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AI Guru Contributing to Public Health
Prof. Pascale FUNG Helps to Debunk COVID-19 Myths with Science
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Prof. Pascale Fung has come up with innovative solutions for COVID-19. [Download Photo]
A team led by Prof. Pascale FUNG has won, among more than 1,000 teams globally, one of the 10 tasks of the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge (CORD-19 Challenge), and they have successfully used the system for debunking COVID-19 myths based on scientific evidence.
Pioneer in open source
Prof. Fung's team at HKUST's Center for Artificial Intelligence Research (CAiRE) built CAiRE-COVID in response to the CORD-19 Challenge, a task using natural language processing on Kaggle – the world's largest data science community and a subsidiary of Google. CAiRE-COVID is a machine learning-based system with top-notch natural language processing (NLP) question-answering (QA) techniques, combined with summarization, for mining available scientific literature.
"CAiRE-COVID aims to facilitate the medical community, in the time-critical race, to find answers to various COVID-related queries in the hope of finding a cure for the virus. With an end-to-end neural network-based open-domain QA system, it can quickly generate ranked lists and paragraph-level summaries among COVID-19 Open Research Dataset's 57,000 scholarly articles, most of them with full texts, about COVID-19 and related coronaviruses," said Prof. Fung.
"Our CAiRE-COVID is significant and unusual because it is about open search, open database, and open collaborative research. Whereas we use open-source models of other companies, we also release our codes publicly. In fact the artificial intelligence (AI) research community has always been proposing open collaborative research. The medical research field on the other hand, has been very much protected and has not been involved in open source due to privacy laws, compliance issues and regulations. Information about cancer research, for instance, is hardly existent in open source."
"The CORD-19 Challenge, for which we won one of the 10 tasks, is important as it is the first open-search and open-call initiative using AI in the medical field. It is the first time AI and public health work together. With this collaboration, we hope that the power of machine learning in medical research will be unlocked," she continued.
Mining scientific truths and debunking myths
A 30-year research veteran in the NLP area, one of the most challenging fields in AI, Prof. Fung previously worked on translating medical terms with data mining methods. A turning point came when Prof. Fung met Dr. Oliver MORGAN, Director of the Health Emergency Information and Risk Assessment Department in the World Health Organization (WHO) at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions in July 2019. There, they discussed how NLP technologies could be used in epidemic intelligence.
Then when the world was hit with COVID-19 this spring, Kaggle posted an open call to the world's AI experts to develop text and data mining tools that could help the medical community develop answers to high-priority scientific questions using the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset, which was created by the Allen Institute for AI in partnership with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Georgetown University's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, Microsoft Research, and the National Library of Medicine – National Institutes of Health, in coordination with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
"At that, I thought of adapting our previous work to answer this AI challenge." First and foremost, the team had to meet the challenge of finding time to work on the project. "With all team members being preoccupied with other tasks, the team had to meet such a tight deadline with so little time that they could only find time during three weekends to have video conferences and small-group meetings."
Led by Prof. Fung's PhD student SU Dan, the handful of postgraduate students and research assistants came up with a strategy to divide the task of their system into three steps of search, question and answer, and summarization.
First, a user question is used to query a search engine to find and rank all related documents. One example of a user question would be "What do we know about the seasonality of COVID-19?" Second, a neural QA engine finds the snippets in all these documents that answer the question from the top-ranking documents using an open-source pre-trained natural language model that is adapted to medical QA databases. Finally, a neural summarization engine generates an abstract to answer the question. Both the QA engine and the summarizer use state-of-the-art neural networks, which are also known as deep learning models.
Thus using open-source NLP and QA models as well as an open-source search engine, the team was able to build a system that can answer questions in real time. Completing the task a week before the deadline, they nevertheless had yet another hurdle to overcome – their system was running too slowly. "Whereas companies such as Google and Facebook have computing resources that no academic institution can match, we at the University have to solve this problem as neural models are notoriously hungry for computing power," Prof. Fung noted.
Their efforts paid off when they came first, among over 1,000 teams around the world, in the CORD-19 task.
Meanwhile, Prof. Fung thought of using this centralized resource of scientific publications to help debunk the many pseudo-scientific myths on COVID-19. What if, she thought, "we use the output of the QA system we developed to check whether a claim is of scientific merit or not?"
Debunking misinformation has become an increasingly urgent task as without timely rebuttal, misinformation can potentially lead to disaster and even deadly consequences. For example, a couple died from drinking bleach that they believed would kill the coronavirus, after such a claim spread in the news and online. The WHO's website has a specific page with "Myth Busters". It is difficult for humans to catch up and check all misinformation online on a daily basis. An automatic misinformation debunker can help by flagging them for human verification. However, using machine learning methods require large amounts of labeled data for training and it is not realistic to expect there to be sufficient human labeled data for this purpose as misinformation tends to be highly varied and bears no resemblance to previous information.
Working with her other PhD student LEE Nayeon and MPhil student BANG Ye Jin, they came up with a way to flag misinformation by measuring how "predictable" the subject is in a statement. For example, when asked to complete the sentence "5G can help spread …", humans would think of words such as "data, information", etc. Indeed, given the scientific evidence, and while using a publicly available language model that learned from 8 million web pages, machine would also predict "data", "information", etc with high probability, whereas "5G can help spread COVID-19" will return a very low score. Such "scientific evidence" is provided by the QA engine that entered the Kaggle competition.
More challenges to come
This being said, the mere size of publications continues to grow. The open resource of scientific publications has grown to 57,000 when they launched the system, and it has further increased to over 135,000 as of June 9. "The number of entries will increase to tens of millions in the future. Our challenge is to scale up the system to continue improving accuracy and coverage to update its answers." Meanwhile, misinformation and myths are not unique to the topic of COVID-19, there are other myths and rumors in both the medical and political areas.
Releasing the source code of both their QA system and the myth debunker to the public in the spirit of open source, the HKUST team hopes that other developers can use it for further work.
Collaboration with EIOS
Further to the success, Prof. Fung's team is now collaborating with Dr. Morgan's team in the Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) initiative of the WHO to co-develop QA and summarization technology. The goal is to find answers from millions of online material for early detection, verification and assessment of public health risks.
"At HKUST's CAiRE, we collaborate with the WHO's EIOS that picked up the first article reporting on a pneumonia cluster towards the end of 2019. According to our mutual agreement, the source code of our technology will be released publicly. Our tool will eventually be put on EIOS' website to be used by the United Nations' member states, their ministries of health and their centers for disease control and prevention, so that they too can conduct their own research."
"With CAiRE-COVID, we hope that the open-source initiative between AI and public health will be the shape of things for the future. It is our aspiration that the CORD-19 Challenge and other open competitions will encourage the global research community to tackle other health hazards such as cancer, and that our invention will be used in early assessment and detection of any kind of epidemic."
SENG news (Jun 24, 2020): PhD Student SU Dan Leads HKUST Engineering Team in Award-Winning Research Related to COVID-19
Women / Gender
Competitions are good opportunities for students to achieve greater heights and get feedback.


To make sorbet, cut a cross in base of each peach and place in a bowl of boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain, peel and place in a blender with remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
To make mousse, sprinkle gelatine over the water in a small bowl.
Whisk egg whites and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot.
Transfer mixture to an electric mixer. With motor operating, whisk in gelatine mixture. Continue whisking until mixture is thick and glossy. Fold in yoghurt and zest. Cover and refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 150C. Lightly grease an oven tray.
To make macadamia crumb, process all ingredients to form a coarse crumble. Spread on prepared tray in a thin layer. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool completely.
To make syrup, stir all ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer until thickened to form a syrup. Strain and cool.
To caramelise peaches, melt butter and sugar in a frying pan until golden and combined. Add peaches, cut side down. Cook until caramelised. Turn and cook for further 1 minute or until tender.
Serve peaches, sorbet and mousse with macadamia crumb. Drizzle with syrup. Decorate with edible flowers.


Located in West Michigan, jksfrenchies offers a fine selection of champion bloodline French Bulldog pups for you. We have been breeding for over 30 years, and only offer the best. All of our dogs are healthy and even tempered, and raised under foot & around a preteenager and friends. We ship all over the United States.
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Ubex (CURRENCY:UBEX) traded 5.9% lower against the U.S. dollar during the 1-day period ending at 23:00 PM Eastern on April 15th. Ubex has a market capitalization of $1.58 million and $284,694.00 worth of Ubex was traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. Over the last seven days, Ubex has traded 10.6% lower against the U.S. dollar. One Ubex token can now be bought for about $0.0005 or 0.00000010 BTC on exchanges including IDEX, Bilaxy, YoBit and BitMart.
Maker (MKR) traded 1.5% lower against the dollar and now trades at $634.75 or 0.12560892 BTC.
Aurora (AOA) traded 6.4% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.0175 or 0.00000346 BTC.
Huobi Token (HT) traded down 9.3% against the dollar and now trades at $2.26 or 0.00044788 BTC.
THETA (THETA) traded 1% higher against the dollar and now trades at $0.12 or 0.00002410 BTC.
Project Pai (PAI) traded down 8.7% against the dollar and now trades at $0.0555 or 0.00001098 BTC.
Nebulas (NAS) traded 12% lower against the dollar and now trades at $1.25 or 0.00024747 BTC.
Ubex (CRYPTO:UBEX) is a proof-of-stake (PoS) token that uses the ETH Token hashing algorithm. Its launch date was May 21st, 2018. Ubex's total supply is 4,000,000,000 tokens and its circulating supply is 3,092,594,583 tokens. Ubex's official Twitter account is @ubex_ai and its Facebook page is accessible here. The official website for Ubex is www.ubex.com. The official message board for Ubex is medium.com/ubex.
Ubex can be bought or sold on these cryptocurrency exchanges: Hotbit, Fatbtc, YoBit, BitForex, LBank, BTC-Alpha, BitMart, EtherDelta (ForkDelta), Bilaxy and IDEX. It is usually not possible to buy alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ubex directly using U.S. dollars. Investors seeking to trade Ubex should first buy Bitcoin or Ethereum using an exchange that deals in U.S. dollars such as Coinbase, GDAX or Changelly. Investors can then use their newly-acquired Bitcoin or Ethereum to buy Ubex using one of the exchanges listed above.
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Fight against your forgetfulness with a small bash script!
Now replace the contents of the variables in the script and create a cronjob that runs the file once a day. So you'll probably don't miss further birthdays anymore!


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Police appeal after bank robbery
Detectives are appealing for witnesses following a horrific assault and robbery at a bank in a shopping centre at Glasgow's east end yesterday.
Around 1955 hours a 60 year old male G4S worker was loading the Santander ATM at the Forge Shopping Centre in Duke Street when he was approached from behind by two men.
One of the men assaulted the victim with a machete whilst the other grabbed the cash box which contained a five figure sum of money.
The pair then made off from the scene in a blue estate Skoda Fabia, which was found burnt out in Inverleith Street a short time later. The car has been confirmed as stolen.
Emergency services were called and the victim was taken by ambulance to the Glasgow Royal Infirmary for treatment to a hand injury. Medical staff describe his condition as stable.
The first suspect, who was carrying the machete, is described as white, 6ft in height, and was wearing a light grey zipper, black trousers and black trainers.
The second suspect is described as white, 6ft1 in height, and was wearing a black jacket with the hood up, grey tracksuit bottoms and black trainers.
Detective Inspector Alasdair Barlow from the Community Investigation Unit based at Govan said:
"This was a violent and premeditated attack and it is vital that we trace the two despicable individuals involved.
"Officers will be at the scene today conducting door to door enquiries as well as examining CCTV footage to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
"The incident occurred near to the cinema and there would have been members of the public in and around the shopping centre at the time. I would appeal to anyone who noticed anything at all suspicious to please get in touch as you may have information to assist with our investigation.
"I would also appeal to anyone who was in the area of Inverleith Street shortly after the robbery took place, who may have noticed a blue Skoda Fabia or two men acting suspiciously, to come forward.
"Anyone with information is asked to contact the Community Investigation Unit based at Govan via 101, quoting incident number 2813 of Tuesday 2 January 2017. Alternatively you can call CRIMESTOPPERS on 0800 555 111 where details can be given in confidence."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Ecosophy at the End of Nature
Naess's ecosophy is one of the first and most influential philosophical formulations of relationism and environmental ontology. In this paper, I argue that his proposal can be re-analysed in light of Latour's recent political ecology. The comparison unfolds Latour's direct criticisms of Naess in the central concepts of objectivity, politics, anthropocentrism, ecological crisis, morality, and facts and values. On one hand, the comparison offers material to rework the potentials and pitfalls of a perspective that understands the ecological crisis in terms of necessity of rethinking the place of humans in nature and reopening the concept of nature and of the human. On the other hand, Latour exposes some of Naess's fundamental ambiguities. I argue that precisely in these ambiguities lies Naess's fecundity and, maybe, the possibility for ecosophy to rephrase its tenets today.
Titolo: Ecosophy at the End of Nature
CAVAZZA, ELISA
THE TRUMPETER
Abstract: Naess's ecosophy is one of the first and most influential philosophical formulations of relationism and environmental ontology. In this paper, I argue that his proposal can be re-analysed in light of Latour's recent political ecology. The comparison unfolds Latour's direct criticisms of Naess in the central concepts of objectivity, politics, anthropocentrism, ecological crisis, morality, and facts and values. On one hand, the comparison offers material to rework the potentials and pitfalls of a perspective that understands the ecological crisis in terms of necessity of rethinking the place of humans in nature and reopening the concept of nature and of the human. On the other hand, Latour exposes some of Naess's fundamental ambiguities. I argue that precisely in these ambiguities lies Naess's fecundity and, maybe, the possibility for ecosophy to rephrase its tenets today.


Airtel has started a new service called the "V-Fiber" broadband, earlier this year it was launched in Chennai and this week it was launched in Mumbai. Today, Airtel has launched it's V-Fiber in Ahmedabad. This service offers 100Mbps speeds which is based on the Vectorization technology. According to Airtel, there is no need for wiring or drilling in customer's premises, just a new modem upgrade is required to experience Airtel V-Fiber.
Airtel says, existing Airtel broadband customers can upgrade to V-Fiber without any additional charges. Also, if the customer is not satisfied then Airtel is ready to provide a refund or adjust in the next billing cycle.
New connections for V-Fiber plans starts from Rs. 999 and can also avail the 3 months unlimited offer. Existing and new customers can register their requests at www.airtel.in/vfiber or call on 18001030121. The company is also giving unlimited free voice calling to all the broadband customer, and Airtel recently launched their myHome offer that offers 5GB extra data for broadband users for every airtel postpaid or DTH connection.
Airtel already announced that V-Fiber will be deployed across 87 cities in coming months.


Working on the BLOOM project is an interesting adventure for the four of us teachers from two countries: Sweden and Greece. First of all the word "bioeconomy" was not only hard to explain to our students, it was equally hard to understand for us teachers in the beginning.
When the BLOOM project was introduced to us, it sounded like a very interesting concept and we immediately liked the idea! We were introduced to the concept along with many different possibilities and ideas about how biobased products can be made and used in real life. We got curious and started looking for various ways to introduce it to our students. We started brainstorming to plan a lesson on the topic that we ourselves didn't understand. But as they say, teamwork always brings out the best in you, soon there were only learners in the classrooms: both teachers and students were learning about new aspects of bioeconomy at the same time. So while going through environmental pollution problems with our students and looking for possible solutions with them, we accidentally understood the meaning together!
The learning scenario we developed during the project as part of the BLOOM Schoolbox, aims to connect everyday life examples to the topic at hand, then developing further into an entire project. First, students create a poster on bio-based products they found in the market. Then, they are involved in experimental laboratory work, where they conduct three experiments, collect data and make conclusions according to the instructions given in three worksheets.
BLOOM was a great way to engage students in science as they were offered the opportunity to link their classroom activities to real-life experiences! A student-centered approach was adopted, as our pupils were involved in designing their learning experience in collaboration with their peers through projects that allowed them to reflect and synthesize on what they have learned.
Furthermore, bringing real world problems – such as environmental issues – to classroom is really important! Each time students attempt to solve problems they come across in their daily lives, learning becomes meaningful! While implementing our learning scenario, students were also encouraged to publish their work through the creation of a YouTube video. After doing the planned lessons in our respective classes, we also asked our students about BLOOM's impact on them. According to their feedback, BLOOM was inspiring, engaging, meaningful and…fun!


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#OTD in Irish History – 29 May:
Stair na hÉireannHistory, Ireland, Irish History#irelandinspires, #irishhistory, #OTD, 1798 United Irishmen Rebellion, 29 May, History, History of Ireland, Ireland, Irish History, Peter Cox Photography, Today in Irish History
1205 – King John makes Hugh de Lacy Earl of Ulster.
1660 – English Restoration: Charles II is restored to the throne of England, Scotland and Ireland. The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
1666 – The Act of Uniformity confirms Guy Fawkes' day (5 November) as an anniversary, and adds 30 January (execution of Charles I) and 29 May (the Restoration).
1722 – Birth of James Fitzgerald, 20th Earl of Kildare; Duke of Leinster; politician and Lord Justice.
1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Massacre at Gibbet Rath, between 300 and 500 United Irishmen are massacred by the British Army in Co Kildare.
1827 – Birth of Timothy Daniel Sullivan in Bantry, Co Cork. He was a nationalist, journalist, politician and poet who wrote the Irish national hymn "God Save Ireland", in 1867. Sullivan was a member of the Home Rule League, supporting Charles Stewart Parnell in the 1880 general election, being "convinced that without self-government there could never be peace, prosperity or contentment in Ireland". When the party split in 1891 he became an Anti-Parnellite until the Nationalist factions were reunited in 1900. He was Lord Mayor of Dublin in 1886 and 1887.
1884 – Oscar Wilde and Constance Lloyd are married. They had two sons within the first couple of years of their marriage. After the birth of their second child, they had become sexually estranged. It is unknown at what point Constance became aware of her husband's homosexual relationships. In 1891 she met his lover Lord Alfred Douglas when Wilde brought him to their home for a visit. Around this time Wilde was living more in hotels, such as the Avondale Hotel, than at their home in Tite Street.
1888 – John Robert Gregg from Co Monaghan published and copyrighted his own system of shorthand, called Gregg Shorthand, in Liverpool.
1917 – Birth of John 'Jack' Fitzgerald Kennedy, the 35th US President, in Brookline, Massachusetts.
1936 – The Free State Senate (upper house of parliament) is abolished.
1936 – Birth of Jackie Lee (born Jacqueline Norah Flood) in Clontarf, Co Dublin. She is a popular music singer, who has recorded under various names. Lee was a musical child prodigy and upon finishing her studies she became a vocalist with the top show bands playing prestigious Irish venues.
1942 – Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and his Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling single in history.
1953 – Death of James Downey; at the time he is probably the most famous publican (pub-owner) in the world for bringing to an end the longest ever pub strike. Downey's premises in Dún Laoghaire had been the focus of a union dispute for 14 years, and brought the pub world fame.
1972 – The Official IRA announced a ceasefire. This marked the end of the Official IRA's military campaign.
1974 – Northern Ireland is brought under direct rule from Westminster.
1981 – The names of four prisoners on hunger strike together with five other Republican prisoners, were put forward as candidates in the forthcoming general election in the Republic of Ireland.
1982 – A United States Congress group called Friends of Ireland paid a fact-finding visit to Northern Ireland.
1986 – Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Tom King, informed the House of Commons of the decision to dissolve the Northern Ireland Assembly.
1990 – The Northern Ireland Police Federation passed a vote of 'no confidence' in the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Brooke.
1997 – US President, Bill Clinton, paid a visit to London. During a meeting with British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, Clinton gave his support to the Labour government's approach to Northern Ireland. Clinton called for a renewed IRA ceasefire and for Sinn Féin to be then allowed to enter all-party talks.
1999 – Thirteen RUC officers are injured as tensions explode on the streets of Portadown with both Loyalist and Nationalist rioters venting their fury in the wake of a banned parade along the lower Garvaghy Road.
1999 – The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims Remains (ICLVR) was informed that the body of Jean McConville, who had been abducted from her home in Belfast in 1972 by the IRA, was buried under a car park at Templetown beach, five miles from Carlingford, Co Louth. After several extensive excavations over a number of weeks nothing was found. McConville's body was discovered by accident in 2004.
1999 – There was further controversy at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry into the killings on 30 January 1972 when it became clear that George Robertson, British Secretary for Defence, was supporting 17 members of the Parachute Regiment who were claiming anonymity on the grounds that they would be in danger if their names were revealed.
2000 – Devolution was restored to the Northern Ireland Assembly.
2000 – For the second year in a row, l'Ecrivain on Dublin's Baggot Street wins the Bushmills Malt Best Restaurant award, with proprietor Derry Clarke also taking Best Chef award.
2001 – Irish artists take a stand against racism by donating original works to a special fund-raising auction. Over 100 works by both new and established Irish artists go under the hammer at the Le Chéile auction in the Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin.
2002 – Former Taoiseach Charles Haughey is €2.2m richer following the auction of a tiny part of his extensive Abbeville art collection.
2002 – Arts Minister Síle de Valera hails the State's acquisition of a previously unseen collection of original manuscripts by James Joyce as "a monumental event in Ireland's literary and cultural history". The collection, stored in Paris for many years, consists of 500 sheets of handwritten notes by the author. It includes notes and drafts by Joyce on several works including his classics, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, as well as notebooks dating from the early 1900s.
2002 – John McGahern wins the €10,000 Kerry Ingredients Irish fiction award at the 32nd Listowel Writers' Week for his novel That They May Face the Rising Sun.
2003 – According to the Eurydice report, Ireland has the largest number of children per class in Europe and our teachers have to work longer than most to earn the top salary.
2003 – Thousands of republicans and nationalists join in a series of protests across the country to mark the cancelled date for the North's Assembly elections.
2015 – Death of William "Willie" Horgan. He was a hurling referee and a former footballer and hurler with his club Brian Dillons. Horgan officiated at a number of high profile club games in Cork before making his inter-county debut as a referee in 1981. After beginning in the minor, under-21 and junior grades he progressed to senior level where he took charge of numerous games between the league and the championship. Horgan was the referee for the 1991 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary. He retired from inter-county activity in 1995.
Image | Keem Bay, Achill, Co Mayo | Colm Keating Photography
#irishhistory #ireland #irelandinspires
#OTD in 2003 – James Plunkett, best known for his epic novel of Dublin, 'Strumpet City', dies at the age of 83.
#OTD in 1798 – United Irishmen Rebellion: Massacre at Gibbet Rath, between 300 and 500 United Irishmen are massacred by the British Army in Co Kildare.


The EBTJV completed the first version of its action strategies for conserving brook trout (Conservation Strategy) in August 2007. These action strategies are aimed at achieving the EBTJV's principal goals and are used to guide the partnership's decision-making as well as measuring its progress and successes. The EBTJV Steering Committee purposely decided when it adopted the Conservation Strategy, that it would be a living document and therefore would be updated whenever it was warranted. In keeping with this precept, the Conservation Strategy was revised in November 2007, July 2008, and November 2011. However, the focus of these revisions centered primarily on changes to the regional and range-wide habitat objectives, which occurred as a result of periodic recommendations made by the Northern and Southern Workgroups. Since the Conservation Strategy has been in place for a little more than five years, it was the Steering Committee's desire to initiate a full review of all components of the plan and so they tasked the EBTJV Coordinator with the responsibility of leading the effort of ensuring the Conservation Strategy is current, relevant, and realistic and is representative of the pertinent data and information that is now available. The results of the review are described in this document along with recommendations for action by the EBTJV Steering Committee.


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The BEAST Thrillboat Ride
Don't miss the BEAST… New York's very own thrill ride. Your captain, will take you for a wet n' wild ride through the New York harbor. Hold onto your hats because for 30 fun-filled minutes, you'll be soaring past the skyscrapers at a heart-pounding 45mph. We'll stop for a close-up of the Statue of Liberty where you'll have a quick photo-op. It's a pure thrill!
Speedboat Tour; Tour App in 7 languages (English, Mandarin, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese); Free Wi-Fi on board.
Transportation to and from the departure location; Snack; Drinks; Gratuities.
Available: Daily, April 30 - September 25 only; Departs every hour on the hour, 10:00am-6:00pm.
This tour will depart from Pier 83, West 42nd Street & 12th Avenue, New York.
Tour App: Staring in March, Circle Line will offer our legendary cruise content in seven languages! Our new app will include recorded narration for 30+ of the most famous sights on our cruises, along with enhanced media and GPS map positioning to help you explore and learn about NYC in a whole new way. App available in Mandarin, French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese.
Free Wi-Fi on board: We want to you be connected at all times and be able to share all these great images that you are taking in along the cruise. Hop on our Free Wi-Fi and start sharing the views.
Must be 40" inches to participate in this attraction.
Beast Does Not Operate When Raining.
Allow yourself 45 minutes for ample ticketing and boarding time.


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Chanel + Charles Finch 11th Annual Pre-Oscars Dinner
Photo by BFA
Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus
Photo by Justin Bishop
Leslie Mann and Judd Apatow
Lucy Boynton and Margot Robbie
Tessa Thompson, Kristen Stewart and Miley Cyrus
Nathalie Love and Charles Finch
Samantha Ronson and Cassandra Grey
Lauren Lapkus, Frances McDormand and Carey Mulligan
Liv Lo and Henry Golding
The Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel
On Saturday, February 23, the eve of the 2019 Academy Awards, A-listers swarmed the Polo Lounge at The Beverly Hills Hotel for the annual pre-Oscars dinner party thrown by Chanel and businessman and movie producer Charles Finch.
The 11th iteration of the high-profile fete welcomed filmmakers and Chanel-clad movie stars including Margot Robbie, Lupita Nyong'o, Carey Mulligan and Lucy Boynton to the iconic eatery, whose celebrated history is soaked in Old Hollywood glamour. Also in attendance was Roma director Alfonso Cuarón, who went on to win Oscars for best direction and cinematography at Sunday's ceremony.
Guests toasted the nominees among them (Sam Rockwell and Richard E. Grant, to name a couple), and paid tribute to the French fashion house's late creative director Karl Lagerfeld, who passed away just days earlier at the age of 85.
Written by Anush J. Benliyan
Event_Post_1_160x600


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Salute Newsletter by Pat McGrath Avery and Joyce Faulkner
Review Missing
This month's Salute features Pat McGrath Avery's interview with William McGinley -- a World War II veteran who was reported KIA -- but is still alive and kicking more than 60 years after his adventure hiding from the Nazis in Belgium. Columnist Feather Schwartz Foster introduces John Adams -- the father of the Navy. Lloyd King discusses the history of the Medal of Honor. Chris Avery reviews Ron Greer's book, Fire From the Sky: A Diary Over Japan, the story of his father's exploits during World War II. Colleen Tucker's charming memoir, "Everlasting Memories" takes us back to the days when everyone leaned into the harness together. Mary Nida Smith focuses on the Sea Fox and it's role during the Korean War.
Since so many of our readers enjoy the Branson Night Life (and morning and afternoon life), we've decided to offer reviews of the shows from time to time. This month we review a new act -- SIX. Poet Rudy Garcia's moving verse "M.I.A." is a must read. Don't forget cartoonist Lloyd King's Beans & Frank.
Also, Hodge Wood announces the publication of the first book in his Sharks on Wounded Fish Series, "Chum Water". It's a wonderful read -- and a sobering one.
Baby Jack by Frank Schaeffer
Novels cannot get much better! I have read or reviewed well over a thousand books in the last decade but none better than the newest novel by Frank Schaeffer simply titled Baby Jack. I never thought I would ever find any western author express what being in the military and fighting wars was about by referring to one of the holiest books of the Hindus The Bhagavad Gita. In the form of a letter the author uses our marine hero Jack's letter to his girl friend Jessica to explain how Krishna taught Arjuna about duty, discipline, God and self. He uses this letter to further explain how Arjuna was taught to take a stand for what is important; and about learning that "love and combat" are sometimes both right. This is really heavy stuff that most non-veterans do not understand or get – but most combat veterans will have little trouble bridging that gap. The author has a way of driving this loyalty and duty issue home through his lead character Jack.
The author uses many different voices to convey his story including baby Jack who is born after his father is killed. We also hear from God who we discover has a good sense of humor. The writer so skillfully crafts this story that it unfolds the plot through all these different view points and yet remains totally understandable and clear for the reader.
There are many issues in this book; however, like all great novels it is drove home by strong characterizations. We witness the disapproval of Jack by his own father because of his decision to join and serve in the Marine Corps. His dad refuses to write to him or to talk to him. Jack's parents end up fighting and falling apart. There are so many really good relationship issues that Schaeffer attacks, explores or alludes to throughout his wonderful text. This story will make you think about social issues as well – like how the rich and well-to-do families are not sending their children off to war.
In some ways this book is about spiritual issues as well. It explores the heart and the soul and indirectly forces the reader to question certain things about life and God and duty. You cannot read this book without being changed in some way. It is powerful, moving, at times irreverent and humorous, sad, surreal, but always entertaining! This is Schaeffer's best work to date and that is saying a lot since he has created some gigantic and profound works already.
Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2006)
Todd Ogden, an acclaimed painter with work in museums around the world and a seemingly successful thirty-year marriage to the Brahmin Sarah, is living and painting in his two-hundred-year-old Massachusetts farmhouse when his youngest child, Jack, chooses the Marines over college. Feeling puzzled and ultimately infuriated by his son's incomprehensible switch to "the other side," a situation only further aggravated by his disapproval of Jack's girlfriend Jessica, Todd ultimately turns his back on his son. Not long after the start of Gulf War II, Jack is deployed to Iraq and killed a week later, trying to end off an ambush. From this point on, Baby Jack tells the story of the family Jack leaves behind, of his parents trying to survive as their marriage shatters, of Todd's own breakdown and after-the-fact attempt to understand his son's life — and of Jessica's perseverance and the baby to whom she gives birth after Jack's death. Baby Jack is a powerful and moving human story of sacrifice and redemption, which takes its readers into a territory way beyond the everyday.
The Highway War by Seth Folsom
Eyewitness account of OIF! Years ago Marine artist Col Charles Waterhouse drew a cartoon of a grizzled Marine Gunny, complete with cigar, pulling on a Santa outfit as he prepares to entertain young children, as compared to his normal demeanor of an intimidating Gunny. Maj Seth Folsom's book details a similar transformation, as he grows from a nervous young officer facing his first combat to that of a skilled and articulate officer and husband.
A Captain at the time, Folsom is a blunt and honest writer who discusses his fears and concerns of what he is about to encounter in Iraq. The likely-hood is that many Marines and soldiers, both officers and enlisted, can identify with his worry of how he will fare in his first combat: Can he hack it? How well will he perform? Will he make any mistakes that might cost the lives of his Marines? The difference between them and Folsom is his frankness in discussing these concerns.
Folsom uses the story of his role as company commander to tell the story of Delta Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion as they participated in the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. From breaching the berms into Iraq, to watching and waiting as his fellow Marines fought at An-Nasiriyah, to the fighting on the way to Baghdad and beyond, Folsom pulls no punches and spares no feelings in his descriptions of leading 130 Marines into combat. The invasion in March 2003 was the beginning of an unusual war against a non-traditional enemy, and Folsom has to find his balance as an officer when dealing with both his superiors and the Marines under him while learning how to lead Marines in combat. Sand, stink, rain, lack of sanitation, fatigue, grime, and nerves are just some of issues with which he dealt even before he and his men even encountered the enemy. Folsom covers the military actions from 21 March 2003 through the April 2003 capture of Baghdad, and he accurately recounts the stress, excitement, and confusion of those historic days.
With the book written from the notes and recollection of his wartime journal, this is a fascinating memoir revealing are his feelings as he dealt with his Marines, and how he matured as an officer and as a human being. Many readers, especially his fellow officers will find much to critique in his rough and abrasive leadership style, and his dislike of the media is at odds with Marine Corps policy. But it is Folsom's same bluntness that lets him write so revealingly – and perhaps these same readers can use his vignettes as an 'after-action report' in order to guide themselves in similar circumstances.
In perhaps a reflection of the asymmetrical nature of this war, Folsom recounts participating in briefings with the generals and colonels leading the invasion, and later singing with his men as they blast rock & roll music at rock concert levels. Perhaps one unexpected bonus of war in the wired age is that we readers can share in our warrior's thoughts and experiences while they are still fresh, and as such, Maj Folsom's book is both an exciting read and highly recommended.
Reviewed by: Andrew Lubin (2007)
The Highway War is the compelling Iraq War memoir of then-Capt. Seth Folsom, commanding officer of Delta Company, First Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps. Mounted in eight-wheeled LAVs (light armored vehicles), this unit of 130 Marines and sailors was one of the first into Iraq in March 2003. It fought on the front lines for the war's entire offensive phase, from the Kuwaiti border through Baghdad to Tikrit.
Folsom's thoughtful account focuses on his maturation as a combat leader—and as a human being enduring the austere conditions of combat and coming to terms with loss of life on both sides. Moreover, The Highway War is the story of a junior officer's relationships with his company's young Marines, for whose lives he was responsible, and with his superior officers. Folsom covers numerous unusual military actions and conveys truthfully the pace, stress, excitement, mistakes, and confusion of modern ground warfare. The Highway War is destined to be a Marine Corps classic.
The Perfect Assassin by Ward Larsen
Top Notch International Spy Thriller – A Page Turner! When most readers think of great international spy thrillers several authors jump out at you like Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and Gayle Lynds. Now you can think about adding another name to that illustrious group of authors – Ward Larsen. In his debut novel The Perfect Assassin he has found his own place on that literary pedestal of spy thriller genre writers.
The story's plot is exciting, entertaining, suspenseful, intriguing, and even romantic. The characters are strong and although most of the story is done with a good narrative, the dialog, when used, completes and compliments both the action and plot. The author works it all together into one great story. This book has it all, terrorists, nuclear weapons, murder, spies, heroes, evil bad guys, and double agents. It is a book you cannot put down!
This book begs for a movie version; it is that kind of high action adventure story that would play well on the big screen.
One perfect shot will change the course of history. Christine Palmer, a young American doctor sailing solo across the Atlantic, makes an incredible discovery - a man narrowly clinging to his life in the frigid waters. But there is much more to this desperate survivor than meets the eye.David Slaton is a Kidon - a highly-trained, highly-precise, and highly-dangerous assassin. The Kidon is both the hunter and the hunted, and he and Christine are in grave danger. Will they win in this race against time?With the precision of a sharpshooter, author Ward Larsen weaves an intricate tale of espionage and intrigue.
Charlie Battery by Andrew Lubin
A Marine's Father's Account of the Iraq War. Author Andrew Lubin whose son was a Marine, writes a heartfelt view on war, patriotism, history, and most importantly, father-son relationships in his book Charlie Battery: A Marine Artillery Unit in Iraq. The title of the book does not give you the fullness of the story that lies within those pages. This book walks you through what it is like being the parent of a Marine in combat whose life is in great danger. The author does it without "going emotional" on you and yet you know that it has taken its toll on him. It is an understated style that feels very much like a Marine family way to handle things.
My own son was in the Army in first Gulf War with Iraq. I was glued to the TV news 24/7 for several days. I did not get any mail from my son for weeks but I had gotten a phone call from him just a couple of hours before all hell broke loose and the air campaign began. So my wife and I have walked down that same road that Lubin has traveled. I have been angry at protesters on TV while my son was in combat. I was angry at our government for the war and for endangering my son. I worried about his health and safety. I was also worried if he would mentally and emotionally come back as he was.
Lubin's story of his son Phil and his son's unit "Charlie Battery" is not just about them but has more universal appeal to all military families and most especially Marine ones. Anyone who has ever sent a son or daughter off to a war will be able to identify with this book. There are parts of this book that were gut wrenching from a parent's point of memory. It is so surreal watching the war on TV knowing that your own son is over there someplace. In Lubin's situation, he actually is able to see a news report on Charlie Company in the battle for An-Nasiriyah in the middle of the night. For any parent that would make sleeping that much harder to do after that. It is that 'not knowing' element that makes being a parent so difficult. Is your son safe? Is he hurt? God forbid, but could he get killed.
This book takes the reader though the whole build up and the shipping out process. We are able to be there with the father and son as they spend the past few hours together before he ships out to Iraq. We follow along with the few emails and phone calls but mostly very late and old news via letters. The author weaves into his personal story lots of USMC history and tradition. He also wrote about all the men of the unit and does not just focus on his son. He even adds some great quotes at the beginning of each chapter. The personal black and white photos tell another story that only photos can do.
I think there are several key emotional parts to this book that hit me. One of them was the playing of Amazing Grace on bagpipes by one of the Marines in their base camp before the invasion. There is mention that the guy played for almost 20 minutes and that it moved the troops. I bet it did. That song is powerful and I could visualize the men listening and thinking about God, their families, and the up coming battles. Another emotionally strong part of the book is the actual battle of An-Nasiriyah and all that the unit goes through. The background details about that prolonged engagement has some real teeth. I admit that I gained a newer perceptive on that battle even though I have read dozens of accounts of that same battle.
It is great writing in all aspects of good story telling. It is both informative and entertaining as well. The coming home and even his carefully managed remarks at the end of the book about the politics of this continuing war all contribute to give this book much more depth and feeling then any history book on this war. He makes it very personal at times; and yet the book is expansive and inclusive for all military families. It is a book that you should read even if you think you understand and know all you want to know about this current war over there. It will give you a better understanding of the human element and what makes Marines special.
"Charlie Battery" is the harrowing and personal account of a Marine Corps artillery battery fighting for survival in the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom as they fight in the vicious battle at An-Nasiriyah. Written by the father of one of Charlie Battery's Marines, the story follows their sudden call to war, their deployment in the largest convoy since WW2, and their baptism-by-fire at An-Nas. Through extraordinary interviews with the Marines, their families, and their superior officers, we are given a rare glimpse of what they early days of the war in Iraq were like for the Marines and their families - not only for the Marines who foughyt, but for all those who watched it unfold live at 0330 one morning on MSNBC
Life After Deployment by Karen M. Pavlicin
A great sequel to "Surviving Deployment!" Life After Deployment is author Karen Pavlicin's sequel to her award-winning book "Surviving Deployment". Mrs. Pavlicin has written another important book for the military family and their friends and relatives.
The writer is a wife of a Marine with multiple deployments, and this book deals with the many problems faced by wives and families when their servicemen return from deployment. These are not theoretical problems – these are the problems faced by too many families today: dealing with the children – re-establishing parental authority – PTSD – intimacy issues...plus how to best handle combat deaths and injuries…this book is filled with practical solutions Mrs. Pavlicin has elicited from the thousands of wives and families who have – and are – facing these issues.
With so few Americans volunteering to serve in the military (approx 0.03 % of the population), there is a deplorable lack of data and professional assistance for these families; most therapists have no clue how to deal with the anger of a child whose father died in Iraq or came home missing a limb from an IED attack in Afghanistan – this book is the first step to filling that void.
This book should be given to every spouse as his or her serviceman steps off the airplane back onto US tarmac. Well-written and thorough, the issues raised here are important ones that these families need to recognize and face, and Mrs. Pavlicin – the widow of a multiple-deployed Marine – does a first-rate job taking care of her now over-extended military family. High Recommended !!
Life After Deployment captures the tender and moving stories of military families during their reunion. Service members and their spouses, parents, fiancées, and children share the joy and anxiety of homecoming, the adjustments of living together again, and how they coped with anger, depression, PTSD, injuries, grief, and other challenges. Some families had fairytale endings. Most worked hard to rebuild their relationships after much time and change. A few suffered great losses. These military families talk candidly about what their experience was really like, offering hope and advice to others who walk this journey.
Vietnam in Verse: Poetry for Beer Drinkers by Mike Mullins
Vietnam War Poetry That Bares The Human Soul. Author Mike Mullins states in his book, "It is what it is; a number of poems inviting people to experience what an average soldier felt during a time of war!" "It", of course, refers to his book of poems about war. The 'people' the author refers to are those 'people' who have not experienced the wrath of war or felt the incredible affects that combat has on the human psyche … affects a soldier carries with him for the rest of his life … affects that many soldiers can't cope with … affects that many soldiers can't or won't talk about … affects that scarred the minds of many soldiers similar to the physical scars caused by hot shrapnel, bullets, mortars, and rockets that the author talks about in his poem, Hey Medic.
Mike bares his soul in a unique way so others will experience the intangibles of war and thus be able to feel, live, smell, and taste what he did, what others did, what others can't, don't, and won't talk about but are grateful to Mike for being their voice. Mike reveals many facets of war that most 'people' never read about or think about … inner consternations that are intense, intimate, and oft times incredibly private. Mike weaves his poetic stories on a literary loom with yarns that expose the inner sanctity, silence, and agonies of war that until now were harbored within his soul much the same as an artist's brush paints intimate visions on an otherwise blank canvas. Mike's words leave little doubt that war is a personal hell and that each soldier wages many separate wars within their souls.
Reviewed by: Lloyd A. King (2007)
I am Michael D. Mullins. I have written a book of poetry, telling my story when I was a grunt in Vietnam. I served there from March 1968 until March 1969. My unit was Delta Company, 3rd Battalion of the 7th Infantry in the 199th Light Infantry Brigade. Our motto was "Light, swift and accurate." It could have easily been "light, sweaty and persistent." We were mobile and proved it every day.
The stories I tell are about friends, vets I have met in various situations and my own experiences in the rice paddies of Southeast Asia. I continue to seek stories that inspire, concern, and delight me. They make me thoughtful, proud, and committed to their telling.
I have more to write and will continue to listen to the veterans I encounter on life's road. There are 8.2 million of us, so I am sure I will not get to everyone, but to those from whom I have already learned and those in my future I offer my gratitude, my respect, and my thanks.
God Does Have a Sense of Humor by Rob Ballister
The Author Has a Wonderful Sense of Humor! I started off reading God Does have a sense Of Humor not expecting too much more than perhaps a nice gentle little book that might make me smile on occasion. I ended up finding myself laughing out loud and almost wetting my pants! Author Rob Ballister, a Naval Academy graduate and current Naval Officer in San Diego, really has a wonderful sense of what is funny even when he is battling life threatening health issues like testicle cancer. I figured if anyone could make fun of that life situation then the rest of his book would be hilariously funny in the male "Erma Bombeck" sort of way. And his book is really all about male energy and humor that women will enjoy just as much.
The book is filled with dozens of short stories; some of which are based on true experiences while some are totally fictional creations of the wild imagination of the author. The key is that I could not tell which were what, when reading them – they all felt like real experiences because of the warm and skillful writing skills of Ballister. His subject matter goes from "Sex Education as Taught by Nuns" to "Christmas in Gingerbread Hell." He deals with the simple things in life that men deal with like laundry protocols (separating colors) and blind date disasters. He handles all of these men's issues like a profession male and makes his gender proud.
There are so many "just great" moments in his stories. I think most all of us guys can relate to his comments on shopping differences between men and women and the experience of buying something at Victoria's Secret. This book is full of little pearls of wisdom and humorous gems. The book entertains while filling the reader's heart with a smile. That is saying a lot in these stressful times of terrorists, wars and random street crimes; it is nice to have something that allows the readers to escape, relax, smile and maybe even laugh out loud. This is one of those special books that are a true gift for your soul.
The book would be a great gift to all the men in your life – be them fathers, brothers, husbands, significant others, or just male friends. You will find however, that women will be laughing just as hard but at our male traits and behaviors when they read his stories. It is a delightful reading experience and one that is pure entertainment!
Author Rob Ballister delivers a touching and entertaining portrait of his journey through dating, growing up in New Jersey, and surviving cancer. Along the way, he learns that God Does Have a Sense of Humor. Follow him:
Through surgery—My understanding was that the doctor, while hopping up and down on one foot and singing the national anthem, was going to remove my lymph nodes using a butter knife, a hacksaw, and some 10W-30 motor oil.
Into the confessional—There sat Father Riener, who was technically old enough to have been one of the original apostles. As I began reciting my list, Father began falling asleep. Being only in the fourth grade, I did exactly what I did at home when my younger sister fell asleep. I kicked him.
Through family Christmas traditions—That first year, Dad put up a wreath and Mom put up a tree, and things were pretty much low key that season. Then I was born, and as I grew, so did Dad's commitment to having the house visible from orbiting spacecraft.
With an incredibly wry sense of humor, Ballister offers a hilarious look at life, guaranteed to make you smile!
I'm a Hero Too by Jenny Sokol
Great Children's book for those with deployed parents! "I'm a Hero Too" is a lovely little children's book written for the sons and daughters of our deployed Marines, Army, Navy, and AirForce. Jenny Sokol is the wife of a Marine and mother of two, so she knows the ups and downs of dealing with children during Dad's deployment.
Sokol's book is written simply and elegantly in a style that lends itself to being read to small children, or having an older ( 7+ ) child read it to him or herself. Her experience as a mother and writer is demonstrated as she'd done up the book in a picture-book style, which lends itself to easy and interesting reading.
But it's in the text that Mrs. Sokol's talent as a writer surfaces. She writes of how children feel as their father's leave on deployment, and she lets her young readers know that tears are OK. A child's feeling towards hearing news about "the war" and "terror attack's" on the television are also discussed, as are problems fitting in at school, as well as growing up when Dad is away fighting. Her text is simple enough that children of all ages will fully understand and appreciate the sentiments and problems that the book addresses, with the important result that the children realize that their private fears are actually shared by many others in their age group.
This is simply a lovely little book that should be given to the family of every one of our deployed warriors. Highly recommended.
Children in military families cope with a vast array of emotions when Mom or Dad deploys, especially during our nation's war on terror. In this compassionate story, a young boy learns to cope and thrive while Dad is far away. Subtle suggestions for families enduring separation are weaved throughout this poignant book, and the lovable main character ultimately realizes that he's part of a special and appreciated family. Do you want to support children enduring deployments but don't know any personally? Consider donating books to military units in your area or to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center (MCAGCC) Chapel in Twentynine Palms, CA. When ordering for donation to MCAGCC, please ship to the following address: Mrs. Sandra Griesmeyer, Attn: A Co RMD, P.O. Box 788200, Twentynine Palms, CA 92278
Secure the Fort by Lucy Cain
If there are any patriotic threads woven into your American heart, you are impacted by the ACLU's efforts to remove "under God" from our Pledge of Allegiance, and "in God we trust" off our currency. This nation was founded on faith in God, and it is this author's opinion that we need to embrace our faith now more than ever during this war on terror.
As a military mother, I feel strongly about this nation remaining "under God." As a Christian author, I felt compelled to write about those feelings when my son joined the Army Reserves during this current war effort.
What started as a book of military themed devotions, Secure the Fort has turned into so much more. God has opened doors and provided more than thirty contributing authors who have expressed their stories of faith, patriotic poetry, and gripping experiences with such generosity it has humbled this author's heart. I am simply amazed at how these stories have all intertwined and fit together like a glove.
Secure the Fort encompasses all branches of the military between WWII and current day efforts. Letters from war bring the heart of our soldiers to the home front. Historical tidbits and famous quotes provide the reader with additional heart-touching facts about our nation and our military.
In the midst of writing Secure the Fort, our family found approximately 100 letters from WWII. These were written by my two great-uncles to their parents. These letters were stored in a little fabric footstool for 60 years - a stool that has been at my grandparents' farm house all these years, unopened. My sister discovered them one day while cleaning. How appropriate to find them at this time! Portions of these letters are now included in my writings. It was an amazing journey to read these historical artifacts.
Secure the Fort has a timely message for all Americans. We need to remember and embrace our nation's religious heritage and foundation of faith in God. While we don't want State to rule Church, State needs Church. We need to remain under God and in His watch. We need Him at the helm of every vessel, and guarding every border. We need His strength and His hand of protection. Our military families need His peace in the midst of war, and His courage to fight for lasting freedom from oppression and tyranny.
The battle is the Lord's, and we need Him to go before every soldier's steps. We, as a nation, should not ask our troops to step into harm's way without praying with them and for them.
It is my hope and prayer that every American will turn the last page of Secure the Fort feeling a renewal of Christian patriotism. I hope each reader comes away with a deeper respect of sacrifices made on their behalf. I pray each reader develops a stronger desire to serve both God and country in ways that would let all nations know that America still trusts in God.
Rangers in Combat by John Lock
Must read for Ranger followers! I loved this book! I have always been sort of a dreamer when it comes to military history and have often wondered what some of our brave soldiers of the past must have gone through, especially those of the civil and revolutionary war eras. Still like a young kid I often put myself in their place when engaging a good, vivid book about their trials and tribulations. This is such a book, and it deals with the some of the toughest of the tough, our Rangers, from past to present.
I was specifically intrigued and glued to the book covering the "Black Hawk Down" situation in Somali. I've seen this movie many times, but reading about it…..I was glued to the book. Such great detail and vivid images. It thought I was there.
J.D. Lock, the author, is a retired lieutenant colonel and former assistant professor of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He took me from the beginning stages during the French and Indian Wars right up to Operation Enduring Freedom. You can feel this book. The action in Korea, the mishaps in getting our Rangers into Grenada. All there.
Hats off to an outstanding book!
Reviewed by: Jim Stewart (2007)
For more than 200 years, U.S. Army Rangers have fought suicidal combat missions against overwhelming odds-earning their unrivaled reputation as the world's premier close-combat warriors. In Rangers in Combat, Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Lock vividly brings to life the horrific battles and the heroic exploits of a special breed of men for whom "valor, honor, and country" mean more than life itself.
Take a stand with Robert Rogers and his outnumbered Rangers during the French and Indian War. Ride with Mosby on the Soughton Raid in the Civil War. In World War II, spearhead Patton's invasion of Sicily beside the legendary William O. Darby, suicidally climb the cliffs of Pointe-du-Hoc with James Earl Rudder, or storm "bloody Omaha" with Max Schneider. Stand outnumbered deep in North Korea while defending Hill 205 against overwhelming hordes of Communist Chinese. And high atop a mountain in Afghanistan, fight your way out of a savage al Qaeda terrorist ambush.
From the snowy forests of Upstate New York and the swamps of South Carolina, to the humid streets of Mogadishu and the snowy mountain peaks of Afghanistan, read accounts of and lessons learned from some of the most courageous, daring, and vicious ground combat in the annals of U.S. military history.
The Rings of Allah by Lee Boyland
Thank Allah it's fiction, because it will scare the hell out of you! Author Lee Boyland puts his extensive special weapons background to use in spinning this completely believable tale of al-Qaeda's next step after 9-11. Leftover Soviet technology from the beginning of the Cold War falls into al-Qaeda's hands, and they establish an intricate network in order to place five atomic devices in five US cities. The US gets word of the attack, but will it be in time?
Boyland does a great job of mixing good character development with great technical background in order to create this story. Technical readers will appreciate his attention to detail as he relates and educates the reader on the workings of gun-type atomic weapons. Literature advocates will respect how he uses significant events to develop his main characters. Many new writers fall into the trap of trying to tell too much of the story, but Boyland avoids this by jumping sometimes a year ahead in the story in order to keep things moving.
A great action story that is just a bit too possible, this is definitely worth it for action and techno fans alike.
Reviewed by: Rob Ballister (2007)
At Stalin's orders two teams of scientists and engineers competed to demonstrate the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb. Failure was not an option, and the loosing team was purged with no warning. Its records destroyed, and all of the key personnel eliminated, well, almost all. What happened to the team's work in progress? Forty years later The Group discovers the answer. The Rings of Allah is a grand saga in the genre of James Clavell's Shogun and Tia-Pan, with a little Clancy thrown in. Spanning over sixty years the story sweeps across Russia, central Asia, and into the United States. The cast of characters include Soviet scientists, radical Islamist, KGB officers, al-Qaeda terrorists, Usama bin Laden, and American businessmen, doctors, and government officials. Islam, Wahhabism, and the Soviet-Afghan war, provide the backdrop for the birth of al-Qaeda. The story proceeds into the future where a sleeper cell of al-Qaeda attempts to complete Usama bin Laden's master plan for the final strike against the Great Satan. This epic novel presents a realistic and frightening picture of how simple atomic weapons could be smuggled into and hidden in the U.S. The author has the background and knowledge to write a realistic, technically sound story that will leave no doubt as to the vulnerability of western civilization to terrorism and the threat of weapons of mass destruction. Yes, it can be done, and the Rings of Allah provides a thrilling and realistic story of one such plan.
Gangway, Regular Navy by Richard Merrell
A hilarious account of life in the REAL Navy! Richard Merrell's book is a treasure of SNAFU's, goatropes, and other various nautical misadventures from his distinguished career in the Navy between 1960 and 1980. Merrell's frank, open style coupled with a seemingly endless supply of pranks, foibles, and brushes with greatness paint a rich tapestry of humor, camaraderie, and service that any military servicemember will certainly appreciate.
The most striking things I noticed as I read through his book were Merrell's attitude of service and his innate ability to the job done. Beneath the humor of the situations described were the stories of a man who truly believed in the value of what he was doing, someone who enjoyed serving his country, who took care of his sailors, and who took pride in his career. He just had the personal balance to have a heck of a good time while doing it!
From his days in boot camp though time in Florida, the Philippines, the Persian Gulf, Richard Merrell enjoyed life and enjoyed his career. Through his book, you can enjoy them too. An absolute MUST READ for anyone who served in the Navy during Vietnam or the Cold War!
Inspired by an extraordinary twenty-year U.S. Navy career, Gangway, Regular Navy! is the end result of two decades of blood, sweat, and beers. Covering the Cold War era from 1960-1980, Gangway, Regular Navy! is a historically and militarily accurate portrayal of world events during that time period. These pages contain an in-depth "behind the scenes," whirlwind journey that lets the reader experience the historical, hilarious, shocking, and sometimes criminal activities that the author witnessed as a member of the world's most powerful and diverse fighting force-the United States Navy. Gangway, Regular Navy! is a no-holds-barred, unapologetic, politically incorrect, first-hand account of these activities, from a time when being a member of the U.S. Navy meant not only overwhelming responsibilities, but also unbridled freedom and good times for millions of young men and women. Young people often dream of escaping the boundaries of their mundane hometowns and traveling to exotic lands, experiencing unique cultures, and meeting unforgettable characters around the world. The author lived this dream during a twenty year U.S. Navy career that proved to be the adventure of a lifetime and a learning experience that cannot be taught in any school. Much of the material in the book was dredged from hard nights in the sleazy, grimy, wonderful back alleys and gin mills of some of the world's most shady places, where the hookers would just as soon slit your throat as perform their intended obligations. It is here where sailors gather to drink heartily and engage in the age-old art of verbal one-upmanship, taking great pride in telling the most amazing, the funniest, or the most bizarre story of the evening. Written by a tried and true Tin Can Sailor, the author's diverse background as both an enlisted man and an officer gives a truly unique perspective of Navy life, and also provides insight into the amazing men and women who served during that time. As a humorous, honest, uplifting account of a twenty-year slice of naval history, Gangway, Regular Navy! is certain to entertain, inform, and delight everyone who dares read its pages.
Irish Eyes by Zoe Grider
An adventure story that has everything! Retired Army intelligence officer, turned novelist, Zoe Grider spins an adventure story unlike any other in her debut book "Irish Eyes". The story has a kind of female Rambo/James Bond/ kind of plot and is certainly not your typical woman leading character. We are talking dangerous encounters with terrorists and even sharks.
The story is enjoyable and even though it may not be completely believable the reader will forget those issues and find himself or herself engrossed in the unfolding and fast paced plot. This is a high octane story that will keep the reader's attention until the final page.
The book does not lack for action, adventure and thrills. The book is written well and the author makes good use of just enough dialog to keep the first person narrative flowing with energy. The book might make a successful movie some day. Great first effort by this author and one would hope for a sequel. This book is worth buying and reading!
Reviewed by: Bill McDonald(2007)
Irish Eyes spins Danny Kirk from a boring desk job with the Army into the adventure of her dreams. From the island beaches of Hawaii, to New Brunswick, Canada, and the woods of Virginia, Danny vows to protect the country and its people by any means possible.
Recruited by the Secret Security Agency, the sky is the only limit. Killer sharks, dangerous parachute jumps into dense rain forests, and deadly terrorists keep her second-guessing her decision to become part of a team of government-backed renegades.
Just as she gets comfortable with the idea, her former trainer, Sir Edward, tries to drown her and a crazed maniac attempts to kill her. Her anger drives her, even as she succumbs to a dark and sexy security officer, Phil Salio, and embarks on her first dangerous mission. But will her training be enough to keep her alive?
For the Good of The Many by Gary Carter
A Marine in the middle of political intrigue. Author Gary Carter attempts to blend the Marine Corps, Vietnam, lost-and-regained love, politics, and national security in an audacious first novel, and he comes close to putting it all together.
Protagonist Jason McBride finally makes it through boot camp at Camp Pendleton and is immediately shipped off to Vietnam. As a FNG, he and his fellow Marines are quickly captured. McBride helps engineer their escape from a POW camp, and it's the relationships built here that lay the basis for the underlying story; that the successful post-war McBride is a threat to the president of the United States, who seeks to frame him in a manipulated assassination attempt. McBride reaches back to the knowledge and strengths learned in his Marine and Vietnam days in order to defeat the shadowy government forces arrayed against him.
This has the ability to be a first-rate novel, and with additional character development, tightening up plot details, and attention to technical issues, the author will surely have a superlative second novel.
After surviving a helicopter crash during the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam, Marine corporal Jason McBride and his fellow survivors are captured and tortured by a sadistic Viet Cong captain. Afterward, orchestrating a harrowing escape, Jason is awarded the Silver Star for bravery. Now, in contemporary America, with the world on the brink of war over dwindling oil supplies, Jason finds that he and his men are being hunted down by the CIA, under orders from the President to get them off the streets, dead or alive. What happened in Vietnam to make Jason, now a rich and powerful attorney, the victim of a nationwide manhunt? Betrayed by the country they sacrificed for, can Jason and his fellow Marines get to the bottom of things before they are killed? Or will they go the way of countless other veterans, caught up in a web of lies and deceit with some of the most powerful men in Washington?
Retribution by John Schembra
Vince Torelli in another police adventure! John Schembra has written a follow up to the adventures of Vince Torelli. However, this does not take place in Vietnam like John's first novel, "MP". Torelli has returned home and is now an inspector with the San Francisco police department where he gets involved in a serial killer investigation and the search for the "Retribution Killer". The author's 30 years of being a police officer shines through in the book. It's rich with detail, especially when describing the horrendous crimes and crime scenes. These particular things are very vivid to the reader. It's more an expose on our disintegrating over burdened court system where deals are made leaving the men who do the work in the field stressed out at the results.
I liked this book a lot, and it's a definite compliment to his first book about Vince. The author leaves you hanging in this one. What will be Vince's next move. Will he also succumb to the folly that is justice? It will be interesting to see how the author follows this up. In his third book? Hope so.
Follow San Francisco homicide detective Vince Torelli as he tries to outwit and capture an elusive, murdering vigilante in this award winning mystery novel.
Constant Bearing Decreasing Range by Skip Vogel
A Tale of Naval Intrigue. Skip Vogel uses his 20 years of Navy experience to weave an intricate tale of life aboard a major warship in the 1970's.
The aircraft carrier USS UNION is the stage on which Vogel's story plays out. It's the 1970's, and several civilian judiciary systems have taken to allowing convicted criminals to serve in the military instead of serving their time. While this experiment bears fruit with a small percentage of misguided youth, by and large it results in several criminal and psychotic personnel being inducted into the Navy in general and onto the UNION in particular. Against this tide of dishonor stand Admiral Yorel, YN3 Byrd, and some other good sailors, chiefs, and officers who realize that they are in dire straits, and who set out to make it right. Vogel does an excellent job of capturing the leadership challenges involved, and also the frustration of the lead characters as they fight not only a criminal element in the crew, but a bureaucratic Navy that is more concerned with paperwork and political correctness than it is about national defense. Well written and engrossing, this book illustrates the conflict that sometimes ensues between public policy and defending this country. Suggested for Navy veterans, leadership students, and those interested in social justice.
Skip Vogel's CONSTANT BEARING - DECREASING RANGE: The Collision of Public Policy and National Defense is a compelling character-driven story of intrigue, tragedy, honor, and humor within the U.S. Navy as it was undermined by the questionable efforts of American politicians and social engineers as they attempted to integrate low aptitude personnel and criminals into our naval forces, and the unfortunate consequences that resulted from these policies.
Scatterlings of Africa by Peter Davies
Compelling Novel that reads like Non-fiction! Former Rhodesia citizen and part-time soldier turned author Peter Davis brings his knowledge of that terrible period of war and rebellion into focus with his novel "Scatterlings of Africa". It is a gripping suspense filled story with everything from war, and carnage to love and romance.
The writing is absolutely top notch. Davies captures the reader with a well-constructed plot, great characters and with just enough dialogs to add to the great narrative. The book is riveting and shows all the hatred and anger of that time and place. The book may not be politically correct at times but it fits well with what the author is trying to convey to his readers.
The book will keep you reading late into the night until you finish it. It is highly charged with lots of action but the issues about relationships and other personal things bring us a stronger and a more profound look at the people in his book. The story is easy to read physically but emotionally it may stay with you long after putting down this book.
A must read for those who love adventure and suspense novels.
A "compelling, high-octane novel of racial, tribal and ideological conflict that will almost certainly draw criticism from the politically correct brigade", Scatterlings of Africa is a fast paced thriller, set in Rhodesia's war against terror. Rhodesia became Zimbabwe in 1980. It's December 1972 and Lieutenant Ron Cartwright is obsessed with defending his country against insurgents in a vicious civil war. Comrade 'Gumbarishumba' Gadziwa is equally determined to win the fight for Zimbabwe to be restored to his people. While abduction, intimidation, torture and worse are going on in the war zone, the cities, towns and many farms remain safe, idyllic havens where Ron's wife Angela and their young children live in relative comfort. But the stress of their separate lives is taking its toll, and the arrival of Angie's cousin Mark, who she hasn't seen since she was a child, adds fuel to an already tense situation. The tentacles of war spread, plots cross, and life will never be the same again.
When Evil Prospers by John Washburn
Bold story about America turning back to her founding values! John Washburn has crafted a truly amazing tale about what could happen if America gives up her role as world superpower. Set shortly after the conclusion of the Second Gulf War, the book finds an America led by a very liberal president, put in office by the backlash generated by her predecessor's Middle East conflict. When terrorists strike in Texas even worse than 9/11, the President takes diplomacy over military action and bows to the UN. The Texas Governor, along with some patriotic Texans, realize that America cannot bow down and must strike back. Tangles with the Cuban military and a standoff at the Mexican border are just two of the results.
The events are fictitious, of course, but Washburn's writing style makes them all too believable. He does an especially good job of expressing the emotional turmoil that his characters are feeling as they make very difficult choices. Further, I enjoyed the way he weaved his personal faith and values into his characters, adding even more depth and realism to them and their struggles.
This book is an outstanding read, and will be thoroughly enjoyed by anyone who likes military or political fiction, as well as those who enjoy Christian fiction.
In the not too distant future, America's ongoing war on terror, coupled with its porous southern border and a growing lack of resolve among the masses to defeat our enemies, leads to another massive attack on American soil. This time, the state of Texas has become the target, and America must decide how to respond When Evil Prospers.
The ensuing investigation reveals a stunning international plot to strike America harder than it had ever been hit before, and the Presidential administration is stunned to discover who's involved. However, this discovery comes at a price, as one of the initial arresting officers is soon charged with abusing an alleged attacker.
Now the President, an ambitious yet dovish political leader, must decide how to handle the delicate situation while responding to the brutal attack on her country. But her course of action is less than acceptable for the hawkish traditionalist Governor of Texas, who believes the country should take a much different approach.
Caught in the middle are a physician and his brother, two average Americans, whose lives were touched deeply by the horrendous attack against Texas. As the events unfold, they make a decision to take action that their prior self-involvement had never allowed them to take before. As expected, the response throughout the country to their boldness is divided, which sets off a chain of events that could destroy or rescue a nation that is in dire need of healing.
Grady's Tour by John Gallagher
Phenomenal Yarn! Author John H. Gallagher takes on the military and even Senator Joe McCarthy in his historical fictionalized story about the Korean War "Grady's Tour". Most books do not take on such a complete stretch of history, in this case, four years that covers both the war and afterwards.
The book has some great action sequences in Korea that will satisfy almost all military buffs who enjoy reading a good war novel. The book goes into an area that most writers of this genre do not. It deals with issues beyond the war itself and takes on the great spy hunt at home by people like Joe McCarthy. It raises some questions and it might open old historic wounds for some people.
Readers will get their money's worth; as the book is well over 500 pages long and is entertaining through out .
A historical novel of: Fighting in Korean War; Zealous commanding general at Stateside post; McCarthy communist spy hunt; Politics at home; Romance.


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Appeal to find missing woman in Ham
Police are urgently trying to trace a vulnerable woman who's missing in Ham.
24 year old Mary Gilmore was last seen at the Cassel hospital earlier.
She's white about 5 foot 4, with short blonde hair that's shaved at the back and sides.
She's wearing a khaki coat and blue leggings and is carrying a satchel.
She's known to go to the Kingston area and any-one with any information should call 999.
Source: Twickenham police – CAD number 6157
Pics Of Riot Suspect Published
Eighteen months on from the 2011 summer riots and Wandsworth Police has issued a photo of a man they want in connection with the disorder in Croydon and Wandsworth on 8 August that year.
The image comes from hours of cctv footage that the operation Withern Team at Croydon has been working through.
If you recognise the man you can contact Crimestoppers - which is completely anonymous and independent from police - on 0800 555 111quoting reference 114818.
Helicopter Crash Funeral
The funeral of the pilot who crashed a helicopter into a crane in Vauxhall will take place later today.
50 year old Peter Barnes died along with pedestrian Mathew Wood from Sutton in the accident last month.
Mr Wood's funeral will take place next Friday.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation.
Missing Addlestone Woman Found
A pregnant woman who went missing from her home in Addlestone has been found safe and well.
Thirty One year old Ewa Czerepowicz was found in Sunbury this morning.
Youth Club in Epsom Celebrates 35 Years
A youth club promoting the integration of people with and without disabilities is celebrating its 35th birthday.
Epsom & Ewell PHAB Club involves children of all abilities in a variety of activities: sport, arts & crafts, music, drama as well as day trips and activity holidays.
Previous members of the Club include Paralympian David Weir.
Julia Giles is one of the leaders:
Cycling extravaganza coming to Surrey
The world's largest cycling festival will take place in London this summer.
Mayor Boris Johnson will take part in the 100-mile race, starting from the Olympic Park and ending in Surrey.
It's taking place at the beginning of August.
Rogue Trader promises to behave
Rogue Trader Gareth Walker has been persuaded to sign a form promising not to rip off customers – or face being dragged through the courts.
The 37-year-old builder of Primrose Close, Wallington, who traded as Dragon Build, was made to sign a formal undertaking by Sutton Council after being named and shamed on Channel 5's Cowboy Builders show in September.
Investigations by the council's own Trading Standards team unearthed evidence that between June 2010 and October 2012 Mr Walker, of Primrose Close, Wallington, was involved in around £200,000 of work that was either unsatisfactory or incomplete.
One victim, Lyndsay MacEwen of Worcester Park who paid Mr Walker £100,000, told investigators there was, 'no way we would allow him on site again', adding, 'he is a liar and a crook'.
Statement from Surrey County Council on death of pensioner
Police have started an investigation into the death of a pensioner left without care, in her own home, for nine days.
81 year old Gloria Foster from Banstead was found dehydrated and starving - after the company that provided her care, CareFirst 24 in Sutton, was shut down suddenly by border agency officials.
David Hodge is the leader of Surrey County Council.
With another cold snap recently Spelthorne Council moved homeless people in the Borough into B&Bs to keep them safe.
The Council regularly monitors the weather and if severe conditions are predicted it offers temporary accommodation to people known to be sleeping rough.
The trigger point for such short term housing is three nights of temperatures below zero.
Get Tweeting
The Met Police has been responsible for patrolling the rivers and canals in SW London since 1798.
Now the Marine Police Unit's turning to social media to improve its service.
This week it launched its twitter account #MPSonthewater.
It'll be used to, give crime prevention advice, offer crime fighting updates, engage with the river based communities, report successful activities and provide daily tide times from Richmond Bridge.
So far they've got a thousand followers.
Calls To End SW London Funding
Sutton and Cheam's MP is calling for funding that goes from South West London boroughs to pay for a Park in North East London to be scrapped.
Paul Burstow put a motion before parliament yesterday to end the anomaly that comes from a law passed in 1966 to fund the Lee Valley Park.
Back then the government decided that all London boroughs should pay for the area's development.
This year Sutton, Merton, Croydon and Wandsworth are contributing more than one million pounds.
Sun Comes To Barnes
The Wetlands Centre in Barnes is usually associated with ordinary animals but later this month it's showing off something out of this world.
On Sunday the 17th of February visitors will have the rare opportunity to get a live close-up view of the sun.
Special equipment will be used to see its surface, the famous sunspots and flares.
As well as the live feed visitors will be able to view recordings of solar events that directly affects life and weather here on Earth.
And in the afternoon there'll be a full planetarium show.
Additional CCTV Cameras for Stanwell
The location of the four new CCTV cameras in Stanwell has been announced.
They will be installed at Bedfont Road, Park Road, Long Lane and Town Lane.
These key locations are considered to be the best locations to provide effective strategic CCTV coverage around the perimeter of Stanwell.
Tributes to a Freeman of Merton
Councillors in Merton will tonight pay tribute to a former deputy leader.
Danny Connellan died this week after 23 years' public service.
An Honorary Freeman of the Borough, the 83-year-old was best known for his success in arranging to relocate Tooting and Mitcham Football Club.
He stood down in 2006, having represented residents of Figges Marsh.
Night Bus Call For Carshalton
MP for Carshalton and Wallington, Tom Brake, says he'll press TfL for a "fair deal" when it comes to night bus services for the area.
The N213 route was axed in 2009 when TfL argued it was underused.
But now there's no transport links for those commuting outside standard working hours and those travelling at night.
London TravelWatch, an independent comsumer watchdog for London's travelling public, says people's safety is being put at risk and suggests extending the operating hours of the 154 route.
Croydon Theft Sentences
A gang of youths have been sentenced at Croydon Crown Court, charged with dozens of major mobile phone thefts.
The 12 youths targeted branches of Carphone Warehouse, O2 and Vodafone stores all over London in a three month spree last Summer.
Top of the range handsets and tablets valued at hundreds of thousands of pounds were stolen from 45 separate stores.
Seven of the 12 can't be identified because of their age. 6 of those are from Croydon while the other offenders, who are 18, are from Tooting Bec, Thronton Heath and Lambeth.
New Addington murder investigation update
A neighbour of the grandmother of murdered Raynes Park schoolgirl Tia Sharp has been charged with wasting police time.
40-year-old Paul Meehan, from Croydon, will appear at before magistrates on February the 28th.
He lives near Tia's grandmother Christine Sharp in New Addington, whose boyfriend Stuart Hazell is due to stand trial for the 12-year-old's murder later this year.
Crossrail update
The case for a 12 billion pound cross-London rail scheme to open in the early 2030s has been put forward by business leaders.
Crossrail 2 would connect south-west and north-east London via a tunnel beneath the heart of the capital.
The line would take in areas such as Wimbledon, Kingston, Twickenham, Hackney, Islington, Tottenham, and Hertford East.
A homeless dog from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home has been given a new start in life thanks to a couple in Scotland, who made an 800 mile round trip to London to adopt him.
The German Spitz, named Benny, caught the eye of Murieston resident Jacqueline Fordyce who saw him on Battersea's website and made the long drive south from the Edinburgh area to the world famous animal charity in Battersea to meet him.
Like 40% of Battersea dogs, four year old Benny was brought into the Home by his owners as they could no longer care for him. He was at the charity for 100 days – over twice the average stay for dogs – before finding his dream Scottish home.
Battersea takes in around 6,000 dogs and 3,000 cats every year, and rehomes all over the UK. If you can offer a home to a Battersea animal please contact 020 7622 3626 or click here
Sudden arrival in Carshalton
A baby girl is doing well at home in Sutton after making a very swift entry into the World on January the 28th
7.5lbs Mukei Choi arrived suddenly in the car park of St Helier hospital after her mother went into labour in the car.
To hear the interview in full stay tuned to 107.8 Radio Jackie
Kingston 6,000 Year Old Find
A team of Archaeologists from Kingston University have excavated a 19th century garden in Surbiton, at a former waterworks site on campus.
They identified the garden and found fragments of pottery, clay smoking pipes and some metal tags,
That may reveal names of people growing food in the area during World War II.
The team even managed to spot flint that could possibly be the remains of a tool, which may be over 6,000 years old.
South West London Police Stations Rarely Visited
Police stations in South West London are visited on average only about twice an hour.
According to the Evening Standard the figures will give a boost to plans to close many stations.
London Mayor, Boris Johnson says that 65 stations could close to save money.
The Standard revealed that Wandsworth's 5 stations had the lowest number of customers with an average of just 1.22 visitors an hour.
Figures for the rest of our area:
Richmond; 2.37
Croydon; 2.22
Sutton; 2.17
Lambeth ; 1.98
Kingston; 1.97
Hounslow; 1.85
Merton; 1.82
Hammersmith; 1.71
Ealing; 1.51
Kensington; 1.44
Leatherhead Development
Developers looking for new opportunities need look no further than the Leatherhead Bypass.
Mole Valley Council and Merton College are in the process of finding sites along the busy road that could be overhauled.
Those interested would need to clarify how their development ideas would bring more people to Leatherhead as well as provide housing and employment.
Wandsworth Cineworld goes Disney mad
300 children and their families packed into Wandsworth Cineworld yesterday morning for a preview screening of the new Disney film Wreck It Ralph
The treat was all part of a competition run on Radio Jackie Breakfast.
Five youngsters got to take their whole class to the screening before it goes on general release later this week.
The winning schools were Corona Theatre School in Hampton, Cheam Common Junior School in Worcester Park, Coombe Hill Junior School in New Malden, Bishop Perrin in Whitton and Cuddington Community in Worcester Park.
Here's what some of the lucky winners had to say after the event.
Sutton Council's Customer Services rated 'Excellent' for the 15th year
A year of hard work and innovation has seen Sutton Council's Customer Services team retain their excellent rating for the 15th year running.
The Customer Service Excellence standard, which is monitored by the Cabinet Office, checks that services meet the Five Es – efficient, effective, excellent, equitable and empowering – and always put residents' needs first.
Research has shown that customers value timeliness, information, professionalism and staff attitude above all else and the assessor checks these as a priority while also looking at developing customer insight, understanding the user's experience and robust measurement of service satisfaction.
Man faces court over Isleworth muder
A 23-year-old man will appear in court today charged with the murder of Darryl McClymont in Isleworth.
The 23-year-old, from Neasden, was stabbed last month.
Richard Relvas will face Croydon Magistrates Court.
He's the fourth person to be charged in connection with the murder.
#backthebroncos
Today saw the start of the new Rugby Super League season.
London Broncos suffered a 28-14 home defeat at the Twickenham Stoop against Widnes Vikings.
The Broncos made a disappointing start to their Super League campaign with an error-strewn performance against a tough Widnes side. But missing their major signings, Kevin Brown and Gareth Hock, they more than made up for it with hard work, determination and commitment.
The home side had their chances but just couldn't take them until the contest was effectively over.
A late rally, when they scored 14 points in seven minutes, will give head coach Tony Rea something to work with, but the loss of David Howell with a broken arm and Craig Gower with a groin injury will have added to his problems.
Rea admitted his side made too many errors. "There was a concentration issue" he said. "Dealing with the emotion of the game is the bit we probably got wrong. There was a different expectation on that game compared to what the place has been used to.


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Richards voted biggest under-performer for Villa
Posted on June 23, 2016 August 8, 2017 by admin
Aston Villa fans have voted Micah Richards as the biggest flop of last season in a survey. The former Manchester City player arrived last season and gave great hopes to the fans but unfortunately he failed to live up to his expectations.
Although he made a good start to his Aston Villa career, he eventually lost his form and began to make frequent errors at the back and gave away some cheap goals.
Indeed, former Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood had high hopes for Micah Richards and believed that the player could get back his place in the England team. Sherwood thought that the prospect of going to the Euros in France would have motivated Richards, but things did not go this way. Richards failed to make an impact with Aston Villa and fell down the pecking order.
Rather than being motivated to play for Aston Villa, Micah Richards instead proved to be a huge flop and will in most likelihood be playing in the Championship next season.
Sherwood was so confident that Richards will be a success at Aston Villa that he gave him the captain's armband at Villa. He believed that Richards needed some regular playing time in order to find back his form and get back into the England side. However, this did not work that way, and Sherwood himself was sacked later during the season.
Ever since the departure of Tim Sherwood, Micah Richards failed to adapt with the new manager Remi Garde's playing style and his form began to tank. You didn't need any expert betting tips football in order to see that Villa were headed for relegation.
His performance was so bad at times that Aston Villa fans began to boo him on the pitch. Indeed, 29% of the Villa fans stated in the survey that Micah Richards was the biggest underachiever last season.
Posted in Football NewsTagged Richards, Villa
VARDY SET TO TURN DOWN ARSENAL
Arsene Wenger said that he is as frustrated as the fans when it comes to the present season