactly what you mean. We can get the significance even if we don't get most of what's being signified linguistically.
It's the superfluity of language that becomes amusing. There they are, trying so hard to debate the hell out of Frederick March's upper maxillary bones in a second language, and they might as well have just pointed with the occasional growl. The intellect that it takes to discuss anatomy in French offers a droll juxtaposition to the crude and obvious nature of the gestures and the emphasis on the body in the opening shots. It's embarrassing, because they (and most other humans) like to believe that they're perfectly fluent linguistic communicators and thinkers, above caveman grunts. Gilda exclaims her frustration when she feels she can't win the argument by talking and defending her artistic choice: "Ceci est une caricature!"
And what does she say when she breaks into her native language? "Aw, nuts!" It doesn't get more anatomical than that. The inelegant, staccato English slang even suggests the crassness of what she's saying and overturns the implicitly civilized nature of all language, which makes all things more abstract and general. The mind and the tongue, the "higher" parts of our nature, serve the body, the physical, the tangible. The way the body and the mind wrestle with each other makes up most of comedy. Lubitsch makes it palpable by switching from a comedy of images to a comedy of words versus images.
I believe that Lubitsch is suggesting that, in the end, humans are pretty primitive. We canget by with gestures, even when discussing something as sophisticated as artistic perspective. Though a fully modern, spirited woman, Gilda can't help but focus on the physical, too, forming a relationship with the physiognomy of the two men long before she meets them.
And Tom and George, roused (ahem), by a woman's tiny foot, are not all that far from "Me Tarzan. You Jane." They're homo sapiens in nice suits with a smattering of continental charm, but the physical dimension still rules their lives, as it is at the heart of our need to communicate. A big preoccupation of language is courtship. How many times have we mentally face-palmed ourselves after a particularly awkward exchange with a desired individual of the opposite sex?
In Design for Living, we see how often humor is about sex and rivalry, and how often sex and rivalry are humorous. And, in this brilliant opener, we also see how intimately language is bound up with physicality. Language and the mind are the slaves of the body, Lubitsch chuckles at us from behind the screen, and don't you forget it.
Wooed by Mr. Wu, or Very Creative Intertitles
I could go on forever with examples of comedic moments hinging on language. In Gilligan's Island, not known for particularly intellectual comedy by a long shot, Ginger announces that she can speak some Hawaiian that she learned while singing in a bar in Waikiki which she promptly rattles off, sounding sultry and exotic. Skipper asks what it means. "The bar is off-limits to all military personnel," she matter-of-factly replies. That's another (rather funny) problem with languages we don't understand. The textures, the feel of the sounds, become more powerful than the meaning. Who needs significance when you have a beautiful, mysterious signifier? Which brings me to case two…
Intertitles, in theory at least, disambiguate the plot of a silent picture. For proponents of pure cinematic art, captions were the bête noire of the silent era, threatening to sully the image with words designed to impose an interpretation. The prejudice continues. When I was a little girl, I read in the Eyewitness Guide to Film, "Poor-quality silent films made heavy use of caption cards, but good directors preferred instead to rely on the cast to tell the story." In other words, intertitles served as support for the narrative, filling gaps, sort of like plumbers caulk, and nothing more.
That, however, is not always the case.
I had the privilege of seeing the silent film Mr. Wu at the Cinémathèque Française. It's a very strange film, comprised of 80% Oriental hokum, 20% pure stylistic genius, which comes in flashes. In one scene, a young British imperialist cad, Basil Gregory (the lovely Ralph Forbes), finds his way into the palace walls of a powerful Chinese warlord. Basil immediately proceeds to try to woo the Big Boss's daughter, Nang Ping (Renée Adorée). As maidens are wont to do, she stumbles and twists her ankle. After some aggressive flirting on Basil's part and some mute shock on Nang Ping's, the young lady's compainion Loo Song (Anna May Wong) arrives to intervene.
That's when it happens. The screen explodes with dancing calligraphy. Slashes, curlicues, strokes of white, all governed by some order that assimilates them into an unknown meaning, burst across the black screen in vertical bars, pairs, slants, single characters, superimpositions, constellations. In Eisensteinian dynamics, black titles flash into starburst drawings and lines that radiate from the Chinese characters. The maidens talk in shot-reverse-shot, but their words combust.
The audience becomes Basil, beguiled and confused by this plunge into a world of mysterious signifiers. And yet, it's funny! Even the stiffly urbane spectators at the Cinémathèque couldn't repress a chuckle at this sly metafilmic subversion.
We read intertitles to understand, but these deliberately vex us. The character-strewn cards use a language we know, the cinematic language, to remind us of a language we don't. The slight worry on Rénée Adorée's stretched brows and Anna May Wong's pout of disapproval give us the gist of the scene (I don't like that guy one bit! Oh, but he's so cute!),but the exact exchange escapes us. We are closed out of comprehension. By the very thing that's supposed to render the film explicit. We're helpless in the dark. So, of course, we laugh.
Once the clash of symbols has subsided, Nang Ping surprises her suitor by announcing that she does indeed speak English. She may understand without being understood. It's quite meaningful that the women speak both languages, but the man doesn't. The female of the species contains the allure of the symbol still to be learned by a foreign male. The woman is the cipher, the indecipherable character.
"We're speaking different languages!" So goes the refrain of so many failed relationships. Basil and Nang Ping's relationship—spoiler alert!—is doomed from the start. I can't help but admire the aptness of the intertitles' metaphor.
So, I'd observe that the sudden interjection of a foreign language, of something incomprehensible, punctuates a movie with comedy because it touches on a sore spot: the absurd things we manipulate language for… and how language, in turn, manipulates, embarrasses, and tantalizes us— especially when we don't understand.
Movies are so popular, I suspect, because they largely dwell within the universally, often instantly comprehensible language of images. When a language we can't make sense of pops up, however, there's a combustion. We become aware of what we can convey without speaking and we also become more aware of what we don't know, what we can't decipher. Language comedy imposes a certain amount of vulnerability on the audience who's placed its confidence in the readability of the image. It's a shocking and brash betrayal. And all we can do is laugh.
Posted in 1930s, classic, comedy	| Tagged 1930s, Anna May Wong, Chinese, cinema, classic, comedy, Design for Living, Fredric March, french, funny, hollywood, humor, language, Lubitsch, Miriam Hopkins, movie, Mr. Wu, Ralph Forbes, Renee Adoree, silent, William Nigh, wit	| Leave a reply


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There are various security testing schemes suitable for residential doors to be used on contemporary home designs in the UK giving you some idea as to their 'burglar resistance'.
PAS 24 security testing is an enhanced security test for windows as well as doors backed by many crime prevention associations. The testing methods integrate the minimum standards of physical security as well as well tested principles of the natural of criminal activity.
The EN1627 testing method is a European testing regulation specifically to test the burglar resistance characteristics of doors and windows. Using different tools under different time frames is classifies doors into classes 1, 2, 3 and 4, 4 being the highest security.
All rear aluminium door sets from the Aluminium Window and Door selector have been fully tested for security with a range of burglar resistant's available.
Electronic entry systems are also a great addition to any front entrance or front door designs to improve your entrance security. Video feeds, showing you who is at the door, and remote entrance control gives the home owner complete control over visitors into the home.
Remote electronic entry systems from NSSG are a perfect option for lager properties with gated entry before you even reach the front door, partner that with a bespoke front door from IQ Glass and you will create a secure, yet attractive front entryway.


Calling all Baby Boomers and Empty Nesters in a Temple Beth El TriBE (small group), here is an event exclusively for you!
Join your TriBE and the larger congregation for Shabbat services at 6:30 pm followed by a Shabbat Dinner exclusively for TriBEs at 7:45 pm. RSVP by March 26.
The menu will consist of brisket, salmon, salad, veggie, starch, fruit, and dessert. Feel free to bring a bottle of wine.
For more information, contact your TriBE Leader.
Please be sure to indicate the number of people for whom you are registering by using the small dropdown menu below, located beside "Attending $12.00 Each".


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Martensius is an extinct genus of caseid synapsid from the Early Permian of Germany. The type species is Martensius bromackerensis.

References

Prehistoric synapsid genera
Caseasaurs


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Extra Lazy Saturday Afternoon Reads
Posted: October 25, 2014 | Author: bostonboomer | Filed under: morning reads, U.S. Politics | Tags: Alison Lundergan Grimes, Campaign Ads, Charlie Baker, court decisions, DSCC, Jaylen Fryberg, John Roberts, Kentucky Senate race, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts governor's race, mental health services, Mitch McConnell, racial discrimination, SCOTUS, Suicide, Texas voter ID law, Washington state school shooting | 58 Comments
Good Afternoon!!
It's looking like Massachusetts may be on the verge of electing another Republican governor, and suddenly I'm feeling even sicker than I have been with this cold I can't get rid of.
Breaking news this morning from The Boston Globe, Charlie Baker jumps 9 points in new Globe poll.
Republican Charlie Baker has opened up a 9-point lead over Democrat Martha Coakley, 45 percent to 36 percent, according to a new Globe poll that depicts a far more comfortable advantage than either candidate for governor has enjoyed in months.
The poll reflects an October surge in independent voters toward Baker's column. It was independents who provided Governor Deval Patrick with his margins of victory in 2006 and 2010.
Baker's standing has improved from last week's poll, which showed the two candidates dead even. It can be attributed largely to the gains he has made in voters' perceptions of who would improve the economy and manage state government, areas that already were tilting his way. At the same time, Baker has offset the deficits he faced on issues such as education and health care, where Coakley still holds an edge, but a diminished one.
"There is just positive movement in every single metric we can ask around Baker," said pollster John Della Volpe, chief executive of SocialSphere Inc., which conducts the weekly poll for the Globe. "The more voters have gotten to know him, the stronger he performs."
What is it with this supposedly liberal state? Since I moved here more than 40 years ago, we have had mostly Republican governors. I can't understand why Massachusetts would elect another one, especially after our experience with Mitt Romney. We've also never had a woman elected governor. Republican Jane Swift was governor for two years, but that was because, as lieutenant governor, she took over for Paul Celluci, who resigned to become ambassador to Canada under George W. Bush.
As for getting to know Baker, what does that mean? Do voters really know his history? Or are they responding to political advertising?
Overall, Baker has moved from 38 percent support to 45 percent since late August. Coakley dropped 5 points this week, the poll found, after having held steady throughout much of the fall. Baker's growth, said Della Volpe, has come almost entirely from voters who have made up their minds since the beginning of September. Eleven percent of voters remain undecided….
The poll depicts an electorate highly susceptible to the recent barrage of political advertising on television. Two weeks ago, Coakley, the state's attorney general, led Baker by 5 points in the same poll. According to estimates from Kantar Media/CMAG, a firm that tracks political television commercials, $2.2 million in ads paid for by gubernatorial candidates and allied groups — more than 1,700 individual spots — aired on broadcast television from Oct. 12 through Oct. 19.
I didn't know much about Baker until I read a very disturbing story in the Globe this week, Mental health record may be predictor for Charlie Baker. It turns out Baker was the architect of a damaging mental health privatization policy in Massachusetts that is still reverberates across the state today. (I've emphasized some points in the article with bold type.)
It was early 1991, Baker was Massachusetts' new undersecretary for health, and the 34-year-old Harvard grad was having his first look at the state's decrepit mental hospitals.
Soon after, a special state commission recommended closing nine of the state's most antiquated institutions, including Danvers and two other hospitals for mentally ill patients, and moving much of that care to the community. It was Baker's job to get it done. His strategy involved a first-in-the-nation use of a for-profit company with power to approve or deny treatments for low-income mental health patients.
Baker's blueprint saved Massachusetts millions of dollars at a time when the state was staring at a nearly $2 billion deficit, but it left thousands of mental health patients often waiting weeks for treatments. The controversial approach became his template for rescuing financially ailing Harvard Pilgrim Health Care a decade later.
The aftershocks of both initiatives are still being felt as the now 57-year-old Republican runs for governor, and those experiences, say Baker supporters and critics, provide a window into how he might handle similarly fraught and costly issues if elected.
Baker's claim to fame is that as CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, he kept the company from going bankrupt. Democratic ads have publicized the fact that he "raised premiums 150 percent and tripled his own salary to $1.7 million during his decade at Harvard Pilgrim." One of the ways he saved money for Harvard Pilgrim was by laying of lots of workers and outsourcing their jobs to India. He even won an "Outsourcing Excellence Award" in 2008.
Back to the Globe article on Baker's mental health record. There were vast financial profits for the state, and some low income mental health patients did benefit short-term. But overall,
…the separate move to privatize mental health care, with a for-profit company controlling treatment and costs, meant 800 state mental health workers were laid off and their work farmed out to private clinics that received less state money. Long waiting lists ensued for community services.
"It was a disaster," said Dr. Matthew Dumont, former director of the Chelsea Community Counseling Center, where the number of psychiatrists and other caregivers, including Dumont, was cut from 23 to six. Dumont said the clinic was no longer able to provide a critical service he believes was a lifeline for mental health patients — home visits.
Over the next several years, suicide rates among mental health patients who had received state services soared. That prompted a blistering 1997 report from a legislative panel that criticized the Weld administration for lax monitoring of patients and failing to investigate their deaths in a timely way.
Two years later, a Brandeis University study gave the state high marks for innovative community-based mental health programs launched during the 1990s, but found too many patients waiting for services….
"It's still a revolving door," said Dumont, the former director of the Chelsea counseling center who lives with the legacy of privatizing mental health services when he evaluates patients for the state's public defender agency. He said he has to scrounge to find places that will take indigent defendants who have been in and out of mental health facilities.
Read about Baker's future plans for mental health care in Massachusetts at the link.
What's happening in Kentucky?
Is Mitch McConnell getting nervous about holding onto his Senate seat? The Hill reports today that McConnell has just written a personal check to his campaign for $1.8 million dollars to counter the recent DSCC purchase of TV ads in support of challenger Alison Lundergan Grimes. From The Hill:
A week ago it appeared the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was giving up on the race when it pulled the plug on television advertising after a $1.4 million buy.
But the Democratic Party committee plunged back into this fight this week by announcing it would spend another $650,000 on television ads to help Alison Lundergan Grimes against McConnell. The Senate Majority PAC, a Democratic super-PAC, followed up with a pledge to spend $850,000 in the state.
McConnell has a stable lead in polls, but doesn't want to let the new Democratic ads go unmatched. He has long pledged to his Republican colleagues that he would not take any party funds to help win reelection.
Maybe it doesn't mean anything; we'll have to wait and see. Meanwhile a couple more articles on the Kentucky Senate race.
The Courier-Journal, Grimes pledges to fight for Kentuckians' rights.
On the stump, she's a Clinton Democrat. In GOP attacks, she's a cheerleader for Barack Obama. Political allies — and opponents — know her as the daughter of Jerry Lundergan, former head of the Kentucky Democratic Party.
For her part, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes calls herself a "Kentucky filly," charging toward victory in her bid to unseat Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell and become the state's first female U.S. senator.
"This is a strong … independent Kentucky woman," Grimes tells crowds on the campaign trail, while pledging to defend Medicare and Social Security benefits, fight for a higher minimum wage and support pay equality for women.
"She will fight for the people of Kentucky like we have never been fought for before," she promises, speaking in the third person.
But 16 months after announcing her candidacy, political observers say Grimes still faces challenges in defining herself to Kentucky voters who overwhelmingly dislike Obama and have largely turned away from Democrats in most federal elections.
Apparently, it's all about how much Kentuckians feel about Clinton and Obama. I hope Bill has plans to stump for Grimes again close to election day.
Brian Beutler at The New Republic reports on McConnell's refusal to respond to questions about privatizing Social Security.
The reporters appear to be referencing this encounter McConnell had at the Louisville Rotary Club with reporter Joe Sonka. At the event, McConnell had expressed remorse that he couldn't wrangle any Democrats into supporting George W. Bush's 2005 effort to, as McConnell put it, "fix Social Security."
Sonka asked him if he'd revisit that effort in 2015, and McConnell said, "I'm not announcing what the agenda would be in advance. We're not in the majority yet. We'll have more to say about that later."
So McConnell dodged a pretty straightforward question about the Republican policy agenda, and, should he become majority leader, his own substantive goals.
A central theme of McConnell's campaign is that Kentuckians shouldn't replace a guy who stands to become an agenda setter in Washington with Grimes, who would be a freshman with comparably little power. Vis a vis less politically contentious issues, he's more than happy to explain how he'd use that power.
One of the goals McConnell has been open about is "going after the EPA," which he claims is hurting Kentucky's economy.
So it's inconsistent of him to hold his cards close to the vest when the issue is privatizing Social Security rather than gunning for the EPA. It would've been easy enough for him to say that private accounts are going to stay on the shelf, where they've been, for all intents and purposes, since 2005. Or that it wouldn't be worth the hassle, since President Obama would surely veto such a bill. Instead he said the agenda isn't up for public discussion until he's granted the agenda-setting power.
I'm sure McConnell realizes that his constituents wouldn't be too happy about attacks on Social Security . . .
The Texas Voter ID Law
From MSNBC, a depressing story about the Texas voter ID law, Texas woman threatened with jail after applying for voter ID.
An Austin, Texas woman told msnbc she was threatened with jail time for having an out-of-state driver's license when she went to apply for a voter identification card so she could vote under the state's controversial ID law. She said she was so intimidated she left without getting the ID she needed — and which she'd been trying to get for a year.
Lynne Messinger's account highlights the obstacles that some Texans face as they try to obtain a voter ID — despite the state's assurances that getting one doesn't pose a burden.
Messinger, 62 and a musician, said she brought her birth certificate to aTexas' Department of Public Safety (DPS) office in south Austin Thursday in an effort to get a voter ID. She needs one because Texas's strict ID law doesn't accept out-of-state driver's licenses.
Messinger said she spoke to a clerk at the desk, and explained that she had a California driver's license. She has houses in both California and Texas and goes back and forth between the two, but decided several years ago to switch her voting residency to Texas.
The clerk left for a few minutes, then told her to take a seat. At that point, Messinger said, a state trooper summoned her into his back office, saying he needed to speak to her. Once inside his office, Messinger said the trooper insisted on seeing all the documentation she had brought, and demanded to know where she lives and pays taxes. He even told her she could be jailed for driving with a California license.* It is illegal to drive in Texas on another state's driver's license 90 days after moving into the state.
"It was like a Nazi interrogation about how I cant be driving with a California ID," Messinger said. "I was completely intimidated and freaked out."
Here's a very interesting read on Chief Justice Roberts and Voter ID laws from The Atlantic, On Race and Voter ID, John Roberts Wants It Both Ways. The author, Garrett Epps discusses Roberts' views on race, and concludes that "[t]he idea that government must not discriminate by race seems to be important to the chief." But . . .
Which brings us to Veasey v. Perry, the voting-rights case in which the Court issued its 5 a.m. order on Saturday. That order allowed Texas' draconian voter-ID law, known as SB 14, to take effect for the midterm elections next month—the first general election to which it will be applied. It is customary to speak of SB 14 as a "tough" voter-ID law, but it might be better to speak of it as a discriminatory voter-ID law, inspired by the intent to disfranchise black and Latino voters.
That's not my inference; it was the considered factual finding of federal district Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos. (Ramos is an Obama appointee, but one endorsed for the bench by Republican Senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson and John Cornyn.) Ramos based her conclusion on a nine-day trial in which both the state and the plaintiffs presented evidence about SB 14's history and effect. That effect is startling—Ramos found that the law might disfranchise as much as 4.5 percent of the state's eligible voters. But more important is her conclusion about the law's intent (emphasis added):
The record as a whole (including the relative scarcity of incidences of in-person voter impersonation fraud, the fact that SB 14 addresses no other type of voter fraud, the anti-immigration and anti-Hispanic sentiment permeating the 2011 legislative session, and the legislators' knowledge that SB 14 would clearly impact minorities disproportionately and likely disenfranchise them) shows that SB 14 was racially motivated.
This is a devastating finding. The judge is not saying that the law has a disproportionate effect on minorities; she is saying that it was specifically written to prevent them from voting. Because it was intentional race discrimination, she found, it violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, the prohibition of racial restrictions on the vote in the 15th Amendment—and also the prohibition of poll taxes in the 24th Amendment.
Read much more at the link. It's an important article.
Washington School Shooting
More details are coming out about the school shooting in Washington state. From The Seattle Times, Teen shooter targets 3 girls, 2 male cousins.
A freshman homecoming prince, reportedly angry about a girl, pulled out a gun and opened fire in a crowded cafeteria at Marysville-Pilchuck High School Friday morning, killing one classmate and wounding four others before fatally shooting himself.
At 10:39 a.m., as hundreds of students gathered for lunch on the sprawling campus, Jaylen Fryberg walked up to a cafeteria table, pulled out a gun and shot three teen girls and two teenage male cousins, witnesses and authorities said….
Fryberg and a girl were confirmed dead. The girl's name was not released.
Two boys and two girls were taken by ambulance to Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett. As of Friday night, the two girls were alive and in intensive care with gunshot wounds to the head, said Dr. Joanne Roberts, chief medical officer for Providence. It will be several days before a prognosis could be made, she said.
The wounded boys were identified by family members as Andrew Fryberg, 15, and Nate Hatch, 14 — both cousins to Jaylen Fryberg. Both also were shot in the head. They were initially taken to Providence and later transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where Andrew was in serious condition and Nate was in critical condition.
"He shot people he cared about," said friend and football teammate Dylen Boomer.
I guess we'll learn more as time goes on. These school shootings make no sense to me.
So . . . what stories are you following today? Please share your links in the comment thread and enjoy your weekend!
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Home News National & World
Pilots report seeing man flying a jetpack above Los Angeles
9:47 AM EDT, Thu September 03, 2020
(CNN) – Two pilots reported seeing a man flying a jetpack above Los Angeles Tuesday.
An American Airlines flight was the first to say they spotted a "guy in a jetpack" at the plane's altitude of 3,000 feet above Los Angeles International Airport.
They said the man was about 30 yards away from the plane. Audio was obtained by CNN of conversations between air traffic control and flight crews on American and JetBlue.
"Tower. American 1997. We just passed a guy on a jetpack," the first plane called in. "Off the left side maybe 300 — 30 yards or so. About our altitude."
Approximately 10 minutes later, another plane said they also saw the man.
"We just saw the guy fly by us on the jetpack," the crew told the traffic controller.
According to the communications, air traffic control told the JetBlue flight to "use caution… person on a jetpack reported 300 yards south."
When the plane acknowledged the interaction, the controller said "only in LA."
The FBI is now looking into it.
The Federal Aviation Administration said "officials have alerted local law enforcement to the reports, and is looking into these reports." The FBI is investigating and is "working to determine what occurred," Los Angeles field office spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.
Here's why some aren't participating in Trump's tax-free holiday
Speeding boaters seen in Cape Coral canals as boat traffic dramatically increases


Milwaukee County couples who wish to enjoy a passionate retreat in Door County, whether for a weekend or a week, have many options to consider when deciding where to stay and what to do while on vacation.
Many Door County hotels offer a comfortable place to spend the night while exploring the peninsula. Bayview Resort & Harbor is your Door County lodging destination where you have acres of waterfront property and beautiful grounds that enable you to 'Do Nothing' and relax with your companion. If you prefer a quiet, private retreat from your Milwaukee County everyday life, spend it with us and return home with your relationship renewed and your personal batteries recharged! You may also choose to take advantage of our Door County waterfront resorts' central location and make us your home base while exploring the many activities available to couples in the county.
For those of you who wish to 'Do Nothing' while on vacation, you may choose to relax on our beachside lounge chairs under the comfort and shade of a large umbrella. While there, enjoy the view of one of Door County's most beautiful harbors, bluffs and watch the boats coming and going at the marinas - a view your probably won't see in Milwaukee County. Please feel free to borrow a book from our lending library. At lunchtime, you may decide to share a private picnic on our newly refinished, expansive south pier, where you will find a large stone grill, picnic tables and umbrella. Return to our beachside area after dark and sit around our large stone fireplace for a passionate evening of sipping wine or making 'smores' with your companion.
Couples from Milwaukee County can enjoy the hiking and biking opportunities available via beautiful back country trails around the resort. The Ellison Bay Information Center on Highway 42, across from the Viking Grill, offers complimentary bicycle rentals, subject to availability. Play tennis on our courts and stop by the office for free loaner racquets if you forgot yours at home. We also offer swimming, fishing, and free use of our kayaks and canoes. Take your date on a romantic canoe trip and explore Ellison Bay's shores from the water!
Resort amenities also include internet, satellite TV and a charcoal BBQ on the balcony or porch of each unit. Guests also have access to our exercise and laundry rooms - all the comforts of your Milwaukee County home.
When you decide that it's time to venture outdoors, the resort grounds and explore Door County, you have many activities to choose from.
Door County affords many opportunities to experience the "good-old-days" of your Milwaukee County youth in one of the most picturesque areas of the Midwest! Do you remember going to the Drive-In Movie Theater? In Fish Creek, you will find the Skyway Drive-In www.doorcountydrivein.com. Take your companion out on an old fashioned movie date!
When was the last time you took your spouse to a musical? Peninsula Players Theatre www.peninsulaplayers.com in Fish Creek is America's oldest professional resident summer theatre. This beautiful outdoor venue produces new musicals, comedies and whodunits monthly throughout the summer and into fall. American Folklore Theatre www.folkloretheatre.com offers original musical theatre under the stars in Peninsula State Park. Birch Creek www.birchcreek.org hosts a summer concert series for people with diverse musical tastes.
Bayview Resort & Harbor can be your home base for other 'mini-adventures' around Door County. We are only a 10 minute drive from the Washington Island Ferry Dock www.islandclippers.com in Gills Rock or drive another two miles to the car ferry www.wisferry.com in Northport. On Washington Island, you can visit Schoolhouse Beach or Mountain Park & Lookout Tower (one of the best views in Door County and well worth the climb!) or drive to Jackson Harbor and get a sense of Door County Maritime History at this historic fishing village. You can also take the small ferry from Jackson Harbor to Rock Island State Park http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/name/rockisland . If you are serious cycling enthusiasts, you may elect to take the passenger ferry and see Washington Island by bike. When it's cocktail time or for a bite to eat, visit Nelson's Bitters Pub, perhaps the oldest continuing operating bar in Wisconsin. While at Nelson's, ask about the history of their 'medicinal' remedy during Prohibition and then join their Bitters Club. Visit http://www.washingtonisland.com/visitors-guide/attractions/ to see these and other Washington Island attractions.
Is there anything more dreamy than a sharing a glass of vino on a sunset sailing trip? Sail away on Door County's only tall ship, the 62' wooden schooner Edith M. Becker, and experience views only possible from the water. Listen to the cannon thunder on each trip! Sail Door County www.saildoorcounty.com offers four trips daily in Sister Bay, 10 minutes away!
If you are a Milwaukee County sporting couple who really enjoy the outdoors, take your mate on an expedition to catch your own dinner!
See our Fishing Page for more information on how and where to catch our nationally famous smallmouth bass as well as salmon and perch. You can hire a local pro guide by contacting www.jackislandcharters.com or www.lateeyessportfishing.com.
For couples with an adventurous spirit and the desire to captain your own ship, contact Sister Bay Boat Rental www.sisterbayboatrental.com and charter your own boat to take a secluded tour of the Door County coastline. Visit secluded Horseshoe Island or see the Eagle Caves and lighthouse by water. Don't forget to ask us about slip availability should you desire to keep your boat at the resort during your stay. We offer weekly and daily (off season only) rates for our cottage renters from Milwaukee County.
'Ty, what did you shoot today?' 'Oh, Judge, I don't keep score.' 'Then how do you measure yourself against other golfers?' 'By height…' Many couples enjoy golfing together. Whether you are a Ty Webb or a Judge Smails, you will find a suitable golf course in Door County. Bay Ridge www.bayridgegolf.com in Sister Bay offers a regulation 9-hole course. Peninsula State Park Golf Course www.peninsulagolf.org in Ephraim has 18 holes, a driving range and spectacular views. Alpine Resort www.golfatalpine.com and Stonehedge www.golfstonehedge.com are about 30 minutes away in Egg Harbor. Maxwelton Braes Golf Course is located on Highway 57 in Baileys Harbor.
We have many brochures, maps and other information on couples activities in the office. Stop by if you have any questions. Guests from Milwaukee County love to explore and have fun!


Capable of making 9 cubes every 6, the Ice Cube Maker can also do two different sizes of its crystalline bullet-shape cubes. Simply select your size option on the LED display and press start. You can easily monitor, through the inspection window, the water level or when the ice container is full and there is an automatic shut-off when the water level is low. A convenient water drainage plug lets water out easy too.
The entire countertop unit comprises of a stainless steel casing for durability and has non-slip feet to keep it firmly in place. It operates so quietly and efficiently and the large fan keeps the heat dissipated effectively without causing any bother. Not least, the Ice Maker is suitable for both home and commercial use.


If it seems to you that moving is a small disaster, then you definitely need to contact us. Simply contact us, and our experienced specialists will organize the process as quickly and comfortably as possible, and you will be able to calmly make your business, and then enjoy the result and celebrate the housewarming.
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Home India News Rain for seven months in a row
Rain for seven months in a row
The rains, which started in June, continued in December, with 112 per cent rainfall in the district
Sagar Narekar
Thane: It started raining in May in Thane district of Konkan region due to storm, while the rain which started in June is still continuing. It has been raining for seven months in a row after many years. The average rainfall in November and December is higher than the previous year, observers said. So far 112 percent rainfall has been recorded in the district.
The Thane district had received heavy rains in May due to the effects of cyclone Toukte. The rains, which returned at the end of June, hit again in July. However, in the second week, the rivers in the district were flooded due to incessant rains. The rainy season started from the monsoon season and continued for the seventh consecutive month till December. Therefore, for the last four years, the tradition of six consecutive months of rain has continued.
Heavy rains lashed the district throughout the day on Wednesday. Thane district has received an average rainfall of 68.2 mm in 24 hours from 1st to 2nd December. The highest rainfall of 84.2 mm was recorded in Thane city. Kalyan taluka received 78 mm of rainfall, Ulhasnagar 74 mm, Ambernath 67 mm, Bhiwandi 60 mm and Murbad 54 mm. The average daytime rainfall in December is the highest in the last few years, the administration said. The district administration has informed that a total of 112 percent rainfall has been recorded in the district so far. According to meteorologists, it has been raining continuously till December for the last four years.
The district received 2,832 mm of rainfall
Thane district received 2,692 mm of rainfall from June to September. The highest rainfall of 134 per cent was recorded in Ambernath taluka till September. The lowest rainfall in the district during these four months was recorded in Murbad taluka. However, after two months of October and November, the rains continued in December. The district has received 2,832 mm of rainfall so far.
The rainfall period has increased from five to six months in the last four years. There are various reasons for this. The northeastern region is affected by the monsoon. The effects of the low pressure belt in the Bay of Bengal are especially felt in the Konkan. However, the average rainfall in November and December this year is higher.
– Abhijeet Modak, Private Meteorologist, Badlapur.
The post Rain for seven months in a row appeared first on Loksatta.
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Habitat and Range: Grassy plans from the Sahara to southern Africa; excluding the rainforest belt.
Captive Lifespan: Around 16 years.
Gestation: Mating 20-40 times a day for several days, 1-5 cubs will be born after about 110 days.
Diet: Carnivore- Wild ungulates such as zebra, gazelle, and occasionally carrion or Ostrich Eggs.
Adaptations: The winding down roar is a lion's way of long-range communication. The roar will last around 20 roars and each one is a lower pitch than the previous one. This sound can be heard nearly 6 miles. This roar is the loudest of any cats.
Conservation: In Africa, Lions are present in a number of large and well-managed protected areas and remain one of the most popular animals on the must-see lists of tourists. Because Lions generate a significant cash revenue for both park management and local communities a strong incentive for lion conservation is in place. Efforts include educating, reducing lion-human conflict, increasing habitat and insuring a wild prey base.
Did you Know: Lions are the only social exotic cat that live in groups called prides. All other cats prefer a solitary life. Just like a house cat, lions can sleep around 20 hours a day. Until 10,000 years ago lions were the second widest dispersed mammal in the world (second to humans), and could be found in North America.
Here at the CMC Zoo: Our African Lions came to us in November of 2014 from Jacksonville NJ. Our Male Lex and female Bella are brother and sisters born in 2011. Their main keeper enjoys working with them and compares them to big dogs.


The Competition Commission has revealed that consumers are being overcharged to the tune of £1.4 billion a year for payment protection insurance (PPI).
This sort of insurance policy is very often sold alongside credit cards to cover payments that cannot be met due to loss of income in loss on It is calling for consumers to be given better information on PPI, but the Competition Commission is considering creating a cap on prices for PPI's and even a ban on them altogether when sold in conjunction with credit cards.
Aside from the issues surrounding payment protection insurance's sold along with credit cards, the Competition Commission is planning to introduce means to make it easier for consumers to change PPI providers if they want, which will include a ban on 'single premium policies', where the cost of the entire policy is put onto a single bill in advance and repayments are taken out of monthly bills.


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La 13ª edición de la Vuelta al Táchira se disputó desde el 08 hasta el 18 de enero de 1978.

Perteneció al calendario de la Federación Venezolana de Ciclismo. El recorrido contó con 10 etapas y 1182 km, transitando por los estados Mérida, Lara, Portuguesa, Barinas y Táchira.

El ganador fue el venezolano Efraín Rodríguez del equipo Lotería del Táchira, quien fue escoltado en el podio por José Jiménez y Plinio Casas.

Las clasificaciones secundarias fueron; José Jiménez ganó la clasificación por puntos y la montaña, el sprints para Anatoly Slauta, y la clasificación por equipos la ganó Lotería del Táchira.

Equipos participantes
Participaron varios equipos conformados por entre 6 y 8 corredores, con equipos de Venezuela, Polonia, Unión Soviética, Argentina, Italia y Colombia.

Etapas

Clasificaciones

Clasificación general

Clasificación por puntos

Clasificación de la montaña

Clasificación de los sprints

Clasificación sub 23

Clasificación por equipos

Referencias

Enlaces externos
 Vuelta al Táchira 1978

Vuelta al Táchira
Tachira


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Classical music festival brings Nordic cool to Gangwon
GMMFS celebrates 10th year with something old, something new
By Lee Woo-young
PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province ― The lush green mountains of Daegwallyeong in Gangwon Province are the idyllic setting for the premier summer classical music event that the Great Mountains Music Festival and School, organized by the Gangwon Art and Culture Foundation, has become over the past decade.
Saturday evening's gala concert was a vibrant testimony to how far the festival has come. The 1,300-seat Music Tent, built specifically with the annual music festival in mind, was packed with classical music aficionados as well as casual audience members and families with children on vacation who happened upon the concert.
Part of this year's festival themed "Northern Lights," taking place July 14 to Aug. 6 at Alpensia Resort in Pyeongchang and various venues in Gangwon Province, Great Mountains Music Festival and School (GMMFS) Orchestra was led by conductor Sasha Makila and the National Chorus of Korea.
Conductor Sasha Makila leads the GMMFS Orchestra and The National Chorus of Korea in a performance at Alpensia Music Tent in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, Saturday. (GMMFS)
Jon Leif's Iceland Folk Dances, Op. 11, Nos. 3 and 4 opened the evening on a joyous note. Based on themes from Icelandic folk songs, or "rimur," the piece was a rousing start to an evening of Nordic music interspersed with more familiar pieces such as Alessandro Marcello's Oboe Concerto in D minor, perhaps better known in the form of J.S. Bach's transcription for the harpsichord, and popular choruses from Verdi's many operas.
"Gloria" by Francis Poulenc featured solo soprano Yu Hyun-ah singing the dramatic solo in the third movement. Premiered in 1961 by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the 20th century French composer's interpretation of the Roman Catholic "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" is a large-scale piece, majestic in sound yet one which also has some fun with the influence of jazz in the second movement.
Making world premiere at GMMFS was American composer Richard Danielpour's "Songs of the Wandering Darvish," commissioned for the 10th anniversary of GMMFS.
The 15-minute piece for large orchestra describes Darvish of Persian folklore, a man part poet, part mystic and part wandering beggar who wanders the Silk Road in search of wisdom. There is an obvious Eastern flavor to the piece, with its opening featuring a descending melody which suggests the Middle East. The piece commissioned three years ago required a large orchestra and chorus whose sound filled up the tent.
Sibelius' Finlandia, Op. 26, a rousing symbol of Finnish nationalism popularly known for its "Finlandia Hymn," was a fitting end to an evening that gave the audience something new, something old, something comforting and something challenging.
"I think it is important to introduce new works at the festival. Some of them are new, some are works that lay largely hidden, unknown," cellist Chung Myung-wha, who, along with her sister, violinist Chung Kyung-wha, serves as GMMFS artistic director, told The Korea Herald on Sunday.
Cellist Chung Myung-wha, one of GMMFS artistic directors. (GMMFS)
"Orchestra members practicing the 'Songs of the Wandering Darvish' for the first time said they liked it very much. It is a modern piece but one that is easy for the audience to enjoy and appreciate," Chung said.
Looking back on the past decade, Chung said that it was meaningful that a music festival of its high standard had continued in Korea for 10 years. The festival and music school was launched by violinist Kang Hyo, who modeled GMMFS on the Aspen Music Festival in the United States. Kang served as the artistic director of GMMFS for seven years.
"There are difficulties that are unique to Korea. Pyeongchang clinching the 2018 Winter Olympics could have worked to the festival's disadvantage, as far as continued government funding is concerned," Chung observed. "We continue to work to convince the government that we need to look 10-20 years ahead. Often Olympic towns become ghost towns once the games are over. It is important to continue this festival," Chung said.
Looking ahead, Chung stressed the need for stable funding.
"Sometimes approval for the annual government funding gets delayed. Typically, artists must be booked two to three years ahead, so we just go ahead and get the best available artists first and then work on funding," said Chung.
On her vision for the next decade, Chung emphasized musicianship: "The level of music should never go down. It should continue to be upgraded."
For any festival, artist selection is important and Chung said the positive experience of the musicians and the environment conducive to immersion in music-making had been a boon for the festival.
"For any festival, artist selection is very important. Word-of-mouth and the experiences of musicians who have participated in the festival play a crucial role in recruiting artists," Chung said.
By Kim Hoo-ran (khooran@heraldcorp.com)


Visit the Coming Attractions gallery for True Grit.
Paramount must like what it sees in its True Grit remake. The studio has moved up the release of the picture three days to December 22.
Finally, here's the trailer for the Cohen's True Grit.
A quartet of spy photos showing Jeff Bridges in costume and on the set of True Grit have hit the internet. Also spotted in the scene is Hailey Stenfeld as Mattie Ross.
Hailee Steinfeld will make her screen debut in the remake of True Grit. She will play the grieving 14-year-old Mattie Ross who sets out to find her father's killer and take out her revenge.
Paramount has slotted its remake of True Grit for a December 25, 2010.
Both Matt Damon (The Informant!) and Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men) are in negotiations to star in the Coen's remake of True Grit. Brolin would play the man who kills the father of the young girl while Damon would be a sheriff who accompanies Jeff Bridges' character after Brolin's. Paramount is eyeing a March start for the film.
The brotherly directing/writing team of Joel and Ethan Cohen (No Country For Old Men) are developing a remake of True Grit. The Cohens version of the western will follow the direction of Charles Portis' novel more closely than the classic 1969 movie that starred John Wayne. While the first film told the story from the point of view of Wayne's marshall character Rooster Cogburn, the Cohen's picture will be centered on the teenage girl who recruits Cogburn to help find the killer of her father and bring him to justice.
The Cohens have approached Jeff Bridges to play the part of Rooster in their film. Contract negotiations are presently underway between The Big Lebowski actor and Paramount Pictures.


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Updated £90m proposal labelled "diabolical" by campaigners, according to today's Edinburgh Evening News.
Scaled-back plans for the former Napier University campus at Craighouse have been submitted to the city council – with the number of homes on the site reduced by almost a quarter.
The development will see 153 units built on the site – 64 from the conversion of seven existing A-listed buildings and 89 new-builds. More than 30 acres of land are to be gifted to the public to "protect public access in perpetuity".
Sundial Properties, Napier University and Mountgrange (of Caltongate infamy) comprises the Craighouse Partnership. Friends of Craighouse described the 178,000sqft of new-build property as "monumental". "This amount of new-build is the equivalent of all the listed buildings put together plus about 50 per cent again on top".
The principal of Edinburgh Napier University, Dame Joan Stringer, has criticised protesters opposing the redevelopment of the former Craighouse campus site. She also revealed the university would make £11.5m from the plans.
The Craighouse Partnership consortium, of which Edinburgh Napier University is a named partner, wants to build 116 new homes but the proposal has angered many local residents, with 5000 signing a petition against the development.
The university's principal and vice-chancellor accused campaigners of mounting an "emotive disinformation campaign" and trying to discredit the university.
Detailed building design will be presented for comment, when developed further, at the next public consultation event in October or November 2011.
Kim Wilkie is part of the team that replaced Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners on the highly controversial Chelsea Barracks development.
Oberlanders Architects are Edinburgh-based and most of their work is contemporary, a key project is their work St Vincent Place which involved a historic context.
Simpson & Brown Architects are Edinburgh-based and primarily involved in traditional building and restoration of historic buildings.
Ben Pentreath, based in London, featured in the recent 'The Three Classicists' exhibition in London with George Saumarez Smith and Francis Terry, and works in the neoclassical style.
Designs have also been sourced by John McAslan + Partners and Eric Parry Architects, both well-respected London-based architects working in the contemporary style, but their designs are not being taken forward.
The road, for what is set to be one of the most exciting residential developments in Edinburgh, has been paved by the formation of Craighouse Partnership, a team of property professionals assembled to promote the restoration and development of Edinburgh Napier University's Craighouse Campus into one of the city's finest places to live.
The Craighouse Partnership is led by local Edinburgh company, Sundial Properties, which is recognised as the leading restorer of listed buildings for residential use in the capital. The other partners are LA&P, a specialist residential planning and development company, who will oversee the plans for the site and the Mountgrange Real Estate Opportunity Fund ("MoREOF"), a £300 million fund targeting UK property and related assets, managed by Mountgrange Investment Management LLP ("Mountgrange"), which has funded the acquisition. Edinburgh Napier University will remain an active partner in the planning application process moving forward.
"We're looking to work with architects and landscape designers of the highest calibre to realise the potential of the site whilst fully protecting its historic significance. This should ensure that the new homes would not only strengthen Edinburgh's image as a desirable place to live, but will also provide a greater choice of housing stock for local residents.


Marc Tash Interiors did professional and timely work. I am satisfied with their service and would recommend them to others.
excellent! I was very pleased. great work! very accommodating. they came to my house to see the chair. picked up and delivered.


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Did you properly report and pay U.S. taxes on your foreign assets and income?
What happens to foreign retirement benefits in divorce?
Think the Trump administration may go lighter on foreign corrupt business practices? Think again.
Unlike the income tax systems of most countries, the United States requires all U.S. citizens and resident aliens (i.e., green card holders) to report on U.S. income tax returns all income, even if earned or otherwise received outside of the United States. Even though U.S. income tax on foreign-sourced income may be reduced, or even eliminated, by credits for income tax paid to foreign countries, it is critical that the foreign-sourced income be properly reported on U.S. income tax returns. Not only do U.S. taxpayers with foreign income have to report that income on their U.S. income tax returns, they also must answer in the affirmative a question on Schedule B that asks whether the taxpayer "had a financial interest in or signature authority over a financial account (such as bank account, securities account, or brokerage account) located in a foreign country." This question must be answered in the affirmative even if the account generated no income. If the balance in the foreign accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the year, the taxpayer must also file a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR).
In the past, banks and investment advisers in some foreign countries encouraged U.S. taxpayers to set up accounts that were designed to remain undisclosed to U.S. tax authorities. Because of the scope of this problem, U.S. tax authorities instituted a program in 2009 to aggressively locate and pursue penalties against U.S. taxpayers with undisclosed foreign income. If the failure to comply with U.S. tax laws was willful, criminal as well as civil penalties could be imposed on the offending taxpayer, with the penalty amount being far in excess of the value of the foreign accounts.
At the same time that it began to take more aggressive enforcement action, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) instituted the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP), which allowed taxpayers to make voluntary disclosures of unreported income and avoid exposure to criminal prosecution and reduced potential civil penalties. Under the OVDP, all income taxes on undisclosed income over the prior six to eight years have to be paid together with a nonpayment penalty and a FBAR penalty equal to a specified percentage of the highest balance in the taxpayer's foreign bank accounts (ranging from 20% in 2009 to 27.5% currently). This program treated taxpayers who acted willfully and those who were not willful the same, although taxpayers who believed they acted nonwillfully could seek reduced penalties. The IRS has generally taken a very broad view of what constitutes willfulness; simply filing a return without paying sufficient attention to the disclosure requirements could well be seen as willful action.
In June of 2014, the IRS announced an expanded program for U.S. taxpayers whose failure to report foreign income was not willful. Taxpayers filing under the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures must file returns (or amended returns) for the prior three years for which foreign source income had not been reported and pay any tax due on the unreported income, as well as file any FBARs that had not been filed for the prior six years. In a dramatic change from the OVDP, penalties were eliminated for taxpayers residing outside of the U.S. and were reduced to 5% of the highest foreign account balance for taxpayers residing in the U.S. The Streamlined Procedures require far less documentation and delay than the OVDP and do not subject taxpayers to increased chance of audit. Perhaps even more significantly, the Procedures employ a much more lenient definition of willfulness, which should enable most U.S. taxpayers who had previously failed to comply with foreign income and account reporting obligations to bring themselves into compliance without being subject to harsh penalties.
If you or someone you know has a matter related to reporting overseas financial accounts or international income tax issues, please call or write Shulman Rogers and mention Bob Canter.
U.S. civil and criminal authorities have been particularly aggressive in investigating and prosecuting potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. There are few areas of corporate and securities law in which the SEC and the Department of Justice have been more unified. This coordinated approach has resulted in record fines against corporations and criminal prosecutions of individuals. And, because such investigations are complex and, almost by definition, multi-national, the associated expense, distraction, and opportunity costs represent an additional penalty, even in situations where the investigation fails to uncover substantial wrong-doing.
The "pro-business" and "de-regulatory" philosophy advanced by the new U.S. administration has caused some commentators to suggest that there may be some pull-back in this aggressive approach. Anti-corruption compliance programs need to be multi-dimensional, detailed and expansive, and carry significant costs. U.S. companies, some argue, could be more competitive were this burden reduced.
The world has changed. Investors recognize that corruption is a transaction cost and that corporations that minimize such costs may, in fact, have a competitive advantage. As capital formation has globalized, governments in the developing world have gravitated towards more rigorous anti-corruption efforts. Thus, the U.S., U.K. and E.U. approach to anti-corruption compliance has become at least an aspirational standard for the governments of many developing countries. A pull-back by U.S. authorities, therefore, may not provide much assurance for companies doing business in these countries.
Modern business is information-intensive. Sound business decisions require that the right information gets to the right decision maker in a timely manner. Well-designed information systems also are essential to anti-corruption programs. The FCPA originated with the insight that companies that are making corrupt payments to foreign officials do not maintain accounts labeled "bribery fund," so that those corporations' books and records must be misstated. A company that maintains appropriate controls over its assets and disbursements already has in place the structure of a sound anti-corruption program.
"Tone at the Top" may sound like a simplistic concept, but regulators take it seriously. Strong corporate managers ensure that the organizations that they supervise reflect their priorities. Managers should prioritize ethical standards as sound business. If they do so, they create an environment in which anti-corruption processes are simply an aspect of a healthy, profitable enterprise.
Anti-corruption procedures are not self-enacting. Corporations must train their employees on these procedures. Most well-run corporations have effective training programs in place. As in other areas described above, such corporations already have the mechanisms necessary to support their anti-corruption programs.
In sum, the greatest motivation for a corporation to design and implement an effective anti-corruption program is that doing so reflects – and builds upon – sound business practices. Corporations may welcome regulatory pull-back in this area, but the best run corporations will remain vigilant.
If you or someone you know has a matter related to this article or an issue involving anti-corruption compliance programs, FCPA enforcement or other SEC, DOJ or other regulatory compliance or enforcement issues, please call or write Shulman Rogers and mention Paul Huey-Burns.
301-230-5200, or email us at info@shulmanrogers.com.


text:
[TAIPEI] Budget and Itinerary (2)
[NANTOU] Budget and Itinerary
[YUCHI] Sun and Moon Lake's Cycling the Musical
[CHANGHUA] Budget and Itinerary
[LUKANG] Taiwan's Second Oldest Town
[WANHUA] Window Shopping at Ximending
[HUALIEN] Budget and Itinerary
[HUALIEN] Taroko National Park
[HUALIEN] Farglory Ocean Park and Your Dental Health
The Mistress
Bona (PETA)
Bwakaw
I Do Bidoo Bidoo
Amorosa: The Revenge
The Phantom of the Opera (Lunchbox Theatrical)
[HANOI] Budget and Itinerary
[QUANG NINH] Budget and Itinerary
[HA LONG] Ha Long Bay
1992. A young woman (Empress) falls victim to rape and murder in an old house somewhere in Tagaytay. Fast forward to the present, Amorosa (Angel Aquino) is left without a husband after a road accident. Hounded by financial woes, she takes her sons Rommel (Enrique Gil) and Amiel (Martin del Rosario) to live in her aunt's pension house in Tagaytay, where she would serve as manager and earn some much needed cash to support the family. Soon after they move in, the ghost starts to haunt her, drawing similarities from their situation regarding some difficult choices made in the past that have led to life-changing results.
Very good acting from Angel Aquino, particularly in that scene where she had to choose which son to save. She is one of the reasons why I almost wanted to give this movie four clovers out of five. It is a good thing that Enrique Gil does not get left behind. This kid can act, and it is nice to see two able actors sharing one screen. At least, not one gets to outshine the other. Lilia Cuntapay is also here, and uses her hair once again to provide some good old fashioned scare. It works every time!
Perhaps the problem with this movie is how everything accumulates towards the end. There is just a pile up of everything, as in every single plot twist that the director could have thought of, and then add the supernatural aspects and toss in one too many Deus-ex-Machina, and you end up leaving the cinema confused as to what really happened in there. It is somehow disappointing because underneath all the scare tactics, there is a simmering family drama waiting to be exploited to its full potential. Sadly, the momentum derived from this is lost just like that.
Another possible factor is how this film seems to have some sort of identity crisis. We understand that thrillers usually just fall within three sub genres, namely: psycho, ghost, and slasher flick. The first and third usually combine to form a good thriller. In this movie, the director opts to skewer all three, in that everything begins as a psycho drama, dabbles in ghost territory once in a while, and ultimately ends up as a slasher flick. For some people, that is one hell of a thrill ride. Unfortunately, for most, it is simply confusing and most often seen as a sign of laziness in the storyteller's part by eventually turning to the convenience of routine and formula. Efforts in terms of cohesion is evident though, but comes short in connecting everything convincingly.
In the end, this is just a simple family drama that could have been poignant if they got rid of the ghost story and the slasher flick angle. Come to think of it, those two are just there to provide resolution for the main conflict of the story, which is that of mother and son. In real life, people usually just engage in a shouting match, slap each other (hair-pulling optional), kiss and make up, and move on. Here, the ghost had to intervene, and a killer had to chase Angel Aquino in the haunted house, as if life has not put her through too much already. Like, make up your mind and give her a break?
They could have taken some pointers from Next to Normal, given the similarities in terms of storyline. That one did not have ghosts in it, but it made a lot of people cry. It could have been the same case here, especially with Aquino's plausible acting. Oh well, we Filipinos just love our ghosts too much, do we not? I thought so too.
WRITTEN BY: ihcahieh at 11:04:00 PM


U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invited you to join a stakeholder engagement with the USCIS Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) team. The engagement served as a forum to update stakeholders on the accomplishments of the EIR initiative to date, including the newly launched public-facing Entrepreneur Pathways website and the comprehensive internal training for USCIS immigration officers on the business realities of early-stage companies. USCIS also discussed the EIR initiative's new focus on more permanent visa pathways for entrepreneurs, as well as its continued work on the development of policies and practices relevant to the entrepreneurial community. EIR team members shared their experiences working together this year, and discussed upcoming opportunities for further collaboration with stakeholders.


In the woods by the creek.
SuddenLink, and I am quite pleased!
Move somewhere where you are not expected to haggle for a deal every year with your provider, just as if you were trying to buy a used car from your average shyster car dealer.
It's obviously part of Cox's business model. I'm not sure if it pervades the entire industry. Does it?
I don't know of any other industry other than car dealerships that has this model, but they should all be sentenced to 2 to 14 years in the electrical chair. Then taken out and shot.
Grumpy old man signing off.
Cox expects that. They jack you up 20 or 30 bucks a year for their phone/TV/Internet bundled "deals" and you are then expected to call customer service and beg, plead, and threaten to drop them until after 20 minutes you get a deal maybe 5 or 10 bucks higher. Everyone I know goes through that as a matter of course.
Comcast is exactly the same.
It's demeaning, pathetic, and infuriating.
This might not work with all companies, but I have recently discovered some unexpected willingness to make deals. With SuddenLink, for example, I began at an introductory rate for a year and then managed to keep that rate for the second year after I had called to close my account and telling them, when asked, I was switching to AT&T. DirecTV did something similar and came up with a decent two-year deal when I called to cancel after about 20 years, but then they later broke that deal by charging more and refusing to adjust and now they want me to pay a fee for early cancellation. Bottom Line: You can likely get a decent rate while getting started, but stay on top of that and maybe even call before the end of your contract and ask whether the next cycle can also be made affordable for you before you go looking elsewhere for a new provider.
Cox is the only game where I live and, apparently, they know it.


text:
package simplebox

import (
	"crypto/rand"
	"fmt"

	"golang.org/x/crypto/nacl/secretbox"
)

const (
	// Length in bytes of a secret key used for encryption and decryption.
	KeySize = 32

	// Length in bytes of a nonce value (which must be unique and may be
	// random) used for encryption and decryption.
	NonceSize = 24
)

// SimpleBox provides a simple wrapper around NaCl's secretbox with a
// self-contained random nonce strategy.
type SimpleBox struct {
	secretKey *[KeySize]byte
}

// Creates a SimpleBox from a secret key.
func NewFromSecretKey(secretKey *[KeySize]byte) *SimpleBox {
	return &SimpleBox{secretKey: secretKey}
}

// Decrypts the given ciphertext and returns plaintext. An appropriate error is
// included if decryption failed.
func (b *SimpleBox) Decrypt(cipher []byte) ([]byte, error) {
	if len(cipher) <= NonceSize {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Ciphertext is of invalid length.")
	}

	var nonce [NonceSize]byte
	copy(nonce[:], cipher[0:NonceSize])
	payload := cipher[NonceSize:]

	var opened []byte
	opened, ok := secretbox.Open(opened[:0], payload, &nonce, b.secretKey)

	if !ok {
		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Ciphertext could not be decrypted.")
	}

	return opened, nil
}

// Encrypts the given plaintext and returns ciphertext.
func (b *SimpleBox) Encrypt(plain []byte) []byte {
	var nonce [NonceSize]byte
	rand.Reader.Read(nonce[:])

	var box []byte
	box = secretbox.Seal(box[:0], plain, &nonce, b.secretKey)

	return append(nonce[:], box...)
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub