The all new Zoom H1n Digital Recorder allows you to record absolute high-quality audio with an all new interface compared to it's predecessor, now featuring one touch button controls for easy navigation – making it easy to record audio for film, interviews and more with an X/Y stereo microphone to deliver a recording format of 24bit/96kHz in WAV and certain MP3 formats with exceptional clean and distortion free audio.
Top highlights of the H1n recorder from Zoom include a 1.25" LCD display making it easy to read and have full control of the features with a low-cut filter to effectively eliminate unusual pops and low frequency rumble, an auto-record; pre-record and self-time feature that never lets you miss the moment. It allows you connect your microphones to the 3.5mm stereo mic/line input to for recording or connect headphones to the 3.5mm output for playback with a dedicated volume control. Additionally, you can send all your files to and from your computer as the Zoom h1n can be used as a USB microphone and a microSD card reader.
With the Zoom H1n that features a compact design, now allows you to easily slip it in your pocket and travel wherever.
rates of 44.1, 48, or 96 kHz in WAV and certain MP3 formats.
With the H1n, the interface has been redesigned completely - Offering one-touch button controls to make recording for songs, audio-for-film, lectures, podcasting, and more so much simple. And its new monochromatic 1.25" LCD display is easy to read even in the brightest lighting conditions and for better control.
An advanced intergrated limiter offers distortion-free signal up to 120 dB SPL and clear sound, with a low-cut filter also helps eliminate pops and unwanted low frequency rumble.
With the H1n's Playback Speed Control allows you to transcribe music, interviews and other types of recordings without altering pitch.
You never ever have to miss a moment as it features an auto-record; pre-record and self-time feature to capture the moment.
An 3.5mm stereo mic/line input lets you record with your external microphones or other sound sources, and supplies plug-in power (2.5 volts). Connect headphones via the 3.5mm headphone output with dedicated volume control. You can also use the H1n's built-in speaker to listen to your recordings.


Blueberry Cornbread Muffins Recipe & Instructions | Del Monte Foods, Inc.
Creamed corn, whole corn kernels and blueberries bake up moist and sweet in this easy 5-ingredient corn muffin recipe.
Preheat over to 400°F. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
Stir together corn muffin mix, eggs, cream-style corn and whole kernel corn in a large mixing bowl; batter will be slightly lumpy. Gently fold in blueberries and pecans, if desired.
Fill 12 muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until deep golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.


A group of women that understands me and doesn't think I'm crazy. A Friday morning every other week free of children. Hours filled with intimate talks and educational speakers. Friendships that are real. Endless mommy dating. I'll take it!
Another massive God send of friendship that came after the birth of the twins was in the form of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). For no good reason I decided to join MOPS. A friend raved about it and I thought why not? At 4 months pregnant with twins I attended my first MOPS meeting. I didn't know what to expect and was worried that I may not fit in. But the second I walked into that meeting room I was embraced. MOPS as a whole and the women involved, have done so much for me in the last three years of my mommy journey.
These amazing women gave me the support I needed to get on my feet after my baby twins were born. They not only provided me with encouragement and loving words but also home cooked meals for my family and I for the first two months after arriving home. I'll never forget busing my crew of three to my first meeting with the twins. They were 4 weeks old and for that meeting and the meetings to follow I didn't see my sweet twins at all, even though they were in the same room with me. They were whisked away by the loving arms of my fellow MOPS. I was able to eat hot meals and drink hot coffee while my babies were cared for which in turn gave me precious time to care for myself.
The stories shared by members and the educational talks given by guest speakers are truly inspiring and provide food for the mind and soul. I've learned so much about endless topics through MOPS meetings. Making me a better woman, mommy and wife.
The friends I met through MOPS were my own personal cleaning crew to mop up the spills of life. They encouraged my dreams, listened to my problems and sympathized with my issues of raising little ones. Moving cross-country back to the area where we grew up I wish I had given more evenings and weekends to the woman I met in MOPS back in Texas. I took my time with them for granted, I hadn't known it would be cut so short. I miss those women and of course use Facebook to keep in touch but wish I could still talk with them in person. But for every season of life there is a new season of friends and here I am finding a local MOPS group just minutes from home. Though only three meetings in, they have already been welcoming and soul nourishing. I even went on a mommy date with a fellow MOPS months before the new MOPS year began. I was set up on a blind date by a Mentor Mom within MOPS and I have been blessed with a friend that has played a great part in me feeling like Illinois is home again.
Moppets also benefited my then 2/3 year old too. It was a loving environment that provided education and play for a little boy amongst other little ones his age. It gave him an outlet instead of being held up in a house with crying twin infants. I am confident Moppets will provide the same type of environment for my growing twins here in Illinois.
If you are the mommy of preschoolers I highly encourage you to seek out your local MOPS group, or if you have the time and energy, to start one. It's an amazing community of moms and offers infinite prospects for mommy dating to led to lifelong friendships and inner growth as a woman.
Trick or Treat Joe, Whaddya Know?


Having cash on hand for every purchase isn't always ideal. So, every day, we're Creating Possibility in the lives we touch through credit cards and loans.
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Sunflower Bank's credit cards feature interest rates much lower than you'll find with department store or other major credit card companies. And, because we're here to help you achieve your financial ambitions, there are no annual fees and no balance transfer fees.
As a partner on your financial journey, Sunflower Bank is also here for the big purchases, like cars, boats, homes, and dream vacations. We offer a variety of loan options to help with planned – or unplanned – expenses. You might need extra funds for debt consolidation, medical expenses, or a major purchase. Whatever financial issue you're facing, Sunflower Bank wants you to borrow with ease and confidence.
Looking for a home loan? We'll connect you with our company's experienced lending professionals at Guardian Mortgage, our leading-edge mortgage division. We offer a variety of loan options to match your needs. Make possibility a reality. Take charge of your future with Sunflower Bank.
Building credit and maintaining a good credit history are key to setting the course for financial success. If you are unable to obtain credit because you've never established credit, it can be frustrating when trying to buy a car, new home, or attain better interest rates. One way to establish credit is to consider applying for a credit card and use it to pay for purchases instead of paying with cash or checks, and then pay the balance off each month. This can help you establish a good credit history.
Be sure to avoid actions that may negatively impact your credit history and credit score. Your credit score is the numeric summary of your credit history and lenders often use it to predict the likelihood that you will repay any loans extended to you. It's important to stay in tune with your credit history.
By law, consumers are entitled to one free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. The good news is, requesting one will not impact your credit score or history.
Apply for new credit sparingly. If you apply or open several new accounts in a short period of time it can hurt your score.


Washington, D.C., June 14, 2017 – Every 60 seconds, Americans make 500 hotel bookings online. And new research reveals that online scams and fraudulent sites are on the rise. In 2015, just six percent of American travelers reported having booked on what they believed was a hotel's official website, only to find they had booked on a fraudulent site – websites that use a variety of marketing tactics to mimic hotel websites but are not, in fact, affiliated with the hotel. Just two years later, the number of travelers reporting that same experience has nearly quadrupled to 22 percent. Today, that amounts to 55 million hotel bookings of this type each year, translating to $3.9 billion in "bad" bookings.
Furthermore, new evidence reveals consumers are not getting the deals they think they are from third-party booking sites. A poll commissioned by the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) details the extent to which online travel agencies can mislead consumers, revealing that 74 percent of travelers have less confidence booking with these sites after learning more about the prevalence of scams and deceptive marketing tactics.
An overwhelming majority (79 percent) of consumers believe these "digital middle men" will yield better deals – a belief fueled by misleading marketing practices such as extreme discount pricing that is not based on an actual room rate set by the hotel.
To learn more about how to spot scams and ensure the best possible booking experience, visit: www.ahla.com/searchsmarter.


Kodak T-Max P3200 film has been brought back! This was always one of my favorite films. Here's an FAQ Kodak provided on the return.
I need to start shooting more film again, and hopefully this will motivate me. Hey, it motivated me to finally update the site and clean up some of the accumulated cruft.


Claudia wants to work for the Mistresses, but do not know yet what is her job. After she has been waiting patiently outside the door, she is finally invited inside. Then she must present herself and show full commitment with the cleaning.
To lick the boots she is of good use.


If there is something that inspires me as a fashion designer it is the persuasion of perfection in what you want to create. That little extra detail goes a long way in making a lasting impression and giving birth to ideas in someone else.
Park Vogel is one such designer duo who set out to create one essential but versatile piece, the perfect T – Shirt. Two friends Julie Park, who was a graphic designer turned fashion designer and Vanessa Vogel, a costume designer came together to create their company Park Vogel in a twist of fate in January 2004.
Today the company has a luxurious cashmere line, cozy intimates along with a range of T-Shirt must haves through their ambition, creativity and ingenuity. The most interesting thing to me though is that they didn't leave quality out one bit in their efforts and use environmentally conscious standards in their production process – without compromising cost.
Something really exclusive can come out of something that totally happens by chance. Oovoo Handbags is one such example of a chance meeting between two women gone as far as being featured on Time Magazine.
The owner/all-in-one bag boss is Pauline Lewis. She left the corporate world three years ago and traveled back to Asia. She was inspired by the women she met along the way and started to work with one Vietnamese designer in particular: Ms. Le Thi Hong Tu, better known as Hong Tu. Hong Tu's designs, combined with Pauline's vision and direction, are the cornerstone of oovoo design.
The bags they produce have so much character they can carry themselves out of the door — every bag is a unique personality! Today over 120 full time employees along with 500 part time embroiderers churn out these distinct bags for the women that buy them.
Pauline says she started oovoo because of her love for all things handcrafted and a desire to build a business model based on positive working relationships, especially among women.
That's inspiration, she gets my applause.
One of the most famous icons of premium denim, Paige Adams Geller, has done it again by introducing Premium Maternity Denim.
And as always, she has paid special attention to the needs of both expectants mothers and their bundles of joy. They are available in four washes, Black Overdye, Lagoon with crease, Rainn with crease and the Dark Resin Rinse. Priced at $179 – $185 they are great especially if you already own a pair of regular Paige Premium Denim.
All the styles and washes come with an ultra comfortable belly panel which can be folded down during the first trimester and later pulled over the belly as needed for extra support. Oh and remember to pull the jean up from the denim and not from the lycra belly panel.
The styles that it comes in are Skinny, Laurel Canyon, Straight Leg and Robertson. This is definitely a plus point for the denim line as not many high end denim makers cater to the maternity client.
Shop for Paige Premium Denim here. Maternity can be found at the official site.
Siwy is a label that was launched in the Spring of 2005 in downtown NYC. The concept behind the line is merging the traditional ideas of classic American denim with the styling of familiar shapes. The combination of a tailored fit, expert construction and superb wash detail, Individual taste and style are satisfied through the array of fine washes and silhouettes developed at America's best wash and sewing facilities.
Siwy uses only the best, high quality American denim. The aesthetic is vintage and familiar, clean and classic. The long and lean shape is softened by strategically placed, quilted pockets that lift and shape, which carefully follow the curve of all seams. A shortened back hem curve avoids dragging on the floor when worn with sneakers or heels while maintaining a very long and lean illusion for women of all sizes.
Every pair of Siwy denim is adorned with a hand-crafted label made out of vintage feedsacks. This ensures the owner that they are not only getting a piece of American history but a unique label that the owner can really feel is special.
For their Autumn 2006 collection, Various lengths offer style options to enhance the wardrobe of any fashionista. Denim shorts take on a fresh, new style when paired with knit tights and low ankle booties. The signature slim crop style, is an easy, transitional jean that slides into tall boots or can be dressed up with round toe heels. Wash detail takes on a darker cast as our mood changes to embrace cooler climates. Deep shades of indigo and gray are personalized with vintage notes that are familiar.
William Rast is a new line that was launched by Pop powerhouse Justin Timberlake 15 months ago with his best friend, Trace Ayala. Since Justin's 'N Sync days Ayala was making clothing for the band and for Britney Spears. He then became his assistant when Danny Guez, son of Paul Guez, approached Justin about a clothing line.
Enlisting the assistance of industry pros, some of the biggest names in showbiz conceived and designed a line of clothing inspired by their home town of Memphis, Tennessee. "We said that if we could do it our way, in a way that¹s authentic, we'd do it," says Justin Timberlake. With a design team headed up by the best of the best, they have created a line which includes designer jeans, graphic T-Shirts, sweaters, outerwear, and more.
William Rast is a lifestyle brand that is about American fashion that defines the gap between casual comfort and cosmopolitan cool. The William Rast collection is Denim based, 50% men's and 50% women's. Tees retail from $23 to $59, Polos $69, Denim $125-$225. There are several washes and styles, all of which are largely unadorned, except for the stylized "W" embroidery on the back pockets. Justin is involved more on the creative side giving final calls on most of the details from the cut to the final finishing details of the denim itself.
Their denim collection has the Boot Cut, Skinny, Flare, Straight and Skirt styles. With an attention to detail the collection seems to be headed for bigger things, they made their runway debut in the recently wrapped up Los Angeles Fashion Week.
AnLo Jeans a denim brand that wants to fit the space between the basic denim and the overly trendy ones. The line is headed by Jenna Andreola and David Lonstein ("An" and "Lo" respectively) who spent over a year getting their fit and looking for the ultimate denim to make the AnLo Jeans come to life.
They are pretty straight forward in their washes with a clean double pleated back details. All in all they want to give a woman exactly what she desires, an elegant sophisticated jean.
In sync with trends they offer a skinny which has piping details, wood buttons or zippers at the ankles. AnLo uses a lot of trim to accentuate their line and make them stand apart from other denim design houses. Apart from jeans they also offer mini-dresses, bermudas and tailored hot shorts also with trim details.
Selling in stores like Bergdorf Goodman, Scoop, Nordstorm and online at Intermix they have been seen on Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Carmen Electra among other celebrities.


text:
!!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!!
Devil Hang Over Me
Pretend We're Dead
The Polka Dot Girl
Even Flow
Shiver the Whole Night Through
Cold! Steel! Justice!!!
GAA Confidential
There is a light and it never goes out
The Driving Force
Darragh McManus, author and journalist
Short story collection, The Driving Force, out now
I have (yet another) NEW BOOK OUT!
By Darragh McManus
We're now running about nine months behind schedule on my (perhaps overly ambitious) plans to release one new book a month to Kindle, beginning last summer with YA adventure Red Raven. Still, not to worry – art can't be rushed, and genius does what it must. Or something.
Anyway, I've now got to Book Number 5 and it is, in some ways, the best thing I've ever done. First written all the way back in the winter of 2004-'05, The Driving Force is a collection of short stories on a theme of movement (be that literal or metaphorical). It's quite avant-garde so won't be to everyone's tastes, but it's probably the single thing in my entire writing career, such as it is, that I'm most proud of. There are moments in this collection, here and there, where I come across a line, a paragraph, an insight or something else, and think, "Yeah – this genuinely stands comparison with the great writers I admire."
Among them are Don DeLillo and JG Ballard, who are probably – maybe? – the biggest influences on The Driving Force, in theme and tone. But here's the spooky part: for years I was pitching this book like that, citing JG and Big Don. It was only a few years ago that it dawned on me, I actually never read Ballard until AFTER I'd written The Driving Force. (Got into him sometime around 2006, if I recall right, and since then have devoured more-or-less everything he ever wrote. Yes, even The Atrocity Exhibition.)
How weird is that? I guess the great man's groundbreaking ideas had percolated so deeply into the culture that I was absorbing and replicating them, even without reading his actual work. Which, of itself, sounds like it could be a JG Ballard story . . .
But we're now in danger of falling down some bizarre metatextual wormhole here altogether, so I'd better stop. Read more about The Driving Force (plus a sample story, the longest and last and one of the best) here and buy a copy here.
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I don't HAVE a new book out . . . but I'm IN a new book
Don't worry, they haven't decided to introduce me as a character in the Jack Reacher novels . . . yet. (I could be Jack's "streetwise" Irish "sidekick", who helps him "crack cases" and "bring the pain" while being charming and poetic in a wistful, slightly sozzled way. You know where to reach me, Lee Child . . .)
No, the new book of which I speak is Brevity is the Soul, a collection of comic short stories from Dublin-based Liberties Press. Last year they ran a competition, judged by well-known funnyman Kevin Gildea; I didn't win (boo) but did make the cut for inclusion in this resultant book (woohoo). My story – replete with the sensationally good title, Diary of an Expedition to Leave My Bed and Venture Downstairs to Find Sustenance in the Form of Coffee and Biscuits – is basically a piss-take of all those Ernest Shackleton-type tales of exploratory heroism and derring-do. And it's FANTASTIC. As is the whole book, sure. But my story, Jesus Christ, I mean it's BRILLIANT. Honestly.
Anyway check out libertiespress.com/product/brevity-is-the-soul for more . . . and feel free to buy several thousand copies. I thank you.
NEW YEAR . . . NEW BOOK
Finally, and only about three months behind schedule, I've got round to uploading the fourth of six planned books to Kindle. Pretend We're Dead is a sweet-natured, funny and nostalgic dip into one summer in the lives of a motley crew of slackers in mid-1990s Ireland.
I started this story aaaaaaaaaaaages ago – literally, it was far closer to the millennium than the present day – or, to be precise, the autumn of 2003. And, funnily enough, it began life as a film script. A handful of people really liked this original version of Pretend We're Dead, and John Crowley – of Brooklyn and True Detective fame – was nice enough to chat for an hour on the phone about it, after I took a flyer and posted it to his agent. (This really happened!) He had a lot of kind words about the quality of my script, but ultimately wasn't interested in producing it as a movie…and unfortunately, neither was anyone else.
So, around 2012 – this is all so long in the fast-receding past now, I genuinely don't remember exactly when – I decided to retool Pretend We're Dead as a novel. Expanded some scenes, reduced others, added new ones, filled in the background and coloured in the scenery around the original dialogue and basic screenplay instructions. It's essentially the same story, but obviously quite different in tone and rhythm. Hopefully still has a fairly visual sense at the same time.
Anyway, read all about Pretend We're Dead here and buy a copy here. You won't regret it, like.
A list of possible Christmas-themed horror movies
Halloween is my favourite time of the year, and Christmas would definitely be in the top four or five. Maybe even top three, depending on which Bond movie is showing.
Given all this, and my concurrent love for horror, I've always felt there was a dearth of festive scary movies. Krampus was good, and The Santa Clause is horrifying for entirely different reasons. But that's not enough, dammit.
So I've taken it upon myself to come up with some scare-iffic ideas for Christmas horror flicks. As in, the title of some Christmas horror flicks. When it comes to either genre of cinema, horror or Christmas, that's really all you need. The rest generally takes care of itself.
The full list is below. You can thank me/pay me in your own time, Hollywood. (Yeah, a voucher is fine.)
Jingle Hell
Rudolph the Dead-Nosed Brain Deer
'Twas the Fright Before Christmas
Deck the Halls…in Blood!
We Wish You a Scary Christmas and a Happy New Fear
Violent Night
'Tis the Season to Be…Dead
Strangle Bells
Lashing Through the Snow
The Three Wise De-men
Should Auld Acquaintance Be Dismembered
Ghoul-tide Greetings
Cracker Attacker
I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus
Flay Bells Ring
Laughing All the Way…to Hell
One-horse Open Slay
He Knows When You Are Sleeping
Gristletoe
Your Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire
Reindeer Maims
He's Making a Kill-List
Satan Claus
Gold Frankincense and Myrrh-der
Baby It's Dead Cold Outside
Oh Come All Ye Hateful
Hack Frost Ripping Off Your Nose
Black X-Mass
The Ghost of Christmas Slashed
Season's Beatings
All I Want for Christmas is Your Head on a Spike
Little Town of Deathlehem
Oh Holy Nightmare
I HAVE A THIRD NEW BOOK OUT!!
Sorry for shouting (yes, again). The third of six books I'm uploading to Kindle has just been, well, uploaded. BTW I'd originally intended to do this about once a month, but work and personal commitments mean we're running around six weeks behind schedule – so it goes.
Anyway here we are, and here is !!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!! Yes, those are four exclamation marks you see – including two before the word. I know, that's not correct punctuation in English, but it's absolutely necessary…as you will see when you read my fantastic book.
(As prep for that, read all about it here and then buy a copy here.)
!!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!! is a comedy, set in a fictional suburban town outside Dublin, about a girl with big dreams of stardom in stand-up comedy. Unfortunately, Neasa can't actually perform any of the great material she writes, so she ropes in gifted actor (and complete airhead) Karl Donaghy to play the "role" of comedian. I've described it as a cross between Cyrano de Bergerac and The X-Factor.
Does that sound fun? Well, it is fun. !!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!! is fun and funny and sweet and smart-assed…and just the right balance of incredibly dumb and actually quite clever. So go read it, now. I said now! What are you waiting for, an invitation?
As before, keep an eye out, here and at my Amazon author page, for updates on further Kindle releases. Still to come: Pretend We're Dead, a novel about slackers in 1990s Cork; The Driving Force, a short-story collection on a theme of movement; and There is a light and it never goes out, a sort of Cloud Atlas-type thing where five stories are wrapped inside one over-arching narrative.
That's it. I'll sign off with my usual declaration: hope you buy a copy or ten of !!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!!…and hope you enjoy it.
I HAVE ANOTHER NEW BOOK OUT!!
Sorry for shouting (again). As promised/threatened last month, I've just uploaded the second of six new works of fiction to Amazon Kindle. This one is Devil Hang Over Me, a tight, menacing and (he said with all humility) extremely well-written thriller with not one, not two, but THREE fantastic twists. (Actually, it might even be four – I lost track.)
Anyway you can read all about Devil here or buy a copy here.
Meanwhile here – as in here on this page, like – I'll give a small bit of background on where it all came from. I had the opening scene in my mind for years. Two women wake from drugged sleep, trapped in a white room. Neither knows the other, or why and how they came to be there. No way in or out. What the hell is going on?
Initially, it had been a man and (slightly younger) woman. For various reasons, as you shall gradually realise if/when you read Devil, the sex of one character got changed. The motivation – the ultimate end-game being played here – has remained the same over years of writing and rewriting, but some of the details were radically altered.
I'm proud of Devil, I think it's a damn good psychological/suspense thriller, with some nice literary flourishes. I'm most proud of the fact that, when you reach the end and understand who everyone is and what's been going on, you can then reread over it and each line of dialogue, everything said and done by the two women inside that room, takes on a new colour, a new shape – new meaning.
Anyway, mindly interesting sidenote: originally (from late 2017) I sent this book out under a pseudonym. For a number of reasons, I didn't want it published under my own name, so MD Burgess was born (my wife's and my first-name initials, plus the surname of Anthony Burgess, one of the greatest geniuses in literary history IMHO).
Unfortunately, neither a publisher nor agent took the book on, although there were a few close calls. One very kind lady in England offered to publish digitally, but a family situation got in the way for a while and by the time I was ready to rock, she'd moved on from that role.
On the flipside, one Scottish publisher basically accused me of trying to "game" their submission process by sending in under an assumed name! Which was simultaneously insulting and amusing. I probably should have told her to "f**k off, how dare you accuse me of cheating"; sadly, being a powerless author, you have to suck it up sometimes and play nice with the so-called gatekeepers.
That said, I'm now doing it myself, so here's a belated response to Scottish publishing woman: f**k off, how dare you accuse me of cheating! Ha. That felt good 🙂
Keep an eye out, here and at my Amazon author page, for updates on further Kindle releases. We've still got these beauties (!) to look forward to: !!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!!, a comedy/satire which crosses The X-Factor with Cyrano de Bergerac; Pretend We're Dead, a novel about slackers in 1990s Cork; The Driving Force, a short-story collection on a theme of movement; and There is a light and it never goes out, a sort of Cloud Atlas-type thing where five stories are wrapped inside one over-arching narrative.
That's it. As before, I hope you buy a copy or ten of Devil Hang Over Me, and hope you enjoy it…
I HAVE A NEW BOOK OUT!
Sorry for shouting, but it's been quite a while – November 2014, to be precise – since the last one. So even a jaded, cynical old curmudgeon like me is allowed to get a small bit excited about a new book (the first of six on the way).
It's called Red Raven, it's a Young Adult urban fantasy which mashes up Buffy, superhero comics, Crouching Tiger and ancient Celtic mythology – and it's as good as that sounds.
The Irish Independent graciously ran a piece about my adventures in self-publishing last weekend, which you can read by clicking here. Or why not just buy it here – 'tis cheap at the price.
Meanwhile keep an eye on this website and my Amazon author page: I'll be uploading five more books, roughly once a month, from early July. They've been sitting on my hard-drive for long enough now, Amazon is free = why the hell not. The other books are: Devil Hang Over Me, a psychological thriller; !!SuperHyperMEGASTAR!!, a comedy/satire which crosses The X-Factor with Cyrano de Bergerac; Pretend We're Dead, a novel about slackers in 1990s Cork; The Driving Force, a short-story collection on a theme of movement; and There is a light and it never goes out, a sort of Cloud Atlas-type thing where five stories are wrapped inside one over-arching narrative.
That's it. I hope you buy a copy or ten of Red Raven, and hope you enjoy it…
The brighter side of lockdown
FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE IRISH INDEPENDENT, SATURDAY, JUNE 6TH
Rutger Bregman is one of those people whose vaulting achievements, at such a young age, are enough to make you seethe with envy.
Still only 32, the Dutch historian and activist has three bestselling books under his belt. His TED talk on poverty has been watched millions of times. Last year he went viral after a cri de coeur about corporate responsibility at Davos.
But even an embittered old crank like me finds it hard to dredge up hostility towards Bregman, because he's just so damn reasonable. What he says makes a lot of sense. He lays out his case calmly, backed with plenty of facts and figures. Much of it is inarguable.
Bregman's shtick is a sort of heightened optimism, as can be gleaned from book titles: 2013's Utopia for Realists and the just-published Humankind: A Hopeful History. People, he argues, are essentially good, or at least tend more towards good than bad. We always have been; this is why a group of intelligent apes managed to colonise the whole planet.
Bregman stresses that his position is not naïve, simply realistic. Co-operation, sympathy, common decency: these are not only moral imperatives, they work far better than the chaotic, violent alternative.
Crucially, though, most of us don't see it like that. There's a huge mental disjunction between how things are – on the whole, pretty good – and how we perceive them. Life, in short, is a lot better than we think, and we'd do well to stop focusing on the bad stuff and instead be more optimistic.
This seems so obvious, it's nearly glib; yet it remains true, for all that. As the old song urged, accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.
While reading Humankind, for review in this paper, I inevitably got thinking about the notion of optimism in a time of lockdown. These are strange, unsettling days, particularly as it's all so uncertain: we don't know when, how or even if this will end.
The whole thing has been fairly stressful but, per Bregman, there are upsides too. Indeed, there are benefits to almost everything. Sometimes it's just a matter of choosing to recognise them, and give them the proper weight in your mind. So, a personal list of some positives to lockdown:
The environment got cleaner. We've seen wild boar roaming the streets of Paris, jellyfish in the limpid waters of Venice canals, satellite photos showing clear skies over China.
People have reassessed their lives and priorities. Whether that be personal or professional, and whether the change prove transitory or permanent, periodic self-reflection is necessary and beneficial. The unexamined life is not worth living, as the man says.
The population, here and abroad, was never as fit. For want of anything better to do, people are walking, jogging, cycling. Bike sales are at an all-time high. Organised sport may be off the menu and our TV screens, and that's a pain – but ultimately, it's probably better to get out and be active yourself.
The chance to get reacquainted with some relatively obscure but exceptional radio programmes. For example, Vox Nostra on Lyric FM, a marvellous compendium of medieval, renaissance and baroque music, both secular and sacred. It's like stepping into another time, another world. Would it be hyperbole to describe the experience as verging on transcendental on occasion? Probably, but what the hell – these are hyperbolic times.
More time with our children. Yes, it's often hard going (for me the main difficulty is managing schoolwork; I'll be happy once summer holidays "officially" begin and parenting more-or-less consists of "run outside and play, mind the cars, don't run off with the circus"). But it's worth it, as are most difficult things. As Milton wrote, "Long is the way, and hard, that out of Hell leads up to the light…" Feel free to quote that in your English essay, kids.
Watching my little girl's camogie skills improve, markedly, week by week has been very satisfying. Five or ten minutes a day, every day: that's all it takes to mastering the technique. The older lad, meanwhile, is now hitting cleanly in the air, on the run, both sides. Pick that one out, goalie.
You smoke less when you're around your kids all day, and still valiantly maintaining the fiction that "Dada used to smoke, the odd time, but hasn't had a cigarette in years…"
I finally managed to read The Scarlet Letter, which had been glaring balefully at me from the bookshelf for years. It was close to torture, I have to confess – God, why did they write in that needlessly convoluted and flowery way back then? – but I did it. Finnegans Wake can wait until the next lockdown, though. I'm only human, after all.
ARCHIVE PIECE: Busy kids
PUBLISHED IN THE HERALD SEPTEMBER 2019
It's funny, when I think back to years ago, how people would often greet each other with the words, "Well, how are you – keeping busy?" That's funny because life in Ireland really did used to be considerably slower than it is nowadays, and often, we weren't very busy at all.
The term "keeping busy?", then, was more a figure of speech than an actual question demanding a response. If we were to answer, it'd probably be something like, "Uh…no. Not really, no. In fact, I'm decidedly un-busy, if such a word exists."
In 2019 Ireland, the whole thing has been turned on its head. These days nobody who considers themselves cool uses folksy turns of phrase such as "keeping busy?"
They all greet each other with "Hey, guys!" in a stupid put-on accent, because they watch way too many videos of American vloggers and are secretly ashamed of the fact that they grew up in a bungalow outside Kinnegad. (They also hate that their parents, those irredeemably gauche bog-trotters, still cheerily use "keeping busy?" Like, the embarrassment!)
But I digress. The second part of my ironical diptych is the fact that, in direct contradistinction to our 1980s and '90s forebears, life in Ireland now is incredibly busy. I mean, ridiculously so – especially if you have children aged anywhere between about three and 18.
This is the time of year when, along with returning to school – which brings its own time-pressures – extra-curricular "activities" are also cranking back into gear. From last week to the end of this month, most of our little darlings' classes and pastimes will have returned in full flow.
And my God, it's like trying to arrange a land invasion of Afghanistan. In fact part of me suspects that certain geopolitical string-pullers deliberately engineer wholesale warfare just so they can avoid helping Mrs String-Puller sort out little Johnny and Mary String-Puller's calendars.
It's mad, how busy the whirl of our children's lives has become. I only have two of my own, and there are two grown-ups sharing the load here.
But still, I had to sit down and literally draw out a chart, noting down each activity's day, starting and end times, and what date it begins. You also have to mark down what needs to be brought to school the following morning: sports gear, musical instrument, whatever. Even with this clear, geometrical, easy-to-understand diagram, I'm barely able to keep up.
And my nippers wouldn't be the busiest in their year, by any manner of means. Some kids seem to have pre-school, after-school and evening classes, of some sort, each night of the week, with a few thrown in on Saturdays and Sundays for good measure.
Then there are playdates, organised birthday parties and sundry road-trips of an educational and/or inspirational nature at weekends, which make you feel even more like the kids' social secretary and personal assistant than their mam or dad. (You're also the unpaid maid, chauffeur, chef, laundrette, psychotherapist and general all-round emotional punch-bag. Ah, the magic of parenthood…)
Now obviously you don't want the children to do nothing but sit in front of the telly all day; a life not spent being at least some bit busy is only a life half-lived. It is objectively a good thing for kids to learn music, sport, self-defence, chess, art and so on and so forth. I have no disagreement with any of that.
Still, though – I wonder has the balance tipped too far in the other direction? I refer you back to my activities wall-chart for an answer.
I bet my own parents didn't have a chart on their wall for me and my siblings, and there were six of us. Of course, this is because the only extracurricular activities available during my childhood were standing outside in the cold, standing outside in the rain, being given jobs to do, being given a clip around the ear for reasons of varying degrees of plausibility, asking your parents for things and being refused, sharing a smoke with whichever of the local yahoos was closest to you in age, and staring into space at mass on a Sunday. No need for a chart!
I'm half-thinking about taking up taekwondo this winter – basically, I want to quit being such a wuss and get to the point where I can take a belt to the head without crying like a big baby. Mentioning this the other day, one of my children asked why I hadn't done martial arts as a kid.
Reader, I laughed. (Bitter tears.) Dada never did taekwondo, I told them, because back in the 1980s the nearest class was probably in Los Angeles. Though those local yahoos with the cigarettes were handy enough with the old kicks to the head, now that I think of it.
All that's about to change, though, as I finally get the chance to transform myself from soft office-wimp to steely, fists-of-fury type killing machine. All I need to do is find an empty slot on that wall-chart.
ARCHIVE PIECE: Hell is learning how to drive
PUBLISHED IN THE HERALD JUNE 2019
Instructors with BO problems, undiplomatic language in telling people they'd failed and a refusal to conduct the test through Irish: just some of 1700 complaints about the driving test received by the RSA in 2018.
Some objections were disturbing, some a bit histrionic, and at least one – the chap who allegedly lay flat on the passenger seat, thus weirding out the testee – was downright surreal. For myself, as someone who crashed and burned in spectacular fashion during my first driving test, I think my primary complaint would have been this: couldn't you have invented a time-machine and gone back a decade to order me to learn how to drive in my teens?
You see, I was one of those people who left it late. Twenty-nine when I started learning to drive, and as anyone who's taken up guitar after about 20 will attest, certain things are much harder the older you get.
I don't know if it's to do with brain wiring, muscle inelasticity or age-related laziness, but it's a fact. Learning to drive was probably the most difficult thing I've done in my entire adult life.
I'm not just talking about the test, which is what most people moan about the loudest. That first fail was a horrendous experience, for sure, but funnily enough, when I did the resit 10 months later, I sailed through – by that point I'd been driving long enough, and well enough, that I knew it'd be fine.
I'm talking about the many, many times I thought (or wailed aloud), "I'll never be able to do this!", and really believed it. I think it was my wife who gave me the solid advice, "Everyone who keeps at it is eventually able to drive. Just keep telling yourself it's nothing more than a serious of simple mechanical procedures."
Which, after all, is mostly what driving entails. Turn key, depress clutch, into gear, ease off clutch and nudge accelerator, and off you go.
After a while it becomes second nature; you're almost driving with one part of your brain while another part has a conversation or watches scenery roll past.
I do understand why city-dwellers never learn to drive: there's no need much of the time, and it must be even more stressful when surrounded by thousands of vehicles, having to master both the car and a bewildering array of signs, lights and lane changes.
But I'm very glad I did, mostly because it gives you a tremendous sense of psychological freedom. If worst comes to worst – say there's a zombie apocalypse, coupled with a global ebola pandemic – at least, you think, I can get into a car and move myself somewhere else. You're not reliant on trains, taxis or getting a lift.
Anyway, now that I've been motoring for 15 years, I've learned a thing or two. So I've worked up five "rules of the road": key pieces of information every wannabe roadster should know. This isn't information that'll help you pass the test – but once you've got that precious little card, please bear in mind:
You will almost certainly never have to reverse around a corner. This is, for some reason, part of the test – as far as I can recall, an inability to pull it off resulted in an automatic fail – but it just doesn't happen in real life. You'll always be able to go forward, do a three-point (or five- or whatever it takes) turn, and bob's your uncle.
Parallel parking is impossible. I've driven around for ten minutes to find a space I can drive or reverse into, because I simply cannot parallel park. I don't actually believe anyone can, it's all a myth.
Driving is one of the best ways of listening to music. Something shapeless and atmospheric is best: electronica, jazz, orchestral soundtracks. Really makes you feel as if you're in a movie, en route to some thrilling and potentially deadly rendezvous. At the moment I'm rocking a compilation album of Depeche Mode remixes, which gives a cool, Blade Runner-esque futuristic vibe.
It's pointless getting upset or enraged at other drivers. It's pointless shouting: you're both encased in steel-and-glass bubbles, they can't hear you. It's pointless giving them the finger, they're not looking. We still do these things anyway. And yes, the cliché is true: anyone else driving slower than you is "that idiot!", anyone driving faster is "that maniac!"
Everyone, even careful and experience road users, is prone to reckless behaviour. In the last month alone I've witnessed drivers overtaking on squiggly bends, closing their eyes for five seconds to win a dare, lighting a cigarette and changing the CD while steering with their knees, answering calls on their mobile, making calls, sending texts, checking the internet for weather updates, and reversing at speed without using the mirrors. Or the back window. Or looking around at all, really. Granted, that driver was me, but you take my point. So be careful out there.
Buy my books! I need the money!
My new short story collection, The Driving Force, can be got here. And all my other books are selling at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk, plus tonnes of other places, real-world and online. Go on, they're all brilliant. And if you don't believe me, just look down below...
Praise for my work
Best Young Adult Books of 2014, Daily Telegraph
Best Books of the Year, Booktopia
Book of the Month, Image Magazine, December 2014
"A dark, enjoyably gruesome read… McManus's writing is fresh and pacy, but perhaps the best thing about his book is its powerful evocative of a freezing, snow-swept Irish town. Everything from the garlic chips to the slang feels sharply real, while the way in which local history relating to the Irish famine is blended with modern-day action makes for a satisfyingly layered mystery. The inclusion of an atmospheric Spotify playlist is an interesting bonus." Daily Telegraph
"A compelling, sharply written Gothic love affair that throws an intriguing light onto small-town Irish life and the nature of love, friendship and, crucially, trusting the people around you… McManus paints an increasingly intriguing picture of a young fella who's sufficiently self-aware to realise that either the dead girl really is reaching out to him, or he is losing his mind… This is one of the best Irish books of the year, regardless of the Young Adult genre…the voice of Aidan Flood, a bright and decent kid whose self-esteem has been shredded by stupidity and malice, remains strong throughout… A novel which deserves to be read by every teenager this Christmas – and everyone who ever was one." Irish Independent
"The plot/story-line was fascinating and captivating… My favourite part of the book would have to be the final chapter, with its double jaw-dropping plot twist…and the reference at the end of the book to the title was marvellous." Guardian
"It's unusual and refreshing to find a paranormal romance told from the point of view of a teenage boy. Aiden's a sympathetic lead character and engaging narrator. (The book) is a darkly compelling story. The climax came out of left-field for me, and there were some genuine heart-in-the-mouth moments towards the end. Certainly not a conventional tale of teenage love and loss, but one I very much enjoyed." crimereview.co.uk
"It took me all of two days to read because as soon as I started it I was hooked and just wanted to see what happened next in the spooky Shook Woods." Blogger's Bookshelf
"A captivatingly dark read which is impossible to put down." Image magazine
"Combining elements of classic noir detective stories and paranormal fantasy, Shiver the Whole Night Through is a haunting and utterly absorbing murder mystery with a supernatural twist." Booktopia (Aus)
"Shiver deftly shuffles the cards of realism and fantasy. Exploring authority, redemption and fate, it evocatively trails Aidan along two unconventional tracks: a whodunit and a romance…compassionately examines the theme of teenage loneliness… Aidan and Sláine are endearing, richly-drawn characters… McManus confidently subverts stereotypes (and) charges their relationship with a genuine tenderness… (Animated with) verve and momentum, splattered with pop cultural references, adorned with colloquialisms that underpin the book's Irish setting… Navigating fantasy, crime, horror and noir mystery with a sureness of touch, McManus leaves Shiver open-ended, suggesting it might be the opening salvo in a gripping series." Books Ireland
"A supernatural YA thriller that evokes teen years so well that those suffering them will nod while those of us past them will nod with recognition…a thrilling story that grips to the very end… Darragh McManus offers us his first YA novel – and it's a scorcher. Not only does it cover murder (with an imaginatively killed body-count) and friendship on either side of the grave, there's a non-slushy, bloke-friendly love story that doesn't get in the way of the action…if you're going to give this to a YA relative for Christmas, don't read it first or you may just hang onto it for yourself." thebookbag.co.uk
"Humiliated by his girlfriend and persecuted by bullies, Aidan Flood feels life is not worth living. He steps away from death, but his world is now filled with terror and violence, mystery and magic. His little Irish town is set to fall to evil, unless Aidan and Sláine – beautiful, enigmatic and undead – can stop them. I'm no young adult, but really enjoyed this. It's full of tension and intrigue, and grips from the word go. It cleverly combines the supernatural with important teenage themes. Aidan is a good hero: cool, bright, real. You don't want to stop reading. It'd be no surprise if this becomes a series – I hope so." Irish News
"Darragh brings all the finesse of previous adult crime novels, paired with a unique younger voice, creating a thrilling murder mystery with a supernatural edge… Aidan is intelligent, witty and relatable. There are some pretty heavy themes of suicide and bullying, but these darker aspects make it real and compelling. The town has a backstory that's downright scary, giving a glimpse of the mythical Ireland I love. As a standalone novel it works perfectly well but that's not to say I don't want more – there's a lot more to come in Aidan and Sláine's story." Requiem for Readers
"I didn't particularly like Aidan or have a lot of sympathy for him, but that's not necessarily bad; it made him more interesting and more believable. He has a best friend, and I liked how their relationship plays out; their conversations were very realistic. Sláine's a really cool character: complex, interesting, strong… The plot becomes quite surprising towards the end. I thought I'd figured it out, but it took another turn… I read this quickly because I really wanted to know what was going on with the mystery at its centre. Mostly I loved the Irish setting, the type of characters, the relationship between Aidan and his family. There's also a little Irish history, which is right up my street. Lots of contemporary cultural references, paired with this old, mythical Ireland of ice and snow and the supernatural, which was really nice. A really interesting book, it held my attention the whole way through. Thoroughly recommended." Candysomething, YouTube vlogger
"I teach teenagers, and had such empathy and understanding for Aidan as a lost boy; clever and sensitive, honest, struggling to be the man the world expects him to be. I saw him as real and genuine, therefore went with the supernatural elements of the story and certainly enjoyed it. Secondary characters were also three-dimensional, particularly Podsy who reminded me of friends I had. The heroine, ethereal Sláine, was equally layered – much more complex than I anticipated. As with YA fiction there's a great thundering plot and explosive climax, but McManus never loses touch with the characters and we never lose empathy for them. I've read all McManus' fiction and this is by far the best!" goodreads.com
"From the first page, I was completely absorbed…Darragh McManus has captured a unique and real-feeling voice (and) Aidan felt like a very realistic person. I really enjoyed how the plot progressed; lots of great foreshadowing and hints as to what was coming. Overall I really enjoyed Shiver The Whole Night Through. I was well and truly hooked…a brilliant read for those who want to curl up with a thrilling and chilly story." The Bibliomaniac
"Aidan has become a victim of the schoolyard jungle, subject to physical, verbal and cyber abuse…the reader cannot help but sympathise with his hideous situation and hope things change. The book also explores the notion of revenge and, given readers' sympathy for Aidan, invites us to consider the morality of such actions. The story is not without light-hearted moments; Aidan's sometimes black sense of humour provides relief from the intensity of the plot. This is Darragh's first Young Adult book and would have appeal for disciples of this genre." Read Plus
"A total must-buy, must-read. I would have given the novel much more than five stars if I could have. This is one of the best supernatural stories I have read. I was deeply touched by Aidan Flood: bullied at school, leading him to want to take his own life. Teens and adults will fly through pages. I highly recommend Shiver to all readers; this is a fabulous novel to buy for someone." ireadnovels.wordpress.com
"Dark and eerie, this is the perfect noir read." Woman's Way
"Darragh McManus brings an Irish flavour to supernatural teen fiction in Shiver the Whole Night Through. (He) paints an atmospheric picture of the rural locale, and the eerie forest, Shook Woods – the 'Ground Zero for spookiness' – that lies at the heart of this mystery. A famine backstory adds subtext and texture." Sunday Business Post
"Wow, what a powerful book. The story is a little dark and 'edge of seat'. The first chapter had me wondering just what I had picked up (but) I soon discovered I couldn't put it down…I read late into the night. His writing transported me to a very unnerving place in Ireland… The story touches on Irish history and folklore, and has some very surprising twists. If read in a classroom it would raise healthy discussion; I found it thought provoking on serious matters like suicide, bullying, revenge. Characters are fully formed and support the main character well. The story gives room for sequels and I'm sure each would be enjoyable – in fact, I see a movie." Buzz Words Magazine
"McManus has created a fascinating, and richly detailed, alternate all-female universe; you are well into the gripping mystery before you realise there are no men…Eugenie Auf der Maur is a brilliantly evoked amalgam of pulp heroes such as Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, all hardboiled attitude and wisecracking lip…It's a brilliant idea and McManus carries it off with style." Irish Independent
"In a genre dominated by men, and the femmes fatale who existentially torture them, McManus has chosen to make women the sole gender in his latest mystery…(he) has the lingo and tempo down pat…a great touch when it comes to the rhythmic development of pursuit scenes, an edge-of-your-seat narration that really moves the story along…there's a cinematic vibe that is well-wrought and a subtle comic tone that works well: when we do find out whodunit, it comes with a chuckle, which, after all the heart-racing and heartache that came before, is a nice touch." Evening Herald
"Fantastic set-up…normal hardboiled detective setting – the difference is, this is an all-woman cast…very tapped into that Chandler/Hammett style…also brings in elements of classical mythology…Genie is quite endearingly vulnerable…(the book is) a very interesting and intriguing addition to the genre." Arena, RTE Radio 1
"With prose that mimics the style of Chandler and Hamnett, McManus produces a nice double-play: a satire on the masculinist tropes of hardboiled crime fiction at the same time as being an enjoyable hardboiled tale. The story itself rattles along a fair clip with plenty of tension and twists and feints, the dialogue is spot-on and there are some nice observational touches…an interesting and entertaining story that spins a unique take on the genre and is a must for those who enjoy their crime fiction with a satirical twist." The View from the Blue House
"McManus has a wonderfully pronounced sense of quirk…this time he takes us to Hera, a woman-only city with no explanation as to its matriarchal status; it just is…ripples of subtle humour veining the pages…as a detective story I loved it…overall the experiment would make Raymond Chandler's ghost proud due to the quality of the writing and the essence of the story itself." thebookbag.co.uk
"McManus' novel has plenty of charm and humour, and raises rousing points about society… Disdain for misogynist yuppies steams off the page; the prose hisses and spits about the horror and injustices of the sex trade… In the end, like (Danny) Everard, you may not like everything here, but you've got to admire its guts." Sunday Times
"With their literary obsessions and elegant attire, the 3W Gang are not your ordinary vigilantes...(they) like to be creative when meting out violence to their targets… It would be a rare reader indeed who doesn't cheer when the tuxedo-clad vigilantes force the creeps out the window. …McManus is a good storyteller. Thanks to snappy, darkly funny prose and a willingness to move the plot along quickly, Even Flow is a consummate page-turner. It asks interesting questions about vigilantism and whether it can ever be justified. The 3W Gang is an intriguing creation – a sort of Baader-Meinhof urban guerrilla unit for a new generation." Irish Independent
"A great novel which makes the reader empathise with the enigmatic 3W gang... Darragh McManus is able to construct a well written and endearing yarn. The plot is well-executed and manages to illuminate all sides of the argument... Even Flow is a good story, and more than that it has an original execution that makes it worth the price of purchase...we were pleased with what we read and quickly grew to enjoy McManus' turn of phrase." So So Gay magazine
"The novel starts with a bang, with a man hanging from the top of a building. Quickly, the story picks up speed as the men crash a party to save a pair of prostitutes from something they hadn't signed up for – and that's just the first chapter… Dark but well-humoured, with a pace that will quicken your heart rate with each chapter." Huffington Post
"Darragh McManus has written something just that little bit different…a highly entertaining thriller with one dimension more than some thrillers can boast… If you want to chill over a ripping read then Even Flow delivers as well as Lee Child; it's just as action packed and atmospherically tense…(not) the sort of book you only read once." thebookbag.co.uk
"A very well thought out and tightly woven novel…the reader will finish anxiously looking forward to Mr McManus' next book…impossible to put down and well worth the read." bookbitch.com
"A fantastic idea (for a book)…by the end of the second chapter it had completely grabbed me…you get opinions from every side, who all have reasons for their actions…absolutely gripping to the very end, very well-written…I really enjoyed this." YouTube vlogger candysomething
"The dramatic opening scene sets the tone for a provocative crime thriller. Mixing influences as diverse as Don De Lillo and A Clockwork Orange with The Smiths and Pearl Jam into a cinematic stew, Even Flow centres on the 3W Gang's unconventional tactics to promote their vision of a tolerant society. Evoking the clipped style of Elmore Leonard, Even Flow is marked by its filmic descriptions." irishcentral.com
"(Even Flow) trips along with the pace of an indie flick, is peppered with emails, newspaper clippings, DIY cartoons, and zine pages, and tells the story of a gang who use viral videos, cult song-lyrics, Banksy-like murals and all the new communication technology available to them to advertise their deeds. Coming in at 200 fast-paced pages, Even Flow is a quick read…a short, sharp shock." Gay Community News
"McManus's book has some clever moments and the conceit is engaging...poses some interesting philosophical questions... There's plenty of promise and it'll be interesting to see what he produces later." Sunday Business Post
"Even Flow is difficult to categorise...once it clicked into place the pages just flew-by. The second half of the story is especially strong as the action, dialogue and politics all get ratcheted-up, and it has a very nice noir ending...what makes this a fun and engaging read is the plot and politics. I'd recommend it to anyone who likes their noir to have a deeper message." theviewfromthebluehouse.
blogspot.ie
"A startling reinvention of the genre…evocatively cinematic…remarkably vivid…the book is intelligent, quirky and thought-provoking…one can only hope this novel becomes the movie it is destined to be, and the author develops some of these characters into their own franchise. More please." 5-star amazon.com reader review

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Philo ($16/mo. - $20/mo.): This new cut-rate service is cheap for a reason: It eliminates all sports, major networks and premium movie channels, delivering instead what amounts to a stripped-down basic cable package with the likes of History Channel, A&E and TV Land. Philo also has limited DVR storage and can be watched on multiple devices simultaneously. It's a good starter option for people who want a solid array of traditional cable channels to supplement with subscriptions to Netflix, HBO Now and others.
Personally, I have a 50 Mbps connection through a Verizon Fios internet only plan. They have competitive pricing for internet service. Furthermore, the quality of service is excellent, and the customer support is much better than other major competitors. See if they are available in your area by checking this promo page. I was able to get their service at a great price using that link.
There are not any additional steps as you just press the "cast" button on the app you want to show on your TV. This also works with the Google Chrome browser after installing a simple plugin. There are no frills with this one, but it does exactly what we need for cutting cable TV at a great price. If you are comfortable using your phone as your main content delivery mechanism than Chromecast is a good choice. Otherwise, I would look to Roku, Apple TV, or Amazon Fire TV.
Looking back, some TV executives express regret for doing business with an up-and-coming Netflix, and they struggle to justify their decision to do so. Had they withheld shows from the companies, TV executives might have been vulnerable to lawsuits by the Hollywood talent who have a financial stake in a show being sold to the highest bidder. Netflix frequently offered the most money.
This one's easy: Get FilmStruck for sure, and then consider Mubi, Fandor and SundanceNow if you never want to run out of challenging foreign films, indie films and documentaries. And while cinephiles who decry Netflix's paucity of older movies may be shocked to hear this, that service's teeming library of recent art films from around the world (in July 2018 they included "Aquarius," "Nocturama" and "Staying Vertical") is maybe its best-kept secret.
US want back door access from all tech company, NSA tapped directly into the servers of nine internet firms, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, to track online communication in a surveillance programme known as Prism, caught spying and bugged EU office.also US : we have no evidence but evil communist may be spying on us! please use our trusted tech company from the US!
Start with Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, tack on an HBO subscription to the latter, and consider paying for the Brit-centric streaming service Acorn as well. You'll have plenty to watch, all commercial-free, and if you hear a lot of buzz about a show that isn't available through any of those platforms, you can always pay for them on an episode-by-episode basis from Amazon (or iTunes, Vudu, or whichever digital retailer you prefer).
(It's worth noting that Sarah's not really a television addict, but that she likes to have the TV on in the background while she's doing busywork, of which she has quite a bit from her job. You can often find her in the late evenings with about 70% attention on some low-intensity work task and about 30% attention on something on the television. Personally, I prefer to listen to white noise when working, but to each their own.)
It's like Lyft accidentally reinventing the bus with its Lyft shuttle idea. With such focus on innovation and disruption over everything else, we've seen companies lose sight of the bigger picture, and they end up restoring the status quo of before. Is it possible that, after all of this change and innovation, the future of television is just… television?
Offer ends 12/3/17, and is limited to new residential customers. Must subscribe to Starter TV or above and a post-pay subscription to a residential XFINITY Internet service. Limited to new XFINITY Mobile residential customers adding a new account with purchase of a qualifying mobile device. Port of existing mobile number required. Mobile order required within seven days of installation of XFINITY Internet. Cards issued by MetaBank®, Member FDIC, pursuant to a license from Visa® U.S.A. Inc. Cards will not have cash access and can be used everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted.
Last year, AT&T launched their own stand-alone streaming service DirecTV Now. This streaming service doesn't require a cable subscription. The basic plan includes over 60 channels for $35/month. The Just Right plan has over 80 channels for $50/month. The Go Big plan has over 100 channels for $60/month, and the Gotta Have It plan has over 120 channels for $70/month. A bit expensive, but why not give it a go if you can afford it? Directv is available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, iOS, Android, Chrome, and Safari with up to two simultaneous streams.
Great article, thanks for all the food for thought! We originally got a great deal from Comcast, the triple play: $99/mo (plus taxes) for the first 2 years, for cable, land line and internet. But now the bill has crept up to around $175/mo. Getting ready to cut the cord, but we have two dilemmas: 1) we didn't buy a Smart TV so because of some goofy issue with my laptop, I have to reboot it after connecting it to the TV in order to watch anything. A pain in the butt. Have searched extensively and not found a workaround. Are these fire sticks USB devices that would cut out the laptop connection entirely? And 2) we are middle agers with the same land line for 25 years, and it's like a member of the family… lol. We're afraid to let it go! It's been part of our identity for so long, literally (for ID purposes with accounts and such) and figuratively speaking. But I think we're going to rip the band aid off soon. About all we watch on our 700+ channel Comcast package consistently is Law and Order and Frasier reruns, and the occasional movie. Otherwise it's just pointless channel flipping.
Not everything is free: Although over-the-air TV reception and many streaming channels are free, there are many streaming channels and services that require a monthly subscription or pay-per-view fee. If you only pay for one or two subscription-based or pay-per-view services, you can save money over cable/satellite. However, if you keep adding more pay services, those fees can add up, and you might again find yourself with a hefty monthly subscription or pay-per-view bill that could rival that old cable/satellite bill.
For viewers who just have to keep up with current events and watch breaking news when it happens, a combination of Sling TV and a TV antenna should have you covered. Sling has CNN and Bloomberg TV, and for $5 extra a month you can get international news channels such as Euronews, France24, and News18 India. Add an indoor TV antenna, and you've got network and local news as well.
While some services like Hulu live TV provide NBC, FOX, ABC, and CBS to many, you may still want to look into getting a TV Antenna. It allows you to watch free broadcast TV, with access to networks like NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox and more. The over the air broadcast TV available changes depending on where you live in relation to your closest TV towers. Thankfully, antenna maker Mohu has put together a tool that shows you which TV channels are available in your area. They also show which channels you should expect to receive for each of their antennas.
Prime Video enables you to watch an extensive library of both movies and TV shows for just $8.99 per month, after a 30-day free trial. You can also subscribe to more than 100 premium channels, including HBO, Showtime and Starz, as well as dozens of regular TV channels. However, unlike regular cable TV, you only have to pay for the channels that you actually watch.
For example, imagine what the science fiction fan of 2019 will need to do to keep up with the genre's most prominent franchise content. Star Wars will live on Disney's new proprietary service, but new episodes of Star Trek (both Star Trek: Discovery and the upcoming Next Generation sequel) are only available on CBS All Access. Meanwhile, The Expanse is exclusive to Amazon Prime. If fans want to watch DC's superhero shows, as well, that'll require a DC Universe subscription — although the CW shows featuring DC characters will only be available via the CW app — or, for patient fans who want a commercial-free option, Netflix. If they want to catch up on classic Doctor Who, they'd better have a Britbox membership.
We're not talking about those adjustable rabbit ears of the 1950s, but a modern antenna that sits atop your roof or behind a picture in your living room—wherever you get the strongest signal—to deliver live TV (but not streaming videos) without cable. "One of the best cable TV alternatives is the tried-and-true antenna," says Chris Brantner, known as Mr. Cable Cutter from the website Cut Cable Today. "Most people don't realize just how many free TV stations they can get with a quality antenna." According to Brantner, chances are good that you're in range of dozens of great over-the-air (OTA) broadcast channels, including NBC, ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, PBS, ION, and other regional stations. "Many of the most popular TV shows, local sports games, and local news come on OTA TV in crystal-clear high definition," he adds. "And get this: The broadcasts you can pick up with an HD antenna are higher quality than what cable provides, because their broadcasts are compressed!" Did we mention that these channels are totally free? Remember these money-saving tips that don't actually pay off in the long run.
In the end, the cable industry's failure to protect the bundle came down largely to greed, Moffett said. Media executives wanted to charge more for certain rights, like making every old episode available to cable subscribers, or granting the rights to watch a show on an iPad outside the home, instead of giving them away for the good of the industry.
That is far from an exhaustive list. You may find some of these on your big TV streaming hub (Roku has a great list of apps), but not all—some may only be on mobile devices. Remember, a lot of the shows that you watch on these stations end up on other services—specifically Netflix, Hulu, or Prime Video. So you may not have to suffer through watching these on small screens with un-skippable advertising.
Bundle price is $89.97/mo. Yr 1 & $109.97/mo. Yr 2; standard rates apply after 2 years. Qualifying bundle includes Charter Spectrum TV™ Select, Charter Spectrum Internet™, and Charter Spectrum Voice™. DVR Service on 1 box Free or discounted on 2-4 boxes to $9.99 for 1 year; after year one standard service fee applies. TV equipment required & is extra; No additional charge for modem; Phone taxes, fees, & surcharges are included in price; other equipment, install, taxes, fees & surcharges may apply.
The major network channels are all broadcast in HD. And you'll be pleasantly surprised to learn that the quality of uncompressed HD video in an antenna feed is actually superior to what you've been getting with your cable box. Cable operators have to deliver hundreds of channels, plus broadband and phone service over a single connection to your home, so the TV signal is usually compressed to conserve bandwidth. Not so with your OTA feed. The difference is immediately noticeable. Outside of a Blu-ray movie, this is the best output I've ever seen on my TV. And did I mention the channels are free?
The Internet is your friend. As long as you have an internet connection, you can still watch some television. Many of the TV networks post videos of their shows on their websites which are available to watch for free. There are a number of other websites which provide hundreds of television series links, and allow you to browse the shows and watch all from their website. Some of the sites provide the service for free, while others charge a few bucks a month to users but either way, you're going to save a lot of money compared to your existing cable bill.
Sling TV. Cheaper than PlayStation Vue, Sling TV features slim packages. Sometimes, they are too slim, so if you want the full deal with local channels, sports channels, etc., you are going to end up paying as much as PlayStation Vue. They also charge for their Cloud DVR service, which adds on to the monthly fee. Sling TV sill beats traditional cable but it is really best for those who are only interested in either their Orange or Blue bundles. If you want the whole package, you might be better off with a different provider.
What you get: The Hulu with Live TV service offers about 50 channels, including major networks in some areas and sports channels such as CBS Sports, ESPN, and Fox Sports. You can watch on two devices at a time and record 50 hours on a cloud DVR. You can pay extra for more users and extra DVR storage, and the option to skip commercials. Hulu now also offers a combined plan, priced at $13 per month, that bundles a Spotify subscription with Hulu's entry-level on-demand service.
During the 1980s, United States regulations not unlike public, educational, and government access (PEG) created the beginning of cable-originated live television programming. As cable penetration increased, numerous cable-only TV stations were launched, many with their own news bureaus that could provide more immediate and more localized content than that provided by the nearest network newscast.
This is captivating. It doesn't trivialise the atrocities at all. The colour makes it more life like, even if it's not perfect, which ends up making it all the more real. The other positive is that I can't remember if I've ever seen so much WWI footage in one go, without some hideous, sombre voiceover. It's beautifully edited and tells an honest story.Take the time to watch it, even if you feel it will make you feel uncomfortable. You'll then understand the hideousness of The War to End All Wars
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Applications Microsoft music Usability User Experience UX
Spotify to music subscribers: drop dead
Since at least 2010, subscribers to Spotify's paid music service have asked the company to include the ability to sort playlists alphabetically in the desktop player. It's the sort of drop-dead obvious feature that should have been built into the player while it was still in alpha. Yet, after six years of requests by paying customers, the feature still does not exist.
Post date 9 October 2016
SINCE AT LEAST 2010, subscribers to Spotify's paid music service have asked the company to include the ability to sort playlists alphabetically in the desktop player. It's the sort of drop-dead obvious feature that should have been built into the player while it was still in alpha. Yet, after six years of requests by paying customers, the feature still does not exist. Many good people work at Spotify and take pride in working to create the best possible music service. But the management in charge of feature requests does not seem to care about or respect customers.
Spotify subscribers organize their music in playlists. Any serious music listener will soon have dozens, if not hundreds, of playlists. They appear in the sidebar in reverse chronological order of the date of their creation. From a programmatic standpoint, the order is random. The inability to sort playlists alphabetically soon makes listening to one's entire collection problematic. You ignore most of your playlists because you can't find them, and waste time recreating existing playlists because you've forgotten they exist—or can't find them.
For years, Spotify users have taken to the company's message boards to request that this basic, rudimentary, obviously necessary feature be added. And for years, Spotify's official message-keepers have strung users along. Reading these message boards is a study in corporate indifference. In this board, for example, which began in 2012, one customer after another explains why the ability to alphabetize their list of playlists is necessary if they are to continue using the service. It's almost comical to watch the customer support folks react to each post as if it is a new idea; or attempt to pacify the customer by assuring her that staff is "working around the clock to implement this feature." That last comment was made in 2015, three years into the thread; there's been no word about the feature since.
The desktop player does let users change the order of a given playlist by dragging it up or down. That feature would suffice for someone who had three playlists. It might even work for someone with a dozen playlists. But for someone with several dozen or more playlists, manual drag and drop is not only no solution, it's actually insulting.
What Spotify has done is create an all-you-can-eat buffet, and equipped its customers with a toothpick in place of a knife and fork or chopsticks.
The problem can't be that difficult to solve, as Spotify has added alphabetization of playlists to its phone and tablet apps. Yet the desktop, a primary source for folks who listen to music while working, remains as primitive as it was in 2010.
Six years of alternately pretending not to know that your paying customers require a basic tool to manage their subscriptions, and pretending to be working on a solution, shows a basic disregard for the paying customer. Which kind of goes along with a disregard for the working musician, who isn't exactly getting rich off the Spotify royalties that have replaced CD sales.
Apple Music has rubbed me the wrong way since Apple first crammed it into their increasingly dysfunctional iTunes player (whose poor usability is what drove me to Spotify in the first place). I hate that Apple Music shows up on all my Apple devices, even though I don't subscribe to it, and even after I've turn it off in Settings. In this regard, Apple today is like Microsoft in the 1990s. And I don't mean that in a good way.
But, as obnoxious and overdesigned as it is, there's one thing I like about Apple Music: it just may drive the complacent management at Spotify to actually start listening to their customers.
← Ten Years Ago on the Web → News of the World


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Q: Access files on remote computer via VPN Environment:
We have Office Mac Pro. I have Mac Mini at my home. I can connect to Office VPN.
Question,
How can I access file in Shared folder from Mac Pro from home? I have tried smb:// and afp:// from Mac Mini to connect to Mac Pro local ip but it doesn't connect.
I am sure I am missing some steps here.

A: This depends. I use OpenVPN for a setup like this with good results but any other VPN implementation should work along the same lines. Basically, the main thing is that:

*

*OpenVPN will connect servers and clients to a specific VPN subnet -
say 192.168.11.0/24

*The VPN subnet has no routes to anything other
than itself per default. So - if your smb shares are on 192.168.10.1
for instance, you are probably just missing a route.

*In OpenVPN, you can push routes to other places to the clients so they can know about
subnets beyond the OpenVPN subnet.

In my OpenVPN config, I have these lines:
push "route 192.168.10.0 255.255.255.0"
route 192.168.40.0 255.255.255.0 192.168.11.1

They basically just mean that the clients are given a route to a subnet on the server side (the 192.168.10.0 net) and that on the server side, we should add a route to the 192.168.40.0 net that goes through the VPN gateway (192.168.11.1). Most of the time, you will likely have to specify routes both ways to get everything in shape.
You can also do per-client configuration in the OpenVPN ccd config directory. Check out the documentation on iroute for more on this if you need routes to come up or down with client connections.
OpenVPN (if this is what you are using) has extensive examples

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


CONCERT II (May 6): The Suites from 1728 and virtuoso works from manuscripts.
Continuing the great tradition of Wm. Neil Roberts, Harpsichordist Gilbert Martinez performs the all the great works of Rameau in two concerts. Rameau's music is infused with the spirit of French baroque theater, challenging the performer to great artistic and technical demands. These performances are dedicated to Wm. Neil Roberts and coincide with Gilbert Martinez' new publication of the keyboard works in an authoritative edition.


Damp can be a problem in any home. If your home has walls that feel cold to the touch or there's condensation on your windows in the morning, you need to take action. Below are some of the signs that your home has a damp problem, that you need to treat before it becomes a threat to your health.
Prevention is definitely better than a cure so keep on top of your household maintenance. Clean your gutters twice a year and check for signs of sagging or damage. Keep a look out for slipped tiles and crumbling mortar that can be signs of a damp problem.
Keep your home warm and well ventilated so that the air has a chance to circulate. Provide an escape route for any moist air to reduce condensation, and maintain a constant temperature to keep your interiors warm and dry.
Remove excess moisture from the air by tumble drying clothing or hanging on a washing line, covering cooking pans with a lid and using a dehumidifier to remove any dampness in the air.
Tackling cases of household damp and mould can be relatively simple. You can tackle signs of mould using a proprietary cleaner before painting on a damp stopper and redecorating. Also take the time to treat grout and sealant or remove and replace if necessary.
However, if you identify signs of penetrating or rising damp in your property you may need professional help to install damp-proofing solutions, including a damp proof course or membrane or internal waterproofing.
UK Commercial Group are highly experienced in dealing with damp problems in commercial premises and in designing an appropriate damp-proofing solution for any situation, the highly trained and experienced damp-proofing technicians will also provide a free on-site inspection and no-obligation quote.


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It was a wintery start to New Year
New Year's Eve brought a messy mix of wintry weather to Wilbarger County. From 4 to 8 inches of snow fell over the County, with additional accumulations of rain and ice reported. There were few of the usual New year's Eve alcohol -related crimes this year. VPD Captain Wayne Hodges credited the weather with limiting…
Grand Jury indicts man who punched officer
The Wilbarger County Grand Jury convened in December, issuing 49 indictments against 39 individuals. One of those indicted was John Albert Franco, Jr. He was indicted for the Felony 2 offense of assault on a peace officer, which allegedly occurred June 12, 2020.On that date, at around 3:10 p.m., animal control was dispatched to the…
Weekend heavy snow possible
The National Weather Service is calling for snow across the area, beginning Saturday night — with up to five inches of snow possible in local counties and heavier amounts to the west. According to NWS forecasters, an upper level low will approach from the southern Rockies late Saturday and Sunday. The NWS reports "Highest snow…
More vaccine heading to area
The Texas Department of State Health Services has instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to ship first doses of COVID-19 vaccine to more than 949 providers in 158 Texas counties this week. The CDC will deliver 167,300 doses of the vaccine manufactured by Moderna and 37,050 doses of the Pfizer vaccine directly to…
Five file for state house seat — early voting starts Monday
Four Republicans and one Democrat have filed for the special election to replace state Sen.-elect Drew Springer, R-Muenster, in the Texas House, representing the 22 counties in HD 68, which includes Wilbarger and Hardeman counties. The filing deadline for the Jan. 23 election was 5 p.m. Monday. The four GOP candidates for the seat in…
First vaccines administered in Wilbarger County
The first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Wilbarger County. The Vernon campus of North Texas State Hospital received doses of the Moderna version of the vaccine and began vaccinations last Wednesday, according to spokesperson Christine Mann. Mann said that they received "our first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine today at North Texas…
Pedestrian killed on 287
The Vernon Police Department reported that on Monday, December 28, 2020, at around 12:16 a.m, emergency dispatch received a 911 call reporting a "pedestrian vs. vehicle" accident on northbound U.S 287 near the Bentley Street exit. Officers responded and found a male subject who had been struck by a semi-truck trailer laying on the highway.…
County bids farewell to 2 commissioners
The Wilbarger County Commissioners Court held its final meeting of 2020 on Monday, Dec. 28 — and it was the final meeting for Precinct 1 commissioner John Wright and Precinct 3 commissioner Kelly Joe Neel. "It's been a pleasure," Wright told the court. "I got some things accomplished that I set out to do —…
Special election called for HD68 seat
Governor Greg Abbott, on Monday, day issued a proclamation announcing Saturday, January 23, 2021, as the special election date to fill the Texas House of Representatives Dis-trict 68 seat recently vacated by Senator-elect Drew Springer. Candidates who wish to have their names placed on the special election ballot must file their applications with the Secretary…
Holiday Spirit feeds 920 at Christmas
Vernon Holiday Spirit Meal served a total of 920 Christmas dinners on Friday, according to Sharon Goins, co-cordinator with her husband, Billy, for the annual event. Goins said the number represented 679 meals delivered and 231 that were picked up at the auditorium. Although the number of volunteers was lower than in previous years, Goins…


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GM to Discontinue OnStar's Hands Free Calling Function for MY20
Didn't Get Your RSVP to the C8 Launch? Worry Not! You'll be Able to See it Soon
The Mid-Engined Corvette Has a Name, and It is Stingray
Chevrolet Kills Off Equinox Diesel Due to Lack of Demand
Fire Risk: GM Recalls 160,000 Canadian Pickups, No News on U.S. Models
Does Brembo Make Regular Brakes?
by Press Release March 26, 2019
Brembo's Original Equipment line of high-performance braking parts is designed to be a perfect replacement to factory parts on a vehicle.
"Hey, does that thing have Brembos on it?"
In some circles, the Brembo brand name is as recognizable as the system components it describes. That's marketing and brand recognition earned from years of proven expertise at building high-performance braking systems for some of the world's fastest cars. In fact, in a recent instrumented performance test, 40 of 50 of the world's fastest-stopping cars were fitted with Brembo brake components.
For car-buffs around the globe, Brembo brakes bring a subtle, signature styling element to high-performing vehicles via a brightly-colored brake caliper peeking from behind the wheels with the Brembo logo proudly displayed. Brembo brakes are easily spotted, and they provide a strong signal of the performance capabilities of the vehicle they're fitted to. After all, Brembo has been a world leader in high-performance braking systems for decades.
Though commonly associated with some of the world's fastest cars, including the Dodge Viper, Porsche 918 Spyder, Ferrari F12 and Koenigsegg Agera GT, Brembo also develops braking systems for motorsports use, in both cars and bikes.
Today, the Italian company has over 10,000 employees around the globe that are focused on delivering a wider range of high-quality products than ever before. Among these products is an assortment of consumer-focused braking system parts that give drivers the option of replacing factory equipment components with high-quality Brembo units when it's time to service their brakes.
Using expertise developed over decades of manufacturing braking components for the world's fastest street-legal and race cars, Brembo's line of Original Equipment (OE) replacement products include brake pads, rotors, shoes, drums, and fluids. Each of these is designed to be a perfect replacement alternative to a vehicle's original braking part. Most mainstream vehicles leave the factory with systems designed to meet a price-point and little else. But Brembo OE replacement parts are created using best practices from all around the world — which includes capitalizing on a high level of technology and having world-leading production and quality control processes — to offer a wide range of units that cover over 95 percent of vehicles on the road.
Best of all, signature Brembo technologies are offered throughout the OE replacement parts range. For instance, a special UV coating on Brembo brake rotors helps resist unsightly corrosion and maintain the appearance of this highly-visible part.
Further, Brembo's PVT (Pillar Venting Technology) and PVT Plus ventilation systems are featured in some OE replacement brake rotors. With this ventilation system, shoppers benefit from a unique and exclusive pillar-based arrangement of air channels cast through the center of the brake rotors.
The design of the PVT ventilation system has its roots in the world of motorsports and vastly improves cooling capacity for a major reduction in heat-based component fatigue. Resistance to thermal cracks, which commonly ruin low-quality brake rotors in quick order, is bumped by more than 40 percent. The PVT ventilation system also results in a rotor with more uniform strength, helping to prolong the life of the part.
The PVT Plus ventilation system adds unique ventilation vane layouts for each specific type of rotor and other enhancements. It's precise engineering, designed to help optimize braking system performance, durability and lifespan for any driver. But brake rotors are only part of the story when it's time to stop and teaming a high-quality set of Brembo brake rotors up with a high-quality set of Brembo brake pads creates a synergistic advantage for the driver.
With brake pads and rotors specially calibrated to work in sync, maximum stopping power, consistency and durability are ensured. Like all Brembo brake parts, Brembo OE replacement pads utilize advanced design and technology, along with impeccable quality control.
Clever design touches abound throughout Brembo OE replacement brake pads. For instance, the pad surface is heat treated for consistent performance in all driving conditions, and a unique thermal heat-insulation pad is applied to reduce the amount of damaging heat transmitted between the brake pad and the vehicle's calipers, brake pistons and fluid.
Pair a set of Brembo rotors with a set of Brembo brake pads, and you've got a top-line braking partnership that's designed to last, perform and even reduce strain and wear on other parts of the braking system. Brembo also offers a full selection of quality-engineered OE equivalent brake components and a variety of high-performing aftermarket brake rotor options for enthusiast drivers.
In any case, making the switch to Brembo OE replacement parts gives drivers access to more consistent, potent and durable stopping power, with expert design and construction ensuring worry-free braking and added safety for years to come.
Press Releasebrembo sponsored
Do Performance Brakes Really Make a Difference?
by GMI News May 22, 2019 May 22, 2019
Press Releasebrembo press release
How Do Car Brakes Work?
by Press Release April 2, 2019 April 2, 2019
Press Releasebrembo
5 Brake Warning Signs You Shouldn't Ignore
by Press Release April 17, 2019
How to Change Your Brakes on Your Own
by Press Release April 23, 2019 April 23, 2019
GM Reportedly Considering Killing Off Six Cars by 2020: Three Chevrolets, Two Cadillacs, One Buick
by Tim Cain July 21, 2017
Chevrolet, Photos
The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado Shows a Little Bit More Face
by Michael Accardi May 4, 2017
Chevrolet, Videos
The Camaro ZL1 1LE Might Be The Fastest Car General Motors Has Ever Made…
by Michael Accardi June 22, 2017
APRIL FOOLS: Pontiac is Back, Performance SUV and Small Coupe Planned
by Michael Accardi April 1, 2016
The Mid-Engine Corvette Will Start Production in January 2019
by Michael Accardi July 31, 2017
Could the Toyota MR2 Make a Comeback as an EV?Today 06:21 AM
Ford GT Mk II Is A Rule-Breaking Swan SongThursday, 4 July 08:00 AM
Lee Iacocca passed away at 94Tuesday, 2 July 07:29 PM
Report: 6th gen Z/28 cancelled.Tuesday, 2 July 09:12 AM
The 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe Is a Big SUV that Will Pack Big Changes UnderneathMonday, 1 July 06:35 AM
Spied: 2021 Cadillac Escalade Testing Alongside Lincoln NavigatorThursday, 27 June 02:27 PM
Hotter Cadillac CT4-V Prototype Spied Testing at GM's Proving GroundsThursday, 27 June 02:17 PM
Put To The Test: 2019 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison V6Thursday, 27 June 02:12 PM
Baojun RC-6 Sedan-Coupe-Crossove...Tuesday, 25 June 11:33 AM
7th gen Camaro reportedly cancelledTuesday, 25 June 09:11 AM
All-electric Jaguar XJ coming soon on platform shared with 'Road Rover'Monday, 24 June 08:39 PM
Seltos: Kia's New Small SUVMonday, 24 June 12:49 PM
GM engineers hid secret tailgate in storage room for 2 yearsMonday, 24 June 11:59 AM
Report: FCA, Renault hoping merger talks will restartMonday, 24 June 11:18 AM
Renault-Nissan joint functions axed as alliance unravelsMonday, 24 June 09:28 AM


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In Michigan, a Small but Meaningful Victory for Conscience Rights
By Alexandra DeSanctis
About Alexandra DeSanctis
Follow Alexandra DeSanctis on Twitter
In Michigan, the Catholic Church and religious health-care workers have won a small victory for conscience rights. A federal court last week rejected an ACLU lawsuit against the United States Conference of Catholics Bishops (USCCB), filed on behalf of Tamesha Means, who claimed the Catholic hospital Mercy Health Partners should have been required to provide her with an abortion when she was in the process of miscarrying. The suit asserted that an abortion would have been safer for Means than a natural miscarriage and alleged that, because of the Catholic health care system's policy of never performing a direct abortion, Mercy "denied appropriate medical care" to Means.
But last Thursday, federal judges of the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed with the ACLU, upholding an earlier decision to dismiss the case. According to Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who first dismissed the case in 2015, his court did not have jurisdiction over the USCCB. (The suit was brought against the USCCB because it is the body that prohibits Catholic hospitals from performing abortions, as abortion contradicts Catholic Church teaching on the dignity of all human life.) Bell also said Means's demand for an abortion would "impermissibly intrude upon ecclesiastical matters."
From last week's circuit court order affirming Bell's ruling:
Means alleges — and we do not doubt — that she suffered physical and mental pain, emotional injuries, a riskier delivery, shock and emotional trauma from making funeral arrangements for her dead child, and other 'discomforts and pain.' But these allegations are not sufficient to state an injury under Michigan negligence law.
This ruling is a clear victory for Catholic health care entities across the country, which have come under frequent fire in recent years for refusing to provide "reproductive services" such as abortion, sterilization, and contraception. As I have reported for National Review, a number of states have enacted legislation forcing health-care workers to violate their religious consciences by participating in or referring clients to "reproductive care" to which they are morally opposed.
While rulings such as this one are undoubtedly a victory for religious freedom, it is essential to enact federal protections for the conscience rights of health-care workers such as the Conscience Protection Act, which passed Congress in July and is awaiting President Obama's signature. It seems unlikely that the president will approve this legislation, but that shouldn't stop conservatives from continuing their efforts to preserve a flourishing civil society that ensures religious freedom for all.
Alexandra DeSanctis is a staff writer for National Review and a visiting fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. @xan_desanctis