IM-elect Sam Sevian, 12, is the youngest player ever to participate in the U.S. Championship.
For a good percentage of the field at the 2013 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's Championship, victory would mean fame, a huge payday, and a soft-drink with dinner. That's because many competitors of both tournaments are first-time contenders, some still in their teens and precociously competing against battle-tested veterans.
One player who was completely surprised at the invitation was WFM Sarah Chiang. Though she is a veteran of competing for the U.S. in World Youth Championships, and has already trained under two world champions, this will also be her first championship. "I thought playing in this year's U.S. Women's Championship was out of reach since I was ranked 19th on the women's list," Chiang said. The 15-year-old received a wild-card invite, and she offers some new blood in an event that traditionally has less turnover than the U.S. Championship. Surprisingly, she has never played any of the other nine women in a tournament.
She said she expects there to be more pressure in Saint Louis than when she competes internationally. "There are fewer players in the field, which means that each player will receive more attention than at a tournament like the World Youth," she explained. Chiang is right – her games will be broadcast in real time all over the world, and players traditionally come down to give live interviews and game analysis with the broadcast team.
Going down the age list, 14-year-old IM Kayden Troff is fresh off a gold medal at the previous World Youth Championship. Like many of the other juniors, he's been to Saint Louis before and has nothing but praise for the host Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. "I think it is great to see the club and the way those involved are actively seeking to popularize chess," Troff said.
Troff comes from Utah, a state not usually known for producing chess prodigies. He's happy to buck the mold, which he did with a focused dedication to the game. "For me, I would say I definitely have some natural talent, but I think putting in a lot of work is probably the main reason I am where I am today." Many strong juniors have had strong chess-playing fathers to guide them (Bryant's stepfather is GM Enrico Sevillano), but Troff's dad actually got better simply to teach his son. Troff credits his father's dedication for his own success (Dan Troff does not compete much but has a provisional rating in the 1300s, while several of Kayden's brothers have achieved modest chess success as well).
It doesn't hurt that he comes from good stock. Sevian's ancestry is Armenian, which could perhaps be the most chess-infused country in the world. Their national team has won gold at three of last four Chess Olympiads, their president flies home the grandmasters in his personal plane, and chess is mandatory in the school system.
Although he has lived all of his life in the U.S., Sevian's work ethic holds chess in similar esteem. In this sense he is not entirely different than the other youngsters. By his estimates, Sevian spends six or seven hours a day training (he also does physical conditioning too). Troff is homeschooled and puts in a similar amount of time. Chiang attends school online but still spends a few hours daily on her chess. She is thinking of taking a year off after high school to focus on chess; Bryant is currently on break from college to devote himself to the game.
There are several other first-timers at the 2013 U.S. Championships. These young guns look to be the future of American chess, and fans may one day look back on this year as the moment when one or two of them graduated from scholastic superstar to top-level American player.
Of course this time he will be come into the tournament ranked 24th, last in a crowded field of grandmasters and other promising juniors. Sevian has been in this exact situation before. At the 23rd Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational in December, Sevian, the only untitled player, was ranked last in the ten-player field. He promptly scored an undefeated 6/9, tied for first, and became an International Master.


with the AAD bloggers and a slew of award-winning, best-selling authors for a weekend of amazing reads, free books, and goodies galore.
Registration is $140 and includes five meals and alcohol (wine and mixed drinks). Activities include panels designed for reader participation on writing craft, including a GBLT track; mini events chock full of goodies and insider info; parties filled with gifts and free books; and two evening events. This year we will have a games night with everything from Romance Pictionary to The Mystical Mavens gypsy tent where you can get free fortune telling. Our Masquerade Ball this year will have as its theme, Literary Characters, and you could win a 50$ gift certificate to BN or Borders for best costume! Door prizes will include works by Jacquelyn Frank, Joey W. Hill, and Susan Sizemore.
Editor appointments will be offered on Friday and Saturday from editors from Kensington, Ballantine, Tease Publishing, Phaze, MLR Press, Samhain, and several others.
get your favorite books signed and pick up others from some of your new favorites, along with a Wine and Sign snack party.
Rooms: $109 a night, double occupancy.
Free shuttle to and from Newark Airport and Secaucus Junction Train station.


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White Halo Xbox One Edition Now Available at $50 Off
By Viet Do May 21, 2015
You can have an Xbox One in any color, so long as it's black… or at least that's what seems to be the philosophy at Microsoft. In the US, that changed a bit with yesterday's white "Special Edition" Xbox One Halo Master Chief Collection Bundle release priced at $349 at the Microsoft Store. That's $50 off the $399 list price – a deal of sorts, but also the same price as the standard black Xbox One. The console became available earlier this year in Japan but finally made its way to American shores this week.
If anyone's still looking to pick up The Witcher 3 this week, PC is where you'll find discounts – and not just any old discount but an impressive 30% off! The France-based gaming retailer DLgamer cut the price $59.99 to $41.99. That's a massive and rarely seen discount for a AAA game on its release week from an authorized retailer.
Over at Best Buy, they're running a "Buy 1 Get 1 50% Off" sale on Nintendo 3DS games… its a pretty decent offer on over 31 titles, and an even better deal if you'rea GCU member. Titles available includes Super Smash Bros, Majora's Mask, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3D.
Blizzard games rarely go on sale with the exception of major holidays but GameStop has select Blizzard titles up to 50% off. The StarCraft II series – both Heart of the Swarm and Wings of Liberty – dropped to only $9.99 each. The World of Warcraft Warlords of Draenor drops to only $29.99 – its lowest price ever.
Game Title MSRP % Off Sale Price
Xbox One White Halo Master Chief Collection $399 13% $349
Best Buy: Buy 1 3DS Game, Get 1 50% Off (Expires today)
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt (DRM-Free) $59.99 30% $41.99
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (PC DVD) $49.99 40% $29.99
Diablo 3 (Battle.net) $39.99 50% $19.99
Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls (Battle.net) $39.99 50% $19.99
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (Battle.net) $19.99 50% $9.99
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (Battle.net) $19.99 50% $9.99
End Game Title MSRP % Off Sale Price
May 22 Just Cause 3 (Steam) $59.99 30% $42.12
May 22 Galactic Civilizations III (Steam) $49.99 22% $39
May 24 Dragon Age: Inquisition (Origin) $59.99 40% $35.99
Project Cars (Steam) $49.99 32% $33.99
May 22 Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward $39.99 22% $31.20
May 22 Life is Strange: Complete Season (Steam) $19.99 22% $15.60
May 24 Plants vs. Zombies Garden Warfare (Origin) $29.99 50% $14.99
May 22 Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (Steam) $15.99 22% $12.48
I am Bread (Steam) $12.99 25% $9.74
May 22 Mass Effect 3 (Origin) $19.99 70% $5.99
May 24 Command and Conquer Ultimate (Origin) $19.99 75% $4.99
May 21 Child of Light (Uplay) $14.99 71% $4.33
Console Deals
PS4 Last of Us Remastered Bundle $399.99 13% $349.99
Farming Simulator 15 +$10 Gift Card (PS4, XOne) $49.99
Monster Hunter 4: Ultimate (3DS) $39.99 20% $31.99
Xbox Live Gold 3 Mo + $10 Gift Card> $24.99 0% $24.99
Power A Mini Series Wired Controller (Xbox One) $39.99 50% $19.99
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (PS Vita, 3DS) $19.99 50% $9.99
Game deals brought to you by the crew at Dealzon. Disclaimer: sales from certain retailers help support Siliconera.
World of Warcraft Warlords of Draenor
Viet Do
Five guys with an unhealthy obsession on tech and gaming deals. Plus pizza. Oh, the sweet, glorious pizza. At Dealzon, we find the deals so you don't have to. Did we also mentioned we love pizza? Right. Okay.
Contest: Final Fantasy XIV Giveaway (PS4)
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Business | Marks & Spencer
The battle for one of Britain's top retailers turns nasty
Jul 1st 2004 |
WITH hindsight, Stuart Rose may regret having bought 100,000 shares in Marks & Spencer, the firm he now runs, because it has made his tough new job more difficult. But he is adamant that, at the time of the purchase, he did not know that his old friend and rival, Philip Green, planned to make a takeover bid, which has now been increased to at least £8.4 billion ($15.3 billion), for the iconic British retailer. Nor, insists Mr Rose, did he know that, as part of its pre-emptive defence, M&S would ask him to be its new boss. "If I had done something wrong I would step down from the company. I have done nothing wrong," he told the BBC.
Now Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) is investigating dealings in M&S shares, which started to increase sharply in value shortly before the bid (see chart). But the inquiry is only one of many distractions for Mr Rose as he prepares for the unveiling on July 12th of his strategy to revive a business that was once in the vanguard of global retailing.
Ever since an altercation between Mr Rose and Mr Green outside M&S's London head office soon after Mr Rose's appointment, things had seemed likely to turn nasty. Why did someone try to get hold of Mr Rose's mobile-phone records? Who else made well-timed purchases of M&S shares before the bid? And what was really said about Mr Green's bid team to a financier visiting the Chelsea Flower Show? All intriguing enough questions to make British newspaper headlines in a quiet week.
The M&S board, which complains of "material factual inaccuracies and innuendo" in some of the newspaper reports, says it is standing behind Mr Rose. "Stuart will not allow himself to be distracted from the task in hand, of maximising value for shareholders," says Paul Myners, the M&S chairman. Mr Green says that any shenanigans have nothing to do with him. Indeed he was once the victim of such things: his first attempt to buy M&S was in part thwarted by what he describes as a "dirty-tricks" campaign against him. Mr Green also backs Mr Rose's story. Although Mr Green rang Mr Rose on May 7th—the day Mr Rose bought his shares—to invite him to a meeting, he says that nothing was said about M&S until the pair met five days later and, in confidence, he revealed details of his plan to buy M&S.
For shareholders, whom to back in the takeover battle had seemed a fairly simple choice: stick with Mr Rose or take Mr Green's bid (twice rejected by the board) which also provides an option to retain a stake in the company. Both men have plenty of retailing experience and so are well-qualified to rebuild M&S. The issue, it seemed, would boil down to which person was thought to be the better retailer.
That question will again be to the fore when Mr Rose announces his plans for reviving M&S and Mr Green responds to them. Mr Rose is likely to reveal a back-to-basics strategy for the 100-year-old retailer, with a more focussed product range and a simplified supply chain. Mr Green has talked about doing similar things. But with an FSA inquiry hovering in the background, the battle has become more complicated. And it may not be resolved soon; investigations into possible insider dealings can drag on for years in Britain.
This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Dirty linen"
Business July 3rd 2004
Europe's power struggle
Moore money
Life in the vault
New jobs shock
Pigtails and tall tales
Whose head will roll?
From the July 3rd 2004 edition


Medical insurance has actually shown itself of wonderful assistance as well as financial aid in certain situations when occasions end up unexpectedly. In times when you are sick and also when your health remains in severe risk as well as when finances seem to be incapable to sustain for your care, medical insurance is right here to the rescue. A good health insurance policy plan will absolutely make things better for you.


Laurent Roch (French, b. 1970) is known for his black and white street photographs. Picking up a strong attention to detail in photographs from his father, Roch began to photograph what he saw while a teenager, developing his skill over time. Similar to the black and white Italian movies of the 50s, Roch is able to capture moments of ordinary life of people on the street, with a heavy focus on atmosphere and fleeting emotions. Roch is currently working and living in Alpes-Maritimes.
Own your own Laurent Roch?


As we approach the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, this BISKIT inspects the underlying philosophy of this divine revolution.
Some think Islam is only about spirituality. Wrong. Some think Islam is only about rituals, like prayers and fasting. Wrong. Some think that Islam is only about our personal development and not about the global society. Wrong, wrong, wrong! In fact, Islam provides direction and solutions for ALL aspects of human life and society, including politics. But how?
This BISKIT explains the Islamic concept of Wilayatul Faqih (Guardianship of the Jurist) plain and simple for all to understand.


The relationship between the Dalle family and flax started 300 years ago along the Lys River. Every generation of the Dalle family has been involved in the flax industry and has developed an engrained passion for it. SANECO is the result of this passion.
Experts in flax for over three centuries, SANECO's history began in 1950 when Gabriel Dalle set up a company specialising in sourcing flax. Two years later, he started traveling around Eastern Europe and Egypt, looking to conquer the world.
In 1978, the goal of conquering the world over was still in full swing and now expanded to China. Our CEO, Benoît Dalle, traveled to the Far East, hoping to build partnerships. It is the beginning of a business relationship with China.
The company then continues its expansion by opening an office in Beijing in 1998, followed in 2002 by a 5000 sqm logistics centre.
Acknowledging the importance of the Eastern Europe region to the industry and pushed by its pioneering spirit, SANECO sets up a Franco-Lithuanian subsidiary in order to further expand its activity.
In 2005, SANECO opened a logistics centre in the Nile Delta.
SANECO possesses know-how, combined with tradition, modernity and passion. The company has rapidly developed a global approach and gained invaluable experience over the years. This has resulted in products, which are made of fibres sourced from the best manufacturing locations, guaranteeing quality, a competitive price and traceability.
Today, SANECO is one of the oldest companies specialising in flax in France. It is now a benchmark in the flax industry, combining know-how, responsiveness and competitiveness.
SANECO started its trading relationship with China at the start of the Chinese Republic. Today, we carry out two activities from China: a bonded warehouse opened in 2002, which stores and ships raw materials, as well as the running of a trade office, which is in direct contact with the spinners. Based in Beijing since 1998, our office mainly markets short and long fibres, as well as tows from France, Belgium, Belarus and Egypt. With many years of experience in this field, our team of eight experts is in charge of downstream controlling and quality monitoring of our products (threads, linens).
Established in 1992, Eurolinen is a Franco-Lithuanian company, forming part of the SANECO Group. This production site predominantly manufactures flax tows (papermaking, automotive industry, insulation, and fabrics), flax threads (agriculture, ropes and insulation) and flax ropes. Eurolinen also markets other products from SANELIN's range: flax fibres and linen. Our offices are located in Vilnius, across 5000 Sqm. Our team comprises of 40 experts who guarantee the quality of the products and their traceability.
The idea behind creating Golden Nile in 2005, was to expand and guarantee the quality of our fibres. Based in Tanta, Egypt, Golden Nile predominantly sources flax dolls, flax tow for papermaking and fabrics, and flax tow combs. Comprising of four employees, our team is also in charge of following the flax market in Egypt and the Middle East, flax manufacturing in other companies and monitoring the quality of all the products sourced in these regions.
One-of-a-kind, Couture Lin is SANECO's online store selling dyed fabric pure linen. We offer a full range of products from 1.50 to 3.05 meters wide, a large range of colors, fabrics weight and texture.
Couture Lin's aim is to guide you through the purchasing process and offer products with fine fibers, a perfect weave and a splendid dye.


Last night my daughter decided to go through her doll clothes to see if we had enough green outfits to have a St. Partick's Day party for the American Girl Dolls. I think she did pretty well.
Is anybody on right now????
they are all too adorable but does gwen look too much like the first one i said?? because gwen is in our doll family..
I'm going to the AG Place for spring break!
from friday through wendsday i am camping with my dad in various places in texas then the rest of the week is stuff with my mom like going to Fossil Rim and the zoo.
Hmm….Peyton…I'd say either 2 or 3……although layered hair can be kind of a nusance because there are very few styles you can do w/ it……I have 2 dolls with layered hair and don't want anymore…Mia's is okay, but my JLY 27, Luna's, is pretty thin……so, probably 3………..
#3 no longer exists, she was replaced by 32.
Oh! I'd say 26! She's really pretty, and her eyes aren't brown, they're amber!
hello,i changed my mind,so what AG Doll do u think i should get?
which one do u think i should get next?
wow abby it's a 1 day drive from here but 2?! my dad would NEVER drive that far we would fly or not go!
My Grandma and Grandpa drive to like Illionos from here in California and thats a few days drive. They are the ULTIMATE travel experiencers!
They are all numbered. The numbers can be seen on clickee namee.
One the page, 1995, the every year from 2004 to now, cept 2007. The dolls all have numbers below them.
And probably tomorrow I'll post the Faerytayle.
THX LENA!!! I've been trying to figure it out ever since i've been coming here lol!!! i (i speak for all of us!!) can't WAIT to hear the faerytayle!!! (I think that's how you spelled it..) this is random but have any of you ever heard of the show 24??
Lena, when I said 2 or 3 I meant of her choices…not the actual dolls….
Yeah, I got that. After a while……… my brain's not working after FCAT.
where is the new thread???????
It's the cats and dolls one at the top right.
Hi lena! and pricsilla, wow lots of choices! you should either get Chrissa or Samantha.
Uggh i HATE FCAT don't you lena???
Yes, but I thankfully never have to take it again! Hehe, I had a little party yesterday with my friends.
yay for you!! I haven't had an FCAT in.. um 2 years i think?? Since i last took one in FL… next year i have to go to a dif school (2 day a week) but IDK what kinda test they do there!!! ttyl g2g to CC!!
Most non public schools make you do just NRT, but that's always easy.
Hey that is so kewl!


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Research Result. Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
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LITERATURE OF PEOPLES AND NATIONS OF THE WORLD
THEORY OF LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE PECULIARITIES OF KING JAMES BIBLE (ON THE ANALYSIS OF THE TEXT OF THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW)
Tatiana A. Poletaeva (Orthodox Saint Tikhon's Humanities University, Russia)
In the context of linguistic and cultural analysis of the background of the King James Bible phenomenon which had a significant influence on the formation of the linguistic worldview of the English people, the author raises the problem of identifying some lexical, grammatical, spelling, syntax, and stylistic peculiarities of the English language used in translation of the King James Version. Analyzing the English text of the Gospel according to St. Matthew and using a wealth of material, the author demonstrates the above-mentioned peculiarities (the use of archaisms, inversion, special construction of negative and interrogative sentences, 'over-stopped' punctuation and others). In some cases the author compares certain parts of the text with the same parts in the Greek and Russian Synodal translations and reveals their theological implication. The study confirms the spiritual closeness of the English text of the King James Version and the Russian Synodal Bible text, which allows using the King James Version in Orthodox Liturgical services in English abroad. The author draws a conclusion about the harmonious synthesis of scientific and theological approaches in the translation of the King James Bible.
Keywords: King James Bible, vocabulary, grammatical, spelling, syntax, stylistic peculiarities, over-stopped punctuation, scientific approach, liturgical character.
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Baranova, L. Ontology of English Writing. Moscow: PSTGU, 2008. 310 p.
The English-Russian Dictionary. Minsk: Literatura, 1998. 1168 p.
The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha. Cambridge: The Cambridge University Press. 872 p.
Biblezoom: Profound Study of the Biblical Text Online. http://www.biblezoom.ru (date of access: March 1, 2015).
Alekseev, M., Nagornaya, A. The King James Bible: 1611-2011: Cultural and linguistic heritage. Responsible Editor Yakovenko E.B. M.: BukiVedi, 2013. 250. Abstract Journal of Jazykoznanie, V. 3 (2014). Pp. 47-54.
Gumovskaya, G. Languages for Special Purposes: Religious English. Religious communication and professional education. Series of Linguistics, no 18 (704) (2014). Pp. 210-220.
Konurbaev, M. King James Bible in Linguistic and Poetical Sanctification http://www.bibleist.ru/biblio.php?q=046/01&f=03.html (date of access: March 1, 2015).
Prokhorova T.A. King James Bible – 400 years. URL: http://libfl.ru/about/dept/religion_centre/King_James_Bible_Ru.pdfhttp://libfl.ru/about/dept/religion_centre/King_James_Bible_Ru.pdf (date of access: March 1, 2015).
Maugham, William Somerset. The Moon and Sixpence. Moscow: Eksmo, 2004. 544 p.
The Holy Bible. New Revised Standard Version. Nashville. Thomas Nelson Publishers. 816 p.
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By Chace Thibodeaux on September 22, 2014 • ( 1 Comment )
UTFO (Untouchable Force Organization) was a legendary and iconic four-man rap group, consisting of rappers The Kangol Kid, Doctor Ice, and Educated Rapper, along with DJ Mix Master Ice, that burst onto the burgeoning rap music scene in 1984, when they released this single, ROXANNE ROXANNE
This outwardly simple song, in which the three rappers each tell their story of approaching and being rejected by a new girl in their neighborhood, was produced by R&B group Full Force and launched what seemed like dozens of answer records. I was in Elementary School at the time, and I remember how almost every week a new "Roxanne" record was coming. Roxanne's Revenge, Roxanne's Parents, Roxanne's A Man, ad infinitum. It was quite exciting for awhile. Later that year, the group released their debut self-titled album on Select Records, which included Roxanne Roxanne along with 8 more songs, all produced by Full Force.
The album opens with LEADER OF THE PACK, an ode to the skills of their DJ, Mix Master Ice. A great uptempo song, in which the guys trade lines back and forth as skillful as Run-DMC.
The 2nd song is BEATS AND RHYMES which has an infectious electro beat.
Then they with the third song they totally genres. FAIRYTALE LOVER is a ballad, sung by The Kangol Kid (who also wrote it). It is surprisingly good.
LISA LIPS is perhaps an attempt to recreate the success of Roxanne Roxanne, as once again the rappers each rap about a particular woman in their neighborhood. But this time the theme is that the girl is a slut that Kangol Kid was originally interested in but Doctor Ice and Educated Rapper talk him out of it by telling him about her promiscuity. In hindsight it's probably a bit misogynistic by modern standards, but it's a thumping beat and some rock guitars in the background that make this nice to listen.
HANGING OUT is an uptempo song with a nice beat and catchy chorus. This was actually their first single, and Roxanne Roxanne was just the B-side, but radio stations began playing that instead. But it's a good track.
BITE IT is a fun song featuring an uncredited human beat box which may or may not have actually been Doug E. Fresh, in which the guys rap about "biters" (others who copy them and try to steal their rhymes).
THE REAL ROXANNE was UTFO and Full Force's attempt to create an authorized answer record to Roxanne Roxanne, hiring a woman named Elease Jack to play the part of Roxanne and rap over their original beat. It's a decent record, but I must say that it's just not as good as Roxanne's Revenge by Roxanne Shante.
And the finale track on the album is CALLING HER A CRAB (ROXANNE PART 2) which was the group's attempt to finally put an end to the Roxanne wars altogether. In this song they go after Roxanne with vicious rhymes attacking her, her appearance, and her family. It's brutal (but fun).
Overall this is a solid album, all three rappers were great and complement each other's styles well in each song. No matter what the subject matter is, they always sound like they're having FUN on each track. And much credit goes to Full Force for their production. One trademark they used with this group is that often they would switch the beat for each rapper's verse, which was very effective.
CHACEBOOK RATING: FIVE STARS
The complete album has not been released digitally, and the CD is out of print but can be found on Amazon, while some of these song are available on their Greatest Hits album on iTunes.
Tagged as: Doctor Ice, Doug E. Fresh, Educated Rapper, Elease Jack, Full Force, Mix Master Ice, Roxanne Roxanne, Select Records, The Kangol Kid, The Real Roxanne, Untouchable Force Organization, UTFO, UTFO's debut album
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Find Pre foreclosures before they hit the market in Memphis Tn 38125 — before they are even listed – at Foreclosure.com. There are currently 52 pre foreclosure homes in Memphis Tn 38125, that are potentially available for sale at drastically reduced prices. We know how to find pre foreclosure listings for free in Memphis Tn 38125, and share that valuable information, as well as how to contact a homeowner facing foreclosure with sample pre foreclosure letters and marketing templates. Find pre foreclosure homes in Memphis Tn 38125, contact the homeowners and possibly save up to 75% off market value with help from Foreclosure.com.
There are currently 52 red-hot tax lien listings in Memphis Tn 38125.


Don't you just wish people started singing and dancing as they talked about their life decisions, complete with beautiful choreography and song writing? Well, reality is pretty harsh to provide us with such luxuries; it's a good thing we have musicals to fill that empty void in our hearts, then.
I don't know about you, but there's something so enchanting about people dancing and singing though a narrative, especially when it flows so well that it seems impossible that a bunch of human beings were able to conceptualize it. It works your left brain's love of order and arrangement and your right brain's love of chaos and flamboyance that it's no surprise when people get addicted to musicals as much as others get addicted to drugs.
Musicals started in small actors' guilds, eventually making their way into Broadway and finally to a wider audience on the silver screen. Some would argue that a live stage still produces the purest form of musicals, while others say that musicals are meant to be enjoyed by the largest number of people possible, but that's a topic for another article.
La La Land is a homage to old movie musicals that takes inspiration from classics like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Singing in the Rain. Though set in modern times, the design and art of La La Land seem to be stuck in the 80s, with bright colors, art deco designs and hand-painted murals revitalizing themselves throughout the film.
Unlike classic movie musicals, La La Land doesn't show the world through utopian-goggled eyes. It shows the struggles and compromises of following your dreams and the little hiccups along the way. It's more grounded in reality and follows the story of two people, an aspiring jazz musician named Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) and a dime-a-dozen aspiring coffee shop actress named Mia (Emma Stone), in the backdrop of Los Angeles.
Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone have this great chemistry onscreen that has crescendoed over their past two films. They easily represent the old movie couples that we've seen in black-and-white films. Individually, their performances were great. Together, they were incredible beyond all measure. They sang, danced and acted so beautifully that it was hard to picture anyone else in their shoes (even though Emma Watson and Miles Teller where first considered for the roles).
In general, Damien Chazelle succeeded in crafting this world of musicals with a heavy touch of reality.
The opening song is still stuck in my head even after watching it a few days ago. Opening with "Another Day in the Sun" (which sets the tone of the whole film) and up to the final note of "City of Stars", every song is memorable. It didn't fall into the trap of singing every mundane scene, but it chose the right moments and intensified them with great focus through lighting and set.
You'll see classical musical checklist scenes like tap dancing, mob choreography and soliloquies, but all of them are done in a modern way that only Damien Chazelle could own them. Film has the advantage over theatre musicals in terms of camera angles, and he took advantage of this by making musicals feel new again.
Overall, La La Land is a great film and deserves a spot with the great classic musicals. Technically and creatively, it is both a great movie and a great musical. It kept the look and feel of the classical movie musicals but made the story grounded in reality that it felt a little bitter sweet by the end.
It shows us that life is about struggles and compromises, and to achieve your dreams, effort and sacrifices are required. From the conception of this film to the moment it won seven Golden Globe Awards, that concept echoes true. We'll be expecting more great music-themed movies from Damien Chazelle and the continued bloom of Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's chemistry.


The Kingdom of the Lombards (Latin: Regnum Langobardorum) also known as the Lombard Kingdom; later the Kingdom of (all) Italy (Latin: Regnum totius Italiae), was an early medieval state established by the Lombards, a Germanic-speaking people, on the Italian Peninsula in the latter part of the 6th century. The king was traditionally elected by the highest-ranking aristocrats, the dukes, as several attempts to establish a hereditary dynasty failed. The kingdom was subdivided into a varying number of duchies, ruled by semi-autonomous dukes, which were in turn subdivided into gastaldates at the municipal level. The capital of the kingdom and the center of its political life was Pavia in the modern northern Italian region of Lombardy.
Over time, the Lombards gradually adopted Roman titles, names and traditions. By the time Paul the Deacon was writing in the late 8th century, the Lombardic language, dress and hairstyles had all disappeared. Initially the Lombards were Arianist Christians, at odds with the Papacy both religiously and politically. However, by the end of the 7th century, their conversion to Catholicism was all but complete. Nevertheless, their conflict with the Papacy continued, and was responsible for their gradual loss of power in the face of the Franks, who conquered the kingdom in 774. Charlemagne, the king of the Franks, adopted the title "King of the Lombards", although he never managed to gain control of Benevento, the southernmost Lombard duchy.
A reduced Regnum Italiae, a heritage of the Lombards, continued to exist for centuries as one of the constituent kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire, roughly corresponding to the territory of the former Langobardia Maior. The so-called Iron Crown of Lombardy, one of the oldest surviving royal insignia of Christendom, may have originated in Lombard Italy as early as the 7th century and continued to be used to crown Kings of Italy until Napoleon Bonaparte in the early 19th century.
In the 6th century Byzantine Emperor Justinian attempted to reassert imperial authority in the territories of the Western Roman Empire. In the resulting Gothic War (535–554) waged against the Ostrogothic Kingdom, Byzantine hopes of an early and easy triumph evolved into a long war of attrition that resulted in mass dislocation of population and destruction of property, problems further exacerbated by widespread famine (538–542) and a devastating plague pandemic (541–542). Although the Byzantine Empire eventually prevailed, the triumph proved to be a pyrrhic victory, as these all factors caused the population of Italian Peninsula to crash, leaving the conquered territories severely underpopulated and impoverished.
The Lombard arrival broke the political unity of the Italian Peninsula for the first time since the Roman conquest (between the 3rd and 2nd century BC). The peninsula was now torn between territories ruled by the Lombards and the Byzantines, with boundaries which changed over time.
The newcoming Lombards were divided into two main areas in Italy: the Langobardia Maior, which comprised northern Italy gravitating around the capital of the Lombard kingdom, Ticinum (the modern-day city of Pavia in the Italian region of Lombardy); and Langobardia Minor, which included the Lombard duchies of Spoleto and Benevento in southern Italy. The territories which remained under Byzantine control were called "Romania" (today's Italian region of Romagna) in northeastern Italy and had its stronghold in the Exarchate of Ravenna.
Lombard rule at the death of Alboin (572).
Later in 572, the thirty-five dukes assembled in Pavia hailed king Cleph. The new monarch extended the boundaries of the kingdom, completing the conquest of Tuscia and laying siege to Ravenna. Cleph tried to consistently pursue the policy of Alboin, which aimed to break the legal-administrative institutions firmly established during Ostrogoth and Byzantine rule, by eliminating much of Latin aristocracy, occupying the lands and acquiring the assets. He too, however, in 574 fell victim of a regicide, slain by a man of his entourage, perhaps instigated by the Byzantines.
Following Cleph's assassination another king was not appointed, and for a decade  dukes ruled as absolute monarchs in their duchies, not without internal struggles (Rule of the Dukes or of anarchy). At this stage, the occupation of the dukes was simply the heads of the various fare of the Lombard people; not yet firmly associated with the cities, they simply acted independently, also because they were under pressure of the warriors nominally under their authority to exploit the still largely possibility of loot. This unstable situation, which persisted over time, led to the final collapse of the Roman-Italic political-administrative structure, which was almost maintained up to the invasion, so that the same Roman-Italic aristocracy had retained responsibility for civil administration (as exemplified by the likes of Cassiodorus).
In Italy the Lombards then imposed themselves at first as the dominant caste in place of the pre-existing one, deleted or thrown out. The products of the land were allocated to his Roman subjects that worked it, giving to the Lombards a third (tertia) of crops. The proceeds were not given to individuals but to the fare, which administered them in the halls (a term still used in the Italian toponymy). The economic system of late antiquity, which focused on large estates worked by peasants in semi-servile condition, was not revolutionized, but modified only to benefit the new rulers.
After ten years of interregnum, the need for a strong centralized monarchy was clear even to the most independent of the dukes; Franks and Byzantines pressed and the Lombards could no longer afford a too fluid power structure, useful only to make forays in search of plunder. In 584 the dukes agreed to crown king Cleph's son, Autari, and delivered to the new monarch half of their property (and then probably getting even with a new crackdown against the surviving Roman property land).
Autari was then able to engage in the reorganization of the Lombards and their settlement in stable form in Italy. He assumed, like the Ostrogoth Kings, the title of Flavio, with which he intended to proclaim himself also protector of all Romans on its territory: it was a clear call, with anti-Byzantine overtones, to the heritage of the Western Roman Empire.
From the military point of view, Autari defeated both the Byzantines and Franks and broke the coalition, thereby fulfilling the mandate which the dukes themselves had entrusted him at the time of his election. In 585 he drove the Franks into modern Piedmont and led the Byzantines to ask, for the first time since the Lombards had entered Italy, for a truce. At the end, occupied the last Byzantine stronghold in northern Italy: Isola Comacina in Lake Como.
To ensure a stable peace with the Franks, Autari attempted to marry a Frankish princess, but the project failed. Then the king, in a move that would influence the fate of the kingdom for more than a century, turned to the traditional enemies of the Franks, the Bavarii, to marry a princess, Theodelinda, which is more blood was Lethings (i.e. descended from Wacho, king of the Lombards between 510 and 540 and a figure surrounded by an aura of legend, a member of a royal line of great ascendency over the Lombards).
Autari died in that same 590, probably due to poisoning in a palace plot and, according to the legend recorded by Paul the Deacon, the succession to the throne was decided in a novel fashion. It was the young widowed Queen Theodelinda, a Bavarii of Lething descent, to choose the heir to the throne and her new husband: the Duke of Turin, Agilulf. The following year (591) Agilulf received the official investiture from the Assembly of the Lombards, held in Milan. The influence of the queen over Agilulf's policies was remarkable and major decisions are attributed to both.
The Lombard Kingdom with its three main areas: Neustria, Austria and Tuscia.
After a rebellion among some dukes in 594 was nipped in the bud, Agilulf and Theodelinda developed a policy of strengthening their hold of Italian territory, while securing their borders through peace treaties with France and the Avars. The truce with the Byzantines was systematically violated and the decade up to 603 was marked by a marked recovery of the Lombard advance. In northern Italy Agilulf occupied, among other cities, Parma, Piacenza, Padova, Monselice, Este, Cremona and Mantua, but also to the south the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento, extending the Lombards' domains.
The strengthening of royal powers, started by Autari and continued by Agilulf, also marked the transition to a new concept based on stable territorial division of the kingdom into Duchies. Each duchy was led by a Duke, not just the head of a fara but also a royal official, depositary of public powers. The locations of the duchies were established in strategically important centers, thus further the development of many urban centers placed along the main communication routes of the time (Cividale del Friuli, Treviso, Trento, Turin, Verona, Bergamo, Brescia, Ivrea, Lucca). In the management of public power dukes were joined by minor officials, these the sculdahis and the gastald.
The new organization of power, less linked to race and Clan relations and more to land management, marked a milestone in the consolidation of the Lombard kingdom in Italy, which gradually lost the character of a pure military occupation and approached a more proper state model. The inclusion of the losers (the Romans) was an inevitable step, and Agilulf made some symbolic choices aimed at the same time in strengthening its power and to credit it with the people of Latin descent. The ceremony of association to the throne of her son Adaloald in 604, followed a Byzantine rite, chose as the capital no longer Pavia, but the ancient Roman city of Milan and Monza as a summer residence; identified himself, in a votive crown, Gratia Dei rex totius Italiae ("By the grace of God king of all Italy", and not just Langobardorum rex, "King of the Lombards").
Moves in this direction also the strong pressure, particularly from Theodelinda, of turning toward the conversion of the Lombards to Catholicism, until then still largely pagan or Arians. The rulers also endeavored to heal the Three Chapter schism (where the Patriarch of Aquileia had broken communion with Rome), maintained a direct relationship with Gregory the Great (preserved in correspondence between him and Theodelinda) and promote the establishment of monasteries, like the one founded by Saint Columbanus in Bobbio.
The Lombard rule at the death of Rothari (652).
After death of Agilulf, in 616, the throne passed to his son Adaloald, a minor. The regency (which in fact continued even after the release of King from minority) was exercised by the Queen Mother Theodelinda, who gave the military command to the Duke Sundarit. Theodelinda continued Agilulf's pro-Catholic policy and peace with the Byzantines, however, this caused an ever stronger opposition from the warrior and Arian component of the Lombards. Conflict broke out in 624 and was led by Arioald, Duke of Turin and Adaloald's brother in law (he married his sister Gundeperga). Adaloald was deposed in 625 and Arioald became king.
The "coup d'etat" against the Bavarian dynasty of Adaloald and Theodelinda, which led Arioald to the throne, opened a season of conflict between the two religious components of the realm. Behind or beside the choice of faith, however, the conflict had political colourings, as it opposed the architects of a policy of peace with Byzantium and the Papacy and integration with the Romans to the proponents of a more aggressive and expansionist policy (Arian nobility).
After the short reign of the son of Rothari, his son Rodoald (652-653), the dukes elected king Aripert I, Duke of Asti and grandson of Theodolinda. So returned to the throne the Bavarian dynasty, a sign of the dominance of the Catholic faction over the Arian one; the kingdom of Aripert was known for the heavy repression of Arianism. At his death (661) Aripert's will divided the kingdom between his two sons, Perctarit and Godepert. The procedure was common among the Franks, but remained a unique case among the Lombards. Perhaps because the partition entered immediately into crisis: a conflict broke out between Perctarit, based in Milan, and Godepert, who remained in Pavia, which also involved the Duke of Benevento, Grimoald. The duke intervened with substantial military force to support Godepert, but as soon as he arrived in Pavia, he killed the king and took his place. Perctarit, clearly in inferiority, fled to the Avars.
Grimoald obtained the investiture of the Lombard nobles, but still had to deal with the legitimate faction, which tied international alliances to bring the throne Perctarit. Grimoald obtained from the Avars and the return of the deposed ruler and Perctarit, as soon as he returned to Italy, had to make an act of submission to the usurper before he could escape to the Franks of Neustria, who in 663 attacked Grimoald. The new king, hated by Neustria because he was allied with the Franks of Austrasia, repelled them in Refrancore, near Asti, and remained on his throne.
Grimoald, who in 663 had also defeated an attempt to reconquer Italy by the Byzantine Emperor Constans II, exercised his sovereign powers with a fullness never attained by his predecessors. At the fidelity of his Duchy of Benevento entrusted to his son Romuald, added that the duchies of Spoleto and Friuli, where he imposed dukes loyal to him. He favoured the integration of the different components of the kingdom, and presented his subjects with an image modeled on that of his predecessor Rotari, at the same time that of wise legislator (Grimoald added new laws to the Edict), patron (built in Pavia a church dedicated to Saint Ambrose) and valiant warrior.
With Grimoald's death, in 671, Perctarit returned from exile and ended the ephemeral realm of Garibald, the son of Grimoald and still a child. He immediately came to an agreement with Grimoald's other son, Romualdo I of Benevento, who pledged loyalty in exchange for recognition of the autonomy of his duchy. Perctarit developed a policy in line with the tradition of his dynasty and supported the Catholic Church against Arianism and members to Three-Chapter Controversy. He sought and achieved peace with the Byzantines, who acknowledged Lombard sovereignty over most of Italy, and repressed the rebellion of the Duke of Trent, Alahis, although at the cost of hard territorial concessions (the duke himself also obtained for the Duchy of Brescia).
The crisis resulted from the divergence between the two regions of Langobardia Maior: on one side the western regions (Neustria), loyal to the Bavarian rulers, pro-Catholic and supporters of the policy of reconciliation with Rome and Byzantium; on the other side the eastern part (Austria), linked to the Lombard tradition that, after accession to paganism and Arianism, didn't want to resign himself to a mitigation of the warlike character of their people.
The branch of the dukes of Austria challenged the increasing "latinization" of customs, court practices, law and religion, which accelerated the disintegration and loss of Germanic identity of the Lombard people. The victory allowed Cuniperto, already long associated with the throne by his father and not a secondary actor of his policy, to continue the work of pacification of the kingdom, always with a pro-Catholic accent. A synod convened in Pavia in 698, sanctioned the reabsorption of the Three-Chapter Controversy, with the return of the schismatic to Roman obedience.
Cunipert's death in 700, marked the opening of a dynastic crisis. The ascent to the throne of the minor son of Cunipert, Liutpert, was immediately challenged by the Duke of Turin, Raginpert, also leader of the Bavarian dynasty. Raginpert defeated in Novara the supporters of Liutpert (his tutor Ansprand, Duke of Asti, and the Duke of Bergamo, Rotarit) and the beginning of 701, succeeded to the throne. However, he died after just eight months, leaving the throne to his son Aripert II.
Ansprand and Rotarit reacted immediately and imprisoned Aripert, returning the throne to Liutpert. Aripert, in turn, managed to escape and meet with the tutors of his antagonist. In 702 he defeated them in Pavia, imprisoned Liutpert and occupied the throne. Shortly after, he finally defeated the opposition: he killed Rotarit, suppressed his duchy and drowned Liutpert. Only Ansprand managed to escape, taking refuge in Bavaria. Subsequently, Aripert crushed a new rebellion, that of the Duke of Friuli, Corvulus, and was able to develop a policy of appeasement, always favouring the Catholic element in the kingdom.
In 712 Ansprand returned to Italy with an army raised in Bavaria, and clashed with Aripert; the battle was uncertain, but the king gave proof of cowardice and was abandoned by his supporters. He died while trying to escape to the realm of the Franks, and drowned in the Ticino, where he sank due to the weight of gold that he brought with him . With him ended the presence of the Bavarian dynasty on the throne of the Lombards.
Lombard's Domains at Liutprand's death (744).
Ansprand died after only three months of his reign, leaving the throne to his son Liutprand. His reign, the longest of all those Lombards in Italy, was characterized by the almost religious admiration that was accorded to the king by his people, who recognized in him boldness, courage and political vision; Thanks to these qualities Liutprand survived a two attempts on his life (one organized by one of his relatives, Rotari), and he displayed no inferior qualities in the conduct of the many wars of his long reign.
These values are typical of Liutprand Germanic descent, king of a nation now overwhelmingly Catholic, joined by those of a ''piissimus rex'' (despite having tried several times to take control of Rome). On two occasions, in Sardinia and in the region of Arles (where he had been called by his ally Charles Martel) he successfully fought Saracen pirates, enhancing his reputation as a Christian king.
His alliance with the Franks, crowned by a symbolic adoption of the young Pepin the Short, and with the Avars, on the eastern borders, allowed him to keep his hand relatively free in the Italian theater, but he soon came to a clash with the Byzantines and with the Papacy. A first attempt to take advantage of an Arab offensive against Constantinople, in 717, achieved few results; to draw closer to the papacy had therefore wait for the outbreak of tensions caused by the worsening of the Byzantine tax and the expedition in 724 conducted by the Exarch of Ravenna to destitute the rebel Pope Gregory II.
Later on he exploited the disputes between the pope and Constantinople over iconoclasm (after the decree of Emperor Leo III the Isaurian of 726) to take possession of many cities of the Exarchate and of the Pentapolis, posing as the protector of Catholics. In order not to antagonize the Pope, he gave up the occupation of the village of Sutri; however, Liutprand gave back the city not to the emperor, but to "the apostles Peter and Paul", as Paul the Deacon related in his ''Historia Langobardorum''. This donation, known as the Donation of Sutri, provided the legal precedent for attributing a temporal power to the papacy, which finally produced the Papal States.
In the following years, Liutprand entered into an alliance with the Exarch against the pope, without giving up the old one with the Pope against the Exarch; he crowned this classic double play with an offensive that led to the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento under his authority, eventually arriving to negotiate a peace between the pope and Exarch beneficial for the Lombards. No Lombard king ever had obtained similar results in wars with other powers on the Italian territory. In 732 his nephew Hildeprand, who succeeded him on the throne, even briefly succeeded in taking possession of Ravenna, however he was driven away by the Venetians called shortly after the new pope, Gregory III.
Liutprand was the last of the Lombard king to count on the unity of his kingdom; after him no king was able to eliminate the opposition and to reign supreme, and indeed many dukes' defections and the constant betrayals would lead to the ultimate defeat. The strength of his power was based not only on personal charisma, but also on the reorganization of the kingdom which he had undertaken since the early years. He strengthened the chancellery of the royal palace of Pavia and defined in an organic way the territorial competencies (legal and administrative) of sculdasci, gastalds and dukes. He was also very active in the legislative field: the twelve volumes of laws enacted by him introduced legal reforms inspired by Roman law, improve the efficiency of the courts, changed the wergild and, above all, protected the weaker sectors of society (minors, women, debtors, slaves ).
Already in the 7th century, the socio-economic structure of the kingdom had been progressively changing. Population growth led to fragmentation of funds, which increased the number of Lombards that fell below the poverty line, as evidenced by the laws aimed to alleviate their difficulties. By contrast, some Romans began to ascend the social ladder, becoming rich through commerce, crafts, the professions or the acquisition of lands that the Lombards had not been able to manage profitably. Liutprand intervened also in this process by reforming the administrative structure of the kingdom and freeing the poorest Lombards from military obligations.
Hildeprand's reign lasted only a few months, then was overthrown by a rebellion led by Duke Ratchis. The details of the episode are not clear, since the crucial testimony of Paul Deacon ended with a eulogy on the death of Liutprand. Hildeprand had been anointed king in 737, during a serious illness Liutprand (who did not like at all: "Non aequo animo accepit" wrote Paul Deacon ), although, once recovered, he accepted the choice. The new king, then, at least initially enjoyed the support of most of the aristocracy, if not that of the great monarch. Ratchis, the Duke of Friuli who took the throne in his place, came from a family with a long tradition of rebellion against the monarchy and rivalry with the royal family, but on the other hand, he owed his life and the ducal title to Liutprand, who had forgiven him after discovering a conspiracy headed by his father, Pemmo of Friuli.
Ratchis was a weak ruler: on one side he had to concede greater freedom of action to the other dukes, on the other extreme he had to take care not to exacerbate the Franks and, above all, the mayor of the palace and de facto king Pepin the Short, the adopted son of the king that had dethroned his nephew. Not being able to trust the traditional structures of support for the Lombard monarchy, he sought support among the gasindii, namely the gentry bound to the king by treaties of protection  and especially among the Romans, the non-Lombard subjects.
These innovations of ancient costumes, along with public pro-Latin attitudes (he married a Roman woman, Tassia, and with Roman rite; adopted the title of princeps instead of the traditional ''rex Langobardorum'') increasingly alienated the Lombard base which forced him to seek a total change of heart, with a sudden attack to the cities of the Pentapolis. The pope, however, convinced him to abandon the siege of Perugia. After this failure the prestige of Ratchis collapsed and the dukes elected as the new king his brother Aistulf, who had already succeeded him as duke in Cividale and now, after a short struggle, forced him to flee to Rome and finally to become a monk in Monte Cassino.
Aistulf was the political expression of the more aggressive stance of the dukes, who refused an active component of the Roman population. For his expansionist policy, however, he had to reorganize the army to include, albeit in a subordinate position of light infantry, all ethnic groups in the kingdom. To be subject to military obligations were all free men of the kingdom, both those of Roman and Lombard origin; the military standards promulgated by Aistulf mention several times the merchants, a sign of how the class had now become relevant.
Lombards domains after the conquests of Aistulf (751).
Initially Aistulf achieved some notable successes, culminating in the conquest of Ravenna (751); here the king, residing in the Palace of the Exarch and coining money in Byzantine style, presented his program: to collect under its power all the Romans until then subject to the emperor, without necessarily merging them with the Lombards. The Exarchate was not homologous to other Lombard possessions in Italy (that is it was not converted into a Duchy), but retained its specificity as sedes imperii: this way Aistulf proclaimed himself heir, in the eyes of Italian Romans, of the Byzantine Emperor and of the Exarch, his representative.
Just when it seemed Aistulf was now up and running to defeat all opposition on Italian soil, in Gaul Pepin the Short, the old enemy of the usurpers of Liutprand's family, finally managed to overthrow the Merovingian dynasty, deposing Childeric III and becoming king also de jure. The support of the papacy was decisive, although negotiations were also underway between Aistulf and the pope (which soon failed), and an attempt was made to weaken Pepin by lobbying against him his brother Carloman.
Because of the threat that this move was for the new king of the Franks, an agreement between Pepin and Stephen II settled, in exchange for the formal royal anointing, the descent of the Franks in Italy. In 754 the Lombard army, deployed in defence of the Locks in Val di Susa, was defeated by the Franks. Aistulf, perched in Pavia, had to accept a treaty that required the delivery of hostages and territorial concessions, but two years later resumed the war against the pope, who in turn called on the Franks.
Defeated again, Aistulf had to accept much harsher conditions: Ravenna was returned not to the Byzantines, but to the pope, increasing the core area of the Patrimony of St. Peter; Aistulf had to accept a sort of Frankish protectorate, the loss of territorial continuity of his domains and payment of substantial compensation. The duchies of Spoleto and Benevento were quick to ally themselves with the victors. Aistulf died shortly after this severe humiliation, in 756.
Aistulf's brother Ratchis left the monastery and attempted, initially with some success, to return to the throne. He opposed Desiderius, who was put in charge of the Duchy of Tuscia by Aistulf and based in Lucca; he did not belong to the dynasty of Friuli, frowned upon by the pope and the Franks, and managed to get their support. The Lombards surrendered to him to avoid another descent of the Franks and Rachis was persuaded by the Pope to return to Monte Cassino.
Desiderius with a clever and discreet policy gradually reasserted Lombard control over the territory by leveraging on the Romans again, creating a network of monasteries ruled by Lombard aristocrats (his daughter Anselperga was created abbess of San Salvatore in Brescia), dealing with Pope Stephen II's successor, pope Paul I, and recognizing the nominal domain on many areas truly in his power, such as reclaimed southern duchies. He also implemented a casual marriage policy, marrying his daughter Liutperga to the Duke of Bavaria, Tassilo (763), historical adversary of the Franks and, at the death of Pepin the Short, by marrying the other daughter Desiderata (who was immortalised in the tragedy Adelchi by Alessandro Manzoni as Ermengarde) to the future Charlemagne, offering him a useful support in the fight against his brother Carloman.
Just when, in 771, Desiderius was about to reap the fruits of his skillful policy by managing to convince the new pope, Stephen II, to accept his protection, the death of Carloman left freehanded Charlemagne, now firmly on the throne, which repudiated the daughter of Desiderius. The following year a new pope, Adrian I, of the opposite party of Desiderius, reversed the delicate game of alliances, demanding the surrender of the area never ceded by Desiderius and thus bring him to resume the war against the cities of Romagna.
Charlemagne, though he had just begun his campaign against the Saxons, came to the aid of the pope, fearing the capture of Rome by the Lombards and the consequent loss of prestige. Between 773 and 774 he invaded Italy - once again the defence of the Locks was ineffective, the fault on the divisions among the Lombards - and, having prevailed against a tough resistance, captured the capital of the kingdom, Pavia.
The son of Desiderius, Adalgis, found refuge with the Byzantines. Desiderius and his wife were deported in Gaul. Charles then called himself Gratia Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum ( "By the grace of God king of the Franks and the Lombards"), realizing a personal union of the two kingdoms; he maintained the Leges Langobardorum, but reorganized the kingdom on the Frankish model, with counts in place of dukes.
Thus ended Lombard Italy, and nobody can say whether it was, for our country, a fortune or a misfortune. Alboin and his successors were awkward masters, more awkward than Theodoric, until they had been barbarians camped on a conquest territory. But now they were assimilating with Italy and could turn it into a Nation, as the Franks were doing in France.
But in France there wasn't the Pope. In Italy, there was.
— Alessandro Manzoni, Adelchi, Choir Third Act.
Sergio Rovagnati defines the continuing negative prejudice against the Lombards "a sort of damnatio memoriae", common to that given often to all the protagonists of the barbarian invasions. The most recent historiographical guidelines, however, have largely reassessed the lombard era of the history of Italy. The German historian Jörg Jarnut pointed out all the elements that constitute the historical importance of the Lombard kingdom.
The persistent injury historiography on the "dark ages" has long cast shadows on the Lombard kingdom, averting the interest of writers from that period. Few literary works have so been set in Italy between the 6th and 8th centuries; between them, relevant exceptions are those of Giulio Cesare Croce and Alessandro Manzoni. More recently the Friulian writer Marco Salvador has devoted a trilogy fiction to the Lombard kingdom.
The figure of Bertoldo/Berthold, a humble and clever farmer from Retorbido, who lived during the reign of Alboin (568-572), inspired many oral traditions throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period. In them found inspiration the 17th scholar Giulio Cesare Croce in his Le sottilissime astutie di Bertoldo ("the smart craftiness of Berthold") (1606), which in 1608 added the following Le piacevoli et ridicolose simplicità di Bertoldino ("The pleasant and ridiculous simplicity of Little Berthold"), about son of Berthold.
↑ In this regard, it is worth mentioning the partition Pepin the Short didvided his kingdom between his two sons Carloman and Charles (future Charlemagne), and the division prepared by Charlemagne himself in favour of the three heirs.


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Warren Buffett could be dead wrong about selling these 3 stocks recently - here's why they still have plenty of upside and might be worth buying
In Business/Economy
By MoneyWise
Warren Buffett could be dead wrong about selling these 3 stocks recently — here's why they still have plenty of upside and might be worth buying
Warren Buffett once said his favorite holding period is forever.
But that doesn't mean he's not going to sell any of the stocks in his portfolio.
In fact, every quarter, Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway would make adjustments to its portfolio.
For instance, while Berkshire's latest SEC filings suggest it has made new purchases, it also reduced its positions in quite a few companies.
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But remember, Buffett also famously said to be "fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful."
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While that's still a sizable stake in a large financial institution, it's down 56% from the 119,805,135 shares of U.S. Bancorp that Berkshire held at the end of June.
U.S. Bancorp hasn't been a hot commodity as the stock has tumbled 23% year to date.
But interest rates are on the rise, and that could serve as a tailwind for banks.
Banks lend money out at higher interest rates than they borrow, pocketing the difference. As interest rates increase, the spread earned by banks widens.
JPMorgan analyst Vivek Juneja sees upside in U.S. Bancorp. The analyst has an 'overweight rating' on the bank and recently raised the price target to $47 - around 7% above the current levels.
Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE:BK)
Bank of New York Mellon came into existence from the merger of The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial in 2007.
Today, it stands as the world's largest custodian bank, which safeguards clients' financial assets.
In Q3, Berkshire sold 10,146,575 shares of BNY Mellon, representing a 14% reduction. However, Buffett's company still owned 62,210,878 shares of the custodian bank at the end of September, amounting to a 7.7% stake.
Just like U.S. Bancorp, BNY Mellon hasn't been a market darling - shares are also down 23% in 2022.
But not everyone is turning bearish. Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz has a 'buy' rating on BNY Mellon and raised the price target from $46 to $50 after seeing the company's Q3 results.
Considering that BNY Mellon shares currently trade at around $44.90, the new price target implies a potential upside of 11%.
Kroger (NYSE:KR)
Berkshire also trimmed its stake in grocery giant Kroger in Q3, selling 2,168,472 shares.
However, in an era where physical stores are under serious threat from online merchants, Kroger remains a brick-and-mortar beast.
Shares of the supermarket chain are up 8% in 2022, in stark contrast to the S&P 500 Index's double-digit loss.
The economy moves in cycles, but people always need to shop for food. As a result, Kroger can make money through our economy's ups and downs.
The company has expanded its online presence, too. Kroger's digital sales in 2021 clocked in 113% higher compared to two years ago.
You can see Kroger's resilience in its dividend history: the company has increased its payout to shareholders for 16 consecutive years.
Evercore ISI analyst Michael Montani recently upgraded Kroger from 'in line' to 'outperform' with a price target of $56 - implying a potential upside of 15% from where the stock sits today.
Chances are good you're overpaying for home insurance. Here's how to spend less on peace of mind
Only got 3 minutes? Here's how to find cheap health insurance before open enrollment ends
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
Here's why investors should consider putting money in the market now as optimism climbs, according to Vanguard's head of investor research
"Stay the course," Vanguard's Fiona Greig told Insider. "Don't let volatility and short-term fluctuations cause you to pull out unnecessarily."
'Unprecedented danger': The Doomsday Clock just moved to 90 seconds until midnight - the closest it's ever been. Here are 3 top stocks that could survive a market apocalypse
Preppers, don't forget your portfolio.
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Scotland - a Brief History
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The long history of the lands of the northern third of Great Britain has been violent and often tragic. The castles and ruins, the songs and the legends tell Scotland's tale. It is the harshness of its history and the ruggedness of its land that have shaped its proud inhabitants. How the country came to be, and evolved, has long taxed the minds of many historians.
Archaeological records show that the first nomadic hunters and gatherers came to the area over 6,000 years ago, as the last remains of the ice age crept northward. The first recorded history of Scotland was by the Roman historian Tacitus in the first Century A.D., who called the people the Picts, and referred to them as "savages", and "fierce enemies". It was in order to fight the Romans that the warring clans began to unite. The Romans had conquered all the rest of Britain, but were never able to subdue the Caledonian clansmen of the north, and in the end constructed Hadrian's Wall, an imposing stone barrier stretching from sea to sea, to protect them from the marauding Picts.
Shortly after 400 A.D., the Romans left the British Isles, and Scotland began to emerge from the dark ages. There were four peoples inhabiting what was then called Alban: the Picts, the Scots, the Britons, and the Angles, when invasions by Norwegian Vikings began. By 843, Kenneth MacAlpin, King of the Scots of Dalriada held all lands north of the river Forth, and renamed the kingdom: Scotia. Duncan I (portrayed in Shakespeare's Macbeth) added to this kingdom the rest of mainland Scotland.
Although there followed a period of peace with England, war between Scotland and Norway was constant, as was infighting in Scotland itself. King Edward I of England fought off a Scottish invasion by John Balliol, and then rampaged through Scotland, eventually capturing the Stone of Scone, the ancient stone of destiny upon which Scottish kings had been crowned for seven centuries. He placed the stone in Westminster Abbey, where it stayed until it was stolen back by Scottish nationalists in 1950. The stone was formally returned to Scotland on November 15, 1996, and is now on display in Edinburgh Castle.
For his exploits, Edward I earned the nickname "Hammer of the Scots". The Scots continued attempts to free themselves of England's tyranny. One of Scotland's greatest national heroes, Robert the Bruce, had himself crowned at Scone in 1306. His uprising was defeated, but Bruce was not killed. He became a famed outlaw who harassed the English armies using guerilla tactics, and uniting Scottish noblemen to his cause. By 1314, Bruce had driven the English out of every town in Scotland, save Stirling.
In 1371, Robert Stewart became the Scottish king, the first in a long line of Stewarts (later spelled "Stuart"). There had been several child kings and much strife when James IV came to the throne at age fifteen. He managed to control lowland rebellions, and attempted to make peace with the Highland clan chiefs.
In 1502, James IV signed a treaty of perpetual peace with England, and married Margaret Tudor, daughter of King Henry VII of England, thus paving the way for the eventual union of the crowns. The Stuart line was to come to an end with Mary Queen of Scots, one of history's most prominent women.
Mary became Queen of Scotland when she was just a week old. Henry the VIII arranged for Mary to marry his young son, and so when Mary's mother rejected this treaty of marriage, Henry responded with a vengeful onslaught, burning and pillaging in Edinburgh and the Border Country. Mary returned from France at age eighteen, widowed, beautiful, strong-willed, and Catholic. Her attempt to rule a Scotland that had renounced the Catholic Church in favor of Protestantism in 1557 was plagued with difficulties. Eventually, Mary was forced to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old son James VI. She fled to England, to her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. Due to her claims to the English throne, Mary was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and then beheaded in 1587. The two queens never met, and some historians suggest that Elizabeth was insanely jealous of Mary's beauty and charm.
In 1583, James VI escaped from his Protestant kidnappers, and resumed the throne of Scotland. When Elizabeth I died in 1603, James was her only heir; thus he became James I of England, as well as James VI of Scotland. James' most lasting legacy is the King James Bible; the translation of the bible into English still favored by many Protestants.
The union of the crowns did not however put an end to struggles in Scotland. Civil war in England in 1642 pitted the cavaliers fighting for King Charles I against the Roundheads of Oliver Cromwell's parliament. When the victorious Cromwell forced the execution of Charles I, the Scottish proclaimed Charles' son as their king. Cromwell, incensed, invaded Scotland, uniting the two countries under a strong, central, civil government. Upon Cromwell's death, the English Monarchy was restored to the throne. Many Scots felt they had lost their independence, and the stage was set for uprisings. The Jacobites wanted the return to a Stuart king for Scotland, and periodically took up arms to this end. By 1707, the English line of succession had passed to the Queen Sophia of the German Hannover family. The Scots agreed to a union of parliaments and a Hannoverian succession in return for commercial equality, use of their own legal system and the Presbyterian religion. The Jacobite rebellion grew, as did opposition to the union of the parliaments. In 1715, James Edward rallied the Scottish clans around him, and was proclaimed king of Scotland. However, the great families of Scotland were not united, and the uprising was defeated.
Despite attempts by the English to disarm the clansmen and ship Jacobites to plantations in America, the Jacobites rose again. Bonnie Prince Charlie, a handsome and charming man, gradually drew support until he led 3,000 clansmen to Edinburgh to reinstate his father, James Edward, as king of Scotland. After winning several battles in Scotland, Charles crossed the border and pushed southward toward London. Only a few hundred kilometers from London, a fatal decision was made to withdraw to the highlands in order to raise more troops. Scotland was as divided as ever, many clans supporting the Honoverian side, and a large, well-equipped army was facing Charles.
Finally, on Culloden Moor in 1746, Charles' ragged and hungry Highlanders were slaughtered by the English cavalry. Charles, however, escaped by rowboat to the Isle of Skye, disguised as a maidservant. And, even though the English put a price on his head of 30,000 pounds (an incredibly large sum of money for the time), no one ever betrayed him. The English response to these uprisings was vengeful and cruel: whole villages were burned and clansmen were slaughtered or shipped to the plantations. In fact, the English tried to destroy the clan system with the Disarming Act of 1746: no Scot was allowed to bear arms, and the wearing of clan tartans and even the playing of bagpipes were banned. The penalty for wearing 'any part whatsoever' of the Highland dress was six months in jail for a first offence.
Miraculously, many of the Scottish traditions survived and have flourished, making the clan tartan one of the most powerful worldwide symbols of kinship. Gradually, the restrictions were dropped, and Scotland as part of Great Britain entered a period of peace and prosperity that continues to the present day.
Scotland Links - More Reading: 1)


Denver Based Travellers Music, takes it upon themselves to deliver 100% independent hip hop in its truest form. Multiple styles unite to overcome modern day trials and tribulations.
TThe production and emcee duo of Kind Dub consisting of "KD" (Cody Marsden) and "CO" (Cory Clarke) have been producing music and writing together in Colorado since late 2011. Shortly after, they founded Kind Dub Krew, and recorded 2 projects with NY lyricist "Arson" (Nick Arsenault) and featured long-time Colorado emcee Qbala. Kind Dub has seen recent breakthroughs in the underground hip-hop scene due to their relentless work ethic and undeniable dedication to making quality music while providing top-notch live performances. They are the type of artists who go out of their way to help other artists. Kind Dub played their first show together live in 2013, and since have shown no signs of slowing down. Kind Dub's one-of-a-kind sound and thought-provoking lyrics have shared stages with many great artists including People Under The Stairs, The Living Legends, Hieroglyphics, Chali 2na & The Funk Hunters, Devin the Dude, Zion I Crew, Pharoahe Monch, Da Mafia 6ix, Amp Live, Blueprint, DJ Logic, SOL, Eligh, Nappy Roots, Rhymesayers, and many more. Their same work ethic has taken them on 4 tours including a trip to SXSW in 2015. They have self-managed, produced, and released 6 official projects for themselves and others under the Kind Dub umbrella, with the highly acclaimed "Year Of The Dragonfly" album released on November 11th, 2016. This is CO's debut solo emcee album with the genius Dutchman KD engineering at the helm.


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Alsons Power, Diaz bare weightlifting scholars
posted October 19, 2017 at 09:01 pm
by Manila Standard Sports
THE Alsons Power Group – Mindanao's first and most experienced independent power producer thru its Zamboanga City-based subsidiaries - San Ramon Power Inc. and the Western Mindanao Power Corporation, together with 2016 Rio Olympics weightlifting silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, officially presented the inaugural batch of scholars of the Alsons Power-Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship Program for aspiring weightlifters.
The event was held during the Zamboanga Hermosa Weightlifting Championship at the Universidad de Zamboanga gym in Zamboanga City.
Alsons Power partnered with Diaz to spearhead this scholarship program as part of the Group's commitment to help provide more educational opportunities for the young people in Zamboanga City, where Alsons Power is the primary supplier of electricity thru its 100-megawatt WMPC diesel power plant in barangay Sangali in the eastern portion of the city.
The partnership aims to produce world-class Filipino weightlifters and support the country's efforts in winning gold in the Olympics and in other international sports competitions.
Olympic Games silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz with her weightlifting scholars
This is also Alsons Power's way of honoring Diaz for bringing glory to the country and, at the same time, boosting interest in the sport and encouraging potential weightlifting champions both in Zamboanga and in the whole Philippines.
The first batch of scholars are Citadel Callenero, 13, from Talon-Talon National High School; Jane Linette Hipolito, 16, from Universidad de Zamboanga Senior High School; Rosegie Ramos, 13, from Universidad de Zamboanga Technical High School; and Rose Jean Ramos, 11, and Desiree Jane Garcia, 13, who both hail from Mampang Elementary School.
The five scholars are part of the current pool of young weightlifters training under the supervision of the Philippine Weightlifting Association (PWA). The PWA, headed by its vice president and Technical Committee chairman Elbert Atilano, Jr., found these young students worthy of the scholarship based on their performance during year-round competitions and on the additional criteria involving academic performance and family income level.
Through the Alsons-Hidilyn Diaz scholarship program, the five students will each receive a subsidy worth P40,000 that will cover the provisions for school uniforms, shoes, a bag and school supplies, as well as a monthly stipend for transportation and food allowances covering the school year.
"I'm feeling hopeful because this is a new generation of athletes who would someday bring honor to our country," Diaz said. "Our role is to put Philippine weightlifting on the spotlight but I am optimistic that this will also carry over to paying more attention to Filipino athletes and encouraging support for the sports sector."
Alsons Power remains supportive of PWA and Diaz's advocacy.
"Zamboanga City and the rest of Mindanao are teeming with potential and it includes promising talents who we intend to hone and support. As a company that has been operating in Zamboanga City since 1997 and in Mindanao for over 60 years, it is our responsibility to ensure that the region will reach its full potential in numerous aspects including providing opportunities for the young people of Mindanao particularly those form Zamboanga City," Tirso G. Santillan, Alsons Power Group executive vice president and CEO, stated.
"We hope that this scholarship will serve as a springboard for these young people to achieve their dreams and aspirations in life," Santillan continued.
Under the scholarship program, the scholars must continue to be active trainees in good standing with the Hidilyn Diaz Training Program in Zamboanga City and must qualify or remain active at the national weightlifting team. Scholars are also required to maintain a good standing in terms of academic performance.
The presentation of the Alsons Power-Hidilyn Diaz scholars was also witnessed by Philippine Sports Commission Commissioner Charles Raymond Maxey and representatives from the Philippine Weightlifting Association.
Topics: Alsons Power Group , San Ramon Power Inc. , Western Mindanao Power Corporation , Hidilyn Diaz , Alsons Power-Hidilyn Diaz Scholarship Program , Weightlifters
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Baltimore dials up the blitz more than any other team in the NFL. Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale has his defense blitz on 44% of their defensive snaps. Baltimore has 39 sacks, 84 tackles for loss and 57 quarterback hits this year.
The blitz-heavy Ravens made Joe Burrow play like a rookie in the first matchup of the season. Burrow was puzzled at times by Baltimore's blitz schemes.
Fourth-year quarterback Brandon Allen must continue to trend upward in the season finale. Allen is coming off the best game of his career in Week 16, in which he notched career-highs in passing yards (371), completion percentage (78.38) and passer rating (126.5).
The Ravens are going to try to get after Allen in the same fashion as they did Burrow in Week 5. Cincinnati's blitz protection is key in this matchup.
Additionally, taking care of the football when pressured is also going to be critical. The Bengals had three turnovers in Baltimore in Week 5. Since 1995, whoever wins the turnover battle between the Bengals and Ravens has posted a 33-5 record.
More:Bengals Xtra: The secret behind the Bengals' Carl Lawson's rise at defensive end
"We did have some errors that were kind of unforced. They were kind of on us," Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan said. "We are a much different team than we were then and I'm looking forward to going out there and playing those guys again."
Get off to a fast start
The Bengals have managed to have a first-quarter lead in three of their last four games.
Getting off to a fast start on offense and making the Ravens play catch-up is the blueprint to beating them. The Ravens like to impose their will running the football. Baltimore becomes a one dimension passing team when the opposition gets out to a two-score lead against them.
Jackson can make explosive plays throwing the football, but he and the Ravens are nuclear when they can just run it down their opponent's throat.
The Bengals jumped out to a 17-0 lead versus the Pittsburgh Steelers. If Cincinnati can explode out of the gate, they'll be in prime position for a massive upset.


Kate Moss is blessed with the kind of delicate fine features that complement most hairstyles - long or short. Here, Nicky Clarke reveals exclusively to femail.co.uk the secrets of her latest chic and sleek brunette look.
'Kate's most recent style is a feathered crop that makes the most of her striking features', says Nicky Clarke. 'With a few razor-cut layers, this is a much shorter, edgier look with a sixties feel. There's no weight to it, so even when it's growing out the look will still keep its shape.
Carl Dawson, Senior Colourist at Nicky Clarke, says: 'To go from blonde to brown as Kate has, the colour has to be done in two stages. The first part of the process is called pre-pigmentation, which involves the blonde hair being dyed red first of all.
'Once it has been rinsed and dried, only then can the brown colour be applied. Because of the way hair colours work together, applying a brown straight onto blonde can result in a head of khaki green coloured hair.
'When perfecting the style at home, make sure you wash and rinse hair thoroughly - as any dirt left behind will take away the gloss - and always use a conditioner to keep it extra shiny and tangle-free. Then finger dry or use a vent brush.
'To create lift at the top, wait until the hair is about 80 per cent dry and then add a volumising product before finishing off the drying process with a round bristle brush to create lift.
'A finishing product is a must with this edgy look to give hair separation and texture.
'Give fine hair extra texture with a thickening product like Nicky Clarke Hairomatherapy Thickening Mousse or use a serum to smooth down the cuticles on coarse hair. Waxes are good for naturally curly or coarse hair, but not on fine hair as it can make your style look limp.
'If your hair is quite thick, take a tiny amount, rub between your palms to warm it, then run it through the hair for that edgy, modern look. Concentrate on the fringe area by pulling at individual strands to give definition.
What kind of hair does Kate's style suit?
'This style suits people with fine hair that lies quite flat.