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Call Today for a FREE Confidential Case Review
Toll-Free 24/7 (866) 920-0753
Business & Contract Litigation
Prescription and Over-the-Counter Drugs
Amiodarone Class Action Lawsuit
Amiodarone is a heart drug with extremely severe side effects, including pulmonary toxicity (lung damage), vision loss, blindness, and even death.
What You Can Do & How We Can Help
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting amiodarone induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know was diagnosed with a severe side effect, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Defective Drug Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.
Amiodarone is a medication that treats severe irregular heart rhythm. The problem is that it is often prescribed "off-label" to patients who are not warned about its severe, life-threatening side effects.
FDA Safety Warning
In 2005, the FDA issued a Safety Communication to warn that amiodarone can be highly toxic in many areas of the body. Liver damage is another common side effect of amiodarone. It is usually mild, but some patients have died from liver disease.
Pulmonary Toxicity
The most serious side effect is lung damage. In some studies, 17% of patients on 400-mg/day doses developed pulmonary toxicity, which has a 10% risk of death. The symptoms may include:
Worse Irregular Heart Rhythm
Amiodarone can also worsen irregular heart rhythm. About 2-5% of patients develop a condition in which electrical signals to the heart are blocked, resulting in very slow heartbeat. The symptoms may include:
Light-headedness
Vision loss from amiodarone usually develops over hours or days. In a study of nearly 300 reports, 20% of patients went permanently blind in at least one eye. The symptoms include:
Eye movement is painful
Loss of color vision
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is nationally recognized as a class action law firm. However, we are not currently filing an amiodarone class action. Instead, we are filing individual lawsuits for people who experienced the following severe complications:
Lung damage
About Class Actions
Class actions make sense when a lot of people have similar injuries. Instead of filing individual lawsuits, they join together and file one lawsuit. If compensation is awarded, everyone in the class action shares the payout.
Why Our Law Firm is Filing Individual Lawsuits as Opposed to a Class Action
The problem with class actions is that members may have to accept "low-ball" settlements and higher attorneys' fees. Class actions are also not designed to maximize compensation for individual plaintiffs with the worst injuries.
Our law firm specializes in filing lawsuits against drug-makers who fail to warn about side effects. We focus our efforts on helping people with severe injuries seek compensation for their pain and suffering, medical bills, disability, and more.
Do I have an Amiodarone Lawsuit?
Attention Lawyers: We consider a referral from another law firm to be one of the greatest compliments. If your firm is interested in referring us a case or for us to send you a list of previous award judgments and/or average referral fees, please visit the Lawyer Referral section of our website.
Cordarone Class Action Lawsuit
Pacerone Class Action Lawsuit
Pacerone Lawsuit
Cordarone Lawsuit
Amiodarone Lawsuit
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC has been recognized as one of the nation's leading plaintiffs' law firms and handles cases in all 50 states. We are very proud of our legal achievements, but equally self-respecting of our firm's reputation for providing personal attention to each and every client we represent.
No matter what type of case you have, you may contact us with confidence by filling out the email contact form below or calling us directly by dialing toll free 24 hrs/day (866) 920-0753.
Below is a partial list of the awards and recognition that the attorneys / lawyers at our law firm have been awarded with, as well as a list of professional memberships.
Contact Us With Confidence
AV® Peer Review Rated Law Firm - An AV® certification mark is a significant rating accomplishment - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence. A lawyer must be admitted to the bar for 10 years or more to receive an AV® rating.
Million Dollar Advocates Forum
Lawdragon Top 500 Leading Lawyers in America
"Presidents Club"
International Academy of Trial Lawyers
International Society of Barristers
Copyright © 2020 The Schmidt Firm, PLLC. All Rights Reserved.
The Schmidt Firm, PLLC | 900 Jackson Street, Suite 260 | Dallas, Texas 75202 | (866) 920-0753


"My confidence is placed in God who does not need our help for accomplishing his designs. Our single endeavor should be to give ourselves to the work and to be faithful to him, and not to spoil his work by our shortcomings" (from a letter of Isaac Jogues to a Jesuit friend in France, September 12, 1646, a month before he died). How often we get in the Lord's way by seeking to do our thing. We need to get out of the way of the Lord and watch what he can do if we trust him and remain one in him. This is not a passive response but an active one. Jesus is in the driver's seat and I follow his lead.


Description: Grewingk (1850, translated 2003 by Fritz Jaensch) reports that in 1796, Amak "with active crater (?)." Grewingk also writes that Amak has been dormant at least since 1804, when Krusenstern viewed the island. Marsh (in Wood and Kienle, 1990) states that "granular, blocky leveed flows have erupted in historic times."
From Marsh and Leitz (1978): "The younger series of flows issued from a central vent located slightly south of the initial crater. These lavas breached the initial summit crater on the south and, at least in part, flowed down pre-existing glacially-cut valleys. These flows are chaotic, and wholly comprised of large angular blocks ranging in size from 0.1 m to several meters. Most blocks show traces of having been sheared and granulated. The lava is dark gray with a porous and sugary texture. At the outer margin of the southern flank this series has an apparent thickness of about 100 m. Moss and lichen growth on these flows, confirm that two periods of eruption produced this younger series. A thin layer (1 cm) of volcanic ash caps some of the larger blocks; this ash is probably from nearby Shishaldin volcano on Unimak Island, which has been active intermittently for at least the last 200 years (Coats 1950)."
"According to Funk (1973) the latest period of glaciation in this area was about 6,700 years B.P. The small U-shaped glacial valley cut into the older series was probably excavated during this period of glaciation. The older flows also show no sign of being extruded beneath ice. Thus Amak is probably not much older than 6,700 years. Early explorers (Dall 1897) reported volcanic activity on Amak during 1700-1710 and 1796 but report that by 1867 all activity had ceased. The younger series of flows was, surely, extruded during these times."


At Vanilla Square we are not satisfied by simply re-letting a property we need to maximise the investment for the landlord.
This example shows our commitment to review rents at the end of each tenancy, and often during a tenancy if they stay for several years.
63 Curle Street came to Vanilla Square in 2012 due to our personal approach and time taken to consider a strategy over the coming years.


I was on the 51 bus yesterday traveling between Oakland and Berkeley. Somewhere along College Avenue, an angular young man got on the bus and sat opposite me. He was muttering to himself and looking very shifty. He kept saying, in quite an upper class, tight-lipped colonial era British-sounding accent, "I have a difficult thing to do" and "I have decided they cannot live."
Although people are always muttering to themselves on Bay Area buses, this man's insistent and slightly menacing vocal repetitions and stooped over frame made me wary. Plus, he was carrying a big, black backpack. I found myself leaning in a little and perking up my ears to see if could hear a ticking sound.
Just then, a blonde, female UC Berkeley student got on the bus with a couple of very heavy suitcases. The young man immediately jumped up to help her. They struck up a conversation.
Much to my embarrassment and amusement, the man told the woman that he was practicing his lines for a play in which he was scheduled to take on the role of an Afrikaaner. I felt his accent needed a little work, personally. He probably did too, hence all the repetition. "I wish they'd cast me as Nelson Mandela," he told the woman with a laugh before launching into his version of Mandela's diction. "I can do a very good impression of him."
And this is why, when running lines on BART or MUNI, you hold a copy of your script in your hand... even if you aren't looking at it.


text:
package io.druid.segment.data;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonSubTypes;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonTypeInfo;
import io.druid.collections.bitmap.BitmapFactory;
import io.druid.collections.bitmap.ImmutableBitmap;

/**
 */
@JsonTypeInfo(use = JsonTypeInfo.Id.NAME, property = "type", defaultImpl = BitmapSerde.DefaultBitmapSerdeFactory.class)
@JsonSubTypes(value = {
    @JsonSubTypes.Type(name = "concise", value = ConciseBitmapSerdeFactory.class),
    @JsonSubTypes.Type(name = "roaring", value = RoaringBitmapSerdeFactory.class)
})
public interface BitmapSerdeFactory
{
  public ObjectStrategy<ImmutableBitmap> getObjectStrategy();

  public BitmapFactory getBitmapFactory();
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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subsTANZ massimo gerardi
PHOTOS: IAN WHALEN
CHOREOGRAPHY/CONCEPT/DANCE/SET
Claudio Cangialosi/Opera Ballet Vlaanderen Massimo Gerardi/subsTANZ
MUSIC Collage of different composers
SUPPORTED BY Centre Coréoghraphique National de Mulhouse (F)
PREVIEW August 2017 Linotip, Indipendent Choreographic Centre, Bucharest
PREMIERE February 2018 Hellerau, European Centre for the Arts, Dresden
The title "MANkind" underlines the meaning in German of "MANN" (man) and KIND (child). The focus is on the investigation into the emotions coming from our "inner child", which we represent on stage in quite an authentic way. Memories of our childhood and of the relation with our mothers and in form of texts, objects and images are present on stage, triggering in the public the curiosity of peeping in other people's lives and playing with the concept of self representation. The two different ages and generations, to whom we belong, play an important role in the development, in the construction and in the execution of the piece, which could be also defined as a cross-generational duet. Our different life experience could be read on stage like a sort of antagonism. It is rather a complicity that transpires in the piece, which originates from a casual relation between a sober maturity and buoyant youth. A collection of real, fictional, personal, borrowed, sincere, unaffected and counterfeited ideas and emotions build the frame of MANkind. These contrasting elements can be found in individual memories, in which personal interpretation of the reality often don't correspond with true facts.
JavaScript is turned off.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


A very good description of the TRUE religion behind the global, royal / Nazi elite (UN / NATO) -Except for the children wearing cloths in the movie when being sacrificed -The royal elite want the children to be naked in the REAL world . . .


Check out this beautiful 1 Floor Rancher in an awesome location- less than 1 mile from MD/PA line and about 500' from the NCR Trail! This rancher welcomes you with a tall foyer and a nice open floor plan. Kitchen is upgraded with granite, hardwood cabinets, and a breakfast nook. Kitchen flows nicely into the living room with gas fire place. Also, slider off of kitchen gives convenient access to the fully fenced in back yard with stone patio. HUGE master bedroom with sitting area and a large master bath too! Ideal floor plan with separation between master and remaining bedrooms. Schedule your private showing today!!


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Question: How Long Did It Take To Rebuild The White House After The War Of 1812?
Who built the White House after it burned down?
How many years did it take to rebuild the White House?
When was the White House rebuilt after the war of 1812?
How much did it cost to rebuild the White House?
Was the White House destroyed in the War of 1812?
Is there a swimming pool in the White House?
The building remained as is until 1814, when it was burned during the War of 1812.
After the fire, James Hoban, the original architect, was commissioned to lead the rebuilding of the White House.
In 1817, the building was completed and President James Monroe moved into the White House..
After eight years of construction, President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved into the unfinished house in 1800. During the War of 1812, the British set fire to the President's House in 1814. James Hoban was appointed to rebuild the house, and President James Monroe moved into the building in 1817.
1817In August of 1814, the White House had to be rebuilt after its destruction during the War of 1812 and its rebuilding was completed in 1817. In 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt conducted a major renovation of the White House.
The total cost was $232,372. On August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812, British troops burned the White House in retaliation for an earlier burning of Canadian government buildings in York, Ontario, by the United States.
As the War of 1812 neared its conclusion, British forces torched the White House, the Capitol and nearly every other public building in Washington.
The White House has had two different pools since the 1930s. … Ford, an avid swimmer, installed an outdoor pool on the White House grounds in 1975. FDR's swimming pool was completed in 1933. The pool has been covered but remains beneath the floor of the press center.
Quick Answer: What Does Voyage Mean?
What is a accurate? 1 : free from error especially
Quick Answer: How Do You Evaluate Iron Deficiency Anemia?
How can you test for anemia at home? Home tests for
How Much Weight Can You Haul Without Having A CDL?
What's the biggest trailer you can pull without a CDL?
Quick Answer: What Is The Best Honda Civic To Buy?
Is the Honda Civic a reliable car? Honda Civic reliability
Does Alamo Run A Credit Check?
What car rental company does not do a credit check?
What Is The Best Time To Fill Up Gas?
How can I make gas last longer? Here are 10 ways to
Quick Answer: What Is The Best 2500 Gas Truck To Buy?
What truck has the least amount of problems?
Quick Answer: What Are Popular Name Brands?
What are the top 10 designer brands? Here are the top


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Q: Difference between $( (a,b), c )$ and $( a, (b,c) )$ following Kuratowski's definition of ordered pair In the exercise 2.1.6 of Introduction to Set Theory by Hrbacek & Jech it is asked of the reader to find an example of $( (a,b), c ) \neq ( a, (b,c) )$.
The book defines ordered triples as $ (a,b,c) = ( (a,b), c)$, therefore I'm compelled to say that they are never equal: when I expand the terms I get
$$ ( (a,b), c) = \{ \{ \{ \{a\}, \{a,b\} \} \}, \{ \{ \{a\}, \{a,b\} \} , c \}\} $$
$$ ( a, (b,c) ) = \{ \{a\}, \{ a, \{ \{b\}, \{b,c\} \} \} \} $$
Am I interpreting correctly how it defines ordered triples (or quadruples)?

A: You are correct, but you will need the Axiom of Regularity to prove it (which is treated later in the book, I believe).
The Axiom of Regularity makes it impossible that there exists a set $x$ such that $x= \{x\}$. Without it we cannot prove that such a set $x=\{x\}$ does not exist. It is then impossible to prove that $((a,b),c)\neq(a,(b,c))$, since if we take $a=b=c$ and let $a=\{a\}$, we get:
\begin{align}
((a,b),c)&=((a,a),a)\\
&=(\{\{a\}\},a)\\
&=(\{a\},a)\\
&=(a,a)\\
&=(a,\{a\})\\
&=(a,\{\{a\}\})\\
&=(a,(a,a))=(a,(b,c))
\end{align}

On the other hand, if we can use the Axiom of Regularity, then by using that $(a,b)=(a',b')$ if and only if $a=a'$ and $b=b'$ we would get that $((a,b),c)=(a,(b,c))$ implies $a=(a,b)$ and $c=(b,c)$. We have contradiction with the Axiom of Regularity, since $(a,b)=\{\{a\},\{a,b\}\}=a$ would imply $\{a\}\in a$.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Alfie Evans' Father: Hospital is Starving Him to Death, No Food for 23 Hours. "How is This Humane?"
International | Steven Ertelt | Apr 24, 2018 | 3:17PM | Washington, DC
As attorneys for Alfie Evans' family and Alder Hey Children's Hospital battle it out in court over the future of the 23-month old little boy, a huge new concern has materialized.
The judge in the case just prohibited Alfie's family from taking him to Italy for care and treatment and potential experimental treatment for his rare degenerative neurological disorder. There is still a determination to be made about whether or not Alfie's family can take him home.
But before any of that happens, Alfie's father Tom is concerned about his son and whether or not he will starve to death because the hospital is withholding food.
One of the biggest questions most people observing this horrific case have asked is whether or not Alfie is getting food and water after the hospital yanked his life support yesterday over his parents objections. Oxygen was another question and Alfie's family indicated that Alfie eventually received oxygen that significantly improved his physical condition.
Eventually Alfie's family indicated he was receiving water as well. But in a brand-new post on Facebook, Alfie's father makes it clear that a little boy is not receiving any food and he's concerned that Alfie maybe starve to death.
"UPDATE: HE HAS NOW BEEN STARVED FROM NUTRITION FOR 23 hours😡😡😡😡 how is this HUMANE where does his DIGNITY LIE?" Tom Evans wrote.
Despite the lack of foo,d Tom indicates Alfie is holding up well.
"Coming up to 24 hours and he's fighting with gorgeous his gorgeous features, pink lips, handsome grown up face, and odd cheeky smile now and again," he said.
SIGN THE PETITION! Please Let Alfie Evans' Parents Take Care of Him
Supporters of Alfie and his family were livid at the news.
* This is heartbreaking 😢 they need to give him a chance and let him go!! What harm can it do?? They just don't want to be proved anymore wrong than they have been already…..it's disgraceful and I'm ashamed to be British right now
* Oh my god are they not feeding him??????? Keep going little man xx
* Plan A didn't work so I'm guessing this is plan B 😡 monsters the lot of them even the nurses that have cared for him all this time how do u sleep knowing that boy is fighting but starving 🤬 Alfie keep fighting little one you're doing fab
* He should be fed through a tube now or some people live a normal life with a peg feed in stomach. Keep strong Tom and Kate. Keep fighting for him to get out of this awful hospital xx💜💙
* stay strong Alfie. I don't understand how they can do this to him
* How appalling he needs some food some milk something
* Disgusting I'm ashamed to be british today feed Alfie love him get him to Italy
* Heartbreaking how they are treating your wee son. Also yous as alfies parents. Its disgusting how they can do this.
An air ambulance has arrived outside the hospital where little Alfie Evans is located. Alfie has breathed on his own and has survived for over 20 hours after the Children's Hospital yanked his life support.
Alfie has defied doctors' expectations to this point and his parents are headed back to court to fight for his life further. They are hoping to be able to get life support restored and also want to be able to take him to Italy, which granted him citizenship yesterday.
Today, a British doctors group, The Medical Ethics Alliance, expressed its horror over the treatment of Alfie Evans that it called a "medical tyranny."
And Italy's Healthcare Chief has slammed the decisions by UK courts to treat Alfie the way that they have. The President of the Italian National Institute of Health lambasted the UK High Court's decision yesterday on Alfie Evans' that resulted it the children's hospital being allowed to remove life support over Alfie's parents' objections.
Alfie's father confirmed the removal of life support and oxygen in a video at 9:17 p.m. London time. "Alfie's still here and fighting," he said.
Pope Francis has repeatedly spoken on Alfie's behalf and urged that Alfie's parents be allowed to bring him to Italy.


Start Menu X has recaptured the structure of navigation which is familiar from Windows 7. The interface has been changed and replaced the Start button with the flat panelled menu on the Windows phone and tablets. It is a very powerful tool for Windows users. The desktop will be changed to modern user interface and also, the user can directly logon to desktop. The start menu can be utilized for running the applications. The start menu X will also allow users to access folders and application with great convenience and add up to the completely functional start menu in the Windows. The specific file or program can also be searched by entering the keyword for better convenience of users.
Must Read: Winamp Media Player – Free Download!
Familiarity of interface – The start menu X has main function of Windows since the starting time and the new options are added to the same functionalities. The options are quite familiar to users with new interface for better navigation facilities.
Stylistic options – It lets the user to completely customize the start button according to specific requirements. The user can primarily choose the look of start button and then after, opt for modern functions. The modern functions including styling and operating functions.
Customized menu – While setup process, the start menu gives the customized menu options for setting the menu according to personalized requirements. It enables the user to keep the application basic and include most frequently used items for convenient navigation. The entire system can be navigated from the menu. The comprehensive options provide ability to incorporate the menu for Windows applications in efficient manner.
Long setup time – The drawback is that the setup is too long. Though it has some pre-sets for quick start options which have minimized the time but the overall, it is time consuming process.
The Start menu X has added functionalities with familiar interface. It can customize the menu according to the personalized requirements. The user can have the simple menu of Windows 7 or create own menu with customization options.
Start Menu X is a desktop customized application for the users of Windows. It has been designed to bring the start button and menu for Windows 8. It provides flexible and customized options in start menu to enable the customization of options, functions and groups within the list of start menu. The users can also group the items in quick start option according to their usage. It also comes with strong search engine which searched the whole disk in few seconds. The start menu X is most suitable for Windows 8 and at the same time, it also provide options for menu replacement in Windows 7/XP/Vista for better convenience of users.
It has fixed some minor bugs in program.


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View all cards in Adults
View all cards in Books
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by SLPL_CenterfortheReader December 31, 2019
We have added several short story titles to our ever-growing Book Club in a Bag collection! Follow these links to read more about each new addition:
All the Names They Used for God by Anjali Sachdeva: Sachdeva's striking story collection, her first book, explores everyday conflicts in highly imaginative ways. In shifting place and time, characters are confounded by the tidal pull of love and loss as well as the disruptive forces of change. Logging Lake follows a man in the aftermath of heartbreak as he goes on a spur-of-the-moment camping trip with an unusual woman he meets online. In Anything You Might Want, Gina, disillusioned with her town and her father's strict upbringing, runs away with Michael, who owes her father a significant gambling debt, a trip that takes an unexpected turn when they make a stop in Michael's hometown. Other tales embrace the otherworldly an America governed by aliens, a fisherman with a growing obsession over a mermaid. Pleiades follows septuplets who become mysteriously ill and begin to die one by one in a haunting tale that pits the marvels of science against the power of the heart. Though some of Sachdeva's nine tales bend into the surreal, they never lose the pulse of the human spirit, creating a distinctive, thought-provoking work.
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro: It's said that the devil is in the details, but in Munro's pristine and enrapturing stories, the details hold magic. Her celebrated stories work not only because her characters are so utterly human in their mixed feelings but also because she lavishes keen attention on every article of clothing, body feature, setting, and carefully dealt line of dialogue. Munro's people are insular country folk living simply and earnestly in small towns in Ontario or outside Vancouver, and while they chafe against tradition, they are leery of outright conflict or any talk that might seem intrusive or self-aggrandizing. Thoughts and feelings, especially women's, are to be kept to one's self. Munro's male characters, such as the biology teacher done in by creationists in Comfort, are fascinating, but her piercing and witty stories revolve around women navigating the vagaries of marriage, bolstering frail egos and burying desire while coming to the rescue in the face of illness and death. But there are women, too, who walk away from duty, seeking solitude, even the solace of writing. Opulent in their beauty and gem-bright psychology, the extraordinary stories in Munro's tenth stellar collection span the spectrum from romance to tales of manners to deep meditations on love and mortality, and all evince Munro's profound understanding of the power of memories and the stories we tell ourselves.
Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado: Carmen Maria Machado blithely demolishes the arbitrary borders between psychological realism and science fiction, comedy and horror, fantasy and fabulism. While her work has earned her comparisons to Karen Russell and Kelly Link, she has a voice that is all her own. In this electric and provocative debut, Machado bends genre to shape startling narratives that map the realities of women's lives and the violence visited upon their bodies. A wife refuses her husband's entreaties to remove the green ribbon from around her neck. A woman recounts her sexual encounters as a plague slowly consumes humanity. A salesclerk in a mall makes a horrifying discovery within the seams of the store's prom dresses. One woman's surgery-induced weight loss results in an unwanted houseguest. And in the bravura novella Especially Heinous, Machado reimagines every episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a show we naively assumed had shown it all, generating a phantasmagoric police procedural full of doppelgängers, ghosts, and girls-with-bells-for-eyes. Earthy and otherworldly, antic and sexy, queer and caustic, comic and deadly serious, Her Body and Other Parties swings from horrific violence to the most exquisite sentiment. In their explosive originality, these stories enlarge the possibilities of contemporary fiction.
A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin: Begin reading a Berlin short story and you know immediately that you are in the presence of a unique and searing literary force. Volume editor Stephen Emerson provides biographical background since Berlin's peripatetic life (Alaska, Albuquerque, Chile, the Bay Area), three marriages, four sons, and rising and falling income levels and wildly varied jobs provided her with fertile material for her tales of shattering perception, razor humor, and whiplash surprise. Berlin is exceptionally attuned to the randomness of life, its pains, and pleasures, our vulnerability, and resiliency. She portrays a young, grieving, acidly witty woman taking measure of the aberrations she witnesses as a cleaning woman; an abandoned, pregnant wife considering an abortion; a nurse cradling an injured jockey. As characters recur and settings and predicaments vary, Berlin unflinchingly strips bare casual and catastrophic cruelty and injustice, dramatizing, as one narrator puts it, times of intense technicolor happiness and times that were sordid and frightening. An essential collection of jazzy, jolting, incisive, wryly funny, and keenly compassionate, virtuoso tales.
Tenth of December by George Saunders: Saunders, a self-identified disciple of Twain and Vonnegut, is hailed for the topsy-turvy, gouging satire in his three previous, keenly inventive short story collections. In the fourth, he dials the bizarreness down a notch to tune into the fantasies of his beleaguered characters, ambushing readers with waves of intense, unforeseen emotion. Saunders drills down to secret aquifers of anger beneath ordinary family life as he portrays parents anxious to defang their children but also to be better, more loving parents than their own. The title story is an absolute heart-wringer, as a pudgy, misfit boy on an imaginary mission meets up with a dying man on a frozen pond. In Victory Lap, a young-teen ballerina is princess-happy until calamity strikes, an emergency that liberates her tyrannized neighbor, Kyle, the palest kid in all the land. In Home, family friction and financial crises combine with the trauma of a court-martialed Iraq War veteran, to whom foe and ally alike murmur inanely, Thank you for your service. Saunders doesn't neglect his gift for surreal situations. There are the inmates subjected to sadistic neurological drug experiments in Escape from Spiderhead and the living lawn ornaments in The Semplica Girl Diaries. These are unpredictable, stealthily funny, and complexly affecting stories of ludicrousness, fear, and rescue.
Annotations courtesy of BookList
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The Community Players of Hobbs: It's MELODRAMA time!
"Rascality on the Rigs" (or "Oil's Well That Ends Well") opens September 21st at 8 PM, with additional shows on September 22nd, 27th, 28th, 29th (8 PM), and September 23rd (2 PM).
Tickets are on sale via our online box office (click here).
Tickets will be on sale at the Playhouse (in person) Monday 9/17 from 4-6 PM, continuing through Thursday 9/20.
Come out and enjoy this fun show, celebrating New Mexico's centennial (1912-2012) and the return of the melodrama to the Playhouse stage!


Washington, DC, January 16, 2017 – The EPDM Roofing Association (ERA) is releasing a White Paper, "Cool Roofs in Northern Climates" that reaffirms the value of dark roofing membranes in Climate Zone 4 and above. The paper is the result of an extensive survey of research that has been conducted during the last decade, investigating the relative benefits of reflective and dark roofing in climates throughout the United States.
The White Paper (available on the ERA website at www.epdmroofs.org) found that two dominant issues generally support the use of dark membranes in cold climate. First, the "heating penalty" that is associated with "cool roofs" in cold climates can negate energy savings accrued during the relatively short months when air conditioning is in use. Research found that this penalty can lower energy savings to a little as pennies per square foot or, more frequently, create a deficit in energy costs during cooler and cold seasons. This deficit can be exacerbated by the costs of cleaning a reflective roof to maintain its efficiency during the summer.
In addition, widespread research pointed to issues with condensation as a deterrent to the use of reflective roofing in cold climates. Summarizing findings by Kehrer and Pallin released in 2013, the White Paper points out that, "Compared to a traditional black roof, the amount of accumulated moisture during the winter can be two to three times greater in a cool roof construction." The Paper notes that these condensation problems can be mitigated with additional improved air-leakage control and indoor relative humidity control.
The EPDM Roofing Association (ERA) is the first trade association solely representing the manufacturers of EPDM single-ply roofing products and their leading suppliers. ERA provides technical and research support to the public and the construction industry, and communicates the longstanding attributes, consistency and value proposition of EPDM rubber membrane roofing materials.


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Scientifically-Interesting Story of Urban Heat Island - Scientifically Interesting Story
Are you looking for a storyline to use with your students that features NASA data? Consider using the following resources in your classroom today!
Using Models in Climate Change Research - Lesson Plans
Check out this the Arctic and Earth SIGNs video to explore how climate models are used in climate change research.
Future Temperature Projections, Applied Research STEM Curriculum Unit Plan - Lesson Plans
The title of this unit is Future Temperature Projections and will allow students to analyze and evaluate future temperature projections up to the year 2100 from the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies Global Climate Model called GISS-ModelE2.
Inferring Relationships Among Sea Surface Salinity & Other Variables in the North Atlantic - Lesson Plans
Students will observe monthly satellite data of the North Atlantic to identify relationships among key science variables that include sea surface salinity (SS), air temperature at the ocean surface (AT), sea surface temperature (ST), evaporation (EV), precipitation (PT), and evaporation minus pre
Changing Albedo Lab - Lesson Plans
Students develop and test a hypothesis about how albedo affects temperature.
>1 week
ESS2B: Plate Tectonics and Large-Scale Systems
ESS2C: The Role of Water in Earth's Surface Processes
ESS2E: Biogeology
ESS3B: Natural Hazards
PS3A: Definitions of Energy
3-ESS2-1: Represent data in tables and graphical displays to describe typical weather conditions expected during a particular season.
3-LS3-2: Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
3rd to 5th
4-ESS2-1: Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
4-ESS3-2: Generate and compare multiple solutions to reduce the impacts of natural Earth processes on humans.
4-LS1-1: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
4-PS3-1: Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.
5-ESS1-2: Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.
6th to 8th
HS-ESS2-3: Develop a model based on evidence of Earth's interior to describe the cycling of matter by thermal convection.
(-) HS-ESS2-4: Use a model to describe how variations in the flow of energy into and out of Earth's systems result in changes in climate.
HS-ESS2-6: Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere.
HS-ESS3-3: Create a computational simulation to illustrate the relationships among the management of natural resources, the sustainability of human populations, and biodiversity.
HS-ESS3-4: Evaluate or refine a technological solution that reduces impacts of human activities on natural systems.
HS-LS1-5: Use a model to illustrate how photosynthesis transforms light energy into stored chemical energy.
HS-LS2-3: Construct and revise an explanation based on evidence for the cycling of matter and flow of energy in aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
HS-LS2-7: Design, evaluate, and refine a solution for reducing the impacts of human activities on the environment and biodiversity.
MS-LS1-3: Use argument supported by evidence for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells.
MS-LS1-4: Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respecti
MS-LS2-1: Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
MS-LS2-4: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
MS-PS1-3: Gather and make sense of information to describe that synthetic materials come from natural resources and impact society.
(-) MS-PS3-3: Apply scientific principles to design, construct, and test a device that either minimizes or maximizes thermal energy transfer.


It's now less than two weeks to WOzFest PR#6 and I've barely begun prepping.
The re-organisation of the Man Cave has begun, and I'm hoping to have that much further along before the big day.
I've had to pare back my Retrochallenge ambitions as I've just had too much real life stuff to find much free time anywhere.
That may also mean I pare back my book scanning ambitions – I still aim to have a book scanner at WOzFest PR#6 (subject to its availability), but I may not get to the post-processing stage, so it might be primarily for basic demonstration purposes.
Despite this, I think attendees are in for a treat with the four Skype sessions I've teed up with well-known retrocomputer enthusiasts/preservationists from around the world, and, although I'm not aware of any new product announcements happening on the day, there will be a timely update on a product announced during a previous WOzFest.
The usual schedule applies: start from around midday (Sydney time, UTC+10:00), I'll pepper the Skype calls and product update throughout the event, dinner (pizza) will likely be around the 18:00-19:00 mark, and a wrap-up by sometime between 21:30 and 22:30 (depending on attendee energy and sound levels).
I hope to see you there – please let me know if you're planning on attending.


text:
Video Games and the Interplay between Consoles and Culture
Ph. D Strunk
Once considered niche, fringe, and the hobby of only outsiders or loners, video games have rapidly become one of the most popular and influential artistic forms of this century. Their imagery is near ubiquitous—children, adults, and even professional athletes know what a Fortnite dance is without having played the game, and every conversation about violence in media eventually turns toward Grand Theft Auto. We've reached a point where, through streaming platforms like Twitch, games don't even need to be played to be enjoyed, as whole robust communities form around watching others play. Games have grown into more than just products; they're touchstones, meaning that they've become popular enough for something radical to have happened: even while culture shapes our games, games have simultaneously begun shaping our culture.
In Story Mode, video games critic and host of the No Cartridge podcast Trevor Strunk traces how some of the most popular and influential game series have changed over years and even decades of their continued existence and growth. We see how the Call of Duty games—once historical simulators that valorized conflicts like World War II—went "modern," complete with endless conflicts, false flag murders of civilians, and hyperadvanced technology. It can be said that Fortnite's runaway popularity hinges on a competition for finite resources in an era of horrific inequality. Strunk reveals how these shifts occurred as direct reflections of the culture in which games were produced, thus offering us a uniquely clear window into society's evolving morals on a mass scale.
Story Mode asks the question, Why do video games have a uniquely powerful ability to impact culture? Strunk argues that the participatory nature of games themselves not only provides players with a sense of ownership of the narratives within, but also allows for the consumption of games to be a revelatory experience as the meaning of a game is oftentimes derived by the manner in which they are played.
Combining sharp criticism of our most beloved and well-known video game series with a fascinating discussion of how our cultural values form, Story Mode is a truly original examination of the unique space games now occupy, from one of the sharpest games critics working today.
Ph. D Strunk:
Trevor Strunk, PhD, is the host of No Cartridge, a progressive podcast that critically analyzes video games and the conditions of the games industry. He holds a PhD in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago, with a focus on contemporary American literature and emergent forms. His writing on video games and other media has appeared in The Outline, Los Angeles Review of Books, Giant Bomb, Electronic Gaming Monthly, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter at the handle @hegelbon. He currently teaches English at DeSales University, and lives with his wife and two delightful if energetic children outside of Philadelphia.
Publisher Name Prometheus
Imprint Prometheus
Publication Date Nov 15, 2021
Computers & Technology » Digital lifestyle » Computer games / online games: strategy guides
Business & Finance » Industry & industrial studies » Media, entertainment, information & communication industries
colin mahns likes Story Mode from Story Mode


text: Q: Can SDL sprites be drawn without SDL_Image? Say I wanted to make a game where the graphics were just drawing pixels with SDL_Surface in a 16 bit game visual, instead of loading images. Could this be done, and could it be more efficient than loading images?


text:
'Teen Mom' star chooses porn over rehab, prison
Taylor Bigler Entertainment Editor
April 11, 2013 10:34 AM ET
MTV's exploitative reality series "16 and Pregnant" and its spinoff "Teen Mom" — about high school students who become moms as teenagers — should be really proud of its alumnae, many of whom are train wrecks.
While a few of the former cast members are living (relatively) normal lives as young mothers, several of the other teen moms have quite the long rap sheets.
One former cast member is serving out a five year prison sentence for domestic violence.
Another has been in and out of rehab facilities for heroin and other substances.
And another — Farrah Abraham, now 21 — has eschewed jail and rehab facilities in favor of the porn industry.
After getting a DUI in March and snapping photos of herself in lingerie while making out with other girls, the mother of Sophia, 4, has finally made a professional adult film.
Last week, reports surfaced that a "private" sex tape between Abraham and an unknown partner had "leaked" and was being shopped around.
But on Sunday, Abraham was seen leaving the offices of Vivid Entertainment — a porn producing company — hand-in-hand with porn star James Deen.
It turns out that Abraham's "leaked" sex tape was not a leaked sex tape at all, but a way to drum up interest in her latest professional venture.
TMZ talked to Deen (who, if you recall, was Lindsay Lohan's costar in "The Canyons," which is not the title of a porno, although it might sound like one) who said that Abraham orchestrated the entire situation and wanted to make it seem like a sex tape was "leaked" rather than professionally made.
Deen said that he was not "dating" Abraham as she — and the film's producers — wanted the world to believe, but rather met her twice for STD testing and then at the movie shoot.
"Got tested together on Friday and then saw her on set," Deen said. "That is my only experience with the lady."
"I've seen a few minutes of the tape and was amazed at how sexy Farrah is," Vivid Entertainment founder Steve Hirsch said in a statement Tuesday. "It would fit in well with Kim Kardashian and our other celebrity sex tapes."
Essentially, it would fit in with ALL of the other orchestrated sex tape "leaks" that made people like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian relevant.
Abraham threatened legal action over the "leak" on Twitter, and while she admitted there was a tape, she did not admit that it was a professional porno.
Abraham said in a statement to Fox 411 Wednesday, "I wanted my own personal video made and photos taken for myself, when I am older I will have my best year to look back on" and that she "will not be [selling the movie] for anything less than a couple million."
Deen, on the other hand, is being entirely candid and hilarious about the situation, telling TMZ that he is a bad liar and couldn't go along with the leaked sex tape strategy.
"Everybody knows that celebrity tapes are fake," he told The Daily Beast. "And if you don't know, let me tell you: they're all fake! I know that the Kim Kardashian one was fake, Paris Hilton, Tila Tequila. But the thing is, who cares? It's people I wanna see naked having sex … I don't give two shits if it was a 'stolen home video' or somebody paid them $100,000 to do it. It makes no difference to me. It was awesome."
For its part, MTV seems to believe that its series chronicling teen mothers is helping the teen birthrate to decrease.
A spokeswoman told The Daily Beast when asked about Abraham's latest venture, "we can tell you that the health and well-being of our cast members is of the utmost importance to us and we strive to create a supportive environment."
"Teen birth rates in the U.S. are at historic lows and many experts have cited the Teen Mom franchise as contributing to that decline," the spokeswoman continued.
If MTV wants to be responsible for the career of a newer, sadder version of Kim Kardashian, then it has certainly reached it's goal.
Follow Taylor on Twitter
Tags : mtv sad things teen mom
Taylor Bigler


There can be no denying that 2017 was a year of mixed fortunes for actor Karthi . In April, he suffered a setback when his Kaatru Veliyidai opened to a mixed response at the box office and ultimately proved to be a disappointment. Directed by ace filmmaker Mani Ratnam, it also featured Aditi Rao Hydari in the lead and boasted of an intense performance from Karthi. Thereafter, he bounced back with Theeran Adhigaram Ondru. A crime-thriller, it saw him essay the role of a cop and proved to be a success. Talking about the film, he had said that shooting for it was a challenging experience for him because of adverse conditions.
"It was so bad that a crane toppled over and drone cameras got damaged. Some sand particles were sharp, and almost drew blood when they came in contact with my skin. The locals told us to cover ourselves with blankets and simply wait till it subsided," he had said about being stuck in a sandstorm during the shoot.
With 2017 in the rear view, Karthi is gearing up for the release of Kadai Kutty Singam. The film is being directed by Pandiraj and has already created a buzz amongst fans. And, now, the buzz surrounding the film is set to reach new heights. A still from the film is going viral and that too for the right reasons.
In it, Karthi can be seen in a raw avatar alongside Sayyeshaa . And, as expected, the two look good together. Their chemistry is quite good indeed. The Akhil star's transformation in a village dirl is quite convincing.
Sometime ago, a source had told TOI that Kadai Kutty Singam will revolve around the importance of farming and feature Karthi in the role of a farmer.
So, did you like this still from Kadai Kutty Singam? Comments, please!


text:
OG eliminated at TI10: Theseus's ship and the last dance that never was, or the three-peat attempt we never got to see
OG's reign is over, but it seems there's a new Cinderella in town. It's just a shame we never got to see the last dance of the back-to-back-winning squad.
Theseus's ship and Dota 2 squads
There's this thought experiment about what esports teams truly are. Well, this may not exactly have been what Plato and Heraclitus had in mind in Ancient Greece when they originally discussed it, but it's quite pertinent to our little corner of the world nevertheless. Suppose you've changed every part of a ship, one by one, over the course of a long voyage: is it truly the same ship as the one you've set sail with?
This question also seems to crop up often regarding sports teams, that intangible idea of team culture and veterancy and institutional memory propping up an organization long beyond the time that their roster's expected to perform at the highest level. When we talk about "the United way", "the Fnatic style" or any other such pompous idea, this is what we have in mind.
Whether it makes any sense in traditional sports with large rosters and decades-long histories with many ebbs and flows of success is a much chunkier discussion altogether: it is, however, not a particularly contentious point that esports fans generally gravitate towards players and cores rather than orgs, and full-scale swaps generally mean that the fans follow along the pros' journey rather than their old paymasters'. This is especially true in Dota, where it is often said that you can never be sure about the prospects of a roster move before it actually happens, simply because of the myriad interpersonal and communication-related elements that you can't factor into the equation before trying out your new team composition.
All this serves as a rather long-winded introduction to the hypothesis that the all-conquering OG squad didn't really get eliminated today by Team Spirit, simply because they haven't made it to TI to begin with. Whatever the merits of this squad may be, the ship of OGeus capsized on the shore earlier this year. You can't blame ana or JerAx for hanging up their mice: they did the impossible job and rode off to the sunset. It just makes little sense to suggest a sort of real continuity between the squads as too many elements have been changed. Had they made it all the way again (against all odds) at TI10, it would have been a stretch to call it a three-peat.
It looks like Ceb and Topson may be calling it quits as well after picking up their share of another cool million. However, just as one magical story has ended, it seems like we're getting a worthwhile replacement in its wake.
Losing is tough. I'm proud of everyone for what they gave this year. Team, staff and fans, you all stood strong. I wished a different outcome for my last tournament, but I'm grateful for everything nonetheless. I gave it my all and came ready, but it wasn't enough this time ❤
— Ceb (@Ceb) October 15, 2021
A new Cinderella in town
Even if this is as far as they get, the young Team Spirit squad already made a name for themselves by ending the OG story, continuing exactly the sort of incredible upset-ridden comeback as OG themselves have made at TI9 and beyond. It's safe to say no one would have expected this outcome between the two teams based on how the early portion of the group stage shook out, and there's really no better confidence-booster than this result, even once you factor in how dominant Secret were against OG as well in the upper bracket match. There can be only one team responsible for eliminating the back-to-back winners.
A young and fearless squad with no doubt more to come, Team Spirit have shown that they are more than able to face their demons and emerge victorious, tearing a 1-29 record to shreds against regional nemeses Virtus.pro when it mattered the most. There was also the tactical EZ GAME in the middle of the decisive encounter against OG for some added flair, and one has to wonder just how Riot would have reacted when it comes to similar cheekiness over at Worlds. Heyo!
Don't hate on the banter in-game, beating @OGesports on the main stage must be a special kind of hype for young players. I know players never mean true harm, we all are competitors and respect each other's. Rest is social media games. Good luck to @Team__Spirit further, wp today.
The last dance that never was
The documentary series titled The Last Dance was one of the big sensations of 2020, telling the tale of the final season of the all-conquering Chicago Bulls team of Michael Jordan and company. The realistic expectation of one big run instead of the lack of understanding that the sun is setting is a big part of what made the story so tantalizing to follow.
Many such stories were crushed by the pandemic, especially so in the esports scene. We never got to see the TI-double-winning OG side itself go for the three-peat, and the legendary Astralis side in CS:GO also didn't make it through the grinder of the online era in one piece. It is, without a doubt, one of the saddest developments in competitive gaming that it was a scuffed OG side that tried to reclaim the Aegis this time around.
Still, it's worth keeping perspective: at the end of the day, the loss of an esports storyline is one of the smallest and least significant casualties of the last two years on Planet Earth. For Dota 2 fans though, the eternal question mark will remain: just what could have that team done at that anniversary TI in the 2020 that never was? We will never know for sure, but we've still got some of the year's most important Dota 2 matches to follow to answer some other questions.


text:
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1st November 2006 by Spear's
Biographer Tom Bower has already been slandered by his latest subject, Conrad Black. Is he bothered? Is he hell, says Christopher Silvester
Four of Tom Bower's previous biographical subjects – Robert Maxwell, Tiny Rowland, Mohammed Fayed, and Richard Branson – tried to stifle his books about them by enlisting the services of the late George Carman, QC. Each failed ignominiously. His latest subjects, Conrad and Lady Black, have been unable to follow in the footsteps of their aggrieved predecessors, since Carman is no longer with us, while Conrad and Barbara, their assets frozen by the Canadian courts, have other things on their minds, namely Conrad's imminent prosecution for fraud in the U.S.
In an article published on both sides of the Atlantic in response to the serialisation of this book, Conrad Black accused Bower of being a drunk. In the Sunday Telegraph, Black accused Bower of making 'drink-taken promises to write a defamatory book' to potential sources, presumably a bowdlerised version of his original phrase. In the New York Sun's version, in case there was any doubt as to meaning, it was rendered as 'drunken promises' – a casual libel by a man who has been quick to issue writs when his amour-propre is offended. I have spent many convivial hours in Bower's company and he likes his claret, to be sure, but I have never witnessed him in a drunken state.
Of course, he has had far worse brickbats to contend with in the past. Bower cut his teeth as a documentary reporter for the BBC's Panorama programme. His first biographical book, Maxwell the Outsider was his toughest assignment, because Maxwell tried everything to stop the book. He bullied Andrew Lloyd Webber, whose Really Useful Group owned Bower's publisher, Aurum Press, and when that failed he got his Sunday Mirror newspaper to run disparaging items about Lloyd Webber.
Later, in a further act of intimidation, he bought a 14.5 per cent stake in Really Useful Group. He threatened third-party injunctions and libel suits against booksellers. When W.H. Smith refused to bow to his threat of an injunction, he threatened to withdraw his Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People titles from sale in its shops. Shamefully, the company caved in. He libelled Bower repeatedly on the BBC as a liar and a perjurer, for which libels Bower eventually collected £25,000 in damages.
He wrote to every person quoted in Bower's book, and threatened to sue them, unless, they signed a statement to the effect that Bower had misquoted them. He paid his craven employee Joe Haines to write a spoiler biography. He even attempted to buy Bower's paperback publisher, Sphere Books. None of these ploys stopped the book from becoming a bestseller.
Cherie Booth, QC, also took Bower on before being forced to retreat. She complained to the Evening Standard when columnist Matthew Norman repeated an allegation from Bower's biography of Branson that at a Downing Street reception she had told Branson that she and the Prime Minister would do something for him in his campaign to run the lottery. Initially, Booth had sent a lawyer's letter demanding a prominent apology, but once the Evening Standard had spoken with several witnesses who claimed to have overheard the remark, she backed down and settled for a mere letter for publication instead.
Bower is a formidable foe. His old friend Max Hastings, who served briefly under Conrad Black as editor of the Daily Telegraph, has compared Bower to a Sherman tank. When I asked Bower recently how he was able to find his sources for these revelatory books, he ascribed it to 30 years and more of accumulating contacts, some of whom have helped him with more than one of his books.
The reason he has acquired such steadfast contacts is that he has earned their trust by never revealing who they are unless they agree to let him do so. For Conrad, he spoke with key figures in the Toronto business world from which Conrad hailed, and for Barbara he found not only an old friend who had been dropped but various members of her domestic staff who regarded her behaviour as vile and ridiculous.
Extract from Conrad and Lady Black: Dancing on the Edge (Harper Collins)
George Black had been ignominiously ousted from the Canadian conglomerate Argus in 1958, but had retained his shareholding in Ravelston, the private company which controlled Argus. His son Conrad worshipped the 'mystique and power' of Argus's principal shareholder, Bud McDougald, yet at the same time he determined to avenge his father in time. After McDougald's death in 1978, Conrad Black charmed the widows of Argus's founders, Maude McDougald and Doris Phillips, both residents of Florida's Palm Beach, into letting him have their voting shares in Ravelston, thus enabling him to wrest control of Argus.
Ever since the 16-mile island became colonised in the late 1800s as a winter refuge by the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Morgans and Carnegies – America's oligarchs and robber barons – Palm Beach had been a haven for celebrities and the world's richest players. Some would carp that Palm Beach, populated by 'up and down folk', was a 'sunny place for shady people' enjoying an extravagant social life of dinners, dances and parties – and that was precisely the attraction for Conrad Black.
The principal qualification for newcomers to mix with the old dynastic fortunes was money. 'Some people are offended by opulence,' Black would later tell Peter C. Newman, his first biographer, 'but I find it sort of entertaining.' McDougald was Black's mentor in is quest to achieve that affluence. McDougald had the nerve to travel unashamedly to London for private visits at Argus's expense, and generally to pilfer the company's assets. McDougald's traits, described later by Black as 'lassitude, greed and vanity', encouraged Black's own ambition to possess $100 million and to have the means to escape Canada's winters. For a social adventurer, Palm Beach was a natural stage on which to launch his presence in America.
In 1980 Conrad Black took his first step towards joining America's rich set. He bought an unimposing colonial house at 150 Canterbury Lane, on the North End of Palm Beach island. The comfortable 8,700 square foot house did not enjoy a sea view, but it was located near the resort's nobility. Assiduously, Black cultivated Jayne Wrightsman, a former manicurist who had married an oil billionaire. After her husband's death Wrightsman had used her inheritance to become Palm Beach's patrician hostess. 'Come for dinner in Palm Beach,' Wrightsman said to the London merchant banker Rupert Hambro. 'I've met this hugely intelligent man who is so wonderful. He's called Conrad Black.' Hambro knew Black from summer weekends staying at the businessman Bob Dale-Harris's farm north-east of Toronto. Meeting him again in Florida, he noticed how Black had changed. Touched by the glamour of big money, Black was flattered that Wrightsman, a kind, generous person, was attracted to him, and that by turn he had become a topic of conversation.
The proof of Black's social acceptance was his proposal for membership of the Everglades Club, the meeting place of Palm Beach's elite. The two obstacles were Maude McDougald and Doris Phillips, the two Argus widows. Both still resented their humiliation, and campaigned to blackball their tormentor. Their tactics were in vain. Imperceptibly, Black organised his nomination and election without any formal notification. 'Clubs are not democratic,' the widows were told.
Cultivating the right image, Black knew, was essential to acceptance. Walking into a room, he took care that his large, physical presence captured the space around himself. Gracious but also aloof, his self-assured manner left onlookers in no doubt of his attitude: 'I'm Conrad Black, take it or leave it.' His quiet voice and gentle movements suggested that he was neither bombastic nor nasty. With studied stateliness suggesting coiled energy, he intimidated some, but never succumbed to an intemperate outburst. Speaking quietly, his big, intelligent, slightly oriental grey eyes fixed in an immobile face, he aroused curiosity whether his fluent, verbose language was expressing anger or pleasure, never using a short word if a long one was appropriate. His new friends were impressed by his seamless prose and his prodigious memory.
Black's next step was to accumulate the level of wealth so abundantly evident on the island. As well as his small yacht he had already accumulated several cars, including a Cadillac, a Mercedes and McDougald's Rolls-Royce in London. On some of the bonnets he mounted a gold-plated eagle killing a snake. The symbol matched his goal.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Black acquired the Telegraph Group, a British newspaper company and with it access to the British power establishment, and also a new wife, the outspoken journalist Barbara Amiel, and a London home, in Kensington's Cottesmore Gardens. Meanwhile, aided and abetted by his trusted partner, David Radler, he embarked on a systematic programme of diverting vast sums from Hollinger International, a New York-listed public company, into his private management company, Ravelston. He was given a peerage at Tony Blair's behest in 2001.
Although Barbara Amiel did not always enjoy Palm Beach, she was certain that 150 Canterbury Lane, Black's house there since 1980, was inadequate. Conrad Black agreed. Since buying Canterbury Lane he had coveted 1930 South Ocean Boulevard, a 14,000-square-foot house overlooking the sea. By chance, in 1997 it was for sale at $9.9 million. Included in this was a two-story guest house, a heated pool, gym, cinema and tennis court and, most dramatically, a tunnel under the road linking the house to a 300-foot private beach. Before buying the house, Black might have considered the fate of successive previous occupants, united by premature death and bankruptcy. Convinced that he was charmed, he agreed that David Mlinaric should once again be hired, along with the expensive New York architects Richard Sammons and Anne Fairfax.
The famous interior designer and the architects knew that Palm Beach's truly rich would have demolished the outdated building, which had been damaged by seawater, rather than renovating it as the Blacks chose. Nevertheless, the Blacks' shopping list was not unduly modest. Amiel briefed them to produce 'quiet elegance' rather than ostentatious extravagance.
Their plans included the complete gutting and reconstruction of the buildings, adding 6,000 square feet to the house to create five bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a cinema, a library and a vast living area, all linked by a black onyx double staircase. 'This will be Henry Kissinger's bedroom,' Amiel explained, 'and this one will be for the Kravises.' There was an elevator costing $4.4m, a fountain featuring a marble statue of Poseidon, crystal chandeliers, expensive rugs and stylish carpentry. 'Why are you building such a huge house?' Black was asked by a visiting English banker. 'I hope you think it suits my position,' he replied.
Membership of the A-list, Black now knew, required more than merely grand homes. Tycoons were expected to contribute to charities on a grand scale. At Hollinger's expense, they began giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to New York's opera houses, museums and libraries. Black also contributed $1.2 million over four years to support The National Interest, a foreign-policy quarterly which he co-chaired with Kissinger and [Richard] Perle; he gave a further $275,000 to the Nixon Centre, and $375,000 a year to the Institute of Strategic Studies, a London think-tank. To win similar kudos, Radler began giving to charities in Canada and Israel.
On reflection, the Blacks and Radler decided that they wanted more permanent recognition, and both began negotiations to contribute money to public buildings which would bear their names. The cost of these personal acknowledgements, including 'the Black Family Foundation Wing' added to a Toronto hospital, would be $6.5m.
The Blacks' flamboyance aroused sniggers among the few who understood Hollinger's finances. 'I don't understand why Conrad Black wants to be the poorest billionaire in America,' commented one observer, noting that Black's standard of living, which he could ill afford, was higher than that enjoyed by the two richest men in the world, Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, and the investor Warren Buffet.
The squeeze of the famous into Cottesmore Gardens at the Blacks' summer party in 1997 reflected their importance among a particular group of writers, journalists, politicians, businessmen, playboys, actors and elder statesmen. Even though some criticised their house as 'an expensive, ugly monster', the hosts adored the spotlight among the crowds in the specially constructed two-story reception room. The sight of Henry Kissinger at one end, supermodel Elle MacPherson at the other, and dozens of other famous faces in between, generated electric excitement. Welcoming celebrities to their home inflated their self-importance.
Barbara Amiel could be harsh towards those she deemed to be valueless. Now 57, but boasting the looks of a woman ten years younger, she was indulged by her proud husband. Two dressing rooms of their Kensington home resembled an emporium. Clothes, handbags and shoes costing hundreds of thousands of pounds were amassing in the cupboards designed by David Mlinaric. Amiel never appeared to question whether her husband was making a clear distinction between Hollinger's and his own personal money, and occasionally items bought by her staff were inadvertently charged to Hollinger. There was no reason for Amiel to question her husband's ability to fund her love of clothes. She had every reason to assume he was as rich as his posture indicated. 'What men will do to keep high-maintenance wives,' carped Dan Colson about Amiel's trips, flying on the Gulfstream, from New York to Paris to buy dresses, and then, after a three-hour visit, continuing to London. 'All for the "little woman"', mimicked Colson. 'Barbara's calling the shots on everything.'
Clothes, however, were no longer enough. Amiel had never forgotten the night she arrived in her bedroom, filled with expensive designer items – a scented Manuel Canovas candle, a shagreen 'temple' made by David Linley containing a gold comb, perfume from the Santa Maria Novella chemist in Florence and a copy of Gale Hayman's How do I Look? in the bathroom – to find on her pillow an enormous natural-pearl and diamond brooch. Despite Conrad Black's pride and generosity, she decided that it was too big to wear. 'I simply can't carry it off,' she declared, and placed it permanently in a safety deposit box. That modesty appeared to have vanished during a jewellery night at Annabel's in September 1998. A representative of Lawrence Graff had placed a 100-carat diamond in her hand. Even in the dim light, the stone's sparkle was captivating. The salesman had identified his quarry, although he was unaware of an earlier embarrassment. In 1986, David Graham had examined a bracelet at Graff. While considering whether to take out his credit card, he overheard a salesman sneer, 'It's too expensive for him.' Sheepishly, Graham had left the shop. Times had changed. Then, jewellery had been unimportant to Amiel, but after socialising with the Kravises and others in New York, she appreciated that her new friends rarely appeared in public without displays of huge stones set in white gold. Jewellery, she acknowledged, was a 'defining attribute' among that class, 'rather like intelligence or the number of references you have'. Her erstwhile prejudices were abandoned. 'All that stuff I believed about big stones being vulgar,' she wrote, 'went into ether.'
Under the control of senior butler Andrew Lightwood, second butler Peter Wilson, and a succession of third butlers, Amiel's life in Kensington had become what her constantly changing staff called 'bizarre'. Each recruit was taken by Lightwood on an introductory tour of the house, ending on the roof. 'Make sure the landing lights are on at all times,' instructed Lightwood solemnly, 'because Madame takes off from on her broomstick looking for cats. She needs the lights to guide her return.' His face would crack into a smile. 'Most important, take care that she never sees you. She hates seeing any of us.' Amiel's eccentricity demanded that her staff hid whenever she approached, diving into cupboards if necessary, and never entered her quarters while she was present. Increasingly, there seemed no rhyme or reason to her moods, and no one was quite sure how to satisfy her requirements. On one occasion she had demanded Paula, a maid. 'I'm afraid, Madame,' explained Lightwood, 'that Paula has taken Adelia [another maid] to hospital. She collapsed.' 'Why couldn't Paula just put Adelia in a taxi and send her to hospital?' asked Amiel. Lightwood did not reply. Amiel, he realised, was clearly having another bad day. The butler considered entering a monastery.
Launching the National Post in Canada in 1999 created a financial crisis for Black's media empire. Barbara Amiel became aware of its gravity after a flight to Palm Beach to inspect the progress of rebuilding their new home. Boarding the Gulfstream in New York with Henry Kissinger, the Blacks announced their plan to drop Kissinger in Washington and then fly on to Florida. 'There's a snowstorm in Washington,' said the pilot. 'We won't be able to land.' 'I'll take the train,' said Kissinger. 'How can Henry get to the station?' asked Amiel. 'Quickest way is by helicopter,' advised the pilot. Swivelling towards Conrad Black, Amiel snapped, 'Why haven't we got a helicopter, Conrad? The Kravises have one. Black's smile froze: 'We're not rich like the Kravises.'
Down in Palm Beach, Amiel carefully inspected the plans for perfect acoustics and lighting in her office and her husband's library, while Black tried to find out why the local contractors were proving more expensive than anticipated. 'Charging through the nose,' he complained. 'Lord Macbeth,' local wags guffawed, was not pleased. The workers had nevertheless gone to some trouble to provide refreshments for their employers. Amiel was given a plastic bottle of water. 'What am I meant to do with this?' she asked. 'Where's the glass?' The Blacks departed disgruntled. Sitting with friends later that day, Amiel reflected upon her lifestyle. 'I don't deserve these things,' she admitted. Her audience stared back. Was this the same woman, they wondered, who had despatched the Gulfstream from New York to collect a handbag from Palm Beach? Amiel was, they concluded, an enigma.
Before their return to Toronto, Black decided that he could no longer afford the development. He found a reason to argue with architect Richard Sammons's accounts, and withheld payment. 'He's invented an excuse,' Sammons told several friends in New York.
Conrad Black goes on trial in Chicago next March on federal charges of fraud and racketeering. His house in Palm Beach is currently on the market for $35 million.
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Melbourne's fashion scene showcased in Malaysia
Extracted from Essentials Newsletter 14 February 2018
Tourism Australia and Visit Victoria partnered with luxury lifestyle publication 'I M First Class' to present an exclusive Melbourne Fashion Showcase to the 400 guests at the prestigious CHT Awards 2018 in Kuala Lumpur last week.
The showcase, featuring designs curated by stylist Emily Ward and millinery by Serena Lindeman, was also used to launch Holiday Tours and Travel's special packages for the Melbourne Cup Carnival 2018 targeting high value Malaysian travellers.
Guests at the awards show had a firsthand look at Melbourne's thriving fashion scene from the upcoming Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival to the festive Melbourne Cup Carnival.


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Inclusion and diversity strategy
We believe diversity includes everybody. Our Vision is to embrace differences and work together, to achieve great outcomes for APRA and the Australian community.
To successfully fulfil our mission, APRA needs every employee to be able to reach their true potential.
That's why encouraging inclusion and embracing diversity are integral to all aspects of our work. We aspire to fully harness the skills, experiences, ingenuity and wisdom of our employees, whatever their background or personal circumstances. We believe our focus on inclusion and diversity will deliver benefits for individual employees, teams and our entire organisation. Our inclusive vision: We embrace differences and work together to achieve great outcomes for APRA and the Australian community.
Harnessing diversity of thought at APRA
APRA actively seeks to attract, develop and retain employees and leaders from across the full spectrum of Australian society. We believe diversity encompasses more than our visible differences, such as age, gender, ethnicity and physical abilities, or unseen differences such as religion or sexual orientation. We aspire to diversity of thought, recognising that a broad range of perspectives, approaches and ideas makes us stronger, improve our judgements, and better enable to meet our obligation to protect the financial well-being of the Australian community.
Giving all employees a sense of belonging
We want everyone at APRA to feel safe, respected and valued, and trust they can confidently speak up and be heard. We encourage our employees to express themselves, challenge conventional wisdom and seek assistance or guidance when they need it. And we provide our leaders with the skills and awareness to foster an inclusive workplace culture.
APRA's Inclusion and Diversity Council (IDC) monitors our progress meeting key benchmarks, and champions the need for further strides where necessary. Under the IDC, APRA has an active program of events and opportunities to increase awareness and understanding across various Inclusion and Diversity streams including:
Generational (Gen X Plus and Gen Y & Z)
Indigenous - APRA's Reconciliation Action Plan is available here.
Our Inclusion and Diversity Strategy sets out the strategic areas of focus and key commitments for the organisation.
Our areas of focus are:
Sharpen APRA's Inclusion and Diversity focus - We will define and prioritise inclusion and diversity at APRA, and enhance transparency and accountability.
Attract, grow and engage diverse talent - We will disrupt the status quo, and actively attract, grow and engage diverse talent.
Inclusive leadership - We will develop and advance committed and capable leaders who are inclusive of diverse talent.
Living the APRA values - We will focus on ensuring individual behaviours are aligned to our organisational values.
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Disney Micky Epic: Die Macht der 2 (im engl. Original: Disney Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two) ist ein Action-Adventure des amerikanischen Entwicklerstudios Junction Point Studios und des Disney-Konzerns. Es ist der Nachfolger zu Micky Epic und erschien 2012 für die Spielkonsolen PlayStation 3, Wii, Wii U und Xbox 360. 2013 folgte eine Veröffentlichung für Windows und die PlayStation Vita, 2017 für PlayStation 4 und Xbox One. Im Mittelpunkt steht ein weiteres Mal die Zeichentrickfigur Micky Maus, die zusammen mit ihrer Vorgängerfigur Oswald der lustige Hase als Sidekick eine Cartoonwelt vor einer Katastrophe bewahren muss.

Handlung
Micky wird nachts aus dem Schlaf gerissen. Über den Fernseher bittet der Kobold Gus Micky um Hilfe für das bedrohte Wasteland. Micky holt den magischen Pinsel und begibt sich damit in das Reich der vergessenen Cartoons, wo bereits Oswald auf ihn wartet. Verheerende Erdbeben drohen die Cartoonwelt einstürzen zu lassen, nur der eigentlich böse Mad Doctor bietet seine Hilfe und einen möglichen Lösungsansatz an. Dazu benötigt er aber die Hilfe von Micky und Oswald.

Spielprinzip
Das Spiel ist auf eine kooperative Spielweise zwischen Micky Maus und Oswald ausgelegt, kann aber auch von einem Spieler allein gespielt werden. Spieler 1 übernimmt immer die Rolle von Micky Maus, die Aufgaben von Oswald werden von Spieler 2 oder dem Programm übernommen. Die dreidimensional gestaltete Spielwelt kann vom Spieler im Rahmen der Weltgestaltung frei erkundet werden, wobei er Rätsel- und Geschicklichkeitspassagen (z. B. Hüpfeinlagen) für den Spielfortschritt bewältigen muss. Eine Rätselmechanik ist mit dem Zauberpinsel verknüpft: an vorgegebenen Stellen im Spiel kann mit dem Pinsel Farbe auf Objekte aufgetragen werden, die damit in der Spielwelt benutzbar werden. Mit Lösungsmittel wiederum können Objekte aus der Spielwelt entfernt und bspw. Hindernisse auf diese Weise aus dem Weg geräumt werden. Oswald besitzt eine Fernbedienung, mit der er auf Figuren und Maschinen einwirken kann. Außerdem kann er mit seinen Ohren Propeller bilden und damit fliegen.

Entwicklung
Nach längeren Spekulationen im Vorfeld bestätigte Warren Spector im März 2012 die Arbeiten an einer Fortsetzung von Micky Epic – zunächst für die Spielkonsolen Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Angekündigt wurde auch, dass Musik im Spiel eine größere Rolle als im Vorgänger einnehmen werde, die Charaktere bspw. Lieder singen würden und die Liedwahl unter anderem von der Spielweise beeinflusst sein solle. Im Juli wurde schließlich auch eine Fassung für Windows und Mac angekündigt, wovon letztere nie erschien. Das Spiel wurde von Junction Point mit der Wii als Lead-Plattform entwickelt, während die Versionen für PlayStation 3 und Xbox 360 zeitgleich beim britischen Entwicklerstudio Blitz Games entstanden. Spector begründete dies mit der geringen Größe seines Studios und der bereits vorhandenen Wii-Expertise.

Kurze Zeit nach der Schließung der Junction Point Studios kündigte Disney die Portierung auf die tragbare Konsole PlayStation Vita an, für die das Spiel eine Anpassung eine Unterstützung der Touchpad- und Neigungsfunktionen sowie kooperatives Spielen über WLAN erhalten sollte. Sie kam im Juni 2013 auf den Markt.

Synchronisation

Rezeption

Das Spiel erhielt mehrheitlich mäßige Bewertungen.

Die Writers Guild of America nominierte das Spiel zu den 65. Writers Guild of America Awards für herausragende Autorenleistungen im Bereich Computerspiele. Die Auszeichnung ging letztlich jedoch an Assassin's Creed III: Liberation.

Die Verkaufszahlen blieben unter den Erwartungen des Disney-Konzerns. In den ersten beiden Monaten verkaufte das Spiel in den USA gemäß NPD Group nur rund 529.000 Kopien. Als Konsequenz schloss Disney sein Tochterunternehmen Junction Point Studios und zog sich weitgehend aus der hauseigenen Produktion von Computerspielen zurück. Obwohl von Spector zunächst auf drei Teile konzipiert, kam es in Folge zu keiner weiteren Fortsetzung.

Weblinks

Einzelnachweise

Computerspiel 2012
Action-Adventure
PlayStation-3-Spiel
PlayStation-4-Spiel
PlayStation-Vita-Spiel
Wii-Spiel
Wii-U-Spiel
Xbox-360-Spiel
Xbox-One-Spiel
Windows-Spiel
Disney-Computerspiel

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Појам Одеса може да се односи на:
Одеса, град у Украјини
Одеса (Вашингтон), град у САД у држави Вашингтон.
Одеса (Делавер), град у САД у држави Делавер
Одеса (Тексас), град у САД у држави Тексас


Patrick & Christina Dopson serve as Lead Pastors of Crossing Place Fellowship. They have committed their lives to sharing the love of Jesus and His message of hope and redemption. Their purpose is to equip and empower people by the Spirit of God to change a culture to look like His Kingdom as it is in Heaven.
They have been in ministry together for 21 years and consider it a privilege to carry the call of God and walk in His purpose. They are both former worship leaders of Crossing Place and served here early in their ministry over 17 years ago. Pastor Patrick's music has reached people around the world. For more on his music, please visit his website or iTunes.
In 2015, they answered the call to lead Crossing Place in Franklin, LA along with their pride and joy, their two boys, Garion and Isaiah.
Helping People Find The Way. | Need Prayer?
1096 Northwest Blvd. | Franklin, LA 70538 | 337.828.7000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.


Amy Lee Fraioli MSYP, Chair of the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) was invited to introduce Scotland's First Minister at an event in Edinburgh on Monday, to mark the 20th anniversary of the referendum on devolution.
On 11th September, 1997, the people of Scotland voted for the creation of a Scottish Parliament. This became a reality on 1st July, 1999, when the reconvened Scottish Parliament opened, one day after the formation of Scotland's very own youth parliament – the Scottish Youth Parliament.
To mark this milestone occasion two decades later, Amy Lee was asked to introduce First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon in front of invited guests and members of the press.
Amy Lee said: "It was an absolute honour and a privilege to introduce our First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon. Twenty years on from the historic referendum that gave us our very own parliament, we celebrated the successes that Scotland has made since having power in its own hands.
"One day older than the Scottish Parliament, SYP has built a good relationship so far with our policy and decision makers - Monday's event was an incredible example of this – however, I believe these links can be strengthened.
"I cannot wait to see what the next 20 will bring for our nation. And I hope that in the years to come we will see public policy and legislation better align with the needs and priorities of young people."