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Cross Examination of Arlington Police Officer Blood Draw by IFL
Defense Counsel:
Q. Ms. Bills, I've got a few questions, okay?
A. Uh-huh.
Q. So you're in Austin now?
A. Correct.
Q. And you do not work for a lab?
A. Technically I am part of like the APD Department, but we do work within the forensic division laboratory.
Q. Now, you work in the crime scene section of the Austin Police Department?
Q. So you're no longer in just a lab like you were when you were at IFL?
Q. And when you came to IFL, I think you worked there one year and one month; is that correct?
Q. And that would've been starting in June of 2014.
A. June, correct.
Q. And you left in July of 2015?
Q. And you tested Robert's blood in July of — allegedly Robert's blood — in July of 2015. I mean, excuse me, June of 2015; is that correct?
Q. So when you went to work for IFL, was that your first lab to work at?
A. No.
Q. You had worked at a different lab?
A. I worked for the public health lab in Austin briefly.
Q. Okay. So you came from Austin to Bedford?
Q. And then you went back to Austin?
Q. And when you worked for public health, you didn't do blood alcohol testing, did you?
A. No, I did not.
Q. And you're not doing blood alcohol testing now?
A. No, I'm not.
Q. So basically you only did that at the Bedford lab of IFL?
Q. And you had to get trained at Bedford in order to do that?
Q. And I believe that the prosecutor used the word snag. That IFL has had some snags or a snag or the word snag.
Q. Do you remember that?
A. Yes, I do.
Q. Well, let's talk about that snag for a minute.
A. Okay.
Q. You're aware of an analyst named Cherrie Lemon that was fired?
A. I am aware of Cherrie.
Q. And do you think it's a snag for an analyst to switch vials?
A. No, I do not think it's a snag.
Q. That's a lot bigger than a snag?
Q. Do you think it's a snag for an analyst to leave a bottle of acetone in the lab that could contaminate all the blood that's being tested?
Q. And so that's a lot bigger than a snag, isn't it?
A. Yes, ma'am.
Q. And Cherrie Lemon did that, didn't she?
A. I honestly — I don't know.
Q. That's fair enough.
A. Well, I don't know. Like she was fired before I got there and the circumstances of her firing were —
Q. Pretty well known within IFL, isn't it? In fact, Cherrie got fired and that's how you got the job, right? She's leaving and you were coming on?
A. Well, I think I was kind of replacing Aubrey.
Q. Aubrey, who got fired?
Q. So Cherrie got fired, Aubrey got fired, Elizabeth Feller got fired and you saw the handwriting on the wall so you went on back home to Austin?
A. Well, I was lonely and missed my family. But, yes.
Q. But IFL really wasn't like great for your resume considering all those firings, right?
A. That's fair to say, yes.
Q. That's fair. In fact, the San Antonio Police Department in Bexar County stopped sending any business to IFL whatsoever due to Cherrie Lemon screwing up hundreds of cases?
Q. And so they lost confidence in IFL, would that be fair to say?
MS. THERIOT: Objection, Your Honor, to speculation. She has no idea why —
THE COURT: Well, she can answer it if she knows.
Q. by Defense Counsel: All this was pretty well known within the lab, wasn't it?
Q. And so IFL was a for-profit lab, correct?
Q. Not a governmental entity?
Q. Not paid for by tax dollars?
Q. They're trying to make money, right?
A. Sure, yes.
Q. And so police departments would hire them to test their evidence?
Q. And the loss of revenue from San Antonio was a pretty big hit, wasn't it?
Q. Now, Aubrey was fired and I think Elizabeth was fired as well, correct?
Q. And some of that was for the lack of honesty. Let's be honest about that, true?
A. The firing of Liz, again, it was specifically — I was not given the details of Liz's firing, only that the DA's were no longer going to use her as an expert witness.
Q. Wouldn't even sponsor her on the witness stand?
Q. And that had to do, you think, with her truthfulness or do you not know?
A. I honestly don't know.
Q. That's fine. Let's move along.
And so let's kind of go back to your time at the lab.
Q. By the way, I will just —
Defense CounselTHE COURT: Yes.
Q. (BY MS. MOORE) The exhibit that the prosecutor showed you here, there we go. And if you need me to take it off of this and bring it up there, I will.
But what is the date I'm pointing at right there on State's Exhibit No. 8? State's Exhibit No. 8 and then the date that I'm pointing at right here? If I need to bring it to you, I can.
A. I believe it's April 29.
Q. All right. So that would be the date that you received, or that IFL received the blood evidence at your lab?
Q. Do you have any idea where the blood had been before that?
Q. Do you know — if I represented to you that it was collected at 1:30 something in the morning on the 25thof April, do you have any idea from that time until the 29th where it had been?
A. No. I could only speak to when it arrived in our lab based on our chain of custody.
Q. And then it shows that you checked it out there on the 29th — excuse me, on the 1st.
Q. Let me turn my little clicker on for a second. On June 1st at 0710. That's ten minutes after seven a.m.
Q. That's when you took it out of the refrigerator?
Q. And you put it back in the refrigerator at 19 minutes after 10.
Q. So you had it out from 7 in the morning until 10 in the morning?
Q. Right?
Q. Now, let's just talk about, for a minute, how many other blood vials were kept in the refrigerator. How big is the fridge?
A. A standard refrigerator. R01, typical what you would find in a home.
Q. And on any given day, how many blood vials are in that refrigerator?
A. How many blood vials? I mean there could be like possibly a hundred, depending on — I mean, the packaging. The way this one is, it's slender. We would have slots. So something slim like that, we'd be able to fit more pieces of evidence versus a box. So I'd say maybe 100 vials.
Q. Probably 100 vials. So y'all get blood vials from Grapevine Police Department?
Q. And what other police departments back at that period of time, June 1st of 2015?
A. Grapevine, Grand Prairie, Southlake, Haltom City, Bedford, Euless, Hurst, Arlington, Pasadena PD from Harris County.
Q. So several police departments?
Q. And they were all blood vials?
A. They were all blood vials in their packaging.
Q. And the packaging, is it different from police department to police department?
Q. And so all of Grapevine Police Department was the same?
Q. And was it any different from any other police department?
A. Yes. So that packaging was actually bought from IFL. Arlington provided their own packaging and theirs were about a box about this small and it held stuff. I think Keller — we also did Keller. And they would use packaging from DPS. And that was a much larger box.
Q. So IFL actually sold the packaging to Grapevine?
A. In that case, yes.
Q. Did y'all sell the packaging to any other police department?
A. Yes. Bedford, Hurst, I believe Southlake. A fair majority of the ones that sent us the blood, we'd use their packaging, yes.
Q. So when you look in the fridge, most of the packaging looks like that?
Q. And then some police departments are a little different?
Q. But all and all, there's 100 packages —
A. Yeah.
Q. — in the fridge?
Just like you didn't know where the blood had been before it arrived at IFL, do you have any personal knowledge about the conditions in which this blood was collected?
Q. You don't know if one nurse collected it or if two nurses collected it?
A. No, I do not.
Q. You don't know if two nurses collected it, whether they had rewiped the arm or didn't?
Q. You don't know anything about that?
A. I do not.
Q. You don't know whether it was wiped in what we call concentric circles or just wiped back and forth?
Q. If you wipe back and forth, you just spread the germ.
A. Right.
Q. You don't know if the person who gave the blood had Candida albicans —
Q. — on his skin?
Q. By the way, do you know what Candida albicans is?
A. I believe it's a yeast, right? I'm sorry. I'm A little rusty.
Q. No, no. It's yeast. And yeast in blood can ferment, can't it?
Q. And yeast in blood that ferments can take a small amount of alcohol and make it a much greater concentration; is that right, than what was originally put in there?
A. Yes, it's possible.
Q. So if the blood had a small amount of alcohol but had yeast albicans in it, it would grow and grow and grow and the alcohol concentration would be significantly greater at the time it's tested?
Q. And that would not have been the case at the time that it was drawn out of the person's body?
Q. You have no idea if the blood you tested had Candida albicans in it, do you?
Q. In fact, the gas chromatograph doesn't test for that, does it?
A. No, it does not.
Q. And do you know whether or not sort of what some of the common sources for producing Candida albicans in a person's body are?
A. I personally do not know.
Q. I mean, just like yeast infections? Toenail fungus?
Q. Do you know whether or not — well, I doubt Robert had a yeast infection.
Do you know whether or not Robert had a toenail fungus?
A. I do not know.
Q. Sinus infection?
Q. And you didn't test it to see if any of that was there?
A. No, that is not something we —
Q. It cannot be seen with the naked eye, can it?
A. No, it cannot.
Q. Now, you don't know if that blood before it got to you had been hot?
Q. You don't know if it had been cold? You don't know if it had been dropped?
A. No, can't speak to the condition of it.
Q. You don't know if it had been shaken?
Q. The instructions in it say don't shake it, right?
A. Well, after they draw it, they're supposed to kind of invert to mix it and —
Q. But not shake it. It says do not shake it, right?
Q. And there can be, even though there is an anticoagulant in it, there can be little bitty blood clots —
Q. — in blood?
Q. Millions of them?
Q. Right. And you can't see those with the naked eye, either?
Q. And the gas chromatograph doesn't test for that either, does it?
Q. And obviously if the gas chromatograph were to test a clot, it could be testing serum; is that right?
A. Well, the gas chromatograph doesn't actually — like it doesn't suck up the blood. It sucks up the headspace, the air inside.
Q. You're absolutely right. The gas chromatograph doesn't even test the blood, does it? Right?
Q. Now, there are machines that actually do test the blood itself. It's the liquid chromatograph, LC?
THE COURT: Is that yes, ma'am?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sorry. Yes.
Q. (BY MS. MOORE) You don't have a LC at the lab?
A. No, we do not.
Q. So nobody really ever tested the blood itself in this case?
Q. Technically, right?
A. Technically, correct.
Q. Because you don't have an LC machine?
Q. You test the area above the blood?
Q. That's what you're referring to when you call it headspace?
Q. Show the jury with your fingers how much is testing. Can you?
Q. You can't. It's so miniscule, right?
Q. It's the air above the blood that you're testing?
Q. And let's talk about what it looks like. When you took the blood out of the refrigerator at 7 o'clock in the morning, why did you need to keep it out for several hours?
A. We let it gradually on its own come to room temperature in order to test the blood. So if I had tested it and it was cold, that would possibly have affected the result. And also potentially the liability to get 500 milliliters (sic) of the blood into the headspace vial. So we allow it to come to room temperature.
Q. And what are you doing while the blood is coming to room temperature?
A. I'm checking the — doing the daily check of my pipettes. Every day, since we were hand pipetting, I would hand pipette water, 500 milliliters of water and put that on a scale to make sure that the pipette was correctly picking and dispensing the correct amount of liquid. So kind of stuff like that.
Once I put it out, the evidence is sealed. So at 7 o'clock, even though I'm not actually cutting open the evidence and beginning testing, I am kind of going through my check of what I said when I would double-check with the chain of custody against the evidence. So kind of stuff like that getting, double-checking.
And at that point so that when the blood was at room temperature, I could proceed.
Q. And when you pulled that blood, that blood being the one that you've just testified, out of the refrigerator, that's not the only blood that you took out, is it?
Q. How many other people's blood did you remove from the refrigerator at the same time you removed that particular exhibit?
A. I pulled out 11.
Q. Eleven other people?
Q. So you pulled out 11 other people and in those particular envelopes are also two vials?
Q. So now if you have 11 packages with two vials each in them, how many vials — I'm not trying to do trick math — but how many vials of blood do you have laying there?
A. Well, in total I had 24 for all 12 cases, two vials each.
Q. So you had 24 vials of blood laying there?
Q. And so you remove all 24 from each of their respective packages?
Q. You remove one from each of their respective packages?
A. No. Even like while they're sitting there at room temperature, they are still in their sealed envelopes. They are sitting in like — the chain of custodies are in manila folders, so they're separate. I usually organize them by their case number, which has been handwritten on by the evidence specialist when she receives the blood. She gives it a unique lab number.
So we organize, I organize the lab case files by the lab number and then I organize the evidence by lab numbers. So they are not just strown around on the counter. Like they're in a sequence to match their chain of custody. And they're all secured still in their sealed envelopes.
Now, when I'm sampling blood —
Q. Well, you're getting into a narrative. We're going to get to that, okay?
Q. So I'm just trying to see what you're doing. You've got these packages laying out there?
Q. And you're going to remove one vial from each of the packages, correct?
Q. And then you're going to pipette, as you call it, in other words withdraw a little bit of blood, from each of those vials that you've got laying out there and you're going to transfer that over into little glass vials, correct?
Q. And the little glass vials that you're going to transfer them all into, what do they look like?
A. They're clear, they're circular.
Q. Have they been used in another case?
A. No. They have never been used. We pull them fresh out of their packaging.
Q. You don't know how they were cleaned?
A. From their manufacturer, no.
Q. But it's a fresh vial?
Defense Counsel: And may I approach, Your Honor?
THE COURT: Yes.
Q. For demonstrative purposes, not saying these are your glass vials, but for demonstrative purposes does that kind of accurately represent what they look like?
Q. Let me just show you what we just marked as Defendant's Exhibit No. 1 that you just said — I'm not saying these are the vials at your lab.
Q. But does this look like the vials?
Q. It's fair and accurate?
Defense Counsel: I will offer for demonstrative purposes, Your Honor, tender to the prosecutor.
Prosecutor: No objection.
THE COURT: All right. D1 is admitted for demonstrative purposes.
Defense Counsel: May I publish, Your Honor?
Defense Counsel: Well, may I publish by walking and then put it on the Elmo?
THE COURT: Sure.
Q. (Defense Counsel) So you say the little glass vials are all the exact same size?
Q. And they're all the exact same shape?
Q. And they're all clear?
Q. And you're going to pipette out 11 other people's blood into the glass vials?
Q. And you're going to use two glass vials apiece?
Q. So you would pipette out from one tube of blood into two glass vials?
Q. And that kind of represents what they all look like?
Q. And let's talk about pipetting. That's just like a little suction tube, right?
Q. And you stick it in the tube of blood and suck up a little blood and then squirt it over into one of these little glass vials?
Q. And then you do that with the next person's tube and the next person's tube and so forth and so on?
Q. Right? Okay.
And then if I'm understanding this correctly, when you stick the pipette into the tube of blood, do you actually touch the blood with the pipette?
A. The tip actually gets into the blood, not the whole — so like the tip, the disposable tip that I put on to the edge of it, that actually touches the blood. The pipette doesn't because we don't want to — like the part — the pipette works by the little suction air. And we don't want blood to get up into that because it would mess up the pipette and essentially be useless. So the tips go into the blood, but not —
Q. So when you take a tube of blood that the police department had provided, you pop the top. What color is the top supposed to be?
A. Gray.
Q. And, by the way, when you checked, could you tell whether or not in this particular case whether or not there had been any kind of expiration date on the vial?
A. I believe, yes. So we do check the expiration date on the vials and put the lot number.
Q. And did you indicate on some paperwork of yours that you could not determine the expiration date?
A. I'd have to see my worksheet. I do not specifically recall for this case. But, yes, if the label is covering the expiration date and/or the lot number, I write on my worksheet not visible.
Defense Counsel: May I approach, Your Honor?
Q. (Defense Counsel) Let me show you what's been marked as Defendant's Exhibit No. 2 and ask you if that's your worksheet?
A. Yes, this is.
Q. And you use a bunch of initials?
Q. And NV is an initial that you use?
A. Yes. At the bottom there is a little key to kind of say what all the initials are.
Q. And does that worksheet help you refresh your memory about whether or not there was an expiration date that you could see on the blood vial?
A. According to my worksheet, it was not visible.
Q. So you indicated it was not visible?
A. I did.
Q. And so back to pipetting. You pop the gray top off of the tube of blood and you take your little pipette and you stick it down there and you withdraw blood and then you squirt it over into two vials?
Q. And then you do that for some other vials of blood —
Q. — that you're going to test? To be fair, you're not just putting like Robert's blood in two vials and sending it into the machine?
Q. Right. You're doing it in a batch with everybody else?
Q. And so after you finished with his tube of blood and maybe you did — I think he was, what, vial number what? Do you remember what his vial number was?
A. I do not recall.
Q. If I told you it was vial number 26 and 27, would you disagree with me?
A. I would have no reason to because I don't remember.
Q. And so how many total little vials of glass tubes do you have there in front of you that you're pipetting blood over into?
A. Twenty-four.
Q. Okay. Twenty-four total?
A. Blood. The run consists of controls, which do not have blood in them.
Q. But how many total little glass vials are you sending through the gas chromatograph?
A. Casework and controls, it's a total of 33, 34. Thirty-three or 34.
Q. So 33 or 34 identical glass vials is what's going through the gas chromatograph, correct?
Q. So after you load up all of the little glass vials, okay, with different people's blood, then you put a lid on it?
Q. Again, this is just for demonstrative purposes. I'm not saying this is what exactly it looks like in your lab. Just so we can kind of picture it.
Let me show you what we just marked as Defendant's Exhibit No. 3. Would that be a fair and accurate representation of the lids that go on top of all the identical little vials?
A. It's a little different lids. But, yeah, like the silver aluminum part.
Q. So it's a pretty fair representation?
Defense Counsel: For demonstrative purposes I would offer Defendant's Exhibit No. 3, Your Honor.
Q. (Defense Counsel) So all of the lids are identical?
Q. And you put them on, what did you say, 33 or 34?
Q. So there are 33 or 34 little glass vials all with identical lids on them?
Q. And you put that in a tray; is that right?
Q. You put them, you set them in a little tray that's got a slot in them?
A. Our instrument had a carousel with slot numbers.
Q. Slots. That's called an autosampler, isn't it?
Q. And then you send it through the machine?
Q. All of them at the same time. Oh, but before we get that, before you send them through the machine, do you write anything on the little glass vial?
Q. So I bet you look at Robert's tube of blood and then write his name on the little glass vial?
Q. That's no?
Q. Okay. So then if you don't write Robert's name on the little glass vial, do you at least use the police offense report number —
Q. — that ties to his name?
Q. Okay. I'm going to be quiet and you tell me what number you put on there.
A. So when each piece of evidence comes into the lab, they are assigned a unique lab number. It is the lab number that I write on the blood vials.
Q. So it's just a number that you write on it, like number one, number two, number three?
A. Well, it's usually a four-digit number.
Q. And in Robert's case —
Defense counsel: May I approach again, Your Honor?
Q. — you assigned him a unique number?
A. Well, he was assigned. I didn't assign it.
Q. And can you tell us what Robert's number is?
A. 0746.
Q. 0746. That's Robert's number, 0746?
Q. Actually, it's longer than that, isn't it?
A. Well, the whole — there is a eight-digit lab number. But, yes, I only put the last four.
Q. Well, why don't you tell me what Robert's whole number is.
A. 15040746.
Q. 15040746?
Q. That's Robert's whole number?
Q. That's his unique number. And then you write just the last four digits on the glass vial?
Q. And then you do that for the next person and the one before Robert and the one after Robert until you've done 32 or 33 vials?
A. Well, there would only be — again, since 12 cases, duplicate vials, so only 24.
Q. Of those vials?
A. Yes, would have —
Q. And then the other vials?
Q. You don't write any numbers on the other vials?
A. The only thing I write on them, like the blanks, I would just put a B for blank because it's water. And C for control. So they get letters.
Q. And you've never transposed a number?
A. Pretty sure it's possible that I have. I can't recall a time or I'm like, yes, I did that.
Q. You've never mixed up a sample ever?
A. No, I don't believe I've mixed up a sample.
Q. Now, do you write out the order in which you're going to send them through the autosampler?
Q. And what piece of paper do you do that on?
A. Type it into the computer next to the, that's linked to the instrument.
Q. So you then take this information that you've got laid out and put it into a computer and put the order in which you're sending it with the number that's associated with it. And you flawlessly never made a mistake doing that?
A. I think I've transposed a number before.
Q. Now, when you were opening Robert's vial, you were by yourself, right?
Q. You don't have anybody in the lab helping you and double-checking the paperwork and there's not two of you working together?
Q. You're all by yourself?
Q. Nobody is watching or double-checking?
A. Nobody is double-checking, but there was a security camera in the sampling room, so somebody could've been watching.
Q. But y'all are not set up where there's two of you to go in there and check and double-check, so to speak?
Q. Quality control, so to speak. It's just you?
Q. So if you make a mistake, the only way we're going to know you made a mistake is if you go wait, whoa, let me tell you, I made a mistake. We have to take your word for it?
Q. Now, how do you know whether or not any kind of clotted blood was tested? I know it tests, it doesn't test the blood itself because you don't have an LC. But how do you know that it wasn't testing the gas above a clotted piece of blood?
A. When the blood is very clotted, it's very hard to pipette and actually sometimes the tip will try and suck up the blood clot and we may not be able to get a full sample. So at which point it'll be documented on my worksheet that the blood was clotted.
Q. Yeah, but that's for you said when it's very clotted.
Q. But when it's not very clotted, to be fair, there are lots of little blood clots you can't see with the naked eye and the gas chromatograph doesn't catch that, right?
Q. And so if that is in there, if that is what is inside that little glass tube, then that's actually serum, isn't it, instead of whole blood?
Q. And that would have a higher concentration than what the whole blood would have, wouldn't it, of alcohol?
Q. So you're just assuming you tested whole blood?
Q. But you would never really know, would you?
A. If it was clotted, I couldn't see it with my eye, no. I wouldn't know.
Q. Now, the pipette is handheld, isn't it?
Q. So it's not the machine doing it?
Q. It's you taking it out of the tube and putting it into the glass. That's handheld?
Q. And has there ever been an issue with going past the stop point?
A. Yes, there's been.
Q. How did you handle that? In other words, when I go past the stop point, where you drew up more of a sample than was needed?
A. Discarded the sample in the biohazard, got a new tip and resampled.
Q. And do you know whether you did that in this case?
A. I honestly do not recall.
Q. You don't have any specific memory?
Q. But who would know, right?
A. True.
Q. How would we know unless you told us, right? Because there is no QC —
Q. — necessarily. We have to trust you, right?
Q. And so you put some of Robert's blood in the little smaller vial and you mix in Propanol?
Q. You pipette in a certain amount, a known amount of n-Propanol?
A. Yes, that is from a automatic dispenser, though. I don't pipette the —
Q. Okay. And then you add salt, don't you?
Q. You don't add salt to yours?
Q. Okay. Well, what if there's a salting effect? Do you know what a salting effect is?
A. I think Dr. Stevens could better explain the salting effect to the jury.
Q. That's beyond yours?
Q. That's fair enough. I will make a note to be sure to ask.
And so anyway, that's when you crimp it and then send it through, right? You've got the lid on it, it's crimped and you send it through?
Q. Now, how many times have you done this?
A. How many cases have I sampled?
Q. Uh-huh. Yes, ma'am.
A. A few thousand.
Q. A few thousand. Have you ever made a mistake?
A. Pretty sure that I have, yeah.
Q. Did you make a mistake in Robert's case?
A. Not to my knowledge.
Q. Now, after you put the vials in the autosampler, that is, it's going to now go through the gas chromatograph, another needle pierces each one of those vials, correct?
Q. Would we be better off to ask somebody else about the workings of that piece of machinery than you or what?
A. Yeah, probably.
Q. But nevertheless, you do know enough about it to tell the jury that the blood itself is not tested?
Q. So when we talk about a blood test, it's not really a blood test, is it?
Q. So what's your biggest fear of the gas chromatograph? You worked in the lab for one year and one month. Have you thought about that? What would be any concern?
A. What do you mean by biggest fear?
Q. I mean, you said — I think you said earlier if something went wrong, the machine would quit, right?
Q. But obviously if a blood vial was switched, if somebody else's blood was put in the place of another person's blood, the machine wouldn't quit, it would still print out a result, wouldn't it?
Q. And if the pipette, if pipetting, if there was any cross-contamination done from one person's blood, because you're pulling some up and putting it in and you're pulling up somebody else's and putting it in, if there was any cross-contamination done, you would still get a result. The machine wouldn't just break, right?
A. Yes, but we'd — like I said, we used — even in this case when taking the two duplicates, like the two samples, I use a fresh tip each time. So I'm not putting the same tip into each different vial of blood.
Q. That's if it had touched down in there. But if you had sucked up some into the pipette itself and it transferred over, that would be cross-contamination.
A. But it wouldn't transfer over into the — if blood got into the actual pipette past the tip, the pipette wouldn't suck up blood because the air flow would be —
Q. Even a miniscule amount?
A. Pretty sure.
Q. And, Ms. Bills, have you ever made a mistake in not switching the tips from one person to another?
A. That I can honestly say no, I haven't.
Q. You've been flawless in that regard?
A. Yes, I have.
Q. And as far as your technique in there — oh, by the way, were you trained at any point by Elizabeth Feller?
A. Yes, I was.
Q. And she's, of course, one of the snags, as we've referred to it, at IFL, correct?
Q. And she was someone who trained you —
Q. — in how to do things accurately, right?
Q. And the only way we know that you did it all absolutely accurately is to just trust you?
A. Well, no. Part of our daily checks, for instance the pipette, was doing the daily checks with the water. And there were actually daily logs to show where I measured it three times every day before use, so it's actually documented.
Q. Yeah, I don't want to put you off.
A. Okay. I'm just saying there is actual documentation of regarding the pipette to where —
Q. Okay. But there's not any — the only way we know that you didn't make a mistake is to take your word for it with respect to, that you wrote the right number on the right vial and you didn't switch a vial, that you didn't make any of those kind of mistakes?
Q. Because there's no QC other than your word?
Q. All right. Let me just double-check.
You know that vial — I know you said you don't really know what the storage conditions for the blood was before it got to IFL, right?
Q. But it sat in your refrigerator — let me just be exact here. It sat in your refrigerator from April 29 all the way until June 1st.
Q. By the way, Elizabeth Feller was working there at that point, wasn't she?
A. No, she was not. She was gone.
Q. Do you want to see her personnel file?
A. April? I thought she was gone in March.
Q. If I told you she was there in May, would you disagree with me?
A. I would have to say yes, because she physically wasn't there. I didn't see her.
Q. And you have independent memory of that?
A. Pretty sure. I took a trip to New Orleans in March. And while I was there she told me that she had been fired and she would no longer be there. And she was gone when I got back.
MR. DE LA CRUZ: Do you need water?
THE WITNESS: Yes, please. I do need some water.
Q. (BDefense Counsel) Well, so, in the meantime, the point I was going to make about the blood, from May 29 (sic) to June 1st, what took so long to get to it?
A. Actually at, I believe the start of April, the motor to the autosampler went out and we were not actually able to run samples for most of April.
So that didn't get sampled until June because all the stuff that came before it had to get sampled first.
Q. So the machine was broken?
Q. And what about the refrigerator? What was the temperature in there in April and in May?
A. I'm not sure. But we had like a temperature log. IFL has those temperature logs.
Q. That's not something that's part of your responsibilities?
A. Well, I would take the daily temperature onto the log, but I can't recall the daily temperatures at this time.
Q. You don't know if the refrigerator ever went out like the gas chromatograph went out, do you?
A. To my knowledge, it did not go out.
Defense Counsel: I think I will pass the witness, Your Honor.
THE COURT: All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to take a break at this time. And does anyone need to go downstairs to get something to drink? You can speak up if you need to.
Okay. We're going to take about a ten-minute break. So anyway, just if y'all need to go — if you do need to go downstairs, you'll have plenty of time to come back and forth. Remember the instructions I've given you and we are in recess.
(Jury exits courtroom)
(Break taken)
THE COURT: All right. Let's bring 'em in.
(Jury enters courtroom)
THE COURT: All right. We are back on the record. Everyone have a seat.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Ford upgrades Fiesta tech with LCD, navigation
Ford has announced it will offer a MyFord Touch system, which includes a touch screen and a navigation option, in its 2014 Fiesta.
Nov. 26, 2012 12:00 p.m. PT
This 6.5-inch touch screen, showing stereo, phone, and navigation controls, will be available in the 2014 Ford Fiesta. Ford
Last week Ford told us the 2014 Fiesta, the smallest car in its lineup, would be offered with a new, fuel-saving 1-liter EcoBoost engine. Ford notes this week that the 2014 Fiesta will also get a new version of its MyFord Touch infotainment system, which marks the first time this model gets a navigation option.
MyFord Touch is Ford's name for its touch-screen interface, letting the driver control stereo, hands-free phone, navigation, and climate control. That system launched a couple of years ago in models such as the Edge. It immediately garnered criticism from CNET and other publications for its crowded screens and poor performance.
Ford has since refined the system, even offering a software update so that current owners can bring the system up-to-date in their own cars. The new screens solved some of the usability issues, but CNET's testing still shows lackluster performance in the navigation system.
Ford says the system to be offered in the Fiesta, which uses a 6.5-inch touch screen, has been further improved, allowing easier destination input, for example. Along with visual refinement, Ford says voice command has been improved. Drivers will be able to select music simply by saying, "Play Adele," or, "Play classical," instead of specifying the category first. A new version of the Nuance voice command software is also supposed to improve accuracy, although in CNET's testing, the accuracy appeared to be excellent already.
Another improvement will be Bluetooth phone pairing. According to Ford, phones will pair with the system automatically, as long as they have a matching PIN. That PIN will have to be entered into both the car or phone, so some setup will still be required.
Ford promises fuel-saving 1-liter engine next year
2012 Ford Fiesta review
Ford demonstrates DIY MyFord Touch update (video)
The photo released by Ford of the 2014 Fiesta's dashboard also shows a Sony audio system. In other high-trim Ford models, the Sony audio system often comes paired with MyFord Touch. Ford released no details about the Sony system in the Fiesta, but in other Ford models, the Sony audio upgrade has proven to be a good value, delivering very high-quality sound.
Ford has previously talked about democratizing technology, offering the same features from its least expensive to its most expensive models. The 2014 Fiesta seems to support this goal. However, Honda has long offered a navigation option for its Fit subcompact car, and GM is offering a navigation feature in its Chevrolet Spark.
Ford has not shown the 2014 Fiesta yet; however, the company says the new model will feature its signature trapezoidal grille. The body is unlikely to show radical design changes. A press release about the European model of the 2014 Fiesta mentions new placements for interior door handles and window switches to improve ergonomics. These changes are likely to carry over to the U.S. version of the car.
The 2014 Fiesta should launch in the middle of next year.
Ford Car Culture Culture Ford Sony
Discuss: Ford upgrades Fiesta tech with LCD, navigation


The Detroit Lions made a significant move on the first day of free agency.
On an otherwise quiet Wednesday Jessie Bates III Jersey , the Lions announced they were releasing tight end Eric Ebron. The 10th overall pick in the 2014 draft would have earned $8.25 million this season if he had remained on the roster past 4 p.m.
Ebron had flashes in his four years with the Lions, catching 186 passes for 2,070 yards and 11 touchdowns, but poor hands and inconsistent play made him a target for boos at Ford Field.
Much of the frustration came from the players Detroit passed to pick him so early in the draft. Six of the next seven players chosen have gone to at least one Pro Bowl, including New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. (selected 12th) and Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald (13th).
Ebron, on the other hand, never lived up to the potential he showed at North Carolina. Ebron is fast Courtland Sutton Jersey , and the Lions thought he would be a deep threat next to Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate.
However, he only caught 25 of 47 targets as a rookie and scored one touchdown while averaging 9.9 yards per reception. While his hands improved over the next three seasons, he was never able to provide Matthew Stafford with consistent playmaking.
In the first half of last season, he pulled in 18 of 36 targets and was booed when he was shown during a charity announcement on the Ford Field video board. He improved in the second half of the season, but the Lions decided they could find a cheaper option in free agency or the draft.
Detroit re-signed cornerback Nevin Lawson, linebacker Nick Bellore and quarterback Jake Rudock, and also announced the signing of free-agent defensive back DeShawn Shead.
Shead Rashaad Penny Jersey , 28, played his first six seasons with the Seattle Seahawks, winning a Super Bowl in the 2013 season. He started 15 games at cornerback in 2016, but tore his ACL in a postseason loss to the Atlanta Falcons and only got into two games last season.
Shead is expected to compete with Lawson and Teez Tabor for a starting spot at cornerback opposite All-Pro Darius Slay. Bellore is a special-teams contributor who has seen time at linebacker and fullback, while Rudock will go into his third season as Stafford's backup.
Rudock threw his first NFL passes in relief of Stafford in a 44-20 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Dec. 3. He completed three of five attempts, but also threw an interception that Eric Weddle returned 45 yards for a touchdown.
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"Dear Fr. Bob and the entire FEST team, Thank you all for an amazing faith filled day yesterday! An incredible witness to the power of working "Together" for God's kingdom. We could see and feel the mind boggling amount of work and coordination from the entire FEST team. Loved the music, visuals and the call to action homily. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to serve as a lector yesterday. It is fantastic to witness the entire team using their God given talents for His people. Thanks too for all the generous gifts, give-aways and inspirational materials.


Lindsay Mitchell: A flat white each day?
A flat white each day?
Bracket creep amounts to the equivalent of "a flat white each day". This trivialises the fact that the government is taking more tax from individuals in the latest financial year than the previous.
David Seymour expresses it better when saying that New Zealanders have just lost another week's work to the government.
But the increase also tends to overshadow that you are working for the government until May 8. MAY 8. Not March or April. MAY.
Mainstream coverage in Wellington amounts to a small snippet in the business pages. No wonder National gives the issue of over-taxation no priority.
And you should see the flack David got on Twitter from the Left (most of whom probably pay no net tax).
I'm so over the big state.
Let's see: 33% marginal tax rate, 1.5% ACC levy, that leaves you with 65.5%, rates (auckland, say 5%, compulsory car insurance, 60%, GST on all that takes it down to more like 40%.
Tax Freedom Day in NZ is in mid August.
A plan that in spite of being well known, is apparently unstoppable in the West.


I've been saying for some time now that oil prices will reach the mid-$50s towards the end of the year, and the low $60s in the first quarter of 2017.
And now, the world's largest financial players are catching on, making record moves to prepare for rising crude prices.
It doesn't even account for what happened to oil this morning.
Through the end of last week, short positions on oil (bets that oil will go down) decreased by record amounts. In the face of an almost 25% rise in futures prices, more shorts were unwound than for any equivalent period since figures were first compiled a decade ago.
That's great news for oil prices, and another signal that my oil price forecast is correct. But before I get that, let me first explain why shorts and other artificial manipulation is so important to the price of oil.
This manipulation is based on the relationship between "paper" and "wet" barrels – futures contracts in oil as contrasted to actual consignments of crude. The futures market was created to stabilize the market and remove pricing-control from the control of a few major producers to a wider market of investors.
This has largely been a success. Volatility still exists, but the cycles of instability are much shorter and smaller.
If the underlying commodity is drifting up, and futures are indicating that such a trade will continue (as I explained last Thursday, this situation is called "contango"), long positions tend to increase.
On the other hand, if prices are falling, as was common with oil until recently, short positions ("shorts") are the rule.
The process of shorting oil futures is similar to shorting a stock. A trader takes a short position in oil by "borrowing" contracts from a broker and then immediately selling them at market. Later, the trader needs to go back into the market and buy the contract, returning it to the broker.
With oil futures usually standing for 1,000 barrels at a time, such shorts are not made by normal investors. But big institutional players do it all the time.
For example, let's say oil is trading at $45 a barrel (about where it was this morning). That means that the contract that a short-selling trader "borrows" has an effective face value of $45,000. By immediately selling the contract, the short-seller makes that much money.
Then, if their guess that the price of oil will go down is correct, the trader can buy back the contract for less. Suppose oil falls to $42 per barrel, putting the face value of the contract the trader sold (for $45,000) at just $42,000.
The $3,000 difference is the profit made from the short.
Usually, shorts help to stabilize the market by bringing in investment that sees things differently than other market players.
These days, crude oil is much more important than just a (widely used) commodity. Given its fundamental connection to currency exchange rates (the vast majority of daily oil trades are denominated in U.S. dollars), oil has ended up being a global vehicle for stored value – much like currency or gold.
That makes the influence of shorts on crude oil much more pernicious.
During the protracted decline of oil prices from late 2014 until the beginning of this year, shorts tended to accelerate oil's downward trajectory. I even developed an algorithm to determine what part of the decline was occasioned by shorts and other secondary derivatives.
We are now experiencing a movement in the other direction. As I noted last Thursday, oil prices are showing additional signs that a floor is building and a gradual movement up will take place.
That puts existing short-runners in a difficult spot. Because the only way for them to close their position is to buy contracts at the going rate, when the market turns against them, they risk losing a lot of money. In fact, there is theoretically no upper limit to how much you can lose on a short (as there is in theory no upper limit to the price of a stock or futures contract).
Now, this risk can be reduced by trading options at the same time, but the loss is still a loss.
If the trader thinks a price rise is just a momentary setback and will soon go away, the shorts can be "rolled over" into new ones, to extend the trade.
This morning, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) announced a dramatic drawdown from U.S. oil stockpiles (the real "wet" stuff) of more than 14 million barrels last week. That was more than 12 times what "experts" expected, and the largest drawdown in a single week seen in more than 17 years.
Expect any remaining short sellers to run for the exits.
Nonetheless, some perspective is in order. The rise in oil prices currently underway is more subdued than in the past. This will not be a quick move to $80 a barrel, and it won't be a straight line, either.
Rather, I continue to hold to my forecasts of mid $50s per barrel in New York by late fourth quarter of this year and low $60s in the first quarter of 2017.
The post These Two New "Oil Records" Prove that Mid-$50s Oil is Almost Here appeared first on .


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Here in Florida, the majority of the year is spent blasting the air conditioning and trying to stay indoors, away from the sweltering heat. But those short few months of cold weather are approaching – starting with our first serious chill in the next few days. Do you know how you'll be warming your home this weekend and this winter?
With a space heater, Floridians can efficiently heat rooms in their homes whenever and wherever they need. Space heaters are especially useful when a particular room in your household is colder or draftier than others. Instead of heating the entire household, using a space heater can provide the convenience of heating whatever room(s) you want at a much lower cost.
For example, a 1500-watt space heater operating four hours a day for 30 days would use about 180 kilowatt hours of electricity. It would cost about $11 to operate the space heater for the month.
Always check that the space heater, its plug and cord are clean and in good condition before use.


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Home / News / EUROPE / Germany: Criticisms trail cancellation of study into racial profiling in policing
Berlin police providing security at a public event / Photo: The African Courier
Germany: Criticisms trail cancellation of study into racial profiling in policing
The decision of the Federal Minister of the Interior, Horst Seehofer, to call off an investigation into racial profiling in the police is drawing anger and criticisms not only of migrant associations but also political parties, including the junior governing coalition partner SPD.
Following the Black Lives Matter protests in Germany, questions are being raised about racism in the country's institutions, especially in the police.
Members of minority groups, especially Black people, have long been complaining that they are singled out for identity check in public transport or in the streets by the police, which means that they're racially profiled. People of African descent also often complain of being disrespected by the law enforcers. In fact, there have been many cases of police brutalising Black people, several of whom died in the past.
Migrant organisations and even members of the federal parliament, across party lines, therefore called on government to beam its searchlight on racism in institutions, such as public service and police. The objective of such a focus is to find out if and how much these institutions are biased against people with a migration background.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has been widely criticised for abandoning the study into racial profiling by police/ Photo: Screenshot/©Phoenix
Ostensibly in response to the calls, the federal interior ministry announced in mid-June that it would conduct a nation-wide study into racial profiling by the police.
"In order to enable a fact-based assessment, a joint state-federal study on racial profiling is planned in cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Justice," a spokesman of Interior Minister Horst Seehofer had said.
The announcement of the planned investigation was widely greeted by migrant organisations in the country.
Suddenly, the ministry announced on Sunday (5 July) that it had abandoned the plan, claiming that since racial profiling was prohibited and hence there was no need to conduct any studies into the problem.
The chairman of The African Network of Germany (TANG), Dr Sylvie Nantcha, reacting to the decision, said any reference to the ban on racial profiling as a justification for stopping the planned probe ignored the issue at stake.
"Then, there should be no studies into tax evasion, child sexual abuse or violent crime, because all of these are also prohibited," she said.
Dr Sylvie Nantcha, chairman of The African Network of Germany (TANG), said any reference to the ban on racial profiling as a justification for stopping the planned probe ignored the issue at stake/Photo: TANG
"The network receives feedback almost daily from Black people who have the impression that they have been checked solely because of their skin colour," Dr Nantcha reported.
Reliable data are needed to "openly, seriously and without the apportionment of blame" deal with the issue, she added. "Such a study is also important for the trust of people of African origin in the police."
Tahir Della, spokesman for the Initiative of Black People in Germany (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland or ISD), said racial profiling could have deadly consequences, pointing to the premeditated murders of immigrants by the right-wing extremist National Socialist Underground NSU.
Speaking to DW, Della said the murders, perpetrated between 2000 and 2007 throughout Germany leaving ten people dead and one wounded, happened partly because the police pursued immigrants as murder suspects, rather than the far-right. "Because of the powers the police have, racist thinking and norms can lead to people dying," he added.
The controversial decision to call off the probe into racial profiling by the police has also been criticised by leading members of the SPD, junior coalition partners in Chancellor Angela Merkel's government.
Tahir Della, spokesman of the Black community in Germany │© Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung / Stephan Röhl
Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD), for example, disagreed with the decision of her cabinet colleague. "This is not about putting anyone under general suspicion," she said in an interview with public broadcaster ARD. The point was to "establish the facts and to know where we stand and how we can counter it."
Ms Lambrecht said she would raise the issue with Seehofer while accepting that the ultimate decision lied with the interior ministry.
"It would be best if a comprehensive investigation came to the conclusion that there is no cause for concern," said SPD chairman Norbert Walter-Borjans, in an interview with the WELT. "But Seehofer's approach is: 'Don't look so that you don't see anything.' But just looking closely and, in justified cases, reacting quickly will ensure the high reputation that our constitutional state and our security agencies enjoy."
The opposition parties have also harshly criticised the cancellation of the study. "Seehofer prevents the factual debate about racism in the police," said Green Party leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt. To support those who carried out their duties responsibly, one had to know where to take countermeasures, she opined. "Horst Seehofer does the police a disservice because the trenches only deepen without a solid database."
In contrast, Seehofer has received support from its own ranks and the right-wing extremist AfD.
"There is no need for a study on racial profiling. We have a clear legal position: racial profiling is prohibited," said CDUs domestic affairs spokesman, Mathias Middelberg. "The general suspicion that the German police are structurally racist is simply absurd."
Gottfried Curio, spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group, said the police had to be protected from a "study that was expected to be ideological from the start". Otherwise, police officers could be placed under the general suspicion of racism and inhibited from "controlling foreigners and arresting them if necessary".
READ ALSO Germany cancels study into racial profiling by police
However, the chairman of the Federation of German Criminal Investigation Officers, a police trade union, did not toe that line of argument. "Seehofer's reason why there should be no study is embarrassing," Sebastian Fiedler told the WELT.
"The Minister of the Interior may want to emphasize his trust in the police with his decision – but that won't work" because the police are dependent on the trust of all, he said.
Racial injustice is a long and historical problem and it deeply affects many institutions, including the police, where it manifests in different forms including racial profiling. A study conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2017, found that 14 percent of people of African descent surveyed attributed their encounter with the police in the preceding five years to their ethnic identity. The European Commission against Racism and Intolerance also recommended a study into racial profiling in Germany in its report of 2019.
Femi Awoniyi
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Fixed the .GIF exporter to write the proper trailer.
Fixed the layout of the Palette Size dialog.
Fixed the .ICO exporter to write the pixels in the right nibble order and to write the right amount of padding on the masking bits. Now say that 5 times fast!
Fixed the SPI plugins getting used for writing graphics when they don't support it.
Added greyscale palette on load to <=8bit images with no palette.
Fixed the grid settings dialog to remember it's settings better.
Fixed the brush operator forgetting it's setting.


text:
Michael Vick to Produce Docuseries on the Evolution of Black NFL Quarterbacks
We are in another age of Black quarterbacks in the NFL, with the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, and Justin Fields ruling over the league. Focusing on them and the Black quarterbacks of the past, Michael Vick is planning to create a docuseries on the Evolution of Black NFL field generals.
According to Variety, Vick's Fubo Studios and SMAC Productions will co-produce an eight-part docuseries on the evolution of the Black Quarterback in America.
The docuseries will feature Michael Vick speaking with Mahomes, Cam Newton, Tony Dungy, Andy Reid, and Doug Williams. Additionally, Vick will sit with celebrities, journalists, cultural figures, and more.
"I'm excited to be a part of this project because as a kid, I just wanted to have a shot at playing in the National Football League. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be the first African American quarterback drafted #1. I know that was a big step for us in society," Vick said in a statement. "I was always told that I revolutionized the quarterback position, but I also like to give credit to the ones who I idolized as a kid and who paved the way like Randall Cunningham, Steve McNair and Donovan McNabb. When you look at the evolution of the Black quarterback, it's because of the people that came before us. And now, I'm thankful for the dual threat concept that has changed the game for the better."
Executive producers include Michael and Kijafa Vick, Constance Schwartz-Morini of SMAC Productions, David Gandler, and Pamela Duckworth of Fubo Studios. The show's director and executive producer will be SMAC Entertainment's vice president of non-scripted, FredAnthony Smith.
The docuseries is the first project under the newly established Fubo Studios, a production arm of FuboTV that specializes in producing sports and entertainment content.
michael vickNFL


To use the optional splash homepage (this page) go to your index page under the Pages tab and select the template landing.php. To set it up properly you will need to take a look at the file itself either in the GetSimple Backend under the Theme tab or use ftp and your favourite text editor.
The main Content (this green area) is edited through the back end. Content in other sections can be edited in a variety of ways. Simplest is to simply edit the html in the inc.php files themselves. To make them editable through the back end you can use Components, set up a page within a page, or integrate a plugin. The second section for instance could be used to show latest news posts through the News Manager (updated) plugin with it's NM Addons add-on.


21. I'm thankful for all the fine people in Honda's automotive and motorcycle divisions, who make some of the best-engineered, longest-lasting safest and most reliable vehicles on earth. Our Honda car keeps my wife and son safe and confortable on the long trip to Grandma's, and my bike gets me everywhere fast and has saved my life many times with its massive brakes, brutal acceleration and rock-like stability under radical maneuvering. Plus both of these vehicles cost so little to operate that we have more resources to put into other things. Thanks Honda!
22. I'm thankful that I've got good friends who'll take in an orphan on Thanksgiving and feed him baked ziti!
23. Though I miss my family, I'm thankful I was able to sleep in until 10am! Ahh... bliss.
24. I'm thankful for a new Zugale - my brother Matt's wife gave birth to their new baby boy last night! Mom and baby are healthy and doing well. Hooray for family!
18. I'm thankful for the last 500 years of steady advance in communications and the spread of information to larger and larger percentages of humanity. From printing to broadcast media to the Internet, the number of people who have access to can learn and know things has gone from a tiny priveleged few to something like 75% of everyone. That has changed everything and hopefully has permanently changed the world's balance of power.
19. I'm thankful for cheeseburgers. I really love cheeseburgers.
20. Today is my 46th birthday, so I'm thankful I've made it once more around the Sun. Since I've already been thankful here for my family and a lot of other stuff that I remind myself is awesome about life on my birthdays, how about I'll be thankful for modern medicine, sanitation and nutrition, without which - say, 200 years ago - I'd probably already be dead or nearly so. Thanks for a long lifespan, all you innovators in medicine, pharmaceuticals, waste management and food production!
14. I'm thankful that I'm neither heavily addicted to materialistic stuff nor completely opposed to it. I've been able to collect some nice stuff over the years, some of which is intrinsically valuable and some of which is more sentimental, but I feel like I've got just about the right amount of it (my wife might not agree). It's not as organized as it could be, but we're working on that.
15. I'm thankful that I was able to just pick myself up and move across the country from New Jersey to Los Angeles and make a new start here. It has worked out much better for me. No offense, NJ, but the stuff I do works a lot better here than there. Also, I can ride my motorcycle about 360 out of 365 days a year.
16. I'm thankful that I can ride a motorcycle, because here in LA it's not just a fun thing to do, it's a quality of life issue! Sitting in stop-n-go traffic makes Jeff a very unpleasant person to be around. Ask anyone here in LA who knows me, they'll tell you.
17. I'm thankful that there are such things as contracts and lawyers, and that making sure one uses them is extremely helpful, should there ever be any sort of disagreement between parties. Yes, lawyers can be expensive. It's because they're worth it. Artists and other creative friends: don't work without a contract, and make sure your lawyer reviews it. The cost of doing that is almost invariably cheaper than the cost of getting screwed.
9. I'm thankful for the talents and skills I've been able to develop, which I'm very thankful I'm able to put to good use and make a living and help support my family.
10. I'm thankful for my innate stubbornness, which has kept me from giving up on going after non-mainstream career choices.
11. I'm thankful for the hard work and sacrifice of the generations of people who've served in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard, because even though this country is far, far from perfect, the ideas behind its creation, the ideas about equality and freedom and human rights and law on which this country is based, are absolutely worth defending and upholding. Happy Belated Veterans Day, to all of my many friends and relations who've served or are serving now. I don't care what your personal reasons were for signing up; on top of those reasons you are doing a Great Thing. So thanks.
12. I'm thankful that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak made their wonderful little machines, which have led to the rest of all this electronic productivity and connectivity that is inextricably central in my life - and probably yours too. There's several hundred other names I can add to these thanks (Gates, Hewlett, Packard, Berners-Lee, Cerf, Knoll, etc.) but I don't wanna stay up all night. I simply wouldn't be able to do what I do without this stuff, especially the really superior stuff Apple makes, like the iPad and bluetooth keyboard I'm typing this on. Man I am so bummed that Steve Jobs is gone.
13. I'm thankful for living in very interesting times indeed. Look around, it's fascinating to watch.
8. I'm thankful for my son. Period.
7. I'm thankful for my wife, because I really don't know what the hell I'd do without her. In so many important ways, she's just by far a better human being than I am. She sees me at my worst and still believes in me even when I really, really don't.
4. I'm thankful that my parents (and the rest of my immediate, blood-related family) are inherently decent, good people who tried their best to be good parents.
5. I'm thankful that my parents did not try to raise me in any sort of dogmatic milieu (i.e. religious, political, intellectual, cultural/philosophical), instead giving me access to as much information as they could make available and allowing me to make up my own mind.
6. I'm thankful that growing up I lived in both a big city and a small town and was able to see the advantages and disadvantages of both. I'd have to say I'm thankful that it was in that order and that I'm more comfortable in or near a big city.
3. I'm thankful for being born a male caucasian American in the latter half of the 20th century. The sheer bulk of the mountain of luck contained in that set of circumstances is staggering, and it should really humble the crap out of every person who shares those circumstances. Sadly, that's not generally the case.
Taking a cue from the inestimable John Scalzi, I'm going to copycat him and post every day this month of November something I'm thankful for. I haven't counted my blessings for a while, so it's a good time to do that.
#1. I'm thankful that I'm alive and healthy. Pretty much everything starts from there.
#2. I'm thankful that I'm a human being. This means I have a pretty powerful brain, clever hands to make and do things my brain comes up with, and a pair of legs to move me around to lots of interesting places. It doesn't hurt to be a member of this planet's dominant land-based life form either. These things are easy to take for granted, but I'm not much without them.


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Nature's Defense has been proven to reduce your string algae problems and now is even more concentrated and easy-to-use. Nature's Defense water-soluble packets will eliminate the need to measure and mix while leaving your pond crystal clear.
The new improved formula will not leave any film or residue in your pond. Simply toss in the correct amount of packets for your pond size and watch them dissolve instantly. Product will treat a 2,000 gallon pond for up to 6 months.
Do Not open packets. Simply toss Nature's Defense in your pond, filter or skimmer.
Nature's Defense works best wehn water temperatures are above 50 degrees, although it is still effective in cooler temperatures.


text:
The Girl on the Train | Review
|In Movies, eOne, Jack Dignan, Drama
GONE GIRL, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, and upcoming THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT all hugely successful books with goals being for hugely successful movie transfers – must be something with utilising "GIRL." GONE GIRL I personally found so so, THE GIRL ON THE RED COAT Fi absolutely loved as a book and THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN was one I had not read but managed to see in the cinema after Kernel Jack submitted his review. My only thoughts on the movie is that I completely agree with Jack, every word. It was like a whoring DAYS OF OUR LIVES set in a wealthy suburbia, I loathed the characters, even Blunt's, although Blunt's performance was brilliant. Sadly I also loathed Allison Janney's character, and Janney is a personal hero thanks to THE WEST WING.
Make up your own mind after reading Jack's wise words. THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN is out now from Entertainment One Australia, it is rated MA15+ ad runs for 112mins.
BY JACK DIGNAN
Let's be honest, you may not have read THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN, or maybe you have, but if you haven't, you definitely know someone who has. Released early last year from British author Paula Hawkins, it was the book to read. It was everywhere, and nearly everyone was reading it or talking about it. It was the #1 best selling book for weeks on end, and everyone loved it. I, regrettably, did not read it. I really wish I did, and I say that because, now having seen the film, I don't know if I really want to. It's not necessarily because I know what happens, I've read tones of books after having seen the movies, but it's just that this movie isn't great, and it's sort of turned me off from the book entirely.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN SYNOPSIS:
With a narrative that intercuts over the course of a few months, we follow three different characters. The first, Rachel (Emily Blunt), is a severe alcoholic, so much so that she's ruined her marriage and job by it, now spending her days riding along the train to New York and back, watching the locals and making up stories about their "perfect" lives. Our second protagonist is Megan (Hayley Bennett), a young woman just trying to live out a normal life, but the life she lives is one full of secrets, sex and lies. She works as the babysitter for our third protagonist, Anna (Rebecca Ferguson), who also happens to be the current wife of Rachel's ex-husband, Tom (Justin Theroux).
While the narrative isn't simply a straightforward story, it all revolves around one event. It all revolves around the disappearance of Megan. Her disappearance has no explanation, but fingers are being pointed, and some of these fingers are being pointed at Rachel, who was a key witness of the disappearance before she blacked out and completely forgot the events of that night, which she has alcohol to thank for. Also seemingly connected in Megan's disappearance is her husband, Scott (Luke Evans), and therapist, Dr. Kamal Abdic (Edgar Ramírez), but is this just another ordinary disappearance, or is there a little more than meets the eye?
THE NEXT GONE GIRL?
When the book was first released, many claimed it to be the next GONE GIRL, and from the look of the trailer, they seemed to be right. It was giving off similar vibes, and hey, it even had 'girl' in the title. Unfortunately, however, this film is not the next GONE GIRL. In fact, it's very far from it. It's a shallow, uninteresting and lifeless film that tries so very hard to be good, but settles for mediocrity. It's got certain similarities to GONE GIRL, I'll give it that, but the way these similarities are handled here are to a much lower quality.
The cast of this movie is all sorts of brilliant, taking these characters from the page to screen with excellence. Emily Blunt can star in a four hour long epic where all she does is attempt to brush her cat and I will happily be there opening day. From SICARIO to LOOPER to EDGE OF TOMORROW, she's a versatile actress with a solid filmography, and the character she plays here is a little different to the one you would typically expect from her. She's a broken, frail character and Blunt without a doubt nails it.
Hayley Bennett hasn't really been on my radar until recently, despite having seen her in a number of films over the years, mostly notably MARLEY & ME and THE EQUALIZER. But after her performance in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN a few weeks back, and knowing that she was set to star in this, I've become quite fond of her, and once again, she's great. The same goes for Rebecca Ferguson, who I only started to appreciate after last year's MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION. While I didn't actually recognise Ferguson in this at first, she is extremely good.
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN serves as both a thriller/mystery, and an intense character study on alcoholism, marriage and emotional abuse, and it tells this story through its varying types of characters. Sex addicts, cheaters, liars, alcoholics and abusers. The film covers a lot of different types of people, all of which are problematic, and all of which have dark secrets locked away. Everyone has their role to play. Nobody is innocent. And while that works for the plot, as an audience member, I felt disconnected to the events on screen. It's a detailed look into these character's lives, and the issues each of them face on a day to day situation, but nothing about them made me feel sympathetic towards them.
Let's look at Rachel, for example. She is our primary protagonist, and while we do get stories told from the perspectives of Megan and Anna, they're not given as much screen as Rachel does. She's a struggling alcoholic, and it takes a very long time before I felt any sort of connection to her. She felt distant and out of reach, and no matter how much I tried to relate back to her, I simply couldn't. It isn't until early into the third act that I started to care ever so slightly about her, but she goes and ruins it shortly after, and I was returned to my state of uncaringness (Ed's note: Is uncaringness a word?). Nobody in this film is remotely likeable, and no matter what the outcome of their story arcs was going to be, I wasn't always rooting for a happy ending.
MIXED FEELINGS:
As the film went on, I was intrigued to see where it was going. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in the outcome of the movie, or what exactly it is that happened to Megan. It did enough of a job to get me invested in the plot, but at the same time, it did so much to throw me out of it. Full of plot holes, repetitious flashbacks and some really befuddling editing, the film tries to put you into the shoes of Rachel, blackouts included, but instead of having me hooked, it left me in a confused state of mind. I wasn't thinking "oooh I wonder what's going to happen next," but was instead trying to process what it is exactly that's going on, and I don't mean that in a good way.
For the entire runtime, I wasn't sure how I was meant to feel. They didn't do a good job at conveying the mood, and whether director Tate Taylor (THE HELP, GET ON UP) or screenwriter Erin Cressida Wilson (MEN, WOMEN & CHILRDREN, SECRETARY) is to blame is a mystery. Neither the directing nor the writing is particularly powerful, and if it weren't for the performances and occasional mystery, this wouldn't even be considered an okay film. It would just be a straight up bad one.
THE THIRD ACT:
There will be no spoilers to be found here, but before I wrap this review up, I must discuss the film's third act. Serving as another parallel to GONE GIRL, the third act of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN is intended to shock, and at some stages even repulse, revealing all and letting these characters interact now that all the information is up in the air. There are times where I enjoyed it, and there are definitely some great moments, but there are other moments that… well… they're not so great. They're out of character, nonsensical and, to be frank, not that interesting. If you thought the ending of GONE GIRL was dissatisfying (I thought so when reading the book, but after a few viewings of the movie I grew quite fond of it), prepare to be even more disappointed with the way this film ends.
IN CONLUSION:
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN should've been one of the year's best films, just like it was supposedly one of the year's best books just last year. It has a lot going for it, especially the performances from all the cast members, and there are certain elements about it that I love, but it's a film that almost feels a little too distant at times, not allowing the audience to be welcomed into the story, and it ends on an extremely dissatisfying note.
KERNEL JACK'S POP SCORE:
JK'S POP SCORE:
When he's not spending an embarrassing amount of hours browsing through Netflix, Jack Dignan dedicates his time to reviewing movies of all genres and languages, and has done so since 2012. He also maintains a website of his own – www.directorscutmovies.com – and ever since their interview, he's been best friends with Quentin Tarantino. Tarantino just doesn't know it yet.
Hey Now JD-I've shared these thoughts with other Google+ Bloggers from around the globe and we all concur with the overall consensus which coincides with your take, as well-this is a film that confoundingly and quite oddly almost defies the viewer to connect in any meaningful manner whatsoever-wut say you my friend?
The bulks of early Reviews largely seem to suggest that this "thriller" is ultimately more of a character study of Rachel as interpreted by the great Emily Blunt above all else. The mystery serves it's purpose, certainly, but it is presented more so as a device to furnish a deeper exploration into this complicated and deeply conflicted woman. I've read Paula Hawkins book. It was good, though it did not leave me ass over elbows enthused. And I agree that the ending was not as jarring as I'd anticipated. Try reading the excellent and chilling "Her" by Harriet Lane and you'll get an idea of the kind of finale that stays with you as a reader. Perhaps this cinematic interpretation won't roundly satisfy, either. Still, I do plan to catch it at the theatre soon. One more thing: I understand switching the setting from London in the book to the New York City area for the movie in an effort to gain wider box office appeal among the film ticket buying and revenue critical American consumer market. Personally, however, it would have been far more awesome to be able to actually see these places Hawkins depicts in her novel as components of a locale which I have never visited.


text:
Q: Why is my simple Struts2 example not working? I am using Glassfish 4.0 with Eclipse Luna 4.4.0 and have downloaded the latest struts2 libraries. I have added all the struts2 jars to the project, just to be sure. I have created a Dynamic Web Project. This is my web.xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee" xsi:schemaLocation="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_1.xsd" id="WebApp_ID" version="3.1">
    <display-name>Struts2Starter</display-name>
    <filter>
        <filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
        <filter-class>org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.ng.filter.StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter</filter-class>
        <init-param>
            <param-name>actionPackages</param-name>
            <param-value>org.demian.javabrains.action</param-value>
        </init-param>
    </filter>
    <filter-mapping>
        <filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </filter-mapping>
</web-app>

This is my struts.xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
    "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
    "http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
    <constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
    <package name="basicstruts2" extends="struts-default">
        <action name="getTutorial" class="org.demian.javabrains.action.TutorialAction" method="execute">
            <result name="success">/success.jsp</result>
            <result name="error">/error.jsp</result>
        </action>
    </package>
</struts>

This is my TutorialAction.java:
package org.demian.javabrains.action;

import java.util.Date;
import com.opensymphony.xwork2.ActionSupport;

public class TutorialAction extends ActionSupport {
    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

    public String execute() throws Exception {
        System.out.println("Hello from execute!");
        Date d = new Date();
        long milliseconds = d.getTime();
        if (milliseconds % 2 == 0)
            return SUCCESS;
        else
            return ERROR;
    }
}

The other 2 pages I created are simple .jsp pages: success.jsp and error.jsp, both in the home directory. If I input this url: http://localhost:8080/Struts2Starter/success.jsp, I get the success page so it means that Glassfish is working but if I input this url: http://localhost:8080/Struts2Starter/getTutorial.action I always get http error 404. I followed the instructions on this page: struts2 documentation. Can anyone please tell me what I'm doing wrong?
EDIT
I tried debugging the application with struts2-config-browser-plugin by inserting this link
<a href="<s:url action="index" namespace="config-browser" />">Launch the configuration browser

into my success.jsp page like it says here:http://struts.apache.org/release/2.2.x/docs/debugging-struts.html . When I click on the link it gives another 404 error. I don't understand. It's like Struts2 isn't working at all. Here is the log when I start the server: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27349592/glassfish_server_startup.txt
EDIT1
I installed Tomcat 8.0.11 and here's the error message I get when I start the server: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27349592/tomcat8_server_startup.txt

A: I finally managed to make it work! First thing I did was to remove all the jars I included and add only the ones I needed. Here are the jars that I included: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27349592/2014-09-05%2022_36_58-Preferences%20%28Filtered%29.png
After this, I configured the libraries in the Properties -> Deployment Assembly of the project: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/27349592/2014-09-05%2022_37_29-Properties%20for%20Struts2Tutorial.png
My web.xml file is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee" xsi:schemaLocation="http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee http://xmlns.jcp.org/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_3_1.xsd" id="WebApp_ID" version="3.1">
    <display-name>Struts2Tutorial</display-name>
    <welcome-file-list>
        <welcome-file>index.html</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>index.htm</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>default.html</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>default.htm</welcome-file>
        <welcome-file>default.jsp</welcome-file>
    </welcome-file-list>
    <filter>
        <filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
        <filter-class>org.apache.struts2.dispatcher.ng.filter.StrutsPrepareAndExecuteFilter</filter-class>
    </filter>
    <filter-mapping>
        <filter-name>struts2</filter-name>
        <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
    </filter-mapping>
</web-app>

My struts.xml file is:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE struts PUBLIC
    "-//Apache Software Foundation//DTD Struts Configuration 2.0//EN"
    "http://struts.apache.org/dtds/struts-2.0.dtd">
<struts>
    <constant name="struts.devMode" value="true" />
    <package name="basicstruts2" extends="struts-default">
        <action name="getTutorial" class="org.demian.javabrains.action.TutorialAction" method="execute">
            <result name="success">/success.jsp</result>
            <result name="error">/error.jsp</result>
        </action>
    </package>
</struts>

I still don't know exactly what was the problem but I guess that it may be because of the dependencies in the struts2 libraries.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Curtin University Soccer Club put Olympic Kingsway to the sword on Saturday afternoon lead by Dilip Thapa who scored two goals and provided 2 assists in a 6-2 victory. Also getting on the score sheet for the visitors were the returning Carlo Chiellini, Rory Binnie, Khaled Salhah and second half substitute Mahamud Noor.
Curtin started the better and were rewarded when Chiellini side footed home after Thapa created space down the right hand side. Next it was Curtin keeper Ranjeet Sekhon who was called into action as he shut down Nathan Thurp at close range to maintain Curtin's advantage. Thapa would then double Curtin's lead as Kristian Beven pounced on a loose ball and Thapa struck the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards.
After the break Thurp pulled one back for Kingsway when his deflected shot left Curtin's brilliant custodian Sekhon wrong footed. This was a wakeup call for Curtin who turned the screw and were rewarded when Thapa and Binnie both pounced on defensive errors to extend the lead in the space of two minutes. Next it was Salhah to get in on the action as Eddie Tikoft superbly squared the ball for him to side foot home.
Joe Woodin scored a late consolation for Kingsway but it would be Noor who had the last laugh as he scored the goal of the match. Thapa stole the ball in a dangerous area, beat two defenders and crossed for Noor who lashed the ball home on the volley leaving Kingsway Goalkeeper Sam Hebison no chance with his fierce strike.
Next weekend Curtin entertain bottom of the ladder Kelmscott Roos at Raphael Park in Victoria Park as they look to build on this week's result.
Team: Sekhon, Beven, Keegan (Arab), Harvey, Thapa, Binnie (Noor), Chiellini, Tikoft, Salhah, Gerrace, Bucchino (Jakszuk).


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4 bedroom 2 bath home on two lots in Newport! The home has been updated with new floors, new windows and remodeled to allow for a spacious open concept living/dining/kitchen. Granite in the kitchen and all bathrooms, new wood-look vinyl floor throughout the home. New double paned low E windows throughout. The yard is perfect for entertaining with a stone firepit and built in seating, a horseshoe pit and covered back patio. The 40X14 large covered patio is another living space and is surely to be enjoyed by all. This home sits on two lots and features a 10X20 shed that has electricity run to it. Lush landscaping in the front and backyards are lit at night with low voltage wiring. The backyard has pear, plum, peach and orange trees, and a 20X30' garden with the richest soil producing veggies all year long!


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A business college is a school that provides education above the high school level but could not be compared to that of a traditional university or college.  Unlike universities and even junior and community colleges, business colleges typically train the student for a specific vocational aspect, usually clerical tasks such as typing, stenography or simple bookkeeping. Proprietary schools can be traced back as far as 1636 to the puritans of Massachusetts. They served as a trade school for both business and necessary skills, from shipbuilding to sewing.

The first business college founded in the United States is said to have been Nelson Business College in Cincinnati, founded by Richard Nelson in 1856. The goal of a business college is not to provide a thorough education, as is the model of modern universities in the liberal arts fields, but rather to provide training for a very specific task, such as legal terms, marketing, strategy, planning, Human resources, management information systems, finance, or negotiation. Academic credits earned at a business college do not transfer to other colleges or universities and students cannot earn a bachelor's degree, though an associate degree may be offered. Business College's do offer degrees in business administration and management. These are typically offered through a 1-2 year program.

In recent decades the number of these institutions has been declining as business colleges have been finding more competition coming from community colleges, which provide both vocational as well as liberal arts classes and are often able to offer the classes at a lower rate of tuition, as they are usually nonprofit and subsidized by one or more levels of government assistance. Business colleges should not be confused with business schools which typically offer a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program after a student has completed a bachelor's degree. MBA programs typically take two academic years to complete.

In the US, business colleges are sometimes also called proprietary colleges, especially when they grant associate degrees or higher.

See also
Business and Enterprise College, a type of specialist school in England

References

External links
 Association of Proprietary Colleges

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