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Home Labor News From Our Region Ora Lee Malone, groundbreaking trade union activist, dies at 93
Ora Lee Malone, groundbreaking trade union activist, dies at 93
Ora Lee Malone
With the death of Ora Lee Malone, in the span of several weeks, the Labor Movement lost two of its most dedicated, committed trade unionists. The other was UAW's Jerry Tucker, who died last month.
Ora Lee was one of a kind: when she got on your case, you just couldn't say "no." And few did.
"So many of us have known, loved and learned from Sister Ora Lee Malone for many decades," said Roz Sherman-Voellinger, vice president, Labor Participation with the United Way.
'FEARLESS FIGHTER'
"She will forever be remembered as a fearless fighter who changed the course of history for low-wage workers, women, children, and minorities, in St. Louis and globally, especially her anti-Apartheid work in South Africa," Sherman-Voellinger added. In that fight, she was not only instrumental in getting the City of St. Louis and the Missouri Legislature to divest public funds from banks doing business with South Africa, she collected tons of fabric from local manufacturers to be shipped to South Africa so women could make clothes for their families.
Growing up in the segregated south, Ora Lee's career spanned decades with the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, where she became the first African American business representative. Working as a piece worker for the California Manufacturing Company for 19 years, she ultimately helped to organize the plant and became the union's shop steward.
When she left the plant to become a union representative, her commitment and determination ultimately were recognized by her election as the local's business manager. She was then invited to be an international union representative and organized textile workers across Missouri and Southern Illinois.
"Ora Lee was a treasure…she did so much activism in her career…standing up for voters' right, labor rights, human rights. She had a history of standing up for what's right for the working class," said Lew Moye, president, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists.
"She was courageous person, a mentor to me and an inspiration to many African Americans to get involved in our union, attend meeting and learn how union worked. She will be missed," Moye added.
BEYOND THE UNION
Her commitment to workers didn't stop with the union.
A champion for the equality of women and African Americans everywhere, Ore Lee was a co-founder of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, helped to launch the Women's Political Caucus with Bella Abzug and Betty Friedan, helped to establish the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and the St. Louis chapter of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute.
She served her community as a member of the bi-State Development Agency and as a member of the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex where she helped establish minority-hiring goals on the Edward Jones Dome during its construction.
Ora, 93, who retired in 1989, died Oct. 30.
She is survived by two sisters and three brothers. Burial was in the Calvary Cemetery.
Previous articleUAW's Jerry Tucker dies; fighter for workers rights
Next articleSt. Louis Mayor Francis Slay asks for Labor's endorsement


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Home Science Research: Frequent fires make droughts harder for young trees, even in wet...
Research: Frequent fires make droughts harder for young trees, even in wet eastern forests —
Janet R. Aguilar
Forests in the eastern United States may have had it easy compared to their western counterparts, with the intense, prolonged droughts and wildfires that have become typical out west in recent years. But as the climate changes over time, eastern forests are also likely to experience longer droughts. And although wildfires are comparatively rare, prescriptive fires are increasingly used in the east. How will these forests fare in the future? A new study from the University of Illinois provides answers.
The research, published in Functional Ecology, focused on the combined effects of fire and drought on white oak seedlings — a drought-tolerant species — in Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. The ability of young trees to withstand both stressors could predict the fate of the forests in a changing climate.
"It's important to ask how fire will affect forests under warmer and drier conditions. Will forests subjected to fire function differently? Will they transition to something that looks more like a savannah or a woodland because fewer young trees establish and survive? In western forests, some tree species are failing to regenerate following fire. Our research provides insights into why that could happen," says Jennifer Fraterrigo, associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences at U of I, and the study's co-author.
Lead author Tyler Refsland, a doctoral student in Fraterrigo's laboratory, compared natural and planted white oak seedlings that were either resprouting from a recent prescribed fire (or simulated fire, in the case of the planted seedlings) or were unscathed. For each set of plants, he either imposed a drought by suspending a clear tarp over the seedlings or allowed natural precipitation to fall to the ground.
The experiment was designed to test two very different hypotheses: that fire actually helps young trees withstand drought by removing leaves, thereby reducing water loss through those leaves; and that fire exacerbates drought stress by creating warmer, drier local conditions and by making nitrogen less available to young trees.
Surprisingly, both hypotheses were supported. However, the benefit of removing leaves was temporary, and not strong enough to overcome the tendency of fire to promote adverse environmental conditions associated with drought.
"Fire exacerbated drought-driven declines in the growth of these small trees both by promoting a warmer, drier microclimate," Refsland says.
By removing some of the low-growing forest plants that may have sheltered the young oaks, fire resulted in higher air temperatures and greater vapor pressure deficits — a measure of how dry the air is and how likely plants are to lose water from leaves. In a changing climate, the researchers suggest the combined effects of drought and recurrent fires could have lasting effects on young trees, even drought-tolerant species. And without a healthy set of juveniles, forest regeneration could be jeopardized.
The researchers note that the results could help land managers predict how different sized trees might respond to drought in fire-managed forests. For example, they identified a size threshold under which the resprouting trees were more likely to suffer the consequences of fire-worsened drought conditions: 0.4 square centimeters in diameter, about a tenth of the size of a postage stamp.
"Foresters have long known about size thresholds for escaping mortality from fire. However, that small, resprouting trees are more vulnerable to drought than large resprouts is an important new finding," Fraterrigo says. "As such, this research provides valuable guidance to forest scientists and managers who are working to adapt management activities for a future that is likely to be warmer and drier. This kind of information can be used to foster more resilient forests over the long-term."
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New discoveries show Tibet was the source of Ice Age fauna

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


If this sounds magical and attractive, Taraz, a city with a unique history and ... Once known as a city of merchants, it is one of the oldest cities in Kazakhstan. Tourists visiting the ancient and young city of Taraz have much to see.
By Aiman Turebekova in Kazakhstan Tourism on 10 August 2015 ... Ridder, Saryagash, Taraz and others without having to receive a special permit.
By Kseniya Voronina in Kazakhstan Tourism on 9 February ... a centre for visitors built on the site of the ancient city, will be opened in Taraz this year.
The field is located 215 kilometers from the city of Taraz. ... field, the total gas production in 2015 in Kazakhstan will stand at 380 million cubic meters.


A wide band ring which I have created by shaping and soldering sterling silver hammered pebbles onto a ring band in a random pattern.
This cuff ring is open at the back, very comfortable to wear and adjustable to fit different sizes of fingers or thumbs (see below for details).
The ring band has a satin textured finish behind the pebbles which contrasts well with the shiny pebbles.


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Bedbugs force Wayne State medical library to close
Officials say Wayne State University's Shiffman Medical Library is closed through Monday as exterminators clean because of possible bedbugs.
University spokesman Matt Lockwood tells The Detroit News the school is "going to address the issue aggressively to make sure it's taken care of as quickly as possible." Lockwood says a pest control company is expected to thoroughly clean the building.
Students may use other libraries on the school's Detroit campus until the library reopens.
In February, an exterminator treated a cubicle at the medical library after a reported bedbug sighting. Lockwood says a bedbug-sniffing dog was enlisted to check for the pests and found none. Also that month, a room at an 11-story dormitory was fumigated after a student reported seeing bedbugs.


Albany 30/21. Albany Sheet 1, shows railway and Lots off Princess Royal Harbour, P. Chauncy [scale: 4 chains to an inch].
Albany 30/22. Albany Sheet 2. Shows area between Campbell and MacDonald Roads. Includes Mt Melville and Bare Granite Rock [scale: 4 chains to an inch].
Augusta 28C. Plan of boundaries proposed for the Townsite of Augusta in Western Australia [Tally No. 005620].
Augusta 28/4. Tentative design of proposed lay-out of Augusta.
Australind 5/1. Plan of the intended Town of Australind as finally arranged by M. Walter Clifton Esq., FRS. [Tally No. 005627].
Balgarri 142. Plan of Subdivision of Balgarri Townsite at 42 Mile Tank, 20 Mile Road, William Cummings [scale: 2 chains to 1 inch].
Bardoc 97. Plan of Bardoc Townsite Lots 1-140, W.H. Gibbits [scale: 2 chains to 1 inch].
Bejoording 21. Plan of Suburban Lots at Bejoording, A. Hillman, Surveyor.
Bejoording 21/1. Bejoording Town Site, B. W. Ridley.
Beverley 15/3. Beverley Suburban Lots 1 to 38.
Boulder 107. Great Boulder Townsite.
Boulder 107/1. Plan of residence areas at Boulder, E. Manning [scale: 4 chains to 1 inch].
Boulder 107/9. Additional Lots at Boulder Townsite, R. Gledden.
Boulder 107/10. Town Lots Boulder, R. Gledden.
Boulder 107/19. Lots 688 to 875, Boulder Townsite, G. W. Ellis [scale: 3 chains to 1 inch].
Boulder 107/57. Plan of Subdivision, Boulder. E. H. B. Macartney [scale: 3 chains to 1 inch].
Boyanup 72. Boyanup Townsite, Lots 1-68, G. R. Turner.
Boyanup 72/2. Subdivision of Boyanup Suburban Lots 17-33, H. A. Mitchell [scale: 4 chains to 1 inch].
Boyup Brook 199/1. Plan of Boyup Brook Townsite, Lots 17 & 21 to 49, M. C. White [scale: 2 chains to 1 inch].
Bridgetown 26/1. Mounted tracing of Bridgetown, rough plan of Townsite as laid out on the Blackwood at Geegalup Bridge, C. Carey.
Bridgetown 26/2. Bridgetown rough tracing, C. Carey.
Bridgetown 26/3. Bridgetown West, portions of Townsite, Lots 188 to 313, G. R. Turner.
Bridgetown 26/4. Bridgetown East, portions of Townsite Lots 1777 to 187 and 29-30, G. R. Turner [scale: 4 chains to 1 inch]. Also Road from Bridge 60B by H. I. Farrell.
Bridgetown 26/6. Townsite of Bridgetown (Lots to the South and S. West of Townsite). Compiled by Hogarth.
Bridgetown 26/10. Bridgetown compiled plan. Bartlett.
Brookton 101. Brookton Townsite. H. M. Lefroy.
Broome 36. Townsite of Broome. J. S. Brooking.
Broome 36/2. Broome extension with Lots to 368 [also later William Rowley amendments].


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Football team face No. 1 team
Senior quarterback Jalen Whitlow has completed 122 passes for 1,450 yards in eight games during the season.
Jason Howell
It only takes one for the Eastern football team this Saturday.
One victory over Jacksonville State puts the Panthers in the driver's seat of first place in the Ohio Valley Conference, and one win would dethrone the Gamecocks, who have been ranked No. 1 in the FCS since September.
Only one team has been able to defeat Jacksonville State this year. An overtime loss to Auburn, a game in which the Gamecocks led for most of the game, remains the lone blemish on their record.
But this Saturday, they will play an Eastern team that has been unbeaten in the OVC all season, and has waited all year for this opportunity to defeat one of the conference's best teams.
"We've fought very hard over the last five weeks to get to this position, where we're one of two undefeated teams in the league," Eastern coach Kim Dameron said.
This is the second year in a row that these two teams have met late in the season, with conference championship implications depending on the outcome. Jacksonville State won last year's matchup in Jacksonville, Ala. by a score of 27-20.
It has been a pattern in recent years, having both these teams competing for the OVC crown late in the season. Both have combined for nine of the last 12 conference championships since the Gamecocks joined the OVC in 2003.
Red-shirt senior defensive tackle Dino Fanti won one of those championships in 2013, and said that the key to the Panthers' recent success has been execution, not just skill.
"It's not about us being better athletes, or being stronger or faster," Fanti said. "It's about us doing our job better than them."
The Gamecocks have the best offense in the OVC, averaging over 500 yards of offense and 39.8 points per game this season. If that were not enough to describe their season so far, spectators only need to look at the Gamecocks' defensive stats.
Jacksonville State is first in the conference in several defensive categories, including scoring defense, total defense and rushing defense.
Eastern has averaged 206 yards on the ground through eight games this season, with junior transfer Devin Church leading the way with 568 yards on 110 carries. Only the Gamecocks, who average 270 yards on the ground, rank ahead of the Panthers.
For Dameron and the Panthers, being their best gives Eastern an advantage on Saturday.
"We have to make sure we're the best Eastern Illinois football team we can be, when we take the field because that's the only chance we have," Dameron said.
Fanti leads all Panther defensive linemen with 43 tackles, including 13 for loss.
Fanti recorded four tackles for loss last week, becoming the all-time leader in school history.
His head coach said that Fanti's intelligence has also been a part of his record-breaking career.
"He's not a guy that just runs around like a blind dog in a meat house," Dameron said. "He studies the game extremely well and knows our defense, as well as opponents' offensive line and formations."
Jacksonville State's offensive personnel remind Dameron of another familiar opponent. Quarterback Eli Jenkins and running back Troymaine Pope are similar to Illinois State's quarterback and running back combo of Tre Roberson and Marshaun Coprich.
"It doesn't matter what team you watch them play on film. They're extremely fast and physical," Dameron said.
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at O'Brien Field.
Blake Nash, Assistant Sports Editor (Fall 2015)
Hi I'm Blake Nash. I'm the assistant sports editor at the Daily Eastern News. I've covered sports for three years including track, volleyball, football...
Jason Howell, Online Editor
Hi, my name is Jason Howell. I am a senior journalism major with an emphasis in photojournalism. I am currently the Online Editor at the Daily Eastern...
FEATURE PHOTO: Mellow cello
FEATURE PHOTO: Spin those flags
FEATURE PHOTO: Playing pickleball with a pal
FEATURE PHOTO: Summer science
FEATURE PHOTO: Closing time
PHOTO GALLERY: Fireworks fun
PHOTO GALLERY: The 2019 Red, White and Blue Days
PHOTO GALLERY: Having a bubble blowing blast
FEATURE PHOTO: Conducting the Community Band
FEATURE PHOTO: Selling fireworks on Lincoln Avenue


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Crackdown 3 Review
Xbox One* | PC
System: Xbox One, PC
Dev: Sumo Digital
Pub: Xbox Game Studios
Release: February 15, 2019
Players: 1-10 Player
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p Blood, Drug Reference, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
Crackdown 3 Doesn't Quite Nail the "Super" Thing
by Jenni Lada
What happens when a series fails to keep up with its contemporaries? It may be an IP that sets a standard for a certain kind of gameplay, but is then outpaced by one of the titles that set out to copy its success. In short, this all comes down to Crackdown 3 feeling less like a giant step forward for the series and AAA in 2019 and more like it is trying to compete with Saints Row IV, a similar sort of game released six years before.
Crackdown 3 is set around ten years after Crackdown 2, which is great for people new to the series. It means that all you need to know is that an organization known as The Agency has genetically modified Agents that are dispatched around the world to deal with hostile situations, terrorist threats, and unsavory elements threatening to ruin our society. The game begins with a group of Agents, led by Commander Jaxon (Terry Crews), going to handle a terrorist threat.
Except, it was a false flag. Terrorists essentially took everything in the world offline, shutting down the grid. Only one city, New Providence, remained untouched. The island haven is owned and run by the Terra Nova corporation. Fortunately for the player, a scientist named Echo found what was left of Jaxon (and presumably the other 20 Agents on the team, since you can select them) and put together a revival program. Now, Agents are on the ground and ready to both expose and stop Terra Nova.
While the presence of such a prominent story in Crackdown 3, one which sends you against the heads of Terra Nova and their lieutenants, is a positive, its execution is not. The opening cutscene for the game is fantastic, with peak Terry Crews at its center. This makes it all the more disappointing when subsequent story scenes appear as static comics or barely animated segments that seem crude in comparison. Considering we are in a world where other AAA tales of superpowered people, like inFamous: Second Son and Marvel's Spider-Man, have elaborate segments showing what's going on, it makes Crackdown 3 feel less thought out and more rushed. It's not a good look for a game announced in 2014 and in development for years.
Speaking of Crews, it also feels like Crackdown 3 doesn't make the most of him. In the game, players have access to multiple Agents. Each one is diverse, both in terms of their appearance and the bonuses with certain sorts of weapons. But, even though the game is set up so Jaxon is the canon "hero," there isn't enough done to acknowledge that. We get a great opening segment with Crews, but then his performance is pretty much reduced to filler chatter as we accomplish goals like freeing militia members, defeating robots, and completing the destructive missions that will eventually force the Terra Nova bigwigs out of hiding to face us.
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The thing about Crackdown 3 is, it has a serious organization problem that other open-world games have conquered. When you are in New Providence, you have a map with icons. You're left to your own devices. It doesn't try to initially direct you to certain spaces to teach you the basics or push you toward what you would consider story missions. Aside from encouraging you to storm the gate into the city and consider taking on the metro system first, you're left to figure things out on your own. There's no journal of what you have done or should do, only a list of objective icons on the map that shows what is available. When you head to your Agent page, you can't choose your skills from a skill tree. You just can see what has unlocked from the actions you performed certain amounts of times or agility orbs you have collected. When you go to the Targets page to see who you need to take down, you can just click to set a waypoint for the next primary mission. As with the story's stripped down "cutscenes," it feels like the bare minimum has been done.
As for the actual gameplay, it's fine. Crackdown 3 doesn't make any revolutionary changes to the open-world formula. Players head into a region. They complete different quests within to help remove the influence of Terra Nova. This means shutting down plants polluting the area, liquor that helps control people's behavior, and freeing people the corporation considered dangerous. Your agent has a lot of weapons to choose from, all of which are easy to find and sort through. There are a decent selection of cars, which can easily be hijacked, often without any sort of penalty. Performing different actions will increase your Agility, Driving, Explosives, Firearms, and Strength aptitudes, which means you have more possible actions tied to each one you can perform.
Violence is always the answer in Crackdown 3. You want to draw out the Terra Nova's head, Elizabeth Nemano, and that means getting her three immediate underlings, Alois Quist, Kuli Ngata, and Katala Vargas to appear. But to do that, you need Wilhelm Berg, Roxy, Liv Sorensen, Reza Khan, and Djimon Keita. Basically, you get to choose what sort of violence you want to use to get your job done. For example, to free some militia members, I used the car I was driving to run over all the enemies in front of the cage, unlocked the door, and was done. Some missions do require specific actions, like sabotaging the Industry chemical operations involves tossing boulders into machinery to shut them down, but the game tends to give you options when it comes to completing missions.
There are some adjustments made and inclusions that help confirm that yes, Crackdown 3 is a modern game. Some of them are about accessibility. It is very easy to see where you are on the map and where you could or should be going. When you get to a hub, it is possible to swap to a different agent. (You know, in case you get tired of some of Terry Crews' exclamations.) When you hover over missions, it is possible to see your odds of survival, helping you better gauge whether or not you should even attempt some tasks. But it is as though enough new stuff hasn't been added or changes have been made. Crackdown 3 feels and looks a lot like Crackdown 2.
Even the element that are meant to be unique have already been done. Yes, luring out the Terra Nova bosses is fun, but we have seen games where the more renown you acquire, the bigger a target you become for random violence in the streets. (Some might even refer to it as a "Wanted" level.) We have seen games where superpowered characters liberate districts of a city. (Saints Row IV did it and offered extra money for areas under your control.) We even had a game already where the events of a single night had a detrimental effect on the entire world and severely hampered the global operations of a military force designed to protect it. (Agents of Mayhem's L.E.G.I.O.N. kicked off the Devil's Night and topped M.A.Y.H.E.M. Perhaps this was a dig at Volition by Sumo Digital, for the whole Saints Row stealing Crackdown's "thing" before?) The only thing it really has going for it is its co-op campaign option, which past Crackdown games offered before.
But the kicker is, Crackdown 3 does not necessarily do anything badly. It is a perfectly capable open-world game. It just happened to be released after a number of other games have already done incredibly similar things. It looks fine, but we've also recently seen the more gorgeous Marvel's Spider-Man, which offered better storytelling and map traversal. There are a decent number of little missions around the map, but they tend to blend together in a haze of "beat everything possible up to save the day."
I did not get to play Wrecking Zone, Crackdown 3's major feature that supposedly allows unbridled destruction with other players. Only the campaign was available to play during this portion. The Wrecking Zone Technical Test was available to Xbox Insider Program members in early February 2019, but everything seen there was in development and perhaps not indicative of the final product.
Crackdown 3 feels like a product of a prior generation. If it had been released in 2014 or 2015, alongside Saints Row IV or inFamous: Second Son, people might have lauded the way it has to smoke out your opponents and praised its many opportunities for destruction. In 2019, it feels like something that has been done many times before by plenty of other developers. It can feel like a wasted opportunity. Terry Crews is here, but he isn't given a chance to really steal the show. (Which is what we know he does best.) It isn't well organized, when it comes to missions and following the story. What is available works well enough, but it doesn't do anything to really set itself apart in a way you would expect from a AAA, first-party game.
Jenni Lada
RATING OUT OF 5
Crackdown 3 looks fine and New Providence's districts look nice enough, but it doesn't pop and some of the goofy signs are more memorable than the cityscape
It is very easy to navigate the world, bring up weapons, lift people and large objects like they are nothing, drive cars, and accomplish tasks
Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The voice acting is good enough, but it is a shame that Terry Crews is here and not being given the opportunity to constantly steal the show
Play Value
There are a good number of missions, both required and optional. Playing through the campaign is fun with friends. There is also the promise of Wrecking Zone
Overall Rating - Good
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.
Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid 2.5 - 2.9 = Average 3.5 - 3.9 = Good 4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor 3.0 - 3.4 = Fair 4.0 - 4.4 = Great 5.0 = The Best
Step up your boom and stop crime as a super-powered Agent of justice in Crackdown 3
Level up your super-Agent skills to jump over skyscrapers, hurl trucks at your enemies and fight like a boss
Lure vindictive crime lords out of their strongholds by roughing up their street soldiers, attacking criminal operations and taking out high-value gang captains
Crackdown 3 comes with Wrecking Zone - a 10-person Player-vs-Player race to tear down the opposing team's stronghold using your strongest Agent superpowers in a 100% destructible battle arena powered by Microsoft Cloud


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Cleaning Up: We Can Do It! Women's Cooperative Offers Alternative to Low-wage Jobs
Carlos Davalos Sep 18, 2009
After 18 years of working low-wage jobs at factories and bakeries in Brooklyn, Alicia Chávez finally found an employer that pays her a living wage: herself.
Chávez, 34, is the president of the We Can Do It! Women's Cooperative, a worker-owned and-run housecleaning business. Founded in 2006, it currently has 24 members and is one of only a handful of cooperatives in New York City.
"The members of the co-op are not employees, we are owners of our own business and we conduct it as we please," Chávez said.
Before joining the We Can Do It! cooperative, Chávez worked more than 40 hours a week, earning $350. She can now earn the same amount of money in half that time, allowing her more time to take care of her three children — Victor, 16; Santiago, 10; and José, 2 — and read contemporary Mexican novels in her spare time.
In addition to receiving equal pay and being able to set their own schedules, cooperative members vote on all organizational decisions. The cooperative is supported by the Center for Family Life, a social service organization based in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, which provides administrative support and meeting space.
"Because of the nature of the industry, workers work in isolation," said Priscilla Gonzalez, the organizing coordinator for Domestic Workers United. "It's important to have some sort of collective body that unifies all of the workers, so that they can exercise their rights together, and the co-op model gives them that collective power."
On the first Sunday of each month, Chávez spends her afternoon cleaning the staircase of a six-story residential building located at South Oxford Street and Lafayette Avenue in Fort Greene.
Dressed in blue jeans, old sneakers and a red bandana to hold back her thick black hair, she sweeps the tiled steps with a broom and then cleans them again with a mop, leaving the smell of citrus in her wake.
While cooperative members only use environmentally friendly cleaning products, Chávez always wears a pair of latex gloves and a face mask to avoid coming into contact with dust and fumes.
We Can Do It! currently has around 200 clients, a number that cooperative members hope to expand through increased publicity efforts and promotion via word-of-mouth.
Gwen Kash turned to the cooperative to clean her house after she had ankle surgery a couple months ago.
"Monica, the person who helped us, is wonderful, she cleaned the house perfectly," Kash said. "There is a contract in the beginning so there are no misunderstandings with the payment methods; it is a very fair system."
In early July, We Can Do It! formed a cooperative corporation, which will provide legal protections for the workers.
"It [the cooperative] gives them tacit legitimacy; they feel more secure about their working status," said Gowri Krishna, a staff attorney at the Urban Justice Center who oversaw the incorporation process.
Domestic workers are not covered by most labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, which regulates minimum wages and overtime pay, and the Occupational Safety and Health Act, which protects workers from hazardous working conditions. Forming cooperatives allows them to bargain collectively for better wages and workplace safety.
According to a 2006 survey by Domestic Workers United, domestic workers are predominantly immigrants and women of color.
Chávez, who joined We Can Do It! in 2008, has 10 regular customers and hopes to continue working with the cooperative in the future. "I'm very happy with this job," Chávez said. "It lets me sustain my family and still have time for myself."


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Rami Bedoui (; * 19. Januar 1990 in Sousse) ist ein tunesischer Fußballspieler. Der Innenverteidiger nahm mit der tunesischen Nationalmannschaft an der Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 2018 in Russland teil.

Karriere

Verein
Bedoui begann seine Karriere in der Jugend bei Étoile Sportive du Sahel. 2010 rückte er in die erste Mannschaft auf. Mit Étoile wurde er einmal tunesischer Meister und dreimal Pokalsieger. Zudem gewann er den CAF Confederation Cup 2015, wurde in den Finalspielen jedoch nicht eingesetzt.

Zu Beginn des Jahres 2019 wurde Bedoui an den saudi-arabischen Verein al-Fayha FC verliehen. Nach einer kurzen Rückkehr zu Étoile lösten der Verein und Bedoui im Februar 2020 den Vertrag im gegenseitigen Einvernehmen auf. Bedoui wechselte daraufhin zu FK Liepāja in die lettische Virsliga.
Ende 2020 wechselte Bedoui nach Kuwait zum al Kuwait SC.

Nationalmannschaft
Sein Debüt in der tunesische Nationalmannschaft gab Bedoui am 16. Oktober 2012 im Freundschaftsspiel gegen Ägypten.

Bedoui gehörte zum Kader der tunesischen Nationalmannschaft beim Afrika-Cup 2015. Dort wurde er von Trainer Georges Leekens im Vorrundenspiel gegen Sambia eingesetzt. Tunesien schied im Viertelfinale gegen Äquatorialguinea aus.

Anlässlich der Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft 2018 wurde Bedoui in das tunesische Aufgebot berufen. Beim 2:1-Sieg im letzten Gruppenspiel gegen Panama stand er in der Startelf. Die Mannschaft beendete das Turnier auf dem dritten Platz in der Gruppe G und schied aus.

Bedoui gehörte auch zum Kader der tunesischen Nationalmannschaft beim Afrika-Cup 2019 und wurde in der Vorrunde im Auftaktspiel gegen Angola eingesetzt. Im Achtelfinalspiel gegen Ghana wurde er in der 90. Minute für Taha Yassine Khenissi, dem Torschützen zur tunesischen 1:0-Führung, eingewechselt. Keine zwei Minuten später verlängerte er einen Freistoß der Ghanaer mit dem Kopf in das eigene Tor. Am Ende gewann Tunesien das Spiel nach Elfmeterschießen. Seinen dritten Turniereinsatz hatte er im Spiel um den dritten Platz gegen Nigeria.

Erfolge
 Tunesische Meisterschaft: 2016
 Tunesischer Pokal: 2012, 2014 und 2015
 CAF Confederation Cup:  2015

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Fußballnationalspieler (Tunesien)
Fußballspieler (Étoile Sportive du Sahel)
Fußballspieler (al-Fayha FC)
Fußballspieler (FK Liepāja)
Fußballspieler (al Kuwait SC)
Teilnehmer an einer Fußball-Weltmeisterschaft (Tunesien)
Tunesier
Geboren 1990
Mann

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Q: how to Add as well as Subtract  in one single sql query based on startTime IF startTime=11.30 AND endTime=12.30
if the user gives the start time as 11.20 it should subtract the time by ten minutes[10] in both startTime and endTime and if the start time is 11.50 it should add twenty minutes[20]
How to achieve this in one single sql query
 output: if the startTime =11.20
 startTime=11.20
 endTime=12.20

 output : if the startTime =11.50
 startTime=11.50
 endTime=12.50

A: Your description and examples still don't match, so I can only give a very generalised example based on your comment...
How to add or subtract an interval based on a CASE statement...
CASE
  WHEN MINUTE(startTime) = 20 THEN DATE_ADD(startTime, -10 MINUTES)
  WHEN MINUTE(startTime) = 50 THEN DATE_ADD(startTime,  20 MINUTES)
  ELSE NULL
END AS newStartTime,
CASE
  WHEN MINUTE(startTime) = 20 THEN DATE_ADD(endTime, -10 MINUTES)
  WHEN MINUTE(startTime) = 50 THEN DATE_ADD(endTime,  20 MINUTES)
  ELSE NULL
END AS newEndTime

You can have as many WHEN clauses as you like, changing the MINUTE(startTime) = 20 conditions to anything you like, and having whatever you want in the THEN clause.  Then, if you have a case that doesn't match any WHEN clause, put your desired ouput in the ELSE clause.
You'll need to repeat the logic for both the startTime and endTime fields.

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At Synergy Granite, we take pride in providing the very best countertops in Central Texas. Our superb craftsmanship and careful attention to detail ensures that you will get the very best countertop for your home. The best part is that we always come in on budget and on time.


Easy Activation and Authentication Delegation are two features of BlackBerry Dynamics that every BlackBerry Dynamics developer should be aware of. They're a core component of BlackBerry Dynamics apps, which make life easier for all users. The best part is that you don't need to write any code to make use of them, the BlackBerry Dynamics Runtime provides these automatically. So, what exactly is Easy Activation and Authentication Delegation? Let's find out.
When a user runs a BlackBerry Dynamics app for the first time, they are prompted with a screen like the one below, which asks them to enter their email address and access key.
The access key is generated on BlackBerry UEM (or Good Control) by the user using the BlackBerry UEM self-service portal or by their administrator using the admin console. After these two pieces of information are entered, the app activates with their BlackBerry UEM (or Good Control) server. Performing this once isn't too bad, but we don't want to force users to go through this process multiple times to activate multiple apps on their device. Easy Activation to the rescue.
Once one app has been activated, other BlackBerry Dynamics apps can leverage it to activate against the same server, saving the user from entering in additional access keys.
The screenshot below shows the Easy Activation screen. BlackBerry Work was already activated and can be used to activate other apps. All the user must do is click on "Set up using BlackBerry Work" to activate this app. As you can see you still have the option of manually entering in an email address and access key. The option of manual activation can be useful when a user needs to run apps activated against a production server and also run apps activated against a development or QA server.
The BlackBerry Dynamics Runtime provides easy activation support automatically, there isn't anything you have to code in your app to support this. However, there is some configuration required on BlackBerry UEM to support this. For internally developed apps, you need to populate the Package Name of your Android app, Bundle ID of your iOS app and so on for other platforms. These identifiers are entered in the BlackBerry Marketplace for apps made available there. Once that is done, your app will support Easy Activation.
During the BlackBerry Dynamics activation process, a user enters a password that will be used to unlock the app. This could lead to potential complex scenarios, where the user may have chosen a different password for each app. An app could also reach its idle timeout while the user is using a different BlackBerry Dynamics app, which could inconveniently prompt them for their password in the middle of a task as they switch between apps. Authentication delegation makes this easier, allowing the user to have a single password to unlock all their BlackBerry Dynamics apps, which all operate on a single idle timeout lock.
A BlackBerry UEM administrator can select up to three apps to act as the authentication delegate on behalf of other apps, so that users do not have to create a password for each BlackBerry Dynamics app that they install. After an authentication delegate is configured, each time a user opens a BlackBerry Dynamics app, the device displays the password screen for the authentication delegate instead of the app that they are attempting to open.
Any app could be chosen as the authentication delegate for other apps, but it is recommended that the most commonly used app be the primary authentication delegate.
Authentication delegates are configured in the BlackBerry Dynamics profile on BlackBerry UEM, as shown below.
If you haven't yet made use of Easy Activation or Authentication Delegation, go configure them now. It'll make your life and the life of your users easier.


text:
Q: sublime text 2 autocomplete stopped working My sublime text 2 editor has suddenly stopped auto completing for me. I noticed this yesterday.
It appears to work for html, and css. However nothing works for PHP or JavaScript. Variables I've defined in SCSS don't work and text I've repeated in many places doesn't either.
This was all working fine a couple of days ago, and I've not installed any new plugins or knowingly changed any settings.
I've had a look at the default settings and user settings files, and can't see anything to suggest autocomplete has been turned off.
If I try pressing Ctrl+Space on text that I know would usually autocomplete, I just see the message 'No available completion' in the status bar;

Could I have accidentally used some keyboard shortcut to do this? I don't know where else to look to check whether anything has been turned off inadvertently...

A: I was having that problem minutes ago, all of a sudden, so I think the cause is the same.
I've removed the plugin CodeIntel and now it works again.
To remove a package hit ctrl+shift+P and type "remove", select Package Control: Remove Package, hit enter and select the package you want to remove.
Hope this was your case.

A: To check what package may cause the issue open the Sublime Text console (Ctrl+~), scroll up to the top of the console window. and look for the error messages.
One by one error message:

*

*write down the package name on a paper;

*remove the package (Ctrl-Shift-P->type packremov->Enter->select the package->Enter);

*close & reopen Sublime Text;

*check if the autocomplete works;

*repeat for other errored packages;

Afterwards for your ST healthy behaviour sake you can re-install desired packages and fix the errors for each one. Still check the autocomplete works after each fix.

A:
I used the "CleanMyMac 3" program and went to the uninstall section and located Sublime Text. Instead of uninstalling it I chose "Application Reset" in the "Smart Selector."
Once I reopened Sublime again everything was back to normal once again. I think mine went wrong when I removed the CodeIntel Package. I hope this helps you and anyone else that has encountered this issue.


Sally Hewett is a textile artist from Kent. She graduated from the Kent Institute of Art and Design in 2003 and has exhibited her work in various venues in the South and South East.
Sally explains her work: "My practice centres on bodies, ideas of beauty and ugliness and the conventions that determine which is seen as which. My medium is mainly stitching and embroidery. I like the discordance between the medium and the content.
I find Sally's work fascinating. She recreates elements of the body that are replete with insecurities, but by isolating them in hoops, they become tactile objects of desire. They are removed from the socio-political context that shapes our view of them, and we have a chance to consider them from an aesthetic perspective. I think they're absorbing and they make me want to reach out and touch them.
Sally's technique in these pieces is superb – the elegance of the pieces belies the technicality of their construction, and it's clear that Sally is an adept crafter.
You can see more of Sally's work on her website – I'm genuinely excited to see what she does next.
The Cutting (& Stitching) Edge is brought to you in association with Embroidery As Art, the inspirational stitched art blog from the legendary Jenny Hart.


MISSILE DEFENSE BOOSTER FAILS TO RISE TO THE OCCASSIONThe Missile Defense Agency's Integrated Flight Test (IFT)-13C was aborted "after the interceptor missile experienced an anomaly shortly before it was to be launched." The target, perhaps representing a North Korean ICBM hurtling toward a U.S. city, performed flawlessly.Let's be clear: This test was a big deal. Thomas Christie, the Pentagon' Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, told Congress in February that the test would be "significant exercise of the Test Bed infrastructure" and would address "a long-standing concern over target presentation that has not yet been tested."Congress agreed: The FY 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill identifies the test by name, saying that "Integrated Flight Test-13C scheduled for August 200" represents an important milestone.
Accordingly, the conferees direct the Director of the Missile Defense Agency to provide a report to the congressional defense committees within 30 days of the conclusion of IFT-13C, in both classified and unclassified form, including a detailed assessment of the results of IFT-13C.


CoGri Asia have been constructing SuperFlat floor for very narrow aisle (VNA) warehouse with high racking installation. SuperFlat Long Strip (SF-LS) is a conventional methodology common used by CoGri Asia in achieving the required floor flatness.
As the construction and designing of SuperFlat floors is highly specialised and crucial, the client must involve the flooring specialists as early as possible ideally during the planning stage. SuperFlat Long Strip (SF-LS) is able to use various slab designs such as: Suspended Slabs, Slabs on Grade and Bonded Toppings Slab . As this method requires construction joints to be formed below the racking, the very narrow aisle (VNA) racking layout must be fixed prior to the floor construction.
Most Importantly, CoGri Asia provides client an ease of mind as part of our DCI (Design – Construct – Insure) program. During the construction, engineers will take measurement of the finished SuperFlat floor according to the flatness specification assuring the required flatness is been met.
Please take note that there are many contractors in the market claim been able to construct SuperFlat floor and fail to provide compliance testing. If such practice goes unnoticed, the client may in return having a floor with high maintenance while very narrow aisle (VNA) lift truck not been able to operate effectively.
To correct the floor and rectifying it to it required flatness is expensive and complicated – See Laser Grinding Section. Therefore it is important for the client to engage flooring specialists who is experience with a proven track record.


Ron got his start with professional graphic design at the age of 14 after submitting a design to a Vancouver-based skateboard company "Arson" and got this design printed. In the same year he began co-hosting the "When Spirits Whisper" on CO-OP Radio 100.5 FM (formerly 102.7 FM).
He has gone on to contribute music to TV series such as ARCTIC AIR, MOHAWK GIRLS, FIRST STORY, SKYE & CHANG and film projects like FIRE SONG, NUMBER 14, THE ROAD FORWARD, WINDIGO TALE and CEDAR & BAMBOO.
Ron performed at the Lytton Block Party in 2016.


text:
Q: Cards 101 using VB Having a real difficult time with this. I have 2 stacks of cards.. user vs computer. The cards are dealt and properly displayed, that works just fine. Now the problem is how do I actually compare the 2 stacks of cards? So it the user gets say.. a "9" and the computer gets an "8", the user would get a point. There are 52 images loaded in with names like 'AceofClubs.png'. So, how can I give the respective image a value to compare? Thanks!
  Public Enum Suit
Diamonds
Spades
Clubs
Hearts

End Enum
Public Enum FaceValue
    Two = 2
    Three = 3
    Four = 4
    Five = 5
    Six = 6
    Seven = 7
    Eight = 8
    Nine = 9
    Ten = 10
    Jack = 11
    Queen = 12
    King = 13
    Ace = 14
End Enum
Public Class Card
    Private ReadOnly faceVal As FaceValue
    Private isCardUp As Boolean
    Private ReadOnly suit As Suit
Public ReadOnly Property FaceVal As FaceValue
    Get
        Return Me.faceVal
    End Get
End Property

Public Property IsCardUp As Boolean
    Get
        Return Me.isCardUp
    End Get
    Set(ByVal value As Boolean)
        Me.isCardUp = value
    End Set
End Property

Public ReadOnly Property Suit As Suit
    Get
        Return Me.suit
    End Get
End Property

Public Sub New(ByVal suit As Suit, ByVal faceVal As FaceValue, ByVal isCardUp As Boolean)
    MyBase.New()
    Me.suit = suit
    Me.faceVal = faceVal
    Me.isCardUp = isCardUp
End Sub

Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
    Return String.Concat("The", Me.faceVal.ToString(), "of", Me.suit.ToString())
End Function

End Class

A: Embrace OOP.  Instead of creating a bunch of arrays, create an object to hold each one of your cards, e.g.
public class Card
{
   public Image Image {get; set;}
   public string Name {get; set;}
   public int Value {get; set;}
}

You can then utilize a List which you'll load through your algorithms, e.g.
 var myCards = new List<Card> {new Card{Image=...,Name="Ace", Value="12"}};

After you load all of your cards into the appropriate lists, you can simply compare properties of the object, e.g.
 if(computerCard.Value > myCard.Value) ...

A: Once you have a Card class as George shows, you would probably then create a Hand class to hold each player's hand.  The Hand class would have a List(Of Card) to hold the cards for the hand.  And you might even a Deck class to represent the deck of cards.
Download the VB Card Game starter kit and have a look at how it represents the cards, decks, and hands.
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/ba4638ad-a2d2-49e5-ae46-94e0f747cae0
EDIT:  The card game starter kit defines their card class similar to this:
Public Enum Suit
    Diamonds
    Spades
    Clubs
    Hearts
End Enum

Public Enum FaceValue
    Two = 2
    Three = 3
    Four = 4
    Five = 5
    Six = 6
    Seven = 7
    Eight = 8
    Nine = 9
    Ten = 10
    Jack = 11
    Queen = 12
    King = 13
    Ace = 14
End Enum

Public Class Card
    Private ReadOnly faceVal As FaceValue
    Private isCardUp As Boolean
    Private ReadOnly suit As Suit

    Public ReadOnly Property FaceVal As FaceValue
        Get
            Return Me.faceVal
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Property IsCardUp As Boolean
        Get
            Return Me.isCardUp
        End Get
        Set(ByVal value As Boolean)
            Me.isCardUp = value
        End Set
    End Property

    Public ReadOnly Property Suit As Suit
        Get
            Return Me.suit
        End Get
    End Property

    Public Sub New(ByVal suit As Suit, ByVal faceVal As FaceValue, ByVal isCardUp As Boolean)
        MyBase.New()
        Me.suit = suit
        Me.faceVal = faceVal
        Me.isCardUp = isCardUp
    End Sub

    Public Overrides Function ToString() As String
        Return String.Concat("The", Me.faceVal.ToString(), "of", Me.suit.ToString())
    End Function
End Class

Then in the Deck class, they used List(Of Card) to hold the cards and initialized the deck in Sub New like this:
Public Sub New
    'cards is a List(Of Card) declared elsewhere

    For Each s As Suit in Enum.GetValues(GetType(Suit))
        For Each v As FaceValue in Enum.GetValues(GetType(FaceValue))
            cards.Add(New Card(s, v, true))
        Next
    Next
End Sub

Look at the card game starter kit and specifically, look at the folder CardGameFramework for the definitions of the Card, Deck, and Hand classes.
Each Hand will also have a List(Of Card) to hold the cards in the hand.  So when the cards are dealt, the card is removed from the Deck and added to the Hand.  In the starter kit, the Deck class has a Draw method


Fred's art demonstration is done in the unique art form of Sumi (Chinese for pictures ink). The medium selected for his presentation can be in the explosive colors offered using dye on silk or watercolor on rice paper (jeng pi), or depending on time allotted another medium to portray his experience with African wildlife.
The art demonstration includes the personal story of the wildlife encounter he is capturing on his easel together with his description of the medium and art techniques used to portray the action at that moment.
Africa is an awesome place filled with wonder and unusual occurrences. Fred's hope is to share his passion and first-hand experiences of this beautiful continent with others so that they might walk away with a better understanding of the amazing cultural history and wildlife of Africa.


text:
<!DOCTYPE html>

    <meta charset="utf-8">

    <title>Hello World | Hexo</title>
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1">

        <meta name="keywords" content="" />

    <meta name="description" content="Welcome to Hexo! This is your very first post. Check documentation for more info. If you get any problems when using Hexo, you can find the answer in troubleshooting or you can ask me on GitHub.
Quick">
<meta property="og:type" content="article">
<meta property="og:title" content="Hello World">
<meta property="og:url" content="http://yoursite.com/2016/09/08/hello-world/index.html">
<meta property="og:site_name" content="Hexo">
<meta property="og:description" content="Welcome to Hexo! This is your very first post. Check documentation for more info. If you get any problems when using Hexo, you can find the answer in troubleshooting or you can ask me on GitHub.
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<meta property="og:updated_time" content="2016-09-08T06:33:28.522Z">
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary">
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<meta name="twitter:description" content="Welcome to Hexo! This is your very first post. Check documentation for more info. If you get any problems when using Hexo, you can find the answer in troubleshooting or you can ask me on GitHub.
Quick">

        <link rel="alternate" href="/" title="Hexo" type="application/atom+xml" />

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/vendor/font-awesome/css/font-awesome.min.css">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/vendor/titillium-web/styles.css">
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    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/style.css">

        <link rel="stylesheet" href="/vendor/lightgallery/css/lightgallery.min.css">

                                    Inici

                                    Quant a

    <form class="search-form">
        <input type="text" class="ins-search-input search-form-input" placeholder="Cercar" />
        <button type="submit" class="search-form-submit"></button>
    </form>

            <input type="text" class="ins-search-input" placeholder="Type something..." />

    Sense categoria

        Hello World

    <time datetime="2016-09-08T06:33:28.522Z" itemprop="datePublished">2016-09-08</time>

Welcome to Hexo! This is your very first post. Check documentation for more info. If you get any problems when using Hexo, you can find the answer in troubleshooting or you can ask me on GitHub.

Quick Start

Create a new post

1

$ hexo new "My New Post"

More info: Writing

Run server

1

$ hexo server

More info: Server

Generate static files

1

$ hexo generate

More info: Generating

Deploy to remote sites

1

$ hexo deploy

More info: Deployment

    Compartir

        Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.

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recents

Hello World

<time datetime="2016-09-08T06:33:28.522Z" itemprop="datePublished">2016-09-08</time>

arxius

September 20161

links

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text:
Q: Picker Not Showing? When I drag PickerView on my window as my program runs, it's not showing any PickerView? Please guide me. Sorry for my poor English.

A: I assume you are new to iPhone programming so, a million of things could be happening.
Just some guesses/advices:

*

*Make sure the view you are seeing when you run the program and when editing it in Interface Builder is the same.(If you are not sure, change the background color of the view so you will know, etc.)

*Make sure you did save the file (in interface builder) before compiling.

*In Xcode, Clear all and Build again ;)


text:
Skórki – wieś w województwie kujawsko-pomorskim, w powiecie żnińskim, w gminie Rogowo.

W latach 1975–1998 miejscowość administracyjnie należała do województwa bydgoskiego. Według Narodowego Spisu Powszechnego (III 2011 r.) liczyła 201 mieszkańców. Jest trzynastą co do wielkości miejscowością gminy Rogowo.

Na terenie wsi zlokalizowany jest nieczynny cmentarz ewangelicki.

Znane osoby
Urodził się tutaj Filip Padniewski – podkanclerzy koronny (1559–1562), biskup przemyski (1560) i krakowski (1562-1572), sekretarz wielki koronny (od 1557), duchowny, pisarz polityczny, mówca i mecenas sztuki.

Zabytki
Według rejestru zabytków NID na listę zabytków wpisany jest kościół filialny pw. św. Katarzyny, drewniany z 1857, nr rej.: A/815 z 16.08.1993.

Przypisy

Rogowo (gmina w powiecie żnińskim)


QuarkXPress 5 has tons and tons of shortcuts. You probably won't memorize most of them, but you'll no doubt find yourself using one or two all the time. Here are some helpful shortcut keys for view, palette, and object-selection tasks.


text:
Home » album
Enuff Z'nuff New Album "Diamond Boy" Available Today!
Don't forget to catch Enuff Z'Nuff on the "SiriusXM Hair Nation Tour" alongside Jack Russell's Great White and Bulletboys. Tour dates can be [...]
Trophy Eyes share new song & video for "Friday Forever" + "The American Dream" out now
"Trophy Eyes are poised to snatch the Aussie heavyweight title." — triple j, Feature Album 31 July 2018 — Trophy Eyes have released "Friday Forever", [...]
Darren Middleton new single "Just Let Me Go" + third solo album "Tides" out September 21
21 June 2018 — Australian singer, songwriter, guitarist and composer, Darren Middleton returns with his third solo album Tides, out 21st of September 2018 via Ditto. [...]
July 2, 2018 // 0 Comments
Bloc Party performing "Silent Alarm" album in full + Australian tour 2018
PRESALE: 9AM FRI 29 JUNE – 9AM MON 2 JULY LOCAL TIME GENERAL SALES: 10AM MON 2 JULY LOCAL TIME SIGN UP TO THE SECRET SOUNDS MAILING LIST FOR PRE-SALE ACCESS [...]
Novo Amor releases single & clip "Birthplace" + announces debut album
Releases Stunning Video for New Single 'Birthplace' Debut Album Birthplace out October 19 via AllPoints Album Pre-Order Available Now "Beautifully epic" [...]
Mayday Parade release new single "Never Sure" from new album "Sunnyland"
OUT JUNE 15 THROUGH RISE RECORDS/BMG AUSTRALIA MAYDAY PARADE has released "Never Sure," the second song from their upcoming album, SUNNYLAND – watch the lyric [...]
Conform drop new single "Six Years, Sick Fears" + debut album "Circa 94" out now
13 May 2018 — Perth five-piece nu-metal/hardcore band 生 Conform 死 's debut album "Circa 94" will see it's release Friday May 18. The band [...]
Kendrick Lamar announces "DAMN" album + Australian July tour tickets on sale Monday
MELBOURNE, AU (Apr 26, 2018) – One of the most critically acclaimed and successful hip hop artists of our time KENDRICK LAMAR has today announced an Australian tour in [...]
The Word Alive drop new single "Why Am I Like This?" from new album "Violent Noise" out May 4
22 April 2018 — The Word Alive have premiered their new song "Why Am I Like This?" with an accompanying music video. The new song comes after the band's [...]
Conform soar with new single & video "Blood Eagle" & announce debut album "Circa 94"
11 April 2018 — [生 Conform 死 are a five-piece nu-metal/hardcore band straight out of Western Australia's Perth. The outfit formed in late 2015 and bring a [...]


Homemade Hummus Recipe. Until this past week, I had never cooked dried chickpeas/garbanzo beans before. It's funny how something so small can be so intimidating, but I guess you stick with what you know until you realize what you are missing.... In this basic recipe, I am cooking the chickpeas with water, bay leaves, garlic, and salt. Feel free to use broth or any other herbs, such as thyme or oregano. If you are cooking the beans with broth, you can save the chickpea broth for soups and stews.
The other day when I was in Whole Foods, I noticed that they had fresh garbanzo beans in the produce section. I've never had them before, so obviously, I had to buy them!... In this basic recipe, I am cooking the chickpeas with water, bay leaves, garlic, and salt. Feel free to use broth or any other herbs, such as thyme or oregano. If you are cooking the beans with broth, you can save the chickpea broth for soups and stews.
Homemade Hummus Recipe. Until this past week, I had never cooked dried chickpeas/garbanzo beans before. It's funny how something so small can be so intimidating, but I guess you stick with what you know until you realize what you are missing.
Besides that garbanzo beans (chickpeas) are used to make delicious South Asian cuisines and curry recipes. USDA Zones — Growing chickpeas is possible where the temperature stays in the range of 50 – 85 F, at least for 3 months.


text:
Episode 201: Absent Friends
by BabyDoc
"It is hard to imagine that a short decade ago, our species...our world sat on the knife's edge of extinction. We survived the turn of the century and the threat of nuclear annihilation at our own hands, only to face destruction at the hands of another."
The reporter's face on the monitor was cool and controlled as he recounted the terrifying events of the recent past. Behind him was an image of the Earth encircled by the distinctive shapes of the alien creatures humans called 'warriors.'
"...But the enemy was defeated by a historic alliance; the free peoples of two worlds united to destroy the mindless, overwhelming evil of the Arachnid forces. That bond between Terran and T'Phetti, forged in the fire of war, remains strong and steadfast in our time of peace. On this special anniversary, UNN will expand its usual Memorial Day coverage. During our broadcast, we will take you live to Tophet, where our allies will join us in celebrating not only our victory, but also our unshakeable alliance. Then we will go to Bancroft station to observe one tangible result of that alliance; the christening of the Fleet's newest and most sophisticated cruiser, the Thomas Davis. This extraordinary vessel represents more than SICON's ongoing commitment to Alliance defense. It is also the fulfillment of a dream; the first complete integration of Alliance forces. Under the command of Admiral Carmen Ibanez, the Tom Davis will field the first T'Phetti fighter wing in Alliance history. All this, plus links to the world capitals..."
Carl, staring at the monitor, managed a rueful smile. The video broadcaster, so lean and tan and confident bore little resemblance to the frightened, untrained private he remembered from the Bug War.
"Higgins, my man," Carl chuckled softly to himself, "You have certainly aged well."
The same could not be said for Carl Jenkins. The trials of the war and its aftermath showed clearly on his face. The close-cropped flaxen hair, the slender face, the large expressive eyes were all still there. But fine lines now played around those eyes and the corners of his mouth. More importantly the light behind his eyes had changed. Once friendly and guileless, Carl's pale blue eyes now carried a veiled sadness; they were the eyes of one who had seen too much pain, who had entered places where no human should go. Though roughly the same age as his 'famous' friend Higgins, Carl looked far older.
He leaned forward and turned off the monitor. For Higgin's sake he had promised to watch the Memorial Day show, but the endless stream of SICON propaganda tired and frustrated him. The anniversary broadcast accurately recounted the terrifying peril of the Arachnids, the desperate war waged against them, and the narrow victory Earth and Tophet had achieved years ago. But it seemed as soon as the bug menace was eradicated, things began to go steadily wrong. Carl's position as director of Intel's PsiOps division offered him an unvarnished view of recent events. He knew the claims of 'peace' were overstated. Though the Queen was dead and the Arachnid hive was in terminal decline, they were far from gone. Like the snake that continues to thrash after its head is cut off, pockets of Arachnids on dozens of worlds continued to fight endless, mindless battles, guided only by their innate aggression. Cap troopers still dropped and died in small, nameless skirmishes that never made the UNN evening reports. And despite the pretty show around the completion of the Tom Davis, Fleet and the Mobile Infantry were weathering heavy budget cuts and force reductions, stretching resources perilously thin.
The much-lauded alliance between Earth and Tophet had also soured. The conflicts that had simmered during the war began to boil over in peacetime. They appeared in many forms but most could be traced to that flower of Terran civilization, prejudice. The strange appearance and customs of the Skinnies (as T'Phetti's were often called) were enough to fuel the hatred and suspicion of the ignorant and bigoted. Add the fact that the aliens were briefly our adversaries in the war and you had all the ingredients for resentment and animosity on a grand scale. It was the dirty little secret in SICON that no T'Phetti had ever been given a position of real authority in the organization.
Carl knew first hand, that while T'Phetti psychics were not uncommon, none had ever been admitted into the Intel organization. Skinnies fought and died as bravely as Terrans, but few were advanced in rank, fewer sent to OCS, and fewer still became officers. Unlike their human allies, the T'Phetti did not seem to have an innate sense of tribalism or prejudice, but they proved to be quick learners. After the war's end, they began to openly protest their second class status in the Alliance. Resentment was voiced by T'Phetti at all levels; anger returning anger. Of late, some of the most rancorous voices were coming from the highest echelons of T'Phetti government.
Not all unhappiness was reserved for governments and worlds. Carl carried his share of personal burdens as well. So many friends had died, so many hurt: there was Razak, his first CO, killed in the Earth campaign; then late in the war he lost his teacher and mentor in PsiOps. Freeman, the most brilliant and controversial instructor in the department had taken Carl under his wing early in his training, and opened his eyes to the remarkable psychic gift he possessed. Though a stern, unapproachable man, Freeman had been the sun in Carl's sky, the man who had shown him a whole new world. When Carl was injured on Tophet, it was Freeman that brought him back to life and sanity. But on an operation to Klendathu to find some clue to defeating the Bug Queen, the master psychic and his escort ships were lost. SICON lost their most gifted psychic; Carl lost a father.
After the war's end, there were more casualties. Carl watched the relationship of his two oldest and dearest friends, Johnny Rico and Dizzy Flores burn to the ground. Their shared pain not only kept them apart, but separated them both from him. Now he couldn't find Haley. He had tried calling her for days with no response. He had even resorted to a psychic 'page', a trick the two had mastered back in their student days. When that didn't work, he started to worry. Moving in the highly secretive world of Intel and PsiOps, genuine friendships were rare: there were too many secrets, too many games being played to really trust anyone. But Carl trusted Haley Roman.
They had first met when both were beginning students in Games and Theory; he was the 'old man' of nineteen, the most promising psychic Intel had seen in years. She was eighteen and fresh out of high school. Their friendship was still budding when Carl was sent to join the Roughnecks. They would meet again about a year later. Carl, now the celebrated veteran, the only psychic to confront and kill a brain bug, was completing his extended convalescence after service on Tophet. He and Haley became part of a select group enrolled in specialized training in the new PsiOps division. They were an unlikely pair. Carl had tested extraordinarily high in the psychic gifts SICON found most useful: mapping, reading, blocking, not to mention more lethal talents.
Haley Roman's gift was one SICON didn't usually value. She was a 'rock talker' in the vernacular of the psychics. She could sense the impressions left on inanimate objects by other psychic sources. Might be remotely useful in archeology, but in combat? Yet she had been chosen like Carl, to receive the most advanced training at the feet of the infamous Freeman. Carl was immediately drawn to her. Everyone, even Carl's friends harbored vague uneasiness about his psychic gifts. Haley who shared some of those same gifts seemed utterly unimpressed by them. She thought her ability to read thoughts or speak wordlessly with Carl was no more remarkable than the color of her eyes or her hair. (Both of which Carl found very remarkable...and lovely.)
He keyed her number into the viewer, attempting to call one more time. When the ringing stopped, Carl spoke.
"Open, Sesame" he began, trying to sound cheerful. It was their special greeting, jokingly based on Haley's gift for 'rock talking'. Even before there was an answer from the screen, Carl knew she was not there.
"This is Haley Roman," the recording replied, "I'm not here right now, but you can leave a message on my veemail server, and I'll get back to you. Sorry, to leave you talking to an inanimate object. Don't feel bad; I do it all the time."
Carl did not wait for the message to finish, "Haley, please get back to me. I need to talk to you."
He turned off the view screen. An inner voice was telling him something was amiss, something far larger than just an AWOL friend. He wanted to ignore it, chalk it up to being discouraged about the state of the world and his own sadness. But he knew better. His small inner voice had a nasty habit of being right.
For the longest time, Carl couldn't seem to breathe. He sat alone, dejected in his quarters holding the communiqué in his hand. He unfolded it trying vainly to reread it, but his eyes burned with tears and the typewritten message was an indecipherable blur. No matter, he knew what it said. It had been written in cool, passionless prose of the military:
"We regret to inform you that Col. Freeman, of the Games and Theory section has been lost in action and is presumed dead. In an intelligence mission to Klendathu, the colonel's vessel, the Gallipoli and its escorts were lost amid heavy plasma fire in low orbit of the planet. Review of the operation and salvage of any wreckage is currently underway. A full report of the incident will follow the completion of Fleet and Intel's investigations."
Carl already knew more than the message revealed. He had known something of his teacher's mission. With the war going badly on Earth, SICON was desperate for any information about the Queen that could assist them in defeating her. Freeman had volunteered to assemble a team to return to Klendathu to the Queen's hive to gather any information that might assist the war effort. As one of the Earth's experts on the Bugs and particularly the Queen, Freeman was the perfect choice to lead the op. Carl had volunteered to join him but Freeman refused preferring to take his more experienced subordinates with him. He had boarded the Gallipoli, a Methuselah class starship, and with the Stalingrad and several smaller ships returned to the bug's home world.
With a little detective work on Carl's part, he learned that the starship group had encountered massive plasma fire in low orbit over Klendathu when communication was abruptly lost. Recon vessels discovered large radiation residuals consistent with the detonation of a starship hyper drive at the group's last known position, and debris from some of the smaller escort ships was recovered. Further searches were underway for wreckage of the Gallipoli and Stalingrad, but if they fell into Klendathu's atmosphere (as seemed likely) they may have broken apart and burned on reentry leaving little to recover.
Carl just couldn't believe he was gone. Not only had Freeman been his teacher and mentor, but he was also the most formidable psychic in Intel. Carl and the other PsiOps students exchanged stories of Freeman's legendary exploits; demonstrations of telepathy, telekinesis, and telemetrics that far outstripped the abilities of any of his contemporaries (except perhaps Carl). When Carl began to discover the extent of his own gifts, Freeman had been the only instructor able to challenge him, push him, guide him to realms of the paranormal he had never reached before. His teacher seemed almost godlike, indestructible. He knew what you were thinking before you knew it yourself. How could anything, human or bug, touch him? But in the end he died like so many others, lost in a war that had claimed thousands. His empty casket would not be the first Jenkins watched cremated or committed to the vacuum of space. Slowly Carl's hand closed around the communiqué, crumpling the paper into a tiny ball. The tears that had welled in his eyes spilled down his face and Carl surrendered to the sadness.
It was not an impressive list: a column of 37 names, followed by their birthplaces. They came from all over the world: European Union, North American Protectorate, PanAfrica, Australia. None were important or famous individuals; all in fact had worked at appearing unremarkable, at least to the casual observer. What Carl knew, what had cost him three weeks of intensive research to discover, was that all these individuals had two things in common. They were all Level Two psychic adepts or higher, possessing skills SICON classified as 'essential', and all had vanished with little or no explanation since the war's end. If you counted Freeman and his psychic subordinates lost just before the war's end, the list swelled to 55 names. Carl ran the list and his concerns by his subordinate Li Chen Xian, a statistics savant. After an afternoon of analysis, Xian confirmed what Carl had suspected. Psychics had been disappearing at a rate exceeding that explained by chance or enemy action since the war's conclusion. More precisely, the disappearances started shortly after Freeman's ill-fated mission.
One name on the list stood out from the others: 'Haley Roman -- Toronto, North American Protectorate.' Of all the names, hers was the only one that had a place in his heart. She had been gone over four weeks now, and Carl was unprepared for the pain and fear it caused him. He had visited her apartment himself, searching for some clue to her disappearance. The Provincial police and Intel investigators had already gone over the place thoroughly. There was no evidence of forced entry or struggle; no notes or calendar entries suggesting her plans or whereabouts. Forensics found nothing suspicious.
Still Carl hoped he could find something the others had missed. He looked through her letters and papers, scanned her video logs, only to find his repeated messages to her untouched and unanswered. He studied her pictures, her personal things collected over a lifetime hoping they would give him some hint, some answer to the mystery. It was more than a little ironic that Carl did not possess the one gift he most needed now, the ability to draw from objects the psychic fingerprints of their owners. Haley had such a gift, she could have read the room like a book, but it was her room...and she was gone.
His eyes fell upon a picture on the dresser. It was Haley, during a brief vacation they had shared in Oregon two summers ago. She was in profile, her pale green eyes staring pensively at the spectacular rocks and beach of the Olympic coast. Her fair complexion was starting to freckle from time in the sun and her long brown hair was spilling over her face. She wore the chunky cable-knit sweater that was too big for her and made her seem even smaller than she was. She looked as young and beautiful as the day he'd met her a decade ago. If the terrible years of the Bug War had affected her, they left no traces on that face. Carl wasn't in the picture, but behind the camera.
There were no pictures of him in her room. That was his choice. He never liked to be photographed; he told himself it was the result of long years in Intel and the culture of secrecy it maintained. But in reality it was a product of what he was, what they were together. Psychics rarely wrote letters to one another or shared photos or keepsakes. They did not need them. People without the gift would use such tokens to express themselves to one another, to cross the barriers of time or space to touch one another. Carl and Haley needed no such devices. Sharing their gift, they could look within one another, sharing their thoughts and feelings without the clumsy intermediary of words or gestures. And they were not bound by distance. At any moment one could reach out to the other, passing into their lover's thoughts like a pleasant breeze. They were etched in one another's memory with a clarity and immediacy that no photograph could rival. It was a special intimacy that non-psychics could not understand.
For all that, Carl could not find her, could not reach her even with the power of his thoughts. He took the photo and slipped it in his attaché; he would notify Intel and they would clear it with the investigating authorities. In this place, surrounded by her memories, his emotions threatened to overwhelm him. He had to think clearly, make the right decisions, for Haley's sake. He knew that beyond her personal importance to him, she was important for another reason. Somehow she didn't fit and yet she was the key. Somehow he had to find her.
"In the biological imperative of race survival, the Arachnid hive model possesses a number of advantages over the human-government alternative. The Hive model is the penultimate example of centralized command and control. With the queen and brain caste functioning as coordination, the entire hive acts as a single mind, a single organism confronting the trials any society must face to survive. Unlike human centralized command structures (military dictatorships, monarchies and the like) where control must be enforced upon independent subjects, the Hive command faces no such limitation. Rather it represents the cumulative intellect of the entire hive; each hive member is but a fragment of the entire structure, and has no conscious existence beyond its participation in the hive mind. There can be no rebellion, disobedience, or dissent in such a society, no more than there could be the rebellion of a single neuron within the mammalian brain.
"Moreover, unlike human authoritarian societies, each tier of the Arachnid command structure is intimately conscious of each component of the hive; the Queen herself continuously sees through the eyes of the lowliest worker, knowing its every thought and experience. The keystone to this shared consciousness is the hive's continuous psychic interconnection. All members of the hive are joined being-to-being by psychic bonds that can transcend even the vast distances between the stars. No arachnid is ever alone; it is permanently, intimately, and continuously joined to every other member of its race." -- Monograph on the Arachnid Societal Structure: a Comparison of the Hive Model and Human Authoritarian Command Structures -- by Col. Freeman, Games and Theory Section, SICON Intelligence.
Carl sat in his office surrounded by a towering maze of boxes. The mystery of Haley's disappearance had become a part of a larger mystery. Psychics from across the globe were vanishing without trace. Carl had little doubt as to the cause: the Bugs must be behind it. He had little concrete evidence but his experiences in the war convinced him of this. Carl understood the Arachnids; he had walked the dark corridors of the Hive consciousness. In battle against the brain bug on Hydora, and later during his brief capture by the Queen, he had used his psychic gifts to enter the Hive mind, sharing the Hive's memories of thousands of worlds taken, adversaries conquered. The Hive had survived for millennia by conquest, adaptation, stealth, incorporation. Carl was the first to know that the Queen had survived attacks by SICON's ships, arrived on Earth and was continuing the war against the humans in secret. Even seeing the Queen destroyed in her cavernous lair deep within the Earth's crust had not convinced him that the war was over. The Hive would adapt, find a way to survive as it always had.
But there were too many mysteries, too many loose ends. Carl pushed his chair back from the cluttered desk. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples to ease the pain growing there. Where were the Arachnids? How were they operating? How could they operate without their Queen? What part did the psychics play? He needed help. The one man who could lay claim to expertise greater than Carl's, who could have helped him was long dead. Freeman, Carl's teacher had made the study of the Arachnids his life's work. Starting with early work in the field, then later as he rose in rank, through the compilation of reports from men in combat and his own work with captured specimens, Freeman amassed an unparalleled understanding of the enemy. It was his analysis that predicted the existence of the brain and royal command castes of the Arachnids, a fact Carl later confirmed in his confrontation with a Brain bug on Hydora. In probably his most stunning piece of Intel analysis, Freeman correctly identified the Queen's hideaway on Klendathu, determined solely from an analysis of bug numbers, disposition and movements.
Carl smiled remembering the Klendathu op. It was the first time he had worked so closely with Freeman, not as teacher and student, but as partners. The battle with the bugs had spread across dozens of star systems by that time, with SICON rooting the enemy out world by world until they finally got the break they needed. Almost by accident, Terran forces discovered the bug's home world, Klendathu. A possible end to the conflict seemed within reach. But the campaign on that toxic, misbegotten world did not go well. Every small advance was followed with stunning reversals, all at a tremendous cost of human lives. The bugs seemed endless, inexhaustible. Carl had missed most of the action during his long rehabilitation following his collapse on Tophet. It was in those final days of his convalescence and reconditioning that he was summoned by Freeman to help plan a bold and extremely dangerous operation. Based on Freeman's analysis two MI squads would be dropped on the bug mound believed to be the home of the Queen of the Arachnids. Their objective was simple: assassinate the Queen and hence destroy the entire Arachnid race. Freeman told Carl he would be the 'sword' in his hand. After several weeks of intense psychic preparation, Carl became just that; a weapon to destroy the Queen. And he almost succeeded.
Now all that was left of Carl's mentor were the boxes of papers and personal effects stacked around him. He had poured over Freeman's writings for the past week. The numerous papers, reports, and treatises Freeman penned revealed a deep understanding and not a little respect for the Arachnid civilization. At times Carl sensed Freeman was unsure whether humanity could defeat so vast, organized and formidable an enemy. His teacher marveled at the speed with which the Hive could incorporate worlds, converting their resources into the biomass of the Hive itself, and then spreading to more worlds.
What interested Carl most was Freeman's theory that there might be more than one Queen, more than one Hive. Using the Earth model of the social insects -- bees, ants and the like -- he had postulated that the Hive might periodically produce new Queens. They might depart to set up new Hives in distant star systems, or remain dormant, insurance against the death of the Queen or the destruction of the Hive. Any race as highly sophisticated and successful as the Arachnids could never have survived for millennia by "keeping all its eggs in one basket." Carl was certain he was right. Toward the end of his writings, Freeman's interest turned to the Queen herself. She was the heart of the Hive, its life and unifier. Most intriguing to Freeman was her ability to psychically control the Hive and its members. It was this link that bound the hive together and all to the Queen that most impressed his teacher. He felt the Queen's secrets and the key to the Arachnids wildly successful civilization could be found in their origins. To learn that he must first find their home world. Freeman was certain it was not Klendathu; that was only the most recent hive. Hives and Queens far older had existed, he believed, on other worlds. The search for the Arachnid "First Hive", their true home became his obsession. Sadly he was lost before he could find it.
Carl was also intrigued by what he did not find. He had collected all of Freeman's records and personal effects for his investigation. Since no living family was found to claim them, all of Freeman's personal documents, diaries and the like were available in Intel storage. Beyond the published writings, most of the personal material was ordinary and unrevealing. It seemed that Carl's teacher had little life outside his work and writing. But the record was incomplete. His computerized diary entries had large gaps, hundreds of files missing or removed. A quick search revealed that the missing files were not erased, or held in secure archive. They had been transferred prior to Freeman's death, most in the two weeks before his final mission. Freeman's last mission was a dangerous one, but no more than any other. Why had his teacher pulled so much personal material before this operation? And what did those files contain? It seemed the more Carl searched, the more questions he had.
He rose from his desk leaving the fortress of papers, books and boxes stacked there and traced his way through the larger boxes on his office floor. These contained some of Freeman's personal effects. Idly Carl rummaged through one of the open boxes; it was filled with strange artifacts, the objects Freeman had surrounded himself with in life. Each object was carefully nested in tissue or covered in bubble wrap. He removed one at random and carefully unwrapped it; another followed, and then another. Soon he was sitting on the floor hip deep in discarded tissues and wrapping. Around him were over a dozen small objects. They were obviously ancient, shards of stone and ceramic; some were clearly of intelligent manufacture. Others seemed like nothing more than bits of stone, utterly unintelligible.
At Freeman's death, SICON archeology had attempted a complete inventory of the pieces. Each box contained a list of its contents. Carl leaned over to peer into the box and quickly found the sheet. It revealed that most of the objects were of Earth origin, scattered crumbs of long dead civilizations. A few were T'Phetti and equally ancient in lineage. None were particularly valuable. Several of the objects were unclassified; SICON scientists had been unable to determine their age or identity. One object, Artifact AF122757, was not just unclassified; it was not of Terran-T'Phetti origin. Carl scanned the small army of objects camped around him and could not find any matching the description of the mysterious artifact. He pulled the storage box toward him and began rummaging through the packing and tissue at the bottom of the box.
There sitting amid the scraps, sparkling like a drop of water was a crystal. Carl paused trying to make sense of this strange find. He picked it up; though it was only the size of a small orange it was unexpectedly heavy in his hand. In the half-light of the office he could only appreciate it's glassy, translucent surface. It had to be a mineral crystal, maybe quartz or volcanic glass. Bringing it back to his desk he held the glistening object under the stronger light there. It was beautiful, roughly cylindrical in shape, edged in facets like a jewel. Holding it very close to the light Carl could see that it had a soft yellow orange color, much like topaz. As he turned it, the color changed subtly. It was not clear like glass or fine jewels. It's crystalline interior was crazed with flaws, hundreds of fine lines criss-crossing at every angle.
What a shame, Carl thought, Without those flaws it might be worth something.
Carl wasn't a geologist, but he knew something wasn't quite right about the crystal. Looking even closer, he realized that the fine lines etched into the it were not random flaws at all, but were ordered in a complex but decidedly intelligent matter, like the fine tracery of a microchip. He returned to the inventory sheet. The object was of extraterrestrial origin but was not T'Phetti. SICON archeology had been unable to date it, but the soil traces on its surface were millions of years old. Carl carefully laid the beautiful object on the desk, gazing at it with newfound respect. He couldn't take his eyes off it. More than the other artifacts, this one seemed to hold special significance. Then he remembered. This was Freeman's 'pet rock' as his students loved to call it.
During his teaching days Freeman was never without it; he was forever handling it or playing with it telekinetically. When Freeman was in his office, the stone had been a constant fixture on his desk. It seemed an endless source of fascination to him, though he never explained its significance and no one had the nerve to ask him about it. Imitating his teacher, Carl took the artifact and with the slightest mental effort, caused it to rise telepathically above his hand. The trick reminded him of his old teacher and made him smile for a moment. The crystal hung in the air, lifeless for a moment but soon it began to change.
At first Carl thought he was imagining it, but no, the crystal was starting to glow. A soft yellow light emanated from its interior. Then the wave hit him. Carl was so startled he lost concentration and the artifact fell, bouncing off his hand and tumbling below the desk. He hesitated a moment then retrieved the crystal. His respect for the object was now tinged with a trace of fear. Cautiously, like a child just burned from a hot stove, he returned it to his right hand and again raised it telekinetically in the air. The glow returned, and this time Carl braced for what was to follow. A non-psychic would have sensed nothing except perhaps the stone's soft glow. But Carl could hear the roar, the voices screaming from the crystal, echoing in his mind. It was a rush, a jumble of sound enveloping his brain like the crash of thunder or the sound of the sea. With great effort, he endured the psychic cacophony trying to understand it. There seemed to be voices in it; words, symbols, something intelligent, but vast and indecipherable.
After what seemed like hours, but was only minutes, he released his hold on the object. It fell to his hand, inert and silent. Freeman's obsession with 'meaningless' artifacts had always seemed strange to Carl, a minor pastime, an eccentricity harbored by a very strange man. Sitting now with the stone in his hand, he was not so ready to dismiss it as 'meaningless'.
The tiny screen of the videocom flickered to life, casting the only light in the darkened room. If there were eyes present to see it, they were hidden in the darkness. Even on the miniature monitor, the features of the caller's face were unmistakable: the flaxen, almost white hair, the large pale eyes. It was a face with the traces of youth still on it; the war had ended only a year or so ago, and the burdens of responsibility and authority had not yet cut wrinkles around the gentle mouth and the expressive eyes. Though the face was young, its expression carried the gravity that only age or sadness can bring.
"Dizzy? Are you there?" Carl's voice spoke to the unanswering dark. "Johnny gave me this number. I just wanted to talk to you, see how you're doing. I stopped by the hospital last April when...when you were there with Miguel, but they said you didn't want to see anyone. I held back, hoping I'd hear from you. Now Johnny tells me you've moved out."
Carl's eyes sank downward and his voice wavered. "Diz, I am so sorry about everything that's happened. I wish there was something I could do...something I could say that would help. I can't pretend to know what you're going through."
He swallowed hard trying to collect himself. "Johnny misses you like hell, Diz. Says he hasn't heard from you in over a week. He's frightened for you...and so am I. I wish I understood why all this was happening. Please call me. I'm always here for you, for both of you."
The face stared steadfastly from the monitor as if waiting for an answer. Then the image disappeared in a veil of static. In the darkness, a slender hand reached for the remote control and turned off the screen. The dark was unbroken once again.
Carl, his arms laden with boxes, papers and his personal attaché, barged into his office nearly tripping over the piles of boxes and papers that were permanently planted there. The end of another trip, another follow-up of a psychic disappearance, another cold, unproductive trail. He had been out of the country only a couple of days when word of the priority message reached him. Unable to establish a secure link in the field, he was compelled to return to Intel headquarters to receive the message.
A hurried flight and several limos later he was back in his office. He hoped he hadn't come 3200 miles in 9 hours for nothing. He tossed the attaché onto his chair, and dumped the boxes and papers onto the ever-growing pile on his desk. He leaned close to his secure office monitor, keyed the necessary access code and the screen brightened with a familiar face. It was T'Phai. Years did not tell on the alien's strange face. As far as Carl could tell, he looked the same as he did in his Roughnecks days.
Like Higgins, T'Phai had seemed to prosper in the war's aftermath. The most decorated T'Phetti veteran, an almost legendary figure on his own world, T'Phai had risen high in his government, becoming the chief ambassador of the T'Phetti delegation. In essence, he was the voice of his world in the Alliance Council. With the rising conflicts between Earth and Tophet, it was no longer as pleasant a job as it once was. Carl had spoken with him often since the war, discussing not only politics and problems, but more pleasant subjects as well.
M'Rette, T'Phai's daughter, was a particular favorite. Now fourteen and an adult in T'Phetti reckoning, she had become a formidable individual in her own right. Very much her father's daughter, she had entered Federal Service studying in the most prestigious academies on Tophet. More remarkably, she had tested psychic. Like their human counterparts, Tophet had its own minority of psychics; a few had gifts similar to the humans, but most had talents foreign to Intel experience. Carl had the chance to meet her once, when she was visiting Earth with her father a couple years back. As tall as her father, Carl had to gaze up at the seven-foot T'Phetti in the environment suit. The three spent an evening together exchanging old stories and catching up. In that time, Carl had the chance to share a brief psychic conversation with M'Rette. Careful to enter only where he was allowed, he enjoyed sharing the thoughts of one so clearly talented as she was. He was deeply interested in her gifts, so strange and different from the ones he'd known. She was delighted and not a little embarrassed by his interest; her talents seemed so small next to his. What a joy she would be to teach. It saddened him that Intel remained so provincial and would not admit off-worlders to their training.
As Carl watched the recorded message, he sank slowly into his chair. His face hardened into a pensive frown as T'Phai spoke. The news from Tophet was not good. Events were moving there that threatened the precarious status of the Alliance. More importantly, it was a personal call for help. The message ended and Carl purged the recording from the viewer. He looked down at the small attaché at his side in the chair. He placed it on his lap, opened it and examined its contents. The few toiletries and personal items would last him for another trip. Clothes weren't a problem; he'd be in a powersuit most of the time. In a small inner pocket of the bag he found the crystal. He had kept it with him since finding it in Freeman's effects weeks ago.
"Capt. Markham," Carl spoke to the viewscreen.
A young officer's face appeared.
"I need a flight off-world to Tophet tonight. Check the schedule. I'll take military, civilian, whatever; the fastest boat there. Call downstairs to see if the car that brought me from the airport is still there. I'll need it to get to Brigham."
"Sir, may I ask the reason for the trip?"
"Company business, Markham," Carl replied cryptically, "Don't know how long, I'll be gone. This is quiet, Will. Clearance amber." Markham would inform the necessary channels of Carl's absence but not reveal details of his whereabouts. Had to keep this thing quiet, at least until he could figure out what was going on. Carl turned from the screen to look across the office for any items he would need. After stuffing a few papers and his computer tablet in his bag, he returned to the viewscreen.
"Markham, how are we doing?"
"Sir, the car is waiting. I have a military transport departing Bancroft Station for Tophet in fourteen hours."
Fine. The car would get him to Brigham Field in plenty of time to could catch a shuttle to the space station. Carl rose from his chair, and stood a moment in the chaos of papers and boxes surrounding him. They were pieces of a puzzle that had pulled Carl, Haley, Freeman and dozens of psychics into its circle. The crystal artifact in the bag under his arm was another. The next piece would be found on Tophet.
Next Episode: 202: A Bell in the Night
"2nd Season" Fanfic Episodes:
200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205A | 205B | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209A | 209B | 210 | 211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220A | 220B | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225


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