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Home Columnist INTERVENTIONS: WORK ETHICS – PROF. EPIPHANY AZINGE WRITES FOR TERRIFIC HEADLINES
At inception two years ago, TERRIFIC HEADLINES assured our loyal readers that we are out to contribute our quota to the BUILDING OF A GREATER NIGERIA through this medium and its associated channels. We indicated that we operate as a NON-POLITICAL and NON-PARTISAN outfit that pays huge attention to contemporary issues, particularly good governance, leadership, forging an enduring political culture, peace, security, and international understanding. We are committed to promoting ethical and social responsibility by adhering to rules and regulations as a responsible and responsive outfit that will not detract from commitment to meeting international standards. Therefore, our publications have reflected writings done in good faith, and for future generations, in recognition of virtues and values that are worth reading and recording for posterity. It is our policy to give greater consideration to stories that promote development, and de-emphasize soft unverified information and gossips. We knew that it might take some time for us to capture the very wide audience we targeted, given the fact that most of our publications deal with the development of Nigeria, Africa and the Diaspora. But we a glad to disclose that we have, by the grace of God, and dedication, taken remarkable strides that have made us reach all parts of the world.
PATRIOTS & PARTNERS FOR ADVOCACY: In line with our mandate, we engage the citizenry to get them to contribute more meaningfully and patriotically to national development. Our social intervention campaign strategies suggest preventive, rather than reactive strategies. We have since published the works of erudite scholars like Prof. Tunde Adeniran, Dr. Yemi Farounbi, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, Prof. Michael Omolewa, and other notable Nigerian patriots who are passionate about the Nigeria Project. Not too long ago, we visited the website of Prof. Epiphany and (Dr) Mrs. Valerie Azinge, both Senior Advocates of Nigeria. TERRIFIC HEADLINES was thrilled not because husband and wife are SANs and spend 24 hours together daily, but by the quiet inspiration that qualifies to be described as a ''REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY'' being championed and implemented by this couple. This discovery by TERRIFIC HEADLINES has bonded the AZINGES and TERRIFIC HEADLINES for the purpose of contributing our quota to national development through an advocacy agenda to promote WORK ETHICS IN NIGERIA.
EPIPHANY & VALERIE AZINGE: HUMANISTS & PATRIOTS WITH A DIFFERENCE: Professor Epiphany Azinge, SAN is a former Director-General of the Nigeria Institute of Legal Studies and the current member of the Commonwealth Arbitral Tribunal London, representing Nigeria and Africa. He is a member of the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee and the principal partner, Azinge and Azinge, a firm co-managed by his wife Dr. Valerie Azinge, also a SAN. Dr. Valerie Azinge, SAN is best noted as having functioned in various sensitive positions of responsibility, including as the Secretary of the 2014 National Constitutional Conference. She previously served as a Commissioner and Member of the Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and was the first Special Rapporteur on Summary, Arbitrary and Extrajudicial Executions in Nigeria.
AS PATRIOTS ON ADVOCACY FOR WORK ETHICS: The Azinges are sympathizers of humanity who run THE EPIPHANY AZINGE FOUNDATION, through which they have touched millions of lives propelled by the desire to give back to the society, part of what God who has done for them. They promote several initiatives for the common good, including investments in education and some welfare services. The Holy Bible, in Psalm 122:6-9: states that: ''Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: May they prosper love you. May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces." For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, "May peace be within you." For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.''
MANDATES OF THE EPIPHANY AZINGE FOUNDATION: Today, Africa parades a paradox of opulence, growth and pervasive poverty. Generally, it is believed that Africa's future may very well depend on the ability of leaders, elites and the general populace to evolve workable systems that would guarantee sustainable and viable cultures of governance and democracy. The mandates of their philanthropic organization cover the promotion of work ethics across the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Through this shared belief by man and wife, the today and tomorrow of the larger society are being constructively shaped. TERRIFIC HEADLINES believes that this is a ROLE MODEL COUPLE looking for the common good. This is one of the reasons they were recommended for honour as COUPLE OF VIRTUE on our associate channels, www.couplesofvituesandvalues.com, and we are glad that they are one of those rare couples that have indicated their acceptance of the very high honour; and could be used as models for the advancement of Nigeria.
WORK ETHICS: CHANGING THE MINDSET OF NIGERIAN WORKERS IN BOTH THE PUBLIC & PRIVATE SECTORS: The Azinges go all over Nigeria, utilizing their personal funds to preach WORK ETHICS as part of the important issues that must be promoted, if Nigeria must evolve from the ruins of the past. In a publication in the Nigerian Guardian newspaper, Prof. Azinge asserted that: One may think that low motivation and poor salaries are inexplicably intertwined; and that when there is poor salary there will be expected poor work ethics. We have tried to reason that this is not the correct culture to be enthroned, in the sense that while we aspire to have proper remuneration and get authorities concerned to put the right structure in place, workers should not lose sight that those who aspire to work for government at all levels — local government, state and federal — are the few privileged Nigerians. From available statistics, we do not have more than five million work force in the public service in the country at all levels. And if we consider that there are about 180 million Nigerians, or even more and if you just consider the percentage that form the five million you will know that public service at any standard is made up of the privileged few. So, I urge those public servants that are doing the job to continue doing so diligently as required of them, hoping that ultimately government will do the needful by increasing their salaries and other benefits.
LOYALTY & WORK ETHICS — IGNORE UNLAWFUL DIRECTIVES – AZINGE: In the publication under reference, Azinge differentiated between loyalty to organisation and loyalty to an individual or the chief executive. He argues: ''Loyalty to ones organisation is not an indirect way of encouraging people to do the unacceptable just because they are working for or are under the directives or instructions of the director general or the chief executive as the case may be. People should learn to draw that line of distinction between loyalty to their organisation and loyalty to an individual who is at the helm of affairs. The idea is that if you are loyal to your organisation you will resist or refuse to do what you are asked to do when you consider it ultimately detrimental to the organisation. Then, we will look forward to seeing people demonstrate their loyalty by telling whosoever is directing them to do the wrong thing that they won't do it. It is the courage of conviction, even if at the end of the day, you are penalised for not doing it. It can only be for a while because in the fullness of time you will find out that you will be vindicated, better appreciated, applauded and your conscience will be at peace. You should have the courage to put your stand in writing, even if it is minuted in a file, minute back to state your opinions and try as much as possible to be humble in doing so. Be firm and ultimately it will be on record that you refused or resisted to do the wrong thing despite what will occur later. Let it be on record that you did your part by showing loyalty to your organisation by obviously refusing to do what you considered untoward and not in the best interest of the organisation''
EPIPHANY AZINGE ON MONDAY: From next Monday, TERRIFIC HEADLINES will publish weekly, WORK ETHICS, according to EPIPHANY AZINGE FOUNDATION, because we believe in the cause being championed by this organization. We believe that this is an important idea and a commendable effort that could promote good governance that is the prerequisite for Africa's development; but which is not available in sufficient quantities. The posts could be read automatically in the three (3) key Nigerian languages – YORUBA, IGBO & HAUSA. Readers could also automatically switch to any of the languages. Additionally, our BLOG, www.terrificheadlines.com has facility for automatic translation into foreign languages. In case our readers have questions, or require further counseling, we will provide the contact social media addresses of the Foundation. This activity has immense capability for the removal of all hindrances that are incapacitating development
BENEFITING FROM THE AZINGE SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT CAMPAIGN: This idea is a novelty, and is a product of patriotism. It is unimaginable that someone would leave his desk and cosy office to campaign for WORK ETHICS in a society where the consideration is largely "SELF FIRST"; or that a philanthropist would look beyond Nigeria to reach other African nations with his humane gestures. These simply show that there is hope for Africa. These are social investments and intervention schemes worthy of emulation by the affluent in Nigeria; to at least close the space created by inequalities and poverty. The Tony Elumelu Foundation, the leading African organization that is committed to philanthropy, that positions Africa's private sector, and most importantly, entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent. It would certainly be beneficial for organizations breeding the younger generation to consider introducing the 'EPIPHANY AZINGE ON MONDAY' column to their teeming beneficiaries and mentees in the spirit of ''Catching them Young'' Launched in 2015, The Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme is the largest African philanthropic initiative devoted to entrepreneurship and represents our 10-year, $100 million commitment, to identify and empower 10,000 African entrepreneurs, create a million jobs, and add $10 billion in revenues to Africa's economy. It is indeed a programme that is worth emulating; and could lift millions out of poverty. It is certainly a good opportunity to lift millions of people in the developing world out of poverty.
BILLIONS BEING SOUGHT IN EUROPE BY YOUNG AFRICANS WILL EMERGE FROM THE FARMLANDS: President of African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has remarked the Billions being south in Europe and the Americas by youths seeking better opportunities in Europe are in Africa's farmlands. that "the agricultural sector in Africa has four times the power to create jobs and reduce poverty than any other sector. "That is why we make the claim that we can diminish the migrant crisis in Europe by supporting agricultural transformation in Africa," Adesina has been quoted as saying that: "the future of Africa's youth does not lie in migration to Europe" nor should it be "at the bottom of the Mediterranean." He proposed rather that an agribusiness-driven economy could be one of the economic reasons Africa's youth choose to remain on the continent. "We must turn rural areas from zones of economic misery to zones of economic prosperity," Adesina said. "This requires new agricultural innovations and transforming agriculture into a sector for creating wealth. We must make agriculture a really cool choice for young people. ''The future millionaires and billionaires of Africa will come initially from agriculture." Adesina's formula is an economic theory of industrialization that sees Africa's industrialization starting from the agricultural sector. "The reality is that agro-industrialization has greatest potential for Africa to achieve more rapid and inclusive growth – and create jobs… If you want industrialization of Africa, and massive job creation, focus on industrializing the agriculture sector. And to rapidly modernize agriculture, youth must be engaged in the sector and perception must change for youths to regard agriculture see agriculture as a business.
ADVOCACY ACTIVITY of the EPIPHANY AZINGE FOUNDATION. The following may wish to consider encouraging the target audience within their jurisdiction to read this weekly column by a patriot who means well for Nigeria: The Nigeria Governors' Forum, The Progressive Governors' Forum, The PDP Governors' Forum; The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, The Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, The Federal Ministry of Education/All Tertiary institutions for adoption as courses
SPREADING THE MESSAGE: Evidently the AZINGES deserve every commendation for this rare show of patriotism. Upon reflection, one notes that Delta State is blessed with patriots who are working strenuously for societal development, and we congratulate very specially, Governor Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, whose indigenes, including Tony Elumelu, Jim Ovia, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Epiphany Azinge and Godwin Emefiele are doing Nigeria proud. One way of making this activity realize its objectives is to spread the good news for all to know that we Nigerians need to cultivate attitudinal changes and embrace sound WORK POLICIES that would contribute to our common goal of building a nation that generations yet unborn would be proud to call their own. This is indeed the starting point for the mass circulation of WORK ETHICS BY EPIPHANY AZINGE to reach
Together, we are capable of Building a Greater Nigeria.
CONGRATULATIONS! GBENGA OYEBODE: One occurrence that proves conclusively that Nigeria is moving is in terms of philanthropy is the announcement made by Darren Walker, President of FORD FOUNDATION, welcoming Nigerian, and quiet philanthropist to the board of FORD FOUNDATION. It states: The board welcomes Gbenga Oyebode, founding partner and chairman of the Nigerian law firm Aluko & Oyebode, where he advises corporations on matters relating to energy and natural resources, telecommunications, project finance, and aviation. Previously, he served as an associate at White & Case and in-house counsel at Gulf Oil. Oyebode serves on the Global Advisory Council of the African Leadership Academy. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a director of Teach for All, and chairman of Teach for Nigeria. He is a member of the Order of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, one of Nigeria's highest honors, and a recipient of the Belgian royal honor of Knight of the Order of Leopold.He also sits on the boards of Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Africa Philanthropy Forum and is a member of the International Collectors Cleveland Museum of Arts Council.''
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We started out with our own herd of Gloucester Old Spots so it's fair to say we hold a bit of a soft spot for pigs. Once you have experienced the difference between genuine free-range pork and the sort of flavourless, dull, grey, watery pork that has become all too familiar you'll never look back. Good quality pork should have a deep pink colour, lots of marbling and a generous layer of fat to create perfect crackling.
All our pork is free-range and farmed a short distance away from our butchery in the heart of the South Downs National Park. The animals are farmed to the highest recognised welfare standards - allowed to move freely in a generous outdoor space with access to warm, dry indoor spaces for sleeping and to shelter from the elements. Under no circumstances will our pigs be subjected to unethical practices such as the use of farrowing crates, tail docking, nose-ringing or the routine use of antibiotics to control diseases prevalent in intensive 'factory-farmed' herds.
Whether it's a simple pork chop or our own take on the Italian classic Porchetta roast our free-range pork will remind you how proper meat should taste. As well as the standard cuts we also make all our own sausages, cure our own bacon – including our molasses and fennel cured specialities – and make our own cider and honey-cured gammons.


MENT 76, is perhaps a little high.
very good set. but agility is under-rated.at least 86 .
Fixed foot, about suggestions, well I haven't seen him enough (only some highlights), but seems very agile; about ment, well I can't rate him properly, so what do you think julgui? in a little downgrade like 1 or 2 points? tasmin, it's your compatriot, what do you think about his ment?
i would suggest 74 for men and 87/88 for agility for now .well he is quite lazy despite his age and as you said superbly agile.his movements with the ball is similar to lodeiro,messi.not at the best level but looks more alike.i would rate him 88-89 honestly but for pes and his age,ht,wt 87/88 looks perfect to me.
EDIT: I'll wait he can stay at the club this season ('cause some sources point about a loan to a segunda team) and show a great level. He's on theory the substitute of Callejón.
That's wrong mate, this info isn't official and it's false. Ezequiel is the one who is on loan to CE Sabadell, not Espanyol. Also there isn't any single official info about this move.
My apologies, but I can't understand why in your info point about Ezequiel signs for Espanyol. But well, finally you've got the reason.
He is really weak, weaker than bueno, no physical presence really. he seems to be a pretty interesting player though.
My notes are pretty the most obvious, his agility is insane many times, pretty quick and with good 'change of rythm', sometimes is really selfish and finally he loses stupid balls, but he's pretty interesting. His ment/tw levels seem really high, probably could use a decrease of -5/10, he reminds me a lot Villafañez (Independiente).
Vs Peñarol: Had a decent game in general, the only that unbalanced the opponent's defense, showed great DA and DS, facer and fast when he had the ball. But in the second time had a questionable play in which Nacional called penalty of Macaluso, and a good "chilena" that saved Lerda to the corner. And lost an incredibly clear chance to score, setting down and behind the goalkeeper and delaying the definition to accommodate the ball and gave the time to Rodriguez to get just remove the ball to the corner.
Magic10 wrote: and a good "chilena" that saved Lerda to the corner.
not his best match, but yeah he was "ok" good, but the team didnt help, no one to link up with him, or send him to space (bar recoba, who was a bit off, but with some glimpses of magic here and there), nacional's game loses a lot of quality without Bueno.
Didn't mentioned it, I don't think he is Ts 83, I think he is like 80 or so, with very high acc (88+), but pes 2013 doesn't help... 83 feels a bit more realistic, for previous versions, he is suited for lower..
Btw there was 1 dribble vs Guarani where he showed immense Agi again, he probably deserves the agi 89 I had on my notes previously.
And his support is "annoyingly" (that's a word, right? heh) poor, he needs to be kept playing upfront as a SS, Albín is much more suited than him to play in the side.


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How will decisions be taken by GST Council?
The Constitution (one hundred and first amendment) Act, 2016 provides that every decision of the GST Council shall be taken at a meeting by a majority of not less than 3/4th of the weighted votes of the Members present and voting. The vote of the Central Government shall have a weightage of 1/3rd of the votes cast and the votes of all the State Governments taken together shall have a weightage of 2/3rd of the total votes cast in that meeting. One half of the total number of members of the GST Council shall
constitute the quorum at its meetings.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Jesus-Centered Life provides devotionals, Bibles, coloring books, and journals that are designed to help you pay close attention to Jesus. At the center of each resource, you will discover more about who Jesus is to you and who you are to him.
Download the free Devotional and get started today.


After the staggering 95.5 percent vote to leave Ukraine in favor for Russia, held on March 16, things seemed to briefly return to normal in Crimea. The barricades were removed, and people began to return to their daily lives. Just two weeks later, however, Russia is making it known to the rest of Ukraine that it is there for the long haul.
All of the Ukrainian flags in Crimea have been removed and replaced with Russia's national flag. In addition, the Russian military has established its presence in Crimea.
The Crimean peninsula, located on the southeastern part of Ukraine, voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia after months of intense protesting throughout Ukraine. Most of Crimea speaks Russian and considered themselves more Russian than Ukrainian, further aiding in the Crimeans' decisions to secede.
One of the main reasons behind Crimea's choice to secede was its lack of a connection with Ukraine, in part due to its geographic location and partly due to its history. After the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union, Crimea became a part Ukraine.
Despite having succeeded in gaining control of Crimea, Russia does not seem completely satisfied. Many Ukrainians fear that now, having acquired Crimea fairly easily, Russia will attempt to take over the entire country of Ukraine. According to a report by FoxNews.com, Russia has already deployed thousands of troops in its regions near the Ukrainian border.
Many people now fear that Russia will use the issues in Eastern Ukraine as a reason to cross over into the rest of Ukraine. Soldiers without any identifying insignias on their uniforms, indicating they could be either Russian soldiers or pro-Russia militias, have stationed themselves on numerous Ukrainian military bases in Crimea, which, due to Ukraine's refusal to acknowledge the annexation of Crimea, still house Ukrainian troops. According to an article by The Huffington Post, Russia has already begun attempts to take over parts of Ukraine clearly not in Crimea.
Just mere days after the vote passed, Russian troops were seen storming into the Ukrainian village of Strilkove, which houses a very important natural gas distribution plant. The military gave up the village but kept the plant, and workers could be seen digging trenches and building barricades to separate the village and the plant. The debate continues about who is responsible for the gas, water and electrical needs of the people of Crimea. Parts of Crimea are experiencing power outages as a result of being attached to power lines in Ukraine, according to an article from Reuters. Russia has not yet released a statement on how it plans to resolve this issue.
The only moves made by Ukraine were severe isolation of Moscow and a few meetings with members of the European Union to gain support and advice for the situation.
Editor's Note: Information from The New York Times, The Huffington Post and Fox News was used in this report.


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Person of Interest: Lethe
"Finally somebody I recognize."
Despite losing Carter, Team Machine will soldier on (that's the show, folks). With Joss out of the way, what will the rest of the season hold for us faithful Person of Interest viewers? To judge from this episode, very good things. (Sorry for the review's extreme lateness. I've been sick.)
Two misdirects this week: one was good, one was amazing. The amazing one was Finch's reason for avoiding seeing Claypool at the hospital. With the flashbacks this week, it made perfect sense that Finch wouldn't want to spend time with a person suffering from dementia after seeing his father go through it. I didn't question it for a second. Then he showed up and Claypool called him by name. I shrieked. The second was less well executed, but it still worked for me. It was obvious "Diane" was a plant, right? I mean, she was just fishy. But I assumed she was working with Collier. I was surprised (not shrieking surprised, but still surprised) when she was revealed to be the mysterious "Ma'am." I must say, I am a bit disappointed "Ma'am" turned out to be just a random person. I was hoping we had seen her before or maybe that she didn't really exist. I wanted something juicier than this. I'm sure they'll take it someplace interesting, but as of this moment, I am a bit underwhelmed.
Although I never considered it before, there being more than one Machine makes perfect sense. Of course the government wouldn't put all their eggs in Finch's basket. According to Claypool (a middling source, at best), all surveillance programs were shut down in 2005, the same year the Machine went live. I enjoyed the PRISM shout out. According to Claypool, PRISM was allowed to continue functioning as a smokescreen, the idea being that the populous would be so angry about the program they wouldn't consider that there was another, much more invasive system in place as well.
Now we must consider an issue that's become all too common on Person of Interest. The crazy coincidence of the Machine spitting out a number related to not one but two recurring villains (via an old college friend of Finch...). Returning to a theory from a few weeks ago, is the Machine deliberately choosing these cases for the team? If so, which threat was it targeting: Vigilance or Ma'am and her government cohorts?
We've been waiting for way back Finch flashbacks since the show started and they didn't disappoint. What I really wanted out of the sequence, I got almost immediately: bird reference! We still don't know where and why Finch's bird obsession began, but the writers get a star for continuity. We also learn where Finch's drive to build an AI came from. As a kid, he hoped to build a machine sophisticated enough to replace his father's ailing brain. That's tragic beyond belief. It appears to be just Finch and his father (although, I swear, Finch once mentioned having brothers). Finch's upbringing was humble but not overly so, which I think fits very well for him.
From a character standpoint, I understand Reese's need to get away. The scenes with Reese and Fusco were really good, but they felt a bit shoehorned into the episode. It really interrupted the flow for me. I was so interested in the Finch/Claypool connection, every time we cut back to Colorado I got annoyed. In another episode, I would have been really excited to learn more about Reese's past, but Finch should've stayed front and center this week. The 'cliffhanger' ending seemed forced as well. Are we supposed to be worried about Fusco and Reese just because a local PD caught them fighting outside a bar? Won't this just take Fusco flashing his badge and both assuring the cops that they're done smacking each other and that neither will be pressing charges?
Also, the whole brawl thing seemed bizarre to me. Fusco and Reese were connecting at the bar and then suddenly they just go outside and start hitting each other in the pouring rain? Is that a guy thing? I did like that Fusco was able to figure out Reese's connection to the bar all on his own. Maybe, with Carter gone, Fusco will get a chance to be more than a punchline? Maybe the writers will actually let him do something besides get beaten up, run errands, and get beaten up while running errands?
Finch ignoring the Machine was a nice character beat. Clearly, he's still not quite ready to jump back into the fray.
Still no new credits sequence. Did this episode run a bit long or are they nixing the concept entirely?
John has no grief beard. Thank God.
Samaritan is a much better name than "The Machine."
I did not understand the whistle thing, but it scared my dog.
Interesting distinction: Samaritan was designed to learn and remember whereas the Machine was designed to wipe itself every night.
Root: "She has a new number for us."
Root clearly considers herself a part of the team, despite being confined to a cage at present.
Shaw: "I never made a convincing doctor, even when I was one."
Fun Size Finch: "If they don't want you to get inside, they oughta build them better."
Daddy Finch: "Not everything that's broken was meant to be fixed."
Fusco: "You've saved lots of people, including me. You saying that was pointless?"
three and a half out of four alternate Machines
Labels: :S3.E11, Lethe, Person of Interest, Person of Interest reviews, Sunbunny
Excellent review, Sunbunny. I hope you're feeling better!
It appears to be just Finch and his father (although, I swear, Finch once mentioned having brothers). I guess he lied. :-( That sudden disclosure did always feel odd; it was one of his first conversations with Carter.
Is that a guy thing? I wondered that, too. Why don't they just get mani/pedis together?
I really loved this episode's memory theme, with Finch and his dad (and Finch's memories of his dad), and the Machine that Finch engineered to never have to remember. Because remembering is too sad? Oh, heartbreak.
Fun Size Finch. Perfect.
When PoI is not on, my Tuesdays are sad.
Saturday, December 28, 2013 at 8:42:00 PM EST
Josie - I am not, but thank you. I don't know if Finch lied to Carter or if the writers just got sloppy. Then again, if Finch did lie to Carter that negates his "I'm a bad liar" thing from the beginning of the series, so maybe I should take away the writers' gold continuity star.
Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 3:20:00 AM EST
"I'm a bad liar" does sound like something a liar would say. Except that I've said it before, and I really am a horrible liar.
Finch would have to be a terrific liar to maintain the web of deception he maintains to stay hidden. He's been keeping Reese, a master spy, at bay for 2 years or however long they've been working together. It's no surprise that he would be giving conflicting information. Heck, he doesn't even give his real name in relatively safe company.
And yes, people, generally dudes, do hit each other as a form a grieving, especially when drunk, which Reese certainly was. It's not my cup o' tea but it's quite common for someone who's sad in some way to let off steam by hitting someone or something. I've seen an angry person put their fist through two layers of wall.
I'll admit I was tricked by the "wife" being Control. But It was for two rather humorous reasons. The first reason was the actress playing her is quite, and I mean no offense, plain. Especially for a TV show villain. Like there was even a part where she sits in a seat in a way an older stressed out mother would kinda flop into a seat and I was like "Wow that actress is really good at portraying that type of lady. Either that or that's just how she sits." The second reason is I seem to remember seeing Control's legs, and she appeared to have gams up to here man. I ain't too sure anymore though, my memory of that scene is hazy.
But really, if Mrs. Claypool wasn't a villain, there was no possible way there could've been a happy ending for that couple. I spent a lot of the episode wondering how Claypool not recognizing his wife could be solved, outside of a scene where he snaps back and they just sorta say stuff to each other.
It was interesting to see what a bind they can easily get into when the team is all split up and one member down as well. The situation probably would've went swimmingly if everyone was accounted for during this job.
I think the only time we ever saw/heard Control before this was in the Season 2 finale, where she was in her car talking to Hersh - we only saw her hands.
An all-around good episode. It was pretty obvious that the wife was *somebody*, but I liked how they used Vigilance as a diversion this time, especially since they were set up as the more recurring threat this season than Hersh and co.
You really have to appreciate the detail they put into the show. I was looking more closely at the end, where the Machine was calculating mortality probabilities for the people in the room and then it moved on to government programs - PRISM was listed as 'Decoy', just as Claypool mentioned. There were a bunch of other programmes too that I don't recognise.
But I was wondering... if Claypool really knew for a *fact* that Control wasn't his wife (because she was dead), why did he take so long to mention it? Also, it's a little eerie how Root knew there was another number and even which books to take out. Can anyone explain that away? But on the other hand, it does seem nice that interaction with the Machine has 'calmed' Root down somewhat and made her seem (well, seem) less dangerous.
I must admit to be completely shocked by the reveal of Control. I had completely bought into her being Claypool's wife and never for a second thought she was anything else. I kind of agree with Nick -- why would Claypool wait so long to reveal the truth? Is he suffering as much as we have been led to believe or is he lying about how much he truly remembers?
I loved the Fusco/Reese scenes and would have liked to see more of them together. I interpreted the fight as Fusco helping Reese out. Fusco realizes that Reese needs to do something with all his anger other than drown it in whisky. Fusco gave him something to hit.
Feel better soon, sunbunny,
No force on this Earth will ever convince me that Arthur Claypool isn't really Artie from Warehouse 13. The sheer number of similarities between the two characters is ridiculous. They have to be same person.
Just the fact that it was Camryn Manheim clued me in that "the wife" was a lot more than she appeared. She has a massive list of credits.
The guy thing made sense to me. Like Freeman, I've also seen an angry man put his fist through two layers of wall. Fortunately, he wasn't angry at me. Xander did it, too. :)
Sunday, December 29, 2013 at 10:39:00 AM EST
Some things I noticed on rewatch:
* The middle book in the set Root uses to make Arthur's number is called "Remembering the Tabulator."
* In the middle of The Machine's calculation at the end of the episode, there's a yellow box that goes by fast, which reads "RETASKING ANALOG INTERFACE." Root to the rescue!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013 at 5:58:00 AM EST


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Ted's early career as a trial attorney began on the other side of the fence, in the offices of a major insurance defense firm. It was there that Ted acquired the experience, the skills and the special insight into defense strategy that have served him so well in the field of personal injury law. Notable among his successful verdicts was the landmark Sparks vs. Republic National Life Insurance Company case, a $4.5 million award to Ted's client. To this day, it is the defining case for insurance bad faith, and yet it is only one of several other multi-million dollar jury judgments won by Ted during his career. He is certified by the State Bar of Arizona as a specialist in "wrongful death and bodily injury litigation".
Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian
Schmidt, Sethi & Akmajian is one of the most experienced, successful personal injury law firms in the Tucson area. Established in 1995, our firm has a long history of success, as seen in our many victories.
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I attended the Library Code Year Interest Group's preconference on Python, sponsored by LITA (Library Information Technology Association) and ALCTS (Association for Library Collections and Technical Services), at the American Library Association's conference in Chicago this year. The workshop was taught and staffed by IG members Andromeda Yelton, Becky Yoose, Bohyun Kim, Carli Spina, Eric Phetteplace, Jen Young, and Shana McDanold. It was based on work done by the Boston Python Workshop group, and with tools developed there and by Coding Bat. The preconference was designed to provide a basic introduction to the Python programming language, and succeeded admirably.
Here's why I think it's important for librarians to learn to code: it provides options in lots of conversations where librarians have traditionally not had many. One of the lightning talks (by Heidi Frank at NYU) concerned using Python to manipulate MARC records. The tools to do that kind of thing have tended to be either a) the property of vendors who provide the features the majority of their customers want or b) the province of overworked library systems staff. Both scenarios tend to lead to tools which are limiting or aggravating for the individual needs of almost every individual user. Ever try to change a graphic in your OPAC? Export a report in the file format *you* need? Learning to code is one way to solve those kinds of problems. Code empowers.
The preconference was very self-directed. There were a set of introductory tutorials before a late-morning lecture, then a lovely lunch (provided by the Python Foundation), then the option of spending more time on the morning's activities or using the morning's skills to work on one of two projects. The first project, ColorWall, used Python to create a bunch of very pretty cascading displays of color. The second, Wordplay, used it to answer crossword puzzle questions–"How many words fit the pattern E*G****R?" "How many words have all five vowels in order?". My table opted to stick with the morning exercises, and learned an important lesson about what kinds of things Python can infer and what kinds it can't. Python and your computer are very fast and systematic, but also very literal-minded. I suspect that they'd much rather be doing math than whatever you're asking them to do for you.
And I still had the feeling of 8th-grade-math-class dread when I got stuck, as I frequently did, during the second part of the guided introduction. Did I miss something? Am I just not smart enough to do this? The whole litany of self-doubt. I got completely stuck on when to use loops and when not to use them. Loops are one of the most basic Python functions, a way of telling Python to systematically go down a list of things and do something to them. Utterly baffling, because it requires you to ask the question like a computer would, rather than like a human. Totally normal for me and anyone else starting out. Or, in fact, for anyone who programs. Programming is failure. The trick is learning to treat failure as part of the process, rather than as a calamity.
What's powerful about the approach the IG used is that there were lots of people available to help, about seven teaching assistants to forty attendees. The accompanying documentation was cheerful and clear, and the attitude was "let's figure this out together". This is the polar opposite of a common approach to teaching programming, of which the polite paraphrase is "Read The Fine Manual". My experience with music lessons as an adult and with the programming instruction I've looked at is that the (usually) well-meaning people doing the teaching tend to be people who learn best by trying things until they work. Lots of people learn best that way; lots of people do not. And librarians tend more often to be in the second category: wanting a bit of a sense of the forest before dealing with all of the trees individually. There is also a genderedness to the traditional approach. The Boston Python group's approach (self-directed, with vast amounts of personal help available) was specifically designed to be welcoming to women and newcomers. Used here, it definitely worked. Attendees were 60% female, which is striking for a programming event, even at a library conference.
For me, learning Python is an investment in supporting the digital humanities work I will be increasingly involved in. I'm looking forward to learning how to use it to manipulate and analyze text. As I look more closely, I see that Python has modules for manipulating CSV files. One of my ongoing projects involves mapping indexes like MLA Bibliography to our full-text coverage so my students and faculty know what to expect when they use them. I've been using complicated Excel spreadsheets to do this, with only marginally satisfying results. I think that Python will give me better results, and hopefully results I can share with others.
The immediate takeaways for me are more about relationships and affiliation than code, though I do have a structure, in the form of the documentation for the workshop, which I will use to follow-up (you can use it, too!). I am lucky enough to be in the Boston area, so I will take advantage of the active Boston Python Meetup group, which has frequent workshops and events for programmers at all levels. Most importantly, I am clear from the workshop that Python is not inherently more complicated to learn than MARC formatting or old-style DIALOG searching. I wouldn't say the workshop demystified Python for me–there's still a lot of work for me to do–, but I will say that learning a useful amount of Python now seems entirely doable and worthwhile.
Computer code is crucial to the present and future of librarianship. Librarians have a unique facility with explaining the technical to non-technical people. Librarians learning to code together is an investment in ourselves and our profession.
Chris Strauber is Humanities Research and Instruction Librarian and Coordinator of Instructional Design at Tufts University's Tisch Library.
I'm so excited to see this posted!
I'm looking forward to both more meetups and sharing the results. Thanks!
BTW did I mention that there's a beginners' table at the meetups? They're super friendly.
Aha! This is good to hear.


This is why any talk of sin and conviction and repentance is often instantly branded by some as "unloving" and immediately shut down. But is it? If "love does no wrong to a neighbor," we must know and think clearly about what "wrong" really is.
Is it wrong to not warn a friend about to drink that the milk has already gone bad? Is it wrong to let a teenager drive the freeway without ever learning how? Is it wrong to let a small child play with a firearm?
Is it wrong to let an alcoholic have "just one more" when you know what it will do to them, and what they will do to their family after that? Is it wrong to do nothing about the sexual harassment of a coworker, when you know the pain it is causing them and the problems it is creating for the whole company?
Is it wrong to say nothing while a friend pursues an affair, when you know what it will do to their spouse and their children not just now, but forever? Is it wrong to embrace and condone lifestyles and patterns of behavior that you know are not only unbiblical, but also scientifically proven to lead to problems, pain, and ruin?
Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, if your goal is simply to never offend, annoy, or cause pain, even at the cost of your neighbor's well-being, perhaps by being "nice" you're not really loving them at all.


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Your Official Texas Drought Carnage: 5.6 Million Urban Trees Killed
Richard Connelly
Richard Connelly | February 16, 2012 | 11:32am
The Texas Forest Service has completed its latest update on the effects of the crushing drought, and it's somewhat hard to fathom: about 5.6 million trees in urban areas of the state fell victim to the lack of rain.
And they ain't done dying yet.
"This estimate is preliminary because trees are continuing to die from the drought," said Pete Smith, a TFS forester who led the count. "This means we may be significantly undercounting the number of trees that ultimately will succumb to the drought. That number may not be known until the end of 2012, if ever."
TFS rubs it in a bit when they describe what they counted as "urban trees": "The trees that line your street, shade your home and give you a quiet place to relax at your local park are all considered to be part of the urban forest," the agency said. And now they're gone.
The 5.6 million figure represents about 10 percent of the urban tree population. It would cost $560 million to get rid of the dead trees, and Pete Smith of TFS tells Hair Balls that is "a very conservative figure."
The study is "a snapshot in time" comparing year to year, he says, and it ended by early October. It may not be until the spring "green-up," he says, when TFS will get a better feel for the drought's effects.
"Some trees won't leaf out, or they will be on their last legs," he said.
Obviously the state has been getting more rain recently, but Smith says that the sudden change can also stress trees.
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Operation Dragoon (i)
This was the Allied invasion of the Mediterranean coast of southern France between Cannes in the east and Toulon in the west and the subsequent advance to the north up the Rhône river valley (15 August/14 September 1944).
During the planning stages the operation was known as 'Anvil' to complement 'Hammer', which was at that time the codename for the invasion of Normandy. Subsequently both plans were renamed, the latter becoming 'Overlord' and the former 'Dragoon' (i), a name supposedly picked by Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was opposed to the plan and claimed that he had been 'dragooned' into it by the Americans.
The original plan was based on the concept of the capture of Toulon and then Marseille by Free French and US troops, with subsequent revisions to this core scheme adding St Tropez to the assault beaches. The plan was steadily improved through the first seven months of 1944, and during this time there emerged conflict between the British military staff, who were opposed to the landings and argued that the troops and equipment required would be more usefully employed in Italy, and the US military staff, who were in favour of the assault.
This was part of a larger divergence in Anglo-US strategic concepts. The British school of thought believed that the Allied forces in Italy should be strongly reinforced to allow a powerful thrust to the north through Italy and into Austria and southern Germany, in the process rendering both 'Anvil' and possibly 'Overlord' superfluous. The US school of thought was set completely against this, and emphasised that the major Allied blow should be struck directly against the enemy's main strength in Europe, a move which also provided shorter lines of communication across the English Channel, and also direct access to Germany without intervening mountain chains etc.
The 'Overlord' school carried the day, and with this it was decided to implement 'Anvil', now renamed 'Dragoon' (i), with forces pulled out of the Italian campaign and supported by French units from North Africa, revitalised by US equipment and logistic support. In strategic terms the 'Dragoon' (i) landings were nugatory, as they could not be concerted with 'Overlord' for lack of adequate amphibious transport capability, detracted from the diversionary campaign in Italy, and could not make an effective contribution to the western European campaign until the Franco-US forces had pushed up the valley of the Rhône river as far to the north as Dijon. Moreover, the anticipated success of 'Overlord' and its swift exploitation to the east in the direction of Germany meant that, in order to avoid being cut off, the German forces in the southern and south-western regions of France would already have been pulled back.
The balance was tipped in favour of 'Dragoon' (i) by two events: the fall of Rome to Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark's US 5th Army on 4 June and the expected success of 'Cobra', the break-out from the Normandy lodgement, by Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley's US 1st Army on 25 August.
The day on which 'Dragoon' (i) was to be implemented was fixed as 15 August, and the final authorisation for the start of the operation was given at short notice.
Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers's Allied 6th Army Group, also known as the Southern Group of Armies, was created in Corsica and activated on 1 August to consolidate the combined French and US forces (Lieutenant General Alexander McC. Patch's US 7th Army from Naples, and Général de Corps d'Armée Jean de Lattre de Tassigny's French II Corps from North African ports) committed to the invasion of southern France.
The 6th Army Group was initially subordinate to AFHQ (Allied Forces Headquarters) under the command of Field Marshal Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, the Allied supreme commander in the Mediterranean theatre. One month after the invasion, overall command passed to SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces) under General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme commander of Allied forces on the Western Front.
The landing forces departed from a number of ports: on 9 August the SS.1 convoy set out from Naples; on 10 August AM.1 from Oran and TM.1 from Brindisi; on 11 August SPEC.2 from Oran, SY.1 from Naples and the 'Delta' support force from Taranto; on 12 August TF.1 from Brindisi, the carrier force from Malta, and SM.1, SF.2 and the 'Sitka' support force from Naples; and on 13 August the 'Alpha' support force from Malta, the 'Camel' support force from Palermo, and SF.1 and SM.2 from Naples.
The convoys were escorted and controlled by Captain P. J. Clay's Task Group 80.6 (Anti-Submarine and Convoy Control Group) 1, and apart from the destroyers and light craft associated with the convoys, more substantial naval assets were also deployed to protect the convoys and provide gunfire support for the landing. A higher level of support was provided by Vice Admiral H. Kent Hewitt's Western Task Force comprising the Control Force (flagship Catoctin, destroyer Plunkett and six minesweepers), Captain H. C. Johnson's Special Operations Group (Johnson's own Western Diversionary Unit with destroyer Endicott, four motor launches, eight PT-boats and 12 air/sea rescue boats, and Lieutenant Commander Douglas Fairbanks's Eastern Diversionary Unit with gunboats Aphis and Scarab, four motor launches, four PT-boats and two fighter direction ships). Rear Admiral Lyal A. Davidson's Task Force 86 ('Sitka' Force) comprised five infantry landing ships, five high-speed destroyer transports, 24 PT-boats, five minesweepers, four motor launches and one buoylayer to land Colonel Edwin A. Walker's US/Canadian 1st Special Force on the Ile du Levant.
Fire support was provided by Davidson's own Gunfire Support Group comprising the old Free French battleship Lorraine, US heavy cruiser Augusta, US light cruisers Omaha and Cincinnati, British light cruisers Dido and Sirius, and destroyers US Somers and Cleaves), British Lookout and Free Greek Themistokles.
Rear Admiral Frank J. Lowry's TF84 ('Alpha' Force) comprised the US Coast Guard cutter Duane, one infantry landing craft, one fighter direction ship, two auxiliary personnel attack ships, two auxiliary personnel ships, three auxiliary cargo attack ships, 31 tank landing ships, 45 infantry landing craft, 10 tank landing craft, 20 medium landing craft, two gun landing craft, two flak landing craft, 13 support landing craft, two control landing craft control, 27 minesweepers, 10 yard minesweepers, 10 patrol craft, 12 submarine chasers and 11 tugs and salvage ships to land Major General John W. O'Daniel's US 3rd Division in the Baie de Cavalaire.
Fire support was provided by Rear Admiral J. M. Mansfield's Gunfire Support Group comprising the British battleship Ramillies, British light cruisers Orion, Aurora and Ajax, British light anti-aircraft cruiser Black Prince, US light cruiser Quincy and Free French light cruiser Gloire, and US destroyers Livermore, Eberle, Kearny and Ericsson, and British destroyers Terpsichore and Termagant.
Rear Admiral Bertram J. Rodgers's TF85 ('Delta' Force) comprised the headquarters ship Biscayne, US destroyer Forrest, six auxiliary personnel ships, two auxiliary cargo attack ships, one personnel landing ship, one infantry landing ship, one gun landing ship, 23 tank landing ships, 34 infantry landing craft, 52 tank landing craft, two gun landing craft, two flak landing craft, 12 support landing craft, two medium landing craft (rocket), nine medium landing craft, five control landing craft, 52 vehicle/personnel landing craft, one patrol craft, five submarine chasers, one FT, eight minesweepers, 10 tugs and salvage ships to land Major General William W. Eagles's US 45th Division in the Baie de Bugnon.
Fire support was provided by Rear Admiral C. F. Bryant's Gunfire Support Group comprising the US battleships Texas and Nevada, US cruiser Philadelphia and Free French cruisers Montcalm and Georges Leygues, Free French large destroyers Fantasque, Terrible and Malin, US destroyers Forrest, Ellyson, Rodman, Emmons, Fitch, Hambleton, Macomb and Hobson.
Rear Admiral Spenser S. Lewis's TF87 ('Camel' Force) comprised the headquarters ship Bayfield, two auxiliary personnel attack ships, three auxiliary personnel ships, three auxiliary cargo attack ships, one infantry landing ship, one dock landing ship, one flak landing ship, 10 tank landing ships, 32 infantry landing craft, 46 tank landing craft, 21 support landing craft, two gun landing craft, four flak landing craft, seven control landing craft, 10 medium landing craft, 32 vehicle/personnel landing craft, six motor launches, 11 patrol craft, 17 submarine chasers, 16 minesweepers, 12 yard minesweepers and 10 tugs and salvage ships to land Major General John E. Dahlquist's US 36th Division on each side of the Rade d'Agay.
Fire support was provided by Rear Admiral Morton L. Deyo's Bombardment Group comprising the US battleship Arkansas, US heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa, US light cruisers Brooklyn and Marblehead, British light anti-aircraft cruiser Argonaut and Free French cruisers Duguay Trouin and Emile Bertin, and US destroyers Parker, Kendrick, Mackenzie, McLanahan, Nields, Ordronaux, Woolsey, Ludlow, Boyle and Champlin.
Air escort in the assault area was provided by Rear Admiral T. H. Troubridge's TF88 (Aircraft Carrier Force) carrying 216 fighters embarked on the escort carriers of Troubridge's own TG88.1 (British escort carriers Khedive, Emperor, Searcher, Pursuer and Attacker each with 24 fighters), British light anti-aircraft cruisers Royalist and Delhi, British destroyers Troubridge, Tuscan, Tyrian, Teazer, Tumult and Wheatland, and Free Greek Navarinon), and Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin's TG88.2 (US escort carriers Tulagi and Kasaan Bay, British escort carriers Hunter and Stalker, British light anti-aircraft cruisers Colombo and Caledon, and US destroyers Butler, Gherardi, Herndon, Murphy, Jeffers and Shubrick).
After constant air attacks by most of the 2,000 land-based aircraft under the overall command of Lieutenant General Ira C. Eaker (Major General John K. Cannon's Mediterranean Allied Tactical Air Force comprising Brigadier General Gordon P. Saville's XII Tactical Air Command and Air Vice Marshal H. Lloyd's Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force), the landings started at dawn on 15 August as 396 troop transport aircraft of Brigadier General Paul L. Williams's Provisional Troop Carrier Air Division paradropped 5,000 men of the 1st Airborne Task Force.
There followed the amphibious landings, which were successful at all points with most of the divisions disembarked on the first day.
The Allied losses were light: LCI-588, LC-1590, YMS-24, ML-563, PT-202, PT-218 and BYMS-2022 succumbed to mines and LST-282 to a glider bomb. LST-51 and LST-282, as well as 16 infantry landing craft and tank landing craft, were damaged by mines, gunfire or the beach defences.
By the evening of 17 August 86,575 men, 12,250 vehicles and 46,140 tons of supplies had been landed. By 2 September these figures had increased to 190,565 men, 41,534 vehicles and 219,205 tons of supplies, and by 25 September to 324,069 men, 68,419 vehicles and 490,237 tons of supplies.
A total of 881 assault vessels with 1,370 landing craft on board had been deployed. Naval gunfire from Allied ships, under the overall command of Admiral Sir John Cunningham and including the battleships Lorraine, Ramillies, Texas, Nevada and Arkansas and a fleet of more than 50 cruisers and destroyers, provided support for the landings, with air cover and air support entrusted to the warplanes embarked on seven Allied escort carriers.
The German forces in the southern part of France comprised Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz's Heeresgruppe 'G', which controlled General Friedrich Wiese's 19th Army with 11 divisions, including two Panzer divisions and five infantry divisions forming or refitting, and General Kurt von der Chevallerie's 1st Army with six divisions, including five forming or refitting.
The 19th Army controlled four major formations, namely General Erich Petersen's IV Luftwaffe Feldkorps with two infantry and one reserve divisions, General Ferdinand Neuling's LXII Reserve-Korps with one infantry and one reserve division, General Karl Sachs's LXIV Corps with only one division, and General Baptist Kneiss's LXXXV Corps with two infantry divisions; the army reserve was one Panzer division and two reserve infantry divisions. Only three of the 19th Army's smaller formations (Generalleutnant Johannes Bässler's 242nd Division and Generalleutnant Hans Schäfer's 244th Division of the LXII Reserve-Korps, and Generalleutnant Rene de l'Homme de Courbière's 338th Division of the LXXXV Corps) were located in positions from which they could tackle the Allied landing, and German air strength in the south of France was just 200 aircraft.
The German formations were positioned thinly along the French coast at the rate of about 55 miles (90 km) to each division. In the preceding 18 months most of the German personnel in these divisions had been transferred to front-line divisions in need of replacements, and replaced by older Germans (often recovering from wounds) and Volksdeutsche (ethnic Germans) from Poland and Czechoslovakia. Several Ostlegionen (units of conscripts and volunteers from the occupied eastern territories) were also used to garrison the area, as were Ostbataillonen (battalions of Soviet prisoners of war who had volunteered for German service). Moreover, the equipment of these units was very poor, for its comprised a mix of obsolete weapons including Czechoslovak, French, Italian, Polish and Soviet small arms, artillery and mortars.
Four of the German divisions were designated as static, which meant that they lacked all mobile capability and were therefore unable to move from their deployed positions.
The Western Allies' primary operational objective of 'Dragoon' (i) had initially been the capture of the important French ports of Toulon and Marseille, which were considered essential for the landing of supplies of which the bulk was to be moved north to aid the advance of the Allied forces from their 'Overlord' lodgement in Normandy.
The Allied planners had learned much from the 'Shingle' landing at Anzio and the 'Neptune' (iii) landing in Normandy, and so selected a location without high ground controlled by the Germans, as such conditions had resulted in major Allied losses in Normandy and a dangerous tactical situation at Anzio. For this reason, therefore, the Allies opted for a stretch of the Var coast to the east of Toulon for 'Dragoon' (i).
An air campaign was also schemed with great care to ensure the isolation of the battlefield and the severance of the German lines of communication before the landings were committed.
A major airborne landing was also planned in the central area behind the landing zone to seize the limited high ground overlooking the beaches and thus deprive the Germans of the opportunity to engage the landing armada and beach-head with heavy artillery.
In parallel with the main landing, several commando units were to seize the islands off the coast.
Although the Germans expected that the Allies would make an amphibious assault in the Mediterranean, probably in southern France, the Soviet 'Bagration' summer offensive and the Western Allies' Normandy landings meant that the Germans had been compelled to use most of their available resources in effort to defeat these current threats, so little could be done to upgrade Heeresgruppe 'G'.
Given the advance of the Western Allied forces in northern France after 'Cobra', the Germans believed that a real defence of southern France was now impossible. The headquarters of Blaskowitz's Heeresgruppe 'G' even discussed with the high command a general withdrawal from southern France in July and August, but the 20 July attempt to kill Adolf Hitler created the atmosphere in which any withdrawal was out of question. Blaskowitz was quite aware that his command, its forces stretched altogether too thinly and comprising largely second- and third-rate formations, would find it impossible to check any Allied landing. He therefore created a secret plan for a orderly withdrawal, after the ports on France's Mediterranean coast had been destroyed, under cover of his one first-rate formation, Generalleutnant Wend von Wietersheim's 11th Panzerdivision, even though this had lost two of its tank battalions. Blaskowitz planned then to establish a new defence line across the Rhône river valley in the area of Dijon in central France.
German intelligence was aware that an Allied landing was imminent, and on 13 August Blaskowitz ordered the 11th Panzerdivision to move to the east of the Rhône river into the area in which the landing was expected.
Preceded by bombing missions and sabotage by the French resistance, which severely interrupted the Germans lines of communication though the cutting of rail lines, destruction of bridges, and severing the communication network, the 'Dragoon' (i) landings began at 08.00 on 15 August, and pitched between 175,000 and 200,000 Allied troops against between 85,000 and 100,000 German troops in the assault area and between 285,000 and 300,000 men in southern France.
The assault troops were three US divisions of Major General Lucian K. Truscott's US VI Corps, reinforced by Général de Division Jean Touzet du Vigier's French 1st Division Blindé. O'Daniel's 3rd Division landed on the left over Alpha beach at Cavalaire sur Mer, Eagles's 45th Division in the centre over Delta beach at St Tropez, and Dahlquist's 36th Division on the right over Camel beach at St Raphaël and Agay. These major formations were supported by French commando groups landing on each flank, the 'Rugby' parachute assault to the north-west of Draguignan and Le Muy by Major General Robert T. Frederick's 1st Airborne Task Force (comprising Brigadier C. H. V. Pritchard's British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade, Colonel Rupert D. Graves's US 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team and, in 'Dove', an American composite glider regimental combat team), and Walker's US/Canadian 1st Special Service Force.
As well as creating an air-head inland of the amphibious landings and providing flank protection for the landings, this support effort also took two offshore islands, Port Cros and Levant, in 'Sitka' to protect the beach-head.
Almost all of the landings were successful. On Delta and Alpha beaches the quality of the German resistance was very poor, for the morale of the defending formations and units can be characterised only as low. The Osttruppen surrendered quickly, and the greatest threat to the Allies were German mines.
The Allied formations landed from the sea were able to link quickly with the airborne forces which had landed slightly farther inland and captured nearby towns. Only on Camel beach did the Germans put up any serious resistance, for here the beach was covered by several well emplaced coastal guns as well as a number of Flak batteries. After the Osttruppen had swiftly surrendered, the German artillery formed the main opposition, and some bunkers put up a heavy resistance.
The hardest fighting was on Camel Red beach at St Raphaël, where a force of 90 Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers was used against a German strongpoint. Even with the aid of naval gunfire, however, the Allies could not bring their landing ships close to the beach, so they decided to avoid Camel Red beach and land only at Camel Blue and Camel Green beaches, where the landings were successful. The Allied casualties during the landings were very light: 95 killed and 385 wounded, 40 of the casualties resulting from the impact of a Henschel Hs 293 guided bomb launched from a Dornier Do 217, which sank the US LST-282.
In parallel with the main landings there were several special forces undertakings. At Cap Nègre, to the west of the main invasion, a large group of French commandoes destroyed German artillery positions in 'Romeo', and these commandos were supported by other French commando landings on both flanks. In one of those missions, 67 French commandos were taken prisoner after they ran into a minefield.
The 'Dove', 'Albatross' and 'Bluebird' airborne and glider landings in the area of Le Muy were as successful as the beach landings, with only 434 dead, mostly as a result of the hazardous landing conditions rather than German resistance. To protect the beach-head, the 1st Special Service Force took the offshore Port Cros and Levant islands in 'Sitka'.
By the fall of night on this first day of 'Dragoon' (i), more than 94,000 men and 11,000 vehicles had come ashore to exploit the successes of the airborne landing behind the beaches to press to the west in the direction of Marseille and mouth of the Rhône river (3rd and 45th Divisions), and to the north in the direction of the Route Napoléon and Grenoble (36th Division).
The success of the landings was aided by a major attack by French resistance fighters, co-ordinated by Captain Aaron Bank of the Office of Strategic Services, which helped drive the remaining German forces back from the beach-head in advance of the landing. As a result, the Allied forces met little resistance as they moved inland.
The rapid success of this invasion, with an advance of 20 miles (32 km) in the first 24 hours, sparked a major uprising by resistance fighters in Paris.
Follow-up formations included the VI Corps headquarters, 7th Army headquarters, Général d'Armée Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny's French Armée 'B', Général de Corps d'Armée Marie Emile Antoine Béthouart's French I Corps and Général de Corps d'Armée René Marie Edgard de Larminat's French II Corps. It was on 16 August that the II Corps (Général de Division Jean Touzet de Vigier's 1st Division Blindé, Général de Division Diego Brosset's 1st Division de Marche d'Infanterie, Général de Division Joseph de Goislard de Monsabert's 3rd Division d'Infanterie Algérienne and Général de Brigade Joseph Magnan's 9th Division d'Infanterie Coloniale) came ashore and passed through the VI Corps on the Marseille road.
The Germans were initially confused as to what they should do, for their lines of communication had been cut by the resistance and thus they received no orders from higher command echelons. Even so, Blaskowitz was able to start the consolidation of his formations for the withdrawal he had secretly planned. Possessing almost no mobile reserves with which to react against the landings, Blaskowitz ordered Generalleutnant Richard von Schwerin, commander of the 189th Reserve-Division, to create a Kampfgruppe of all nearby units, and with this to counterattack against Le Muy and the beaches. On the morning of the next day the Kampfgruppe, now comprising four infantry regiments, attacked toward Le Muy from Les Arcs.
By this time the Allies had already landed thousands of troops, large numbers of vehicles and hundreds of tanks. The Allied mobile forces thus moved out against the Kampfgruppe at Les Arcs and threatened to cut it off. After heavy fighting the whole day, von Schwerin ordered his troops to retreat after after the arrival of darkness.
At the same time heavy fighting occurred in St Raphaël. A battalion of Generalleutnant Otto Schönherr's 148th Reserve-Division tried to counterattack the landing beaches, but was repulsed.
The forces from the seaborne landings linked with the airborne troops in Le Muy on 17 August. By the night of 16/17 August, the headquarters of Heeresgruppe 'G' had realised that its strength was wholly inadequate to drive the Allies back into the sea, German movement was generally hindered by a resistance campaign, and in northern France the imminent closure of the Falaise pocket threatened the loss of major German forces: in this situation, Hitler reluctantly agreed to an Oberkommando der Wehrmacht plan for the complete withdrawal of Heeresgruppe 'B' in northern France and of Heeresgruppe 'G' in southern France. The OKW plan was for all but stationary fortress garrisons along the coast of southern France to move to the north and link with the formations of Heeresgruppe 'B' in the establishment of a new defensive line from Sens through Dijon to the Swiss frontier. Two formations, the 148th Reserve-Division and Generalleutnant Ernst Häckel's 158th Division, were to retreat into the French/Italian Alps.
As a result of 'Ultra' decrypts of intercepted German signals traffic, however, the Allies knew of the German intent. The Germans started to withdraw even as the Allies' motorised forces advanced very rapidly and threatened to cut off major German units. The 3rd and 45th Divisions pursued the German retreat from the south-east toward the Rhône river at Avignon, where the Germans attempted unsuccessfully to establish a defence line with which to shield the withdrawal of several serviceable formations, including the 11th Panzerdivision, and the two US divisions then advanced to the north along both banks of the Rhône river to reach Lyon on 3 September.
Farther to the east, the 36th Division advanced to the north along the Route Napoléon to liberate Digne on 18 August and Grenoble on 24 August, the latter three days after Generalleutnant Karl Pflaum's 157th Reserve-Division had retreated from Grenoble toward the Alps, leaving a large gap on the eastern flank of the retreating Heeresgruppe 'G'. Blaskowitz now decided to sacrifice Generalleutnant Johannes Bässler's 242nd Division in Toulon and Generalleutnant Hans Schäfer's 244th Division in Marseille to buy time for the rest of his army group to retreat to the north along the Rhône valley, where the 11th Panzerdivision and Generalleutnant Kurt Oppenländer's (from 5 August Generalmajor Alfred Kuhnert and from 1 September Generalmajor Otto Schiel's) 198th Division formed rearguards to shield the retreat in several defence lines.
Back on the coast, meanwhile, French units began to move on Toulon and Marseille as soon as they had landed. The original plan had been for the French, advancing from the east, to take Toulon first and Marseille second, but the unexpectedly rapid Allied advance decided de Lattre de Tassigny to revise the plan for almost simultaneous attacks on both ports. The French commander split his forces into two parts, with that under the command of de Goislard de Monsabert tasked to take Toulon from the east while that under the command of de Larminat drove to the north before veering to the west and finally to the south to flank both cities with Touzet du Vigier's 1st Division Blindée reaching the cost to the west of Marseille, which was to be approached along the coast from the east by Magnan's 9th Division d'Infanterie Coloniale, and de Goislard de Monsabert's 3rd Division d'Infanterie Algérienne apporaching Toulon from the north even as Brosset's 1st Division de Marche d'Infanterie advanced along the coast from the east.
The Germans had major forces in each city, but had not been given enough time to prepare a determined defence of either. After heavy fighting around Hyères, which temporarily stopped the advance, French forces approached Toulon on 19 August. At the same time, de Goislard de Monsabert swung around the city, enveloped it and cut the road between Toulon and Marseille. On 21 August, the French pressed into Toulon, and there followed heavy fighting. The strength of the German resistance led to an argument between de Larminat and de Lattre de Tassigny, after which the latter, in his capacity as army commander, assumed personal command of the operation and dismissing de Larminat. By 26 August the remaining German units had surrendered. The battle for Toulon cost the French some 2,700 casualties, but the took prisoner about 17,000 Germans, who thus lost their entire garrison of 18,000 men.
At the same time, de Goislard de Monsabert's attempt to liberate Marseille began. At first a German force at Aubagne, to the east of the city on the road to Toulon, had to be defeated before the French could move to attack the city. Unlike his colleague at Toulon, the German commander at Marseille did not evacuate the civilian population, which became increasingly hostile. The resulting fighting with Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur resistance units in the city further weakened the German units, which were already exhausted from earlier fighting with resistance forces. The Germans lacked the strength to defend the entire length of the front on which they came under attack, and soon crumbled into numerous isolated strongpoints. On 27 August most of the city was liberated, with only some small strongpoints remaining, and on 28 August the official surrender was issued. The battle had caused 1,825 French casualties, but 11,000 German troops were captured. Several Allied warships were also hit by German coastal artillery during the fighting.
In the harbours of both Toulon and Marseille, however, German engineers had demolished many of the port facilities to deny the use of the ports to the Allies until lengthy repairs had been effected.
Farther to the north, meanwhile, the Germans continued their retreat. The 11th Panzerdivision made several feint attacks toward Aix en Provence in an attempt to discourage the Allies from pressing their advance. The effort was successful inasmuch as it bought the time required for Kneiss's LXXXV Corps and Petersen's IV Luftwaffe Feldkorps to fall back from the Allied advance.
The Allies were unsure about the German intentions, but by 22 August Truscott had decided to pursue the Germans with all three of the divisions of his VI Corps. Still uncertain about the German intentions, however, the Allies missed several opportunities to cut off major parts of the LXXXV Corps.
While the VI Corps was pressing ahead in the wake of the German retreat to the north, Brigadier General Fred W. Butler, leading the Task Force 'Butler', an extemporised brigade-sized unit created on 17 August as a fully mobilised force of tanks, tank destroyers and mechanised infantry, recognised the significance of the open German flank to the east of the Rhône river near Grenoble. The assistant commander of the VI Corps, Butler advanced his command in this direction, paralleling the German retreat off to his west. While doing so, Task Force 'Butler' fought some scattered German resistance, and finally found itself near Montélimar, a small town on the eastern bank of the Rhône river. This town lay directly on the German escape route. Following Task Force 'Butler' was the 36th Division, and together these were tasked on 20 August, when at Gap, with blocking the German line of retreat at Montélimar. By this time, it should be noted, the leading Allied forces were suffering from a serious lack of fuel and supplies after advancing with unexpected speed.
After wheeling from the north to the west at Gap, on 21 August Task Force 'Butler' reached and occupied the hills to the north of Montélimar, in accordance with the revised orders it had received from Truscott as it was considered too weak to block the entire German strength on its northward retirement. From its position in the the hills, this position Task Force 'Butler' fired on the retiring German forces, while awaiting reinforcement. Units of the Forces Françaises de l'Intérieur supported the Americans, harassing German troops through the entire battle. The sudden appearance of this new threat shocked Wiese and the German command. As a first countermeasure, Wietersheim's 11th Panzerdivision was summoned to the rescue, and the first of its units to arrive, together with several ad hoc Luftwaffe Kampfgruppen, were committed against this new threat. An attack against Puy was mounted on the same day by this hastily assembled force, and the Germans were able to cut the tenuous line of communication over which Task Force 'Butler' was receiving modest quantities of fuel and supplies. This success was only temporary, however, and soon the Germans were soon pushed back one more.
On 22 August, the first units of the 36th Division arrived to support Task Force 'Butler'. The Allied units were still short of supplies and lacked enough men to make any direct assault on the German escape route, however. During the next days, more men and supplies arrived, although only in small numbers and quantities. At the same time, the US 45th Division took over positions at Grenoble, leaving the 36th Division free to commit its whole strength at Montélimar. Meanwhile, the Germans also struggled to bring the 11th Panzerdivision through the disorder of the retreat into position at Montélimar, and by 24 August much of the Panzer division had reached the battle area.
On 23 August Task Force 'Butler' was dissolved and its units then came under the command of Dahlquist's 36th Division. For the rest of the day there took place a number of small clashes between the German and Allied forces. On 24 August Dahlquist launched an attack on Montélimar, but this failed. The inevitable German counterattack was able to make some ground into the hills occupied by the Allies. In the closing stages of the fighting, the Germans captured a copy of Dahlquist's operational plans, and this provided them with a better picture of the Allied strength and intention. As result, a major attack was planned by Wiese for the 25 August with the 11th Panzerdivision, the 198th Division together with more extemporised Luftwaffe Kampfgruppen, but this effort too was also a failure.
The Allies struck back, retook the hills and were able to establish a temporary roadblock on the German escape route. This Allied success also did not survive for an extended period of time, however, as yet another German extemporised attack by the 11th Panzerdivision reopened the German route to the north at 24.00.
On the following day, Truscott finally allowed reinforcements from Eagles's 45th Division to support Dahlquist's 36th Division at Montélimar. At the same time, the Germans also reinforced their fighting force. Over the next days there was stalemate, with the Allies unable to block the retreat route, and the Germans unable to clear the area of the Allied forces. Each side became increasingly frustrated during the fighting, however, and on 26 August Truscott arrived at Dahlquist's headquarters with the intention of relieving him from command. After seeing for himself the nature of the terrain and exhaustion of the US division, however, Truscott changed his mind and departed.
Finally, between 26 and 28 August, the majority of the German force was able to escape, and on 29 August the Allies captured Montélimar. The Germans had suffered 2,100 battle casualties and lost another 8,000 men taken prisoner while the Americans had sustained 1,575 casualties.
The US VI Corps and units of the French II Corps on its western flank on the other side of the Rhône river now resumed their pursuit and sought to cut off the German forces, now including the formations of von der Chevallerie's (from 5 September General Otto von Knobelsdorff's) 1st Army pulling back from south-western France, as the latter headed toward the city of Dijon above the junction of the Saône and Rhône rivers, while the Germans planned to prevent another Montélimar by establishing a defensive shield using the 11th Panzerdivision. The US and 3rd and 45th Divisions on the one hand, and the 11th Panzerdivision on the other hand, were making all speed possible to north in an effort to achieve their objectives of trapping the Germans or on the other hand of evading the US net.
The Germans meanwhile tried to continue with their retreat, now through the area of Lyon. Behind them Germans destroyed bridges, hoping this would slow the Allied advance. However, the US 45th Division was able to bypass the German forces, taking the town of Meximieux, some 21.75 miles (35 km) to the north-east of Lyon, on 1 September. This posed yet another threat to the German retirement. After some initial skirmishes, the 11th Panzerdivision launched a heavy attack into the little town, causing 215 US casualties and destroying a number of tanks and other vehicles.
At the same time the main German units continued their retreat through Lyon, which was liberated by French units on 3 September, but the Germans had already escaped. The Allies made a last-ditch attempt to cut the German line of retreat with a drive towards Bourg en Bresse, to the north-west of Lyon on the route to Belfort, by the 45th Division and the 117th Cavalry Squadron from the original Task Force 'Butler'. But the 45th Division was not able to overcome the German defences near Bourg en Bresse, though the 117th Cavalry Squadron gained greater success inasmuch as it bypassed Bourg en Bresse and took Montreval and Marboz to the north of Bourg en Bresse. By 3 September the US forces had taken Montreval, but the 117th Cavalry Squadron soon found itself trapped by units of the 11th Panzerdivision, which surrounded the town. As a result the 117th Cavalry Squadron was almost totally destroyed and the German escape route was again open. The US units then retired to Marboz.
In the Allied advance to the north from Lyon, the US forces headed to the north-east toward Belfort via Besançon, and the French forces continued straight to the north toward Dijon. This latter thrust came effectively to an end when some of its leading elements established contact, on 10 September, at Châtillon sur Seine, with leading elements of Lieutenant General George S. Patton's US 3rd Army advancing to the south-east after the break-out from the Normandy lodgement.
For about two weeks there were more skirmishes. The Allies found it impossible to cut off a major portion of the German forces, and the Germans were also not able to maintain any stable defence line as planned.
Truscott hoped to be able to drive forward to and then through the Belfort Gap, a plateau between the northern edge of the Jura mountains and the most southerly part of the Vosges mountains, and marking the divide between the drainage basins of the Rhine river in the east and of the Rhône system (Doubs and Saône rivers) in the west. But on 14 September the Allied offensive was largely halted to facilitate a reorganisation of 'Dragoon' (i) operation's command structure: this included the creation on 19 September of the new French 1st Army on the basis of the earlier Armée 'B' and the II Corps. Thus it was in the foothills of the Vosges mountains that the 'Dragoon' (i) offensive was called to an end and the harrying of the German retreat was stopped.
Despite its curt ending, 'Dragoon' (i) had been a major Allied success. It had had made possible the liberation of most of southern France in just four weeks, while inflicting heavy casualties on the German forces. The battle plan had foreseen considerably stronger German resistance on and immediately behind the assault beaches, and therefore a slower advance, and as a result the immediate need for transport had been significantly underestimated, and the consumption of fuel had exceed the supply of fuel to a marked degree, a limitation which proved to be a greater impediment than the German defence to the extent and speed of the Allied advance. Thus the Allies had now been able to cut off and either destroy or take prisoner the most valuable units of the retreating Heeresgruppe 'G', which escaped into the Vosges mountains, leaving more than 130,000 men trapped behind them to be rounded up by the Allies.
The primary benefit which had been expected from 'Dragoon' (i) had been the use of the port facilities at Marseille. The Allied advances after 'Cobra' and 'Dragoon' (i) had slowed almost to a halt in September 1944 for shortages of critical supplies, especially fuel and ammunition. Large quantities of matériel were diverted shunted to the small ports of Brittany in the north-western corner of France because the ports at Le Havre and Calais were not yet available to the Allies. Marseille and the southern part of the French railway system were brought back into service despite the major damage they had suffered in 'Dragoon' (i), and eventually the southern route became a significant source of supplies for the Allied advance into Germany, providing about 33% of the total Allied requirement.
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This comprised the US destroyers Jouett, Benson, Niblack, Madison, Hilary P. Jones, Charles F. Hughes, Frankford, Carmick, Doyle, McCook, Baldwin, Harding, Satterlee and Thompson, the British escort destroyers Aldenham, Beaufort, Belvoir, Whaddon, Blackmore, Eggesford, Lauderdale, Farndale, Atherstone, Brecon, Calpe, Catterick, Cleveland, Haydon, Bicester, Liddesdale, Oakley, Zetland, Free Greek Kriti and Pindos, the US destroyer escorts Tatum, Haines, Marsh, Currier, Frederick C. Davis and Herbert C. Jones, the Free French destroyers Fortuné, Forbin, Simoun, Tempête and Alcyon, the Free French corvettes Marocain, Tunisien, Hova, Algérien and Somali, the Free French sloops Commandant Dominé, Moqueuse, Commandant Bory, Gracieuse, Commandant Delage and Boudeuse, the US minesweepers Improve, Implicit, Incessant, Incredible, Mainstay and Pinnacle, six auxiliary motor minesweepers, the British corvettes Aubretia and Columbine, and six British motor launches.
Start date: 15 August 1944
End date: 14 September 1944
Status: Implemented
France & Free France
Devers, Jacob L.
Hewitt, H. Kent
Patch, Alexander McC.
Truscott, Lucian K.
de Lattre de Tassigny, Jean
Blaskowitz, Johannes
Wiese, Friedrich
von Wietersheim, Wend
Allied 6th Army Group
French 1st Army
US 7th Army
German 19th Army
German Heeresgruppe 'G'
Parent operationNone
Child operations
Ferdinand (iii)
Roméo
Other related operations
Anvil (ii)
Caliph
SM (ii)
TM (iv)
Yokum


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Demi Moore's Dream Life: The Interview
She's lived in the spotlight for decades, but with her modern family, fresh style, and takeover of Twitter, the actress is ahead of her time. See the Demi Moore cover shoot.
By Laura Brown
Aug 3 2010, 3:00 pm EDT
Demi Moore has a wonderful life up in the Hollywood Hills. She lives in an aerie that could fit a giraffe, has a chef that makes delicious vegetably things that make you feel like a better person, and serves more beverages than you can poke a stick at (coconut water? Red Bull?). Add to that, she married Ashton Kutcher, the dude who lost his car but found love with a woman 15 years his senior and scooped up three stepkids, Rumer, Scout, and Tallulah, in the bargain.
Today, Demi is plopped on the floor of her screening room — huge man-size television, paintings of bears, orange shag rug — in vintage high-waisted 501s, a T-shirt that says WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND, and thick black glasses. (Baby's first glasses are on her childhood Twitter profile pic.) She is drinking Vita Coco coconut water, since she's weaned herself off an "eight-a-day" Red Bull habit. "I don't like drinking water, so this is great," she says. Ask her the secret to her age-defying hotness (obviously not traditional hydration) and she replies, "Hotness? Well, if you want to look at how dorky I am." But look no further than her hands for a little movie-star fabulosity: two diamond Cartier Panthère rings. Panthères as in panthers, which some people call pumas. Demi likes pumas; she infinitely prefers them to cougars. "Cougar has become so distasteful," she says, nose wrinkling. "I really hate that expression." She said recently that when it comes to her relationship, she'd prefer to be called a puma. "It has a sweeter quality, more elegant. And then somebody said to me, 'Pumas are only for people in their 30s.'"
Eh? It's like navigating a Hugh Hefner version of Animal Planet. "Somebody really offended me on Twitter by saying, 'How is that better, switching from one predator to another?' I wrote back, saying it's important to keep your sense of humor."
Demi has these cyberdebates daily. She and Ashton have famously launched themselves into the Twitterverse, she with two and a half million followers, he with four and a half million. It's a brave new world of accessibility: Search for "mrskutcher" and see everything from their recent trip to Africa (elephants!)to pictures from this shoot (giraffes!) to Demi's "bad-hair" night at home when Ashton was at the Golden Globes. "I was sick," she says, laughing. "Bad hair was an unfortunate by-product."
But, more important, Demi uses Twitter as a forum for her calls for awareness of sexual trafficking and slavery. The couple recently established the DNA Foundation, which has been working with the State Department. "It is something that we are committed to, particularly as it relates to underage girls," she says. "We want to have some effects on legislation in the U.S." She is practicing what she preaches: More than half of her posts are on the subject, directing followers where to get involved.
So, do the Kutchers have a stake in Twitter or what? "Do not. We should, but no, to be very clear, we have no side financial relationship whatsoever." So basically — for now anyway — they just dig it. "I like to connect to people in the virtual world," she explains, "exchanging thoughts and ideas, when in the physical world we might never have the opportunity to cross paths."
But being so out there — even virtually — can cut both ways, as Demi has discovered. For every few "Demi, I love you/your hair/your husband"s, there's a bitch or two or three. That said, she relishes the fact that she can speak for herself. Recently, it was to have her say in the controversy over the alleged retouching of her hip on the cover of W magazine late last year.
"Okay, that is literally my shape," Demi says, sticking her leg out for effect. What bothered her, she says, "wasn't that people were saying it was retouched, it was that they were saying my hip was so badly botched because a hunk of it was taken out. I called the photographers, and they said, 'We did not touch anything on your hip, your thigh, or your waist. It was the position.' Actually, somebody sent me an image I retweeted on Twitter. It was this beautiful marble statue, and the body position was exactly the same as what I was doing. This person had outlined how the hip goes in and the leg goes out." So silence thee, hip haters.
Being snake-hipped is fabulous for fashion, though. But Demi, who is a size 2, tops, recently discussed the shrinking size of models with her friend, Lanvin designer Alber Elbaz. "Models, even male models — how small they've gotten! It looks great for the clothes, but it's not what you want in real life. Why do we have to keep looking at ourselves and measuring?"
Demi has long supported young American designers (she was one of the first to wear Proenza Schouler and is a big fan of rising star Prabal Gurung), as much as she loves her Lanvin. She has "two modes: baggy boyfriend jeans and a T-shirt with a little cardigan and ballet flats. And then I have the other part of my life that's dress-up." That translates into slinky cocktail numbers that are as glossy as her famous mane of hair. In this session, Demi wears an abstract print dress from the late Alexander McQueen. "McQueen was a genius," she says. "I was always thrilled to wear his clothes because they were more than fashion; they were truly works of art." She sees more in fashion than just clothes. "I met Roland Mouret the other night, and he said, 'Fashion is a language without words.' That's why I love it."
When Demi met Kutcher at a play in New York in 2003, she was doing "dress-up" — to be specific, wearing a strappy blue Proenza Schouler cocktail dress. In short, she winks, it was "the dress that gets results." Common lore has it that the pair were introduced by that erstwhile cupid, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, but no. "It was another friend," Demi says with a smile, stirring the vegetable concoction brought in by her smiling lady chef. "It was an effective evening. It was a life-changing evening."
And it was a feverishly documented courtship. "I knew it had the potential to be something special right away," she says. "It was like meeting somebody that I've just known where you just recognize one another. It was so disproportionate, the level of emotion we were experiencing to the time we had spent together. But when you don't know someone, you can't just jump and say 'I love you.'" Nice to meet you, I love you! "Yeah. No. We used to end our calls or e-mails with 'And everything we don't say.' It just seemed too much, too soon."
And here they are, seven years after meeting and five after marrying. When not on set, red carpets, or school runs, the two stay at home and watch Hoarders, Intervention, and Demi's new favorite, Jersey Shore ("It's an accident waiting to happen, and so you can't not look"), and sometimes even propositioning each other via — you guessed it — Twitter.
In her own way, Demi has been a face of every decade. She grabs the zeitgeist and runs with it, from '80s Brat Packer to '90s box-office empress to this new decade's queen of celebrity cyberspace. "I have three kids, so I'm surrounded by teenagers," she explains, "and I'm married to a younger man. But I think it's generally being interested in where the world is going."
And despite what antiaging ads say, growing older can be better. "I feel better in my skin, 100 percent," she says. "That's the tradeoff. You have greater effects of gravity, but the better sense of yourself you have is something I wouldn't trade. Women who lie about their age — why?" She'll try a new skin cream (her latest, Stemulation, along with the Clarisonic Opal, a sonic skin-care machine), "but I'm not an extremist. I mean, I'm not risky with haircuts. Someone did just bring me the latest fad from Russia, though," she laughs. "Horse shampoo and conditioner."
This month, Demi is returning to territory as familiar as that epic head of hair: the movies. In The Joneses, a satire of consumerism, she stars opposite David Duchovny as a member of a fake family employed to plug commercial goods. "The heart of the story is people who have leveraged their lives for stuff, for that external measure of success," she says. "But stuff doesn't make us happy." Yeah, apart from the leopard Yves Saint Laurent dress that Demi swans about in; good luck not wanting that.
Demi Moore, movie star for more than two decades, still has keeping-up-with-the-Joneses moments. "I think Ashton would say I want a butler. Knock on the door and he says, 'Good afternoon, Ms. Moore will be with you directly.'" She cackles while her chef comes to clear the plates. "That would be good."
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Fthiotis eller Phthiotis ( , Fthiótida, [ˈFθjɔtiða] ; oldgræsk og Katharevousa : Φθιῶτις) er en af de regionale enheder i Grækenland . Det er en del af perrferien (administrativ region) Centralgrækenland. Hovedstaden er byen Lamia. Den grænser op til Maliabugten mod øst, Boiotien i syd, Fokis i syd, Aitolien og Akarnanien i sydvest, Evrytania i vest, Karditsa i nord, Larissa i nord og Magnesia i nordøst. Navnet dateres tilbage til oldtiden. Det er bedst kendt som Achilleus hjem.

Geografi

Fthiotis dækker de nordlige og sydlige kyster ved Maliabugten, en indgang til Det Ægæiske Hav . Den strækker sig indad mod vest langs dalen til floden Spercheios. I syd dækker den den øverste del af Cephissus- dalen. Der er flere bjergkæder i Phthiotis, herunder Othrys i nordøst, Tymfristos i vest, Vardousia i sydvest, Iti i syd og Kallidromo i sydøst.

Historie
"Fthiotis" betyder "regionen Fthiotia ", den sydligste region i det antikke Thessalien omkring byen Farsalos og Achilles hjem. I antikken henviste det også til regionen Achaea Phthiotis, der grænsede op til Thessalian Phthiotis mod syd og øst. Achaea Phthiotis dækkede den nordlige del af den nuværende regionale enhed Fthiotis og den sydlige del af det nuværende Magnesia . Den sydøstlige del af nuværende Fthiotis lå i den antikke region Locris.

Administration

Den regionale enhed Fthiotis er opdelt i 7 kommuner. Disse er (nummeret relaterer til kortet i infoboksen):

 Amfikleia-Elateia (2)
 Domokos (3)
 Lamia (1)
 Lokroi (4)
 Makrakomi (5)
 Molos-Agios Konstantinos (6)
 Stylida (7)

Præfektur
Præfekturet Phthiotis og Phocis blev oprettet i 1845. I 1947 blev det opdelt i den sydlige del Fokis og den nordlige del Fthiotis. Som en del af Kallikratis regeringsreform i 2011 blev den regionale enhed Fthiotis oprettet ud af den tidligere præfektur Fthiotis (). Præfekturet havde samme territorium som den nuværende regionale enhed. Samtidig blev kommunerne reorganiseret i henhold til nedenstående tabel.

Referencer

Regionale enheder i Grækenland

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia